Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome to the fourth chapter of "The ABCs of Natsu and Erza," D for Date!

I actually struggled with this, having never been on a date, and thus having no real-world experience on the matter (at age 21 to boot). Yes. I write romance, and I never had any practical romantic experience. How ironic is that?

And I should start the story before I embarrass myself any further. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters. I do own Shizuka. Any and all usage of her must be approved by me.

"Natsu?"

The Dragon Slayer in question looked up as Erza called his name. "What's up, Erza?" he asked his girlfriend.

"I was just thinking about how we've never gone on an official date," said Erza.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who said you didn't like dates," said Natsu. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"It's just…" Erza sighed wistfully. "I keep hearing Mirajane talking about her dates with Fried, and… I can't help but feel jealous… so if you wanted to take me out to dinner or something… well, I wouldn't say no."

Natsu stared at his girlfriend intently. Finally, he spoke. "I get it," he said with a smirk. "You don't want to lose to Mira!"

Erza giggled. "You could say that," she replied.

"Well, that's fine by me!" declared Natsu. "I don't want to lose to Fried either!"

Erza smiled at her boyfriend's unbridled enthusiasm. "Pick me up at six, okay, Honey Dragon?" she told him using her pet name for him.

"See you then, Baby Red," replied Natsu. The couple sealed the date with a kiss.

It was a quarter after six, and Erza was getting impatient. What the hell did that idiot think he was doing?

"I'm giving him another five minutes. After that, I'm going to hunt him down and teach him to stand up a lady," she decided. Three seconds later, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to reveal… Natsu.

Instead of his usual attire (bar the scarf), Natsu was wearing a brown leather jacket with matching pants. Underneath the jacket was a red dress shirt, fitting for a Fire Dragon.

"Where were you?" Erza said harshly.

"Heheh, sorry," said Natsu. "Happy said to show up 'fashionably late.' Something about building up anticipation or some bull like that.

Erza's eyebrow twitched. "Natsu, when someone's 'fashionably late' to something like a dinner date, they're usually five minutes late – NO MORE THAN THAT," she said. "What were you doing for the last fifteen minutes, anyway?"

"I was actually debating whether to get you flowers or not," Natsu replied. "I knew girls usually like flowers, but I said to myself, 'Dude, this is Erza we're talking about here! Erza doesn't do flowers!' So I was tearing my head out over it, and next thing I knew, I was five minutes later than when I was going to show up!"

Erza smiled. How could anyone be such an idiot and still be so cute doing it? "Yes, flowers would have been nice," she said. "But in the end, they're only temporary, and if we play our cards right, our relationship will last longer than any flower ever could."

"Wow, Erza… coming from you, that's beautiful," said Natsu.

"And what exactly does that mean?" asked Erza incredulously.

"Well, I… er… you look nice!" Natsu managed to get out. It was true. With her hair up, and in her dark blue spaghetti-strap top and gray microskirt, Erza was truly a sight to behold.

"Thank you, Natsu," said Erza, blushing at her boyfriend's compliment. Just then, said boyfriend's stomach started to growl. After sharing a laugh, the couple left to find a place to eat.

The couple had decided on a nice little bistro in downtown Magnolia. It wasn't anything fancy, but at the same time, you didn't just walk in without a reservation or waiting in line. There was a bit of a line which discouraged Erza.

"Forget it, Natsu, let's go somewhere else," Erza encouraged.

"No way, I made a reservation here, and I'm not changing it for the world!" said Natsu. Without any warning, Natsu picked up Erza bridal-style and marched to the front of the line, much to the protests of the other people waiting.

"I got a reservation for two under the name Dragneel," Natsu told the brunette hostess, who just stared at him.

"Sir… there's a separate line for people with reservations," the hostess deadpanned.

"What? Where the hell is that?" asked Natsu.

"Around the side," said the hostess.

"Thanks," said Natsu. Bellowing an apology to the people in line, he put Erza down, and the two of them made their way to the side entrance. They gave their name to the hostess stationed there and were seated almost immediately.

"Next time, could you leave your he-man antics at home?" said Erza in an annoyed tone.

"He-man antics?" Natsu repeated. "Who am I, Elfman?"

Erza sighed. "All I'm saying is that you don't have to show off in front of me," she said. "I like you just the way you are."

Natsu blushed. "I guess I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" he said.

"You're not as awesome as you think," said Erza. "But you are pretty cute," she added with a flirtatious wink. Hey, she was on a date, and she would flirt with her boyfriend if she wanted to, which she did.

"Evening!" a perky voice greeted. Natsu and Erza looked up to see an amber-haired waitress. "My name's Shizuka, and I'll be serving you tonight!"

"Shizuka?" Natsu repeated. "That means summer, right?"

"Yeah," said Shizuka.

"Hey, so does Natsu!" Natsu said cheerfully.

Realization dawned on Shizuka. "Ohmigod! Then you're Natsu Dragneel, right?" she exclaimed.

"Yup!" replied Natsu.

"I am such a huge fan of yours!" said Shizuka. "You're like, THE Fire mage every other Fire mage wants to be!"

"Nah, Macao's the Fire mage to beat in Fairy Tail!" said Natsu with a blush, which irked Erza to no end.

"Oh, yeah, he's great too, but you're practically the greatest Fire user of our time!" Shizuka gushed.

Natsu laughed. "Thanks, it's always nice to hear someone say something like that!" he said.

Erza slammed her palm on the table. "If you're quite finished flirting with my BOYFRIEND!" she yelled the last word for emphasis. "Then I will be drinking a diet soda with a lemon, and I'll be having the fettucini alfredo, and we'll be splitting a small cheese pizza. And Natsu will have…"

Natsu flinched. He hated having to decide on a meal on the spot. "The veal cutlet, and I guess I'm drinking the same as her," he said. "Oh, and can we get a sangria, too?"

Shizuka wasn't fazed by Erza's outburst. "Of course!" she said cheerily. "I'll be back with your orders shortly." She walked away with that comment.

Natsu was… a little miffed at Erza's outburst, but not too mad. Hell, he knew how jealous he got when Erza's fanboys complimented her, more so when they asked her to go out with them. Sure, it was nice to have a fan of your own, but he knew all too well the ugly side of jealousy.

So the conversation shifted to small talk about the guild. A favorite topic for the night was how Gajeel kept chickening out when he tried to tell Levy how he felt about her. Apparently, Pantherlily had made more than a few jokes about it, their favorite being "Gajeel drove his Chevy to the Levy but the Levy was dry."

Eventually, Shizuka returned with their meals. Natsu got a little curious about her magic, and she explained about her Yellow Flare magic, which is Fire magic directly linked to the sun – strongest in daylight, weakest at night.

It didn't take too long for Erza to get annoyed again. "Thank you, Shizuka. We'll let you know if we need anything else," she said tersely. Shizuka, fortunately, was smart enough to know not to mess with an angry Erza, so she took her leave, promising to return with their bill.

The meal had devolved into a staring match between them. Natsu cringed a little under Erza's stare, but he knew he had to get the message across somehow that there was nothing between him and Shizuka. It was only when their meals were both finished that Erza relented, opting to excuse herself and freshen up.

Natsu didn't understand why Erza was so jealous of their waitress. He thought that she knew him better than cheating on his girlfriend, especially when said girlfriend is Erza herself. Besides, she was just as friendly with Bisca as he was with Shizuka. After all, how often does a mage get to meet someone with a magic like his own?

Shizuka came by with the check, but before she left, Natsu stopped her. "Look," he began. "I wanna apologize for Erza. She's usually not such a jealous bitch around Lucy and Lisanna – two of my guildmates, you'd like them – but… I dunno, she looked like she wanted to kick your ass, and I know that's no fun."

"I know, and I just want to apologize," said Shizuka. "I hope I didn't ruin the evening for you guys."

"No way!" said Natsu with his trademark grin. He then turned serious. "Erza just wants what we all want – something real, something permanent. We both lost everything a long time ago, but you know what?" The grin returned full force.

"I think we've found it in each other."

"Awww, that's so sweet!" Shizuka cooed.

Unbeknownst to Natsu, Erza had heard every word. Tears formed in her eyes as Natsu professed his true feelings.

"Aww, Honey Dragon!" Erza exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Natsu from behind.

Natsu laughed. "I meant every word, Baby Red," he said gently. "You know that, right?"

"Mm-hmm," sighed Erza, just enjoying the Dragon Slayer's scent.

Shizuka watched the scene unfold nervously. "Um, I'm still here, guys," she said.

"I know. I'm just getting across the message," replied Erza, sending a glare Shizuka's way.

"Ummm… I think I'm smart enough to not try and steal away Titania Erza's boyfriend," said Shizuka timidly, causing Natsu to laugh for the second time in a minute.

"I like you!" said Natsu. "You'd make a great addition to our guild!" Shizuka's eyes lit up.

"You… you mean…?

Erza nodded. "Come to Fairy Tail tomorrow so that the Master can evaluate you."

Shizuka was speechless. Erza guessed it was because she was going to join the same guild as one of her idols. Apparently, she was so excited she didn't even hear Natsu tell her that she overcharged him for the pizza.

Well, that wasn't my best ending, but I just wanted to end it on a happy, yet somewhat humorous note. Again, I really struggled with this. I really need a word processor that can hide the word count. I feel less restricted that way. Also, don't even ASK about the pet names. I wrote this random scene with Natsu and Erza being all lovey-dovey, it got to 1,000 words, and so it will be included in this story's canon.

Also, I want to announce that I won't be writing at all in the next week, since I'll be participating in a CCNA boot camp in the hope that I'll be able to take a certification exam, and I want to devote as much mental energy to that as I can. Besides, I'm still working out the logistics of the E chapter, and part of my brainpower is on that.

So basically, I should be writing again this time next week. Until then, peace and love from Nightlingbolt!