#starting drawing this last week cause I needed something silly and cute and cozy after. events

[petri808]

The Position is Filled

Day 2 @nalu-week  Stranger prompt

*Gomen.  I got nothing against Sting, just needed a bad guy for this story, and it’s a bit rushed to get it done in time. 

Lucy scans over the ad for the tenth time maybe, who was counting.  It wasn’t like anyone she knew would know she had placed it because a fictional name and generic email contact address should keep it on the low.

Looking for single hetero male, toned and fit body, clean cut, preferably charismatic, charming business type, fresh faced cute with positive disposition to take to an event.  Must provide a picture taken within the last month, stats (height, weight), and a job resume in your response.

She takes one last deep breath and closes her eyes as she clicks the send button.  Desperate times lead to desperate measures, and this was one of those times no matter how crazy the idea was.

Her 10-year high school reunion was coming up in just two months and according to gossip, her ex-boyfriend would be attending with a plus one.  The bastard.  Sting Eucliffe had been her high school sweetheart, but after twelve years together, she caught him cheating.  Lucy was devastated.  Well now she knew why he always changed the subject when the idea of marriage came up. But that didn’t mean she wanted him back, oh no.  What Lucy wanted, was to make him jealous and to show Sting she had moved on. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found anyone worth dating, hence the need to fake it.

The first few hits looked promising, but each one had something she didn’t like.  Not fond of the hair, no blonde guys.  Too short.  Visible tattoos, not that she really cared, but it wasn’t part of this vision, and problems with something on their resume.  After a week, the responses had petered down to a trickle and Lucy was starting to lose hope.  Maybe this idea wasn’t going to work after all.

She was almost ready to give up by the end of the second week when she heard the ding on her phone, signaling a new email.  ‘Please, please be decent,’Lucy chants in her head as she opens the message. Natsu Dragneel.  Her eyes widen to the selfie photo.  Cute smile, pretty green eyes, nice height.  Lucy bites her lip, he had a verynice body. So far so good.  One year older, works at a brokerage firm Dreyar & Dreyar as a junior broker.  ‘Hot dayum!’  If the BMW M5 parked behind him was his car…

“Wait a minute.” She pauses, a bit confused.  What was a guy like this doing answering a dating ad?!  He was hot and looked like he had some money, how was he still single? Was there some major flaw hidden behind the perfect features and pristine resume?  Oh, what the hell, her curiosity was peaked, and besides, he was the only candidate so far that looked good for the part. Lucy sends off her reply to meet for coffee and tosses the phone back on the couch beside her.

Ding.

‘That was quick,’she glances over and picks the phone back up.

Tomorrow, 11am at Fairies Cafe? Lunch my treat ;)

Lucy fires off a response. See you then!

Nervous was an understatement when Lucy walked up to the cafe.  She’d worn a casual summer dress, nothing fancy, but she had taken an hour just to settle on wearing it.  Her make-up was redone a couple of times, too heavy at first, now lighter to match the outfit.  Flats and hair done in a simple ponytail, completed her look.

She scans the room and almost immediately notices a pink head of hair in one of the booths.  It’s been a while since she’s patronized Fairies and the place looked exactly the same as she remembered it, cozy.  To her Starbucks felt more hectic whereas this coffee shop still had a homey feel thanks to the owner Mira.

“Hi,” Lucy walks up to the booth, holding her hand out in a gesture. “I’m Lucy, are you Natsu?”

“That’s me,” he shakes her hand but runs his other through his hair.

It was obvious the man was a little nervous too, but his smile looked genuine.  She sits down across from him.

“Order whatever you want,” Natsu pushes the menu closer to Lucy.  “I already know what I’m gonna get.”

Lucy opens the menu scanning its contents.  “Have you been here long?”  She hopes she hadn’t kept him waiting.

“Oh no, I got here a few minutes before you.  I kind of come here often since it’s close to work.”

Once their orders are placed.  Lucy gets right to it, starting with the one question that plagued her.  There’d be no point in staying long if she didn’t like the answer.  “To be honest I was surprised to get your response.  Tell me the truth Natsu.  You’re cute and have a good job, how is someone like you still single?

Natsu blushes, and there goes the head scratching again.  “Well would you believe I wasn’t the one who sent the response?”

“Come again?!  What do you mean?!”

“I was with my buddy and he took my phone when I wasn’t looking and found your ad.  I’m really sorry, he’s been trying to get me to date cause I’ve just been so focused on work, so at first, I was pissed and was gonna apologize and renege but then I thought what the hell, why not.  He’s right I do need to get out more.  Then when I saw you, I’m glad I agreed to come here cause you are smokinghot!”  He hangs his head.  “I’m sorry, I’m rambling.  Truth is I’m still single cause I get flustered with girls.  It’s okay if after learning that you wanna change your mind…”

Lucy’s soft laughter stops his blubbering cold, and he looks up wide-eyed at the giggling blonde.  He was sure he was bright red by now because he swore the temperature in the cafe had doubled.

“You’re so cute!”  Lucy chuckles.  “It’s quite endearing to me.  I was so nervous that you’d end up being some stuck-up playboy just looking for a one-night-stand or something, that to see you all flustered makes me feel better.”

“Um, thanks,” he cocks his head with a silly grin, “I think?”

She chuckles again. “Let’s start over, shall we?”

Over lunch Lucy tells Natsu that she was hoping to find someone to accompany her to her high school reunion, leaving out the part about Sting.  Of course, he asked her why find a stranger as a date, to which she replied, since she’s still single, she just wanted someone no one would know.

“So basically,” Lucy blushes lightly, “I was hoping we could pretend we’ve been dating for a while already.”

“Oh, so I’m gonna play like a fake boyfriend?”

“Yeah… if that’s something you’d be okay with.”

Natsu hunches his shoulders, “Yeah, why not.”

Over the next upcoming weeks, Lucy and Natsu spend as much time as they can in order to learn about each other.  The plan wouldn’t work if they messed up on simple questions, especially if cornered by anyone that knows Lucy’s past.  Family history to when they met, how long they’ve been dating all needed to be memorized. As a writer that works from home, her schedule was open, so they mainly worked around Natsu’s, sometimes at her apartment, sometimes at his.  

Once their nerves had calmed the friendship bloomed.  Natsu was a real sweet-hearted goof and Lucy loved spending time with him.  It was definitely a little awkward at first since Sting had been her only boyfriend since high school, leaving Lucy with very little experiences to draw from before or after.  But frankly, Lucy was also a bit surprised how natural their friendship was coming along, and by the fifth week she’d almost forgotten this was supposed to be a fake relationship.  She didn’t want to admit it, but the stock broker from Dreyar & Dreyar was really growing on her.

She fidgets on the couch one evening.  “I think we should practice um,” Lucy cheeks darken as she tries to get the words out, “you know k-kissing.”  They were only two weeks from the reunion and while they’d done things like holding hands, first base had not been attempted yet.  

Natsu gulps and nods. This was something he’d been dreading for a while, now that his feelings for the pretty blonde had steadily grown. He knew this was only supposed to be a faux situation, but in the back of his mind, he hoped it would turn into something more.    

They awkwardly shift their bodies closer until their legs are touching.  Despite his trepidation, he’s dreamt of this moment for the last couple of weeks and the only way it could work was, to give in.  Natsu reaches out to cradle Lucy’s face in his hand, sweeping his thumb along her milky skin.  It was so soft under his touch!  He lets his eyes drift over the lips he needed to claim next.  Would it be everything he’d imagined?  With a pause and coquette nod by the blonde, Natsu leans in coveting Lucy’s ruby lips.  Slow and gentle, he applies pressure to the kiss allowing the blonde to tell him how far to push things.  But she never pulls away, rather adds to the mix with a nibble to his bottom lip.  He swore his heart jumped into his throat by her actions and a light groan slips out.  

Emboldened by his response, Lucy runs the tip of her tongue against the seam of his lips.  Natsu relents and allows her to slip through.  She hums her pleasure and savors what this man was providing her.  The fears of allowing someone else to get close again seemed lost in this moment they were sharing.  A simple kiss that set off fireworks in her brain.  It was amazing, and something she hadn’t felt in so long.  Her fingers weave into his hair, threading through, gripping tightly as he suckles and cavorts with her tongue.  Oh wow, Lucy moans, this man was really good at finding hidden buttons she didn’t even know had existed till now.

She was almost saddened by the loss of contact when Natsu slowly pulled away out of breath.  It was probably for the best that they slowed things down anyways.  Her goal was supposed to be, just get through the reunion, not fall in love with the next guy that came her way.  But as he rested his forehead against hers, and she felt his hands gently resting above her hip, a crack appeared in Lucy’s resolve.  Natsu was so sweet, so attentive compared to how Sting had treated her.  How had she not known that men like the ones in her stories may actually exist.

Needless to say, sleep didn’t come so easily for either of them that night as they replayed the kiss they had shared on her couch.  Natsu knew he was hopelessly in love, but Lucy was more torn than ever.

The night of the reunion came swiftly enough and they both were not truly ready for it emotionally. They were dressed to impress, having pulled out all the stops with a custom fit Armani suit for Natsu, and an elegant red gown for Lucy that accented all of her assets.  Her plan was to make Sting jealous, but Natsu was still unaware of this secondary reason.  Lucy had toyed with the idea of telling him the truth, but every time she built up the courage to do so, she balked and now it was too late.

And low and behold, as they pull up to the valet station in Natsu’s M5, who but Sting and his date are exiting another vehicle.  Lucy takes a deep breath, willing herself to calm down.  She couldn’t believe it!  Yukino Aguria was his date!  The cheerleading captain and the football quarter back from their high school years. Oh, how cliché could this be?!  

“Are you okay,” Natsu had taken her hand when he’d noticed her jaw clench.  “Is that someone you know?”

“Yeah,” Lucy exhales, “they’re here for the reunion too.”  Like hell she was going to tell Natsu now, that they were the reason she’d brought him in the first place.  She turns on the fake smile, “let’s get this over with.”

It wasn’t all that bad Lucy realizes an hour into the event.  A few of her old friends, some she hadn’t spoken to in years were in attendance and it was nice catching up with them.  So far Natsu was playing his role perfectly, holding her hand or keeping his arm around her waist, making small talk with people, and doing what any old boyfriend would do.  But every so often, her eyes drift over to wherever Sting was hanging out.  As she suspected, he and Yukino was mainly around their former teammates.  Well it did make sense.  Theymade more sense.  Lucy hadn’t been part of that crowd to begin with because cheer just wasn’t of interest to her.  It still didn’t make her feel any better, only wonder if she’d been the one played their entire relationship.

She didn’t wanna see much more of it and excuses herself to the restroom to calm her nerves.  

After freshening up and composing herself, Lucy exists the lady’s room and is startled to find Sting waiting right outside, alone, leaning against the wall.

“Didn’t think you’d come,” he smirks at her, “I knew you wanted to see me again.”

“Oh please,” Lucy tries to get around him, but he blocks her.  “Sting, move.”

“You thought you could just break up with me and I’d let you go so easily?”  Sting corners Lucy against a wall with his arms braced on either side of her.  “That ain’t happening baby.”      

Lucy seethes.  “Y-You’re the one who was doing the cheating Sting! I wasted 12 years of my life on you and I’m glad to have found someone new.”

“Who, Armani boy out there.”  He scoffs, “think I don’t know you only met the guy two months ago on some dating site.” When he sees Lucy’s eyes widen, he taunts her more.  “Yeah…” Sting trails a finger along her jaw and down her neck, “that’s right, I found out from Minerva cause she works at that company checking through profiles.  Couldn’t land a guy so you dug one up.  Cute baby, real cute, but you’re not gonna replace me so easily.”

“Y-You have Yukino,” Lucy spat back.  “Why are you still bothering me…”

Sting grabs Lucy’s jaw hard.

“You’re hurting me Sting, stop it!”

He narrows his eyes, “I just don’t like losing what’s mine.”

Natsu had grown worried at how long Lucy was taking and went to investigate.  As he rounds the corner of the hallway, he sees the same man from earlier pinning her to the wall.  Furious, he runs as fast as he can, cold cocking him before he even knew what hit him. Sting flies a few feet away but quickly scrambles to his feet.  “Back off pretty boy.  This is between me and my ex!”

Ex?  Natsu glances at Lucy confused.  

“Oh, I see,” Sting snickers, “she never told you.”

But Natsu didn’t care. No woman deserved to be treated the way this bastard was hurting Lucy.  “Last chance,” he narrows his eyes, brows furrowing in a death glare.  “Walk away and don’t ever come near her again or I’ll lay you out right here right now Eucliffe!”  Sting’s eyes widen a tad, that this guy knew who he was.  “Yeah I know who you are.  Quarterback of Crocus High.  I recognized Cheney too from the times we whipped your asses on the field.”

Sting does a double take. “Magnolia.”

“Exactly.  You stuck up rich kids always looked down on us, but on the field, we owned you.  Now walk away or I’ll refresh your memory.”

By that moment, other partygoers had flooded into the hallway.  Rogue grabs Sting telling him it ain’t worth it and to just come with them.

“Fine,” Sting spat back, “you can have her cause she ain’t worth it.  I’m outta here!”

“Are you okay?” Natsu grabs Lucy and pulls her to him.  

She collapses against his chest, sobbing.  “I’m sorry Natsu.  I should have warned you…”  

“It doesn’t matter if he’s you ex, that doesn’t give him the right to put his hands on you.  But tell me the truth Lucy, is he the reason you wanted to come here tonight?”

Lucy hesitates a moment but nods and hangs her head.  “I’m sorry Natsu…. When I’d heard he had a new girlfriend, I just wanted him to think I’d moved on too.  Just never thought he’d do something like this.”

Natsu exhales and kisses the top of her head.  Speaking in a soft tone, “I know I was supposed to just play a role but, after spending the last few weeks with you, I don’t…  I don’t want things to end between us.”

“You don’t?”  She looks up.  “Even after all this?”

He shakes his head and smiles, cupping her cheek gently, “permission to kiss my new… girlfriend?”  

She smiles and pulls him in for a kiss, “permission no longer required…”