A/N: And here it is, the second part of the chapter that I promised! You get one more reference, no more! I shouldn't be doing that... This one is gonna be fun one!

"What's wrong with him?" Lucy asked, she knew she shouldn't ask but still, she did.

"Everyone has a different theory but the prevailing one, which is mine, is that lizards are territorial creatures and often exhibit idiotic outbursts when their territory is questioned." Gray chuckled.

"I am guessing I am that territory…" she asked in lower tone, narrowing eyes at Gray who struggled at first but knowing he had no way out of lying to her. He had to respond so he did in a form of nod.

"Great…" Lucy sighed "Also, lizards?"

"Not just any lizard, fiery lizard or salamander if you prefer, that's his nickname." Gray pointed in direction where Natsu went.

"Why do you call him like that?" Lucy asked raising eyebrow but immediately regretted that decision fearing what story would emerge as background for the nickname. In retrospective, she was right to doubt.

"Ummm you know how people do stupid things when they get drunk?" She nodded and it immediately made sense "Well one time he decided it would be fun to fart fire. Basically grab lighter and put it near your-"

"Ok thank you, I get it, really don't want to hear the end of it." She closed her eyes frowning. There was strong attempt in her to avoid making that mental image. "But why not dragon or something, why salamander?"

"Not sure actually. Ever since I met him he had the nickname lizard, this was just addition. Improvement, if there ever was one." Gray chuckled again; his eyes now fell on the stroller where Michelle was comfortably sitting, holding plush doll. "How old is Michelle?"

"She will be fourteen months next week." Lucy replied in soft tone as she looked at stroller. Gray shot another glance at Lucy, this time letting out a soft him but distant voice made him snap out of his thought and he looked around.

"And there she is…" Gray said and took deep breath "this ought to be fun…" he concluded and Lucy looked at him and then at the origin of the voice.

"Gray! How can you be so cruel? You left me so you could flirt with other girls?!" Juvia shouted as she walked with quick pace "I thought that yo- oh Lucy!" She quickly changed her tone as she approached "I didn't see you there."

"Hey Juvia." Lucy smiled and greeted her. Gray quickly looked between them. He was getting more and more confused at her behavior.

"I see you two came out for a walk." Juvia said in softer voice as she approached Michelle and kneeled before her, surprisingly Michelle smiled as she spotted Juvia. This wasn't first time two met.

"Yeah!" Gray quickly snapped "You caught us! We are here on date since I thought you went home." He quickly said. Reason behind his reaction was because he was never allowed to be within 5 meters of another girl but all of a sudden Juvia either forgot or didn't care Lucy was beside. Juvia just looked a Gray, slightly frowning but she said nothing, instead Lucy was first to be nervous.

"Wait, what?" She asked and with corner of his lips Gray muttered just play along. Lucy was beyond confused and she just nodded, not even knowing what is going on.

"Please Gray, at least make your joke funny." Juvia just smirked and turned her attention to Michelle "I know Lucy enough to know you are not her type."

"She is right you know." Lucy added, making Gray's eye twitch.

"Why can't you be like that with every other girl?! Why do you snap at them but you are calm when Lucy is around?"

"Because she is my friend, that's why. I know her circumstances and I know she is not going to act against our friendship."

"Again, spot on." Lucy giggled, leaving Gray with pained face and mouth open. It was official… there was no way he can win in this relationship and all he could do is just play along. Far from the fact Gray didn't like it but he could live without entire jealousy part.

"Oh dear…" Lucy said as she took Michelle out of her stroller and looked around. "I think someone pooped… Can you please just look after stuff?" She took small bag that was hanging on stroller and went over to a public bathroom nearby. Juvia just watched the entire scene, smiling from ear to ear.

"You ever think our baby would be that cute?" She asked making him almost choke on his own spit.

"Run that by me again, please!" He punched his chest hard to make it pass down.

"Well I always wanted to have a baby. Be at home, look after our child, cook and clean… oh I always dreamed of being a houswife…" she spoke in soft tone, dreamy expression obvious on her face as she cupped her own cheeks.

"Juv… hey Juv, come back, don't lose it, you can do it! Just come back to reality" he quickly interjected making her frown at him. "Hey… can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You know Lucy well, right?" she nodded at his question.

Five minutes later and Lucy left public toilet with Michelle in her arms, making way back to the bench. Michelle really knew how to make a proper mess but it was nothing that Lucy couldn't handle, although she had so little time to do it on her own. Studies and work placed heavy strain on her constantly she didn't even had time to spend it with Michelle, or at least not the amount she wanted. As she was approaching bench she could see that Gray and Juvia were in deep conversation. Juvia had slightly sad expression on her face while he was frowning.

"Hey, thanks for that." Lucy said as she carefully placed Michelle back into her stroller.

"Don't mention it." Juvia replied. Gray was still in his thoughts but that changed as soon as Natsu was in sight, bringing two hot-dogs.

"The triumphant hunter returns!" Gray cheered, feeling the glare that was sent to him from the mentioned hunter. "So what have you brought us today?"

"I brought it for me and Lucy, you can get it yourself." Natsu said annoyingly as she extended his hand for Lucy to take the food "I'm not your servant."

"Aww come on, we just need to get you black tuxedo, tie, shiny shoes and white gloves… You'd be one hell of a butler" Gray chuckled and winked at now even more annoyed Natsu.

"Lucy!" yet another distant voice was heard, making them all look. It was clear even from that distance that source of the shout was Levy. Lucy and Juvia waved at her, Gray took few seconds to recognize either of them but he mimicked girls while Natsu was the only one who had his eyes as wide as possible.

"Shit! It's the punk machine!" He said chuckling. Gajeel of course didn't need many hints to recognize Natsu, it was the hair… it's always the hair. Pace quickened, going in front of Levy and straight toward Natsu who quickly moved behind Lucy, using her as a shield.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Gajeel shouted as he was approaching. "Come over here so I can kill you!"

"Hell no, I ain't dancing with you fancypants!" Natsu mocked furious boxer "But just in case, you wouldn't dare to hit the cute girl, would you?"

"Wait, why am I part of this?" Lucy asked, not sure how to react to this situation as Gajeel was in front and Natsu behind. If it was any other situation it might have been interesting but in this case, one wanted to kill the other and that made it a bad place to be, especially in between them.

"Gajeel, stop it!" Levy said as she came to his side, glaring up at him.

"You two made up?" Lucy asked, trying to break the tension.

"Yesterday but we might start all over again if he doesn't stop acting like a child!" Levy smiled at Lucy and then quickly frowned at Gajeel as she was finishing her sentence, directing word child at him.

"Wait, why am I the child? He is the one who was hitting on ye!" Gajeel pointed at Natsu.

"And as you can see he is not anymore so you can stop it!" Levy was not going to back down. Gajeel quickly looked at her and then again at his object of anger.

"Tell him to put the glare down!" Natsu said over Lucy's shoulder.

"Natsu, please don't make things harder…" Lucy said, sighing heavily. His head was now right beside hers, not more than single centimeter apart and his closeness made her heart skip, not much but it was a single strong bump that reminded her that while he is silent, he is not that bad looking. However there was something odd about his silence. He looked at Gajeel then at Levy, then back at him. There it is… that devious look in his eyes Oh no she thought he is going to say something stupid.

"So you two are dating right?" He asked and Levy nodded. Wait for it.

Not more than one second later Natsu did what he does best. He let out a single huh followed by "How is he not destroying her?"

"WHAT?" Levy asked, looking at Natsu. Lucy was not surprised much although Gray managed to burst into laugh… granted he was elbowed by Juvia soon after he started but that didn't make him stop.

"I mean look at him and look at you! How the hell are you not walking like cartoon cowboys?"

"That's it, I'm killing him." Gajeel said angrily, trying to reach out for Natsu who successfully moved along with Lucy, still using her as his shield and making him surpress himself in order to avoid hurting her. Gray was nowhere near stopping his laugh-attack.

"Natsu stop it!" Lucy ordered, trying to not be intimidated by Gajeel's appearance. He was pretty scary when angry after all, even more to a Lucy who felt like a mice that stood before a dragon.

"Tell him to put the glare down!" Natsu repeated yet again in mocking voice.

"I'm sorry Levy, I can't control this idiot…" Lucy said, sighing heavily.

"It's nothing, I know Gajeel can be just a big idiot…"

"Like a jackhammer!" Natsu added leaning his chin on Lucy's shoulder, making her feel even more uncomfortable "Sooo can we resume our date?"

This however made everyone look at them, even Gray managed to stop laughing.

"Oh my, are we interrupting the date?" Levy asked

"We are not on a date!" Lucy shouted, as if speaking loud enough would make things better. However, it didn't.

"Of course we are! We are in park on Saturday afternoon, we are in nice clothes and there is even food. This qualifies as a date."

"Will you stop it?" Lucy glared at him. Levy was slightly confused by their argue but then she looked down at stroller where Michelle was and then back at the 'couple' that was still in heat of the moment. Her lips curved, slowly, softly, only barely enough to notice. There were indeed devious thoughts appearing in her mind.

"Then we should get going before we miss the movie. Come on you big log!" Levy tugged Gajeel who followed but his eyes were fixed on Natsu. Juvia simply looked at Gray and he immediately understood her without a single word being said.

"Well it was fun not having you around in my room for at least one weekend." Gray chuckled "But we should get going too and exploit the newfound crack in your schedule."

They were gone and now only Lucy and Natsu were left, at least two of the adults if they could be called that.

"Why do you have to make things hard, Natsu? And I am reminding you that you agreed!" Lucy moved away from him, not wanting to be his lean for another second. It wasn't annoyance that made her move it was the feel of uneasiness… was it good, was it bad? She didn't know what exactly it was but it made her feel weird, confused… and a good deal hot on cheeks.

"I did and I stick to my words but you can't deny me to make a joke or two about it. Where is my freedom of speech?!"

"You act as if this is democracy." Lucy finally grinned "Well you are wrong, this is dictatorship. I say, you obey. Now come, princess is getting tired and we are going home." She took all bags and placed some on handle of stroller and one over her shoulder, pushing slowly with one hand while eating her hot-dog with another. It just occurred to her what she just said, the dictatorship thing. Perhaps it was the heat of the moment, being surrounded by so many… friends. She could consider Gray a friend, he seems decent enough, Juvia and Levy are without a doubt and it has been long since Gajeel proved that he is not like every other man, plus he was dating Levy who was more than capable of keeping him in line.

They continued to talk while they walked. This entire day seemed so surreal, beyond possibility of her to believe that she could have… fun? Yes it could be considered fun. As what about Natsu? Well as big as his head was, he was the reason why she had this much fun. Maybe, and this is a whole new possibility… he might not be all that bad. Smile occurred on her face, soft and gentle as her thoughts whirled inside.

"What's funny?" Natsu asked as he walked beside her.

"Oh umm… nothing I just remembered what you said to Levy about their ummm… yeah!" She added, a little nervous.

"I was being serious I mean… look at this!" He placed his hot-dog in his mouth, with thumb and index finger of left hand he made a circle and his right fist balled up. His symbolic was clear as he tried to push fist through the hole, which of course could not be achieved but it did made Lucy almost spit out the food from her mouth. He took a large bite of hot-dog and chewed as she was coughing… in between those coughs there was a bit of laugh.

"Well thank you for giving me mental image that will be part of my traumas." She giggled.

"It was nothing." Natsu said in triumphant voice "So what else do we have?"

"You, are going to help me dust the carpets and I am going to put Michelle to her crib, take out laundry form the machine and place another batch."

"Sounds easy enough…" Natsu added as he finished eating his hot-dog. It did sound easy however he had no idea what 'dusting' means. He did hear it once or twice from his dad who tried to make him do it but pinkette would suddenly and inexplicably disappear half a second after Ingeel would look away. There was a chance for him to learn.

They arrived home and first thing that had to be done was clear… put Michelle back into her crib. Check. Take out laundry from machine. Check. Dusting? In progress. As instructed, Natsu took out all carpets out of the house and hanged them over a low branch of a tree. That appeared to be easy enough however hard time came when she gave him carpet-beater and pointed. It suddenly became clear to him and he began hitting the carpet.

"Why am I doing this when vacuum cleaner was invented?!" He asked.

"Because there is only so much it can do. Dust sticks deep into the carpet and because of it, carpet smells bad." Lucy said, having small smile as she watched Natsu literally beat the living crap out of poor carpet.

"What about dry cleaner?" He asked after few more smacks.

"It would be nice but you forget that they require jewels for their services." Natsu had nothing more to add to her explanation and he continued hitting the carpet. Indeed, even though he vacuumed it earlier there was still dust coming out of it and it occurred to him in that moment… was she doing this all by herself? How the hell is beating the carpet this tiresome? And man… was it this hot earlier?

He stopped for few minutes to rest and removed his shirt, feeling the heat get to him slowly. Practices were hard but they seemed like nothing compared to this monotonous beating. Lucy got out the house, holding basket with wet clothes and started hanging them one by one. Her eyes strayed and looked at Natsu, indeed he was far from not looking good… could she dare say he looked handsome standing there naked from waist up?

Snap out of it Lucy! She thought to herself and continued with her chore, expecting a smug comment from Natsu but none came. Did he not notice her? Could be, but then again she was not gonna remind him that she was standing there, risking to hear one or two of his lines or worse… that worse being him doing something really stupid, which judging by his today's behavior at the park is to be expected.

"When you are done bring those inside." Lucy said and moved in with now empty basket. She still couldn't understand what's got into her but as she moved by the mirror she could notice her slightly red cheeks. He finished and opened front door, bringing in carpets one by one which she actually helped place back in their place.

"Now you can vacuum again while I make dinner." She said and his jaw dropped.

"Again? But I did that today!"

"I know but now it's all dusty, you don't think I am gonna walk on dusty carpet are you?" Her eyebrow rose as she looked at him.

"Ok I get that but why did you made me do it today? I mean, couldn't I just do this and then vacuum?"

"You cleaned parquet and tiles and most of the dust that was on the carpet. Now you cleaned carpets more thoroughly." She smiled at him "Besides I needed to know if you are just joking or you were serious about helping me out."

With painful long groan he continued and placed carpets back where they were, fortunately he now knew where vacuum cleaner is so that will be easy. There was determination in his eyes; he really wanted to prove that he can survive labors worthy of Hercules. He wanted to prove that he can justify her trust. Despite nonstop walking, running and teasing big ass walking grinder, day was actually quite fulfilling but he wondered… Was it always like this to Lucy? He remembered that this was a free day for her but on most days she would have even less time for herself, less time to do chores… There were studies, work and only what's left of time she could spend it with Michelle. He smiled; he smiled wide as he finally understood another piece of her… No, that's not it, it wasn't understanding, it was pure admiration. She was strong and defiant; she took on everything life threw at her and endured and if he could lessen her burden by even one percent, if this day actually made her feel a little bit better… then he could thank the stars for being part of it.

Dinner was ready and they ate, relatively silent as he was focused on eating. Other than having hot-dog, this was first proper meal he had all day. This of course made her smile, not sure why but it did.

"You feeling alright there?" She asked, still smiling.

"To tell you the truth, I am exhausted." He responded as he finished eating and burped loud, much to her disgust that she showed on her face.

"Pig…" she responded with a smirk.

"Is it always like this?" he finally asked, looking at her as he expected answer to his currently burning question.

"No, today was kinda easier. More often than not, my days are complete chaos." Lucy said, even though smile was present on her lips her eyes were saying another story, not happy one.

"And I guess I didn't manage to convince you that another pair of hands might be helpful?"

"Sorry Natsu but I am still standing by my word… I cannot date you." She said as she looked into his eyes.

"Not me! I mean in general. Surely you could benefit from having someone to help you or at least make you feel better at the end of the day. You are cute, have lovely set of… ok ok I take it back just… don't behead me!" he chuckled as he moved back a bit.

"But yeah, you could easily find a boyfriend."

"And that is coming from you?" She asked, hardly believing his own words.

"That is coming from me, Natsu 'The Great' Dragneel." Natsu smiled at her. His head however was rolling another film. If there was any way to visualize what was going on it would be like this. One Natsu would be sitting while another one would be hitting him with a giant oar screaming What the hell are you saying you dumb idiot?! Or something like that.

"Then I will consider. But, no promises." Lucy responded. It was slowly reaching 21 on the clock and with Lucy working up early and Natsu's exhaustion, it was sufficient reason for him to head home. He picked up his jacket and she was there to walk him out. He was already out when she called for him.

"Aren't you going to pick up your reward?" She asked

"Wasn't me escorting you and Michelle the reward?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Maybe I lied just a little bit." Natsu looked around, not sure what to make of this but he came back to the door. It was obvious that Lucy was feeling uncomfortable, her chest tightened for reasons she didn't want to admit but she was thankful there was no Moon to cast light on her cheeks. Oh what terrible things he would see if only there was Moon. She moved close to him and placed one small kiss on his cheek, very similar to one she gave him in the club. "Thank you, for today. I actually had fun for the first time in months."

He was left there, standing on the porch as she closed the door. His senses were either gone or were severely malfunctioning while his brain was lagging behind. It took him good five seconds to realize what happened, he could blame exhaustion for that but he would lie in saying so. It was the moment… it was entire day that he witnessed.

Natsu noticed that his mouth was gaped open although he couldn't tell for how long. He shook his head fast and closed his mouth, trying to make sense of what just happened. Maybe walk will help him clear his mind. One step, two steps, three… one after another it led them away from Lucy's house and in direction of his own. His hand reached for his phone that was in pocket. Short search in contacts and he swept with finger and pressed it against his ear.

"Hey Gray… yeah it's me… Yeah I know my name was on the screen… can we skip that now? Oh you are with Juvia… right right… ummm… Is she listening? I asked if she is listening… Ok I'll wait… Right, remember the bet… No not that one… Yeah that one… I am backing down… Why? Well I'm not sure but… I think I'm falling for Lucy…"

A/N: Who saw that coming? Come on don't be shy let me hear you?