Chapter 2

Table 6

After Layla passed, Jude changed. Long gone was the loving father Lucy knew and replaced was a cold man. He simply couldn't cope living in a world without the sun, so he dove deep into work, his empire grew exponentially the next few years. Jude would have any and all memory of Layla moved from the house into the attic, not bearing to see the face of the women he loved knowing she was in the next world without him. The worse part, he couldn't bear to look at his daughter. Lucy, now 13, looked more like her mother by the day. She had the same laugh, the same humor, the exact same caring and humble personality his dear Layla had. Thus, he never saw her, Jude spent his days in his office in the west wing of the house and shut his daughter out.

Lucy spent the next few years being raised by the servants, who had already been like family to her. She would spend her afternoons in the garden where a statue in honor of her mother was, she would talk to Layla's statue for hours, telling her about her day, her troubles, about her dad although there wasn't much to say about him. Lucy understood why Jude had shut her out, but she could not forgive it. Although actions can be explained that doesn't mean they are justified. Lucy missed her mother terribly; she had already missed so much; she missed Lucy's first crush on a boy in class to her first heartbreak when she saw him holding hands with a girl at recess. Her mother had missed her primary school graduation, her first piano recital, and so much more. She sat in the garden at that moment, holding a cupcake with a candle. "Happy birthday dear Lucy, happy birthday to you." Lucy sang to herself softly. She blew out the candle on the cupcake, wishing her mother could be there to sing happy birthday to her. "Mom I am 14 today… I've grown so much since you've passed." She said. "I have to go do homework, but I'll come back tomorrow. I love you so much, I miss you mom." She whispered. Lucy picked up her cupcake, having no appetite to eat it, and started walking back to the house.

Despite knowing she had homework, Lucy found herself wandering towards the west wing of the house, she knew that it wasn't a rational idea, but she wondered if her dad even knew that today was her birthday, maybe he would wish her a happy birthday this year, even if he would just speak to her for once…

She walked up to the large oak doors of her fathers office and knocked. Technically a servant should've been the one to knock and allow her to enter the room, but such formalities always annoyed Lucy; its her own father for Pete's-sake.

"Enter," Jude said from inside his office. Lucy slowly opened the door and entered into the room.

"Hey dad? Are you busy right now?"

"What do you want Lucy? Can't you see I'm busy? Go annoy a servant and leave me be." He said angrily. If words could cut Lucy would be bleeding.

"Sorry dad, I was just wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me? Its my birthday today and-" Lucy was cut off by her fathers yelling.

"Dinner? Does it look like I have time for you! And what did I say before, It is not dad, it is Sir." Jude replied with venom on his tongue.

"Da-Uh Sir, sorry I just thought, maybe just this one time. You could find time for me?" Lucy looked at her shoes. Too scared to face her father.

"No, I do not have time for you, frankly I have much more important things to do then entertain your foolish whims. Now get out of my office and don't bother coming back. I could care less what today is and what significance it has to you."

Lucy felt her eyes getting wet, she spun on her heels and dashed out of her fathers office. How could this man be her father? It was as If he had died with her mother that day. At that moment Lucy knew she couldn't stay there any longer. This stopped being her home years ago and it was time she found a new one. She dashed to the east wing of her house, where her bedroom was and began to pack. She took her piggy bank and shattered it on the floor, wads of cash flying everywhere. She picked up all the savings her had and threw them into her backpack. She grabbed the essentials and finally wrote a note to the servants, Emma, Natalie, Nic, Bella, they had all become her family. But she couldn't bear to stay in the house that was trapped in the past. She looked around her room once more and grabbed one last thing: a photo of her, her mother, and her father, sitting in the garden enjoying a picnic. The photo was taken around a year before her mom passed away. She smiled at the photo, remembering all the lovely memories it held on its paper. She stuffed it into the pocket of her sweater. And with that, she fled.

The next few months would be far from kind to Lucy. She would quickly run out of money and end up sleeping on park benches. It was now October, 3 months since Lucy's departure, she sat on the side of the road, not really sure what to do with herself when a older man approached her.
"Hey kid! Its getting pretty cold out, you should put on your coat." The young man said to her from his restaurant behind where she sat. She turned to look at him, and responded, "I would need a coat for that."

The man laughed, "Well yeah of course, where's your coat?"

"I don't have one…" Lucy looked at the ground again, embarrassed. The man looked at her with pity. He took a better look at her; her hair was in an unbrushed ponytail, she clothes tattered with holes, she had a backpack that looked like it had seen better days. But what caught his attention was her eyes, full of such sadness, like the world had shut her out.

"You hungry? You know my restaurant makes the best lasagna in town. Why don't you come in and have a plate. On the house!" The man smiled a cheeky grin, his teeth were a bit crooked, as was his nose, but he wasn't a bad looking man. Lucy pondered his intentions; she had encountered many scary men as a young girl the past few months, but he just seemed so nice, it almost radiated off him.

"Sure, why not?" Lucy said. Not like she had much else to lose.

One plate of lasagna turned into two as she sat with the man, Alex, who was actually the owner of the Italian restaurant she sat in. She wasn't quick to explain to Alex why she was where she was, but he slowly got her to open up. Lucy feared he would call the cops, they would take her right back to the house she hated so, but he didn't. Instead, Alex told her his story; he had grown up in town as a child but in the orphanage on the other side of town, he as well knew the loneliness of having no parents, but he didn't let that hold him back. When he was 18, he graduated from the public high school and then got a loan to open his restaurant. It took effort, time, and his own sweat and tears, but he pushed forward and 10 years later, he had the best restaurant in town.

"tell ya what." He says after finishing his lasagna, "I'll give you a job here, you can be a waitress. This building used to be an apartment building and there's still an empty unit upstairs that none of us use. You live there until you get yourself on your feet, how does that sound?"

"Really?" Lucy said excitedly, "I would truly love and appreciate that, I promise I won't let you down!" She smiled

"I see a lot of myself in you Lucy, I wish I had someone on my side all those years. Consider me like a big brother! I'll do what I can to help you out. All I ask is that you don't give up on yourself you got it? You have a lot potential to do great things in this life, don't let this get in the way of that."

"I'll try my best!" She said with a beaming smile, Lucy couldn't remember the last time she smiled, it felt nice to smile again, to feel like someone had her back.

"Oh, and one more thing! I want you in school missy! You hear me? Education is important, maybe you can apply to Fairy Tail high! They offer scholarships to students with talents that can't afford the tuition. Tell me, you got any talents?" Alex inquired

"Well, its been a while but I can play the piano, I have been playing since I was 7, I can sing a little too but not very well." She said shyly'

"Really piano! Wow that's great, we actually have a piano upstairs, I bought it years back wanting to learn but it just kinda sits there now gathering dust. It just needs to be tuned and then you can use it all you want."

"Actually! Wow that's amazing. If you let me use it I promise to teach you how to play big brother Alex."

Alex smiled warmly at Lucy; she reminded him of a girl he was in the orphanage with, they were like siblings, but she was adopted and moved far away.

"Sure kid, now how about I start training you on how to use the POS system here, you will use it to input the customers orders for the kitchen staff." He asked

"Sure!" Lucy said

They got up and Alex grabbed their plates, they headed to the front of the restaurant and began teaching Lucy how to use the device.

Lucy woke up groggily, it had been a year since she got her job at the restaurant and was still living in the apartment above. She had decorated it to be more to her taste and Alex even bought her some new furniture since what was up there before was pretty much disintegrating.

Lucy made her way to the kitchenette and made herself some tea and popped a bagel into the toaster. She tiredly chewed on the bagel until she was fully awake and then got ready for the day. By 11am Lucy was all ready to go, the restaurant opened at 12 but she would go down early to help open. She jumped down the stairs and was met with a very hungover Alex.

"Looks like you had a fun night big brother." Lucy said with a sly grin. Alex loved to party but wasn't as big a fan of the hangover bound to follow.

"Hmguhmph." Alex mumbled, drinking his coffee while counting the cashes.

Lucy began taking down the chairs from the tables and setting them with their tablecloths and plates. She wiped down the front counter and greeted the kitchen crew good morning. Lucy loved her new life. She would work in the restaurant until 7pm then would do online school, like she promised Alex, then play piano then bed. She had saved up a bunch of money from the restaurant and finally felt like her life was back on track.

Noon rolled around quickly, and the restaurant opened, the hours flew by and next thing she knew it was 6pm and it was the dinner rush. Lucy ran from table to table, grabbing orders, seating new guests, running food from the kitchen, all of this with a smile on her face. Other girls her age would hate this but Lucy? She was beyond grateful. Cana, a fellow waiter, and friend at the restaurant, ran up to her as she was placing dished into the dish pit.

"Can you do me a favor pleaseeee." Cana begged

"Depends on what it is Cana. After last time I have to be more careful I agreeing before I hear what you want." Lucy replied with a grin

Cana blushed, "Lets not bring that up again…Its nothing bad I'm just swamped I got sat a table of 10 people and I can't take table 6, can you please take it for me?"

"Of course! Table 3 was just leaving so I can handle table 6 don't even worry about it." Lucy said while walking back towards the front of the restaurant, it was so packed you couldn't even hear the music over all the chatter.

"I owe you my entire body and soul Lucy, thank youuuuu!" Cana replied while running off to her table of 10 that were clearly not impressed having to wait so long for her.

Lucy sighed, "Oh Cana," She thought. Lucy grabbed her notepad and opened it to a fresh page and walked up to table 6. There were 8 people sitting, all around her age.

"Hi there! My names Lucy, I'll be your waitress for the night, can I start you off with something to drink." Lucy said cheerfully. Waitressing came easy to Lucy, she was a social butterfly and loved meeting new customers and getting to know them.

"Can we all get some waters please." The girl with cherry red hair said

"But I want soda!" A boy with pink hair interjected, the girl with red hair gave him the darkest glare Lucy had ever seen and the pink boy quickly shut his mouth. A tad confused on what she had just witnessed, Lucy chose to just ignore it.

"8 waters coming up! I'll be right back with those." Lucy turned and walked towards the drink station, she filled 8 cups with some ice and water and dropped them off at table 6.

"Ill give you guys a moment to look over the menu and I'll be back shortly to take your order!" Lucy then walked off to greet the other tables

"She's hot." The boy with orange hair, Loke said slyly. "I bet I can get her number before we even get our food." Erza, the girl with bright red hair, promptly smacked the side of his head for this

"Have some respect for our waitress, she is not paid enough to deal with your ego Loke." Erza said

"Yeah Loke, chill out, she wouldn't even want you anyways, not when I'm right here." A boy with raven hair said in retort

"Grey, not you too, you are all children." Erza said. She was across the table from him, if he was closer, she would've smacked him too.

The girl with blue hair frowned, Juvia had the fattest crush on Grey, if she only had the confidence to tell him.

"Hey Natsu, you know what you're gonna order?" The girl short girl with blue hair asked.

"Hmmmmm." Natsu pondered, "OHHH they have spicey pasta! I'm gonna get that." He replied excitedly

"Of course you will, flame-brain." Grey said to Natsu, the two bickered like an old couple so much that it was surprising they would willingly hang out. Nonetheless they did, and anyone who chose two hang out with the two would stuck dealing with their childish arguments the entire time.

"Shut it ice brain." Natsu said while poking out his tongue at Grey

"ENOUGH!" Erza budded in, she didn't carry much patience for the two, she carried even less when they were together. "Levy and Gajeel, what will you be getting." Erza asked the two politely.

"I'm getting the steak, heard its really good here, how about you shrimp?" Gajeel asked Levy, she blushed at the nickname he called her. If anyone else had called her that, she probably would be arrested for first degree murder, but then again, she didn't like everyone else like she liked Gajeel.

"Uhhhh, Ill get the fettuccine alfredo I think." Levy responded, trying to hide the blush on her face.

Just then Lucy returned. "Hey guys, ready to order or would like a moment or two more to decide?" The group quickly gave Lucy their orders and put them into the POS machine. Lucy then headed over to her next table.

"Everyone scoot your butts, I needa pee." Natsu said. The group on his side of the table responded to him with a sighs and groans, they would all have to get out of the booth just for Natsu to get up. They ungracefully did and Natsu wandered the restaurant looking for the bathroom.

Lucy was currently in a very uncomfortable predicament, one she was too familiar with, a group of drunk men getting handsy with her as she tried to take their order. Normally she would have Alex kick them out, but he was already stressed out today being hungover, so she decided to just try to handle it herself.

"Excuse me sir, sorry,p-please don't touch me, Can I just have your o-orders please?" Lucy said, one of the men in the group continued to hold her by the waist while he sat at his table.

"Oh, c'mon baby don't be like that, gimme a kiss and I'll let you go." The drunk man said to her. Lucy tried to wriggle herself free, but the man had an iron grip on his waist. She continued to try to get the men to stop while trying to take their orders until a familiar pink headed boy stepped in.

"Hey, bud I don't know if you heard her correctly, but she said let go. Maybe you should get your ears checked." Natsu said casually.

Lucy stood shocked, but came too when the mans hand slid further down her waste, nearing her butt. She gasped and once more tried to get free.

"Hey kid bud out, me and the pretty waitress here are tryna have a good time, go back to coloring or something." The drunk man dismissed Natsu. Lucy gave Natsu a a pleading look, she wasn't sure how to get herself out of this one and didn't want to cause a scene. But unfortunately, it seemed that's exactly what Natsu intended to do.

Natsu reached behind Lucy and snapped the guys arm off her. He pulled Lucy behind her protectively and started the drunk man and his friends down.

"I'm gonna give you 3 seconds to leave before you get hurt, you understand." Natsu's look was fierce and deadly. Lucy stood behind him scared; she didn't want to be in this dudes way if he was gonna start a fight. The drunk man stood up, he was a bit taller than Natsu, he got close to his face and said, "Listen Kid, go away, you won't win this one." Natsu took this as a challenge and promptly pined the drunk mans arm behind his back. He got close and whispered into his ear. "I'm gonna say it one more time, leave, or else I'll snap your arm like a twig."

After a second Natsu let the man go. The drunk men stumbled out of their booth and left the restaurant. Natsu turned to face Lucy, "Hey you, okay? Did they hurt you?" Natsu scanned over her, she really is beautiful he thought.

"N-no, I'm okay, thank you so much." Lucy whispered looking at the floor. She was shaking uncontrollably.

"No problem at all. You are sure your, okay? Your shaking like a leaf." Natsu said concerned. He didn't even know this girl but seeing her so scared made him livid.

"No really, I'm okay! I can't thank you enough." Lucy responded with the best smile she could muster, but the smile just didn't reach her eyes. Before Natsu could respond Alex ran up to Lucy and hugged her.

"Cee-cee you okay! Cana came and got me when she saw the guys, looks like this guy took care of them though…" Alex looked at the pink haired boy and smiled at him.

"Thank you so much for taking care of my Cee-cee here. You and your tables meals are on the house tonight to thank you." Alex said to Natsu.

"Really! Awesome, thanks Sir." Natsu said back all happy.

"Sir is what customers call me; you my friend can call me Alex." Alex said to Natsu

"I'm Natsu nice to meetcha Alex!" Natsu said with a fat grin.

Lucy excused herself while the two boys spoke and went to the break-room to compose herself. Stuff like this brought back a lot of trauma she went through when she was living on the streets. She quickly tried to shake it all off and when she returned with the groups meals Natsu was already back at his table chatting with his group like nothing happened.

"Alrightly everyone, sorry for the wait… here you go." Lucy started placing everyone's meals down from the tray. Everyone thanked her as their plate was given, everyone but Natsu, when he looked at Lucy he saw how shaken she still was, her smile looked far too forced, her hands still shook a bit. Natsu frowned but didn't say anything in front of the group.

"Wow this is delicious!" Erza said.

"Yeah awesome." Grey chimed in.

"Well great! I'm glad you are enjoying your meals, is there anything else I can get you?" Lucy asked after she had given everyone their meals. The group shook their heads and Lucy walked off to another table.

"So how was everything?" Lucy asked while she picked up everyone's empty plates.

"Hmmmmm." Natsu hummed as he patted his tummy, "Nothing like a free meal."

Erza slapped his head, "Natsu, no one is paying for your meal here and you sure aren't going to get out of paying." She scolded him.

"Sorry to interrupt." Lucy said. "But yes, Natsu is correct, all of your meals were on the house today." She gave a warm smile.

"Cool…. Awesome…hell yeah!" Members of the group all said.

"But why? What did Natsu do to score that?" Grey asked.

Lucy stared, unsure what to say, she looked to Natsu, who also said nothing before finally opening his mouth to say, "The owner is a family friend he felt like being nice today." He said nonchalantly.

The group didn't pry anymore as Natsu's explanation made sense. As the group began to leave the restaurant Natsu hung back. He saw Lucy carrying plates away from their table so he waited for her to come back for the next round of dishes. When she returned a minute later, Lucy was shocked to see Natsu standing at the table still.

"Sorry Natsu did you want to order dessert or something?" She asked nicely

"Nope, what high school you plan on going to?" He asked

"I dunno, uh there's a public school 2 blocks away, maybe there?"

"Nope! Wrong answer, me and my friends are all go to Fairy Tail High school, you should submit your grades and see if you get in, be cool if you joined our group!" Natsu said with a grin. Lucy had completely forgot about the fancy high school Alex told her of , the first wave applications and tryouts had already passed but the second round would start soon, she had to make sure she submitted her grades and tried out for the music program.

"Oh yeah, I had originally planned on trying out there, I guess it slipped my mind. Ill try out and who knows." She said to Natsu. He smiled back at her and started walking out of the restaurant to meet up with his friends.

After he left Lucy cleaned the rest of their table and then clocked out of her shift since it was 7:30 already. She went upstairs and changed into some sweatpants and an oversized shirt. She plopped herself onto the couch and began to look into Fairy Tale tryouts. She was right, the second rounds started next Wednesday! The tryout was to play a higher-level song with the instrument of choice. "Easy." She thought, "I got this." Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, not only did she want to attend the school, but she wanted to see Natsu again.

Authors Note: Hello again! I'm putting out the chapters I currently have all at once since its juts easier to do it in one go. Anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter. I promise future ones will be longer. I really hope your enjoying the story so far, I'm currently going to school for sciences but I've always had a passion for writing. Anyways feel free to comment what you think so far. Cya!

THIS IS NOT MY STORY, all rights belong to the creators of Fairy tail. I simply love the anime:)