The Friends

It was early afternoon when Natsu wandered into his favourite bar, stretching his arms languidly above his head. Cana waved at him from her seat at the bar and turned to face him as he sat at a table not far away, immediately leaning back in the chair and bringing his feet up.

"Yo, Cana. Hey, Mira, can I get my job book and some whiskey, please?"

Natsu's job book was how he made money. Like he had told Lucy, he did odd jobs for cash, but it wasn't quite as haphazard as that might sound. People in his neighbourhood knew of him and were often contacting him, his friends, or the bar, to request his help. It helped that he was willing to do borderline illegal things. He'd once been asked to act as a drug runner, but he'd drawn the line there. The book was were the requests and contact details for clients were noted down.

Cana eyed her usual drinking buddy up and down. Something was different.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Natsu. Where 'ya been?"

"Huh? Eh." He shrugged. "Just around. Somethin' came up."

This elicited a raised eyebrow from the brunette. Natsu was impatient and energetic, probably with undiagnosed ADHD. He got bored easily (and you didn't want to see him bored, it normally ended in a brawl), so why wasn't he bouncing off the walls?

Mira returned from the back with the little notebook and a whole bottle of good Fire Whiskey. It seemed she's also noticed something was up and was hoping plying the boy with good alcohol would satisfy her curiousity. Cana grabbed both off of her and wandered over to join Natsu at his chosen table, handing both items over. He barely paid her any attention as he used his teeth to pull the cork out of the bottle and started flicking through the latest job offers. Cana waited until he was taking his third big swig of the drink before speaking again.

"Okay, spill the beans."

He froze, bottle still at his mouth, and raised an eyebrow at her.

"You are the most hyperactive person I know, so what the hell has you so calm?"

He brought the bottle down and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I have no idea what you're going on about."

Another voice interrupted.

"Hey, Flamebrain!"

"The hell do you want, Popsicle?"

"Fix the fucking fireplace like you said you would!"

"Fuck you. It'll get done today." He returned his attention to his book. He wanted something that paid well.

There was a pause and then.

"Hey, Natsu."

"What, Cana?"

"You didn't punch Ice Boy."

He didn't look up. "He should be grateful."

Cana's eyes widened as an idea suddenly came to her.

"Oh my god."

Natsu finally looked up again. "...What?"

"Holy shit! I know for a fact that there is only one thing on this planet that can get you this relaxed."

She cackled and leaned in conspiratorially as he growled out a warning to her.

"You fucking got laid last night, didn't you?"

"...No." He brought the bottle back to his mouth, but Cana was laughing again. His denial wasn't very convincing.

"Oh, this is brilliant. Tell me all! What did she look like? Was she hot? How'd you get her into bed?"

Natsu humphed at her, annoyed at her pestering.

"Eugh. If it will make you go away, then yes, I did. And yes, she was hot. Long, blonde hair, big brown eyes, huge boobs, little waist, gorgeous arse. I'm not telling you any more. Piss off."

Cana, giggling, snatched Natsu's bottle of whiskey out of his grip, gulping some down herself. She gasped as she remembered something else.

"Wait, blonde hair, gorgeous body, bit shorter than you?" He resumed glaring at her. "Ha! Oh god, Natsu. Either you have a type or this is ongoing. I saw you with a girl like that three weeks ago! It's the same one, isn't it?"

He'd stopped answering again. Cana knew it was because he was a terrible liar and didn't want to confirm her suspicions. Unfortunately for him, no answer was just as good proof that she was correct.

"Mira! It's a girl! He's got himself a girl!"

"I'm so glad no one else is here yet..." Natsu muttered to himself. He stuck his tongue out at Mira as she squealed in happiness. "Both of you, stay out of it. I'm leaving."

He was being childish and he knew it, but this wasn't anything new to his personality.

With another huff, he stood and headed out of the bar, pulling out his phone to contact someone about a job he'd decided on.

"Be back in a week."

"Be back for the party! I need my favourite drinking buddy!"

"A week, Levy! It's been a week!" Lucy wailed. "Why hasn't he contacted me?"

The petite, blue-haired girl patted her best friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. They were catching up over coffee at a cute cafe in the city and Lucy was updating her to the boy situation.

"I'm still amazed that this has been going on for four weeks before you tell me." She muttered before trying a nicer approach. "Don't worry, Lucy. Guys are stupid. And scaredy-cats. Gajeel was so hot and cold for ages because he was freaking out. Maybe your guy is doing the same."

Lucy huffed, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Gajeel had me giving him a kick up the arse to actually ask you out."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really. Did you think he just suddenly grew balls?"

Levy giggled. "That explains so much."

Another whine from the blonde brought her back on topic.

"Lucy. If he's not contacting or responding then there's no point worrying about it. You've tried. Either he'll man up and get back to you or he's not worth it. Let's get your mind off it. Gajeel is having a party tomorrow night. I'll be slightly late but you should come. It's at a bar he goes to a lot."

"Mm... Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am. I'm always right."

Lucy rolled her eyes at her.

"Okay, I'll go. It sounds fun. Maybe I'll make new friends."

"Good. I'll text you the location. Apparently Gajeel's cousin will be present. Maybe he's cute!"

"You mean the bane of his existence and apparent source of all chaos in the world? I don't think he could be cute enough to make up for that. Besides, if he's like Gajeel, he's not my type."

"You never know. Oh, and Juvia will be there with her new boyfriend."

Lucy groaned. "Everyone has a boyfriend except me!"

"Lucy! Enough!"

"Sorry..."

The Party

Lucy wandered into the pub, looking around wide eyed as she approached the bar. It was medium sized and looked old, but it was clean and welcoming. There was a small tussle going on over the other side and she could hear loud laughter of people who clearly had alcohol flowing through them. A pretty, white haired bartender waved a welcome at her.

"Hi there! Can I help you?"

Lucy smiled back. "Hello! Ah, I'm looking for Gajeel. Or Juvia. I'm a friend of there's and was invited to a party here?" She was slightly nervous that she was in the wrong place, but this fear was quickly quelled as the other woman beamed at her.

"Oh! Great! I'm Mira! It's nice to meet you!"

"Lucy. Nice to meet you too!"

"Um, they're all probably over there." She pointed towards the previously noted scuffle which had calmed down. "All the boys are a bit spirited so they bicker a lot. Don't fear, they won't hurt you!"

Lucy nodded and headed over to the group that seemed to mostly be boys. A flash of long blue hair helped her identify that Juvia was present, but she seemed distracted in her fussing over a dark haired boy who was missing his shirt. That must be her new boyfriend.

"Gihi. Yo, Blondie." The strange laugh and annoying nickname meant that Gajeel had noticed her. She waved.

"Hey Gajeel. Levy said she'd be another 15 minutes..." She trailed off as she rounded a table and saw a flash of pink. She stared at the boy lying on the ground, pinned by a brown-haired girl sitting on his chest, switching between having alcohol poured into his mouth and yelling obscenities at Juvia's boyfriend. Gajeel followed her gaze.

"That would be the cousin I complain about. Little shit disappeared for a week and Cana yelled something about getting him drunk and making him spill a secret. They're all idiots." He raised an eyebrow as Lucy didn't respond. Instead she took a step forward towards the messy scene.

"...Natsu?"

The pink haired boy froze in his attempts to wiggle free.

"...Oh, fuck."

He flipped, throwing Cana off him and jumping to his feet as he watched Lucy's expression morph into one of fury. He was in so much trouble.

"Natsu Dragneel. A week. I have heard not a peep from you in a whole week! And then I find you at a party pinned underneath another girl? You better start grovelling."

Natsu paled. This was even worse than he'd expected. He quickly weighed up his options. She was rightly pissed at him and wouldn't hesitate to leave if he wasn't careful... Or punch him. He was never going to live down what he was about to do, but he could deal with that if it meant he kept her. So, to the surprise of every one of his friends, Natsu dropped to his knees and started grovelling.

"Lucy! Goddess! Forgive me! Please. I freaked out. And I went out of town and found out my phone didn't work. And Cana trapped me, that was not my choice. Don't kill me!"

"Holy shit, Natsu. What did you do? Who the hell is this girl?"

Natsu flipped off his friend without looking his way, eyes locked on the terrifying woman in front of him who could crush him with a word. The next word he squeaked had his gathered friends drop their jaws.

"Babe?"

They never thought they'd hear the infamous Natsu, childish, fire-starter, trouble-maker, refer to a girl in a way that suggested actual feelings. Not to mention they'd never expected him to be scared enough to beg forgiveness.

She hadn't yet responded. Though she was clearly still angry, her facial expression was now more of an encouragement to keep up the stream of words.

"Please don't castrate me."

Lucy's brow finally quirked in slight amusement.

"As tempted as I am to mutilate you, the risk to my enjoyment is much too high."

She heard someone splutter and guffaw behind her as her implication hit. It took Natsu another minute to understand, but when he did his face broke into a wicked grin and he had to stifle a growl.

"I promise I'll make my absence up to you." He all but purred, suddenly unaware or uncaring of the presence of others, as he took a step towards her.

She snorted, still annoyed at him.

"You'd better."

"Woah, hold up. I have some questions."

"Damn it, Gajeel! This was interesting!"

It seemed Levy had shown up during the exchange and was now miffed that her show had been interrupted.

"Quiet, Shrimp."

She scowled at him but allowed him to continue.

"One, Shithead, how the fuck do you know Lucy, and 2, Lucy, how the fuck do you know my cousin?"

Natsu and Lucy stared at Gajeel in slight confusion. They briefly glanced and each other and shrugged before Natsu simply stated;

"Lucy's my girlfriend." He paused. "Well, I hope she still is... I fucked up."

Her hand reached out intertwining her fingers with his own.

"I am. I was working at the hospital a few weeks ago and he came in with an injury. That's how we met. You did fuck up, but we'll talk about it later."

"Are you kidding? Droopy-Eyes! Let me the hell out! Why am I in the icebox again?"

"More to the point, why the hell did I get included in punishment for your deeds?"

"You're in there because you nearly burnt down the bar again, Slanty-Eyes! Lucy, you're in there because you're supposed to keep him under control and you failed."

"What the fuck, Gray? That's such a stupid reason! I have zero control over this idiot!"

"Later!"

"...Damn it. I'm going to get freezer burn again."

"Hm… Well, I suppose we need to pass the time while we're in here…"

"Huh. I suddenly don't mind iceboxes after all. Thank you, Gray!"

AND IT'S DONE

This went for longer than I expected it to. And i'm pretty sure it dropped in quality after the first 2 chapters, so I apologise. That being said, it was a) based off a joke and b) was mostly a practice story, so it was sort of expected.

Thank you everyone for favouriting it and following it and writing reviews! I've loved your responses! Feel free to read my other stuff! I'm probably going back to The Guild but that's a lot darker than this drabble, so it may not be to everyone's taste.