Chapter 1

Guilt

SMASH!

The pink-haired boy inside the car closed his eyes because of the impact. He can't turn the car away in time to avoid what is obstructing the road. He can't even drive well since everything is blurry due to the excessive amount of alcohol that he drank at the party he went with his friends. Then he felt his car - or rather, his father's car - hit something and immediately hit the brake to stop it. With a little nervousness, he decided to open the door to check if the car has any damage. He will be damned if there is, since he just sneaked the car out, he's too young to have a license anyway. He also went to check the thing that he crashed with... But what he saw suddenly made him sober. His eyes widened and he felt his skin turn cold.

He had hit a person!

He froze and could just stare at the lying figure in front of him, the blood pooling beneath her unmoving body. All color left his face, leaving his originally tan-colored skin turn into a pale one, horrified at what he had done. Panic started to rise unto his chest and mind, leaving him unable to think of the right thing to do.

He took a step back and looked at his surroundings. The place is a little dark, the streetlights barely lit the area, and he could see the park beside the road where he was standing but besides that, he can't see anyone except the one he killed.

Killed. He killed someone. Fear started to eat him as realization hit. He doesn't know what to do and the next thing he knew is that he was back in the car, driving back home and leaving the girl, not minding if the person is dead or probably dying. The scene he saw keeps creeping back into his mind - the person... the blood...

"NO! That didn't happen. That was just a prank that my brain is playing on me. I didn't kill someone. That wasn't true!" The pink-haired boy keeps denying everything but soon, he submitted to the truth that he had killed someone. His cold skin, goose bumps, cold sweat, and his still trembling body due to panic and shock convinced him.

"NO! What have I done?! NO!"

"Nii-san? Nii-san!" A blue-haired girl is waking up his older brother.

The pink haired boy opened his eyes to see the worried look her little sister is giving him.

"You're shouting something in your sleep again, Natsu. It is a nightmare again, isn't it?" their mother, Grandine, asked him.

"Again?" he growled, irritated that the nightmare had really gotten into him that he even screams at his sleep.

"I'm fine now; you all can go back to what you were doing before." Natsu said, facing his mother to convince her that he was fine.

"Are you sure? It's already been five months since you're having those nightmares and it becomes frequent these days." their father, Igneel, stated with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes, I'm fine dad. Just go out now." Natsu replied.

"Okay, we will go out now but remember, you have classes today so get ready and go down for breakfast." Grandine reluctantly said while motioning Wendy and her husband out of Natsu's room.

"I will." Natsu said to his mother.

Natsu grabbed some clothes and went in the bathroom for a shower. He needed to push that nightmare out of his head. 'Who was I kidding? That isn't a nightmare, it is a memory. Yes. I, Natsu Dragneel had killed a person and because I am a huge coward, I didn't help that person. Damn!' Natsu thought and he cursed himself. 'Since that day, I really began to hate myself. And those nightmares keep haunting me. Good thing I didn't see that person's face because if I did, I guess I won't be able to sleep at night. Well, being able to sleep at night is surprising, knowing I had done a horrible thing. And today is exactly five months after that terrible accident happened. If I could only return to the past, I would punch myself to make my stupid mind work that time.' Natsu thought, and then he remembered what happened after that incident...

- Flashback -

Natsu was able to go home and he hurried to get a pail and filled it with water. After he had done that, he desperately scrubbed the front part of the car clean, in case there is any blood there, and he eventually cleaned the whole car because of a slight paranoia of them knowing what recently happened. After cleaning the car, he filled the pail with water for the last time and had splashed it to himself wishing it could wake him up from that 'nightmare' but, it seems that it will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life as he realized that all of those were real. Then his eyes started to get heavy as he sat down...

His mother found him later that morning, asleep and with clothes still wet while leaning against the car. When his mother asked him what happened, that scene started to come back to his mind making him unable to speak due to fear. Of course, he hadn't told her and he will never tell anyone about that. He lied to his mother about what had happened and went back to his room to change.

That afternoon, there was news about a girl who is said that was hit by a car last night near the Magnolia Park with no ID to identify who she is. Unable to hear until the end of the gruesome news, he ran off to his room and locked himself for that night, knowing that the girl in the news is the person he accidentally killed.

'That person is a girl, I now remember, that person is indeed wearing girl clothes and she has… blonde hair!' Natsu remembered, then fear started to come back to him, leaving him shaken up to his soul. He didn't eat dinner that night. When he got out of his room the next day, his mother is very worried and kept on asking him what was wrong. But then, he only lied and said he was just feeling sick when in fact, he felt guilty and scared of what he did, that's why he can't move out of his bed that time.

- End of flashback -

Since that night, he wasn't able to sleep without having a nightmare of that accident. He often wake up sweating and shouting which got the attention of his family. The first time they said he was shouting in his sleep, he got afraid that they might have an idea of what happened but he was somewhat relieved when they said that he was only shouting 'No' and 'That wasn't true'.

Those who are close to him noticed the slight change in his personality. Although he's still the goofy and loud one, and he still 'fights' with his friends, he is usually seen spacing out if he's alone or even when he's in class.

The thing he had done and his conscience never stopped haunting him. It is only when he's with his family and friends that he can momentarily push that memory at the back of his mind.

Though Natsu truly regret the actions he made that night, he didn't dare to go back to the place where the accident happened. He doesn't know why, but he can't make himself go there.

'What should I do so I can just forget everything?' that was the thought Natsu had that morning.

Author's Notes:

Well, I guess that's it for the first chapter. Sorry if the story is not good or confusing, it's actually my first time writing a story so if you have suggestions and comments it will be appreciated. So what do you think about the story? Please review, Thank you ^_^

I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to the awesome Mashima Hiro-sensei. I hope that he will make NaLu an official couple soon though.