A/N: I won't make long rant here... ummm... a lot of stuff happened in life so had to postpone chapter update. Things are a bit more clear so here's another chapter. Thank you all for your continuing support.

The big day finally came. If there was any day in Natsu's life when he felt most anxious it would be this particular Saturday… or at least, he felt like that. His day started early, well… earlier than his Saturday's usually start considering that his day during weekends doesn't begin before noon. From the first moment after eyes opened, he felt oddly energetic and the mood practically radiated from him during the breakfast, yet another unusual thing for him. Pleasant as it is, Igneel couldn't fully understand what exactly caused these changes in his son but he didn't want to jinx it. There is one who knew exactly what was going on but whenever he would attempt to find out more, silver-haired woman would simply deny that she has any kind of knowledge on that subject which further sparked Igneel's curiosity and suspicion. Wendy was the obvious one and she kept prodding Natsu with teasing comments about his 'girlfriend' which caused him to have rather comedic outbursts. In Natsu's opinion, she was too smart for her own good. This of course did please Igneel, even if it ended so absurdly during breakfast to the point of Natsu throwing piece of sausage at Wendy. Naturally, Igneel immediately protested and demanded for them to calm down but one side of him felt oddly content that they could share meals like this. Old man is everything, but he is not fool; all the comments and reactions couldn't escape his notice and soon even he noticed reason for sudden change in his son's behavior, his eagerness to actually spend time at home and his now frequent conversations with his step-mother. But among all this strange turn for the better, there was something that bugged him.

Natsu on the other hand had anxiety growing in him from the moment breakfast ended. He looked forward to tonight's party but at the same time he was worried because he didn't know how Lucy would react. In all honesty, looking back to his previous relationships, all his girlfriends, lovers and flings were all based on a fact that they are fun-loving girls. Going to any party was always best strategic move but this girl… Lucy… is uncharted territory. He would have to tread on topics as if he is walking on a mine field. Sure she agreed to come with him to this party but he had no idea if she would like it, if she would actually accept the invitation to relax. Other possibility is that she would end up as wall flower waiting somewhere on the side for time when she could go home and all his efforts would be for nothing. Careful approach seemed like most suitable option.

He suddenly snapped, mind returned back to reality as he realized that he is clearly overthinking entire situation and treating it as if he is playing chess. Fortunately, Saturday is also gym-day. Staying on first team of the Fairy Tail's football team meant that he always had to place priority on his physical condition, to keep improving his body and maintain his fitness. At very least he'll have something to keep him occupied until later afternoon. He took already prepared bag and headed toward it. Half of team was already there, no surprise, and Gray was already in full swing. That, however, was a surprise as he rarely ever saw Gray in gym. Either he goes during different hours or he is having some sort of demonic rituals in his dorm room as he never understood how he could maintain his fitness but never be at gym.

"Sup, popsicle!" Natsu approached his friend after changing and Gray responded with a nod. This bugged him for a long time now but he never asked and now seemed like decent time to do so "Can I ask you something?"

"As long as you don't ask me why bull jumps on cow." Gray responded with a grin as he was placing down dumbbells "That, you'll have to figure out on your own."

"Up yours, snowball." Natsu groaned at him "How come I never see you around here?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I never see you in gym, how the hell are you exercising?"

"Oh, that?" Gray took towel and wiped his forehead "I don't usually come to gym, I just exercise outside."

"Outside?" Natsu asked skeptically as he was stretching himself.

"I run by the riverbank. Fresh air, see few people here and there plus it's free."

"Alright that's running, what about strength exercise?" Natsu asked again.

"I got dumbbells at dorm, for rest I use my own body weight. Don't need to pay gym membership for that." Gray smiled as he sat down on a bench, taking few minutes to rest.

"So why are you here now?"

"Cause Juvia has study session with some of her colleagues and I can't do pushups at dorm room. She doesn't like me doing that in front of other college girls… says I am giving them wrong ideas. Had to pay for using gym, cheaper if you get full membership but I already have enough expenses."

"Can't believe you two got married…" Natsu responded. He finished with his warm up and went over to the treadmill.

"I am not married, Natsu." Gray protested as he watched pinkette run "I just like having stable relationship without worrying if my current girlfriend will find out about my other girlfriend. Some of us are content with having one girl at the time."

"Hey I'm not judging. I was actually meaning to ask how you manage do you keep… you know…"

"How do I manage to be with just one girl without ogling another girl's ass?" Gray asked with wide grin.

"Yea I mean… by now you probably had every position in the book, know her inside and out… literally. How do you keep things fresh?"

"Well I'll give you the most clichéd answer there is. Love. Contrary to your belief I barely even know Juvia as you think I do. She still manages to surprise me but things are fresh because once you love someone, you don't need another person. Even if it's just regular sex, it becomes special once you realize that person beside you is the one you can rely on, who supports your decision, who doesn't judge you, but instead, accepts you the way you are and loves everything that defines you. Less lust, more desire, Natsu… that's how I don't get the desire to stare at another cleavage."

Natsu didn't respond to Gray's explanation, instead he focused to keep his speed steadily increasing until he hit the sweet spot. Gray picked up his towel and walked over to him, standing in front of treadmill with questioning look in his eyes. "So you're still bringing Lucy to the party?"

"Yeah." Natsu responded, expecting yet another negative reaction.

"I think that's actually good."

"I sense disturbance in the force…" Natsu looked down at Gray "Not gonna tell me how that's a bad idea?"

"Nope." Gray quickly answered.

"Alright, what's the catch ice-butt?"

"Well it could be because I am a human being. One of the general traits we have is to actually care for others. Granted, my life is not centered on giving my 110% to make everyone else happy but considering what Lucy has on her plate, I really think she could benefit from this."

"That's not like you."

"What I am saying, fire-fart, is that Lucy is good girl and she really could use some R&R in her life. That includes you too."

"Hold on." Natsu said and focused his attention toward Gray yet again "Was there a time when I didn't have fun at party?"

"That's what worries me. What's your game plan?"

"We go there, have few drinks, have some fun and go home. Laxus ain't gonna let us wreck the place and last time I argued with him, he straight up threw me out through the open window. Good thing it was ground floor."

"So you're fine with just few drinks and going home? Not gonna try and lure her behind some bush?" Gray asked and Natsu waved his head.

"Look…" Natsu said and turned off treadmill, even at this speed he didn't even managed to break a sweat. He was still breathing heavily but his forehead was as dry as Erza's jokes. "I am fine and not fine with the way things are. I do like Lucy and honestly I enjoy her company. Don't look at me like that, I know it's hard for you to believe I can be on friendly terms with girl but I do like to spend time with her without worrying if I need to bring up my A-game."

"I am sensing but" Gray quickly interjected, receiving a glare from Natsu.

"On the other hand I can't lie and say I'll be content with how things are for the rest of my life. Truth be told I do want to give it a shot with her and perhaps once things between us are a bit more relaxed I'll ask her out with all intentions placed on the table."

"Assuming she doesn't start dating someone in the meantime." Gray replied, making Natsu frown heavily at the words "But that's now what worries you, is it?"

Natsu waved his head. Gray had a bad tendency of reading him like a book, a trait he obtained through years of knowing Natsu all the way from childhood right up to this point. There was nothing that suggested he would lose this trait anytime soon.

"Let me take a guess… You are worried you will get bored fast. There is chemistry on your end but there is a chance it is all an illusion, infatuation due to her being unavailable to you."

"I am positive that she is not the kind of girl who is into flings or summer romances. Pretty sure she's gonna expect things to progress with boyfriend and… What if I suddenly want out?"

"Alright." Gray nodded, placing his towel over shoulder, arms folded and gaze fixed on Natsu "This is the only time I will openly say this to you so pay attention. You following?" Natsu nodded and Gray continued "You can't know. It's a risk. Bad one, not even a calculated risk. Until you and Lucy are a thing you can't know if what you have is the real thing or if it is just another flirt followed by one-night stand. It is gonna be a leap of faith but I know you enough to say this… If… no, WHEN you find the girl that manages to knock you out just by smiling at you, you will know that she's the good one, the right one. If Lucy is that girl, you'll find out, if she is not, you'll find out. Right now all you can do, all you should do is to make sure you are on the same page and hope. That's it, just… hope."

Natsu said nothing to this and Gray simply tapped him twice on shoulder before moving on to resume his exercise. It was deffinately something to think about and Natsu had another perspective to consider. Of course he valued their friendship but it was not a lie that he would be most comfortable with them slowly progressing toward something more than friendship. It wasn't a question if he wanted that more, problem lied in what would happen after. Hurting her suddenly became thing he wanted to avoid at all costs. Perhaps Gray is right.

Couple of hours and one shower later and he found himself on crossroad of important decision. Choice of his garments for this occasion was not easy. He wanted to make it less extravagant, something more on the relaxed tone, nothing fancy or radical. Laxus was known to throw good parties but they were never out of control. There was always good booze and light music with great crowd. Those were all people who were respectable with good reputation but with good sense of having to just relax every once in a while. Laxus never tolerated chaos or breaking stuff and no one dared to defy his word so he is sure to continue this trend. After several more minutes he decided that best choice of clothes would be to simply go with most comfortable option. Blue jeans and dark red shirt, buttoned up to the top along with sleeves. Simple and effective middle ground between formal and relaxed. Final touch was bit of hair oil and good deodorant with scent suited for occasion… transformation is now complete.

With overcrowded mind and clenched stomach he made his way over to Lucy's house, knowing that she will most likely wait for him as she did not know where Laxus is. His anxiety grew but so did his excitement as he knew that Lucy was bound to look great whatever she wears and at very least he'll have one good compliment to give. As he approached her house, his eyes spotted another female, although shorter, person approaching from another direction. Upon better inspection he recognized her and smile immediately appeared on his face. Levy.

"You look nice." Levy said as they both met just before the door "Honestly I expected you to come in full leather with spikes and yet you look so classy."

"Hey I am a professional-"

"Manwhore?" Levy quickly added as she giggled, making Natsu let a slight grunt followed by a chuckle. "Well as it happens, that just might work perfectly. Small note as you two go to party… Lucy has really low alcohol tolerance."

"Right, so she should avoid strong drinks?"

"Actually I was gonna suggest for you to spike her drinks. You're in for some interesting effects if she gets tipsy." Levy winked at him.

"Are you plotting something, again?" He asked in lower, teasing tone.

Levy smirked, to call her a schemer would be a compliment and he relished idea of being the mastermind "I meant what I said last time, Lucy could really use some venting and not worry about Michelle. Plus, I don't remember when was the last time she attended any party… You can imagine how hard it is to drag her to my birthday so… I am just enjoying fact that she might-"

Doors suddenly opened, interrupting Levy. They both looked toward the entrance of the house, spotting Lucy as she was just walking out. For a split second, Natsu expected her to look at least close to how she does during hours in Sabertooth and his heart slowed down in those short few seconds until his eyes fully focused on blond colleague of his. Tension disappeared and instead a slight disappointment filled his entire being. Lucy wore white, thin pullover with wide collar that uncovered her right shoulder and sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. His eyes then fell down and instead of miniskirt, there were black jeans, tight but managed to completely cover her legs and where white leather boots teased the imagination, now were sneakers. To add to this unique look, her hair was tied into ponytail with only few strands of hair falling over side of her face. This Lucy was nothing like the one from Sabertooth or one from his dream…

"Wow…" he said "You look…"

"Awful, grotesque, horrid, atrocious." Levy quickly added with voice that matched her words "You're not thinking of going out like that are you?"

"What is wrong with my clothes?" Lucy asked, genuinely confused as she inspected her own clothes.

"I think you look nice." Natsu added. Of course he had thoughts similar to Levy's but at this point he dared not to speak openly his opinion.

"What he is trying to say is that your legs are covered and no cleavage can be found." Levy growled as she approached Lucy.

"I am not going to a party dressed like a slut!"

"Trust me, I've been to college parties, only way you can be sluttier than rest is if you walk in with nothing but stickers on your boobs."

"Not a word!" Lucy quickly growled at Natsu who attempted to say something. She knew that he was going to suggest just that and it's better to prevent any possibility of idea sticking to his head.

"Get inside!" Levy ordered, turning Lucy and pushing her in with Natsu following "We'll be right back." She said over her shoulder as pair walked upstairs, leaving pinkette to wait downstairs. As soon as they closed doors of her bedroom, Levy immediately opened closet and started throwing her stuff on her bed. Lucy was left with nothing else to do but to let her friend to create a pile of clothes on it. Small bluenette then turned and started looking through the clothes, face showing obvious dissatisfaction.

"Where are your sexy clothes?"

"My what?" Lucy asked, pretending she didn't hear the question.

"Sexy clothes." Levy repeated slowly "You used to have them, Where are your cute shirts, miniskirts? You even had a leather choker."

"I outgrew those clothes!" Lucy practically shouted, blushing heavily as Levy listed "Unless you forgot, I don't exactly have a reason or money to buy them."

"I regret not going with you when you were shopping for clothes." Levy sighed as she desperately tried to find something suitable for occasion. Her attempts were met with failure as Lucy's clothes mostly consisted of either plain shirts or wide ones, almost baggy and in her opinion those simply wouldn't work. "What about your Sabertooth uniform?""

"I can't show up in that! They'll think I'm being… sponsored by club." Lucy's voice grew thinner and thinner with each word, hands covered her face to hide embarrassment.

"Works for racers. Lucy's-impossible-to-believe-they-are-this-big boobs, provided by Sabertooth!" Levy giggled, making Lucy cover her face with both hands to hide blush. As much as she wanted to continue teasing her, she had a point… showing up like that indeed wouldn't be good. Far from the fact Lucy had bad taste in clothes but none of those were matching Levy's imagination of what she should look like for first party in years. She placed hand over her mouth, pondering heavily on what possible combination she could come up with what she had in front of her. Her eyes suddenly looked toward mirror and in it she saw herself, wearing dark purple shirt, one size larger than what she usually wears with letters "Hot" at center with couple of hearts around. Idea suddenly popped into her mind as she turned her gaze back at Lucy, eyeing her current clothes that she wore.

"Take off that pullover." Levy ordered and Lucy complied. "And bra." She added.

"No." Lucy protested.

"You have smaller one?" Levy asked and Lucy waved head hesitantly "Then take it off." She repeated and with great reluctance Lucy complied. For few seconds, Levy observed her topless friend and she took off her shirt, handing it to Lucy. "Take this."

"I can't wear your shirt." Lucy protested but Levy didn't want to hear her complaints.

"Will you just listen for once without commenting?"

Lucy had no other choice. She took the shirt and with some difficulty managed to put it on. Despite the fact it had certain ability to stretch, it immediately stuck to her as if it is her second skin, covering her torso right down to her navel but showing every curve she had.

Levy's expression went from enthusiastic to neutral and then to frowning in manner of seconds "Well that is… depressing." Levy said with low tone as she looked at Lucy.

"I told you it won't fit…"

"No, I bought it because it is my size and it looks better on you than it looks on me." Levy added with disappointment in her voice "What the hell did you do to get these?" She asked, placing both hands on Lucy's breasts, making blonde twitch a bit as her friend squeeze her few times.

"I didn't do anything, they are… like that." Lucy said, not knowing what answer to give.

"Well that solves us one problem… Wait here." She said and walked outside of the room, making way downstairs toward the kitchen.

"How's it going upst…a…" Natsu attempted to ask but stuttered as he watched bluenette walk past him in jeans and bra.

"What? You never saw boobs?" She asked as she casually passed by, without a single care that she was exposing herself to Natsu.

"Not yours." He quickly responded with a grin but Levy said nothing, instead she was going through drawers. She seemed preoccupied with finding a certain object and upon finding it she made her way back, leaving Natsu only a moment glance at mysterious object that she was carrying. Scissors.

"If I cannot find you sexier clothes, I'll make some." Levy said as she went over Lucy's clothes but instead of aimlessly picking through them, now she knew exactly what she needed. First she separated all jeans Lucy had and started reading labels, inspecting size of each. Much to her disappointment but in this case also fortune, they differed in sizes giving Levy all the needed information to make a simple conclusion: Lucy's shopping was done once per year.

"Make up, light, mascara and pink lipstick." Levy instructed. She picked smallest of the jeans that Lucy had at her disposal and started making uneven cuts all over the legs. Not big enough to cause chain tearing but enough to at least uncover some of the skin. Blonde of course protested but Levy hissed at her the moment she came close, ordering her to continue with make-up.

"Take off those church pants." Levy said with slight hint of disgust and handed her one she was working on. With yet another rush of reluctance, Lucy obeyed and took off black jeans and replaced them with freshly cut one.

"It's a little tight…" Lucy commented as she was zipped them, her eyes practically radiating embarrassment.

"It is supposed to be like that." Levy commented and took one of Lucy's shirts, putting it on and realizing just how big it is on her. Not so much on shoulders as much around chest area, stretched by her… assets. "And don't you dare put those shoes on… I know you have those pink sandals, pull them out of the vault."

Natsu had a little less fun time waiting. It has been good ten minutes since they went upstairs and aside from incomprehensible sounds there was nothing he could understand. He was nervous, the tight feeling in his stomach was akin to one he felt on his very first date and in a sense this would be one… at very least in his own head. They would spend some quality time, relaxed atmosphere and just as things start to be wild, they would leave and avoid the coming disaster that is… drunk Erza. Even the thought of that scene made him shivers. His head turned as he hear doors being opened upstairs and eyes gazed at stairs and two college girls walking down. One had several sizes bigger shirt that hanged well over her waist with sleeves rolled up and other one… That one created a very vivid flash before eyes, one that his own dream conjured. Resemblance was astonishing; the only thing Lucy lacked right now was that piercing gaze that screamed desire and lust.

"So how do we look? Better?" Levy asked with wide grin as she glanced over to Lucy who still hasn't lost her blush on cheeks but hoped that it might be misunderstood with actual make-up.

"Much better." Natsu agreed, letting out a silent whistle as he eyed Lucy up and down. "Shall we get going?"

"Wait!" Levy ordered in loud tone, making both of them freeze in place. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Lucy and that very gaze sent cold feeling down her spine. Without a doubt she had something in mind. She approached blonde and pulled collar of the shirt… scissors moved swiftly and she created a deep cut, starting from the edge and straight down, opening a cleavage that showed quite enough for all kinds of imaginations to work. Lucy quickly squealed, covering her bosoms as best as she could while her 'date' seemed to only be further motivated by the sight.

"There, all fixed." Levy exclaimed vigorously.

"It's like she's doing what I'm thinking…" Natsu added amazed at what he saw "Quick I have another thought!"

"Sorry pinky can't do that, she doesn't wear panties." Levy winked at Natsu whose grin suddenly became wide.

"Levy!" Lucy protested, shooting angry glare at her friend.

Petite bluenette showed no signs of fright, instead, she walked over to front doors and opened them "It had to be done. Now off you go."

"You look really good, you know." Natsu said, breaking long silence as they strolled along the sidewalk. His eyes kept falling on the previously mentioned delight of a cleavage. He couldn't but shake the feeling that something was missing and his own delight only managed to grow more as he realized that it was a particular piece of clothing that was missing. In the end, he is last person to miss such details.

"This is embarrassing." Lucy said in lower tone, her cheeks still burned and only street lights could reveal the red texture that was still present.

"No it's not. Look, believe me or not but compared to some girls, you are more than decent. Summer parties are way more wild, within first two hours half of them are gonna be topless. Trust me, you look hot. Not the… slutty kind of hot but ummm…" he took pause, trying to find good words to express the compliment "Mature kind of hot, you know… the… serious girl with cool attitude… kind of hot. Does that make any sense?"

Lucy let a small giggle and turned head to look at him "It does. Thank you."

Their walk from that point on became less tense. Chatter and laugh replaced the silence and Lucy no longer felt the need to protect herself. For one moment, as short as it is, she felt relieved, relaxed… as if she could lower her defense and the rock wall around her. It was hard to see him as obnoxious, self-centered cretin that he initially managed to so accurately portray. Perhaps he still is that but she saw the other Natsu, one who is still self-centered cretin, but kind one. One who maybe, just maybe, wouldn't hurt her in place she was most tender.

It didn't take too long for them to reach Laxus's house, although perhaps it was due to the fact she enjoyed the talk enough to lose track of time. They were here, two stories house with large yard. Low light of the evening obscured much of the details but most prominent ones were impossible to miss. All lights turned on, cars parked on sidewalk and music coming from the inside. Now is good time for her to be nervous. Sheep walking in a room full of wolves in disguise but fortunately, Natsu's hand on her back gave her small level of courage to walk with him. His knocking was loud and strong and soon tall, blonde man appeared as doors opened, wearing black pants and matching shirt.

"I had a feeling it's the lil punk." Laxus said with grin on face. They both chuckled and shook hands, followed by what could Lucy only describe as bear hug.

"Laxus!" Natsu said as they finally separated "Finally decided to visit us?"

"Yea I had some business in town so figured I could gather few people from here and there. Come in." He instructed and closed doors behind them. Lucy could now hear numerous voices; entire crowd of people coming from every room and moving into another and in the background, music was playing loud. "And who is your friend?"

"Oh right, this is Lucy" Natsu said as he looked toward her and two of them shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Lucy. Are you two…?"

"Just friends." Pinkette quickly interjected, making Laxus raise eyebrow at this unusual explanation.

"Well that's new for you. Hold on a second." Laxus turned his head to look toward dining room and frowned, shouting loud "Oy, Fullbuster! Shirt on!" his head now turned back to pair, speaking in usual, calmer tone "Drink's in the kitchen, you know where it is. No breaking stuff and no humping in bedrooms, got it?"

"What does he mean by 'humping'?" Lucy asked as two of them moved away.

"Oh that… yea, see last year I may have brought a girl and we sort of ended up having sex in his bedroom. In my defense, he wouldn't have caught us if she wasn't loud."

"How delightful…" She rolled eyes at his explanation "It's a lot… calmer here. I imagined it would be louder with more people drinking out of a barrel."

"Yea that's Laxus for you, preferring quality time that you'll remember rather than senseless bacchanalia that you'll forget. Reason why he's legendary is because you never know what he'll do. Once he took entire group of 20 to Bosco for a rock concert and every club we could find along the way back. Other time, he rented a yacht for weekend and we ended up having party at open sea. That was wild! No one dares to get pissed drunk, whatever he does, it's best you remember it. Come, let me introduce you to some good people."

With some reluctance and feeling of her stomach tightening, Lucy walked with Natsu to what she could describe as living room. At least furniture matched the purpose. It was populated by no less than twenty people, locked in conversation among each other and very presence of Natsu alerted all of them. All of a sudden Lucy felt as if she was the very center of universe, with everyone looking toward her as Natsu was introducing people to her and her to them. It wasn't so bad; they seemed nice, sneaking glances down on her recently created cut on shirt but at least they didn't drool. One, however, tried to place hand on her shoulder but Natsu was first to react, smacking the same hand. It didn't take much for them to realize that he was protective of her, despite the fact he introduced her as his friend.

Entire atmosphere was pleasant, people moved on with their conversations, focus changed from one person to another and anxiety that existed in Lucy, vanished over time. She enjoyed it. Comedic stories from people she just met, crazy dares to show unusual talents and even the horrible singing that came after third bottle of beer.

"Lucy!" Voice came from behind her and she turned, spotting the girl in scarlet hair with clothes not too different than ones she had on. Only difference is in color of shirt and no cuts on jeans.

"Oh, hello Erza." Lucy replied, smiling as she approached.

"I see you still decided to come. That is good." Erza replied, giving her best effort to appear content. She was but she wasn't all that good in showing it.

"Yea." Gray added as he appeared right beside Lucy. "Hope fart-for-breath haven't had chance to screw things up. And speaking of, I'll take that." He said and took glass from Erza's hands, giving her another one. She moved edge of glass close to her nose and gave a few short sniffs.

"This is apple juice…" Erza said, shooting cold glare at Gray.

"I know, but, for the sake of our dignity and to possibly avoid torture and humiliation… let's keep it safe okay?"

"Graaay…" Scarlet woman said in lower tone, elongating his name which made him swallow hard.

"Remember, keep it sober… now if you'll excuse me, I have to find coal-brain." He concluded and quickly moved away. Two steps away and he allowed himself to take a long sigh of relief. For a second he thought he was going to die, after all, poking Erza is never fun and Ministry of Health strongly recommended avoiding provoking her… for safety reasons.

Lucy on the other hand couldn't help but smile, finding entire situation too comedic. Natsu was out of sight, Gray ran as quickly as he could and Erza followed example, moving toward back of the room, grumbling heavily. She suddenly felt small tap on her shoulder and familiar voice.

"Hello Lucy!" girl said, smiling wide as Lucy turned.

"Oh hey…" blonde responded, feeling a bit nervous.

"Fancy meeting you here, mind if I talk to you?"

"Yeah… sure."

"So, are you gonna tell us what's the big plan for tonight?" Natsu asked, already feeling ecstatic.

"Nothing." Laxus answered "Tonight is gonna be just this, no crazy stuff."

"Whaat? Come on, don't be a combo-breaker!" Pinkette protested.

"Wait till he tells you reason for that." Gray said after a big sip of beer straight from the bottle "He got engaged."

"No way! Laxus engaged? How the hell did that happen?"

"Hey, we all gotta settle down sometime." Laxus responded, frowning slightly "This lifestyle drains too much out of me. Plus, with shit ton of things being planned and between that and job, I barely have time to do anything else."

"Well fuck me… So who's the girl you tamed?"

"What makes you think he tamed her?" Gray said with grin.

"As if you have the room to talk." Blonde shot down glare at Gray "I heard you're close to getting married yourself."

"Hey you chose yours, I'm stuck with mine." Gray retorted.

"Yea yea yea but who is the chick?" Natsu asked "Anyone we know?"

"Oh you know her." Gray said, moving both hands up with only index fingers extended, imitating horns on his head.

"No fucking way!" Pinkette exclaimed. His eyes widened from shock and lips curved into smile, showing row of teeth as he chuckled "You got engaged to Mira? Miss Mirajane from college? How did that happen?"

"Come on, Natsu, we practically grew up together, her and I." Laxus said in cold voice.

"Yea but I didn't expe-" Natsu began but stopped in middle of sentence as he saw Lucy walk past him and out through the front door. He was confused at her by what he saw but he followed, leaving Gray and Laxus to watch in confusion.

"Luce?" Natsu asked as he tried to catch up with her fast pace. "Hey, Luce?"

She didn't answer. He called her once more and ran up to her, grabbing her hand.

"Let me go!" She yelled with shaking voice as she pulling her arm out of his grasp and turning to face him. His heart slowed down as he looked at her, breathing fast with bits of mascara smeared on her cheeks.

"What happened?"

"You should know that best, Natsu. When did you plan on telling me?"

"Tell you what? Luce, what is going on?"

"When did you plan on telling me real reason why you were always around me? And don't you dare telling me that it was because you wanted to be friend. For once be honest."

His feet felt as cold as ice. Notion that she perhaps somehow learned about the bet terrified him to the bones. He was silent, lips parted but no words came out and every second of her glare was more terrifying than every one of Erza's growls.

"How much was I really worth? Hm?"

"Is that really important now?"

"One drink?" Lucy asked and Natsu hesitated to answer. Seconds felt like hours, spent in praying that ground underneath would open and just swallow him. His silence was all the answers she needed.

"Wow…" She continued, voice shaking even more "I am actually worth one drink. Was it even strong one or was it just one beer?"

"Hold on I didn't say that!"

"Don't lie!" She shouted and moved closer to him. It was only now that he saw her eyes clearly… eyes filled with tears "You made a bet to lure me into bed and if you fail you had to buy one round. Was that the deal?"

"Yes…" he uttered in low tone

"And since you failed, you invited me here get me drunk, lure me into bed and leave in the morning and forget everything in the next two days."

"Hold on, this has nothing to do with that!"

"And why should I believe you?" She asked, struggling with every word to keep her composure. Even he could see that she was on verge of crying. "What possible reason do I have to trust you?"

"Because that bet was made long time ago."

"It hasn't been even full month since we met." Lucy interrupted him. Slowly, she turned and took few steps away, hands moving up to wipe her cheeks. She took long deep breath, trying to calm herself but truth is she was in pure mental torment.

"Look… why does it even matter now?" He asked and now he struggled with his words. Voice was thinner, weaker… he was genuinely afraid.

"Because you made a promise to me. Promise that you broke."

"This was before that! I promised I wouldn't do anything to hurt you but this happened before that promise and…

"And?" She asked as he made a pause, still refusing to look at him. He wanted to say it so badly, that he started to like her, that he made so many steps in changing himself just so he can be closer to her. He wanted to say that if he could change the time he would do everything differently. He wanted to say… but he didn't.

"It may not be important to you, Natsu… but it is important to me. For a minute I genuinely thought that you wanted to be my friend. But I guess I was right about you all along." She bowed her head forward and let a silent sound. He couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying but it definitely sounded like both. "You know, Natsu, I actually started to like you. I thought that… you might be someone I can be comfortable around."

"Look, Luce…"

"Let's just forget everything happened alright? Just pretend we never met." She concluded and started walking, leaving Natsu to just stand there on sidewalk, paralyzed, left to contemplate what just happened. Hands moved through his hair, down his neck and to his face, rubbing cheeks and eyes hard. His heart was beating so fast he felt it on the very skin of his chest. It was fear, pure fear that he felt as she was slowly disappearing from his sight. He couldn't comprehend everything that happened, he never imagined that this would come to bite him, but it did… and he knew that what he did was bad. This moment, this situation… it was stuff of nightmares.

"Hey, what's taking you so long?" Gray's voice came from behind.

"Yeah it's…" he turned head to look toward Gray, eyes wandered up and down at his now completely naked friend. "Where the hell are your clothes?"

"Erza's drunk…" Gray said in low tone as he sighed and looked around, not one bit bothered he was standing in his birthday suit where everyone could see him "Where's Lucy? What happened?"

"I… umm…" Natsu started, taking long pause before continuing "I fucked up, Gray…"