First off, I can't thank all of you enough for the views. I had this story on here not 20 minutes before I got my first favorite and follower. Here's to you, Nalu1411! To my first reviewer, Ikrani, thank you very much for you thoughtful crticism. Although, I do know how italics work, it is a conscious decision I made to have my dialogue in Italics. So going forward, I will do as you suggested and not do that. Saves me time on formatting anyway. And the fact that the only thing you could comment on was that my dialogue was italicized? I will take that as a compliment, so from the bottom of my heart, I wish a sincere thanks to you! I can only hope to get better in my writing as time goes on. Im still working on bringing my other works from Wattpad over here. Some don't follow the guidelines, (like referencing actual people or using song lyrics) so if I can modify it at all, I will but if it's too much a part of the story, then I will just have to leave it as is and hope you will follow me over there. Enjoy Chapter 7, everyone!

Lucy and Natsu walked to the box office hand in hand, just in time for the last matinee.

"Two for Dragon Priestess, please." He requested, not looking at the attendant, preoccupied with getting his money out of his wallet as to pay for the tickets. He looked up out of curiosity at the response of silence. The slightly younger male with dark shaggy hair sitting behind the plexiglass window seemed frozen with eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, but he wasn't looking at Natsu. Lucy fidgeted uncomfortably at the young man's gaze.

"Wow…" he breathed. "Wendy wasn't kidding when she said you were really pretty." The boy said with a blush.

"Yeah, and your staring is making her uncomfortable. Keep your peepers to my sister only." Natsu scolded him. The boy rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Heh, heh. Sorry, Natsu! I didn't mean to. Here's your tickets!" he said hastily.

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu waved him off. "You're lucky my sister's into you, or we would have had some real problems." Lucy chuckled at the boy's face of incredulation at the nugget of information Natsu just dropped him. They began walking to the concessions counter.

"So, Romeo?"

"Romeo."

"Does he really not know she's into him?"

"Nope. The poor bastard doesn't know what he's getting himself into."

"You wouldn't have said shit to him, you big softie."

Yeah, well don't go telling everybody. I've still got the tough older brother image to uphold." He replied, puffing out his chest and pounding his fist against it.

"Settle down, He-Man. What do you want?" she giggled, gesturing at the menu behind the counter.

"You know who He-Man is?" the cashier behind the counter asked in awe. He was about their age although much taller and heavy set. He had shoulder length black hair with a Navajo inspired head band keeping his locks out of his chubby face.

"Oh! Um, yeah, a bit." Lucy answered politely. The lad then began to grill the blonde in all matters involving comics. She tried several times to nicely end the conversation but unfortunately the smitten cashier was not picking up the hints.

"Okay! I'll take the Red Hots, the Starbursts, a large bucket of popcorn with layered butter, and two large cokes." Natsu interrupted, saving his crush from an even longer interrogation. "That okay with you, Lucy?"

"That sounds great, actually." She sighed gratefully.

"Oh! Right, sorry! Right away, sir!" he stammered before filling their orders. Natsu leaned his elbow on the counter and rested his cheek on his knuckles. A wide grin was making its way across his face.

"What?" Lucy asked, raising a brow in confusion at the face he was making. Natsu wiggled his own before leaning close and whispering in her ear.

"Silence is golden but duct tape is silver."

"Oh, my God! Shut up!" she pushed his face away before he burst out laughing. At this point, the cashier had returned with their snacks and drinks. Lucy quickly slid some money over before Natsu could react and told the cashier to keep the change.

"Thanks!" they called as they wade their way to the ticket attendant. She ripped their stubs and told them in which theatre their movie was playing. Entering the room and looking at the seats, Lucy spoke first.

"Okay, next question that could make or break us: where do we sit?" Natsu thought carefully and playfully hummed before responding confidently.

"Definitely anywhere from the middle to the back. We're the only ones here so we should be good in the middle."

"Good answer." Lucy said as she led them up the stairs and picked a row a few back from dead center. They sat in the middle of the row and situated themselves. Drinks went into the outside cupholders and Natsu lifted the center arm rest. They made it no secret that they were attracted to each other, so he wasn't being presumptuous. Hell, if all she wanted to do was cuddle, then he'd be happy. As if on cue, once he leaned back in his seat, popcorn bucket in his lap, Lucy lifted his arm, snuggled herself deep into his side and placed it over his shoulder. Natsu relaxed further and breathed a sigh of contentment.

The movie began and Natsu had to admit it was pretty good. The classic tale of an ancient war between divided enemies. Magic, swords, mythical creatures and fighting galore. An old staff, said to contain the souls and power of dragons, guarded by a Celestial Priestess, chosen for her purity. (Her pure heart, fellow dirty-minded freaks ;P) His favorite character was a young magician who had complete control of the element of fire, including summoning it from any part of his body at will. Although he wasn't a villain, his mission was to retrieve the staff to keep it out of enemy hands. After being caught by the priestess, he was entranced by her. He began to return to her tower every day, learning more about the staff and her. He came to realize two things. One: The staff needed to be destroyed or remain neutral. It was far too powerful to be in any one monarch's jurisdiction, regardless of the reason. Two: he had fallen desperately in love with the sorceress of the stars.

Natsu looked down at the blonde under his arm and came to a conclusion. After just a few days, he was in love with his own starry maiden. Lucy felt his stare and turned her head back to look up at him. His face only centimeters from hers, she could feel his breath on her skin and her heart began to race. The movement of his tongue moistening his lips drew her eyes to his mouth before meeting his olive orbs once again. Just as the two leads on screen leaned into each other to meet for their first kiss, Lucy tilted her chin up just a bit to give Natsu the green light. He pressed his lips against hers, quickly inhaling through his nose at how soft and warm her lips were. Their mouths contracted and relaxed against each other, their breathing rapidly picking up pace as time went on. Lucy sat up to give them a better angle and his arm fell from around her shoulder to her waist, wrapping around her to bring her closer to him. Her palm splayed flat against his tight chest, sliding up slowly until she had a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him impossibly closer still.

Their breathing was almost hyperventilating at this point. Tongues had now long since been introduced to each other and they had lost count how many battles for dominance they had engaged in. Small whimpers and quiet groans were exchanged. Natsu's hands had drifted from her waist to her hips, when his fingers brushed against the bit of skin that was exposed between the hem of her shirt and the waistband of her skirt. His warm fingers against her body gave her goosebumps. She finally pulled away when his entire hand made contact with her skin. They sat there staring at each other, chests heaving, trying to regain normal oxygen levels. When they looked back at the screen, the credits had started rolling and the lights had turned on.

"I, uh," he panted. "guess we'll have to come back and watch it again, to know how it ends."

"I'd like that." She sighed heavily, finally getting proper function in her lungs. He pecked her lips one more time before standing and helping her do the same. They collected their trash and disposed of it in the waste bins on their way out of the cinema.

"So, I know it's not exactly new but how about 8Island for dinner? We'll probably run into some of the others you haven't met yet but they always have good food."

"That sounds great, actually. I am a big fan of simple. I've been wanting to try the Baked Ziti." She replied. They walked to his Jeep, never letting go of the other's hand, and drove the short distance up the road to the mall in order to get to the restaurant.

"Natsu! Lucy! How nice to see you both! I didn't know the boys were meeting tonight, my boy. And Lucy, I didn't miss an order from you, did I?" he greeted them and asked, flipping through his notepad.

"No, no, Mr. Yajima. Natsu and I are here together." She giggled as she hugged Natsu's arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. He beamed with pride and flexed just a bit as he bent his arm at the elbow.

"Ah! I see! Very well. Right this way, please!" he delighted as he picked up menus and cutlery. He led them to a back corner booth with low lighting giving the table a romantic vibe. "Your server will be with you shortly! Enjoy!" he waved as he retreated back to the kitchen. Lucy looked around, observing and taking in the decorum of the eatery.

"This is really nice." She smiled, turning back to Natsu, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. Her smile softened and she blushed, returning his affectionate gaze.

"I've had so much fun today, Natsu. Thank you for everything. I mean it."

"It was my pleasure, Lucy. Anything for you. I had a great time today, too. Even though I've lived here my whole life, doing these things with you, makes me feel like I'm doing them for the first time all over again." A comfortable silence fell over them as they stared into each other's eyes. He could melt in her chocolate depths and she felt as though she could look into his eyes and see a different shade of green each time.

"I really like you, Natsu."

"I really like you, too, Lucy." Slowly, they leaned into each other once more, eyelids fluttering shut, their lips almost touching when,

"OH MY GOD!" Lucy's eyes flew open and she reeled back as if electrocuted. Natsu sighed exasperatedly as he knew that voice. Taking his time to regain his position, he greeted their intruder.

"Hey, Levy." He responded, dragging out his hello. The short blue-haired waitress had dropped her pen and notepad in lieu of covering her mouth with her hands, her brown eyes blown open in shock.

"Oh my god. It's true?! You really are dating someone?" The bluenette looked absolutely giddy at the prospect.

"Levy, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Levy, our resident bookworm." Levy was about to burst from suppressing her squeals.

"HIII!" she practically shouted before throwing herself in the booth next to Lucy. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" the small waitress glomped the blonde in a hug.

"Uh, nice to meet you, too." She patted Levy on the head. "So, you like to read books, too?" she asked.

"Yes! I'm Gajeel's girlfriend by the way. Wow, you really are super cute. We have a book club at school. When it opens up next week, you should totally join!" Levy rambled. "Oh! I'm sorry. You guys are on a date. We'll definitely talk more though. What can I get you guys to drink?"

And so, the evening went on, the pair enjoying their meals, occasionally sharing bites here and there, although Lucy wasn't particularly fond of the intensity of the spice of Natsu's food and he stole a few bites of hers when she was distracted by talking with Levy when she came by. The two women hit it off fast and had made plans to get together as often as possible the upcoming week.

Natsu pulled into his own driveway and put it into park and cut the ignition, though neither made a move to exit the vehicle.

"Dinner was amazing. I really liked Levy."

"I could tell by the way you left your number on the back of the receipt for her. I'd be surprised if she hasn't texted you yet." He chuckled.

"Three times, actually." She giggled. A beat of silence passed between them again.

"I'm sorry if this comes across weird, but I need to tell you this. I've only just met you, but I feel like I've known you forever." He looked down as he fidgeted his fingers. "Sounds crazy, right?"

"It would," she paused. "If I didn't feel the same way." He looked up in surprise to see her smiling that sweet smile at him. "I've only been here a few weeks, and I already feel like you've been my best friend for years. Yes, there are some things we don't know about each other yet. But I don't think it'll take long to tell you everything. I just didn't want to spoil this perfect day."

"Well, we have each other's numbers and you live next door. If you ever need me, don't hesitate to call or come get me. There's no need to divulge all your secrets at once."

"That's just it. Just having you near me feels like there's a huge weight off my shoulders. I just don't wanna bring you down with me." This struck Natsu as odd and he immediately became concerned.

"Whatever's bothering you won't scare me away. I wanna help. Are you in danger? Trouble of some kind?" He placed his hands on her shoulders to make her look at him.

"No, nothing like that. I promise I'll tell you soon." She held up her pinky. Natsu grinned and hooked his pinky around hers. She finally seemed at ease.

"I do have one question that I kinda need an answer to." He asked evasively.

"What's up?"

"Lucy, will you be my girlfriend?" Lucy giggled in response and leaned forward to kiss him. "I thought you were going to ask me something really serious." She kissed him deeply before answering him. "Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend." She kissed him again, smiles on both their faces.

"I'd better get you inside." He murmured against her lips.

"But I like kissing you." She whined.

"Oh, trust me. There is nothing I would like more than to kiss you all night long but I have to help open the shop tomorrow morning." He chuckled as he kissed her again. This time when they pulled away, she hung her head and sighed.

"Fiiiinnnneee…" she groaned before backing away and opening her door. Natsu followed her actions and met her on the other side of the car. He followed her up the walkway to her front door where she reached into her purse and grabbed her keys.

"Thank you, again. For everything, Natsu."

"It was no problem. Seriously, Lucy."

"I haven't been this happy in a long time. It's part of that promise I just made in the car." She added, seeing the confused look on his face. He relaxed at that.

"No worries. You'll tell me when you're ready." He affirmed. He gave her a grin that showed off his sharp canines. Lucy quickly wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tight. Sensing she really needed this, he hugged her back even tighter. She felt safe in his arms. She felt like she belonged there. He murmured something into her hair, so soft she almost missed it before he kissed the top of her head and stepped back.

"Good night, Lucy. I got work this week so if I don't answer or text back right away, don't panic."

"Don't worry. I have anew friend to get to know that will take up most of my time. I won't be bored. But I'll miss you."

Miss you, too. Good night, Lucy."

"Good night, Natsu." He kept walking backwards as he watched her enter her house and wave to him once more before shutting and locking the door. She watched him through the small glass window next to the front door. Just like yesterday after the arcade, she giggled to herself as she saw him jumping around and throwing his fists into the air repeatedly, the biggest smile on his face. She turned around and leaned on her door, reflecting on what he had just told her. Did he mean it? Could he follow through? She trusted him, unwaveringly already. There was just something about him. She let a small smile of relief grace her face as a tear fell from her eye. Yes, she believed him and she was not going to run anymore. That night, Lucy got the best sleep she'd had in months, his words echoing in her dreams.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

By the way, the scene at the concessions counter actually happened on my and my husbands first date when we first started dating. Although, it was in a Spencer's not the movie theatre and it wasn't he-man that triggered the scenario it was marvel superhero pajamas. The guys was nice and was genuinely talking but was not picking up that I was trying to leave. Meanwhile, my husband is trying not to bust out laughing as apparently behind my head was a sticker that said, "Silence is golden, but Duct Tape is silver." To which he then had to interrupt the guy to say it was almost time for the movie we were actually going to see.