Lucy presses the 'upload' button, then proceeds to fall face-first on her keyboard, her energy completely drained. "I never want to edit another video again in my entire life," she whines, turning her head towards her bed where her dog Plue is sitting. "Do you wanna learn how to edit videos, Plue? You could be my star editor."

Plue tilts his head for a total of two seconds before deciding the pain of editing isn't worth it and jumps off the bed.

"Yeah, didn't think so," Lucy sighs.

It's not that she hates her YouTube channel. Quite the opposite, actually. It's one of the only places she can truly be herself. She started it when she was new to her neighbourhood and didn't have any friends around to talk to, so she just sat at home and watched online videos all day. The combination of charisma and creativity had inspired her to try it out for herself, and now she's in deep with her subscribers in the hundreds of thousands. Why, exactly, she still doesn't know, but she's not going to question it. If people out there actually like her makeup tutorials and writing journals, then who is she to complain?

With her own video uploaded for the day, she ventures into her subscription box. There are plenty of new videos for her to watch, but she specifically looks for videos by the members of Fairy Tail, who are one of the biggest creators on the entire platform. They are her biggest inspiration, the main reason she started YouTube in the first place. They made her laugh when she felt alone being away from a home she couldn't (and still can't) return to.

One of her favourite members of the group is a girl called Levy, her personal channel named levyreads. It's not as wild as Fairy Tail's main channel gets, and is more about book reviews and tropes than anything else, which is why Lucy loves it so much. Books and writing are her life. Despite never having met Levy, she feels a connection to her just by their hobbies. It's astounding how easy it is to feel like you know a person without saying a word to them.

Levy's video today is a Q&A, so Lucy sits back and lets herself enjoy. It's mostly about either books or her personal life as well as a few out of the ordinary questions here and there. Everything is normal.

And then it happens.

"Alright, iheartmermaids from Twitter asked, 'If you could do a collab with any YouTuber, who would it be?' Oh, I know the answer to this one right away. Definitely Lucy from HeartxLucy! I watch her with Mira and Lisanna all the time, she's an aspiring author and she does book reviews as well, but she also has all these makeup tutorials and fashion videos that are fantastic. I don't know if she watches any of us, but if she does, she should definitely hit us up for a collab. I'll have her channel link in the description."

Lucy has to pause the video so she can scream for as long as she wants without missing anything. She's sure her neighbours think she's being murdered with how loud she's being, and Plue quickly rushes back into her bedroom at the speed of light, making whimpering noises. She stops so she can kneel down to pet him and assure him that she's alright.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Plue," she says, slowly regaining her composure. "I just can't believe Levy noticed me. Mira and Lisanna, too!"

This doesn't mean anything to Plue, who just rolls over for a belly rub.

Once Plue is satisfied with the attention he's received, Lucy returns to her computer, now much calmer than before. Rather than continuing the video immediately, however, she diverts her attention to the comments section and, after a moment of hesitation, starts typing.

'That moment when senpai notices you. (And I'd love to do a collab!)'

She presses send before she can convince herself otherwise, then pretends it never happened and presses play. She spends the rest of night watching videos until she's too tired to keep her eyes open, and even then, her last thought before her mind drifts into unconsciousness is whether she said the right thing. She quickly decides that even if she didn't, she's too tired to change it now.


Lucy wakes up with her face squished between her pillow and her phone. She can feel Plue lying on her back, and to this day, she still doesn't understand why he insists sleeping on top of her in some way. He's lucky he's cute. Still, she has to get up, and she gently pushes him to the side so he lands on a soft cushion. He doesn't wake, even when she slips out of bed to go to the bathroom and grab herself some cereal.

Once she's done both those things, she plops herself down at her desk and slides her mouse so her computer wakes from its sleep mode. The screen is, as always, on YouTube, and it's then that she remembers the previous night. She goes through her history until she finds Levy's video and quickly scrolls down to the comments section. To her surprise, her comment is the top-rated with over five hundred replies and counting. Most of them are positive words, saying that the two of them should definitely do a collab, even giving them some ideas.

The comment that really grabs her attention is the one from Levy herself. 'Well, I guess we have a collab to plan!'

Ecstatic, Lucy almost closes the entire browser while opening a new tab to get to her emails. The easiest way to get in touch with her is to send a message to her business email, and she's always said as much, so it's no surprise that Levy chose there to message her. She holds in an excited squeal as she opens the message and begins to read.

'Hey, Lucy!

I've always wanted to do a collab with you, though I didn't think it'd be happening this quickly! I didn't even know you watch my videos! But I have a few ideas on what we can do, and feel free to add some stuff.'

Below is a list of ideas Levy has, and she's indicated which are her own ideas and which are from the comments. Lucy thinks all of them are fantastic, but she eventually decides on one that catches her eye and types up a response, making sure she proof-reads before sending it.

'I love all these ideas, but I think maybe the Writer VS Reader one? We can make a script for all the different scenarios, things like that? I don't know where or when you wanted to do the collab, but I'm fine with just about any weekend, since I have work most weekdays.'

If there is one thing Lucy is unsatisfied with in her YouTube career, it's that she doesn't have the money to do it full time. Granted, she could if she sold her house for something smaller, but where she is has a lot of sentimental value, as well as being easily accessible to so many places in town. And there is never any guarantee that another place would let her keep Plue.

'You could always go back home,' a nagging voice in the back of her mind tells her, but she quickly pushes it away. That is not an option.

Levy responds within the hour. 'Great! Is this Sunday good for you? I don't know how much time we'll need to prepare, but if we need to extend it, we totally can. Actually, is it alright if we exchange numbers? It's usually easier for me to sort these things out via text than email. Only if it's okay with you, of course!'

Lucy doesn't respond right away. Instead, she grabs the nearest post-it note and writes down a reminder for Sunday. She's not missing this for the world.


Sunday comes quickly, but it seems that Levy's concern about needing an extension wasn't necessary. Lucy is more than over-prepared. It's a habit of hers, really. Unless she's doing a daily vlog, she doesn't really dive into things unprepared, or wing it. It's just not her style. Thankfully, Levy seems to be the same. The two have a lot in common, something Lucy was able to find out during their text conversations. It's nice to be friends with a fellow YouTuber (or anyone at all, really, because she hasn't made a friend since moving away).

The drive to Levy's place doesn't take as long as she initially thought it would. It's just under an hour, though it would probably take longer if there was the same amount of traffic on a Sunday as there is on a weekday. Levy's neighbourhood is colourful and bright with narrow streets and beautiful gardens. For someone like Lucy, who lives right by the highway, it's a nice change in atmosphere.

She parks in the driveway after checking the address for the tenth time, then grabs her bag and camera before heading to the front door. She knocks and waits, unable to stand still, and she keeps herself calm by shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The door opens a few seconds later, and she's promptly greeted by a light laugh and a camera in her face.

"Lucy, hi!" Levy says, tilting her head so she can be seen around her camera. "I'm just recording for the daily vlog while Jet and Droy are out. They went to film some Eat Droy at this new restaurant in town. So, tell us what we're doing."

The camera is more of a comforting presence than anything, so Lucy is completely herself as she says, "We're preparing that collab we promised you. I'm not telling you any more than that, it's a secret." She presses her finger to her lips and winks as Levy laughs again and turns the camera off.

"You really are a natural at this," she says, and Lucy realises for the first time how short she is in real life. "Alright, want something to drink before we get started? Or after?"

Lucy decides on after, and so they get to work. With the two of them so prepared, they make easy work of it, and they're done sooner than planned. It's nearing lunchtime when they decide to call it a wrap, and Levy insists that she stay and eat in thanks for doing the collab with her. Lucy protests, says that she should be the one thanking her instead, but Levy insists. That's how they end up sitting at Levy's kitchen island with a grilled sandwich each.

Levy turns her camera back on and turns it towards herself. "We've just finished filming, so now we're having some fantastic lunch made by yours truly. It's not as good as Droy's, I guess, but it'll do."

"What? I think it's fantastic!" Lucy says, quickly swallowing so she can keep talking. "It's better than the instant noodles I usually end up eating."

Levy gasps. "You dare diss the absolute art of the instant noodle?"

Lucy almost chokes on her food as she laughs, but she doesn't get the chance to reply as the door opens and a loud voice is heard from the doorway. "Oi, Levy! Do you have any old books I can blow up?"

The man that appears in the kitchen is just as familiar as Levy is. Natsu Dragneel (Salamander, for those YouTube watchers who don't care for learning real names) is another permanent fixture on the Fairy Tail channel, is one of the loudest of the group. He's very entertaining to watch. Lucy is subscribed to his personal channel, too, and loves both his gaming videos and the vlogs with his cat. The explosion portion of his channel isn't exactly her style, but the reactions his roommates have when he blows up their stuff is hilarious.

Levy's free hand is on her hip as she says, "No, Natsu, I still haven't forgiven you for when you blew up my spare bookshelf!"

"You weren't using it!" he defends.

"That's not the point. Besides, you can't just blow up books. They're sacred. Lucy will back me up on this."

Lucy is surprised at being dragged into the conversation, but considering it's about the protection of the written word, she doesn't mind that much. "It really is. You're destroying part of us when you destroy books."

Natsu turns to her, blinking as though this is the first time he's seen her. It probably is. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't notice her before. "Oh, hey, I know you. You're that one chick that Levy and Mira and Lisanna watch, right? Uh, Luigi?"

Lucy narrows her eyes. "It's Lucy."

"Right, Lucy." He grins and strides over, taking the last piece of her grilled cheese and shoving it in his mouth before patting her shoulder. "Thanks for the food! I'm gonna go find that food magazine Droy promised I could borrow."

And with that, he saunters out the kitchen's other door. Lucy looks back at Levy, who's still recording, and shakes her head. Levy clearly thinks the whole situation is hilarious, if her giggles are anything to go by. Lucy just rolls her eyes and smiles.


Lucy leaves not long after Natsu does (he said something about not trusting his cat to be home alone for too long before disappearing out the door), and when she does, Levy tells her they should collab again. Lucy agrees. Even if their collab isn't that successful - though she thinks it will be, because it's Levy's channel, and Levy is amazing - she knows that she will. She and Levy have become such good friends within the span of a week, and she's not about to let that go.

After making Levy promise her to text her as soon as the video is up, just in case she's at work, she heads for home. She doesn't think she's felt so satisfied with a video in a long while.

She continues talking to Levy for the next couple of days, and she keeps an eye on the channel. More so than usual. Yet it's not the collab video that comes first, but the daily vlog from the day they filmed it. It makes sense, considering daily vlogs are, well, more daily than other content. It's still exciting regardless, and she makes sure to watch it when she's on a work break. She sits down in the break room, plugs her earphones into her phone, and presses play.

It starts with Levy being excited for the day, explaining that Lucy would be there later on before letting the usual Jet and Droy hijinks ensue. Lucy waits impatiently for her arrival, and she finally reaches what she's looking for halfway through the video, a grin on her face as she watches herself appear in Levy's doorway. It then transitions to their lunch before Natsu walks in like he owns the place. Lucy giggles as she watches her own reactions to his antics, and she keeps watching as she scrolls to the comments section.

'OMG LEVY AND LUCY COLLAB MY LIFE IS COMPLETE GOOD THING TOO CAUSE I'M GONNA DIE WHEN THE VIDEO COMES OUT HOLY SHIT.'

'natsu you can't just eat someone's grilled cheese oh my god.'

'LUIGI'

'#savelevysbooks2k17'

'natsu and lucy look so cute together? like i ship it so hard? tHEY WERE IN THE SAME ROOM FOR BARELY A MINUTE AND NOW LOOK AT ME I HAVE A PROBLEM.'

Wait, what?

She keeps scrolling, wondering if she'd read that wrong, wondering if that was a one-off comment. Spoiler alert: it's not.

'petition for lucy and natsu to be in more videos together pls.'

'THEY INTERACT LIKE THEY'RE FRIENDS EVEN THO THEY'VE JUST MET!'

'i know i'm jumping the gun here but natsu and lucy? yessssssss.'

Lucy screams so loudly that her boss kicks her out and forces her to get back to work.


/casually slides this story across the table

i've had this idea stewing about in my head for a while now, and i haven't written a multi-chapter fanfic in YEARS, so hopefully i'm not too rusty. the next chapter shouldn't take too long, hopefully i'm happy with it and won't have to constantly rewrite it like i did with this one. we'll see, though!