~ Night Out With the Bad Boy ~
"G–Get off me!" Lucy's shriek reverberated throughout the lobby of the Underwater World, turning heads in all directions. Erza, who had witnessed the whole incident, could not bear it any longer.
"HIYAAAAAAAAAAA!" She shouted as she shot through the air, delivering a powerful kick to Natsu's face.
Natsu didn't know what hit him. He just felt a force wham him to the ground. When he finally became aware, he found Erza sitting on his back with his stomach squashed to the floor. He struggled to escape from her but her weight and her unmatched brute force pinned him down. He wasn't in a position where he could retaliate.
"Get off!" Natsu shouted.
"Shut up!" Erza was not in the mood to compromise.
Juvia hurried over to Lucy whose arms were still folded over herself.
"Lucy, are you alright?" Juvia asked. Lucy didn't reply; she kept her eyes on the pink-haired boy on the floor.
"Gray! Do something about this!" Natsu yelled.
"Why should I? You have no idea how much I'm enjoying this," Gray replied with a smug look.
"ARGH…!" Natsu shouted in frustration for he couldn't break free from Erza's monster lock. He hated how his rival was revelling in his misery.
"I said shut the hell up!" Her tone now carried a greater degree of menace. "How dare you violate my best friend in front of me! How dare you violate her at all!" Erza's rage grew in intensity.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Natsu exclaimed as Erza had subconsciously twisted his arm.
"Calm down, Erza!" Jellal rushed to stop her before she seriously hurt him.
"What, d'you expect me to just let him go?" Erza snapped.
"No, it's just…" Jellal's eyes shifted around as he spoke. "There're a lot of eyes watching us here. Let's bring him to the Headmaster's office."
At once, Erza became conscious of her surroundings. Onlookers were pointing and whispering and Erza was reminded that she had a reputation to maintain. Lucy, on the other hand, had had enough and she bolted for the exit like a flash of lightning.
"Lucy–!" Juvia shouted after her.
"Let her go," Erza said when Juvia made to give chase. Erza got up and dragged Natsu to his feet along with her.
"Will she be alright?" Juvia asked no one in particular. "Should Juvia call Loke?" She wore a worried expression and clutched her cell phone in her hand.
Loke? Natsu's curiosity was piqued. Who's Loke?
"Hmm…" Erza thought for a moment and then said, "If she's not at her lecture then give him a call."
Juvia nodded.
"Who's Loke?" Natsu asked.
"That's none of your business!" Erza yelled at him irritably. Then her temper switched again and she spoke to Juvia kindly, "Can I leave the rest of Gray's tour to you?"
"Leave it to Juvia!" The blunette said reassuringly.
"Sorry about that, Gray," Erza said, truly apologetic.
"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm good." He was definitely happy to see Natsu in this plight.
"Why, you–!" Natsu made a lunge for Gray whose smirk provoked him, but Erza pulled him back by his white muffler. "Let go of me!" He cried.
"Shut up! I'm taking you to the Headmaster's office!"
"Alright, let's go," Jellal patted Natsu's shoulder in passing.
Erza pulled Natsu along by his scarf as though he was a dog on a leash and she and Jellal brought him to Headmaster Makarov's office.
"So, who's Loke?" Natsu asked for the fourth time throughout the whole journey there.
Neither Erza nor Jellal felt the need to answer him. Erza, especially, ignored him all the way as the three of them walked down the corridors. Her iron grip remained on Natsu's arm the whole time.
"Um," Natsu said. "You can let me go you know. I don't intend to run away."
"Good luck with that," Jellal said. "If there's one person you can't offend in Fairy Tail, that's my Erza."
Natsu gave up on attempts to free himself from Erza's inhumane strength and changed the topic. "The two of you are a couple, right? The Golden Couple of the student council or something? Why are you called that?" Natsu questioned, purely out of curiosity.
"…" There was an awkward pause but then Jellal finally said, "Yes, we're together." He didn't know how to reply Natsu's other question.
"So…" Natsu tried again, "Who's Loke?"
"Why do you even want to know?" Jellal finally got annoyed by Natsu's persistence and replied harshly.
That shut Natsu up for a minute or so. He gave it some thought before he continued, "Her boyfriend?"
He looked to Jellal for an answer, and then he looked to Erza, but both of them displayed no expression. It was difficult for Natsu to tell.
"We're here," Erza spoke for the first time since their journey from the Underwater World.
Jellal rapped on the door twice and opened it when a faint "Come in!" was heard through the door. The three of them entered and were greeted by an extremely short old man, "Hello kids."
Makarov Dreyar sat on his desk with papers strewn around him. He was an amiable and understanding headmaster who was close to all his students. Everybody called Headmaster Makarov "Master" for short.
"Good afternoon, Master," Erza said.
"Hey jii-chan, make her let me go," Natsu whined.
As though she had touched a red hot iron, Erza instantly withdrew her hand and exchanged looks of astonishment with Jellal.
"'jii-chan'?" Erza was taken aback.
Yes, Makarov was Natsu's grandfather, god-grandfather to be exact.
Regardless, Natsu's real father, Igneel Dragneel, was also a powerful man. Igneel was an energy tycoon who ran the FIRE Industries that accounted for almost half of the nation's power source. The company provided energy to countless buildings for various uses, ranging from heaters in homes to backup generators in hospitals.
Makarov gave a light chuckle from his seat on the desk. "Yes, what did Natsu do now?"
At that thought, Erza got all infuriated again. "He publicly humiliated and sexually harassed Lucy Heartfilia," Erza stated matter-of-factly and tried to maintain impartial with her words.
Makarov gave a huge sigh and said, "Natsu, what do you have to say about this?"
"I was just curious!"
"Wait, what exactly was it that he did?" Makarov asked.
"He groped her–! Her–!" Erza held a hand up to her own chest as though to demonstrate what Natsu had done but then she couldn't get the words out of her so she just went "argh!"
Jellal took over and reported expressionlessly. "He groped Lucy's breast at the lobby of the Underwater World, Master. I'm afraid Jude Heartfilia will not be too pleased to hear about this." Jellal made a logical appeal to Master.
"Hmm… Yes, that's right," Master took that into serious consideration. "What do you suggest his punishment be then?"
Erza found herself in a tight position. Of course, she felt that Natsu should be thrown off a building or run over by a car, but that was not something she thought she could openly express to Natsu's grandfather.
And so, Jellal handled it. "How about an apology, Master? And a restraining order? Or perhaps some community service? One of the garden sweepers has been getting backaches a lot recently and he needs some time off to see a doctor and get some bed rest."
Makarov thought about it and then said, "A restraining order is too harsh; an apology and some community service should suffice."
Natsu remained silent throughout the discussion of his punishment.
"Are you alright with this, Erza?" Makarov asked.
"100 hours of community service," Erza made the terms clear. "And if I catch him slacking off even for a minute, that'll be another 100 hours of community service." She was not going to let him off that easily.
"Very well," Makarov said. "As for the apology… Where is Lucy now? Why didn't she come with you?"
"She was too upset so she went home for the rest of the day," Erza said.
"Then the apology will have to wait until tomorrow I guess."
Natsu cleared his throat and got everybody's attention. "Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind apologizing with a text if you gave me her number."
"What?" Erza went. "How is that even considered a proper apology?"
"I'm not going to apologize to her face to face if that's what you want," he said rebelliously.
"Why, you…" Erza wanted to crush him again but Jellal put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"It's better for Lucy too, Erza. I don't think she wants to see his face anymore," Jellal said.
"Fine, give me your phone," she said to Natsu.
She reluctantly saved Lucy's number into his phone and threw it back to him. Then she headed for the door.
"Oh, Erza?" Makarov called her and she turned back. "Next time, if Natsu misbehaves again, feel free to discipline him."
Erza gave him a look that said she didn't quite understand.
"I'm saying," Makarov elaborated with a crafty smile. "Don't hold back. Sometimes he needs somebody to rough him up a little…"
"Jii-chan!" Natsu cried in horror.
"…His father doesn't have the time to do that you see."
Knowing that Master still respected her authority was enough for Erza. She gave a satisfied smile and left his office.
What she didn't realize, however, was that she had just helped Natsu pursue his ulterior motive.
Lucy kicked her shoes off as she entered her penthouse. Her emotions were in turmoil. She was still in partial shock that some guy had just done that to her. She trudged to the open kitchen and flung the fridge door open. Venting her anger with each action, she seized a bottle of cold mineral water, forcefully opened it and poured its contents down her throat.
Some of the water trickled down her neck and dampened her collar but she didn't care. The coolness of the liquid felt good and it effectively calmed her temper. When she had downed half the bottle, she left it uncapped on the island counter and went up to her room.
She threw her bag on the floor and then dived into her king-sized bed with the eight pillows. She spread her arms and legs out and lay motionless like a starfish. The seconds passed and she found her anger had subsided. Of course, she wasn't sure if it would stay that way if she saw Natsu again, but she would deal with that problem when it came. Right now, she just wanted to sleep.
Two hours later, she awoke as abruptly as if somebody had yelled in her ear.
What time is it? She wondered as she felt around for the alarm clock. She brought it before her eyes and saw that it was 2.10pm before setting it down on the bedside table again.
…Stupid jerk. …made me miss my lecture… She thought as she got up sluggishly.
She then got a towel from her drawers and went into the bathroom. She wanted to take a bath but decided on a quick shower instead for she suddenly felt like re-reading a book. She was in and out within ten minutes with the towel wrapped around her figure.
In her bedroom, she pulled on a loose white tank top and some pink cotton shorts. And then, from her shelf of favourites in the corner of her room, she retrieved the worn-out copy of The Great Gatsby and took it to bed.
The minutes went by and sometime later, there came a knock on Lucy's bedroom door. Being completely absorbed into the fictitious world of West Egg, Lucy didn't hear it. As such, she was startled when her door suddenly opened and the orange spiky-haired male made his entrance.
"How did you get in?" she half-shouted as she scrambled into a sitting position. "Wait, why are you here?"
Loke sighed. "Why aren't you answering your phone?"
"Because it's over there on silent mode," she pointed to her bag on the floor.
"… …" Loke was dumbfounded momentarily before he continued, "I heard about what happened; Juvia called me. She lent me her key card."
"Oh," she said. She wasn't too keen to talk about that matter so she went back to her book.
"Don't just 'oh' me!"
"What do you want me to say?" Lucy stared at Loke who now sat on her comfy oversized armchair.
He shrugged and leaned back. "The way Juvia described what happened, I thought you'd be in a worse state but you look better than I'd expected."
Crap, I completely forgot to report back to them, thought Lucy. She left her book face down on the bed and rummaged through her bag for her phone.
'17 missed calls, 10 new messages' displayed on her notifications. She touched the missed calls and scrolled down the list. Four were from Juvia, two from Erza, one from Jellal and the other ten from Loke.
"Sorry," Lucy mumbled. Then she composed a text saying 'I'm ok, guys. Don't worry about me.' and sent it to all her close friends, including Levy and Gajeel who weren't even there when it happened. She figured they would know about it soon if they didn't already.
While Lucy checked her phone, Loke went over to her bed and picked up The Great Gatsby even though he wasn't particularly crazy over books. He examined the tattered paperback cover and then the yellowing pages. He had always found Lucy's love for books fascinating.
Absentmindedly, he scanned the page and saw words like 'Daisy', 'desirable' and 'beautiful', and then, one sentence in particular popped out at him.
"…It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy– it increased her value in his eyes…"
"Do you feel like Daisy sometimes?" That question slipped out of Loke's mouth before he knew it.
"What?" Lucy wasn't sure she heard him right.
Loke raised the book in response.
"Daisy was a flapper you know," Lucy replied. "A shallow, self-absorbed, loose woman."
"I didn't mean–"
"I'm just kidding," Lucy broke into a smile and Loke relaxed. "I know what you meant."
She settled down on her bed again and thought for a while before giving her answer. "Mmm… Yeah, I s'pose," she said. "To a certain extent I do, sometimes. Like when guys want my money and not me… when guys look at my chest instead of at me…" Her eyes gleamed with melancholy as she recalled past relationships.
"…C'mon," Loke said. "Let's go get some frozen yoghurt, my treat." His eyes twinkled with promise.
Lucy gave a comforted smile, feeling contented for a friend like Loke. He always knew how to make her feel better.
Just then, Loke's phone rang. "One second," Loke said as he fished his phone from his pocket.
"Hello, my sweet lamb~!" He said into his phone.
Lucy shook her head disapprovingly at his honeyed greeting.
"Calm down, baby," Loke said. Then his tone changed to one of alarm and Lucy had never seen Loke so worked up. "What!?… …That's–!… …Wait for me, I'll be right there. Wait there, do you hear me?!"
Loke hung up and turned to Lucy. "Lucy, I–"
Lucy held up a hand. "Say no more, I understand."
"Sorry! I'll make it up to you, I promise!" With that, Loke dashed out of her room and Lucy went back to The Great Gatsby.
The next day, Lucy went back to school as usual and continued with her mundane routine. First thing in the morning she had a lecture on art history, and then she had theatre for second period. Now she was having literature lesson in the classroom. The teacher went on and on about the elements of To Kill a Mockingbird and Lucy didn't like how he was analysing it to death.
Bored, she checked her mobile phone and found she had one new message:
Hey princess, when are you free today?
She glanced at the top of her screen, expecting to see 'Loke' as the sender's name because he was the only one who called her princess but she was surprised to find an unknown number.
She expected Loke would contact her today after running off like that yesterday. When did he change his number? She thought as she re-read the text.
She didn't think much of it and typed a reply: Au Petit Salut at 12.
Her phone pinged with a reply in an instant:
Great. See you there.
Lucy got to the French restaurant at noon and chose to dine alfresco as a pleasant light breeze was in the air that day.
"Half a dozen Burgundy snails with tomato and garlic butter, and duck confit with cauliflower puree for my main," she said to the waiter.
"Would that be all, miss?"
"Yes, tha–"
"One Bavette steak, medium rare, with caramelized shallot confit and pommes frites," Natsu came out of nowhere and he unceremoniously sat himself down.
Lucy's jaw dropped and she was stunned by his abrupt appearance.
"Thanks. That'll be all," he quickly dismissed the waiter.
For a moment, all they did was stare at each other until Natsu finally broke the silence, "Well, are you still there?"
"That seat's taken!" She said.
"I know."
"How would you know? It's not like you–"
"Where're you rushing off to, princess?" Natsu's voice suddenly played over in her head and she understood: Loke didn't change his number. And he wasn't the only one who called her 'princess'.
"How the hell did you get my number?!" She glared at him, the hotness that occupied the seat directly across from her.
"Erza gave it to me."
"There's no way in hell she'd do that."
"But she did."
"She wouldn't."
"Suit yourself," Natsu gave a nonchalant shrug.
"Well? What do you want?" Lucy said curtly.
"A date," he stated seriously.
"What–?" Lucy's voice went a pitch higher.
"Just kidding!" Natsu flashed a mischievous smile. "I'm here to apologize for yesterday."
"Hmph, you're probably only apologizing because Erza told you to."
"Hey, how'd you know?" Natsu said and then he changed his tone again, "No, seriously, I'm here to ask you out."
"Then you should give up now. I'll never go out with you," Lucy said as she folded her arms.
"Aww, c'mon, don't be so cold," Natsu said.
"Leave me alone."
"What's wrong with going out with me?"
She gave him a quick onceover and thought: Windswept hair, mystical dark eyes, sculpted features, clothes fitted his hot body perfectly– what's with the scarf though– Too bad he's a total douche.
"Stop bothering me," she said.
"I will if you meet me on Friday night."
"No!" Lucy replied. "And go sit somewhere else!"
"Why should I? I like it here."
"Fine," said Lucy. "Then I'll move." She upped and went to another one of the outdoor tables.
Natsu watched her switch tables, his words stuck in his throat. Then he sighed and got up.
When he settled down opposite Lucy again, she yelled, "What do you want?!"
"Like I said, I want a date!" He shouted back.
"Argh–!" She was exasperated when she stood up again. As she went over to another one of the empty open-air tables, Natsu wasted no time in following suit. People around were beginning to whisper and stare.
What's going on?
What are they doing?
Some kind of game?
"Stop stalking me!" Lucy shouted as she fled indoors this time.
Natsu slowly walked over and planted himself at her table again. "Look, will you just go out with me? Just once! And I'll leave you alone after that! Please?"
His black eyes were imploring and Lucy found words of rejection difficult to say. Eventually, she gave in, "Alright, fine. Friday night. Can you leave me alone now?"
"Excuse me, miss," At that point, the waiter came over. "The food is ready to be served, would you like me to put it down here or…?"
Lucy turned a slight pink upon realizing she had just table-hopped three times in a reputable French restaurant. "Yes, please," she said in a flurry. "Oh wait–" She wanted to correct her statement when she realized she had just given Natsu a reason to stay but it was too late. The waiter had already placed the food down and left.
"Woohoo–!" Natsu whooped at the sight of food. "Bon appetit!" He stuffed a few fries into his mouth and then picked up his cutlery and began sawing his steak.
She considered telling him to leave but in the end gave up and tucked in as well. She ate her meal in silence, meticulously extracting her snails from their shells and then immaculately cutting her duck leg.
When she had finished, she called for the bill without checking to see whether Natsu was done. But obviously that raucous animal had finished. The waiter presented them with the tab and Lucy took out her wallet. However, before she could place her hundred dollar note atop the receipt, Natsu beat her to it.
"Thanks," Natsu said and the waiter left. Then he looked at Lucy and said, "Why would you ever pay for a guy?" He honestly seemed surprised and Lucy felt like she was beginning to see a different side of him.
But then, he said, "Hey, if Erza asks, can you tell her I bought you a meal as an apology?"
Nope, he's an ass after all. Just walk away, Lucy. Her mind told her and she got up and went for the door.
"Don't forget our date!" Natsu yelled after her. "7 o'clock, Friday night! I'll text you the venue!"
Lucy blushed at his volume that was so loud the entire restaurant could hear. She couldn't believe what she had gotten herself into.
When school ended on Friday, Natsu had promptly texted Lucy:
Meet me outside Kardia Cathedral at the Central Path. Don't be late or I'll show up at your doorstep!
Lucy had seriously considered standing him up, she really did. But she was more afraid of what he would do given his persistence (as demonstrated that Tuesday at the Au Petit Salut). As a result, she ended up staring at three different outfits laid out on her bed, trying to decide what to wear.
She didn't know where Natsu would be taking her so she didn't know what occasion to dress for. She looked from the maroon evening gown to the semi-formal minidress to the casual camisole and miniskirt. It was almost 6:50pm but she still couldn't make up her mind.
At 6:55pm, she went back to her wardrobe and pulled out the first thing that caught her eye. Then she looked in the mirror and decided the outfit was just wrong. By the time she left her house, it was 7:05pm. She had on a black bustier with a Heart Kreuz design in white and a pleated miniskirt, which she realized was salmon pink only after she left her house. In her hurry, she had left her hair down too and it fell down around her shoulders.
When she got to the meeting place, Natsu was already there. Her breath hitched when she first saw him. He wore his signature white muffler, a sleeveless black open vest that showed off his toned abs and greyish pants with a black waistcoat. Nobody in their right mind would wear something like that, but then again, nobody else could pull off that look.
"If you'd made me wait another minute, I would have asked jii-chan for your address!" He said in greeting.
"Your grandfather?" Lucy just said.
"God-grandfather," he corrected her and with a huge beam, said, "Headmaster Makarov."
"…no wonder you got off with community service."
"That's not true!" Natsu retorted.
But Lucy simply said, "Whatever, where're we going?"
"Come with me!" He took her hand and led her into the dark alleys beside the cathedral.
Lucy's heart raced with anticipation and she was filled with excitement she hadn't felt in a while. For some reason, she didn't feel fearful even though the guy she was with was the very same guy who had molested her that Monday. She didn't know when or why but she trusted him; she felt safe when he was around.
Natsu stopped when they came to a rustic wooden door. The door was dimly lit by a single small bulb and a carelessly-made wooden sign hung above it. The words 'The Tavern' were carved into the sign. The clink of mugs and the hearty sounds of celebration could be heard through the thin door.
"Natsu, is this a bar?" Lucy asked.
"See for yourself," he said and he pushed the door open.
The hinges of the door squeaked and they revealed a new world to Lucy. It was a bar like she had guessed, but it was a different type of bar from the kind she knew. It was rundown and bare, yet at the same time it felt familiar and homely. If Lucy had to describe it in one word, she would say it was unpretentious.
"YOOO, NATSU!" A middle-aged guy with slicked back dark blue hair and moustache roared with a raised mug.
"Hey, Macao!" Natsu warmly returned the greeting.
"MAN! You finally showed up!" An extremely buff guy with white hair came over and gave Natsu a huge slap on the back.
"What's up, Elfman!" Natsu replied but did not stay to chat.
He brought Lucy over to the bar instead.
"Mira!" He called and a white-haired beauty emerged from the back kitchen.
"Yes?" Her clear voice rang. "Oh my, Natsu!"
"Yea, can I get a fire whisky please?" He said. "And a… what would you like?" He turned to Lucy.
"OHMYGOSH, NATSU BROUGHT A GIRL!" Mirajane exclaimed at the top of her lungs and Lucy blushed.
"WHAT? A girl?!" Somebody at the other end of the bar yelled.
"Who–? Where?!" A girl's voice shouted.
"Alright, everybody, don't strain your necks," Natsu raised his voice. Then he went to the nearest table, dragging Lucy behind him. He made her stand on it with him and then he shouted, "Everybody! This is Lucy Heartfilia!"
"OHHHH!" The crowd went.
Then Natsu jumped off the table and helped Lucy down as well. The blonde was lost for words, overwhelmed by everyone's attention.
Another middle-aged man, with reddish-brown hair and stubble, sitting a few tables away shouted, "This calls for a celebration! Mira! Another round of beer for everyone, on the house!"
"WOOOOOOOOO!" The people cheered. Some even shouted, "Thanks, Lucy!"
"Geez, old man, if you keep giving away free beer all the time this place will close down," another girl nearby said. She looked like she was in her teens but she sat on the table semi-inebriated and hugged an entire barrel with her legs. She downed beer in the most uncouth manner a girl could possibly drink in.
Mira had already begun handing out mugsful of beer. As she swung by their table she said, "It's alright. Gildarts has always kept The Tavern running somehow."
"See?" Gildarts said to the barrel-hugger. "Don't underestimate your dad!"
"Geh, you're so noisy," she replied. "Let me drink in peace!" She lifted her barrel and tipped it over after she said that.
Lucy looked on in profound fascination. There was not a hint of pretence in their interactions and they all freely spoke their minds. Everybody in this room was a close friend. Every night was a night of celebration.
"Here, whisky on the rocks," Mirajane came over and handed Natsu a glass. Then to Lucy's surprise, Mirajane handed her one too. "I got you a cosmopolitan, Lucy!"
Mirajane's sweet smile and pure voice warmed Lucy's heart. It was like she had known Mira for forever.
"Thank you, Mira," she accepted the glass from Mirajane.
The white-haired beauty then went back to handing out free beers.
"She totally thinks you're my girlfriend right now," Natsu took a sip of his whisky and said.
"Huh?!" Lucy shrieked.
"Don't get mad. Mira just likes to assume," he quickly followed up.
"Do I get angry that easily?" She pouted.
"Yeah… kinda," he said. "You're always mad when I see you."
"That's because you do things that drive me up the wall."
"Heh, yeah," he broke into a sunny smile that arrested Lucy's heart. "You mostly look angry or bored. That's why I decided to bring you here!"
Lucy was speechless. She hadn't expected Natsu to be so attentive to her emotions.
"OI NATSU!" Suddenly the wooden door flung open and a half-naked Gray Fullbuster burst in.
"HAH?!" He downed the rest of his glass in one gulp.
"FIGHT ME!" The black-haired guy yelled.
Natsu flung the empty glass behind his shoulder and the next thing Lucy knew, he was across the room in a brawl with Gray.
"S-Shouldn't someone stop them…?" Lucy's voice was but a whisper.
"Hehe! It's okay!" Mira came over. "They do this all the time!"
"I-I see…"
For the rest of the night, Lucy partied to her heart's content and had the time of her life. She was happy that Natsu brought her here. She made so many new friends; it was more than she had accumulated in her 17 years of existence.
But most of all, she was glad that, here in this unassuming tavern, she uncovered a new side of Natsu.
The inspiration came but it's a complete rush job! It's 2am over here right now and I have school tomorrow so I need to sleep! Will edit any errors tmr, good night~!
* 5 AUG UPDATE: I've edited the chapter (:
Actually I've got a lot of ideas that I wanna turn into chapters but… really have no time to do that. Also I didn't expect to get such positive feedback from the first chapter so… thanks! :D
**UPDATE 1 SEP: This story will be on hiatus until December.
***UPDATE 29 JUN: I've just read the latest review. It was by a guest so I can't reply directly, but I thought maybe some people have had the same thoughts as that person so I'd like to say something here. This might come off as me being defensive but it is really not just that.
So the issue that was brought up is that the story progressed too fast, like which girl will feel flustered and safe around some guy who just molested her the day before? (something along those lines)
Here's what I have to say: First of all, I'd like to clarify that Lucy does not like Natsu yet at this point in the story. She only agreed to go out with him (just this once) because he was pestering her and she wanted to get rid of him that day. (Plus she probably doesn't want to see him)
Secondly, about the part where Natsu grabbed Lucy, led her into the dark alleys and she feels safe with him, how should I explain why I wrote that... Well, it's definitely not because she feels safe with a molester. It's more like... Fairy Tail episode 1 all over again minus the part where Natsu saves her from something. Lucy doesn't know Natsu all that well yet, but he just has that warm presence (when his hand is not on her boob) and she didn't feel fearful. Maybe saying that 'she trusted him' was too much, that would be an error on my part so I'll just have to be even more precise with my writing in the future. So yeah, I don't know about you but I don't think it's too far fetched seeing as it's NaLu.
Last but not least, I think I should share why I decided to have this chapter after the first one. I wrote this chapter because I wanted to show that there was another side to Natsu. Maybe it was not obvious enough, but him bringing her out to The Tavern was his real apology to her. He was showing her to his favourite place. He was showing a girl his favourite place – does that not mean anything? (Hmm maybe I should write another one in Natsu's POV) And note, he asked her out when it was Tuesday while the date was on Friday night. So I thought that he'd have enough time to roughly guess what kind of lackadaisical, boring, normal lifestyle she had and so he just wanted to bring her out to have some fun! Also, nothing really happened between them even though they went out together once so I really thought it was a very safe date...
That's about it. If I think of something else I'll add it somewhere. Hope that clears the air up a little and that more might see where I'm coming from when I wrote this. Thank you for your honest reviews & thanks for reading!