Nervously brushing a loose lock of blonde hair behind her ear, Lucy looks around the club hoping to spy with her little eye a certain rose haired stranger.
But, the more she looks out into the large crowd of people, the more uncomfortable she feels, sitting at the bar with nothing in her hands and wearing a slick black dress that hugs her body in all the right places.
She sure feels good in it because well…she had a body, but it just doesn't feel right.
"Maybe this was a bad idea…" Lucy mumbles to herself, staring down at her lap before a warm breath tickles her neck.
"I can be your good idea." A husky voice says, the smell of alcohol pooling from his lips.
Shivering, the blonde stiffens immediately and mentally curses herself for thinking this was a good idea.
Going to a bar wearing a slutty outfit?
Of course it was a bad idea! She mentally scolds herself.
Stupid Levy and her persuasive nature!
Turning around she immediately freezes upon seeing that the stranger is someone she wishes she'd rather never see again.
"Like what you see?" He slurs, his blonde locks swaying across his face as he wobbles from foot to foot.
His shirt is unbuttoned, completely exposing his well-toned chest, and his lips are parted in a drunken smile.
Lucy gulps.
"Get away from me." Lucy hisses, hopping off the stool and backing away, her legs shaking slightly from fear.
It's the exact same guy that tried to rape her outside of this exact same club the last time the poor blonde was here.
Why me, why me, why me?!
He advances closer to her, and it's as if Lucy's legs are glued to the floor.
No, move move move!
"Com'ere." He slurs, tucking a loose string of hair behind her ear and sliding his filthy paws down her slender cheek.
Lucy, still frozen like a statue, only watches in horror as his lust filled eyes are mere centimeters from her fear stricken face.
"I'll make you mine." He purrs and his warm breath hits her lips, practically causing her to gag from the alcohol.
Snapping her eyes open and regaining her senses, Lucy shoves him back with the palm of her hand just before his lips crash onto hers and stomps on his foot with the heel of her 5 inch shoe.
"You little-" He fumes in anger, hopping around on his foot. He curses with each hop he makes, glaring angrily at Lucy.
Lucy wastes no time and grabs a filled martini glass placed on the counter of the bar and with a small thrust to her wrist, spills the contents all over the man. It drips down his face, the intoxicating liquid burning his eyes.
He lets out a pained scream.
"That'll show you!" Lucy proclaims, grabbing her bag and running off into the crowd.
I have to find Levy and get out of here, before he decides to corner me again.
Maneuvering through the crowd, much to Lucy's disadvantage was more difficult than she had thought. The blaring music was not helping her creeping headache either, and the sweaty bodies rubbing off on her made her feel weak in the knees.
Lucy was never good in crowded places.
And the wreaking stench of alcohol made her feel sick to her stomach, yet for some reason the whole scene almost felt…nostalgic. Why? She didn't know the answer herself.
"Lu over here!" Levy shouts, motioning for her to come over once she spots the lost blonde.
Levy, being the little scandalous girl she is, is dancing wildly surrounded by boys that Lucy recognizes from her class. They're all hollering, rubbing their sweaty bodies against each other and the whole scene is just…disgusting.
It's odd for Lucy to know the two sides of Levy. She's scared of the dark and so they always keep a nightlight on during the night, but yet she's able to grind with boys who she attends class with and not get embarrassed when she sees them the next morning.
It's weird, but a part of Lucy envies Levy.
Awkwardly smiling at the boys who don't look Lucy in eyes but shift their gaze downwards, she grabs Levy's wrist and pulls her out of there.
"Luuuuu you're ruining the fun!" She hiccups, and her cheeks are slightly red from the alcohol she's consumed.
"Levy, I'm going home. Catch a ride with someone sober okay?" Lucy says, speaking slowly in case she doesn't understand.
She pouts but nods her head.
"Good, oh and Gajeel was totally checking you out." Lucy teases, and Levy whacks her on the shoulder turning a bright shade of red. Smiling hard she bids the blonde a goodbye and goes back to her little dancing circle.
Lucky Levy, always being the one with guts.
Sadly, Lucy was not that way at all. She'd rather be at home right now, in over sized pajamas, reading her calculus books and doing homework.
The party life just wasn't for her. Exiting the wild bar she calls a cab.
Disappointed that she wasn't able to meet the one guy she came here to look for, Lucy enters her favorite little coffee joint before heading to her dorm. Getting a steaming cup of hot cocoa will hopefully get the sulking blonde's mood up.
The little bell rings as she enters.
The sweet scent of sweet treats and coffee fills the blonde's nostrils and she hums lightly to herself, happy to be somewhere that doesn't smell like alcohol and body odor. The soft music playing in the café is nice too, and she sings quietly to herself as she looks over the menu.
"Costumer!" A voice yells from the back of the store, and the little doors swing open from behind the counter.
Lucy looks up as the employee makes his way to the register.
Her chocolate eyes widen.
"May I take your order?" He asks, a toothy grin shining on his handsome face.
"I-I," Lucy stammers, her chest feeling light as a wave of sudden happiness washes over her. That pink hair, she wouldn't miss that tangled pink hair anywhere.
"I…?" The man teases, raising an eyebrow at the stuttering blonde.
Lucy can't help but fight the smile from spreading across her face.
"I found you!"
She points a finger at him and he stares at her painted fingernail, eyes blinking.
"Uh, yeah you did." He agrees, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Lucy, realizing that her sudden outburst probably put them both in an awkward spot, composes her excitement and places an order for a medium cup of hot cocoa.
"Sweets at this hour?" The employee teases, turning around to prepare her order.
Puffing her cheeks out, Lucy folds her arms over her chest.
"I had a rough night." She admits.
She notices the man's ears perk up at this and his posture stiffen, as his back is facing her and he's pouring the cocoa into the paper cup.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asks hestitanly, turning around to face her and placing the cup on the counter.
The blonde's eyes widen at his words. No one really bothered to hear her out before, well besides Levy but she only cared about the nitty gritty details of gossip. Lucy always had a difficult time opening up to people…well ever since that day.
But, with this man's warm eyes concentrated only on her, and the coziness of the empty coffee shop Lucy nods her head and decides to give in to his suggestion.
"Okay." She responds softly, handing him the money and grabbing her drink.
Taking the cup into her hands, it warms her palms and soon enough her lips when she takes a sip.
"Let's go sit down, I don't think I'll be getting anymore costumers for the night." The man chuckles, taking of the light brown apron and hanging in on rack as he comes out from behind the counter and sits himself at one of the comfy booths.
Lucy follows him, and slides into the seat across from the rosette. Still eyeing the coffee and feeling embarrassed to begin, they both sit in silence.
"That same guy from a few nights ago…he tried to…" Lucy trails, fidgeting with her words as her throat begins to feel constricted.
Gosh, why am I even telling this guy this?
She mentally scolds herself, expecting him to be annoyed that she's once again reckless and getting herself into terrible situations.
But, the reaction she gets from him is unexpected when she lifts her eyes from her cup to his face.
He looks pissed.
His jaw is tight; teeth gritted, and clenched fists.
"Stay away from that bar." He says calmly, but the rage behind his voice causes a shiver to run down the blonde's spine.
"That's the plan." She says lightly, chuckling a bit to ease the tension. But, he doesn't seem to think of it as a light topic.
"Gosh Lucy you have to be more careful, what if you'd seriously gotten raped this time?" He asks, concern pooling in his eyes.
Lucy stares at him in shock.
Why does he care so much?
"I-I wouldn't have gotten raped! I was with my friends." She defends herself, feeling slightly offended that he has such a lack of faith in her. Wait, why does she even care about what he thinks of her?
Of course she would be fine! Levy was with her, and she managed to stomp her foot on the guy's toes and dump a martini on him.
It was pretty epic she must admit.
"Levy? She was probably off dancing with Gajeel." He retorts, mumbling it under his breath, but Lucy stares at him even more shocked.
"How do you know I was with Levy?" Lucy asks, starting to feel uncomfortable that this stranger knows so much about her.
He blinks a few times as if he's surprised that she would ask such a thing, but then something dawns on him and he shakes his head.
"Gray mentioned her and Gajeel sometimes. I'm friends with him." He says, but Lucy notices the small twitch in his left eye.
He's either lying or has a lazy eye.
Lucy sips on her cocoa, the warm and sweet beverage immediately making her feel better.
"Wait a minute!" Lucy suddenly says, placing down her beverage with a thud and staring intently at the man resting his cheek on his palm.
He stares back, blinking his eyes in confusion as he anticipates her next sentence.
"What's even your name?!"
And she gets a good hearty laugh out of him.
"You trust people to easily." He chuckles, covering his mouth with his palm as his cheeks become a bright red from laughter.
Lucy can't help but notice how ridiculously adorable he looks, laughing with red dusted on his cheeks.
"Natsu," He says, calming down from his fit of laughter. "Natsu Dragneel."
And he shoots the blonde a toothy smile, which causes her to smile back shyly, feeling her cheeks grow hot from her previous thoughts.
"Lucy Heartphilia." She states, before yet another thing dawns on her.
"But wait, you already knew my name. How so?" She asks, narrowing her eyes at him as if she's interrogating Natsu.
Natsu rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.
"You're the smartest girl on campus, how could I not know your name." He says, and for some strange reason the fact that he knew her name because of her stellar grades causes Lucy's smile to falter slightly.
So, he doesn't know me because he secretly has a crush on me and tried to find out who I am- wait what?! Bad thoughts Lucy! Of course that wouldn't happen, it only happens in movies…duh.
"Besides, I've seen you around a few times, and it's hard to forget such a cute face like yours." He admits, pink dusting his cheeks for the second time that night.
And Lucy blushes, turning the same color of Natsu's hair. Trying to hide the smile daring to creep up on her face, she takes a sip of her cocoa.
Then a small little cuckoo noise causes both of them to stare at the large clock hanging on the wall near the counters.
Midnight on the dot.
"Midnight already?" Natsu mutters to himself, returning his gaze back on the blonde beauty seated before him.
"Well," She begins, gathering her things and getting up from the booth,"I better get going, it's getting late." She says, smiling down softly.
Natsu gets up as well and follows her until she's at the door, depositing her cup in the waste bin.
"Thank you for the cocoa." She says, the smile never leaving her face.
How much I've missed that smile. Natsu thinks, staring at Lucy with a smile of his own.
"Sure, I'll see you around?" He asks, a blush creeping on his face.
Lucy giggles.
"Maybe I'll fall again and you can catch me, since I see that's how we happen to meet." She says, and we both laugh.
"Okay, well take care Lucy." Natsu bids her goodnight, opening the door as she walks off waving.
"Oh and Natsu?" She pipes up, just before he closes the door.
"Hm?"
"I know you'll always be there to catch me."
And with that she's out of sight.
"Always, Lucy." Natsu confesses, his breath coming out as a puff of white before he closes the doors to the coffee shop.
Little did he know his voice seemed to carry on the wind and Lucy heard every last word.
Mabye I should fall more often?
She thinks smiling like idiot.
AN: I really enjoyed Lucy owning the blonde dude in this chapter. :D His identity will be revealed in the next chapter, but i'm pretty sure you all already know who he is. XD Also, sorry if Natsu and Lucy's conversation is a bit akward but I found it to be sweet. Well, this chapter is a bit more lengthy and has a nalu interaction so I hope you all enjoy it.
Please leave a review! I love reading through them, all of your support means the world to me. Thank you! :DD
Until next chapter, toodles~
