Chapter 3:

"You're a girl!" Natsu exclaimed, startling the poor girl in front of him.

"Yes?" she answered, pulling away from his limp embrace. "I don't know if you heard me but thank you again. I really thought I was going to die."

She took a step back, her cheeks flushing, knowing she just threw herself all over a stranger

"Yeah, I heard you." he breathed out. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he stared at the small figure in front of him. When she had embraced him, it had shocked him big time. It was over before he even knew what happened and he found himself wanting to feel that warmth that she gave off.

Studying her from their short distance, he began to really look at her. She definitely had a beautiful face , but sadly it was covered in blood and the grime from the dirty alley they were in. The girl didn't have any fashion sense at all with her baggie hoodie and over-sized jeans. They hid any sort of shape under yards upon yards of fabric. If this girl was trying to go unnoticed she definitely was doing a good job until those guys caught her. If he had passed her on the street he wouldn't have even gave her a second glance. It made him wonder her motive behind dressing this way.

Lucy stared up at him, not noticing his inquisitive stare roam her person. This man had the most unusually spiky hair. It looked so soft and pokey at the same time, which made zero sense. The pink hair didn't come as a shock to Lucy because Virgo had naturally pink hair as well. The color was strangely alluring on this man. It complimented his tanned skin and white teeth. Her eyes wandered down to his torso and grew to the size of saucers. This man was extremely fit. She had never seen a man built this way so close up and was in awe. She quickly closed her mouth, noticing she was gaping it like a fish. Gosh her mouth felt so dry. Taking a gulp of air, she decided to look the man in the eyes again. The alley was so dark that it made his eyes look jet black, not a speck of light reflecting in them.

She shivered as goosebumps appeared on her arms. Maybe it was time to go.

"Um, well I have to go. Thanks again!" She smiled awkwardly, giving him a little wave as she walked away. She began to walk deeper into the alley they were in, hoping she would be able to tell which way to go when she reached its end. Luckily the end of it wasn't too far away, bad news was there were 5 different routes she could take.

"Oh goodness." she groaned. She should have gotten a map. A flashlight wouldn't be half bad with how dark it was in this city. You think with it being a fancy city with bright lights there wouldn't be so many dark shadows and alleys but that's where all the bad things hide.

"You lost or something sweetheart?" a manly voice yelled.

Lucy about jumped out of her skin. She turned her head and saw the pink haired man halfway down the alley.

"I'm fine. Thank you." she yelled in reply. First getting assaulted in an alley and then possibly getting followed by a strange man…. The night was going great.

"You sure do say thank you a lot." the same voice said, but this time it came from right behind her.

"Good heavens!" she exclaimed, throwing her hand over her racing heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Good heavens!" he echoed back in a bad English accent. "What are you the Queen?"

"No, don't be ridiculous." she pouted. A queen no, an heiress.. maybe. "I just don't curse. It's not very lady like."

"Oh excuse me madam." he apologized, bowing deeply like a butler in a movie would.

"If you could lend me a hand and point me to the nearest hotel I would be most appreciative." she asked politely, ignoring the man who was still bowed down.

He stood up straight again with a smirk on his face.

"That way, sweet cheeks." he motioned with his thumb to the most right path.

"Thank you." Lucy bowed before turning her body towards the right path "Have a lovely rest of your night."

"You rally should be saying 'Good Morning' since it's already 2 a.m." the pink haired man replied.

She stiffened as she was taking her first few steps forward. 2. A.M.? She slumped over in exhaustion. How long has she been walking? Was this night ever going to end?

"Also the hotel is about 5 miles up that way but I can see you don't need help so bye bye blondie!" he waved, walking in the direction he came from. He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes. Tapping the box, he reached in pulling one out to put into his mouth. Snagging the lighter from his pocket, he lit up the cigarette and let the first drag loosen up his tense muscles. God this night had been eventful but not in the right ways. He shouldn't have to be smoking in a musty alley alone. He should have been in bed with a hot chick making her scream until dawn.

"Wait!" yelled a voice behind him. Knowing who the voice belonged too, he chuckled to himself before turning back to see the blonde scurrying behind him. Maybe this night won't be too bad. There was still hope that blondie wanted to repay him for his heroic deeds.

"What do you need, blondie?" he asked, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaling a cloud of smoke in her direction. She let out a series of small coughs as the smell hit her nose.

"Could you possibly give me a ride to the hotel?" she asked in small voice. "I know its a lot to ask considering you already saved me from those guys and gave me directions down the alley but I would really apprec…."

"Say no more." he said, putting the cigarette back in his mouth. "It's your lucky night. I'm feeling might generous so I'll take you."

"Thank you!" she cried out to the heavens. She was getting closer and closer to a warm bath and a cozy bed.

"Come on, follow me." he gave her a toothy smile and a wink as he led her around alley corners to his ride. She followed behind him very closely as to not get swallowed up by the dark shadows. Who knew what was lurking in them? He stopped abruptly, causing her to run into his back, nose first.

"Would you watch where you're going?"

"Sorry." she apologized as she rubbed her sore nose.

"Well here she is!" He exclaimed, motioning to the red contraption in front of him. "You're chariot awaits miss!"

He gracefully through his leg over the machine and held out a red helmet to her.

"Safety first." he smiled

She was in disbelief. Of course he didn't have a CAR. He just had to have this, this DEATHTRAP. It looked dangerous and she did not want any part in it.

"On second thought…. I'll just walk." she nodded to herself as she quickly hightailed it out of there.

"Wait what… come back!" The pink haired man exclaimed as he watched her scurry away like a scared mouse. Most girls would have dropped their panties immediately when they saw he rode a motorcycle.

….

"What was I thinking asking him for help!?" she squeaked out. "Daredevil man driving a death machine."

By some miracle she managed to backtrack where the men had jumped her. Lucky for her they were long gone. A shiver went down her spine as she stepped over the little of pools of blood left behind from the quarrel. She shoved her hands into the pocket of her hoodie and walked toward the maze of alleys, confident in which direction to go now. Something felt odd though. She racked her brain of what could be wrong and when it hit her, her heart stopped.

The cash.

It was missing from her pocket. She violently shook out her hoodie and rummaged through every nook and cranny and nothing.

"No no no no no!" she cried, hightailing it back to the mouth of the alley. Maybe she dropped it. She prayed to god that it was sitting on the ground of the alley somewhere. She was on her hands and knees tossing trash around like a mad woman not caring that she was smearing around the pools of blood with her body.

"Why is this happening to me?" she cried out, letting herself curl into a ball.

"Are they back?" Shouted the pink haired man as he rounded they alley corner with his fist balled up, ready for a 2nd fight. "Why are you on the ground covered in blood?"

"It's gone!" she sobbed, bloody hands shaking in the air.

"What's gone?" he inquired.

"My money." she choked, letting the tears flow from her eyes. "My money isn't here. They must have took it when I dropped it."

"So you're broke?" he asked, which she replied with a nod. He stood there quietly as her curled up form shook with heavy sobs. Gosh this night keeps getting better, doesn't it?

"I'll pay for your hotel for the night but you have to figure it out after that."

She looked up at him in shock with her big brown eyes. He was in shock too. He didn't know he was such a generous dude. The sentence kind of came out like word vomit but it was too late to take it back now.

"Thank you but that money was to pay for a full month of hotel stays. That's how long I was supposed to stay there. I can't go back to him. I won't let him treat me like I'm some… thing. I don't have anywhere else to go." she blubbered. "Even if I did stay one night, I would be right back out on the streets the next night."

Him. Natsu was stuck on that word. Wonder if she had an abusive boyfriend. That would make sense after all. He felt sorry for the poor girl but he could not afford a WHOLE month at a hotel but really where was she going to go? Ugghh.

"You get a week." he said plainly.

"Pardon me, what?" she asked, wiping her nose with her hoodie sleeve.

"I will allow you to stay with me in my apartment for 1 week. That should give you enough time to figure stuff out. Get a job, go back home, live on the streets, I don't care but you get 1 week." He stated. God damn him and his kind heart and word vomit. "You can repay me by not crying anymore."

"Okay!" she smiled as she sniffled. She stood up and dusted herself off before extending her hand out to him. "Well roomie, my name is Lucy."
"Natsu." he replied, manly grasping her hand and giving it a firm shake. She stood there shocked that he didn't kiss her hand, but then again there was blood on it.

They didn't know if but this was going to be the beginning of a weird but great adventure.

….

"Just throw you leg over like you would when you mount a horse." Natsu explained to Lucy. She stood on the edge of the sidewalk with the bright red helmet on her head, swaying from side to side with nervousness.

"I've never been on a horse before!" she admitted. "Father never let me because he thought it would break my hymen."

"Excuse me, your what?" he asked, very confused. What the hell was a 'hymen'. Was it an important bone or something? Natsu thought about it and he thinks he remembers breaking his hymen bone before.

"Blondie, you'll be fine. Put your foot here and swing the other leg over. I promise it got it steady. You won't fall and break your precious hymen." he said, waving his hands in the air for dramatic effect. "If it makes you feel better, I broke mine from a skateboarding accident but I promise you are safe on this while I'm driving."

She looked at him with utter confusion. What in the world was he talking about? Boys don't have hymens. She held back her laughter at his confidence in his words. Taking a deep breath she did as she was told and mounted the bike, which actually was as easy as he said.

"Okay, now hold onto me tight. That's it. I don't need you falling off." he explained as he started the machine up. It roared to life and the grumble startled her and she pulled herself closer into his back. He smiled to himself as he threw it into first gear and sped off.

Lucy's stomach felt queasy with how uneasy the machine made her feel. The cool night air whipped her hair around helped cool the nape of her neck. She got brave enough to peak over Natsu's shoulder and her eyes went wide with amazement. The city lights twinkled and moved in a slow motion blur as they sped through the streets. She looked up into the sky, taking a deep inhale before gazing up at the beautiful starry sky. This was her first real step of her new life and she was hurling towards it at 60 miles an hour on the back of a death machine.