Chapter 4

Lucy was on her way to the mall for her shopping date with Levy and Erza when she received a call from Erza.

"Lucy, is it alright for Jellal to join us?'

"Of course it is! See you there!"

"Wait a minute... didn't you only mention Jellal..?"

"Hey Lucy!" The 4 guys greeted in unison.

Turns out, Natsu, Gray and Loke decided to tag along with Jellal to join the girls.

"Sorry for being so impromptu, we were bored." Loke ruffled his hair.

"It's fine! But thank god you didn't bring Gajeel along." Levy heaved a sigh of relief.

"He's too busy preparing for his date by himself yea?" Gray smirked and nudged Levy with his elbow.

"Well guys, we have an entire day to help Levy choose a dress for her date so let's go!" Erza clapped her hands.

"Yes prez." Jellal teased Erza.

The group then started walking around the mall, checking out any shop that would catch their eye.

"Gosh Erza, how am I supposed to complain about boys when you brought so many with you?" Lucy placed her hand on her forehead.

"It may not be a bad thing to have them with us for now." Erza smiled.

Lucy looked over to the boys and they were playing dirty pranks on strangers. "Not a bad thing huh..."

"Guys! Let's go to 5ever21!" Levy hopped in excitement and dragged Lucy in.

"It's so boring to shop with girls." Gray lay down on the floor.

"I'm so hungry..." Natsu's stomach growled.

"You guys wanted to come along so no complaints!" Erza ordered.

"Yes ma'am..."

2 hours had passed and Levy still had problems choosing her dress. And they were still in the same shop.

"Should I get the blue or red one? But the white one is nice too!"

"To help you out a little, Gajeel's favorite colour is black." Jellal said.

"I could help you choose something!" Loke gave a thumbs up.

"Loke and Jellal are the only ones being useful here, what did the 2 of you come along for?!" Erza scolded Gray and Natsu who were on their phones playing some weird game.

"HAHA GRAY YOU LOST!"

"SHUT UP! YOU CHEATED!"

Erza immediately punched the both of them and sent them flying. "STOP ACTING LIKE SMALL CHILDREN!"

Lucy just stared at the 3 of them fighting in the middle of the shop, speechless. "I would say that for you as well Erza..."

Another hour passed and Levy was almost done. Lucy was exhausted. Even thought her day had only just started, it seemed like forever.

"Hey Luce! I think this would look really good on you!"

Lucy turned around only to see Natsu holding on to a black lace bra with a matching underwear set.

"WHAT THE HELL YOU PERVERT?!" Lucy kicked Natsu in the face and he slid all the way to the opposite side of the shop.

"What was that for?!" Natsu got up and shouted.

"Ignore him, Lucy. He's just being the creep that he is." Gray commented.

"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, YOU STRIPPER!" Natsu pointed at him angrily.

Gray looked down and realized that his clothes had disappeared, leaving him stark naked.

"Oh shit!"

With that, Natsu and Gray started fighting again.

"My first impression of him is getting destroyed completely. Can't he just have 1 good point for me to fantasize about?" Lucy sighed.

"Who are you talking about, Lucy?" Loke asked.

Lucy didn't realise that Loke was behind her and she turned around in shock.

"N-Nobody!"

"Lu-chan! How do I look?" Levy interrupted their conversation just in time, which Lucy was pretty grateful for.

"Wow, Levy! You look great!" Levy was wearing a black vintage-looking dress which had a sweetheart hemline and stopped in the middle of her thighs.

"You should try this on!" Levy handed Lucy a dress and pushed her into the changing room before she could say anything.

About 10 minutes passed and Lucy came out from the changing room looking fabulous. She had on a halter dress which was in a navy blue color and it hugged her body pretty tightly, accentuating her already prominent curves. It stopped right above her knees with a slit by the side.

"Woah Luce! You look great!" Natsu said with a thumbs up.

Lucy blushed and said, "R-Really?"

"Yes you look pretty." Loke smiled, making Lucy blush even more.

"I finally got my dress after 3 hours!" Levy exclaimed.

"3 hours is way too long, how do girls even survive?!" Gray asked.

"Don't complain! You wanted to come along!"

"Natsu stop flirting with the cashier let's go!" Erza grabbed Natsu by the collar and dragged him away from the shop counter.

Lucy saw Natsu's actions and she had a slightly annoyed look on her face. Loke noticed.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Loke asked.

"N-Nothing." Lucy answered and she smiled slightly.

"Go on with the rest first, I have somewhere I need to go!" Loke said.

"Hey-" Before Lucy could say anything, Loke already ran off.

Lucy didn't think much about it and she just proceeded with the rest of the group to a pizza restaurant.

"I'm getting Hawaiian pizza." Gray said as he picked up the menu.

"I want the vegetarian one!"

"The one with the meatballs is good."

"How about salami?"

"Hold up, how are we going to finish so many pizzas in the first place?" Jellal broke their conversations.

"We can always give flamebrain the leftovers." Gray smirked.

"SHUT UP ICEBOY I AIN'T NO GARBAGE BIN!" Natsu shouted.

"WELL YOU'RE ALWAYS THE ONE STEALING MY FOOD!"

"CAN IT BOYS!" Erza scolded them as she pulled their heads apart and slammed them against the walls as the other customers stared at them.

"Well they're making a ruckus like always."

Loke then came running to the pizza restaurant with something in his hand.

"I'm back!"

"Loke, what did you buy?" Erza asked.

Loke chuckled then turned to Lucy, "Here Lucy, for you!"

Loke handed the item over to Lucy, leaving her in shock. It was a snowman softtoy that somehow really resembled Lucy's dog, Plue.

"Why did you-"

"I remember you used to always want one of these soft toys back in middle school but you didn't have enough pocket money." Loke scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"What made you wanna get it?" Lucy asked.

"I guess it just popped up in my head all of a sudden." Or so he said.

"You didn't have to, Loke. Thank you."

"They lllllllllllllike each other." Levy rolled her tongue and teased them.

"W-What?! No!" Lucy's face turned really red.

Well Loke didn't deny anything nor confirm anything, he just laughed it off.

"Now then! Let's order our pizzas!"

The group then went on to shop at many more stores, playing at the arcade, watching a movie and they completely lost track of time. They didn't realize that time went by so quickly. It was already 10pm and the mall was about to close. They then said goodbye to one another, parting ways to go home.

"It was too long of a day." Lucy said to herself, apparently exhausted.

She walked slowly down the streets of Magnolia as her legs were aching from the shopping that she had been doing all day. That brought her mind to the soft toy that Loke bought for her. She took it out of the many shopping bags that she was holding and took a look at it.

I can't believe he remembers after so long.

She smiled.

She heard footsteps behind her and it broke her out of her thoughts. She quickly turned around and eyed the streets suspiciously. But there was no one there.

It's probably just Natsu again.

She decided to brush it off and continue making her way home when she heard footsteps behind her again. And they were getting faster, as if someone was chasing her.

What is he thinking?! Trying to scare the crap out of me? What the hell does he want?

It was 10.30pm and there was no one around Lucy, only dark and empty streets which screamed creepiness. She was started to get really scared and conscious about her surroundings.

Lucy turned around and said, "Look Natsu, just stop this isn't funny-"

Before she could get a full view of who was behind her, someone forcefully grabbed her arms and covered her mouth really tightly. She almost stopped breathing from shock and she dropped all of her bags. The person lifted her up and dragged her into a dark alley. She struggled and tried to scream but she couldn't. She was so scared to the point that her voice wouldn't even come out of her throat.

Lucy could feel herself get thrown onto the ground. "W-Who a-are you?"

"You don't need to know who we are, girl."

There were 2 men standing before her, dressed in black and their faces covered with masks. Lucy couldn't recognize their voices either.

The stalkers on the news.

Lucy's eyes widened. She did not think that she would end up as one of the victims. She got up onto her feet and tried to escape.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

One of the men grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall, causing her to knock her head pretty hard which they laughed sadistically at. She could feel her vision getting blurry and her knees weak. They pinned her against the wall and started unbuttoning her shirt. Lucy tried to struggle out of their grasp but her arms were losing all of their strength and she felt like she was going to pass out any moment.

I don't want this. Someone save me...

Before she knew it, her whole world went black.

"Lucy! Lucy! Hey Lucy wake up!"

Lucy could hear someone calling her. A familiar voice. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying on a bench with a salmon-haired boy infront of her.

"Natsu?"

"Lucy thank god! You're alive!"

"Idiot of course I'm alive-"

She suddenly recalled what had just happened to her. The 2 sadistic stalkers. Getting dragged to the dark alley and getting violated like that.

"Don't worry. They didn't do anything to you." Natsu's voice full of assurance.

Lucy looked into Natsu's eyes and got absorbed into his serious expression. "R-Really? But they-"

"I kicked their asses in the nick of time. You're fine, Luce. I promise." Natsu placed his hands on Lucy's shoulders, giving her more security.

Lucy could feel tears forming in her eyes. With that, she broke down and immediately wrapped her arms around Natsu waist.

"Natsu, I was so scared! I thought they..." Lucy continued sobbing into Natsu's shirt as he proceeded to embrace her into a warm, tight hug.

He knew this was what she needed the most right now.

"It's alright Luce. I'm here." He comforted her.

They stayed that way for about 5 minutes before Lucy broke the hug. "I'm sorry."

"No, I should be sorry. If I got here earlier, they wouldn't even have gotten the chance to hurt you." Natsu said as he looked at all the bruises on her arms and legs.

Lucy sniffed and wiped away her tears. "Thank you, Natsu. For saving me."

Natsu gave her a soft smile and patted her head. "I'm sending you home alright?"

Lucy just nodded and stood up with Natsu helping her.

On their way back to Lucy's apartment, she didn't say a word, neither did Natsu. He knew she was vulnerable right now. He occasionally gave her little stares, seemingly checking on her. Lucy noticed, but she was too traumatized and tired to care, wishing that all that didn't actually happen.

They finally reached the front door of her apartment after what seemed like forever.

"Well, I'm home."

"You sure you'll be fine by yourself?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you, Natsu." Lucy gave the sweetest smile to her savior.

"Alright then. By the way, your bags." Natsu held up all of Lucy's shopping bags.

Lucy didn't even noticed that Natsu was holding onto them all this while. Natsu handed the bags to her and said, "If you ever need some company, just give me a call. I'll be sure to come rushing over!"

He took a pen out of his pocket and wrote down his number onto Lucy's arm, making her giggle. "I sure will."

They waved each other goodbye and Lucy proceeded into her apartment. Once she did, she dropped onto the floor in exhaustion.

What a day.

After her bath, she realized that she had forgotten something. Lucy quickly took a look at her arm and heaved a big sigh of relief when she noticed that Natsu's phone number didn't get washed away in the shower. She saved his number in her phone and texted him.

"Thank you once again!"

"No biggie! Please don't get nightmares!"

It made her smile.