Its been forever, sorry guys. This story will be over soon, just to let you know. Probably only another two or three chapters. Also I'm looking for an editor, someone who can read over my chapters and remind me to write so I don't take a year long break again. If you're interested Pm me!

Natsu ran towards, well, anywhere. He ran towards anywhere but the guild. One of his hands, the one which carried the gold ring that he and Lucy had, was pressed against his chest, the section of flesh that covered his heart.

Well, what was left of it.

His heart felt like someone had ripped it apart, like someone was slowly, achingly slowly, grabbing his heart and tearing it it half. Yes, he screwed up! What did the world want him to do? Tattoo it in neon on his head?! He'd do it! "I fucked up!" He'd write it himself! He'd pay all the money on Earthland to go back and fix his mistake! He would give his life away, because without Lucy... he didn't have a life...

He knew, he'd learned from enough experience, that life wasn't fair. One moment everything is fine and then suddenly something you love disappears. Igneel was the first to leave him, only coming back later to leave him forever. Lucy... Lucy was something he had learned to treasure greatly, they'd been through so much together. Ever since he met her his life had become colorful and fun, he had met so many people, good and bad, and made friends with guild members he had originally argued with. He couldn't imagine his life without her in it, yet he had had to live without her for four months.

It sounds like so little time, but to Natsu it had felt like he was living without color, without happiness, without meaning. He had looked outside on a sunny day and saw only grey. It was like the world had stopped, that time had forgotten to heal his wounds through forgetting and had instead left him only thinking of the girl with the giant heart who he had... who he had fallen in love with.

Tears were no stranger to him now, and when he felt them streaming down his cheeks he continued to run without stopping to wipe them away. He ran to his home, where he had spent all his time mourning alone. Happy had stayed with Wendy and Carla all this time, because Natsu had failed to be the best friend to Happy that he used to be. It had hurt him even more to see Happy leave, but it was Natsu who told him to go to the two girls, knowing they would show him the love and attention he deserved.

Natsu slammed the door behind him as he ran into his house. He collapsed into his hammock and let choked sobs exit his mouth.

When had he become like this? His whole life he was so optimistic and never wanted to give up. Now... he was ready to just give up everything. Love had changed him so much he had lost even his best friend whom he had known since he was little. He wished love didn't exist! He wished he could just go back in time and never... never fall in love with Lucy.

He wanted, oh how he wanted, to be able to just say he wished he'd never met the blonde. But that would be lying. She had been one of the best additions to his life, and still was. The only thing that could've torn them apart was two things, and Natsu had done them both. He both pushed her away and hurt her and fell in love with her. Now she was gone, in the arms of someone he knew was a good person, but just couldn't bring himself to accept he had Lucy.

If anything, he knew he still wanted to be around her. He wanted to be more than friends, but if friends was the best he could get he was too far along to be picky. Natsu wanted to be her best friend again, even if this pain of unrequited love tugged at his heart. He'd live out the rest of his days at her side, whether that be as her best friend or her lover.

The pink haired dragon slayer stood up and wiped his tears, walking to his bathroom to glance in his mirror. It was cracked in the bottom right corner and so old the color had began to turn into a mix of brown and black around the edges, but he'd had it for so long he didn't notice the flaws in it. He barely used it anyway.

When he saw his reflection, it made his face drop, creating a deep frown. The bags under his eyes were so noticeable, his skin was no longer tan but instead pale, his eyes looked lifeless and his hair was greasy and pale. Hell, he looked like he'd crawled out of a grave.

"Alright," he whispered to himself, "I will be happy, for Lucy."

He smiled, but it looked so weak and fragile, as if the smallest breath would break it and leave a permanent frown in its place. He tried harder, and after a few more tries, his face had returned to the smile he had given others all his life. The cheerful smile that warmed other's hearts (though he did not know this). It was fake and pain was hidden behind it, but he wanted to show Lucy he was here for her.

He would go see her and clear things up for good.

Lucy woke up at night time, she could tell because the sky was black and stars twinkled outside of her window. Wait... when did she get home?

She was tucked under her covers and wearing clean pajamas, next to her bed was a damp handkerchief and a bouquet of moon lilies in a clear vase half full of water. Moon lilies were Lucy's favorite flower, a special type of lilies that only bloom in moonlight. When they bloom, they release blue pollen that glows like fairy dust. They could only be obtained from a garden tended by a sage on Mt. Hakurei, and it had been years since she had last seen them.

Lucy gasped and watched as moonlight emerged through her window and touched the flower, releasing the glowing pollen into the air around it.

"Hey Lucy."

Lucy jumped and looked to where the voice had come from. Sitting on the floor next to the door was a familiar shadow, she knew who it was the moment he stood up and flashed a smile she hasn't seen in so long.

Natsu Dragneel looked at the blonde and held back the urge to wrap his arms around her and never let go. "Long time no good talk eh?" He said in a calming voice, though in his mind his thoughts were going crazy. "I brought you some moon lilies."

He noticed he couldn't feel or hear well... anything. Lucy didn't have her ring. It hurt for just a second, but then he decided it was better she didn't. They needed a talk, and he had to lie to get them back to their old selves. If she could feel his emotions and hear his thoughts, lying wouldn't work very well.

Lucy noticed too, that she couldn't feel anything from Natsu. She looked to her right hand and noticed her ring was missing. She hadn't known Levy and Gajeel had taken it in order to help the two.

"Where's my ring?" Lucy started to panic, that was the one thing that held her and Natsu together still.

"I just assumed you'd taken it off... since you hate me after all..." Natsu mumbled the last part, Lucy hadn't heard it while she searched her covers and the floor around her for the precious piece of jewelry.

"Mavis, I hope I didn't lose it." She looked up and saw Natsu looking at her with the expression that you'd see on someone who hadn't seen you in years. The ring could wait, an even greater treasure was standing in front of the celestial mage currently.

"Natsu..."

"I'm sorry Luce."

Lucy stopped her sentence and stared at Natsu in shock. She had thought of so many scenarios of what would happen when they met again, this had not been one of them.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done ever since the day you were framed... I'm sorry for not trusting you, for abandoning you, for not being there to protect you." He took a deep breath and stared directly into the brown eyes of the girl sitting in front of him. "I'm sorry for making you worry about me, for running away instead of congratulating your relationship with Sting, and for giving you the ring that only hurt you. It was supposed to be a gift, but you have Sting now, you don't need it. I bought it so I could know when you needed my help or company, but you have him now."

Lucy was in tears, she had to tell him... To tell him that Sting and her had nothing between them. Hehe she could speak, the male before her continued.

"After everything I've done to hurt you, I ask one thing. Would you let me be your friend again? Could we go back to the way things were?" Natsu kept a blank expression, but if she said no, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

Lucy had tears running down her face now, here she was planning to cause more pain, while the one suffering the most had gotten the courage to apologize and ask for forgiveness. If she didn't know before, she definitely knew now.

She was in love with Natsu Dragneel.

"I... don't think we can go back to the way we were before..."

Natsu's heart stopped. The one thing he feared most was happening.

"So much has happened... and I have to apologize too. I lied about dating Sting. I was trying to make you learn a lesson on not betraying others, but all I did was cause you even greater pain than you had been in before. And now I know why it hurt so much when you didn't believe in me, why revenge sounded so pleasant, why I was willing to fake love in order to make sure you never hurt me again." Lucy looked at her bouquet again, watching the beautiful pollen dance around the vase, reminding her of the time when Natsu had dug up the rainbow sakura tree for her. She smiled and turned back to face Natsu.

"I'm in love with you. I have been for a long time. So I can't go back to being your friend, because I'll only be wanting more. I can never see you as just a friend anymore."

Natsu was frozen in place. Was this a dream? Lucy... loved him? She loved him too? He pinched his hand. Ouch. Not dreaming.

Lucy watched Natsu look confused as could be, and prepared for rejection. She blinked a tear out of her eye and waited for the words. What she didn't expect was a pair of arms to wrap themselves around her.

"Lucy... you took the words right out of my mouth."

The girl gasped and Natsu tightened his arms around her. "I love you too. Dear Mavis I love you... I'll never leave you alone again, I was prepared to suppress my feelings to stay your friend, but if you love me too... that changes things."

He pulled away to look her in the eyes, and after wiping the tears from her cheeks and eyes, he asked the question they both had been dying for. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Flashbacks of their past, all the fun, sad, scary, happy, good, and bad moments flashed through their heads. The pain felt over the past few months stated to dissolve, and in its place formed feelings of love and happiness.

"Yes."

Please read the intro! Thanks for reading! See you guys for the next and probably last chapter