Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lucy sighs as she looks at the request board. It's been a long time since the board has been this empty. Ever since Fairy Tail won the Grand Magic Games, the request board had been filled to the brim, but in the past month, the requests have died down drastically. 

“I guess the hype finally died down. I was sitting pretty for a bit until the rent was due, now I'm all dried up.” She mopes.  Lucy would bet money that if she opened up her wallet, moths would be flying out of it. She and Natsu hadn't been on a job in almost a week; they would need to go on one soon if they didn't want to starve.

As if on cue, Natsu approaches her, resting his head on her shoulder. Lucy doesn't know when she stopped being uncomfortable with his touchiness, but now, more often than not, she finds herself enjoying it; his natural warmth serving as a heater to her usually cold body. 

She leans into him, laying her head on his.

“Find any good jobs for us, Luce?” 

“No. Most of the jobs left are low-level monster-hunting gigs or someone's errands. And none of them have any good pay.” She grumbles. Natsu hums in acknowledgment and starts scanning the board himself.

They stay like this for a few minutes, leaning on each other and pointing out the occasional request, only for the other to deny it.

“Do you think we should take the chimney sweep job? It only pays 150,000 jewel, but it's better than nothing.” He offers.

“If we take that one, I'm gonna smell like soot for weeks. Remember last time? My hair was grey for like a month.” 

“Yeah, you smell a lot better without the soot. How about that hunting one?” 

Lucy's face heats up at his comment, but she writes it off as the room just getting warmer. She doesn't have much time to dwell on his words as Mira approaches them with a smile and a paper in hand.

“I thought I would see you two over here.” Mira chirps.

Lucy moves off from her post on Natsu to face Mira better. In response, Natsu groans but is quickly shushed by Lucy.

“Hey Mira, watcha got there?” Lucy smiles and gestures to the paper in her hands.

“This is actually why I came looking for you two. It's from the S-Class board, and it looks like they're specifically asking for the two of you.”

Mirajane hands Lucy the job request, and sure enough, it says their names in big, bold letters, well, hers, at least. The request reads more like an invitation to a wedding than a job request. It's a stark white paper with gold leaf embellishments and gold writing. The words -save the date- are delicately written at the top, and the date listed is two days from now.

~Lucy Heartfillia, we request your services in the Fiore capital. Guard the princess and her fiancé for the duration of their wedding, and you will be awarded 50 million jewel.~

“This is cool and all, but it doesn't mention Natsu anywhere on here” The blonde notes, handing the job back to Mira. 

“Yeah, I can't see my name anywhere on there.”

Mira giggles and pushes the paper back into Lucy's hands, and points to the bottom left corner.

“Look right there.”

~p.s bring your boyfriend along with you! The one with the pink hair and fire.~

The two are stunned for a moment, reading the sentence again and again, as if they expect it to change. Visibly flustered, they stammer out vague words in protest.

“He’s not my-”

“We’re not-”

Mira shrugs and looks at Natsu.

“You’re the only one she could be talking about. I don’t think Lucy knows a different pink-haired fire wizard.” 

Lucy and Natsu stay silent for a while, their eyes wandering anywhere but each other. Mira hums and rocks on the balls of her feet before speaking again.

“Any-who!” Mira starts. “Never mind that! She left the info to her communication lacrima on the back, so you should contact her once you take the job. Good luck, you two!” She hands Lucy the paper and walks back to the bar.

Despite being S-Class, she's always been apprehensive about taking S-class jobs due the associated risks; barely making it out of Galuna Island would do that to you. Lucy holds out the paper to Natsu with raised eyebrows, as if to ask for his opinion. It's not just her job to take, so he deserves a say, she thinks. He thinks for a moment and shrugs.

"Why not? It sounds like fun.” He flashes her a dopey grin, and Lucy's heart melts, and her apprehension melted along with it.

***

After discussing the job more, the two walk back to their respective houses. If they wanted to get to the capital in time for the wedding, they would need to leave tonight. Once they were finished packing, Natsu and Happy would come over to her apartment so they could catch the last train out.

Due to Natsu's spontaneous nature, Lucy had already had a pre-packed bag for jobs, so it didn't take long for her to finish packing. 

If she knew Natsu well-which she did- he wouldn't be back for another fifteen minutes, so she had some time to call the princess before he barged in. 

She rarely used her communication lacrama, so it took her a bit to finally get a hold of the princess, but once she did she was met with a very excited and very loud princess. The two exchange pleasantries, and for a short while, Lucy forgets why she even called the Princess in the first place. Every once in a while it's nice to forget about work and catch up with a friend outside of the guild. As much as she loves Fairy tail and all her guild mates, it's nice to have non-guild friends as well. What if one day the guild disbanded (Natsu would never let that happen) and she was left all alone (Natsu would also never let that happen.)? She knows that her fears are unfounded, but she's always been one to worry.

“I had so much fun chatting, I almost forgot why I needed to speak with you.” The princess giggles, pulling Lucy out of her spiral. “ The job! I'm assuming that's why you called me in the first place, is it not?”

“Yeah, we just got the request today, and it said to call you once we take the job.” Lucy says, trying her best to shake out her intrusive thoughts.

“Mhm! I mean the majority of it is just making sure that nobody gets murdered. We do have reason to suspect that a dark guild might be planning on assassinating some of the attendees, including me and my fiancé.”  The princess explains.

“Do you have ideas on which guests might be targeted? If you can tell us, Natsu and I can focus on those people for the most part.”

“Heres the thing Lucy, With the amount of politicians and socialites that will be in attendance, it's just safer for us to assume that everybody might have a hit on them.” The princess sighs. It's clear that the whole ordeal has been stressing her out.

“So where do the two of us fit in? Do you want us to act as bouncers or like security?”

 “Nothing like that, we have plenty of guards that will take care of that. We just want you and your boyfriend to pose as guests and look out for any suspicious activity, out of place individuals. You get the drill.”

There it is again. The B word. If she wants to protect her sanity she needs to correct the princess asap. She honestly might implode if she has to hear Natsu referred to as “Her boyfriend” one more time.

“About that, he's not my boyfriend. We’re -”  Lucy tries to correct the princess but is interrupted by shrieking from the device.

“You’re engaged?!” she practically yells through the phone. “Why did you not tell me sooner? How did he do it? When did he do it? Can I see your ring?” She bombards Lucy with countless questions.  

As much as she hates to admit it, she's had feelings for Natsu for a few years now. It's hard to pin down when she first started feeling this way but it definitely started after their whole ordeal with Phantom lord. When she was stuck up in that tower, she had just felt so utterly helpless. There was no way out and nobody knew where she was.

Except for him.

He started looking for her the second he found out she was taken. It didn't take him long to find her, she had his nose and Happy's wings to thank for that. She knew that he would be there to save her; it was just a matter of when. Once she saw that blur of pink and blue in her peripheral she knew it was him. 

The second he caught her, she felt safe again. 

He looked down at her and smiled. She had felt her stomach flop. He might have said something to her but she wasn't listening. She was too focused on steadying her heart.

Lucy didn't have to hear what he said anyways.

That smile told her everything she needed to know. She knew that as long as she was right there with him she would be ok, that he would never let anyone hurt her, and that they would always be there for each other.

She doesn't know if that was the exact moment she fell in love with him, but it's a good contender. 

Lucy knows that she has to correct the princess. But truthfully she really doesn't want to. It's wrong of her to lie to anybody, let alone the princess, but she just can't bring herself to tell her that she's wrong.

 So she doesn't. She lets the princess believe that the two of them are together. She gives vague answers and says that she will tell her more in person.

The call ends shortly thereafter and she doesn’t know what to think. She throws herself onto her bed and screams into her pillows. Lucy can't believe she just did that, she let her feelings get in the way and now she might have jeopardized both the mission and her friendship with Natsu. 

She could call the princess back and tell her that she had lied, but that would make her sound crazy, she had literally just told her a summary of how she got proposed to. 

She could just not tell Natsu and hope that he won't say anything wrong. Who is she kidding, of course he's going to say something wrong. It's Natsu.

There's knocking at her window and Lucy is just about ready to die. After about a minute of knocking, she finally lets Natsu inside.

“Are you ready to go or are you just gonna go back to bed?” He jokes as he hops through the window. He is quick to pick up on Lucy's mood however and he quickly becomes concerned. “Hey are you okay? Don't tell me you got sick.” He rubs her back and tilts his head to get a better look at her face.

Her best bet is to just tell the truth. Not all of it, just most of it. If she ignores her feelings and just tells him what actually happened- that the princess had overwhelmed her and didn't let her tell her the truth, so she just went along with it- she would be okay.

She sighs and explains everything to him, minus the being in love with him part. He takes it surprisingly well and he and Happy actually had the audacity to start laughing at her for being so worried. She doesn't know what she expected but it certainly wasn't this. According to him it's not that big of a deal. His logic is that since she already thought they were dating it shouldn't be that hard to convince her that they are engaged.

***

On the train, Natsu lay in Lucy's lap, motion sickness quelled from a remedy Lucy made him.  When they were in the capital for the games, Lucy had found a recipe meant to cure even the most severe cases of motion sicknesses, and had been making it for him ever since. He actually quite enjoys train rides, provided he isn't puking his guts out.

It didn't take long for the group to fall asleep. Happy had promptly passed out as soon as they got to their seats and Natsu followed shortly thereafter. Lucy would be the last to fall asleep. Her mind was far too busy for her to sleep.

Lucy looked down at her lap, taking in the scene. Her fingers -tangled in Natsu's mop of hair- made quick work in detangling it. They will be visiting the royal family so he should be, at the very least, presentable, she thinks. His mouth hangs open as he snores, drool drips down his face and onto his scarf. Lucy gingerly wipes it off only for more to appear moments later. She smiles and returns to his hair. Any sane person would be turned off by the sight, but since when has love ever made a person sane?

In the morning, they would discuss how they will deal with the whole fiancé lie; making up elaborate lies and figuring out how their fake relationship came to be. But right now all she wants to do is drink everything in.

Chapter Text

The next morning, at about 9 am, the train stops at a town for a short layover. The trio gets off the train in search of some breakfast. Happy finds a small cafe for them to eat at.

The moment Lucy walks in, she is utterly entranced.

The cafe is light and airy, completely lit by gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows that take up two of its walls. The third wall is covered with these huge maple bookcases. Books of various sizes, shapes, and colors litter its shelves. Plush chairs and cozy bay windows almost beg you to sit at their tables. 

She drags the two over to a table in the corner to sit at. Lucy grabs a book from a nearby shelf and gets to reading, while Natsu and Happy seem to be very disinterested. A waitress comes over and takes their orders. Once she leaves, they get to chatting.

“Isn't this place amazing?” Lucy exclaims.

“Eh, it's ok. I just want our food to finally get here.” 

“Aye” Happy agrees “my stomach is craving some fishies right now.”

“When is your stomach not craving fish, Happy?” Natsu says.

“Well, when is your stomach not craving- everything?” Happy spits back.

The two begin to bicker, but Lucy shuts them down quickly.

“Can you two shut up? I'm trying to read this.” She snaps. The boys stop arguing, and Lucy goes back to her book. Natsu peeks over his shoulder to try to get a look at the book.

“What ’cha reading?” 

Lucy lights up and excitedly tells Natsu every detail about the book, and he listens, nodding along with everything she says. Happy rolls his eyes, but the two ignore his pouting.

“I've been looking for it everywhere, but I could never find it. The romance and world-building are just to die for! I just wish I had enough time to read it all.”

 Natsu stops nodding and starts staring at Lucy's face. It takes her a minute to notice that he had stopped talking. She pulls herself out of the book and looks over at Natsu.

“Do I have something on my face?” Lucy scrambles to grab a napkin, wiping at her mouth before speaking again. “Did I get it?”

“No, there's nothing on your face. You just - look really pretty right now.” He says, leaving Lucy speechless. 

Her face heats up and now, suddenly, the bathroom is calling her name. Lucy makes a swift escape to the ladies room in an attempt to ground herself. She splashes water on her face and takes a few deep breaths. 

She knows that Natsu absolutely does not think before he speaks, and that this was just one of the many times where he just didn't realize the implications of something that he said. One time he even slipped up and called her “his Lucy”; it took her about a week for her heart to recover from that one.

It's not out of the ordinary for Natsu to inadvertently say something nice like that, but it's just such a stark difference from his usual teasing and playful attitude.  It never ceases to amaze her just how quickly he can switch up; one minute he could be laughing at a fart and the next he could be the sweetest guy ever. Lucy's just never gotten used to it; she honestly might never get used to it. She's gonna have to if they want to pull off this farce of theirs. Nobody would believe them if she fled every time he said or did anything remotely flirty with her. 

She's spent so much time bottling up her feelings that having them be reciprocated, even when it's fake, just sets her off. She's wanted this for so long that it's hard to experience it outside of her dreams. 

This whole situation might actually be good for her. During this week she can get all her pent up feelings out and play it off for the mission. All the loving words and touches she's been dying to express, finally, would see the light of day. 

Who knows, maybe fake dating him might make her lose interest. Who is she kidding? Even after all they've been through she still manages to be smitten. How could she not after seeing him with Asta?

She splashes her face once more before going back to their table. The waitress had returned with their food while Lucy was gone. They were thankfully patient enough to wait for her before eating. The group scarfs down the food and leave shortly afterwards. Lucy and Happy wait outside for Natsu to finish paying for the meal.

After about five minutes, he finally emerges from the cafe, grinning like a maniac. Practically buzzing with excitement, he proudly hands Lucy the book she was reading inside. She cautiously takes it from him and places it in her bag.

“Natsu- how did you get this? Please tell me you didn't steal it.”

“Me? Steal? Never.” He says with faux offence. “I bought it fair and square.” 

“I thought they didn't sell books”

“They don't.” He says with a grin. “But I gave the waitress a sob story about how this was your dead mother's favorite book and I wanted to be a good fiancé and give it to you for our wedding. She totally started crying and tried to give me the book for free-but I paid for it” Natsu finishes his story looking very smug and proud of himself. Lucy stays silent for a minute, trying to comprehend what he had just told her. “Shit. Did I do something wrong? I knew I shouldn't have gotten you mom in this, I'm sorry.” He says panickily, thinking he messed up.

“No. It's fine, just-how did you know?” She speaks softly, the book in her bag now seemed to weigh a ton.

“Know what?” He asks.

“That this was my mothers favorite?"

“Shit it is? I was just lying in there. It seemed like you really liked it so I wanted to get it for you.” He scratches at the back of his neck nervously, looking everywhere but Lucy. 

“Thank you. I love it.” Warmth blooms in her chest as she smiles.

 “Don't sweat it. Anyways there's a jeweler down the road, and I was thinking. I'd be a pretty bad fiancé if I didn't get you a ring.”

“Fiancé huh? I think you're taking this way too seriously.” She chuckles.

“Save the flirting for the wedding. I want to get back on the train.” Happy groans.

Lucy yells at Happy but she's not mad. Quite the opposite in fact. Lucy is so happy. She's lucky to have someone like him in her life. When he acts like this, it's easy for her to understand how she's managed to fall in this deep.

***

They visit the local jewelry shop hoping to find some rings. The store's owner was a very kind old man and had recognized them from the Grand Magic Games. Apparently, many years ago Macao and Wakaba had saved his village from being destroyed by a monster and he's been a big fan of Fairy Tail ever since; he even insisted on giving the two whatever rings they picked out for free.  

Natsu had settled on a simple gold band while nothing had seemed to catch Lucy's eye. The Jewelry was beautiful but nothing was really her style. The old man noticed her hesitation and grabbed her a small velvet box from the shelf behind him. Lucy opened the box and her breath hitched. Inside was the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen; a delicate rose gold band, embedded with small stones, led up to two crescent moons holding a sparkly pink diamond in its center. She slipped it on slowly, the ring a perfect fit. It accented her finger perfectly, it wasn't too large or gaudy and instead it was simple and elegant. The ring was perfect. Natsu commented that it was the ‘most Lucy thing he'd ever seen’ and she agreed. 

Lucy tried to pay the man but he insisted on giving them the rings free of charge. She hugged the man, thanking him for his generosity while also sneakily putting a few thousand jewel in his pockets.

They managed to get back to the train station right on time; it left the station just as they got back to their seats. Natsu chugged the motion sickness remedy that Lucy made, Happy gnawed on a fish, and Lucy fiddled with her ring.

“You really like that ring don't you?” Natsu says.

“Yeah I do.” She peaks softly, as if even talking too loud could ruin it.

“It's very pretty.” He states, looking at Lucy instead of the ring. She looks up from the ring, catching his stare. He turns away abruptly, choosing to look out the window instead. “Anyways, shouldn't we get to discussing the job? I don't want our cover blown just because I don't know how I proposed.”

The two get to discussing their fake engagement. From how they started dating to pet names to the proposal. Just like Natsu said, they can't risk the job just because they're not on the same page. 

“Ok and who asked the other one out and when ?” She asks. They figured that quizzing each other would be the best way to memorize important details.

“You did. You asked me out after-” He hesitates. “- We came back from Edolas?”

“After the Guilds flower party. We said after the party.” Lucy corrects. “Ok my turn. Do me”

“How did you do it?”

“After you uprooted the tree, you stopped by my apartment and I kissed you.” She says, heart twinging. He did come over to her apartment after they paraded the tree down the river, but she didn't actually kiss him then. She did try though. 

They were sitting on her bed, watching the stars; he just looked so perfect it was unreal. The glow from the moon danced on his tan skin and sparkled in his eyes. She leaned in closer and called out his name. They sat there, staring at each other for a while, neither daring to move even an inch. The moment she finally built up the courage to lean in closer a shooting star flew by, catching both of their attention. She has no idea what he wished for but her wish was obvious.

Chapter Text

After a few hours they arrive at the capital. Towards the end of the ride Lucy's remedy had worn off on Natsu so he was quite thankful that the train had finally stopped. After gathering their belongings they exit the train. The princess had mentioned that a carriage would be taking them to the castle once they got to the capital. And sure enough an expensive looking carriage sat right outside the station. 

The footmen took their luggage and -much to Natsu's dismay- they boarded the carriage.

He got sick almost instantly. Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled him onto her lap, rubbing his sternum. Before she found the remedy this was the only thing that even remotely seemed to help him. Gray would tease him, saying that he looks like a lapdog and Natsu would only be able to insult him back as the moment he got off of Lucy he would get sick again. Usually on Lucy's or her things.

“You got everything memorized right?” She whispers.

“Yeah yeah I got it. Flower party blah blah blah proposal under the tree after the games.” Natsu mumbles, waving away her worrying tone.

“Good. It looks like we just got to the castle so get ready.”

The carriage stops abruptly, causing Natsu to fall on the floor and Happy to drop his fish. Lucy assures him that he can get more fish once they get inside. The doors open, revealing the princess, clearly excited to see the group. She grabs Lucy's arm, ushering her out of the vehicle and onto the cobblestone. The two make conversation while Natsu and Happy get out of the carriage on their own.

“I'm so glad that you guys are finally here! The footmen will bring your things to your room while I explain things again.” She chirps. The princess explains the job yet again but this time to Natsu as well. “That should be everything, Oh! Wait, I forgot to mention something. Just to make sure the two of you can be as close as possible to my fiancé and I, we made the two of you a part of the wedding party.”

“Were we not allowed to party at the wedding before?” Natsu asks.

“No you idiot, she means that you're a groomsman and I'm a bridesmaid.” Lucy explains. Natsu looks at her, now even more confused. “You know the people who stand right next to the couple as they get married.” He shakes his head no. Lucy turns to the princess. “I'm sorry, he's never been to a wedding.”

“It's okay, don't worry. I guess that must make it hard when you're planning your wedding.” The princess jokes. Lucy nods exasperated. “Speaking of your wedding; Your ring, Can I see it?” Lucy holds out her hand to the princess and she begins inspecting it. “It's so beautiful.” she exclaims. The princess turns her attention over to Natsu. “How did you even find this?”

Lucy answers for him. “On our way back from the games we stopped in a small town to rest and he bought it from the jewelry store there. The shop keeper gave it to him when he mentioned I'm a celestial wizard” 

“How thoughtful.” She remarks. “Unfortunately I'm gonna have to cut our chat short. I still have so many things to take care of before tomorrow. One of our maids will show you to your room and you three can get settled in there. I left a full itinerary for the wedding in your room just to make sure that you don't miss anything important. Goodnight!” The princess waves goodbye and rushes back inside the castle.

Shortly thereafter a maid comes out and shows them to their room. She leads them through long winding hallways and up and down stairs before eventually arriving at the room. She hands them a map of the castle, just in case they get lost, and leaves.

The bedroom is probably about the size of Lucy's apartment back home. Happy and Natsu are shocked but it doesn't even phase Lucy, after all she herself grew up in similar conditions. There are two beds pushed against the wall, however, one is clearly meant for Happy, as it is no bigger than a toddler bed. The other bed is human sized -thank god- and is just big enough for the two of them to sleep on it.

On the nightstand, there's a comically large book labeled “itinerary”, Lucy assumes that this is what the princess was talking about earlier. 

Hanging from the closet door are two outfits, one is a pink-floor length-silk dress with a leg slit, and the other is a dark blue suit with a matching pink tie. These she assumes are their clothes for the ceremony. 

Natsu and Lucy make quick work of putting their things away, while Happy lounges on his bed enjoying some fish, where he got it from Lucy does not know. Once they're all unpacked Lucy heads off to the rooms bathroom to take a bath. 

The size of the bathtub didn't shock her but she was more than excited to take a nice long soak in it. It's been such a long day and all Lucy wants to do is relax in a nice warm bath. She just barely stuck her foot in when Natsu barges in. She shrieks, covers herself with a towel and throws a bar of soap at him, he dodges it and she screams at him to leave.

“I just wanted to know what you wanted for dinner, no need to get angry.” He pouts.

“Did you have to ask me that after I got naked?” She screams, forgetting the fact that someone might hear them.

“Chill out Luce, It's nothing I haven't seen before.” Natsu folds his arms over his chest, still pouting. His face quickly turns into a smirk and he starts walking over to Lucy, arms outstretched like a zombie. She knows exactly what he's about to do and she starts backing away.

“No, don't do this Natsu please.” Lucy begs. He doesn't listen. Before she knows it Natsu is right in front of her, his hands shoot down to her sides and he begins to tickle her mercilessly. Lucy can't contain her laughter and soon enough her stomach starts hurting from her laughing.

“No, please stop, it hurts!” She manages to squeak out between laughs. Her pleas fall on deaf ears as he continues on. Lucy backs away in a feeble attempt at escape but her foot catches on an ottoman.

 The two tumble to the floor, Natsu’s arms landing right by Lucy's head. Somehow in the fall her towel had managed to slip off. She lay there, on the floor under him frozen. Her body starts heating up and she can see an ever growing blush on Natsu's face. Neither of them dare to move. She's not sure if she imagined it but she could have sworn that his eyes darted to her lips one too many times. That's not to say that her eyes aren't also wandering to his lips. 

They make eye contact and his eyes flicker from her lips and back up to her eyes again. She definitely wasn't imagining it that time. Lucy's eyes slowly move down his face, stopping at his lips. She wets her lips and looks back up at him, he does the same before he starts to lean in closer. Her heart is beating out of her chest, is he about to kiss her? It definitely seems like it. Lucy lifts up her head in hopes to close the distance faster. She can feel his breath on her lips, quick and shallow breaths that mimic her own. He's just about to close the distance when Happy calls out for him.

“Did you figure out what Lucy wants to eat yet?” His yells startle the two of them and their foreheads smash together. Lucy scoots over to the tub and Natsu stands up. He goes to leave the room but stops at the door, turning back to her. His eyes search her face, as if he's looking for something.

“What did you want to eat?” 

“You pick. You know what I like.” She says, voice just barely above a whisper. He nods and leaves the bathroom, shutting the door.

Lucy stayed still for a while, not wanting to move off of the tub. The lip of the tub dug into her back, the sensation helped ground her, assuring her that she isn't dreaming.

She eventually rose and slipped into the bath. She lays her head on her knees, finding it comforting to hold herself. Under normal circumstances this bath would be heavenly, but these circumstances were anything but normal. She can still feel his breath on her lips. She grazes her index finger over her lips, trying to understand what had just happened.

Had he actually meant to do that? If Happy hadn't interrupted them, would he have actually kissed her? Questions soar through her brain, the answers however, evaded her. There's no denying it, he did lean in, but why? Is he just doing this to mess with her? Does he know about her feelings and this is his way of toying with her? He would never, even if he didn't reciprocate he would never do that to anybody, let alone Lucy. But does she truly know that? Up until ten minutes ago, she would have never guessed that he would try to kiss her. This is all too much for her brain to handle, not to mention the strain it's taking on her heart.

***

After a long time pondering in the bath, Lucy exits the bath, freshly fitted in her Pajamas. She doesn't want to face Natsu yet but she doesn't really have a choice. He doesn't even acknowledge her presence. Instead he rushes into the bathroom and he refuses to exit for another two hours. 

Their food had arrived long before he finally came back out; Lucy and Happy had tried to hold off on eating until he came back, but gave up after about twenty minutes as their food had started to get cold. After he showed no signs of leaving the bathroom, they just decided to go to bed without him. 

Lucy had just managed to fall asleep when she was awoken by someone climbing in the bed. From their size, she assumed it was Natsu. He had sequestered himself to the opposite edge of the bed, facing away from her. She hated this. This wasn't like them at all. They rarely ever fight, and when they do they talk it out. This whole thing is her fault. She should have corrected the princess, it was wrong of her to lie about their relationship. Her stupid crush had ruined everything and he probably hates her now. 

Tears spill out of her eyes and soon after quiet sobs escape her lips. Lucy tries to stifle her cries but it’s futile and Natsu starts to shift in bed. Moving over to her side of the bed, Natsu pulls her close, wrapping his arms around her. This only makes her cry more.

“Hey, Luce? I'm sorry if I upset you earlier. I wasn't thinking but I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.” He whispers.

 She turns around to face him. “I'm the one who should be apologizing here. I didn't even think about how this could affect you. I should have told her the truth, instead I lied to her and now you probably hate me.'" Lucy sniffles.

“That's what you're so upset about? Lucy, I'm not mad about that and I definitely don't hate you.” He says, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“You're not mad about it? Then why did you lock yourself in the bathroom for so long?”

“I thought after what happened you would be mad at me, so I wanted to give you some space.” Natsu sheepishly admits.

“You were kind of an asshole in there. My ribs still hurt a bit, but I'm not mad at you.”

“I guess we just got ourselves worked up over nothing huh?” He chuckles.

“Are you sure you don't hate me?”

“You could never make me hate you, Luce. Lets just go to bed ok?” He speaks warmly, affection dripping from every word. 

Lucy scoots in closer to Natsu, laying her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. Her breathing soon falls into rhythm with his, their chest rising and falling in sync. She feels her eyelids grow heavy before she finally drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

A loud beeping stirs Lucy awake. The light seeps in through the curtains, rays spilling into the room and shining directly onto her face. She tries to bury her head into her pillow, but it's not as soft as she remembered it to be. All she wants right now is some more sleep, but the alarm paired with the sun in her eyes is stopping her.

“Natsu!” She calls out. “Turn off the alarm, would ya? I want more sleep."

Her pillow starts moving from under her body. 

“Would you quit your yelling? I'm right here.” He groans. “ ‘Sides, I can't turn it off till you let go of me.”

She opens her eyes and sure enough, she's practically lying on him. Head lying on his chest, her arms holding his waist, and her legs haphazardly thrown over his. He's just as tangled up as she is, however; one arm is wrapped around her stomach, the other flung off the bed, and his chin nuzzled into her hair. She groans and reluctantly rolls away from him, missing the warmth immediately.

This whole scene isn't all that new to the pair. More often than not, Natsu would sleep over at Lucy's apartment rather than at his own house. And every morning, the two would end up all cuddly in the morning. They never acknowledge it, but they both know that they sleep better this way. The rest of the group never mentions their sleeping arrangements, aside from on jobs. Wendy had gotten red in the face when she had learned of their sleeping arrangements, as Erza had told her that the two were “sleeping together” instead of saying that the two shared a bed.

“What time is it?”

“Uhhhhh about… nine fifty?” He answers.

Lucy shoots up from the bed, panicked. “What do you mean? Why didn't you wake me earlier? Now we’re going to be late for brunch!” She rushes over to the closet and hurriedly gets dressed. While she scrambled to get dressed, she threw some clothes at Natsu for him to change into as well.  She ran into the bathroom, hoping to do her hair and makeup before they left. 

Her face heats up when she walks in. The bathroom was left just as she left it, the ottoman was still knocked over, her clothes still strewn about the room. Lucy shoves her feelings back down and gets to doing her hair. After quickly running a brush through her hair, she settles on her usual hairstyle, a small ponytail held up by a pink bow. She went very simple with her makeup, just using some mascara and lip gloss; she made a point of not using any blush, as her cheeks were flushed enough. 

By the time she had left the bathroom, Natsu was sitting on the bed, already dressed and waiting for her. His hair was messy, strands all going in different directions. His vest was wrinkled despite being perfectly ironed minutes prior.

“Did you even try to look presentable?” Lucy pesters.

“This outfit makes me look stupid.” He grumbles.

“No, it doesn't, you look fine. Let me fix your hair.” She sits him at the desk and starts combing his hair.

“What do you think of my outfit, Lucy?” Happy asks, flying around the room. He has a simple black bow-tie around his neck. “Do you think Carla would like it?”

“I think you look very handsome, Happy, and I think Carla would agree.”  She says, trying her hardest to fix Natsu's hair. Happy, looking quite pleased with himself, sits on the table, occasionally helping Lucy with Natsu's hair.

She tries to style his hair, but it would just spring back into place every time she moved it, so she resorts to gelling it down, much to his dismay. After fixing his hair and she attempts to smooth out his vest, and thankfully, it worked. Once they were all ready, they rush out the door, practically running to the castle's gardens.

They finally make it to the gardens, albeit fifteen minutes late. Lucy huffs out a sigh and straightens herself out. She walks over to the girls' table and sits at the open chair. The princess and her bridesmaids are quick to greet Lucy and invite her into their conversation. The banter soon slows, however, and the air grows uneasy. All the bridesmaids are looking at Lucy and the open chair next to her; she turns to her right, trying to see what everyone's looking at. Sitting in the open chair is Natsu, unaware of all the eyes on him.

“Hi, Natsu! What are you doing over here?” The princess chirps, her smile strained.

He shrugs. “Nothing really. Just sitting here.”

“Wouldn't you like to go sit with the other guys?” 

He shrugs again, and Lucy kicks him from under the table. She shakes her head at him, mouthing “go”. Thankfully, he gets the hint this time and goes to the other table.

They fall back into the conversation soon after, Topics bouncing around and constantly changing. The conversation made its way over to dating. Several of the other girls were single; in fact, save for one other, Lucy and the princess were the only ones in relationships. And since they were the princess's actual friends, they had all already heard all about the princess and her stories; they wanted Lucy to tell them about hers. She was reluctant but eventually gave in.

Being raised in society herself, she was all too aware of how these relationships usually start out. More often than not, your parents introduce them to you, or you meet them at an event. The other bridesmaids were shocked to hear about how she and Natsu had met. If you had told a fifteen-year-old Lucy that she'd be head over heels for a guy like Natsu, she probably would have fainted.

Thankfully, she didn't have to lie too much while talking about their relationship, as most of the scenarios she told them had actually happened, but just not exactly as described. Like she tried to kiss him on numerous occasions, but she always got interrupted at the last minute. The one thing she actually lied about was Lissana. For about a month after they had brought her back from Edolas, she would never leave Natsu's side. Lucy understood why, but it still rubbed her the wrong way. Wherever he went, she also had to be there, and she seemed to always have her hands on him in some way. It could have just been her paranoia, but anytime Lucy tried to interact with him, she would glare at her.

Her little one-sided rivalry had ended relatively shortly as Lissana had picked up on Lucy’s feelings and backed off. The whole ordeal, if you could even call it that, was quite tame, but Lucy told the bridesmaids otherwise. The version she gave them consisted of LIssana finding out they were together and trying to break them apart. She knows that in real life, Lissana would never even think about doing anything like that, but her jealousy had gotten the better of her. Her guilt had also gotten the better of her, and she ended up giving the floor to another bridesmaid to talk about her dating problems, lest Lucy dig herself into another hole.

The other bridesmaid moped on and on about the suitors her father had been picking out for her, and how every one of them had some deal-breaking quality or quirk that couldn't be fixed. Lucy and the rest of the group do their best to console the girl, countless “just be patient" and “he’ll come eventually” are said.

“I just wish I could choose who I marry, like you, Lucy. It would be so much easier.” She says, looking over at Lucy

“I wouldn't say it's easy, but it is worth it.” Lucy says, looking over at the other table.

***

After the brunch ended, the bridesmaids headed back inside the castle to continue setting up for tomorrow. For most of the wedding, they would be inside the castle's main ballroom. By the time they got there, it was more or less set up, just needing a few finishing touches. Lucy decided to tend to the table arrangements, and the rest of the girls busied themselves with something else in the room. One girl, however, sticks by Lucy's side. She doesn't talk to her at first, but she introduces herself a short while before they’re set to leave. Her name is Ivy, and she's the only other bridesmaid in a relationship. 

The two sit down together, chatting about themselves. Ivy gushes about her partner, excitedly recounting the story of how she had met her. Lucy smiles but her heart feels heavy. Everywhere she looks, she is constantly reminded of her fake relationship. It feels nice to finally indulge in her fantasy, but eventually she has to come back to the real world and face reality. And in reality, her crush would remain just that, a crush. Her true feelings never to be exposed or expressed, doomed to lay dormant in the pit of her stomach. 

“Hey Lucy, are you ok?” Ivy asks, concern etched into her voice, clearly having picked up on Lucy's now souring mood.

Her heart grew heavier. She knows she's not ok with this, but she can't say anything about it. Her reputation isn't the only one at stake here; Natsu’s and the rest of the guilds are as well. She can't sacrifice their reputations just because of some stupid feelings, but she can't just keep shoving her feelings down. It's not healthy, and it isn't fair to either of them.  

“It's just- hard to explain,” She sighs, choosing her words carefully.

“Trouble in paradise?” Ivy chuckles.

“I guess you could say that.” Lucy sighs again, mulling over her words. “It's just sometimes I feel like I'm the only one in the relationship. Like I'm forcing him into this and he's just doing it because it's what I want, and it's not what he wants.”

“Oh” Ivy squeaks out, pity evident in her voice. She stays quiet for a while, looking deep in thought. “ I know I don't know you two that well, and I hope I'm not overstepping here-” She finally speaks. “-but I don't think that's it. I mean, he doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who would do something he doesn't want to.”

“He definitely isn't." Lucy lets out a small laugh.

“Well, there you go. Don't overthink it. It's not like you forced him to propose to you. He made that decision himself. It's so obvious that he's in love with you, don't worry about it.”

“You really think it's that obvious?” She smiles sheepishly.

“Oh my god. Even the way he looks at you shows it. He looks at you like you've hung the moon. I can't even count the number of times I caught him looking at you during brunch.” She exclaims. “You're lucky to have found someone like him. It’s not often you find someone who's that into you.”

“Yeah, I am lucky to have him.” She smiles, warmth blooming in her chest. She looks at her hand, the ring sparking with something akin to hope. Maybe, just maybe, her feelings could be reciprocated.

***

The day came to a close soon after, and Lucy made her way back to their room. Once she entered the room, she slipped off her heels and walked into the main area. Natsu and Happy were sitting on the floor, stuffing their faces with various foods. They had already changed out of their clothes and were now wearing pajamas; Natsu had already taken it upon himself to take the gel out of his hair. One plate sat untouched, assuming that it was meant for her, she sat down with them and started eating as well.

“Hey, Luce!” Natsu says, mouth full of food. “How was it?”

“It was pretty good. After the brunch, we finished decorating the ballroom. I talked to one of the girls after we finished, and it was really nice.” She remarks.

This time, Natsu had enough decency to swallow his food before talking again. “What did you talk about?” 

“I bet it was something boring, LIke books and stuff.” Happy teases. Lucy ignores him and continues on with her story.

“We just talked about relationships and things like that. We actually talked about you, too, Natsu.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmn!” She nods, not wanting to talk with her mouth full. ”She just told me about how she thinks we make a good couple. It was really sweet of her; I just feel bad about lying to her.”

Natsu grows silent for a second before replying. ”Do you think they think that or that they’re just saying it to be nice?”

“Think what?”

“That we’d be a good couple.” He says flatly.

“I don't know. I'd like to think they do- I guess.“ Lucy mutters, not wanting to stay on this subject for much longer.

“Do you think we’d make a good couple?”

Lucy almost spits out her food. Her heart sputters as she tries not to choke on her fries. His question had come out of nowhere, leaving her reeling. It's not like him to ask about things like this. She knows that most of their guildmates have bets on when they're going to finally start dating and that they constantly tease him about it, but he's never, ever , willingly brought it up. Normally, he would just change the topic whenever it was mentioned. 

“I don’t- know. What made you ask that?” Lucy asks, growing even more uncomfortable by the second.

Natsu just shrugs. “I always hear everyone say that we would, but I never really thought about it 'till now.” He says it with such a casual tone, and it just baffles Lucy even more. How he's able to say something so shocking with such ease will forever confuse her.

After a long silence, Lucy finally speaks up. “How was your day? Were the other groomsmen any fun?”

“It kinda sucked. All they would talk about was politics and money.” He complained.

“Not everyone just thinks about food and fighting like you do, Natsu.” She laughs.

“Well, what else are you supposed to think about?” 

“Most people have something called a hobby.” Happy adds.

The two start to bicker, and Lucy is far too tired to stop them. She gathers her clothes and heads for the bathroom. The bathroom is no longer messy; a maid must have come by while they were out for the day, as she doubts Natsu knows how to properly clean anything. Even though the physical reminders were gone, her face still burned at the memory. They haven't said a word about what happened, and it's eating her alive. She knows it probably didn't mean anything to him, but she just can't seem to get over it. She has to get over it. Dwelling on it won't change anything, and she's not even sure if she wants something to change.

Everyone back home thinks they should get together, but should they really?  Who's to say that they would actually make a good couple? Save for a few things, they already do everything that couples normally do; they talk every day, they sleep in the same bed, they cuddle together, etc., but they could absolutely suck at the other parts of dating. What if they get together and they’re absolutely miserable? What if she starts hating him, or worse, what if he starts hating her? 

Her mind is a flurry of ‘what ifs’ and crazy scenarios. She really needs to work on her overthinking problem. Freaking herself out over a hypothetical relationship is just going to hurt their relationship even more. Half of the things she's worrying about would never even happen. Honestly, there's nothing that either of them could do that would tear them apart, completely at least. 

 If she can just make it through the week with nothing else happening, she would be grateful. Putting her feelings aside, the job is her main priority at the moment. Once they go home, she can continue to pine over him till the end of time. Maybe one day she would be able to get over her fears and finally make a move, but she doesn't see that happening anytime soon. She keeps waiting for the perfect moment, but life's never perfect; it's always trying to throw a wrench into your plans. This job is one of these wrenches. It's only been one day, and she already wants it to be over. 

After her bath, she slips into the bed, her new book in hand. Happy had already passed out, and Natsu was trying, and failing, to stay awake. He lay his head on her shoulder, asking her to tell him more about her book. She knows that he just wants to fall asleep quickly rather than having an actual interest in the book, but she still goes along with it. She reads better when she's talking anyway. Surprisingly, he managed to make it through a whole chapter before nodding off. Lucy headed off to bed soon after, her sleepiness getting the better of her.

Lucy rarely dreams, but tonight is different. 

She's in back at her apartment in Magnolia, lying in bed with Natsu, cuddled up right beside her. Her apartment looks virtually the same, only small things here and there that are different. Her closet seemed to have twice as many clothes, and her pantry looked fuller. Happy lay asleep in his bed instead of on her couch. She spots some of the decor from Natsu and Happy's house around her apartment. Two bags are packed by the door, waiting to be taken on a job. A stack of papers advertising houses for sale is scattered on the coffee table. 

She gets out of bed, and Natsu tries to pull her back in. A shiny thing on his hand catches her eye; both of them still have their rings on. Lucy walks to the kitchen and makes three plates of breakfast. Only once the food is finished do the other two finally get out of bed. They all eat together and leave for the guild afterwards, hand in hand. 

The guild hall looked exactly the same. Lucy broke away from Natsu and sat at a table with Levy, while he went over to the request board. Grey interrupts his job search and soon enough, the two start fighting. In the mess of fighting, a chair gets flung at Erza. She dodges it, but her cake is ruined. She knocks the guys out cold, leaving them on the floor as she orders more cake from Mira. 

Lucy and Levy chat about the book the blond is writing. Levy offers to be her editor, and Lucy accepts.  Gajeel eventually steals Levy away for a job, and Cana takes her place. She challenges Lucy to a drinking competition, but she declines. Natsu wakes back up and picks out a job. They pull Happy away from Carla and set off on the job.

It's late at night when they finally get home. Lucy heads straight for the bath while Natsu cooks dinner. Instead of splitting their reward amongst themselves, they put it towards their house fund. Dinner is loud, Laughter and chatter filling the room. They start winding down for bed soon after. Happy crawls into his bed while Lucy and Natsu brush their teeth. She sits at her desk, hoping to get some writing in before bed. He leaves to go on a walk. When he gets back, Lucy is passed out on her desk. He scoops her up and carries her to their bed, planting a small kiss on her cheek. He gets in bed next to her, and she instantly clings to him.  Steadying his breath to match hers, he soon falls asleep. 

Her dream wasn't anything crazy, but it was nice; just being a small glimpse into what her life could be. In it they were happily together, and life was the same. Nothing had changed. Contrary to her fears, them being together wouldn't ruin everything.  In fact, everything was normal. The guild stayed the same, and so did their friends. Everything had just felt so perfect, like she was wearing rose-tinted glasses that could never come off. He had just slipped into her life so perfectly, like he was always meant to be there. He played the role of a loving partner as if it were what he was always meant to do.

Sadly, eventually you always have to wake up from even the best of dreams. A loud knock at the door stirs her awake.

Chapter Text

Lucy is ripped out of her dream rather unceremoniously by a loud knocking at the door. She hopes that ignoring it might make it stop, but it doesn’t. It's far too early for somebody to be breaking their door down; the sun hasn't even woken up yet, for God's sake. Happy and Natsu are very heavy sleepers, so it's not shocking that they haven't woken up yet. If it wasn't for her being a light sleeper, she'd be sleeping right along with them. She tears herself from Natsu's grasp and walks over to the door. Looking at the clock, she finds that it isn't even seven am. 

She opens the door, and a tall, shadowed figure is waiting for her; the hallway's lights casting them in a dark shadow. Lucy shrieks and slams the door in the person's face. Her scream woke up Natsu, but Happy still seemed to be passed out. Natsu shuffled out of bed and walked over to Lucy.

“Why are you screaming so early in the morning, Luce? I’m trying to sleep ya’know.” He mumbles.

She shakily tells him about the knocking and about the dark figure. The person at the door must have heard them talking, and instead of knocking again, they start talking through the door.

“Lucy, it’s me, Arcadios. I have news from the Princess!” The voice is muffled, but it’s unmistakably Arcadios. Her face flushes in embarrassment, holding her head low as she opens the door. He walks in and smiles awkwardly, as if he's just as embarrassed as Lucy. “My apologies for startling you and for waking you two up so early.” He starts “But I have an urgent task from the Princess.”

“What's up?” Natsu asks groggily.

Arcadios goes on to explain their new task. Apparently, the princess's nephew would be arriving at the train station in about an hour, and he needed to be looked after until his parents arrived. 

“So you want us to babysit until his parents get here? Why weren't they riding along with him in the first place?” The blond probes.

“Unfortunately, yes. All the other guards are busy guarding the palace at the moment and as for his parents, they had an urgent matter to attend to, so they had to delay their arrival.”

“For how long?”

“Nothing too crazy. Just for a few hours. And we’ll need you to pick them up when they arrive and bring them back here.” It's clear that he's just as confused about the task as they are. “I am so sorry for the short notice.”

Lucy almost asks him, “What else?” but she holds her tongue. 

“It’s okay.” She sighs. “We'll be there soon.”

Arcadios apologizes further but has to leave soon after. She shuts the door and groans. The idea of watching some random kid was less than appealing. It was definitely not how she wanted to be spending her day.

“Chin up Luce! We babysit Asuka and we never have any problems.”

“Yeah, if you consider her trying to make us kiss, no problems.” She hopes to god that this kid won't be the same. She can't always make him kiss Happy instead.

“Shes just a kid, it's not like she means anything by it.” He brushes away her concern and goes to wake up Happy.

Lucy changes out of her pjs and into a tank top and shorts. Natsu changes into his usual pants and vest. While Happy's waking up she does her hair and makeup.

Happy and Lucy shuffle out of the door, or in the former case, fly out the door. They rub the sleep from their eyes and try to keep up with Natsu. He seems to be largely unaffected by their early awakening. The exceed’s wings start to give out as he starts falling asleep mid-air. Lucy catches him, attempting to shake him awake. Eventually she gives up, and holds him.

“Stupid cat. I should be the one sleeping right now.” She mopes.

***

The time Arcadios had given them was widely inaccurate. The trio had waited at the train station for two hours as opposed to the one they were promised. Sleep took ahold of Lucy after about twenty minutes of waiting, using Natsu's shoulder as a pillow, she took a short power nap. Her rest is sadly short-lived. He gently shakes her awake. She rubs her eyes and is met with a small child looking up at her. The kid's pouting face is framed by short black hair. She smiles brightly at the boy but he scoffs and turns away.

“Could you be any more gross?” He mutters.

“Excuse you?” If Lucy was still sleepy before she's wide awake now.

“You’re excused.” He shoots back. Lucy gawks. “Were you two really the best they could send? Some random guild rats?” The kid sneers.

Lucy is beside herself. Not even two minutes in and she already wants to kick him in the head. She honestly would rather deal with Asuka and her whole kissing thing, than this little brat and his smart mouth.

Holding back a few choice words, she gets down to the kids eye level. “Listen kid. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us for the next few hours. And unless you want to sit in the corner until your parents get here, you're going to behave. And that means no more snarky comments or insults. Got it?” She says, smile strained, patting his shoulder as she gets up.

Now the kid is the one gawking. He stands there, mouth agape. If she had to guess, this was probably the first time anyone had called out his shitty behavior. 

“Are you guys just gonna sit there? I have some shopping to do” Lucy says, already walking away from them. Natsu and the kid catch up to her.

 The boy, who later introduced himself as Daniel, heeded her threats and stayed relatively well behaved for the most part. He had a permanent frown, but that was not too much of an issue.

Lucy dragged the group from store to store, eager to finish her shopping as quickly as possible. She made it a point to get to the potion shop and get more of Natsu's motion sickness remedy. She had to go out of her way to get there but she refuses to have her luggage be used as a barf bag again. The shop's owner was quite happy to see who Lucy was buying the remedies for. She had given them a rather large discount on their order, as Lucy had almost bought her entire stock. Again, she's not taking any chances, gone are the days of vomit covered clothes.

The last stop she brought them to was a book store. She and Levy had wanted to come here during the games but they didn't have enough time. The familiar scent of books enters her lungs and the cozy atmosphere envelops her almost immediately. 

“Cant we just wait outside? I don't want to look at dumb books.” Daniel whispers to Natsu.

“Come on. I'm sure you could find something that you like here. I bet Luce could help ya!”

“Are you going to find something too?” The boy questions.

Natsu laughs. “Ptsh, No, I'm an adult so I don't have to read.”

“We’ve been over this Natsu, even though you're an adult, you still have to read.” Lucy says exasperated. They have had this same conversation too many times.

He looks at the kid and shakes his head, mouthing “she's lying”. 

“I'm not lying and both of you are staying in here until I'm done.”

 Lucy did in fact help Daniel find a book. A murder mystery had caught his eye and once he started reading it he couldn't put it down. She had tried to do the same with Natsu but he would only look at cookbooks. Not because he wanted to learn the recipes but because he wanted to look at pictures of food. He did pick out some good books for Lucy to read however. He's surprisingly good at finding things that she likes. Happy had found an encyclopedia of fish and made it his new life's mission to catch and eat every single one.. 

By the time they were finished shopping, they only had enough time to do one more thing. 

“Is there anything you want to do?” She asked, turning to the kid.

He gets unusually quiet, holding his head low and shuffling his feet. “If it's not too much-” he starts. “-Id like to get some ice cream.”

“I could go for some ice cream.” Natsu remarks.

“Ice cream sounds nice.” The blond says.

“Do you think they'll have a fish flavor?” The cat is practically salivating at the thought.

“I hope not. That sounds gross.” She grimaces.

Daniel smiles brightly. Who knew that all they needed to do to make him smile was give him some ice cream.

Lucy shivered as she walked inside the ice cream shop. Happy and Daniel rush over to the ice cream, peering into the glass excitedly. Happy's enthusiasm is cut short when he finds out that they don't have a fish flavor. The kid takes a while choosing a flavor so Lucy and Natsu order first. Chocolate for her and rocky road for him. Daniel eventually settles on strawberry.

Once they had all finished eating they left to go pick up his parents. His parents were very rude and short with them, and it's obvious where Daniel's attitude came from. They refused to make eye contact with Daniel, not even speaking to him when he tried to tell them about his day. He seemed to shrink in on himself, as if his presence alone was inconveniencing his parents. It was an all too familiar feeling to Lucy. Her heart hurt just looking at Daniel's face. She would make the same one every time her father kicked her out of his study. Seeing another kid going through what she did almost made her cry.  Once they drop them off, Daniel stops for a moment and looks back at them, His eyes filled with sadness and rejection.

***

They stand by the entrance, arms interlocked. Lucy holds on to his arm nervously, her eyes darting around the room like crazy.

The ballroom looks exactly how she'd left it yesterday. Low hanging chandeliers provide little light; the dim lighting making the large room feel smaller and more intimate. Some people had already started socializing. Small groups of people standing around tables, champagne in hand, talking about god knows what. 

Feeling rather out of place, Lucy tugs at her dress, just now deciding that she hates her choice in dress. It's not like the dress was unflattering or ugly, in fact it was quite the opposite . She wore a dark red evening gown and matching gloves; the skirt hugged her hips and upper thighs but gradually became more flowy towards the bottom, the fabric stopping right at her feet, allowing her heels to poke out just slightly.  Loose off the shoulder sleeves form a sweetheart neckline, showing just the right amount of cleavage. A delicate but ornate necklace hangs from her neck, sitting just under her collarbone.

Natsu wasn't nearly as dressed up as she was but he still looked handsome. He wore a simple black suit with a vest along with a tie that matched her dress.

“If you hold my arm any harder it’s gonna break.” he jokes.

“Oh sorry” She whispers, pulling away swiftly.

Her eyes scan the room, looking for anything out of place. It doesn't take long for her to spot a man huddled in the corner, looking very unseemly. His tall and slender form seemed to curl in upon itself, gangly arms held against his chest like a T-rex. Messy curls going in every direction with an equally as messy beard. He's dressed in a raggedy brown suit, the pants not quite long enough for his legs. How he managed to get past the guards is beyond her.

Lucy nudges Natsu and jerks her head in his direction. He takes one look at the guy, makes a face and nods in agreement. They're too far away to keep an eye on him, so they have to get in closer.

“Do you think you could grab us a table? Maybe one in the corner?” She hopes that her hint gets through to him. His eyes flicker with something akin to understanding.

“Sure. You coming with?” 

Lucy shakes her head. “I think I’m gonna get a drink, but I'll meet you there ‘kay?”

They split up and take their respective positions in the room, Lucy at the bar and Natsu a few tables away from the man. She took the second to last seat at the bar, giving her a clear view of him. The bartender is quick to serve her, handing her a glass of wine only minutes after she sat down. While sipping on her drink, Lucy keeps the guy in her peripheral vision; She feels as if she's met him before but she can't remember when or how. Either way he gives her the creeps.

Speaking of creeps, one sits down right beside her, almost completely blocking her view. He gives her a toothy grin before calling the bartender over. She turns away from the guy hoping that he’ll leave her alone but he doesn't.

“Whose side are you from?”

“I'm a friend of the bride.” Lucy replies curtly.

“Nice. I'm the groom's uncle.” He chuckles obnoxiously, and Lucy just nods slightly. “what’cha drinking there?”

“Just some wine.”

“Good choice, good choice.” The guy repeats his comments to himself, bobbing his head up and down. “Has anyone told you how pretty you are?”

Under normal circumstances, she would have already smacked this guy into next week while telling him where he should shove his compliments. But these aren't normal circumstances; She's on a job, and this guy isn't just some random creeper, he's important. She can't make a scene and risk the other weirdo getting away to potentially hurt somebody. So as much as it hurts her soul to do so, she just has to grin and bear it.

Swallowing her pride, she grits her teeth and turns to look at him, flashing him a smile. “Thank you, you’re too kind.”

“If I had a girl like you I'd never let her out of my sight.” He leans in closer.

She scoots her chair back. “Oh would you now?” She laughs uncomfortably. Lucy rests her head on her left hand, making sure that her ring finger, and subsequently her ring, are on full display to this man. She might not be actually engaged but hopefully he’ll back off if he thinks she is.

From across the room, Natsu makes eye contact with her and Lucy tries to subtly call him over. It's no use, He just looks at her confusedly before looking at the guy again. Great, Now she's stuck dealing with this weirdo by herself. Lucy makes a mental note to get Natsu back for this.

Her awkward conversation continues on for much longer than she wanted it to. Every time she tried to leave the conversation he just dragged her right back in with another creepy comment. Eventually he notices her ring.

“What a pretty ring you've got there. Where did you get it?”

“I got it for her.” A familiar voice says. Natsu had finally decided to appear. He places a hand on her shoulder and addresses Lucy. “I’ve been looking for you Luce, I got us some seats.”

“Who's your friend here?” The man says, smile beginning to falter.

“This is Natsu, my fiancé.” Lucy puts her hand on his, subtly telling Natsu that she has things handled.

“Your- fiancé?” He stutters. His eyes dart from Lucy to Natsu and back to her.

“Is there a problem?” She asks.

“No, no it's just you could do a lot better than him. Somebody who's a lot more successful and far more attractive.” The man says it matter of flatly, as if he didn't just indirectly insult somebody. Lucy is shocked by his boldness.

She looks him up and down. “I'm not sure if you of all people should be commenting on someone's looks. And for the record I'm quite happy.”

“You're not even that pretty anyways” Offended, he storms off. He was so mad he left his drink on the bar.

“Thank god he's gone.” She groans.

“Why were you even talking to that weirdo anyways?”

“It’s not like I wanted to.”

Thankfully the rest of the night goes without any more problems. They keep a close eye on the man in the corner and make some small talk with the other guests. He doesn't move too much, only going to the bar a handful of times. Staying huddled in the corner made it quite easy to keep track of him. He left along with the rest of the guests once the party concluded and they lost track of him after that. 

Before they go back to their room, they report back to Arcadios and let him know about the man. He tells them that nobody matching his description was invited and that they should keep watching him if he shows up the next day. 

“I might be mistaken but there's rumors of a mercenary that fit the description you gave me. I’ll have to gather more information before we do anything but for now you need to keep your distance from him. We have no idea what he's capable of so please be patient.” Arcadios tells them.

Natsu grumbled the entire way back to their room. He thinks that they should attack him the moment they see him again but Arcadios forbade him. 

“Patience my ass. When has fighting ever gone wrong?” He mumbles to himself.

“Would it kill you to not fight everybody you meet? Just listen to him and be patient.” Lucy says.