When the weekend ended and Sunday night came upon her, Lucy felt nauseated. Metal knew Lucy's secret, and even though he had promised not to tell Dragon and Ice, she still felt a little on edge.

He had given her no reason to doubt him, but there was still a little nagging feeling of uncertainty. Having Metal know and the two others not just made her feel that much more awkward whenever they went on call.

"Chill, the fuck you doing? Ya panties in a twist?"

Lucy gritted her teeth and angrily spammed her button on the mouse to shoot, 'accidentally' shooting Metal's character in the process.

"Oi!"

Ice and Dragon cackled with laughter and Lucy just shook her head. Metal had suddenly come up with a flood of new female related digs that he threw her way to make her panic. She had messaged him furiously about it but of course, he had just laughed.

As Metal grumbled and they won their game, Lucy leant back. She was about to message and ask if they wanted another round when her headset chimed and turned off.

"Ah, hell." She muttered, pulling it from her head and pushing her hair back. She leant forwards to read the chat.

IceBreaker: Chill, can you hear us?

She sighed before typing a reply.

ThatChillGuy: Sorry, my headset ran out.

FireSpittingDragon: I think Metal's getting off anyways. Rain check tomorrow?

ThatChillGuy: Sounds good to me. I could do with an early night to be fair.

ThatMetalMan: Chill, come on call a sec.

Lucy rolled her eyes and jammed a response.

ThatChillGuy: No.

ThatMetalMan: No, seriously I needa talk.

IceBreaker: Wait, you guys have been on call?

FireSpittingDragon: What the hell, Chill? Come on call with me, I'm way cooler.

Lucy laughed lightly before shaking her head and replying.

ThatChillGuy: Headset ran out remember?

No one had replied for a few moments before Lucy typed again.

ThatChillGuy: Guys?

ThatMetalMan: Sorry. Ice and Dragon are still crying about how you don't talk to them.

IceBreaker: I couldn't care less.

ThatMetalMan: Liar.

FireSpittingDragon: You were literally just agreeing with me.

Lucy seriously had to fight laughing too loud as she read the messages. She did feel a twinge of guilt that the others felt left out but shook it away. If she could have it her way, Metal wouldn't know either.

Just as she was pondering this, Metal messaged her privately.

ThatMetalMan: Nah, but seriously, do you have an old headset you can use? I gotta tell ya something.

Lucy frowned but sent a speedy response before jumping back into the group chat.

ThatChillGuy: Anyway, I'm gonna get off, you guys. See you all tomorrow!

IceBreaker: Fine, but you're coming on call tomorrow.

FireSpittingDragon: YES

FireSpittingDragon: Yes, you are.

Lucy shook her head before leaving the chat. She stood and made her way over to her closet and rummaged through her old gaming things before coming across her old headset. There was nothing wrong with it, she only upgraded so she could get a wireless one and stop pulling her monitors and computer from her desk when she forgot she had them on and walked away.

"Hopefully they still work," she murmured to herself before making her way back into her room and crouching down to plug them into her PC.

She slipped them onto her head and adjusted the settings in the group so that she appeared offline before calling Metal. She sighed with relief as the sound worked. Hopefully the mic did too.

"Hey," Metal's gruff voice sounded in her ears.

"Hi, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah,"

Lucy nodded before huffing in annoyance.

"Good. Now, why are you acting like a psychopath?"

Metal laughed loudly.

"I was just having a little fun," he managed between low chuckles. "You seriously think I could go in game with you and those guys and not make you sweat a little?"

"Make me sweat?" she spluttered in disbelief. "You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you were gonna be cool!"

"And I am being cool," he assured her, his voice thick with glee. Oh, he was pleased with himself. "But I was also having a good time."

"Whatever," she relented. "Wanna tell me what's up?"

"Oh, yeah," his voice suddenly serious. "I thought you should know that I think Dragon and Ice have fully met each other now – Or they're going to soon."

"Huh?"

"They were talking about college and apparently they're in the same building and in similar departments," Lucy winced. This was already more information than she wanted to know.

"I think they both suspect who the other is, but they have this whole nemesis thing going on. I just thought I'd tell ya in case you see them and freak out. You're already making a big enough deal of this whole thing as it is so…" He trailed off and Lucy slammed her fist down on her desk.

"The deal I am making of this is entirely proportionate to the situation." She snapped. Metal scoffed.

"Sure thing."

Lucy fought a groan and rubbed her temples.

"Are we done here?"

"Well, no," Metal hesitated. "You're in the same classes as Dragon, right?"

"…Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I told him, but you weren't online. I'm being transferred to your building for a couple of weeks for some academical lessons. They wanted us closer to the library."

Lucy's chest tightened but she frowned.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "It's not like I would know who you were if I saw you."

"Oh, I think you might," he said in strained voice. Lucy's brow furrowed further. "If you don't, I'd be surprised. Just thought I'd warn ya."

Lucy stayed quiet for a moment before shaking her head and raising her chin.

"I'm sure it won't be a problem," she told him. "I'm busy all week, so I doubt I'll notice anything."

Metal chuckled unnervingly before responding. "Yah, hold that thought. Anyways, I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Good idea. Goodnight, Metal."

"Night."

Metal went offline and Lucy sunk back into her chair and folded her arms.

Okay. So, two possible dilemmas for the coming week but surely, she could get through them. She could just avoid Natsu for the week, therefore avoiding Ice too. And she seriously doubted that she would be able to tell who Metal was just by knowing the name ThatMetalMan and his voice. He obviously has some kind of superiority complex or something.

Lucy nodded sharply to herself, content with her reasoning, and stood to get ready for bed.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning," Levy's voice sounded behind her as Cana and she caught up to Lucy on her walk to college.

"Finally get some sleep?" Cana asked with a grin. Lucy smiled back and nodded.

"Yep, and I feel great," she informed them.

"No new developments in you weird, uncanny, ridiculous gaming/love life?" Cana asked in a bright voice. Lucy gave her a dry look before turning her gaze back forwards.

"There is no love life," she began through grit teeth but clung onto her smile. "But there was a slight development."

"What is it?" Levy asked. Lucy had to ignore the laugh in her voice.

"Metal did predict a prophecy of disaster, but – " Lucy held a hand up to halt her friends before they asked any questions, "I have decided to ignore it because I don't feel like freaking out."

"What did he say?" Cana asked, running a hand through her wavy brown hair as they walked.

"He said that Ice and Dragon seem to be close to meeting at college," she told them. It was hard to say without whining but she did her best. "He also told me that he was being transferred to our building and he wanted to warn me."

"Seems like pretty useless information," Levy commented before Lucy could explain. "How would you know who he was? It makes no difference either way."

"That's what I said. But he insisted I'd know who he was if I saw him."

"Seems a little weird to me. How could you know?"

"I couldn't," Lucy chirped. "So, there is no need to panic. No need at a – "

Before Lucy had even finished her sentence, her eyes landed on her college's entrance where a small but prominent crowd was forming.

"What the…?" she trailed off. After shooting her friends a look they all scurried forward.

It was a fight. That's what it sounded like, anyways. People were gasping and some were cheering. Lucy tried to look over the crowd, but she couldn't see. All she could hear was grunts and the sound of fists hitting flesh. She lost interest and nearly walked away when something made a shiver of dread run down her spine.

"FIGHT ME, ICE BREATH!"

Lucy completely froze. She shut her eyes and winced before turning slowly, ignoring Levy and Cana as she pushed herself into the crowd with a newfound persistence.

"BACK OFF FLAME BRAIN," Yep. She knew that voice. It continued as she pushed through the sea of bodies. "DON'T MAKE ME PUNCH YOUR TEETH IN!"

As Lucy finally fumbled to the front of the crowd, Levy and Cana right behind her, she took in the sight.

It was Natsu. His pink hair gorgeously dishevelled and his mouth turned down in an angry snarl. Lucy could detect a glint of enthusiasm and, dare she say, cheerfulness in his eyes too, but that was certainly shadowed by the scowl.

As Lucy unwillingly turned her eyes to his opponent, she was embarrassed to admit she wasn't disappointed. Ice was more or less the same height as Natsu but had shaggy, raven black hair. He had these narrow, gorgeous bedroom eyes that were deep blue. She could imagine they would look almost indifferent if they weren't so alert.

"I suddenly have about a million more insults for ya, Droopy eyes!" Natsu barked after they stopped brawling for a moment.

"I could say the same thing, Ash for Brains," Ice drawled, his eyes narrowed.

"Ice Queen!"

"Fire breath!"

"Ice Block!"

"Flame Brain!"

"STRIPPER!"

"Fire – What?" Ice looked down at himself and Lucy found herself following his gaze. Her face lit up when she finally realised that he had shed all his clothes in the fight, leaving him in only his underwear. He didn't even have shoes on. "Ah, when did that happen?!"

Even Natsu paused in confusion as Ice glanced around for his clothes.

"Wait, wait, you – You strip without realising it?"

There was a long silence before it was completely shattered by the sound of Natsu's uncontrollable laughter.

"Shut up!" Ice snapped.

"'WhEn DId tHis hAPp – PA'HAHAHAHAHA…"

Ice growled and the whole thing kickstarted another brawl. Lucy finally noticed Levy and Cana pulling at her shoulder's when they realised a professor was finally coming to break up the altercation.

Lucy turned, dragging her eyes from the two men, and followed her friends silently.

"So…" Cana began. Lucy nodded once.

"Yep."

"Wow."

It was silent for another moment before Lucy stopped and actually stomped her foot. She really did.

"This is so unfair," she moaned. "Now I have to feel weird around the both of them?!"

"You could just not feel weird," Levy offered with a cautious smile. "It's really not a massive deal. Just act normal around them."

Lucy fought a shriek of frustration. How many times had she had this conversation? "Cana, explain to her."

Cana shot her a look but did as she said, nonetheless. As Cana started to recite her and Lucy's previous conversations, Lucy turned and made her way promptly to homeroom despite being early.

To her dismay (she told herself) Natsu was the only one there. He looked a little bit worse for wear, his clothes a little messy, and his hair, but other than that she saw no visible injuries. She found herself sighing with relief. He was sat at his desk and typing on his phone, a smirk on his face before he looked up.

His eyes widened when they landed Lucy. Lucy found herself completely unable to move before he offered her a grin and released her.

"Hey Luce!" He chirped with a wave. Lucy smiled good-naturedly at the nickname before taking her own seat.

"Hi Natsu," she said as she sat. "I saw you, um – fighting earlier. You okay?"

Natsu laughed loudly and nodded, waving off her concerns.

"I'm fine. Gray's an old friend of mine. We've gamed together for years."

Lucy's heart stuttered at the information. Great, now she knew Ice's name. "Wow, years? Have you ever met before today?"

Natsu shook his head and glanced at his phone. "Nah. We've been in contact since we were kids though. Pain in my ass."

Lucy found herself laughing. It was clear the two were best friends, they just obviously hid it with hostility. Natsu looked up at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"What is it?" he asked with a chuckle. Lucy just shook her head.

"It's nothing." She shrugged and smiled at him. "It's really nice you finally got to meet him."

Natsu just shook his head at her with another laugh before glancing back down at his phone. "Just told my old man about it. He knows Gray and I go way back."

Lucy leant forwards in interest. "What did he say?"

"'Did you kick his ass?'" Natsu laughed noisily before typing a response, muttering: 'Yesss…'.

Lucy shot him a look, unable to fight the smile on her face. "Your Dad and you sound very alike."

"You can say that again," Natsu looked back up at her with a smile. Lucy found herself unable to speak for a moment before she found her tongue.

"Uh – So, did you get into trouble?"

"Eh?"

"The fight," she gestured at his form. "I saw the professor split it up. Was he upset?"

"Oh, nah," Natsu leant back in his chair and shook his head with a disgustingly handsome smirk. "He was cool. Gray and I explained, and he just said make sure it doesn't happen again."

"And?"

"And…" Natsu tilted his head in confusion. Lucy giggled.

"Are you gonna let it happen again?" Natsu 'Ooo'ed in realisation before scoffing.

"Oh, absolutely."

Lucy laughed again, a real laugh, and looked up when Natsu went quiet.

He was just staring at her. There was a confused look in his eyes before he finally realised that she was watching him too. He frowned a little to himself before clearing his throat quietly.

"Um – Lucy. Do you think that you would maybe, wanna - "

He was cut off, much to Lucy's disappointment, as the rest of the students started filtering into the room and walking between them. Lucy saw Natsu smile apologetically before mouthing: 'Later'. Lucy nodded, trying very hard to ignore the butterflies in her stomach when Cana finally took her seat beside her.

"Why are you all sparkly?" her friend asked her as she pulled her books out. Lucy just ignored her, a sense of dread and excitement coursing through her.

"I'll tell you later."

"Kay," Cana shrugged. "It's about Natsu though, right?"

"You don't know that."

"I'll give you $10,000 if it isn't about Natsu."

Lucy dug an elbow in her friend's side before turning her gaze up to look at pink haired man. He wasn't looking at her anymore, but the moment her eyes fell on him, his eyes met hers.

He held her gaze for a moment and Lucy dragged her eyes from his. From the corner of her eye, she saw his gaze linger before he shook his head and looked back down at his book. Lucy had to fight a giggle before reaching down for her own books.

She was in trouble.