As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.
"Are you sure about this?" Natsu asked. He began to read through the list Happy had given him.
"Yes," the Exceed said. "I did my research. This is all the stuff you should do to impress Lucy on your date!"
"I don't know, bud. I'm not trying to impress her, I'm just trying to make her happy."
"But this will make her happy!" Happy stood up and put his paw on Natsu's shoulder. "Natsu, if you follow that list, you are going to give her the best date she's ever had! A night so good, she'll remember it on every other date for the rest of her life. And every time she remembers it, she'll be happy all over again. I promise," he said, "this is going to work."
"If you say so. I guess you would have more idea than me." Natsu paused and turned towards Happy. "Things are still going well with Carla, right?"
"Yep! Being separated is a little difficult, but that's okay. She's been hanging out with Wendy more, so she's not lonely or anything. Now read the list!" Happy encouraged. "You have to memorize it before Lucy gets here."
"Why?"
"Well you can't just carry it around with you on your date, duh! So get reading! I'm going to grab a snack."
"Alright." Natsu sat back and began to read the list. Happy returned to the living room just in time for Natsu to glare at him over the paper. "Number nine feels pretty personal."
"I just thought you could use the reminder," Happy said innocently.
Natsu grunted and then returned to the list. "Are you sure this is what I need to do? It all feels… kind of fake."
"Well most of it is stuff you do already, right? So you're not being fake, you're just improving your manners a bit."
"But-"
"Will you just trust me?" Happy said.
"Alright," Natsu grumbled, "but if this doesn't work, I'm telling Lucy it was your idea."
"Fine." Just then the front door flew open, and as Happy began to fly towards the kitchen to say hi to Lucy, Natsu grabbed him and stuffed him behind himself against the couch.
"Nat-"
"Shh!"
"Alright guys, remember what we agreed?" Lucy asked. "Tell me what we talked about. I need to know that you guys were listening."
"We need to tell Natsu you'll let him get to third base on the first date, but no further," Cana said.
"We get to help you choose the most flattering lingerie you have," Levy said.
"We're supposed to remain at least two tables away at the restaurant and wear believable disguises," Juvia added.
Lucy sighed. "Guys, come on, I'm serious about this. I don't want you messing things up for me."
"Why are you so nervous, Lu? Do you loooove him?" Levy asked.
"Please stop." The blonde hid her face in her hands. "You're going to embarrass me as soon as we get to my place, aren't you?"
"Us?" Cana gasped. "How could you ever think we'd do something like that to you? I'm offended."
"Sure you are."
"Don't worry so much, Lu. You know you can trust us," Levy said.
"Most of the time that is true, but this is one of those times where I actually can't."
"Juvia promises to be on her best behavior," Juvia said. "Scout's honor."
"When were you a girl scout?" Cana asked, glancing back in the mirror.
"I wasn't," Juvia said. She blinked, looking surprised. "Do you have to have been a scout to say that?"
"You do for it to mean something," Lucy said. "Just one more reason not to trust you lot."
"Oh lighten up, Lucy, we're just teasing you." Cana parked in front of Lucy's home and they all got out of the car. As they walked up, Cana casually put her arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Now just trust us, okay? We'll have you looking so great for your date, Natsu will be drooling all over himself. But first…" Juvia and Levy both bolted for the door as Cana spun Lucy around and then followed behind them.
"Hey! Guys!" Lucy stumbled but managed to stay on her feet as she ran after them. As usual, the door was unlocked so the trio barged into her apartment well before Lucy could stop them. "Shit."
When Lucy finally entered her kitchen, she found Natsu sitting on the couch in the living room with her three friends in a semi circle around him.
"-making sure you know we expect you to take good care of our girl," Juvia said.
"That's right. You might be our friend now, but she was our friend first, and if you hurt her, we'll make you regret it," Cana added.
"And this is a date, so you'd better show her a good time." Levy leaned down. "What Cana said is really important so I'm going to say it again. If you upset Lucy in any way, we'll have to teach you a lesson and I'd rather not do that, you know? I like you, but not nearly as much as Lucy."
"Yeah, I get it guys, you don't have to be so hostile. It's not what you think." Natsu looked passed them and finally saw Lucy. As they made eye contact, Natsu rubbed his nose with his thumb, their signal that Happy was somewhere he could be discovered.
Lucy looked around for a moment before realizing that Natsu looked uncomfortable and stiff. Realizing where the Exceed must be, she strode forward and pulled on her friends, corralling them towards the kitchen. "Alright, that's it. Into the kitchen, guys."
"Lucy-"
"Don't Lucy me," she said, cutting Cana off. "We agreed I would talk to Natsu first when we got here. Now into the kitchen or I'm calling this whole thing off, got it?" From the corner of her eye, she saw a streak of blue by the hallway, so as she got to the kitchen's doorway, she stopped ushering her friends and returned to Natsu, who looked relieved.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"No problem," he said. "It's part of the contract, remember?" Natsu nodded his head towards the group in the kitchen. "So what's going on with them? Why are they warning me to be nice to you all of a sudden?"
"It's because of the date."
"Oh… Is that normal?"
Lucy shook her head. "They don't understand that this isn't a real date."
Natsu cocked his head. "It's not? Did I not ask you out right?"
"No, you did fine. It's because we're doing this as a friend thing and they refuse to accept that."
"Oh. Well, I mean, if you wanted this to be that kind of date, I could give that a try. What would I have to do different?"
"Natsu, don't, it's not- ugh, they're making this difficult." She sighed as she rubbed her hands over her face. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have anything to be sorry about," he said. "Do… you want me to do something about them?"
"No, that's okay." Lucy dropped her hands to her sides and then move to sit next to him on the couch. "They're not being too bad yet. I may take you up on your offer later though."
"Just let me know and I can fix it in a flash," he said with a grin. "I have to ask though, why are they all here?"
"They wanted to help make me up for tonight, and somehow I couldn't shake them so here they are." The trio, who were doing a terrible job pretending not to listen, all waved in their direction.
"Does that mean you'd like me to go then? I imagine they wouldn't want me here while they're doing that."
She gave him a small smile. "Do you mind? If it's a problem, I really could make them leave, but it's usually easier to just let them go."
Remembering his list, he gave her an easy grin. "It's no trouble. I'll be back a little before five, how does that sound? That way we can get to the cafe in time for our date."
"That sounds good. Do you need anything before you leave?"
"Nah, I'll be good." He stood up and then offered her a hand to help her to her feet. He didn't let her hand go until they made it into the kitchen and headed towards the front door. "Don't have too much fun, ladies."
"We could say the same," Levy said, making the other two laugh. "Don't worry, she's in good hands. We'll return her in even better shape than she is now."
"I'll hold you to that," he said, then waved with a last goodbye to Lucy.
As soon as the door shut behind him, Cana, Levy and Juvia all rounded on Lucy. She sighed, but didn't fight as they all stood and ushered her down the hall towards her room.
"So," Cana said, "that seemed pretty intimate."
"What did?" Lucy asked.
"That conversation. You were pretty close together. How often do you two cuddle on the couch like that?"
"We don't! We were just trying to have a conversation without the peanut gallery chiming in." As they entered her room, she moved to sit on her bed while the others moved towards her closet.
"Okay, but what about that hand holding?" Juvia asked. "He held on much longer than he needed to just to help you stand."
"He just likes to hold hands sometimes when we're walking. I do that with you guys sometimes, too, so I don't think it's weird."
"He was smiling an awful lot," Levy said.
"So do you guys! Does that mean that you guys like me, too?!"
"Probably."
"Maybe."
"Definitely."
Lucy sighed, loudly, and then fell back against the bed. "You guys are killing me. Can we please stop teasing me so much today?"
Immediately, all three were sitting around her on the bed. Levy spoke up first. "What's wrong, Lu? We didn't mean to upset you, we were just having fun."
"I know, but I'm stressing out a little bit and it's not helping."
"Why are you stressed, Lucy?" Juvia asked.
Lucy opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to figure out what to say. Finally, she just sighed and said, "I don't know how to explain it."
"I'm guessing part of you is wishing that this wasn't just a friend date, right?" Lucy's eyes snapped Cana's way, but the brunette just shrugged her shoulders. "Best friend, dude. I know what's up."
"Lu, are you sure there's absolutely no way that he likes you?" Levy ran her fingers through Lucy's hair. "You know, he might just be saying it's a friend date because he's not sure if you like him and he just wanted to make sure you didn't say no."
Lucy covered her face with her hands. "I'm pretty sure that's not the case. I'm not his type."
"What's his type?" Juvia asked.
"Not me," Lucy responded.
"Not gorgeous, intelligent women with an amazing sense of humor and a great group of friends?" Cana said.
Lucy half glared at her friend. "You guys have nothing to do with my dating life."
"We are your closest confidants," Levy said. "We are at least a little involved with your dating life."
"Guys, can we just drop it please? He's just taking me out to make up for Stier being a dick, that's all."
They were all silent for a while, much to Lucy's relief. After a suspiciously long time, she realized she could feel small vibrations from around her and opened her eyes to see her friends all mouthing words and gesturing at each other. "Guys, please, can we just get on to the dressing part? I'm fine, really. I don't need to talk about who has feelings for who and who doesn't have those same feelings back."
"Lucy-"
"No," Lucy said, cutting Cana off. "Please? Natsu and I are friends. Just friends. There is nothing else there and there can't ever be anything else there, so please just move on to finding something amazing for me to wear tonight. That I can wear to a cafe," she quickly added. "So no touching the gowns in the back of the closet."
Cana and Levy groaned by reluctantly agreed as they got up and went back to the closet. Juvia sighed as she reached up and started to undo Lucy's hair.
"Lucy?"
"What's up, Juvia?"
"For what it's worth, I honestly think he likes you, too."
"Juvia-"
"I won't harp on you about it, I just wanted to say one thing. I'm not the only one. I think Loke knows it, too." Lucy cocked her head in surprise as Juvia continued. "I don't think you've seen it, but I've caught Loke watching you and Natsu more than once looking awfully jealous, and you and I both know he used to have a thing for you.
"I think he's jealous of the easy relationship you two have, and nervous that you two are going to end up dating. I've talked to him a few times, and he denies everything, but then he goes right back to watching you two."
"Loke is just a friend, just like Natsu. I'm not going to end up either of them, Juvia. They're both great, but it's not going to happen. It's not in the cards."
"Cana's cards?" Juvia asked. "Because I'm pretty sure if I asked-"
"One more word and you die," Lucy hissed as she shoved her hand over Juvia's mouth.
The other woman smiled and nodded before returning to Lucy's hair. Before either could say another word, Levy and Cana came out of Lucy's closet each with an armload of clothes. Lucy sighed and allowed Juvia to quickly twist her hair out of the way before standing up and allowing the girls their fun while she pondered Juvia's words.
Natsu let out a deep breath as he took the short stroll up to Lucy's door.
Step One: Wear something nice.
He was in a dark pair of jeans with black shoes and a dark red button down shirt, sleeves rolled up, with his scarf firmly wrapped around his neck. He'd even tried to comb out his hair a little, but that had been a lost cause. Before he knocked, he took another deep breath, nervous despite himself, and adjusted his grip on the flowers in his hand.
Step Two: Bring her flowers when you pick her up.
As Natsu raised his hand to knock, he hoped, again, that he wasn't making a fool of himself. He'd seen Stier pick her up, and he had not done any of the steps on Happy's list. Since the date had gone horribly, that didn't necessarily mean he was wrong, but it made him feel unsure of himself.
He was surprised when Lucy didn't come to the door, so he knocked again. When he was still waiting a minute later, he tried the door and found it locked. He held his hand over the doorknob and used his magic to unlock it. As he entered the space, Plue hurried across the room, yowling loudly. Natsu immediately readied himself for an attack as he set the flowers down on the table and began to smell the area for any unrecognizable scents.
He silently made his way through the living room, trying to sense Lucy's presence or feel her through their bond, but there was nothing. His room was shut, but Lucy's was open a crack. He made his way to her door and entered like a wraith, silently and hugging the shadows. Inside, he could smell Lucy's scent stronger than any other room of the house, but he could also smell her friends. It had been at least an hour since they'd been in here, but there was too much of Lucy's scent to know if she'd left with her friends or not.
Retreating, he went to his room, but before he could open the door, there was a loud knock on the front door. He'd only made it a few steps before there were more knocks, this time more urgent.
Natsu opened the front door to find Loke, red faced and angry looking. "Lucy isn't here," Natsu said, "but I'll let her know you stopped by."
"I'm not here for Lucy, I'm here for you," Loke said. "Let me come in."
"What do you want, Loke?"
Loke leaned forward and spoke softly. "Here is not the place, Natsu."
"I'll be the judge of that. What do you want?"
Loke sighed angrily. "Please Natsu, I will tell you once I-"
"Tell me or you don't come in," Natsu said, cutting him off.
"Lucy's been taken," Loke growled.
Natsu stared at Loke, unsure he'd heard the words correctly. "What did you say?" he whispered.
"Lucy has been taken. Now let me inside so we can figure out-"
Natsu's eyes flashed gold just before he threw his head back and let out a loud, guttural roar.
I was supposed to just get Lucy dressed and send Natsu to pick her up before writing about their date next chapter, and then this idea popped into my head and I thought, you know what, I haven't messed with them enough yet. I feel a little evil.
