I guess I like how this chapter turned out, but I'm not too sure...But I hope its good for you.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Natsu POV

I closed the door to the house, sighing. Today was tiring, and all I wanted was a hot bath. I turned to see Erza standing there, arms crossed.

Groaning, I set my bag down. "Okay, what did I do this time?"

"It happened again."

I raised my eyebrow, confused. "What happened again?"

Erza walked up to me and shoved her phone in my face. It was another comment on , again under my name, this time about Gray. He acts all cool and gentleman-like, but he's just a pervert who enjoys stripping in front of women.

"Gray saw it, and got angry at first. After a bit, though, he calmed down." Erza pulled her phone back.

I shook my head. I completely forgot about this. "Who would do all this?"

Erza shifted on her feet. "Well, when I saw this, I decided to see who this was. So I asked a…friend of mine to help me out, and he managed to trace this back to a person named Sting Eucliffe. Have any idea who he is?"

Sting Eucliffe. Now that was a name I hadn't heard in a while. I sighed, scratching my head. "What is that idiot doing?"

Erza rose her eyebrows. "So you know him."

"Yeah. Just let me take care of this." She stared at me for a bit, then nodded.

"Thanks. Now, what's for dinner? I'm starving!"

Later on, as I was getting ready for bed, I looked at my computer. Should I wait until tomorrow morning? No, that'll ruin my day.

I opened my laptop and, after a few minutes, got onto the website. Clicking my name on there, it opened up icons, one of them being messaging. I clicked on it. It opened up a chat box. I didn't know if he was gonna be there, but I needed to know.

Unknown: Sting, why are you saying such bad things?

I waited a few minutes, but nothing happened. As I was just about to delete the tab, a ping sounded. I looked at the chat box. Someone had replied.

NatsuDragneel: I'm Natsu. I don't know any Sting.

Unknown: Cut the crap, Sting. This isn't a stupid game.

NatsuDragneel: …Well, well. If it isn't Natsu. How are you, buddy?

Unknown: Not very good, thanks to you.

NatsuDragneel: Do you miss me, buddy? I miss you. 3

I huffed. This was going nowhere. I was gonna have to get to the point.

Unknown: Look, Sting. Stop saying dumb things under my name. It's causing me grief.

NatsuDragneel: Can't do that.

Unknown: Why?

NatsuDragneel: You ruined me, Natsu. Now its time for me to repay you.

Unknown: Look, I did what I had to. Why can't you just let it go?

NatsuDragneel: Let it go? How can I just "let it go"? You're the reason I lost it all, the reason my dreams were crushed. I cannot, will not forgive you, you hear me? Never.

Unknown: Sting, please.

NatsuDragneel: This isn't it. I'm just starting.

Unknown: Sting, please just listen to me.

Unknown: Sting?

Unknown: Sting!

I groaned. He was gone. I rubbed my face, even more exhausted than I was a few minutes ago. I closed my laptop and jumped into bed. There was school tomorrow, and I needed the sleep.

The next morning, I trudged into the school, feeling like utter crap. I had been tossing and turning in the my bed most of the night, thinking about the conversation I had with Sting, and barely got any sleep.

As I walked inside the doors, I saw Levy and Lucy standing there talking to each other. When they noticed me, they waved and ran up to join me.

"Hey Natsu. Lucy was wondering if you took notes in Math last Friday. She was daydreaming and forgot to write them, and now she isn't prepared for the open-note test today," Levy said, snickering at the last part.

Lucy glared at her. "I did take notes! I just lost my notebook, that's all."

I dug into my bag and brought out my Math notes, shoving them at her. "Here. Sorry, but I'm gonna get something to eat."

I left them staring at me and walked into the cafeteria. School hadn't even started, and I already had a headache.

Levy POV

We watched Natsu walk away and to the cafeteria, a frown on his face. We stared for a second, then looked at each other.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked. Lucy shrugged.

"Maybe he got into a fight with Gray?" she guessed.

"No, he'd be grumbling about him and insulting him," I pointed out.

Erza came in with Gray and Gajeel. "Hello, Lucy. Hello, Levy" Erza greeted.

"Hey Erza. Say, do you know what's going on with Natsu?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

Lucy and I looked at each other again. I turned back to them and explained what happened. Erza looked thoughtful. "It could be…"

"It could be what?"

She stared at us for second, then shook her head. "Look, I'm sure he'll tell us what's bothering him. We shouldn't be nosy. Now, let's go eat, okay?"

We all nodded. Lucy still looked bothered about it, and I knew what that meant. She was going to worry about it all day. I sighed. There was nothing I could do when she became like this but support as best as I could.

Natsu POV

I sighed as I finished the Math test. I felt a bit better, but I still had a headache. I laid my head in my arms, hoping that I could get in a little nap before we went to our next class. I had English, and all we were doing in there was reading. I could use that time to sleep as well. Hopefully the headache would go away by then.

There was a tap on my desk, and I looked up to see a folded paper in front of me. I took it and opened up. On the paper was a question, and judging by the writing, it was Gajeel's. Hey, are you okay? I looked at him, who turned to peek at me. I sighed, then wrote my answer and gave it back to him. He opened it and read my message.

Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you asking?

I don't know. You seem a bit out of it today.

I'm just thinking. That's all.

You sure you're cool?

Yes. I am absolutely sure.

The others are worried about you. You should tell them.

Well, gee. Thanks for the advice, mom.

"Damn it, you idiot," Gajeel muttered in front of me. I snickered, and Lucy looked up at me. Everything alright? She mouthed.

Yep, all good, I replied. She nodded, then went back to her test.

After that class, there was English, where someone had put remote-control spiders in the classroom. You could tell it was fake, but the teacher freaked out, screaming so loudly that other students came in to investigate. I could by the way Romeo was snickering that he planned it. The prank was successful, so the points went to him. The day went by slowly, everyone constantly asking if I was fine, and me throwing around excuses. After awhile, they stopped asking, which I was glad about. Maybe they thought that it was because the anniversary was coming up; it was also because of that.

Why was Sting doing this now? It was seven years ago when we faced off; he had to let it go already. Despite being two years older than me, he acted like a child. I wondered if Rogue was there, trying to tell him not to do this and giving him advice about revenge and whatnot. Whatever was going on with them, I knew it couldn't be good.

Later, during lunch, I didn't feel like eating with the others because I felt like they were going to start with the questions again, so I grabbed my food and walked to the basketball court to eat there. No one was there, so it was nice and quiet. I ate, watching some prank videos on my phone. Watching them made me smile, and I lied down, thinking about when we first started this all. It was so much fun, battling each other.

I remember the day we decided to pull pranks at school. It had been the year after Gray and I had the prank battle, when we made it a yearly tradition. We had been at home, outside in the pool, and just talking about the upcoming school year.

"Man," I groaned, splashing Gray in the face with water. "There isn't much of an audience to watch us pull pranks."

Gray spluttered, "Stop splashing me, you idiot!"

"I would like it if there were more people to share the excitement with," Erza agreed.

Mirajane smiled. "But wouldn't that be more embarrassing, if a large crowd watched you get pranked?" Mirajane, Lisanna and Elfman came over for the day to hang out, and Elfman and Gajeel were in the weight room working out, while the girls stayed at the pool.

"Well yeah, but it'll be more fun if lots of people are there to watch it happen," I said, kicking my feet.

"I agree with Natsu," Erza said.

"You know," Gray started. "Normal twelve-year-olds just go to the mall or the beach or just talk about video games, and we're over here planning where to hold a Prank War."

"Well, being normal is kinda boring," I argued.

"Where can we do the Prank War?" Erza asked. "Someplace that's easy to set up at, has a lot of people, and is familiar territory?"

"How about school?" a voice piped up. We turned to Lisanna, who was sitting on the pavement, her feet in the water.

"School?" I echoed.

She nodded. "Yeah. Its a large crowd, you'll be familiar with everything, and you won't have to worry about getting into trouble, as long as you ask for permission."

Erza folded her arms. "That is actually a good spot."

Gray shrugged. "It could work."

Mirajane shook her head, but she was smiling. "You guys are ridiculous."

"Great job Lisanna!" I chirped. "That was a good idea."

Lisanna smiled. "Thanks, Natsu. That means a lot."

Mira giggled. "Yeah, especially coming from you."

Lisanna hit her sister, blushing. "Mira!"

"Sorry, sorry," she giggled some more.

That day was one of longest days of the summer, as we started to talk about how we would convince the adults to let us hold the Prank War. It was one of my favorite days, because…

"Natsu?"

I opened my eyes to see Lucy's face in my view. I jerked up really quickly, and our foreheads smacked together, a large cracking sound echoing out into the court area.

We groaned, Lucy rubbing her forehead. "Why did you do that?! My head hurts now!"

I glared at her. "Well, excuse me, Miss I'll-scare-the-crap-out-of-someone! I guess it's just normal when you open your eyes and see nothing but a close-up of a face!"

We scowled at each other for a few seconds, until her serious look cracked and she smiled. She started giggling, and after a moment I joined in, until the air was filled with our laughter. Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes, saying, "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd freak out so badly."

"That's okay. So, why are you here?" She took a seat next to me as I sat up.

"Well, class started a while ago."

"What?" I checked the time on my phone, and saw that classes had, in fact, started twenty minutes ago. I groaned, thinking about what Gramps would have to say when he found out I hadn't been in PE. Great. He's not gonna be happy.

Then I realized something. Twisting to look at her, I narrowed my eyes. "Wait a second. If classes are going on right now, then why are you here?"

Lucy smiled. "Because I am leaving school early."

"Really? What for?"

"To take you wherever you like."

I wasn't sure I heard her right. "What?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like." She stood up, dusting the dirt from her butt. "I asked to leave school early, and mom is gonna pick me up. You seemed kind of distracted the whole day, so everyone thought it would be a good idea for you to leave school early too. Makarov already gave permission, so it's fine."

I narrowed my eyes, not really convinced. "Are you sure? This isn't some prank, is it?"

Lucy sighed. "This is what holding a Prank War for six years does to a person. No, it isn't a prank. Don't tell him I said this, but Gray was worried about you too."

I cringed, thinking of what worried Gray looked like when it was directed at me. "I don't need it, thanks."

"Whatever." She held out her hand to me. I looked at it, then at her. "What?"

She huffed. "Take my hand."

"Oh, okay." As I grabbed her hand, a gentle breeze came, and Lucy's hair floated up, framing her face. I couldn't help but stare. The sun made her blonde hair glow, turning it into a shining golden color. Her warm chocolate eyes were bright, and the chill in the air made her cheeks pink. It was as if I were staring at a painting, one that only a very talented painter could make.

"You know," I couldn't help but say, "You're very pretty."

"What?" Her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink.

I smiled, standing up with her help. "Yeah. You act mean, and sometimes you're no fun, but you're very pretty."

She crossed her arms. "Well, geez. Thanks."

I grabbed a bit of her hair, and she became still. I studied it, asking, "How does it look so golden? Your mom and dad have more of a brownish gold."
She shrugged. "I don't know. Mom says I get it from my grandmother."

"Oh, okay." I smiled. "So, you ready to go?"

Hope you liked it! I don't actually have much to say. Again, I'm really sorry about the whole "being late with chapters" thing. I hope you forgive me.

Thanks for reading!