1: Pink & Blonde Meet Blonde

The pink-haired male walked into the café, and quickly took a place amongst the many customers. He looked around. It seemed to be an ordinary café, just like those ones you see in those movies. He smiled in spite of himself and in spite of his highly unsuccessful day. He had just been fired from his job due to cuts in wages, and so on and so on…the usual excuse.

He sighed, and waited for a waitress or waiter to come and serve him, which didn't look like it would be anytime soon. The small café was absolutely packed, so instead of trying to demand the attention of a waiter, he just sighed once again and put his head on the table, letting himself breathe in and out slowly.

It was a cold, winter-filled day, as the cold air whipped outside. That was mainly the reason Natsu had even come into the café in the first place.

Usually, he would have probably passed this place by over and over again. It just wasn't his kind of place, but he had decided to just step inside maybe for a cup of coffee or something. It's not as if he had been actually cold out there, due to his abnormal temperatures.

He closed his eyes to take in the peace of the chatter around him, and didn't notice himself drifting off into a world of dreams.

…

Natsu heard a voice, and he felt a small pinch on his shoulder. He jerked awake, surprised and found himself looking at an equally surprised blonde, who was in an apron holding a pitcher of tea. Her big brown eyes looked into his onyx eyes, trying to figure him out, it looked like. Finally she spoke and said,

"How long have you been here?"

Her voice startled Natsu, as if she was just waking him up from some long nap. He smiled ruefully and glanced down at his wrist, just to find no watch. He looked back up at the waitress and asked,

"Well, what time is it?"

She grinned slightly and tilted her head to the left. She turned to glance at the clock and turned back around.

"It's almost five in the afternoon," she said. He only nodded and responded with,

"Then, I think I've been here for about three hours." He put his right hand on the back of his neck and pressed down, trying to get rid of the aching feeling of sleep. He groaned loudly and stretched his arms, causing the waitress to jump back slightly. He grinned, amused and finally stood up and said,

"Well, I guess I should better leave."

She looked troubled as he started to get his few things together and asked,

"Did you ever get anyone to serve you? We were really busy earlier, but I don't recall anyone serving you…?" She trailed off, leaving the unspoken question in her voice. Natsu's eyebrows rose every so slightly, but he still said,

"Um…no. I didn't actually, but that might be because I fell asleep, so it's not a big deal and-"

"Oh no! Well, then I guess I should probably take your order now, huh?" The waitress only blushed and continued on,

"I'm still sorry about that, but what would you like to eat or drink… that is if you're staying or not." Her uncertain added words at the end of her statement/question amused Natsu, but he remained impassive and just sat down slowly, letting the woman know that he intended to stay. Her grin widened, and she took out a small notepad and a pencil.

He quickly told her his order, which turned out to be simply a cup of coffee. She just jotted the order quickly down, realized how simple it was, and then called behind her,

"Gray! Make a cup of coffee alright?" Natsu looked around, panicked that she might be disturbing other customers, but soon realized that he was the only customer there.

No wonder she noticed me, Natsu thought to himself, dryly.

"Sure thing Luce!" A male voice, Gray, yelled back.

Natsu just pursed his lips and remained silent, when the waitress just turned to face him again and say,

"It'll be ready in just a minute."

He only nodded, still keeping mute.

Lucy kept silent as well, until Gray finally called out that it was ready. She rushed off, relieved to escape the awkward silence that had just occurred. Natsu just pushed his body further down in the booth, and huffed softly as he looked outside.

It was snowing.

Beautiful white drops of cold fell from the sky, and Natsu witnessed every bit of it. He sure was solemn today. He sighed, as if he was defeated. It wasn't just his job that had just gone wrong today. There were so many other problems, but what could he do about them? They were in the past after all and-his thoughts got interrupted as the waitress returned and handed him a cup of coffee.

He only glanced at her as he took it, and took a sip, still looking outside. He was absorbed in the beauty of what he was seeing, so he didn't notice Lucy staring at him with curious eyes, but when he did he casually asked,

"What's wrong?"

A flicker of amusement passed over her face, as she said, dazed,

"Hmm….'what's wrong?'….now that's a question for us all, isn't it? Maybe I should be asking you that, Mr. Customer."

Her response surprised Natsu, so he could not but help smile and say,

"Keen observation, huh?"

She gave no response, but instead just continued to look at him, eyes wide with unspoken questions. Natsu's eyes, however, only looked up at the ceiling trying to come up with a valid response.

What is wrong, Natsu?

Natsu's sudden thought made him flinch. Lucy made no comment, but instead just stood there patiently waiting for any sort of response.

In the end, he said nothing and just continued to look at the now very interesting ceiling. Lucy sighed, disappointed, and bounded off, taking her pitcher of tea with her.

Wonder why she is still carrying that, he thought to himself wryly. He just shook his, amused at his sudden thought, and carried on with the process of looking outside.

He took a few more sips, and when he finished he tried to call the waitress over. She quickly noticed him and walked towards him still wearing that smile.

"Can I get the bill?"

"Sure thing," she said. He only nodded as she went off to get the check. When she returned he quickly and quietly paid and gave her a twenty as a tip.

She looked startled and tried to object, but Natsu only raised his hand and said,

"Look, your smile put me in a better mood today, so this is my thanks. So just take it, okay?" He plastered a smile on his face, and she just pursed her lips looking at him curiously, but eventually she took the money muttering,

"Well…I do need it for my rent…"

He nodded, pleased and started to take off, but just as he was about to leave the café, the waitress called out to him.

"Hey!"

He turned, surprised, but still made no sound. He tilted his head to the side with a questioning gaze. She blushed and looked down.

"So…come back again, okay?" She looked away, with that blush still spread out over her cheeks and Natsu smiled. A real smile too. She peeked a glance back up at him when he chuckled softly. Her big brown eyes were filled with a child-like nature, yet completely captivating. It was strange…Natsu thought to himself. Finally, he gave into the small grin that was trying to escape.

"Alright. Maybe I'll see you around again sometime," he said, and with that…he left.

Lucy smiled to herself pleased, but also a little disappointed that she never caught his name. Hmm…she looked down at the twenty-dollar bill in her hand and smiled secretly. She looked back up and out the door, at the disappearing figure of the strange pink-haired man.

She would like to seem him again, no doubt, even if she wasn't completely sure why…the sound of the bell of the door made her jump. It was a young man who looked to be a little over twenty, with cropped blonde hair.

Lucy immediately blushed. He was handsome. She looked back down at her hands and thought sourly, yet not disappointed,

Why are so many handsome guys coming in today?

She bounded up towards the man and said cheerfully,

"Hello, welcome to the Fairy Café. Is there a certain place you would like to sit?"

The young man only regarded her and nodded towards the same place that the pink-haired man had sat at not too earlier. Before she could even say anything more, he bounded over there and took a seat spreading out his arms over the booth top.

Lucy huffed, somewhat annoyed and handed him a menu while reciting the specials of the day. He barely even glanced at her, and only said a gruff,

"Thanks Fairy."

She frowned, but made no comment as she went to talk to the kitchen staff. It's not like this is the first time a rude customer has walked in, especially someone like him. No doubt he was a player and one of those guys who never actually settled down with a girl, but instead someone who lived on one-night stands. When she entered the kitchen, Gray, Cana, and Levy all looked up.

"What is it Luce?" Levy asked, seeming overly concerned. Lucy just gave a smile and responded with,

"Oh, nothing much, really. I just don't like rude customers, that's all."

The three of them remained silent and Lucy's smile widened as she asked sweetly,

"You sure you guys don't want to switch to being a waiter?"

They all shook their heads and Lucy sighed, already expecting that answer. Plus, she couldn't cook to save her life anyways so the whole suggestion was actually terrible.

"Hey Blondie! Would you take my order already?!" A voice yelled, breaking the silence of thought. Lucy spun around, irritated. It was that guy. Why was he yelling for her like some servant?! She rushed outside, but before she could attack him, she remembered that he was the customer and that she had to be "nice". So, she plastered as fake cheerful grin on her face and calmly said,

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Now, what would you like, Sir?"

The man smirked.

"Well, I know I want the bacon cheeseburger, no mayo and… an order of fries. Also, I want a root beer to go with that. Do you think you can handle that Miss?" He asked. Lucy had to resist the urge to hit him, and just jotted the order down.

Stupid smart-ass! Those were Lucy's thoughts as she stalked away from him. She told Gray the order and sat down behind the counter, annoyed.

She noticed that the blonde-haired guy was looking out the window as well, just like the earlier man.

Hmpf. She looked beyond the man and outside the window. It really was a beautiful sight. She could watch it forever…even if she was more of a beach girl. Yeah, she didn't really like the cold all that much. Lucy shivered, just at the thought of it.

"Order up!" Gray exclaimed, a couple minutes later. Already? Lucy got the order and took it over to the man. He just took it while smirking, with a look that said, 'this better be good'. Lucy hated those looks, which meant she would probably hate this guy.

Stupid players, and their stupid…hmm…ways.

Lucy glanced back at the door, and found herself wishing that the earlier man would come back, but all she saw was snow. However, all she could hear was that man eating, which was positively disgusting! She shuddered and tried to think of anything else but this man's noises while eating, but finally she just couldn't take it anymore.

"Would you please shut up?!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and a look of pure horror came over her face. The guy stopped eating mid-way while clutching his burger in the air, right in front of his mouth. Amusement flickered over his face as he set down his burger and turned towards Lucy.

"What was that Miss Blondie?" He asked. She turned beet red, and tried to look away. How embarrassing, she thought, but the guy asked and she had to say something, right?

"Well, what I meant to say was would you eat a little softer please?"

His lips quirked up and formed a smirk as he said,

"Oh…is that so?"

She remained silent and continued to look at him, still very red.

"Okay then," he finally said. Lucy let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding and looked away from him, ignoring him as best as she could. He didn't say anything either, as he continued to eat, only a little softer this time.

Lucy sighed, and bit her nails as she watched the clock. She grabbed her pencil and started to mindlessly tap it, waiting and waiting until…

"Okay now, could you please "shut up" Miss Waitress?"

She reverted her attention to the man, who was now finished and was currently glaring at her. She looked down at her pencil and automatically let go.

"Oh…sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed. He only snorted and told her he was ready to go, and that he needed the check. She stood up, and went over to him.

After the whole bill business, the man stood up to leave, and Lucy turned around to continue to start at the clock. It's not like he gave her a ginormous tip, so it's not like she wants to stop him or anything, but instead of her stopping him…he stopped her.

"Hey Miss Waitress?" His voice was laced with amusement, as he started speaking again. She turned to face him and eyed him.

"Yes?" Lucy asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I'm Sting."

What? Who cares? Lucy thought.

"Good to know," she mumbled. He tilted his head, even more amused.

"Well isn't it custom to tell me your name?"

"Lucy," she said, bored.

He nodded, smirking.

"Cool. I'll keep that in mind."

"For what?" Lucy asked.

"Well…I'll keep it in mind when I tell my friends who I last fucked."

And with a wave, he left, leaving Lucy seething in anger.

That…jack-ass! Lucy exclaimed in her head.

She was pissed, and irritated now, due to that one guy! It wasn't right!

First, she had a very nice man tip her graciously and then a jerk like him comes in and screws it all up! However, Lucy calmed down when she thought of the other man.

Now why couldn't I get his name, instead?

She turned, still a little upset and resumed her position behind the counter. She stared at the clock and counted down the seconds until the day was over still thinking of the two very different men she had just met.

…

HI! It's me, starting another fanfiction even though I'm currently writing two ongoing stories, plus one I haven't published yet (I know…I'm bad…*pouts*)

Soooo…this story's going to have a little OOC, but actually in this chapter Natsu only acted like that because he was just having a bad day (poor Natsu) and Sting will be much "jerkier" next time! Well, please leave a review, and tell me who YOU'RE for! Nalu or Sticy? 0.0 Well, until next time!

And seriously- leave me a review…it makes me write faster. :D