CHAPTER 2

"YO ICE PRINCESS!" Natsu yelled, jumping on his friend's back without any warning.

The collision ended up being rougher than he anticipated, but the bastard earned it after ditching him for some chick. Gray running off to get away from the crowd was one thing, but, ditching Natsu and leaving him alone with a group of girls AND an empty beer bottle? Now that deserved some sort of punishment, right? He hooked his arm around his friend's neck and punched his right shoulder. Natsu grinned as he prepared for a return attack.

"WHAT THE FUCK MAN!?" Gray yelled, shoving Natsu off him and giving him a strong scowl.

"What? Did I interrupt something?" Natsu taunted, only imagining how furious his friend must be.

Natsu then turned his gaze over to the girl he had been ditched for. He couldn't make out much since her blonde hair was covering her face and she seemed to be cupping her mouth with her hands.

Maybe he did overdo it?

Gray turned towards the blonde and asked if she was all right. With a small nod of her head she moved her hands away from her mouth. Tapping her lips a few times she checked her fingertips for blood. "I'm so sorry!" Gray pleaded. "Does it hurt? Are you bleeding?" Gray was holding onto her shoulders while bending over so that they were at the same eye level.

"No. I'm fine." The girl sighed. Smiling up at Gray she moved away from his grip and turned to eye Natsu.

'Shit.'

Just from a single glance Natsu could already tell why Gray had abandoned him for this chick. She was hot. Like super-hot! Long blonde hair, big brown eyes, and thick curves. A girl this attractive could have any man crawling at her feet.

Natsu quickly inhaled as the woman's voice brought his gaze from her chest back to her face. "So," she spoke, "could this be one of the 'idiot' friends you mentioned?" Giving Natsu a not-so-warm smile, the blonde then adjusted her dress.

"Idiot?" Natsu huffed. Looking around as if asking if the comment was meant for him.

"Yes, idiot! What's your deal Flame Brain?" Gray hissed. Brows furrowed and teeth clenched he pointed back to the girl. "I know you have rocks in your head, but anyone could tell I was a bit busy."

Natsu took a step back from his pissed off friend. "Hey, ain't my fault you never came back with our drinks. You left without a word and the girls were getting annoyed." Natsu shrugged.

"Let them get annoyed!" Gray spat back. "They only wanted the free drinks anyways!"

Natsu shrugged in agreement. It was true. The girls probably already found some other suckers to mooch off of by now. Whether or not Gray ran into this girl, Natsu figured his friend wasn't going to come back anyways. Still, a heads up would have been appreciated!

Pushing past Gray, Natsu sighed and walked up to the blonde. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrow arched as she watched him approach.

…

Lucy's bottom lip was still throbbing as she observed Gray bicker with this friend of his. Catching bits of their argument, she wasn't surprised to hear that Gray's original mission was to buy drinks for another group of girls before encountering Lucy. He was a good-looking man and Lucy knew there were plenty of other ladies more than willing to give him some action.

Shaking her head, she then turned her attention over to his friend. He was maybe a hair shorter and a bit more muscular than Gray. His black T-shirt and jeans complimented his sun-kissed skin, though, his hair was a bit odd. Pink? Salmon? Whatever it was, he definitely pulled it off. She watched as this man now sauntered over to her. Still a bit annoyed, she stayed silent and allowed him to speak first.

"I-" Awkwardly pulling at his neck, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorry, about that." He muttered, his voice deep and husky. "I didn't really think that through…" Trailing off, the man's eyes flickered from hers to the floor.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle at the very evident thought. "It's fine." She smiled, uncrossing her arms and pushing her hair behind her ears. Then she decided to tease the man a bit.

"Though, I must say. You don't look like the type to have such abandonment issues." Flashing him a smirk, she waited for his reply.

He coughed out a few fake laughs before responding. "Listen here. The only abandonment going on was my hand missing a cold one." Hunching over her, he tilted his head towards Gray. She could feel his body heat radiating off him. "I couldn't give two shits about that Ice Princess back there." A toothy grin stretched across his tan face and Lucy couldn't help but mimic the smile.

She felt so small as his broad shoulders hovered over her. Wanting to gain control over the conversation again she lifted up her chin and pestered further. "Ahhh. So, my mouth had to pay the price for that?"

The pink haired man only playfully glared back. The contagious grin grew wider and his dark eyes seemed to light up. He was definitely enjoying this game. "What's your name?" He asked. His focus locked on hers, causing Lucy to exhale an unknowingly caught breath.

Before she could respond Gray stepped in. "Her name's Lucy." Grabbing his friend's shoulder he stood between the two of them. "And…As I said before. We were kind of busy."

Lucy felt the blood rush to her cheeks as she remembered exactly what she and Gray were 'busy' doing. She quickly cupped her face and looked up at Gray then back to his friend. The two were now glaring at each other. Besides being told they were friends, that's all Lucy knew about them. Suddenly feeling like a problem, Lucy decided that this was her cue and waved both of her hands to gain their attention. "I'm actually pretty thirsty…Now that I think about it." She uttered.

Natsu broke his scowl first, followed by Gray who turned to face Lucy and asked if she wanted another drink from the bar.

"No." She declared. "Just some water would be nice." Before she could attempt to say anything else, Gray's friend spoke up.

"We have a bunch of water back at our booth." He said. Stepping closer to her, their eyes locked once again. "Why don't you join us?"

Lucy didn't respond right away, lost in the seriousness of this strange man's gaze. A small flutter dancing in her chest before she broke their stare. Lucy quickly looked back at Gray who didn't seem to hate the idea.

"Yeah, I'm pretty thirsty too." Gray sighed. "Why don't we stop by? It's already paid for anyway."

Not really wanting to pass up free water, Lucy figured she might as well tag along. She took a mental note to not stay long, knowing her friends were probably wondering where she was by now. Plus, she figured it would make for an easier goodbye than this current situation.