A/N: This will be a prompt base collection of small stories centered around the pairing LucyxNatsu. All ratings will apply. If you have an idea for a prompt, send me a message or leave it in a review.

This first contribution to 'A Book of Fairy Tails' is an AU (Alternate Universe) prompt, titled 'Flat'.

And, once again, Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me. It belongs to Hiro Mashima, and he would have my ass if I said otherwise.

Anyway, here is the first of many!

Summary: Lucy cursed her own luck. For all the knowledge she acquired in her academic years, how could she not know how to change a flat tire? It was one of the basic fundamentals of life, after all!

Rated K+

Flat

In all her years of driving, Lucy Heartfilia had never encountered a problem with a car. She always made sure that it was in top condition whenever she set out for a long drive. Always made sure that she had a couple gallons of gas, enough air in the tires and a pair of jumping cables in the trunk just in case she made some sort of slip up during a trip.

She was a careful driver, perhaps a little too careful, but it was all to avoid problems like these.

And now, she stood on the side of the dark empty road, mulling over her hopeless fate, in the beginning of the night, no less. She was embarrassed and ashamed that for all of her years of proper upbringing and all the education her parents had bought her, she couldn't, for the life of her, understand how to change a flat tire.

It was one of the basic fundamentals of life. How could she not know?

What good does it do you to be prepared if you don't even know what to do when something like this happens?

With her cellphone in hand, she glared down at the black screen with all the fury and hate she could muster, cursing her fate that this just happened to be the one time that she forgot to fill the battery, and the one time that she didn't bring the charger with her. A simple call to her father would have fixed this right up in no time.

If her luck had a face, she would have punched it right in it's teeth. And if she hadn't agreed to a date with a man she didn't have any chemistry with, then perhaps she wouldn't be stuck here right now. A stupid date. A date she didn't even want to go to on the first place, but the man kept asking for a night out with her, and she agreed, begrudgingly, for one night only.

During the dinner, Lucy knew right away that they didn't click. They had nothing in common. It wasn't as if he was ugly either, he was actually quite attractive with dark hair and deep blue eyes. He had a nice physique under the tailored black coat he wore, but it just wasn't what she was looking for. And when he started talking about a stalker he had, it took everything in Lucy's power not to get up and walk right out of the restaurant then and there.

She was too wrapped up in the memory of her horrible night that she didn't notice the headlights of a car as it rolled up next to her.

"You having a problem?"

Lucy turned with wide brown eyes, her heart beating painfully in her chest. She noticed there was a man, perhaps about the same age as her, alone in the car.

She laughed nervously, tucking a few strands of her blond hair from her face. Lucy was unsure if she should let this person help her or not. She watched enough movies to know what would happen if he did, but she had been stuck on this same road for almost an hour and he was the first person to drive by.

Lucy was pulled in opposite directions, but decided to take the risk. She'd rather be dead than stuck out here for the remainder of the night.

"What's your name?" she asked. She had the right to know what her potential killer called himself.

"My name's Natsu," he replied, giving her a small smile. It made his face appear more friendly and open to her and she found herself smiling back.

"Natsu." She tested his name on her tongue, the word bouncing back and forth inside her head. "I'm having a bit of trouble with a flat tire, Natsu," she said with the tilt of her head. "Do you think you could help me?"

"'Course." He pulled up in front of her vehicle and got out of his car. When he fell under the light of the moon, his features stood out to her a lot more clearly. His hair was the color of pink salmon, his eyes dark, almost black. His lips looked soft, his nose straight and there didn't seem to be a blemish on his tanned skin. He stood a few inches taller than her, dressed in a simple blue T-shirt and gray cargo pants, and for some reason, it made her very aware of her own appearance.

"Oh, nice, you have a 206cc," Natsu said. She watched his eyes roam over the car, a look of appreciation on his face.

"Uh...yeah." Lucy blushed. She didn't even know what that meant, but she was thankful that the one person she ran in to had some knowledge about cars.

"Do you have a jack?" he asked.

Lucy blinked. "A what?"

Natsu smiled like he understood her confusion.

He went back to his car and opened the trunk. He pulled out a medium sized red metal contraption that looked like it didn't have the strength to jack up anything. In his other hand, he held a cross tire iron.

"Oh." Lucy was feeling unusually self-conscious. She took pride in her brain, her book smarts, but this man had her feeling stupid in the span of seconds of knowing him.

Lucy sighed.

"It's okay." He seemed to know where her frustration was stemming off from. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm a car mechanic."

And it did. Immensely so. Looks like she wouldn't have to punch her luck in the face after all.

But then the image of him in a sweaty white muscle shirt came to her, her mouth going completely dry. Heat consumed her entire body, the hairs on her arms and neck prickling on end. It was weird to her that she was feeling oddly attracted to this man, and it had her questioning her taste in men. Did she really go for strangers she just met in the middle of the night at the side of the road?

Lucy stood and watched him as he set himself to work, rolling the spare she had next to the flat. She listened to his voice as he instructed what to do the next time it happened. She hung onto his every word, mesmerized by the way the muscles of his arms and neck rippled and moved under his ministrations. Lucy's tongue darted out to wet her dry lips. His actions felt too sexy, too erotic for just a simple changing of a tire.

She wiped her sweaty palms against the back of her dress. She was getting extremely far ahead of herself.

"Just be careful while driving," he warned, bringing himself back to his feet. "Spares are only meant to be spares, it should be changed as soon as possible."

She took the information all in, nodding wholeheartedly. She glanced over at the smaller tire that looked out of place under her car, but it was doable. She could work with this. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come along."

"No worries." Natsu took her in, his dark eyes traveling down the length of her body and back up again like he was finally seeing her for the first time. Lucy caught his smoldering gaze, feeling instantly giddy about the way he was watching her. She could recognize that look anywhere, and it was nice to know that he found her just as attractive as she did him.

"You coming back or going to?" he asked, motioning over to the skin tight black dress she wore.

It took a few seconds to decipher what he said, pulling at the hem of her short dress. "Uh...coming back."

"Must have been a shitty date if you're on your way home now," Natsu quipped.

Lucy's laugh was genuine for the first time that night, her head shaking. "You have no idea."

"Poor fellow." His smirk was setting off all kinds of electricity through her nerves. "So, what's your name?"

"Lucy Heartfilia," she swallowed, willing away the blush she knew was coating her cheeks. She mentally chastised herself for being so damn obvious around him.

"Lucy Heartfilia." The repeat of her name with the sound of his smooth voice had her knees going weak. She blushed again.

What the hell is wrong with me?

"You have a nice night, Lucy," he said, grinning at her like he held some sort of secret he wanted to tell her. "Hopefully, I'll see you soon."

Lucy stood there, dumbfounded as he placed his tools back in his trunk and slipped into his car. It was only when the two back taillights were merely red dots in the horizon did she blink herself back to reality.

"Natsu," she whispered. She immediately decided that she liked the sound of his name.

Natsu...

She searched her brain a few moments, her brows marred into a look of confusion.

Then her heart painfully dropped, her mouth gaping.

Crap, I didn't get his last name!

A/N: It's Dragneel, girl! Get ta' searchin'!