When I go outside, I find that Natsu chose to wait for me. The two of us walk together in silence toward the guild. I don't inquire further about his bad mood toward Oliver. I don't care, anyway. He can do whatever he wants.

"What's with the bad mood all of the sudden?" I burst when we enter the guild hall. I grit my teeth, hating that it's bugging me so much.

"That guy looks like a creep," Natsu says simply. "I don't like him."

"Why?" I demand. "And you don't know him! Why don't you like him?"

"I already told you," he tells me simply.

"You left out the explanation," I point out irritably.

He ignores me and walks ahead to the bar where Master Makarov is sitting with Macao, Cana, Wakaba, and Lisanna. Mirajane is behind the counter with Kinana. "Hey, Gramps! I finished that job."

Makarov looks up at him and his eyes flicker to me before he responds. "That's great! How'd it go? Lucy was worried when she heard you went alone."

"Ah, she had no reason to be," Natsu yawns, probably hoping I won't mention the falling off the mountain thing. I snort, rolling my eyes. He wishes.

"Thought you weren't a liar?" I look at Makarov. "There's a lot that can't kill him, but being thrown off a mountain unconscious, I'm pretty sure would have killed him."

Macao and Wakaba start laughing. Natsu gives me a sideways glare and I smirk in response. "Whatever," he grumbles before going off to sit with Happy, Carla, and Pantherlily, who'd been gone on delivery jobs since there's been a lull in big group job requests lately.

I stick my tongue out at his back and turn to sit down in front of Mirajane. She, Cana, and Lisanna all look at me curiously.

"Something going on?" Cana asks me finally.

"Natsu's being an asshole," I tell her quietly, though I know he can still hear me. Good.

"Why's that?" Lisanna asks as Mirajane pours me a soda. She waves away my money and I look to Makarov, he doesn't seem to care.

I lift the glass, swishing the purple soda around and watching the bubbles. I look up and look at Mirajane. "You know that guy who came in asking for me? You gave him my address?" I ask her. "Well Natsu and I were going back to my place after the Mount Hakobe thing and he was standing there waiting for me. So I invited him in to catch up a little and Natsu was totally rude to him!"

"is that so?" Wakaba asks.

"Wonder why that is," Macao wonders aloud.

"He shouldn't be rude to an old friend of yours," Lisanna remarks. "What's that guy going to think? it makes Fairy Tail look bad when one of our members acts like that for no reason."

"He seemed like a nice guy when he was here," Cana tells me. "He seemed so excited to see his old friend. It was sweet."

I shrug, "yeah, we used to be good friends. I haven't seen any of my old friends from when I was young. I lost a lot of them after my mom died. Oliver stuck around but eventually I stopped seeing even him."

Nobody has a response for that. I laugh, "sorry, that was a bit depressing. Anyway, I want to make it up to him and maybe become friends again. We're catching up some more over dinner tonight," I tell them. "Maybe Natsu will calm down and explain himself tomorrow."

"I'm sure he will," Mirajane assures me in her usual chippeer manner before going to help Kinana with washing dishes.

I drain the soda and get up, spotting the request board. "I need rent money," I groan and walk over to the board, looking through the jobs.

One fighting a flock of bird-like demons, no. That sounds like I'd need - No. No I won't do that one.

A job finding a lost treasure at a mansion in some town on the other side of Fiore. Why is this request all the way out here? Like anyone here would go so far out just for 100,000 J

A job vanquishing one forest vulcan that's terrorizing the forest east of Magnolia. Perfect. It's close and there only one so I can manage it. I tear the request down and take it back to the bar for Master to see.

"Didn't you just yell at Natsu for doing a job like this alone?" he inqures.

"This one isn't in a mountain and there's only one," I point out. "It's totally different!"

"Fine, go for it, Lucy," he tells me, sounding bored. He turns away, taking a swig of whatever booze he's drinking. It looks like Whiskey to me.

I pocket the request form and march out of the guild hall, not wanting to sit around waiting for the daily brawl to start. I'm better off going home to get ready for tonight, though I have hours before I'll need to be ready.

When I get home, I go straight to my desk to write to my mother. It's something I like to do when anything significant happens in my life. Sometimes I go to her grave and read them to her, which helps remind me of what I've been through in the past.

Hey, Mama,

You'll never guess who showed up at my doorstep today. Oliver! Remember him? We used to be so close when we were kids, we'd play together while our dads were in meetings. He said he'd found out I was in Fairy Tail and came to see me again.

But Natsu was with me when I spotted Oliver. He was so rude! I can't understand why. he just kept glaring at Oliver whenever he thought nobody was looking and asking rude questions and making mean comments. Finally I asked him what his deal was when Oliver left, but he wouldn't even tell me!

Whatever. I'll interrogate him tomorrow. Tonight I'm seeing Oliver for dinner so we can catch up some more. I'm kind of worried. I found out today that Oliver had a crush on me growing up an I never noticed! Did you? I hope not. How embarrassing, having your parents notice that kind of thing…

I really hope nothing awkward happens at dinner. I just want to talk with an old friend and maybe stay in touch with someone from my old life. If I have him, I'll have one person from the old life back, which would be nice…

Anyway, I need to go get ready for dinner. Cross your fingers, mama, maybe with luck this will go well.

I promise I'll come visit you and daddy soon.

~Love Lucy

I fold the letter and put it in an envelop, seal it, and put it away with the others. "I'm going to need a bigger box for these," I note.

I look at my clock and stand up, deciding now is as good a time as any to start getting ready.

I go into my closet first thing to find an outfit for tonight. I pull a new dress I bought the other day. "I wondered where I would wear this. Guess I could use it tonight."

I look at the dress. It's pink, the same pink color of Natsu's hair. I thought it was a pretty dress, and I thought it was funny how it matched his hair so i bought it. I hadn't realized until after I had it bought and stored in my closet that I wouldn't have anywhere to wear it. I've been hoping something would come up. Sure, I didn't expect it to be Oliver, but he's something.

"I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea if I wear this," I say aloud, looking down at the dress. It kind of looks casual, but it is meant for dates and formal gatherings. I shrug it off and go into the bathroom. "If I want to dress up, I shouldn't have to worry about giving people the wrong idea," i tell my reflection. "I can dress however I want. It doesn't matter what others think of it."

I let myself soak in the tub for an hour before drying off, dressing, and calling Cancer to do my hair for me.

"Nothing too big, okay? I'm just meeting with an old friend," I tell him, sitting down in front of my vanity. "Nothing fancy, I mean. I'm just meeting with a friend for dinner."

"I don't do anything small," Cancer tells me. 'baby."

When I'm all ready, I check the clock and see it's ten to seven. I clip my keys and my whip to my belt as usual and go outside to wait for Oliver, hushing the butterflies in my stomach and crossing my fingers behind my back. I'm hoping for no awkwardness.