I love modern AU's so much, you don't understand. (●´艸｀)ヾ
I had lots of fun writing this because Nalu makes me want to explode.
Thank you everyone for reviewing, faving, and following. I didn't expect this many people to enjoy this story! And just everyone's compliments make me want to hug you all. ;u; Thank you so much for reading this story.
"Happy Friday!" Levy cheered as Lucy logged on after school.
"Happy Friday," she replied.
Lucy had completed her first week of being with her new online friends. She got along with everyone, except Gajeel, and enjoyed speaking to everyone. She was no longer cautious around them; she was herself. Lucy felt herself start to favor speaking online more than speaking in person, although she did someday want to meet everyone in the group.
She had heard everyone's voice, excluding Natsu. His microphone had yet to start working and Lucy felt dissatisfied. She had never told him that she wanted to hear his voice, but despite that she wondered. Why was it that she couldn't hear the voice she wanted to hear most?
"Ah, it feels great to not have to do homework," Gray wallowed in content.
"I do my homework on Friday," Lucy said.
"Me too," Levy agreed.
"I do mine on Saturday," Erza spoke.
"Do you get homework?" Gray asked.
"Not really," she replied.
"You're bragging, aren't you?" he asked another question.
"Yes," Erza responded.
"Well, I do mine on Sunday," Gray said, Natsu and Gajeel siding with him.
"Boys," Levy ridiculed.
"My middle name is Procrastination," Natsu joked.
"And who wants to do homework when we just got out of school for two days?" Gray added.
"It's a waste of time," Gajeel included.
After some arguing, boys against girls, Erza took a stand.
"We all agree to disagree, right?"
"Yes!" The rest of the group yelped.
Time flew before Lucy's eyes. She wasn't tired yet but it was late. Lucy started to feel joy; this was what it was like to stay up late and talk to people online.
A beep rang from the website and Lucy noticed a new tab on the bottom of the chat. She clicked on it.
"Erza and Lucy. Let's talk about boys," Levy said bluntly.
"Sure," Erza replied.
"Okay," Lucy typed hesitantly.
"What's your favorite thing about a guy?" Levy questioned.
"His humor," Lucy answered.
"His intelligence," Erza responded.
"What if you met your dream man but he wasn't intelligent?" Levy challenged.
"I have already met my dream man," Erza simply beat the question.
"You have?" Lucy asked.
"Yes," Erza replied shortly, shyness starting to creep up.
"How did you meet him?" Levy inquired.
"He is my neighbor," she informed.
"Wow," Lucy and Levy said together.
"What's his name?" Levy interrogated.
"Jellal."
"How often do you see him?" Lucy asked.
"I see him when I get the mail," Erza answered.
"How romantic!" Levy proclaimed.
"He doesn't know I like him," she confessed.
"You should tell him," Levy advised. "If I met my dream man in real life, I'd hug him as much as I could."
"Do you and Gajeel plan to meet?" Lucy typed excitedly.
"I want to meet him after I graduate," she responded.
"Why not before?" Erza asked.
"I don't think my parents would let me go if I was still in school," Levy revealed.
"So you have to wait one more year to meet him," Lucy realized while sending the message.
"A year and a half," Levy corrected. "I graduate in June and right now it's December."
"Sounds like a pain," Lucy felt bad for her friend.
"It does," Erza agreed.
"So, Lucy," Levy begun. "Do you like anyone?"
"No," Lucy typed, but didn't send the message just yet. A beep had distracted her, she looked at the new blinking tab. It was the chat with Natsu and her.
"Why aren't you talking?" he inquired.
"I'm talking to Levy and Erza," Lucy replied. "Why?"
"I was worried," Natsu sent.
Lucy's face became a fierce red. She smacked her cheeks lightly to regain her composure. Swiftly switching to the chat with Levy and Erza, she deleted her word.
"I might," she sent her message to the girls.
"You like Natsu, don't you?" Erza predicted.
"How did you know?" Lucy asked shocked.
"Natsu has talked about you for a couple of weeks," Levy said.
Lucy's eyes widened at the message. She always assumed he noticed her when he drew for her. She thought he didn't even know she existed before that.
"I don't know," Lucy had difficulty typing the words out. "When I talk to him I feel so happy and I get this feeling in my chest. Ever since he drew on that website a month ago I couldn't stop watching him. What if I'm thinking I like him when it's actually just admiration?" Lucy felt out of breath; her heart beating so loud she could hear it in her ears.
"Who are you talking about?" a message displayed itself on the chat.
Lucy's hand froze on top of her mouse. Was she actually seeing the correct name? How could she make such a mistake?
"Natsu," Lucy typed slowly. She quickly typed the last part, backing out of what she just said. "I wasn't talking about anybody."
"Are you talking about the website we met on?" Natsu asked.
"I have to go to bed," Lucy retreated.
"Wait, Lucy," Natsu said.
"Goodnight, everyone," Lucy told the group and logged off.
She slammed her laptop shut and sat in her room being illuminated by a lamp. Miss. Spetto had gone to sleep hours ago so Lucy couldn't leave her room.
It was the middle of the night, the only reasonable thing to do was sleep. The idea didn't work out for Lucy as she spent two hours forcing her eyelids to stay shut.
"I messed up, didn't I?" she spoke to herself. "How could he like a girl he has known for only a week?"
After looking around her dark room, she heaved herself up. She wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon, so she went to the place that would surely make her feel better. Her comforting drawing website.
She didn't think Natsu was on; it was too late. As Lucy pressed the first letter in the URL bar and hit enter, a relief feeling surfaced in her. He wasn't on.
Lucy watched the artist draw and talk to each other. This was how it always used to be, but she was bored. As she was about to give into sleep, a new user was listed on the artists online. Natsu.
She gulped while staring at the name. Usually, Natsu would instantly talk. He was silent but his username screamed to Lucy. At last Lucy received a message from the individual chat.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked her.
"I can say the same thing to you," she replied.
"It's only one in the morning here," the next message said.
"Oh, that's right," Lucy remembered. "I forget about time zones."
Lucy had the urge to bite her nails. She felt so anxious that she kept typing the wrong letters.
"About earlier.." Natsu spoke.
"Please forget it," she begged.
"I don't want you to feel awkward when you talk to me," he declared.
"I don't want you to feel awkward when you talk to me," Lucy retorted.
"Then I'll pretend to forget," he responded.
"Why won't you really forget it?" she questioned.
"I don't want to," he answered.
Lucy didn't think she could blush at three in the morning but here she was. Natsu noticed the pause in the messages.
"Want to stay up all night with me?"
"Until when?" she asked.
"Until sunrise," he said.
"Our sunrise is at different times," Lucy reminded him.
"Then stay up with me until your sunrise," he planned out.
"I hope I don't fall asleep on you," she told him.
"I hope you don't either," he replied.
"What's it like in Magnolia?" Lucy decided to start the topic of the conversation first.
"Loud," he said.
"Do you live in the city?" she asked, thinking about all the soaring skyscrapers crowded around each other.
"Yeah. Nobody sleeps here," he said. "What's it like in Acalypha?"
"Quiet," she typed, realizing that it was incredibly quiet. There was no breaking news about Acalypha on TV. The TV only reported news from other towns nearby.
"How many cows do you see walking on the streets?" he inquired with complete seriousness.
Lucy laughed, "I don't live in the country. I live in the suburbs."
The two spoke to each other about where they lived. Lucy found out that he lived in an apartment in the city and attended a private school. She felt more eager with each fact Natsu told her; they lived in the same country but were in two opposite environments. It was unbelievable.
And of course, Lucy told facts about herself. She was glad that Natsu was the first person to know about her online. She was happy it was him.
"The sun is coming up," Lucy said as her room slowly became flooded with a dim light.
"Does your computer have a camera?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Take a picture of it," he said.
"How will I show you the picture?"
"You see the camera icon beside the send box? If you click it, you can pick a picture from your files and send it through here," he explained.
"Give me a minute," Lucy typed and raised herself from her chair.
Her window had the perfect view of the sunrise but Lucy couldn't figure out how to take the picture. The camera was at the front of the screen. There was only one way.
She picked up her laptop and held it in her arms. The webcam was already opened so all Lucy had to do was stretch her arm and press the enter key to take the picture. She stood by her window and held the laptop on her left arm. The sun was just about to peek out from the horizon. As soon as the sun rised, Lucy leaned in and pushed the enter key. Although the stance she was in was ridiculous, she was content that she got the picture for him.
Lucy did what Natsu sent earlier—clicking the camera icon and finding the picture. She sent it and a small version of the picture showed itself on the chat. She clicked on it and it grew to the actual size of the picture. Looking at the picture, she was actually proud. It was a good shot, but something at the edge of the picture caught her eye.
"You have blonde hair?" was the first thing Natsu asked.
"I can't believe my hair showed," Lucy said in disbelief. Not only was part of her hair visible, but her chin was, too. There was a hint of her smile also being shown.
"It's nice," he complimented. "You'd be surprised at what color my hair is."
"What color?" she questioned.
"Not saying," he replied slyly.
"No fair!" she exclaimed.
Some arguing later, Lucy's body gradually began to shut down.
"It was fun staying up with you," she admitted.
"It was," he said.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Lucy typed.
"Don't you mean later today?"
"Oh, right. I'll talk to you later today," she fixed her mistake.
"Goodnight," Natsu responded.
"Don't you mean good morning?" Lucy typed with a grin.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning," she replied. Her cursor was exactly above the log off button. She clicked it but was able to catch Natsu's last message.
"Talking to you makes me happy, too."