So... this is my first Nalu fanfic! I have only written fanfictions for SasuSaku, but I am a multifandom shipper!

The idea for this story had just been swirling around in my head for a while, and I really wanted to write a modern day type AU as I typically really like to stick to more fantasy settings... In other words, I am trying to get out of my comfort zone a little more.

Anyway, I really hope that you enjoy this story - I would say it will be anywhere between 10 to 20 chapters, depending on how much details I decide to add and whatnot, though I have a general idea of where the whole plot is going to go, and how it's going to end.

Also, It's really not a bad idea to get more Nalu fanfics out there because honestly, there isn't enough!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail or anything related.

Chapter One: That Ridiculous Pink Hair

The first semester of Junior Year at her University had only been in session for few weeks, and Lucy Heartfilia was already feeling the burnout for the entire school year.

Settling into a quick pace walking towards the student union library at Magnolia University, Lucy sighed as the familiar smell and view of bookshelves and the neatly organized mass of papers in covers came into view. The glass door opened automatically to her proximity, letting the almost overwhelming smell of books from the quiet library to flood her sense of smell.

Lucy was clutching her own school book, a big textbook from astrology 101 that she was taking as an elective course for the semester. She had always had an interest in astrology - the stars, the different astrological signs, and the myths and stories that came with each of them. She found it so intriguing.

Without a word, she quietly went over to the librarian's desk - well it was more like a corner with the large desk and computer that wrapped around the left side of the library where she would be hanging out for the next four hours until the student library closed for the evening at nine o-clock pm.

She didn't mind working at the library, especially since she had managed to set it up as a work study this year, which helped pay some of her college tuition for the year - A welcomed necessity since she was trying to get through her schooling on her own without amounting ridiculous numbers of debt that would take her the entirety of the rest of her life to pay off.

She quietly greeted her friend and roommate, Levy McGarden who was sitting comfortably in a chair behind the desk with glasses on and her face a book, her blue hair as messy as ever and tied with a ribbon to keep it from her face.

"Hey!" Lucy greeted in a loud whisper, snapping her friend's attention from her book to her. Levy's face lit up at the sight of her blonde friend.

"Hey Lucy!" she greeted back a smile. "Is it that time already? I guess the library is all yours now! I'm going to head back to our room!" She quietly told her friend. Lucy nodded.

"Okay! How was class today?" She quietly asked, making small talk as Levy began to pack up her things. It was thanks to Levy in the first place that she was able to get this work study job due to her being an even bigger book nerd than herself. They had become fast friends last year, meeting in a historical literature class.

"Oh you know, the usual." Levy replied back with a soft smile. "Jet and Droy want to hang out later. You wanna meet up with us after?" She asked casually.

Lucy was not personally very close with either of those two, but they were good friends of Levy's and she didn't mind them all that much... however, if you asked Lucy's opinion, they were a little too clingy around her bookworm friend. In their defense though, they had been friends for a long time - way longer than the two of them anyway. Occasionally, she would join in on their hangouts, but she found that she often preferred her own company most the time. Lucy liked reading her books and working on her own little story she had been writing and investing time in over the years.

"Well, I'm here until close," Lucy answered, "So I'll text you after that and see where you guys are at?"

Levy nodded in response, knowing that Lucy rarely gave absolute commitment to anything she was unsure of.

"Okay, sounds good. Have fun!" Levy teased, knowing full well how much 'fun' it was to sit in a quiet library as she pulled her schoolbag over her back, which looked almost comical on her very short frame of four foot eleven. Lucy herself was only five foot five, and seemed to tower over her petite friend. Levy said a quick goodbye to Lucy as she left the library.

With Levy now gone, Lucy was left alone to watch the library, noticing that it was mostly empty except for the attention grabbing color of pink on the head of what she was assuming was a guy who's back was turned towards her. She hadn't realized that she had been blatantly staring, trying to wrap her mind around the hair color until he turned as if sensing her eyes transfixed on him, his onyx eyes meeting with her hazel brown eyes. In embarrassment, she quickly adverted her gaze, suddenly busying herself with her astrology book, opening the textbook to the most recent pages that she had looked at in class about thirty minutes ago.

She quickly tried to refocus her attention on something besides the pink hair and onyx eyes when she could feel the presence and quiet footsteps of someone approaching her desk. Lucy inwardly hoped it wasn't the guy who she had just been staring at.

"Excuse me," came a male voice, which almost made Lucy jump as she turned her attention from her book and towards the person who stood in front of her, the library desk between them.

Of course it was the pink haired guy she had been staring at a minute ago!

Lucy's face blushed in embarrassment, as he gave her a toothy grin. She didn't know how, but his pink hair oddly matched him perfectly and she found herself thinking that this guy was kind of hot.

"Are you the librarian? I'm looking for a book, and was wondering if you could help me out?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Y-Yes!" Lucy replied, trying to hide her fluster in her tone. "What is the book you are looking for? Fiction? Non-Fiction? or..." Lucy realized that she beginning to ramble before shutting her mouth. The male in front of her seemed to be slightly amused.

"Actually, it's a literature book," he replied. "I'm not super good with that sort of thing, and well, I gotta admit I don't spend a lot of time in the library."

Lucy gave him a small smile.

"Okay. Is it for class? Or a classic read requirement?" She continued, trying to narrow down whatever it was the pink haired male was looking for, finally feeling like she had smoothed out her voice.

"Actually, it's more like rules of literature? Like through the ages?"

"Oh, so are you in the historical literature class?" Lucy asked, his request seeming familiar to the class that she had taken just last year.

"Yeah, that's the one." He confirmed easily with a grin.

"I took that class last semester! I know where some of the best books to look at for it are." Lucy answered, closing her astrology textbook and standing from her chair. She was slightly wishing that instead of going all comfy on this Friday night with a warm cable knit white sweater and dark blue skinny jeans and her hair in her signature side ponytail that she was a little more dressed up.

Lucy made her way around the desk and motioned for the guy to follow her.

"This way. I'll show you where the books are." She offered, letting him follow her. She could feel his gaze on her back which made the hairs on her nape stand a little to attention as she felt a little conscious of herself. She could tell that he was definitely taller than she was.

She led him over a few book rows back and to the left section of the library, turning down an isle marked with the number six. She stopped about midway down the isle, turning around to face the man following her. Slowly, she shifted her gaze to meet his, looking up before she motioned with her left arm where the books are.

"You should be able to find most of what you are looking for right here," she went on, a polite smile on her face. "So, let me know if you have any other questions?"

The pink haired male gave her another smile, more polite she thought than the first one he had given her.

"Okay, cool. Thanks. I'm Natsu by the way."

Natsu? What a strange name! Lucy thought before realizing that she hadn't replied when he gave her a little bit of an odd look at her silence.

"Oh! Um, I'm Lucy! Nice to meet you, Natsu. I'll be at the desk then if you need anything else." She awkwardly replied, cringing at herself a little as she began to slip away, leaving Natsu in the isle. She thought she could feel his gaze on her back once again until she was out of his view, making her way back to the librarian desk.

Natsu couldn't help but watch Lucy as she retreated back towards the front of the library. He typically didn't stare at people, but there was just something oddly familiar about her that he just couldn't quite put his finger on.

At least, that was the first thing that had caught his attention.

People of the opposite sex wasn't something that Natsu had put a lot of attention into, due to the many things going on in his life, but there was just something about that blonde that he was just drawn to. She was shorter than him, her blonde hair long, and even under her comfy clothes, it did little to hide the fact that she had curves.

This was his second semester since he had started going to the University, and he had never seen her before. Admittedly, he could count on one hand how many times he had actually come into the University library to check out a book or study, and there were thousands of people that attended the school here.

Lazily, he began fumbling around the area that Lucy had pointed him too, realizing that it did indeed have a lot of different books that seemed to be about the historical literature that he had been forced to study as a required credit. Getting through University was going to take him a lifetime it seemed, since he was only going part time, but he had promised himself he would.

Quickly finding a few books that seemed promising in giving him the information that he sought, he grabbed them, piling them under his arm as he casually strolled back towards the desk and seat that he had left his backpack at. He glanced at the librarian desk, noting that the blonde once again had her face buried in a book, probably the same book that she had found so interesting before. Natsu had managed to see that it was an Astrology book, and he wasn't entirely sure if she truly did find the subject interesting, or if she had it open to look like she was keeping herself busy.

The way that her face had flushed had been rather cute, he thought when he had decided to ask for her help.

Natsu sat down quietly at his spot once again, opening the first book to begin skimming its pages. He could feel a pair a brown eyes glancing at him from time to time. She really wasn't good at hiding it, leaving Natsu to chuckle slightly to himself.

Upon hanging up the phone, Lucy couldn't contain her excitement as she gave Levy a huge grin.

"I'm hired!" She said ecstatically to her blue haired friend.

"That's great Lucy! Although, aren't you worried you might be doing a little too much?" Levy asked with a smile, though her tone seemed as if she was a little worried. They were sitting in the dorm room, both lounging on their beds that sat across from each other. Levy's bedding was yellow, decorated with blue flowers, while Lucy's was decorated in an ombre pink and purple, with little white specks made to look like starlight.

"I'll be okay," Lucy replied. "It's just a part time thing, and the hours are super flexible. It's a pretty hard deal to pass up."

"I guess that's true! After all, you are pretty amazing!" Levy replied in encouragement.

"You give me too much credit," Lucy replied, a little embarrassed at the praise.

"Not really." came Levy's simple reply.

"They want me to start tomorrow." Lucy informed her friend.

"Aw, but it's Saturday! Didn't you want to go to the Observatory?" Levy asked, a little disappointed.

"I did, but I have to do training so I can start next week. I'm so sorry, Levy." Lucy apologized, "I promise I will make it up to you!"

Levy giggled. "Well it was your idea, Lucy. But hey, I will take the offer to let you make it up to me. One of these days I just might succeed in dragging you out to socialize with me!" she teased, causing Lucy pout and feign displease.

"So what happened to you hanging out with Jet and Droy?" Lucy asked, remembering that she had entirely forgotten to text Levy after closing up the library, only to find her in their dorm room with her face in a book anyway.

"Eh, I changed my mind and decided to stay in." Levy shrugged. "I've been texting this guy too! Oh and this book I recently got is really interesting."

"You, texting a guy? Like a guy you might like?" Lucy teased, noticing the flush that had appeared on Levy's face.

"N-no! I don't know! We're just talking!" Levy replied, flustered. Lucy gave off a small giggle, while Levy glared at her, clearly unamused by her friend's teasing.

Lucy had a hard time sleeping that night, the excitement of starting a new job as a part time barista at a coffee shop a few blocks away from the University and her dorm building keeping her from calming down.

She was slightly irritated when the sun began to peek its first light through the curtains of their room, indicating that the morning had come, and that she had slept so poorly.

Glancing at her cell phone, Lucy realized that it was just after six in the morning, and that she had to be to the coffee shop by seven to start training.

Levy was fast asleep, buried under her blanket and pillows without a care in the world, and Lucy was slightly envious at the sleep her friend was so obviously getting.

Pulling herself out of the warm comfort of her bed, Lucy headed towards the bathroom they shared, turning on the shower as she hoped the hot water would help her wake up and rejuvenate her a little bit. If that didn't, the at least it would be rather convenient to get a large cup of hot coffee when she got to work, she thought wryly.

Quickly getting herself cleaned up in the shower, she wrung her hair out, wet and freshly washed. She would leave it completely down today she thought. Quickly, she put on underwear, and pulled on her dark skinny jeans again, and this time slipped on a comfortable black sweater that was form fitted. The fall mornings in Magnolia were brisk, and the coming winter would be even colder.

After getting all dressed, she then dried her hair, threw on a little mascara, and deemed it good enough to go. Lucy exited the bathroom, tossing her damp towel on her bed, making a mental note to clean that up later, before fumbling around to find her basic black chelsea boots that she had worn just the day before.

Finally finding them, she once again glanced at her phone as it read almost six forty. It was probably going to be about a fifteen minute walk to the coffee shop, and she really didn't want to be late on her first day!

Quickly hurrying, she grabbed her bag and pea coat, and closed the door to her dorm room, rushing down the corridor and out the building as she threw on her white pea coat in the process.

There were some students out and about as there were some classes on Saturdays, mostly all in the mornings. The town seemed alive and bustling at this early hour, no doubt Saturday workers trying to get their morning coffee and breakfasts as they head to their jobs for the day.

Lucy set herself a quick pace as she checked the navigation on her phone to make sure that she was heading in the right direction towards the coffee shop.

At first, she was reluctant to wake up, grumpy even as her initial excitement had turned into a lack of sleep, but there was something about the early morning sun that just brought a level of calmness into her being.

After crossing a couple busy streets and traversing down a few blocks, she found herself staring at the coffee shop down on the corner of the street. It was situated on the corner of 12th avenue and Stonewalk avenue. Lucy pulled her phone from her pocket once again to double check the time. It was six-fifty-three. Good timing. She should get there right before her training shift started.

Finding herself at the coffee shop entrance, she pushed the door opening, a little bell on the door ringing as she entered into the cozy atmosphere of the cafe, the smell of baked good and coffee quickly assaulted her senses in a pleasant way that made her mouth water a little.

It was modernly furnished, yet had a homey feel to it. The big windows made for natural lighting that helped it feel open and fresh.

There was a silver long haired woman standing at the front, who gave Lucy a warm smile as she greeted her.

"You must be Lucy!" She exclaimed, as Lucy made her way to the front counter.

"Yes, I am! I think I'm looking for Mirajane? She asked me to come in for training today!" Lucy replied, automatically feeling strange need to explain herself.

"That would be me!" She cheerily replied. Lucy was slightly surprised, not expected this young cheery woman in front of her to be the owner of the coffee shop.

"O-oh, hi! It's nice to finally meet you! Thank you so much for giving me this job!" Lucy immediately thanked.

"I think you will be a great fit here! I just opened up here not that long ago." Mirajane began. "So anyway, let's get you started! First things first, let me show you how all the machines work, and then we can practice making some different coffees - I hope you are in the mood to drink coffee! It would be a waste if we didn't drink any of it."

Lucy smiled, excited at the prospect of getting her morning dose of caffeine. "I definitely am!"

"Good! Come back here! You can meet my sister Lisanna who helps me run the coffee shop. She will take care of things this morning while we get you trained!"

Lucy followed her new boss behind the counter, and into the back rooms which had shelves of an assortment of coffees, creamers, and different sauces and syrups.

A young woman, who had the same color as Mirajane's, though much shorter was sitting in the back room, drinking a cup of coffee while reading what Lucy assumed was the newspaper.

"Lisanna, Lucy is here!" Mirajane said, getting her sister's attention who looked up from the paper and gave Lucy a big smile.

"Hi! I'm Lisanna!" She greeted, standing up and giving Lucy a friendly hug.

"Customers will be coming in any minute."

"I know, I'll head up front right now." Lisanna replied with a cheery smile. She grabbed a barista apron on her way out.

"Okay, so there is a couple forms of paperwork that I will have you sign real quick, and then I will give you a quick tour. Then we can get started on the coffee machines, and taste testing?" Mirajane suggested, heading towards a little corner in the room where a folder was placed that Lucy assumed was probably her employee file.

"Okay! Here's my ID, and I will fill this out!" Lucy agreed, taking the folder from Mirajane and sitting at the table that Lisanna had been reading at.

"Thank you. I will just make a quick copy of it in the office. There is a pen in your folder. I will be right back." Mirajane replied with a smile, before dissapearing through a back door.

Lucy turned her attention to the folder, opening it up and looking at it's content. It asked general questions like her date of birth, address, contact information and so forth that she began filling out. This wasn't her first job, but after some really hard events in the last year, she hadn't worked a job in almost a year.

Mirajane returned just as Lucy had finished filling out the paperwork.

"All done?" Lucy's boss asked.

"Yep! Should be good to go!" Lucy replied.

"Okay, let's get started then!"

Lucy followed Mirajane around the back of the shop, eargerly taking in all the new information that she was being taught. She had always felt that she knew a bit about coffee, but she quickly realized that there was so much more to it than she initially realized.

It wasn't until Lisanna called for Mirajane that Lucy was snapped from her mesmerized thoughts on coffee.

"Sis! Our regular fire squad is here! I could use some help!" She called into the back, immediately grabbing Mirajane's and Lucy's attention. Mirajane seemed to immediately know what Lisanna was talking about as she motioned Lucy to follow her.

"Just come watch - I am going to help Lisanna get these coffee orders out real quick because it's a lot for her to do on her own."

Lucy nodded as she followed Mirajane to the front of the store.

She about stopped dead in her tracks when she rounded the corner to the front desk and once again, the bright, attention grabbing pink hair of the man she had met in the library yesterday came into full view.

Natsu was standing in the coffee shop, dressed in firefighter attire, chatting busily with some of his crew mates.

Lucy inwardly cursed at the joke that the universe was apparently trying to play on her. Strongly resisting the desire to shrink back and hide into the backroom, she stood beside Mirajane who was greeting the customers herself.

Somehow, it seemed that Natsu had realized that Lucy was there, standing behind the counter as his gaze shifted to her, and that same grin that he had first greeted her with was on his face. Lucy could only watch as he finished saying whatever it was to his crew mate before he walked right up to the counter, first greeting Mirajane in a friendly manner and asking if he could get the usual and handing her money before his attention once again turned to Lucy.

"I've never seen you working here before either." He commented with a toothy grin, his tone teasing, causing Lucy's cheeks to flush slightly.

"This is my first day." Lucy replied with a smile, answering his curiosity.

It looked as if he was about ready to open his mouth with a reply, when Mirajane interrupted him with a large steaming cup of coffee in a to go cup with a smile.

"Here, Natsu, stay out of trouble okay?" She said with a friendly grin.

"Well, you know me," He replied politely, his attention once again turning back to Lucy.

"Duty calls." He said to her with a shrug. "See you, Lucy." and with that, he turned away and once again started up a conversation with his crew mate.

It wasn't until the last of the fire crew left that Lucy realized that she had just been standing there.

"Lucy, let me show you the last area of the backroom, then we can get started on coffee!" Mirajane said happily, snapping Lucy from her state.

"Okay, yes! Sorry! I wish I was of more help." She replied hastily as she followed Mirajane into the backroom once more. She swore she heard the muffled snickering of Lisanna behind her back, but she brushed it off as her imagination, not know what on Earth Lisanna would be giggling about in the first place.

Okay, so there you have it! The first chapter of this fanfic! Usually my chapters are on average around 10,000 words long, but I felt that this was a good place to introduce things, and stop. Much more to happen in the next chapter.

So I would like to know your thoughts! Is this a story you feel would be interesting to read, and that you would like to see finished? Let me know in the reviews and thanks for reading!