CHAPTER 2

Hey guys! Thanks for the response, looks like this fic is off to a good start! Well here's chapter 2 as promised, please leave a review to let me know what you think! XD

Three days later, Natsu went to the local pet store and grab some food for his cat when he ran into the last person he expected to see.

"Ah!"

"Natsu? What are you doing here?" asked Lucy curiously with her head tilted slightly.

He was certainly not expecting this. He had never seen Lucy out of her work clothes, this was the first time he had ever seen her without her protective gear; and he liked what he saw.

Lucy was wearing a tight red tank top that accentuated her curves dangerously; the fact that she was wearing Natsu's favourite colour practically had him drooling at the sight, she had tight black skinny jeans and converse sneakers. Her hair was done in a braid and hanging off her right shoulder.

She was staring at him curiously; since this was the first time she had seen him not covered in soot or near flammable objects, her big brown eyes making his heart go crazy as they looked over him, if he didn't know any better he would think that she had been checking him out, but that wasn't possible… was it?

Of all places to run into her he never would have figured he would find her in a pet store.

Realizing he was just gaping instead of answering her question he cleared his throat nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to look anywhere but at her.

"Oh, well, remember that one time I called you guys when that blue cat got stuck up my tree?" he asked.

Lucy's eye twitched in annoyance at the memory "Oh yeah, how could I forget. You thought you'd try to get it down yourself and then got stuck as well, you refused to let Gray help you down and Erza ended up getting you two down herself" she said as she crossed her arms with a huff.

Natsu flinched; that was one of his least manliest moments ever, and he was so ashamed that she saw him like that.

"Yeah, so the cat ended up getting attached to me and I ended up keeping him. I'm here to get some special snacks for him" he said with a sheepish grin.

The anger on Lucy's face disappeared and was replaced with mild surprise.

"Really?"

Natsu nodded excitedly "Yup, the little guy loves those fishy treats, can't get enough of em" he said with a grin.

"That's so cute" Lucy muttered.

Natsu's eyes widened, was she calling his cat cute or him? When Lucy realized she had said that out loud her face went pink and she covered her mouth in embarrassment.

Natsu said nothing, he just grinned at her with slightly pink cheeks.

"By the way, what are you doing here Lucy?" he asked suddenly curious.

"Eh? Oh I'm just grabbing some shampoo for my dog, I took him for a walk earlier and he sorta jumped into a mud puddle" she said with an endearing smile.

"That's cool, I didn't know you had a dog" he said with a grin.

"Yup, he's my little angel Plue" she said with a proud smile.

"But I still can't believe you took in that cat, did you ever figure out why he was blue when we found him?" she asked curiously.

"Turns out it was hair dye, not sure how it got on him, but I think it looks cool. I mean how many people can say that they have a blue cat right?" he said with a grin as he put his hands in his pockets.

Lucy giggled at this "True, I just hope you make sure he's safe when you start your fires, I'd hate to have to call animal services on you" she said with a sudden air of seriousness.

Natsu recoiled in shock "Of course! I'd never let anything happen to Happy, he's my little buddy!" yelled Natsu defensively.

Lucy blinked then smiled widely at him, making his face go a little pink.

"Good, you wouldn't believe how many times I've been on call and found that people just leave their pets in a burning building without a care. It's so sad" she said with a scowl.

Natsu smiled softly at her, it was nice to see how much she cared about animals, and she was very dedicated to her job. It made his heart throb seeing how passionate she could be.

Natsu suddenly put his hand on her head and started rubbing it affectionately, Lucy blinked in shock at the action and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Good thing those animals have you to look out for them then huh?" he said with a grin.

Lucy blushed a deep shade of red, suddenly very embarrassed, and turned abruptly so that he couldn't see her face. He did see her ears go red though which made him smirk victoriously.

"W-well I b-better go get that shampoo then" she said softly as she walked further into the store to look around.

Natsu watched her walk away nervously and grinned to himself. At least now he knew he had some chance with her, if she reacted like that anyway.

"Hey mister, you buying something or what?" asked the shopkeeper.

Snapping out of his daze at the man's voice Natsu flushed and gave him a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'll take a bag of those fish nuggets please" he said as he pulled out his wallet… only to realize that he didn't have his wallet on him.

"Ah shit, you gotta be kiddin me!" he yelled as he pat himself down trying to find it.

"Is something wrong Natsu?" asked Lucy as she came towards the register with a bottle of fancy looking shampoo.

"No no, everything's fine" he said in a panic; the last thing he wanted was for her to see him lose his cool over a wallet.

"Did you forget your wallet or something?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

Natsu froze, she hit the nail right on the head there. How was she so observant?

He laughed nervously and started to sweat; he really blew his chances with her now, what kind of lame guy forgets his own wallet?

Before he even knew what happened Lucy had paid for her shampoo and his cat treats in the blink of an eye.

"Here you go, now your cat gets his treats" she said with a smile as she handed him the bag of fish nuggets.

"Aw man, ya didn't have to do that Lucy. Now I feel bad" he said while looking at the bag in guilt.

"Oh don't be silly, think of it as me getting a treat for the little cutie, it was my pleasure" she said with a smile.

"Nope, can't do that. I owe you now. So I have to think of a way to repay you" he said stubbornly.

'Wait… this could actually work out for me!' he thought sneakily.

"Huh? Oh no, it's totally fine. Think of it as a favour!" she protested; why was he being so stubborn about this?

"Well since you bought food, the only way to repay you would be by getting you food in return, right?"

"Uh-"

"Right, then it's settled, you're coming over to my place the next time your off duty for dinner"

"…Wait, what?" asked Lucy in confusion.

"Lemme think, my next pay check comes in on Thursday… so how about Friday? You free then?" asked Natsu with an innocent grin and tilt of his head.

"Well yeah, I think so" answered Lucy flabbergasted.

'What is happening?! Is he asking me out or something?!' she thought with swirls for eyes.

"Perfect, so I'll text you the time and you can come over on Friday night! Great see ya then!" he yelled as he made a mad dash away from the pet store.

Lucy was in a state of disbelief, it all happened so fast she had no time to process it until now.

So, he had asked her to dinner, with the premise that it was just a form of repayment for buying cat treats for him? He didn't have ulterior motives did he?

Lucy shook her head, there was no way Natsu of all people had ulterior motives, all that guy thought about was fire and how to set it on everyday objects. Right, he was just doing this to repay her, that's all. No need for her to feel so excited and nervous about it, none at all. And her heart definitely wasn't pounding at the idea of being alone with him at his place, nope, not at all.

'Oh man, I am so screwed'

Natsu ran until he felt he was a reasonable distance away from the beautiful blonde, cat treats in a brown paper bag under his arm. He stopped at the nearby park and took a long deep breath.

"I got a date! Yes! Woohoohoohoo! Everybody mambo!" he yelled out excitedly, suddenly grabbing a random passer-by that got too close and swinging them around in happiness.

"Oh my goodness!" yelled the person; a rather large woman in clothes that were a few sizes too small for her and a creepy ferret fur scarf that had eyes Natsu swore blinked at him once.

"Da-ra-ta-ta, da-rum-pa! ~ I got a date!" he yelled with oblivious happiness while dancing around like a crazy person.

"Good for you, now let me down you crazy person!" yelled the lady in Natsu's grip as she tried hitting his head with her only free hand.

"Sorry, sorry! Have a great day Sir!" he yelled as he put the woman down and actually… skipped down the sidewalk happily.

The lady, enraged at being confused for a man, took off her shoe and threw it at Natsu's head with pin point accuracy.

"I'm a woman you moron!" she yelled, miffed that he didn't even seem to feel her shoe at all.

Nothing could kill Natsu's mood now, he would wear this self-satisfied grin the rest of the week. He had to go home and give Happy the largest amount of catnip he could, who knew buying cat treats would result in him getting a date?

His cat really lived up to his namesake.

Well, granted she had no idea of his ulterior motives, it still counted right?

Thanks fore reading, hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review with your thoughts XD