Author's Note: Hi everyone! Chattrekisses here, with my first ever fanfiction, so constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged! I hope you enjoy the first chapter, I expect to be posting regularly, probably twice a month. And if you liked something, or want me to change something, please leave a review or PM me, it will help to keep me writing! XOXO, and on with the story.

Lucy wasn't exactly happy, but she had nowhere else to go.

When her father had told her she was going to have to marry the most womanizing person she had ever had the displeasure of meeting, Loke, she nodded, then went straight to her room and packed two old suitcases of her mother's with clothes and her lifesavings, and an address written on a notecard, and left her father's estate through the front door. No one stopped her.

Now she stood on the front porch of her mother's only living relative, preparing to beg Aquarius to let her live with her until she could figure something out, even though she couldn't pay. But before she could muster the courage to knock on the door though, it was thrown open by a skimpily clad woman with blue hair. As soon as she saw Lucy, she covered her mouth, agasp.

"Holy shit."

And then Aquarius enveloped her with a hug.

Aquarius owned and ran a kind of group of homes for kids who went to Fairy Tail High, a school in the area, but couldn't afford to buy places by themselves or didn't live with their parents.

Lucy had only met her aunt a couple of times because her father didn't like Aquarius, so she didn't know much about her aunt. But as Aquarius served the girl a mug of Constant Comment tea, which happened to be Lucy's favorite, she realized she had a lot in common with her aunt. For one, they both rejected being the pawns of their rich fathers who wanted to expand their empires, they both valued independence, and they both were caring people, even if they had different ways of showing it. Lucy was very open with her affections, while Aquarius didn't show them often.

"So," said Aquarius. "Why did you really leave?"

Lucy nibbled her lower lip. "My father said I would have to marry the most awful creep I've ever met, for business expansion purposes, so I left. It's as simple as that. I'm surprised he even noticed I was gone."

"Sweetheart, he...didn't exactly notice. One of the maids phoned me after she went to check on you last week. " Aquarius leaned forward, her forearms on her knees, looking at the girl who sipped her tea sadly.

"I should've guessed. Even if I did die, he'd probably forget the funeral." Lucy twirled her finger in the tea, and a few droplets splashed over the sides.

"Lucy…" Aquarius surveyed the girl, who had started sniffling, and then sighed. "How would you like to stay with me for a while? I have an extra cottage, and you can stay there for a couple of weeks and go to Fairy Tail-"

"Fairy Tail?"

"It's a school in the area, I'm friends with the higher-ups and I can probably get you in, even though it's a couple of weeks into the school year. You can stay free of charge for a few weeks, and if you need to stay longer you can get a part-time job to pay. I won't tell anyone I know that you're here, but...your father might suspect."

"He won't. He, um, doesn't think I know you exist, but I have one of mom's diaries from right before she died, and it had your address in it." Lucy said. "But, that sounds wonderful, me staying here. Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! I can't even tell you how bad the last couple of weeks have been, I ended up using almost my entire lifesavings trying to get train tickets to Magnolia, and I swear I think this guy was following me, and I haven't had a shower in… in way too long."

Aquarius barked out a laugh. "That can be fixed. You can probably get one of the girl's to lend you some clean clothes too."

"One of the girls?"

"One of the high school girls who lives here. There's Levy, Juvia, Erza, and Mirajane. And Wendy, but she's younger. And the boys, Gajeel, Gray, and Natsu. Maybe you can have all the girls over, and you can meet them? Ooo, you should have a house-warming welcome party, meet all your neighbors! I can't come though, I have a hot date with my hot boyfriend."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Okay." She stood up, setting her tea on a side table. She looked at Aquarius who was lounging on her chair. "Are you going to show me my umm… cottage?"

Aquarius raised an eyebrow, and then tossed her a set of keys, which Lucy struggled to catch. "Go get 'em tiger. Gotta put on the big girl panties sometime." Lucy's eyes shot up at the sudden change of attitude.

Lucy sighed. "Okay." She was certain that she had been through worse on her train-catastrophe-adventure, so she figured meeting her neighbors and having a little party would be a bad thing. She let herself out of Aquarius's house, closing the door behind her, and she looked around. Where were the other houses? Curious, she jogged over to the side of the Aquarius's house, and saw a dirt driveway snaking behind the house.

She followed it until she came to a circular lot, with crappy cars parked around it, and sure enough eight little houses made a ring around the lot. Taking a deep breath, Lucy decided to find and clean up her house before inviting anyone over. She checked the number on the keys, and they had a 4 printed on them in neat script. She sprinted over to the fourth house from the left, and fumbled with the keys until the lock clicked. She opened the door, and it creaked indignantly.

The house's interior was plain, yet nice. The walls were cream, and the floors were dark wood. The front door opened into a living room with a coffee table, a couch, a tv, and two arm chairs, and the room was attached with a small but well-equipped kitchen, with a utilities closet with a washer and dryer in it. Lucy walked up a staircase to the second floor, where there was a bedroom, with a spacious closet and a connecting bathroom.

Lucy smiled and threw her suitcases on the floor, stripped down and walked to the shower, turning it on as high and hot as it could go, then she went and found a towel and some soap under the bathroom sink. She stepped into the shower which had started steaming, and sighed in relief as the hot water trickled down her back.

Lucy recalled when she first met Loke. He had been charming and flirtatious, and he looked positively scrumptious with his spiky orange hair and mischievous smile. But then he had opened his mouth, and Lucy had changed her mind. Loke was the son of a big oil merchant, and his insanely wealthy upbringing made him think he more than all that and a bag of chips (The bag woven of solid gold thread, and the chips laced with the ultra-rare blue saffron lily that only grew on the moon during an apocalypse, because nothing less than the best for Loke.)

Lucy understood why her father wanted her to marry him, his family was almost as wealthy as hers, and it would do wonders for business, but she was fed up being just another way to make money to her father. So, she was here.

Lucy massaged some shampoo in her scalp, attempting to hum to stop from crying again. She had made a choice to leave, and she would make sure it was a good one.

She let her thoughts wander to her new home. So, she lived here now. In a cute little cottage with her neighbors that she couldn't really remember the names of, umm… there was Grease, Gage, Nasty, Wendy's (like the burger!), Ezra, Maryjane, and Lexy? She wondered if they were nice, or as weird as the names she remembered. Hopefully Lexy, Wendy's, Ezra, and Maryjane could lend her some clothes that fit.

Lucy rinsed off and left the shower, wrapping herself up in a towel, and then went to her room to find something semi-decent smelling to wear until further notice. She bent down and unclipped the suitcase, and was about to grab some clothes, when she heard a knocking on her window. She assumed that it was just a tree, but she still went to check. She threw up the blinds and came face-to-face with a boy her age with pink spiky hair, dark eyes, and a huge grin. She stared at him, wondering how in the name of hell he got up to her second-floor window when there was no foliage of any sort to climb, and nothing nearly tall enough to reach near here.

"So you're the new girl. Nice to meet you, I'm Natsu." Natsu said. "I wasn't expecting to meet you in a towel though." He gave her a cheeky grin, but he, like a gentlemen, seemed to be fighting the impulse to stare at Lucy's mostly uncovered figure.

Lucy stared at him, looked down at her skimpily clad self, and screamed bloody murder.

Author's note: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter everyone! Please drop a review if you liked (or didn't, so I know what to change), and I'll post another chapter soon. Also, drop a review or PM if you think I should make the exceeds (Happy, Lily, and Carla) magical in this story, because I'm pretty sure it's going to be a no-magic story otherwise.

Kisses,

Chattre