Hey, Readers!

So, I've been trying to keep up with my stories for it has been a year (I think or more) since I updated any of my stories here. Two weeks ago, I did update one of my stories entitled "The woman in the art gallery" and I'm planning to continue to update more. So, I hope you look forward to it. I just want to apologize as well for taking a long time to update. It's just that a lot of things happened to me and most of my time had to be focused there. So, now that everything is clear, I have the time now to update. So, I'm happy to be back! Thank you guys for sticking around.

I won't keep you long, enjoy reading this chapter and leave a review if you want.

Thanks!

Love,

FairyTailxNaLu

Disclaimer: I do not own FAIRY TAIL or its CHARACTERS. It all belongs to HIRO MASHIMA.


Chapter 17

Kring kring

"Ms. Lucy," a feminine voice called as Lucy picks up the phone on her desk
"Yes, Annie," Lucy replies as she keeps her eyes on her computer, reading an article about the Dragneels
"Ms. Realight has arrived. She is currently waiting for you at the conference room," Annie, the secretary said, making the blonde quite still in her seat and gulped down her nerves
"Alright, thanks, Annie. Kindly send refreshments first while I get ready. Tell her, I'll be there in five minutes,"
"Noted," and with that Lucy hangs up the call and leans back to her chair.

As Lucy sighs and tries to calm her nerves, she thought to herself all the details that she will need to make her relationship with Natsu realistic. The last thing that she wants out of this meet up is for Jenny Realight to discover that she and Natsu are just faking it.

Standing up from her chair, Lucy started mumbling to herself all the facts that she and Natsu have told to people that have asked about their relationship and wedding details, "I have been dating Natsu for four or five years from now. We were secretly dating, we had an epic wedding proposal…hm," Lucy paused from her movement as she tried to think of more details, "We are planning to get an apartment, then…ah never mind, I can't think of more details anymore. Wedding, wedding details…" Lucy finally grabbed her planner and phone as she headed towards the door. When she stepped out of her office, she continued to mumble to herself, softly, "Our scheduled interview with the priest would be on the second week of May on Wednesday, then the ideal wedding date is on June 30, our theme color is yellow and pink—no salmon pink…then, our guest list has been finalized, our wedding invitation is being drafted, then Dreyer Film production would be our videographer and photographer…what else?" Lucy halted right in front of the door to the conference room as she tried to think of more details that are essential, "Ganbatte, Lucy" she cheered to herself before grabbing the handle of the door and opened it.

As soon as Lucy opened the doors to the conference room, a pair of blue eyes were fixated staring at the entrance of the room, which made Lucy a little bit more nervous. Giving the brightest smile that she could conjure, Lucy softly greets the other blonde woman, "Hello, Ms. Realight,"
"Ms. Heartfilia," Jenny greets back as she stands up from her seat and meets the writer halfway of the room, "It's nice to finally meet you," the two women then shook hands
"It's my pleasure as well to have this meeting with you, knowing that you're busy as a planner and soon-to-be bride,"
"oh, weddings are my thing. I don't mind those stuff," Jenny chuckles along with Lucy

When Lucy gestured to her guest to take a seat, Lucy mentally cheered herself as she knew that the interview portion of the meeting would now commence.

"So, where's your fiancé?" Jenny asks as she pulls out her planner from her bag, which Lucy took note as she tries to observe the blonde
"Natsu? Well, he's busy at work. He's a general manager and he's got a lot of meetings to attend, so I don't usually bother him with this kind of meetings," Lucy then smiles choreographed
"Really? So, he's not aware of any wedding details?" Jenny curiously asks as she clicks her pen on the table
"Oh, he's aware. We do the planning together, it's just that I don't oblige him to attend impromptu meetings," Lucy continues to smile as her eyes glance at the planner's actions
"I see. I assume you both have details for your wedding already,"
"We do actually. Do you want to know?" Lucy triumphantly asks as she thought that she's diverting the whole conversation towards a safer topic
"Oh, I don't need to know. After all, I heard that you have a wedding planner already," Jenny snickers and watches Lucy be baffled for a moment
"…Yeah, we do…It's Mirajane Strauss. She's a colleague," Lucy warily replies
"I see. That's a good idea that a close friend of yours will help out in planning your wedding. Just make sure that your friend is not 'secretly' infatuated with your fiancé," Jenny then winks, "You know, cliché stories of why weddings don't pursue,"
Lucy just laughed nervously, "Right, we don't want that kind of story…"
"Yes…so, do you mind if I ask about you and Natsu?" Jenny innocently questions
"Um, yeah sure…but for what exactly?" Lucy cautiously asks
"Articles. I'm pretty sure you are aware that I have a website that people read regarding weddings, relationships, and marriage. So, will it be alright?"
"Sure, it's not like there is something to hide," Lucy shrugs as she tries to show she was calm
"Great…first question," Jenny then opens her planner and reveals a lot of scribblings on it, which made Lucy curious and a little uncertain, "How often do you and Natsu have sex?"
Lucy immediately choked with her saliva as she didn't expect such a question. She coughed a few times, making Jenny a little worried and offered her water, "Are you alright, Lucy?"
Coughing it out, Lucy grabbed the glass of water and sipped a little before she tries to speak, "What was your question?"
"Um, how often do you and Natsu have sex?" Jenny repeated the question quite hesitantly as she watches the blonde turn red
"Um, is that your question?"
"Uh, yes…" Jenny then scratches her cheek in confusion, "Well you see, there are couples out there that find sexual intimacy difficult to maintain when they become overly successful in their careers. Knowing you as a successful writer in Fairy Tail publishing, and Natsu handling their family business, I thought, you might be a good example,"
"Oh…" Lucy exhaled in defeat, completely unprepared for this kind of meet up, "Um, well, Natsu and I…" Lucy trails off as she tries to make an excuse not to answer this question, "Um, how do I say this?"
"Perhaps you and Natsu haven't done it yet?" Jenny curiously questions as she tries to help Lucy find the right words
"Excuse me?"
"You both haven't had sex. You seem to be shy to talk about it," Jenny concludes
"No!" Lucy exclaims, panicking
Jenny then raises a brow at the blonde, "No? as in you had experience sex or no? that you're not shy to talk about it?"
"Um, no, I'm not shy to talk about it," Lucy puts up a smile as she tries to calm her racing heart
Jenny hums in contemplation, wondering of how to continue this conversation, "Alright, then shall I continue asking?"
"Y-yeah…sure," Lucy fumbles with her fingers as she kept it hidden from Jenny's sight
"So, based on your reaction moments ago, is it safe to assume that you haven't done it yet with Natsu? And that you're reserving it until marriage,"
"I guess you can say that," Lucy swallows hard as she tries to get by
"Alright, then can you enlighten me on how do you and Natsu try to keep your relationship fiery and passionate?" Jenny said the adjectives with pure enthusiasm in her voice, making Lucy cringe
"Um, well…there are those stolen kisses," Lucy said uncertainly, "Uh, holding hands? Um, hugs? And—"
Jenny suddenly chuckles, which made Lucy stop talking. The wedding planner suddenly questions, "Seriously that's it? No offense, but that sounds like two friends pretending not to be attracted to one another," Jenny then smirks as if she was implying something, which made Lucy nervous
"We're not friends!" Lucy defends as if she was trying to dispute the idea of just being friends with Natsu, "I mean…well, Natsu and I started as friends so most of our intimacy was rooted in our friendship. I guess, we just never outgrew them,"
"I understand that…but where are the fiery and passionate touches? You know, couples usually have those sexually frustrated desires," Jenny gave a smug look as if she was seducing Lucy
"Desires…Oh," Lucy mentally cures herself for not thinking like a storyteller, "Um, we have those…touches," Lucy timidly answers, still unsure where to go from there
"Care to elaborate?" Jenny teasingly asks
"Uhhh…" Lucy slowly turns red as she tries to think of a story, "There are times…when Natsu and I would date, um, we…we would sometimes get carried away with our kisses,"
"Uh-huh," Jenny then begins to scribble
"and um, there would be times that he'd…touch me places…around my body," Lucy haggardly breathes out as she tries to ignore the warm feeling inside her chest. Jenny then looks up at her and patiently waits for her to continue, "So…yeah, that's it,"
"I see…how do you handle the frustrations?" Jenny inquired
"I…don't know," Lucy chuckles as she mentally slaps herself
"Really? Do you try to please yourself?"
"Oh no, I don't…" Lucy quickly answers as she grew redder just thinking of doing self-pleasure, "I don't know with Natsu, though. I don't ask him,"
Jenny then grins, "Alright…are you sure that it's totally fine with you to talk about this?"
Lucy shuffles with her hand as she contemplates whether to surrender this conversation or try to end it on a better note. As she kept her gaze to the wedding planner, she was beginning to doubt herself, "To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm alright with this conversation,"
"I can see that," Jenny genuinely smiles at the woman in front of her, "Well, how about tell me about your relationship with Natsu? From being a friend to a lover to fiancé and now soon to be your husband,"
Lucy was silent for a moment as she thinks to herself. Hearing Jenny's question, she isn't sure how to answer this. Nevertheless, it should be easier to answer this one rather than talk about a non-existent sexual intimacy with Natsu.

"You see, Natsu and I have known each for a long time. Since like, high school?" Lucy smiles to herself as she recalls memories, "He was my best friend back then and we were just close…closer than anybody. When college came," Lucy bit her lip as she recalled a moment in their past, "He was quite more protective of me. And I thought, it was him being a 'best friend' until my girlfriends pointed out to me that Natsu was completely different whenever we were together. They say he was oblivious about it and I was too skeptical to believe it…"
"Why were you skeptical?" Jenny inquires as she finds the facial expression of Lucy genuinely in thoughts as if she was recalling something important
"I don't know. I guess, I just wanted it to hear from him at that time that he liked me. I didn't want to assume that he had feelings for me, even though I had a deep crush with him already,"
"That's adorable. So, you liked him first and you never told him?"
"I couldn't tell him that I liked him," Lucy says as she shrugs her shoulders
"Why not? Women nowadays express their infatuation to the guys first,"
"Maybe for others, it would work. But for me, back then, I don't think so. Natsu is…quite dense when it comes to relationships. He sometimes mixes up his friendship with romance, which made it more difficult for me to understand,"
"What do you mean?" Jenny questions
"As I said, he was protective of me…and when I say protective, he would scare away the guys that would bring me flowers or chocolates during college. Natsu would be very clingy and touchy. For him, that's what friends do, and he doesn't mean any of those actions in a romantic way,"
"Really? Fascinating. So, your relationship with Natsu seems to be rooted deeply in friendship and yet you both had feelings for each other. You both just didn't figure it out easily,"

Lucy then stares at Jenny, as if she was finding the woman ridiculous for saying something absurd that Natsu had feelings for her back in college. If there is any truth to Jenny's words, it would be her having deep feelings for Natsu until she gave up on hoping that Natsu would ever feel the same way as her. So, hearing Jenny say that Natsu had feelings for her back in college seems to be unrealistic because Natsu all ever said to her, she was his best friend.

"So how did you both end up?" Jenny asks
Lucy suddenly snaps out of her thoughts, "Um…" Lucy trailed off trying to get her thoughts straight, "well one day, he just admitted to me that he liked me…he confessed I said I liked him too and there were started going out…without people knowing," Lucy adds as she gave a timid smile
"And for how long did you both keep your relationship secret?"
"Four or five years…we never really counted," Lucy shyly replies as she looks away from the blonde
"Last question…How is he as a fiancé?"
"Oh, he's great. Supportive and helpful. Although he's quite a handful in making decisions. Nevertheless, we get it done,"
"Alright, thank you so much, Lucy, for answering all of my questions. I'll let you read my column first before I publish it on June,"
"Great…" Lucy smiles easily

Jenny and Lucy then stood up at the same time after Jenny had kept her things away. When they both shook hands and gave a friendly embrace, Jenny bid Lucy goodbye and headed out of the room. When Jenny was on her own in the lobby of the publishing company, Jenny pulled out her phone and dialed a number. When the call was answered, Jenny smirked to herself as she said, "I think you'll be glad to hear from me," then she finally descends the stairs and hailed a taxi.


Sitting alone to herself, Lucy held her cup of coffee while she stared away at the nearly empty rooftop garden of Fairy Tail Publishing. It has been a few hours since she had met with Jenny Realight and it was an unforgettable experience talking with her. First, she couldn't believe that she was challenged to talk about her and Natsu's supposed sexual life together. She just couldn't bring herself to talk about something non-existent even if she had a few pointers from Erza's Kamasutra guidebook, which she still couldn't believe that she read because of Erza's insistence. Second, she couldn't grasp the whole point of Jenny's interview. It felt like she just confessed that she had feelings for Natsu back then and that it is beginning to bother her again. Third, and most importantly, she is aware of her mixed emotions for Natsu. Not in the past but at present. And she is not happy about it.

"Surprised to see you here," a voice speaks, making Lucy turn her head to look at the newly arrived individual
"Hi, Cana," Lucy sighs before she tries to smile at her brunette friend
"Hey, Blondie, what's up?" Cana then takes a seat on the bench next to Lucy, "How's our bride-to-be?"
"Feeling ridiculous," Lucy admitted as she chortles to herself, making Cana raise her brow
"Ridiculous to be here in the garden or with your situation?" Cana smirks at Lucy who gave a deadpan look at her, "Just kidding," Cana snickers as she shoulder-bumped the blonde, "But seriously though, what's with the mood?"
"I met Jenny Realight," Lucy stated as if it was obvious, which it is
"Oh, that must be hard," Cana comments before she shakes her head and drinks from her tumbler
"You bet," Lucy sighs before she looks at the tumbler that Cana is holding, "Is that wine in your tumbler?"
"Hm?" Cana mischievously smiles at the woman, "If I say yes, are you going to report me?"
"Report you?" Lucy repeats before she chuckles and grabs the tumbler from the brunette and drinks from it
"Oh, wow," Cana exclaims before she chuckles at the blonde, who moans in content after drinking some wine, "This day must have been tough for you to make you drink some of my wine on broad daylight,"
"Yes, Cana. Believe it or not, it's been tough," Lucy then leans back at the bench as she sighs in tiredness and hands back the tumbler to her friend
"Jenny must have grilled you with stupid wedding questions," Cana leans back as well as she glances at the blonde
"I wish she did," Lucy replies, making Cana furrow her forehead
"Wait, what did she ask you if you didn't talk about the wedding?"
Lucy chortles to herself at first, finding the whole ordeal moments ago bizarre, "She asked me about my sexual life with Natsu,"
"Wh-what?" Cana outrageously looked at Lucy with wide eyes before her smile grew in enthusiasm, "What did you say?"
Lucy shrugged her shoulders as she said, "I couldn't make myself talk about it and just admitted that we haven't done it,"
Cana raised her brows at the blonde, "You admitted to being a virgin to Jenny?"
"Yeah," Lucy replies, almost with an irritated voice, "And so what? I am a virgin. And that is fine with me,"
"Hm, you have a point," Cana shrugs her shoulders, "But, hypothetically asking, if you were really in a relationship with Natsu for—how long?"
"four or five years," Lucy adds the information
"Four or five years," Cana repeats before continuing her previous question, "Would you and Natsu be able to keep your hands off from one another? I mean, Natsu's touchy…to you particularly. Do you think you and Natsu would have kept abstaining from sex?"

Lucy then blushed at the thought of her and Natsu being an actual couple and thinking of Natsu's tendency to be touchy of her.

Cana then continues as she sees Lucy's reaction, "And just look at Natsu. I'm pretty sure you have stared at him half-naked? Or seen him in his birthday suit. He's hot, undeniably hot," Cana states, making Lucy even more flushed
"I—I have never seen Natsu in his birthday suit," Lucy reacts as if trying to convince the brunette
"Nevertheless, you have seen him half-naked and run your hands over his abs," Cana then bit her lower lip as if to tease the blonde
"How'd you know?" Lucy asks guiltily embarrassed
"Levy may have mentioned about you styling Natsu for the FT sports and health mag," Cana snickers as she hears the blonde cursing the blue-haired writer, "Seriously, answer my question,"
"I don't know, maybe not..." Lucy flusteredly admits, "But it doesn't matter because none of it is true or congruent to my reality," Cana nods her head as she listens to the blonde, "Whether I say to Jenny that Natsu and I would have had a hot and steamy sex life or not…it doesn't change the fact that I'm just pretending,"
Cana just let Lucy steam off a little before she replies, "and that frustrates you,"
"No!" Lucy denies as she glances at the brunette
"Really? Cause you just sound so frustrated with your situation that you wish a little bit of these lies are true so that you don't feel bad about any of these," Cana and Lucy then stare at one another before Lucy gives up and groans in exasperation. Hearing Lucy wail, Cana drapes her arm around Lucy's shoulder and gave a gentle rub, "What is the matter?"
Lucy trying to control her tears and sobs, she replies, "I hate how Jenny made me…recall college days and admit that I had feelings for Natsu. And the fact that I am bothered by it, makes me think that maybe I still do have feelings for him,"
"And pretending to be engaged with him makes it worse because you know—"
"I'll never get engaged with him," Lucy finally sobs as tears roll down her cheeks, making her hide her face from her friend
"Hey, it's fine to cry," Cana soothes as she notices that Lucy was trying to keep her tears away from her sight, "I understand that this whole fake thing has become a frustrating shit for you,"
"I just didn't want to be called a spinster. It's very childish of me to resort to making up lies and make Natsu pretend as my fiancé when I knew that I have feelings for him…what was I thinking?"
"You were just caught in a sticky situation and one lie led to another. Natsu happens to be the closes guy you have who is happily there to help you out," Cana suddenly embraces the blonde as she continues, "We just have to stick to the plan…unless you want to admit to everybody the truth so that you wouldn't have to deal with this,"

Lucy just leans on Cana's shoulder as she thinks to herself. She couldn't answer Cana anymore because she knew that she doesn't have the answers and she just hopes that one day she'll figure it out.

"Have you mentioned this to Natsu about meeting Jenny?" Cana asked as she noticed that Lucy wouldn't reply to her previous statement
"Not yet," Lucy mumbles
"Are you planning to tell?"
"I don't know…maybe not,"


A day had passed since Lucy met Jenny and she has never told another soul about what happened during that meet up. Although her mother called and asked about it, Lucy just gave a general idea of what happened. She mentioned that Jenny asked questions regarding Natsu and her in terms of their relationship and not much about the wedding. When Layla asked Lucy if she was sure that they wouldn't get Jenny as their wedding planner, Lucy assured her mother that Mira would be the better option as their wedding planner, after all, Jenny was not against the idea. So, when Layla was reassured, Lucy somehow felt lighter knowing that her mother would leave her alone for some time regarding this matter.

Eating lunch with Natsu on a Thursday afternoon, Lucy has kept herself silent. Seeing the blonde unusually quiet for the past few days, Natsu couldn't help but wonder what is bothering his best friend. As soon as he saw Lucy put her utensils down after eating half of her meal, Natsu couldn't help but raise a brow and audible hum in confusion.

"What?" Lucy wondered as she notices Natsu was staring at her suspiciously
"Hm, I was just thinking if something is bothering you," Natsu continues to stare back as he waits for the blonde to answer
"…nothing," Lucy then smiles sweetly before she urges the pinkette to continue to eat, "Eat up, you still have another round to eat. I'm pretty sure they'll bring your next order soon,"
"Okay…" Natsu trails off as he tries to ignore the unsettling feeling he has and continues to eat. As he was about to take a spoonful of his food, he suddenly remembers that Layla called him, "Oh, yesterday," he said, making Lucy glance at him while putting her phone down, "Your mom called,"
"Mama?" Lucy repeats and Natsu nods his head, "Why'd she call you?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure but it has something to do with a wedding planner I think," Natsu then scratches his head in embarrassment for forgetting the actual conversation
"Ahh…did mama mentions the name, Jenny Realight?" Lucy asked cautiously
Natsu thought for a moment when it suddenly clicks to him and snapped his fingers in agreement, "Yeah she did! If I remember correctly your mom hoped Jenny Realight could be our wedding planner,"
Lucy nods her head in agreement, "Yeah, she did want Jenny. But then I told her Mira would be our wedding planner,"
"I see…" Natsu then nods his head as he begins to eat. As he was eating and Lucy was going back to using her phone, Natsu suddenly remembered another topic discussed with Layla, "Oh, she also mentioned that you met Jenny Realight?"

Lucy then halted, as if she was afraid that an extra movement would make Natsu discover the conversation she had with the infamous wedding planner. Looking up at the man slowly, Lucy gave a tight lip smile and a cautious answer, "I…did,"
"Really? When?" Natsu inquires, fully looking at the blonde
"Um…Tuesday," Lucy replies, shortly
Natsu then tilts his head in surprise, "Tuesday? What was I doing that day? How come I didn't know about this?"
"Um, it was an impromptu meet up. Mama called me that day and mentioned about Jenny Realight, only to find out that Jenny wanted to meet that day,"
"Oh, I see…" Natsu then leans back to his chair as if he was taken aback with the information, "Sorry Luce if I wasn't there to help out,"
Lucy shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "It's fine…it wasn't much of a hassle to deal with," Lucy mentally rolled her eyes to herself as she thought of how much that was a lie
"So, what exactly did you talk about with her?" Natsu further questions as he sits up straight when a waiter suddenly arrives and begins to get the empty plates and replace it with new dishes
"Um, nothing special…" Lucy then gave a stiff smile as if she was hindering herself from talking, which didn't go unnoticed by the pinkette. Scrunching his brows together, Natsu paused from his meal and asked, "Nothing special? What do you mean?"
"Um, we just talked about general stuff…"
"Like?" Natsu insists for a detailed answer
"Umm…" Lucy trails off as she tries to think of topics that are irrelevant to what was discussed, "Like, weddings…and um, engagement,"
Natsu just then gave a skeptical look at the blonde, completely not convinced with what Lucy said.

For some reason, Natsu doesn't feel at ease with Lucy's response about meeting Jenny Realight. With all the trouble they have gone through, he is pretty sure that Lucy should have been panicking and worried about the situation. But seeing her like this, in meeting up with a wedding planner and talk about a wedding that is not supposed to pursue, she is uncharacteristically calm and composed.

Although he wants to persistently ask Lucy about what happened, he knew better not to piss off the blonde and just nod in understanding. Natsu pretentiously smiled and acknowledged the information given by Lucy. But he promised himself, he'll try to figure it out, whether Lucy likes it or not.

When Natsu has finally finished his meal, he had insisted to walk Lucy back to Fairy Tail publishing, even if the blonde continuously said that he didn't have to. As they headed back to the building, Lucy had urged Natsu to head back to his work because it was past 1 pm already. But Natsu stubbornly entered the building and headed straight to the elevator and waited for the blonde to ride the contraption. When Lucy gave up on pushing Natsu to go back to work, she just rolled her eyes at the man as she tells him that she shouldn't be blamed if he gets penalized for overusing lunch breaks.

Reaching the 15th floor, Natsu quickly grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her out of the elevator and walked past the receptionist, who was not able to stand quickly to greet them. When they entered Lucy's office, Natsu quickly locked the door and looked at Lucy with a stern look.

"Na-Natsu, what's wrong with you?" Lucy questions confusingly as she turns to look at the man by the door
Natsu tries to think of a way to make Lucy confess the truth but then he was running out of ideas. When Lucy suddenly squeezes his hand, Natsu finally snapped out of his thoughts and just grinned at the blonde, "Nothing…Um, I guess I can go now knowing that you're all set,"
Lucy just chuckles at the ridiculous pinkette, "I've been ready to go back to work the moment we arrived at the lobby," Lucy then tugs the hand of the man as she gently nudges him to move so that she could unlock her door and open it.

When Lucy opened her door, she gently pushed Natsu out of the office and mumbled to him that they should just talk later again. As Natsu nodded his head, Lucy offered to walk him back to the elevator and Natsu was supposed to agree but he suddenly saw Levy in the hall, making him change his mind.

"Nah! No need Luce, I know exactly where to go," Natsu then grins
"Alright, see you later!" Lucy then waves goodbye to the pinkette as she closes her door

When Lucy was no longer in sight, Natsu quickly stepped away from the door and approached the quite confuse bluenette, who stopped walking the moment she saw him.

"Hey, Natsu," Levy greets as the man walks up to her
"Hey, Levy…do you have time?" Natsu asked as he stood in front of the shorter woman
"Yeah, sure…come on in," Levy then opens her door and lets Natsu walk in first before she perplexedly closed it.

"What's up?" Levy initiates as she walks in front of the man, who took a seat on her couch
"Have you heard of Jenny Realight?" Natsu asked
"Yeah, she's a former model who is now a famous wedding planner and blog owner of Weddings and Marriages. Why?" Levy raises a brow at the man as she leans on her desk
"Lucy met up with her," Natsu states, making Levy surprised
"Really? How come I never heard of this?" Levy then thought to herself as if she had missed out of the news
"I'm not sure but I only heard it from Auntie Layla and Lucy just confirmed it to me moments ago," Natsu suddenly stands up and approached the windows to glance at the city while contemplating, "It seems like she wasn't even planning to tell me if I haven't mentioned it,"
"Well, that's odd…" Levy comments as she thought of a reason why Lucy would act like that
"Right?" Natsu said with extreme emotion in his voice while turning to look at the bluenette, making Levy look up at him
"So, what do you exactly want to happen?" Levy inquired as she notices the look that Natsu was giving off—a look that told her that the pinkette had some agenda to accomplish
"I need your help," Natsu walks up to the bluenette and grasps her shoulders, "I need you to make Lucy confess what exactly happened during the meetup. She is acting weird—besides the fact that she is weird most times-"
"Natsu," Levy interjects as she gave deadpan look at the man
"I mean, she is usually frantic when things, like this, happens. And she's not panicking and even said to me that she doesn't find this much of a hassle to deal with. Since when is dealing with a real wedding planner, not a hassle when all of this is fake?" Natsu rants, making Levy believe him and wonder what Lucy is hiding
"I see your point," Levy then nods her head in affirmation, "I'll try my best. I'll tell you as soon as I find out,"
Natsu then sighs in relief, "Thank you so much, Levy…It's just that it's bothering me that Lucy is hiding something from me when we should be working on this together,"
"Don't worry Natsu, I gotcha," Levy then smirks as Natsu smiles back in relief.


As Levy thought to herself and wondered about what Natsu had told her that afternoon, she knew that Natsu was right that Lucy was hiding something from him. Pushing Lucy to tell the truth sometimes is a difficult thing to do unless you put the blonde in the right environment and mood. So, thinking of a way to make Lucy loosen up without her suspecting that she is doing this for Natsu, Levy was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when her phone rang.

Looking up at the caller ID, Levy grabbed her phone and answered the call of her friend, "Hey, Ju-chan," Levy greets
"Levy-chan! Juvia is excited about our dinner tonight!"
Levy suddenly winces as she forgets about her plans with her bluenette friend, who had insisted that they should talk about her and Gajeel's relationship.
"About that…" Levy started
"No Levy-chan, you can't bail out on me. Juvia will have 'the talk' with Gajeel-kun's girlfriend,"
"Like I said Juvia, Gajeel and I are…roomies. He's not my boyfriend, nor am I his girlfriend. We're just friends and roommates…Nothing more, nothing less," Levy then begins to nail bite as if she was nervous that she was giving away too much information
"Juvia doesn't believe Gajeel-kun's girlfriend. We shall have our dinner together," Juvia insistently replies, making Levy sigh in exasperation
"Alright, fine we'll have 'the talk'. But I need your help first," Levy then stares ahead as Juvia agrees to help out, "Natsu came up to me and asked for help because he thinks Lucy is hiding something from him. The fact that Lucy met up with Jenny Realight and not mentioning it Natsu seems sketchy so…I was wondering if you could help me make Lucy talk?"
"Why would Lucy-chan hide something like this? This could harm the plan," Juvia expressed, making Levy nod her head in agreement
"I know and Natsu said that Lucy seemed calm when he talked about it. And that's not how Lucy reacts to this kind of situation,"
"Lucy-chan is hiding something. Not only to Natsu-san but to us too…Juvia would like to have 'the talk' with Lucy-chan," Levy then grins at Juvia's determination
"So, should it be over dinner or some drinks?" Levy then grins as she suddenly felt like having a girl's night with her two best friends
"How about both? Juvia would like to unwind a little,"
"Great!" Levy chimed before she thought of her other friends, "wait, how about the others? Should we tell them?"
"Let's handle it first together. If it can't be helped, we should tell Mira and the others right away,"
"Right, okay. I'll tell Lu-chan about our plan and we'll see you at Blue Cristiana Club," Levy then smiles to herself when Juvia exclaims that she was getting more excited, "Alright, bye!" Levy then pulls the phone away from her ear and quickly stood up to head out of her office.

When Levy approached the office of the blonde and knocked firmly, she immediately opened the door and glanced at the occupant of the office. Seeing the blonde in her usual busy self, Levy initiated to greet her friend and step inside her office. As soon as her greetings were said, Lucy looked up from her computer and gave a business-like smile to her friend.

"You're quite busy," Levy comments as she takes a seat in front of the blonde
"Uh, yeah…Enno-sama has given us feedback about the interview questions. She just made a few changes and she wrote some topics that she wants to put in the magazine. When are you free so that we could schedule with Mr. and Mrs. Dragneel,"
"Your future father and mother-in-law?" Levy teased, seeing how serious her best friend is
"Huh?" Lucy confusingly tilts her head as she was not getting Levy's point
"Lu-chan," Levy awkwardly smiles at the blonde
"Oh…uh" Lucy then tries to chuckle off the weird dead air, "So when are you free?"
Levy suddenly rolls her eyes as she thought to herself, Lucy was indeed not herself, "You know what Lu-chan, I think we need a girl's night out. Juvia invited me for dinner to have 'the talk'," Levy quotes with her fingers as she stares at the skeptical look Lucy was giving, "and she said that she also wants to unwind. So, wanna come along?"
Lucy then tightens her lips as if she wants to say yes yet thinking otherwise, "Lu-chan, I won't take no for an answer. I just wanted to ask but your response it either yes or definitely yes,"
Lucy then chuckles at her options, "I guess, yes is the less enthusiastic answer,"
"Yep!" Levy then stands from her seat as she points at the blonde while walking towards the door, "I'll pick you up at 5 and we'll head to Blue Cristiana. Got it?"
"Got it," Lucy grins back as she watches her best friend smile and disappears on the other side of the door. When Levy was no longer in sight, Lucy sighs to herself as she drops her head to her hand and runs her hands over her face, "Please don't make me lie…" Lucy mumbles to herself.


Blue Cristiana Club
12:36 AM

Kring Kring

"Hello?" Natsu groggily answers the call, "…Luce?"
"Natsu, it's Levy"
"Levy?" Natsu then paused for a moment before questioning what was happening, "Why are you calling me using Lucy's phone? Is everything alright?"
"Well…Lucy is fine," Levy struggled a little as she tries to keep the blonde in place, "it's just that…she's drunk,"
"Drunk?!" Natsu exclaimed alert, making the man shuffle out of his bed, "Why is Lucy drunk?"
"It was the only way to get her to talk," Levy then winces as she realized what she had said
"She told you what she was keeping a secret from me?" Natsu asked as he stopped walking around his room
"…uh, yeah. I'll tell you about it if you pick her up here at Blue Cristiana,"
"Of all places Levy, you had to bring her there?" Natsu skeptically questions, making Levy roll her eyes
"Will you quit questioning my decisions and just pick her up? I still have Juvia to bring home," Levy, annoyed, answered the pinkette who just chuckled at her response
"You don't have to tell me twice. I am on my way,"
"Great. Thanks, bye," Levy then pulls the phone away from her ear before she squats down to Lucy's level, who continuously swayed in her seat on the pavement just outside the club.

Sighing at the sight, Levy puts the phone away inside Lucy's bag before she mumbles at the blonde, "Lu-chan, what am I going to do with you?"
"Juvia has an idea!" Juvia suddenly exclaims with her eyes closed while swaying drunkenly, "Juvia shall dance her drunkenness…then Gray-sama will come over and then he'll ngyaaa—"
Levy quickly covers the mouth of the drunk bluenette, "I've heard enough Juvia…I don't need to know,"
Levy then sighs again as she takes a seat on the pavement between the two drunken girls, "Why am I the only one sober?" Levy then groans when the two girls leaned on her shoulders.

After an unbearable 20 minutes of waiting, Natsu finally arrives with his car that could cater to more than three people. As soon as Natsu steps out of his vehicle, he looked at Levy almost with pity who was being crushed by two drunken women.

"Do you need help?" Natsu teased at the shorter bluenette, who just glared back at him
"Will you just shut up and help me? My bones are being crushed," Levy then holds Juvia as Natsu gently pulls Lucy to her feet, who suddenly spoke drunkenly as she wakes up
"Have you seen my fiancé?" Lucy spoke slurred as her head continues to turn from side to side, "Mister, have you seen my fiancé?" Lucy asks as she looks at the man, but was not able to decipher who it was
"Luce, it's me, Natsu," Natsu replies but then the blonde was too drunk to understand anything happening "Oh, right, I don't have a fiancé," Lucy then laughs out loud, making the man cringe for a moment before rolling his eyes
"How drunk is she?" Natsu inquires at the bluenette before he started picking Lucy up in a bridal style
"I don't know…she drank three or four shots I think?" Levy replies as she stands up while making sure Juvia wouldn't fall
"She barely can handle one shot of tequila," Natsu shook his head before he settles Lucy on the front passenger seat and buckles her up with the seatbelt. When Lucy was settled, Natsu helped Levy with Juvia and placed the drunken bluenette at the back and strapped the seatbelt as well.

As Levy closes the door and dust off her hands, Natsu walked around the car and settled in front of the vehicle, waiting for Levy to follow. When Levy stood in front of the man, she crossed her arms around her body as if she was blocking the cold wind. Handing the woman his jacket, Natsu finally asked, "So, what did she tell you?"

As Levy placed the jacket around her shoulders, she just stared at the man for a moment, recalling what Lucy had said.

|…||…|

"I can't believe you, Levy-chan, you have been seeing the man for so long and yet you don't want to put labels on your relationship," Lucy comments after Levy finally admitted what was happening between her and Gajeel
"I just don't want to name whatever Gajeel and I have. I mean, he's free to be out in the world and to mingle with others…it's just that we choose to be with one another," Levy then smiles at the blonde, who genuinely smiles back, "Now it's your turn,"
"Okay, throw your question," Lucy challenged as she shrugs her shoulders
"I heard you met up with Jenny Realight," Levy began, making Juvia clap in anticipation while Lucy's eyes grew wide, "Tell us, what did you talk about with her? Truth or drink?"
Staring at the two girls, Lucy swallowed hard before she haggardly breathed out and grabbed the tequila shot
"Oh!" Levy and Juvia chimes in surprise as they watched the blonde finish the drink, "You are hiding something from us!" Levy comments as Lucy shook her head in cringe with the drink
"Lucy-chan! Tell us!" Juvia insists but Lucy shook her head
"I drank the shot so no telling!" Lucy then laughs as she felt little fuzzy

After two more shots of tequila, Lucy has finally snapped out of her coherence and started giggling on her spot. Glancing at the drunken blonde, Levy quickly looked at Juvia and they both mentally agreed that it was time to bombard Lucy.

"Hey, Lu-chan, are you still good?" Levy asked concerningly as she watches the blonde stumble a little on her spot
"Of course Levy-chan! I never felt better! It's like…" Lucy then sighs in content, "I have no inhibitions…not afraid to tell the truth,"
"Really?" Levy reaffirms
"Will Lucy-chan tell us what happened with you and Jenny?" Juvia begins as she leans closer to the blonde
"Jenny?" Lucy repeats before she smiles at herself drunkenly and giggles, "Oh, you won't believe this. She's a wedding planner but she's a definite pervert," Lucy then giggles again, making the two blue-heads curious
"What do you mean Jenny's a pervert?" Levy asks, quite confused as she thought that it is not something to hide
"Jenny…" Lucy whispers as she stumbles a little while leaning forward, "asked if Natsu and I had sex,"
"What?!" Juvia shouted, making Levy scold at her and pull her close again
"Continue Lu-chan," Levy suggested as Lucy continued to laugh on her own
"Then I said—NO!" Lucy shouted with a whip of her hand, startling the two, "I am reserving myself," Lucy then giggles cutely
"Then what did Jenny say?" Levy asks as she grabs Lucy's hand to get her attention
"Oh nothing, she just kept on pestering me about passion and fiery touches," Lucy cringes before she pouts and grunts
"If that's the only thing you talked about with her, then why keep it a secret?" Juvia curiously asks but ends her gaze at the bluenette who was confused as well
"Because…" Lucy started and Juvia and Levy quickly looked back at her, "she made me confess,"
"Confess?" Levy repeated and Lucy nodded her head furiously, "What did you confess?"
Lucy inhaled deeply as she looked around the place, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, "It's noisy here,"
"Hey, Lu-chan focus. What did you confess?" Levy persistently ask, beginning to worry
"I wanna get out of here," Lucy then shook off Levy's hand as she stood from her seat and began to stumble out of the booth they were using.

As Levy and Juvia hurriedly stand to follow the blonde towards the center of the club, they were taken aback when they saw Lucy dancing to the music.

"I thought the place was too noisy. Why is she suddenly dancing now?" Juvia baffled glanced at the blonde
"Cause she's drunk," Levy then sighs as she quickly dived in into the crowd to get Lucy out of the dancing bodies around her

When Levy was able to get Lucy out of the dancing floor, she quickly pulled Lucy towards the bar where Juvia sat down to wait for them. As Juvia was about to take the shot she ordered, she quickly placed it down to help Levy place Lucy on the empty stool.

"Lucy-chan, you are totally wasted," Juvia remarks as she places her hand on her hips before glancing at Levy who quickly grabbed a shot and downed it, "Slow down Levy-chan, we still have to get the truth from Lucy-chan,"
"I know…I just need that drink to help me get by," Levy then took a seat next to Lucy while Juvia grabbed the stool next to Lucy on the other side
"Bartender! Another set of shot glasses please!" Juvia called before turning to look at the blonde, "So, Lucy-chan, what did you confess to Jenny?"
"I'm thirsty," Lucy mumbles, seeming to not listen to her girlfriends
groaning, Levy suddenly snapped her fingers right in the front of Lucy's face, "Lu-chan, focus!"

When the bartender placed three shots in front of Juvia, Lucy quickly grabbed one and swallowed it, making Juvia and Levy shriek in surprise.

"Ju-chan! Drink that all up before Lucy loses it!" Levy instructed, which Juvia complied immediately
after drinking that two shots straight, Juvia suddenly hiccupped and slurred, "Juvia feels fuzzy,"
"Oh shit," Levy face-palmed herself, "Okay, I got this…"
"Lu-chan," Levy called, successfully making the blonde look at her
"Yes, Levy-chan?" Lucy replies sweetly as if she was a prim-and-proper little girl
"Okay…um, what exactly did you confess to Jenny? Did you tell her about the fake engagement?"
"No, Levy-chan. I confessed my feelings," Lucy then smiles genuinely but obvious it was due to drunkenness
"Feelings…" Levy nods to herself, "What feelings? Do you mean for Natsu? I thought you're over him,"
"You know how I had deep feelings for Natsu back in college?" Lucy begins and Levy nods her head in understanding, "Jenny made me relive it and remind me of how much I had never got over those feelings," Lucy was then becoming emotional, making Levy quite unsure how to continue
"But…you had another guy court you—"
"Raito!" Juvia exclaims, filling in the name of the guy Levy was talking about
"Right, Raito the architect. I thought you got over those feelings for Natsu because of him?" Levy asks, trying to clarify what she knows
"I just said that to make myself believe that I was getting over Natsu," Lucy slowly blinks at Levy
"Then why were you mad when Natsu threatened the guy away?"
"Because he continuously made me confuse and believe that he had feelings for me,"
"Oh…" Levy then slumps back, feeling defeated to hear this, "Did Jenny figure you out?"
"No…" Lucy simply replies, slowly getting sleepy, "But she told me that Natsu and I's relationship is deeply rooted in friendship yet had feelings for one another. We just didn't figure it out easily,"
"Jenny said that?" Levy shocked asked
"Isn't its Jenny's job to tell me that Natsu never had any feelings for me in a romantic way back then? But she said the opposite, making me believe that Natsu likes me more than as a friend…And now, I'm fucking believing her that this whole thing should just happen because what are the chances that Natsu would actually want to marry me?" Lucy said, with her eyes beginning to water, "Levy-chan, Natsu likes somebody else. This fucking ring—" Lucy suddenly shows her hand with the engagement ring that belongs to the pinkette, "Belongs to someone else. I just borrowed it because I needed a prop to show my mother that I was engaged. So, what are the chances that this ring will be mine? Should I just believe this fantasy that Natsu liked me and make him like me again?"
"Lucy," Levy whispers, feeling bad for making Lucy relive the struggle she has been hiding
"Maybe that's why I never looked for a guy because all I wanted was Natsu and yet the idiot never showed interest in me. All his fucking sweetness is his way of being my
friend,"
"Maybe Natsu does have feelings for you," Levy tries to appease the blonde but Lucy just chuckled at her as she furiously shook her head
"Don't make me believe Levy-chan…don't because this whole fake engagement is just making me delusional that Natsu, kissing me or holding my hand is his secret way of telling me he likes me. You're just making it more impossible for me to get out of this delusion,"
"Lucy, I'm sorry. I just don't know what to say anymore," Levy then stands up and embraces the blonde, who was now crying her eyes out, "Lu-chan, I'm really sorry,"

As Levy continues to hug her friend, she suddenly notices how Lucy had slowed down from her sobs and had stable breathing. Pulling away, Levy saw Lucy had passed out after crying making her sigh and think of a way to wrap this up.

"Lu-chan, I'm just going to borrow your phone," Levy then fished out Lucy's cellphone and slipped it into her pants' pocket, "Ay bartender! Can you call someone to help me bring my friends outside? They need fresh air,"

|… ||… |

"One question before I answer your question," Levy states, making Natsu raise his brow
"Sure, what?" Natsu replies as he crosses his arms over his chest
"Do you like Lucy?" Levy sincerely asks without hinting anything to the pinkette
"Yeah. She's my best friend, my partner in crime. She's one of the most important persons in my life," Natsu curiously looked at the bluenette, "What does that have to do with my question?"
Levy just kept quiet, not satisfied with the pinkette's answer, "…Let me rephrase myself, do you romantically like Lucy?" Levy clarifies, making the man quite impatient
"Romantic or friendly way, Lucy is important to me. I like her regardless…like how I like my friends, how I treat you guys as my second family—I all like you, and I like her too. Maybe even more because…she's my best friend,"
Levy suddenly sighs as she realizes she'll never get the clearest answer from Natsu, because he, himself, is still confused whether he sees Lucy in a friendly way or romantic way, "Alright, fine. I get it…"
"Why are you asking me this? What does it have to do with Lucy's talk with Jenny?" Natsu reiterates
"Nothing…" Levy then sighs again, "Lucy isn't really hiding anything from you. It's more of, she's shy to talk about what she and Jenny discussed," Levy then looked away
"What did they discuss?" Natsu impatiently asks
"Yours and Lucy's supposed sex life together," Levy then turns away and headed towards the back door
"Oh…" Natsu was then stunned, left speechless but immediately snapped out when Levy spoke
"Come on Natsu, let's get them home," Levy instructs before she steps inside the car closed it
"Yeah…we should,"

To be continued…