Jude glanced out of the window, just in time to see Caprico driving off. He frowned. "Hmm… well that's a shame."

It was Thursday, the last day of school before term ended for Christmas and once again something had come up at the last moment to prevent Jude from accompanying Lucy and Caprico to school. On Monday there had been the phone call from a 'colleague' who had mysteriously hung up just as Jude had reached the phone. On Tuesday Jude had overslept, Virgo uncharacteristically 'forgetting' to set his alarm clock. Jude had to admit, he found the conversation about Virgo's 'punishment', something which she was very insistent on, after he woke up more than a little awkward. The maid received no punishment, but Caprico and Lucy were long gone by that point. On Wednesday Jude had been so distracted by the early morning arrival of the Christmas Tree and decorations that he didn't notice Lucy and Caprico slipping away whilst he was busy directing the various servants and delivery men around.

And then today of course, was the strangest one of all. Someone, somehow, had released a flock of chickens onto the mansion's grounds. Jude had no idea how someone had acquired the animals and snuck them onto the grounds, but someone had, and Jude had been so distracted by the chaos that by the time he remembered Lucy and Caprico, they were long gone.

Now Jude wasn't an idiot. He knew that his staff were, for whatever reason, doing their best to ensure that Jude wasn't able to accompany Lucy and Caprico on the drive to school. What he didn't know was why. He was sure the reason wasn't anything too sinister, or else Caprico, Virgo, and the rest of the staff wouldn't be helping Lucy, so Jude wasn't too worried. No, he was more curious than he was worried. Whilst Jude was staring out of the dining hall window, Virgo entered the giant room, beginning the process of clearing up after breakfast. Jude, with his back to her, smiled slightly.

"Tell me Virgo, have you rounded up all the chickens yet?"

Virgo nodded. "Yes Master Jude. The gardener informed me that they've caught eight chickens and they haven't seen any more still loose."

"Excellent. In that case, inform Caprico as soon as he returns that I wish him to take me to Lucy's school immediately."

Virgo bit her lip, in her mind already attempting to come up with some new scheme that would distract Jude. However her formulating was cut short when Jude spoke again. "And Virgo… I'd appreciate it if there were no more…. unwelcome distractions… today. Do you understand?"

The maid gulped, too quiet for Jude to hear. It looked like her boss wasn't playing around. "Understood."

Jude smirked, glad that Virgo seemed to have got the message. If the issue was Lucy didn't want him at the school, then all he had to do was have a quick look around, preferably whilst Lucy was still in lessons, and go home without being seen by his daughter. She could have no complaints then. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

######

Natsu looked over at Lucy for the hundredth time that lesson. At the front, Miss Porlylusica was drawling on about something, not that Natsu was paying attention. All his thoughts were centred around his best friend.

Over the last week or so, things with Lucy had been different for Natsu. For the most part when they were together, things were as they usually were, but there were these moments, such as after dinner with Jude, or before being picked up by Mirajane and Erza on Friday, where Natsu had felt something more for Lucy. He just felt something stronger about Lucy than he did about his other friends.

Natsu sighed. He had felt this way before too. He knew he was falling for Lucy. He remembered those bad feelings he had when he saw Gray and Lucy together and that good feeling he'd felt when he'd heard they'd broken up; this wasn't something that had happened suddenly. It was something that had been building up for a while now, and now Natsu really felt it. There was no denying it, he really did want Lucy.

And Natsu wasn't sure why, but for some reason, he just knew that Lucy felt the same way. There was something about when they were together… Natsu knew there was something special. The first time they'd met. When he'd saved her from Laxus. The time that he'd caught her in the park when she'd slipped. That evening where she'd shown him her house for the first time. When he'd given her scarf before the party. When they'd held hands after dinner the other night. All these little moments between the two, they were all starting to add up in Natsu's mind now. There was too much there for there to be nothing between the two.

On top of that there was what Gray had said. I mean, if even Gray, considering his own relationship with Lucy, said that, then… he had to do it, surely? He had to tell Lucy how he felt.

But what about her? What would shethink about him and Lucy?

Natsu sighed. This was such a headache, that was for sure. He looked down at his Physics text book, actually preferring thinking about his work to thinking about that. As soon as he looked down, Lucy glanced back at him. Like Natsu, she'd been feeling confused recently.

Because everything Natsu was feeling, she was feeling too. Those little moments that Natsu was remembering now, she was obsessing about. Natsu was always the one who was there for her whenever she needed him. Whenever she was in trouble, she always wanted to find Natsu. Whenever she was upset, Natsu was the only one who could make her forget her troubles and make her smile.

He always made her smile.

It had been nearly a week since he'd said it, but Lucy knew Gray was right. She was in love with Natsu. What she felt about Natsu felt so much more than what she felt about Gray and Loke, it felt so much stronger. There were things about Gray and Loke that she loved, things that they could do or say that could make her feel special. But with Natsu… Lucy felt like she loved everything about him. Even the things he did that drove her crazy, she still loved them. And when she pictured herself and Natsu together… she just felt happy.

Lucy smiled as she watched Natsu trying and failing to comprehend the page in the textbook Miss Porlylusica was referring to. She was going to do it. Today.

She would tell Natsu how she felt.

######

"So Caprico…" Jude began, looking out of the window rather than at his employee. "Are you going to tell me why you've been trying to keep me away from Lucy's school, or will that remain a mystery?"

Caprico gulped. He'd never flat out lied to his boss before. He didn't know if he could honestly. And so the butler decided to see if remaining silent would work. Jude chuckled. "You know, your loyalty to Lucy is really impressive. Seriously. It's nice to see I chose the right man for the job of looking after her."

The butler blinked, unsure whether this meant he was off the hook or not. When Jude remained silent, Caprico breathed a sigh of relief. He was off the hook. Suddenly, Jude smirked. "So, tell me Caprico… what does Lucy's school look like?"

Caprico gulped again. He had literally no idea, he'd never been. "Uh… well… it's big and… uh… there's an entrance and a cafeteria, and… classrooms and…"

Jude rolled his eyes. "I think you've just described every school that has ever existed. Tell me a little bit more. Like what colour is the actual building?"

Caprico didn't have a clue. "Brown," he quickly lied, praying that his guess was correct.

"What are it's facilities like? It has a good library?"

"Oh yes," Caprico muttered. 'Good' was a subjective term anyway, so he couldn't be accused of being wrong there.

"What's the Principal like? I assume you met him?"

"He's an… uh… tall fellow. Uhm… dark hair… spectacles?" Caprico guessed, no idea that the person he had described looked nothing like Principal Makarov.

Jude had to exercise great self control to stop himself from bursting out laughing. He could tell Caprico had no idea of the correct answer to any of his questions, his butler was truly a horrible liar. But this had interesting implications. If not even Caprico knew anything about this school, how did he drop Lucy there every morning? And why was it that Lucy didn't even want Caprico at the school?

The billionaire adopted a thoughtful expression as he continued to stare out of the window, wondering whether his questions would be answered when he finally reached Fairy Tail High School.

######

Lucy quickly scanned the cafeteria upon entering, disappointed to see Natsu wasn't present. In fact, it wasn't just the pink haired teen who wasn't present, with Mirajane and Elfman nowhere in sight either. Those two hadn't been present at all that week from Tuesday onwards for unknown reasons. Lucy went over to the table at the far end of the room where Erza, Gray, Juvia, Cana, Levy and Gajeel were seated.

"Hey guys," she greeted, not bothering to get lunch since she wasn't planning on staying. "Have any of you seen where Natsu is?"

Gray smirked, something which Erza caught. The redhead eyed him curiously before answering. "No, sorry. Why?"

Lucy turned around, already thinking about where to search next. "OK, thanks," she quickly replied, ignoring Erza's question, before walking back towards the cafeteria door.

"Hey Lucy," Gray called out as she was walking away. The blonde turned around, surprised to see Gray smiling at her. "Good luck."

Lucy blushed slightly, embarrassed that Gray seemed to know what she was planning to do. "Thanks…" she muttered, before exiting the room. Erza raised an eyebrow at the still smirking Gray.

"What do you know that we don't?"

Gray blinked, genuinely surprised that he was the only one on the table who seemed to know what was going on. "You guys seriously haven't noticed? Lucy likes… no, loves Natsu."

Cana sighed. "Oh, that's it?"

Erza frowned at her. "Wait, what? What do you mean 'that's it?' This is a big deal!"

"Not really," Levy dismissively replied. "We all knew Lucy liked Natsu. It's kind of obvious…"

"Pfft, even I knew," Gajeel scoffed, annoying Erza.

"I didn't know! How long have you all known?! Wait, Gray… last week before the soccer game when you were talking about the other person…"

Gray nodded. "Yup, that was Natsu."

Juvia frowned."Juvia is surprised you didn't know Erza,"

Erza was about to reply when Cana cut in. "Of course she didn't know. She couldn't figure out that Jellal liked her, and that was like ten times more obvious than Lucy liking Natsu, which was already pretty obvious to begin with."

"Say Gray…" Levy began nervously. "Are you OK with this considering what happened between you and Lucy…?"

Gray smirked. "Yeah, definitely. I know she'll never feel for me what she feels for Natsu, and I know that he feels the same way too. They'll be good for each other, it's gonna be better this way for everyone."

Juvia's eyes turned to hearts. "Wow, Gray's so wonderful when he's looking out for his friends."

Erza chuckled. "Juvia has a point Gray. That's very mature of you."

Gray smiled. "I really do care about Lucy… that's why, if she's happy, I'm happy."

######

"Well," Jude began, stepping out of the limo and taking a good look at Fairy Tail High School for the first time. "You were correct. This school is indeed brown."

Caprico closed the door behind Jude, him doing the same as his boss in terms of looking at the school for the first time. The butler watched nervously as Jude took in the surroundings, silently praying that this quick look would be enough and Jude would ask for him to drive them home.

Unfortunately this wasn't the case, Jude heading off in the direction of the school entrance, glancing back when Caprico didn't follow. "Shall we?"

"Uh… I… are you sure we're allowed to just go in sir? I mean, we may… uh… disrupt the children's learning."

Jude raised an eyebrow. "It's surely lunch time Caprico. Besides, all I want to do is have a quick look around. Surely there's no harm in doing that?"

"I suppose not," Caprico muttered, following after his boss. And whilst the foremost thought on Caprico's mind was worry that he and Jude would run into Lucy and spoil her secret, he had to admit that part of him was a little curious to see Lucy's school.

Upon entering the building, Caprico was immediately disappointed to see that Jude was indeed correct, it was lunchtime. This meant that any hope he had of Lucy being stuck in a lesson and not seeing him and Jude was gone. There were plenty of teenagers wandering around the corridors, heading wherever they wanted to. There was no reason why Lucy couldn't suddenly appear in front of them. "So, er… what exactly do you wish to see Sir?"

Jude, a little ahead of Caprico, glanced into one of the classrooms. "Nothing in particular I suppose. I guess I just want to wander a little. We have plenty of time, right?"

"I.. I suppose so Sir…" Caprico sighed.

With that the two continued their casual stroll through the school corridors, Jude Heartfilia surprisingly at ease considering the weird looks most of the teenagers gave him and Caprico as they walked past, no one recognising the two well dressed gentlemen.

After walking a bit more, the two men found themselves standing in front of what looked like the school library. Jude smiled brightly, turning to Caprico. "Ah, the library. Shall we?"

Caprico sighed, wanting to say 'no' so much, but obviously he couldn't. The butler stepped past his boss, opening the door for him, before following him into the room.

######

Lucy hopped down the steps outside the school's main entrance. She had checked the whole inside of the school now and hadn't found Natsu anywhere. That meant he had to be outside somewhere.

The blonde headed to the soccer pitches first, but they were deserted. Next stop was the car park, but Natsu didn't drive and there wasn't anyone there either. Although…

Lucy's blood ran cold. Parked in the space closest to the school's entrance was an unmistakeable vehicle. It was Caprico's limo. Lucy stumbled over to it, wondering whether she was hallucinating. She reached out to touch the car, the contact confirming that it was real.

The blonde stood frozen alongside the vehicle for a few moments, thoughts running through her mind. What the hell was Caprico doing here? And if he wasn't in the car, like it seemed, where was he? Was he inside? Was he… alone? Was her father here too?

Lucy shook her head, momentarily forgetting Natsu and heading back inside the school. She had to find Caprico. Now.

However just as she was about to re-enter the building, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around to see Loke walking towards her. Lucy smiled politely at him. "Oh, Loke, hey…"

"Lucy. Hey, we haven't talked in a while huh. Well… ever since, you know…"

Lucy knew. That incident a couple of Sundays ago. "Y… yeah. So what is it? Because I'm kind of in a hurry…"

Loke blinked, only just seeing that Lucy seemed a little panicked. "Oh.. uh… well, it's just… Last Friday when I saw you at the party I was planning on apologising for what happened before, but then that thing with Gray happened and well… Either way, I'm really sorry about what I did. I totally crossed a line and I know what I did was really wrong. It's just… something came over me then and I made a mistake. I wasn't planning on doing that, I wouldn't ever want to do anything that could hurt you or your relationship with Gray. I… I hope you can believe that…"

Lucy smiled at Loke's sincere expression. The playboy looked genuinely upset and sorry. The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I do believe you. And I accept your apology."

The relieved look on Loke's face showed that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank… thank you so much Lucy. So can we go back to being friends now?"

"Y… yeah. I'd like that."

The two stood there awkwardly for a second, Loke not sure whether a hug would be appropriate. Suddenly he blinked, remembering Lucy's panicked expression before. "Weren't you in a hurry for something?"

Lucy's eyes widened, Loke's apology making her forget about Caprico. "Oh yeah, damn I need to hurry…"

Loke looked worriedly at her, not understanding what it was that had her so freaked out. "Uh… is there anything I can do to help?"

Lucy shook her head, hurrying back inside. "No, it's fine Loke! See you later!"

Loke blinked as the blonde scurried away, Lucy's actions doing little to reassure him.

######

Caprico jumped at the feeling of someone prodding him in the back. He whipped his head around to glare at a grinning Natsu. "Yo Caprico! What's up! What're you doin' here?"

After visiting the library briefly, Jude and Caprico had had a quick look inside the cafeteria before heading off in search of the Principal's office, Jude wanting to have a small chat to discuss how Lucy had settled in before leaving, much to Caprico's relief. The problem? Neither Caprico nor Jude had any idea where the Principal's office was and weren't able to ask anyone since the teenagers wandering around the corridors were all doing their best to avoid the two. Well, all apart from one…

Jude, a little ahead of Caprico, turned around, smiling when he saw the pink haired boy. "Ah Natsu. It's nice to see a familiar face."

"Oh, Lucy's dad! You're here too!"

Jude chuckled slightly, he really did feel a strange fondness for Natsu. There was something about his childlike goofiness that Jude found almost refreshing. He knew he could trust Natsu to be a good friend to Lucy because there didn't seem to be a bad bone in the pink haired boy's body. "Caprico and I were just searching for your Principal's office. I don't suppose you could give us directions, could you?"

Natsu blinked. "Oh, you wanna see Gramps? Why, is Lucy in trouble?"

"No, nothing like that," Jude reassured. "I just want to have a chat with him to see how Lucy's settled in, that's all."

"Oh, well OK, I'll take you-"

"Natsu?"

Said boy turned around to see Gray and Erza approaching, eyeing the two unfamiliar visitors. Natsu gulped, he couldn't let them find out who Caprico and Jude were. He glanced nervously at the two, Caprico's 'deer in the headlights' expression showing that he was thinking the same thing. Jude however, didn't know about Lucy's secret, and so smiled politely at the two. He held his hand out to them. "How do you do? I'm Jude H-"

Natsu, in an act of desperation, tackled Gray to the ground, shocking everyone. With Gray momentarily pinned down, Natsu quickly glanced back at Caprico, mouthing 'Go!'. The butler complied, nudging Jude. "I think we should go Mr Heartfilia, things here seem to be getting heated."

"But… what happened?"

"I… I don't know, but it seems to me like there's some problem between Natsu and this chap so I think it would be best if we left it to them to sort out…" Caprico quickly replied, just wanting to get as far away from Gray and Erza as possible.

Jude watched as Gray and Natsu struggled on the ground, Erza silently seething at the 'display'. "But should we alert a teacher?"

Caprico laughed nervously, frustrated by how hard it was to get Jude to move. "I.. I don't think that's necessary sir. Boys will be boys after all…"

Jude wasn't convinced at all. Just then, Gray roughly shoved Natsu off him, glaring at the pink haired teen. "What the hell was that for?!"

Natsu however, wasn't paying attention to him, shooting Caprico another panicked look since Jude was still standing there. Gray was about to lunge at Natsu when Erza stepped in front of him, roughly pulling Natsu up by the collar.

"Natsu…" she muttered in a low voice, even scaring Jude and Caprico. "What did I say about fighting… Plus, it's bad enough that you've done this, but in front of visitors too…"

Natsu gulped. He was gonna get his ass kicked. Just then, Lucy turned the corner, everyone's eyes immediately going to her. She stood frozen. Caprico and her father were standing a few metres away from Gray and Erza. Did… did they know?

Caprico's eyes widened, the situation seemingly going from bad to worse. Jude approached his daughter, her shocked expression confirming his suspicion that she didn't want him there. He was about to address her when Natsu struggled out of Erza's grip and ran to Lucy's side. "Lucy! There you are! Listen, there's somethin' I want to show you…"

"But Natsu, Gray and Erza-"

Natsu gave her a desperate look before pulling her away, back the way she came. He glanced back at Caprico once, mouthing 'don't say anything to them' to him, before disappearing from sight with Lucy. Caprico nodded thankfully, glad that Natsu had prevented Jude from interacting with Lucy. "I think we should leave the premises at once sir. These two are clearly scoundrels up to no good. How else do you explain the boy here assaulting Natsu?"

Gray glared at him. "I didn't assault anyone! He was the one who attacked me!"

Jude blinked, this whole situation bizarre to him. He really hoped things at this school weren't like this every day. "Perhaps you're right Caprico. I don't really understand what just happened, but I'm sure there's some strange twisted explanation which I do hope you'll tell me once we return home."

Erza and Gray exchanged a confused glance as Jude and Caprico walked away, no idea what had just happened nor who these two strangers were.

######

Natsu and Lucy watched from inside as Jude and Caprico drove off. As soon as the two were past the school gates, the two teenagers breathed a shared sigh of relief. Lucy looked worriedly at Natsu. "And you're sure that Gray and Erza didn't figure out who he was?"

"Yeah, definitely," Natsu replied. "It was hard, but your dad didn't tell them his name. Jeez… what the hell was he doin' here anyway?"

Lucy sighed. "He's been asking to come to school with me every day, but me and Caprico always managed to get away from the house before he was able to join us. I guess today when Caprico got home after dropping me off, he asked for Caprico to take him. And in that position, there was no escape this time for him…"

Natsu nodded, Lucy's explanation making sense. "You know… would it really be so bad if the others found out about your dad and everything?"

Lucy looked out of the window. "Natsu…"

"I'm serious. I mean, we're all your friends Lucy, no matter what. I know Gray, Erza and the others better than anyone, and I can tell you it won't make any difference to them whether you're rich, or poor, or whatever. We all like you for you Lucy."

Lucy smiled slightly. "M… Maybe you're right. I've been thinking the same for a while now actually. But… I don't know… I'm just not ready Natsu. I guess part of me still likes the fact that at this school I'm just another person Natsu. There's nothing special or unique about me here. People don't treat me differently and like me for me. I kind of like that, I've never had that before. That's why I want to keep things this way, at least for now."

Natsu blinked. He didn't really understand what Lucy had said completely, but he got that she wasn't ready, so he nodded. "Alright. Fine, it's up to you. Phew, I'm just glad that it's all over now. Oh damn…"

"What?"

Natsu's blood ran cold. "Erza's gonna kick my ass for what I did to Gray… Damn it Lucy, you owe me big time!"

Lucy laughed at Natsu's terrified expression. "Yeah… I do. Thanks a lot Natsu. I really appreciate everything you've done for me…"

The blonde bit her lip, deciding now was the time to confess her feelings. This was it. Now or never. "You're always here for me, Natsu. Whenever I'm down, I can always rely on you to cheer me up. Whenever I'm upset, you always make me smile. That's why, I really think I lo-"

Just then, the two heard a squeal of delight from the corridor. The two, who were currently hiding out in a classroom, headed out into the corridor, where there were a small group of their friends waiting just by the school's main entrance. Standing by the door were a smiling Mirajane and sobbing Elfman, surprising Lucy, who thought that the Strauss siblings were absent from school like they had been nearly all week so far. In the middle of the crowd, Lucy could make out Cana was hugging someone, a slightly shorter girl. After a few moments Cana released her, Lucy able to see the girl's appearance now.

She had short white hair and kind looking blue eyes, matching her sweet smile. She wasn't looking in their direction, her attention currently on Laxus who was staring at her like she was a ghost. He slowly reached out to pat the top of her head, muttering something about her being real, earning him a playful pout from the girl.

"What's going on?" Lucy wondered aloud. When she didn't get a response, she turned to Natsu, his expression startling her.

Natsu was completely frozen, staring wide eyed in shock at the girl, who was now introducing herself to Juvia from the looks of it. Slowly, almost like a zombie, Natsu edged forwards. "L… Lisanna?"

Time seemed to slow at that moment. Everyone was silent, only just noticing Natsu and Lucy's presence. The group of friends parted so that Natsu and the girl, Lisanna, were facing each other. Lisanna smiled at Natsu, her eyes lighting up in a way they weren't before. "It's been a while… Natsu."

Lucy could only watch in shock as the girl closed the distance between her and Natsu and gently touched his cheek. And then, much to Lucy's horror, Lisanna leaned up and captured Natsu's lips with her own.

See that coming? I hope you didn't, I'm really proud of that twist.

Thanks for reading!