One Of The Boys

Love Is Labor And I'm Very Sore

It was the day of the auction.

Lucy woke up early so that the girls could prep her for her day of festivities, dates and dancing. They'd thrown her into the shower bright and early, tugging her out of the steaming water once she began to fall asleep; they wrapped her in a towel and plunked her down in a chair. Juvia worked and putting her hair in big curlers, blow-drying the curls to hold them in place throughout the long day; Cana began to work on Lucy's nails, filing and digging out the dirt from underneath them, to her dismay. Levy and Erza worked on Lucy's makeup, coating her face in foundation, contouring and blushing her cheeks, powdering her to perfection. They gave her a perfect classic eyeliner and a cute nude-pink lip, doing her up until she looked like perfection. She tugged on her floral dress and they all gasped in awe, showering her with compliments. Then, they went off, headed back to their hotel room to get themselves all done up for the day as well.

Lucy stared at herself nervously in her mirror, glancing at her reflection uneasily. She felt a little weird, being all done up like this. A couple months ago, this had been her normal, but lately...she'd been far happier in her sweats and hoodies, hair in a ponytail or bun, no makeup. Now, like this, she looked like a stranger.

Lucy sighed, turning to look at her closet. Her eyes landed on something that had fallen to the floor; she reached down and grabbed it, intending to hang it back up. But the fabric was familiar in her hands and she frowned down at it, unsure of what it was.

She held it up, and the dress shook out, revealing itself. It was the ugly brown dress she'd worn to the dance in grade eight. It had long, lacy sleeves like a grandma would wear; the skirt had fallen in an awkward place between her knees and her feet, and the neckline crawled up far too high to be attractive in a modern age.

But, still. It screamed out to her, screamed out about the memories, the ones that were achingly similar to what she felt right now. And she knew she girls would kill her once they saw her, but she couldn't help it.

She tugged the form-fitting floral dress off and put the ugly brown dress on.

And it was like she was back in grade eight, hopelessly in love with her best friend who had the hots for someone else. And her heart ached because she was so sorry for doing this to herself yet again. She was sorry she was so weak and she was sorry she didn't protect herself better and she wished she could go back in time and never love Natsu because loving him was just pain and heartbreak.

But he was her best friend and was clearly involved with someone else and she loved him so much that she couldn't even be upset because he'd looked so happy.

The dress fit her differently, now. She'd grown—her body had changed. She had hips, now. Boobs. She was quite a bit curvier than before, and the dress clearly demonstrated that. It didn't look half bad, actually. Still a little vintage, still a little grandma-ish, but okay.

Lucy reached up and ripped at the neckline, pulling off the lace that was choking her. It ripped down along the seam on her chest, revealing a little bit of cleavage. She smiled at herself in the mirror, pleased with the results.

The dress fit nicely, and didn't look as old and ugly. In fact, she quite liked it. A mixture of the old and the new, combining to make something...nice. Lucy didn't mind this sort of combination. She felt like herself, like she belonged in this dress.

So, she headed off, nervous about the entire day before her.

Meanwhile, across the gap, a certain pink haired boy was just as nervous. It was just about time for him to head off to school, and he was sitting on his bed, looking down into his lap, looking over everything, hoping he had all he needed.