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Enjoy! :)

(The words written in italics are Lucy's thoughts)

Lucy cleared her throat and looked around herself, wondering how in the sweet heaven of chocolate had she ended up in a situation as awkward as this one. Sitting in front of her, at one of the many tables in the coffee shop, was Gray. Naked. Literally naked.

When they left his house, or more like when he and Natsu tagged along uninvited, they both put their shirts back on. By the time they had arrived at their destination, somehow, Gray's shirt was missing again. At some point he went to the bathroom and when he came back he wasn't wearing any pants. And now… he was covering his dingly dong with a napkin.

Lucy could feel heat creeping up her neck to her cheeks and she tried her best to avoid looking in Gray's direction. She glanced at Cana and saw that she was staring without any shame at Gray and making all sorts of sounds and faces like she was ready to devour the guy.

Lucy kicked her leg under the table and glared at her.

Cana jumped out of her daze and chuckled when she noticed how red Lucy's face was. "Oh don't be a baby, Lucy. Enjoy the view. I sure do." She said and winked at Gray, who in return took another napkin from the table and covered himself even better, wondering where the fuck had all of his clothes disappear.

"So…" Natsu started saying, getting everyone's attention, tired of Gray being the centre of it. Everything between them had to be a competition. That's how it had been ever since the first time they had met. "Tell us something interesting about you, Lucy."

Lucy's face got even redder. She had hoped that they would talk about anything else other than her. She really wasn't an interesting person. She had the brains for studying and that was pretty much where the list ended. She was boring. Her life was boring.

"Uhm… well…" Nothing came to mind and Lucy mentally face-palmed herself. "I… write?" Her answer sounded more like a question and that made Natsu chuckle.

"Write? Like stories and stuff?" Natsu leaned on his elbow on the table, and focused all of his attention on her. Gray was busy looking around for his clothes, Cana was even more busier trying to take a glimpse of what was hiding under his napkins, and Levy was furiously texting someone.

Lucy nodded and started playing with her fingers under the table. "Yeah, stories and stuff like that."

She didn't know why, but Natsu made her feel shy. She had never really been a shy person. Sure, she wasn't the most out-going person either, but definitely somewhere in the middle. However, with Natsu, she felt strangely inferior. He had that colourful vibe, the one that screamed "I'm the best at everything I do and everyone loves me."

"Tell me more about it. Are you working on something now?" Natsu asked and Lucy lifted her head to look at him. Was he really interested, or was he simply making conversation? Her heart fluttered for a second the moment her eyes met his curious ones. He really wanted to know. He wasn't just being polite, she could see it in his eyes.

Lucy smiled and stopped fidgeting with her fingers. She moved her chair just a little to face him even better and propped her elbows on the table. "Yes, I actually am. It's just a short story that somehow resembles my life at the moment."

Natsu mimicked her action and scooted his chair closer to hers,. He gave her a cheeky grin, "What? The character in your story becomes the sister of an idiot as well?"

Grey turned his head and glared at Natsu "Hey, I heard that!"

Lucy chuckled and finally started to loosen up. Natsu and Gray were kinda cool at first glance. She found herself looking forward to getting to know them even better.

"Shut up, striper!" Natsu turned to glare at him and Gray almost forgot that he was completely naked and was about to stand up and start a fight with Natsu, when the soon-to-be-brawl was stopped short by Levy's sudden outburst.

"Oh Gajeel, you uncultured swine!" She stood up and hit the table with her small palm, while she was clutching the phone with her other hand. Everyone (lucky them that it wasn't a busy day for that cafe and that not too many people were witnessing their craziness) stopped what they were doing and looked at the blunette girl and for a second Lucy could picture her being a character in an anime that had smoke coming out of her ears. She bit her lip to stop a chuckle from escaping and took a deep breath before she asked her friend what was going on.

"Levy, are you okay? What's going on?" she asked and that seemed to bring the small girl back to reality. A small blush covered her cheeks and she sat back down quietly, chewing on her lower lip in embarrassment.

"No-nothing…" Levy squeaked, and covered her face with her palms.

"Did you say Gajeel?" Gray asked, with a small -almost easy to miss- smirk at the corner of his lips. "I know a Gajeel."

Levy's red face got ten shades darker and she dropped her head on the table with a loud bang, making everyone turn to look in their direction again.

"Yes, she said Gajeel." Cana answered for her, with a smirk of her own. Cana and Lucy knew about Levy's on-again-off-again relationship with an older guy named Gajeel. Apparently he was some sort of badass gang leader, with lots of piercings and tattoos all around his body, that had a heart of gold and honey when it came to Levy. The story starts when Levy kept getting harassed at school by two of his men and they put her in the hospital. Gajeel found out and beat the life out of the two boys and kept visiting her in the hospital, slowly falling in love with her. However, his crazy lifestyle usually got in the way of their love, and they would fight and make up all the time.

"That stupid metal face?" Natsu asked with his eyebrows furrowed. Man, he hated that guy. They had been classmates in high school and they would constantly piss each other off and get into fights all day long.

"Yes." Levy groaned, with her head still placed on the cold surface of the table.

"Where is he? Tell him to come here and fight me! I'm all fired up already!" Natsu grinned and fist bumped the air. As much as he hated the guy, the fights with him were really satisfying. The guy was strong, Natsu had to give him that. He would always keep him on alert during the fights, and Natsu loved it, because then he would have to give it all to win the fight. And there wasn't anything that Natsu loved more than to win. Anything. He just has to win at anything. That was the bet he made with himself for the rest of his life.

"Easy, firecracker." Grey rolled his eyes and slapped the back of Natsu's head.

Natsu turned to glare at his frenemy (friend-enemy. Natsu would never admit that he and Gray were friends-friends). "You wanna go, ice bucket?"

Lucy only knew the guys for a couple of hours but she already understood that the constant fighting between the two was a normal thing so she didn't even pay attention to them anymore, instead she turned to look at her two friends.

She placed a comforting hand on Levy's slumped shoulder and patted it gently. "Don't worry Levy, I'm sure that you'll work it out with Gajeel. After all, you'll have to bring him to my father's wedding as your plus one. You too Cana, I expect that you'll bring that half-asian cutie you've been talking to lately. What was his name again, Bacchus?"

"Yes, Bacchus." Cana grinned, with no sign of blushing, in comparison to Levy who was still red from before.

"Talking about the wedding…" Lucy started and mentally scolded herself for almost forgetting to ask the girls. "Ur, my father's future wife was hoping that the three of us, along with her daughter, could be the bridesmaids."

"Sure, I'm in." Cana answered with no hesitation and they both looked at Levy, waiting for her answer. The blunette nodded eagerly, forgetting about her conversation with Gajeel. She absolutely loved weddings. In fact, she had always hoped to become a wedding planer when she'll be older.

While the girls started talking about what they will wear, Gray and Natsu finished bickering and were talking quietly in their corner.

"So what do you think about your future step-sister?" Natsu asked and playfully hit Gray in the stomach with his elbow.

Gray glared at him for the millionth time that day and flicked his forehead. "I told you to stop being a pervert. She's going to be my sister, and you'll be dead before you make a move on her."

"Oh screw you man! She's hot and interesting. She may seem like lollipops and rainbows, but I bet behind closed doors she's latex and whips."

"You're sick." Gray deadpanned. "And disgusting."

"And you're thinking the same thing I do, you just can't say it out loud, since you're the big brother now."

"I hate you." was all Gray could say and he started shaking his head. Natsu burst out laughing and slapped Gray's shoulder.

"I hate you more." He gave Gray one of his trademark smirks before he zoned in on the girls' conversation. Thy were saying something about some stupid dresses that he didn't care about, unless they put Lucy's long legs on display.

Natsu watched her moves carefully. The way she smiled gracefully like a little lady, not showing too much teeth, with her small mouth slightly open. Her pretty nose up in the air, with her back straight and a good posture. The smallest amount of make up on her face, which helped to make her chocolate eyes pop lovely.

In less words, she was beautiful. He could not deny that. She was elegant, delicate, alluring and Natsu had no fucking idea why he even knew those words, let alone what made him describe her like that.

But there was something about her that spoke directly to him. He sure as hell wasn't going to listen to ice-ass Gray and stay away from her. Natsu was set on getting to know everything there was to know about her.

"You're going to be a bridesmaid?" He interrupted their conversation. Lucy turned to look at him and nodded.

"Awesome! I was asked to be a groomsmen since Gray is going to be your father's best man."

Lucy was glad to hear that. Maybe with her friends and Natsu and Gray she won't feel so bad to be at that wedding. Everything was going to be just fine. Maybe her father was right and she could make some great friends and create unforgettable memories with them.

"Ugh! Please don't remind me man!" Gray sighed and buried his head in his palms. Lucy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Did he hate the idea of his mother getting re-married or what?

She was about to ask him about it when Natsu's burst of laughter interrupted her. He was throwing his head back and roaring with laughter, slapping Gray's back.

"You're a dick, Dragneel!" Gray groaned and stood up, holding the napkins to cover his down-south-assets but totally forgot to cover his behind too. The moment he stood up and turned his back to the table, Cana slapped his ass so hard Lucy could swear that even the people outside the coffee shop heard it.

His face turned into the darkest shade of red and he bolted out of the cafe, leaving everyone else inside to laugh their asses off. Natsu officially decided that he adored Cana and high-fived her, still shaking his head with laughter.

When the laughter finally died, Lucy turned to Natsu. "So why was Gray so upset about the wedding?"

His face split into a huge, mischievous grin. "He isn't upset about the wedding in itself. He was asked by his mother to do a speech during the ceremony. And he's pretty much scared shitless of speaking in front of that many people."

Lucy chuckled and mentally prayed that her father won't ask her to do that as well, because she had no freaking idea what she could possibly say about a wedding that she wasn't glad to be part of.

Silence took over their table. Levy went back to texting Gajeel, this time with a smile from ear to ear, meaning that they fixed the issues and were back on good terms. Cana was off at the bar, sweet-talking the bartender trying to get herself some free drinks with the help of her curvaceous body that was on full display (thanks to the denim shorts and bikini top she was wearing). Natsu was also texting someone before he suddenly stood up, startling Lucy.

"I have to go. Here's my share, and my number." He scrabbled the number on a napkin before handing it to Lucy with a wink and he left without another word.

It did make Lucy a little bit curious but she paid no mind to it. She didn't know the guy so it was none of her business why he left so suddenly.

A soft blush covered her cheeks as she stared down at the paper in her hand. Why did he give her his number? Was he… interested in her?

No, it couldn't be that. They've just met. He was probably just being friendly. Yeah, that had to be it.

But… why didn't he give his numbers to Levy and Cana? Maybe he was expecting her to give it to them?

Oh, damn it. Lucy sucked at the whole "boys" chapter.

Finishing up the details about what they were going to wear at the wedding, the girls said goodbye and each left to their own house. It got pretty late and it was almost dark so Lucy tried her best to remember the way back home without opening the GPS on her phone. Her mother had warned her to never walk at night with the phone out, because it was dangerous.

She had half a mind to ignore the protective voice of her mother at the back of her mind, and just take her phone off to call her dad so he could pick her up from wherever the hell she was.

Or, maybe, she could call Natsu. Would that be awkward?

"Yup," she spoke out loud, popping the p "totally awkward."

Great, now she was talking to herself and making the people around give her weird looks. Oh screw it!

She fished in the bag for the phone and dialled the new number that was saved in the phone. His number.

Calling it his number made it even more awkward that the awkwardest awkward.

Awkwardest awkward?! Lucy, get a fucking grip!

Before she could scold herself even more, the person on the other line picked up and a husky "Hello." made its way from Lucy's ear, down her spine all the way to the tips of her toes.

She was lame. That was the only word she could use to describe herself at the moment. She's known the guy for, like, what? 5-6 hours? And she was getting shivers down her spine from simply hearing his voice over the phone?

"Hello? You there?" Natsu's voice sounded again from the other line and she hit her forehead with the back of her palm. Great, now she seemed like a creepy stalker that calls the victim and doesn't say anything.

That's why you never get a boyfriend Lucy, you're a weirdo.

"Yes, sorry, I'm here. I got distracted by a…" Lucy looked around herself trying to find something plausible that could've distracted her. "A stone…"

Laughter burst from Natsu's end and Lucy wished that there was a hole right in front of her that could swallow her whole. A fucking stone? And you call yourself smart, Lucy…

"I suppose that you're Lucy, right?" He assumed with amusement in his voice.

"Yeah." She answered, but was currently wishing that she wasn't Lucy.

"You're such a weirdo."

Tell me about it. "Yeah, thanks for noticing."

"So, I wasn't ecxpecting to hear from you so soon." Natsu admitted.

Lucy started playing with her hair as she tried her best to put together what she was about to say so she won't sound like a scared little girl. "I wasn't going to call you." She cringed at the unnecessary harsh tone she used and hurried to continue before he got the wrong idea. "But it got dark and I can't really remember the way back to the house so I just wanted someone to keep me some company while I try to find the freaking house."

"Oh yeah, I remember being new in town and trying to find my way around and getting lost all the time. Don't worry, you'll be fine in like a month and you'll know the town perfectly."

"I know most of it, I've been here before with a student exchange program in my first year of highschool. But Gray's house is in the opposite side of the town from where I'd lived then."

"That sounds interesting. What highschool did you go to?" he asked curiously.

"Fairy Tail High."

"That was my highschool. Can you believe it? Maybe we've even met before." He chuckled but something caught Lucy's attention. Was his highschool? So he's older than her? It just now occurred to her that she forgot to ask Gray how old he was. She just assumed that they were the same age.

"Wait, how old are you?" Lucy asked and was relieved to see Ur's house at the end of the street. Even though her communication skills might be lame, but her memory was perfect.

"I'm 20, you?"

"18." 18 years, 3 months and 21 days, but who's counting, right?

Lucy opened the front door and smiled at her father, who was sitting on the couch with Gray. "Listen, Natsu, I just got home, so I've got to hang up, but thanks for accompanying me."

"Sure thing Luce. Any time." The call ended and Lucy made her way to the couch, sitting between her father and her soon-to-be-step-brother.

"Lucy, perfect timing. We were just talking about the speech that Gray has to do at the wedding." Her father announced happily, while Gray groaned quietly next to her.

Jude continued, "I was thinking that, maybe, if you'd like to, you could do it together with him. What do you say?"

Lucy's eyes widened and she turned to look at Gray. His face was pale and he looked like he was about to die just from thinking about that damn speech. She patted his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"Sure, Gray and I will do it together."

Gray's face softened and he breathed out relieved. In the meantime Lucy mentally hit herself right in the face with a chair for accepting the damn thing. What was she going to say?!