"Hey, guess what," she giggles, the sound of her voice and laugh lighting up my life.
"What?" I ask, looking down at her.
Instead of saying anything else, she pulls me closer, our lips meeting in a soft kiss, a smile on both our faces. When we pull apart, she leans her head on my chest and I wrap my arms around her. "I love you," she whispers into my chest, just loud enough for me to hear.
I squeeze her gently in reply. "I love you too," I say.
The memory acts as a sword right now, stabbing through my heart in a sharp, painful attack. I can only imagine that smile now.
Looking down at her sleeping form, I feel like the luckiest guy to ever live. She's all I've ever wanted and I'm just unimaginably lucky to have her the way I do. That's when she shifts slightly in her sleep and mumbles something in her sleep. It's quiet, almost inaudible but I manage to make it out. "Natsu..." Before I can react, she readjusts herself again, this time snuggling deeper into me. "Don't leave me..."
A small frown appears on my face at this. Is she dreaming of me leaving her? I couldn't possibly do that but it must feel real in her dream.
"Love you..." she murmurs as a small smile forms. It only lasts a second before her face is the normal neutral but I can tell she's still happy so I kiss her forehead gently.
"I love you too, Luce."
This one feels like an explosion, forceful with enough power to tear my heart to shreds. I clutch at my chest as a tear slides down my cheek.
"Who was that?" she asks casually, though I can see worry and fear in her eyes.
"It was no one," I reply, shaking my head.
There's a moment of silence before she nods her head and turns away. That's when I get another text. Glancing back at Lucy, I turn away. "Hey, uh, I have to go."
"Oh, okay. Bye."
After giving her a single peck on the forehead, not like our usual goodbye lip kisses, I leave quickly, eager to get away from Lucy and see Lisanna again.
This feels like claws ripping through me. I can't believe I ever even thought of cheating on my Lucy.
"N-Natsu?" Her voice is thick and heavy. When I whip around, disconnecting myself from Lisanna, it's obvious she's fighting back tears, though she's failing miserably as they slip down her face.
"Luce! It's not what it looks like!" I pathetically claim.
"Not...Not what it looks like Natsu? So you're trying to tell me you weren't just making out with Lisanna? That you weren't just cheating on me?" Her voice cracks as she says 'cheating' and she's visibly shaking. Before I can reply, a sob escapes her and she turns, running out of the room in a desperate attempt to prevent me from seeing her fall apart completely.
This is the one that breaks me. It sends waves of agonizing pain through my whole body. I made a terrible mistake. A grave mistake. Now she's sitting at the airport, waiting to board a plane that will take her far away from this city. Far away from me. I broke her happiness and I broke her spirit. If I drove fast enough, I might be able to catch her. The airport is close enough. I only live a few minutes from it. Shaking my head, I know I can't do that. What if I went there and she rejected me anyway? What if I got there and she left anyway? She probably doesn't want to see me anyway.
"Forever? You promise you'll stay forever?"
I crash our lips together, desperate to feel her lips against mine. The kiss lasts for so long and we only pull apart when we do because of the annoying human need to breathe. Leaning my forehead against hers, we sit there for a moment, catching our breath. Then I look her deep in her beautiful brown eyes and nod my head. "Forever. I promise to never leave you and to stay with you forever because I love you, Lucy Heartfilia."
Then I pull her in for another deep, passionate kiss.
Forever.
That's when it hits me and I jump up. I can't let her leave! I said forever and I can't break that now. Not after the years we've spent together. Running to the entrance, I shove my shoes on and bolt out of the house. The cold wind bites at my skin but I don't have the time to bother with a jacket so I ignore it. I open the door to my truck, slam the door shut, start the engine, and race out. The gates to that plane open at 8:00 and it's currently 7:38. 22 minutes. I have 22 minutes to get to her. 22 minutes to get to stop her from crossing through the gate that signals a broken promise.
Normally the drive would be a good 20 minutes but time isn't a luxury item I can waste. Every millisecond counts. I'm driving way above the limit, swerving through traffic, and ignoring all stop signs and stoplights. Thankfully, it's Monday so there's not as much traffic as there usually is. I somehow miraculously make it to the airport in a mere 14 minutes. Time, however, is still against me. I still have many obstacles to get through and I only have 8 minutes to do it. I'm so close yet so far away.
The traffic at the actual airport is much thicker than the traffic on the roads. With time a precious resource, I don't have the time for the inching along so I swerve the truck to the side of the road, run it into the curb, shut it off, and jump out. My legs push me along as fast as they can get and as I run past checkpoints and places I'm supposed to pay to get into, I can hear people calling after me, telling me to stop and that I have to pay but I ignore them and my pace only gets faster.
As I burst through the doors of the airport, I can feel the curious stares of people but they're the last people on my mind. I push through people, my eyes searching wildly for the right area. When my eyes land on it, I'm quickly turning my body that way. I also steal a glance at my watch. 7:56. The gate that stands as a wall separating all the plane passengers from their friends and family looms above me and my eyes wildly scan for a way to slip through them but after a precious minute slips by, I say screw it so I jump over the separator. "Sir! Sir you can't do that!" I hear a woman call.
Of course I just keep running. I don't know what gate her plane is at so I'm left frantically searching, yelling out her name. Time slips by and I still haven't seen her.
Last call for Gate 24.
Gate 24! That must be hers! With a mere 2 minutes left, my eyes land on Gate 24.
"Lucy! Lucy please talk to me!"
People are everywhere, lots of them are watching me.
Faces and faces.
But none of them are hers.
1 minute left.
And then suddenly, there she is.
She's sitting on her suitcase, tears streaming down her eyes, staring at the gate.
Then suddenly she stands up, quickly making her way to the gate and just as she's about to hand the lady at the gate her ticket, I yell her name.
"Lucy!"
She whips around, her eyes widening. "N-Natsu! What are y-you..."
"I'm begging! I'm pleading! Please Lucy! Don't leave me! I messed up, you know that but I regret it with all my heart and soul. I regret ever even looking at Lisanna!" I see her flinch as I say that name but I continue. Tears are freely falling now. "I can't stand the thought of losing you! I took you for granted and I hurt you and I know I don't deserve it but please oh please Luce, give me one more chance! I broke so many laws getting to you just now. Please don't let me get arrested for nothing!"
"So all you care about is the laws, huh?"
"No, no, no Luce! That's not what I me-"
I'm cut off as I feel our lips connect.
"I'm teasing you, idiot. I know what you meant," she says lightly when we pull apart.
I pull her into a tight, bone-crushing hug then. "Oh Luce. You're too good for me."
That's when she pulls away and our eyes meet. She looks serious and now all lightheartedness is gone but her eyes are beautiful just the same. "Forever. You said forever and now that you've had a taste of forever being cut short by your own hands, I have faith you won't do it again."
"Forever. I promise to never leave you and to stay with you forever because I love you, Lucy Heartfilia," I vow. "And this time I mean it."