Now in present tense!

The Raven

Chapter Two: The Animal

{You fight me, flat on my lonely face I fell, finding in the end, all is well.}

Lucy sucks in a breath through clenched teeth, the resulting noise sounding slightly like the irritated hiss of an animal. In the next moment she feels Natsu's body stiffen against hers, the muscles in his arms tensing under her fingers as he swallows and grips her hips tighter.

Natsu dips his head down, his shaky breath fanning over her neck. "Lucy," he breathes her name lowly in her ear, although she's fairly certain that both Igneel and Wendy can hear him as well. "Didn't you say you were on Thirty-First last night?" From the corner of her eye Lucy sees Igneel's head snap in their direction, his eyes wide with a cross between fear and confusion.

She doesn't realize that she tightened her grip on Natsu's arms until he finishes speaking. "I did," her voice breaks as she speaks. "I was on Thirty-First some time between one-forty-five and two this morning." Natsu's arms noticeably tighten around her waist, unknowingly pressing against a bruise from that morning. Not that she really notices. She's too numb from what Igneel just said.

"You were there?" Igneel questions her, taking a step closer to the two teenagers in front of him.

Lucy turns her head toward the red-haired man. "What's your definition of 'there?'" She runs a shaky hand through her hair and Natsu's hand starts to slowly move up and down her back in a soothing manner. "I walked down the length of the street. I didn't see anything weird. I didn't hear anything…" she trails off. Things are just going from bad to worse now.

Nobody says anything for what seems like years.

Igneel lets out a long sigh after several minutes. "You three get to school. We'll figure this out later." He walks up the stairs without giving any of them a second glance.

Lucy waits for his back to disappear from sight before she disentangles herself from Natsu's hold. "Wendy." The younger girl looks at her with wide eyes. "Go get your bag."

Wendy nods, but hesitates briefly before running up the stairs. Lucy can tell that Wendy's ready to leave, especially after what she's just learned from her father. Now, Lucy's left alone with Natsu, and, while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, she knows that it won't be the best conversation. Well, it won't be pleasant anyway.

"Lucy," Natsu starts, hesitation clear in his voice. "Are you—" He pauses swallowing. "—okay?" Her head snaps up and her eyes lock with his. He's worried about her? Why? Her confusion must show on her face because after a moment, he elaborates. "I mean, with everything that's happened. Are you okay?"

Lucy looks over at him and laughs sadly. "Should I be?" Natsu opens his mouth to respond, but she shushes him. "That was rhetorical." She catches a glance at his eyes, not liking the things she sees there in the slightest. She really had been joking when she said he was afraid of Gray. This though—this is a different breed of trepidation; this is not just an icy finger touching your heart. This is the type of raw fear that spreads through men until it pierces their hearts like a jagged knife, turning weaker men into sniveling, wounded animals.

Luckily Natsu is not a weaker man.

His eyes betray his mind though. She knows that he's thinking that he could have lost her, that she could have been dead right now—it was only a matter of timing that she's still breathing—and she knows that he doesn't want that to ever happen. She realizes this, so she doesn't waste any time stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him once again, burying her face against his chest. "I'm okay, Natsu," she whispers. "Nothing's going to happen to me."

Her words seemed to have the desired effect, because in the next moment his arms are curled around her like a vice, impossible to break, but gentle enough not to harm her in any way. She relaxes completely, head leaning against his collarbone, sighing as his fingers trail across her back.

The two stand there, just taking comfort in the fact that the other is there for what feels like forever, but after a heartbeat Natsu lowers his head, placing it on top of hers. "Hey, Lucy?" he whispers after a moment of blissful silence. She merely hums in response, too content to take part in breaking the silence. "There's a marathon of American Horror Story on tonight." She smiles against his chest, knowing what he's going to say and knowing that he knows that she knows what he's going to say. "You up for it?"

She laughs before pulling away from him enough to look up into his dark eyes. "Of course." But only because it's him asking. She doesn't want to be with anyone else. Never anybody else.

Natsu laughs lightly under his breath and tucks her underneath his chin again, pressing a quick kiss on her temple as he does so. Lucy hears Wendy coming back down the stairs, but she doesn't pull away, she's far too comfortable holding on to her friend.

"I'm ready," a cheerful voice calls out from behind the two teens. Lucy peers around Natsu to smile at Wendy as she nearly trips down the last few steps. She's so klutzy sometimes, but she's adorable all the same. At least she hadn't gotten hurt this time, unlike the last time she fell down the stairs.

She winces slightly. Two years ago Wendy had nearly broken her arm after seemingly tripping over nothing on her way down the stairs; luckily Grandine, Natsu and Wendy's mother, is a Doctor. Well, she's a surgeon really, but she knows a lot about Nursing in general.

Natsu gently releases her, but not before an overly dramatic sigh escapes his lips. "Alright, fine." He sighs again. "Let's go to school." Wendy and Lucy both giggle at his silly antics, causing him to smirk and continue. "Okay, Ladies, let's go." He wraps an arm around both girls so that he's standing between them. "Lucy, my dear, I do believe that we have a date with the Devil." Lucy blanches.

"Yeah," she agrees. "And her boyfriend."

"You did what?" Erza's screech of pure rage booms across the school yard, making everyone either freeze up or run away in fear. It's easy to understand why everyone is so scared though. Erza, while generally very sweet and kind to her friends, can become a monster when she's angry.

Lucy lets out a nervous laugh, being the cause of Erza's current anger because she just finished explaining what had happened last night and this morning. She omitted a few choice facts of course—such as what had happened with her father, because that would definitely be the worst thing to tell the hysterical girl standing in front of her right now—but that's irrelevant.

"I'm going to assume that was a rhetorical question," Lucy states, only half joking. In response Erza sends her a glare that could have possibly taken ten years off of her life before tackling her in a hug—like a professional rugby player—sending both girls tumbling towards the ground in a heap of limps and scarlet colored hair.

Lucy just barely manages to hold back a cry of pain as Erza crushes her ribs on impact. She prays to what ever God is up there that, if they aren't already, she'll get through the day without broken ribs. She does not need that right now. Lucy hisses lightly; being slammed into the ground and then being pressed between said object and her female best friend does not do her bruised body any favors.

After a moment Erza jumps back up, pulling Lucy up off the ground with her, only to slam the girl against her chest in another suffocating hug a moment later. Seriously, is Erza trying to kill her? It sort of seems like it.

"You are never allowed to do that again. Do you understand me?" Lucy doesn't even bother trying to respond. Erza isn't looking for an answer and she can't pull enough oxygen into her lungs to give her one anyway. "Also, I'm walking you home tonight."

Lucy rolls her eyes, finally managing to suck in a breath. Why do her friends have to be so overdramatic? Besides, Lucy is pretty sure she would be safe walking with just Natsu. "I have work tonight, Erza," she responds calmly, trying not to make her female friend angry. She has seen Erza punch people and it is not something she wants to experience first-hand.

"So?" Erza asks, looking completely baffled as to why she can't walk Lucy home.

This is ridiculous. Lucy's friends are ridiculous. "So, you don't need to walk me to work. I'm getting a ride from Laxus." You remember him… right, Erza? You know, the big, scary blond guy with the scar on his face that could quite possibly knock a guy out with one well-placed hit? Yeah, that Laxus. Lucy is fairly certain she'll be safe in the company of Laxus.

"What if Laxus was the one who killed that girl," Erza tries to reason, looking very proud of herself.

Lucy blinks once. Twice. She opens her mouth to speak, but closes it again. She pauses for a moment, trying to think of a response to Erza's ludicrous idea. "If Laxus really wanted to kill me I'm sure he would have done it by now."

Erza mulls over the idea for a moment before she finally shrugs and nods in agreement. Not that Lucy can actually see her do this as she's still being held captive in Erza's embrace. "I'll walk you home from work instead," she suddenly suggests. Well, more like demands.

Lucy just sighs; there are so many things wrong with this girl. "Natsu is giving me a ride home." Just like every day. Natsu always makes sure to pick her up when she works late because apparently he doesn't like it when she walks alone at night, which is understandable. "Now knock it off."

Erza sighs heavily. "Okay," she murmurs, dropping the blonde from her suffocating embrace. Lucy gasps, grateful that she can breathe once again. Erza's hugs are nice sometimes, but other times they're just painful. "Hey, Lucy?"

Lucy raises a brow at the taller girl, curious as to what she's going to say next. "Yes, Erza?" she asks slowly. She really doesn't like the look in Erza's eyes at the moment. She looks, almost guilty, but that doesn't make any sense.

Erza shuffles a bit and doesn't meet her eyes. "Could I spend the night at your house?" she asks hurriedly.

Lucy gapes at the taller girl in disbelief for a moment, before breaking out into loud peals of laughter at everything that has just happened, Natsu and their blue-haired friend Jellal following close behind her. Sometimes Erza can be a little bit ridiculous, but Lucy still love her anyway.

After a moment Natsu recovers somewhat. "Sorry, Erza. She's spending the night with me." He smirks after saying it, probably thinking he's finally won the one-sided battle against Erza; something he's been trying to do for the past three years, but Erza, of course, doesn't take it that way. No, she doesn't take it that way at all.

"You're what?" she screams. Before Natsu can reply Erza slams him against the ground, shouting something about Natsu "being a pervert" and how she's going to "rip his balls off," or something to that degree. Natsu really needs to learn when not to say things.

While the angry redhead is busy screaming at Natsu, Lucy walks over to Jellal, a close friend of hers who has been dating Erza for several months now. "Are you going to Fairy Tail tonight, Jellal?"

The blue-haired boy smirks, the red tattoo under and around his right eye crinkling up as he does so. "Nah, I think I'll spend the night keeping Erza out of your hair." His smirk falls away into a soft smile.

Lucy just laughs. "Thanks, Jellal." She starts to say something else, but a flash of red catches her eyes. Lucy turns her head in the direction of the flash, her eyes landing on a tall, hooded man leaning against a fence just across the road from the school. Lucy is about to write it off as nothing when the man turns his head towards her.

His eyes are blood red and she can see something dangerous in them. He looks like a predator—an animal. And he's looking directly at her.

She whips back around, ignoring the concerned glance she gets from Jellal. Why is he just staring at her? Maybe she's just jumping to conclusions; maybe he wasn't even looking at her. But there was something about his gaze that unnerved her to no end, disgusted her even. She doesn't even know why, it was just… strange.

Lucy sighs and squeezes her eyes shut tightly. She probably just needs some sleep. Or maybe she just needs to stop taking blows to the head. That would probably help too.

"Hey." A hand wraps around her upper arm, startling her. Her eyes snap open to meet the worried gaze of Natsu. She didn't even realized that Erza stopped yelling at him. He glances over at the place she had been staring at, taking notice of the hooded man across the street. His arm curls around her shoulders, pulling her tightly against him, but his eyes never left the figure. "Let's get to class, okay?"

"Lucy!" Her head jerks up at the sound of her name being called out and she turns, searching for the source. "A couple of guys just sat down at table three." Her eyes zero in on the culprit and a smile makes its way to her face as she sees a tall, blond man with a scar covering his right eye walking towards her. At six-foot-eight Laxus Dreyar easily towers over her by a little more than a foot. A small smirk is stretched across his usually stoic face, something that only seems to happen around a selective few people, which, for some reason, includes her. "Think you can handle it?"

She laughs loudly at the older college student. "Yeah, yeah, of course I can. Go back to the bar, old man." He raises a brow at the jab, but his smile doesn't drop. "No, seriously," she giggles. "Go back to the bar before Bixlow starts letting Cana mix the drinks again. If that happens all hell will break loose in here."

Laxus laughs, nods, and turns to walk away. He makes it two feet before stopping once more. "Lucy," he pauses for a moment, not turning around to look at her. "Natsu is coming to pick you up tonight, right?"

Lucy's eyebrows knit together. Laxus never calls Natsu by his name unless things are serious. "Yeah—" She ponders the question for a moment. "After what happed last night I'm surprised he even let me come here tonight." Laxus seems to take that as an acceptable answer, murmuring a soft "good" before he walking back to his position at the bar.

Sometimes Laxus is a bit of a mystery to her. He's rough around the edges and can be a huge jerk sometimes, but when he really cares about someone he'll do anything to make sure that they stay safe. It's kind of admirable, actually, but she will never figure him out. Lucy just sighs and shakes her head before walking over to her newly-assigned table.

She is not pleased in the slightest by what she sees there and she briefly wonders how they even got inside the bar with Laxus working; he would never let them just walk in.

Students that attend Magnolia High School have never gotten along with the Nekoma High Saber Tooth Tigers. If Lucy recalls correctly it all started when Laxus was a Sophomore in school. A Saber Tooth boy had slandered the Magnolia Fighting Fairies—which the bar Fairy Tail was apparently named after, or is the other way around?—and it had sparked a fight. Admittedly, the Fighting Fairies is a rather pathetic sounding mascot, but it means an adventure and family; and no one has the right to belittle that.

Things had cooled down between the two schools for awhile, but the Sabers have a reputation for causing trouble and harassing girls, which usually leads to a fight. And Lucy does not want them anywhere near her or anyone one else in the bar, for that matter.

She doesn't even bother asking what they want. "What are a bunch of Sabers doing here?" she says loud enough that it catches the attention of several occupants of the bar, most being people who understand the conflict. She notices Elfman crack his knuckles from his seat in the back, his eyes asking if she needs his help. Lucy catches his gaze and shakes her head slightly, silently telling him to stay back. "Besides, we don't serve to minors here, so unless you have an ID for me to look at, you can leave."

She can handle these guys alone. Probably. There are only four of them, and they wouldn't dare try to start a fight in Fairy Tail territory, would they?

One of the blonds—Sting, she realizes—smiles at her. Well it's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a sneer. "What's a pretty girl like you doing with a bunch of weak-ass Fairies?" he asks, causing two of the other males behind him to laugh. She thinks their names are Orga and Rufus. The dark-haired male at the end of the table stays silent.

So Rogue is here too. Things just keep getting better and better for her. Sting himself is a powerhouse, and Rogue is extremely loyal to Sting. If a fight does break out Rogue certainly won't do her any favors.

Pushing down her unease, Lucy glares at Sting, scoffing. "Weak?" she snarls. "As I seem to recall, Natsu kicked both your ass and Rogue's. Alone." She remembers that fight well, although she didn't actually see it herself, nor does she know why it started to begin with. "He didn't even need Gajeel's help to beat up a pathetic asshole like you, Sting."

She almost regrets saying anything. Almost. Sting is angry, but he won't try something with everyone else around, she knows. It would just end badly for him. Plus, she has to defend her friends, especially Natsu, because she knows that that's who Sting was really insulting.

Sting's eyes glint with anger, something she sees often enough, before they spark with something like recognition and a sick smirk makes its way across his face. "I remember you, Blondie." He flicks his tongue across his lips, his smirk widening considerably. It's disgusting. "You're Salamander's girl." It isn't a question, she knows that quite well, and something about his statement unsettles her. She barely realizes that Sting is still talking. "Interesting. I wonder how he would react if something—" he pauses, "—bad happened to you."

Lucy has no idea what he means by "bad" nor does she want to know. She doesn't want to think about it—about what he could do to her.

Lucy narrows her eyes coldly. "So what if I am?" she hisses at him, pure venom dripping off of every word she says. "You can't do anything about it," she tells him while laughing lightly, her scowl still in place. "If you try anything Laxus will kill you, Gajeel and Gray will kill you, and that's only if Natsu doesn't kill you first." She shoots him a look that should send him six-feet under.

Sting smiles as he stands. "But that's only if they find out," he counters, taking a step forward. He catches her around the waist, similar to the hold that Natsu had her in this morning. The difference is that this embrace is something she wants to break out of. She doesn't want Sting touching her.

How would they not find out, though? Laxus is in the vicinity and, although Magnolia isn't the smallest town, word of Saber Tooth being in Fairy Tail will spread like wildfire. By the end of the night everyone will know. And she means everyone.

Lucy is pissed now. This day has just been getting worse and worse. What the heck could possibly happen next? Could things get any worse? By all means, she is not challenging fate there. Not at all.

She attempts to shove herself away from the blond in front of her, but he doesn't budge. In fact, his grip only tightens, becoming more than a little bit painful. "Get," she snarls, glaring into his eyes, "the fuck off of me." Lucy used to not swear a lot, but ever sine she started hanging out with the boys, her language has gotten worse.

Sting smirks down at her. "Damn, you've got quite the dirty mouth," he comments in a sultry tone, making her want to puke. He leans in closer to her, his mouth brushing against the shell of her ear as he speaks. "I wonder what else you can do with it." One of his hands trails up her side until he grasps her breast roughly, making her gasp in shock.

Before he can do anything else Lucy jerks away from him and pulls back her arms, ripping her nails across his face. He releases her in an instant, his hand slapping against his now bleeding check. She smiles in satisfaction, seeing the four angry red lines running parallel across the left side of his face.

"You bitch." He turns back to face her and she sees his hand raise, but she doesn't stop it. Stopping it only ever makes things worse; she learned that the hard way. The first and last time that she had tried to fight back against her father he had nearly placed her in the hospital. She was gone from school for over a week and had to lie to her friends about it, telling them that she was only sick. She doesn't fight it anymore.

The hand collides with her jaw with so much force that her head snaps around at breakneck speed, twisting her upper body with it. Her vision blurs for a second—and she briefly thinks she sees shock flash across Sting's face, as if he can't believe what he just did—and she accidentally bites the inside of her lip, but that's it. She doesn't fall, although she does stumble back a step. It actually hurts pretty badly, well, worse than it did before. He would hit her in the same place her father did this morning. She grimaces as pain courses across her face. Apparently, Sting can pack a punch, which doesn't really surprise her all that much. He did fight Natsu once, after all, and her best friend didn't exactly get away without some nasty bruises of his own.

The bar is silent and by the time she turns her head back around everything is turned upside-down. Elfman has Orga pulled into a vicious headlock, and, seeing the position that the silver-haired man is holding the green-haired man in, she can only assume that he had gotten up to help Sting after she scratched him. Freed and Bixlow have Rufus pushed up against the table he was sitting at, both men's eyes blazing with fury. Rogue is gone. She has no idea where he went or why he left, or when he managed to leave for that matter.

And Sting? Well, she almost feels bad for him. Laxus is probably going to kill him.

Laxus has one hand wrapped around the smaller blond's throat and is holding him several inches above the ground, Sting's feet just dangling uselessly in the air. "I turn around for one minute and the next thing I know you're hitting her," Laxus seethes, letting out a bitter laugh. "Who do you think you are, Saber Tooth?" He brings Sting's face several inches closer to his own, eyes shooting sparks. Laxus is shaking in pure rage and to be honest it scares her a little bit. She's never seen him like this before. "You come into our bar. Fuck around with a member of our family." She has never once seen Laxus with this much anger in his eyes before. "You fucking hit a member of our family." Laxus's hand tightens around Sting's throat, causing the younger man to choke. "And you think you're just going to get away with that?"

Lucy gasps when Laxus slams Sting into one of the tables nearby, breaking it in half and leaving Sting's body on the floor. Bixlow moves forward, ready to grab Sting off the floor and give him a beating as well, but Laxus holds up a hand. "Leave him," he hisses out.

Bixlow looks confused. "Laxus?" he murmurs, eyes shifting between the groaning teen on the ground and the pissed-off blond.

Laxus turns around and walks over towards Lucy. "Leave him for Natsu. Blondie is his girl, so he decides what happens." Bixlow and the others nod in understanding, and Lucy doesn't have it in her to protest that she's not Natsu's girl. The boys would just ignore her anyway, like they always do when she says that she isn't dating Natsu.

Laxus pulls Lucy against him in an embrace, wrapping his big arms around her in a gentle way. He ducks his head down to whisper in her ear. "Take the rest of the night off, okay? Tomorrow too," he mutters, oddly quiet.

"Laxus, I'm fine," she whispers back. And she is fine. Her face hurts pretty badly and she's sure she's going to have a worse bruise tomorrow—it'll be harder to hide, for sure—but she'll be fine. She's always fine.

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling,"

"Are you sure?" she asks, voice muffled by Laxus's shirt. Her arms curl around him as well, returning the hug. She already knows what his answer will be, so it was pointless to ask, but she felt the need to do it anyway.

Laxus's hand moves up and down her back in a type of soothing gesture, something he isn't known for doing, but Laxus has been like an older brother to her since she started working at Fairy Tail two years ago, she can only assume that the feeling is mutual. "Yeah, I'm sure, Blondie."

She swallows. "Makarov—" she starts.

He cuts her off and shakes his head. "He'll understand," Laxus tells her. "He always does."

Lucy just nods. She knows fully well that the bar owner, Makarov, would probably tell her the same thing Laxus did. In fact, if Makarov had been at the bar today he probably would have gotten to Sting before Laxus did. He cares a lot about his "grandchildren," as he affectionately calls his employees, and some of the regulars like Natsu and Gajeel.

Before either of them can say anything else the bar doors slam open, banging against the wall loudly. "Laxus!" someone yells. Both Lucy and Laxus turn around at the shouts, catching a glimpse of pink hair moving through the crowded bar. "I heard what happened. Is she okay?" Natsu pushes forward so that he's standing in front of the two blonds.

Lucy turns to face Natsu—Laxus having dropped his arms the second Natsu shouted his name—and speaks. "I'm fine, Natsu," she promises. She tries to smile for him, but the days events are wearing her down, and she can taste copper on her lip.

Natsu's gaze softens when he sees her. "Lucy," he breathes her name out as he wraps his arms around her tightly. Lucy just sighs and doesn't waste anytime in placing her head against Natsu's chest, her ear plastered over Natsu's heart. For a moment she just listens to it pound: loud and fast. He must have worked himself up when he heard what had happened. Lucy has always loved hearing Natsu's heartbeat, she doesn't know quite why, but the sound of his heart beating always gives her comfort. It's a strong, relaxing sound.

They stay that way for a while, Natsu with both of his arms wrapped around her waist protectively, one hand tracing small circles against her back, and Lucy with one arm around his stomach, the other on his chest playing with the collar of his shirt. Lucy zoned out at one point, not bothering to listen to Laxus replay what had just happened in the bar to Natsu. She knows Natsu will probably ask about it later anyway, but he won't pressure her into saying anything if she doesn't want to. He's considerate like that.

Lucy is snapped out of her own musing when she hears Sting's name. She zooms back into the conversation, but doesn't move. Her hand stills on Natsu's chest and her breath catches in her throat. No more words are said and she feels rather than hears Natsu growl low in his throat, the sound reverberating through his chest.

She feels Natsu turn his head to the right, and she can only guess that he's looking at Sting. "I'll deal with you later, you son of a bitch." Natsu's voice holds a dark edge as he speaks, sharp as steel. He dips his head down to whisper in her ear. "Are you sure you're okay?" She starts to speak, but he cuts her off. "And don't lie to me and try to brush this off as nothing. I know you far better than that."

She smiles wryly. "It's nothing I can't handle, Natsu." You know that, she adds silently. "I promise."

Natsu is not the smartest person she knows, not even close, but he's far from the idiot everyone seems to think he is. She knows that he has some sort of idea as to what her situation at home is and it's only a matter of time before he finds out the whole truth.

"Okay," he murmurs against her ear. He places a quick kiss on the top of her head before turning back to Laxus. "Tell Freed I said 'thanks for calling,' okay?" So Freed was the one to call him; that makes sense. Laxus didn't have the time to do it and she would have heard Elfman do it, considering how loud he is.

"I will," Laxus promises as he claps Natsu on the back. Then he looks down at Lucy and ruffles her hair. "Just take care of her, okay?"

"You know I will," Natsu tells him. The two men exchange a few more words before Natsu leads her out of the bar.

As soon as the chilly night air hits her Lucy shivers. She's still in her work uniform, which only consists of a black tank top and a skirt. Sure, it's almost summertime, but it's also late, so of course it's going to be a little cold. The two make their way down the street until Natsu's car comes into view. The pair stop walking once they're standing next to it and Natsu curses under his breath as he tries to find his keys, which he seems to have misplaced in his hurry to get to her.

Lucy's thoughts suddenly go back to what just happened in the bar, what Sting said to her and where he touched her. It makes her feel sick and unclean. It's one thing to have a few dirty comments thrown her way by some drunks—she works at a bar after all—but most of the time she knew that they were only lightly teasing, and if they weren't then someone would always set them straight, but no one had ever grabbed her before, not like Sting did. "Oh God," she whispers, burying her face in her hands.

"Damn, you've got quite the dirty mouth, I wonder what else you can do with it."

Lucy knows exactly what he meant by that comment, and she doesn't like it, not at all. She winces and chokes on a sob, but doesn't actually cry. Crying would mean that Sting won, and she doesn't want that to happen. She won't let that happen.

Suddenly strong arms are around her. "Hey," Natsu murmurs into her ear. "It's okay now," he tells her. "You're okay, I'm right here." His grip around her tightens and one of his hands moves up to cradle the back of her head, fingers tangling into her hair as he guides her head to rest against his chest. "Do you hear my heartbeat?" She nods. "Good. Just focus on that."

And there we have chapter two. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Sorry that Sting is a jerk. I wrote this back when he was laughing at Minerva beating up Lucy. I really didn't like him back then. Don't feel like changing it now.

Tell me what you think.

I also want to know what everyone's favorite line of the chapter was!

Tired,

~Rivendell