Chapter Twenty-One: Natsu's Weekend- Saturday (PT. 1)

Natsu had a typical lazy Saturday morning. He slept in late, ate two bowls of cereal, then sat on the couch watching tv until it was time for him to head to the library. Lucy had texted him 'good morning', but after that, he hadn't heard anything from her.

He might have made things awkward though, because his common sense didn't stop him from sending so many text messages in a row to the girl. He didn't mean to sound so pushy, but about halfway through his accidental attempt at blowing up her phone, he sent her a typo. Only one message was required to fix that typo, but he managed to make it worse by asking Lucy 'when will you be hoe*?'

After that, Natsu panicked. Before he knew it, he sent the poor girl a total of thirteen random messages, and there was nothing he could do to take them back. What was even worse than that? She still hadn't responded! He had to force himself not to think about it, otherwise he would freak out.

Deciding it was time to go, he ate a bag of chips, then threw his backpack on and left the house. Everyone was already out for the day, so there was no one to say bye to. The library was quite a walk away, but it was better for him to take the route by foot than by vehicle. His pills only lasted a few hours at best, and it wasn't wise to continuously take them. The more he used them, the less effective they became.

The air outside was nice and warm, making him glad he chose to wear a short sleeve red shirt and black gym shorts. His favorite scarf was of course paired with his outfit, since he never went anywhere without it. He breathed in the fresh air, a bright grin surfacing on his tan face.

Today was a perfect day to play 'Pokémon GO!'

Natsu brought his phone out to load his game. It didn't take as long as usual, so he was playing before he knew it. The walking hardly bothered him as he started finding Pokémon. He caught a couple new ones, but the Pokémon that stood out amongst the rest was a Dratini. He'd seen many gyms around Magnolia with full-blown Dragonites, but this was the first time Natsu came across its basic form.

What was even more exciting was when that 500 XP from catching another new Pokémon sent him over the edge, earning the level of twenty! He was so excited, he could shout! What he didn't expect was the loud victory roar that came from his mouth, followed by the sound of a dog barking at him for the disruption to the peace.

Natsu mumbled an apology at the dog, but it kept on barking, so he hurried away before anyone could stare. Once he was a block down, he slowed back to his normal pace. At the same moment, his phone buzzed.

He looked down, expecting to see a Pokémon pop up on his screen. Instead, he saw a little envelope icon in the top left corner of his phone. He exited out of the game to check his messages.

Luce: Hey Natsu, don't worry. I'm not mad, I make typos too. How's your morning? Mine sucks!

Natsu replied in an instant. Thank goodness you're not mad! Sorry about your sucky morning. Why'd it take you forever to say something back?

He expected her to take a minute to reply, but his phone vibrated shortly after he sent his text.

Luce: Getting ready for the wedding. I got my nails done. Wanna see?

A pink brow raised at that offer. He really had no interest in what her nails looked like, so he sent back with a chuckle, Uhh... Not really Luce. You're weird.

They got in a little battle about who was really the weird one, but it stopped when Lucy brought up the fact that he sent her thirteen text messages in a row. He blushed, then tried to explain that he thought she might be mad at him. Of course, in his rush he accidentally typed 'made' instead of 'mad', causing him to give up on the whole debate.

Luckily for him, Lucy changed the subject.

Luce: What are you up to?

As Natsu turned a corner to take a shortcut down an alley, he sent back, Not much, just walkin to the library.

After half a block, he didn't get anything from her. He decided to ask, What about you?

A few minutes later he pouted. Luce?

Natsu's eye twitched when he realized she probably wouldn't be texting him back anytime soon. Damn it, not again. Are you busy or something? They were just talking a little bit ago. He figured the least she could do was say she'd talk to him later or let him know she was now busy. He decided not to send anymore messages until she said something back. He didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier.

In the mean time, he decided to go back to playing his game. A Pokéstop was coming up, and he didn't want to miss his chance at collecting some goodies. He checked his inventory to make sure he still had room in his bag, but frowned when he saw it was nearly full. "Damn."

Natsu looked through to see what he could get rid of. He almost gasped when he saw the newest additions to his inventory. Twenty Ultra balls were there, and they looked glorious. The yellow and black colored balls made the pink haired boy extremely happy since he'd been waiting for a while to unlock them.

Natsu ended up getting rid of some of his revives, knowing he didn't need over a hundred of them. While he was at it, he checked his incubator, seeing he still had a while until his 10K hatched.

Since he reached level twenty not too long ago, he wanted to see how much more experience he needed before he reached level twenty-one. The boy cringed when he saw that number. "Fifty thousand?!" He didn't even care that he yelled in the middle of the sidewalk while other people passed by.

In a lower voice, he muttered, "how long is that gonna take?"

He didn't get an answer, but his phone did vibrate to let him know he received an incoming text. The boy pushed aside his disgruntled attitude to check the message.

Luce: I'm getting my hair done. Why are you going to the library?

Natsu smiled, glad to have one of his best friends texting him again. He said, Booooring! Just kidding... I'm meeting up with Beth. We have to finish a project for our chemistry class and it's due soon. I'm horrible at procrastinating! :'(

After a few minutes, he sent her another message. I'm also catching Pokémon. You should see it, I already caught a ton of new ones, even a Dratini!

The pink haired teenager went back to his game to see if anything else was in this area. The Pokéstop was at the end of the block, so he wanted to be ready to tap on it. He felt his phone vibrate, but it wasn't from a Pokémon, it was another message. He decided to wait until after he reaped the benefits of the Pokéstop before leaving his game again.

However, right after he received two Hyper potions and a Razz Berry, he saw a Pokémon pop up next to his avatar. The boy grinned wide when he realized it was a Sandslash. "Oh you're so mine!" Natsu noticed a few people turning their heads at him, but he didn't mind. This was worth the unwanted attention.

Natsu tapped on the ground type Pokémon, then prepared for the capture. It was a challenge catching the Pokémon. Sandslash bust out of most of his Poké balls, so he resorted to using Great balls. He refused to bring out his Ultra balls, wanting to save those for more rare Pokémon.

He only used one Razz Berry on the Pokémon, wanting to conserve his inventory. Only when it was a rare Pokémon would Natsu splurge and use more than one Razz Berry. After two Great balls, the Sandslash finally gave up and was captured. Natsu threw his hand in the air from his small victory, a large toothy grin resting on his lips.

After he went back to the screen featuring the map, he remembered he had a message. While exiting out, his phone vibrated again.

Luce: What! No fair! I should give you my log in stuff in case you run into anything else good.

Luce: Natsu?

He typed quickly, Sorry, ran into a Sandslash. Fucker was giving me some trouble. Do you have one?

When Lucy sent back 'no', he didn't hesitate to ask, What's your password?

Natsu couldn't hold back his bright smile when she sent him her password. He went to work fast, logging out of his account to log into hers. The Sandslash that popped up next to her avatar wasn't as powerful as the one he just caught, so he stuck to Poké balls. After three, the ground type Pokémon was caught.

When he looked at its stats after it was updated to her Pokex, he decided to change its name. He added a '.N' to it, letting her know exactly which ones he would catch for her from now on. Natsu stole a glance at her Pokédex, seeing which Pokémon she didn't have so he knew which ones to look out for in the future.

After logging back into his own account, he exited to send Lucy a message. Check your game.

Natsu saw the library in the distance. He'd have to stop texting soon so he could focus on the assignment he needed to finish with Beth. If only he'd tried harder while in school, he wouldn't have to spend part of his Saturday at the library.

Natsu's phone buzzed, so he glanced down to view the thank you message from Lucy. He smiled, glad he could make her happy. He loved making his friends happy, but for her it was even better. He sent back, No problem. My password is 'DragonsRule' no spaces. If you happen to see something good, let me know. Nickname it with an L at the end so I know it's from you.

Only after he sent that did he realize it was also the password he used for everything else. A sense of trepidation fell over him, but he brushed it away. 'Lucy wouldn't do anything bad with it...' Despite that reassurance, he still felt a bit worried.

He would just have to trust her not to hurt him.

Lucy sent back 'I will', and he smiled. 'Yeah, she wouldn't hurt me.'

Natsu decided to stay on the positive side and message her back, Awesome! With your help I'm bound to collect more Pokémon than Gray! Thanks Luce, you're the best!

The pink haired teen walked the next two blocks in silence. Lucy didn't text him back yet, so he resisted the urge to send her multiple messages again. Instead he held firm until he reached the front doors of the building. Before entering, he sent her one last message.

Welp, at the library. I'll talk to ya later!

He pocketed his phone, then went inside. It wasn't hard to find his lab partner since the library wasn't busy. She sat at one of the round tables in the back.

"Hey Beth," Natsu greeted, then set his backpack in an empty chair between them. He saw she already had a few books laid out, along with their poster board. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Nope," the brown haired girl smiled when she glanced up at him. "Just got here."

"Cool," he grinned, glad he didn't arrive late. "Let's get started?"

Beth nodded, then proceeded to tell him what they still needed for their project. Natsu used his notebook and wrote down what she said, not wanting to forget about it just in case. He was tasked with finding a book within the library, so he set out on his first mission.

After asking the librarian and finding out which section the book was located in, he walked there to grab it. Beth assured him that they were almost done, but the list she gave him begged otherwise. He'd be lucky if they even finished today, but he had faith in his friend, since she was easily smarter than him.

Natsu usually didn't admit when people were better than him at something, but he couldn't deny it. Beth had better grades and seemed to understand things a lot faster than Natsu did. If it weren't for her gardening club taking up most of her time, she would have been president of the chemistry club.

The pink haired teen's eyes wandered from book to book as he tried to find the specific one they needed. As soon as he found it, his pocket started vibrating. He wondered if it was Lucy, so he wasted no time digging out his phone to find out. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't the blonde girl. He shouldn't have been surprised, since he told her he would be at the library, but part of him was hoping she would try to talk to him anyway.

Not wanting to incur the wrath of the caller, he answered it quickly. "Hey Erza, can't talk right now... I'm at the library."

He heard the redhead's voice on the other line. By the sound of things, she was in a good mood. "I don't want to take up much of your time. I just had a quick question to ask."

"What is it?" Natsu asked as he pulled the book he needed from the shelf.

"Do you remember Ultear? Gray's sister?"

"How could I forget? She always used to beat me and Gray up whenever I went over to his house. Why?" Natsu narrowed his eyes, suspicious of why Erza would bring up Gray's older sister. To his knowledge, she was attending college in Hargeon now, so he didn't understand where this conversation was heading.

"I'm sure you boys deserved it," Erza chuckled on the other end of the line. "Anyways, she joined a heavy metal band as a singer. Tonight is their first show and she invited Gray and his friends, which includes you. Do you want to come?"

Natsu let out a groan, already knowing the chances of him getting in a vehicle today were high. "Where is it and what band?"

"It's called Grimoire Heart, and they're playing at the Hargeon convention center."

He groaned again. "I guess I can go. I don't have anything else going on tonight."

"Excellent! I figured you'd say yes. I already invited Lucy," at the mention of the blonde's name, Natsu's ears perked up. "...But she hasn't responded yet."

"She's in Crocus for the weekend."

"Oh... I didn't know that."

"Yeah..." Natsu was a little surprised to hear that Erza had tried to invite Lucy to hang out tonight. When they first met, the redhead wanted nothing to do with Lucy, but now... Well this felt a lot better, having one of his oldest friends accepting his newest friend.

"Well do you still want to hang out with us tonight?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fine."

"I'll be riding with Jellal, so Gray and Juvia will pick you up later today. I'll have him text you the details."

"Sounds good," Natsu slowly started heading back to the table where Beth was waiting for him. "I'll be sure to take my medication for the car ride."

"Are you sure? Gray and Juvia are used to it... They can get the stuff for you."

"No need. I'll just take my pill. It'll be fine," he assured, not wanting to go through that tonight. He could put up with the side effects from his medication for one night.

"If you're sure, then okay. We'll see you tonight," Erza said. "We'll probably stop somewhere first and get something to eat."

"Sounds good. Bye," Natsu waited for her to say 'bye' and hang up the phone first. He couldn't count how many times he got scolded for hanging up on her before she was finished talking. No reason to take that risk again.

Natsu let out some air through his nose similar to how a bull does. 'This sucks! If Lucy wasn't in Crocus we could've all hung out tonight!' He liked the idea of bringing her around his friends. It was a way to test the waters and see how she interacted with everyone. So far she was getting along with his friends, but he still liked seeing everyone together.

He found his way back to the table Beth was at. She glanced up when he sat down, then smiled when he handed her the book she requested. "Thanks."

Natsu nodded, then looked at what next he had to do on the list. He bit back a groan, wishing he would've just done this in class like he was supposed to. Before he started his next task, he casually asked, "do you want to go to a concert tonight?"

The pink haired teen knew that Erza was going to talk to Jellal, and Gray was going to probably make out with Juvia the whole night, leaving Natsu by himself. If he couldn't bring Lucy, then he wanted at least someone else to hang out with.

Beth looked up with a light blush. Her eyes widened as she spoke, "like a date?"

For a moment, Natsu pictured Lucy in his mind. Yesterday she had said the exact same thing, making his heart race. This time his pulse quickened, but not for the same reason. "Oh, uhhh..." He held back the urge to frown as his anxiety flared up. "No, sorry... I meant like friends."

He could see the way her face fell. "Oh, okay. Sorry about that, it's just this is the first time you've invited me out like that." Her eyes landed on the book in front of her, the dusty rose blush she wore spread. If he had to guess, he'd say from embarrassment.

Natsu sighed. Now he felt like a dick. "I'm sorry..."

Beth finally glanced up again, this time with a wane smile. "There's nothing to apologize for."

Even with her saying that, he still felt bad. It almost looked like she wanted it to be a date, which made Natsu uncomfortable. He didn't see Beth that way, so it'd be unfair to lead her on. Until now, he didn't even know she might have had feelings for him. "I still feel bad... Do you want to go as friends though?"

"Nah," the brown haired girl shook her head. "I don't like concerts anyway. The loud music hurts my head. Thanks for inviting me though. I hope you have fun."

"Me too," he mumbled.

The two got back to work, and soon time flew by as they finished up their assignment. It had been awkward at first, with Natsu purposely avoiding Beth's eyes when they had to talk, but slowly the tension eased until he felt comfortable again. Well, comfortable enough.

Natsu felt a little guilty that he turned her down. He knew it was a far better way to go about things than to lead her on. That was just plain cruel. She didn't seem to harbor any bad feelings for him, treating him just the same as before despite the misunderstanding.

Finally, when they finished with their assignment, Natsu and Beth went their separate ways. He walked a bit faster to his house this time, wanting to get home and shower before the concert. On his way home, he saw he got a text message from Lucy at some point in time during his time at the library.

Luce: Have fun working on your project. Hope to hear from you later.

Natsu practically smirked as he texted back, Is it later now?

The teenager was halfway home when he sent the next message to Lucy. You busy again?

When he was a block away from his house he sent her, Sucks you can't come to the concert with us.

He worried that maybe he was texting too much, but his fingers seemed to move on their own despite his brain screaming at him to stop. Dunno if you'd like the band though. It's Gray's sister's band. I heard her singing a few times, it's pretty good, but I guess she joined a heavy metal band.

As Natsu walked into his house and went to his room he couldn't help but think, 'did I say 'band' too many times in that last message?' It was a silly thing to worry about, but it still plagued his mind, even during his shower.

Water dripped off his flattened pink locks as he turned off the faucet. He stepped out of the shower and let the steam fill the room. The cold air bit at his exposed skin, but he loved this refreshing feeling.

The pink haired teen knew he was being silly when the first thing he did was dry his hand. Now dry, he could take his phone from the drawer he kept it in -to make sure it didn't get wet-, and typed out one more message to Lucy.

Whatcha up to?

She still hadn't messaged him back, so he figured that wedding she was attending was starting. He hoped they'd be able to talk a little more, but he had to accept that their time to talk had already passed.

He set the phone down and continued to move his towel against his tan body. The beads of water soaked into the black towel as he ran it across his firm chest and tight abs. He took a moment to admire his own body, even if nobody else could.

Natsu didn't feel very comfortable exposing himself like this, so the only times people saw him without a shirt on were when he was in front of his family and close friends or in the locker rooms after gym class. Even then, the guys would occasionally tease him and say he had to be taking steroids.

"There's no way a freak like you can look like that without help."

Natsu always wanted to snap back, "you're right! I did have help! It's called fucking exercising!" Despite those thoughts, he remained silent and let them pick on him. It was better than starting another pointless fight that would end up with him in trouble while the jocks all got away scot-free.

He continued to dry himself, letting the towel run over his toned skin. He had two distinct scars on his body. One was a long jagged line that stretched about five inches, running across the right side of his neck horizontally. That one had been completely his fault... He wasn't always the safest kid growing up. One of the times he'd been playing by himself, he accidentally cut his neck open and had to be rushed to the hospital.

The second scar was shaped like an X, located on his left hip. He got that in a fight with Rogue back when they weren't on good terms. The black haired teen hadn't meant to cut him. Rogue merely shoved him down and Natsu happened to land on some sharp pieces of metal. Why there was scrap metal behind the school, he had no idea. Rogue had apologized for hurting him that badly, but the teasing picked back up once Natsu had healed.

He really should thank Minerva some day for stopping some of his bullies.

When his body was dried off, he got changed. A black shirt with white cargo shorts adorned the pink haired teen. He wrapped his white scarf around his neck a few times, already feeling a sense of comfort from it.

He threw on some shoes, knowing he couldn't wear his favorite sandals tonight. The risk of him getting his feet stepped on at the concert was huge. Natsu was tempted to style his hair how he usually did, but he decided against it, letting his hair lay flat for the night. Of course even doing nothing wasn't enough to stop some of the locks to spike out on their own.

The pink haired teen opened the medicine cabinet, pulling out the bandages. His hand was healing up nicely, but he figured wrapping it up one more day would do some good for his knuckles. After taking care of that, he went to look for his family.

Natsu went back to his room after seeing that his family still wasn't home. He pulled out his phone to let his mom and dad know he was going to a concert tonight with his friends, and that he'd be back when it was over. He received two texts saying that was okay. He had to hand it to his parents, they were extremely understanding and trusting.

Now Natsu only had one thing stopping him from going out tonight, and it resided in the tiny bottle on his dresser. His green eyes narrowed at the bottle as if he had a vendetta against it. With a long sigh, he gave up the staring contest and sauntered over to the motion sickness medication.

Checking his phone, he saw he still had thirty minutes before Gray and Juvia were supposed to pick him up. It would take about that long for the pill to kick in, so he had to take it now. After taking one of the pills with him to the kitchen, he filled up a glass with water to wash it down.

It took a few mini pep talks before he was able to put the thing on the back of his tongue, but he finally managed to swallow it. The water helped soothe his throat since the medication gave off a nasty flavor. He would eat something at the house, but Erza told him earlier they'd probably stop to get something to eat before the concert.

Natsu used the little free time he had to watch tv. He was on his second episode of a show when his phone buzzed continuously. It was Gray calling, so he ignored it. "Heheheh," he chuckled in what was supposed to sound like a villain's voice, but ended up sounding more high-pitched and airy.

After turning off the tv, Natsu stood. The boy immediately fell back, butt landing hard on the couch. His hands flew to his head, trying to relieve the pressure. Headaches were a common side effect with his pills... Along with anxiety, irritability, and insomnia. It also had a way to make him overly alert and jittery.

It was really unfair. Gajeel suffered from motion sickness just like him, yet his 'cousin' was able to take the same pill and not get any side effects. He knew medication effected everyone differently, but he was still bitter about his results compared to Gajeel's reactions.

Through heaving breaths, he mumbled, "maybe I shoulda let them get the stuff..."

'Too late now.'

Natsu stood up again, this time prepared for the effects of his medication. Another pesky side effect was a light nauseous feeling throughout the duration of its stay in his system. Sometimes he wondered if it was better to just deal with the puking instead of subjecting himself to constant torture.

The pink haired teen grabbed his wallet and house keys, then he left his home to walk to Gray's car. It wasn't anything special, but it got him from point a to point b without breaking down. Natsu climbed in the backseat, greeting the two teens in the front. "Yo."

"You ready for this?" Gray asked, starting up the car.

"For what?" Natsu instinctively threw his hand to his stomach when the raven haired male started driving. He didn't feel the effects of motion sickness, so his hand eased away from his body. "The drive or the concert?"

"Both?"

"I'd say yeah," Natsu looked out the window, seeing the scenery flash by as Gray picked up speed. Usually in a car he had his head between his knees, trying to keep his stomach content inside his body. Rarely did he get a chance to watch the world drift by as they drove.

"That's good," Juvia commented, sounding especially cheery today. Natsu could only guess that she spent the day with 'her beloved'.

The drive to Hargeon seemed to take forever. Between the crappy choice of music Gray listened to and the stop and go traffic, it felt like it took three times as long as Natsu remembered. When they got to the restaurant, 8-Island, Erza and Jellal were already waiting for them with a table.

Before Natsu knew it, all the teens had ordered and were now talking about the upcoming concert. He drifted in and out of the conversation, occasionally checking his phone to see if he got any texts, specifically from a certain blonde haired girl. Unfortunately his phone remained notification-free, so he put away the device for the rest of the meal. It was close to dying anyway, since he used it so much that morning and forgot to charge it while he was home.

Their food arrived and everyone dug in. Natsu requested a bottle of hot sauce and put it to work. He knew his friends wouldn't make fun of him for using hot sauce, or if they did, they didn't mean anything malicious by it.

"Hey Lava Breath," Gray yelled, pulling Natsu's attention away from his spicy fries.

"What is it Popsicle Dick?"

"Boys," Erza warned in a low voice, causing them both to tone it down a bit.

Gray was the first to speak again. "When are you gonna ask Lucy out?"

Natsu's head jolted back, his body tensing. "What? Why would I do that?"

"Well you obviously like her, don't ya?" The raven haired teen asked before taking a bite of his sundae.

"That's none of your business," Natsu finally answered after stalling for a few extra seconds. He felt the heat rushing to his face, but he hoped it wouldn't show up as a blush.

"So you're not denying it?" Gray waggled his eyebrows.

"Sh-shut up!" His cheeks matched his pink hair.

Jellal was the next one to speak up. "If you really like her Natsu, then you should tell her how you feel."

Natsu scoffed loudly. "Oh yeah, like I'm gonna take advice from you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jellal asked, raising a blue brow.

"You haven't done anything yet you're obviously in love with-" Natsu's sentence died off at the same time Erza glared at him. He let out a small 'eep', then remained silent until she stopped seething.

"Is Natsu afraid Lucy won't return his feelings?" Juvia asked, resting her head on Gray's shoulder despite the fact that he was still eating.

"It's not that," Natsu lowered his eyes to his food. Suddenly he didn't feel as hungry anymore. His heart was beating out of control, but he didn't know if it was from his medication or the subject. For now, he'd blame it on his pill.

"Well, Juvia was just asking because she knows that Lucy-" The blue haired teen's voice turned into muffles when a cold hand covered her mouth.

Natsu glanced up, cocking his head at the sight. "Gray... What are you doing?"

"What! Nothing," Gray lied, a few beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. Then, in a whisper that he thought Natsu wouldn't be able to hear, he said into his girlfriend's ear, "I told you not to tell him that."

Juvia's eyes softened before she nodded. After Gray's hand left her mouth, she sighed. "Juvia forgot."

"He has to find out on his own," Gray whispered, eyes flitting over to Natsu to see if the pink haired teen could hear him. Then, in an even quieter voice, he said, "it may take a while though. He's pretty dumb."

"Hey!" Natsu roared. "I'm not dumb!"

"Damn it," Gray cursed. If he had any doubts on whether Natsu could hear them or not, they died right there. "Just ignore us."

"What are you two doing over there anyway?" Natsu glared. "Some secret squirrel shit?"

Gray's girlfriend opened her mouth again. "Juvia was just going to say that Lu-" Her words ended when her boyfriend started to kiss her. All thoughts vanished from the blue haired girl's mind as she leaned into the kiss.

"Gross," Natsu muttered, poking his food with a fork. He went ahead and ate it all despite his stomach's protests. 'Oh right... Another side effect... Loss of appetite.' The only reason he finished his food was because he had to pay for it. No use wasting his money.

The rest of the dinner carried on like normal. Eventually Natsu and Gray began to bicker, causing Erza to silence them with threats. Jellal remained quiet as he watched the redhead take charge, and Juvia gushed over how great her boyfriend was -even though no one asked.

Soon they were paying their bills and heading for the convention center. Gray went to the 'Will Call' booth to grab the tickets.

Natsu was pleased to find out they would be in the standing section. He hated being confided to a chair. After about thirty minutes of standing around and talking to each other, the lights went out and the spotlights shined on the stage.

The crowd roared when a woman came out on the stage. She had long black hair and a smirk that made most of the men in the audience turn to putty. The only males unaffected by her beauty were Natsu, Jellal, and Gray.

Natsu wasn't affected because he knew how evil that chick could be, Jellal wasn't affected because she was a close friend, and Gray wasn't affected because that was his sister. Even if she was not related to him by blood, he grew up with her like any normal sibling would.

"Are you ready to party!" Ultear asked into the microphone, her voice booming around the venue.

People cheered and some even jumped in anticipation. That devilish smirk she wore so well only grew. "Then let's get started!" The curtain behind her rose, revealing the band. The music started up, and soon everyone was enjoying the concert.

Natsu tried not to move around too much as the songs played. He felt the dizziness from his pill taking effect, but he didn't let that control him. Feeling like a fifth wheel, he didn't try to talk with his friends. Gray and Juvia were wrapped up in each other after a few songs, while Erza and Jellal were standing way too close to be 'just friends'.

The pink haired teen didn't let his loneliness bother him. The songs were great and the feeling of the music rushing through his body made him feel alive. Despite not getting along with Ultear, he had to admit she was pretty good at singing. The crowd really enjoyed her, and began chanting for an encore once she announced that they finished their last song.

The band aimed to please, playing one more song before finally packing it up for the night. They were one of the many opening bands, so the concert was nowhere near finished.

Seeing that there would be a short intermission before the next band played, Natsu announced that he was going to the bathroom. He couldn't hear his voice over the sound of his roaring ears, but Gray nodded, so Natsu guessed he heard him.

After finishing up in the bathroom, Natsu began to wander around. He figured he had a little bit of time before the next band started playing, so he might as well explore. It was better than standing there awkwardly with the two couples. Even if Erza and Jellal were too stubborn to officially get together, he still considered them a couple.

Natsu went to lean against a wall to get away from the walking people so he could check his phone. He still didn't have any messages from Lucy. He was really hoping they'd be able to talk, but that hope was slowly fading as he accepted that sometimes life wasn't fair.

"Excuse me," a feminine voice came from in front of Natsu.

His head snapped up, eyes looking at a girl in front of him. She appeared a little older than him, but he couldn't be sure. She was definitely taller though, standing at least half a foot higher than him. "Yes?"

"Hi, sorry to bother you, but I'm lost and need help finding my way back to my seat. Can you help me?" She batted her eyes, her lips pulling into a smile.

"Uhh, sure," he looked back at the entrance for general admission, but he didn't know there were places for seats. "I'm not sure where they're at, but I can help you look for them."

"That's so sweet of you," the girl wrapped an arm around Natsu's arm, not noticing the way the boy tensed. "I'll lead the way."

Natsu's body remained rigid as they walked through the convention center. He noticed the smell of alcohol lingering on her breath, and the '21 & UP' yellow wristband on her arm. He figured she was just a little drunk and having a rough time, so he wanted to help her out. However, he couldn't shake the feeling of trepidation. 'Must be the medication...'

Every time he suggested they ask for someone else's help, the girl shook her head saying she already asked them. He thought it was weird that she had asked all these people, but no one could give her an answer.

The more they walked, the less people they encountered. Before he knew it, they were walking down an empty hall. "I don't think it's down there," Natsu said, trying to stop.

The girl pulled him along easily, "I'm sure it's somewhere down here." For a girl who'd been drinking, she was pretty strong.

The pink haired teen heard music start up in the distance. The next band was already playing and he was missing it. With a sense of dread, he said again, "I'm pretty sure there's nothing down here."

He began to sweat when he felt her arm tighten around his own. "Don't be silly. It has to be down here."

Natsu didn't want to be rude, but he'd had enough. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, then said, "look, I dunno what's going on, but it's obvious nothing's here." He shook his head, thinking harder. "You know, I don't remember seeing any seats in there. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

The girl sighed. "You caught me." Her eyes narrowed on him before she licked her lips. "I just wanted an excuse to be alone with you." Her free hand came up, dragging down his chest in a way that made his blood turn icy.

"Wh-what?" Natsu jolted, but before he could pull away from her, the girl slammed him up against the nearest wall. His spine smashed against the wall, causing him to let out a whimper as pain shot through his body.

Besides the pain, the next thing he felt were lips on his ear. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

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Up next, Chapter Twenty-Two: Natsu's Weekend- Saturday (PT. 2)