Updated: August 2022

Chapter 3

Back in the day, Lucy recalls what kind of teenager she was whenever she had a crush. She used to be the type of girl that blushes furiously whenever her crush would smile. She would have these giddy sniggers after having that sudden eye-to-eye contact, and she'd just fumble with words as she tries to make conversation. Needless to say, Lucy was like a fangirl, head over heels for her crush.

Lucy even remembers one night, a time that she was asked by her crush to prom. Everything was going well. She had pictures taken with her crush and the boy pretty much was pleased with Lucy's look. Until she spilled her drink on him, making the young teen drenched in orange juice. The reason behind it, she got overly surprised when the boy stepped too close to her personal space, causing her to hiccup and jump in place, then spill the juice. That night was pretty much memorable for her because the next thing she know, she was dateless at prom as the boy stood and walked away while mumbling about never asking her out again.

From that day on, Lucy taught herself to pretend, making her one of the best actresses of her generation.

As Lucy stood before the pink-haired man, who has the most captivating smile she has ever seen, and those eyes that were dark and somewhat mysterious and sexy, Lucy had to remind herself to keep it together and keep her reactions in check.

Lucy?! Why are you blushing? He's just smiling…and staring intensely…

Lucy could feel her cheeks slowly warming up despite the cool breeze around them as they stood outside the bar, "Lucy, meet Natsu!" Lisanna giddily introduces the pinkette to her. As if on cue, the man extended his hand and offered a handshake. For a moment, Lucy was surprised and just stared at the hand. She was contemplating if it was right to shake the man's hand.

Should I shake his hand? I mean…there is nothing wrong with it, right? But I don't want to give the impression that I'm interested to have this meet-up like a date. This is not a date… Lisanna said this is not a date-

Lucy's internal thoughts were then interrupted when she heard the man speak and made her look up at his face, "Hi," Natsu raspingly greetings
"Hi," Lucy replies too quickly for her liking, then glances down to see that Natsu still had his hand out for a handshake. So, quickly, Lucy grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shake. But the moment she touched his palm, she was stunned to feel his warmth.

"You oddly have a warm hand…" Lucy comments softly as if she was only trying to tell herself but quickly realized that she said it out loud when Natsu replied to her
"Excuse me? Did you just-"
"Nothing!" Lucy then pulls her hand from his grasp as she feels her cheeks getting warmer again. To change the interaction, Lucy quickly glanced at Lisanna and smiled at her, "So, shall we get inside?"
Seeing the reddening face of the blonde, Lisanna just knew that this meet-up is going to be successful and that she just needs to set things up right.

"Well, alright!" Lisanna then places her hand on top of Lucy's hand as she looked at Natsu, "Now that you both are here and you know each other's name, we'll get going!" the silver-haired actress then grinned at her friends before she pulls away from the blond to step back.
"Wait!" Lucy took a step closer to the other actress, "What do you mean you'll get going?"
"Um, Bickslow and I would be heading our way to our date night," Lisanna then smirks, as if she was implying that she was going to leave the two for their date.

Lucy suddenly chuckles in disbelief as she shook her head at the silverette, "Ha-ha, Lisanna you've got to be kidding me. Moments ago, you just said that this is a hangout and not a date. So, you're not leaving,"
"Aw, Lucy…" Lisanna sheepishly smiles at the blond, before glancing at the pink-haired man, who was getting confused with the conversation, "I did mean that this was going to be a hangout and not a date. But I was thinking-"
"No," Lucy interrupts
"No?" Natsu suddenly repeats making the two women look at him, both with different expressions on their faces
"No," Lucy repeats before glancing briefly at the confused pinkette, "Lis, you can't leave, you promised,"
"Did I?" Lisanna challenged before chuckling at the wide-eyed blond
"What promise?" Natsu suddenly interjects, making the two women glances at him again, with the same expression causing Bickslow to laugh
"What? I'm getting confused here," Natsu utters when suddenly a hand whacks on his face, causing him to be surprised. Looking at the owner of the hand, he sees Lucy trying so hard to pretend that this scenario was nothing weird.

Seeing Lucy's expression and how Natsu was looking at her friend, Lisanna couldn't help but grin at the two. But knowing that her blonde friend is on the verge of bursting out, Lisanna tries to calm her nerves.

"Look, Lucy, I promised you that I would be there if you meet Natsu and here I am, fulfilling my promise. I just didn't tell you that I had plans with Bickslow tonight,"
"Uh yeah…" Lucy sarcastically agreed as she looked at the couple before her, "Okay, fine, if a date is what you both wanna do, then fine go on a date-"
"Oh my god, thank-!"
"Inside the bar," Lucy adds as she interrupts the silverette, who was in the middle of leaping in joy
"Wait, what?" Lisanna confusingly looked at her friend and then at her boyfriend, who was trying so hard not to laugh
"You heard me, you can go on a date inside the bar, while Natsu," Lucy then looked at the man, and only then realized that she hasn't taken off her hand from his face, making Lucy stumble back and quickly looked at Lisanna instead, "W-while Natsu and I get to know each other,"

Lisanna stared at her blonde friend for a good minute before looking at Natsu who just stayed silent after being hand-whacked. Seeing the duo feels like she was staring at a potential couple that the media could fall for.

"No deal," Lisanna suddenly mutters, as she slowly steps back and wraps her hand to Bickslow's arm and squeezed it like a signal that they should run. So without knowing, Lucy just watched her friends run away from them, making her jump in surprise as she tries to catch the silver-haired actress.

"Lis! You can't leave me here alone!" Lucy shouts
"Who said you're alone?" Lisanna shouts back as she glances at her friend, without stopping from her sprint, "You're with Natsu!"
"But I don't know him!" Lucy shouts back as the couple slowly becomes smaller in sight
"Then get to know each other! You'll enjoy his company!" Lisanna assured before she hoisted herself up to ride behind Bickslow on his motorbike
"No, I won't! What if he's a murderer? Or a misogynist!" Lucy banters back but Lisanna just laughed at her, knowing that she's just overreacting about the situation
"Have fun, you guys!" Lisanna calls out waving before they zoomed out on the street.

As the couple disappear from people's sight, Lucy couldn't help to sigh deeply.

"Really? a murder or a misogynist?" turning rapidly to face the man, Lucy was surprised to see that Natsu was just standing a few steps away from her. In her reflex, Lucy tumbles backward before she tries to compose herself, "What?"
Natsu then chuckles at the blonde actress, shaking his head slightly, "You're weird,"
"Excuse me?" Lucy raised her brow at the pinkette, "I have every right to wonder who you are,"
"Yeah, sure. If I give you the vibes that I'm a murderer or misogynist, sure," Natsu mockingly smirked at the blonde, which just irked the blonde more.

Lucy then rolls her eyes as she sides steps to walk past the man. Then suddenly she turned to him again and exclaimed, "You!"
Natsu flinched with the sudden voice, "What?"
"Did you know that they were…" Lucy then closes her eyes as she inhales and exhales deeply while remembering her annoyance with the other actress "Did you know?"
"Know what?" Natsu asked baffled as he didn't really understand the question, "You didn't finish your question,"
Lucy then grunts, "Did you know that they were going to leave us alone? And that they'd go on a date?"
"No, I didn't," Natsu quickly raises a brow at the blonde when she suddenly bellows in annoyance and threw her hands in the air
"Hey, look, what's so bad about us just hanging around?"
Lucy looked at Natsu for a good minute before raising a brow at him as well, "Do you have any idea why we are even meeting up?"
"Well…" Natsu then scratched his head pondering, "I didn't really understand Lisanna when she told me to come here. She just said that I should meet her friend and become associates,"
"Associate?" Lucy repeats, "Like a business deal?"
"Yeah…" Natsu then chortles, "because this is not a date like you said,"

Lucy then stared at the man as she asked herself what she was expecting Natsu to say. Then it hits her as she realized that it was her, who was mistaking the whole interaction. She had forgotten that this was the help Levy was telling her about weeks ago.
"Okay, look, just so you know, I'm a very fun person to be with, Luigi, and we're going to be great associates if we work out our differences," Natsu then smiled but Lucy just stared at him as if he was growing two heads
"Before I comment about your opinion of being a fun person and us being great associates, can you repeat my name?"
"Hm?" Natsu wondered, a little hesitant as he sees the annoyed look of the blonde, "Your name?"
"Yeah," Lucy toughly nods her head, "What did you call me?"
"Uhh…Luigi," Natsu suddenly swallows hard in reflex, "That's your name, right?"

The next second happened with a shoe flying his way, making him dodge by ducking sideways and staring astonishedly at the shoe, "Woah! Did you just throw a shoe at me?"
"Gah!" Lucy bellowed as she fumed in annoyance
"What was that for?!" Natsu bawls out as he stared at the blonde
"For you to get your head straight! Where the hell did you get the name, Luigi?!" Lucy then stumps her way close to the pinkette, "My name is not Luigi, baka!" Lucy puffs in anger
"Geez, okay, sorry," Natsu steps back, quite nervous to be hit unexpectedly
"I can't believe Lisanna would even think that you and I could be fit together to handle my mess," Lucy suddenly huffs again as she walks past the pinkette to grab her thrown shoe, "She's too much of a day-dreamer that she forgets that people don't easily get along,"
"What mess?" Natsu questions as he watches the blonde pick up the shoe
"Nothing," Lucy finishes, "And just for your information, I don't think I'll enjoy your company. I don't even think I'll like you one bit,"

Dumbfounded by Lucy's retort, Natsu couldn't help but smirk at the fuming blonde. He wouldn't deny, that he thought she was cute when she was all shy. But seeing her mad face, he couldn't help but be baffled by the idea that she was leveling with a person he knew, who reacts similarly. Seeing her different sides, from being shy to mad to annoyed, he couldn't believe that he finds this too interesting and attractive, in some weird way.

And so, going with the flow, Natsu begins to tease the woman, "Well, who said I would like you one bit as well?"
Lucy quickly looks back at him with an astound look and mouth agape. As if reading her mind, Natsu knew that Lucy thought that he was crazy for telling her the same thing she said to him. Natsu then added, "You know what, maybe you're right, maybe we won't be great associates. I'm leaving, I don't need this." Natsu strides back to his motorbike when Lucy suddenly stops him.
"W-wait!" Turning around to look back at the blonde, Natsu sees that shy look again, but this time with little hesitation
"What?" Natsu inquires, trying to hide his smirk
"Uh…" Lucy starts but closes her lips again as she debated with herself. She had two options, one, she could plead and be mocked without the assurance of help, or two, she keeps her little dignity and walk home. Having those options, Lucy couldn't help but shake her head as she thought of what to do, "You know, what? Never mind," She shouts back before she turns and tries to put on her shoes again without falling.
Shaking his head, knowing that the blonde is just being stubborn to ask for anything, Natsu watched the woman struggle a little. Lucy was mumbling, obviously talking to herself. So, he took a step closer to Lucy and asked with a tinge of patience and annoyance at the same time, "Okay, look Luigi-"
"It's Lucy!" the blonde woman retorts
"Okay, Lucy," Natsu then stopped walking closer when Lucy suddenly whipped to look back at him, "What did you want to tell me? I'm not going to judge,"
Lucy suddenly chuckles as she looks at the nonchalant expression of the pinkette, "Okay- fine, I was going to ask you not to leave me,"
Natsu suddenly smirk, making Lucy raise a finger to clarify herself, "Not because I was interested in you…"
"Oh?" Natsu sarcastically looked at the blonde
"Yes, I was…" Lucy then stood up straight to emanate confidence, "hoping you'd give me a ride home,"
"Ride home?" Natsu asked before he started laughing out loud making the blonde raise a brow at him
"Hm, no judgment right here, ladies and gentlemen," Lucy said sarcastically as she watches the man while crossing her arms
Natsu waved his hand in disagreement as he tries to control his laughter, "Ha-ha, look, Lui-I mean Lucy," Natsu took a deep breath as he composed himself, and looked at the woman, "I want to tease you more about this whole ordeal but seeing how you can get your shoe again and hit me with it this time, I guess, the correct response would be to offer you a ride home,"
Lucy just then gave a raised brow and a deadpan look at the man, "Or something else?" Natsu continued
"I can't believe that I'm going to owe you a favor," Lucy flips her hair back as she huffs and began to walk past the man but was quickly halted when he held her wrist back.
"Where are you going?" Natsu asked and as Lucy looks at his hand on her wrist, Natsu quickly drops his hold, "Sorry,"
"Home. Didn't you plan to leave me a moment ago? So, I'm assuming you're going home," Lucy replies, a little confused with the pinkette
"To be honest, I was just kidding. I was just teasing you," Natsu then smiled happily as he watched the blonde slowly change expression from annoyed to a little amused
"Huh…all for teasing?" Lucy huffs again as relaxes a bit and Natsu breaks out in a wide grin
"Yep, you were fun to tease, you get mad easily," Natsu chuckles as Lucy grunts at him, "Look, we're in a bar and I want a drink to relax. Why don't you do that too?"
Lucy stared at the pinkette for a moment before she shrugs her shoulder, "Well, I was planning to convince you a while ago to stay for a drink,"
"See!" Natsu then points in ecstatic
"Not because I'm interested to know you!" Lucy corrects again, making Natsu bellow as she tries to contain her smile and laugh "I just want a drink,"
"Right," Natsu replied teasingly, "Well, shall we?" Natsu asked as he swings his arms towards the entrance of the bar. Lucy faintly chuckles at the man as she walked past him to enter the infamous bar.

As the two maneuvered their way to the back part of the bar, where it was more private and less crowded, Natsu and Lucy found themselves exhausted. The two slumps their selves onto the plush couch and glance at their surroundings in opposite direction. When they ended up staring at one another, Lucy quickly averted her gaze and just looked at the dancing crowd.

"Still can't keep eye contact with me?" Natsu teasingly asks as he sat up straight and made himself comfortable, "Still shy?"
"Shy?" Lucy repeated as she looked at the pinkette and fixed her position, "Around you? Of course not,"
"Then why'd you look away?" Natsu asked as he half turned towards the blonde
"Because I don't have to look at you," Lucy said as shrugs her shoulder, "Afterall, I'm still not interested to know you,"
Natsu then chortles as he replies, "Don't worry, so do I," Lucy then rolls her eyes at him before she looks away
"If you weren't interested, then why'd you come?" Lucy questioned without looking at the man
Natsu thought for a second about his reason and it was clear to him. But he was more curious about Lucy's reason as it was her who first expressed her dislike of the meet-up.
"I had my reasons, but why did you come if you weren't thrilled about this meet-up?" Natsu then poked Lucy on her arm, making the actress flinch in surprise as she looked back at him
"Um…I had my reasons too," Lucy tried to be nonchalant and Natsu just chuckles back
"We'll never have a decent conversation, do we?" Natsu questioned but didn't expect any response, "How did you know Lisanna anyway?"
"Still trying to make conversation, are we?" Lucy replies back as she gave a short glance at the man and ignored his question
"Why are you still pissed anyway? It's not like I did anything to you," Natsu comments back, earning him a mocking chuckle from the blonde
"You didn't do anything?" Lucy irately laughs, "First off, you mistaken my name and called me 'Luigi' a lot of times. Second, you laughed at my face when I asked for a ride home, and third…" Lucy paused, making Natsu lean closer in anticipation, "Third?" Natsu whispered
"Third…you said you didn't like me," Lucy then gave a stern look to the pinkette, even though she knew her case was pretty weak. This was even confirmed when Natsu started chuckling
"Okay-okay, just to be clear, I didn't mean to make mistake in calling your name. I was just unfocused when Lisanna introduced you and I didn't recall your name properly. Second, I didn't mean to laugh at you. I was just surprised by your concern because I thought it was something more complicated. And third, I was just imitating you when I said that I didn't like you. Technically, you said it first,"

As Natsu said this to her, Lucy thanked heaven that the bar was dark enough that Natsu couldn't see her reddening cheeks. This moment is pretty much embarrassing for Lucy given that she has been acting all bratty and irritable. She couldn't even remember why she's even acting up.

"Alright, point taken," Lucy then turns her back on him as she tries to exhale her embarrassment, "I need that drink now…" She mumbles to herself as she tries to locate any waiter around
"Hey, Kinana!" Natsu suddenly calls, making Lucy glance on her shoulder discreetly. Suddenly, a woman in a white crop polo shirt, black pants, and a black small apron strides toward them. She had purple hair and a bright smile on her face, "Hey, Natsu! You finally dropped by,"
"Yeah, I know. Been a long time," Natsu remarks as he leans forward on the table
"So, what can I get you?" The woman named Kinana asked as she looked at the pinkette and then at the blonde, "Hey, do I know you?" she questioned the blonde
"Nope," Lucy mutters quickly as she turns away a little at the woman to hide her face
"No, no, I do…hmm,"
"No you don't," Lucy says back, still trying to keep her identity secret. Seeing the slight discomfort of the blonde, Natsu quickly grabs the attention of the woman in front of them, "I'll have whiskey on the rocks, and Luigi will have…"
Lucy then glanced at the pinkette and gave a raised brow at him. When Natsu gave a small nod at her as if telling her to just go along, she figured it was Natsu's way to help her keep her real identity hidden, "I'll have a strawberry margarita,"
"Alright…coming right up," Kinana then gave a last look to the blonde before she turns to head back into the bar

When the waitress was no longer around, Lucy faced the pinkette and leaned on the couch as she asked, "So why did you help me?"
"You looked uncomfortable," Natsu replies
Lucy lets out a brief laugh, "And how did you know I was uncomfortable?"
"By the way, you were trying to disagree with her," Natsu then gave a teasing smile, making Lucy roll her eyes again
"Well, thank you," Lucy then turns away from him as she settles back into her seat
"So what's your deal? Why were you trying to hide?"
"I wasn't," Lucy mutters back and looked at the pinkette briefly before looking back at the crowd
"No, I'm pretty sure you were trying to hide, that's why I had to use Luigi," Natsu then grinned when Lucy chortles a little
"Thanks to Luigi, she wouldn't know who I am," Lucy sarcastically replies
"What? Luigi is a good name,"
"Yeah, like I would look like someone with the name Luigi," Lucy smiled tightly, "You pretty much convinced her,"
"I was just trying to help," Natsu comments as he leans back to the couch and rested his arm over it, slightly brushing his fingers to Lucy's shoulder. With the sudden touch again, Lucy flinched in surprise, making her look back at the man. But the pinkette seemed unaware of it so Lucy brushes it off and scoots a little further from the pinkette.

"What did Lisanna exactly tell you about this meet-up?" Lucy asked, getting a little awkward as she didn't know what to do next while waiting for their drinks,
Natsu looked at Lucy for a moment, making the blonde a little unsettled with his stern gaze, "She said something about a business deal,"
"Business deal? What deal did she mention?" Lucy questioned as she tries to figure out Lisanna's strategy for this
"She didn't say exactly…" Natsu suddenly moves closer, which the actress took note of but chooses to ignore for a moment, "But she did say that it was something that I really need now,"

Lucy just stared at the man, who was an arm away from her. Staring at the pink-haired man for a long time again since their bantering outside, Lucy couldn't help but notice a few things about the man.

Natsu has sharp jaws, an intense gaze, thin lips that look soft to…

Lucy then shakes her head abruptly, making Natsu a little startled at the sudden movement.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asks as he leans a little closer, making Lucy lean back in consciousness
"What are you doing?!" Lucy panicked out of nowhere, which made Natsu raise a brow
"I'm not doing anything," Natsu mutters back as he moves back slightly
"Look, Mr. Natsu, I'm not some damsel in distress that you have to keep watch, okay," Lucy then scoots further away from the man until she stood up from the couch and backs away
"What are you talking about?" Natsu confusingly looked at the blonde, who was still moving away from their booth
"Oh, you know what I mean," Lucy shrugs before glancing at the overly crowded dance floor and slowly descending the short stairs
"What? Hey! Where are you going?" Natsu suddenly stands up as Lucy was slowly going into the crowd
"It's none of your business. Enjoy your drinks," Lucy then steps away from the table and soon disappears into the crowd.

As Lucy merges with the dancing people, Natsu started to have a battle in his head. He contemplated whether he should follow Lucy to try to stop her from whatever she was doing or just let her be. In all honesty, he doesn't understand why Lucy walked out of their booth. He was just curious why Lucy looked surprised and bothered within seconds after telling her what Lisanna mentioned.

"I don't understand what is happening. Why did she leave?" Natsu mutters to himself as he tries to find a blonde woman in the crowd. But with the various lights shining in the bar and the loud noise, Natsu just couldn't focus.

"Lis, your friend is just so weird…" Natsu whispers to himself again, still searching, "…well, a cute weirdo,"

"Natsu-san?" Kinana suddenly calls as she climbs the short flight of stairs
"Oh, your back," Natsu focuses on the woman, carrying a tray of his and Lucy's drinks
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Kinana then looked around the booth and noticed that the blonde was gone, "Where did your date go?"
"She isn't my date," Natsu replies still looking out over the crowd
"Pff, yeah right," Kinana chuckles as she puts down the drinks on the table and stood next to the pinkette, "Did you scare your date away?"
"What?" Natsu scowled at the woman, who just laughed at his face, "As I said, she's not my date. This was a business deal,"
"Business deal?" Kinana curiously looked at the pinkette, "Since when did you become so much of a businessman? The last time I checked you were playing with the boys and chasing over a woman,"
Natsu just gave a deadpan look at the purple-haired woman, who later regretted her words, "Right, I've got work to do…" and with that, Kinana descended the stairs and disappears into the crowd as well.

As it dawned on Natsu that he wouldn't be able to spot Lucy from the booth, he thought that it would be best to look for her within the crowd. But then he thought, why do I want to find Lucy?

Grumbling to himself about his indecisiveness, he finally took the first step to step down the stairs and head straight to the crowd. But as soon as he was going to merge with all the dancing people, Natsu was surprised when a hand suddenly pushed him backward. To his surprise, Lucy was pushing him back and he was going up the stairs again.

"Luce?" Natsu curiously calls at the panting and blushing woman
"Just move," Lucy retorts, determination in her eyes
"What happened to you?"
Lucy suddenly walks past him when he reached the top and quickly returns to her spot and snatched her margarita, "Don't ask, I need my drink,"
Curiously and confusedly looking at the woman, Natsu couldn't help but sense that something happened when she disappeared moments ago.
"Okay, I'm not going to judge, but did something happen?" Natsu slowly walked back to his spot while watching the drinking blonde, "You look-"
"Like shit, I know," Lucy cuts off as she pulls back from her drink and places the glass down, "That's why I said don't ask,"
"Okay, calm down-"
"I'm calm!" Lucy cuts off again, making Natsu raise a brow at the woman, as he was slowly getting annoyed
"What the-"
"Yo, Loke!" a voice suddenly shouts, making Natsu and Lucy glance at the other booth and saw a black-haired man raise his arm to call out for a person within the crowd.

Hearing the stranger call out someone he didn't know was weird given that the whole place was loud already. But Natsu guessed it was because of Lucy's sudden stiffness as she glanced at the source of the voice. So, Natsu looked at Lucy and quickly noticed how her eyes were wide and her shoulders were tense, when Lucy suddenly muttered softly, "Shit,"

To be continued...