A/N: I've seen in other stories where it portrays Erza and Gray as "parents" to Wendy, which I think is cool and all but it seems more like they'd be older siblings that Wendy could look up to. Whatever the case, she's grown on me.

Chapter 17 - Sincerity, Mostly

Natsu leaned back in his so that only two chair legs were on the floor while the others were suspended in the air. On his desk were 2 apple cores, 5 empty chip bags, a boat load of sandwich crumbs, and 10 chocolate wrappers. He firmly believed in the power of brain food, but for this one occasion he was stumped. The eager boy wanted to do something insanely awesome for Lucy after her sad mood yesterday, but nothing special came to mind during his lunch break.

He didn't have a car so it had to be close. Also he had to keep in mind that absolutely under no circumstances was he allowed to bring Lucy to anything that had to do with food. Basically he had taken her to too many restaurants and he was determined to avoid the subject. He knew she liked reading, and watching movies, and shopping, but those were all things that he had done with her plenty of times. Unconsciously he grinned as he thought back to the first time he went to the mall with Lucy. He actually enjoyed shopping and the face Lucy made when he bought more stuff than her was priceless.

While contemplating his many ideas his roommate and best friend came into their dorm and slammed the door so loudly it made Natsu lose his balance. His head slammed against the carpeted floor and sitting up felt like a mini whiplash. Normally he would chew Gray off and tackle him, but a better thought came to him. His eyes lit up as he asked, "Do you know what would make Lucy incredibly happy?"

Putting off his annoyed expression for his friend, he frowned for a second. Buying time as he thought of what to suggest Gray teased, "You're asking me for dating advice?"

Natsu's face flushed red, "Shut up. Just because I like her doesn't mean the same for her. For all I know I'm like a kid brother to her." Crossing his arms he continued, "And plus why shouldn't I ask? You're the one who has dated before."

It was Gray's turn to say shut up. He went over to his drawer, taking his time to carefully look for what he wanted. Finding bright red strips of paper, he grinned and handed them to Natsu. "I think Lucy would like this. I got them from Lyon but something came up and he gave them to me. I don't have a use for 'em anymore so this is perfect timing."

Curiously Natsu read the small letters that were printed on the tickets. His eyed widened and he yelled, "You're a genius!" He gave Gray a fist bump and rushed to go put on a his nicest sneakers and a collared shirt. What he had received were two tickets to go a traveling art exhibition showcasing Fiore's art classics. He had seen it advertised on a couple of billboards, but it had never crossed his mind to go. He wasn't really into the whole art scene, but Lucy was an Architect major, and he figured that she would like that kind of thing. It was open today from 16:00 to 00:00, so he wanted to go find Lucy and surprise her. Noticing two extra tickets he tossed one to Gray, "You should come too."

The boy who loved cold weather watched an excited Natsu almost run into the door, so eager to find her that he almost forgot to open the door. He gave a small smile and went to go change into hockey gear. Those tickets had been meant for someone else.

Lucy was vegging and she loved it. Currently she was sprawled out on the couch with her hair in a messy bun wearing a plain T-shirt and sweatpants. She was thinking about getting herself a third cup of tea, but that would require getting up. Her dilemma was soon solved when she heard three raps on the door. She groaned and slowly got off the amazingly comfortable couch she and Erza had bought yesterday and made her way like a zombie to the door. They had a rule that said whoever was closest to the door had to answer it, and unfortunately the couch was closer than Erza was. She muttered something about moving it further away and opening the door she was greeted with a shock. Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was Natsu, no big deal, but there was a catch. He was dressed in his nice dark blue jeans he almost never wore, an ironed buttoned up shirt, and he had actually combed his hair for once in his crazy life. Suddenly Lucy felt really underdressed, which was usually the opposite whenever they hung out.

With one hand in his pocket Natsu gave her a broad smile that could barely contain his energy. "So guess what Lucy? Literally 10 minutes ago I got tickets to an art exhibition and I think you'd really like it."

Stunned for a bit, Lucy looked at him blankly. There was no way Natsu got them without him having stolen them, just one cost 10,000 jewels. Giving him a suspicious look she questioned him as to how he came up with the funds.

Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well I didn't buy them, but I didn't steal them either. Gray gave them to me!"

Ahhh, so that's how he acquired them. Of course Gray would have them, he actually saves his money like I do. Out of the four oh them it was common knowledge that Natsu was the diva of the group. Seeing his closest that's close to bursting proves the case. And she won't even talk abou his two dressers.

About to open her mouth she realized that Natsu's figure was not in the door way. Hearing a commotion from the direction of her bed, she looked closer and realized Natsu was in her closest with an intense gaze. "Wha- what the heck get outta my closest! It's a total mess, so close the door before everything spills over like a volcano!"

Natsu jogged over and handed Lucy her favorite skater skirt, a white flowy top, and ebony combat boots. "Ok Lu, I'll be waiting outside the door. I think with art exhibitions everyone dresses up a little bit. Not that you don't look great now." She blushed at Natsu's last comment as he shot her a big thumbs up and excited the room, careful not to slam the door.

She looked down in amazement at the outfit she held in her hands. It was something she would never have thought of, yet it was definitely on point. She sighed and wondered how she would ever catch up to his constant enthusiasm.

While Lucy changed, a certain red head was smirking at her desk as she watched how the event unfolded. "So Lucy," began Erza as she rested her hands against the back of her head, "this time I definitely think this counts as your first date, don't you?" Seeing her friend intentionally avoid the question she tried again, "Oh hey, do you mind if I come to? Natsu gave me an extra ticket and I could use a break from homework." Lucy shot her a skeptical look and Erza quickly said, "Oh don't worry, I'm not gonna interrupt you lovebirds. I'll probably sneak Wendy in and hang with her."

"Hello, earth to Erza, I'm not dumb. I know you and Wendy talk about us behind our backs and will probably stalk us." Lucy rolled her eyes and fake coughed in disgust. "I think you guys even came up with a ship name."

"Us?" Erza wiggled her eyebrows ridiculously.

"Stuff it, I'm leaving now. I will murder you're family if I catch you sneaking around behind me." Lucy glared at her friend before joining up with Natsu.

Erza sighed. Well that was one reason why she wanted to go. Her friend was paranoid when it came to her and Natsu, probably from all the teasing she got from her and Wendy. Honestly though, it was just to get some fresh air. Maybe.

A/N: School. Begins. Tomorrow. Shoot me Anyway, there was this crazy mini-wind storm that left a lot of people without electricity. While out and about I wanted something to eat, but literally at every restaurant that has power it's packed. And then my mom drove accidentally out of the drive through. (Read: I got no food unfortunately) There was no way we were getting back in that line of a nightmare xD Ok ok, let's move onto the shout-out corner.

Thanks so much for the fave Mira-san7!

Absolute-ZERO999 - The show has Erza lecturing everyone so much I needed to scale that down. FT gets old with all its running gags ie: Juvia in general blahhhh

BridgeBurn100 - I'm not even gonna mention how late this chappy is... xD aghhhhhhhhhh

Iceberry2666 - For some reason I always love your reviews, they're literally more energetic than Natsu xD