The first thing he heard was a loud guitar solo, similar to that of his ring tone. It blared in his ears, forcing him to awaken. The next thing that hit him was the smell. Something far worse than that shirt Lucy found in the back of his wardrobe, much worse than that pizza slice he uncovered in their kitchen which had managed to grow hair on its own. He took another whiff, resisting the urge to gag as it hit his nostrils.
His eyes flew open, the bright lights making him wince. He glance down at himself, thankful that his shorts and shirt combo was still intact. Okay, got my clothes on. That's one possible scenario out of the way. He ran a hand through his spikey locks, trying to hoist himself up whilst avoiding the sock clad feet hovering above his face. He heaved a sigh of relief as he recognised the black leather couch on his right and the coffee table on his left. He was in Gray's apartment.
"I don't have a hangover either, and I'm not feeling dizzy..." He muttered. "Thank god, or Lucy would kill me –"
"Oi, Flame Brain! Answer your phone!" A rugged voice cried out from the couch, dark locks buried in the cushions.
"Shut up, Ice Princess." He murmured on instinct, grabbing his phone from the carpeted floor. He remembered now. The video gaming marathon with Gray. Gajeel was there too... And Loke, maybe?
14:32. The time glinted brightly on his phone. There was something he had to do at this time. He raked a hand through his pink locks, trying to remember.
The phone buzzed in his hand again, and Lucy's picture popped up on the screen. "Hey Luce, what's up?"
"I've been calling you for the past hour, Natsu!" She cut in sharply, on the verge on anger and hysteria. "Forget that, there's an emergency!"
She hung up, leaving Natsu to stare at the screen in shock. "An emergency?" He mumbled. "An emergency?!" He repeated, the full force of her words sinking down.
He hoisted himself up, swearing as he ran out the apartment. Jogging down the stairs, calling Lucy one minute after the next and imagining all sorts of scenarios for what might have happened. She didn't answer, increasing his worry. He leapt into his car, racing beyond the speed limit thankful that their apartment was only ten minutes away from Gray's.
His blood ran cold as he darted inside, calling out her name. No answer. He checked their bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, the guest room even but no avail. Signing, he flopped down on the couch and tried her number again. No reply.
"What the hell is going on..." He muttered, deciding to text her this time. Where are you?
She replied instantly, sending him her location and nothing else. Natsu hastened back down to his car, more anxious than anything else. Maybe her car broke down? Or she got a puncture... Maybe some guy tried to mug her? The possibilities were endless.
He shook his head, trying to rid himself of those disturbing thoughts, signing in relief when he reached the location marked on the map. It was a... Bridal Store?
"Huh?"
He hurried inside, only to have a short brunette excitedly call his name. "Mr. Dragneel! We've been waiting for you!"
"Wha- " She didn't give him time to respond, instead she dragged him off to a fancy room in the corner of the store. A dressing room of sorts.
"I've got all sorts of ideas for your tuxedo, Sir. Miss. Heartfilia insisted it be the traditional black..." She rambled on and on, Natsu having tuned her out. Lucy walked out of one of the stalls, dressed in a strapless ivory dress with heavy ruffles, the bodice adorned with sequins.
"Natsu!" She cried out. "You made it!"
"Ohh, I'll bring my designs. Please wait a bit, both of you!" The brunette walked off.
"Lucy..." Natsu called out. "What's –"
"What do you think of my dress?" She asked him excitedly, staring at herself in the mirror.
"It's beautiful!" He said hurridly. "But, you said there was an emergency!"
Lucy turned to him, her brown eyes filled with anguish as she plucked another dress out from it's hanger. It had short sleeves, with a satin ribbon around the waist and pearls on the hem. "Yes." She agreed. "A fashion emergency!"
"I can't decide which one I want for our wedding!" She continued. Natsu turned to her confused.
"Our wedding's in June. That's like months away, Luce."
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "It's the twentieth of May, Natsu. Our wedding is in two weeks. Two weeks! Not 'months away'! I told you we have our fitting today at two and not only did you show up late, but you forgot our freaking wedding date?" Her voice grew higher with every word, until she burst into tears.
"Woah, Lucy I'm sorry!" He sprung up, reaching out to her. Lucy turned away, zipping her dress open as she quickly changed. She wiped away her tears, turning to the shop assistant who had just wondered back.
"Can we come back tomorrow, if you don't mind?" She asked sweetly. "Something came up."
The brunette had barely nodded by the time Lucy had marched away, Natsu running after her, shaking his head. Women...
Sitting in his car, he turned to blonde beside him. "You okay?" He asked tentatively. "I was only joking about our wedding date, Luce. I wasn't serious."
"I know." She muttered, hiding her face with her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm just getting the wedding jitters. After what happened at Levy and Gajeel's wedding, I-I just want everything to be perfect."
Natsu laughed out loud. "What, you didn't like his old schoolmates crashing the wedding? Gajeel beat them all up himself."
"They were rude, calling out insults and trashing the place. Well, trying to trash it..." Lucy stifled a giggle at the memory of the drunk men trying to pluck out the flowers and throw him on the ground, going so far so as to stomp on them to make a point. Gajeel on the other hand made sure to stomp on there unconscious bodies much the same way they had done to the flowers his fiancée had so lovingly chosen for the occasion.
"No one will ever forget that!" Natsu chuckled. "And weren't you the one who was quoting that line from that movie you made me watch just the other day? About how it didn't matter as long as we got married in the end? Real cheesy stuff, I hafta say."
Lucy chuckled. "You're right. I'm sorry for overreacting so much. Wahhh, that was so stupid of me!"
"Hehe. Anyways, since you don't have a fitting thingy today, wanna go do something? It's my day off after all."
"Mhmm, let's go to the bookshop please?" She pleaded, turning to him hopefully. "I need a new book. Please!"
"Lushee... It's so boring!" He whined, starting the car.
"We can go get a video game for you too!" Lucy offered. "Come on!"
"Fine..." He gave in. "Just don't call me like that and scare me ever again!"
"I was a getting frantic..." She admitted. "I couldn't decide, you weren't showing up and the sales girl kept bringing in one dress after the next. What was I supposed to do?"
"Say 'to hell with it' and get married in your jeans instead?" Natsu looked at her hopefully, yelping as she slapped his arm.
"Geez, you never change..."
