She's been sitting in the booth for about an hour now. She continuously is being told by her waiter that if she doesn't order something, she has to leave. Great, now people are starting to look at her with pity. They can tell just when a girl is stood up, can't they?

Lucy had been asked on a date by the local playboy, and she was foolish enough to accept. She was on her third sake of the night, regretting even showing up.

She thought that Loke actually wanted to go on a date, but he most likely found someone else to go with and bail on her. Great… She glanced around the room, seeing different faces look at her in pity. They knew! They knew she had been stood up!

At least it wasn't with Loke's twin, Leo. That would have been an even greater embarrassment.

"Miss, are you still waiting on someone?" A waitress with long silver colored hair came up to her table. Should she continue to wait? Or should she go home and get a bunch of 'I told you so's from her neighbors? She lived in an apartment building and the only people on her floor were all around her age. They had warned her about Loke, seeing as she was new to the area, but they didn't mention this.

"Uh, yes, I'm still waiting. He should be here soon," She played around with the mist forming on the side of her glass, not meeting the waitresses eyes.

"O-Of course, we just won't be able to hold the table for much longer. Forgive me," She bowed and walked away to another table. Lucy let out a large sigh and put her head in her hands.

Idiot. Idiot, idiot, idiot. She wouldn't be able to show her face anywhere. She glanced up at the door. Nothing. What was she thinking using that dating website? She would definitely need to delete her account.

She put her head up and couldn't help but let the tears start to fall. Now she wished she had sat in the middle of the restaurant and not right by the window of a busy street where everyone could see her.

A different waitress came this time, an annoyed expression on her face. She looked like the other one, but her hair was shorter.

"Look, we've got people waiting. Are you just gonna sit here or can we get some other people in?" She had Lucy's check already in her hand, just waiting for the word.

Lucy sighed. She could just grab some Thai food on her way back to the apartment and go watch anime until 3 am under her blankets in her dark bedroom...

"Yeah, sure, I'll-"

"Wait!" The doors burst open and in walked a man who looked like he had been running. "I'm so sorry! The boss wouldn't let me out early to avoid traffic!" He slid into the seat across from Lucy, an apologetic grin on his face.

Lucy was shocked. She hadn't seen him before. He looked nothing like Loke. What?

"Just go with it," He whispered to her while their waitress blew a fuse and left with Lucy's bill, instructing the other waitress from before to go help them.

He looked down at the menu, as did the still shocked Lucy. "I'll have the barbecue steak with extra sauce. And-" He looked towards Lucy and she got the idea.

"I'll have a chef's salad. And I'll have another sake, please," Her unexpected date confirmed that he wanted a sake as well, and the waitress left with a satisfied smile.

"I'm Lucy. Thanks for saving me," Lucy blushed as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear,

"No problem. Whoever didn't show up for you is a dick. I'm Natsu, by the way," He smiled at her as Lucy took a drink to finish off her third glass.

"To be honest, my friends told me I shouldn't have accepted a date with him in the first place. He's a playboy," Natsu looked her up and down and shook his head.

"I don't know how he could bail like that. You're beautiful. And I can already tell you're super cool," Lucy blushed even more, and tried to hide it behind a napkin that she brought up to her face to 'wipe away her tears' from earlier.

"Thanks, Natsu. And, you're pretty cool too," He smiled at that. It wasn't weird. The date, that is. Should it? 'Cause it doesn't feel weird. It felt… right.

"Is this, weird, to you?" Natsu seemed to have read her mind.

"Not really. Unless, it's weird to you?" She looked up at him, seemingly just noticing his bright salmon colored hair.

"Nah, just slow. I just saw you in the window when I was walking to the Thai food place down the street. I hate people who don't show up," He looked away from her and down at the table.

"Wait, you were going to get Thai food? I live a few apartments down. Maybe we can grab some after this?" She had a smile on her face now, which he glanced up to see.

"Sure! Of course! Yeah, definitely!" He smiled back at her, and a question popped into his head. "Do you watch anime?"

She looked down for a moment, but regained his eye contact. "Yeah, I also write a few stories about my favorite ships," Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"You write stories!? No way! Can I read some?" He looked genuine about wanting to read some, but no one had read them yet.

"M-Maybe. I haven't let anyone read them yet," She looked to the side, and could see that Natsu was about to say something, but their food came out a moment later and was set in front of them, along with their drinks.

"Have you watched this anime called Fairy Tail?" He said this in between bites of his steak.

"I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it yet, no," His eyes got wide.

"You haven't seen it? Man, where have you been living!?" He grinned at her and laughed. "We'll definitely have to watch that some time," Lucy almost choked on her salad. Some time. Did that mean he wanted to see her again?

"Well, why not tonight? We can go back to my place and watch it together if you want?" He looked up at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Sure! If you really want to," He smiled at her again as their waitress brought out their check, which they decided to split half and half.

They made small talk as they left the restaurant together. It should feel weird, but yet, it doesn't. Going on a date with someone who just showed up should have been weird, but it wasn't.

They stopped for Thai on their way to Lucy's apartment. They got something they could share, but nothing too big. Lucy grabbed out her key as they came to her door, and was met by three simultaneous door sounds.

"Lucy! How was it? Did you hit it off? Did-" Three girls stood out in the hallway in front of Lucy and Natsu, the redhead and two bluenettes stopping when they saw Natsu standing there. Their eyes widened as Lucy's face got redder than the redheads natural color. Natsu chuckled a bit, and tried really hard to not laugh out loud.

She quickly opened the door to her apartment and ushered Natsu in, not looking back at the other three, who would be pounding on her door the next morning wanting details of her night. She smiled nervously at Natsu as he looked back at her an amused smile on his face.

"Don't mind their eagerness. They just… They're really protective of me, like we're all sisters," She rubbed the back of her head as she took off her bulky jacket and hung it across a chair.

Her apartment was pretty open. The only closed off room was the bathroom and two bedrooms. Honestly, the second bedroom was her office area, where she would write, or even reenact some of her fantasies. In her living area was a huge TV with movies and disks underneath it. Natsu had a backpack with him and was digging through it, looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" She turned on the TV and grabbed a remote from on top of the cabinet.

"I'm looking for… Here it is!" He pulled out a case with a picture on the front. "My friend returned it to me today, so I have it with me. Here, this is the first disk," He handed her one of the disks, the first one in the case, and she popped it in. She sat down next to him and they really got into it.

They watched it for a good few hours. The sun had vanished a long time ago, and much of the street noise had calmed down. Natsu checked the clock on the wall as they finished another episode.

"Man, I gotta go," At some point, Lucy had laid her head on his shoulder. She sat up and looked at the clock, noticing just how late it was.

"Oh, yeah, it is pretty late," She helped him gather his things and he started for the door. Well, one of her more successful dates and she'd never see him again.

He stopped in the door frame and turned to look at her. "I had fun tonight, on our little unintentional date," He smiled at her.

"So did I. A lot more fun than I would have with Loke, I bet," They both laughed at the thought.

"Well, maybe next time, we could go on an intentional date?" He looked at her with a hoping smile.

"Y-Yeah! Sure!" He smiled and gave her his number, and he left with a smile and a wave.

"See ya next time, Luce."