Rings of Promise

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

The class stared in shock at what Natsu had said. Levy was quietly laughing as I stood there, a dark blush rising on my face. There was a deafening silence in the room, even Ms. Evergreen didn't utter a word. Dan's face was frozen in shock with high mouth slightly agape. If I wasn't so surprised myself, I would've probably laughed at this situation. After what seemed like forever, he spoke.

"Y-yours?" Dan stuttered.

"Yeah, she's my friend," Natsu said.

"Huh?"

The classroom exploded in confusion at Natsu's words. My cheeks were still red from embarrassment but they were quickly replaced with irritation. It didn't help much that Levy was snickering in the background at the scene that was unfolding. Turning around, I punched Natsu in the face out of pure frustrated anger.

"Ow! what was that for?!" he complained.

"Stop being so misleading!" I exclaimed.

"Lucy is just your friend then?" Dan asked.

"Yeah Dan, he's just my friend," I turned around and answered with a sigh.

"Sorry to interrupt but if we don't hurry, we're going to be late," Levy said.

"Oh right, see you later Dan," I said as we took off.

There were only seconds to spare when we arrived to class. Our classmates that were caught up in the situation before arrived a second later, all of them short of breath. The bell chimed just as we made it into our seats. I cursed under my breath as I ran a hand through my slightly disheveled hair. The seating was pretty similar to last period's except that Gajeel was seated next to Levy instead of Juvia. I leaned forward in my seat and poked her in the back.

"Look Levy, it's your beloved~" I teased.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said defensively as I laughed.

For the next class and every class afterwards, I had to share my textbooks and notes with Natsu. The only exceptions were the class I didn't have with him after lunch and in math where he was seated behind me and had to share a book with Lisanna. I was still unreasonably irritated at him even though he did get me out of a bind. I still had to thank and apologize to him.

xxx

"Do you want to head to the gardens for lunch?" Levy asked.

"Sure, let me buy something first," I said.

"Okay, I'll be waiting by the fountain," she said before leaving the classroom.

After grabbing some change from my bag, I headed down to the cafeteria to buy a drink. Going in, I could instantly smell the sizzling beef cooking in the kitchen along with hearing the loud chatter of the students waiting in line. Sneaking past them, I made my way to the vending machine. Luckily, there wasn't a line yet so I managed to get my drink quickly. As I was grabbing the drink, I felt a pair of hands place themselves over my eyes, engulfing my vision in darkness.

"Guess who?" a voice whispered.

"Who?" I said.

"You have to guess," the voice said.

"Loke, I know it's you," I sighed.

"Correct~" he said before removing his hands.

I turned around to see Loke, the school's biggest playboy. I've only met him recently, a few weeks ago, and he's been trying to make a move on me ever since. Even though he does seem like an airhead at times, Loke's a pretty decent guy once you get to know him. He never went too far with his jokes and was always considerate of others.

"Hey Lucy, I seem to have lost my phone number," Loke started.

"Oh no, not again," I sighed.

"Can I have yours?" he smiled.

"Nice try Loke," I grinned and pinched his cheeks.

"Why must you reject me?" he asked.

"Because I'm not interested," I answered.

"You're so mean Lucy," he said.

I made the mistake of looking into his puppy dog eyes. My heart melted a little at how cute it was and eventually had to give in.

"Fine, I'll give you my number if you stop laying those pick-up lines on me," I said.

"Deal."

Taking out my phone, I asked for his number before sending him a message. Loke seemed happy enough as he added my number into his contacts. While he was doing so, I took the opportunity to grab the drink, Levy was not going to be happy with me.

"Anyway, I have to go, Levy is waiting for me," I said.

"Do you want me to join you?" he asked.

"Sorry, girls only," I said.

I quickly said my goodbyes to Loke before heading outside. I spotted Levy sitting by the fountain, her back turned to me and face buried in a book. I slowed down my steps as I approached her.

"Hey Levy, sorry for the wait," I said.

"Took you long enough," she sighed.

"I got caught up with something," I said.

"Did Loke try to make a move on you again?" she asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"How did that go?" she asked.

"I gave him my number," I said.

"Really?" she laughed.

"Whatever, let's just go eat," I huffed.

"Want to eat by the cherry blossom trees today?" Levy asked.

"Yeah."

Levy stood up and tucked away her book before we went across the garden. Even though the cheery blossoms were no longer in bloom, the trees did provide great shade. We took a seat on the grass and took out our lunches. Mine consisted of rice, rolled eggs, and octopus wieners while Levy had an array of seafood in her's. As we ate, I looked over at the field and saw a few guys playing soccer. They were just close enough for me to distinguish them.

"Hey Levy, the guys are playing soccer," I said.

"Who's playing?" she asked.

"Your beloved," I said.

"Gajeel is not my beloved!" Levy exclaimed.

"I didn't say it was Gajeel," I grinned devilishly.

Levy froze as a warm blush came over her face. She gave me a dirty look as I continued to smirk triumphantly at her. Without saying another word, she turned back to eat her lunch, looking at nothing but the ground.

"Levy, why don't you just tell him?" I asked.

"It's not that easy Lucy," Levy mumbled.

"It's going to be too late if you just keep waiting around," I said.

Levy didn't say anything and continued to eat so I decided to drop the subject for now.

xxx

It was later in the day that we had gym. It was horrible, we were in the middle of football season and the guys were unbelievably excited. The girls didn't find much value in it and decided to stay on the sidelines. I stood somewhere near the end of the field and was observing the game with Levy. Natsu and Gray were going at it, shoving each other back and forth even though neither of them had the ball.

"Don't they seem a little...competitive?" I said.

"Yeah, for someone who's so friendly, Natsu's really up in Gray's face," Levy agreed.

"At least it doesn't look like it'll get out of hand," I said.

"I don't know, Gray is pretty stubborn, I doubt he'll back down from a fight," Levy said.

"At least he knows that Erza will rain fury down on him if he causes a scene," I said.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we introduce Natsu to Erza, just in case?" Levy grinned.

"Let's do it."

xxx

"Natsu, there's someone I want you to meet," I said as the final bell rang.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Erza, she's the student council president," I said.

"What for?" he asked.

"She's a friend you'll love to have," I smiled innocently.

"Alright," he said.

I gave a sideways glance at Levy and shared a mischievous smile with her. I waited for Natsu to pack his bags before pulling him out of the classroom. Before we left, Gray gave us a weird look but we motioned for him to ignore our activities. After leading Natsu up a flight of stairs, we arrived in front of the student council room. I knocked a few times before opening the door. Peeking in, I saw people walking all over the place, each of them doing their own thing or talking to one another.

"Hey Lucy," Mirajane greeted me.

"Hey Mira," I smiled at the vice president.

I fully pushed open the door to reveal Natsu and Levy. Mira exchanged polite greetings with Natsu and hugged Levy before inviting us inside. We took a seat on one of the couches stationed in the corner of the room while Mira went to get snacks.

"It's good to see you Lucy, Levy," Laki said as she came by.

"Hey Laki, long time no see!" I smiled.

"It's good to see you again," Levy said.

"It seems you've brought another friend," she said and looked at Natsu.

"Yeah, we're going to introduce him to Erza," I said.

"You guys really enjoy tormenting people don't you?" Laki said.

"You got it," I laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsu asked.

"Nothing," I quickly said.

Laki had to attend to some urgent business and left. Mira had come back with a plate of cookies and three cups of tea. She said it would be a few more minutes before Erza was available before leaving to take care of her own things. While Levy and I slowly sipped our tea, Natsu began inhaling the cookies. I smiled a little at his actions. However, it had not gone unnoticed. I felt Levy nudging me and looked over to see a suggestive smirk on her face. I rolled my eyes and gave a smile before lightly elbowing her back.

"These are some really good cookies," Natsu remarked.

"It's from Mira's family's pastry shop," I said.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"It's on strawberry street by the cafe," I said.

"I'll visit it sometime," Natsu said.

"You can come with us today if you want, we're visiting the cafe next door," Levy interjected.

"You don't mind?" Natsu asked.

"No, Erza will probably stop by to get strawberry cake anyway," Levy said.

"If it's fine with you guys then I'll come," Natsu said.

"What do you think Lu-chan?" Levy asked as she turned to me with an innocent grin.

"...it's fine," I said as I shot her a dirty look.

"Lucy, Levy?" a voice called from the far side of the room.

"Hey Erza," I said.

Erza came over to us after putting her glasses away. As she sat down, Mira came by again and handed her a cup of tea and a few more extra cookies. She smiled and properly greeted Levy and I but stopped short when she saw Natsu.

"Who might this be?" she asked.

"This is Natsu, he's the new transfer student," I said.

"Oh, so you're the one that everyone is talking about," Erza said.

"Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet ya," he introduced himself and grinned.

"Erza Scarlet, likewise," she smiled.

"So Erza, we were wondering if Natsu could come with us to the cafe," Levy said.

"Is there a reason why?" she asked.

"He wanted more of Mira's cookies," Levy answered.

"Then I don't see a reason why not."