73 Days…

Lucy pulled on her clothes, wincing as her fingers raked across a new line of bruises. Plue slept contentedly on her bed, and she patted his head before she left. She had taken him outside earlier, and he could get to the backyard if he needed to after she had installed the dog door. She sighed as she remembered the long fight she had fought with her dad to keep Plue, but she had won in the end with her defiance before he stormed out.

It hadn't felt like a victory when he came back.

She shook the memory from her head as she left, locking the door behind her. He had left in the morning, but he had come home last night, but he was upset at his business this time. Things weren't working well with his business, and some plans that were supposed to help the company spread to other countries had fallen through.

Her skin felt cold where he had touched her, and she rubbed her hands along her skin, trying to get warm again. Her normal skirt and tank top combo was replaced with a pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt, but, true to her style, they hugged her curves.

It was days like this that she missed her mother most. Was her mother turning in her grave at the suffering Lucy was going through? Lucy hoped not. Despite the comforting thought that her mom was watching her, Lucy didn't want to worry her mother, and she silently prayed that her mother was happy up in heaven.

She walked to her first class, trying to ignore the words kids spat at her and just barely managing to dodge when a pair of jocks tried to corner her. She avoided her locker, sighing softly. "73 days left…" She murmured softly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she took her seat. She pulled out her notebook, writing down more of her story on the pieces of paper, and she sighed exasperatedly when she noticed that she was slowly running out of pages.

The teacher walked in, and Lucy hurriedly stuffed the well-worn notebook back into her backpack, pulling out another. The teacher barely glanced at her as she took roll, sparing barely any of the students a glance as she powered through attendance.

The class flew by rapidly, and soon the bell rang, and everyone hurried out of the room. Lucy gathered her things, making sure she was the last one out, just in case some student felt frisky and wanted give Lucy some new punishment they had thought up.

She walked into her History class, and her eyes instantly fell on a head of pink hair. Natsu's eyes met her own, and he smiled a bit more at her before returning to talk with his friends. She smiled back as she sat down in her chair, her heart feeling a bit lighter. After that first day the two had grown closer, and soon Lucy grew comfortable enough to call him her closest friend, if she could open herself up that much to him. But Lucy had long since resigned herself to being 'Friend-Zoned' by the pinkette. She knew that she liked him more than that, but she couldn't drag him into her drama, especially since his friends were her main tormentors.

From what she knew, Gray was a decent guy and best friends with Natsu, but he wasn't the source of Lucy's problems. It was the cluster of girls that hung out with the two, and their white-haired leader. She knew all too well what caused them to hate her, but she silently wondered if they would ever just give it up.

History class was the same, the teacher going on about the Wild West. Lucy doodled on her paper, her mind lost in the universe of saloon and bar fights and beautiful women like herself falling for ruggedly handsome cowboys that oddly reminded her of Natsu.

The bell rang, shattering her thoughts, and she glanced down at the page before her, turning bright pink at the ridiculous heart she had drawn on one corner of the page with the initials ND+LH in it. She quickly scribbled it out before she shut her notebook and put it back in her bag.

She stood up, and her eyes fixed on a pair of feet standing in front of her desk, and she raised her eyes up. Natsu grinned at her. "Hey Luce."

Lucy smiled back at him. "Hey Natsu." She said as she walked out of the classroom, him right alongside her.

"What's new?" He asked, stretching slightly.

Lucy snorted. "Nothing, other than wondering why you were in class today. I thought you only came to class when there were tests."

Natsu rolled his onyx eyes, and Lucy resisted the urge to stare at them until she got lost in them. "I was just wondering why you were wearing that today. It's really warm for late March."

Lucy stiffened slightly under his gaze, and she pulled her shirt sleeves down further subconsciously. "I… I just wanted to take a change of pace. Is there something wrong with it?"

Natsu shook his head. "Just… odd. I didn't think you had anything in your dressers other than tanks and short skirts."

Lucy looked down. "Well, I do." She said softly, and silently debated if she should just continue to dress like this for 73 more days…

Natsu did that thing where he seemed to read her mind. "Don't get me wrong, I like your outfits! They're bright and cute, and they-" He turned slightly pink, scratching the back of his head. "I'm shutting up before I sound completely gay."

Lucy smiled. "Too late."

Natsu frowned. "Oi! I do not!"

Lucy smirked. "The note your voice hit there convinces me otherwise."

Natsu opened his mouth to retort when a female voice yelled out. "Natsu! There you are baby!" A white-haired beauty ran up to Natsu, smiling as she hugged him tightly. "After school, you want to hang out? I'm free till 5." She said, hinting playfully at her words, and Natsu frowned.

"Uh, sorry Lisanna. Mum wants me home right after school. Maybe next time?" He asked, clearly uneasy at what Lisanna was implying.

Lisanna pouted but nodded. "Alright. Later then babe." She turned her head to glare at Lucy. "Slut." She murmured softly so Lucy barely caught it, eyes picking out the movement of her lips.

Lucy looked away, choosing to not give Lisanna the pleasure of seeing her words take their toll on her, and as Lisanna walked away, Lucy inclined her head. "Girlfriend?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "She's-" The warning bell rang for the next class, and Natsu frowned. "Listen, you have B lunch, right? Meet me by my car afterwards if you want to skip again. I'll tell you then, but you got to answer some of my questions, 'kay?" He dashed away, waving at her.

Lucy bit her lip as she hurried to her third period, barely making it in time. She didn't want to answer his questions, mostly because she knew what he would ask. He saw the look in his eyes, that look only spelt trouble for her. She caught the tail end of a discussion behind her as she sat down.

"I've never been so embarrassed. I totally forgot we were swimming today and had to borrow one of the school's hideous swimsuits. I swear, so fat girl must have worn mine last, the thing was all stretched out and hung awkwardly off of me."

"That's horrible! I'm just glad I remembered mine."

The teacher called the class to attention, but Lucy didn't hear him. PE meant swimming, and it was either skip class, or reveal to the entire class her body.

She decided there was only one thing to do.

For Lucy, the day didn't move fast enough as she dashed to the parking lot, climbing into the passenger seat of the red Mustang, and Natsu took off at practically light speed. They didn't stop for a good ten minutes, neither of them speaking. Natsu drove towards the edge of town, and he didn't stop until he got to an overlooking ledge.

Lucy got out and gasped at the sight. The entire town was below her, and it seemed so small compared to when she was in it, and she lifted up one of her hands, smiling as she realized she could cover up the entire accursed place with one hand.

"You look nice when you smile." Lucy turned around, and her face fell into a scowl as Natsu pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, leaning against his car casually.

"And you're going to kill yourself with those death sticks." Lucy retorted sourly as she sat on the hood of his car. "How'd you know about this place?"

Natsu smirked. "I used to go hiking with Dad. We'd park the car up here and continue along the ridge, us, Mum, and Wendy. That's one question for you." He paused, inhaling thoughtfully before he exhaled the smoke. "Tell me more about your mom?"

Lucy smiled as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Mom was… amazing. I've told you a bit about her, but that didn't even scratch the surface. If she was alive, we would be twins. No matter what happened with my dad, she made sure that our house was clean and she helped him save every penny. She always said she didn't want a extravagant lifestyle, and she was absolutely my role model. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up." Lucy blinked twice to rid the tears in her eyes, barely even noticing how easy it was to not cry anymore. "She was my best friend… My guiding light of sorts, and when she died, it broke my heart and snapped my dad in half."

Natsu continued to puff his cigarette, silent for a long minute. "You asked about Lisanna earlier, right?" He inhaled part of his cigarette, frowning. "She's not."

Lucy looked up, an eyebrow raised. "She's not what?"

Natsu sighed. "My girlfriend. But she thinks she should be dating." He waved a hand. "You see, I've lived here most of my life, but I went to a different school than everyone else. Mirajane, she was me and Wendy's babysitter, and she brought over Lisanna pretty frequently."

Lucy's eyebrows shot up. "How do they know each other?"

Natsu looked at her confused. "Mirajane is Lisanna's older sister. They have the same last name."

Lucy's jaw dropped, and she suddenly wondered how demonic Lisanna was at all related to heavenly Mirajane. "I never noticed…"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "And you call ME thick." Lucy slapped his arm playfully, and he laughed. "But we used to play this game, House. I always wanted to play Dragon and Princess, but she didn't want to, and as a girl, she got to choose."

Lucy smirked. "I never played House. I reenacted my favorite parts of books, which actually were mostly books about princesses."

Natsu looked at her in awe. "Lucky! I wish I would've known you! I'd have been at your house every day!" He shook his head. "But anyway, she made me agree to this stupid promise. If neither of us had someone by the time we graduated college, we'd get married." He pulled a face. "She even made me seal it with a kiss. It was absolutely disgusting."

Lucy bit her lip to keep from laughing at Natsu's face. "Poor thing."

He turned to her, smirking. "Maybe you could get rid of the memory?" He asked, puckering up childishly and leaning in.

Lucy shrieked, and started laughing. "Get away you freak!" She yelled as she rolled off the car hood, and part of her brain screamed she was an idiot for not swooping in on that chance.

Natsu grinned. "There it is!"

Lucy looked up, confusion on her face. "What?"

Natsu smirked as he finished his cigarette, stubbing it out on the bottom of his combat boots. "Your laugh." He looked at her, his trademark grin plastered on his face. "I hadn't heard it before."

Lucy put a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. She hadn't realized she had laughed either. "I…. I don't like my laugh. It sounds like a donkey braying."

Natsu shook his head. "It kind of sounded like bells to me."He smiled at her. "I like it."

Lucy felt her heartbeat pick up, and she walked to the edge of the cliff, sitting down at the edge. "It's your turn."

Natsu paused, then nodded as he joined her on the edge. "It's about Lisanna."

Lucy stiffened, looking away. "What about her?"

Natsu looked at Lucy carefully. "Why does she hate you?"

Lucy kept her eyes away from Natsu's searching ones. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Natsu snorted. "I heard what she said to you today. I hear the whispers they say when they think no one's listening." He waved a finger at her. "And you have to tell the truth."

Lucy bit her lip. "It's… It's complicated."

Natsu waved a hand. "And we have all afternoon."

Lucy sighed. "Freshman year. Do you remember it?"

Natsu shook his head. "I transferred in sophomore year from another high school."

Lucy looked at her lap. "That explains why you aren't like everyone else. Lisanna and I were friends until freshman year, and then we had a falling out about a boy." She smiled sadly. "Things were said that can't be taken back, and because of that, she hates me, and the entire school hates me." She looked up at him, forcing a smile. "But I don't care about what they all have to say. I've been ignoring them so long I don't even hear them anymore."

Natsu leaned back till he was lying in the grass. "I guess that makes it your question."

Lucy leaned backwards and joined him, looking up at the sky. "Who are you really?"

Natsu snorted. "I'm Natsu."

Lucy shook her head. "I know you are, Natsu the delinquent who smokes and leaves class early and skips whenever that red-headed security guard doesn't catch you. But you aren't quite that." She looked at him. "Remember a few days back, when you had me help clean out your car? I found a stack of homework from your classes this year."

Natsu snorted, but this time he kept his eyes away from Lucy. "Probably all F's. I don't check."

Lucy snorted. "You got almost A's and B's on everything!" She tapped his head. "You have a brain in there! Why do you hide it?"

Natsu shrugged. "I don't really care. There's more important things than studying and getting good grades." He sighed. "I want to make an impact on the world Luce. I don't want to be another nerd that no one ever sees, they only see his inventions."

Lucy sighed. "I guess you're right." She smirked. "Smarty-pants."

"Coming from the girl who passed 4 AP tests with practically perfect scores?"

"Touche."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, and Natsu closed his eyes, breathing evenly in and out. He was silent for such a long time that Lucy rolled onto her side gently, staring at him. It was depressing, knowing that the guy you loved laid right next to you, but there was little question if he liked you back or not, but Lucy smiled sadly, content to stay like this. She didn't need Natsu to love her back, this was enough for her.

Absent-mindedly, she brought her hand up to play with his hair, wondering if it was soft as it looked. She smiled as her fingers played with the strands. A voice broke her thoughts. "Uh, Lucy? What are you doing?"

Lucy turned the exact color of Natsu's hair, turning away as she let her arm drop. "You, uh, had a leaf in your hair."

"Lucy. Look at me."

Lucy turned around, and she found Natsu's face incredibly close to each other. There was probably less than 3 inches between them, and Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu's eyes searched hers, and he frowned. "Lucy… I want you to tell me what exactly happened freshman year."

Lucy paled, and she sat up, not looking at him. "You… You'll need to promise not to tell anyone, alright?" She asked softly, and she saw Natsu nod out of the corner of her eye. "I got to high school and immediately I made friends. I joined a number of clubs, did a few sports on the side, but the real kicker was I got on the cheer squad." She smiled scornfully. "I was instantly welcome everywhere I went. Boys fell at my feet; girls cringed in jealousy and tried to be my friend. But they all wanted to get into the popular group, and it made me feel… hollow." She sighed, trailing her fingers through the grass beside her. "But Lisanna was a close friend, or so I thought. We were always together, always hung out with a new crowd of boys. We always seemed to have a new boy toy every week, and I liked it on a certain level." She shifted uncomfortably. "I know that she had her eye on a rising star on the football team, but what I didn't know was he had his eye on me. Long story short, he rejected her and openly chased after me."

Natsu sighed. "Sounds like Lisanna. Putting boys before friends." He glanced at Lucy, who was staring at the grass. "You know, if there's something bothering you, you can talk to me. We're friends, right?"

Lucy felt her heart break a bit, but she nodded. "Yeah… friends." She paused, then changed the subject. "Why did you leave your old school?"

Natsu started, then put on a sheepish smile. "I, uh, had some problems…"

Lucy smirked at him. "Girl problems?"

Natsu shook his head. "I didn't like the kids at my school, and ended up beating up a bunch of them. I got suspended and then expelled, so I transferred here. Besides, a lot of my friends from grade school actually went here anyway, so it wasn't completely horrible." He grinned. "Mum also said I was more suited for Fairy Tail Academy anyways."

Lucy nodded. "Well, I'm glad you came." She said softly, and Natsu grinned at her.

"Hey, tomorrow, wanna come back here? And the day after that?"

Lucy laughed. "What, are we never going to go to school again?" At Natsu's pouting face, Lucy smiled. "Next time let's bring Happy and Plue. I think they'll like it here."

Natsu grinned. "Alright." He stood up, offering his hand to her. "Let's go home then."

Lucy smiled back at him, and as they walked back to the car, she wondered silently if he even understood what this time with him meant to her.


Sup! Here's Chapter 2 of Too Many Days!

I had this pretty much typed up today, but since the chapter was HORRENDOUSLY long, I decided to edit it some, and make it two days instead of one.

I hope you don't mind, cuz I wanted this chapter to be mostly on Natsu and Lucy's developing relationship rather than anything else.

Please, tell me what you think! I love to hear what you have to say, and I'll try to get the next chapter done by Friday!

~KitkatTenshi