"Stop crying. It's pathetic," said the shadow in front of her.

The dark figure grew bigger as he spoke, his words fading into the tornado of whispers surrounding her. No, it was her who was shrinking, causing him to tower over her as he diminished her more.

"It's funny," the voice continued. "No one will believe you."

She felt her eyes begin to water. She tried to open her mouth, but the sound was barely noticeable.

"Wait!" she tried.

"Sting, wait!"

Wait!

The ground collapsed below her, crumbling into pieces as she fell backwards, into the deepest depths of darkness.

★ ★ ★

Lucy sat up abruptly, panting heavily as she clutched the fabric over her pounding heart.

She let out a sigh of relief once her heartbeat calmed, thankful that it was just a nightmare. She groaned in pain as she reached for her forehead, wincing as it throbbed in pain when she blinked.

She kept her head down as she stared into space, her vision still blurred from her sleep. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why were her sheets a different colour? She had white sheets, so why were these dark grey? Had Levy changed them?

She raised her head, scanning the room for Levy. She wasn't in bed with her, or even in the same room at all, so maybe she went out for breakfast already.

When her eyes finally came into focus, she blinked. Then her eyes widened. Her surroundings were completely unfamiliar, The photos on the walls were different, and so were the carpet, the floor and the overall layout of the room.

'Where am I?!'

A wave of panic surged through her as she tried to gauge the situation. She instinctively opened the bedside drawer, frantically searching for her phone. She felt around for a few seconds, but couldn't feel anything. She peered into it.

She let out a shocked gasp. All that was held inside was a pen, some notepad paper, and a pack of condoms...

She quickly slammed the drawer shut.

The sound of a gentle knock came from the door.

After a moment of silence, her co-star walked in, holding a glass of water. Lucy's jaw fell open in surprise.

"You're awake," Natsu acknowledged. He closed the door behind him, nervously clearing his throat.

Lucy blinked. "W-wha..." she tried. "What am I...?"

"It's what it looks like," Natsu stated, plainly. He continued when all she responded with was a perplexed look. "You got hammered last night, so I took you home?"

"Hammered...? You took me home...?" she pieced his words together in her brain, feeling her head grow hot with the added strain of her headache.

"Wait–" she remembered what she'd seen in the drawer. Combined with the current situation, it was all so clear–

"You creep!" she yelled, covering her face with her hands. "How could you do that to me?!"

"What?!" Natsu yelled in surprise, taken aback.

"You took advantage of me when I was drunk!" she shrieked, ears hot with anger.

She took hold of one of the pillows behind her and launched it at him. He jumped to the side in panic, dodging it.

"What are you talking about?!" he insisted. "We didn't do anything!"

"Then, explain!" she screamed, reaching for the second pillow.

"Do you really not remember? You drank yourself silly last night and wouldn't stop clinging onto me!"

"What?" her demeanour faltered. "What are you talking–"

She fell silent, her memories choosing that moment to rush into her brain.

She spent most of the night following Cana, losing drinking games and practically losing every drinking game.

After one of her losses, she spotted Natsu, in the corner, talking with Gildarts. She merrily skipped her way to him, wrapping her drunken arms around him, much to his confusion.

Then she dragged him to the middle of the dance floor and messily waltzed with him, giggling loudly as the rest of the crew laughed at her antics.

"You sure do drink a lot for such a lightweight," Natsu sighed.

"I'm... so sorry..." she buried her face in her knees, face flushed bright red.

"It's whatever, I'll forget it," Natsu said, which she was thankful for. "Anyway, I brought you here because you didn't seem to have a key on you. I slept on the couch, so nothing happened."

"That's right, I gave the key to Levy," Lucy thought out loud.

"Levy?" Natsu asked.

"My best friend. She's visiting for the summer."

"Right..." There was an awkward silence that followed.

Lucy spoke up, guilty. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," she apologised.

Natsu shrugged, indifferent. "I mean, I'm not that type of guy..."

She nodded in agreement. She shouldn't have panicked and jumped to conclusions so quickly. This was the most civil conversation they'd had in a while, and he was being surprisingly kind, letting her crash in his bed, and all.

"Here," he handed her the cup of water.

She shuddered when their fingers brushed slightly, looking down in embarrassment as she took hold of the cup.

"Thank you, for everything."

He nodded, looking away as he felt his ears heat up slightly. He cleared his throat and walked to his closet.

"I'm going to get dressed. You should too if you don't want to be late for the interview," he mentioned.

"Wait–" You're going to change here?!" she asked, panicked.

He looked back at her calmly. "This is my room," he said.

"Oh, right," she turned her head away, taking a sip of her water.

"Can you leave now? You're kind of a bother."

Nope, he was still a jerk.

Deciding not to retort with a snarky comment, she chugged her water and made her way.

As she closed his apartment door, she couldn't help but feel someone's eyes on her. She quickly turned around, but when she did, the hallway was empty. She cautiously turned back around and knocked on her apartment door.

★ ★ ★

The interview was a few hours later, at Crocus Central TV Studio. Lucy was there with a few of the main cast, Natsu, Erza and Gray. Along with the director and writer, Gildarts and Mavis.

The bustling TV studio was alive as they were guided through a crowd and into the building. A man greeted them at the reception and walked them to a brightly lit room, furnished with a couple of velvet sofas and overhead microphones.

"I'm Mr. Kreepur, but you can call me Johnny," he greeted. He smiled at the group, politely welcoming them inside.

He shook each of their hands in greeting. He was a well-known journalist, with a reputation for being charming and charismatic, but there was something in his gaze that made Lucy uneasy.

He seemed to be looking her way quite a lot, and his hand lingered for a bit too long for comfort when he shook hers. She shook it off, thinking she was overreacting.

"It's a pleasure to have you here," he said to the group, but his eyes only met hers.

Gildarts thanked him for the invitation, shaking his hand and sitting down on one of the couches.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Johnny smiled and walked to his seat. He pointed to the cameramen beside them. "We'll be live in a few seconds, so be ready."

The cameraman gave him a thumbs up, and a TV screen behind the interviewer lit up, showing the flood of viewers tuning in and commenting.

"Good afternoon, Fiore!" Johnny practically yelled at the cameras. "Thank you for tuning in, and please welcome today's visitors, the cast and moviemakers of 'Feather in the Night'!"

He turned to the group, and they each took their turns introducing themselves. He grinned in approval.

"Nice!" he praised. "So, Miss Mavis Vermillion, how do you feel about one of your most famous works finally being live-adapted?"

Mavis beamed, pleasantly clasping her hands together.

"I'm so happy!" she answered. "I think it's wonderful that my book has received so much love, and will continue to with the upcoming series."

Her answer continued for a few minutes, with the interviewing intently nodding along. He thanked her and then moved on to Gildarts.

"Then, Gildarts," he began. "How did you decide who should be in the cast?"

Gildarts hummed as he thought of his answer.

"Iris was pretty much decided from the beginning," he started. "I thought the famous idol, Lucy Heartfilia, was perfect for the role. She already had her personality and charm. As for Night, Natsu is a very talented actor– especially with the short amount of time he's been active. Since he was already in my grasp, it was a no-brainer. Frost and Gray are pretty similar too, especially comparing Frost and Night's dynamic to Natsu and Gray's."

As if in sync, the two boys kept their heads down in embarrassment.

"Ezra's previous roles proved she was perfect for this one, along with her passion for her work. Knightwalker was the perfect character for her."

"Interesting!" Johnny nodded. "And what about the cast? Who are each of your favourite characters?"

Each member of the cast said their respective roles, making everyone laugh.

"Okay then," he continued, once the laughter had died down. "What are your favourite scenes, of the ones you've filmed so far?"

The gears turned in Lucy's head. Her favourite scene? She turned to Natsu, who was already looking her way. They both quickly turned away, blushing slightly.

"I, personally, really admire Iris and Night's first action scene, when they're jumping on the rooftops," she turned to the pair. "Amazing footwork. Good job, guys."

The two offered her almost identical nervous smiles.

"Thanks! Me too, actually," Lucy spoke up, avoiding answering the question herself.

The interviewer moved on to individual questions. The conference was almost over, and by the amount of viewers they could see on screen, the ratings were already sky-high.

"Lucy Heartfilia," the interviewer called her, the shadow of a smirk on his lips. Lucy braced herself, suddenly well aware of the onslaught of invasive questions she was about to endure

"You're quite infamous in this industry. And the media is dying to know what you have to say about your huge scandal from years ago."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to have to call a halt to this line of questioning," Gildarts interjected firmly, shutting him down instantly before he could delve any further.

The interviewer blinked in surprise, caught off guard. He smirked, not backing down yet.

"It's not my fault. It's what the viewers want to know," he motioned to the screen, where the comments were flooding with people agreeing with him, asking the same question. The view count was rapidly increasing too, rising from a count of 100K people to 450K, and counting.

"We have no comment," Gildarts persisted. "Let's keep the focus on the movie, shall we?"

There was a palpable shift in the atmosphere that lingered through the rest of the interview. Luckily the interviewer retreated, directing the conversation back to the original topic at hand.

She made eye contact with Gildarts, silently thanking him with a grateful nod. He shook his head, telling her to think nothing of it.

She kept her hands together on her knees, uncomfortably shaking and nervously fidgeting as the interviewer continued to ask his questions.

Relief washed over her as the interview came to an end. She followed the rest of the group out of the room, keeping her head up with a painted smile.

"So–" Natsu started, getting her attention.

She looked at him, giving him her sad smile. He faltered, taken back by her sudden change in demeanour.

"Never mind."

The drive home was, luckily, lively and cheerful, allowing her to distract herself from her inner thoughts.

★ ★ ★

"I'm sorry, Lu," Levy whispered, rubbing a comforting hand on her back. "That must've been awful."

"It's fine, really," Lucy said, hugging the pillow she was holding.

Levy stood up from the couch, switched on the television and started browsing it for a film they could watch. Her eyes sparkled upon seeing something she'd like.

"They released another horror movie!" she gushed, catching Lucy's attention.

"Really?" she gasped, eyes lighting up in intrigue. "What's it called?!"

"'The Killer Stalker'!" Levy answered, dramatically.

She pressed play after Lucy stood up to turn the lights and grabbed a few blankets for them to cuddle up in. Her wallowing could wait until another time.

★ ★ ★

what if i said the next chapter is natsu pov 👀