The week went by in a blur. Helen was still giving me the cold shoulder and Levy was avoiding me more than ever. She would sneak out of school to spend lunch with Gajeel and kept her new seat at the front of the class room. But I found friendship in Mira and Lisanna. They took me under their wing and welcomed me in to their group. Thursday night I even had dinner at their house with Cana and Juvia. They were so excited about the camp out. They would talk about what pyjamas they were going to wear and what snacks to bring, but mainly what tricks they would play on the boys. I must admit I was pretty excited too. I'd only ever camped out with my parents at a local camp site, so camping with friends out in the wild sounded like a whole lot of fun. When the school bell finally rang for the end of the day on Friday I almost squealed with excitement. I just had to get acting class out of the way and then I could head home and pack my things for the weekend. I gathered my books and chucked them in my bag then headed down the corridor with everyone else. The acting class room was in sight and I was nearing it's entrance, when I was suddenly grabbed by my wrists and pulled to one side.

"Lulu, you're coming with us!" Mira demanded as her and Lisanna stood before me, still holding on to my wrists.

"But I having acting class." I said.

"You can skip it just this once." Lisanna said.

"I can't you guys."

"Yes, you can. Come on, Lulu. We're going shopping for camping supplies." Mira grinned. It did sound tempting and I had just been thinking that afternoon that I needed to get some camping supplies. I stood there contemplating it for a minute before I finally gave in.

"Oh, okay! Lets go." I said. The three of us ran down the hall and out of the school, giggling as if we were up to no good. We headed to the mall in town and they showed me all their favourite places to shop.

"So, what exactly do we need to get for tonight?" I asked, slightly confused as to why we were entering a fancy looking night wear store.

"Some cute pyjamas." Mira began flicking through a hanger of silky pyjama sets.

"Pyjamas?" I laughed. "I thought we were getting tents and food, you know, important stuff?"

"The guys bring all that stuff." Lisanna shrugged.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not entirely convinced. I didn't like the idea of relying on the guys to bring everything.

"Yep, don't worry, Lulu. It's all organised." Mira smiled.

"Well, okay then." I began looking through the racks myself. I didn't want any of this silky stuff, I wanted something warm and cosy. Lisanna must have felt the same way.

"Hey, Lucy." She called from across the shop. "I think this is more our style." She laughed and I rushed to her side.

"Yeah, I think you're right." I said as I admired the fleecy and colourful array of pyjama sets in front of us. I settled on a baby pink, over-sized jumper and pink flowery leggings. Lisanna also chose an over-sized jumper, except hers was blue and covered in little clouds. Mira, on the other hand, bought a skimpy red vest top with white shorts and knee high socks. Lisanna rolled her eyes as we left the shop, admiring each other's purchases.

"She buys something like that every year." Lisanna said to me. Every year? How many years had they been doing this camp out thing? If they had been doing it for that long, how had I never heard of it until now?

"Mira, you're going to freeze in that." I said.

"That's what Laxus is for, you guys. As soon as I start to look cold he'll wrap his big, warm arms around me." Mira held her carrier bag close to her chest and smiled with excitement. Did she really have to make herself freeze just to get Laxus to hold her? After we finished up our shopping we headed back home. I went back to mine and Mira and Lisanna went back home to their's. It was about five O'clock and I had to be at Mira's house by six so I rushed upstairs to finish my packing. I had a small backpack full of clothes, my wash bag, my phone and headphones, my swimsuit and a torch. I also packed Gray's hoody to give back to him, although I desperately wanted to keep it. My sleeping bag I could carry separately along with a pillow.

"All packed." I said as I zipped up my backpack and flung it over my shoulder. I turned around to leave the room when I was surprised by Helen leaning in my doorway. "You made me jump." I said with a little smile.

"Where are you going?" She asked. She smelt like wine so I guessed she'd just got back from a bar somewhere- she often held her "meetings" at bars. I was beginning to think it was just an excuse for her to drink and gossip with her co-workers.

"I'm going camping with some friends, I was going to call you." I said.

"Oh. Well, that works out quite well actually." She said. Then I heard laughter coming from down stairs.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "And who's that down stairs?"

"A few of my girlfriends from work. We're heading off Milan tonight." She said with a wide smile.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Susanne has a contact in Milan who would apparently love to be a part of our business and he wanted to fly us out to meet with him. So we decided to just make it a little holiday." She said. "I mean, god knows I deserve one."

"Unbelievable." I shook my head and made my way past her. How could she do that? She didn't know I was going camping, she was just going to come home and dump the news on me that she was leaving for Milan. What is with her?

"Lucy, wait." She said and grabbed my arm.

"No, I have to get to Mira's house." I shrugged out of her grip and rushed down the stairs. I could hear her following me close behind.

"What's wrong with you? Come back." She grabbed my arm again and stopped me half way down the stairs. I sighed heavily, trying to remain level headed.

"I can't believe you're leaving me like this, again." I said. But the sad thing was, I could believe it. She was always leaving me, so I was more than used to it by now.

"You're going away, too." She tried to smile but I didn't return the favour.

"But you didn't know that. And I'm only going to be gone for two nights, how long are you gone for?" I asked.

"Five nights." She said. I simply turned around and continued to march down the stairs, shaking my head as I went. "I'll see you when I get back!" She called from the stairs, but I was already closing the door behind me and leaving for Mira's house.

Walking to Mira's house, I felt a mixture of emotions. Excitement was at the forefront but a part of me felt nothing but sad. I knew that after camping I'd just be returning to that big empty house. Why couldn't Helen stay with me? Why did my parent's have to leave me with her?

Mira sat Lisanna and I down in the living room and began pacing the floor in front of us.

"Uh, Mira, is everything okay?" I asked. "I think you're wearing a whole in the floor."

"Okay, girls." Mira turned to us and put her hands on her hips. "As you know, last year the boys got us good with the whole 'Lake Monster' prank."

"Lucy wasn't there remember, Mira?" Lisanna added. As if I wasn't already feeling a little left out, I certainly was now. I hoped there wasn't going to be much talk of last year, since I wasn't even there.

"Right." Mira nodded. "Basically, Lulu, It's our turn to get them back." Mira said with an evil glint in her eyes.

"What did you have in mind?" I grinned.

"Brace yourself, ladies." Mira ran in to the other room with excitement. Lisanna and I began to laugh.

"Is it just me or are you starting to get nervous?" I asked Lisanna with a giggle.

"No, I'm nervous too. Even I have no idea what her plan is." Lisanna said. Mira returned to us then wearing a blood splattered T-shirt. She had something held behind her back but I couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Tada!" She yelled as she showed off her bloodied clothes.

"I don't get it." Lisanna said.

"We're going to make them think we we're attacked by this!" Mira exclaimed as she revealed a giant bear's head to us from behind her back.

"A floating bear head?" Lisanna asked sceptically. Mira rolled her eyes at her sister.

"The rest of the costume is packed away in my suitcase." Mira said. She was taking a suitcase with her? We were only going for two nights. Then again, I guess she needed the room for the bear costume. "I have bloody T-shirts for all of us." She added.

"I like it." I said.

"Thank you, Lulu." Mira said and then shot Lisanna a look.

"I like it too." Lisanna sighed with reluctance.

"Great! Erza has agreed to wear the bear costume and I have an app on my phone that has animal sound effects on it. So I'm thinking, we wait until everyone is asleep, and by everyone I mean the boys, and then we set our plan in motion." Mira tapped her fingers together like an evil genius would. She was sort of scary. I definitely didn't want to ever be on her bad side. There was a knock at the door that made the three of us leap out of our skin.

"That's Laxus, he can't see the bear!" Mira said as she ran upstairs, taking the weird bear head with her.

"I'll get it, then." Lisanna rolled her eyes and answered the door.

"You girls ready?" Laxus asked. He was driving us to the woods.

"Uh, yeah. Mira's just bringing her suitcase down." Lisanna said, moving aside to let Laxus in the house. He spotted me on the sofa and nodded at me, I waved back.

"I should of known she'd be bringing a suitcase. It's a good job the other guys have got the tents in their car." Laxus said. Then Mira appeared at the top of the stairs, hauling her suitcase behind her. Laxus rushed up the stairs and lifted her suitcase with one hand.

"Lets go!" Mira cheered.

It was about a forty-five minute car journey to the woods. The girls said they go to the same spot, near the lake, every year. Which meant we had to park on the outskirts of the woods and walk through an over grown trail to make it to the lake. We stopped at a beautiful clearing that definitely looked large enough to set up camp and the view of the lake was incredible. You could tell people often camped here. There was a burnt patch of ground in the centre of the clearing where people had clearly been burning a fire and big, chunky logs had been placed around it to create seating. There was also a rope swing hanging from one of the trees that you could fly off of and in to the water. Laxus told me that they had been the ones to tie the rope up there a couple years back. Mira had asked Laxus to pack some camping chairs which we set up and sat in while we waited for the others to arrive. After about thirty minutes the others were bustling through the trees. Loke had driven himself, Natsu, Gray and Erza to the woods, along with our tents and all the food. My heart almost stopped as I saw Natsu and Gray emerge through the trees together. I had no idea the two of them knew eachother. Why did it make me nervous be in one place with the two of them? I shook the feeling away and focused on having a good time.

"Lucy, it's good to see you." Erza said as she approached Laxus, Lisanna, Mira and I.

"You too, Erza." I smiled.

"Who's ready for a camp out?" Loke cheered as he held up two crates of beer in either hand.

"Just two crates?" Laxus asked with a raised brow.

"It's all I can carry, there's more in the car." Loke replied, setting the beer down in front of us.

"We've got the tents." Gray said as he and Natsu joined us.

"How many?" Lisanna asked.

"Four two-man tents." Gray replied.

"Well, Laxus and I will be in one." Mira said immediately.

"Lucy and I will share one." Loke said as he made his way behind my chair and placed his hands on my shoulders. This was only the second time I had met this guy, he was so forward. I looked up at Gray and saw his jaw tighten as he watched Loke and I intently.

"Back off, Loke. Lucy's with me." Lisanna said as she swatted his hands away from me.

"Hold on, that means I'll have to share with a boy!" Erza announced with a look of dread.

"Not me." Natsu said with a laugh.

"Not me." Gray added.

"Looks like it's me and you, Erzy baby." Loke said. He was suddenly at Erza's side, slithering his arm around her waist. He sure moves on fast.

"Get away from me." Erza growled.

"Erza will share with us." Lisanna offered.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." I said.

The boys started to unpack the tents and I began to wonder where Levy was. When I asked Mira if Levy was invited she had told me that she was. Don't tell me she wasn't here just because I was.

I felt pretty useless as I watched the boys struggling with the tents. The other girls and I were simply sat around in the camping chairs making a start on the beers while the boys did all the work. In the end the urge to help got too much for me and I jumped up from my chair.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked the boys.

"We've got it." Loke said as he hammered tent pegs in to the ground, I could tell he was doing it wrong but I didn't want to embarrass him.

"You can help me." Natsu suddenly appeared at my side. I jumped back, not expecting to see him there, and let out a little squeal.

"You made me jump." I laughed. "What do you need help with? I thought you were setting up the tents with the other guys."

"Nah, I'm in charge of the fire!" He said with a glint in his eye.

"Oh god." I breathed in horror.

"Come on, I need some help gathering wood." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the camp and through the trees.

"Wait, I need my supplies!" I said as he pulled me further in to the woods.

"Supplies?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, you know. My torch, some rope, a pocket knife. I also brought some matches. Oh, and a compass!" I said confidently.

"Wow, get you." He said with a smirk. "You really came prepared."

"Well, anyone would look prepared compared to you guys." I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You guys's main priority was how much beer you could fit in the car." I said with a little laugh.

"That was Loke and Laxus. Gray and I are serious." Natsu said.

"I'll believe it when I see it." I said with wink.

"Then prepare to be impressed." Natsu grinned.

We walked a little further in to the woods, but not too far since it would be getting dark soon, and began looking for wood. Natsu told me that we didn't want anything too damp, since it wouldn't burn, and that crunchy leaves would be good to for the fire too. After a while of rooting around we had a good collection of twigs to take back to camp. The sun was beginning to set so Natsu wanted to get the fire started as quickly as possible. We traipsed through the trees, jumping over logs and climbing under branches as we went. All was well until my foot suddenly got stuck. I pulled and I pulled but it would not budge. Looking down, I found my Wellington boot deep in a puddle of sludge.

"Uh, Natsu." I called out as he carried on marching ahead.

"Yeah?" He yelled, still walking onwards.

"I need some help."

He stopped immediately, dead in his tracks, and turned around. "What ya' doing, Lucy?" He asked as he made his way back to me.

"My foot is stuck." I moaned and pointed to the sludge that had engulfed my precious Wellington boot.

"Well, take your boot off." He shrugged as he finally made it to my side.

"I can't."

"Look, I know you girls love your shoes but-"

"No, Natsu, I literally can't move my foot at all!" I explained, interrupting him.

"Oh." He said, looking a little worried. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then." He said and then began walking away, back to the camp.

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused, as he disappeared in to the distance. He just kept walking. "Natsu, please! I need your help!" I cried. I dropped my firewood and began tugging at my leg as hard as I possibly could, but to no avail. We hadn't even been camping for two hours and I was already in a tricky situation. I know he wanted to get the fire started before the sun went down but how could he just leave me like this? Tears began to trickle down my cheeks as panic set in.

"I knew I should have brought my supplies. I could have gotten my rope and lassoed a tree and pulled myself out of here like a hero." I grumbled to myself. Then I heard snickering. I looked up to find Natsu stood at my side, trying to hide his amusement. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I was just joking around, of course I wouldn't leave you." He said as he reached out and hand and wiped a tear from my cheek. I blushed as his touch and watched as he bent down and wrapped his arms around my leg. "You ready?" He asked.

"Um, yeah." I took a deep breath and held on to his shoulders for balance. Then, with one big tug, he had pulled me out of the sludge. I was free! He was so strong though that the two of us flew backwards and landed in a muddy heap on the floor. His body was heavy on top of mine, pinning me to the ground. It wasn't for long though. He sat himself up and offered me his hand.

"Thanks." I said as he pulled me up. I hoped I wasn't blushing. The two of us sat on the ground just staring at one another in the silence. I imagined what it would be like to fling myself forward and kiss him beneath the trees. The urge to do so, was building inside me.

x ;) x

A/N

Thank you for reading my story so far! I hope you are enjoying it! The camp out has only just begun and I can't wait for everything that happens whilst the guys are camping. It's going to get a whole lot more exciting! :D Also I'd love to know what you guys are thinking of the story so far, it really means a lot to me when people take the time to not only read my story but review it too :)