"DRAGON, WHAT THE FUCK – "

"I AM DOING MY BEST – "

"CHILL, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YO– NO!"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit – " Lucy muttered hotly to herself as she nearly tore the mouse from the desk in attempt to cover her friends. She gritted her teeth in frustration. If they could hear her, it would just make everything so much easier. When the notice that her team had lost popped up on the screen, she sat back in her chair in a huff.

"God damn," Metal sighed. Lucy thought she could hear him run a hand over his face.

"Well, that was fucking dreadful." Ice tagged on.

"Ah, come on. We won like twenty rounds before that one. We're all just tired." Dragon reasoned, and Lucy turned to look at the clock, her eyes widening when she saw it was nearly four AM. She flew forward to type furiously.

ThatChillGuy: Shit, I didn't realise the time! I have class tomorrow!

"Ooo, that's gotta hurt," Metal laughed. Ice and Dragon groaned.

"I have class too," Ice whined and Lucy heard Dragon heave a long sigh.

"Me too. I've only been there a few weeks, so I can't be late."

Lucy's eyebrows shot up at the new information. She wished she was on call with them so she could ask more about his move, but Ice seemed to share her curiosity.

"You moved, Fire Breath?"

"Yah, 'bout a month ago. My old man got a new job in Magnolia so…"

"Ugh, you live in the same city as me?" Metal complained. Ice made a noise of revulsion.

"Ew, me too. Wait, you both live here?"

Lucy stopped listening as she froze in her seat. All three of the guys she gamed with lived in the same city as her? How could that be possible?

"So, what school you guys in?"

Lucy shut off her PC without closing any of her games. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears at the sudden news but quickly calmed herself down. Okay -There was no need to panic. There were countless schools and colleges in Magnolia. There was no way she shared hers with any of her online gaming friends.

Lucy repeated that to herself, trying to ignore the gnawing voice in her head questioning why she didn't stay on call to hear them confirm that then.

It was physically painful to drag herself from her nice warm bed the next morning. Lucy shut off her alarm as it blared down her ear at seven AM and forced her legs to carry her to the shower. She turned the water to cold in attempt to wake herself up but even that proved futile. She exited the shower with her teeth chattering as she hurried into her room to pull her pyjamas on before picking out a set of clothes for the day.

Before getting dressed, she sat at her desk and turned her computer back on to double check her schedule for the day. She frowned as it opened on the chat room with her friends before remembering she shut the whole thing off. Before closing the tab, her eyes zeroed in on the chat between the boys had after she had left.

IceBreaker: Chill? You there?

ThatMetalMan: My headset ran out.

FireSpittingDragon: We figured. We're going to bed anyway.

ThatMetalMan: Chill hasn't come back?

FireSpittingDragon: Nope. Wonder what got him.

IceBreaker: We can catch him tomorrow. I'm going to bed.

FireSpittingDragon: You better stay away from me at class, Ice Freak.

IceBreaker: Fuck you, Flame Brain. Like I wanna be near you.

FireSpittingDragon: Ice Princess.

IceBreaker: Fire Breath.

FireSpittingDragon: Ice block.

ThatMetalMan: And I'm out.

Lucy swallowed thickly and tilted her head to the side before standing. Okay. Okay, so Ice and Dragon go the same school. No big deal. They're probably miles away. Lucy took another deep breath before shaking her head and turning to get dressed.

When Lucy finally stumbled from her dorm, she knew she looked exhausted. She fought the urge to rub her eyes as she adjusted her bag and made her way to class.

"Lucy! Hey, you – Oh, you don't look so hot."

Lucy narrowed her eyes nastily at Cana's comment as she and Levy made their way over the road to walk beside her.

"Let me guess," Levy quipped with a grin. "Late night with three men?"

Cana snorted and Lucy punched her friend in the arm.

"I was up till four AM gaming," she groaned. Levy winced and Cana just laughed again.

"You seriously need a new hobby; this is bad for your health." Levy told her with a hint of concern. Lucy just shrugged and smiled tiredly.

"It's fine. I just lost track of time. Won't happen again."

"Sure," Cana teased, her eyes alight with humour. "Any gossip on the three mystery men? They still hassling you to go on mic?"

Lucy shook her head but stiffened a little at the mention of gossip.

"Not really, I think they gave up on that. But – "

"But what?"

"I do know that they're all living in Magnolia. And going to school somewhere in the city."

"What?!" They gasped in sync. Lucy cringed.

"And Ice and Dragon go to the same school or college."

"WHAT?!" They stopped dead and Lucy hung her head back before turning to face them.

"It doesn't mean they go to our college." Lucy reasoned. She was so tired it almost hurt to talk.

"But they might," Cana added, excitement clear in her voice. Lucy shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. Anyway, can we go? I need today to be over so I can sleep."

The girls spoke amongst themselves as Lucy walked silently beside them, not her usually chatty self.

"I need coffee," she groaned as they passed the café, offering no other explanation as she turned on her heels and made her way into the shop.

She looked over her shoulder to see Cana and Levy waiting outside. Levy was looking anxiously at her watch as Cana rolled her eyes. Lucy caught her eye and waved them off, trying to signify she'd catch up. Cana nodded and said a few words to Levy before they started walking again.

Lucy sighed for probably the umpteenth time and turned back to join the line, but instead fell into someone chest.

"Oh!"

Large hands reached up to steady her, grasping her upper arms in one quick and firm motion. Lucy took a step back and started to apologise profusely.

"Oh – Oh my God, I'm really sorry," she began as she began to step back and look up.

"No, no, it's fine! I shoulda watched where I was goin'," A gruff but amused voice told her. She opened her mouth but said nothing when she finally realised that it was Natsu, the new guy in her class, that she had bumped into.

"Ah, Natsu, right?" she asked slowly. The grin that spread across his face made her stomach clench.

"Yeah – You know me?"

"We have homeroom together." She explained with a small smile. Natsu nodded and grinned wider.

"Oh sure! I remember now. Sorry, what's ya name? I didn't get it." He reached a hand up and rubbed the back of his bed-mussed head. He looked like he'd gotten up about five minutes ago.

Looked sexy as hell, though.

"Lucy." She said quickly when she realised, she was quiet a moment. Natsu turned his head to the side a little but eyed her in amusement.

"M'kay. Well, sorry again for running into ya. Lemme get you a coffee."

"Oh, no, I couldn't," she shook her head and tucked a stand of her behind her ear. "I ran into you."

Her stomach swirled again at the sound of his deep laugh.

"I insist," he said with a smile. "At least we can walk to homeroom together."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders in defeat, finding it nearly impossible not to smile with this man.

"Why not? Thank you."

"No problem."

Natsu bought Lucy her favourite coffee, milky but with no cream or sugar. She watched as he got himself a black coffee and then poured about seven sashays of sugar into it. She couldn't help but scrunch up her face.

"You really need that much sugar?"

"Hey," he replied without even missing a beat or looking up. "This is how coffee is meant to be drank."

"What? All macho but secretly sickly sweet?"

"Oh!" Natsu turned to eye her incredulously but with obvious humour as they made their way from the café, coffee cups in hand. "As opposed to looking all milky and nice but secretly bitter?"

"Hey!" Lucy laughed, delighted with his response.

"So," he stopped to take a long swig of his coffee before continuing. "You in desperate need of coffee today too?"

"You have no idea," she groaned, taking a much-needed gulp of her own. "What about you? Late night?"

"Very. Couldn't get off my game till stupid'o'clock."

Lucy laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

"I can relate. Anyways, how are you liking Magnolia?"

Natsu shrugged a little, adjusting the white scarf around his neck before burying his free hand into his pocket.

"I like it. My old man was really excited about his new job and the classes are cool."

There was sudden sense of familiarity as she chatted with the pink haired man. He went on but stopped when he saw Lucy's frown.

"You good?"

"Hm? Oh – Yeah. Your voice just reminded me of someone."

"Huh – Weird. I've been told my voice is odd."

Lucy didn't say anything in response. It was. It was deep and rugged; with an accent she couldn't place but also kind of couldn't get enough off. But she was sure she heard it somewhere else. Natsu squinted his eyes at her, his eyes constantly amused as he ruffled her hair up.

"You're so weird," he laughed before pushing their homeroom door open. Lucy hadn't even realised they arrived at college. Before making his way to his desk, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Well, it was nice to meet ya Luce."

"It's Lucy." She told him with a smile. Natsu just nodded knowingly.

"I know." He gave her one last smirk before turning and taking his seat.

Lucy lagged a moment before her legs listened to what her brain was telling them. She slipped into her seat beside Cana, who was watching her with wide eyes.

"So…" Cana said in a low voice. "We not going to discuss what just happened? No?"

"I bumped into him. He bought me a coffee as an apology."

"Because… You bumped into him?"

"I know. It makes no sense."

Lucy did her best not to look over to Natsu, but every time she did it was like she could hear his voice again. That tone, that accent…

"What's up?" Cana asked, her voice quiet as the teacher entered. Lucy's brow furrowed and her eyes turned back over to the pink haired man.

"I don't know," she hummed. "He just reminds me of – Oh. Oh."

Lucy's heart jumped into her throat. She jolted so hard that her knee hit bottom of her desk with a loud bang.

"Dammit, ouch!" she yelped. All eyes turned to her, and her own eyes widened with shock.

"Is there a problem, Miss Heartfilia?" the teacher asked. Lucy shook her head rapidly.

"Just hit my leg," she responded quietly. She could feel Cana's eyes on her. She didn't dare to look if Natsu was watching.

The teacher nodded and carried on and Lucy sat back in her chair in a daze, ignoring Cana's whispered, prodding questions. She tried her best to gather her wits and make sense of this sudden development.

Natsu Dragneel… He was Dragon.