a / n:

WOW.

This chapter wasn't even supposed to be out today but I put on sad anime OST music and it kind of just happened.

I kind of cried writing some scenes, maybe I'm just emotional after my nap.

Love you all to the moon and back thank you for supporting this story!

XOXO

Walking into the library that afternoon, the blonde was limping slightly. Turns out she hit her toe harder than she'd wanted to, and it was swelling and torturing her with each little step she took.

"No, you were the one who burnt all of our cookies!" Lisanna says, scolding a certain rosette as he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, I thought fire would do the trick?"

"Yes, but not when you throw them into the fire!" She rolls her eyes.

"YOU ALMOST CAUGHT MY PLACE ON FIRE NATSU." Levy yells from across the table, an anime vein popping on her forehead as she glares at him.

"hehe…sorry…" He says nervously, sweat pouring down the side of his face as he sees the flames of wrath in Levy's eyes.

"Guys you're forgetting the most important part," Gray adds to the conversation, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms behind his head in a cocky manner.

"No I'm pretty sure that was the most important part." Levy deadpans, still pissed that her place could have gone to smithereens.

"I won the cookie bake off," Gray smirks.

And the whole group begins bickering again that is before Erza pounds a key on her laptop causing everyone to look over.

Her flaming read hair is levitating around her body in a threatening aura as her usual bright eyes turn darker than any sinner's soul, causing the whole group to gulp simultaneously and shut the hell up as quick as possible.

Jellal only smirks behind his book.

Lucy, standing behind a bookshelf close by, realizes that the group had spent time together without her. She clutches the straps of her backpack tightly, her throat constricting as she feels tears form in her eyes.

That's the second time they decided not to include her.

And the worst part?

They seemed to have had a hell of a good time without her.

She looks back at the group one last time, well more like at a specific person.

Natsu.

His radiant toothy smile with his unnaturally sharp canine teeth seems to be even brighter than before as Lisanna leans in and whispers something to him. A soft hue of red is seen on his cheeks that is before Gray seems to make a witty comment and he glares at him. The two engage in a head-butt causing the whole group to laugh and roll their eyes.

He looks so much happier.

So much happier without her,

And with Lisanna.

Looking down at her feet, she lets her blonde bangs cover her wet eyes.

He didn't need her anymore. He didn't even make an effort to reach out to her. They hadn't texted, called, or even hung out for what seemed like weeks.

And Lucy being her overly anxious self didn't want to annoy him by constantly messaging him. The few times she did all she received were short answers with no real intention of wanting to spark up a conversation.

Turning around, she wipes her eyes and heads towards the direction of the exit.

Her pace quickens, and just as the doors close behind her a waterfall of tears erupt from her eyes.

Racing towards the nearest bathroom, the blonde opens a stall and leans against the wall, slowly sinking to her bottom.

She never thought of herself as one to cry in the bathroom. Especially over a boy, much less Natsu. Her freaking best friend.

Her heart seems to stop in her chest as a realization dawns upon her.

Could she even call him that anymore?

Her tears only grow harder as she sobs, hugging her knees closely to her chest.

A knock on the bathroom door causes her to jump.

"Luce, you in there?" A deep masculine voice says from behind the closed door.

Lucy bites her lip, not wanting to respond. She doesn't want anyone to see her this way.

Especially not him.

A few seconds pass.

She hears a sigh.

"You owe me so much after this."

The door opens not even a second later and she hears him walk towards the stall that she was currently seated in. Holding her breath, she hopes he gets the message to leave her alone.

"Natsu," Her voice shakes, "Please leave me alone." She practically begs, her voice cracking as she buries her head in her knees and sobs silently.

Out of all the times he had to come and talk to her, it had to be now.

"Idiot," He laughs a little and she hears him sit down. Peeking over to her left she sees that his back is next to hers.

"Luce, why are you crying?" He asks softly.

Something in Lucy breaks.

When was the last time that they talked? Not small chat but a real conversation? It felt like ages ago.

"What are you doing here Natsu?" She ignores his question, not wanting to answer for fear that she'd just start crying even harder.

"Answer my question Luce." He says gently.

She sighs. He knows all of her tricks.

"I don't know." She lies, biting her lip.

He snorts.

"You know better than I that that's a lie."

"So what if it is?" She retorts.

"Because I'm your best friend and you're supposed to tell me why you're crying?" He says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

At this Lucy's chocolate eyes widen.

"Some best friend you are." The worlds slip right out of her mouth before she can do anything. They're twisted with hurt, anger, and sorrow.

Gasping, she brings her hands to her mouth mentally cursing herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asks, clear confusion lacing his voice.

"Nothing." She quickly replies.

She already felt their friendship drifting; she didn't want to fight with him.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asks quietly.

Lucy can't help but snort.

He really was a dense idiot.

"Yes."

She can sense that he's slightly surprised by her answer by the way the muscles on his arms tighten and his hands turn into small fists.

"What do you mean?"

Lucy leans her head back on the wall of the stall, her head fuming with insults and irrational thoughts. She wanted to open this freaking stall door and hit him right across the cheek for his stupid words. How could he not notice? He had been completely ignoring her for weeks now, his only attention on Lisanna. Even Gray, someone she'd only met this year, was acting like a better friend than him.

She'd known Natsu for years. Ever since birth.

But now?

She didn't know him at all.

"You chose her."

She says it. She finally says what she's wanted to say for weeks now.

But for some reason, instead of feeling good about getting the weight lifted off her shoulders it feels like someone added one hundred more pounds to it.

He stays silent and Lucy's mouth seems to have a mind of it's own.

She elaborates.

"You were drunk," She begins inhaling sharply through her nose to hopefully stop the tears from forming in her eyes.

"You don't remember this, but you came to my apartment."

Natsu's body stiffens.

"When?"

"The night you were supposed to be with Lisanna." The words are so hard to say, her whole body seems to break her heart taking the largest impact.

"Luce…" He mutters softly, his tone begging her to stop.

For some reason, he didn't want to hear what she was about to say next.

"You…you…you were about to kiss me…then just before you did you told me you," He voice cracks and she feels her whole body shakes as she relives that night.

"Stop Luce." He says his own voice laced with complete regret and sadness.

"You told me you loved her."

Silence.

Silent tears.

Silent heartbreak.

Silent shock.

"Say something." Lucy says softly after what feels like an eternity.

After a few torturing seconds, she hears him stand up.

Lucy never understood the pain of silence. Not until she lived the most painful of them all.

The silent goodbye.

.

.

.

Not long after that incident, and with no surprise to the blonde whatsoever, her and Natsu stopped all contact.

She didn't even know why.

But, it wasn't like she was going to question him.

Not only because she was afraid of bringing up the matter, but also more importantly because everywhere she went little miss perfect was tagged along. It seemed like the two were connected by the hip.

She didn't think her life could get any worse-

"We're dating!" Lisanna announces cheerfully, taking Natsu's hand in hers as she beams at the whole group.

Not like Lucy is sitting with them, she hasn't ever since the bathroom incident, but she does hear them as she snoops around the library looking for a new book to read and maybe possibly eavesdropping on a few of their conversations.

The book she had been holding moments ago falls to the floor, a loud thud echoing through the library.

Her heart seems to stop.

The group looks over, all eyes on her as she scrambles to pick the book up.

"Lu, hey come sit with us it's been a while!" Levy says happily, but the blonde can tell that her eyes are screaming with worry and concern.

Wondering what happened and why she has been ignoring everyone.

"I-It's okay I was just leaving." She responds, cursing herself for her stupid nervous stammer.

These people were her closest friends, why did she feel so intimidated by them?

As she walks to the check out, she glances over at the group and sees Natsu's eyes follow her every move.

And then she watches as Lisanna notices what he is doing and leans over, giving him a cute peck on the cheek and giggling as he turns tomato red.

That was the last time Lucy ever entered the library.

.

.

.

It was nearing Christmas break, and with finals taking up all of her time, Lucy was bundled up in blankets and with her face buried in her notes and textbooks. She would be complaining about finals, but they gave her a good excuse to ignore her phone and her "friends."

She felt bad for ignoring them, especially Levy since she seemed to really want to hang out and catch up…but Lucy had zero want to tell the bluenette the whole story.

And she was partially upset with Levy, or more like disappointed. It's not like Levy wanted Lucy to be part of the group, she never invited her to any of their hangouts or group chats.

The blonde began to hate her cellphone. Whenever she'd check up on her social media she'd see an endless sea of snap chat stories that consisted of the whole group doing something stupid or fun without her. It's not like she would call them out on it, but she felt so left out it caused her heart to hurt.

Worst of all, no one made an effort. It's like they all forgot about her.

Well, all except Gray. He seemed to love bugging the crap out of her with his random visits.

She didn't even bother asking him to add her to the group hangouts, quite frankly she didn't even want to be a part of them anymore. And much to her surprise, he rarely went to them anyways and she quotes, "It's just awkward being the third wheel of three couples."

She didn't blame him. Not like Levy and Gajeel were dating…but as much as the blunette hated to admit it they kind of were.

Oddly enough, Gray seemed to become her closest friend. He would always bring over a new book, sometimes she'd throw it back at him telling him she'd never read "50 Shades of Grey" and he'd just snicker and tease her about it. She would blush madly, kicking him out of her apartment in seconds.

It was weird, but getting used to his company was easy. He was much more relaxed and easy going than…well you know who.

Sometimes he'd come over, the two wouldn't even exchange hellos, and he'd sit on her couch watching the sports channel while she studied or read.

It wasn't much, but it made her a little happier.

"Lucy." Gray snaps his fingers in front of her, grabbing her attention.

"Huh?" She says dumbly, blinking her eyes.

He's currently seated at in front of her at the foot of her bed and millions of notebook papers are littered across her sheets, along with textbooks and notecards.

"I said, what are you doing for winter break? It's next week you know."

Lucy sighs. She had been dreading winter break, possibly more than finals. Ever since Natsu began dating Lisanna it's even more awkward. She hadn't talked to him for a little over a month now, and she had zero intention of doing so.

Lisanna was always very good at ignoring her, it's still something Lucy can't understand. Lucy doesn't even know why Lisanna resents her. Lucy did set her up with Natsu and now all she gets is the cold shoulder.

What the hell?

"I don't want to think about winter break." She says curtly.

Lucy grabs a notebook, trying to ignore the conversation but Gray takes the notebook right out of her hands.

"Come on Lucy, you have to get over him. Otherwise you'll never be happy." He says a little harshly, causing the blonde to cringe internally.

As much as she hated what he was saying it was true. Not like she was going to admit that.

"Easy for you to say. You don't love your best friend." She says, her eyes turning sad as she stares down at her fingers.

Gray chuckles softly.

"You're right I don't," And quietly he adds, "Well she doesn't know that."

"Hm?" Lucy inquires, not fully catching the last part.

"My point is, you're either going to have to get over him and move on, or tell him how you feel."

Lucy rolls her eyes.

"You're forgetting a something Gray. He has a girlfriend."

That sentence still causes her heart to hurt like hell.

"So what you think he's actually in love with Lisanna? She's all over him, clingy and all that, you think guys actually like that?"

"They don't?" Lucy asks, slightly surprised.

From what she's seen the two have been happily in love. Or so she thought.

"Lucy, I'm practically Natsu's best friend, he tells me everything you know? And trust me he complains about her. A lot."

Lucy snorts.

"So what? He still loves her."

Gray runs a hand through his tangled dark hair as he sighs loudly.

"You're so dense Lucy." He chuckles as she pouts, her cheeks puffing out cutely as she scowls.

"Am not!" She pouts, grabbing her fluffy pink pillow and whacking him with it.

Not expecting that, he tumbles over landing on his back on the hardwood floor.

"OI WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" He yells from the ground, but Lucy can't hear him over her high-pitched laughter.

When he stands up, ready to grab a pillow of his own and begin whacking her with it to give her a taste of her own medicine, he stops in his tracks almost immediately as his eyes land on her.

She's clutching her stomach as she gasps for air laughing hysterically.

"Y-You're f-face..bahahahha" She cracks up, pointing fingers at him.

Gray can't help but smile.

It's the first time she's laughed so hard in weeks.

As much as he loves her smile he can't help but grab a pillow of his own and pelt her with it.

He hovers over her, hitting her with the pillow softly and she continues to laugh as she pushes him off of her gentle.

The two roll around on the bed, engaging in a full on pillow fight.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" Gray laughs, rolling over so that he pins her with arms by her head, smirking devilishly.

Lucy raises a brow at his mischievous smirk.

"Are you ticklish?" He asks, his eyebrows wiggling playfully.

Lucy pales.

"You wouldn't dare." She says, her eyes widening.

He leans in closely, up until their noses are touching. She feels her cheeks heating up at their proximity, but the glint in his eyes causes a shiver to run down her spine.

"Watch me."

.

.

.

The next morning at school, Lucy decided to get up early and head to school in order to get in some last minute studying before first final.

The blonde is about to turn the corner when she hears a loud grunt and the shuffling of shoes on tiled floor.

"What the hell Natsu?!"

Lucy jumps at the loudness of his voice.

Gray?

Peeking over the corner ever so slightly in hopes of not being noticed, her eyes widen significantly.

She sees Gray pinned against the wall with a confused look in his eyes as he stares at Natsu who is holding the collar of his shirt aggressively.

The pure seeping of hatred in his eyes causes a rush of shivers to race down Lucy's spine.

She'd never seen him so livid in all of her life.

"Let go of me." Gray says sharply, his voice cold and harsh.

Lucy realizes that this fight is unlike the others they've had in the past.

In this one, they're actually fighting over something.

"I saw what you did last night." Natsu snarls, his canine teeth looking more like fangs to Lucy as she watches him spit in Gray's face.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gray asks irritably, trying to shove the rosette off of him.

But Natsu only tightens his grasp, raising his collar up to show that he's not letting go anytime soon.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," He growls, getting in Gray's face," You slept with her didn't you?!"

Gray and Lucy raise a brow simultaneously.

"You really are an idiot." He mutters.

Natsu shoves him against the wall harder causing Gray to grunt from discomfort.

"I can't believe you'd just take her virginity like that? Do you even like Lucy?!" He yells, his eyes boring into Gray's.

…EH?! Lucy screams internally.

"Get off of me Natsu." Gray says, shoving the rosette off of him forcefully causing him to stumble back.

"You did didn't you? What the hell Gray, how could you just use her like that? She doesn't deserve someone like you!" Natsu continues shouting, his hands balled up into fists and Lucy notices that his knuckles are a deathly white.

"I didn't sleep with her what the hell gave you that idea?" Gray responds, balling up his own fists.

Natsu opens his mouth to speak but Gray cuts him off.

"Even if I did why should you care? You have a girlfriend." He says matter of factly, smirking as Natsu's angered face falters to shame.

"But I saw you two, through the window you were on her bed and-"

Gray lets out a manic laugh.

"So you're spying on her now? Wow, that's too good. What does your girlfriend think about that?" Gray asks, watching as Natsu's face scrunches up in anger.

"Shut up I wasn't spying!"

"Yes you were."

"Stop making me the bad guy you're the one that took her virginity!"

Gray's face turns annoyed.

"Yeah, so what if I did? At least I like her and don't mess around with her feelings."

Lucy's breath hitches in her throat.

Gray…likes her?

And something in Natsu snaps, along with Gray's nose.

-CRACK!

"Shut up." He says darkly, his voice practically unrecognizable to the blonde. The menacing anger in his eyes along with his canine snarl makes him seem almost animalistic.

Seeing enough, the blonde steps out of her hiding place.

"STOP IT." She yells, watching as Gray stumbles against the wall and holding his bleeding nose.

The two look over at her in complete shock.

"L-Lucy…" Gray mutters, his face paling.

"Crap." Natsu murmurs, realizing that she must've heard the whole thing by the look on her face.

Curling her own hands into fists the blonde stomps over to the rosette.

Natsu watches her come up to him and raise her head. Her chocolate eyes are seething with anger, and he gulps loudly.

He knew this look meant he was going to get a massive scolding.

"Just what the hell is wrong with you?!" She yells.

"Luce I-"

"Why do you suddenly care about what I do? We haven't talked in months and now after you see me hanging out with another guy you go on a rampage and freak out!"

"Listen-"

"No you listen. Even if I slept with Gray, which I didn't, it's none of your concern. I 'm sure you and your new girlfriend do tons of things together so why does it matter if I do it too?" She says harshly, her words hitting him like fire.

She honestly didn't care anymore. Neither did she understand what his problem was.

He cares about her, but then again he's dating another girl.

Lucy was confused, frustrated, and about ready to blow a fuse in a matter of seconds.

"I don't care it's just you're…you're you!" Natsu says, not really sure how to find the right words for what he's feeling.

"What does that even mean?"

"I DON'T KNOW." Natsu yells, and before Lucy can question him farther he's off, racing in the other direction.

The tempting urge to follow him and find out answers looms over the blonde, but she decides against it as someone grunts behind her.

Turning around she sees a puddle of blood on the floor, along with Gray holding his bloody nose and crimson liquid dripping from his hand.

"Oh my gosh, Gray are you okay?" She says frantically, rushing over to him.

He nods.

"Y-Yeah, I just need a tissue." He says, avoiding her eyes.

"Ok."

And the two begin walking towards the nurses office in hopes of finding a tissue.

"Hey did you…did you hear all of that?" He asks shyly, his cheeks tinting a rose color as he stares at his feet.

They walk in a little bit of silence before Lucy answers.

"Y-Yeah." She says awkwardly, realizing that he just openly admitted to Natsu about liking her and she heard the whole thing.

"Gray I-"

"It's fine Lucy. Can we just pretend that never happened? I really like you as a friend, I wouldn't want to break that over something stupid."

The sad part was that Lucy didn't find it stupid at all. She was flattered he liked her, and she really wished she could return the feelings. Gray was kind, caring, all around the perfect kind of guy. He treated her the way she always wanted to be treated; yet her heart just didn't agree.

"What are you even talking about?" Lucy plays along, smiling as she nudges his shoulder.

Gray chuckles.

They reach the nurses office and the bell rings.

Lucy pales.

She's late for her first final.