OMG RIZZY DECIDED TO UPDATE EARLY IT'S A FRIGGIN' MIRACLE is what you guys are probably think xD

I couldn't wait to do the date part, so I finished it early! :3 Sorry if it's rushed, I'm sleepy as hell, haha.

LucyCelestialWi: Haha thank you!

TheGrammarQueen: I really enjoyed writing the chapter so I'm glad you liked it :) and haha, same, because my graduation is in a couple of weeks *sweatdrop*

Now, enjoy Natsu and Lucy's date!

~Chapter Ten - The Date!~

Natsu is standing there, in all his adorable and spiky-pink-haired glory, his hands sheepishly shoved into his pockets. Then, as he sees me practically get catapulted out the doorway, his deep, charcoal eyes light up – and then they grow really wide.

"W – Whoa, Luce, you look r – r – really g – good," Natsu's eyes roam my body seemingly in amazement as I shuffle my feet awkwardly. He visibly gulps when he sees the slit on the side of the red dress and the low-cut chest part. Damn it, I knew it was too revealing!

"Uh, t – thanks, Natsu." I smile at him weakly. "You look really good too."

And he does. He's clad casually in a jet-black shirt, white baggy pants and black sandals.

Suddenly, my magnificent makeup and hairstyle and dress don't seem as wonderful anymore. Compared to him, I look like I'm trying way too hard. Besides, we're going to be in a movie theatre, right? It's going to be dark half the time! Mentally, I slap my forehead and resist the urge to run back into my room and hide in the wardrobe.

"Oh, um, by the way, we're going to the Fairy Tail Forest Café for dinner before we, like, go to the m – movies," Natsu tells me embarrassedly, still eyeing me. "If you don't mind."

"OMG, really?" I squeal before I can stop myself. It's super-expensive there! "Of course I don't mind!" On impulse, I grab Natsu's arm and hug it to my chest. Forget about the awkwardness; I didn't get all jazzed up for nothing! Smiling up at him, I exclaim, "Come on, Natsu, let's go!"

Natsu's signature childish, sunny grin is back on his face as he peers down at me. Oh, how I've missed the loud, non-shy Natsu! Although he's still cute that way, too… "OK!"

He takes me into the lounge with me still clinging onto his arm. Unfortunately, all the guys are in it, sitting around and of course, they wolf-whistle and smirk when they see me and Natsu. Immediately, I let go of his muscled arm like it's a hot potato.

But then, Natsu just promptly seizes my hand and hooks it back around his wrist, still grinning down at me cheerfully. "Luce, don't be embarrassed, we're just friends after all!" He crows, ignoring the splutters and snorts that ensue from this comment. 'Kay, I take it back. I miss the shy Natsu. "Don't listen to those bastards."

"Who're you calling 'bastard', ashy brains?" Gray roars.

"Yeah, fire pants!" Gajeel yells, raising a fist.

"Ya wanna go, metal face, Popsicle princess?" Natsu jeers, cracking his knuckles. He seems to have forgotten that someone is hanging onto his arm...

"Oi. Natsu. Cut it out, you have your date," Jellal reminds calmly, and I silently thank him. "Hurry up."

"Oh, yeah!" Natsu turns his head to look down at me apologetically while I raise an eyebrow at him. I've never perfected that art, so it probably looks as if I'm just stretching my forehead out or something. Whoopsies. "Sorry, Luce. OK, time for the Fairy Tail Forest Café!" He declares.

I raise a forkful of delicious roast quail to my mouth, but I just can't bring myself to put it in.

Why?

Because the pinkhead sitting in front of me is very loudly, very rudely and very obliviously shoving multiple plates of food into his mouth and once and attempting to talk to me at the same time.

Case in point:

"Hey, Wuce! Ware wyuu wenjoying dwiis?" Natsu burbles, grabbing a plate with both hands and chugging it into his already full mouth.

"Well, if you mean the food, yes. But the fact that you're eating way too fast and way too much is distressing me!" I yell, flapping my arms in agitation. The other people seated around us exchange looks and shake their heads.

"Sowwy, Wuce," Natsu mumbles, slowing down considerably and giving me the ultimate puppy eyes. Almost instantly my steely anger and disgust shatters and my expression softens.

"It's OK, Natsu. You're taking me out, after all," I smile slightly. That boy could get anything he wants with those eyes. "Anyway, I'd rather not eat too much because my makeup will probably get ruined."

Uh-oh. Ultra-prissy-girly-girl Lucy has just made an appearance!

Natsu just wipes his mouth with a napkin and simply stares at me for a long while, to the point where I start to wonder whether my makeup actually is ruined. If so, Mirajane will kill me. "Luce, you look pretty with or without it," He says seriously, not breaking my gaze. "So eat!"

"R – really?" I look to the side, embarrassed, but Natsu appears to have not noticed he's paid me a compliment (or technically a pick-up line) and continues wolfing down the many meals laid in front of him. I pick up my fork again at his words, grinning like an idiot. "Thanks!"

"Ala, ala," An all-too-familiar, musically sweet voice tuts, scarily close to my ear. "Already flirting here?"

"MIRA-CHAN?" I shriek and almost topple off my chair but manage to grasp my elegant chair at the last second. Upside-down, I see that it is indeed Mirajane, smiling pleasantly at me and holding up a ceramic bowl full of Caesar salad. "Why are you here?!" I exclaim as I brace my heels against the table and flip myself up.

"Luce, are you an acrobat or something?" Natsu guffaws in the midst of chewing on a golden jacket potato, apparently not very interested in the new arrival.

"No," I say shortly, and turn to Mirajane.

"Lucy, I work here, remember?" She laughs, tossing her cascade of silvery hair back, but winks discreetly at my slack face. "I simply came to check up on my favourite couple!"

"Mira!" I protest, scowling as best as I can at her. How much more embarrassing can you get? "We're not a couple. Just friends."

"Oh, the classic friend-zone, huh?" Mirajane chuckles.

"Luce is my friend!" Natsu pipes up cheerfully, not understanding the conversation at all. I swat his head and roll my eyes. Oh, that guy.

"Just concentrate on eating your food, baka."

"Ah! Ah! Lover's quarrel!" Mirajane gasps, clasping her hands to her chest, riveted.

"Yeah! Lucy and I love each other!" Natsu chips in, once again not reading the situation.

"Natsu!" I swing my fist onto his head again, this time a lot harder, despite the warm glow in my chest. Said pinkette flops back into his chair, dazed. "Eat your food and shut up!"

"Of course you love each other!" Mirajane can't get enough and she wipes an imaginary tear off the corner of her eye. Then she bends down and leans close to my ear again, whispering, "The girls are here too. We're going to be watching over you on your date~!"

She cannot be serious!

"Wait, WHAT?" I screech, jumping violently. "Mira-chaaaaan, you can't!"

"We can and we will!" She sings, and sidles away before I can shout at her. "Good luck!"

"Hey, what did she say about watching over you on your date?" Natsu asks after she leaves, rubbing a lump on his head.

Crap. He heard that! How?! He must have superhuman hearing. "Um…sorry. Mirajane is weird!" I laugh shakily, running a hand through my sparkly hair and making a mental note to never let her into my lovelife again. Well, it's too late now. "How did you hear that, anyway?"

He shrugs, leaning back in his chair. "I was just born with really good hearing."

"And sharp teeth?" I add quizzically, trying to raise an eyebrow. Oops, I did it again.

He looks at me and laughs, showing said pointed incisors. "Yeah!"

As we converse some more, I realise how nice it is to just talk, merely as friends, with jokes and laughter and casualness. If only I didn't like him…then he would be a really good person to just hang out normally with.

After about half an hour of chatting, Natsu peers at the time glowing at him from his phone screen, where he was showing me a picture of a blue cat he saw in an alleyway yesterday. "Hey, it's almost time for the movie!"

"Oh!" To be honest, I forgot about that. I begin to stand up, reaching for my shiny black clutch (which was set on the table by Mirajane a while ago – I guess they forgot to supply that), and sift around for the sufficient funds needed for our meal. Or multiple meals, in Natsu's case.

Before I can pull out my credit card, however, a warm hand closes around my pretty gold bracelet and it's Natsu, waving his own card triumphantly in my face. "Hey, Luce, no way you're paying! It's traditional for the guy to!"

"W…what? Isn't that only for…" My blush returns to my face. Oh, well, I knew it would come back sooner or later. "…D – D –"

"Dates?" Natsu finishes, smirking, and I just nod wordlessly. "Too bad, we're making an exception here!" He takes advantage of my momentary distraction and snatches my hand, effectively dragging me to the counter.

A pretty girl in a green-and-white dress and a purple bob smiles at us from behind the bar. I recognise her as Kinana, the girl in my Science class, and I know her, if not somewhat vaguely. I heard that she's dating a guy called Cobra from Oracion Seis Academy. "Hello! Did you enjoy your meal?"

"Kinana!" I say, taken aback. "You work here?"

"Yep!" She smiles at me demurely, taking Natsu's card. "I'm only a rookie, but there's good pay! I'm saving up to buy Erik a birthday present!" She tells me excitedly.

"Huh? Who's Erik? I thought you were going out with Cobra?" I say sceptically.

Kinana giggles, handing the credit card back with a receipt. For a rookie, she's pretty good at this. "Cobra is Erik, Lucy!"

Ha, whoops. "Right. Sorry, I knew that."

"Like hell you did," Natsu's exasperated voice sounds from behind me and I spin around, pouting at him. "Come on, Luce, we're going to miss the movie!"

"Ah, sorry!" I call, and make to follow him, but I feel a firm hand clamp onto my shoulder before I can do so. Curiously, I turn to face the owner of the hand and find myself face-to-face with a devilish-looking Kinana, who's raising an eyebrow (unlike me, she can actually do it) and grinning.

"Have fun on your date! Don't let your makeup go to waste!" Kinana teases, and disappears, laughing, into the kitchen before I can protest.

Sigh. Typical.

Ouch! Once again, there's a tiny electric zap as Natsu and I both reach inside the popcorn bowl at the same time.

I recoil, once again. Then I twist my hands in my lap and keep my eyes glued to the giant movie screen. Once again.

Then, once again, I'll just go for the popcorn and get electrocuted, won't I?

Silently, I groan and pull at a silky strand of hair. I'm hungry, damn it!

Well, at least I have my bubblegum slushie. I sip at it and realise with anguish there's only a tiny sliver left of the coloured ice. Nooo. Now what will I eat? Popcorn, obviously, is not an option.

After the dinner at the café, we sped down the halls with Natsu still clutching my hand, and we both couldn't help laughing. Since on weekends you're allowed to hang out around the building and the outside until eleven (otherwise the gates will be locked), everyone was staring at us and pointing openly as we rushed past, down the many flights of stairs and out through the giant oak double doors. There my magnificent carriage (A.K.A a taxi) was waiting, and we caught it to the cinema, where we bought popcorn and my slushie and arrived at the movie just in time.

So now, here we sit, wordlessly watching the movie and with me dying of popcorn deprivation.

Now I regret not asking Natsu to buy more food, because he did ask at the snack bar of the cinema, but I wasn't hungry at the time. Stupid stomach, just deciding whether to be hungry or not!

Should I try again for the popcorn….?

It's worth a try, right? Besides, what are the odds of Natsu reaching for the popcorn at the same time as me for practically the fiftieth time?

Slowly, my fingers creep up like spiders towards where the popcorn lies, and I can see Natsu's muscled arm lying stationary by his side. Aha! Chance!

My hand shoots forward and dives for the golden kernels. Oh, how I wish for the delicious buttery popped corns to melt in my mouth…

But, of course, at the exact same moment, Natsu just happens to stick his hand in the bucket again. And – zap!

Damn it!

I snatch my hand back, almost tearing my beautiful hairstyle apart. Why, why, why?

Before I can murder someone, though, I hear some weird noises coming from the screen and look up.

What…

My cheeks bloom with heat and redness and I will myself not to look at Natsu. Because the two main protagonists of the movie are like…you know. Having fun on the bed, let's say.

When I was first watching this movie, I thought this was a lot like my life. A girl with a troubled past came to a new school, met a guy, fell in love, blah blah blah.

But yeah…I'll say that I don't think that way anymore.

~Natsu P.O.V~

Sh*t. Can this get any more awkward? Why did I have to choose a movie with a freaking sex scene in it?

I mean, if I was with the icicle head or any of the other guys, we would've just laughed our goddamn heads off. Because it does look kind of ridiculous. But no, unfortunately I happen to be sitting next to the most beautiful girl in the world – namely, Lucy Heartfillia.

I finally gathered the courage to ask her out (under the pretence that it was an 'outing between friends' – Romeo's idea), and the movie that I chose by the name – Dragon's Love – just had to have that in it.

I knew I should've chosen Madagascar instead.

In the seat next to me, I can see Lucy sitting stock-still like a statue in her seat in my peripheral vision. She's sucking on her slushie bottle and doesn't seem to realise that it's been empty for about two minutes now. I can tell she's trying to avoid my gaze, and good riddance, because it would get seriously awkward if we made eye contact.

As a distraction, I insert my hand into the popcorn bowl, because food always manages to take my mind off things. But then, I find another smooth, soft hand in it.

Crap! Why does this keep happening?! Every time I put my hand in the popcorn, Lucy's hand is always there – plus a little electric zap to go with it.

Then it happens.

I look up, she looks up.

We're making eye contact with – with that on the screen.

My hand automatically reaches for the back of my head and fluffs the short pink hairs at the back, which is what I do when I'm embarrassed, or at least that's what the pervert tells me, scornfully. Lucy's hypnotizing chocolate-brown eyes are wide and she doesn't break our gaze. Despite her usual dazzling beauty, the makeup she wore today just made her look like a – a fairy, or an angel or something, she's that beautiful. And that dress…why did she have to wear something so freaking revealing? The hair – and the jewellery that stand out against the milky-white skin…

OK, I'm starting to sound really sappy now.

We're still staring at each other, even with that still going. My fingers are lightly brushing hers and even through the pitch-darkness of the movie theatre, I can see that her face is completely red, and I have no doubt that I'm the exact same.

Please, I think fervently, make this torture end!

Then, as if on cue, the credits start rolling, the giant lights begin to brighten again and the people around us are sitting up, stretching and starting to leave.

Uh…

"W – Well," Lucy clears her throat, and I direct my gaze back to her again. She's twirling a blonde, slightly glittering strand of hair around her elegant finger, seemingly unknowingly. Does she even know the effect she has on me?! "T – that didn't have a – a very good s – storyline, it j – just ended there." Then she looks absolutely mortified and actually claps her hands to her (do I dare?) luscious red lips.

I just smile weakly at her and reach to help her up.

"Yeah, I a – agree." I say quietly. She hesitantly rests her delicate hand in mine and I relish at the feel of her soft yet firm skin against mine. "Come on, let's go."

"OK!" She smiles her graceful smile and is about to get up, but at the last second, she snaps out her spare arm and wraps it around the full popcorn bowl.

"Uh…Luce?" I stare quizzically at the box Lucy now hugs protectively to her chest, trying not to laugh. "Why are you carrying that?"

"It's a full box! We can't leave it back here!" She mumbles into the popcorn, looking insufferably cute. "Can I keep it?"

I roll my eyes and pull her out the seat, almost spilling the golden kernels in the process. "OK, OK, Luce, let's go, popcorn or no popcorn."

Lucy giggles musically and runs ahead of me, her soft hand still clasped in mine. "It's almost eleven; we don't want the gates closing on us!" She winks and I feel my heart backflip, as girly as that sounds.

Then she's pulling me out of the theatre, clutching the popcorn box to her chest and her laughter echoing in my ears, and I'll be damned if I wasn't laughing straight along with her.

~Back to Lucy's P.O.V~

I'm starting to feel quite sleepy. My head is starting to slip on the sleek leather of the taxi and the lights streaking past outside the window begin to become blurs of colours blending together. My eyelids feel like bricks and they slowly begin to slip…

A rough, large hand gently pushes my head onto a shoulder and my eyes shoot open, seeing Natsu's large obsidian ones mere centimetres from mine. He smiles gorgeously at me, and rumbles in a low tone, "Sleep, Lucy. You look tired."

"Mmm," I agree sleepily and my eyelids slide closed again, comfortable against Natsu's strong shoulder. My mind begins to wander through the events that happened today like I always do when I go to sleep. My face heats up majorly when I remember what happened at the movies. God, that was as awkward as hell!

After about three minutes of peaceful pondering, I feel the taxi shudder to a stop and a few murmured words as Natsu pays the fare or something. I just can't bring myself to open my eyes…

Then, suddenly, there's a strong hand on my shoulder blades and the other arm sweeps my legs up and voila, I'm being friggin' lifted up in bridal-style! I open my eyes rapidly, squirm and open my mouth to say something, but –

"Shh," Natsu whispers, his breath hot against my neck, and I resist the urge to jump a mile in the air. I must've tensed a bit, though, because he assures, "Relax, I'm taking you up to our dorm."

Then I lapse into a calm state where all I feel is the gentle sway and bump as Natsu carries me to the winding path to our dorm, snuggling against his well-toned chest. A short while later, he's stopped by what I presume is our door, but I can't tell. He flicks my forehead and whispers, "Psst. Luce, we're here."

I crack open an eye and groan, wiggling around a bit before slipping out of his grip and almost feeling my knees buckle from beneath me. I smile sleepily at Natsu, and for the third time my eyes flick open fully in realisation when the heavy fog of fatigue clears out of my brain. Of course, of course. This is the critical time. You know, when a boy and girl go out and the boy drops her off and they thank each other and they…?

I squeal a little and clutch my cheeks. Is he going to? Well, he did say that it was an 'outing between friends'. Yeah, right.

I decide to make first move.

"Hey, Natsu…" I say softly.

"Yeah?" He replies, snapping out of some kind of reverie. "What is it, Luce?"

"Thanks for taking me out," I grin, punching his shoulder lightly. "It was fun."

Apart from that end part of the movie, my inner self giggles.

"You're welcome, Luce."

Now we wait for the magic moment.

First, there's about a minute's awkward silence. Then Natsu abruptly grabs my shoulders and his mouth is slightly parted and his face is closer and oh God and he's so close I can barely bear it and –

"Mew!"

Are you friggin' serious?

"Mrow!"

"What's that?" Natsu breaks away from me and inside my head I'm ripping chunks of my hair out. He hunkers down and his eyes widen as he picks up something by the door. It looks bright blue – and when he turns around to face me ecstatically, I realise it is blue.

It's that cat Natsu showed me on his phone at the café.

"Luce! Luce! It's the cat! Isn't it cute?" He gushes, and I can't help but smile at his eagerness. Who knew that guy had a soft spot for cats? "It's blue, too! And it's got really wide black eyes!"

"Huh." I try not to hold a grudge against the cat that ruined my first kiss with Natsu as I lean down so we're eye-to-eye. The cat simply stares at me with its big eyes and releases a meow that sounds, strangely, a lot like 'aye'.

"Did you hear that? It said 'aye'!" Natsu says in awe, staring at the now preening cat. "Awesome!"

"Yeah, cool." Suddenly, all my previous exhaustion hits me like a tidal wave and I stagger back, yawning widely. "Sorry, Natsu, I'm really tired…"

"Oh, Luce, it's OK. We should probably go in." He quietly turns the knob, still holding the purring cat close to his chest. Surprisingly, the entire room is dark and everyone seems to have gone to sleep. I hear a small 'see ya, Luce' from behind me and stumble through the, for some reason, open door of my bedroom and leap onto my bed, crawling onto it and not even caring about the makeup and dress and just having the time to kick off my heels before collapsing onto the soft blankets.

Needless to say, I fall into dreams filled with giant blue cats that say 'aye' and electric shocks involving popcorn.

Yay! So Happy made an appearance, ruining the suspense kiss! Woohoo! :D

I don't really have anything to say right now, lol, 'cause I'm really sleepy yo.

Until next time, guise! Leave a review if possible~~