Lucy was sat on her neatly made bed, staring at the black jacket that was draped on her chair across the room. Natsu's coat. She felt bad for still having it, and it wasn't like she had any way to return it to the original owner. Now that she was thinking about it, there was no way that their little deal was going to be completed, seeing as neither party had the other's phone number or email or anything.
Shifting her gaze over to the comic book that was laid neatly on the desk in front of the chair, she pondered on whether she should start reading the book or not. It was a familiar title, about a hero that most people commonly know. Spider-Man, was it? She knew who the superhero was, but due to her 'secluded' lifestyle she never got to watch the movie. Or any hero movies now that she thought about it.
Even though she didn't get to experience the world of superheroes, she always had a fascination with them. Her mother used to tell her stories about heroes every night as a bedtime story. That is, until her mother left the country. But even now as a twenty-year-old she always dreamed that a hero would come and save her from the life she was living, from her father. She dreamed to touch the sky with her own Superman, but it was an unrealistic dream. She was never going to escape the hell her father is pushing her into.
Thoughts about the rose-haired man from last night popped into her head again. It was a foolish thought, but her time with him last night was the most fun she ever had. She's never really met someone quite like him. He was eccentric, zealous, and boisterous and kept worming his way into her head with that pink hair of his. It was such a shame she would most likely never see him again. Even with that thought, she still felt like she should follow through with their agreement.
"Well, if I win, I want ya to go on a date with me."
Her cheeks flushed a bright pink at his words, warming her entire body with just a mere memory. Just before she reached out to grab the slim comic, her phone began buzzing on her pillow, sliding down next to her thigh. Scrunching the back of the blonde rat's nest she called her hair, she yawned before answering the phone. "Hello?"
"Lucy! Are you okay?" Drawing her brows together, Lucy frowned as she pulled the phone away to look at the caller ID.
"Levy? Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Tucking the pink device between her ear and shoulder so she could twist her tangled locks into a temporary bun as she decided that it was high time to get ready for the day.
"Well, you didn't show up yesterday so I got worried. It didn't help that you didn't pick up your phone the entire night."
"Oh crap! I'm so sorry Levy! I ended up getting distracted, and I didn't even get home until ten and I'm so sorry that I forgot!" Damn that Natsu, making me forget about my best friend. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"Yeah." Levy teased Lucy. "It's fine though, Lu. Although, I met this guy named Gajeel. He was so rude! He sat down with me and kept calling me shrimp and is so rude. He was huge as well Lu, with weird face piercings and really long black hair. And he just wouldn't go away and-"
"Is it possible that you might, oh I don't know, have a crush on him Lev? Cause he sounds just like your type."
"Pfft. Him and I? I bet he hasn't even touched a book."
"You two could be like your favorite novel, Beauty and the Beast." Lucy smirked as she heard Levy's small gasp, imagining her furrowing her brows in the way she does every time she got teased.
"Okay, well you know what Lu? What you're saying is impossible because it's likely I won't ever see him again and-"
A knock resounded through Lucy's room, successfully cutting Levy off as Virgo's voice quickly followed after. "Miss Lucy? Mr. Jude has requested to see you in fifteen minutes."
"Okay, thanks Virgo." Once Lucy heard Virgo walk away from her bedroom she spoke again. "Hey Lev?"
"Yeah, I heard her. I'll come over in a half an hour so we can walk together to the bookstore, okay? I heard they were having a sale, and I figure you're gonna need some cheering up like you usually do."
Lucy cringed at her friend's obvious jab at her father, wishing she wouldn't word it like that. "Um, yeah. Okay." Once Levy hung up, Lucy stared at her cell. The way she said that, it made it sound like every meeting with her father always ended with her crying, which it didn't by the way. There were some meetings that were enjoyable. That's good, right?
No, it probably isn't.
She was back in the freezing room that she called her father's study. His anger radiated off of him in waves as she uncomfortably stood as stiff as a board, facing him. She hadn't bothered to changed into clothes that her father would approve of, instead opting for leggings, an oversized sweater and her favorite pair of brown boots.
"You blatantly disregarded what I told you to do." Jude snarled at his daughter who had her head bowed. "Mr. Boradik was not pleased when he came here to find out that you weren't even home."
Lucy didn't even bother to wonder why her father didn't ask her where she was at so late, or why she came home late. All that mattered to him, was marrying her off to some rich guy, no matter what the age the man is, so she can give birth to a son.
What, were they living in the medieval times? Who did arranged marriages anymore? And adding to that, why must she have a son? Can't she run the business just fine? Apparently not. As these thoughts boiled in her head, her father continued on with his lecture. It was all well thought out, and as meticulous as he always was when it came to his daughter.
"You're a disgrace. You lack everything good your mother had, only gaining her stubbornness." Lucy swallowed the retort she had, deciding to take the verbal beat down to get out of there quicker. "You are lucky that Mr. Beradik was kind enough-" Now at that, Lucy almost snorted at. "-to give you a second chance. Since he is in Crocus for the next two weeks, he has asked to have dinner with you a week after he returns. And you will not miss this one, or else there will be dire consequences."
Lucy gulped at his threat, but managed to keep her emotions wiped clean off her face, keeping it blank. "Yes. I understand father."
Jude didn't seem too pleased by her easy acceptance. "You are one of the faces of this family. And as the face of this family, I cannot allow you to go do something that can very well ruin the image that I have worked so hard to attain, do you understand me? I will not let some ignorant girl who thinks she can have her own adventures tear down all the years I have put into this business. It's pathetic."
Lucy felt her heart shatter as he mentioned 'adventures'. That had always been her dream, even as a small child, and to hear her father say that her dreams to go on an adventure was pathetic, it hurt her more than she could ever imagine. It wouldn't have been a surprise to her- it shouldn't have. In fact, she should have expected it sooner. All his constant scolding and demeaning words directed towards her should have led her to know that he wouldn't care about her dreams or feelings.
No, the only thing that Jude Heartfilia really cared about was his money and reputation. And the only thing his daughter was good for was for all the marriage arrangements to rich and important families who held a high role in their society.
Jude glowered at his daughter once more with his charcoal eyes. Now that he knew his words had gotten through to her, he looked back down at all of the paperwork piled on his desk as he dismissed her.
"You are excused. I have more important things to deal with, rather than reprimanding you."
"That's terrible Lu. He shouldn't have said that you," Levy murmured, rubbing her best friend's back in a way to comfort her. Lucy just smiled gratefully at the short girl. She had just gotten done with explaining to Levy what had happened in her father's study. As soon as Jude had dismissed Lucy, Levy had texted her that she was outside. Lucy didn't waste any time as she grabbed her coat and purse before hurrying out the big doors and the gate that secured the mansion.
"That's nothing. In fact, I'm surprised at how smoothly it went. And I don't really regret it. Hanging out with Natsu that night, was probably the closest thing I got to making a friend by myself. Except for you, of course." The two friends continued their walk down to the bookstore that Lucy had been at the night before. Levy had been super excited ever since she learned that their favorite shop was having a sale, so of course the book lover had to drag Lucy along with her to the store to buy several books to read.
"So tell me more about this Natsu guy. You told me you owed me, so it's time to pay up." Lucy yawned quietly behind her gloved hand. This time, she had been smarter to dress up in warmer clothes, even though the weather was nicer than it had been the past couple of days. She even got to wear her loved and well-used boots today!
"What's there to talk about? I barely got to know him."
"Tell me about him! What did he look like? Was he cute? Was he nice to you, or was he mean?" She pestered, ignoring the weird look the blonde gave her. It was the first time that she had ever heard her talk about a guy so animatedly. Levy felt that it was good for Lucy to find this man she spoke of. The blonde always had such high standards, practically nonexistent ones for men. It had always worried Levy that these standards would cause the young woman to never fall in love.
"He was nice. Nice enough to buy me some books in replacement of the ruined one I guess. Though he had really pink hair, but it went really well with his tanned skin and dark forest green eyes. It was weird how it all went together so well. I never thought until I met him, that I'd think a guy with pink hair was cute. Oh, and he did save me. Twice. So-"
"He what? What do you mean, he saved you- oh my god that's him!" Levy cut off her own sentenced as she pointed to the left of Lucy wildly, her light brown eyes widening. Lucy turned to face where she was pointing, her heart leaping at the thought of seeing Natsu again. So you could definitely say she was a little more than disappointed when she saw a big, muscly man with extremely long black hair on a basketball court, leaning against the fence. Levy quickly forgot about what she and Lucy were talking about previously as she scowled at the man.
"That's the guy who sat next to me yesterday!" Levy swiveled on her heel in the opposite direction, but Lucy had a grip on her thin arm before the blue haired girl could get away.
"Oh? That's Gajeel? A lot bigger than I imagined. But I guess he's cute." Lucy cocked her head as she studied the man. Even from where she was, she could point out the black ink that decorated the skin on his arm and up his neck, but that wasn't what she found odd. No, what she found odd, was the fact that he was in muscle tee in the middle of winter.
"Yeah, great Lu. You saw him. Can we go now? Please?" Lucy, of course, ignored the smaller girl, opting for dragging her to the unknowing man.
Crimson eyes flitted over to the pair, being greeted with an odd sight. A blonde girl was pulling the shrimp that he had met the day before. Said shrimp was kicking her small legs in the opposite direction of him. A smirk made it's way onto his pierced face as they stopped in front of him.
"Oi, shrimp. Nice ta see ya again. Haven't gotten any taller since the last time, huh?" Levy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Lucy. Her eyes told the blonde 'I am so gonna kill you when we're done with this' but the blonde was either oblivious to the look, or ignorant. Gajeel wasn't quite sure which one.
"So you're Gajeel? Levy's told me a lot about you." The girl stuck her hand out to him, a warm smile on her face. "I'm Lucy, her best friend." Gajeel barked out a laugh before his larger and more calloused hand enveloped her dainty one giving it a firm shake.
"Gajeel." He noticed her dark brown eyes light up as he shook her hand. "So Shrimp here's told ya a lot 'bout me?" Lucy nodded. Her eyes quickly changed to a demonic look as she raised the corner of her mouth into an evil smirk. Now that she listened more carefully, he had the same accent as Natsu did.
God, she really needed to get that energetic man out of her head already. It wasn't good for her to let herself get so warped by someone who was practically a stranger. She needed to stay more focused. It just so happened that his hair was her favorite color. Why did he color it that color? And with it being as spikey as it was, it led Lucy to wonder if it was soft to the touch.
And there she goes again. Seriously, what was that guy doing to her? She'd never felt so off track before. Heck, she's never even thought about something for this long. She never had the need to, everything always just came to her. A math problem? She could solve it in her head in an instant. Trying to understand ancient Fiorian? It came so easily to her. But this man was something she just couldn't wrap her head around. She didn't understand him and she didn't understand why he wouldn't just leave her head.
Levy tugged on Lucy's sleeve, knocking her out of her thoughts, trying to attempt to abandon ship and ditch Gajeel. But Lucy wasn't going to let her do it. Smirking, Lucy spoke. "She couldn't stop talking about you on the phone. I think she was looking forward to meeting you again-"
"No I wasn't! He's the jerk, remember Lu?" Gajeel glanced down at Levy before his elbow came to rest on top of her head.
"Is that so? Shrimp, ya coulda just told me ya wanted ta date me. But I didn't take ya as the type ta go for bad boys." Lucy laughed behind her hand and Levy's face turned a deep shade of red.
"Why you! I never said that I wanted to-"
Gajeel amusedly watched as the vertically challenged girl went on into a rant about Lucy not listening to her. Blood rushed into the blue haired girl's cheeks as an angry red blush coated her skin. Lucy on the other hand, was turning red from hysteria rather than embarrassment.
An icy wind blew through the basketball court, chilling Lucy to the bone. To her amazement, the brutish man in front of her didn't even flinch from the sudden cold assault. The cold reminded Lucy of the black jacket she still had on her desk back in her room.
"I hope Natsu is not cold…" Lucy muttered under her breath as the tips of her ears burned from the harsh wind. Or at least that's what she told herself. Luckily for her, neither Gajeel or Levy heard her whisper. The two were too caught up in their own argument to even notice that Lucy was still there.
"Yo, Metalhead! What's takin' ya so long?"
Gajeel scowled at the annoying voice of his cousin. But while Gajeel practically growled at the voice, Lucy's heartbeat picked up its pace at the familiarity of it. It was the same as the man who had given her his jacket the other night.
"Shut it, Salamander! I'm talkin' ta Shrimp 'ere." Gajeel snipped back, his heavily pierced face scowling at the rose-haired man that was jogging over to the group. He looked the same as he did the night before, with a white t-shirt and the scaly scarf wrapped securely around his neck. The only difference was he had a pair of joggers on instead of black jeans.
And he was heading straight for them.
"Natsu?"
This story is starting to move along. Finally got Levy and Gajeel action in the story, and no I did not just forget about her in the last chapter anon. I wrote it that way so the two could meet in a cute way.
Until next time, peace!