Chapter 12

People thought that being a private investigator only needs to be stealthy and discreet. But what people don't realize, it also requires them to be physically agile and quick-witted. But probably this is only Meredy Milkovich's opinion. As an agent of Belserion Security Agency, you can't just roam around asking questions. You've got to learn how to capture your target without being noticed.

"Did you get it?" a voice spoke in Meredy's earpiece.

"Yep, I did," Meredy replies over her wireless intercom as she stood up from the floor and dusted off the dirt that stuck to her black shirt. "But that was close. I think he saw the flashes,"

"I guess the glasses aren't tinted enough," the voice replies back, "This building is old anyways,"

"Can you remind me why we're doing this?" Meredy then shakes her head in annoyance, "I didn't graduate from Fiore Police Academy to follow civilians around like a creep,"

"Because Fiore police agencies are damn sexist," the person said back, with a grin on her face.

Meredy rolls her eyes as she scoffs at the truthfulness of the statement, "I know. But, seriously, Kagura, why are we following around Natsu Dragneel? We're even breaching the law, taking pictures of him while in private places," Meredy then peeks at her zoom lens telescope, observing the movement inside the condo unit.

"I don't know," Kagura says over the intercom, "That's the file given to us. Follow around Natsu Dragneel and gather intel on his whereabouts and activities with Lucy Ashley."

Meredy then drops to her chair and sighs as she stares bored at the covered window, "Well, they are just inside the house. Roaming around and eating, I guess…"

The intercom was silent for a few minutes until the door to the unit Meredy was staying at opened. A black-haired woman struts inside with a large lens camera draped across her chest.

"Well, take note of that," Kagura replies as soon as the pink-haired woman glanced at her. She then grabbed a chair and sat next to her, "Basically, that's what we need to write down,"

Meredy moans in boredom before grabbing her notepad and start scribbling. Once done, she shows it to her partner, "Well, these all seem helpful," she said sarcastically as Kagura laughs and takes the notepad.

She then reads all the information that they have gathered, "May 26, Monday, Dragneel was at the Dragon Empire Group before eight in the morning. Office meetings with Atlas Flames. 12:15 PM, Natsu Dragneel left the vicinity and was located at Petite France Restaurant with DEG officers. 3:25 PM, Natsu Dragneel returns to the DEG building. 4:00 PM, Mr. Weisslogia Eucliffe was spotted at Natsu Dragneel's office. 6:55 PM, Natsu Dragneel left the DEG building—Destination unknown. Estimated time, 7:35 PM, Natsu Dragneel is located at Columbus Ave., Hargeon—spotted picking up Lucy Ashley."

Kagura looked at her colleague, "How'd you get this? We just got the file this week,"

"Those are mostly details I've gathered from his assistant. Except for the last part, the Hargeon thing," Meredy then leans close to Kagura and flips a page, "I followed him that night and then the next day. I posed as a paparazzi," She then grinned at the woman, who skeptically looked at her.

"What? I felt like doing espionage," Meredy then giggles as Kagura just scoffs at her, "Oh, and then Wednesday, as per his assistant, he had a family dinner. But he opted to travel to Fiore Broadcasting Station instead, to pick up his girlfriend,"

"These are typical activities for a couple," Kagura comments before handing the notepad back to the pink-haired investigator, "Nothing suspicious,"

"Probably," Meredy agrees as she shrugs her shoulders, "Although, in the next three days, Natsu wasn't spotted again with her," she says as she tips her head toward the other building, "Until he showed up this morning at her place,"

"Still, nothing out of the ordinary," Kagura then sighs as she leans back on her chair and stares at the covered glass wall of the actress "Even them flirting by the window, half-naked, is not something out of ordinary,"

Meredy and Kagura then chuckled before they faintly blushed, recalling what they have just seen in the building in front of them.

Dragneel-Redfox Mansion

Sefera Dragneel-Redfox and Grandine Marvel-Dragneel had been best friends since high school, nearly inseparable as teenagers. They grew up together and knew everything about each other's lives. Their friendship had become closer when Igneel started asking Grandine to be his girlfriend, then later became his wife.

When they became a family, Sefera, Grandine, and her other sisters had become real sisters. They shared with one another their joys, pains, happiness, and troubles in building their own family. So, it is no wonder that Sefera and Grandine talked about their children.

Coming in from the garden, the two laughed as they recalled a memory from their younger years.

"Oh, my goodness, Dine, if papa hadn't come to help Igneel, I don't think you would have considered him at all," Sefera huffed with laughter as she gripped the blue-haired woman by her arm.

Grandine chuckles, "Good thing, Iggy is persistent, otherwise," she then rolls her eyes as she chortles at the memory.

Sefera finally slows down in laughter as she and Grandine head towards the dining hall, "say, I'm glad that Zeref is still working things out with Mavis."

"Well, I told him so. He'll never find another Mavis," Grandine then shakes her head as she remembers the night that Zeref told them that he and Mavis broke up. "That woman is exceptional. She's hardworking, smart, funny, and such a delight to be with. I've never seen Zeref as happy as he is when they're together."

"True…" Sefera then sighs in contentment as they turn a corner, "How's Wendy and her schooling?"

"Oh, she's alright." Grandine smiles happily at the thought of her baby girl, "She still gets to enjoy her youth. Busy from studying but manages a few outings on her own,"

"Is she here?" Sefera inquired.

"No, she's with her college friends. Apparently, they need to catch up on something, something I don't even understand." Grandine chuckles.

"Well, we used to make that excuse before," Sefera joked, "Especially you, so you could see Igneel,"

Grandine gawked at the old rose pink-haired woman, "Excuse me, I do not. Igneel insists that he joins our movie outings,"

Sefera laughed, "Ah yes! And he'd persuade me to agree by bringing Met,"

"You're smitten by Met's charms," Grandine teased, and the woman just laughed.

|...||...|

Soon enough, the duo enters the dining hall and sees their husbands sitting around with their rum drinks in hand. Grandine immediately raised a brow at the red-haired man.

"Isn't that too early?" She scolded, and the man just chided back as he gave a pleading look.

"It's just my first glass," Igneel then grinned before looking back at the black-haired man, "Metalicana forced me!" he bellows as he points at the man.

Metalicana ogles at the accusation, "What?! You brought out this rum!"

"This is your place, idiot! So, it's your alcohol," Igneel retorts back.

"No, it's not! You asked me to keep the alcohol," the black-haired man then grits his teeth at the redhead.

"Quit it, you two!" Sefera exclaimed as she glares at her husband and brother, "You're like children," she then confiscated their glasses and headed to a doorway leading to the kitchen.

Grandine just snorts at the two defeated gentlemen. Later on, she takes a seat by the table and the two men took their seats as well. Igneel sat next to Grandine, while Metalicana sat across the man.

"Congratulations by the way," Grandine started as her companions settled, "I heard the charity ball garnered a higher donation compared to last year,"

"It did," Metalicana happily shared, "Even if Gajeel wasn't there, he made sure to get the important guests to donate,"

"That's good," Grandine smiled, "I'm glad Gajeel is around to help Natsu adjust to his new position,"

"Natsu's doing great by the way," Metalicana states, and then his wife appears along with other house helpers to bring out their meal for lunch.

Sefera finally joins them and takes a seat next to her husband, "What are we talking about?"

"Natsu," Igneel answers before he eyed the ribeye steak in front of him.

"Oh, what about him?" Sefera asked with glee in her eyes.

"I was just telling them how Natsu was doing great. He came down to Red Dragon last Thursday and provided a full report about the joint projects that we can provide after we collected the donations," Metalicana then grinned, "It's great to see the boys work together,"

"I say, it's a miracle that those two can work together," Igneel snorts as he begins to help his wife cut up pieces of meat for her, "They always looked like they would strangle each other,"

Sefera laughed, "Just like the two of you moments ago."

Grandine chuckles along, "But either way, I'm just grateful that Gajeel's there. I worry about Natsu most of the time,"

"You worry too much about Natsu," Metalicana states as he eyes the blunette. "You should trust him more,"

"Oh, I do trust him in business," Grandine offered with a smart look, then shrugs her shoulders as she says, "Just not in personal matters,"

"Speaking off," Sefera then widens her eyes at her friend, "Natsu brought his girlfriend to the charity ball. How come no one told me that he was dating?"

"No one knew, Sef," Igneel counters back, giving a small smile to his sister before glancing at his wife, who was impassively eating her meal.

"Oh…" Sefera then looked at Grandine. "Well, that's common. Just look at Gajeel and Levy. They dated for a year before we met her. Young couples do that,"

"She's a Heartfilia," Grandine passively mentions and adds no information after. The other couple then becomes stiff, unsure how to react to the last name. Grandine then looked at her best friend with almost deadpan in her eyes.

"Well, isn't that interesting," Metalicana finally cuts off the growing tension. He then looked at Igneel, "Did you meet her?"

"Oh, yeah, we did," Igneel nods his head before he shoves a mashed potato into his mouth. Then he continues with a full mouth, "She goes by the name Lucy Ashley. She's an actress,"

"An actress?" Sefera repeats with surprise in her voice, "I didn't expect that Jude's daughter would be an actress. All this time, she's been out in public in the guise of a screen name."

Grandine then chuckles with a little menace in her tone, "Isn't that ironic? How Jude never showed up with his family in any formal events, while his daughter acts on the small screen?"

"Maybe he's just protecting her," Metalicana offers an idea, which Grandine brushed off with a sniggered look. "Why? Do you think there's something else?"

Grandine looked at the man, "Met, come on, it's Jude we're talking about. You and Igneel know him well enough,"

Igneel suddenly grasps his wife's hand under the table and gave a gentle squeeze. He smiled at her, reassuringly, but the blunette didn't feel reassured.

"Well, then, we should invite them to get to know them well," Sefera suggests as she tries to change the mood, "I'll tell Gajeel to bring Levy here next weekend for dinner. You should tell your children to come along and bring their plus one,"

Grandine suddenly chortles, "Well, good luck with Natsu. He's been avoiding us. He doesn't respond to our messages in an acceptable hour, he remains in his office most of the day, and skips on family dinners."

"He only did that once," Igneel counters.

"He skipped yesterday too," Grandine mutters back, eyeing her husband, who later nods his head in surprise.

"Then, we'll have to seek Wendy's help," Sefera then grins, "You know that the boys can't say no to their little sister,"

Igneel then laughs as he agrees to their common shared Kryptonite.

Somewhere in Crocus

Sighing in relief, Levy finally was able to breathe with ease as she reads Natsu's text message. He tells her that he is at Lucy's place and that the blonde was fine. He mentioned that he had brought food for the woman and that they'll eat it together to make sure that the actress does eat.

Smiling to herself, Levy finally puts down her phone.

"Oh, would you look at that? She actually has a face," Gajeel teased as he watched his girlfriend put her phone away and snort at his comment.

"I'm sorry," Levy pleads as she closes her purse to avoid grabbing her phone again, "I just had to check up on Lucy,"

"You do realize that Lucy's a big girl. She doesn't need you guys swarming over her," Gajeel then makes a tsk sound gently. Levy just sighs in defeat.

"I can't help it," Levy defends as she stirs her coffee with a teaspoon, "Lu-chan is like my sister. All her life, she's been trying to fight on her own. The least I can do for her is provide support and protect her too,"

"Protect her from what?" Gajeel questioned, curious as to why his girlfriend acted the way she does with Lucy.

"Anything and everything," Levy mumbles before she slowly takes her cup and sips coffee. "A lot of things are just happening in her life and like the world is out there to get her,"

Gajeel snorts at her comment, "Right, that's why she conspired with flame-head,"

Levy rolls her eyes, "Don't blame her. It was Lisanna's idea to introduce the two,"

"Lisanna? And why would she do that?" Gajeel bafflingly shook his head, "She knows Natsu's history. She shouldn't be involving that idiot with these schemes,"

Levy shrugs, "I don't know, okay. I just knew that Lisanna had this guy and that she was introducing them. The next thing I know, Lucy told me it was Natsu."

"Does Mira know?" Gajeel inquired and the blunette immediately stilled. The black-haired man then looked at his girlfriend with disdain. It was becoming clear that Natsu and Lucy's scheme was not a well-thought-out plan.

"Why doesn't Mira know?"

Levy bites her lower lip in timidness, "We haven't thought of telling her,"

"And why not?" Gajeel disputed with an emphasis on his red eyes.

"We are the only accomplices. You, me, and Lisanna…" Levy then sighs, "It's up to Lucy and Natsu who gets to know about their deal,"

"Do you think you can keep this secret from that woman?" Gajeel then shakes his head in amusement, "That woman is like a demon. Sweet on the outside, but a terror on the inside. She can smell people's bullshit,"

Levy glares at the man, deviously, "Mira is not a demon…she's just scary sometimes,"

Gajeel then laughs before he taps the head of the blunette, "It's just the same thing."

|...||...|

The couple then went on with their day. After three days of working in Crocus, alone, Levy was pleased to tour around the city with someone she loves. She was assigned to cover a story of a veteran actress that recently made noise again after a long hiatus in acting. She was excited about this as she has been a fan of the actress. Being able to do her cover story and watch the photoshoot was one of the highlights of her trip.

As the weekend approaches an end, Levy was due to return to Magnolia on Monday. She wasn't going to let this work-related trip go to waste.

Strolling around the streets, Levy and Gajeel walked hand-in-hand as they entertained themselves in the street market. They were buying various articles of clothes and goodies for their friends and family.

"What do you think about this?" Levy asks as she pulls out a beautiful blue and gold scarf from its hanger and wrapped it around her neck.

"It looks nice on you," Gajeel simply replies as he looks at his girlfriend, studying the colors of the scarf.

"It does?" Levy smiles before she pulls the scarf off, "How about for your mom?"

"What about her?" Gajeel asks, tipping his head in wonder.

"Do you think she'll like this?" Levy then inspects the intricate design of the scarf.

"You don't have to give her anything," Gajeel rebuts, looking away. He then kept his gaze on the various options of scarves.

"But I want to," Levy then grasps his upper arm and gave it a soft clutch, "I haven't seen her for a time now."

Gajeel glances at his girlfriend with a furrowed brow, "Why would you want to see her?"

"And why not?" Levy bafflingly asks back. She then shook her head in disapproval, "Gajeel, are you avoiding your parents again?"

"What?!" Gajeel shook his head guiltily, "I am not,"

Levy drops her hold on the man, "No, you are," She then pinches the side of the man, causing him to recoil, "Gajeel Redfox, be honest,"

Gajeel sighs in defeat as he stares at the smart look that Levy had on her face, "I'm just trying to keep my distance from them, for our sake. Being involved with Natsu's business can backfire on us,"

"What are we so afraid of?" Levy questioned, almost pleading with him to explain.

"Mom's best friend is auntie Grandine. Once they discover the shitty deal, they'll target you too. The fact that you are best friends with Lucy, they'll be tough on you." Gajeel then grabs Levy's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I don't want them to give you an excuse to leave me," Gajeel's eyes turned sad, feeling conflicted with the people he loves, "I can't let them scare you off. But I can't turn back on my family too. You know that."

Levy finally understands the sentiment of the man. One thing she loves about Gajeel is that he was a family man. He appears tough and rough on the outside, but he's just a true softy on the inside. She loves how sensitive he is to the people he loves. And it amuses her how much he can be dramatic, almost to a fault. Either way, she loves him, and she can't find herself leaving him.

Levy smiles at the man, genuinely and lovingly that Gajeel had his shoulders lax, "I know how much your family means to you, and I know how much you love me. But there is no point for you to worry about who you will choose by the end of the day. No matter how challenging our families can be, I can't be easily swayed and be convinced to leave you because there will never be enough reason to do that."

"Really?" Gajeel slowly smiles and turns it into a mischievous smirk, "Even if my mother bombards you with questions about marriage?"

"I love the idea of marriage," Levy glints with a smirk.

Gajeel grins back, "Eh, what about babies?"

"I love babies," Levy then laughs as Gajeel becomes amused with her reply, "I love to talk about building a family, meeting your parents every weekend, bringing our future children to their pop-pop and gran-gran, everything. Nothing will scare me that will make me leave you,"

"Well, then we shou—"

Levy then covers his mouth and said, "But that doesn't mean you can propose to me now, in a street market, holding a bunch of gifts and food, while looking for a nice scarf for your mom,"

Gajeel just stared at the blunette and then laughed when he realized the absurdity of his initial thought to elope.

"Right, right, yes." He mutters under Levy's hand and nods. He then slowly removed it but gently held on to it, "I shall propose in a…better venue and ambiance,"

"There you go," Levy then grins, "Now we're on the same page," she then tiptoed and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. The two lingered in their kiss and when Levy pulls back smiling, she cups his face. "Now, let's go back to the scarf, shall we?"

"Gihi, yes, ma'am,"

Strauss Residence

Sitting on the couch, relaxing, Mira aimlessly scrolled through her phone while she smiled and clicked on the heart button in her social media. She was having a lazy Sunday after having a hectic week with her talents. Every day she'd have to have a meeting with various broadcasting management, brand managers, and directors. It's exhausting to do administrative work, but she enjoys managing her friends' careers.

As Mira spots Yukino's latest photo, she grins and stares at the stunning photo of her talent. Yukino was standing on the red carpet for a movie premiere that she was starring. Of course, Mira had been there in the premiere and seen her, but she just can't stop gushing about her. Yukino is just beautiful. Curious to see more photos, Mira clicks on her profile and sees immediately the various photos of the silver-haired actress.

Mira quickly notices the photo of Yukino in the infamous DEG Annual Charity Ball. It was a gallery of photos of Yukino, her sister, and artists from the Sabertooth Artist Agency. Mira then stops at Yukino and Sting's photo together captured during the event. Smiling to herself, Mira is then reminded how she wants to ask the young silverette about her relationship status with the blonde-haired model and actor. She believes that the two are already dating.

Continuing to scan each picture, Mira suddenly stops at one particular photo. It was a picture of Yukino, her sister, Sorano, and then Minerva Orland. The three ladies were stunning, standing at the side of a large space that served as the dance floor. Mira then zooms in, but not on the faces of the three ladies, but on a silhouette of a blonde woman. She then squints her eyes as she tries to figure out the outline of the woman.

Mira's eyes grew wide, astonished as she finally recognizes the familiar profile of the blonde.

"Is this Lucy?!" Mira bellows to no one in particular. She suddenly stands up and roams around the house to look for her sister, "Lisanna! Lisanna where are you?!" she called.

The silverette pop's her head out of her bedroom and looked at the empty halls of their house. Lisanna can hear her sister, "Mira-nee?" she replies, hoping her sister would hear.

"Lisanna!" Mira exclaims just in time as she turns to their bedroom hallway and sees her by the door, "I have to ask you something,"

"Sure…" Lisanna then opens her bedroom door and lets her sister inside, "What's up?"

"Can you confirm if this looks like someone familiar to you?" Mira then hands her phone to Lisanna, showing the photo of Yukino. Lisanna just tilts her head, confused, as she clearly can see that these women are people Mira had worked with.

"Um, Mira-nee, Yukino is your talent. Of course, she looks familiar," Lisanna then lifts the phone to show her.

Mira just grumbles as she grabs the phone and pinches the photo closer, "I know that. What I'm talking about is this," she then presented the zoomed-in photo and shows the shape of the blonde-haired woman.

Lisanna leans down to have a clearer look at the image. Her eyes then widen as she recognizes the side profile of Lucy. She looked like she was laughing, and she was wrapped around a guy. The man's face wasn't visible, but the ends of his head had a shade of pink, which Lisanna knew, could be Natsu's.

"Does she look familiar?" Mira asks again, with impatience in her tone.

Lisanna looked up at her sister and thought about her next words. She knew that her sister would snoop around, but not like this. Who looks at the background of the photo of three beautiful women?! Mira should have focused on them, not on the background.

"Um, I don't know…" Lisanna looks down again at the photo, "The photo is grainy. I mean, just look at that, they aren't even the focus of the photo. Maybe that's just another blonde that looks like Lucy,"

Mira raised a brow at her sister, "So, it does look like Lucy?"

"Huh?" Lisanna then felt like her breath ran out. "What do you mean?"

Mira then grins, "I was testing my theory and see if you see what I see. This is definitely Lucy," she points at the photo, "Why is she in the DEG charity ball?"

"Who said that is Lucy?" Lisanna tries to salvage and cover up her lie. She'd be screwed with her friends if her sister figured out about the deal, "I just think that that woman has a similar side profile like Lucy,"

Mira chuckles, "Oh, come on baby sister. You know I see a lie when you make one," she then crosses her arms over her chest, "Why is Lucy at the DEG charity ball? This is an invitational event, no one comes there without an invitation,"

"I don't know," Lisanna shrugs, trying to keep her panic at bay, "Maybe…Lucy received one,"

"From who?" Mira inquires. She then looked down at the photo again and pinches in. For a moment, Mira stared at it, until she recognizes the pink hair of the man, "Is this Natsu?!"

"What?!" Lisanna bellows, frantically panicking with how her sister immediately concludes with the right things, "How would you know? You can't even see the face,"

Mira nonchalantly looks at her sister, as if she was being weird, "Look at the shoulders,"

"I can't see shoulders there, Mira-nee," Lisanna complains, "The photo is grainy. And who focuses on the background people?! Mira-nee, you've got to stop,"

Mira gasps as she finally recognizes the tactic of the silver-haired singer, "So this is the guy?"

"What guy? Mira-nee—"

"This is Lucy's boyfriend!" Mira cuts off, beaming in surprise as it finally made sense to her, "Natsu is her boyfriend!"

Lisanna tried to say something, but no words came out. Her mouth just kept on opening and closing, until she gave up. Mira was too much of a spectator and can't be dissuaded when she sees the connection between things.

"Oh, fine…Yes, Lucy and Natsu are dating," Lisanna surrendered before she crosses her arms over her chest, "So, what if they are?"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho, Lis-bear, you know Natsu's family. I know Natsu's family," Mira then takes a step closer to the singer, "Natsu has been on various blind dates, set up by Mrs. Grandine. How in the world would Natsu have the time to meet Lucy without me knowing?"

"I set them up?" Lisanna offered with a tone of uncertainty, hoping that her sister won't catch her lying again.

"Since when?" Mira perplexed asked.

"A month ago. When Lucy and Loke broke up, I…asked Lucy to hang out with us in Fairy Tail club. Natsu was apparently there too, to unwind, and I thought I should introduce them to each other,"

Mira raised a brow at her, watching every twitch of her muscle, "And then?"

"Umm…Not sure, but from what I heard from Lucy, they just both clicked. They kept in touch and the next thing she knows, she agreed to be in a relationship,"

"Just like that?" Mira questioned, leaning on one leg. She was definitely still unconvinced by the story.

"Look, Mira-nee, maybe you should ask Lucy instead," Lisanna sheepishly smiled at her sister, "I mean, for me, they are just definitely in love. I can't question their story,"

Mira thought for a second as she pictures the blonde actress. Lucy, indeed, looked happier than a month ago. Although the woman still had those sad eyes from time to time, Mira can see that Lucy had those moments where her eyes shine.

For instance, after the general meeting with FBS, Mira had expected that Lucy would be depressed and would have no mood to talk to anybody. But the blonde was more at ease than she thought. Lucy was definitely sad that day, but she also had that glimmer of hope in her eyes, as if somebody was constantly cheering her up.

Now, it made sense to her. Lucy has someone to support her. Not just friends, but someone more special.

"I see your point. I think I see it now," Mira then sighs, finally yielding to the fact that she had missed Lucy and Natsu's encounter leading to a relationship. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't worry about it. It's the Dragneels we're talking about,"

Lisanna looked at her sister, a little concerned with her expression, "Mira-nee, you know that Natsu's family isn't that bad."

"I am aware," Mira then grasps her sister's arms and gave a soft press, "But once Lucy steps into his world, Lucy has to give up a part of her."

"What? Dropping her actress mask and bringing out the Heartfilia heiress?" Lisanna shakes her head before she pats the hand of her sister, "She's done it. She came to the ball as a Heartfilia. Natsu's parents know who she is,"

"And?" Mira widens her eyes in worry.

"And nothing," Lisanna then tries to laugh it off, but the older silverette shakes her head and steps back, "Mira-nee, Lucy's fine. She's got things covered,"

"Yeah, sure…" Mira said sarcastically as she shakes her head and turns away. She then leaves the corridor, mumbling about calling the blonde.

Lisanna could only utter in defeat, "Oh, shit…I'm screwed."

Somewhere around Magnolia—Magnolia Supermarket

Strolling slowly around the vegetable and fruits section of the grocery, Natsu curiously watched Lucy tap her finger to her chin. Her eyes were roaming around the various stalls while she contemplated something as if it was about life and death.

It was amusing how one can be so invested in shopping grocery. He then looked at the various fruits, he liked oranges, mango, and strawberry. He'd get that immediately. Why wouldn't Lucy just get a bunch of each fruit?

Natsu suddenly groans softly but the blonde doesn't miss it.

"Well, I'm sorry to bore you, Mr. Dragneel," Lucy teased as she glances over her shoulder, "Didn't expect that you'd get bored easily."

Natsu raised a brow at the woman, "Who said I was bored?"

"Uh, your expression of annoyance?" Lucy then mimicked his groaning, then she chuckles as the pinkette rolls his eyes.

"I wasn't groaning because I was bored…" Natsu tries to clarify as he leans on the pushcart while following the blonde.

"Then why were you getting annoyed?" Lucy then stops at a stall full of peaches. She then grabs one and sniffs its sweet scent.

"As I said, I wasn't getting annoyed." Natsu irately says, making the blonde sarcastically smile to herself, "I was just wondering why you wouldn't just get a piece of every fruit and vegetable, then go on to the next aisles,"

Lucy turns her head to look at the pinkette and glares at him, almost sincerely, "You're such an impatient man,"

"Excuse me, I am a patient man," Natsu counters, but the blonde just scoffs at him. "What? It's true…ask Daichi,"

Lucy thought for a moment, trying to recall where she had heard the name. She then remembers a man with brown hair, who continuously startled them during the party.

"Right, of course, your secretary would defend you," Lucy then rolled her eyes before she turns away and moves to the next counter of fruits.

"Just get every variant of fruits so that we can go to the next shelves…" Natsu says whining, and Lucy just laughs at him.

"Why did I ever think of cooking some meal for you if you were going to be this annoying?"

Natsu suddenly stops from his grumbling as he thought he heard something enticing, "Excuse me? What did you say?" Natsu then rushes up next to the blonde and looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes. "Did I hear you right? You thought of cooking a meal for me?"

Lucy looked at the pinkette like he had two heads and just furrowed her brows at him, "Well, not anymore,"

"Wha—" Natsu gawked as Lucy walks ahead of him again. He then quickens his pace to match her, "No-no-no-no!" He then nudges the blonde, who just gapes back at him, "I'm not grumbling. I'm not bored, please, take all the time you need to plan for our meal," Natsu then grins at the actress, who later just chortles at his innocent look.

"Uh, no thanks. I changed my mind,"

"What?! No, please?" Natsu then pleadingly whines. He nearly pulls on his puppy-dog eyes, but the woman just scoffed at him, leaving him behind. "Aww, come on, Luce…"

Lucy glances at the pinkette with a gleam in her eyes before looking away and heading straight to a fridge container, grabbing a block of mozzarella cheese.

"I'd be honored to taste the cooking of the infamous Heartfilia—" Natsu then stopped as Lucy abruptly turns to the man, ready to scold him. He quickly corrected himself, "Ashley! Lucy Ashley!" Natsu then raised his arms in defeat.

Lucy rolled her eyes at the pinkette before looking away again. Sighing heavily, Natsu then drops his head, thinking of defeat. But he quickly perks up when Lucy asked, "What do you prefer carbonara or—"

"Natsu?" a woman suddenly interrupts, causing the actress to stop and look at the person behind the pink-haired president.

Natsu whips around, confused as to who called him. He was then surprised to see a brunette woman, standing gracefully behind him.

"Hi," the woman greeted.

Natsu quickly stands up straight and fixed his sweatshirt. He then puts on a smile, "Hi Jia,"

"It's been a long time," Jia, the brunette woman brightly smiled at the pinkette and took a step forward to embrace him, "Haven't seen you in months,"

"Oh, right…" Natsu bashfully steps back and rubs his neck, "I just got busy,"

"Right, of course. DEG is pretty hectic nowadays. My dad is busy as well, managing those projects with your company,"

"Ah, yes, Mr. Kuhuwara," Natsu nods his head then they fall to silence. Natsu tries to break the ice by giving a tight-lipped smile, "How are you?" he changes the topic, making the brunette smile at the man.

"I'm doing good. I recently just got back from attending the Fiji fashion week. I was sad that I didn't get to attend the charity ball and dance—"

Someone then snorted, making Natsu and Jia turn their attention to the person behind the pinkette. Lucy suddenly widens her eyes when she realized that the two people talking were now looking at her.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Please, don't mind me…" Lucy then looked at the pinkette, who was perplexed for a moment before frowning as she turns away and walked towards a different freezer fridge.

As Lucy walked away, Natsu suddenly felt guilty for forgetting Lucy was there. He then looked at Jia and suddenly thought that he needs to wrap it up.

"What are you doing here? Are you alone?" Natsu then tried to reach out for the rails of his pushcart, suddenly feeling agitated to leave.

"Oh, I'm with my mom. I accompanied her for her grocery shopping," Jia sweetly laughs as she shrugs her shoulders and takes a step closer, "But you know, still with our staff and all. We just like seeing things then point at it if we want it. How about you? What are you doing here?" she then smiled innocently at him and made another step closer, making them an arm's length away.

"Um, I'm doing grocery shopping too…" Natsu then paused for a second before deciding to add on, "With my girlfriend…" Natsu then takes a step back a little as he pushes his cart to get more space between them.

Jia was astounded for a few seconds by the news, "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, Lucy Ashley," Natsu then grinned and turned to look for the blonde and quickly spots her a few meters away, inspecting cold meats. He then pointed at her, "She's right there. The blonde one with a brown bag,"

"Oh…" Jia then took a step back without Natsu noticing, "The one that just left,"

"Uh, yeah…" Natsu sheepishly smiled at her. "I better get going. She might take back that offered meal again," Natsu then chuckles, which the brunette awkwardly laughs too.

"Right, of course…" Jia then watched the pinkette turn away and pushed the cart. When Natsu glances briefly back at her, he said, "It was nice seeing you,"

She waved and replied, "See you around, Natsu."

Soon enough, Natsu had caught up to the blonde and exhaled loudly to announce his arrival. Lucy glimpses at him briefly but then ignored him immediately. Natsu was struck by the blonde's dismissal of him and felt unsettled by it.

"Hey, Luce," Natsu called. Lucy didn't respond immediately until she hummed coldly. Natsu scratches his head in bafflement, "Are you mad?"

"And why would I be mad, Mr. Dragneel?" Lucy asked impassively closing the freezer before walking toward the next one.

"Well, first, you called me by my last name. And second, you haven't looked at me since I got here," Natsu was then startled by Lucy's abrupt turn with her cold stare.

In less than two seconds, Lucy softens her expression and smiled, "You're being ridiculous, Mr. Dragneel. I have been calling you by your last name since we got here. And besides, there is no reason for me to be annoyed or mad at you,"

Natsu felt tensed seeing how quickly Lucy had shifted her expression from deadly to innocent. He suddenly gulps, nervous, as he can't figure out which is her real emotion.

"Why would you think that?" Lucy finally smiled at him, sweetly, too sweetly for him, he thought.

"Um, well…it feels like you're ignoring me," Natsu then stood up straight, trying to show he wasn't troubled, "After that talk with Jia, I feel like you are deliberately avoiding me,"

Lucy suddenly chuckles, "Oh, Mr. Dragneel. I'm just giving you your personal space. She seemed important to you. You had the need to tidy up," she then swiftly turns away from him and walked on.

Natsu was clueless for a minute as he tried to think what Lucy meant by tidying up. He then remembers how he had reacted. He was startled and he had tried to look presentable to Jia. But it wasn't because he wanted to impress her, but because she was the daughter of a business associate. He needed to look decent so that if Jia talks about him to her parents, he'd still have a good image.

Natsu quickly shakes his head and runs up to the blonde. He needs to clarify it with Lucy.

"Look, Jia is the daughter of Mr. Kuhuwara, who is a business partner of DEG. We used to date, as arranged by mom, but that's just it. I just had to be presentable."

Lucy slowly looked at the man with a calm expression, "You don't have to explain…Mr. Dragneel," Lucy emphasizes his last name with sternness in her voice, "It's none of my business. I'm your girlfriend...in papers, not in real life. So, if you want to flirt with someone, go ahead I won't stop you. Just remember, you can't get involved with someone else while we're in contract,"

Lucy then gave a tight smile before turning her back to him, "So, what do you want carbonara or lasagna?"

Natsu was stalled by Lucy's words. It sounded harsh but he knew what Lucy had said was true. It wasn't Lucy's business to know who he talks to. He wasn't forced to explain who he had dated. He didn't owe Lucy anything about his personal life. But it just felt uncaring and mean.

Natsu shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He then exhaled deeply before he answered, "I like lasagna better…" Natsu watched the blonde and internally grimaced at the shift of topic, "Is that what we're having?"

"Sure, why not," Lucy glimpsed at the pinkette over her shoulder and smiled before walking ahead of him.

People crowded the front doors of the building and the security personnel of the condominium desperately tried to keep the photographers and media scoopers away. Flashes of cameras were seen from afar and story-scoopers were bombarding the personnel, asking who the guest in Lucy Ashley's unit was.

As Lucy and Natsu walked back to the building, the duo immediately notices the commotion and flashes of light coming from the lobby. Lucy curiously wondered what the noise was all about when suddenly someone asked out loud, "Can we just confirm if Natsu Dragneel is a guest of Lucy Ashley?"

Another person added, "He was seen in the vicinity of the building early this morning! Can we just confirm that he's here?!"

"No comment! No comment! For security purposes, we will not disclose who are the guests that enter the building!" The building manager shouts over the crowd. "We will not confirm or deny anything! Please! We request that you leave the building premise immediately. This is for the security of our unit owners!"

Lucy was appalled, frozen on the spot as she didn't expect media would be looming around the building. It's Sunday for goodness' sake!

"Luce, come on," Natsu suddenly grabs Lucy's hand, snapping her out of her thoughts.

The pink-haired president immediately drags Lucy out of the building premise and the two quickens their pace. The security guards standing at the end gate quickly notices them and hurriedly assisted them out of the area. Soon enough, Natsu and Lucy were on the street, hailing a cab. When the taxi stopped in front of them, Natsu immediately urged the blonde to get in first. He then follows behind and said, "Kings Ave., Magnolia Hills Village," he then closes the door just in time when a paparazzi was escorted out by a guard.

Breathing in relief, Natsu drops himself on the couch seat of the taxi. He glanced at the blonde, who was quite shaken up at the sudden intrusion.

"Hey, you okay?" Natsu asked, nudging his leg to the blonde's knee. Lucy jumped in surprise, turning to look at him.

"Oh, uh, yeah…" Lucy finally exhales as well, seeming to calm herself, "Just didn't expect them there…"

"Well, it seems like they caught me coming in," Natsu fixes himself and sits up straight, "That's not something unusual, right? People get pictured coming in and out of your building since many celebrities live in your building,"

Lucy chortles a little as she nods her head, "Well, thank goodness for that, I guess…" she then finally lax back to the seat and stared at the road.

The places they were passing by were still familiar to the blonde, but she had no idea where they were heading. She tried to think of places where they could be heading. But with their groceries on hand, she doubts that they'd stay in a public place.

"Where exactly are we going?" Lucy inquired, looking at the pinkette, who was silently watching the road too.

"To my place," Natsu muttered before looking back at the blonde. Lucy had her eyebrows raised in question, but Natsu wasn't fazed. He started digging through the paper bag he held and pulled out some chips, "You want some?" he offered.

"No," Lucy quickly answers as she felt uncertain about Natsu's answer to her question, "What do you mean your place? Are we heading to the manor? Cause I don't think I can handle talking to your parents right now. Not at this state,"

Natsu chuckles as he chews on his food, "Calm down, Ashley. We're not going there. I haven't been there for a week,"

"A week?" Lucy curiously repeats, but the pinkette ignores her comment.

"We're staying at my place, my house," Natsu then looked around the place and recognizes the village entrance. Soon enough, the taxi enters the executive village without problem when security quickly recognizes the pink-haired president.

"We'll be safe here," Natsu reassures as he looks at the blonde, "Security in the village is really strict. They don't let anyone in unless approved by the homeowner,"

"Is that your perks of being an heir? Owning a house in an executive village?" Lucy teased as she looked at the man.

Natsu just snorts at the comment, "Maybe. I just went along with it when dad told me I had a house here."

Lucy laughs as she mutters, "Rich kid,"

"As if you're not?" Natsu counters back.

Lucy glanced at him for a moment before she shrugs her shoulders, "I used to. But went independent at age 21," Lucy then looked out on the street.

"That's not too young to live independently from your father. It's still relatively easy," Natsu replies.

"Maybe, if you had backup money and all…" Lucy looked at the pinkette, who was then staring at her curiously. So, Lucy added, "I left home without big personal savings. Got cut off from all perks and start from scratch."

"You what?" Natsu was stunned and was about to ask more when suddenly the driver asked for his house number.

Soon enough they arrived and stopped right in front of a large, beautiful bungalow house. It had a red-brick roof, cream painted walls with various sizes of windows. All tall windows were covered by long white and yellow curtains. He had a front yard, decorated with beautiful plants that made the place look serene and homey.

Natsu immediately handed cash to the driver and steps out of the car. When Lucy stood next to him, carrying her grocery bag while the taxi speeds away, Natsu glanced at the actress. She had an awestruck look, and he couldn't help but smile. He then welcomes her, "Welcome to my house,"

To be continued...