PLEASE READ!

Hi everyone! As promised, here is this weeks update. I'm really happy everyone seems to be enjoying the story so far! I'm new to posting on A03 and , so please bare with me while I try to understand the layouts and reviews/comments. LOL.

I also want to note that Loke and Lucy's interaction in this chapter is 100% the dialogue used in the anime when they first meet at fairy tail haha. Thought it would be fun.

I'm not sure which social media account you all are coming from, but I'll try to post on each to advise chapter updates! :)

CHAPTER 3

The club filled with voices and laughter as the music lowered to a steady beat. The stage began to prepare for the next DJ and bodies rushed to the bar to refill their drinks. While others began to save their spots on the dance floor.

Natsu led the way through the mass of people with Gray and Lucy following behind. He wasn't entirely sure why he suggested for Lucy to join them, but he figured one extra person wouldn't hurt. She seemed interesting. Plus, anyone who could handle Gray's dumb face crashing into theirs deserved a point in his book.

Once the three of them made it to the booth it didn't take long for Lucy to grab his friends' attention. "Looks like you found more than just Gray." Cana whistled. Sending Natsu a mischievous smirk, she eyed the blonde up and down and took another swig of her drink.

"Hey guys, this is Lucy." Gray casually remarked.

Natsu watched as Gray grabbed a couple waters from the ice bin on the table and handed one to Lucy. She had one hand grasping the strap of her purse while the other held the cold drink. Gray continued with the introductions. "Lucy this is Cana, Loke..." He then turned his focus onto Natsu. "And the idiot you met before, is Natsu." He sighed.

Lucy introduced herself to Loke and Cana before looking over at Natsu. Wanting to begin to make up for his previous greeting, Natsu held his hand up to wave. He gave the blonde the biggest and brightest smile he could possibly do. He felt his stomach do a weird dance when she responded with a small giggle and waved back. Though, the perky feeling quickly turned to discontent once Loke hung an arm around her shoulder.

"Nice to meet you Lucy!" Loke pressed into her, causing Lucy to steady herself against his weight. "If those two losers ain't doing it for you, why don't you join me tonight? Just the two of us." Loke continued as Lucy kept a very stiff unpleasant stance. "You're just so stunningly gorgeous I won't be able to keep my eyes off you." He purred.

Natsu felt his eyebrow twitch and his jaw tighten. Confused by the sudden irritation he felt, he convinced himself it was due to being called a loser by the idiot flirt. Along with the fact that Lucy had barely said a word to him and he was already all over her like some lion.

A low growl began to form in Natsu's throat. He was about ready to fight his friend until he saw Lucy lift Loke's arm up and off of her. Taking a couple steps back she distanced herself from the ginger. "Do the girls you hit on really fall for that?" She sneered. Allowing a few chuckles to escape, she loosened her bottle cap and took a sip of water.

Gray decided to answer for him. "No. They don't." He rolled his eyes. Giving Loke a few rough pushes, the flirt scurried back to his seat in the booth.

Grabbing everyone's attention, Cana then let out a loud belly laugh. "Don't worry hun. Loke here is all bark and no bite." Cana's grin grew, causing Natsu's stomach to turn. He knew the lush was about to make things much worse. Natsu tried to interject, but was stopped before being able to speak.

"– I'm sure it's your chest causing these boys to go crazy. What's your secret to such a big rack sweetheart?" Cana teased, placing her chin in her palm and shooting Lucy a wink.

Lucy's shocked face turned bright red. Wrapping her arms around her body she quickly covered her breasts and looked over at Natsu, as if asking if that was a real question.

"Ease off you drunks!" Gray spat, once again stepping in. "Can't you all be fucking normal for once!?" Yanking the brunette's bottle out of her hand, he gained her full attention in the absence of the alcohol.

"Hey give that back asshole!" She yelled, her body wobbling as she stood up and reached for her drink.

Natsu's surprisingly tense shoulders then relaxed when he heard Lucy giggle. He felt bad for her having to deal with all his crazy friends at once. Though it seemed she could handle herself, she was starting to look uncomfortable. Wanting to ease her troubles, Natsu moved to stand beside her. She pulled her gaze from Cana's and Gray's bickering and looked up at Natsu.

"Sorry." Natsu nudged her shoulder with his. "They're good people...They just don't think before they speak." He admitted. Looking down at her from the side of his eye he saw her face soften.

"Seems to be a common thing with you guys." She playfully nudged her shoulder back.

Natsu felt a bit of heat rise to his cheeks as he was reminded of his actions. "Hey, I apologized!" He defended.

Lucy turned towards him. "This may be true but the damage isn't undone. My mouth is still in a lot of pain!" She argued, pointing to her lips.

Natsu looked down at her swollen lip and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. A confident smile still spread across her small face. His stare then moved from her lips back up to her eyes. Her deep brown eyes catching his dark onyx ones. They held each other's gaze as he took in her soft features. He didn't know what, but something about her intrigued him.

Clearing his throat, Natsu's eyes narrowed and a sly grin stretched from ear to ear. "Ooh. So you're saying I need to apologize to your lips too?" He teased. Inching closer he studied her reaction. Hesitating on whether or not to continue the flirtatious bickering. He didn't want to overstep, but as her eyes flickered with curiosity, he gained his confidence back. Lowering his voice he continued.

"Now how, do you supposed, would I go about doing that?"

He watched as Lucy's pale face quickly turned beet red. She bit her lip as she sunk further into herself. He could see she was holding back a smile, but she kept her eyes locked on his. For this moment, Natsu could honestly say he forgot that his friends were just feet away. Hell, he forgot he was even at a club. All he could see was this woman, but the moment ended abruptly when a strong grip clutched his shoulder. A tug from the grip tore his eyes from Lucy's. Not at all surprised, Natsu was now face to face with Gray.

"Oi..." Gray grunted.

He could see the annoyance starting to form within his friend as he continued to stare. "Hey…" Natsu muttered. Scratching the back of his head he took a step away from Lucy. Only now realizing just how close the two of them were.

Gray didn't say anything as he released Natsu's shoulder and turned his focus onto the blonde. Natsu listened to Gray apologize to Lucy about his friends and asked if she wanted to go someplace else.

"No! I– well…" Lucy stuttered as she tried to recompose herself. A small smile snuck up on Natsu when he realized she was just as surprised by the interruption as he was. Finally able to finish her sentence Lucy let Gray know she was fine. Turning from Gray, she briefly looked at Natsu then back behind her to the dance floor.

"Did you want to claim a spot?" Gray asked.

Lucy shook her head. Now pulling her phone out of her purse she quickly checked it. "No. I was thinking about heading back to my friends before the next set." Taking a step back she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "It would be difficult once everything starts back up." A shy chuckle escaping from her lips she continued to back away from their booth.

"Did you want help looking?" Gray asked.

"No!" She quickly stated. "The club isn't too big. I'm sure I'll find them soon." Smiling, her gaze flickered over at Natsu then back at Gray. "Thank you for the water and thank you for... the company..." She trailed off.

Beginning to distance herself to leave, Natsu unconsciously moved closer. He heard Gray sigh next to him. Hanging his head, Natsu could sense the defeat from his friend as he simply held his hand up to say goodbye. Lucy smiled in response before taking another glance at Natsu. His stomach once again acting up when their eyes met. Not knowing what to say Natsu waved and said it was nice to meet her.

"It was fun." He admitted grinning back at the blonde.

"It was." Lucy giggled.

Giving one last warm smile to the boys, she told them to have a great night and dipped into the mass of people on the dance floor. Natsu lost sight of her within seconds.

"Thanks for scaring her off, idiots..." Gray groaned. Punching Natsu in the shoulder he then plopped down in the booth next to his friends. Without a hint of sympathy both Cana and Loke rebutted saying it was more of a group effort, which only angered Gray more.

"Did you get her number?" Loke asked. Natsu, curious about the answer, finally looked away from where he had last seen Lucy.

"I would have if some pink haired dumbass hadn't interrupted me." Gray barked. Throwing his head back on to the top of the booth he closed his eyes. "Either way...She clearly wasn't that interested." Hinting at the fact she basically ran off. Gray waved his hand to end the conversation and neither friend bothered to continue.

Natsu found himself feeling a bit disappointed with the answer, knowing he most likely won't see her again. Looking back to the dance floor he sighed. Scanning the crowd he unintentionally began searching for her gold locks.