Chapter 1

The smell of coffee beans wafts into the air of the small coffee shop as Lucy work. The bell attached to the door rings, signaling that someone has just walked in. However, Lucy doesn't look up and continues making a caramel macchiato for a customer. She then hands the finished drink to a regular named Ashley. Lately, most of the employees have been sick, so Lucy was usually stuck working at the coffee shop by herself, but she still enjoys working at the shop.

Lucy glances out the glass window to see that snow was starting to fall more heavily, knowing more people would come in soon to stay warm. She walks to the counter to take the next customer's order. Lucy is greeted by a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, just like her. The strangest feature, however, was his hair color. His hair was a bright pink that was lightly dusted with snow. She decided to ignore the unusual color and simply take his order.

"Hello! What would you like?"

"One hazelnut macchiato please."

"Coming right up, what's your name?"

"Natsu."

"That will be 3 dollars."

Natsu hands her the money. Lucy then waits for the receipt to print and hands it to him. She starts making the drink that she had memorized from working at the shop for 5 years now. After adding the hazelnut syrup in a swirl, she covers the hot drink with a lid and gives it to Natsu. He takes the drink and takes a sip from the cup with a content look in his face. Lucy smiles, also content with his satisfaction, and starts to walk to resume her work.

"Lucy?" Natsu asks.

Lucy stunned from the fact that he bothered to take a look at her name tag and how natural her name sounded when he said it, she replies, "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Your hair looks really nice."

Lucy was taken back from the bold statement as well as flustered as she took a step back, but still replied.

"Thank you."

She then caught herself staring the man's hair, unfortunately Natsu saw her peeking.

"My hair is naturally like this and it's salmon not pink," explained Natsu.

"What kind of genes gave you pink hair?" questioned Lucy, who was certainly bewildered.

"My dad, his name is Igneel. He has red hair, while my mom, Grandine, has sky blue hair," he paused, "So I guess that makes pink hair?" said Natsu, not fully aware how he got his pink hair either.

"But doesn't red and blue create purple when mixed together?" Lucy countered.

"Well, what about your hair?" Natsu tried to object.

"Both my parents have blonde hair, but I get my bright blonde hair from my mom. Also blonde is a normal and common color unlike pink." replied Lucy.

Natsu was about to reply, but was abruptly cut off by another customer.

The customer said quite rudely, "Excuse me! When can I place my order? I've been waiting for years!"

"Shut up, iceass!" yelled Natsu.

"I don't take crap from you, you pyromaniac!" retorted the ink-haired customer.

Lucy, surprised by the change of language, whipped her head back and forth between Natsu and the new stranger. She curiously asked, "Do you guys know each other in some sort of way?"

"Sadly." replied Natsu, signaling that there wasn't too much friendliness between the two.

"Oh, okay, but I have to return to work now. It was nice to meet and talk to you." said Lucy.

It was actually the first conversation with a customer that went beyond the basic small talk and she definitely enjoyed it. Natsu then went to find a seat to enjoy his delicious hot coffee and watch the snow silently fall. She then walked back to the front counter to take the next customer's order who apparently knows Natsu. Lucy found out that the stranger's name was Gray and quickly finished making his coffee.

As Lucy moved onto the next customer, she could see out of the corner of her eye that Natsu and Gray had already started bickering. She found this funny and snickered to herself while preparing another lady's beverage. Lucy worked until about 7:30 PM and started to clean up the coffee shop to prepare for closing. Although she worked exhausting hours, making coffee was one of her favorite passions.

Everybody was beginning to leave the coffee shop, but Lucy saw that Natsu was asleep on one of the tables, his coffee yet to be finished. She approached him and shook him for a bit while calling out his name a couple times. Natsu finally regained consciousness.

"Sorry for bothering you, but the coffee made me even more sleepy. I was exhausted because I was unpacking my stuff at my apartment building," with a smile he added, "I'll help you clean up the shop though." explained Natsu.

Lucy nodded in response, appreciating his help. The two started wiping down the tables and putting chairs up while talking again.

"Did you move from somewhere outside of Magnolia?" questioned Lucy.

"No, I lived in east Magnolia. I came here to find a new job. How about you?" said Natsu.

"Well, I used to live in west Magnolia. How do you know Gray anyways?" asked Lucy.

"I went to the same schools and college as the fricking stripper. I will never consider him a friend though, more like an enemy. " replied Natsu with a bitter face.

"We're almost done. You can leave, I just have to do some other things then lock up the shop." Lucy told Natsu.

He nodded and continued to gather his things to leave. After ten minutes, Lucy was done with work. She then changed from her uniform to her normal clothes and proceeded to lock up the cafe.

She usually walked home, since her apartment building was only fifteen minutes away. Luckily, she brought her boots today, just in case there was snow. Lucy loved the snow crunching beneath her boots.

In a short period of time, she arrived at her apartment. Lucy took the elevator up to the third floor. In the elevator, she remembered that someone had just moved into the apartment complex across from her. Lucy thought about going to greet the neighbor tonight and bring some leftover cookies that she baked over the weekend, another one of her hobbies.

Lucy took out her key and pushed it into the door lock, then pushing the door open was greeted by the welcoming scent of strawberries. Although it was lonely at times, living alone did have its perks, such as no one invading her privacy. She took off her coat and hung it on a hook while slipping into warm slippers after pulling off her boots. Lucy put her bag down on the table.

Lucy poured some boiling water into her favorite cup and put a teabag in it, waiting for the flavor to seep into the water. She walked to the living room and turned on the television, about to watch the news while she made dinner.

Before Lucy could turn up the volume of the television, she heard some strange noises coming outside her door. She went to open the door, there she found a blue cat outside scratching her door. Lucy was about to pick the cat up, but she bumped into someone and fell down clumsily.

She then heard a strangely familiar voice say to her, "I'm sorry for making you fall," he laughed, "and that my cat was bothering you, but I hope we can become friendly neighbors."