Later that night, Lucy stood in front of her mirror, examining her appearance critically. She sighed, and yanked off the dress she was wearing. Nothing looked right on her at all. She had gone through most of her extensive wardrobe already, but none of her clothes said the right thing; that she was most definitely not on a date with her best friend, unless he wanted it to be a date, and then of course it was a date, and she looked just the right amount of cute and sexy without looking slutty, but while still being appealing. Flopping back onto her bed, she sighed. Why was she even thinking about Natsu so much lately? Had he really gotten into her head that much with his stupid pick-up lines? Was her heart really so shallow that it would be swayed by some joking words from a friend? Or was there something more to her feelings for the dragon slayer? She had never really thought about him in a romantic light before, but there was no denying that they had compatibility, and she couldn't think of anyone else she would be more comfortable with in a relationship. But was that really a good basis for dating someone?

Sitting up on the bed, she slapped her cheeks. She simply had to take this chance to figure out her feelings for her friend. It was the perfect setting. She could pretty much say whatever she wanted and pass it off as a pick-up line if he didn't respond positively to it. Or she could choose to just let herself observe her own feelings for Natsu. Either way, sitting on her bed half-naked wasn't going to help anything. Feeling motivated, she got up to shift through her closet for the umpteenth time.

Her determination led her to finally pick an outfit for the evening. She settled on a short red dress with a deep cut V-neck halter top, and an equally low back. Her hair got swept up into a carefully messy bun, with just the right amount of curly wisps straying from it. She finished off the look with gold hoop earrings and gold bangles, and a pair of red heels. She found a small clutch that she could put her key pouch and a few essentials in, and was scrutinizing the impact of the outfit in the mirror when she heard a knock on her door.

Confused, she went to answer it. Who would be coming over now?

She opened the door to find Natsu standing in the doorway. She was almost as startled to see him as she was to see him wearing a smart black suit jacket over a crimson shirt, paired with black pants and black shoes. She stared at him for a long moment, not noticing that he was also staring. She managed to gather herself and ask, "Why did you come to the door?"

He smiled at her. "I don't know, it just felt more like a real date this way." Lucy's heart skipped a beat as he glanced past her into her apartment. "Geez, Luce, what exploded in there?"

Hurriedly, she stepped out onto the stoop and shut the door behind her. "Nothing, I was just looking for something to wear. Let's get going." She walked down the steps, hoping Natsu would follow her.

Thankfully, he trotted down the steps and caught up with her, grabbing her gently by her arm. "Hey, do you even know where we're going?"

Bashfully, she admitted, "No, I guess not. I'll follow you." She stopped so he could walk in front of her.

Instead, he shifted his grip to her hand and said, "Nah, we'll walk together like we always do." He began steering them down the street as Lucy's heart skipped a few more beats. As they walked, Natsu said without looking at her, "You look really nice."

Lucy ducked her head down. "Yeah?"

He nodded, still not looking at her. "Yeah. You're so beautiful, you made me forget my pick-up line."

She stared at the back of his head, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. "Was…that a pick-up line?" she asked uncertainly.

He turned around, his grin answering her question. "Wasn't that pretty good?" he asked with satisfaction.

"Yeah, it was pretty good," she answered flatly. "That might be the winner so far." Despite the vague disappointment on her tongue, she decided to return his dubious compliment. "You look really nice, too."

His smile curled up evilly at the corners. "Yeah? So do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?"

Despite how lame this was, Lucy laughed out loud. "You dork, this isn't the first time I've seen you."

"Yeah, I know. The first time you saw me, I helped snap you out of that love charm, remember?"

She pondered this. "Yeah, I guess you did." She fell silent, remembering that she had been reading about charm magic recently. What had it said about breaking the spell? If you saw a particular person, it would break naturally…

Her thoughts were interrupted by her boisterous partner. "I guess that was just fate, huh Luce?" His wide grin banished the rest of her musings.

She smiled back. "Yeah, I guess so. Hey, do you have a band aid?"

He looked at her questioningly. "No, why? You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just scraped my knee falling for you."

He stared at her for a second, then gave a little snort of laughter. "That was pretty decent."

She pumped a fist into the air. "Yeah it was! I'm definitely going to win this contest tonight!"

"Hey, don't count me out! I'm winning right now, and besides, I'm getting all fired up!" Natsu snorted out a jet of smoke.

She laughed. "Calm down there, Natsu, I don't think the restaurant will appreciate you burning their building down because of a silly contest."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'll try to keep it down." He turned them around a corner and pointed. "And look, we're here!"

Following his finger, she looked up. Her eyes widened as she said, "It is really ok to come here? Am I dressed well enough?" She reached up and patted her hair.

Natsu squeezed her hand, reminding her that they were still linked together. "You're just fine. You are absolutely gorgeous, and that's the least interesting thing about you." She looked at him, startled, and he winked. She let out a sigh of defeat as he continued, "Besides, I figured there wasn't much of a chance of running into anyone from the guild in a fancy place like this. So you can't complain about people overhearing us."

She had to admit he was right. Looking up at the sign again, she shifted her hand out of his grip and looped it through his arm instead. "Well, I guess there's no helping it, then," she said in what she hoped was a sedate voice. "Let's go in."

With a chuckle, Natsu led them into the building, and managed to navigate a table for them with surprisingly passable etiquette. They were seated and given menus, and left to look them over.

As she was opening hers, Natsu leaned across the table and said to her conspiratorially, "Hey, Luce, you know what's on this menu?"

Warily, she asked, "No, what?"

"Me 'n' u!" he responded, chortling at his own joke. Lucy chose to not reply, simply rolling her eyes and glancing at her own menu.

She was saved by their waiter bringing water. They gave him their orders, Lucy hurriedly finding a dish she wanted so she could settle in and focus on her date-that-maybe-wasn't-a-date.

After the waiter had cleared away their menus and left, Natsu looked across the table at her and spoke before she could. "So, Lucy, do you want to see a beautiful person?"

Sipping her water, Lucy decided that this was fine. Since he seemed determined to attack, she'd let him say what he wanted to, and try to figure out how she felt about it. Having come to this decision, she returned his impish gaze coolly and said nonchalantly, "Sure."

Reaching into the inner pocket of his coat, Natsu rummaged around in it. Lucy was impressed that he even knew his coat had that pocket. He found what he was looking for and pulled it out, holding it up for her to see.

Lucy peered at the object in his hands, and saw a reflection of herself. "It's a mirror," she stated.

"Yep!"

"Because I'm the beautiful person," she sighed.

Tucking the mirror back into his pocket, Natsu settled back into his seat and replied, "Well, yeah. You look beautiful today, just like every other day."

There was a definite change in her pulse when he said that. Embarrassed despite herself, Lucy dipped her head down and muttered at the tablecloth, "I don't think I'm all that pretty."

Natsu snorted, and she looked up at the sound. "Show me a guy who doesn't think you're beautiful, and I'll show you a guy who can't see."

Yep, she was undeniably affected by his words. In a desperate effort to distract the conversation away from her, she forced herself to look at her partner and say, "You look really nice tonight, too."

Leaning forward with a twinkle in his eye that Lucy was beginning to know all too well, he said, "Yeah? It's a nice shirt, isn't it? You wanna feel it?"

Blushing, Lucy managed to stammer, "Uh, s-sure?" Tentatively, she reached out and rubbed the material between her fingertips, dropping it quickly.

"You know what it's made of?" Natsu asked.

"No, what?" Lucy braced herself for the end of the pick-up line she knew was coming.

"Boyfriend material," he chuckled.

The word made her stomach flip over. Trying to ignore it, Lucy picked up her water and sipped it to give herself time to gather her emotions and calm her pounding heart. This was going to be a long evening.

Especially because she was pretty sure now that she was in love with her best friend.