Lucy stared at the boy in front of her, bowing his head as if in a sign of respect. She watched as he raised his chin and straightened his back, looking down at her from the height difference. His blond hair danced in the wind as his blue eyes focused on her brown ones.

“Lucy-san,” his voice came out in a whisper from the raging gusts of wind that sprawled Lucy’s blonde hair across her face and into the air, defying gravity in a way. “Will you go on a date with me?”

He bit his lip, nervous. Lucy tilted her head, suddenly a smile on her face. “Of course!” She grinned happily and brightly, “Honestly, I’d be glad to.”

Sting brightened up, not expecting to be accepted. “R-Really?” He stuttered slightly, needing to make sure he wasn’t hearing things.

“Yeah, you seem like a fun guy. You’re always goofing around with Rogue at P. E.” Lucy told him, a small chuckle escaping her pink lips.

Sting blushed as he thought that Lucy had even bothered to remember such a thing about him. “A-Anyway! I was thinking of going to go eat?” He offered a suggestion, recalling his growling stomach that yearned to be filled.

“That’s so funny! I was actually thinking of going to eat right now as well! I’m starved.” She gestured randomly and pushed some strands of her off her face. “I know the perfect place, would you like to go?”

Sting felt astonished. It started out with him asking her and now she was asking him. He nodded, his signature goofy smile returning on his face. “Yeah.”

“Great!”

--

Sting felt a little awkward as he followed Natsu and everyone to lunch. He usually hung out with Rogue but he had to do something for the office. Rogue always was the perfect student. Sometimes he wondered why he even put up with his crazy personality.

Natsu and Gray had already gotten into a bickering fight, spouting some nonsense about who’s phone was better and whether iPhones or Androids were better. Gajeel tched, hands deep in his pockets as he walked by Jellal’s side, as far away as he could get from the two “rivals.”

Jellal was browsing something on his phone, a rare smile plastered on his face, pushing his red tattoo further up his face. Sting was on the near Gray, who was boasting about his new iPhone that he held in his hands.

Sting laughed when Gray displayed a picture of Natsu falling down a table, capturing the image perfectly. Natsu turned red and ran after him like a game of tag, screaming for Gray to delete it. Gajeel sighed, pulling the hair tie in his hair away, allowing his long hair to flow freely.

Eventually, the five boys found their way to the table they usually sat at to see five familiar girls sitting there instead.

Sting sucked in a breath when his eyes caught view of the particular blonde-haired girl that was considered “Ms. Popular.”

Taking up all the seats was Lucy, Levy, Erza, Juvia, and Yukino. Erza ended up taking three seats, her violin case taking up two. Levy took two, one of them holding her backpack that was no doubt filled to the brim with books of all kind. Yukino and Lucy sat next to each other, taking up a single seat each while Juvia took up three as well, filling up the two with bags filled with the things she needed for her swimming club. All ten seats were taken and the boys scowled.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Juvia teased, chewing on the chocolate protein bar she was addicted to. Her blue hair was swept in a ponytail, still slightly damp from swimming.

“Why are you girls here?” Jellal asked, finally putting away his phone in his breast pocket. His eyes held a kind of glare that frightened Yukino, making her jump slightly when they fell on hers.

“Oh, we aren’t allowed to be here?” Lucy piped up innocently, putting her hand on her cheek.

“This is our table.” Gray hissed and Erza let out a hearty laugh.

She looked back at the boys, the smile misleading for the deadly glint in her eyes. “I don’t see your name carved into it, now do I? No table belongs to any one person. They belong to the school, you doofus.”

“What did you call me, you little-” Gray would have likely starting cursing if Jellal didn’t place a hand on his shoulder, calming him down slightly.

“Very well.” Jellal nodded at the females politely before leading the group of boys elsewhere.

Surprising enough, to Sting at least, Natsu hadn’t said a single word. Gajeel was understandable since it was clear he didn’t like girls but Natsu was usually loud, regardless of gender or anything really.

--

Sting nearly fainted on the spot when he saw the name of the place Lucy was bringing him to. 8-Island. Yajima, one of the most famous chefs in the country ran that restaurant. It was one of the expensive places to go.

“Uh-umm...isn’t this place a bit too expensive?” He stuttered out, the thought of Lucy just playing around with him running circles in his head.

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled, placing her hand in his, “I’ll pay.”

“But still-”

“Ah, ah,” She silenced him with a finger to his lips. “Nope, I’m taking you out and believe it or not, the food here is amazing! I know the owner, I’m sure he can give us a discount.”

Sting bit his lip, still unsure. But, he couldn’t bring it to himself to decline Lucy, she looked so happy.

“O-okay.” He finally spoke and Lucy squealed. “Yay!”

The blonde led him into the structure and introduced him to the owner, Yajima. It was an honor and it turned out that he was actually a sarcastic kind of guy. It was nice, Sting didn’t expect him to be so kind to him.

They got a discount too. Nearly half off everything. It seemed that Lucy had helped him out before so this was the least he could do. What didn’t this girl do?

She had ordered a steak and salad with a side of pancakes. Strange combination but she enjoyed it. Sting ordered chicken and soup.

The two stayed there for almost two full hours, just talking.

Sting found it easy to talk to her, quickly telling her all about his friendship with Rogue and how his parents died in a fire he believed he caused.

Lucy smiled and confessed that her family wasn’t the best after her mother died and her father blamed her. She managed to get by and said that her friends were her true family.

“Wow, that’s horrible.” Sting commented, chewing on the chicken bone.

“I know right!” Lucy ranted, throwing her hands in the air. “And that wasn’t even the worst! One of his “girls” once tried to call me “daughter” and oh, that didn’t end well.”

Sting laughed. “Was that number two or three?”

Lucy put her finger to her chin. “Honestly? I’m not keeping track. Maybe number three.”

“Is he still doing it? I mean, going out with different women?” The blonde placed his bone down, taking a sip of his clam chowder soup.

“Of yeah, definitely. He tells me he’ll stop and that he loves Mom but I know why he comes home late.” Lucy said, biting furiously into the piece of lettuce on her fork.

“Ever tried family therapy? I heard it helped.” Sting offered, glancing up from the bowl of soup. And wow! That soup was great!

Lucy scoffed, pushing back her hair that fell from her shoulders. “We tried when I was twelve but my dad ended up ditching them more than I did and I think I only went to about five.” She propped her elbow on the table. “Such great parenting.” The sarcasm flowed off her tongue as she cut her steak into smaller, bite-size pieces.

“At least you have a family…” The words escaped his lips before he could stop it and he immediately stopped himself. “Wait, sorry. I didn’t mean to say that,” He smiled falsely, hoping Lucy would play it off. But she didn’t.

Sting saw her frown and put her fork and knife down, focusing all her attention on him. He likely winced at the gaze, her sharp brown eyes on his.

“No.” She warned, grabbing his hand from her side of the table in an instant. “You’re wrong.”

He drew in a shaky breath. “I’m not wrong.”

“You’re wrong. You do have a family. Rogue is your family. You’re friends are your family. I’m your family. And as your family, I am offended when you say I don’t exist.”

Sting widened his eyes, gripping tightly on Lucy’s hands that were intertwined with his fingers.

He didn’t realize he was crying until Lucy’s fingers were wiping them off his cheeks.

“Thank you.” He whispered, a smile on his face.

At that moment, Sting forgot about his crush on Lucy, he forgot about the high school drama, he forgot the memory of his parents’ funeral. At that moment, he wasn’t with a stranger nor a girlfriend. He was with family.

It meant more to him than he could ever describe. In only two hours, Lucy managed to maneuver around his walls and find the way into his heart, something Rogue couldn’t do in two months.

He sniffed and smiled as Lucy dropped her hands and took a piece of his remaining chicken. “Hey!” He pouted as she plopped it into her mouth and chew it in front of him. “That was mine!”

Lucy laughed and wagged her index finger. “It’s mine now. You let your guard down and I seized my opportunity!” She joked, giggling.

Sting chuckled. Quickly, his hand darted and snagged a pancake from off her plate resulting in a loud whine.

“Nooo! My baby!” Lucy exaggerated, falling lamely on the seat with a smile. She pouted childishly. “How could you take my baby?”

Sting shrugged, swallowing the pancake that was more fluffy than he realized. He liked it. “Karma.”

Lucy laughed and Sting couldn’t help but join in. He felt so extremely light as he laughed. He felt his stress float away and his insecurities fade away as he and Lucy kept making passes at each other’s food, swiping it when the other let their guard down.

After ten minutes, both of them had ran out of food and stomach space.

“Ahh,” Lucy let out a satisfied moan. “That was great. I love this place so much.” She looked at Sting with happy eyes. “Did you enjoy it?”

The blond teenager nodded. “Yeah.” He said. “It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

“Oh yeah!” She whooped, stretching her arms.

Sting laughed and excused himself to the bathroom, leaving the girl alone in the booth with the empty plates that were once full with food.

He was back as quickly as he left and frowned when he saw Lucy nowhere to be found.

“Did she go to the restroom?” He muttered to himself as he sat back down and saw a note under the napkin dispenser.

It was sloppily written, as if she was in a hurry.

“I am so so so sorry, Sting but I have to go.
I really enjoyed today.
Feel free to call me!”

Underneath was ten numbers strained out to be Lucy’s number. The napkin that it was written on was torn on the top and slightly damp from the water on the table.

The waiter and server came to their table, smiling as she handed Sting the check. He took it, smiling politely as she walked away and glanced at the thin white piece of paper.

He paled as he saw the total cost of the meal. That was too much. Way too much.

He look out his wallet and grimaced when he realized he had just enough. Even with the half-off discount, this was too expensive.

Sting growled, remembering Lucy having said she would pay, having said she was family.

What kind of family does this?

--

Boom! Backstory time.

What did you guys think?

-EpicMelody