Chapter 2 – Impromptu Movie Night

Lucy made it back to her apartment in record time.

On her way back, she decided she would listen to the workout mix her and Levy put together back when they decided to join the gym. That.. didn't last long though, especially when Lucy became involved with the Fairy Tail Martial Arts club instead. The 'workout mix' therefore just ended up being a bunch of different songs with an amazing bass line which she occasionally listened to when she was on a mission to get somewhere on time.

The intensity of the playlist actually had her walking up a sweat as she beelined to her apartment on a bass-fuelled march. She would definitely need a shower when she got in.

Slightly out of breath and pink-cheeked, she arrived at her front door.

Lucy lived in a small one-person apartment on the second floor of an old building. It was not far from the river front and, though slightly obscured by other flats, you still had a gorgeous view of the water and the trade boats floating on it.

During her second year of university, she was able to take up a part-time apprenticeship writing small columns for a local newspaper and had since joined a 'Student Life' blog as a frequent columnist. With both of these jobs under-her-belt, and the fortunate position her family were in, she was able to afford the apartment entirely on her own.

Before even entering the key into the lock, a clatter came from her kitchen. It was now such a common occurrence for one of her friends to let themselves into her apartment she almost felt disappointed when someone wasn't waiting there for her.

Such a difference to her life at home.

…

Back home, her house was always empty. Everything had bleach-white tiles and marbled surfaces, exuding a harsh sanitary feel. The only difference was Lucy's room. It was her sanctuary.

The walls were covered with pictures she had printed off of Google or taken herself whilst out walking the grounds. The shelves filled with books, adventures waiting for her to join them, fanciful fairy tales, the gripping action, or the toe-curling romance. But her favourite, by far, was the deep blue ceiling painstakingly painted by her mother to show a map of the constellations, or at least as many as she could fit on one ceiling.

She couldn't count on one hand the number of nights she spent staring up at those stars above her bed and wishing she were somehow among them. Somehow reunited with her mother.

Lucy took a deep breath and shook away those thoughts. It was okay, she wasn't there anymore. She had friends.

She had Levy. She had Natsu.

…

As she pushed open the door, she saw the tell-tale signs of a wild Natsu having settled in her humble abode.

Flame red trainers were piled on top of the neatly organised shoes beside her entry-way. A Martial Arts varsity-jacket had been thrown over the back of her sofa. It was dark black, with red piping along the sides and on the cuffs. There was an ornate dragon on the back with DRAGNEEL in capitals. She had to admit, the personalisation options of these jackets were gorgeous. Her own, hanging in her bedroom was embroidered with a few of her favourite constellations in a light gold.

She rolled her eyes as she dropped her rucksack in the cubby by the front door and rolled her shoulders back, cracking her neck from side-to-side as she did so.

"Natsu, I do own a coat hook you know?" As she called out, a wild mop of pink hair stuck out from her kitchen. At least he had the decency to look slightly sheepish as he looked at his jacket then back to Lucy.

"Sorry Luce, I was just seein' if you had any snacks!" And with that he ducked back into the kitchen.

Lucy slid her own shoes off, tidying up Natsu's as she placed them on the rack, and grabbed his jacket to hang up as she slung hers off her shoulders too.

"Snac- what? What do you need snacks for?" The mirror by her door was perfect placement for her to see all the flyaway hairs from her speed-walking. She wiped away the sweat gathered above her lip and swiped away some of the hairs stuck down on her forehead. Eugh.

"We." His voice rang from the kitchen, followed by more clattering.

Lucy made her way to the kitchen to find him opening a cupboard, shuffling the contents then moving onto the next one. She felt a small smile creep onto her face as she rolled her eyes and continued watching his antics. "What?"

Natsu stopped what he was doing, his hair bouncing as he turned to face her. "What do WE need snacks for?". He waited for a reply as Lucy stood there, confusion clearly written on her face. Pushing himself up off the ground he grabbed a pile of DVDs he had previously dumped on the counter.

"A movie night! Duh." He rolled his eyes as he pushed the DVDs into Lucy's arms and turned to continue raiding her kitchen. "Now where have you put the snacks? They're not in the same place as last time."

Lucy dropped the DVDs back onto the counter, and gently kicked Natsu to get him to stand back up. Before he could start to complain she herded him into the living room, giving him the DVDs and telling him to start setting it all up. "Funnily enough, you're the reason they're not in the same place. Stop stealing my snacks when you come round, and I wouldn't have to keep hiding them. Hmm?" She gave him a pointed look and returned to the kitchen.

She had actually come up with the idea of hiding her snacks in a relatively obvious place. She had an open cupboard towards the back wall of the kitchen, usually lined with books. However, she found a fake book front and had taken to hiding her snacks behind it when her friends (mainly Natsu) started coming around and helping themselves to her food.

As Lucy entered the living-room with a bag of hot Doritos and caramel popcorn, Natsu was holding a pile of pillows, blankets, and DVDs and heading towards her bedroom door. Before Lucy could even begin to ask him what he was doing, Natsu blurted out. "Luce, it ain't a movie night unless we're in a nest of pillows and blankets and surrounded by snacks and it's just not as comfy on a sofa like in your room and-" Lucy held up her hands in mock defeat.

"Yeh yeh, 'Mr. Movie night expert' lead the way then."

Throughout their time at University, it had been noted that when creating their Movie night 'nests' Lucy had a much more methodical approach. Create the walls with blankets, add some pillows for structure and decoration and place the snacks in the middle. Natsu on the other hand, has a much more.. creative approach. Dump everything on the bed, then fashion a well in the middle, squeeze into said well, and put the snacks anywhere within arm's reach.

Natsu decided on his approach whilst Lucy was grabbing some drinks for them. She returned to the sight of what looked like a Natsu-blanket meringue pie. He eagerly patted the blankets next to him and pushed the well out further so Lucy could fit in beside him.

Lucy rolled her eyes and handed him their cold cans of ginger ale whilst she climbed into the nest to join him.

"Scoot over a bit won't you," She playfully shoved him to the side. "There's hardly any room!"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Uhm Luce. It's a nest. It's s'posed to be cosy."

"Yeh, cosy, not a sardine can." She replied putting a little distance between them so she could breathe normally again.

So, maybe she wasn't doing so well trying to move on from her little crush. Was she even trying? Not really if she was being honest with herself. But there was no way she was going to put their friendship at stake.

The film started and they began to have a little snack. They were currently watching Enchanted, a favourite of both of theirs, and it had just reached the point where Giselle began singing 'How does she know?' in the park. So, Lucy decided this was the best time to approach the topic with Natsu, as he always seemed to get a bit bored with the more romantic-vibes songs.

"So Natsu," Lucy started as Natsu shifted his face towards her. "I was thinking.."

Natsu looked at her expectantly, a little confusion tying his eyebrows together. She decided to just rip the band-aid off. "Do you want to come to my family's cabin this year?"

"Uh yes, obviously." His face lit up for a second, thinking about all the times they'd spoken about sneaking him in before, and how it wouldn't be needed if her dad had changed the rules. They could do so much, they could ski, they could build fires, they could- wait. "Did your dad finally change the rules then?"

Lucy shrunk back in on herself briefly, before turning to Natsu and grimacing slightly. "Sooo technically no, but I have a plan."

Natsu leaned back onto the pile of pillows behind him and raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

"So if it's okay with you, and only if it's okay with you, I sort of thought I could bring you along if we maybe pretended we were boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Okay."

"But I know that's a lot to ask, it would mean lying to my family, but I also really want you to come, and I don't want to be alone there this year."

"Okay."

"And I know it might be a bit awk-"

Natsu flicked her on the forehead, place his hands on her upper arms, and squeezed a little to get her attention. "Lucy. I've already said okay. Sounds like we can be…" He held up his hand pretending to wear a mask. "Ninjas."

Lucy let out a huge sigh of relief and relaxed back onto the pile of blankets. "Are you sure? I'm not going to lie. My dad isn't the best, and he most likely will grill you."

"Honestly? That does sound kinda terrifying." Natsu shivered, before a small lopsided grin began to cover his face. "But it also sounds kinda fun, pretending to date.."

Lucy shot her head up to look at him as her cheeks heated up. He locked eyes with her then hurriedly added, "Because its secret! Because we're keeping a secret, it's like we're- uh – infiltrating another country or going under cover ya know?"

He rushed through his explanation, complete with a small laugh at the end. Lucy looked down, missing his slightly too wide eyes, and cheeks growing to match the pink colour of his hair.

She let out a little scoff, partly at herself for the hope she had yet to crush, and partly because what was he? Seven years old? "Okay, you super-secret spy."

"It's ninja, actually." He corrected matter-of-factly, crossing his arms, and facing the TV again.

"Sorry, you super-secret ninja." Lucy emphasized the word and pretended to bow in mock-apology, before facing the TV again. She scooted in towards him to continue watching the film, gently dropping her head onto his shoulder. "Thank you."

Natsu placed his arm on the blankets behind them and rested his head on top of hers. It was comforting. A safe space, just the two.. best friends. Lucy hummed before asking her next question.

"Are you sure it's okay Natsu? You haven't asked for anything in return and it's a pretty big favour from me.."

Natsu rolled his eyes and draped his arm over her shoulder to squeeze her into him a little. "I'm already getting a free holiday AND I get to spend time with my best friend. What more do I need?"

Lucy looked to her side and up to catch his eyes briefly.

"So.. it's a deal?" She held out her hand.

Natsu clasped her hand in his and closed the deal. "One pretend boyfriend coming right up!"