It's hard to believe that our school could have hosted this!

A glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling, elegant music playing in the background, delicious food!

This place was beautiful!

"I can see that you like it," Natsu chuckled

"This is amazing! Did you plan all of this?"

"Yes I did, with a little help from the student body of course."

I gazed around the room, "Wow, you sure do have good taste."

"Hey Flamebrain!" I swear I could hear Natsu growl under his breath.

He turned and started walking toward a guy that looked about our age, "What do want ice princess?"

I giggled, "ice princess?"

"How many times do I have to remind you not to invite me to one of your stupid art shows?"

"Last time I checked, I didn't invite you! I think everyone here would have been better off if you stayed at home anyway!"

"What was that hot head?" Now they slammed their heads together.

"Umm, I think you guys should calm down-" I started, but they were to busy calling each other lame names to even notice.

"That's enough!" Erza ran over and slammed there heads together.

Shivers ran down my spine.

That's one strong woman.

"What have I told you two about arguing!" She picked them up by the collar of their shirt.

"Sorry, Erza." They both said rubbing their heads.

"This is the girl I was talking about." Well he recovered quickly, "Gray, this is Lucy."

"Oh, so you're that girl he keeps talking about," the other guy spoke up, while rubbing his head, "I gotta say Natsu, out of all the girls you've dated, she's the hottest." He winked at me.

Woah, wait a minute! Exactly how many girls did he date? These are the questions I need to know!

"Back off Gray," Natsu snarled.

"Or what?"

"You wanna go again ice breath?!"

"Any day fire breath!"

"Shut it!" Erza yelled causing us to get a few stares.

"Yes mam!" They both obeyed her like little puppies.

Cute.

"Hey guys!" A group of people were rushing toward us, waving. I hid behind Natsu so I couldn't have an anxiety attack in the middle of the art show. Since I'm not really around large groups of people regularly, large groups tend to make me extremely nervous and go into "panic mode", as she likes to say.

"Hey! I'm glad you guys made it." Natsu moved away causing my protective shield to go away as well.

"Yeah, this place is beautiful. You really outdid yourself this time Natsu."

"Thanks, oh! This is the girl I was talking about." he grabbed my hand bringing me closer to him, "this is Lucy."

"Umm, H-Hi." I was trying to make sure they couldn't notice that I was about to have a breakdown at any moment now. This is really making me uncomfortable. Maybe I should just excuse myself-

"It's nice to meet you Lucy, my names Levy, Natsu has told us a lot about you, and I mean a lot."

"Oh."

"My names Cana, and this is Jellal, Gajeel, Laxus, Evergreen, Freed, Juvia, and Bixlow." Everyone waved.

"Hello everyone." I could feel the beads of sweat dripping down my face.

"Wow Natsu, you found a keeper." The one named Cana nudged him.

"Shut up Cana!" I could see his face darken.

A tap on the microphone was heard causing us all to turn around, "Alright! Thank you everyone for coming out tonight to see our winter art show, hosted by one of our new students, Natsu Dragneel." Claps and cheers were heard from around the room, "now a word from the person who made all this happen, Nastu Dragneel."

He fixed his suit and walked onto the stage, "thank you all again for coming to the show tonight. I promise this long wait won't be in vain. We have brilliant and talented artist here tonight sharing their creations with you all. Now what you've all been waiting for, welcome to the winter art show."

Did he write that down before hand? Or did it just come naturally?

The curtain dropped behind us revealing hundreds of artwork on the walls.

I heard oohs and ahhs from around the room, obviously excited to see the paintings and sculptures.

"The gallery starts here and ends on the other side. I hope you enjoy." Natsu hopped off the stage and started talking to some of the guests.

I looked around and saw that everyone started heading into the gallery.

Wait, what about me? Why are they leaving me!?

"Umm Natsu?" I tried to get his attention.

"Oh sorry Luce, I can't go in with you right now, can you go in without me? I'll catch up with you later." He turned back and started talking to the guest again.

He's lucky I left the bat at home.

I walked into the gallery.

The nerve of that guy! He knows I don't understand any of this. Why would he leave me?

"Would you like something to drink?" A waiter came up to me with a tray of drinks.

"Yes, thanks." I took the drink from the tray and swallowed it in one gulp, "I'll take another."

After about five drinks later I finally started making my way down the gallery.

Painting after painting, and I still couldn't understand it. Maybe if Natsu came in with me and explained this to me then I would understand.

I mean what the hell!? This painting only has three lines going across it. I don't see how that's considered creative.

The sculptures were at least somewhat interesting. Some of the sculptures were of animals, realistic people, and just everyday common items.

There was starting to be less people in the gallery the further I went.

I was starting to feel lonely.

I had a feeling this was going to happen. I was going to get abandoned and stuck alone without any guidance or knowledge about this stuff, and of course my prediction was right.

I saw a bench and raced over there before anyone else could grab it.

I took off my shoes and held them.

Dear god these heels were killing me.

I decided to sit back and just glance around until one painting caught my attention.

I stood up and slowly walked toward it, observing every aspect of the painting.

It was so simple yet I could see the story behind it.

It was two people and their hands were tied together by a string.

I remember reading about this.

The string of fate.

"You know, there's a myth that says the gods tie an invisible red string around the finger of people who were destined to be soul mates." I turned, startled by the voice, "no matter how twisted and knotted it gets..."

"It will never break," we both said.

He chuckled, "I see you read Kemu Zaleon books too."

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "yeah, I'm a huge fan. His books are inspirational to me."

"I'm glad to meet another fan of his."

"Me too. There's not that many around these days."

He looked up at the painting, "I see you were looking at my painting."

"You painted this?"

"Yep, took me a month, but I finally got it done in time for the show."

"It's beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you though." He grabbed my hand and kissed it.

I swear my heart stopped.

I know my face was on fire right now. I thought only Natsu could do this.

"So what's your name?" He asked.

"Lucy Heartfilia. What about yours?"

"Sting. Sting Eucliffe."