Chapter 17

The calm before the storm

Lucy spent the rest of her day studying at her desk as Natsu laid in her bed, only getting up when he was going to puke. Lucy felt bad since there was no way to help, but she hoped that Natsu, like Alex, had learned his lesson about drinking.

She currently studied for her biology class, her exam was this week, and she hadn't even begun studying. So as Natsu slept, she hit the books. She spent a couple of hours reviewing the material before her brain began to feel like a computer that had been dumped in a tub of water. Sighing, she got up and headed out, leaving Natsu peacefully snoring in her bed.

Where did she go? The drycleaners but of course. Despite Natsu's protests that he would not miss Lisanna's scarf, she watched as Natsu went to fiddle with it, a nervous habit of his, only to frown when he realized it no longer adorned his neck as it did for so many years. Lucy felt horrible that she was the one to ruin it so she had dropped it off at the drycleaners and said she would pay anything as long as they got the stain out.

When she arrived at the cleaners, she was surprised to find out they had gotten the stain out completely. She was also disturbed to find out that removing blood from clothing was one of their most common requests. She pushed the discomfort aside and paid the cleaner kindly. She placed the scarf in her backpack carefully and headed home.

… … …

When Natsu woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to feel that he didn't have to puke. He slowly sat up, not wanting to evoke the recently departed nausea, and grabbed his phone. It was 4pm, his eyes scanned the room hoping to find Lucy still at her desk, but when his eyes landed on the table she was no longer there. He got out of her bed, assuming she had wandered into the kitchen, but as he searched her apartment she was no where to be found. Finally, he stumbled on a note she left on her kitchen counter

"Headed out for a moment, be home soon xxx." The note read

Natsu smiled, he liked playing house with Lucy. He liked waking up to notes saying she would be home again with him soon. His lips twisted into a smile as he began to scavenge her cupboards for food, he was suddenly so hungry he could feel his stomach eating itself.

Natsu pulled out some food from the fridge and began to cook his breakfast/dinner. He decided on some steak and eggs which felt like a good median between the two mealtimes. As he began to season the steak, he made sure there was enough for two, so that when Lucy returned home, they could eat together.

As he cooked, he felt his heart warm further, cooking for two, waking in her bed. Everything felt so perfectly simple and wonderful in life. He never imagined there would come a day in his life that he felt this way, especially not after Lisanna. He had feared that he had spent all his love on her and that he would have no more to give, how wrong he was.

As he finished cooking, he heard the apartment door open. Lucy smiled as her gaze landed upon him, she was happy to see him up and about after sleeping the entire day.

"How ya feeling sleepy head?" Lucy asked as she took off her winter coat. She was wearing Natsu's hoodie and some mom jeans, the sight of her in his clothes made him want to grab her and never let go.

"Much better, I'm just really hungry so I made us dinner." Natsu said. He walked up to her as she finished putting her coat away. He placed his hands on her waist and bent down to kiss her.

Lucy gasped as he kissed her lightly, she wasn't sure why she was surprised but a small part of her figured that the last nights actions had only occurred because Natsu was drunk. Thankfully she was wrong. She gazed up at him as he pulled away from the kiss, his cheeks slightly red. She felt her mind bubble up with her unanswered questions from this morning, but she figured now was not the time. They had forever to figure out what they were, why not enjoy things as they are now?

"I brought you something." Lucy said with excitement. Natsu smiled as he watched her reach into her bag and get ready to pull something out. He gasped as she pulled out his scarf from Lisanna. She held it end to end in her hands to show that the nasty stain was gone.

"I know you said you didn't care, but even if you didn't, I still figured you would want it back." Lucy said as she stepped towards him to give him the scarf.

Natsu starred down at the scarf with wide eyes, he couldn't believe she had been able to restore it. The scarf looked as new as it did the day Lisanna gave it to him. He took it from her hands and held it to his chest. Relief flooded his body having the scarf back with him, he had meant it when he said he would be okay without the scarf, but it did mean he wanted to be okay without it.

As stupid as it was, the scarf really was the only tangible thing he had to remember her by. Lucy had known that and had gone out of her way to make sure it was returned to him clean and safe, a simple gesture that brought forth so much gratitude.

"Luce… Thank you, I can't explain how much this means to me." He said softly.

Lucy smiled. She took the scarf from his hands and wrapped it around his neck.

"There you go, your just not my Natsu without it." Lucy said after she finished placing it on him. Natsu blushed, he couldn't fathom loving a person more than he already did, but Lucy always found a way to make him love her more with each passing second.

Instead of responding he simply pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head lightly then buried his face in her neck.

"So… you made us dinner?" Lucy said as she pulled away.

"Yeah, you're a terrible cook so I put upon myself to ensure we don't get food poisoning." Natsu responded as he walked to her cupboard to grab some plates.

"Hey! I'm not that badddd." She joked

Natsu deadpanned, "Luce, you burnt eggs. I didn't even think that was possible." He smirked watching her reaction.

"It was one time!" She retorted

"Yeah, that I know of." He smiled even harder

"Yeah, yeah, whatever chef Natsu, lets eat."

The two sat in front of her TV and watched whatever showed up first on Lucy's recently watched on Netflix, which just happened to be The Office. The two laughed as they watched the show. But Lucy's laugh was soon cut off by her phone buzzing, she looked at it to see a No Caller ID on the screen. She sighed, she figured it wouldn't be long before he tried to come after her again, Laxus probably thought he had successfully gotten into her head.

"Who is it?" Natsu asked

"Laxus…" Lucy whispered. She hadn't told him what he had said to her in the bathroom the night of Grey's party. She knew she should've but considering his plan to manipulate her didn't work; she saw no reason to give him her undeserved attention.

"Let me take it." Natsu Grumbled. Gone was his easy-going façade from a moment ago and in its place was a rage ridden teen who wanted to rip Laxus's head off.

"No need," Lucy said, "watch this." She said with a faint smile. With a shard of confidence, she picked up the phone. Before Laxus could even speak, Lucy went for it.

"Laxus, stop calling me. And for fucks sake turn on your caller ID, like I already know its you, you fool. Whatever you're trying to do, cut it out cus it won't work. Your not gonna get in my head, you can't manipulate me into leaving my friends. Get a fucking life for god sake." With that Lucy ended the call. She knew that she shouldn't have done it, if he caught her alone again, she would pay for that. But she didn't care, she felt invincible with Natsu by her side.

"Wow, I'm proud of you Luce! I'm surprised you weren't scared." He said the end in a whisper. Natsu was in awe of how far Lucy had come in just a few short months. When he first met her, the sight of him would set her off, but here she was now telling the guy to fuck off. He felt a sense of pride for Lucy. She had found her strength again, her will to fight back, he hoped he would never see her lose it.

"Scared? Always but Levy once told me I have to chose between my fear and love, I choose love. On that note though we seriously need to get me back to training just in case." She said with a meek smile.

"Once I am 100% sure your brains aren't mush, we can." Natsu replied

"Hey its been a couple of days, I'm sure I'm good by now."

"Nope, concussions are serious business. I've trained with hundreds of other guys and each time one of them got a concussion they knew to take a step back. Damage your brain while its still healing and you may not be able to bounce back."

"Fineeeee, like next week then?" Lucy pleaded with the boy.

"When I hear a doctor give the all clear then we can go back to me knocking you on your ass." He sad arrogantly. Lucy laughed and playfully slapped his arm.

"If I remember correctly, I did manage to get you down once." She said with pride.

"No, I tripped you and you decided to take me with you. If I hadn't flipped us, you would have been Lucy soup."

Natsu and Lucy both laughed at that. The spent the rest of the night fucking around and Natsu avoiding Lucy's persuasions to make him study for the rest of the upcoming exams.

The two spent the night in peace, each one mending the others hearts back together from the past.

… … …

It was now mid December, Lucy, Juvia, Erza, and Levy all were shopping for their gowns for the Fairy tail ball. So far Erza had found her dress, a long tighter gown that had a corset back and a longer slit that went to mid thigh on the left. She had also picked up the matching tie for Jellal it since they sold it there.

Levy had also stumbled upon her dream dress; it was a lavender-blue floral dress with intricate designs throughout. The top was a corset with noticeable boning and the rest of the material was sheer with more designs. It was sleeveless and poufy which was what she wanted.

Juvia and Lucy were left, the two having zero luck today. Both girls had tried on everything in the store, but nothing seemed to work for them, either it was too big and couldn't be ordered at such short notice, or it wasn't their colour. Whatever the reasons were, they didn't like anything.

Lucy sighed; with her dad the dresses were just made for her. She never had a choice in what she would appear in and that included her shoes, hair and even her makeup. So now she felt lost at what direction to go in. Would she want to go with a tighter dress like Erza? Or a princess dress like Levy? She couldn't make up her mind which made every dress just feel wrong on her.

"Hey Juvia, there's this one!" Levy shouted. Her voice muffled from the dress rack she was completely dissolved in. Levy pulled out the dress. It was a simple floor length gown; it was a deep blue colour and was one shoulder. It as well had a slit that was much larger and went up almost to the hip. Juvia and Lucy gawked; the dress was a hidden gem for sure.

"Oh yes that's one of our best sellers, I'm sure another customer must've tried to hide it so they could come back and by it. But its first come, first serve here so if its what you would like then its yours!" The seamstress said as they marked off the alterations for Levy and Erza's dress. Erza needed the dress tighter on her waist beyond what the corset could do and Levy needed a good 6 inches taken off the bottom of her gown.

Juvia snatched the dress from Levy and ran back to fitting room. When she came out a moment later the girls jaws hit the floor.

"Juvia, you look hot!" Lucy said with excitement. Even if she couldn't find her dress today, she loved that her friends had all found theirs.

"Juvia, if I wasn't going with Gajeel I would go with you, and that dress." Levy said.

"Yeah, I really like the one shoulder, the slit is a little high so if that could be adjusted then this is my dress." Juvia said.

The seamstress moved to Juvia and adjusted the fabric to slightly close the slit.

"Like this?" The lady said

"Yep!" Juvia said as she clapped her hands together with glee

"Easy fix for sure." The lady confirmed

"Then I will take it!" Juvia said with a big smile. She feared for a moment that she would walk out empty-handed; a fate Lucy still faced.

Juvia headed back into her fitting room and took of the dress. Once she had her clothes back on, she handed the dress to the seamstress.

"Okay were on a mission here; we have to find Lucy her dress. Lets break off and each tackle a section of the store to see if we can find anymore hidden dresses. In a shop this big there's bound to be something you will like Lucy." Erza said. The girls then all broke off, it was only 5 minutes into their search when the seamstress called them over.

"So, ladies I just got another shipment of dresses to the store, and I think I may have found a dress that interests you Miss." She said directed at Lucy. She pulled the dress from the rack behind the cash and Lucy's eyes widened. It was absolutely perfect. It was a princess ball grown that was royal blue to match her eyes. It had off the shoulder short sleeves and the dress was covered in beading of flowers.

"Oh my goodness that's lovely! May I try it?" Lucy asked with her hands reaching to touch the fabric of the dress.

"Why of course!" The lady said as she handed Lucy the dress. She sprinted into her fitting room once more. She had nearly given up, but the new dress renewed her hope. She hopped into the dress, but the sleeves didn't allow her to reach the zipper in the back. She walked out holding the dress onto her frame

"Can you zip this." She asked as she turned. Levy quickly approached so that no one else would see the scars on her back that the dress would soon hide. She zipped her up, it fit like a glove.

"Oh Lu…" Levy said as Lucy turned to face them. She blushed, she felt like a princess.

"This is it; I want this one." Lucy said confidently. The dress was absolutely what she wanted. It also had pockets.

"Miss its just right for you, it won't even need any alterations since it fits so well." The seamstress said as she approached Lucy and examined her. She was checking to see if the dress sat correctly or if it would need to be shortened and more.

"Awesome! Looks like we all have our dresses!" Lucy cheered, the girls are squealed, excited for the ball arriving in just a few short days.

Lucy soon returned to her fitting room. As she struggled to unzip herself, she noticed her phone had received a text message. Assuming it was Natsu she picked up the phone with a smile, she opened the text and felt her heart stop

Unknown: "Leave Natsu and your friends or else they will face the same fate as your mother. Consider this your last warning" The text read.

Lucy stared at the screen, "so now Laxus had resorted to empty threats?" She thought. She deleted the text without responding, not feeling the need to feed the crazed mans vendetta.

Although Lucy continued to remind herself the rest of the day that Laxus's words were nothing more than that, she couldn't shake the feeling buried in her bones. The feeling that something bad was about to happen, and she would be right in the center of it.

Authors Note: Hey everyone, here's chapter 17 as promised! this is more of a filler but its needed for what's about to go down. Trust me when I say the next few chapters will pack a punch! Anyways I thank you all for your patience with my late uploads. I Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know its short but I didn't want to start the major parts of the story within it. Cya!

I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTER'S; I simply write the plot :) All rights are reserved by the creators of Fairy Tail