Chapter 1: Those words

I love you.

Who knew that saying those simple words that it would hurt so much? I haven't even said them out loud yet, but when I think about it... It just hurts to think about it. Your smile. Your kindness. I've told you, "You're too kind". Though you responded, "I'm really not..."

I want to fall in love with you but it hurts too much to do so. I want to tell you, "I love you". I'll just watch from the side.

Waking up, Lucy slams her her finger onto her smartphone, rapidly pressing the screen and hoping to press the 'snooze' button. Scratching her head, the high-school girl throws the blanket off her body and moves her legs towards the edge of the bed. Her long blonde hair falls elegantly behind her back, tracing the shape of her body. Lucy opens her warm chocolate eyes and blinks a few times.

After refreshing herself by taking a bath, Lucy dresses up slowly and drys her damp hair. She runs her fingers through her hair after combing it, feeling the long silky locks between her fingers. After buttoning up the white shirt and pulling her navy blue skirt up, Lucy wraps the matching coloured tie around the collar of her shirt and tightens it. She throws her blazer on, dusting it off. Lucy leaves her hair down and slips her thigh high socks around her slender legs slowly and slips her brown shoes on.

After staring at her dull face in the morning, Lucy slaps her face and puts on the largest smile she can muster. She closes the door to her empty house and walks slowly towards school; her school bag on her right shoulder. Smiling and enjoying the breeze, Lucy uses her finger to move the hair away from her face as she walks.

"Lucy!" Hearing an overly energetic voice, Lucy whips her head around to see that a boy is running up to her in full speed. She smiles in response and waves to him kindly. Before Lucy can react, Natsu slings himself onto her shoulders and rubs his head against her chin.

"I've missed you!" Natsu continues to display his affection towards her and lets go, "Let's walk together to class!"

Lucy nods her head, ignoring the pain in her heart and walks with Natsu, "We have Chemistry first; did you do the homework?"

The colour from Natsu's face drains as he looks at Lucy in despair, "I'M SO DEAD! I DID NOT DO THE HOMEWORK!"

Giggling at his reaction, Lucy pulls out a piece of paper from her bag and unfolds it while handing it to Natsu, "I thought you were going to say that; I already made copies of the answers for you."

The two continue their light hearted chats, enjoying the company of each other.

'We met in middle school. It was purely by chance. He was in my english class and the both of us just ended up completely getting along. After three years, we still hang out together. the two of us are best friends now and hang out all the time as friends. I know it's selfish but sometimes I want to be more than friends'.

During Break...

As Natsu continues to messily eat his bread for snack, Gray looks at him in confusion. The two rivals, though are best friends, wait outside their next class together. Gray watches Natsu as his eyes trail off to look at Lucy, who is walking together Levy and Wendy. His gaze doesn't leave her form until she turns the corner and leaves his view.

"Seriously though... Why don't you just date Lucy" Gray inquires Natsu, giving him raised eyebrow look, "You're pretty close to her and many other guys want to date her."

Finishing his bread, Natsu's hair covers his eyes, "You don't get it... Why would I ruin our relationship like that? We are in a comfortable position to just chat and be friends." Natsu throws the plastic of his bread away. He then grins at Gray as the plastic falls into the bin without falling to the floor.

Gray sighs, "You're such an idiot... What if I started dating her?" Gray looks at Natsu, giving him an evil look.

Natsu turns away from Gray, "Do whatever you want... It's not my business who she dates." Natsu then remembers the past; Lucy's look of despair in her past relationships, "I don't even know that much about her."

"You're a coward..." Gray mocks Natsu, making the short tempered guy swing his fist at him.

"Shut up you ice princess!". As the two continue to fight, the other students watch and just sigh from this normal everyday display.

Afterschool...

Lucy, walking home with Natsu, she turns her head and continues to listen to Natsu on how he 'defeated' Gray today. Lucy giggles and responds appropriately. The two of them continue to walk with their voices surrounding the air around them. The small breeze of the August month carries their hair, making it flutter slightly.

"Thank you for walking me back as usual Natsu," Lucy closes the door to her house and smiles kindly at him, "As usual, be careful on your way home."

Natsu gives his signature grin and waves goodbye to the blonde girl. He runs off to his house thinking, 'I still don't know what she are going to do after university. With her grades, she could probably go overseas and study there. She would then meet some guy and marry him, forgetting all about me. I don't want that!'

Opening his door to his house, Natsu greets his mother and slams himself onto his bed, 'Why didn't I just ask her out earlier? It now has to be so complicated...'. Natsu runs his hand through his short strands of salmon hair, thinking about Lucy's face all throughout the night. He places the back of his hand onto his head as he dresses into more comfortable clothes. He leans against the wall and looks at his phone, wanting to text Lucy. He then decides not to and goes off to play games on his computer.

Looking at her phone, Lucy scroll down to look at Natsu and her last conversation. It was something random, but she enjoys receiving the buzz of a text from him. Laying her head onto her notes, Lucy lays her head down onto her desk as she stops studying for school and thinks about Natsu. Her long hair falls onto her face as Lucy sighs heavily. She fantasies about the different possibilities of their relationship, her mind wandering continuously until she gets frustrated and forces herself to stop thinking about it.

She raises her head, her hand trailing to a framed picture she has of the two of them right next to her family photo. She traces her right index finger over the smiling face of Natsu in the photo. She smiles sadly and throws herself onto her bed.

During the night, the two toss and turn. The two think and sigh, 'Last year of highschool... Should I risk it?'.

I love you

Are you willing to risk an entire relationship built on friendship to say these words?

A/N: This story might be relatable to a few as this is story is created from real life experiences. If they are mine or someone else's experience is something I won't reveal. Ruining a relationship is always risky.

Please review your opinions.