Working With The Band [NaLu]

Chapter 1 ♡: Kicked Out

The air outside is cool and brisk. I clenched my bag against my body as I ran across our family's large front lawn. It's midnight, meaning father will finally be in bed, so the side entrance should be fine to go back through. After all, I've been sneaking out since my early teens, I've memorized where all the safe locations are to get back into the house.

I made it to the door, using my key to quietly unlock it. I pulled the door open, quickly shuffling inside as I fumbled with the door handle to lock it again.

"Lucy."

I froze as my father's voice boomed throughout the tiled entry way. I quickly turned around to see him slowly walking towards me, his expression looking less than inviting. Shit. This time, he's caught me.

"Lucy Heartfilia. Tell where you've been this instant! You've been gone all day!" He shouted as he crossed his arms, his brows furrowed.

"Not like you'd care..." I crossed my arms as well.

"You knew damn well today was the day you were supposed to go take the exam to get into Fiore University's business program. You've already put your eduction off by two years! Do you care about anything? Do you care at all about your future?"

"I've told you, a hundred times, I'm not going to business school, or law school, or medical school, or whatever other career path you try to put me on! I've been wanting to go to school, you just won't let me choose what I want to do. It's MY life, dad. Not yours." I shouted back angrily, my voice trembling.

"Because you want to go to a damn art school! Or you want to get an English major! What the hell are you going to do with that, Lucy? I can't trust you to do anything. You can't even come home at a decent hour." My father yelled back.

"Again, I'm not some little kid anymore. I'm twenty, I'm literally an adult. I shouldn't even have to be sneaking in like this!" I felt my face heating up the more I shouted.

"It's a respect thing, Lucy! I have standards to uphold in this house, and you've never been able to uphold those standards yourself! You've never done anything right, your mother would be very disappointed in you!"

"How the hell am I supposed to respect you, when you've never respected me? Sorry I can't be your 'perfect' daughter or whatever." I yelled as my whole body shook with anger and frustration, I've been bottling up these words for years now. It's always been like this, he's never been supportive of anything I do, and he's always trying to tell me what a disgrace I am.

"That's it, young lady. Go upstairs and pack your bags. I don't want to see you here anymore. Get out." He shouted in a stern voice as he pointed to the staircase beside him. "No daughter of mine will disrespect me like this. You've dishonored the Heartfilia name."

"Fine. You've never been much of a father anyways." I huffed as I ran quickly up the stairs.

As I entered my bedroom, I slammed the door shut, still shaking. I can't believe he actually kicked me out this time...

I threw my duffle bag onto my bed, and got out my phone to call my best friend, Levy.

"Finally, I have an excuse to leave this hell..." I muttered to myself as the phone rang.

"Hey Lu, what's up?" Levy answered.

"Lev, do you think I could stay with you for a bit? My dad's kicking me out for real this time. We just had another big fight after I bailed out on taking the entrance exam for some business school program."

"Of course, just head over whenever. I'll stay awake till you get here."

"Okay, thanks a lot Lev. I'll be over in an hour, see you then." I took the phone away from my face as I hung up the call. Levy had always been there for me, like when mom died, after all the times my father and I argued, when he told me I'd never amount to anything, she always had my back.

I walked over to my closet and took out all of my favorite clothes, folding them neatly to put in my bag. I went to get a few things from the bathroom, and then some things off my desk. A couple notepads, sketchbooks, my art supplies, and my camera.

This is definitely for the best, screw him...

I was still shaking as I packed the last item at the top of my bag, my laptop. "I think that's it..." I whispered as I scanned my room, noticing I forgot one little thing. I reached under my mattress, pulling out a large yellow envelope. This contained the money mom left for me when she died, and I'd been saving it for a moment like this. It'd at least help me get on my feet before I found a job. I reached for the side pocket of my bag, and slid it in there. "Damn, I really got everything together so quickly...maybe I've just been subconsciously preparing for this moment for months now..."

I threw my purse and my duffle bag over my shoulder, grabbing my favorite blanket as well, and made my way out. I walked downstairs, and it seemed like father wasn't even there to watch me go or say goodbye. Typical.

I walked down our long driveway as I tossed the bags in the backseat of my car, and drove off. I turned the radio on and cranked the volume up. My favorite punk rock band blared through the speakers as my eyes began to well up with tears. I've held in my tears for so long now, I guess it's okay to cry a bit to myself. I hated showing this kind of emotion to anyone, besides Levy.

I pulled into Levy's apartment complex's parking lot and unloaded my bags. She must've seen my car pull up since she opened her door right away.

"Lu! Let me help you." She took my blanket and a bag, setting it on the floor of her living room. "I'm so sorry you had to through all that with your dad." She leaned in and hugged me as I shut her door. "Here, go to the bathroom to clean yourself up. You don't look so good."

"Thanks Levy." I gave her another quick hug before headed to the bathroom. I looked up at my reflection in her mirror, horrified. I looked like crap. My makeup was smeared down my face in black streaks, from crying in the car. My long, blonde hair had definitely seen better days. I undressed and put on my comfy clothes, a t-shirt and sweatpants, and pulled my hair up in a side pony tail. I scrubbed my face with makeup remover wipes, and gave my face a rinse afterwards. After finishing, I headed back to Levy's living room, where she was sitting on the couch with a hot cup of tea in her hands, and one for me on the coffee table.

"You know, it's probably for the best." Levy started as I took a seat next to her. "Your father is the least understanding man I know, I don't think you'd ever be happy living there." She took a sip of her tea.

"Yeah, he's definitely all about appearances. He just hates I won't conform to his idea of 'the perfect daughter'. And then he tried to say mom would've been disappointed in me, when I know mom never would've wanted things to turn out this way..." I stared down into my tea cup. "I'm just so angry she's gone..."

Levy reached over and gave me another hug, rubbing my back to comfort me. "I'm so sorry Lucy. You're more than welcome to stay here as long as you like. It gets lonely by myself anyways." She let out a giggle to lighten the mood. "Hey, I have an idea to cheer you up. Tomorrow night, there's a concert I think you'd like. I happen to have an extra ticket....it's for a band called Fairy Law."

"Hmm I don't know if I'm up for it right now..."

"Awe come on Lucy! It'll make you feel better."

"...Okay fine. Is it in town?"

"Yep. Starts at 8."

"Cool, I'm actually a little excited now. At least this will take my mind off of my dad..." I took a sip of my tea and set it down.

"See, I knew it'd cheer you up!" Levy put her cup down as well as she reached for the television remote. "Wanna watch some dumb movies till we fall asleep?"

A small smile crept across my face at her proposition. This is what we did almost every time one of us had a bad day, it was like our tradition.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

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A/N:
Hey everyone! I hope you guys liked this first chapter. I've been thinking about this concept and AU for a little while now, and I thought it'd make for an interesting NaLu story!
Also sorry that this chapter isn't anything too interesting, I needed to make it this way as a preface for the rest of the story! Anyways hope you all enjoyed, thanks for reading! <3