1. Morning, Princess
5th June 2012
The first thing I'm aware of when I come back to consciousness is that my head is trying its hardest to explode. What the hell happened last night?
I
can't even muster the energy to groan, so I just lie still for a bit
and wallow in self-pity, trying my hardest to ignore my skull-splitting
headache. Is this really what a hangover feels like?
Doing my best
to not panic over the fact that I may or may not have gotten wasted for
the first time in my life, I screw my eyes shut, trying my hardest to
remember – the fact that everything isn't clear makes me wonder just how
much alcohol I consumed.
Ugh, alcohol.
The thought alone
makes my stomach flip and I feel myself tense reflexively, trying to
quell the sudden urge to throw up. It takes a few moments for me to
become aware of the muscled arm draped across my waist, of the warm legs
that mine are entangled with, of the heat that seems to be enveloping
me-
Oh, God, no.
My eyes snap open to be met with a chest – a hard, toned, muscular chest.
Fuck.
I
keep my gaze locked on the tan skin in front of me, too busy screaming
at myself mentally to assess the situation, and too scared to look up
for fear of finding out who on earth the owner of the obviously
masculine chest is.
What the hell happened last night!?
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
"Lucy! Lucy, I will
leave without you if you don't hurry up!" The impatient whine in Gray's
voice makes me grin. We're hardly late enough for him to be making such
a fuss about it.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I call
through the open door of my bedroom, hastily stuffing whatever's in
arm's reach into my purse and hoping that my phone, house-keys and
wallet magically get caught up in between all the crap.
Glancing at the mirror one last time, I note with a smile that I genuinely look good:
my blonde hair – meticulously straightened – is tied up with a cute
blue ribbon in my signature style; my silver sequined top glitters under
the shine of my bedroom light; the light coat of eyeliner I took ten
minutes applying accentuates my eyes just perfectly.
I look hot tonight, thank you very much.
"Lucy!"
Gray's angry voice snaps me from my narcissistic reverie; I grab my purse and jacket from my bed and run out the room.
My
twin brother's standing at the front door tapping his foot impatiently
and checking the time on his phone. He glances up when he hears me, and
makes gestures with his arms as if to say 'hurry it up'. I giggle as I
rush down the stairs.
"Okay, I'm ready!" I affirm,
turning a full three-sixty when I reach the foot of the staircase and
meeting his amused smirk with a wink. "Looking good, right?"
It's
his turn to chuckle. "Sure," he says playfully, holding the front door
open behind him. "Took you long enough. Now would you please leave the house?"
I
roll my eyes but skip through the doorway anyway, hearing the click of
the lock as he exits behind me. The honk of a horn greets me, and I feel
my face stretch into a grin at the sight of the worn-down black pickup
truck. A tune with a deep beat plays obnoxiously through the rolled-down
windows, and I see the hand of the driver beckoning me.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
I'm
brought back from my daydream as another wave of nausea rolls through
me, and I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to push it away.
Oh, God... My head is throbbing. Holy hell.
I'm
sure I couldn't have drunk enough for it to hurt so badly, especially
considering last night is coming back to me a lot easier than it should
to a girl who was absolutely hammered. Then again, I wasn't exactly
drinking on the way there, was I?
But still, I just can't believe I
got drunk for the first time in my life! To be honest, I don't know
whether to be proud or mortified...
Maybe I'm just making too big a
deal of it. Lucy Heartfilia got drunk; no big deal, right? Every
seventeen year old is allowed to get drunk, right? But what if I broke
my liver? What if I killed someone? What if I spilled my
deepest darkest secrets to a stranger!? Gray's always telling me that
getting drunk will only lead to situations that I'll regret.
Well, I can vouch for that; the evidence is currently snuggling my body to his and happily snoring away.
I
take a deep breath to steady myself whilst trying my best to not wake
the boy hugging me to his body a bit too tightly for my liking – I can
feel his (admittedly firm) abdomen rise and fall steadily, feel the heat
of his breath in my hair as he exhales. I can even smell his scent;
it's a combination of musk and... spice, I think.
All of a sudden,
the arm around me tightens, pulling me closer to the chest of my
mystery sleeping-partner; before I have the chance to panic, he breathes
in deeply, sighs in his sleep, and goes back to his slumber with
another tense of his arm.
I keep my eyes screwed shut, not daring to look.
Thank God I'm wearing clothes. That's something at least.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
"Hey!"
I laugh at the excited faces of my friends inside, running around the
monster of a vehicle to my usual spot behind the passenger's seat.
Gray's not far behind me, and as soon as he enthusiastically slams the
door shut behind him, we're off.
"Hey, guys! Lu-chan, you
look great!" I hear a high-pitched squeal from the passenger's seat; a
powder-blue head is just visible over the headrest, small hands resting
on the shoulders. She reaches behind her and turns the music off.
"Levy," I smile."You okay? Pumped for tonight?"
She
responds by poking her head to the side of the seat to give me a
wide-eyed grin. "You bet," she smirks. "I've got my secret plan, so I'm
all set. It's gonna be great!"
"Levy, f-face the front!"
Levy ignores my questioning look, instead following the panicked order
of her older sister, of whom I can only see hands which are clutching
the steering wheel tightly. I'm not surprised at all though – when does
Levy not have a plan? The girl thrives on the order than comes with organisation.
The cobalt-haired boy sitting between me and Gray pokes my arm. "Levy's right, Lucy. You look awesome."
I turn to give the middle sibling a smug smile. "I know," I say in a self-satisfied voice.
"Modest as ever, Lucy," Gray cuts in sarcastically.
I lean across and shoot him a light glare. "If Jellal says it, then it's got to be true. Quit your whining."
"He's only agreeing with Levy because it's the brotherly thing to do, you know."
"Maybe
you should take a page out of his book," I quip, giving him a
challenging look. He laughs at my expression, also leaning in so we're
both stuck in a scowling contest over our friend's torso.
"Uh, guys," Jellal interjects in an uncomfortable voice. "Unwilling middle man here."
I
look up at Jellal's anxious face and giggle at his serious expression.
"Calm down, we're not fighting. Gray loves me too much to be nasty to
his adorable baby sister," I coo, laughing when said brother leans back,
his scowl deepening. "Aw, Gway, don't you wuv me?"
"Lucy," Jellal says, worried. "Don't tease the gu-"
A
loud bang cuts him off, and we all jump before turning in unison to
stare at the driver questioningly; the car shudders for a second before
starting up again and trundling along.
"Uh... Juvia?"
Jellal asks the driver, who keeps suspiciously silent, her cerulean
curls shaking in what looks like concealed laughter.
"My
fault, guys," Levy confesses. "I was working on it with Jellal earlier
today, but the stupid thing" – she ignores Jellal's irritated "Hey!" –
"has a mind of its own."
"Don't insult Pantherlily, he's a brilliant car!" the middle sibling pipes up in a moment of uncharacteristic indignation.
"Juvia finds it amusing that Jellal calls his car a he," Juvia giggles, her voice sweet even when making fun of her younger brother.
I
see Gray shake his head in disbelief out of the corner of my eye,
chuckling at Juvia's expense. "But the fact that you refer to yourself
in the third person is perfectly normal."
I smirk as she
tries her best to mask the reddening of her cheeks behind a determined
expression. "J-Juvia thinks Gray-sama should worry about keeping his
clothes on tonight and leave Juvia's speech alone," she mutters, her
eyes locked to the road.
I giggle along with Levy at
Juvia's blatant jealousy as Gray sits up and attempts to catch the older
girl's attention in the rear-view mirror. "What's that supposed to
mean? I don't sleep around!"
"Guys, I really don't think you should fight," Jellal mumbles weakly, getting ignored by the two of them.
"J-Juvia doesn't mean that!" she squeals anxiously, overreacting to Gray as usual.
"What, so you think I'll just bed the first girl I see? I'm not some-"
"That's not what Juvia meant! It's just that G-Gray-sama would-..." She trails off stupidly, looking stricken.
There's an awkward silence as a clueless Gray looks around at our knowing expressions.
"Strip,"
I supply happily. Jellal throws me an exasperated look as Gray
splutters and Juvia launches into a heartfelt apology. "Well, it's
true," I defend myself, sticking my tongue out at the irritated
blunette. "Time and place mean nothing to the weirdo; it's why so many
people are always trying to pick a fight with him, you know. It's just
as well he's got a cool head..." I pause, glancing back at him. "Most of
the time."
Jellal is about to answer when he realises
that Gray and Juvia are still going at it, the latter paying more
attention to the former than the steering wheel. "Juvia, watch the
road!"
She ignores him, looking pleadingly at Gray's
reflection in the rear-view mirror. "Gray-sama, Juvia is sorry! She
shouldn't have said anything!"
Gray settles for glaring at the back of her seat broodingly. "You all treat me like I'm some crazy nudist."
I
roll my eyes as Juvia sets off into another stumbling apology and
Jellal panics even more about our current safety. Levy is
uncharacteristically silent, but a glance at her grinning face going to
and fro between Juvia and Jellal tells me she's just enjoying how
flustered Gray can get them.
I smirk, leaning back in my
seat and closing my eyes. The night breeze coming through the open
window feels lovely and I realise with surprise that I haven't been in
this good a mood for a while.
Another even louder bang from the exhaust pipe startles me from my thoughts and shuts everyone up.
A
grating sound follows, and my heart drops. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, please
no! I mentally beg Pantherlily to keep moving, but despite my hardest
prayers, I see the buildings slow in their passing as the truck drives
to a halt, giving up on us entirely.
This cannot be happening.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
After
that, the memories fly back to me at breakneck speed: the breakdown;
Levy and Jellal absolutely clueless as to what to do as Gray, Juvia and I
sat dumbstruck in the truck; a humiliated Levy calling some guy from
her weekend mechanics course to come help – what was his name again?
I
struggle to remember who it was that Levy had called, recalling her bad
mood and numerous curses as she dialled the number. Shit, did she
call...?
Oh my God. Levy actually had to call him.
Oh, my God.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
"Did
he finally call back?" I ask a scowling Levy as she clambers back into
the car. She glances back at me, gives me a curt nod, and goes back to
glowering at the dashboard.
We sit in an awkward silence,
waiting for more information from the raging girl. Even Gray has the
common sense to keep his mouth closed. She takes her time, but I see the
frustration force her to breaking point, and eventually she turns to me
with a deep breath, looking ready to murder someone.
"The
nerve of that douche-bag!" she cries furiously, digging her hands into
her hair. "He doesn't bother answer the first two times, and when he
finally calls me back, he spends the first minute just laughing at me.
And when I told him where we were, he said he couldn't be bothered! And
then he was all, can you do nothing right, 'shrimp'?" – she starts
making quotation marks in the air– "and when I told him we really needed
his help, he was like 'Nah, I'm hanging with people I actually like, I
don't wanna 'ruin' the night'," – again with the fingers – "and I
started getting angry, like, we'd be stuck out here if he didn't come,
you know!?" We all nod simultaneously, not wanting to break her flow.
"And then he's like," – she starts using a deep voice to mimic him –
"'Maybe I'll send Natsu!' and before I can say another word, the bastard
hangs up on me!"
She stops to breathe, but doesn't get a
chance to resume her rant as Gray cuts in angrily. "What the hell? That
idiot's coming!?"
"Wait, you know him?" Jellal asks, surprised. "And he knows Gajeel? And, uh... actually, who is this we're talking about?"
Gray's
face darkens further, and Levy turns away to glare at her seat
ferociously. Jellal knows better than to try get an answer our of her,
so he turns to Juvia, who shrugs, looking as bewildered as he does. They
both turn to me. "Lucy?"
I shake my head, confused as
well. I know of Gajeel through Levy's constant complaining, but who the
hell is this Natsu guy? "Gray, who is...?"
I trail off as
I see he's got the same murderous aura surrounding him as Levy, and I
shake my head in disbelief. "What is it about these kids that get you
two so riled up?"
"Lu-chan, you don't understand," Levy says darkly. "They're a bunch of lunatics – insane lunatics."
Gray
nods furiously, imploring us to understand with challenging eyes. My
brow furrows in bewilderment. "Gray, how do you even know Nalu?"
"Natsu," he spits out. "Fucking idiotic, hot-tempered, moronic, dim-witted, numb-skulled, brain-dead bastard."
I blink. "Huh!?"
This
time, it's Levy's turn to nod, and she does it so vehemently her
hair-band slips forward a bit, causing some hair to fall over her eye.
"Like, if you consider Gajeel hot-headed, Natsu's brain is a flipping volcano. He's crazy, Lu-chan."
"Wait,
when did you even meet this guy?" I'm still taken aback my Gray's
outburst of insults – it's not in his character to be so offensive, and
to an absolute stranger at that... "He can't be so bad that you can call
him brain-dead, Gray. Come on, be fai-"
Levy cuts me off
as Gray just stares at me with wide eyes, as if to say 'I thought you
were meant to be on my side'. "Lu-chan, he hangs out with Gajeel, for
crying out loud. Doesn't that just scream trouble?"
"To be honest, I
still don't really get what's so bad about Ga..." I trail off at Levy's
incredulous expression. I look to Juvia for help, but she's watching
Gray with concern; Jellal, however, catches my gaze with a calculating
one of his own.
"Levy, when did you even meet Nalu?"
Jellal asks, finally entering the conversation. Thank God for that. He's
the calmest of the whole blue-haired clan – if there's any Loxar who
can calm Levy down besides Wendy, it's him.
"Natsu!" she
corrects him, irritated. "And he was at the garage one time. He's like,
study partners with Gajeel or something." Just saying his name deepens
her scowl. "Gray came with Juvia to pick me up, and that's when he met
him. He's..." She shakes her head. "He's crazy, Lu-Chan. You know he seriously tried eating fire once? He gives a whole new meaning to the word 'reckless'."
Gray chuckles darkly. "In this case, that's not a bad thing. He'll probably die faster that way."
"Oh,
come on!" I throw my hands up in exasperation, nearly slapping Jellal
in the eye as I do. "You guys are being ridiculous! Levy, didn't Gajeel
say he'd send someone to fix Pantherlily?" She tries to interrupt but I
don't give her the chance to. "And Gray, didn't you just meet Nalu that
one time?" I ignore his growled correction. "You're both being
absolutely ridiculous! You can't just judge people like that when you
don't even know them! And Levy, before you say anything, you only see
Gajeel once a week. Hell, I'm sure this Nalu- Oh, for God's sake, Gray,
Natsu, okay?"
I'm on a roll now – even Juvia's managed to
tear her gaze from my older twin to look at me appreciatively, silently
agreeing with what I'm saying.
"I bet he's actually a
great guy, and you're both just being really defensive and judgemental
because you can't get over initial differences. When he comes here, I
really hope you two can grow up and get over your misplaced hatred to
thank him for helping us..." I'm stopping to take a deep breath when I
notice that Gray's wearing an odd expression.
He's not
even looking at me, I note incredulously. Instead, he's staring out the
open window behind me, his expression deadpan. Jellal glances behind me
too with a shocked expression, and – if I'm not mistaken – a hint of
pink in his cheeks? What the hell?
I'm about to follow their gazes when the door I'm leaning on suddenly opens, leaving me leaning on thin air.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
I
cringe at the memory, feeling the heat crawl up my cheeks. In
retrospect, it would be a good idea to close the windows before going on
a full-on rant about people expected to show up any minute.
Smooth, Lucy. Really smooth.
I
guess that's the mystery of the headache gone, though. It doesn't
relieve any of the tension in my belly to know that rather than raging
drunk, I was concussed, though.
And I'm still a seventeen year old alcohol virgin. Which is just great, you know.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
I let out a strangled cry, falling back out of the car onto the rough tarmac of the pavement below with an oof. I bump my head hard, and it sends me reeling. Blinking, I try to focus through the pain in my skull. "Wh-wha...?"
Someone
guffaws obnoxiously above me, but my vision is too blurry to make out
more than dark shapes in the twilight. "Shit, hit her head hard, didn't
she?" a deep, somewhat gravelly voice chuckles.
"Shut up, Gajeel!" Ah, there's Levy, sounding furious. "Lu-chan, are you okay? Lu-chan!"
"Uh..."
I don't really know. I still can't make out clear shapes but the pain's
receding. Stupidly, I try to nod at her, but groan as I just bump my
head again.
The gruff voice – the infamous Gajeel? –
sounds gleeful as he makes a noise half-way between a taunt and a laugh;
"Geehee, what an idiot. Did she just try to nod? I'm not surprised to
see your friends are as stupid as you are, shrimp."
I
feel my temper spike. "Watch your mouth, douche-bag," I find myself
saying. Whoops, there goes the filter. So much for greeting them with
thanks.
To my surprise, another boy starts laughing. I
don't recognise his voice, but as my vision clears, I see him crouch
down beside me. He's got a nice voice – it's loud, but pleasant to
listen to. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's just something
about it I like. It's... friendly.
"She must have really bumped her head hard," the voice says. No, I mean, he says with the voice – with his
voice, damn it. I blink repeatedly, resisting the urge to shake my head
to clear it, and look up at him. He's grinning and I notice that his
canines are sharper than normal.
"You have cute teeth," I
mumble, my gaze fixed on his face. His eyes – dark and slanted, almost
lizard-like – widen slightly in surprise.
"Are you drunk?" he inquires, and I can't help but giggle.
"I'm drunk on sidewalk, I think," I say speculatively. "Are you Nalu?"
"Oh
my God," I hear Gray mumble in mortification, and I can see him cover
his face with a hand in my peripheral vision. When did he get there?
"Natsu, Lucy. His name's Natsu."
The lizard-boy glances
up at Gray. Ugh, no, I hate lizards. "What's scaly?" I find myself
asking. "Lizards are but I don't like them, and I need something scaly
that I like..."
Someone suddenly grabs my waist and hauls
me to my feet. He doesn't smell like Jellal or Gray; more like... a
mixture of spice and musky cologne. I like it.
"Lucy,
huh?" Lizard-but-not-lizard-boy chuckles and I start when I feel his
breath on my neck. It's hot, and a little moist, and it makes me shiver.
"You
have magic breath," I mumble, wincing at my throbbing head. All of a
sudden, inspiration hits me and I gasp accordingly. "You're a dragon!"
I
look around with a self-satisfied grin, proud to have come up with such
a clever answer. It's weird to be at face level with everyone again –
I'm surprised to see my friends are already outside the car. Juvia's got
a hand on the shoulder of a fuming Gray, almost like she's holding him
back; Jellal's expression is guarded; Levy's glaring at someone behind
me. I giggle at seeing such an intimidating expression on someone so
small.
"Get off her," Gray says challengingly to dragon-boy – he genuinely looks scary.
"Excuse me?"I hear the voice – the nice voice – say from behind me, in a dangerous tone that makes me want to shiver again.
I
frown as I note the proximity of me and dragon-boy– I'm almost pressed
right up against him. "Nalu, I order you to let go of me," I say,
looking what I'm sure is very dignified.
"Order? Dragon?
What are you, a princess?" Dragon-boy chuckles into my ear, and before I
know it, he's twisted the arms he has on my waist so he can look at me
properly. "Who the hell's Nalu, by the way?"
"N-Natsu," I correct myself, surprised to see his grinning expression. So this is the reckless guy Gray hates so much?
"Yes,
Princess Lucy?" he asks teasingly, his smile morphing into a smirk –
probably at my clueless expression, I realise. My gaze wanders from his
charcoal eyes to his hair, and I can't help myself. I giggle.
"You have girl hair."
"Hey!"His dark eyes widen again before settling into a light scowl. "Charming, aren't you?"
"It's pink!"
"I can't exactly help it, you know."
"You're a giiirl dragon," I giggle, finding myself quoting Shrek. He just cocks an eyebrow at me.
"Stop looking at me like that," I snap."It's rude."
His eyes flash with amusement. "Make me, princess."
"I will."
Before
I've even got my bearings on what's going on, before I remind myself
that Jellal, Juvia, Levy, Levy's arch-nemesis, my older brother and who
knows what else is watching, before I can even stand up on my
own two feet alone, I do the first thing that comes to mind – I raise
one hand to his spiky salmon-pink hair, lean forward in his arms, and
kiss that stupid smirk right off his face.
* ~ [FMLB] ~ *
"Hi."
A male voice – a nice male voice – brings my attention back to the present and I feel the blood drain from my face as I realise who it belongs to.
Shit. Please, no.
I screw my eyes shut in an attempt to pass it off as a dream - please, please, please let this not be real - but to my mortification, when I open my eyes, I'm still in bed with a half-naked (please let him just be half-naked) teenage boy.
I
look up as slowly as I can get away with; dread joins the nausea that's
coiling violently in the pit of my stomach as my gaze passes over the
expanse of lightly-tanned skin taut across his broad shoulders, over his
relaxed neck, his defined jaw, a sharp-toothed grin, dark slanted eyes,
and – I knew it – salmon-pink hair sticking up in all directions.
Natsu chuckles deep in his throat. "Morning, princess. How's your head?"
Holy shit.
Gray is going to kill me.
('The day a reckless pink-haired idiot gives Lucy a concussion is the day her life changes forever; before she knows it, she's thrust into a world full of charismatic friends and villains alike. Welcome to the cosy insanity of Fairy Tail, home of outsiders. And you know what? For the first time in her life, Lucy feels like she actually belongs, misfit and all.')
