Hello and welcome to chapter three/four (I really don't know what to call it anymore. Prologues make things confusing. XD)! The café has their second meeting, and Natsu perhaps has his fourth call with Lucy... or maybe not... we'll see. XD

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D

Chapter 3: A Four Letter Word

He was probably the most stupid person on the face of the planet. No, probably the galaxy. Hell, maybe even ever to exist. At least that's what he kept telling himself for the next three, count them, three days. Why? Because the wrong number girl, now known as Lucy, hadn't called him back.

Why? It beat the hell out of him. He'd been witty, funny, he'd teased her a little and she'd even given him her name, and yet here he was three days later and he hadn't spoken a word to her since. At first he wondered if perhaps she was just busy or tied up or lost her phone or- The list went on and on. However, after the second day rolled around, he began to realize that the more likely possibility was: he'd done something wrong.

"Wrong" was a very vague thing to say. Had he done something creepy? Something weird? Did he come off as a jerk? He teased her and he'd heard the smile in her voice but maybe it was one of those pity smiles and she was actually thinking "wow, this guy's probably the rudest person I've ever spoken to!" Maybe she didn't get that he was kidding.

He had no idea what he'd done but he was positive that after three days of silence, it was most definitely his fault. The third option that she just didn't feel the need to call him back had also crossed his mind, but it'd been ruled out almost instantly. Their little chat had ended so abruptly and with her giving out her name, and she'd also been the one to call him both times so… He just thought that had he been in her shoes, he would've at least called back to get the other person's name so it'd be even. He'd want to know the name of this mystery person on the other end of the line, had he been her.

Plus, he wasn't entirely sure what to call their relationship now, but he didn't feel as if they were exactly strangers anymore. Not friends, not even acquaintances, but… just not strangers. Strangers didn't have the smooth and easy-feeling conversations that they'd had. Surely she felt that connection too.

Or maybe not since she wasn't freaking calling him back. He sort of felt like throwing his phone in the trash. Or getting a new one that wasn't from the Stone Age, but he really didn't have the money for that. He'd never been so damn obsessed with a phone until her and he was seriously wondering if it was messing with his mental stability.

He had slept even less when she didn't call than when she had. Granted, he'd still slept through his classes instead –except when he was getting yelled at or smacked on the back of his head and told to wake up by the goodie-two-shoes girl that sat next to him in English- so he was still getting a solid few hours of sleep a day.

But still… something was definitely wrong with him if just the fact that she hadn't called made him mope around like some half-dead zombie. Seriously, maybe he needed to go to the doctor. Scratch that, doctors were scary. He didn't need them. He needed her to call him back. Her voice was his medicine… Ew, that sounded like a really bad pickup line some jerk –probably like Gray- would use in a bar. Natsu shivered. Picking up girls really wasn't his thing.

And so, even though he felt like his world was moving at a painfully slow pace, it did move on, and soon enough the end of the week rolled around, and with it, one of those little meetings Wendy insisted on having.

He'd half expected her to cancel it after she saw exactly how unenthused her employees were, but she hadn't. In fact, she'd reminded them about it nearly every hour of every day. 'Tuesdays and Fridays', 'every week', 'put in at least one suggestion', her chipper remarks were pretty much the same every day. Natsu had to give her some respect, though. Her dream was to own her own successful café, which wasn't really happening, but she wasn't going to give up. She was trying to make the best of the situation and for that, she deserved some credit.

And so Friday and that meeting did roll around, and as Natsu, again looking half-dead as he entered the diner, pulled himself into the kitchen, taking the same seat he'd sat in before, he really, really, wasn't in the mindset for it.

He was the last one to arrive, Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue all giving him looks that said 'Finally, Sleeping Beauty decided to show up'. Wendy however didn't look phased, dancing back into the kitchen and snatching the little wooden suggestion box off of the counter. She placed it carefully on the table, a grin almost bigger than she was scrawled across her face.

"Okay, guys! The second official meeting of Slayers Café is officially in order!" Natsu swore someone would get her a gavel as a gag gift if she kept sounding so formal. "It's the last day of our work week, which means we'll look over the suggestions you guys put in throughout these past few days!" Another perk of working at a diner that only saw a few customers a day was that Wendy literally couldn't afford to stay open on weekends, so while no, he didn't get paid, at least he got his weekends off. She reached forward to open the box, pausing at the last minute and holding up a finger. "Oh, you each put in at least one suggestion, right? That's the rule."

She eyed everyone at the table and in a loud bustling of chair legs being scraped across the floor, Gajeel and Sting went to find some paper. "Get me one too," Natsu called after Gajeel and was met with a scoff and the name of "lazy ass".

"Are you kidding me?!" Wendy whined. "You're all telling me that after three days of reminders, three whole days, Rogue was the only one who put in a suggestion?" She picked up the box and shook it around. There was a slight rustling that signaled there was at least one sheet of paper inside.

"Sorry," Nastsu mumbled. He honestly did feel a little guilty. His mind had been elsewhere throughout the entire week and he really had meant to do it. It also felt a little weird having Wendy reprimand them while sounding discouraged instead of peeved. Usually her little snips and snaps at them during the day were lively, and she said them with a smile, but she really did look like her feelings had been hurt this time. Natsu had no idea what he was going to write as a suggestion or comment but he figured perhaps he should actually try to take it seriously. Try being the operative word there.

Gajeel came back, followed by Sting, both sitting down with thuds in their chairs. Gajeel shoved a tiny scrap of paper, barely big enough for a mouse to write on in front of Natsu. "There, and find yer own pen, ya mooch."

"Hey!" Natsu snapped, the sleep clearing from his brain a little as annoyance began to seep in. Gajeel had a gigantic sheet of paper to write on; he had more than enough to share. "Gimmie that," he snapped, reaching over to snatch Gajeel's paper from him.

"Oy, if you don't like it, get yer own!" Gajeel snapped back, slapping away Natsu's hands. He hadn't had a slap fight since second grade, but here he was a grown man and absolutely determined to slap his way to victory. Gajeel didn't need a piece of paper that big, and Natsu was sure he wasn't going to take it seriously, anyway. He on the other hand, was actually going to participate. The battle for the paper was short-lived as Rogue took their distraction as his own chance to stop the fight and tore the paper in half, giving a piece to each of them.

"Aw, c'mon," Gajeel groaned. "Seriously, I don't know how you all don't see that he's a killjoy."

Natsu grinned to himself, sticking a tongue out in Gajeel's direction as he scribbled the first thing that came to mind down on his paper, folded it, and slipped it into the box. Gajeel and Sting followed in suit and Wendy's smile returned.

She picked up the box, shaking it around to mix up the contents. "Okay, I hope you all got creative! We really could use some new ideas." She set the box upside down, flipping open the latch on the bottom, and pulling out the first sheet of paper. She unfolded it carefully. "Okay, suggestion number one: we should "stop having these stupid meetings"." Her entire face slowly turned a very vivid shade of pink and Natsu leaned away from her. Ooh, whoever had suggested that was really in for it. "Oh come on!" she yelled. "This is only the second one! Take this seriously, Sting!" Wendy threw the piece of paper in his direction and it caught the air, floating down to sit on the table as she fumed.

"Hey, who says that was-"

"I know it was you!" she ground her teeth, squinting one eye in this direction.

Natsu was positive she was yelling most likely the loudest she had in her entire life and yet honestly it wasn't very intimidating. There was just something about the mixture between her short stature and naturally sweet disposition that just made any threat she threw seem… only mildly intimidating, if that.

Sting mumbled to himself, looking a little embarrassed as he tore his suggestion into tiny strips. It was almost like being scolded by a mother when Wendy got mad. Like a little slap on the hand that was meant to be taken seriously, but most likely wouldn't be. However, in front of others, it was incredibly humbling.

Wendy shoved her hand back into the box. "This next one better be serious," she huffed. Taking out the next sheet of paper she unfolded it carelessly this time, Sting's suggestion putting quite a damper on her mood. "Second suggestion: says that "we should make more types of food"." Wendy paused, looking a little surprised as if she had wholeheartedly expected it to be another silly suggestion.

Natsu grinned to himself. That was his suggestion. He felt himself puff up with pride as he made eye contact with everyone else at the table so they were sure to see that it was his and how good of a suggestion-giver he could be. Honestly he had no idea what the diner could do to get more customers, but he himself wasn't too interested in any of the menu items. Well, he was always interested in food, but cold sandwiches and coffee weren't exactly his cup of tea. They needed to spice it up.

Wendy chewed on her lip, pondering it for a second. "That's not a bad idea," she said carefully. "I'll take a real look at the menu this weekend and we'll talk about possible additions in the next meeting." Her entire face lit up again, looking just as excited as she had in the beginning. "Ooh! That means we actually have something for the agenda next Tuesday!" She did a tiny excited squeal to herself as she placed the suggestion next to the box and reached in for the next. "Okay, third suggestion says: that we should "get bigger chairs and stop having the meetings in the kitchen."." She paused, blinking quietly for a minute as she re-read the suggestion.

Natsu shot a look at Gajeel and sure enough the big oaf was biting back a grin. He just knew that guy couldn't take anything seriously even for a moment.

Wendy shook her head. "You know what? I'm not sure if that was serious or not, but no. Just… no. I'm not even going to address that." She put down the sheet of paper as if she were disgusted by it, flicking it towards Gajeel as she reached in for the last sheet of paper, which turned out to be two. You would've thought she'd just won the lottery. Her eyes went wide, her mouth forming an excited 'o', and her body suddenly unable to hold its excitement as she began fidgeting in place.

"Tch, mine didn't get that reaction," Gajeel scoffed, feigning offense.

Wendy completely ignored him, opening the pieces of paper as if they were gold. "Okay the first one says: "We should re-paint the walls a different color."." She paused, taking it in with a few blinks and moving on to the next. "And the second one says: "After we re-paint the walls we should consider re-decorating. The scheme doesn't feel like that of a diner."." Wendy looked to Rogue with question. "It doesn't feel like a diner?" She sounded a little confused and a little hurt all at the same time.

Rogue shook his head. "Not to be a "killjoy," he shot a glare at Gajeel, "but I'm going to take this seriously. The only thing about the inside of this restaurant that works, is the floor." He stood up from his seat, somehow shimmying around the table in the tight space and opening the order window from the kitchen to the main room with a squeak. He motioned to the room and Natsu had to crane his neck to see out behind himself. "I don't know how many of you have any sense of style," Rogue made a face at his own wording, "but all I see is a mess."

Wendy let out a tiny whine as if she'd been insulted. "What's wrong with it?"

Rogue sighed. "We have black and white checkered tile flooring, and that's fine for a diner. However, we have yellow walls, red-ish counters, grey countertops, light blue tables, the light fixtures have a green-ish hint to them, the kitchen is black mostly, but the walls are obviously some shade of maroon, the bathrooms have a purple palette to them, the drapes around the main window have pink and white polka dots, and the barstools are white, and we're not even using them as barstools." Rogue had gotten progressively louder as he went on, sounding beyond exasperated by the end. "Not to mention our appliances, plates, and silverware are all a little different too."

Natsu took another look back out into the dining area. He honestly hadn't ever really taken a good look at the interior decoration of the diner. He knew color theory and what went well with what, but honestly, he wasn't some expert in fashion. The diner looked fine to him. Sure, it was all a little mismatched, but it was just fine. If he were a customer, it wouldn't deter him at all.

Wendy looked at Rogue with wide eyes and Natsu wasn't quite able to place the emotion on her face. If he had to guess he would've said she looked grateful in a way that Rogue was giving suggestions, and absolutely broken-hearted that he was tearing her diner apart.

Rogue took a deep breath. "I'm not expert when it comes to businesses, but what I do know is that you have to make it not only an enjoyable experience for the customer, but you have to figure out what your "brand" is. You have to find one thing you want this diner to be, and go after it. Right now it looks like we're running some makeshift bar that isn't sure what kind of bar it wants to be."

Wendy nodded slowly. "I-I didn't know what color I wanted things so I figured I could just get a little of each and find what we liked… I didn't think it looked that bad."

Rogue looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. Maybe Natsu knew that he himself didn't have the best sense of style, but it appeared Wendy didn't exactly have one –at least for interior decoration- either.

"So what're you exactly suggestin' with this?" Gajeel asked.

Rogue shrugged lightly. "I'm not saying "let's re-do everything" I'm just saying… y'know, let's let Wendy find out exactly what she wants for this place, and then let's make use of the salary we are getting paid, to help her out, instead of sitting around all day doing nothing."

Gajeel rolled his eyes as if he were annoyed he'd actually have to start doing some work and Wendy looked beyond overwhelmed.

"S-so where would we start… on that… exactly?"

Rogue gave her a slight smile. "Well first, let's carry out my first suggestion and re-paint the walls."

0=0=0=0=0=0

Natsu collapsed in his desk chair yet again when he arrived back at his apartment. He was exhausted from the lack of sleep, yes, but honestly that meeting at the diner had been surprisingly… Well, he'd actually had to sort of work his brain a little.

Wendy had called the meeting to a close not long after Rogue gave his thoughts on the place and said she would really take a good long look at everything over the weekend and have a plan on Monday. She said she wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do, although she did know exactly what she wanted for the diner, so to "come ready and enthused" on their first day the next week.

Natsu seriously doubted he'd be "enthused" about anything while feeling this tired, and while waiting for the wrong number girl- no, Lucy to call him back. If she ever did call him back, that was. He did love her name, it was perfect in an odd sort of way, but he had to admit he had a hard time not calling her "wrong number girl" all the time.

He stretched, flipping open his phone again and quadruple checking that he hadn't received a call and hadn't heard it. Nope, he hadn't. He replied to a couple text messages he'd gotten during the day, only half-heartedly answering them. Loke was having a party and promised there would be girls. Normally he would've gone just for the free food and beer, but he didn't feel like getting out. Wow, he was starting to sound like a real party-pooper.

Gajeel hadn't been the only one to notice that he was a little more tired and acting a little funny lately. A few of his friends had noticed, Loke being one of them, and had somehow also pushed hard enough to get the story out of him. He declared that if it was a girl Natsu wanted, he could get him one. Whatever the hell that meant.

Natsu didn't want a girl. Why the hell that was what Loke took from hearing about his little encounters with Lucy was beyond him. He just had some odd connection to a stranger; that was all. And it was really making him sick that she wasn't calling him back.

And that was when a fourth option occurred to him: maybe something had happened to her. He'd had three ideas before as to why she wouldn't be calling: one, she was busy, which he'd knocked out, two, that he'd offended her or creeped her out somehow, which he was positive was probably the winner, or three, she thought their conversation was over and didn't feel the need to call back, which he'd also crossed out. However, the fourth option hadn't ever occurred to him before.

Natsu felt his eyes grow wide as the many, many possibilities ran through his head. What if she'd been in a car accident? What if she'd gotten hurt playing a sport? What if she'd had some random heart attack? What if she fell down a flight of stairs? What if she fell off a bridge? What if she got hit by a bus? What if some wild animal had attacked her? The possibilities seemed endless and began getting more and more out of hand and ridiculous as he kept going.

He couldn't think of anything he could've said that would've made her not want to call him back, and horrible things happened to people every day, and so suddenly the possibility that he'd screwed up somehow took a backseat to a different possibility.

And while he waited to feel excited, or even happy that maybe it wasn't because he'd been some inadvertent jerk to her, and maybe it wasn't his fault… the slight relief didn't come. Instead, panic seemed to strike through him. What if she really wasn't alright? He was probably tens if not hundreds of miles away from wherever she lived, and he didn't know how to help. Yes, he was just some… non-stranger –he still didn't know what to call their relationship- that she'd talked to what, three times? But still… he wanted to make sure she was alright, and if there was anything he could do, even if it was to make her smile. Well, he'd do it.

He didn't take into consideration the possibility of how crazy that sounded. Sometimes even good or best friends didn't selflessly offer assistance for truly anything when something happened. And yet here he was, barely knowing her, and he was positive he'd be up for anything.

Granted, maybe that wasn't so out of the ordinary, considering who he was. Throughout his life he'd been called many things by people. People said he trusted anyone, even when he shouldn't. People said he'd give the shirt off his back –which he really didn't understand the meaning of- to someone in need. Of course, he'd been called a lot of not-so-favorable things as well, but yes, he was a rather… caring person, and going out of his way for someone wasn't exactly uncommon.

However, he had no way of getting in touch with her, so even if he could do something, he wouldn't know it.

Wait… he didn't have… nothing, per say. He flipped open his phone, arrowing to the contact he'd labeled "wrong number girl". It wasn't the phone she'd called from the past two times, but it'd been the first one. He had no idea if it was her phone or not and he'd been mulling over the possibility of calling it since the day Lucy'd called him, but now… he was gonna do it.

Before he could get too nervous to carry out his plan, he clicked dial and waited for an answer. He had no idea what to say. If it wasn't her he had no idea, and if it was…? He had even less of an idea. He'd probably really come off as some creep then. "Hey, you haven't called me for three days. Me, a stranger, and I was just wondering how you were." Sheesh, clingy much?

Luckily, there was a click and a voice answered the phone before he could think too much into it.

"Hello?"

Natsu froze for a moment. It wasn't her. This girl's voice was far too high-pitched and wasn't quite as… It didn't have that quality that he considered absolutely mesmerizing about it. Whatever the hell that quality was, he had no idea. Just something about Lucy's voice made everything sound wonderful. She could say some of the words he hated most and he was positive he'd grow to love them.

"Um…," he mumbled. What should he say? Who was this girl? "I-Is Lucy there?" Hopefully this poor girl wouldn't think he was too crazy. Oh god, was he going to become to this girl what Lucy was to him? Was he the wrong number caller? Oh how roles reversed.

"No, she's not," the voice said hesitantly. "Who… Who is this?"

Oh god, telling her that was even worse than if she didn't know Lucy and had just been some random stranger. But hey, he wasn't going to lie to her –lying just wasn't his thing- and if she really did know Lucy, perhaps she'd know if something happened to her, so he wasn't going to hang up. Natsu took a deep breath and decided to throw all his chips on the table. "I'm a guy Lucy called last weekend on accident and we've talked a few times since… I-I… She hasn't called for a bit and I just wanted to make sure she was okay." Hopefully that wouldn't sound too creepy. He crossed his fingers it wouldn't, anyway.

"Oooh! You're "wrong number guy"!" the girl said, a smile in her voice.

Natsu's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Wait, so whoever this girl was that knew Lucy, had been told about him? And he had apparently been dubbed "wrong number guy" just as he'd dubbed her "wrong number girl"? Hey, great minds thought alike, no? He couldn't help but smirk at the thought. He and Lucy were on the same page… But if she really had gone and told someone about him… Did that mean she felt that they had a connection, just as he did? Because telling someone else meant that she considered their conversations significant, right? At least significant enough to share. His stomach clenched once with hope.

Before he had a chance to respond, the girl let out a melodic giggle. "Yeah, she's fine. Lucy's been sick for a few days now so she hasn't felt like doing really anything but sleeping, but yeah, she's just fine. She's getting better too. You want me to tell her you called?" She sounded a tad hesitant and amused to ask him that.

"Yeah- I mean, no- I mean…" Natsu had no idea how to answer that. Did he want her to know he called? Yes, he sorta did so she'd know he was at least a little invested in their weird telephone-operated relationship and then she'd probably call him back, but he also didn't because once again… that just sounded freakishly clingy. Whatever, he'd go for it. He'd been bold enough to call this number, after all. "Yeah, tell her I called."

"Alright, will do," said the voice. "Bye-bye!"

Natsu opened his mouth to say goodbye but the line clicked fuzzy before he had the chance. He made a slight face, looking at the screen of his phone and considering that he should probably change the name that that number was under. It wasn't Lucy's phone… but he didn't know whose it was. He'd have to ask her next time.

His stomach did a flip. And because he'd told that girl to let Lucy know he'd called… he was pretty much guaranteed a 'next time'.

He smirked. 'Natsu Dragneel,' he thought to himself, shaking his head. '… you sneaky bastard.'

So there it is! I hope you enjoyed! Anyone know who the second mystery girl is? It's probably pretty easy to figure out, haha! XD And Slayers now has a tiny plan for getting more business (sort of) from Rogue. Although, we'll see what Wendy comes up with over the weekend... I think she might have some ideas of her own. ;D

Natsu technically didn't get to talk with Lucy again this time, but hopefully next time he will. And he was all worried about her. Natsu getting all blue because Lucy was sick and missing the festival in the Rainbow Sakura episode was one of my faves, so having him get worried over little things makes me feel all fuzzy and NaLu-y inside. XD

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to know what you thought of it! The reviews you guys are giving are just beyond amazing and I love every single one! :D

~Foxtail-chan