First Dates

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Author's Note: Sooooo…yeah. Maybe not a one-shot after all haha.

~x~

Chapter Two: Take a Hike, Bora

Natsu slowed to a walk after he had turned the corner away from Lucy's apartment, pressing his nose to the scarf around his neck. Had he really asked her to come to the tournament? His cheeks felt hot, but he decided it was the chilly mid-September weather, nothing more. He glanced behind him as if he could still see her apartment before shaking his head and shoving his hands in his pockets.

No one at Fairy Tail was going to believe this.

His phone vibrated against his hip, and he finally pulled it out. It had been going off nonstop all night, but Igneel had told him it was rude to answer your phone when you were on a date – even though that could hardly be considered a real date. When he pressed the button to light up the screen again, he groaned. Sixty-seven messages, twenty something calls, and about a dozen voice messages. He opened the texts first, deciding not to bother checking the rest.

It seemed like Mira had seen him sneaking back in to join Lucy and had informed everyone at the guild – their nickname for the dojo – that he was on a date, for the entire guild had been texting him asking questions. He lazily scrolled through them, not caring about most of them.

Before he could put it away, it vibrated once more and lit up with a picture of someone calling. He swiped his thumb across and pressed it to his ear, not even getting the chance to answer before the person starting excitedly talking.

"Natsu! Guys, he answered! Natsu, what have you been doing? We've been trying to get through to you all night!"

He sighed, placing his free hand behind his head. "I was still hungry, so I went back for more food," he said, shrugging as if she could hear it. "Why'd you guys have blow up my phone so much, anyways?" The girl sighed, muttering something to someone in the background. "Lisanna?" he asked, trying to get her attention back. "I'll be at the guild in a little bit, so stop texting and calling me!"

He could hear her rolling her eyes at him. "Alright, but be prepared for a lot of questions," she warned. Natsu grimaced. The noise in the background disappeared and he guessed she had walked outside. "Mira said she saw you sitting with that cute blonde girl when you went back in."

"Yeah," he said truthfully. Lisanna was his best friend, there was no sense in lying to her about it. "She looked really upset."

Lisanna giggled. "That was really sweet of you," she told him. "I have to tell Mira about this!"

"Lisanna, wait!" It was too late, she had already disconnected. Natsu cursed. The Strauss girls and their gossip! Sighing, he stopped walking, standing across the street from the bar turned dojo. The lights were on, and he could hear a few of the louder people talking, but he didn't want to go inside and deal with the wave of teasing his friends would give him. Lisanna had probably told Mira all about it, and the two of them were most likely gushing in that girly way and telling everyone else about it. He sighed once before crossing the street and pushing open the doors to the bar portion of it.

Immediately, four people were around him asking him about his 'date' and who she was. He grimaced as he tried to push past them. "Little Natsu, all grown up!" one of the older men said with a laugh, ignoring the glare he sent them. Lisanna's brother Elfman stood off to the side, congratulating him on his manliness and crying about something or other.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S MANLY!" Natsu roared, flinging himself towards the larger man. Elfman's eyes widened as Natsu's fist suddenly connected with his stomach, but recovered quickly to fight back.

Natsu grinned. This was what he wanted to be doing, not answering a bunch of dumb questions.

The next few days passed by rather slow. Class had started just a few weeks back, so most of his classes were still hitting their stride. Not that he wanted to be at school or anything, but Igneel was insistent that he get a good education. So he sucked it up and went to his classes and turned in the papers and everything else that was expected of him.

Today, however, after two years of attending the university, he decided to take a trip to the library. It had dawned on him that he never asked Lucy for her number or anything, something that Lisanna had chastised him about that evening. He walked in and immediately wished he hadn't. The first floor was huge. Bookshelves were situated like a maze after the front desk, and he couldn't even see the end of most of them. How was he supposed to find Lucy in a mess like this?

"Natsu?"

He turned, ignoring the way his heart sped up a little at the sound of his name. "Yo!" he called when he spotted her, grinning. She was wearing considerably more casual clothes than she had been at the restaurant, though her hair was still tied up. Her cheeks were pink when he approached her, looking up at him with wide eyes. "What's up?"

Lucy blinked. "Not much. Just…working," she said, gesturing to the cart full of books. "I wasn't really expecting to see you again until Saturday." Natsu felt his stomach do a strange loop. Were you not supposed to see a girl before the day of the date? "N-not that I'm upset to see you or anything!" Lucy suddenly said, her cheeks darkening a little. "I'm just surprised."

"Yeah, well, my friend said I should have given you my number or something, so I figured I should find you and give it to you," he said with a shrug, glancing at her for a second before looking away. Why was it so hard to look at her? "So, uh, here." He held out a piece of paper with the ten numbers on it and his name messily scrawled underneath it. Lucy took it with an almost amused look in her eyes, reading over the paper. "What?"

She let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "Nothing. It's just…your handwriting. It's awful." Natsu felt his eye twitch a little as she started to laugh a little more. Cheeks flushed, he reached out and snatched the paper back out of her hands, crossing his arms. "Hey!"

"You can't have it if you're just going to make fun of me," he told her, turning away with his nose in the air. He started to turn away when he felt her hand grab his elbow.

"I promise I won't," she said, eyes wide. She was still smiling, thankfully, so Natsu rolled his eyes and handed it back to her. "Thank you." Natsu muttered a 'whatever' and reached back to scratch his head. "I hate to cut this short, but I have to get back to work," Lucy continued, folding it and putting it in her pocket.

Natsu glanced at the books. There was a lot there. "How much longer are you working?" he asked curiously.

"I'm free to go once all of these are shelved."

He nodded, waving his goodbye as she took off, pushing the cart in front of her. His stomach growled as he watched, and he was about to turn away to go get lunch when a sudden idea struck him. "Lucy, hey!" he called, going after her. She stopped, a book in her hand and halfway to the shelf. "I'll go wait over there," he said, pointing to a bench. "After you're done, let's get something to eat."

Lucy's cheeks turned a dark pink at his words, and he tilted his head into his scarf. "Okay," she said after a minute, smiling.

The way she smiled at him made his own smile widen. He had never been one to care much for romance or the like, but he found that he liked the way she smiled. Just like he said, he turned and went to the bench, plopping down and pulling out his phone. It still showed the notifications from the previous night, and he didn't care enough to make them go away. Whatever. He was only waiting for a few minutes when someone came to sit next to him, talking to someone on the phone. He was loud, and try as hard as he could to tune him out, there was no missing his conversation.

"I'm at the library now," he was saying. "I'm going to try and catch her before she leaves." He paused. "Lucy something, I don't know. Cute little blonde thing. Nice ass, even better tits." Natsu perked up at the name, feeling his blood start to boil. "Oh yeah. Can't let a girl like that pass up, you know?" The man laughed, and Natsu ground his teeth together. "Girls like that are so easy to reel in, and – oh, there she is! I'll let you know how it goes!"

The man jumped up before Natsu could tell him to shove off. His eyes followed him, confirming his suspicions when he stopped Lucy. "Bora, what are you doing here?"

He gave what Natsu suspected to be one of those sickly sweet smiles that people were so fond of giving out when they had less than noble intentions. "You haven't answered any of my calls," he said smoothly. Over his shoulder, Natsu saw Lucy's eyes narrow a little bit.

"Yes, well, that's what happens when you stand someone up," she said, voice dripping with more acid than Natsu thought she might be capable of. Her eyes met his for a second before returning back to Bora. "Now, if you'll excuse me," she started to say, stepping to the side, Bora sidestepped faster, however, blocking her leave.

"Lucy, baby, don't be like that," he said. Natsu hated the way he purred her name, as if she was some kind of object. "Let me make it up to you. I'll cook you a romantic dinner at my place. We can sit and watch the stars come out, maybe start a fire. It'll be very nice, I promise." Natsu didn't need to see over Bora's shoulder to know that Lucy was rolling her eyes. Everything about the way she was standing – leaning back, arm crossed against her chest – suggested she was not interested.

"Sorry, but I have plans tonight," she said. "I-I have a date."

Natsu blinked. She did? Bora seemed surprised as well, not stopping her from walking around him this time. "Wait, Lucy," he said, reaching out and grabbing her elbow. Natsu rose as he yanked her closer to him, ready to pummel him right to the ground. He didn't have the chance.

Before he had taken even one step closer, Lucy swung around and slapped him with her free hand. The sound of flesh hitting flesh was like a staccato note in the air, leaving both men completely shocked. "Let go," Lucy said, pulling her arm free. "Didn't you ever learn not to touch someone without permission?" Bora only stared at her, hand covering his cheek. "Now leave me alone." Without another word, Lucy marched right up to Natsu and asked if he was ready.

"Yeah," he stammered, blinking down at the girl. She gave a brisk 'good' before turning on her heel and out of the library. Natsu followed her after a second of hesitation, not bothering to give Bora another look. Lucy led them back up to the student union, nose part in the air and arms still crossed tightly against her cheek. "Uh, Lucy?"

"I hate guys like him!" she finally snapped, throwing her hands up. "He thinks he can just offer a nice dinner and I'll go swooning backwards for him. Disgusting!"

Although he knew she was upset, Natsu couldn't help but grin. So, little Lucy who never went to Fairy Tail because she didn't think she could fight had some teeth after all. She glanced up at him for a second, and it was as if the air had been burst out of her. "Sorry," she muttered, rubbing her elbow.

"Don't apologize," Natsu said immediately. "Igneel told me that you shouldn't apologize for something you didn't do wrong." Lucy smiled up at him for a second before her eyes went back to the ground. This time, Natsu's gaze followed hers. He cleared his throat, feeling awkward. "So, uh," he said. "You have a date tonight?"

His words seemed to give Lucy back her fire. "No!" she said quickly, looking up at him with wide eyes. "I was just saying that to get him to back off!"

"Oh. Alright," Natsu said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I was a little worried maybe you didn't want to come see me fight after all." Lucy shook her head, causing him to grin. "Good! Because I'm gonna kick some ass!"

She laughed as they entered the building, and Natsu felt any more worries he had float behind him. He had never been one for dating, but maybe dating Lucy wouldn't be so bad.

~x~

Author's Note: Tada! I decided to turn this into a chapter story after all. ^^ it won't be long, just a few chapters, but here's one from Natsu's perspective! The others will most likely be from Lucy's standpoint, but I'm not 100% certain.

But, yeah! I hope you guys all liked it! :D