Chapter 4
With all the blunders Lucy was in, she finds herself still doing her job. After all, her job as a feature writer has nothing to do with her personal life and must continue regardless. So now, she sees herself sitting in the café on the ferry ship, trying to calm herself and enjoy the breeze. This should have been a momentous occasion for her, after all, she was meeting the first female captain of the Harbor Ship which was the famous first voyage ship of Fiore. But that thought had sailed away the moment she discovered that the media had caught her carelessly walking out of her apartment wearing Natsu's engagement ring.
"That is definitely not a photoshop, it's a real ring" Erza comments as she leans close to her screen and stares at the glistening ring on Lucy's finger. Lucy grunts as she hears more comments about the ring.
"And I say, not just any engagement ring!" Mira gawks, "Just look at it, it's a padparadscha sapphire and then surrounded by…is that white diamonds?"
"Light pink…" Lucy corrects grumbling in reply as she scrunches her face with her palms.
"Oh, see, it's not just typical diamonds—"
"Mira," Lucy cuts off as she sits up and stares at her white-haired friend with dead eyes, "That doesn't matter,"
"Sorry, Lucy, it's just stunning. It's a beautiful ring, it makes Juvia almost jealous. Where did you get that? Did you buy it for yourself?" Juvia suddenly asks, taking over the screen of the blonde.
Lucy stared at the anticipating blunette. Right now, she feels grateful enough that she couldn't see everyone's eyes on her all at the same time. She knows that all of her friends are waiting patiently for her response but being on a Zoom call with her friends using her phone, she only had Juvia in front of her.
"To be honest, I don't know where to begin," Lucy sighs as she shakes her head. "I don't know what came to me to make me wear this ring and not take it off,"
"Okay, first things first, who owns that?" Levy questioned.
Lucy pursed her lips, "Natsu's," she whispered almost too soft to be heard but given the unison reaction of her friends, she bet they heard it loud and clear.
"Since when did Natsu propose to you!?" Levy bellowed, revealing her face on Lucy's screen, "How the hell did that happen?!"
"How come we didn't know that Natsu asked you?!" Lisanna exclaims next.
"Are guys secretly dating?!" Cana laughs.
"Why are we finding it out just now?!" Mira shouted.
"Lucy, what is going on?" Erza calmly questioned.
"Girls, can you let me speak?" Lucy irately remarks as she patiently waits for them to slow down. "Long story short, Natsu did not propose to me, okay? And why would he ever propose to me? It's not like—" She stopped and shook her head sighing as she tried to refocus her thoughts, "Anyways, he asked me to safe keep it…I just so happen to use it as a prop,"
"A prop for your mom last night?" Juvia inquires and Lucy nods her head.
"Mom was pestering me about the engagement ring last night. She wanted me to show it to her and so, I used it. I just couldn't use any of my rings because none of them looked like engagement ring material. So, when Natsu told me it was his engagement ring for his future fiancée, I thought I could use it for a while…and then I forgot that I had it. So now, here I am, looking like I am really engaged."
All the girls hummed in understanding. They all fell silent, trying to figure out what to do next. As the wind brushes Lucy, reminding her of her location, she helplessly sighs in defeat.
"Girls, I don't know what to do anymore…" Lucy looked down at her left hand, where the engagement ring sat beautifully on her ring finger. She could feel the tingling feeling in her stomach but brushed it off, thinking it was her sign of stress. "I was planning to tell my mom the truth, about the misunderstanding and all. But now that I caused this problem to myself again, I don't think telling my mom the truth would be enough to stop the rumors. I mean, everyone now knows that I'm wearing a ring and people are going to start pestering me even if I say I don't have a fiancé."
"You can still try," Lisanna comments, popping in front of Lucy's screen, "Come clean, talk about how the media misinterpreted what you said, and let the rumor die on its own,"
"She can do that, but I doubt it would benefit her," Cana reacts, "She's a Heartfilia, no offense. But being the only daughter of a power couple, you pretty much have big shoes to fill. Your parent's reputation is going to be tarnished by it,"
"Tarnished?" Mira hollers in surprise, "That's quite an exaggeration,"
"Well, believe me, media entertainment loves bringing out dirt from people that are too good to be true. That's basically our show," Cana grins sarcastically, having a little distaste for her current show segment.
"Then, what do you think I should do?" Lucy suddenly raised her left hand, "Because this goddamn ring won't come off,"
"Put soap in it," Erza suggests, making Lucy widen her eyes.
"That would probably work but I do not want to use chemicals on this, especially since I just stole it from someone," Lucy groans as she tries to pull the ring off again under the table.
"You can just tell Natsu about it. For sure, he wouldn't mind," Levy shares but then Lucy snorts at her comment, "What?"
"Sure, Natsu wouldn't mind, but not his grandmother," Lucy said sardonically more to herself than to her friends.
"Wait, you mean, that's a family heirloom?" Mira gawked and the blonde hummed in agreement, "Oh, god, now that's more inexpensive,"
"Exactly." Lucy sighs in defeat as she stops pulling the ring out of her finger. Her finger was getting more swollen and redder as she forced the ring, "I was strictly instructed by Natsu not to open the ring box. Yet here I am, wearing the damn ring and following no one's instructions,"
"So, just to summarize things up, Lucy got into this mess because she's wearing an engagement ring that heightened her rumor that she's engaged, thanks to her sarcastic remarks and the media's lack of discernment of sarcasm."
"Gee, thanks," Lucy grumbles crossing her arms, feeling goosebumps with the sea breeze blowing.
"You're welcome," Cana grinned, "Now, Lucy here wants to tell the truth to everybody to stop the rumors and all, given that her mother had paid attention to this hearsay. She's got one option, telling the truth which can affect her parent's image and business. She'd have to deal with it for a long time but will be able to manage."
"Except," Levy continues, "She won't be able to do that unless the ring gets off. It would be stupid to say that the rumor isn't true if she's wearing an obvious engagement ring. And if it so happens that the media grasps that this is an heirloom from the Dragneel family, then…"
"It's another round of shit," Erza concludes.
Lucy heaves defeatedly, wanting to smack her head. Why did she have to be impulsive with so many things? Has Natsu rubbed off his impulsiveness on her?
"Unless…" Juvia starts slowly, capturing everybody's attention, "Lucy-san finds a fiancé for the time being?"
Lucy furrows her brows, "Excuse, what?"
"Ah!" Cana claps in excitement, "I think I'm getting your point, Juvs! Okay, go on,"
"Oh…uh, well, Juvia thinks Lucy-san can make some story first. To make the rumor less damaging to anybody's reputation, until we can come up with a permanent solution to squash the rumor,"
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Juvs?" Cana smirks, making Lucy queasy with her look.
"Juvia is not sure," the blunette sheepishly smiles at the brunette.
"Lucy! You tell Natsu to act as your fiancé!" Cana bellowed in excitement, and soon enough the others started to understand what the brunette was getting excited about.
"Right! Lu-chan, ask for Natsu's help and make him pretend to be your fiancé until you get that ring out and reveal to the media that there is no engagement, that there is no wedding going to happen," Levy giddily suggests on the other side of the line.
"Are you seriously hearing yourselves?!" Lucy exclaimed, leaning close to her phone. Suddenly she hears someone clear their throat. Looking up, Lucy suddenly saw some crew around the leisure deck, making her smile awkwardly. "Sorry, bad reception," she then ducks her head low.
"You ladies are insane!" Lucy continues, whispering angrily, "I will never ask Natsu to act as my fiancé! In fact, I will not do whatever you're planning! That is ridiculous!"
"Okay, then, give us an alternative," Levy raised a brow as she questioned the blonde. When Lucy babbled and uttered nothing sensible, the blunette shrugged her shoulder in reply, "See, you've got none. This is just a temporary solution,"
"Oh-oh! If you don't want to ask Natsu, we can hold off an audition!" Cana grinned widely, "I know lots of newbie actors,"
"Ohhh, that's interesting! I'm in!" Mira cheers, making Lucy roll her eyes.
"Girls!" Lucy calls, "This is not a solution. This is a call for more disaster!"
"Like you aren't in one already?" Levy teased.
"Exactly!" Lucy throws her hands up, "That's why it's idiotic to do this—fiancé thing!"
Erza's picture suddenly shows up, "Lucy, if you got some other solution for your dilemma tomorrow, why not? But since you've got no time until tomorrow lunch, I don't think you have any other option,"
Lucy bites her lower lip as she is reminded that she is expected to meet her mother tomorrow for lunch with her supposed fiancé. She could just drop by that lunch meeting and tell her mother the truth, but with the ring on her finger, she doubts her mother would take that seriously. She'd only think that she's keeping things from them, making them even more keen on snooping around her business.
"Fine, we'll look for someone to play as my fiancé. But just for a day!" Lucy sighs in defeat, "Preferably, someone I know,"
"You know?" Lisanna sniggers, "That would be Natsu,"
"Not him!" Lucy retorts back.
"And why not?" Mira teased.
"…Just not him," without waiting for anybody's response, Lucy quickly leaves the Zoom and turns her phone off.
Standing from her seat, she looked around and finally spotted her interviewee. Sighing for the nth time, Lucy shook her head she mumbled, "Find a fiancé…shitty, but I can do this. Just not Natsu," and then she walks off and calls for her the captain.
That afternoon, Mira and Cana decided to hold an audition. The brunette was more than ecstatic to do this. After being cooped up in doing showbiz gossip, Cana wants to do something more related to making stories. She can manage this little mini-series about Lucy. It would be phenomenal.
"I came up with a plot summary and it would be fantastic," Cana excitedly uttered as she and Mira walked up the stairs towards a studio.
"Cana, you heard Lucy. It's just for a day. Why do you have a plot summary?" Mira laughingly asks.
"Mira! You know, Lucy. She can be a walking disaster at times. It's better to be prepared than be sorry," Cana then pulls out a bundle of papers, "Here, read it,"
"Oh-wow," Mira chuckles as she holds the papers, "This is like five pages. Are you sure this isn't your first chapter to a novel story,"
"Meh, it's more like the first three scenes of a mini-series," Cana then pushes the glass door open, "Laxus! We're here!"
A blonde-haired man suddenly shows up on the other side of a door frame, "Yo, what's up," he greets as he watches the brunette walk around his studio like she owned it, "So, what's exactly happening today?"
"We're going to be recruiting a handsome man for our dear, Lucy," Cana smirked before she walked past the blonde and started pulling a chair to the other side of the room.
"For Lucy? I thought she's engaged," Laxus questioned before disappearing behind the dark room, "I saw articles that she said she was engaged and now shows off a ring,"
"Well…" Mira suddenly leaned on the doorframe and watched the blonde work on his films, "It's only a rumor,"
Laxus snorted, "Right, that's why she's got a ring and various names are being linked to her,"
"Various names?" Mira inquired, before looking at Cana. But she shrugged her shoulder, not familiar with the updates, "Who's being linked to Lucy?"
"Businessmen," Laxus tilts his head back to stare at the silver-haired woman, "Like rich men who are way old for her but assumed being arranged marriage."
"Seriously?" Mira uttered in shock, "Well, that's…not cool,"
Laxus snorts again, "Tell me about it. Gramps saw the article in his feeds and started shouting about how dirty old men are such douche bag,"
"Well, you can assure Gramps that Lucy ain't getting married to anyone," Mira then walks further inside the dark room and settles next to the blonde.
Laxus raised a brow, "Then why are you looking for a guy for Lucy? I thought you'd be trying to convince her to get out of that marriage or something,"
Mira chortles, "No, silly. We're looking for a guy who can be her fiancé,"
"Fiancé? What?"
"Big guy, it's simple," Cana suddenly butts in, making the two jump on their seats, "Everything you've heard and read about her getting engaged is fake,"
"Then what's all the fuss about?" Laxus confusingly stared at the two ladies.
"Rumors, big guy, rumors. It got out of hand and now Mrs. Heartfilia is questioning Lucy about her fiancé. Since she's wearing a stolen engagement ring that won't come off, she has to make a little story,"
"I still don't get it," Laxus shook his head then looked at Mira when Cana grumbled in annoyance and shouted about how he was such a caveman. "So, lots of guys going to hang around?"
"Most likely," Mira sniggers as they both hear Cana continue to grumble at the other side of the room, "We have to look for a man who is convincing enough to be Lucy's type and fiancé material,"
"Hmm…" Laxus returns to his previous task, "So, this is just a one-day thing?"
"That's what Lucy said, but Cana, here," Mira tilts her head in gesture, "have a different idea. She made a plot," She then hands it to the blonde, "It's like we're going to film a TV series,"
Laxus laughs as he leafs through the pages, "This is pretty elaborate for a makeup story,"
"She's a TV producer, what do you expect? She's got tons of ideas and scriptwriters to pull this stunt for her," Mira chuckles along with the blonde photographer. "Anyways, do you have some booking today? Maybe you can join us?"
"Me?" Laxus bafflingly looked at the silverette, "Why would I want to recruit a guy? I've got Freed and Ever to do that for me,"
Mira shrugs her shoulders, leaning back on her chair, "Well, I just thought we could do this thing together,"
Laxus looked at the silverette with a dash of pink on his cheeks, "Oh…well, I can't, I'm heading to Bassia later. I got a photoshoot session early tomorrow for a magazine,"
"Right," Mira purses her lips, "Supermodels?"
Laxus kept his tight lips, considering what to tell, "…yes?"
Mira nods her head robotically, looking away, "Of course…"
"Mira—"
"Hello!" Erza suddenly peeps inside the room, snapping the two out of their conversation, "Can I join the audition?"
Mira smiles widely as she stands up, "Of course! The more, the merrier," She then walks up to the door. When Erza turns to walk further in the studio, Mira turns to look back at Laxus. For a second, she had sad eyes but she quickly smiled at him softly and said, "Thanks for lending your studio, Laxus. You're a great friend," then she left the room.
"I can't believe looking for a fake fiancé would be so hard…" Levy then slumps half of her body over the table.
"Cana are you sure that this plan would work?" Lisanna inquired as she leaned forward to glance at the brunette. To her surprise, the brunette TV producer was rigid and fuming in annoyance.
"Next!" Cana bellows, trying to ignore the questions of her friends.
Before anyone could even see someone walk in, a whiff of strong cologne suddenly filled the studio. All the girls suddenly wrinkle their noses at the strong scent.
"Hello, ladies," a deep husky voice suddenly spoke, making the girls sit in attention and glance up. To their surprise, their eyes all grew wide.
Wearing a pristine white suit with a beautiful blue rose on his lapel, a small man stood in front of them. Somehow his cologne gets even stronger as he whips his hair up and does a ridiculous pose.
"I am Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, but you can call me, Ichiya," he then strikes another pose as he softly whispers the word men. "I believe you are looking for a dashing—" he then whips his hair again, "—elegant, and mysterious man,"
All the girls were left speechless as they stared at him. For some reason, they were lost as to how this felt like it was getting out of hand.
"W-we are…" Erza swallows hard before she nods her head as she runs out of words.
"Excellent! I believe I am your man," Ichiya then winks directly at Erza, "Just so you know, I'm really attracted to redhead beauties, and I just might fall—"
"STOP!" Erza quickly cuts off as she stands up stiff, feeling goosebumps all over her body.
All of them were stunned and slowly watched the redhead walk robotically out of the main area of the studio and walk inside a room, closing the door gently.
Slowly looking back at the stout man, Mira gives a sheepish smile to him. "Thank you for your interest, but we're done with our auditions," Mira then stands up and bows politely, "Have a great day,"
"Oh…" Ichiya scratches his head in confusion, "Right, well, thank you for your time," He then strikes a confident pose and smiles, "Good night, ladies," and soon he leaves the studio.
As soon as they hear the door close, Cana abruptly stands and throws her hands up, "That's it! I give up!" She then walks out of the main area and hides in a different room.
All the girls left sigh altogether and slumps back to their chair. Soon enough, a chortle was heard at the back of the room. Turning around, Levy glances at their friend.
"Don't say a word," Levy muttered.
"I didn't say anything," Lucy teased as settled comfortably by the windowsill, "But seriously, ladies, you gotta admit, this plan is ridiculous," the blonde then smirks when Levy, Lisanna, and Mira groan in defeat.
"Okay!" Cana suddenly exclaims as she opens the door to the room she hid in, "I have called reinforcements and soon they will arrive,"
"Reinforcements?" Levy repeats and Cana nods her head in confidence.
Erza suddenly peeks her head out of the room, "What do you mean reinforcements?"
"I called people that are possibly our only hope in finding Lucy a fiancé for tomorrow," Cana replies nodding her head with conviction.
Lucy rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms over her chest, "I doubt that" she mumbles, earning a glare from the blunette.
"Instead of rejecting our ideas, why don't you help us out," Levy snaps.
"I am not convinced with this plan. I shall condemn myself to shame and hide from the world in the next decade," Lucy sarcastically replies before someone suddenly clears their throat.
"Good evening, ladies,"
All the girls looked up and they immediately grinned when they saw the orange-haired man, except for Lucy.
"I believe I have been summoned by a certain TV producer," Loke smiled handsomely before he pushed his eyeglasses up.
"Loke De Leon, everyone! Alright, let's get started! Why don't you try to convince us that you should be Lucy's fiancé?" Cana smirks back as she sits comfortably in her chair.
Loke grinned for a moment before it slowly disappeared. "I'm sorry, what?"
"The role is to be Lucy's fiancé," Levy clarifies as she settles on her chair, "Just to be clear, it's just a role play. So, it's fake, nothing to worry about. So, if you were to be Lucy's fiancé, how would you introduce yourself?"
Loke astonishedly looked at the women before him before he scratched his head and looked directly at Lucy, "Hey, Lucy, are you aware of this?"
"What do you think?" Lucy sarcastically replies, lifting a brow.
"Right…" Loke looks away from the blonde and sheepishly chuckles, "Well, I would love for an acting gig at least once in my life, but I can't see Lucy as my fiancée," he said, punctuating by gesturing to the blonde at the back.
"But why?" Cana questions, almost like whining.
"Because—"
"He's dating my mom's secretary, Aries," Lucy then glares at the orange-haired lad, "And I'd kill him if he makes her cry. Remember?" She emphasizes her threat with a deep voice.
"I do," Loke slowly smiles at the blonde while trying to keep himself from trembling, "That is why, I can never see myself being Lucy's fiancé,"
"NEXT!" Lucy bellows for the girls then raises a questioning brow at the man before shooing him away.
Left with no choice, all the girls began to call all their male friends, who were most likely might have a shot. Soon enough, a few friends came by and introduced themselves.
Max Alors, Reedus Jonah, Droy, Warren, and even Nab Lasaro, who was lazy enough to find a job suddenly had an inclining to do a side acting gig showed up. But just like every guy they have interviewed, they were declined.
At that point, all of the girls had given up. Lucy wanted to laugh at their faces, but she knew it would be too mean of her. After all, they were doing this for her. So, she decided to call it a night.
"Alright, ladies, that's enough. Give up on your idea that you will find a fake fiancé for me to save my sorry butt. As I said, I'll just condemn myself to shame and eternal embarrassment from my parents, the media, and the public," Lucy then stood in front of the five ladies and smiled at them, "I appreciate the effort, but you guys don't have to do this anymore."
"I mean we did tell you to tell the truth, and that's what you're planning to do," Levy then sighed as she stared at her wrinkled paper, full of doddle, "It's just that, maybe there is some way it could be less damaging, on your part, to your parents,"
"Why are you so hard to match up?" Erza suddenly questioned, as if it was an existential crisis.
Lucy chuckles at the question, "It just doesn't work like that. Maybe I just don't have a pleasing personality that makes it easy for me to connect and match with someone. No one would easily believe that I would date someone, let alone, get married to them,"
"Well, Juvia begs to differ," a voice suddenly spoke, snapping the group out of their conversation. All of the ladies then looked at their side and saw Juvia and Gray inside the studio.
"Oh, hey, Juvs," Cana tiredly smiles at her friend, "What's up, Gray?"
"Hello," Gray waves to everyone, before looking back at the blonde, "I heard you held an audition for your fiancé?"
Lucy chortles, shaking her head, "They did, not me. We found no one. So, whatever you think about me, Juvia, I think you're exceptional to them and believe that I am pleasing,"
"Juvia thinks there is still a chance," Juvia then glances at Gray, and all the girls follow and stare at the raven-haired man.
"What?" Gray mutters in confusion. When he saw Erza, Mira, and Cana look back at him with gleaming eyes, it suddenly clicked to him, "Oh, hell no,"
"Why the hell not?!" Cana explodes as she stands up in frustration.
Juvia tilts her head in question at first, then realizes why Cana shouted. Suddenly, she screeches and wraps an arm around Gray's arm, "Juvia votes no! You can't make Gray-sama Lucy-san's fiancé! No offense," she softly muttered to the blonde, earning a shrug from her.
"Oh, come on Juvs! Just for one night! Right, Lucy?" Cana pleads, running up to the blonde and hooking her arms to hers, "You just need one night to present a fiancé,"
Lucy rolled her eyes to look at the brunette, "I'm not doing it,"
"Gah!" Cana drops her hold on the blonde and crosses her arms instead, "You guys are impossible,"
The girls slowly chuckle and shake their heads, "Alright, guess it's time to drop the idea and just hope that Lucy doesn't have to hide under a rock in the next two decades," Erza then stands up and encourages the ladies to follow through, "Let's have dinner, I'm starving…"
"Okay! At Amici!" Mira beams as she stands up and quickly grabs her things.
Soon enough all of the girls did the same and they left the studio. As they walked their way to Mira's upcoming restaurant, they all engaged in peaceful chatter. The girls were talking among themselves, while Juvia and Gray were in their small bubble again. Seeing her friends, Lucy sighs as she feels grateful to be with them, especially in times of her impulsiveness and stupidity.
Grabbing her phone, Lucy suddenly thought about calling her best friend. Funny enough, most of her friends knew about her predicament already, except for Natsu. He was really living under a rock, barely having any idea what was happening with pop culture or trends. And that includes her stupid rumor.
As she opened her contact list, a name suddenly caught her attention.
Aikawa, Raito
080-5442-3127
Raito was a great guy she met a year ago. He was an architect who worked in Magnolia for a time and happened to have a project along with the Love & Lucky Co. She met him during one of the meetings in the company and she wasn't really supposed to be there. But somehow, fate had brought them together and made them get to know each other well.
However, that moment of somewhat courtship, as Lucy didn't really know what she and Raito had at that time, was suddenly cut short when Natsu found out about him, and the idiot had somehow scared off the man. At that point, it was a blur. Natsu fussed over it and made it such a big deal, to the point that her friends even questioned what was happening between her and Natsu.
But it all stopped when Raito left a message to her telling her that it was the best months of his life, getting to know her, but it wasn't the best timing. From then on, Lucy never had the guts to talk to him again. She knew Raito stepped back for a reason, and Lucy secretly blames Natsu for it.
"Hey, Lu-chan," Levy calls, snapping the blonde out of her thoughts. "Why are you all the way there?" the petite blunette suddenly runs back to her and wraps her arms to hers, "Who are you going to call?"
"Huh?" Lucy bafflingly looked at her best friend. Following the gaze of the blunette, she stared down at her phone. It was still showing Raito's number.
"Uh…no," Lucy looked back at Levy and gave a small smile, "I forgot Natsu had a family thing tonight,"
"Oh, yeah, Gajeel told me about it," Levy sniggers as she thought of the man, "He was asking me to rescue him from his family ritual of questioning their life choices,"
"I thought that was more common to women?" Lucy chuckles.
"Oh, trust me, Granny Porlyusica prefers to question their life choices than the women in the family," Levy and Lucy then laugh as they recall their memory of Gajeel and Natsu whining.
"I wouldn't wonder,"
Everyone was engaged in their late-night dinner chatters. More of their friends dropped by more specifically significant others of Erza and Cana.
As Jellal Fernandez and Bacchus Groh were kept up to date on Lucy's predicament, which was more of an embarrassment on Lucy's part, the group went back to a more casual conversation.
"But seriously, Lucy, if you find yourself in need of filing a lawsuit against people for cyber libel, you can approach me. I can recommend people to you," Jellal offered nicely to the blonde which the writer appreciated.
"Thanks, Jellal. I appreciate it, but I think, if there is anyone, I should be filing a lawsuit against, it would be myself. I should sue myself for slander or something," Lucy huffs and shakes her head before smiling back at the blue-haired man.
"Well, lucky for you, you don't have to. You can just subject yourself to a long-term penance or something," Jellal subtly joked, and Lucy just chortles in return.
When everyone got busy talking among themselves, Lucy grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was past 9 PM already and she thought she probably should head home soon. Looking up, she saw everyone was still having a friendly banter and she was glad to be distracted by it. After all, tomorrow would be the beginning of a doomed life for her. And this is something she can never escape. It's a conscious choice since she was the one who made the mess at the beginning.
Looking down at her left hand, she sees the ring sparkle again. And just like the other times, she feels those butterflies flutter in her stomach. With that fluttering feeling, Lucy had the nick to pull the ring off, as if taking it off would make that fluttering disappear. So, she pulls the ring again, but to no avail, it sticks to her finger.
"As we said, put some soap or even oil. That will pull off the ring from your finger," Lisanna suddenly said as she watched the blonde struggle in her seat.
Glancing up, Lucy stared at the younger silverette before huffing in annoyance and stopping from pulling the ring. "And like I said, I don't even want to try putting any other things around this ring, since this is an engagement ring of Natsu's. The fact that it's an heirloom makes it more invaluable, and here I am tarnishing it by exposing it in the air,"
"Exposing it in the air?" Levy chuckles next to her, "What do you mean? And how the heck did you get a hold of that ring in the first place?"
Lucy slumped back to her cushioned chair and saw everyone was looking at her, waiting for the story. Sighing, she then starts, "Well, obviously, Natsu dropped it on me like a bomb." They all snickered, knowing what she meant, "He came to the apartment without warning and just handed off a ring box. He asked me to keep it safe for him, knowing he was a klutzy person with things. He told me not to open the box as it had magical reasons not to. I think this has something to do more with environmental concerns rather than magic," she then lifts her left hand and stares at the ring openly.
"Magic?" Levy questioned with an amused tone, "What kind of magic are we talking about? Is that like an enchantment ring, making you fall in love with the first person you see?" she then sniggers, ribbing the blonde with a teasing look.
Lucy gave a furrowed look to the blunette, "No, Levy-chan. If that was the case, I should have been in love with my own mother," she then shook her head, "Natsu said, the ring was an enteral love ring, meant for someone he wishes to spend the rest of their life with. The ring would uphold the owner's love and emotion and whoever receives the ring will emotionally feel those emotions upon seeing it. Then, somehow ties their fate together for an eternal love,"
Lucy looked up at her friends, who were all looking at her with soft eyes. She knew her friends were romantic dorks, but seeing it from their eyes, which was directed at her, didn't make it comfortable for her.
"Are you seriously believing my story?" Lucy questioned, astonished.
Bacchus suddenly laughs out loud, making Lucy sigh in relief but with a tinge of annoyance as well, "I don't believe in enchantment rings, but I do believe in magic,"
Cana shook her head in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about? That's basically the same thing,"
"Well, not really," Bacchus grinned at Cana, "I don't believe in witchcraft, but I do believe in the magic of love," he then smirked freshly at the brunette, who rolled her eyes in response.
"Wow, hearing Bacchus say he's into magic of love, makes me want to think that maybe that ring does have magic," Gray commented before he chortles along with the others.
"Will Gray-sama give Juvia an eternal love ring too?" Juvia beams, leaning on the raven-haired man.
Gray just furrows his brow, "I don't have those kinds of rings," Juvia then pouts in her seat.
"I don't care. I don't think that's real. What I believe is that I screwed up. Natsu's going to bust in flames if he sees that I took the ring even if he told me not to. I mean, he'll probably be set on fire by baba-Porlyusica and then he'd drag me along," Lucy huffed in defeat.
"Probably true," Levy muttered softly, earning a nod from the blonde, "But, why does Natsu have an engagement ring at this point? Is he secretly dating someone?" she then leaned closer, "If it ain't you,"
Lucy raised a mocking brow at her, "He's not dating anyone," Mira and Erza suddenly chuckled, making the blonde writer blush a bit, "Seriously, I'm not trying to be bitter or anything," she then whipped her head to look at the chortling blunette, "But, really, Natsu isn't dating anyone as he said. He was just handed the ring and was told to keep it safe,"
"To which he asks you to keep it safe for him," Jellal suddenly adds, nodding his head in understanding.
"When it comes from you Jellal, it sounds like you're mocking me," Lucy banters as she crosses her arms.
Jellal shrugged as the others laughed, "Maybe I'm sort of teasing," everyone then fell to laughter as Lucy shook her head in annoyance.
Suddenly, Lucy's attention went to her phone as she saw it lit up. Natsu was spamming her with questions that she was barely able to understand with the number of messages coming in. Before she could even click the message notifications, her phone suddenly rang.
Swiping her screen with no hesitation, Lucy then stood up and walked away from the table, "Hey, what's going on?"
Staring at the retreating figure of the blonde, Mira suddenly cocks her head to the side and asked, "Well, who was that?"
Levy looked at the white-haired restaurateur, "Who else? It's Natsu,"
"Sometimes, Juvia wonders why the two never got together," Juvia suddenly mumbles as she stares at the blonde as well.
"Because the two are idiots," Gray replies, earning a punch on his bicep from the woman, "What? It's true. The two had been bantering with each other for years. They care for each other so much and yet fight like old married couples,"
"At this point, I would have somehow expected Lucy and Natsu would get together," Erza sighs in dejection, "But they just keep on saying they are just friends,"
"Natsu would have been the perfect fiancé for Lucy," Lisanna suddenly adds and then realizes something, "Wait a minute, is Natsu aware of any of this debacle?"
Each one of them looked at each other as if waiting for one of them to say yes. But when everyone looked clueless, Lisanna's grin suddenly grew wide.
"I think we have another great idea,"
"Which is?" Cana leans forward as if ready to listen to exclusive gossip.
"We make Natsu the fiancé," Lisanna smirks then raises a hand when Levy is about to retort, "With Lucy's help,"
"If you haven't noticed, Lucy isn't cooperating with our plans," Cana counters.
"I know. But, when left to her own devices, she'll follow through. We just need to hand the materials to her," Lisanna then encouraged the others to lean in and began to whisper.
Minutes went by and Lucy abruptly turned around and ended the call.
"You guys—"
"Perfect!" everyone at the table shouts in excitement, startling the blonde.
Clutching her chest, Lucy stared wide-eyed at her friends, "What the hell is going on?"
"Nothing!" Levy beams as she looks at her best friend, "What's going on with Natsu?"
Lucy shockingly stares at the blunette before shaking her head to focus, "He's being a pain in the ass again. Anyways, I gotta go, I have to get home before Natsu gets arrested for climbing my apartment window like some theft,"
"Climbing your window?!" Levy and Lisanna repeat as the others chuckle at the thought.
"Yes, a habit of his that makes me want to kill him," Lucy sarcastically smiled before she started to bid everybody goodbye.
As Lucy finds herself at work on a Friday morning, the feature writer busies herself with finishing her article about Capt. Nikia Mizuki. Her article wasn't due until next Friday, but given what day it was, Lucy had made sure to keep herself busy to give the excuse that she couldn't meet her mother. Hopefully, that would give her the time to figure out how to fix her predicament.
As her afternoon went on, Layla sent her a message asking if they could push the lunch date into a dinner date instead. Lucy was about to agree, somehow thinking that the universe was being less unkind to her as she decided to come clean. But when her mother added that her father was tagging along with the dinner, it was made clear to Lucy that this wasn't the day.
"Mama, I really can't tonight," Lucy reasons out as she paces her office, anxious with her lies.
"But, dear, we had an agreement. Your father is coming to Magnolia tonight, hoping to see you at least. But really, he wishes to see that fiancé of yours,"
"Mama, I really can't…not even…him," Lucy whispered softly, unsure how to keep up with the lies.
"You say him like your fiancé doesn't even have a name," Layla accuses, making Lucy bite her lip in nervousness, "Now, I just realized I don't recall you telling his name,"
Lucy's eyes grew wide before a clever thought came to her. She suddenly gasps, "Mama, I told you his name. How could you forget?"
"You did? Huh…"
"Now, that's just hurtful," Lucy smirked to herself for a second, before she realized what she had done. She then mentally curses herself, "I mean…my fiancé would just be…really sad knowing that you wouldn't recall his name. How about this? We set up a dinner next time on a weekend, maybe at Acalypha, when he's not in a rush for things, I'm not in a hectic schedule, and Papa is less cynical about my future husband,"
Layla suddenly chortles, knowing there is truth to her daughter's words about Jude being suspicious about Lucy's fiancé. Sighing in surrender, she agrees, "Alright, fine. I'll tell your father to stay put and we'll have dinner at our home back at Acalypha. But," Layla pauses, making Lucy nervous for a second and swallows hard, "By the time you come over for the weekend, you will bring your fiancé and his family over. It's a must to meet his family,"
Lucy's eyes grew big as she felt like she was sinking into the ground, "Right…meeting the family…great,"
"Yes! Fantastic that you think so. I cannot wait to meet your future husband and get to know your in-laws,"
Lucy sheepishly laughs, "Yeah…me too…"
Wallowing on her couch, Lucy made sure that her phone was out of sight and sound. She hates herself. She's probably a pathological liar at this point in her life. It should have been her opening to come clean. But then when her mother opens up about her father keeping tabs on her fiancé, she loses it and goes spiraling down the lies again.
So, here she was at her apartment, hoping her couch would eat her up as she scares herself with horror films. She couldn't stand watching those films alone, much more in the dark. The apartment was stark black, no lights were lit except the glow of her television. She continuously jumps in her spot, feeling her heart beat out of her chest. But she thought she deserved this.
"AHHH, shit!" Lucy ducks herself down the couch as she tries to suppress the terrifying shout of the character on screen, "I hate this, I hate this, but I deserve this, I deserve this…" Lucy cries and whimpers as she gets startled at the sound effects.
When suddenly she hears a loud crashing sound upstairs. This made Lucy sit up and look on the second floor. She couldn't see anything as it was dark. She then curses herself for leaving the lights off everywhere.
"Shit, what was that?" Lucy mumbled to herself as she felt her pulse race, then started again when she heard a groaning sound. She looked at the television, but then there was no male character on screen. Suddenly, she grabbed the remote and put the TV on mute. She then tries to listen again, hoping it is just her imagination.
"He-hello…" Lucy stutters, staring still at the second floor, "I-is anybody in there?" Lucy trembles as she slowly stands up. Curse her, right when she kept her phone away is the time, she actually needs it as a flashlight. Grabbing any hard material on her coffee table, Lucy slowly walks up to the second floor.
After tripping a few times going up, Lucy finally reaches her bedroom when suddenly she hears another crashing sound inside. Her eyes grew wide and she slowly, nervously turns the knob.
"Gaah!" Lucy screeches as she lifts the heavy paperweight and attempts to smack whatever might be in front of her.
"Wah! LUCE!"
Lucy quickly opens her eyes and is blinded by the light inside her bedroom for a second before she stares at her pink-haired best friend.
"NATSU?!"
"LUCE?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Natsu gawks as he shockingly stares at the threatening blonde. Before he knows it, Lucy drops her weapon and tackles the pinkette. Huffing at the tackle, Natsu took a few seconds to grasp what was happening. But quickly wraps his arms around the blonde.
"What the hell is going on?" Natsu whispers softly in her ears as he feels the blonde shake in his arms, "Why is the whole apartment dark?" he then looks down and sees the metal paperweight on the floor, "Is that an iron crab?"
Lucy whimpers and nods her head against his chest. When her breath had slowed down, Lucy slowly pulled away from him with streaks of tears on her cheeks. Seeing the blonde, Natsu couldn't help but sigh and wipe her tears away.
"Were you trying to watch horror films again on your own?" Natsu gradually smirks at the sobbing blonde.
Lucy hiccups for a second before looking up at the pinkette, when suddenly she slaps him on the chest, "Are you crazy?!"
Natsu gawks at the sudden attack, "Wah? Am I crazy?! You're the one who's suddenly attacking me!"
"I wouldn't be attacking you if you didn't enter my apartment like some idiot climbing over my window again!" Lucy then points at her open window.
Natsu half turns to look over where Lucy is pointing and then sheepishly looks back at her. "Sorry, keep forgetting to use the door,"
"Natsu!"
"I'm sorry! I just needed to get inside the apartment without you pushing me away! You wouldn't reply to my texts, you wouldn't pick up my calls, so I thought I should just barge in. And then, here you are, crying your eyes out for watching a horror film all alone in a dark apartment," Natsu raised a brow as if to challenge the blonde to contradict him.
But surrendering to her defeat, Lucy just drops herself to Natsu's chest and buries her face in it. Like it's his instinct, Natsu holds the blonde close to his chest and rubs her back to calm her down.
"Is the film done?" Natsu asks as he tilts his head to the side, trying to get a glimpse of her face.
Lucy slowly turns her head to the side and stares at Natsu's concerned eyes. Having no strength to speak, she just shook her head.
Natsu chuckles for a moment, "Do you want to finish it?"
"No!" Lucy then pulls away as if scared to step out of her well-lighted room, "I can't do it anymore,"
Natsu laughs as he tries to reach out for the blonde and quickly pulls her back to his chest, "Alright, alright. I'll turn your light on and then we'll change the movie instead. Is that okay with you?"
Lucy shyly nods her head against his chest.
Soon enough, Natsu pulled away and quickly grabbed her hand. As they navigated around the apartment with only the bedroom's light to illuminate the whole floor, Natsu ran his hands against the wall until he could find the switch.
Later on, the apartment was well lit and Lucy had finally calmed down. Sitting together on the couch, Lucy tucked herself to Natsu's side as the pinkette boredly stared at the television. As he felt Lucy tuck herself further to his side, Natsu glanced at the blonde with a bored expression, "Do you want to be part of my limbs or something?"
Lucy quickly pulls back, "No, why would I want that?"
"I don't know, it's either you wish you were part of a couch or you want to be an extra rib of my body," Natsu then moved back a little to face the blonde, "What's going on? You usually torment yourself to watch a horror film alone in the dark when you've done something stupid,"
"Hey!" Lucy whines.
Natsu shrugs his shoulders, "Well, from all the facts handed to me today, I'm pretty sure you've done something idiotic even for me,"
Lucy then realizes that Natsu was probably talking about her rumor. She couldn't bring herself to tell him what happened, as she knew Natsu wouldn't even do such a stupid action as she did. Biting her lower lip, she looked away and sighed.
"I saw the articles. Lisanna and Levy started sending me links to articles about you saying you're engaged." Natsu then ducks his head, trying to catch the eyes of the blonde.
Lucy was red, embarrassed for her actions, "I was mad and sarcastic. I didn't mean for the media to take me seriously,"
Natsu sighs, "I know and that's stupid of them. They couldn't even differentiate sarcasm from truth,"
"Exactly!" Lucy's eyes widen to reiterate her previous point. She then points at the pinkette to expound her reasoning, "I mean seriously, couldn't they hear the sarcasm of my voice? I was practically shouting at them, telling them to back off. But then being gullible or simpleton, they choose to stick to my words regardless of what I was trying to tell them really,"
Lucy suddenly noticed Natsu's eyes weren't on her, listening. She then followed his gaze and realized her left hand was on display. The engagement ring was still sitting nicely on her finger.
"Lucy," Natsu begins as he stares hard at the shimmering ring, "Why are you wearing the engagement ring?"
Lucy quickly tucks her hand to her chest and tilts her head, acting innocently confused, "What do you mean the engagement ring? It's just a ring…a…a fashion ring,"
Natsu slowly looks back at her eyes, "Lucy Heartfilia, that is not some ordinary ring…I know that ring,"
Lucy gawks at her best friend, "Psh! What do you know about rings?" she then laughs, trying to cover up her nerves. But then Natsu pulls her left hand and stares at the ring on her finger again.
"LUCY! Why are you wearing the engagement ring?!" Natsu bellows as his eyes grow wide in surprise, "I told you not to open the box!"
"I know!" Lucy then stands up and gives space between them, clutching the blanket around her, "But I had to use it!"
"What for? Why do you need an engagement ring? Are you really engaged without me knowing?! Who? When? How—?!"
"Natsu," Lucy suddenly steps up to him and grasps his face when Natsu starts to get riled up, "Calm down,"
Natsu's eyes were big, almost like he was glaring. But with Lucy's soft and warm hands on his cheeks, he forces himself to breathe out.
"Luce, what's going on? Why are they saying you're engaged? Why are you wearing my engagement ring?"
Lucy slowly retracted her hands but kept their distance close, "Because I'm an idiot," Natsu just kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to continue. "I got myself in a web of lies. It started with that media fiasco and then my mom heard about it. Instead of telling her the truth, I made it worse by saying I was really engaged with someone and then showed her your ring," She then lifts her left hand and they both stare at it, seemingly lost at its beauty.
"She wanted to have a lunch meeting with me and my supposed fiancé, but it didn't push through. I should have told her again the truth, but I was a coward. So, now, I'm stuck with the expectation to bring my fiancé to Acalypha along with my future in-laws,"
Natsu was silent, but he listened, and he didn't know what to think or feel. Obviously, it was really unwise of Lucy to get involved with these lies. But what's done is done and they just had to figure something out.
"What do you plan to do?" Natsu softly inquires, taking Lucy's hand and gently running his finger over the ring, admiring it on her.
"I don't know, tell the truth?" Lucy shrugs her shoulders, "But I've got to get this ring out of my finger,"
Natsu looks up, "What do you mean?"
"It's stuck," Lucy then pushes her hand to him as if challenging him to try and pull it. So, Natsu gently held the ring and her palm and pulled it in opposite directions.
"Why would it be stuck? It's not small on your finger, it's a perfect fit. See?" Natsu then turns the ring around on Lucy's finger, showing how well-fitted it is that it is still moveable. But then when he started pulling, it wouldn't budge.
"What the—" Natsu was dumbfounded at the logic, "How is this possible?" he then pulled a little hard, making Lucy tumble at the gesture.
"Woah! Slow down—Ow!" Lucy then slaps the pinkette, "Natsu!"
"I'm trying to pull it out! See! It's moving—"
"Ow!" Lucy then grabbed a handful of Natsu's hair and pulled it, "Baka! Stop!"
"Luce! Let go!" Natsu whined as he still pulled on the ring, to the point he locked Lucy's arm with his armpit and pulled.
"Natsu, stop!" Lucy then shakes her hold to the pinkette's head, "Ah—!"
"Oh, goodness!"
Natsu and Lucy suddenly froze at the sudden new voice. Slowly turning around, the duo was dumbstruck as they saw Layla standing by the end of the living room, gasping in surprise.
"Mama?" Lucy whispered.
"Hey, Auntie Layla…" Natsu awkwardly waves at the older blonde, before being ribbed by the younger one.
"Oh my," Layla mumbles softly as she slowly walks up to them.
Soon enough, Layla gathered them both and wrapped them in her arms, "I knew it! You're the fiancé!"
"Uh, what?" Natsu bafflingly states as Lucy's eyes went big.
Layla excitedly pulls back and quickly cups each cheek of Lucy and Natsu. She beamed at them and said, "My daughter and future son-in-law,"
To be continued…