Hey, Nikki here! I've decided to get a new NaLu story up since I had a good idea (even if it's a bit cliche) and I began writing while I was supposed to be sleeping. It's a wonder I was still able to make sense so early in the morning, but anyway, enjoy!

WHOO LINE BREAK

"Heartfilia, Lucy?"

"Here," She replied softly, biting her glossy lower lip as her teacher nodded and marked her as present. He continued to go down the list and named most of the people she had known since she was a little girl, like Levy Mcgarden or Erza Scarlet and Gray Fullbuster, even the great Natsu Dragneel himself. They had been a tight knit group, always playing together as kids. Their parents had been friends, which was what caused them to meet in the first place, and as they grew up, their group grew as well. The Strauss siblings moved into the neighborhood and joined the group, in addition to Gajeel Redfox and his cousin Wendy Marvell, who also moved in. They happened to be related to Natsu and with the arrival of Gajeel and Wendy, their group was complete.

They hung out often, always together until the late hours of the day and they always somehow managed to get put into the same classes as each other. This only caused more time to be spent together and you'd think they'd all be sick of one another, but they were as close as ever.

Their middle school years came and went in a blur, the only good thing to happen being the arrival of a new friend in Juvia Lockser. She seemed rather smitten with Gray and while he wouldn't admit it, they all thought he had a soft spot for her too.

Here they were now, in Fairy Tail Academy where they would spend the remainder of their high school years. They were currently sophomores, having already made it through freshman year without much difficulty. The only exception was Lucy. She struggled to keep herself together, what with the sudden passing of her father and the daily taunting she received by the other girls who claimed they were prettier and called her nasty things, like slut or bitch. It was all she could do to not fall apart each day, but she somehow managed to do it and the rest of the group? They were all fine, each still close with the rest of the group. The only one who seemed to be distanced was Natsu.

He was now the quarterback of the Academy's football team, the most sought after guy in the school, and an avid pyromaniac. Throughout all of this, however, he managed to stay friends with the group except for one blonde. Lucy and him had been best friends ever since they were little and once they reached high school, that fell apart. They were hot and cold, friends yet strangers and no one knew why. Perhaps it was because his girlfriend wasn't a big Lucy fan, even though they had once been friends.

Lisanna Strauss was Natsu's current girlfriend and the school's leading lady as far as popularity went, being both the head cheerleader and vice president of the sophomore class. It was only logical for them to be together, both due to their popularity status and the spark between the two. There was no denying the couple had chemistry the moment they met, even if Lucy tried to ignore it.

The blonde has had a major crush on the football star for years now, dreaming that one day he'll confess that she's the only girl for him and they'll go off to college together, graduate, and then get married and live happily ever after like in those fairy tales her mother used to read her before she passed away. Once they got into high school, however, that fairy tale shattered and Lucy turned to drinking to help cope with both her father's death and her horrible high school experiences.

The whole group was worried about the blonde, but only the girls would voice their opinions. The boys thought it would be best to leave it to the girls and thus, they did nothing. Lucy grew frustrated with them and closed herself off from the boys, choosing to confide in only the girls. They helped ease her off the alcohol, but whenever things got tough, you'd be able to smell the faint scent of alcohol on the beloved blonde.

Natsu had stopped talking to Lucy after finding out about her drinking problem, mostly due to his own experiences of his father's alcohol addiction. He refused to associate with someone who could drink without a care in the world and thus, lines were drawn and sides were chosen. The girls, with the exception of Lisanna, sided with Lucy and the boys, with the exception of Gray and Loki, sided with Natsu. This split the group in two and most of them didn't speak to one another unless they were either siblings or they were dating.

That same tension made this current class extremely awkward for Lucy Heartfilia as she squirmed around in her seat, trying to look anywhere but the pink haired male sitting beside her. Anyone in the room could tell that Natsu and Lucy were both uncomfortable and that Lisanna, sitting at the front of the room, was radiating a jealous aura.

"The person sitting beside you will be your lab partner for the entire year, so I suggest you get to know one another as your grade will depend on this person." Their entire class groaned and Lucy felt the overwhelming desire to scream.

"Better get this over with," She mumbled under her breath before turning on her stool to look at Natsu with a hard stare.

"What?" He was irritated, she could tell just by the way he spoke, but she ignored it.

"I'll do all the work and all you have to do is put your name on it, ok? No need for us to even talk to each other," She stated, causing Natsu's eyes to widen slightly. He hadn't been excepting that, not in the slightest.

"Why? I'm more than capable of doing my fair share of the work," He retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Never said you weren't," Was her simple reply and with that, she turned to face the board. He stared at her and she tried to ignore it to the best of her ability, thanking her lucky stars when the bell rang. She quickly gathered her supplies, picked up her books, swung her purse over her shoulder, and scurried from the classroom without ever looking back.

BREAK

With a sigh, Lucy slowed to an easy walk once she felt she was safe from Natsu and that intense stare of his. It had caused her to tremble, something she was still doing much to her displeasure, and it made her incredibly nervous. It made her want to drink, which was not a good sign. The blonde opened her purse without a second thought and slipped her phone out before dialing a number and holding the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" Was the cheerful reply from the other side.

"Levy-chan, you have to help me!" Lucy cried, moving to put her stuff away in her locker. It was currently free period, something Lucy rather enjoyed about high school. Once she was done, she closed her locker softly and pressed her back against the lockers, sitting with her phone still pressed to her ear.

"What's wrong, Lu-chan?" Levy's worried voice caused Lucy to bite her glossy lip just as she had done at the beginning of class, already forming a new habit.

"I just got out of science and guess who my partner is," Lucy replied.

"Oh no, not..." Was all Levy got to say as Lucy quickly cut her off.

"Yes, him! I'm screwed! The whole time he was staring at me with that intense stare of his and I wanted to just drink it all away," She admitted softly, hearing the slam of a locker and quick footsteps from the other side of the phone.

"Where are you, Lu-chan? I'm coming and I'm bringing reinforcements," Lucy felt herself smiling softly as she glanced at her surroundings. She was so lucky to have such amazing friends.

"I'm at my locker," She replied before hearing the line go dead. With another sign, the blonde closed her phone and placed it beside her as she moved to put her face in her hands. The sound of footsteps echoed down the surprisingly empty hallway and as she lifted her head to see if Levy was approaching, she instantly regretted her choice. There, closing in fast, was none other than Natsu Dragneel and boy did she begin to tremble.