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The two jumped away from each other while wiping their tears, their faces hot with shame and guilt as if they were caught doing something indecent when it was actually just an innocent hug (or was it?). Both Lucy and Gray felt a spark in that short span of time, but the teary Lyon at the door gave them no chance to ponder on it.

"I trusted you!" Lyon slammed his hand on the door frame, making Lucy flinch from the loud sound it made. He felt betrayed at what he walked in on, his younger brother should've kept his hands to himself!

Gray tried to explain, "You walked in at the wrong moment, Lyon, we weren't doing anything!"

His words only seemed to add more fuel to the fire.

"I walked in at the wrong moment? Actually, I think I walked in at the perfect moment!" Lyon threw his arms to the air for more drama. "A little more time and you would've pounced on her!"

Lucy was shocked. Did Lyon really think his brother was that kind of guy? Because, to her, he was a gentleman despite his stripping problems. He always opened the door for her, always let her share an umbrella with him, and always offered to accompany her when Natsu wasn't around. He even made time to help her study during finals! Would Gray really take advantage of her and her unstable emotions if Lyon didn't walk in? The mere thought of it was absurd!

"Lucy, go." She snapped her head to Gray, who was starting to approach Lyon. The two men were staring each other down, waiting to see who would make the first move.

All this because of a hug? Lucy planted her heels on the ground. She was the reason why this started, it was only right for her to take the blame. Why Gray? She wanted to scream at Lyon, but nothing came out of her mouth. The man was blinded by fury, as if no amount of talking could change his mind, and it frightened Lucy out of her wits. Was this the same Lyon Vastia from earlier in the living room? The one that resembled an excited puppy? If so, it was hard to believe.

"She's not going anywhere." Lyon now started to approach her and Gray stopped him with a right hook. The older brother was shocked for a moment, but quickly retaliated with a punch of his own. Lucy gasped when it knocked Gray back.

He turned to look at her, a mixture of strong emotions in his eyes. Lucy drew a sharp intake of breath. I have to do something! She felt useless standing there while Lyon tackled Gray and continued to beat him up. Lucy could do nothing but cry, her body wasn't listening to her. Damn it, move!

"Just fucking go, Lucy!" Gray roared at her after he flipped Lyon under him, switching their places. He delivered vicious blows to his older brother who was struggling to get him off. His eyes flicker to a frozen Lucy and he roared yet again, "Goddamn it, Lucy! Go while you still can!"

His words did her a miracle and she zoomed out the back door like her life depended on it. Gray… Lyon… I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!

Lucy ran as far as her feet could take her, which was till a convenience store near her apartment.

She was panting and covered in sweat when she walked inside the building. Stomach growling as she entered the aisles, coming back minutes later with arms full of chips, biscuits, and water bottles. She set them down the counter.

The clerk finished scanning her items. "That'd be…" Holy shit, I left my bag at Gray's house. Lucy groaned, her wallet was usually in her bag. She checked her sweater pockets, and yep, only her phone was there.

"Miss?" Lucy found herself drawn into the store clerk's red eyes. Those have got to be contacts.

Rogue – as his nametag said – gave her a polite smile. "They're natural."

Lucy was confused. "Huh?"

His lips were back into a frown. "Nevermind. Are you going to pay or not?" Whoever this Rogue guy was, he sure wasn't a fan of small talk.

And Lucy wasn't a fan of forgotten wallets.

"Uh… how do I say this?" She shrunk under his piercing gaze. Why did his eyes have to be a shade of red? It both amazed and scared the blonde.

"Miss, hurry up, my shift is about to end–"

"Iforgotmywalletpleasedon'tkillme."

"–are you kidding me?" He looked at her like she was stupid. I'm not stupid.

Lucy tried to smile as she proposed something, "How about I go back to get my wallet and you wait here? I'll be quick, I promise!" With her hands pushed together, an apology came after. "And I'm really, really sorry."

Rogue glanced at his watch and sighed, "It's the end of my shift." He shook his head. "I can't help you, I need to go home now."

She put a hand over her stomach as it growled yet again. Lucy was really hungry now, the last meal she had was at lunch and lunch was hours ago. Sure, she could leg her apartment, but she didn't have any more energy to spare. All she wanted right now was to eat.

In a monotone, he said, "Sting is gonna kill me." Then he took a hairclip from his pocket and pinned his bangs back, his pair of red eyes now completely in view. Lucy's thoughts immediately went to Levy's boyfriend, Gajeel. He and Rogue had the same red eyes – Gajeel's were much more terrifying though – and black hair. Were they related in some way?

"Don't move." Rogue went to the backroom to... she wasn't sure why. Probably to go change out of his work clothes?

She agreed anyway, "Okay." Lucy tapped her fingers against the counter. What's he planning to do?

The doors opened and a blond male around her age walked in. He wore a cream muscle tee, blue gym shorts, and dark blue trainers. Lucy swore her heart skipped a beat when his blue eyes fell on her. Any sort of attraction she felt for this stranger disappeared with a poof once he opened his mouth.

"Oi, Blondie, have you seen Rogue?"

"B-blondie? You're a blond too!" she sputtered, too shocked to answer his question.

Hands on his styled hair, he pretended to be surprised. "I'm blond?!"

What a brat.

The stranger crossed his arms and his muscles flexed. "Okay, no more dilly-dallying and answer my question, Blondie. Where is he?" Lucy squirmed as she tried to avoid looking at the man's biceps, simultaneously praying to the gods for Rogue to come back.

And so he came back. "I'm here, Sting."

Lucy turned at the sound of his voice, and she spoke without thinking, "Wow." Rogue looked great in his all-black ensemble of a hoodie, skinny jeans, and sneakers. He also had his hairclip on.

"I think Blondie here has a crush on you," Sting sounded like he was directly behind her. Lucy moved her head to look and tensed. He really was behind her, arms still folded on top of each other. When did he move?

Rogue shook his head and sighed, "Don't say such ridiculous things." He went back to the counter and started to put all of Lucy's snacks in a plastic bag. What he said next completely caught her off guard.

"Sting, I'm going to have you pay for these."

Lucy searched his face for any trace of humor or mischief, but there were none.

"You're serious?" Sting took the words right out her mouth.

Rogue merely nodded, hand already outstretched.

Sting grumbled, digging into his pockets for his wallet. His arm brushed against Lucy's shoulder when he reached over to hand Rogue the exact amount of money. She shuddered upon contact but recovered quick enough for the both of them not to notice.

Once Lucy got hold of her snacks, Rogue signed off the computer. "My work here is done." The two men walked out the store as if nothing happened and she was beyond confused. Huh?

It took a whole minute before she pushed past the doors, running after them with a shout, "What if the store gets robbed? I mean there's no one there to look after it!"

They slowed their pace down so she could catch up. Rogue replied when she finally did, "This is normal, Orga always arrives late to work. I'm sure he's on his way now."

"Let's say a robbery happened right now – hopefully not – it'd be on Orga since he arrived late, not on Rogue. So don't worry your little blonde head off, alright, Blondie?" Sting gave her a wink before snatching the plastic bag out of a flustered Lucy's hands.

"H-Hey, that's mine!" Lucy couldn't reach the bag since Sting was taller than her.

"I paid for it though!" He raised the bag over his head, making it even more difficult for her to reach. She glared at Sting for taking advantage of their height difference.

Lucy could feel another rumble coming up and she rubbed her stomach. Do your best, tummy! It growled and the cheeky blond man widened his eyes in surprise.

"What was that?" Sting asked, refusing to believe a stomach did that kind of sound. Even his stomach never did that!

With Sting's guard down, Rogue grabbed the plastic bag from him. The two of them managed to get a bag of chips each before they returned the bag to Lucy, who crushed Rogue in a bear hug.

"Sting, h-help… me…" Thankfully, she released him.

"Thank you so much, Rogue!" Lucy placed her hand over his cheek and kissed the back of the same hand. He was speechless, the tip of his ears pink. "You too, Sting!" She did the same to Sting, who smirked in return and trapped her between his arms.

"Maybe you'll get to kiss me for real next time, Blondie," he teased and twirled a lock of her hair in his fingers.

Lucy repeatedly hit him in the chest as she blushed a deep red. "M-Maybe there won't be a next time!"

"Maybe? Maybe not?" Sting loosened his grip. "Who knows?"

She wriggled out of his arms and huffed, "Then I hope I get to see Rogue again instead of you!" Realizing her choice of words, she facepalmed herself. He's gonna tease me again.

"Oh?" Sting raised his eyebrows before leaning over to Rogue. He whispered loud enough for her to hear, "Dude, I think it's better if you stay away from Blondie. She seems like a total creep."

Rogue nodded and whispered back, perhaps even louder than Sting, "A weirdo, too."

These guys… Lucy put her hands on her hips and turned her back on them. "I'm gonna go now and pretend I never met the two of you."

"Good luck with that, Blondie. Girls say I'm hard to forget." She felt Sting's warm breath tickle her left ear and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She didn't say anything else and started to walk the direction of her apartment, slightly disappointed that none of them offered to walk her home. AH! You have much more important things to worry about, Lucy! She reprimanded herself when she was tempted to look back and check if they were still there.

Her mental argument with herself continued till she felt her phone vibrating. It was a message from Gray. "I'll bring your bag tomorrow," she read, "don't worry about me."

A frustrated cry slipped from her lips, "Like hell I won't!" A few people glanced her way and she hung her head low in embarrassment. "Why did I say that out loud…"

Lucy and Gray exchanged a few more messages until she finally arrived at her apartment. "I'm here!" she both said and typed. She ran straight to her room after locking the front door and throwing away the empty plastic bag.

"So tired!" Lucy cried as she dived onto her bed, still in her school uniform and eyes begging to be closed. She tried her damnedest to keep talking to Gray, but sleep seemed so enticing that night.

And so, after sending a good night text to Gray, Lucy focused on the happy things with hopes they would carry over, along with her, to dreamland.

Her phone vibrated an exact minute after, the words "Thank you for everything, Lucy. Sweet dreams." showed up on the screen, illuminating the dark room for a few seconds till it closed again. Though she was sleeping, a small smile appeared on Lucy's lips as if she read the message Gray sent to her.

At last, after having nightmares since the first day of school, Lucy was back to having a peaceful slumber – sweet dreams, as Gray said.

A/N: awkward and rushed chapter omg i'm sorry :( i introduced sting and rogue now so yaay heehee :D as for the poll, please go vote~! and leave a review hihi see you next chapter!