A/Ns: So, I came across some apartment AU prompts on tumblr the other day, and I realised they were too good not to use, so... Yeah, it's another series. Sort of. It's basically going to be a bunch of connected one-shots about how Lucy meets all of her horrible neighbours after moving in, and it's not exactly going to be in order. You'll be able to tell when it's set, because if it's not obvious in the story itself, I'll mention when it is set.

And yes, it's BixLu, but it does not actually focus on that relationship all that much. Don't ask why it's BixLu (or if you really want to it, it's because Empress of Everything - lookin' at you - is an enabler). It just works. It always works. Most of it will be about the broships and BrOTPs though, and each character will get their own chapter. Most will be about this length if not a little longer or shorter, since it's just something to do when I get bored and don't want to work on any of my other stories. It's just a bit of fun, but I still hope you all like it.


FRIDAY NIGHT


The first Friday of every month was always spent in Gajeel, Levy, and Wendy's apartment. That was just how it had always been. Or at least, it was how it had been for the last year or so, but no one had any desires to be giving up their Friday night fun in the near future.

They would all pile in there with food and alcohol of all sorts (or in Rogue's case, his Batman travel mug filled with his favourite type of coffee if he didn't feel like getting drunk), and make themselves comfortable in the lavish apartment – it was the largest that any of them owned, after all. Blankets and pillows strewn across the lounges; bowls, bottles and glasses, and open packets of every kind of junk snack food imaginable scattered over every surface in the room, including the floor.

The first Friday of every month was their movie night, but it really hadn't always been like that.

A year earlier, half the people in the room hadn't known each other at all. At best, they'd only seen each other in the lobby or walked past them in the hall if they caught them at the right time. Of all the residents and tenants of the nine-storey apartment building in the middle of Magnolia, barely any of them were actually on first name basis with any of their neighbours.

Or at least they hadn't been until Lucy had moved into the apartment on the fifth floor. The blonde was really the only reason any of them knew each other at all. And now, not even two years after she had moved in, none of them could imagine their lives without each other. Hell, they were all actually thankful for Natsu telling Lucy about the apartment in the first place. If Natsu hadn't mentioned to his childhood friend and best friend that one of the apartments on his floor had become available for rent, she wouldn't have been there at all, and their Friday night movie nights wouldn't have ever come to exist.

No matter how much they hated Natsu for constantly somehow setting fire to something in his kitchen and getting everyone kicked out of their apartment for an hour or two until the fire brigade had deemed the apartment building safe to enter again, they were so very glad for his friendship with Lucy, because they were all glad for their friendships with Lucy that had formed while she'd lived there. She had befriended each and every person sitting in that lounge room, and with that, they'd all befriended each other somehow. How she'd managed to do that with some, no one really knew, but they'd seemed to just put it down to her just being that kind of person. She just got along with everyone, whether they basically stole her cat and cuddle buddy, broke down her apartment door, went through her mail (it was really just a giant misunderstanding though), or even used her Wi-Fi.

No matter how they'd met, Lucy Heartfilia was undoubtedly best friends with every single person that sat in Gajeel, Levy, and Wendy's apartment on the first Friday of every month. And they were all best friends with each other, and they were a family.

And so on this particular Friday night, if anyone were to walk into the sixth floor apartment at the end of the hall, they'd truly be surprised at what they saw.

On one oversized armchair that Levy curled up in during the day and read in, sat a hulking blond with a lightning shaped scar named Laxus, and his green-haired partner, Freed, sat tucked into his side. On a beanbag sat Jellal with a heavily intoxicated Erza trying to sing the duet from Phantom of the Opera with Lucy (which was something they were all unfortunately used to by then).

On the overly large L-shaped lounge (that they were all thankful for), Gajeel and Levy were curled up at one end under one blanket with Levy on the verge of spilling her wine everywhere; Rogue and Sting sitting on either side of a very, very drunk Lucy and under another blanket, all cuddled up together; Bickslow sitting on the ground directly in front of Lucy with her legs resting over his shoulders, and all of the cats (including the three that he – er, Lucy – owned) resting on him and using him as a pillow and bed; and, an equally as drunk Cana on the other side of Sting and giggling just as much as Lucy, Levy, and Sting were.

Wendy was tucked into the corner with her bowl of popcorn and apple juice; Natsu and Gray were spread out and lounging over each other and constantly complaining about the other's body temperature on the other side of the lounge; and then, Cobra sitting cross-legged just next to them and snickering to himself with a sharpie in his hand as he drew all over Midnight's face, who was unfortunately – but not unusually – fast asleep on the chaise at the end.

All night and well into the early hours of the morning, all they did was drink, laugh, eat, and watch movies, or entire seasons of shows if they were short enough. Then, come morning (or afternoon, depending on when they all woke up), Gajeel would cook up the world's best breakfast, brunch, or lunch, depending on the time, and they would just continue to enjoy their end-of-week ritual that unfortunately only came once a month.

They were each other's family, and if it hadn't been for Lucy, it wouldn't have even been like that at all. None of them could imagine things being any different though, and they were all sure they'd miss the days where their once-a-month movie nights were a rare occasion, but they'd cross that bridge when they got it.

For now, though, they would just enjoy it, because that was where they all wanted to be on the first Friday of every month, and none of them would change it for the world.


A/Ns: Ah, so I hope you liked this. It's short, and obviously set towards the end/middle of their storyline. I just thought it was a nice place to start, and it's short and sweet. Or, well... I think it is.

I'll probably have the next chapter (I'm not telling you who it is either, hehe) up pretty soon, but like the rest of my stories, there'll be no set update time. It will happen when it happens.

If you liked it, let me know!

Until next time.

- April