Chapter Three
"I think she's broken..."
"Be nice!" Levy slapped her friends arm. "How would you react if you were in the same position?"
The tall man rubbed the back of his head, a grimace on his face. "Uh... probably beat someone up?"
"Exactly my point Gajeel! I think she's taking it well considering everything..." Levy bit her lip in worry as she looked at her new friend who stood exactly where she had been for the past ten minutes or so. "Lu-chan? How about we go look at some towing companies? Maybe someone called it in and they had someone tow it." She suggested. A few minutes went by without Lucy moving or even acknowledging the fact that Levy had even spoken. Gajeel finally got out of his truck and marched over to the prone girl and scooped her up and over his shoulder. He spun on his heel and started marching back to his vehicle.
"Gajeel!" Levy scolded, an almost shocked look on her face. "You can't do that to people!"
Gajeel shrugged his shoulders not the least bit concerned as Lucy seemed to wake up and start pounding her fists on his back and ordering him to set her down. "I got tired of waiting for Bunny Girl to wake up, so I did something about it." He commented back dryly before throwing Lucy into the back of his truck and waiting for Levy to climb up into the passenger side. Once everyone was settled, Lucy watched as Gajeel started the huge black truck and slowly turned around in the narrow road before driving back into town.
"Where are we going?" She asked glumly.
"A tow shop." Gajeel grunted in response.
"A tow shop?" Lucy blinked in surprise.
Levy turned around in her seat, ignoring Gajeel's protests. "I guess you didn't hear me." She smiled a bit. "I was thinking that we could go to a few towing companies in case someone reported your car. There's not a lot in Magnolia and I'm sure that Gajeel wouldn't mind if he took us to double check. We might get lucky!"
"What about Plue...?" Lucy worried her bottom lip as she thought of her puppy.
"Well what time were ya supposed to meet with the locksmith for ya house keys?" Gajeel asked.
"About one." Lucy responded, thinking back to the conversation that she had held on the phone after getting over her shock of the drummer of 'Roar' coming to pick up her and Levy. That was another embarrassing moment in Lucy's life that she needed to try and forget. She could still hear the laughter coming from Levy as Gajeel rolled down the window and told 'Shrimp' and 'Bunny Girl' to get in, a slight smirk on his lips as Lucy looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, which was the cause of Levy's laughter. Lucy shook her head as Levy spoke up again.
"Then we'll look at the towing companies around town until one so that you can get into your apartment and take care of Plue, then we can go out looking again after, in case we didn't get to all of them." Levy suggested and Lucy had to smile at how optimistic the bluenette was.
Lucy smiled in happiness to have found such good people to become friends with. "Thanks you guys!"
"What do you mean it's not here! This is the last tow truck company in all of Magnolia! It has to be here!"
"I-I'm sorry ma'am, but i-it's not here..." The owner of 'Hook 'Em Up Towing' told Lucy in a rather shaky voice as he glanced behind her at Gajeel. "That doesn't happen to be... um... Black Steel Gajeel behind you... is it?" He squeaked out.
Lucy glanced behind her at her friends with a raised eye brow. "Black Steel Gajeel?"
Gajeel grunted, his red eyes flashing. "Another time Bunny Girl. Do they have your car or not?"
Lucy sighed heavily, her shoulders drooping a bit in her slight depression. "No... they don't."
Trying to be optimistic, Levy looped her arms with Lucy's. "Then let's go to your apartment so that we can get your new keys and take care of Plue! I really want to meet him! He sounds adorable!"
Lucy brightened up at the prospect of getting into her apartment again. The first thing she was going to do was take care of Plue, and then she was going to soak in a really hot bath to de-stress, she knew she needed it more than anything. They all piled up into Gajeel's Chevy before taking ff down the road again. Gajeel remembered Lucy's address from when she explained earlier and about twenty minutes later they were parked and getting out. Lucy practically raced to her front door before coming to a stop as she saw her landlady talking to who she assumed was the locksmith to make her another key. She breathed a sigh of relief as her landlady seemed to be in a good mood before moving closer to the pair.
"Afternoon!" She called, Levy and Gajeel trailing behind her.
"Lucy!" The landlady smirked at the younger girl. "We just finished getting your key done." She motioned to the locksmith who handed the bill immediately to Lucy.
"Two hundred dollars for one measly key?!" Lucy screeched as she looked at he piece of paper in her hands. "You can't be serious!"
"I just make the keys honey. Pricing is through the company." The guy shrugged.
Lucy let out a frustrated groan before digging in her pocket for the money that she had taken out of her bank earlier that morning and slapped it in his palm. The man made sure to count everything before handing over her key which made Lucy's patience wear thin. Grabbing it, she immediately went to the third floor of the building and unlocked her door. "Plue...? I'm ho-" She was cut off as a large white blur tackled her to the ground and started licking her face. Lucy started laughing as she tried pushing Plue off of her. "Plue! Come on boy, I need to get up!" Eventually she managed to get up and gave her puppy a good scratch behind his ear. "Good boy!"
"What the hell is that?" Lucy looked behind her at the remark to see Gajeel giving her puppy a murderous look, but she noticed an almost wariness behind the look and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped.
"Scared Gajeel?" She inquired, a sly smirk on her lips. She noticed Levy behind Gajeel, covering her mouth in her own amusement.
"N-no! Why would I be scared of some mutt?" Gajeel explained roughly, a small blush covered his tanned cheeks.
"Whatever you say..." Lucy rolled her eyes and shooed Plue away from the door. "Well come on in and make yourselves at home."
Gajeel strolled right in, avoiding her puppy at all costs while Levy just bounded right for him and immediately started scratching behind his ears.
"Lucy he's precious! What kind of dog is he?" She asked with a bright smile.
"He's a Great Pyrenees." Lucy commented with a smile. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go ahead and change out of these clothes." She quickly slipped off into her room. Lucy breathed a small sigh of relief after she shut the door behind her. She was beyond thankful that Levy and Gajeel had decided to help her out but after everything that had happened she was thankful that she could just change in peace. Slipping off her clothes, Lucy decided to run through the shower to get rid of any other kind of grime, knowing that Levy wouldn't mind. Fifteen minutes later found Lucy wrapped in her pink towel and blow drying her hair as quickly as she could. She felt much better, but she wouldn't be complete without getting dressed. Shutting off the blow dryer she quickly moved to her closet and changed into a white summer dress with a black sash around the waist. It was one of her favorite dresses because it had the cold shouldered look that she absolutely adored. She paired it with her black and white polka dotted flats before calling her look complete. Usually she would put her hair up in her signature side pony but ultimately chose to wear her hair completely down. Leaving her room she entered her living room only to stop and cover her mouth to muffle the laughs that wanted to escape. Gajeel was now playing with Plue, he was currently lying on his back trying to teach the large puppy how to roll over.
Coughing a bit she laughed against her will as Gajeel practically jumped off the floor. A blush now stained his cheeks as he tried to look indifferent. "I was uh... helping him look for a toy!" He growled out and marched over to her bay window.
Lucy shook her head before focusing on Levy, her fingers running through Plue's fur as he nuzzled her hand, wanting attention. "So I was thinking... since all the tow companies in Magnolia said they didn't have my car, that means that my car has been stolen, doesn't it?"
Levy's chocolate brown eyes instantly lit up as she listened to what Lucy was saying. "Lu-chan you're a genius!"
Lucy shook her head in amusement before grabbing her cell, when she remembered that her phone was dead. "Uh... hold on a minute." She chuckled to herself and ran back into her bedroom to plug her phone back up. Walking back out he opened her mouth only to see Gajeel on the phone. Levy noticed her confused look and quickly whispered to her.
"He's on the phone with the police about your car." Lucy nodded in understanding, her lips forming an 'o' shape.
"Yeah it's a 2014, red, Chevy Camaro." Gajeel spoke into the phone. "She lost her keys, went lookin' for 'em, still couldn't find 'em, showed up this morning with a locksmith and the car as gone." He paused a moment as he listened to the police officer. "Yea we thought of that, we went to every tow company in Magnolia and none of 'em had it." Another pause. "Well duh! Obviously, whoever found her keys took her car!" Gajeel glanced over at the girls and rolled his eyes a bit, as he listened to whatever else the officer had to say. "Just find the damn thing! She's filing a report! We'll be down at the station in twenty!" He growled out and ended the call. "I hate the damn police."
"I don't know many people who do like the police..." Levy commented, a finger to her chin. "I mean, think about how many times Gray has been arrested because of 'public indecency'." The pixie like girl laughed at the memories. "It must have been at least a dozen times in the last four months."
Gajeel smirked. "Yea well, if he would stop that stripping habit."
"Stripping habit?" Lucy commented, a thought striking her from the day before. "Gray wouldn't happen to have black hair and blue eyes... would he?"
"Yup!" Levy looked over at her new friend. "Did you meet him yesterday?"
"I think I might have... after I lost my keys I started banging on the backdoor to try and get your attention, but I guess you had moved away faster than I realized, next thing I know the door is open and there's this half naked guy standing there! I mentioned his shirt missing and he didn't even notice me slipping in to try and find my keys." Lucy shrugged. "When you mentioned the stripping habit it just reminded me of him."
"You'd think someone being half naked would make you remember something like that quicker." Levy commented but shook her head. "Well let's get going then!" She bounded off of Lucy's couch.
"Going where Shrimp?" Gajeel asked as he moved away from Lucy's window.
"To Gray's! Maybe he knows who has Lucy's keys!"
"What about the police station?" Lucy asked.
"It'll probably take 'em a while to find your car." Gajeel shrugged. "Let's just go, I'm sure the Stripper is still at home."
Lucy shrugged before grabbing her replacement key from off of her counter and double checking she had everything she needed including some extra cash in case she found something she wanted to get. She was about to follow Levy and Gajeel out the door when she remembered Plue hadn't eaten. She immediately felt terrible and rushed back inside to make sure that her Pyrenees had food and water but stopped half way as she saw her puppy greedily gobbling up food from in his bowl.
"Gajeel fed him." A voice answered her unasked question. Turning around she saw Levy with a small smile on her face. "He's really a giant teddy bear."
"I've noticed." Lucy teased. "Don't worry, his secret is safe with me." The two girls shared a quiet laugh before hurrying out the door when they heard a loud obnoxious honking from outside.
Gray's apartment wasn't what Lucy expected. For one, it wasn't technically an apartment, it was a condo. It was modern, that was the first thing that Lucy could immediately tell besides the fact that it was so close to her own apartment. If she remembered correctly she had considered living in this particular building before finding her own little treasure of an apartment. Following Levy and Gajeel quickly to the elevator, she managed to glance at the inside of the lobby, only seeing a couple of chairs and tables before the elevator doors closed. They rode up to the third floor and stepped off only to briskly walk down the right hall. They were nearing the end when Gajeel and Levy stopped in front of a door. Levy calmly knocked on the door, knowing that Gajeel would just pound on the door and shout profanities. The small group waited only a few moments before the door opened and the same guy from before stood before them, only this time he was only in his boxers.
"Oi! What the hell, Stripper?!" Gajeel snapped, his crimson eyes seemed to simmer in fury as both Lucy and Levy hid behind the tall man, both blushing madly at what they had just witnessed.
"What's your deal steel for brains?!" Gray growled out and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You're practically naked!"
"What are you talking about? I'm fully dres- What the fucking hell!" Gray fumed as he looked behind him to see his shirt, pants and one lone sock down the hall leading from the living room to the door. He groaned in disbelief before sighing heavily and left the door open as he trudged back into his home, picking up the missing articles of clothing. Once he had managed to get his clothes back on, Gray turned around to look at his two friends before stopping cold. "Hey! You're the girl that got past me yesterday after I lost my shirt!" He pointed an accusing finger at Lucy who waved shyly back to him.
"Uh yea... about th- LEAVE YOUR PANTS ALONE!" Lucy suddenly blurted out.
"Huh?" Gray looked down to see that the button of his jeans had come undone and he rolled his eyes before buttoning them again. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed and tried to take a calming breath. "Ok, whatever, why are you here?"
"Bunny Girl here, lost her keys. Seen 'em?" Gajeel replied.
"No." Gray said flatly. "Is that it?"
"Why is your house so cold!" Levy groaned as she and Lucy huddled closer to each other.
Gray shrugged. "I feel fine." He went over to the thermostat. "It's only sixty in here." He said it like it was at a normal seventy-two degrees.
Gajeel rolled his eyes and started walking towards the door with the two girls trailing behind him.
"Did we come all the way over here only to see him strip and tell us no?" Lucy murmured to Levy who shrugged in response. Lucy rolled her eyes when a cell phone suddenly rang in the room. The three paused their exit as they heard Gray answer.
"What is it now Flame Brain?" He growled out, a scowl on his face before it morphed to bewilderment as he heard the reply. "You got arrested?! What the fuck Lava Breath! What the hell did you do?!" Gray's bewilderment slowly faded into a grimace and he sighed heavily. "You have got to be kidding me... how stupid could you be!"
"Is something wrong?" Lucy cautiously asked. Gray's icy blue eyes landed on her before shaking his head, he lifted his hand to tell them to hold on a minute before responding back to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll be right there. Levy and Gajeel will be with me. See you in a bit moron." And with that Gray ended the call and placed his phone into his back pocket before grabbing his shoes.
"What's going on?" Levy asked.
Without looking up from tying his shoes Gray responded, "That damn Pyro got himself arrested."
"What did Salamander do?" Gajeel asked, his arms crossed against his chest.
Gray finished tying his shoes and stood up. He looked himself up and down to make sure that he accidentally strip before grabbing his keys and heading towards the door. "You'll find out when we get there." The raven haired man replied before shooing them out of his apartment and locking it behind him.
Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, if we're all goin', then I'm drivin'." He announced. Soon enough Lucy found herself sitting next to Gray in the back of Gajeel's truck who sped down the street towards the police station.
"I'm Gray by the way." Gray finally introduced himself to her.
Lucy smiled before introducing herself to him as well. "I'm Lucy." After a few awkward seconds, Lucy opened her mouth to try and start a conversation but closed it as she heard Gray's voice.
"I'm sorry for yesterday. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, we just get a lot of weirdos that try to break into the backstage to try and steal things or get autographs and what not. It's pretty strict since the band is famous." Gray shrugged as he explained.
Lucy listened and a smile graced her features. "Don't worry about it. If I was in the same position, I probably would have done the same." And she would have now that she actually thought about it. Thinking about her family, she understood exactly where Gray was coming from. Being a Heartfilia, even though she no longer had any ties to her last name since she had moved out two years before, was hard. It was always about status and money, feelings were never talked about, compassion was a huge no no in the business world to her father. Lucy frowned thinking about her father, Jude Heartfilia, and how he had turned into one of the most power crazy people she had the misfortune to know. Shaking her head free of the memories that she had always kept under lock and key, she focused more on the present as the truck finally came to a stop and the doors opened. Lucy scrambled out after her new friends and followed them into the police station.
As soon as they stepped into the precinct all they heard was shouting coming from an office. Lucy followed everyone else as they all headed straight into the office with the shouts. The first thing she noticed was the Chief who looked extremely irritated if the drawn brows and narrowed lips suggested, his eyes seemed to be filled with an anger that Lucy didn't want to touch. He almost looked relieved when he caught sight of the group and immediately pushed his chair back and strolled out the door, saying something about taking their time. The second thing she noticed was a very disheveled boy who seemed to be breathing fire as he tossed more curse words around the room. She saw Gray and Gajeel exchange a look before they both went up to the boy and each took a turn to punch him in the face.
"Oi! What the hell fuckers?!" The boy glared at the other two only for his face to brighten up a bit. "Guys! Am I glad to see you! Get me out of here!" His onyx eyes narrowed as Gray shook his head. "What do you mean 'no? Get me outta here!"
"You stole a car, moron! What makes you think that we'd help you after committing a crime?!" Gray yelled as he got into the other boys face.
"Bad move Salamander." Gajeel shook his head.
"I talked to Erza and she said that you have to stay unless the owner of the vehicle decides not to press charges." Gray said simply. "I just came to make sure you weren't trying to destroy anything." He shrugged and started back towards the door, a smirk on his lips.
"Who's the owner?! Oi! Lug Nuts! Find the fucking owner of the car and tell him that it was an accident!"
"How is stealing a car an accident?" Gajeel replied back to Natsu's demand.
Natsu was quiet for a few seconds before he let out a nervous chuckle and scratched his right cheek. "Well ya see..."