A/N: Hey everyone. Thanks for being patient with me. My first year of college is finally over with so I now have more time to update. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
The weekend had come quickly and all the girls, minus Lisanna, were at Lucy's house getting ready for the big dance. Lucy had all the girls come over early for a mini spa day.
"This is great Lucy. Thank you for having us all over," said Levy as the masseuse massaged her back.
"No problem Lev" Lucy smiled. She was currently relaxing with a facial and cucumbers on her eyes. "I want us all to look our very best tonight. It's a real shame Lisanna couldn't make it though. Why isn't she here again Erza?"
"She just said she had some things she needed to take care of." Erza said while blowing on her freshly painted nails. "I wouldn't think much of it though. She volunteered to help out with the dance the other day, so she's probably busy with that."
"Shouldn't you be helping too?" Juvia asked.
"No, the sophomores and juniors have it covered. And with Lisanna helping too, I have nothing to worry about. I am focusing solely on our senior prom."
Meanwhile… All the guys were at Natsu's house.
"Hey, isn't that dance today?" Gray asked while eating a bag of chips on Natsu's couch.
"Oh yeah… that is today." Natsu scratched his head.
"Should we start getting ready?" Jellal sat on the couch next to Gray with his own bag of chips.
There was a long silence, then all the guys simultaneously said "Nah"
"We'll start getting dressed like an hour before it's time to pick the girls up." Gajeel suggested.
They all nodded in agreement and went back to watching TV.
A few hours passed and after a lot of pampering, it was finally time for the dance. Lucy was wearing a champagne strapless floor length dress that hugged every curve of her body. It had a heart shaped bodice that showed just enough cleavage. Her hair was curled and all swept to one side. Erza had on a 2 piece black and gold high neck dress with a floor length mermaid styled skirt. Her hair was in a sleek elegant bun. Levy had on a simple black shimmery 2 piece dress that had a short tulle skirt. Her hair was also up in a bun. Lastly, Juvia was wearing a silver floor length mermaid dress. Her hair was also curled and swept to the side like Lucy's.
Lucy POV
I was extremely excited to see Natsu as I walked down my long stair case. I couldn't wait for him to see my master piece of an outfit. I hadn't been this excited to go to a dance since I was at my last high school. Thank god that life behind me now though. I have great friends, outstanding grades, and a loving boyfriend. Life couldn't be better right now.
"Hey there handsome." I winked at my awestruck boyfriend. All he could do was stare at me, it was adorable.
In fact, all the guys were like that; completely speechless. That's exactly how we wanted them
"Well boys." I heard Erza say. "Are you going to gawk at us all night or are you going to take us to the dance?" She smiled confidently in a very Erza way.
"R-right!" Jellal stammered. "You look beautiful Erza." He said shyly, barely meeting her gaze.
Natsu responded in a very similar fashion. "Yeah, you look great Luce! Took my breath away."
"I can see that." I smiled, very pleased so far.
I looked around at my group of friends. I saw Gajeel whispering in Levy's ear, making her blush, Gray playfully flirting with Juvia, and Jellal admiring Erza. This indeed was going to be a fun night. We all grouped together and took a picture, as well as some individual pictures, couples pictures, and all the girls; you know the deal. I posted a few on Instagram and took a few for snapchat, then we were ready to go.
The boys all had their own cars parked outside my house, probably so each couple could go their separate ways once the night ended if they wanted. I walked over to Natsu's black BMW and he, very gentlemanly, opened the door for me.
"I can't say this enough Luce." Natsu said as he opened the driver's door and slid into his seat. "You look stunning."
I leaned over and pecked him softly on the lips. "Thank you. We should get going though. Gajeel is looking pretty impatient." I turned around, looking through the back window of Natsu's car. I was met with a very impatient looking Gajeel who looked like he was going to explode any minute and a very worried Levy, trying her best to calm him down.
Natsu laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Don't want a situation like last time." With that, Natsu put the car and drive and we were off to the dance with our friends following behind us.
Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate in my clutch and opened my bag to see what it was. I had a comment from Lisanna on the group picture I had posted on Instagram.
*TakeOverKitty: Super cute! Tonight is gonna be one for the books ;)
I stared at my phone for a few minutes, unsure about how to take what I had just read. It seemed sincere enough… But Lisanna had been acting really strange lately. I just decided to think nothing of it. We had finally arrived at the dance and I was determined to make the most of it.
The scene we were met with walking into the large banquet hall was beautiful. The entire place was decorated to the T like a fairy tale. It reminded me a lot of the ball from Cinderella. I was extremely impressed.
"Those underclassmen certainly did you justice Erza! They really came through for you!" I complimented.
"Well of course." She shrugged. "I may not have put it all together, but sometime last year, I did put together a binder with very strict and specific instructions on what to do. They did a nice job, but I do remember specifying I wanted blue drapes, not white." Erza thoughtfully stroked her chin while thoroughly examining the entire room.
Everyone's sweat dropped. That's Erza for you, I know she was focused on prom, but I knew she'd never give up complete creative control of a major event. Especially if it would have her name on it at the end of the day.
"Let's all go find a table to sit at guys." Levy suggested.
Everyone agreed and followed levy to a table towards the front of the gym to a table close to the dance floor.
"Is this okay for everyone?" She asked while setting her purse on the table.
Everyone said yeah while putting their stuff on the table, not really caring where they sat. The dance was just getting started, so not many people were up and dancing. Everyone decided to just stay at the table and talk.
"Erza, why did you insist we come here at 7 on the dot? There is literally no one here." Lucy complained
"Punctuality is very important Lucy." Erza replied causing everyone to roll their eyes.
Even though they were the only ones there, the friends laughed and joked and became their own party. They were having so much fun together, they barely noticed all the time that had passed. It was now 9:30 and the dance was filling up with students.
"Hey Luce, wanna dance?" Natsu asked, noticing the dance floor beginning to flood with people.
"Sure" she responded without hesitation.
Lucy loved school dances. Getting all dolled up with her friends, all the excitement, dancing the night away. It always had been her favorite part of high school.
When Natsu and Lucy started dancing, they noticed their friends beginning to follow their example, making their way to the dance floor as well.
"Alright, time to slow things down! Grab that special somebody boys and girls" Sid the DJ as he started to play a slow dance song.
Natsu eagerly pulled Lucy into an embrace. Romantic was the only way Lucy could describe the moment. Natsu had his hands securely wrapped around her waist with her arms around his neck. He was staring deep into her eyes with intensity and love that made her knees weak. He slowly started to lean in to capture he lips in a tender kiss when suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder.
When Natsu turned his head to see who interrupted him, he was greeted by Lisanna's smiling face. Natsu all but rolled his eyes, annoyance clearly on his face.
"Excuse me Lucy, mind if I cut in for a second?"
"Um... actually-"
"It'll only be for a second" She quickly cut off while pulling Natsu to the side before either party had a chance to protest.
Lucy sighed in annoyance. She and Natsu were having a real moment before Lisanna cut in. Lucy knowing the couple's past also didn't make her feel any better about Lisanna cutting into their moment. If it had been someone like Erza, Juvia, or Levy, she would not have minded as much. Lucy however trusted Natsu, and it was Lisanna she wasn't so sure about.
"What do you think you're doing Lisanna?" Natsu said as Lisanna wrapped her hands around his shoulders in a very 1 sided attempt to slow dance with him.
"What's wrong with me wanting to dance with my longtime friend hm?" She said, voice painted in fake innocence.
Natsu frowned. "What are you up to?"
Lisanna smirked. "Nothing you don't already know about. Enjoy the dance Natsu." With that Lisanna sauntered away.
Natsu's little exchange with Lisanna left him feeling uneasy. What could Lisanna possibly mean by that comment? All he knew was, whatever it meant, it all translated to no good.
"What was that all about?" Lucy said, startling Natsu out of his thought process.
"N-nothing. Don't worry about it. Let's go out to the garden for a minute. I have a surprise for you."
Meanwhile, Gajeel and Levy were the only couple out of the group of friends who weren't dancing.
"Gajeel, why don't we go dance?" Levy suggested
Gajeel snorted. "Dancin ain't my style shrimp."
"But Gajeel, just one wouldn't hurt your rep too much and-"
"Forget it." He cut off.
Levy huffed angrily and walked away from the table. Why did he ask her to the dance if he didn't plan on dancing with her? Was just one dance too much to ask for? Why did she have to go for the most antisocial, standoffish, 'I'm too cool for anything' type? As she observed he friends laughing and dancing and kissing, she couldn't help but feel envious. She wished Gajeel was like that in public as well as closed doors.
"Levy" Said Jet, startling Levy out of her thoughts. "I noticed you weren't with anyone, and I've always had the biggest crush on you and I was wondering if you wanted to dance?"
"No!" Said Droy, running up to the pair. "I've liked you longer Levy! Dance with me?" He said, clearly out of breath from running.
Jet and Droy sat near Levy in chemistry class for years and they occasionally partnered up for assignments.
"Let's let her decide!" Said Jet.
"Yeah, Lets! Who do you wanna dance with Levy? Me or him"
"Neither." Said Gajeel walking up to the trio.
"And who are you?" Said Jet, clearly annoyed with the extra competition.
"Her boyfriend. Now beat it. Or else." Gajeel growled, immediately scaring the two boys away.
He then grabbed Levy by the arm, dragged her to the dance floor, and began slow dancing with her. He had a very clear blush on his face.
Levy smirked. "Who knew Mr. big bad Gajeel could get jealous."
"Shut up" He blushed harder. "I ain't jealous. I ain't lettin two nerds try to move in on what's mine. They needed to know their place." He tried to play off.
Levy blushed about the 'mine' comment. "I knew you cared." She leaned in and pecked him on the lips.
"Yeah… whatever" He looked to the side, his face now matching the color of Erza's hair.
Natsu lead Lucy out to the garden that was attached to the ballroom. It was decorated beautifully. There were lights strung up above the garden and they were surrounded by beautiful white and pink roses. Natsu lead Lucy to the bench right in front of the fountain at the center of the garden.
"It's beautiful out here Natsu!" Lucy said in awe.
"Yeah" Natsu smiled. "The mood is perfect out here."
Lucy frowned in confusion "What do you mean?"
Natsu took a deep breath. He had been nervous all night for this moment and it was finally here.
"Lucy… I like you a lot. I've never felt this way about any other person. You mean more to me than you'll ever know, and you've changed me in ways that you can't even imagine. Lucy… Will you" Natsu paused as he pulled a black box out of his pocket. "Will you accept this promise ring? I don't know what the future has in store for us, but the past 6 months have been amazing. I don't want you out of my life any time soon. What do you say?"
Lucy was completely shocked. She definitely wasn't expecting that. Her heart swelled with happiness. "Of course I will!" She smiled pulling him into a sweet embrace.
"You will?!" Natsu exclaimed. He was shocked she actually said yes.
"Yes" she laughed at his disbelief. "I would love to accept your promise ring.
Lucy took the box from Natsu that had a ring on a silver chain in it. Lucy took the necklace out of the box and put it around her neck.
"It suits you." Natsu said honestly. He couldn't be happier than he was in that moment.
When the two reentered the ball room, they saw their friends were all seated at their table.
"Look who's finally back. What happened to you guys?" Gray said suggestively causing Lucy to deeply blush at the implication.
"Shut up ice pick. We were just in the garden."
"What's that around your neck Lucy?" Juvia said observantly
Lucy smiled. "Natsu gave me a promise ring."
"AWWWWWWWW" Said all the girls.
"That's so sweet!" Levy gushed
"Look who's the late one" Gray said smugly. "We've all already done that."
"You guys got promise rings too?" Lucy asked, happy for her friends.
"Yeah." Levy smiled at the memory. "It was the day before yesterday.
"I got mine last week" Juvia interjected.
"Jellal gave me one 2 years ago."
"YOU SONS OF BITCHES NEED TO STOP COPYING ME!" Natsu fumed.
"YOU WERE LAST YOU IDIOT! HOW COULD WE HAVE COPPIED YOU?" Gray stood up.
"It's cause… well you… shut up."
Everyone laughed at the very childish exchange between their friends. The girls began comparing their promise wrings, laughing and giggling while the boys just talked amongst themselves about the most recent sports thing. All chatter ceased when the group heard the sound of someone tapping the microphone. It was none other than Lisanna on the stage, which gave Natsu a very uneasy feeling in his stomach.
"Hi everyone! How's everyone enjoying the dance?"
There was a dull roar of response from the students.
Lisanna rolled her eyes at the lack of enthusiasm. "Anyway, it's 11:30 which means it's time to crown your spring formal king and queen! The envelope please." She said reaching her hand out to a student behind her who then handed her the envelope.
"Thank you. Can I have a drum roll please?"
She was met with silence.
"Fine, forget the drumroll. Your king and queen are Levy McGarden and Gajeel Redfox!" Lisanna smiled brightly as the crowd began to applaud. "Don't be shy, come on up!"
Everyone at the table clapped while looking around in confusion as Levy and Gajeel made their way to the stage.
"I didn't know that they were even nominated." Lucy commented.
"Yeah… something is a little weird." Jellal said while eyeing Lisanna.
Natsu and Gray exchanged a look, and just like that all the guys at the table knew what Jellal was getting at.
"Hey Luce, why don't we head out?" Natsu quickly asked.
"Yeah, why don't we do the same Juvia?" Gray added
This caused the girls to frown.
"Um… ok? But we should wait for Levy and Gajeel to come back. It would be weird for us just to leave while they're being crowned."
"Juvia agrees. This may be odd and out of nowhere, but we should still support our friends."
"Actually I agree with Gray and Natsu." Said Jellal, clearly seeing what his friends were trying to do. "We all took separate cars anyways, so it'll be fine."
Erza stared at her boyfriend trying to figure out the root of his odd behavior. "I don't know what you guys are talking about, but we are all staying until our friends return and that's final."
None of the guys bothered arguing with Erza. They knew it would be pointless. They all turned their attention back to the stage where Levy and Gajeel just arrived, nervously waiting for what would happen next.
"Congratulations you two" Lisanna smirked making the two feel uneasy. "In honor of this accomplishment, I had a little video put together for you."
A white overhead screen began to lower down behind the stage. When the projector turned on, what Levy saw absolutely horrified her. There on screen, being showcased in front of the whole school, was a video of her and Gajeel having sex.
Everyone in the banquet hall was in shock, and Lucy, Juvia, and Erza were pissed.
"Here, we have a conclusion to a bet that little Gajeel won." Lisanna started to laugh. "You see, my friends and I made a little bet seeing who which one of them could get one of these losers to sleep with them first." She said gesturing to the table with Natsu and the group.
"So everyone, give it up for Gajeel!" Lisanna laughed, but to her surprise, no one laughed with her. Everyone just stared in shock.
The chaperones at the event hurried to turn the projector off and were making their way to the stage to reprimand Lisanna.
"That's my que. Enjoy the rest of the dance everyone." She said while being escorted out by security and would probably be suspended.
Levy was in complete shock; she couldn't move. The girls at the table were in the same state. The guys were all talking to them, but none of them were listening. Lucy was the first to recover. She stood up and slapped Natsu hard across the face. She then walked over to the stage and helped Levy down.
"Let's go Juvia." Lucy said while walking by the table, her arm around Levy.
Juvia quietly stood up and followed, not saying a word to Gray, who was still trying to talk to her.
When the girls reached the hallway, they realized that Natsu, Gray, Erza, Jellal, and Gajeel had followed them.
"What do you guys want?!" Lucy snapped. "Haven't you done enough?"
"I just want to talk to you Lucy. Please just hear me out-"
"And why should I?! Why should ANY of us?" Lucy took her arm from around Levy and walked closer to the group who she thought were her friends. "You guys made a fool of us. But that was the point right? I actually thought that you guys were different from the jerks at my old school, but you're all the same."
"But-"
"NO! I trusted you Natsu! I thought I was actually special to you! And you two." She said referring to Gajeel and Gray. "LOOK AT THEM!" She gestured to Levy and Juvia. "Are you HAPPY with yourself?! We all trusted ALL OF YOU." Lucy then turned towards Erza. "How could you just pretend to be my friend like that?! Without feeling any guilt or remorse!"
"Lucy, I-"
"I DON'T want to hear it!" She turned her attention back to Natsu. "I loved you... I trusted you when everything inside me told me not to."
At that moment, Lisanna joined the group in the hallway.
"Hey guys, enjoy the show?"
This caused a new kind of anger to snap inside of Levy. She quickly whipped her eyes, walked over to Lisanna, and punched her square in the face.
"Did you enjoy THAT bitch?!"
Lisanna was shocked to say the least. She quickly got up and dusted herself off. "You know what, whatever. I'll give you that one. OH, and by the way Lucy; Natsu and I fucked the day of your first date. That's why he was late." With that Lisanna left. She had already been kicked out the dance anyway.
"Lucy… It's not-"
"What Natsu?! Are you about to tell me it's not what I think? Do you think I'm stupid? Just save it. With all the news I just heard, this was the least surprising. Goodbye." With that she put her arm around Levy and started to walk away.
"Wait guys." Juvia finally spoke up as her friends started walking towards her. "Juvia has something to say."
Juvia made her way towards the very guilty and regretful looking Gray. He was doing anything he could not to meet her gaze.
"Gray… Juvia has had a crush on you for a long time. But now… I see you are not the man I thought you were. I now call you Gray, and not Gray-Sama because I no longer have any respect for you." Juvia then took her ring off. "You may keep this." Gray looked away shamefully.
She then turned her attention to the rest of the group. "I thought you were my friends. I am disappointed. Goodbye." With that, Juvia joined her friends in walking away.
"Lucy wait!" Natsu yelled "Please just give us a chance to explain ourselves."
Lucy stopped in her tracks and gestured to her friends to go on, saying she will meet them outside.
"And why should we? Give me 2 good reasons."
Natsu took this as his opportunity. It was now or never. "Because I love you… And I'm sorry." Natsu stared into Lucy's eyes with all the feelings that he had. Guilt, sorrow, love, and sadness.
Lucy looked Natsu up and down and after a long pause she replied "So what." And walked away; leaving Natsu and his group of friends staring sadly at where the girls once stood.
"Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?!" Erza yelled at her friends. She held her tongue while Lucy, Levy, and Juvia were talking because clearly they were hurt and needed time, but now that they were gone, she needed answers.
No one wanted to be the one to face Erza's wrath, so Jellal spoke up, being her boyfriend. He told Erza everything from the bet, and why they kept it from her. Erza was disgusted with her friends and boyfriend to say the least.
"I can't believe you all. Lucy was right about what she said about ALL of you."
"We know." Gray spoke up. "But that's why we decided to call it off and-"
"So the fuck what!" Erza cut him off. "Do you that that just undoes all the damage you did to those poor girls?! Who never did ANYTHING to you for that matter? All because you changed your mind?!" Erza shook her head. "You all are awful. And Jellal, I expected so much more from you. I need a break. From all of you."
Erza began to walk away, when she suddenly realized they had all gotten rides from their boyfriends; which means Lucy and her friends also had no ride home and were probably still outside. Erza walked back over to Jellal.
"Give me your car keys."
Jellal quickly handed them over, knowing questioning her was the wrong move if he wanted to save any form of relationship with her.
"Please know this changes nothing."
With that Erza walked outside only to see she was right. There the girls were standing outside, probably just realizing what she already had. She walked over to them.
Lucy rolled her eyes as soon as she saw her. "What Erza. What could you possibly want?"
Erza took a deep breath. "I know you all are pretty upset. I would be too. Please know I had NOTHING to do with this and knew NOTHING about it." She sighed. "What they did to you all was awful and dishonorable. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. My friendship with you all was completely pure. Please believe me. I am disgusted with what they did to you all and also want nothing to do with them as they are."
Lucy stared at Erza intently, trying to see if she was lying. She knew Erza wouldn't do something like that and was actually pretty relieved that she hadn't. Lucy nodded, accepting what Erza was saying as truth. Not once had she ever gotten a bad feeling from Erza.
Erza pulled the three girls into a group hug. "I'm so sorry this happened to you." She pulled away and took Jellal's keys out her purse. "Alright, let's go. I'm taking you all home."
"You can just drop us all off at Lucy's" Said Juvia.
"But what if the guys come looking for us there like I know they will. I do not feel like dealing with that right now." Levy rolled her eyes.
"We can all go to my place if you want." Erza offered.
The girls all agreed and headed to the car.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! The shit finally hit the fan and it's about to get real. Please review! Thank you for reading
