"Argh!" Came the scream of Lucy the next morning. Natsu had politely said good morning and headed back home, Happy towing behind him, letting Lucy give his head a rub before he scurried off after his owner. That was always how the pair had been, Natsu had insisted Happy had never needed a leash, that the animal was his friend and knew where he wanted to go.

That left Lucy in the predicament of deciding what to wear to a fake-first-date. She had sent a message to Erza and Levy about how Natsu had agreed to the situation. Mostly, she was thrilled, though she was also slightly terrified, their crazy idea was now becoming a reality. Levy had eagerly decided to come over and investigate the room.

"You sure he didn't stay in your bed?" She interrogated, Lucy could easily imagine her with a magnifying glass in her hand. She laughed off the thought and shook her head.

"Positive. He was couch boy once again." Levy seemed to bite her cheek, seemingly wanting more gossip than just 'he slept on the couch'.

"We're going to a diner in Hargeon, I haven't been there in ages." Lucy commented, filtering through her wardrobe like a crazy woman, had her outfits all looked so wrong before? "What about this coral top?"

"Coral?" Levy screeched and ripped the tiny top out of Lucy's hands. "You are not wearing Coral!" Levy searched through the items and seemed to whistle along, as though this was an average job for her.

"I thought it was nice…" Lucy mumbled to herself, though Levy heard it she chose to ignore it as much as she loved her friend, Levy was keeping a sane head and not overstressing like she was.

"Here." Levi said, throwing a black top to her. Lucy smiled at her friend, thankful for the help. It was a simple outfit, casual and comfortable, yet the top allowed for a slight amount of cleavage to show and the skirt she picked out was thankfully a midi, and not a mini.

"Okay, I do look cute." Lucy said, aware of her feminine figure and flaunting it proudly to her friend.

"Wear it later and go easy on the lipstick, don't want you smudging it at the end." She said, adding a wink at the end. Lucy got flustered and twiddled with her thumbs.

"He knows it's not like that." She started. "I made rules with him last night!" She held up the page proudly, showing the self-restraint she had.

"Kissing: maybe?" Levy asked suggestively.

"Ah! Well, later on! Not now!" Lucy explained, frantically trying to explain she wasn't certain they were going to kiss at all.

"You have a date to go to later, I'll stay for another hour and head off." Levy smiled, heading out of the bedroom with Lucy as the two girls sat down on the couch and discussed what would happen tonight. True to her word, Levy only stayed for a little while and soon left Lucy alone, besides Plue of course.

Later on in the day, Lucy had been trying her best to keep up with Levy's constant messages, Erza was a lot more relaxed about it. She got into her outfit and found herself applying just a small layer of makeup, no more than usual. Brows, check. Mascara, check. She looked over to the lipstick and grabbed it and decided to apply just a small layer, so if anything did happen, nothing would be horrendously smudged.

She found herself cursing at the very notion any kissing would happen tonight. She was very clear in that soft affection, such as a peck on the cheek was what was acceptable. However, she did remember she had thought over the idea of kissing. She looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head, this was Natsu! Why was she overthinking this?

"Natsu. You should have just settled for a diner in Magnolia, you should have known we'd have to get the train to Hargeon!" She scowled at him as his motion sickness was causing him to sway as they walked from the station to the town's streets.

"I wanted it to be special." He blubbed out, upset and sickly from the motion sickness he regrettably got. Lucy pet his head, much like she did Happy, and guided him towards the restaurant. Natsu's recovery came swift at the smell of food; the boy did like to eat. He even had given his cat a small round tummy as they both seemed to fit tremendous amounts of food in them.

"All right Romeo, let's get you some food before you start thinking back about the trip home." He looked up at her and seemed to revert back to his ghostly white state of illness at the mere notion of travelling again. Thankfully, a waiter came to them and set two menus in front of them.

"Welcome to Port's Diner, what can Juvia get you to drink?" Lucy looked at noticed the name badge read the same name as the name the waitress called, was talking in third person normal here?

"Just water, please." Lucy smiled, though looking back at Natsu, she added a lemonade for his upset stomach. As the waitress left, Lucy looked back at Natsu who was casually browsing through the menu. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small notepad, causing Natsu's eyes to look up.

"What's that?" He asked, curious by what she had.

"I googled top things to discuss on a date!" Lucy said, proud she had the intuitive to think ahead.

"What's the first thing it says?" Natsu snickered, apparently mocking her actions, she pouted in annoyance and flipped the cover page over.

"Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" She said, adding a pleasant smile, cursing as Natsu laughed at her face.

"Luce! It was freezing and windy yesterday!"

"And it's nice!" She bickered back, already regretting this choice, she felt proud she had at least tried to get the date scene right.

"C'mon, you know me, we can just have a normal conversation. Talk about our likes and hobbies, that kinda thing." Natsu added in, Lucy did admit that did seem a bit more relaxed than the conversation topics she had in her notepad. Sighing, she hid it back away into her purse and looked fondly back at her friend.

"I like writing." She started, and Natsu encouraged her to continue. "My mum wrote a journal of short stories and when I was a kid, I loved reading them. She inspired me to write, she always said I would tell the stories of the stars, the secrets they hid in their shine." She couldn't help it as her lips tipped upwards, her mother's passing had affected her greatly, but she loved her too much to silence her memory.

"That's beautiful, Luce." Natsu seemed to stop and actually have to think about what he enjoyed. "Gray." He growled out.

"Gray?" Lucy was perplexed, she wouldn't have thought saying he had fun with his rival was something important.

"No, that stupid cucumber is here!" He sneered, seemingly letting his body fall down into the chair in a pathetic effort to hide from Gray. Lucy allowed herself to turn her head and look, and sure enough, Gray Fullbuster had walked into the Port's Diner. He seemed more poised than Lucy was used to seeing him, normally he was always slouched and relaxed, barely wearing anything at Fairy Tail. Here he was on the other hand, dressed in a fine, white tailored coat, she had never seen him look so elegant.

He recognised Lucy and walked over, hand already raised when he spotted the grumpy Natsu.

"Hi Gray!" Lucy welcomed, and he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly when he realised he had left his hand in the air, not finishing the initial wave.

"Hey Lucy, what are you doing here with this moron?" He mocked as Natsu had an immediate aggressive response and seemed to awaken the fiery personality he was known for and raised his fist.

"We're on a date, squinty-eyes, not that a pervy popsicle like you would ever get asked on a date!" Lucy's eyes widened, she was used to their animosity, but she didn't think they would continue out in public, and that Natsu would do it even on a date. Their waitress chose then to rejoin them with her notepad in hand.

"I'm on a date too, you droopy-eyed hothead!" Gray seemed more agitated than usual as he grabbed onto the waitress's arm and brought her over to another table and brought out the chair for her to sit in. At least he was being courtly and mannered to the woman he just kidnapped away from her job. Looking back at Natsu she saw him reaching out, upset.

"She never took our orders!" Lucy had to stop herself from laughing, the pair of them were ridiculous, they fought over nothing and everything and their insults always seemed to resolve around fire and ice. She once heard the story started when Natsu somehow caught the guild ablaze and when Gray left a door open in the back, freezing the entire backrooms with snow and ice. They seemed to relentlessly mock each other over the past events.

"We can ask for another waitress soon." Lucy didn't see the rush, besides the girl Gray had grabbed was actually blushing and seemed to be swooning over the man who, literally, swept her off her feet. She felt she needed to give the guy a break and feel like he hadn't lost to Natsu.

"He's such an asshole." Natsu grumbled, sipping away at his lemonade he had managed to receive before they lost their waitress.

"Why do you fight all the time?" Lucy asked, in the heat of the moment, Lucy had always just rolled her eyes over the pair of them and had never really asked herself why they had such an intent rivalry for the other. She knew the insults were backed up from past atrocities they had managed to do to Fairy Tail, but what had actually sparked the fighting is where her interest lay.

"We just clash, the guy's like my polar opposite, he just gets on all my nerves. At once." Natsu did not look happy, talking about Gray was obviously a sore spot, Lucy noted.

"I get that." Lucy confessed.

"Some people just don't click." She agreed and found a new waitress for the pair. Natsu became much happier when the food arrived, Lucy barely had time to get a word from him as food was constantly being shoved into his mouth like a vacuum.

"Do you ever wonder where you'll be in the future?" Lucy asked, watching him wipe his mouth in a fast movement with a napkin.

"I think I'll probs' still be working at Dad's smithery. It's nice, people need something made or fixed, I can usually help. Plus if that ice mongrel ever shows up I can pierce him with the hot-rod!" The pair joked along, even after the food on their plate was long gone. Lucy noted just how easy conversation was with Natsu, he seemed to understand everything she said and would even add on comments.

She found herself looking at Natsu in a new light, it was odd to reminisce to when she hadn't known him like she does in the present. Back then, she saw him as a natural charmer, the way he spoke so passionately about everything he came across, it initially made her wish he spoke that way about her too.

Lucy was a writer by trade, it was why she found herself always being drawn to Natsu's eyes; dark like a coal. She knew not to be eluded by the dark eyes, they were lit with a powerful fire that sparked itself more-so out from his mouth than his eyes. For the handful of years in which Lucy had resided in Fiore, Natsu had pink hair. She once asked him if it was real and he seemed offended, yet he never did give her a clear answer. Once or twice, she did try pestering others about the authenticity of his hair's shade, but everyone just always said Natsu's always had pink hair for all his life, they'd never seen him even have a different colour growing out in his roots.

It was peculiar that she was looking at Natsu this way, admiring his charming features, he really was cute now that she was looking. She wondered if he was seeing a new side of her now that they were trying something new. Lucy knew she was a woman with curves, in all her years of knowing Natsu he had never once showed an interest, never once had she caught him staring, not like the others. It made her both respect him and worry, it was a complicated thing.

"Want to head back to Fairy Tail for a few pints?" Lucy asked, and watched as Natsu was already starting to grip onto the furniture, she would have to forcefully pull him away to get him back on that train. She stood up and waved to Gray, who was actually engaging with his stolen date. "Hey Gray, we're heading to Fairy Tail, want to join us?" Lucy was surprised that the waitress from earlier, Juvia, was glaring at her, she probably was annoyed she was stealing away her spontaneous date.

"Sure thing." He stood up, and grabbed Juvia's hand. "I figured you can hold my hand since I just grabbed you. You can pull away if you want." He said calmly, Lucy was envious even in this situation he was so chill.

"I want to hold it…" She was a lot more flushed now and looked at their joined hands in awe.

"Just a warning, Natsu will get sick on the train." Lucy tried to make it less awkward by forcing out a fake laugh but Juvia and Gray both just stared at her. "All right baby, let's go!" Gray widened his eyes, Lucy had meant the term in that he was being childish, she knew he thought she was being endearing, as they were on a date, she didn't define what she meant by the term.

Luckily for her, Gray apparently had an expertise in dragging people so getting Natsu on the train turned out a lot easier for Lucy. The blonde looked over to the over woman who was busy trying to fix her coat.

"How was your time with Gray, Juvia?" Lucy asked, she wanted to at least make the pale woman feel comfortable around Gray's friends if she was coming back to the pub with them.

"Gray is…amazing." She whispered, looking back at Gray, who was helping keep Natsu's head between his knees. "I'm a little stoic, but he seemed to break that down pretty quickly." She smiled, attempting to cover it with her gloved hand, but Lucy had seen, she was pretty happy Juvia had gotten out of work to have fun. Lucy wondered if Juvia had butterflies in her stomach, she didn't know what was normal on a first date, she knew her and Natsu had had fun, but she wondered if Juvia was experiencing something more than Lucy was getting to feel.

As Magnolia station approached, Natsu sprinted past the girls and let himself fall out of the train's doors, Lucy giggled as she even saw tears form at the corner of his eyes; the poor hothead was so miserable.

Lucy watched as Juvia had grabbed for Gray's hand immediately as soon as his babysitting duties for Natsu were over on the train. Lucy looked over to Natsu and down at his hand, he was just grumbling over the trip, not even looking at her. If she wanted to be a writer, she would have to be bold. She looked straight ahead as she grabbed his hand, out of the corner of her eye she seen him react, but she didn't dare look at him.

Natsu didn't say anything, he allowed his hand to open and feather Lucy's fingers in, allowing them to join in the cracks of his. Lucy felt her heart speed up, she smiled to herself that this idea was working. She could feel the heat burning in her chest, her heart pumping excitedly at the new feeling. Lucy was holding a boy's hand! It was tiny steps, but still a step.

When they did look at each other, catching each other in the act, they grinned and carried on walking, their hands swaying playfully as they swayed their arms. Reaching the guild caused a new level of fear for Lucy as she remembered Natsu didn't want to be accused of anything and so she would have to keep this real. Looking over at her best friend, she found herself thinking this was surprisingly easy to pretend.

Mirajane was the only one who noticed, everyone else was drunk and used to their closeness. Luckily for the pair, Gray and his new face were the ones receiving the questions. Lucy and Natsu found themselves at the bar and Mirajane smiled, looking pleased.

"Double Date?" She asked, and Lucy nodded, it seemed it ended up that way. "I'm glad, I was wondering when you would get a boyfriend, Lucy!"

"Surely free pints to celebrate!" Natsu was sure happy to be back on his home turf, Natsu was partially raised in Fairy Tail, it was where their parents had hung out, once the children were introduced to each other, they joined their parents to meet up with their friends. Mirajane said nothing, simply poured out the pints and handed one to Natsu and one to Lucy. She left Natsu to enjoy both as she saw her friends calling her over.

"How was it?" Erza asked, there were many glasses scattered on the table, so Lucy presumed Cana must be somewhere around.

"Really good! It's always nice to see a new side of Natsu, that softer side."

"Are you excited to start writing?" Levy said, offering Lucy her own drink, which Lucy accepted and began sipping at.

"Yes, I've got a free schedule tomorrow, I was thinking of starting to write it, I'll have to see what you guys think." The girls weren't noticing how Gray had joined Natsu at the bar, which is where Cana had once again found herself at, the three of them seemingly downing many shots.

"Guys! Listen up!" Cana's voice called out, all the locals of the pub knowing to look over at the renowned figure of Fairy Tail. "We are celebrating with our two boys, Gray and Natsu have finally found girls to date!" Cheers erupted throughout the pub as Lucy found herself going red as Erza and Levy stared directly at her.

Gray disappeared back into the crowds to apologise to the newly joined member of the gang Juvia, whereas Natsu wasn't as quiet as Lucy hoped. He sought her out and ran up to her, she smelt the stronger alcohol on his breath as she allowed him to pull her out of her seat. He placed his hands around her thighs as he lifted her up and spun her around, there was no doubt as to who Natsu was dating.

"I am dating Lucy Heartfilia!" Lucy couldn't help enjoy the moment as she was spun by the drunk state of Natsu, it was nice to see someone show her off. Her hands were gripped around his neck and when he put her down, she felt herself flustered and could feel strands of blond hair tangled out of her ponytail.

Natsu still stood close by her, she wondered if he would kiss her, and even more she wondered if she would kiss him back. He didn't. Natsu pulled her in for a hug and spun them together one last time before Lucy laughed and announced to everyone she would take the idiot home. She couldn't help getting embarrassed by the cheers that echoed behind her, they didn't think they were doing that did they? Lucy shrugged off the idea and had Natsu's arm around her the whole trip, she told herself she was doing it to help support him, the truth was it was nice.