Chapter 20

The following Monday, Lucy is alone at her place. Since she woke up around eight o'clock, she has practically been writing non-stop. Now it is after noon and she is still going with an idea she had while dreaming. She is all sorts of fired up to get it out of her system, especially because of the twist ending she wishes she thought of while awake.

Her phone starts going off, letting her know Natsu is calling because of the assigned ringtone he has. Lucy grabs her phone from the nearby spot on the couch and answers it.

"Good afternoon, beautiful," he says.

Lucy immediately knows something is up just from what he said. "What did you do now?"

"Wha"-his voice cracks-"aaat? Luce, I didn't do anything."

"When you call me and say something like that, I know something's up."

Natsu chuckles. "You know me so well."

"Sooo… ?" she prompts.

"Well, since you're asking, is there any chance you could do me a favor?"

"That might depend on what the favor is."

"So I left a jacket at your place. I need it."

"Why can't you come and get it?"

"Because they won't lemme leave the studio," Natsu whines.

"Oh, you have a shoot today?" Yesterday he mentioned he will be busy with work, but he did not specify which job.

"Yeah. I'm hoping you're at your place and can bring me my jacket."

Lucy starts glancing around, just in case she can spot it. "Where is it?"

"Hanging up in our closet."

"My closet," she corrects with a small smile on her lips, standing up to walk into her bedroom.

He snorts. "Whatever you say, Luce."

"So where is it hanging up? Off to the side or in the middle?"

"Left side."

"And what does it look like?"

"I'll explain once you start looking. It'll be easier that way."

Lucy makes her way over to her closet and opens the doors. She looks over to the left, noticing Natsu's small collection has grown a little it. "Now what?" she asks.

"It's dark grey. Military inspired style. Jacket with no hood."

With a free hand, Lucy goes through the hangers until she spots something she believes is the match. She grabs it off of the rack and holds it out to examine. "Does it have silver buttons and a lot of pockets?"

"Yep!"

"Do you want me to send a picture to you just to make sure?"

"I'm positive you grabbed the right one. It's the only one like it I have in there."

"So now what?"

"Nooow you drive over to the studio."

"I don't know where it is."

"If only we had the technology for me to send you the needed info," Natsu sasses. "Like over text or something."

Lucy rolls her eyes even though he cannot see her. "It's not smart to be sarcastic with the person doing you a favor. Especially if that person is your girlfriend."

"But you're my favorite weirdo!"

She smiles softly, having grown slightly fond of the little nickname. "And you're my favorite weirdo."

"Great! So I'll see you soon then."

"I look decent enough so all I have to do is put shoes on." With the jacket still on the hanger, Lucy moves towards her bed.

"You're the best, Luce! Oh, if somebody asks what you're doing there when you get in, just say you're there for the one-thirty shoot. They'll help you out and show you where I'm out."

"Wait, I just can't text you when I get there and you come out to get the jacket?" She tosses it onto her bed and starts looking for a pair of shoes to wear with her current attire.

"They won't lemme leave the studio, Luce," he groans dramatically. "Even for outside in the parking lot."

"Wow, that's really no fun."

"Grr, I gotta go. They're calling me over. I'll text you the address and see you soon! Bye, Luceee!" After that, he hangs up.

Lucy tosses her phone onto his jacket and grabs a pair of shoes. "He can be such an idiot at times…" she mumbles to herself. "But he's my idiot…"

x-X-x

Twenty or so minutes later when she arrives at the studio, Lucy parks her car. Grabbing the jacket and folding it over an arm, she leaves her car and locks it behind her. After walking into the building, she walks up to a girl with glasses sitting behind the desk.

"My name is Laki," she introduces. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here for the one-thirty shoot," Lucy replies. "I have–"

"Ah, Mr. Dragneel said you'd be arriving! Come along!"

The next thing Lucy knows, she is being ushered away by Laki. They make their way past busy people, some workers from the studio and those who appear to be models.

"Wait, I'm here to see Natsu," Lucy begins to explain, thinking there is some confusion.

"He's busy with some solo shooting at the moment," Laki says. "You can join him later."

"But I'm here to–"

"Yes, we know why. Like I said, Mr. Dragneel notified us."

Lucy finds it a little weird that her boyfriend is being referred to in such a formal manner. After all, he is far from formal.

Laki leads the way to a chair that is in front of a hair and makeup station. A man with dark skin is currently tending to the different products at his disposal.

"Cancer!" Laki greets as she and Lucy stop by the chair.

The man turns around. "Yes?"

Laki pats Lucy on her right shoulder. "Here she is! Take good care of her now or else Mr. Dragneel will hear about it!" With that, Laki leaves without another word.

Lucy is trying her best to remain calm. "What's happening?" she asks, looking at Cancer.

"It's hair and makeup time for you!" he explains casually, and motions to the empty chair. "So take a seat!"

She blinks in surprise. "Do what now?"

Cancer gently guides her to sit down. "Come on now. We can't hold up the shoot now, can we?"

Lucy's mind is racing a mile a second as she tries speaking. "But Natsu-Jacket-What-Happening–"

"Easy now…" Cancer coaches, wanting to settle her nerves.

She holds onto the jacket tightly, her hands gripping the fabric. She takes a deep calming breath before letting it out. "What is happening?" Lucy asks slowly.

While talking, Cancer gets started working on her. "So you don't know? Well, Mr. Dragneel was supposed to be photographed with another model, but she had to cancel last minute due to a family emergency. No way around that. To make sure the shoot could go on, Mr. Dragneel said he had a replacement in mind named Lucy. He assured the photographer he could get her here promptly."

Lucy connects the dots. "He told me he needed a jacket for the shoot and I had to bring it over for him…"

"He already has everything he needs here for the shoot though." Then Cancer makes the connection. "So he did have a way to make sure you got here soon!"

Something dawns on Lucy, hitting her hard. "I'm the replacement model?!"

"Of course!"

Panic settles over her. "B-but I don't model!"

"Mr. Dragneel believes otherwise," Cancer assures her.

She grows flustered. "H-he just said that because–"

"Knock, knock," an unfamiliar voice says since there is no door to knock on.

Cancer turns to look at the woman with dark hair. "Just in time, Libra."

She holds up a short black dress. "For the model."

"I'm not a model," Lucy mutters under her breath. "I'm not""Ooo, do I get to wear that?"

Libra nods. "Yes."

"It's cute!" Lucy gushes.

"And you'll get to wear it soon!" Cancer says.

x-X-x

Alone in the space, Lucy is looking herself over in the mirror, slightly surprised by her reflection. Her hair is down, but straightened out to its full length. She is wearing makeup, but it is not overpowering. The fitted black dress she is wearing really shows off her bodacious curves. The heels help with her posture and complete the look.

"Imagine if my fans could see me now…" she murmurs to herself.

"You've got one looking atcha now," Natsu says, his voice coming from Lucy's left.

She turns to look and is absolutely floored, practically melting at the sight of him. He is wearing a fitted black tuxedo and looks incredibly dashing. Quite frankly, he looks hot beyond all belief.

He looks her up and down with a lazy grin. "You sure got dressed up to visit me," he says with a wink.

She walks over to him and points a finger to his chest. "You know exactly what you did so don't play dumb with me, Mr. Dragneel."

Natsu holds his hands up. "Guilty as charged."

"Why didn't you just tell me the truth from the start?" Lucy questions.

"I had to have some fun somehow," he chuckles.

"You tricked me!" she gasps.

"And I totally gotcha," he cackles.

Lucy folds her arms under her chest, popping a hip out in a sassy way. "Maybe I shouldn't help you with this shoot then…"

Worry sparks in his eyes. "Aw, c'mon, Luce! It'll be fun!"

She pretends to be disinterested. "I don't know…"

"I think it'll be a great thing for us to do," Natsu continues, hoping she will be fully on board. "And I'm sure you'd rather be paired with me rather than Flirtsalot."

"Flirtsalot?"

He rolls his eyes dramatically. "He's an annoying model who flirts with every woman he sees. Some like it, others don't."

"Ugh, sounds like someone I used to know," she groans.

"Enough about him." Natsu looks at her with his best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

She laughs. "Of course!"

He grows excited. "Woo! I'm all fired up now!"


A/N Part 1: I feel like it's been forever since I updated D: Life has been hella busy. I've been working 6 days a week for the past few weeks :P But here's the next chapter! Woo~ Anyways, I'm gonna continue this in the next chapter for sure! I have the basics of this arc planned out, but I don't wanna spoil it yet for y'all! Pssst. For those of you who have read MTAP, you'll understand the Flirtsalot reference :D

A/N Part 2: When I posted this chapter to my Account, it ended up being my 100th post to that site! That was kinda exciting for me! Like a little milestone :D Woo~


Guest: Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it :D Oh, I have more plans for this fic! That's for sure!

Nalu4ever: Got around to that update :P Hopefully you weren't waiting too long!

Korn22: Yaay, I'm glad you think so.

Cracraynalu fan: I suppose stolen work was bound to happen eventually, but still not pleasant at all :P I'll see ya in the next update!

Army4life: Hopefully that whole incident is all in the past. Wasn't pleasant in the slightest, that's for sure :P But more updates from me to come!

Flamexofxchaos: But if that's the case, how are you gonna be able to keep reading? D:

NALU LOVER GIRL: Gah, thank you! And I finally got around to that update :P Nah, I won't reveal names. The incident has been taken care of so no worries!

Bruh: Finally got around to it :P