Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews and the follows! Keeps me motivated. To all those with kind words, you inspire me.
Once again, I must note that this is a long story, and for people who hate the idea of even a hint of Lucy pairing with anyone else, know that INDEED this is a NatsuxLucy fic through and through. That doesn't go to say Lucy doesn't have her admirers. But theres no point starting a witch hunt before you even give me the chance to write Lucy's perspective. If thats not your cup of tea, no need to read :)
Once the lunch bell rang it was as if everyone had sprung into action. Lucy's desk was surrounded by her classmates, all asking her more about herself. The questions ranged from where she had attended school prior, to how she wound up living at the famous Natsu Dragneel's home. With all of the questions coming at once, Lucy found herself getting dizzy and not knowing where to start with her answers.
She thought that by getting the whole "I live with Natsu Dragneel" part of her life out in the open, it would reduce any questions people would ask when they are seen getting in and out of his car each day. Luckily for Lucy, it was at that precise moment that Gray's voice cut in.
"Lucy." he spoke her first name for the first time.
It was so unnerving to hear him call her Lucy, that she forgot she was ignoring him and turned her head towards him.
"I'll escort you to the dining hall since you're new, but we have to leave now as I refuse to be late for our next class."
Lucy was shocked. For the first time since she had met Gray Fullbuster, this was actually the only time he had helped her. No needles to knock her out, no bribes to get her to agree to an outrageous contract. Just simply someone saving her from having to answer a bunch of questions she really rather not. Hell must have frozen over. The ice prince has thawed people.
Offering him the biggest smile that slightly caught Gray off guard, Lucy rose from her seat to accompany him.
"Im sorry everyone, It was lovely to have met you all but I am feeling rather hungry" she offered as an excuse.
Gray could practically feel the jealous eyes of some of his male classmates boring into the back of his skull. While the girl before him was far from well mannered, he had to admit to himself that she wasn't exactly ugly. She wore little to no makeup yet her eyes were still able to draw a person's attention. The doe eyed idiot had a raw kind of beauty about her that the males were quickly taking notice of.
He sighed deeply in frustration at this fact while leading her out of the classroom. Gray could already imagine Natsu growing frustrated by his fiancé's admirers. Even though Lucy and Natsu's relationship was all for the sake of the contract, he could actually imagine Natsu taking an interest in his soon to be fiancé. Like a moth to a flame.
Gray had known Natsu since they were kids and in that time he learned quite a lot about his best friend. One of the tidbits that he had picked up along the way was that Natsu Dragneel does not share his things. It was only a matter of time before someone approached Lucy; and when Natsu doesn't like something he does something about it.
This whole situation was going to give Gray a headache. He could imagine it now, having to pull his best friend off some freshman making a move on Lucy. That same fiancé that he doesn't even intend to keep for that long as a wife. Natsu was a wild card and hard enough to control as it was.
"Hey slow down! My legs aren't as long as yours!" Lucy said half panting after jogging to keep up with him.
Gray halted his movements immediately which resulted in Lucy running into his solid back. She made a soft "omph" as she collided, then pushed herself back to sturdy herself.
"There we go. Thought I lost you there for a moment, you really zoned out." she laughed. "Thanks by the way."
The glowing smile she directed towards him made Gray stop for a moment.
"For what?" he asked, regaining his thoughts.
"I really didn't feel like answering all their questions. Why were they so worked up anyway? What is so special about that 220 class that everyone was so shocked that I was in it?" Her mouth ran a mile a minute.
"11A, 220 is the room number." he corrected as he began to lead her once again towards the cafeteria.
"What's 11A?" she asked, following.
"In this school the students are placed in classes based off their scores on the entrance examination that you took this morning. The school teaches children from their preschool years all the way up to grade twelve, yet those grades are divided further than just your age.
For example, in the first grade there would be three separate classes all labeled either 1A, 1B or 1C. If you are in group C, you are considered to be simply average in intelligence based of your test score. This would be similar to someone obtaining a mark of under twenty out of fifty on the entrance exam."
Lucy nodded signalling that she understood.
"1B on the other hand, would have children of a slightly higher intellect. They would have an average score of 21-40/50 as their examination score."
"Ah, so the first graders in class 1A must hold scores between 40-50/50 correct?" she asked.
"Yes, although it is extremely rare that someone achieves a perfect 50 out of 50. The entrance examination is extremely difficult. In fact, it is so difficult that it is almost impossible for students to raise their mark and join a higher class. They are given the chance at the beginning of each year to try, but rarely is there ever a change." He went on. "Most of our classmates fall within the 40-45 range. I myself scored a 48." he almost sounded boastful. "What was your score?"
"Hmm…" Lucy thought while tapping her head. "I actually have no idea." she laughed.
Gray raised his eyebrow at this. "Didn't you receive your score at the head office?"
"No, the lady working there must have forgotten to give it to me." Lucy answered.
"Thats odd…" He replied. "Well it seems you must have some brains in that head after all if you were able to get into 11A."
Lucy didn't know if she was suppose to take that as a compliment or an insult. Just as she was about to reply, he guided her through a grand pair of doors which opened to the dining hall.
The room was quite large, circular in shape with granite floors and large windows allowing for adequate lighting. There were paintings on the roof that reminded Lucy of a hotel she had stayed in at Las Vegas, though she imagined the ones here were a lot older.
There were many tables throughout the hall, each place setting having its own respective cutlery and napkin. A huge chandelier was placed dead centre in the room and an unlit fireplace took up a large area across from Lucy. All in all it was a very beautiful set up in her opinion.
"Shall we take a seat?" Gray asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
Lucy nodded, still looking around as he guided her to the nearest table.
"Here." He said as he passed her a menu. "Someone will be by soon to take your order."
Taking a peek at her choices, Lucy was glad to see that the school offered a wide selection of meals, not all of them horribly over the top with gourmet recipes. Some of Lucy's favourite foods included ones you could get at your local supermarket. She would often beg Mirajane to make her a simple lasagne in comparison to the caviar her grandmother loved so much. She would take a cheeseburger over a lobster dish any day.
"Ill have the clubhouse sandwich with french fries please." She requested towards their server whom had popped up moments after she had sat down.
"Filet Mignon, medium rare with the vegetable pairing." Gray added.
The waiter nodded quickly before taking their menus and departing towards the kitchen.
Finally able to relax a bit, Lucy stretched in her chair and closed her eyes briefly. While Fairy Falls academy was one of the top rated schools in the country back home, it really had something to learn from its sister school.
Even though Lucy hated that she was forced into this whole situation, she was actually enjoying a change of scenery. While their class placements were a little weird, she understood the method behind doing it.
Before she had been forced to sit in class after class with idiots like Sorano Agira, while here her classmates seemed actually dedicated to learning. It was quite refreshing in her mind, and she decided she might as well make good of a bad situation. When it came down to it, if it was for Sting, Lucy would do anything. He was her best friend after all.
It was at that moment that the dining hall doors slid open and Natsu Dragneel made his first appearance of the day. He travelled in a group of loud guys all exclaiming how hungry they were. Amongst the group of men was a lone beautiful girl with curly blonde hair. She walked as close as she could to Natsu without touching, the two of them naturally falling in step with one another.
"She looks like a doll." Lucy said aloud, staring.
Gray turned around in his chair to see what Lucy was talking about. Upon seeing the blonde he visibly shook.
"That devil woman is nothing like a doll. Trust me, you don't want to get anywhere near that one." he muttered while shaking his head.
Cocking her head to the side in confusion, Lucy watched as her fiancé and the blonde woman walked nonchalantly towards her table.
"Hey Gray, you already order?" Natsu asked as he approached, nodding in Lucy's direction in acknowledgement.
"Yes we just got here as well." Gray replied, visibly stiffening as the blond girl took a seat across from him, Natsu following suit and sat across from Lucy.
"Not to worry, they are pretty quick here. Hey I'll take a steak please, medium, don't skimp on the fries, or hot sauce." Natsu asked one of the nearby waiters. "What do you want Mavis?"
The blonde girl, Mavis, smiled and quickly ordered the soup of the day.
"And whom might this be?" Mavis spoke as she looked in Lucy's direction.
Realizing Mavis was talking to her, Lucy quickly introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Lucy Heartfillia. I just transferred here and am currently in the care of Natsu's family during my stay."
The girls calculating smile deepened.
"Tisk tisk. Is that the little lie you two are going with? Its not very convincing is it?" she asked looking up amusingly at Natsu.
"Not by my choice." Natsu responded gruffly, almost sulking.
Reaching across the table, Mavis grasped Lucy's hand and gave it a warm shake.
"I am Mavis Vermilion."
Reaching into her memory, Lucy remembered being introduced to Mavis's parents at one of her grandmother's functions last year. Her mother had mentioned that her daughter Mavis was overseas, so there was no mistaking that this was the same girl. She even looked like her mother.
The Vermilion family was known world wide for its investments in popular fashion lines and beauty products. Lucy's perfect memory brought her back to the day Sorano Agira gushed from outside the bathroom about being able to get one of their new bags before its release date.
Noticing Lucy was doing that thing where she zones out again, Gray kicked her lightly under the table. He really wondered how the girl had gotten into his class of all places when she acted like such a space head.
"As I was saying." Mavis continued, "My name is Mavis Vermilion and I am Natsu Dragneel's fiancé."
It was as if all the air was sucked out of Lucy's lungs.
Looking from Natsu's bored expression to Mavis's mischievous one, Lucy failed momentarily to form a question.
Suddenly, Mavis broke out in a loud giggle as she took her seat again. "Oh your expression, that was priceless wasn't it Gray?" she asked Gray whom was trying his best to ignore her.
"Oh don't look so confused, Natsu has already told me all about your little arrangement. We go way back me and him, Gray as well." She smiled mischievously.
Lucy was having a hard time deciphering what mental illness Mavis must have that would make her be ok with her fiancé having another fiancé.
Instead, she turned to Natsu. "You told her? What happened to us keeping this whole thing a secret?" she whispered harshly.
Natsu sighed.
"Relax Lucy. Mavis, Gray and I have known each other since we were in diapers, she can keep a secret. In fact, Mavis is one of the top research interns working on Sting's cure." he smirked at her. "Don't underestimate her. She's actually quite brilliant."
"and Psychotic" Gray mumbled as he took a bite from his food.
"Besides" Natsu continued, "It's not like she can say anything since she signed a confidentiality form to even work at the hospital. With Sting being a patient under her direct care, she legally is bound not to say a thing about our arrangement."
Lucy wanted to rip his perfect face off. She was seething and her entire focus for her anger was directed completely towards Natsu whom looked like he couldn't contain his laughter much longer. He was acting like he was watching a soap opera unfold. Lucy's frustrated face making his eyes practically beg for popcorn.
"And she's your fiancé? When were you going to tell me that you were already betrothed to someone you two timing son of a-"
"Jealous, love?" he taunted.
Lucy's face turned a dark shade of red at his comment. There was no way in hell Lucy held any feelings except for contempt towards Natsu Dragneel, and she was just about to tell him as much.
"You know your flustered face isn't that bad either." Natsu interrupted antagonizing her further.
Lucy was about to reach across the table and wipe the smirk off his face when she was cut off by Mavis giggling again.
"I'm so sorry Natsu, but I cannot let this go on, she looks as if she's about to wring your neck." Mavis laughed. "Lucy, Natsu and I aren't technically actually engaged."
Lucy stopped mid strangle.
"You see, when we were children there were often many girls who wanted to date our poor Natsu here." She patted his head in mock sympathy. "It got so bad that I once caught him being chased by a hoard of girls trying to give him Valentine's chocolate. Not even joking, there were fifty of them and he hid in a tree for an entire night." Mavis reminisced.
"It got so bad that we decided in sixth grade to come up with a little white lie." She winked. "It was a sad day for the girls in this school when they were told that we were betrothed by order of our families, but in the end it made the majority of them back off."
Lucy nodded at this. She knew that in her world the children of the elite were often married off in order to solidify business deals. She herself had received copious amounts of proposal letters since childhood, yet her grandmother had always thrown them in the trash. Lucy always wondered growing up how people could simply offer up their sons to marry her, not even knowing what she looked like the majority of the time. The Heartfillia family was a powerful family, and many wanted to join it.
Then again, who was she to judge. Here she was, engaged at seventeen with a promising future of being a divorced woman before she even went to college. She cringed at the thought.
"So even if your not engaged, you two are obviously still a couple correct? How could you be ok with the arrangement between Natsu and I?" Lucy asked the blonde.
Mavis's infectious laugh started up again. "Oh no no no no no. You have us all wrong Lucy. Natsu and I are simply friends, quite frankly I'm happy your here because now we can end this silly farce."
Not understanding, Lucy looked at Mavis with confused eyes. The two looked like they were in total sync. How could they not be dating?
"I mean, you're his actual fiancé right?" Mavis continued, her eyes wide and pleading. "Once it's officially announced I'm off the hook and dear Natsu here is all yours."
The colour in Lucy's face drained at the thought. "Wait, announced? You must be mistaken Mavis, were not announcing anything. I thought you said Natsu told you everything?"
Flicking her hair behind her back Mavis suddenly became very focused on her nails. "Oh he told me about how shy you are. You really shouldn't worry so much Lucy. While Natsu here is quite the idiot, he at least makes a good trophy husband."
"Hey! I'm right here you know?" Natsu interrupted.
Ignoring him, Mavis reached across the table again and grasped Lucy's hands so swiftly that she didn't see it coming. "You must come over to my place before the announcement party! I have already decided what outfit I want you to wear." she said, her eyes gleaming.
Lucy could now fathom why Gray was so scared of this woman. She seemed to have a one track mind when it comes to getting what she wants. Lucy shuttered slightly at Mavis's likeliness to her own grandmother.
"Wait a second, did you say announcement party?" she asked as all three of their heads pretended to gaze in a different direction.
"Announcement for what?" she asked again, louder this time.
"Why your engagement announcement silly. Gray is she really in your class?" Mavis asked.
"Wait you're in Gray's class? How the hell did that happen?" Natsu interrupted with a hint of anger in his voice.
Lucy turned to her future husband and placed the sweetest smile on her face before she worded her question. "Mr. Dragneel, would you be so kind as to fill me in with what announcement party she is talking about?"
Natsu shuddered slightly as he looked at the menacing smile on his future wife. While the rest of the world would see her as a sweet young girl asking a simple question, he knew deep down that her smile only meant trouble for him.
Deciding to save his friend from Lucy's wrath, Gray found it the perfect time for him to step in.
Putting on his business face, he began "The contract clearly states that you are to be officially engaged for the year leading up to your impending marriage. Being who you are and and who Natsu is, it is therefore a requirement that you are to officially announce your engagement to the world. The arrangements have already been made and the date is set for in the new year. If you fail to comply, the agreement made regarding your friend Sting will be null and void."
Lucy's eye twitched slightly at Gray's sudden drastic change from a regular school boy to a conniving analytical bastard. She surmised that she would have to keep an eye on him as his obvious split personality could cause problems for her in the future. Ice prince 2.0 was back, and she was not about to let her guard down when it came him.
Sighing, she nodded in defeat. Lucy was not used to bending to other people's wills, yet if she wanted Sting to finally have a cure she would have to learn to tame her temper when it came to these guys.
"Fine." She grumbled as she bit into her clubhouse sandwich that had just arrived.
The rest of the day went by fairly uneventful for Lucy as she moved from class to class. When the bell rang that signalled it was the end of the day she got up and followed Gray to the front of the school where they were to meet Natsu.
"I'll stop by your place later this evening with the documents for you and Miss. Heartfillia to sign." Gray told Natsu once they got into the car.
Natsu nodded to him and shut the door, telling the driver that they wanted him to travel in the direction of his estate.
As the minutes dragged on and the awkward silence continued, Natsu's eyes snuck a glance towards his new fiancé whom was sitting beside him.
Her hands were loosely clasped on her knees, and though her posture was perfect, her tired eyes gave way to how exhausted she really was. They started to blink slower and slower until Natsu was pretty sure that the girl had fallen asleep.
He reasoned that Gray's sleeping drug was still effecting her body, and felt a very slight tinge of guilt that he was partially responsible for her exhaustion.
He had to admit to himself that Lucy Heartfillia was not your average elite class girl. Most of the girls who attended his school were after him for his looks and social standing, and would give anything to be his fiancé. Yet, here he was, engaged to a girl whom had insulted him on numerous occasions, laughed in his face, and even had the audacity to inflict violence towards him.
Although, he had to admit to himself that he did deserve the knee to the stomach the night prior. Thank god she hadn't hit him any lower.
Noticing a lock of her hair had come loose, Natsu automatically reached out and gently tucked it behind her ear. He was surprised by the softness of her hair, and was even more surprised when she leaned into his hand, still sleeping.
"MhmmhsSting…" she mumbled in her sleep as she curled into his shoulder.
Stiffening at her initial contact, a blush crept up Natsus neck as he wondered what he should do next. If he woke her up, she would most definitely hit him, yet if she woke up on her own in their current position, that would also result in her hitting him.
Deciding he was screwed either way, Natsu leaned back and relaxed as he allowed the girl to use him as a pillow.
"You must really care about your friend if your willing to do all this for him." He whispered aloud as he too closed his eyes.