Okay, so I had great plans to work on Shattered today, but when I went to my Doc Manager, I caught sight of this previous story idea, and I just couldn't resist. Somehow, the words just flowed, and I found myself typing away. So while I'm sure your all cussing me out in your mind for my prolonged absence from Shattered, I hope you'll read this one-shot and be slightly consoled.

This idea comes from a truly beautiful song by Rascal Flatts, "To Make Her Love Me"

As usual, I don't own Fairy Tail. That glorious honor rests firmly in Hiro Mashima's hands.

~~~TO MAKE HER LOVE ME~~~

Sting slips silently out of his bedroom window and makes his way to the roof. Nights like this, when his mind won't shut down, always bring him out here, to the one place he can still feel close to her. The stars are her domain, and up here, he doesn't quite feel so alone.

He's been without her for nearly a month now, and it hasn't gotten any easier as time drags on. He misses her, more than she could ever know. He's tried to tell her, tried to beg her to come back, but his words fall on deaf ears as Lucy turns him away.

He can't fault her for that. After all, he's the one that sent her running for the hills. He's the one that kept his heart under wraps, refusing to open up to her the way she'd wanted, the way she'd needed him to. Now that he's seen where he went wrong, it's too late. She's gone, and nothing he's said has brought her back.

A sigh pushes its way from his lips as he tips his head back and stares at the winking lights in the sky. He focuses on the brightest one and wonders if she's doing the same. Are they perhaps looking at the very same constellation, maybe even the same star?

It's not the same without her next to him, pointing out all her Celestial friends, smiling that sweet smile as she told him story after story of her time with each one. He's heard them all more than once, and at the time, he couldn't understand why she kept repeating herself. She had to know she'd already told him before. But now...now, he can't help but wish she were here to tell it again. He would give all he had to hear those familiar tales once more.

Unshed tears burn at the back of his throat as his chest clenches. He gazes up at the stars she loves so much and can't help but wonder if God has forgotten him. He deserves it, he knows. He's done nothing to deserve His favor, but how he still wishes for it.

"I know I probably shouldn't talk to you. I'm not exactly the best person. I've done things..." He pauses as his past floods his mind. "Terrible things. I've made some really bad decisions, but Lucy... She was the best thing that ever happened to me. I didn't even know it." He laughs bitterly. "I had no idea what I had before. And now...it's all gone. I ruined it just like I do everything else."

A single tear escaped the firm hold he had on his emotions, and with it, the shield cracked and he found himself saying things he'd never said before. Things he should have said to Lucy so long ago. "What am I supposed to do now? She's gone, and she's taken everything with her. I never even knew I had a heart until she left and all the broken pieces followed her." He shook his head as his sadness streaked down his cheeks. "I should have told her how I felt. I should have found a way around that wall inside me. I held back, and now I've lost her."

He looked up at the sky and sighed, "I know I don't deserve her. I never did. But I need her. I can't do this without her, and now, you're my only hope. I don't know what else to do but ask you to bring her back to me. I don't have the right, I know, but I've seen what you can do. She loved me once...so how hard could it be for you to make her love me again?"

Silence greets his tearful request, and he dips his head down in defeat. He's no fool. He knows he's not the sort of man God would care to hear from. He's messed up more times than he can count, so why would he believe he warrants a response?

The truth is his fate is sealed. He pushed Lucy away, and now he'll have to live with the knowledge that he could have had it all. He'll have to live every day without the woman he loves, and he has no one to blame but himself.

Down below, Lucy stands just outside his house, her arms laden with a box of his things. She's only come to return the items so as to rid herself of all the painful memories of her failed relationship, but she never expected to see Sting in such a state of despair. He's always been tough, his emotions wrapped firmly beneath that jovial veneer, and she found herself unable to comprehend the change she was seeing.

She isn't sure what to think now. She's been so certain he couldn't change, but as she stands there listening to his heartbreaking plea, she can't help but cry too. Though she's fought hard to avoid the love still firmly entrenched in her heart, she's suddenly faced with the truth. She still loves him, and in spite of the things he's done wrong, she hasn't been able to completely oust him from his place in her life.

A soft sob lifts from her position on the ground, inevitably alerting Sting to her presence, and he falters as he sees her down below. He's at a loss as to what to do as their eyes meet, but as Lucy enters the house to make her way up to him, he looks back up at the star-filled sky and offers up a final plea, "Please...let her forgive me".

In the next moment, he's hurrying through the window into his bedroom and watches with bated breath as she steps inside. There's no way to miss the tears slipping down her cheeks or the pain filling up her eyes, and she doesn't even try to hide it. There's no point. He knows how badly he messed up, how much he hurt her. What he doesn't know is why she's returned.

Suddenly, he notices the box in her arms, and the hope that had so steadily grown inside him tanks. She was returning his things. She's been after him for the last week to pick them up, but he hadn't been able to face her, hadn't been able to handle seeing her when he knows she was done with him. He supposes she's grown tired of waiting.

He steps forward, pushing the sorrow back down his throat as he moves to relieve her of her burden, but she doesn't relinquish her hold. Her grip tightens, and she stares at him as if she's never seen him.

"Did you mean it?"

Her voice is but a soft whisper in the quiet room, but his ears pick it up anyway. He tips his head in question, not trusting his own voice to remain steady being this close to her.

Her gaze is beseeching, some unknown plea swimming in her eyes, and for the life of him, he can't figure it out. What does she want to know?

Lucy responds a moment later. "What you said up there. Did you mean it?"

He stills under her discerning eyes, but the answer is already spilling from his mouth. "Every word."

He wants to ask why. He wants to beg her to take him back. But he doesn't do any of that. He keeps his tongue, though the muscle is fighting for control. That desperate heart of his is near to bursting with hope again, and he's not sure he can take it if her next words aren't 'I miss you.'

Sting has learned caution with her. Since his epic fuckup, he's figured out how foolish it is to beg, how pointless it is to blather on with platitudes. She's needed to see the truth for herself, that he's changed, that he's serious about her the way he should have been from the beginning. And now...maybe she has.

It takes all he has not to stop himself from reminding her that he loves her. He'd tried that right after he'd ruined everything, and she'd broken his heart when she cried. But he hasn't forgotten her words.

Love isn't just an emotion, Sting. It's an action. It's what you do every day, all the little ways you show you care. You think you can just say you love me, and that'll fix everything? I don't even know if you know what that means..."

And she was right. He didn't know what it meant back then, but after living without her for weeks, he gets it. The proof was there all the time, in everything Lucy had done for him. She was the very picture of love, and he's been taking this time apart to learn from her example. Now, he was ready to give her everything he had...if she'll only give him the chance to prove it.

She studies him quietly, her heart and mind at war over this latest development. She doesn't know what to say, what to do. She's spent the last week shoring up her defenses against him, preparing herself to live without him because she hadn't believed he would change. And yet, here he is, his eyes full of love, his face open as it's never been before.

Is this real? A part she thought she'd buried rears its head, urging her to take a chance on him. Can she trust him though? Can she trust her own judgement when she's so clearly torn?

She knows it would be wiser to walk away. There's no way to get hurt if she doesn't take such a gamble, but she also knows her future will be bleak without him. Her heart refuses to let him go, and though her friends have encouraged her to get out there and try again, she can't. She's still too tied up in him to ever care for someone else.

So maybe she should. Maybe she could put aside her fears and let her heart lead her back to the only place it felt at home.

Sting swallows hard as emotions flicker across her face. It was hard to keep his distance, harder than anything he's ever done before, and when her expression softens, he can't take it anymore.

"I know I'm supposed to let you go. I know I should keep my mouth shut and let you live your life, but I can't. I love you, Lucy. God, I love you so much..." He pauses as his voice cracks and hot tears fill his eyes. He doesn't know how to say everything he feels. It's always been a problem for him, but this is too important. He can't help feeling like it's his last chance. "Please don't go. I'm a mess. I know that. I've never been good at this, but I'll do whatever I have to show you that I've changed. I can be that man you want. I can be what you need. I know I can. Just let me try."

Her vision of him blurs as her own tears come, and she shakes her head. "Sting, you still don't get it."

His chest aches at her words. He should have known it was too late. He can't even blame her for her rejection. "I...I understand."

She cuts him off with a soft laugh. "No you don't, you idiot." She pulls the box from his grasp and sets it on the bed before turning back to him. "I've never wanted you to be anything other than who you are. I just needed you to be there, to open up to me. I was in love with you, but I never knew what you felt. I never knew where I stood with you or where you wanted our relationship to go."

The knife twists in his gut at her use of past tense. She was in love with him. Did that mean she no longer was? Had she already fallen out of love with him?

Once more, he keeps his silence, and Lucy finally reaches for him, sliding her hands along his cheeks and gaining his instant attention. "I've been waiting all this time for you to figure out what you wanted, to realize how you felt for me, and now...I feel like you finally have."

All at once, the words come. "I want you. I want us." He shakes his head as he lifts his hand cautiously to hers. "Not like before. It took you leaving to make me see that I was holding back, and I'm done with that. I want it all...with you."

Tears spring to her eyes again, and she nods. "I want that too. I always have."

Warmth bursts in Sting's chest, and wasting no more time, he pulls her to him. He drops his mouth to hers, uttering a soft groan as she moulds herself against his body, her lips pressing insistently to his own. He's suddenly sure he's never felt anything like it as his heart hammers away in his chest, free for the first time in what felt like ages.

His fingers tangle in her hair as he deepens the kiss. He's needed her for so long, and now that she's here, really here, he's not sure he can't stop. It's almost unbelievable to him that she's in his arms again. He was certain it would never happen again, and no amount of hope could convince him differently...until now.

Was this because of earlier? Had his prayer worked? Had God accepted his plea and brought her back to him?

He doesn't know what to think, but he's okay with that. He's never needed to understand how things work, and this time is no different. He's just content having her with him, feeling her skin beneath his fingers, and knowing it was going to last.

He'd messed up before, and he probably will again. But he's learned his lesson in this regard. Never will Lucy have to wonder how he feels for her. Never will she have to question his dedication to their relationship because he loves her completely and totally, with all of his heart, and he will spend the rest of his life showing her. She's his destiny, and nothing will ever take her away again.