So very sorry for such a long delay. It's partially my fault, but the main thing that happened was my computer updated and wouldn't let me open my saved documents anymore. I don't have the most… um …legal version of a certain typing program, so I guess this update caught it, and all my saved files were locked. I know naughty me.

So it kind of hurt my typing mojo for a while. But I have returned. I have sorted out my issue with the locked files and have been able to access them again. Yay me :)

So thank you kindly for your patience. I honestly didn't mean to be so slow.

And as usual, I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did I'd probably ruin it, turning it into a wimpy shoujo manga. Or perhaps Josei smut ;)

Chapter 7

Clubbing Part One

Mostly Natsu's view

Natsu was finally feeling more awake after eating the 19 dinners she had ordered for him. He was glad that she had stayed in the room like he asked. "I wonder what a club is like?" He thought to himself. "Is it like the guild? Can I pick a fight?" It'd been too long since his last fight, and he was feeling antsy. Picking on the hotel president didn't really cut it for him. "Where's a frozen punching bag when you need one?" He turned as he heard the bathroom door open, and he was very suddenly real happy that the ice princess was not here right now.

He swallowed loudly and blinked a few times. He couldn't really believe his eyes. His first thought was that a succubus had switched places with his Lucy, but he could smell his Lucy clearly. You'd think he'd be used to the way Lucy dressed, but for some reason the outfit she had on right now, blew the others away.

His eyes traveled over her body. Starting with her feet, she wore leather high heeled boots that went mid-calf. There were metal hearts on the heels, and small silver chains dangling on it. Up too impossibly tight black, leather pants. Were they painted on? From the straight front, they were bad enough, riding low on her hips, but the side view was much, much worse. The pants (if they can really be called that) had large, heart-shaped, holes that got progressively larger the higher up they went, along the entire length all the way to the waist. Each heart was outlined with silver studs. The top heart was at least his opened hand width wide. He could see no underwear line. Her flat, toned, abs was completely exposed.

Continuing to travel up, she had on a leather halter top, with a deep V neckline. In the middle, was a zipper. The top rested maybe an inch past her breasts. No real adornment, just the zipper. Finally reaching her face he saw smokey eyes and full, shiny, kissable, lips. Her hair was pulled up in a high, tight ponytail, with loose curls landing along her shoulders. She didn't say anything as she walked past him to go to her bag. His eyes couldn't help but follow. Then he noticed the back of her top was almost fully exposed with a large heart shaped hole, outlined with the same silver studs as the pants.

He watched her as she put on a silver studded belt and attached her whip and keys to it. "Am I a bad perv for wanting her to use that whip on me all of a sudden?" He silently thought.

"Are you going to get ready Natsu?" She asked, pulling him out of his staring. He realized he had been blatantly staring at her for a little while now and felt embarrassed by his actions. She wanted to go out in public, dressed like that? She looked like a dominatrix!

"Um…I am ready, aren't I?" He looked down, shirt check. Pants check. Shoes check. Scarf, yup. Why was she asking if it's obvious he was dressed?

"Natsu, you wore that all day. It's dirty."

"Well I don't have anything like what you're wearing." Nor would he be caught dead in skin tight leather.

She went over to his bag and started digging through it. What was she looking for? What was wrong with he was wearing. He casually took a small wiff of himself. I don't stink. It's not like I have a chance to actually sweat. It just instantly evaporates.

He watched as she put a finger to her chin in thought, and with a nod to her head she pulled out a key. "Open gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" She said.

"Punishment Princess?"

"No Virgo" she said with a sigh, "Would you happen to have anything Natsu could wear tonight? We're going dancing."

He was surprised by what she had said. "Whoa, who said anything about dancing? I thought we were going to a club? Um, one two three four, one two three four", re-imagining the dance steps Lucy had previously taught him. "Guess I should put on my suit if we're dancing right?" Then his eyes widened as he looked at her again. She wasn't wearing a dress for dancing. He scratched his head in confusion.

"Right away princess." Virgo disappeared for a few seconds and came back. And attacked him.

"That looks so much better. Thank you Virgo." Lucy stated 2 minutes later after Virgo had finished dressing Natsu.

He had no idea how it happened, but the gorilla chick managed not only to strip him, but to shove him into the clothes she had brought. His feet now had black boots with a red flames design along the bottom. Which he actually liked better than his other pair of boots. Wonder if I can keep them? Faded, baggy, black ripped jeans with leather bands around his mid-thighs and around his knees on his legs. The bands around his thighs had silver, square studs in them. A tight fitting, sleeveless, black shirt with a zipper down the middle and red flames coming from the hem. A typical black, leather, biker jacket completed the outfit she had brought. He added his favorite scarf. Despite the way it looked, it was rather comfortable. One thing confused him though, "Um Lucy?" he asked

"Yeah Natsu?"

"The pants have holes in them." I mean there were quite a few, he didn't know how she could miss them. Maybe holes wasn't the right word. Shredded? Ripped?

"That's the style of them Natsu. You can buy them that way. That looks like an expensive pair of pants actually."

"How is this a style?" It was incredibly stupid. Why would you pay for pants with holes in them? When his clothes got holes or tears in them, he had to patch them up or else Erza got on his case. Why wasn't it considered stylish then?

"It just is Natsu." She sounded a little exasperated. "They look good on you." She then said with a winning smile.

"I look good with holes in my clothes?" I spent all that money on new clothes and she wants me to wear stuff with holes in them? She really is a weirdo. Well easy enough to put holes in his other clothes. He'd just get into a fight while wearing them.

"Well let's go Natsu", she said as she put on a short cropped coat. It was useless. What point did a short jacket like that serve?

"You're gonna freeze Lucy." Between all the holes in her clothes and practically everything exposed, she's gonna turn blue.

"It's a short walk."

"Here, at least wear mine, unlike you, I don't need one."

"I'll be fine Natsu!" She huffed and stomped away.

He was gonna argue with her some more, but realized something. When she got cold, which was inevitable, she'd huddle next to the closest heat source. Which happened to be him. It's not like he'd leave her alone. He smiled a little smugly. He was looking forward to her clinging to him and shivering.

She was still stomping in front of him 5 minutes later. She didn't seem to be noticing the looks she was getting by the men she passed by. Natsu noticed, and definitely wasn't happy with it. He had to work hard to control his growing annoyance at the jerks staring at his Lucy. He sighed. This is gonna be a long night, especially if she stays pissed at him. "Lucy, why are you so mad?" He didn't think he had done anything that bad. He was just trying to look out for his partner.

"I'm not mad, I'm perfectly fine."

"You've been stomping for a while now."

"So?"

Sighing again, "If I say sorry, will you stop stomping in front of me, and walk with me?" That way all those assholes will know that she wasn't alone.

"Try it and find out."

"Sorry." For trying to reasonable with you. He thought a little petulantly.

She stopped. And breathed in deeply. "I'm not really mad at you Natsu. I'm just incredibly frustrated."

"Because I wanted you to wear a coat?" He scratched his head in confusion. He honestly just couldn't figure her out at times. Sometimes she was easy to manipulate and make her do what he wanted, and other times, like now, she just confused the hell out of him.

She came over and locked arms with him. And walked a little more calmly with him. "I'm sorry Natsu. I'm being childish. I know you are just concerned for me." She said with a small smile.

He just nodded his head, happy she had calmed down.

"I'm just tired of everyone thinking they have to take care of me, like a small child. It feels like I'm just some damsel in distress that needs to be rescued. I sometimes just feel so useless." He was about to say something, when she said, "Just like today."

He stopped them. And looked at her confusedly. How was she useless? He didn't imagine the fight with the hotel president did he? "What do you mean, Luce?" He asked gently.

"I couldn't help you clear the train tracks."

He looked down thinking. It was true that perhaps she hadn't specifically cleared the actual tracks, but he wouldn't have been able to clear them all without her support either. He looked up into her eyes, "You know Luce, if you hadn't helped me out like you did, I wouldn't have finished the mission either. I needed your support. We're a team." She blushed in embarrassment. "Besides, which of us was more 'useful' in getting our payment? That sneaky shit had screwed us over real good, but you managed to fix everything. All I did was scowl."

"Thank you Natsu." She said softly with a shy smile.

"There is one thing that's been on my mind though."

"What's that Natsu?"

"Why do you have a copy of Grey?"

"Huh?" The change of topic had thrown her completely off.

"Your blue spirits thingys. They have Grey memorized. Why?" I'm not jealous, nope. Just curious.

"Oh, um. Juvia had begged me for a favor."

He raised his eyebrows at that and looked away in embarrassment. He cleared his throat. He really didn't want to imagine what kind of 'favor' Juvia could want with a duplicate of Grey.

Her eyes widened and her face became a darker shade of red, "Not like that you perv! She just wanted to know if Grey had liked her new hair style!" She smacked him in the chest and started stomping away again.

He smiled, and jogged after her. She didn't have Grey because she wanted Grey. He grabbed her hand, and tugged gently. He had another thought. "So, why didn't you duplicate me earlier to help with the tracks if you wanted to help get rid of the ice so badly?" She stopped walking and looked away.

"I can't." She said it wistfully.

"Why not?" What gives she can copy the frozen bastard. Why not him?

She looked at him, with a slightly annoyed face, "I'm not strong enough."

He just blinked in confusion at her.

"Gemini can only duplicate people who have equal power levels to me, or less. "

"So…" He thought for a second and a giant smile formed on his face, "I'm stronger than the ice bastard?! Whoot!" He started doing a happy dance. Finally, concrete evidence that he was better than Grey! "I knew I was better than the ice princess!"

"Stop dancing you idiot!" She was laughing at his antics. "People are staring!"

"Eh. I'm used to it." He put his arm around her shoulders, "Let's go!" He was in a very good mood. He couldn't wait to shove it in the Popsicle's face. In his excitement missed her very embarrassed blush at having Natsu's arms around her.

His good mood lasted till he got to the club. They got in without any issues. One look at Lucy and the bouncer at the door suffered a nosebleed.

Sensory overload is a nice, gentle, way of describing what the explosion of smells and noise that assaulted him did to his dragon senses. The music was on the verge of bursting his ear drums. He was seriously struggling to not cover his poor ears in embarrassment.

So many sweaty bodies cramped into a large room mixed with smoke. Random bright lights swirled around in dizzying patterns.

"Come on Natsu, I see an open booth!" Lucy screamed in excitement, as she dragged him to it.

He was grateful that it was located behind the speakers. The noise level went down some. Not comfortable for him, but better. Lucy was saying something, but he couldn't really hear her for once. He held up a finger indicated he needed a minute, and closed his eyes. He moderated the noise levels internally. It was something he had learned so he wouldn't have to listen to every conversation in the guild hall, unless he wanted to. The music became even lower, and he opened his eyes. Unfortunately he hadn't figured out how to do it with smells yet. Since meeting the jiggle butt gang he had been making a more conscience effort to do so, with minimal success.

"You were saying Lucy", he said loudly with smile.

"We can lock our coats into this locker, so we won't have to worry about someone stealing them." He nodded his head and took off his jacket. He didn't notice the looks he received from the female population, as his buff arms reflected the light. His tall height had automatically attracted attention upon entering, but now they were almost panting. Too bad for them, that he only had eyes for the specific blond in front of him.

Lucy received a very similar reaction from the male populace. Her jacket hadn't done much besides cover her back. But more skin is always a reason to get more excited.

Together, they made a striking couple. Almost a matching set in black. Several of the girls gave up knowing they couldn't compete with his well-endowed companion. And most of the men came to similar conclusions, though would never admit it out loud. They didn't want to get on the wrong end of those muscles, especially after noticing his guild mark.

There were a few in each camp though, that decided that the yummy eye candy in front of them was a challenge that couldn't be passed up.

Lucy's Pov

They sat in the small curved booth. A waitress came over quickly, giving all her attention to Natsu. Lucy was more than annoyed by the obvious over done flirting. Can't that bimbo see he's with someone? Of course she couldn't really blame the waitress, Natsu was looking incredibly sexy.

She was feeling a little guilty. Belatedly she came to the realization that the club might be too much for Natsu's sensitive ears. She was just so used to them, that she had forgotten how strong his hearing was. (She didn't even think of his sense of smell). He had looked in so much pain a few minutes ago, but now was acting mostly fine. She could tell he was feeling kind of tense though. She wanted to have fun but not at his expense.

The waitress brought back there drinks. He'd ordered a normal beer, she'd decided to go with something a little more fun. She got a strawberry jello shot. "Hey Natsu?"

He lifted his eyes and head a little in acknowledgement that he heard her. Though he was constantly looking around. "I have an idea. Let's go down the menu and try a bunch of different shots? Instead of just beer." He looked at his drink with a small pout. "We can have beer all the time at the guild." She didn't know why she suggested it; I guess I just want everything to be different from how it normally is.

He gave her a huge grin. "You sure you can handle shots Lucy?"

"I may not be Cana, but I'm not a complete light weight either. It sounds fun, and we'll be trying something new. We can make a game out of it."

"What are the rules?" He was always up for a challenge.

"Let's see. If someone flirts with you, you have to take a shot. If someone of the opposite sex asks you to dance, you take a shot. If someone recognizes us from the Grand Magic games we'll take a shot. If you forget any of the rules you have to take 2 shots. Want more rules?"

"Naw, that's plenty. How to we decide when you lose, and what do I get when I win?"

She glared at him. "Your over confidence is irritating at times. First one unable to stand loses or first one to order the same shot twice. Which ever happens first." He just smirked at her. Hmm prizes. She thought. "How about slave for a day?"

"You got it." He quickly finished his beer and signaled the waitress.

"Ready for more handsome?" The waitress coyly said to him, touching his arm. It was Lucy's turn to smirk at him as she saw him cringe a little. As long as she's our waitress he's gonna lose in no time.

"I'll take a Fireball #1 and a Fireball #2." Of course, she could guess exactly what he would order based on the names.

"Apple Pie shooter." She decided she's just go alphabetically. She had already decided on a plan of attack. She knew he'd keep his word for the game, so the first thing she'd do would be to go to the bathroom. And watch him get flirted with by a bunch of girls. Then she'd ask him to dance. It'd be fun to see Natsu drunk. There were plenty of drunken brawls that happened at the guild, but he would join in regardless of his alcohol consumption.

She smiled sweetly at him when there drinks arrived, and the waitress did it again. He rolled his eyes, "Bring me a Fireball #3 and a Flaming Lemon Drop." He looked at Lucy with a subtle glare. She just shrugged her shoulders with a smirk. She didn't say one shot per flirt.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Keep all the glasses so we can see how much each of us has drunk by the end of the night." She wasn't halfway across the dance floor when she looked back to see 3 women near him. Part of her was very happy that her plan was working, another part was getting insanely jealous. He doesn't belong to me, I shouldn't get jealous that a pack of hyenas are cackling at him.

While waiting in line for the bathroom she struck up a conversation with the ladies near her. And soon enough she had made 2 new friends. A couple of guys had flirted with her, but she made sure to turn them down thoroughly so they wouldn't do it again. She was sure Natsu wouldn't think to do that with the waitress.

When I get back out there I'll drink my 2 shots and join my club buddies on the dance floor.

New Years eve. We'd been officially dating for 2 and a half months. I was really enjoying the relationship. We had started getting comfortable holding hands. I was excited. Everyone knows what you're supposed to do at midnight on New Years eve right? Tonight, would be the night. We would finally kiss, I knew it would happen.

We went to my local mall. They were having a fun event there. There were game booths, an inflatable boxing ring, photo booths, and would bring in the new year with a balloon drop and laser light show. A perfect fun time for under 21 individuals.

Near midnight we found a good seat to watch the show. We did the countdown, and yes he leaned over and French kissed me. And it was the amazing. His lips were so soft, and he didn't slobber at all. It wasn't a short one either; it was a very thorough kiss. Hard to imagine that it had been his first kiss. I wish it had been mine, than I wouldn't have to suffer from creepy chills whenever I remember dog boy.

Yup I was one happy girl.