Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Garage kids
The fridge door was opened in the garage and let out a wave of cool air, it was welcomed by the young adults in the garage all sighing in relief. The pink haired singer grabbed a few sodas and tossed them out between the members of his band. One happened to land on the balls of his unsuspecting blue haired friend, Gray, his bass leaning against the chair next to him.
“What the fuck Natsu?!” He yelled clutching his crotch and glaring at his best frenemy. Natsu cackled and cracked open his soda, and gulped it down. “Maybe you shouldn’t let your guard down dipshit.” He laughed, grabbing a bottle of tea and finally kicking the fridge shut, already missing the cool air. He locked onto his target, Lucy Heartfilia, his best friend, and walked over to her holding out the tea as a peace offering. She glared at him with her big brown eyes, her cheeks puffing out in irritation.
“Do you really think fetching me things is going to make up for your idiocy?” She grumbled, snatching the drink out of Natsu’s hand. He chuckled and ran his hand through his spiky locks. “I was kind of hoping so! I didn’t know it was going to be this hot out today! We can hop in the pool later. I just really wanted you to hear our new song.” It was the end of their summer, their last summer before they graduated with their bachelor’s degrees, the last year that they had a chance to make it as a band in the real world. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart, ease his bubbling up tummy at the thought of graduation. It meant that everyone would go their separate ways. Some of his friends he’s known since middle school, some he only met at the beginning of his college career.
Everyone had a plan for after graduation, except for him. He wanted nothing more than for the world to hear his music, his lyrics, his blood sweat and tears. And his parents gave him this last year to try and chase that dream, after that, he had to look for a real job using the degree he was attempting to get. Attempting being the key word as he was barely scrapping by with his C average brain. He wasn’t sure what he even really wanted to do, he was getting his degree in business administration, but didn’t know where it would even get him.
“You better keep your word on the pool, because I’m literally melting into a puddle.” Lucy’s words broke him out of his trance and he focused on the beautiful blonde before him. She was wearing a halter top with thin straps barely holding up her large chest, which was on full display. Her long, pale and creamy legs were on full display, barely being covered by some booty shorts he knew had all of the boys on campus staring after her. She was shaking her pedicured foot, in anxiety? In anticipation? Who knew, but he was memorized by her presence, elated that she was here to hear the song he wrote for her. Not that she would ever know that.
“I prooooomise.” He drew out and walked back over to the band set. “Where the fuck is Loke now?!” He groaned looking around the garage. Gajeel had a magazine covering his face, passed out behind his drums, arms crossed, pretending to be snoring. Natsu rolled his eyes and looked at Gray in anticipation. The bass player pointed out into the neighborhood.
“Manwhore is flirting with your neighbor, Lucy.” He said, deadpanned. Lucy looked to her left and sighed heavily. She jumped down from the bed of Natsu’s truck and strolled over to the missing guitarist. She stomped up to him, grabbed his ear and started dragging.
“Ms. Lucy?” Her neighbor, Aries, looked amused and confused at what was happening. Natsu snickered at the pain that she must be inflicting on Loke, feeling a little bit of pride light up his heart at how strong she was. “Sorry Aries! Don’t listen to this pervert!” She called over her shoulder. She moved her momentum and pushed Loke toward the garage. He waved at Aries “Call me!!” He picked up his guitar and sighed.
“Lucy, you’ve been keeping her from me on purpose!” Loke cried. She rolled her eyes and hopped back up into Natsu’s truck bed. God, she looked gorgeous. The sweat dripping down her neck, into her-“NATSU!” Gray yelled, punching him in the face. Natsu stumbled back. “What the actual fuck Gray?” He snapped holding his swelling cheek. His friend smiled smugly and laughed. “Stop staring dude, she’ll catch you one of these days.” He whispered. Natsu rolled his eyes and picked up his guitar. “Shut up ice princess.” He grumbled. “I ICE SKATE ONE TIME-
“4, 3, 2, 1!” Natsu yelled into the mic, ignoring his friend's outburst and starting up the song he had been perfecting over the summer. His fingers were gliding up and down the neck of his guitar, having already memorized the notes that Loke had come up with. After his intro, the rest of the band joined in. He closed his eyes, cleared his throat and sang.
“Check yes Juliet, are you with me? Rain is falling down on the sidewalk, I won’t go until you come outside.” He opened his eyes to gauge Lucy’s reaction, she was smiling and swaying to the beat. Her best friend, Levy had joined her, chatting off her ear. He smiled at his best friend and nodded. “Check yes Juliet, kill the limbo, I’ll keep tossing rocks at your window, there’s no turning back for us tonight.” He let go of his guitar and started to clap with his band mates. “Lace up your shoes.” Gray and Loke harmonizing beside him, both immersed in the performance and the music. “Here’s how we do. Run, baby, run, don’t ever look back, they’ll tear us apart, if you give them the chance!” Finally being able to sing this song for the person it was meant for felt refreshing, his heart was beating quickly at the thought of her figuring it out.
“Check yes Juliet, here’s the count down, 3, 2, 1 now fall in my arms now-” His line was interrupted by a loud thwack, he looked over at Loke and burst out laughing. Gajeel realized that Natsu wasn’t singing anymore and stilled his beat.
“My fucking nose!” Loke yelled out, holding it, blood seeping down his chin. Lucy was immediately on the scene, a cloth in her hand and shushing Loke to calm down. Natsu set his guitar down and grabbed the first aid kit from the work table. This was the fourth string he had broken in the span of a month because he refused to get new ones due to ‘having no money’. It had snapped and whipped up toward his face, causing a welt to form on his nose.
“You know, this wouldn’t have happened if you had let Lucy buy you new strings. You ended up having to buy all new ones anyway!” Gajeel laughed out, taking a sip out of his soda. Natsu placed down the first aid kit and kneeled down next to Lucy.
“How does it look?” He inquired, actually more focused on the blonde, than on his bandmate. Her brows were furrowed and she wiped up the blood and examined the damage. Her tongue peeked out as she started pulling out supplies and deciding on what she wanted to do. Lucy was majoring in nursing with a double minor in Astronomy and English, or something like that. He had a hard time listening to her sometimes because he was just focused on her plump, soft looking lips, her beautiful brown eyes shimmering as she talked about her passions. He knew what she desired to do, help as many people as she could, but also be able to participate in her studying and learning about her favorite thing, the stars and the constellations. She also was writing a book on the side. Sometimes he had no idea how she had time to breathe. Loke hissed as she applied alcohol to the cut. She mumbled at him to stop being a baby and placed a bandaid over the fairly small wound.
“He will be fine, it didn’t go too deep thankfully, I think that should be it for today though, Milano’s is closed, so we won’t be able to replace his string until tomorrow night.” Lucy said standing up and tossing out the bloody cloth. Gray, who was playing his bass riff, cheered and unplugged from the amp and placed the dark blue guitar on its stand. Gajeel scoffed and slammed his drumsticks on the bass drum.
“Fucking idiot.” He grumbled going inside. Gray followed right behind him. Levy hopped off of the truck and walked into the garage, standing in front of the blowing fan. “Why do you guys choose to rehearse on such hot days?” She cried out, lifting her shirt off of her belly to get air on her bare skin. Natsu smiled sheepishly. “I had to show Luce my new song.” He said. She shook her head with a smile and patted Natsu on the head as she passed the trio on the ground.
“At least we can go swimming, see you out there Lu!” Levy called running inside of the house. Loke sat dejected on the ground, pouting that he didn’t get a “get well” kiss from Lucy, and she punched his shoulder for asking. Natsu sprung up from kneeling down and held out his hand for Lucy to take. She looked up at him and smiled, he gulped and avoided the perfect view he currently had of her cleavage, and instead focused on a bug next to her foot. He pulled her up and grinned at her, pushing down his thoughts and urges.
“I guess we should head inside and get changed. You sure your old man doesn’t mind us swimming today?” He asked, gently kicking Loke’s shoe to encourage him to stand up. He walked toward the garage door and clicked it to close. Loke grumbled something about catching up in a second.
“Turn the fans off please!” Lucy called and turned her attention back to her pink haired friend. “Hell if I know, he isn’t even here.” She spit out bitterly. Lucy didn’t have the best relationship with her father, him constantly being gone on business trips, leaving her alone in the giant mansion with his servants. When she had learned that Natsu and his friends were planning to become a band, she offered her garage, as they had 3 separate ones, and one was reserved for her and her car if she so chose. Her father was the head of the light rail business in Fiore, making transportation between cities easier and more energy efficient. His legacy goes all the way back to the original railroads and trains. Lucy hated that it was her legacy to follow in his footsteps and made a point to apply for a college he didn’t like and work on a major he didn’t approve of. Natsu was so proud of her when she told him that.
He had met her back in 7th grade. He had been punished for a prank he had pulled on his English teacher, and was sent to the library to write an essay on why he messed up. After throwing 3 unsuccessful pages into a far away trash can, a blonde head popped out from behind the bookshelf that the trash can was next to and stared at him.
“You suck at that.” She had said, her glasses sliding down her nose. He immediately became entranced by her chocolate brown eyes. They soon connected over the fact that she was also in detention for reading during class and not paying attention. Instead of writing her assignment, she decided to browse the selection. Apparently she had just moved to Magnolia from a far off town that he had never even heard of, because her dad wanted to move his business to somewhere with more people. She wanted to fit in, but was already getting in trouble. Natsu gladly took her under his wing and introduced her to his group of friends, Cana, Gray, Levy, Erza, Loke, Elfman and Lisanna. She immediately fit right in and the rest was history. From that day, she was forever a part of his life, doing everything together. They had a weekly movie night at her house, unless Jude, her father, was home, then they would bunk up at his house. His parents had instantly fallen in love with Lucy, welcoming her into their home with open arms. To this day, his dad, Igneel, teased him about making a move. Some day, he really hoped he could.
“What country is your dad in now?” He asked, grabbing a beach towel from the hallway closet, he handed her one also. She shrugged. “Korea? I don’t really pay attention to what he tells me anymore. I’ve seen him maybe 3 times this summer, and after we move back onto campus, our communication will strictly be text messages.” Her shoulders slumped down and her eyes turned sad. Natsu pulled her into a hug and rested his chin on top of her head. She pushed him away with a giggle, saying something about him being too sweaty and gross.
Natsu knew that Jude hadn’t always been like this, when Lucy’s mom was alive, he was a completely different man, but she suddenly passed away from a mysterious illness back when Lucy was 7 years old. That was also the same age that Natsu had been dumped into an orphanage with amnesia about where he was from and who his parents were. All he knew was his name. He was there for 7 months before being adopted by Igneel and Grandine, who already had a daughter, Wendy. The pair would bond about the weird coincidence with the number 7.
“I’m sorry Luce, but it will be okay! I’m determined for this to be our best year of college yet! Now that we can legally drink, it’s going to get wild!” He cheered at her as she walked down the hallway toward her room.
“If you say so Natsu, but alcohol isn’t everything you know!” She said, stepping into her bedroom and closing the door behind her. He raised his eyebrows and called out “tell that to Cana! She has a problem.” He heard her let out a laugh. It was ridiculous how addicted HE was at hearing her laugh, and also being the one to cause said laughter. He stepped into Lucy’s bathroom and locked the door behind him. He looked in the mirror at himself, dark bags donning the skin under his eyes. He sighed and peeled his black t-shirt off and looked at all of his scars, running his fingers over them. On his right shoulder, he donned his band’s insignia, Fairy Tail. Lucy had helped them in naming it, it was an ongoing adventure of seeing if fairy’s really had tails. He didn’t quite understand her logic, but he did like the sound of it. It was unexpected, a rough band of boys, with a soft name, it would throw everyone off.
“Natsu hurry up! Everyone is waiting in the pool.” Lucy knocked on the door. Subconsciously he opened the door to look at his best friend. She looked surprised that he had opened the door, shirtless, and not changed into his swim trunks. His jeans hung low on his hips, his belt having been already unbuckled, working on getting undressed when she knocked. Her face turned tomato red and she tried prying the door out of his grasp.
“What the hell Natsu?” She exclaimed. He smirked at her and grabbed her, pressing her against his sweaty chest. “I just wanted to share my sweat Lucy!” Good cover up, he guessed. In all honesty, he wanted to see her beautiful body in her swimsuit before anyone else got to lay eyes on her. He wanted to feel her partially naked body against his. But, alas, she was so used to his antics and him trying to gross her out, that she thought nothing suspicious of it and yelled at him to let her go. He chuckled and released her from his grasp. She wiped at her body with her towel and glared at him.
“I swear you will be paying for that mister.” She said pointing her finger at him and then walking away. He was able to see her retreating figure in the mirror, looking at her hips swaying as she walked, her bikini bottoms barely leaving much to the imagination, showing off her full ass and- he felt himself start to harden at the thought and groaned. He quickly closed the door and took a deep breath, willing to calm himself down. He usually was really good at repressing his lust for her, practically being an expert at it after all of the embarrassing hormone changes he went through in high school. But sometimes, it really got to him and he couldn’t help but look at her. He kicked off his jeans and underwear and slipped his trunks on, his erection finally going down as he thought of disturbing things to get out of his predicament. He flung the towel over his shoulder and walked out to the backyard, joining his friends.
—----
He looked at his handiwork proudly and took a swig of his beer. He had finally finished moving into his new apartment that he was sharing with Gray, his room was all set up, a few posters hanging up on the walls to give it a little bit of character. Their apartment was a prime spot located directly on campus, so they had easy access to everything, even the best restaurants. The even better part was that Lucy lived only one building over with Levy and Juvia. Her dad got her the biggest apartment available, of course. Even though she didn’t go to the college he had wanted, he had to make sure she had the best of the best, because “only Heartfilia’s get the best.” She grumbled when he had asked her about it.
“Yo Natsu!” Gray hollered from the living room. Natsu threw away his beer can and walked out. Gray had been tasked with setting up the T.V. stand and the gaming system. He had finished it up and was sitting on their couch with a beer in hand and the baseball game pulled up. Natsu plopped onto the couch and let out a deep sigh.
“I’m a little nervous for our gig tonight at the party.” He said, staring at the screen, but not processing anything that was happening on it. Gray hummed and turned to him.“It is a really big party, first of the year, seniors only. But we have Gajeel’s new song to open it up and I think it will get everyone interested in us.” He re-assured his friend and patted him on the back. “Maybe go hang out with Lucy! She always helps cheer you up.” He teased. Natsu glared at him and stood up. “That’s because you loooooove her.” Loke's voice came from their front door, his head peaking in. Natsu threw a pillow at him. Loke easily caught it and chuckled, walking into their apartment, uninvited mind you.
“Fuck off Loke, you aren’t even supposed to know that.” Natsu blushed and stormed into his room. Before he shut the door, he heard Loke whisper to Gray, “yet he is glaringly obvious to everyone other than the girl he wants.” Natsu sank to the floor and wrapped his arms around his legs. The days that they had a gig always caused him to spiral a little. It didn’t matter what he thought of, he would spiral. Is he a good friend? Is he a good singer? Did Lucy love someone else? His brain stuck on that.
Lucy was such a caring and giving person, and every guy he met wanted to get in her pants. Which caused a lot of anger to come out of him. She was worth more than just sex, she deserved better. Not those lowly pieces of shit drunks. He worried that she was falling for someone and he didn’t even know it. What if it was Loke? He sputtered out a laugh at the thought, his spiral coming to a pause. There was no way she would fall for him, he was too much of a flirt. He wiped his eyes of stray tears that escaped and stood up. He was going to tell her before they graduated, he gave his promise on that to Gray. He didn’t want to go into his new life with regrets and not knowing what if..? Granted he was terrified to tell her, and didn’t want to lose her because she felt awkward being around him because she didn’t feel the same. Gray assured him that wouldn’t happen, even if it isn’t the way he wanted, Lucy loved the singer too much to let that cause a rift in their relationship. Natsu wanted to believe him, but wasn’t so sure about it.
Natsu slapped his cheeks to get out of his mind and opened his closet. They had a bit of a “uniform” they were going to wear as a band. Uniform being a very loose term to use. He pulled out his ruby red button down shirt and slipped it on. He pulled on his black skinny jeans and then finally moved onto the difficult part, the tie. It was Lucy and Levy’s idea to add a little class to their grunge with a tie and button down shirt. His tie was black to match his jeans and he had no idea how to tie it. Lucy had shown him many times but it never stuck. He buckled up his belt and added his chain to the side. Another Lucy suggestion. God, he was such a sucker for her, or as Gajeel called it, whipped. He went to spike up his bangs but stopped himself, remembering that Lucy liked it when they hung down over his forehead. He usually styled them up to keep them from getting in his eyes, but he had gotten used to it over the years. With his tie slung over his neck, he walked out of his room and grabbed his guitar case. Loke, hand deep into a bowl of chips, and Gray, stripped down to his boxers (he had a problem, liked to be as cool as possible, and taking his clothes off helped with that apparently).
“I’m going to Lucy’s so she can help me get ready for the gig, you better not be late or I will fucking kill you.” Natsu threatened. They both waved him off casually, not really listening and he rolled his eyes in response. “I’ll be sure to tell Juvia you said hi Gray.” He threw at his friend, who suddenly perked up and glared at him.
“You better not.” He warned. Natsu’s grin grew and opened the door. “Ooooh my lovely Gray-sama loves me!” His voice was high pitched and mocking their blue haired friend. Gray’s cheeks grew bright red and before he could throw something, Natsu closed the door quickly and made his way to the apartment buildings across the parking lot. He chuckled to himself thinking about Gray and Juvia. She was immediately infatuated with Gray when they met and as the years have gone on, Gray has developed feelings for her, but is too chicken shit to act on them. Fucking hypocrite.
Juvia was a newer member of their group, having met her their Freshman year of college. Gajeel shortly came after her, finding himself auditioning for the band after his brother informed him of the group. Their old drummer, Sting, had gone to Gazania to attend Sabertooth University, so he couldn’t continue being in the band. That’s where he met Rogue, who coincidentally was Gajeel’s step brother. He happened to come to Magnolia University their second semester having transferred from Phantom Lord Community College, a very small college that was shut down due to continuous violence.
“Natsu! Can’t wait to see you play tonight!” He looked to his left at the cafe across the street. Lisanna, his childhood friend, was waving at him. He waved back and trotted over to her. “Hey Lis! I didn’t know you were here yet! How was Guiltina?” He asked, wrapping his arms around her in a big bear hug. She giggled and pulled away, her bright blue eyes sparkling. He knew that Lisanna had a thing for him, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her she didn’t have a chance. He knew he was an asshole.
“It was great! Mira was so helpful in getting me set up within the agency! I’ll probably be going back permanently after I graduate.” She said enthusiastically. Her big sister Mirajane worked for a huge model agency in Guiltina, the country just a hop and skip away from Fiore. Lisanna went there over the summer, with her big brother, Elfman. “Oh wow, that’s gonna be so weird not having you around anymore.” Natsu said, losing his cheerfulness. ‘Everyone is going to leave you.’ He shook away the dark thought and smiled. “I hope it’s everything you’ve dreamed of though Lis.” He said softly. She blushed and reached up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. He touched the spot where her lips were and smiled. “Thank you Natsu, I look forward to hearing your new music.” She flirted. He waved himself away and jogged toward Lucy’s apartment. He didn’t want to be late to his own gig, what a hypocrite he would be. He made it to apartment seven and knocked. The door opened up shortly to someone he was not expecting.
“What’s up flame brain?” Gajeel sneered with a smirk. Natsu glared at him and peeked over his shoulder. “Levy, why are you letting your buffoon of a boyfriend answer your door?” Natsu asked. Gajeel punched his chest, but not too hard, and walked into the apartment. He plopped back down on the couch with Levy, and she cuddled up against him. The singer closed the door behind him and ventured over down the hall to where he knew Lucy’s room was. He knocked on the door and entered without thinking. And boy should he have thought about it.
There stood Lucy in the doorway of her closet, down to only her bra and underwear, a red matching set with black lace. His favorite color. She wasn’t facing him so her butt was on full display, the string of her thong hidden. His face immediately blew up in warmth and he knew if he was looking in a mirror, he would see that his face was bright red. He quickly closed the door and shouted out an apology. He heard a curse and shuffling within Lucy’s room and then her door opened. She had slipped on a blue silk robe and her face was a little flushed.
“Natsu! You can’t walk into my room anymore! It’s getting ridiculous.” She squeaked out. Damn it, he embarrassed her. Of course she wouldn’t want him to see her like that. But he had a bad habit of just entering after knocking because back in high school, that’s what she told him to do, since she knew he would constantly be coming over at any point. But that changed their last year of high school when he walked in on her butt naked, changing from a shower. He had immediately ran to the guest bath and willed himself to calm down, because boy, seeing the water drip down her pale skin, her pink nipples pert and at attention from the cold air, and her blonde hair wet and messy and curling around her face. He couldn’t get the image of her underneath him, panting, moaning his name and begging for-
“I’m sorry! I’m trying to get better about it, I swear!” He quickly deterred his thoughts back to the present before he got himself in trouble with her again. He really truly did not need to be popping a boner in front of his best friend/love interest. He’d done it too many times in 7th grade and thank God she never found out because he would bolt as soon as it happened.
“Well you might as well come in now. I’m going to change in my bathroom.” She gathered up the clothing she had been looking at and sauntered over to her bathroom. She was lucky and got one attached to her room. Perks of having a rich dad.
“Sorry again Luce.” He called out and made himself comfortable on her bed, the pink comforter smelling heavily of his best friend. He took in a deep sniff and instantly felt better about tonight. He laid back and stared at the ceiling fan going round and round until he heard the bathroom door open. He had to fight every urge in his body to not let his jaw drop and ogle her. She had picked out a jean skirt with a heart on the back pocket, the hemline stopping mid thigh. Her underwear definitely would show if she bent over. To accompany the skirt, she wore a simple red tank top, had hearts all over, her stomach showing slightly, showing off her diamond belly button ring. To top it off, she wore black high heeled boots that made her legs look even longer. Natsu had to bite his tongue to keep from drooling and saying she looked fuckable. He would never dare.
“What did you need Natsu?” She asked casually, as if she hadn’t just walked out like a model. Her blonde hair was falling down her back and curled at the end. She had let it get so long over the summer, it practically came down to her butt. He could imagine pulling it as he took her from behi- okay, he really needed to get his mind out of the gutter. It was rude to think of his best friend like that without her consent. “I didn’t know how to tie my tie, I forgot.” He sheepishly held it up to her. She groaned and came up to him, telling him to sit up and snatched the tie out of his hands. She stepped in between his legs, her breasts directly in front of his line of sight. She made quick work of the tie and adjusted the length and then patted his head.
“There you go, you’re such a silly goose.” She mused walking over to her vanity. He blinked a few times to break himself from the trance he had been in while staring at her breasts unashamed, because she couldn’t even see it, nor could he really help it. “Thanks Luce! You wanna come with me to the party? Help me get set up?” He asked, watching her apply some lip gloss and mascara. Fuck, he hated it when she wore lip gloss. It made it so hard to not kiss her senseless.
“Sure! What time does it start again?” She asked, turning to him with a smile. “Seven, but most of the people won’t show up until eight.” He stated, picking up his guitar after standing up. “You want to go grab some sushi first? We have about an hour.” She practically gave him puppy dog eyes, begging to be taken to her favorite sushi spot. He chuckled at her and agreed. “As you wish, princess.” He teased, referencing one of her favorite movies, The Princess Bride. She blushed and flicked him for being what she would call ‘cheesy’. In reality she had no idea how far he would go for her. If only she knew.