Chapter 4

Natsu's home

"Hmmm…. Ouch my head! What the hell did I even do last night?" Natsu got out of bed with his hand on his head. He felt like a wreck and his throat was burning. Drinking a glass of water from the kitchen, Natsu ran to the bathroom desperately, lifting up the toilet seat, he vomited a bucket load.

"Damn!" He just waited over the toilet for a few seconds until he knew the sick had subsided. He flushed the toilet then brushed his teeth, trying his very best to get the foul taste out of his mouth.

Natsu ate a paracetamol, he had hoped it would help ease his headache, then made himself breakfast, as he was pouring out the juice flashes of the night before came flooding back into his memory. The dragon's head pub, the alcohol, the blonde waitress.

He tried to piece it together, but soon he realised the more he thought about it, the more his brain would hurt.

Natsu: Its 12 O'clock now… Erza should be coming round at around 3 to sort out the arrangements for the wedding. I need to get rid of this hangover soon, or she'll… I don't even want to think about it.

After eating his breakfast, Natsu got changed for his daily run and left his house. Usually, Natsu never drank, he was a fitness fanatic; however yesterday was a rare exception. It was still unclear to Natsu as to why he went drinking last night, but he did know he had to get fit before Erza came and realised something was off.

Natsu grabbed a bottle of water and ran out the house, for most of the journey he felt incredibly ill, but after a while he got used to it and began to feel like his usual self again.

As a day job Natsu was a personal fitness instructor, and sometimes he'd work at a rehabilitation hospital. He had done lots of training to get this job, although it was a lot of hard work, Natsu thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course he would go easy on the people who were really weak, but if it was just some client that was trying to lose some weight, he would go into a frenzy. He would work them to the bone and wear them out completely. If the client didn't quit half way through the course then, by the end of it, they would easily be able to run a 10 mile marathon within a year.

Natsu had been the captain of the basketball team and Gray was the captain of the ice hockey team. They would often have competitions of who could beat the most opponents or who could win the most medals. It was during a hockey match against Phantom Lord did Gray find his future wife Juvia.

Natsu came back home around an hour later and took a 30 minute bath to cool down. "That's better, aching muscles are definitely better than a hangover." Relieved, he sank down underneath the water, with his eyes closed.

Natsu: "…you look really cute… Luce…. Will I see Luce again…"

Images of the blonde flooded Natsu's head once more, however this time it caught off guard, he ended up choking in the bathtub, and hauled himself out. Laying on the floor Natsu coughed the water in his lungs out viciously. After getting most of the water out, Natsu laid on the floor thinking about the few vague memories he had of the cute blonde girl he had met the day before.

A minute or so passed, Natsu got up, stared at himself in the mirror above the sink and then slapped himself.

"You shouldn't be thinking about other girls after you have proposed Natsu!" He told himself off. Unplugging the bath, he switched on the shower to rinse himself.

By the time he had gotten out it was already 2 O'clock, he got changed into reasonable attire, blue shirt and jeans, sat on the sofa and began to watch some comedy shows, to pass the time before his fiancée, Erza Scarlet, arrived.

DING DONG

Natsu switched off the TV and ran to the door, opening it he saw Erza, around her eyes were noticeable bags. She was wearing a black, skinny top with blue shorts. Her hair had been tied in a ponytail with a blue ribbon and she was holding a huge blue bag.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Natsu asked.

"Hmm? Oh well… no, I might have gotten a bit excited about the wedding and thought about it all night." Erza gave Natsu a distant smile. He allowed her in and got some snacks out for them to eat.

Erza: I can't tell him that I went on a night time ride round town… he'd kill me, and say it was reckless and dangerous. Actually, as if Natsu could say anything about being safe. But seriously if he knew that I went even further and nearly got robbed, then forgot to lock my house door… I don't even want to think about what might happen. Well for now it isn't Natsu's business to know, only after we are married am I required to tell him where I am. Following that principle, I won't ask him why a man, who doesn't drink, house absolutely reeks of alcohol.

Natsu hadn't noticed it, that his house had the strong scent of alcohol: he had already accustomed his nose to the smell. He hadn't washed his clothes from the previous day, nor had he changed his bed sheets. These two things were the main causes of the strong odour in his house.

The two of them sat down in the living room, with a paper and pen, even though both of them were supposed to sort out the dates of the wedding, Erza took complete control, leaving Natsu to laze around on the sofa. At one point Natsu got so bored that he tried to balance a pencil on his nose.

Although it took a while, Erza managed to sort out all the dates, she called for Natsu to get up and handed him the papers to inspect her work.

"THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY IS IN A WEEK?!" Natsu shouted out of surprise.

"Yep, I would have made it earlier but I need to make a dress." Erza responded casually.

"... But what about the venue and the catering?" Natsu inquired.

"The desert is simple we can just get the baker at the port to sort that out."

"We need more than desert Erza"

"Humph… well I could get one of my fashion venues and convince the manager to allow me to have my wedding there." Erza suggested.

"What about the food?"

"… OH I KNOW!" Erza grabbed her bag and took out a leaflet. "We could ask the takeaway that has just opened next to my house!"

Natsu slowly took the leaflet out of Erza's hands and backed away. "How about you let me handle the food, ok Erza?"

"Ok, fine I'll leave that to you since you know more about food then I do. Now all we need to do is invite people"

Natsu: thank god she didn't get angry when I said no… usually she would have an absolute fit when someone disagrees or go against her plans.

"We'll use my phone to call them." Natsu offered and got out his phone.

"Call them? No way! We are going to everyone's houses to personally invite them."

"Every…" Natsu stopped himself there as he could tell if he disagreed with her this time, she would hammer him into the ground. He definitely did not want to get on the bad side of the county's top karate champion.

"We need invitations though and by the way Erza could you sort out my suit too?" Natsu asked.

"I thought you would never ask! Of course I'll do it for you, and we'll sort out the invitations right now!" She grabbed her coat and ushered him to leave the house. "We'll take a cab ok? It'll be easier to carry all the invitations in a car than my motorbike." Natsu agreed and the two of them headed towards the main road to catch a cab.

As they were walking down the street Natsu heard a familiar voice. "Stupid Aquarius! Just 'cuz she wants to go out with her boyfriend she forces me to do her shift! Damn if I don't hurry I'll be late."

Natsu looked back to see the blonde girl he had been envisioning all morning. He stopped on the pavement just watching Lucy kick a can down the pavement. Though she claimed she was going to be late, Lucy didn't show any signs of hurrying up.

Erza, who had been talking to him at the time, stopped with him, confused by his actions. She tried to ask what he was doing, but he would just ignore her. She looked in the same direction as Natsu and saw the blonde girl. She was wearing blue jeans with a white leather coat, her attire was so tight it left little to the imagination. Her hair was tied in a small, side ponytail held by a red bobble.

"… Luce…" Natsu whispered.

After a few seconds Lucy noticed Natsu and Erza and stopped walking.

"Hey Natsu do you know this girl?" Erza asked.

"Well…" Natsu was deciding whether he should tell his fiancée who Lucy was, or lie.

However, it was already too late, Lucy had started to wave and half ran, half jogged towards Natsu.

"Hi Natsu!" She looked at him in a confused manner then asked "shouldn't you have a hang-" Natsu's head began to shake violently. Only then did Lucy realise that the red head next to Natsu fit the description of Erza he had told her the day before.

"hang…. Hamburger? Yes, shouldn't you have a hamburger?" Lucy went slightly red but tried her best to keep herself from blushing. She was extremely embarrassed that hamburger was the best she could come up with. An aspiring writer like her, could only come up with hamburger from hangover.

Erza knew immediately that it was a cover up and realised it had something to do with Natsu smelling of alcohol. However she had already said that she wasn't going to ask about it, so she wasn't going to ask.

"My name is Erza Scarlet, Natsu's fiancée. And who may you be?" Erza raised her hand formally.

Lucy's eyes just stared at Erza's hand for a good five seconds.

Lucy: Did she just fall for hamburger?! No! Maybe she just…I don't know… trusts Natsu that much.

Only after Erza prompted her, did Lucy return to reality, shook Erza's hand and reply with a smile "My name is Lucy Heartfilia, it's nice to meet you"

"So Lucy, how would you feel about coming to our wedding? We would love to have you there!" Erza said to everyone's surprise.

Erza: … Why did I just say that? I didn't know what to say and the wedding was the first thing that came to mind! Well I can see she is a friend of Natsu's, so obviously I'd want her to come to our wedding, but she just lied to me…. Too late now, I guess I just have to follow through…

Lucy froze with a smile plastered on her face and Natsu was dumbfounded whilst looking at Erza.

"…I would love too…"Lucy automatically said.

"OK I'll give Natsu your invitation as soon as possible. It will state where the venue is and the time, but for now know the engagement party should be next week sometime, you best be there"

Natsu had kept quiet the entire conversation, he knew if he had said anything he would just make things worse. He then realised that Erza was showing a blind eye to his activities after he had dropped her home last night. Even though he was glad Erza wasn't saying anything, Natsu was slightly scared as to why. He definitely knew she should have figured out that something was up by now, but then why keep quiet.

"Natsu I'll go catch a cab ok?" Erza walked away, towards the road, holding her hand out.

"Hey Lucy…" Natsu finally said.

"What happened to Luce, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"So you liked the nickname I gave you then, Luce?" Natsu said, emphasizing Luce, with a smile. He remembered calling her that but didn't know if he had been rude at the time for dubbing her Luce.

She looked away, her face had become the brightest red, and stuttered "…N…no…"

Natsu placed his hand on Lucy's head, patting it gently "I don't regret what I said yesterday because it's true, you-"

He was interrupted by Erza "Natsu! I caught a cab we should go now!"

"Coming Erza!" Natsu spun around and jogged to where Erza was. He slightly turned his head, put up his hand and said "Catch you later Luce!"

Erza held up her hand too and smiled, then got into the cab followed by Natsu.

Lucy stood there and gazed at the cab as it drove by her.

Lucy: I wonder what Natsu was going to say… actually I do know, well I think I know what he was going to say. 'I don't regret what I said last night because it's true, you are cute' AHHHH! Stop it Lucy he's a taken man! He probably meant something else like... come on think! What else could he have meant?

RING RING

She put her hand in her pocket and removed her phone, all the while still in a daze. Not bothering to look at caller ID, Lucy picked up her phone.

"…Lucy, you aren't at work yet are you?" The sound of Aquarius' voice brought Lucy back to reality.

"Work?" Lucy looked at her phone. "Crap! I'm going to be late! Even if I leg it, it'll still take me at least 10 minutes!"

"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? LEO CALLED JUST NOW SAYING NO-ONE WAS COVERING MY SHIFT! SO IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE ASS DOWN-"

Lucy had hung up on Aquarius. "Definitely going to regret doing that later. But right now I need to worry about getting to work!"

Stuffing her phone in her coat pocket, Lucy started to run as fast as her legs could go.

AN- Thanks to Krazym98 and Denny for reviewing. And to Denny i dont want to reveal the storyline to you but if you look at some of my previous stories you'll get an idea about what kind of drama i like to write about.

I hope the rest of you guys enjoy this chapter. Please Read, Like, Follow and most of all review. It really helps when you guys review.