A Night In the Country Chapter 11: Small Town Throwdown, a fairy tail fanfic

Chapter 11

The second we walked through the front door, we were greeted with loud music, a man singing, and cheers. Just about as soon as we took two steps in, Natsu was bombarded by a small body.

"Natsu! You're finally here!" the girl squealed, locking her arms around his neck.

Natsu laughed and gently retracted her arms from around his neck. I found myself becoming relieved that he had detached himself from her willingly. I inwardly shook my head. Why was I so jealous? It wasn't like he was my boyfriend or anything.

"I know I'm late, Lis, but I had to make a stop." He turned to me and put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to his body. My body heat was already above normal, but now I was near fainting. The girl he had been talking to glanced at me, and blinked.

Lisanna forced a smile and held out her hand. "Lucy! It's so great to see you here!"

I took her hand and smiled, not sure if she was sincere or not. She started to pull me more in the building. The front door was situated through a very short hallway, with a man standing in front of a rope. He nodded at us, unhooked the rope from a short pole, and we walked through. The hallway opened to a large, open area. The building looked about three stories high from the outside, but it was only two stories inside. Well, at least the public area was only two stories.

There was a large stage at the far end of the room, and a large dance floor lay before that. There was a man standing on the stage currently, a microphone in his hand, and two large screen TVs behind him. The dance floor was bordered by, what looked like, a log post fence. Beyond the fence were tables where people sat and cheered, drank and ate, and just watched the man on stage, and the people on the dance floor.

There was a bar towards the back of the room, opposite end of the stage. As we walked further in the room, I could tell that there was a balcony on the second floor, with more tables. It seemed to be a more intimate setting.

As Lisanna pulled me around, the man on stage paused in his singing.

"Ladies!" he called out, and the women shouted in response. "I see a handsome man that just walked in. Let's get him up here!"

Everyone turned and looked at us, and cheered louder as a spotlight was shone on Natsu behind us. Lisanna pulled me to the side as Natsu waved, laughed, and immediately began moving toward the stage. He was enjoying the attention, and I wondered if this happened often.

I stood and watched as the crowd happily parted for him to make his way to the stage. He was grabbed by a woman, briefly, before another man - her boyfriend, maybe? - pulled her off him. As soon as he reached the stage, instead of taking the stairs like a normal person would have, he grabbed the man's hand and hopped up. He raised his arms in the air, causing the crowd to go absolutely wild.

Lisanna tugged at my hand again, and we beelined through the crowd towards a table where I could see three more people sat. I noticed Levy right away, and my heart fluttered. A man sat next to her, laughing at the stage, his long wild hair pulled into a ponytail. I vaguely remember that he was the man I had saw briefly earlier exiting the same room Levy emerged. Another man with black hair sat on the opposite side, a small smile on his lips. He gave us a small wave as soon as he saw us.

I was gestured to a seat next to Levy, and Lisanna sat next to the man who waved at us. Levy looked at me as I took the seat next to her, and Lisanna said introductions. I could barely hear what she was saying over the cheering crowd, but I found out that the long haired man was Levy's boyfriend, Gajeel. My mind went back to what Mira said about them, and he didn't look like a lady's man. He actually looked a little scary, if you asked me. The other man went by the name of Rogue, and he co-owned the bar. The other owner, Sting, was up on stage with Natsu. Apparently, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, and Natsu were all in a band together when they were teens a few years back. There were a total of seven members, which was quite impressive, but their group broke up when one of the members went solo.

They wouldn't tell me who it was who broke off the group, but Lisanna said that it was all for the best, in the end. Each boy found their calling, and each one was as successful as they could possibly be in their own right.

Gajeel jumped off his seat as soon as the next song was starting, right at the same time when Natsu called him up to the stage. I sat and watched the three men, smiling as I realized how much fun they were having.

Around these parts ain't much to do
Except work like a dog 'til Friday
Punch that clock, cash that check
Raise a little hell 'til Sunday
'Bout that time

I heard Lisanna sigh. "Oh no, not this song again." I looked back at her, and she shrugged. "They do this one every time they come here, and it always starts a fight."

There's a party back in the woods tonight
Heard it through the redneck grapevine
Got a keg of beer and a bunch of girls,
Sure enough gonna be a good time

Levy stood up and walked away, mentioning something about needing to use the restroom. I wanted to follow her, but Lisanna stopped me. "She always does that when Gajeel gets up to sing," she said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat, Rogue following. We made our way to the front of the dancing crowd by the stage.

It's a small town throwdown
It's time to tallboy up, let them tailgates down
And man, it's on tonight, ridin' 'til the morning light
Crank that country up loud, it's a small town throwdown
Oh, we 'bout to throwdown, son

Sting jumped from the stage and joined our little group. He glanced at me for a second before turning back to the stage.

Now we got a field full of daisy dukes
Round here we know how to grow 'em
Rockin' little body and long tan legs
Sure ain't scared to show 'em, no
Show a little somethin', girl

I couldn't help myself. I let the energy and excitement of the song and the crowd around me take over, and I danced with Lisanna and Rogue and Sting. I briefly wondered where Juvia and Gray had run off to, but I knew they were around and could see me, so I wasn't too worried.

Natsu and Gajeel had been switching parts, each one taking a verse, and both singing the chorus.

Somebody said them city boys
Ridin' around lookin' for some trouble
If they bring it 'cross that county line
You know there's gonna be a rumble

Again the crowd roared. I had never felt such electricity traveling from person to person. Almost every patron of the building was on the dance floor. Granted, I knew Natsu and Gajeel were probably pretty famous, so wasn't this like a free show to these people? How lucky. I never realized famous people did this. Did that mean Levy would sometimes sing also? I would kill to hear her sing a song. But first, I'd have to get her out of the bathroom.

It's a small town throwdown
It's time to tallboy up, let them tailgates down
And man, it's on tonight, ridin' 'til the morning light
Crank that country up loud, it's a small town throwdown

I tried to meander my way out of the crowd, dodging happy fists pumping in the air, swaying bodies, splashing beer…

It's a small town throwdown
It's time to tallboy up, let them tailgates down
And man, it's on tonight, ridin' 'til the morning light
Crank that country up loud, it's a small town throwdown

Finally I was able to stumble off the dance floor, and, with one last glance at the stage, I followed Levy's trail, or from what I remember from seeing her walk away. I was able to find the bathroom easily, and, upon entering, I found it empty save for a single blue haired woman staring at herself in the mirror.

The door closed behind me, successfully drowning out the outside noise, and I cautiously made my way to Levy. She glanced at me from the mirror at the last minute, and smiled.

"Oh, Lu-chan!" She jumped slightly and quickly wiped her cheeks. Had she been crying?

"Hey, Levy. Are you okay?" I stepped up beside her and studied her carefully.

She waved her hands and laughed, though it was without humor. "I'll be fine. This happens all the time."

"What does, exactly?"

"Well, if you must pry…" She sighed and sent me a small smile.

"I must, I must." I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my behind against the sink counter.

"Well, we're still pretty new at this," she mumbled. "I don't want him to change his ways, but it still hurts every time he flirts with other girls."

I blinked for a second, and realization came to me. "You're dating Gajeel?!" I know I was a little suspicious at first, but to have the truth right in front of my face was something else entirely.

Levy jumped and waved her hands at me, signaling me to be quiet. "No one knows about it!" she harshly whispered. "We're trying to keep it under wraps, since we both don't want the media to get involved. But, we're trying to keep up appearances, not giving anything away. Sometimes I can't help but think he's actually enjoying our arrangement. He's technically dating me, but he's still free to flirt with other women because that's who he was before me, and if he were to suddenly stop, someone would get suspicious and start poking around."

I shook my head and placed my hands on her shoulders. "That's not right, at all. I don't care if you guys are trying to keep it quiet or not, just allowing him to do those things is wrong for your relationship. Have you told him how you felt?"

She blushed and looked away. I take that as a no. I crossed my arms over my chest again and nodded determinedly.

"Then you will tell him, tonight."

She blinked at me. "Eh? When? How?"

"You know, my mother always told me that, as singers, we're supposed to get our feelings heard by singing them."

Her mouth dropped. "You're not suggesting I go up on stage and sing a song to him, in public, do you? That's kind of defeating the purpose!"

"Not at all. If no one has figured out your song I Knew You Were Trouble, then no one is going to connect the dots if you sing him one song. Later you can tell him you were sending the message to him, but, for now, just go up there and sing a song and have fun while doing it."

'Ah, I'm still not sure."

"Okay, well, think about it. But, for now, can you please come out and join in the fun? I didn't know you were going to be here, but I can't enjoy my night knowing you'd rather stay cooped up in here."

She sighed and nodded, allowing me to take her hand and start to lead her out of the bathroom. Just as we reached the door, she stopped and retracted her hand. I glanced behind me and blinked at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed.

"You didn't know I was going to be here?"

I answered by shaking my head no.

"We're always here. It's like an almost every night thing. Natsu really didn't tell you?"

Again, I shook my head. She glanced at my attire, and blushed slightly.

"You thought this was a date, didn't you?"

Immediately my face turned red, and it wasn't from the high energy of the place. I had completely spaced that he made this seem like it was supposed to be a date. I guess I got sidetracked when he was immediately pulled on stage. He only asked for us to go out tonight, he didn't say anything about hanging out with his friends. Oh no...I wanted to leave. I was overdressed, overconfident...I completely misunderstood the situation. What happened to Gray and Juvia? I wanted them to appear and help me get home.

"I think they both need an earful," Levy said, leaning in close to me.

I was about to cover my face with my hands, feeling tears of embarrassment start to form. Levy brought my hands down and smiled kindly.

"Would you like to sing a couple songs with me?" she asked. "We'll tell those men what's what, but, first, let's have some fun, shall we? I'm supposed to be hiding my relationship, and your man invited you on a date, but isn't treating this like one. You and me, okay?"

I nodded, glad that I could inspire her to go out there and give Gajeel hell, but also a little elated that she's turning that inspiration back to me. I giggled as I allowed her to take the lead, and pull me out of the bathroom.
~.~

AN: So, I'm celebrating the end of this story. Okay, I haven't typed it yet, but it's there, and I know how it will happen. Yay! so, what am I still doing here? I have to get to work T.T