I'm married! I got married July 30 which is why I haven't been updating. And right now I'm in Hawaii on my honeymoon! I apologize to everybody for not updating but life comes first. I will be playing catch up since I'm two chapters behind. Enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Do not own the characters. Just the plot.

Lucy stood in front of the club. She was still furious with Cana and kept telling herself that she was not going to come. But somehow she found herself standing in front of the entrance. She crossed her arms and pouted at the club. Cana was already inside with her boyfriend. Lucy invited Loke but he said he'd stop by after work. Irritation. They still hadn't really made up from their fight and the conversation was a little awkward.

Against her will, Lucy couldn't help but think about Cana's words. Were Loke and her destined to break up in the future? It's true that she hadn't been happy for a while but that could be just a phase. Lucy was not the kind of girl who needed a boyfriend. She sighed. Maybe it was time for some serious soul searching.

Reluctantly Lucy paid the bouncer and entered the club. The club was fairly new thus it was already crowded at 9pm. It would be kind of hard to find Cana in the throngs of people but there was only one place the brunette would be at this time. The bar. Hopefully Loke would show up because Lucy wanted to dance.

They were playing Lucy's kind of music and her body started to sway to the beat of it. Maybe she wouldn't wait for Loke. Maybe there would be someone else she could grind on. Namely someone with pink hair. Lucy quickly shook the thought out of her head. Natsu had declared he was finished with her. That was a good thing… right?

The young woman made her way to the bar. She had to fight through the crowd a little but at least she made it to her destination. And there was Cana, with her boy toy, and several bottles of alcohol. Wordlessly Lucy sat down next to her and attempted to get the bar tenders attention. Cana turned to her and gave a small smile.

"Didn't expect you to come." Cana took a swig from her beer.

"I wasn't coming" Lucy replied. Finally the bar tender came over, "Gin and tonic please."

"Is Loke coming?"

"He said he will be here after work"

Cana leaned against one her arms and stared ahead. Lucy felt the unspoken words between them and when her drink came she downed it. Strong. Immediately she requested two more. The night might be a long one.

"Oh let me introduce you to Bacchus." Cana shot up. She gestured towards the man beside her. Lucy looked at him and he looked at her. "Bacchus this is Lucy, Lucy this is Bacchus. Boyfriend meet best friend and vice versa."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at the word "boyfriend" Cana did not have boyfriends. Something must have happened but this was not the time inquire.

The man was taller than Cana. He had broad shoulders which stretched his shirt a little. You could see the muscles underneath it. His hair was black and tied loosely in a ponytail. It looked as if he already had a few drinks. He raised his hand in greeting and Lucy gave him a smile.

"I heard you can outdrink my best friend over here." Lucy said, deciding to break the ice first.

"She's just a light weight." Bacchus teased.

"Yeah when pigs fly" Lucy retorted. Bacchus just gave her a smile. Lucy's attention got diverted when her drink showed up. She drank one immediately and sighed. It was hard to find bar that was generous with alcohol. This place definitely deserved more visits.

She swiveled her chair around to look at the crowd. A good amount of people were already dancing and Lucy swayed to the music. Hopefully Loke would show up quick. If not, she just might find herself in the middle of the crowd by herself.

"By the way, how did your project go?" Cana asked. Genuine curiosity was in her voice. After all Lucy had skipped out multiple nights on her for the project. Lucy sipped on her third gin and tonic.

"Let's just say I'll be lucky if I keep my 4.0 GPA" Lucy grumbled, completely displeased at being reminded about her report card.

"Bummer, you worked on that thing for weeks."

"Yeah I guess life happens. I'm going to ask Dr. Redstorm for extra credit. Doubt it though."

Lucy felt the alcohol run through her. Her mind was getting hazy and her eyelids drooped a little bit. This felt good. A good de-stressor after her week. Her body kept swaying to the beat of the music and she so badly wanted to be on that dance floor.

"Cana dance with me." Lucy downed the rest of her drink and grabbed her best friends arm. Lucy dragged her to the middle of the dance floor and lightly rested her arms on Cana's shoulders. If words were awkward between them, actions weren't. Cana immediately grabbed Lucy's hips and began to sway with her body.

Dancing was an art, no matter what form you chose to do it in. It gave you the freedom to express yourself. For Lucy, it gave her the chance to grow closer to her partner. Actually it was the reason she decided to go for the long haul with Loke. She took him dancing one night and their bodies communicated perfectly. Forget Loke though, he wasn't here right now.

Cana was yanked out of Lucy's grip by Bacchus and someone else took her place. Lucy was about to turn them down but felt the rhythm of their bodies sync together. Fuck it. Loke was late and she did want to dance. Lucy looked up and found green eyes. The guy had a good build but wasn't exactly her type. He smiled and offered her a drink.

"Gin and tonic?" He shouted above the music

"There's an unspoken code among women to never accept drinks from strangers." Lucy gave herself a mental pat on the back. It was always hard to turn down a free drink.

"Don't worry, your friend over there watched the whole transaction." The guy pointed over to Bacchus. Lucy looked over at him and the man smiled and gave her two thumbs up. Lucy sighed in relief. She was getting thirsty. She grabbed the drink from the stranger and sipped on it. It was stronger. Good. Maybe tonight she would let loose.

"Just until my boyfriend shows up, okay?" If this guy bailed, it would be okay. She got a free drink out of it anyway.

"Fine by me, but if I was him I wouldn't leave you alone."

"Haha very funny."

"No names. Just dance?" he asked. Lucy took another sip of her drink and nodded. Immediately green eyes grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. Their hips grinded against each other and Lucy felt a high coming on. She finished her drink in a hurry, spilling it somewhat, and handed the glass off to someone in the crowd. Her hands shot around his neck and she went to the beat of the music.

Intoxicated and all Lucy imagined Natsu. She closed her eyes and visualized this stranger as her savior. She leaned her forehead against green eyes' and bit her lip. Her hands traveled down the length of his back while gently raking her fingernails against his shirt. Green eyes flipped her around and Lucy's back was to his chest. She tilted her head against his shoulder and grabbed on to the back of his neck. Their bodies swayed to the music and Lucy dug her fingernails into the man's thigh.

They danced to the beat of the music for a good twenty minutes. They were interrupted by Cana who grabbed Lucy's arm and dragged her back to the bar.

"Happy much?" Cana wriggled her eyebrows at her. Mischief danced in her eyes and Lucy knew exactly what she was implying.

"We're just dancing!" Lucy's cheeks heated up, slightly embarrassed at her actions. More so on visualizing Natsu.

"Uh huh okay"

"Not judging but what about Loke?"

"He's not here?" Lucy exasperated, "Plus if I were to cheat on Loke, it would be with Natsu."

Lucy quickly slapped her mouth shut. Dang it. Alcohol always loosened her lips.

"Natsu, eh? Maybe we can find him tonight."

Lucy thought about the fire breathing, pink haired male, "Not gonna happen."

"Oh come on! You're drooling right now just thinking about him. Oh. my. God! You visualized that guy as Natsu!"

"Gin and Tonic!" Lucy yelled at the bartender. Nope, still too sober to admit such an embarrassing act to Cana.

"Luuucy"

Lucy hid her face in her hands while Cana tugged on her arm repeatedly. Her drink arrived shortly and Lucy downed it again. After a few minutes Lucy knew she was going to have a hangover tomorrow morning. She smiled and felt insanely happy; she couldn't remember the last time she consumed this much alcohol.

"You knooow what Cana, I do wish Natsu was here."

Black eyes were definitely better to look at than green.

"That's it! Now where getting somewhere! Another gin and tonic for the lady!" Cana yelled excitedly. It wasn't too often that Lucy got drunk, and Cana always took advantage of it to get secrets out of her, "If he were here, what would you do?"

"Ooohh the things I would do to that man." Lucy bit lip in desire. She tried to imagine his half naked body but her mind was blurry. Somehow another drink appeared in her hand and Lucy drank it, no questions asked.

If Natsu was here, she doubted they would stay at the club. Or in town. She couldn't imagine the fire breathing man to be constrained by walls. Nature suited him well.

"I'm going to decipher that as sex."

Lucy tried to give her a thumbs up but ended stumbling over herself. Cana caught her and helped her straighten up.

"I want to dance more." Lucy slurred. Her head snapped towards the dance floor and she searched for green eyes.

"Let's call Natsu. He must have supernatural hearing." Cana tried to tug Lucy to the front of the club.

"He won't come." Lucy pouted, "Green eyes is good enough."

Hardly.

Black eyes over green eyes. Anytime. But he was here and Natsu was not.

Lucy took off towards the dance floor.

"Lucy!" Cana yelled behind her but Lucy just waved at her. She found him in the middle of the dance floor holding two drinks. She grabbed one out of his hand and drank it. He drank the other one. They both dropped the plastic cups onto the ground and began dancing.

Their dancing became more demanding, more animalistic. Pretty soon Lucy found herself kissing the stranger. Their hands were all over each other bodies. Lucy faintly felt something tugging at the edge of her mind but paid no attention.

If Lucy was sober she would have noticed that they were moving towards the back of the dance floor but she was too intoxicated to decipher anything. Her mind was blank and she could hardly remember who she was and where she was. Her body was getting heavier by the moment and she found it hard to stand. Her dancing partner supported her the best he could but began dragging her off the dance floor.

"No…still…dance" Her vision was going in and out. She tried to remember if alcohol caused this but couldn't focus.

"You're going to be okay sweetheart." The stranger encouraged. Lucy's eyes glazed over and her head lolled back.

"Na…tsu" Lucy blacked out.

Green eyes hooked his arms underneath her armpits and began dragging her to the back of the club. Blondes always fetched a high price and if they dressed this one up right, she could bring in bank. At first it was a no go when he learned her boyfriend was going to show up but when he didn't show, the stranger tried his luck. Also he usually preyed upon lonely woman but her friend seemed too engrossed in her own boyfriend.

The guy reached the back door and banged on it twice. It swung open to reveal two more men. Their faces drew into smiles when they spotted the blond.

"We'll be sittin pretty tonight!" a man with a mustache said excitedly.

"Maybe we should try the merchandise to make sure it's authentic" the second man replied. He had bushy eyebrows.

"As long as we get a high price, I don't give a crap." Green eyes replied.

"She sure is pretty." Bushy eyebrows grabbed her chin and inspected her face.

"And with a big rack." Mustache man fondled her.

"She's definitely not a virgin." Green eyes added.

"Perfect she's already damaged." Mustache man squeezed her chest. Green eyes set her against the wall and let the other two men crowd her. He did not indulge himself with rape, rather preferring willing women. But as soon as a woman became merchandise he didn't care what others did to them. All that mattered was the money.

"Do whatever you want, I'll go get the car." Green eyes pulled a cigarette out and proceeded to light it. This was a good night. He felt slightly sorry for the blond but it was her fault for letting her guard down.

Loke scanned the dance floor for his girlfriend. She always had a habit of dancing with anybody when she went drinking. He tried to get here as fast as possible but he had things to attend to. He spotted Cana at the bar and made his way over to her.

"Cana!"

The woman turned around and gave him a big smile once she recognized him. He gave her a big hug and when he pulled away he felt her date mad dogging him.

"Don't worry I'm Lucy's boyfriend." Loke put his hands up in defense and Cana's date gave him a small smile, he turned back to Cana, "Where is she?"

"Well…"

"Look I know she's probably dancing with someone. I promise I won't start anything."

"She's in the middle of the dance floor."

"Thanks" and he took off towards that direction. Cana just raised her glass to him.

Loke fought the throngs of people to get by but he didn't see Lucy anywhere.

"Where are you babe" Loke muttered to himself. She was always too trusting. And very handsy when drunk. He slowly made his way to the back of the club. It was usually more dark there, a perfect place to take advantage of someone. As the minutes ticked by Loke began to feel dread.

By some miracle he spotted a glint on the ground. He rushed over to it and found Lucy's cell phone on the ground. He looked up to see a back door. Fear filled him. He bolted towards the door and wrenched it open.

The sight that greeted him made his stomach turn. There was Lucy. Unconscious. Half-naked. With two men.

Natsu played with the fire on his fingers. He tried not to think about his current location. He was supposed to be halfway around the world right now but somehow found himself tethered to this town. No he wasn't tethered, more like reluctant to leave. He blamed the dragon. The stupid thing fought him every time he attempted to abandon his mate. Yeah Natsu could force it down and leave but it took some effort. So Natsu found himself on a random roof playing with fire.

Natsu was about to attempt to skip town for the umpteenth time when a sour smell hit his nose. He immediately stiffened and felt the dragon roar in rage. His mate was in trouble. Without a second thought Natsu took off after the trail. Lucy's sweat floral scent was tainted. The alcohol he could forgive. Humans tended to consume it religiously. But there was something else. The scent was vile and acidic. Whatever it was it made his heart race and temper soar.

The trail brought him to an alley. The sight before him had him reaching for a power he hadn't used in ages.

Look for updates! Probably sometime next week. Again I apologize.