Note: This fic will be a bunch of oneshots with no particular order, timeskips will be present in this fic.
Lucy didn't think this would ever happen. Sitting in Natsu's room that is. He'd always been guarded, sort of secretive when it came to his personal life, not that she could really blame him. She had been too when they first met, not wanting to dump a lifetime of childhood trauma onto someone that actually wanted to be her friend. Her only comfort was his cat that he'd left with her whilst he went to go get them drinks.
She was sat on the edge of his bed, hands neatly placed in her lap, back straight- just like her father had taught her to- when she noticed something odd sat on top of his jacket, by the looks of it it had been thrown there rather carelessly. She squinted her eyes, desperately trying to get a better look, after all, it was rude to go rummaging through someone's belongings. Although it was technically out in the open. All she'd have to do is get up and take four strides toward his desk. The curiosity was burning away at her. Would it really do any harm? This was Natsu's room, her best friend. He went through her stuff so why the hell couldn't she?
She stood, glancing at the door wondering how much time she'd have before he came back. She made a few hesitant steps forward. Her eyes widened and her breath got caught in her throat once she saw what it was.
A mask. Now that in itself wasn't very incriminating, he could just be into roleplay right? Or some other kinky shit. However it was who's mask it was.
E.N.D.
He was famous for being a heartless and cold individual. Never killing and eating just what he needed, no, he killed up to three people each time he wanted to feed. He killed anywhere between nine to twelve people in just a week. He was known to be one of the largest threats to humanity. The only thing that gave her comfort was the fact he'd been out of the public eye for a while now, it was almost like he'd disappeared entirely. Most speculated he'd been taken out by another ghoul or two, leading her to hope that by some miracle maybe he'd just found the mask in a dumpster or something. Another thing was that it wasn't uncommon for ghouls to change their public identities from time to time just to keep the CCG on their toes, the more she thought about it the more her head spun. She didn't even hear him stumbling through the door, clinking two cups together.
"Hey uh I hope you don't mind hot chocolate, I know you hate coffee so it was the only alternative I had so-" he cut himself off once he saw what she was holding.
"Natsu." Her voice shook, her fear was obvious. "Why do you have this?" she lifted the mask with trembling fingers.
She saw as he turned to place the two cups down, slowly turning back around to face her once he'd done so. His eyes suddenly widened and she heard him mumble a brief "shit" under his breath. He was quick to hold his hands up in a surrender. He'd forgotten about leaving his mask out on view. He scrambled to find some kind of excuse, as to why he'd have the mask of a notorious killer sitting innocently on his desk.
"You see I'm kind of into all that kink-"
"The truth Natsu." Her gulp was audible. "Are you a g- ghoul?" She could barely get the last word out, the truth threatening to split her apart. Reality of the situation hit her hard. Surely he wouldn't allow her to leave now she knew? She had close relations to the CCG, she would definitely be a threat to his safety.
"Well yeah?" He tried to sound indifferent but the softness of his voice gave his act away. The slumping of his shoulders would usually make her feel pity. Not now her inner thoughts reprimanded. Not the time for sympathy. Where was his remorse for all his victims? If they didn't get any, neither did he.
"I thought you guessed already, I mean you've hinted at it before so I just thought-"
"Natsu, they were jokes." Sure he was oblivious to social cues, but how could he have mistaken something like this?
"Oh"
She managed to resist the urge to slap her palm over her face. She wasted no time, taking a few strides across the room to his bed and began packing her things, all the while trying to slip on her shoes. Natsu didn't say anything, however once she went for the door he snapped into action.
"We need to talk about this." His voice left no room for argument, making her shrink back slightly at the implications of what that might mean.
"Natsu, I don't know what there is to talk about. I mean you're a killer, I don't feel safe around you anymore." Her voice was barely a whisper. She sounded so defeated, it made his chest throb with guilt.
"I don't do that kind of stuff anymore, I only eat once a week and the rest I supplement with the special sugar cubes Gramps has," Colour drained from his face as he saw realization dawn on her face.
"You mean to tell me that all of Fairy Tail are ghouls too?"
He was silent. He didn't try to lie to her this time, he allowed her to soak up the information without overloading her. There was no way he'd let her leave here alive he was going to kil-
He placed a gentle finger underneath her chin and brought her face to look at him directly.
"Lucy, I would never harm you. Do you understand?" She managed a small nod of her head. "I trust you."
"What's stopping me from telling everyone?"
"I trust you not to." Shit that sounded an awful lot like a threat "Argh, I didn't mean it like that I-"
"I won't tell anyone." He managed a small smile for her.
"Goo-"
"But I don't want to be friends anymore." His smile instantly fell. He could feel tears bubbling up from behind his eyes. He couldn't lose her. She was his first real friend and he treasured her more than anything. Whenever he felt the urge to go on a binge he'd immediately think of her, trusting that the mental image of her disappointment would ward off his cravings. His hand fell from her face. He couldn't keep her in his life against her will. He wouldn't harm her.
"Okay." His tears were falling freely now and he forced himself to step aside, to allow her to leave.
She didn't hesitate, grabbing the handle and making a swift exit. Not even a goodbye.
He slid down to the ground as he heard the front door slam.
Why couldn't he have just been born human?