A/N: Hey people, I am very much alive, and also very sorry for not posting. This half of the semester has been so insanely busy that I barely had time to sleep. But now easter break is coming to an end and I thought I would brighten up the mood by giving you a late easter present (are easter presents even a thing?) and what an easter present it's 6K words in this chapter.

Also, I have been a little disillusioned with this story of late and I think I just needed to just re-read everything, write a few more chapters and confirm where I want this story to go and also where I want it to end. Basically, I need to get my shit together...So we can get together (More Life reference anyone? I couldn't help myself :D). But I hope to post more regularly at least until late May when the deadline rears their ugly heads.

Anyways I really do recommend that you lot read the previous chapter just as a reminder of what happened. Without further ado let's get to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

"Good Morning Levy and Gajeel" Lucy smirked as the two stumbled down the stairs. Levy's hair was all over the place and her eyes bloodshot and a little glassy, Gajeel looked no worse than normal on a Saturday morning. Akane was perched on Lucy's hip and holding onto her finger.

"Thank you for getting Akane up this morning, babies should be spitting up on their mothers, not the other way around" Levy explained while rubbing at her temples.

"So you had a good time last night?" Lucy asked, almost rhetorically because their appearance said it all.

"Yeah the restaurant was great, so romantic with the antique décor and candlelight" Levy went all misty eyes as she described the date, while Gajeel occasionally grunted in agreement and stuffing his face with bacon. "But then Gajeel got bored and dragged me to some dive bar".

Lucy laughed out loud "Like we used to do in college? Trying to relive the glory days ey Black Steel?" the old nickname put a proud grin on his lips.

"Shrimp forget to mention that she dragged me onto the dance floor as soon as we got in there, and then dragged me into a bathroom stall 5 shots later" Gajeel grumbled but still smirked and winked at his wife, the kind of smirk that made Levy blush.

"My point is, we drank way too much and I think I need a liver transplant" Levy groaned and slumped into her seat.

"Unfortunately I can only offer you bacon and hash browns" Lucy pushed a plate towards her friend.

"That will have to do for now. I love it when you feed me Lu-chan, are you sure you don't want to come live with me in Magnolia again?" before Lucy could reply Levy was already stuffing her face full of hash browns.

"So where did Freed get to yesterday?" Gajeel yelled from the fridge, rummaging for a beer, much to Levy's annoyance.

"Umm he came back after you left yesterday and we put Akane to bed and then went to sleep, right now he's picking Caleb up from his sleepover".

It was mostly true after Freed had gotten her off in the bathroom he had told her that they could wait to try to have a baby, but he still wanted her to consider it, and to think hard about it.

If you're scared that I won't be here to help, if that's what's bothering you, then I'll drop some of my patients so I can help out. He kept trying to soothe her worries and coax her into doing what he wanted.

His attention and affections were simultaneously annoying and endearing, she wanted him to stop before she made a decision that would make her resent him even more. In bed together, he made her promise to think about it and talk to him about it.

"Yep it was a quiet night, " Lucy said with a smiled and judging from Levy's frown she didn't believe her.

"So no fighting then?" her friend questioned while Gajeel took that at his cue to leave, food in one hand and Akane in other.

"I- I ran and tried to lock myself in the bathroom when he brought up having a baby" she murmured, slightly embarrassed for doing something so childish.

"You ran?" Levy sounded mildly shocked but mostly just concerned.

"Yeah, but afterwards we talked and I told him how I felt" she tried to make the situation seem better than it was.

"How did he respond to that?"

Lucy pondered this for a moment "Better than I thought he would, he was much calmer than I was. I was the one shouting and being overly emotional as usual"

"Just because you were more emotional than him doesn't mean your emotions aren't valid Lucy" Levy lectured while Lucy sighed, she'd heard it before.

"Yeah, I know Levy".

"So did you have sex in the end?" That was obviously the question she was itching to ask.

"Yes, but I'm not gonna get pregnant by it. We just...you know what I mean" she whispered while rubbing her eyes with her palms.

Levy sighed.

"What did you mean yesterday Lucy? When you said you weren't a good person". The tone of her question told Lucy that she had already guessed what she was talking about. She took a deep breath, hoping that her friend wouldn't judge her too much for what she had done, and was still doing.

"I'm seeing someone else"

There was just silence.

Levy couldn't say that she didn't see this coming, something had to give; she often thought that Freed hot and cold affections would push Lucy over the edge, but she never thought that Lucy would go this far. Levy couldn't even imagine her with anybody other than Freed at this point.

"Who is he?" she looked up to see Lucy eyes filled with tears, her face was pinched and visibly guilt ridden. Levy's heart sank to see her best friend so torn apart.

She sobbed and choked while trying to reply. Taking a deep breath she pulled the name out of her head and prepared herself for what Levy had to say in reply.

"His name is Natsu, we meet while Freed is at work and Caleb's at school." Instantly she dissolved into tears, her shoulder racked and her breathing coming out in panicking sobs.

Levy sat still in her chair, Her mouth opened to with the immediate need to reprimand her friend about the damage she was going to inflict on her family when they found out but thought Lucy was punishing herself enough.

Levy had thought that Lucy genuinely loved Freed and although she could see why her friend could resort to cheating, she was confused as to how she had found someone to be with so soon. Her concern only escalated when she saw her friend curled up on the kitchen chair and sobbing into her knees.

"Hey, It's okay, Lulu" she abandoned her food and came over to sit by her friend and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I just feel so bad but… I just can't stop myself. Every time he upsets me I just have to-"

"So you're doing it just to get revenge?"

"Yes… well, No, I don't think so anymore…I don't know why Lev" she hugged her friend even harder "He's the only one I can talk to in Clover. Sometimes I feel like he's the only one who understands"

"Lu you can always talk to me, in fact, you need to talk to me" Levy had never seen her friend so sad and it was heartbreaking, it made her feel guilty for not checking on her as often as she should.

She held Lucy for a few long minutes until her crying had finally calmed down. After a while Lucy swallowed and pulled back from Levy's shoulder, she immediately worked on fixing her hair and rubbing the trails of mascara from under her red eyes. She took another deep breath.

"What should I do?" her voice was unnervingly calm, Levy suddenly worried that this kind of breakdown was a common occurrence.

"You need to think about why you are doing this, do you still love Freed? Are you doing this out of spite or because you are trying to seek affections elsewhere? Is this Natsu character a good man? Does he know you are married? Does he love you?"

All these questions Lucy had no answer to and she knew why, her father always told her she was an impulsive imbecile.

"And as for you and Freed and your marriage" Levy continued. "I can't make that decision for you Lucy, but if you still want to be with him I think you should come clean about the whole thing, wait any longer and it may not be fixable".

"I don't think he'll ever forgive me for this Lev" tears brimmed her eyes again.

"Who needs to forgive you?" a familiar smooth voice interrupted their conversation, and Lucy instantly sat up from her slouched position and turned to greet her husband. If they hadn't just been talking how strained their relationship was, Levy could never have guessed; Lucy hid her feeling too well.

"How was the sleepover baby?" Lucy ignored Freed's question and moving to hug Celeb and take his bag. Caleb chatted on about how much fun he had while Lucy walked to her husband to take his jacket, she leant up to kiss him on the mouth, with her lips tightly pursed together it was fast and awkward, Freed looked longingly after her while she walked up the stairs.

"Is she alright? She looked like she had been crying" he asked when he finally tore his eyes away from Lucy.

"Freed, what is with the sudden urge to knock up my best friend?" she watched and tried not to laugh as Freed's face reddened and falling in embarrassment.

He coughed awkwardly before shaking off the discomfort. "Is that what she was crying about? I'm not trying to force her to do anything Levy, I think we've been waiting for a while and now it just feels like the right time" his shoulders sagged with exasperation at having to explain himself yet again. Levy frowned.

"You know how she is; if you even insinuate that she has to do something, she'll want to the exact opposite. So you need to just let her decide on her own. Also Freed, I don't think this baby thing is your biggest priority right now". Levy spelt out the last part slowly enough for Freed to take note. His eyebrows still furrowed in confusion but he nodded solemnly and headed up the stairs.

"Alright that's lights out". Each light struck off with a loud electric thud and Natsu's room was plunged into darkness. He slid matches out of his pocket and struck them until a small flame erupted from the tip of the matchstick. He watched the flame grow as it ate through the stick, the wooden stem blackened and bowed as it burned and Natsu couldn't find the strength to light the candle by his bedside. He watched until the fire grazed his fingers and burnt his nails. He whipped the flame out and crushed the matchstick to ash in his hands making sure there was no trace of it left, if the nurses found it he would be screwed.

The pyromaniac tendencies were getting worse and worse. He could feel it, right in the middle of his chest, the urge to flick the small steel wheel of a lighter and watch a flame be born in his hands, to dose a cloth in lighter fluid and see the fire eat and climb up, engulfing the softness and turning it into dust. He craved it like he craved a cigarette after sex…he craved to burn especially after sex.

And being with Lucy was not helping. Freed would probably say it was his obsessive personality using Lucy as it's newest fixation. He could hear the doctor's voice in his head, he always sounded so self-assured and egotistical. It was no secret that Natsu disliked the man, maybe that was part of the reason that he was fucking his wife.

Natsu sighed, and rolled over onto his side, he didn't know what it was about that woman, the situation was as frustrating as it was gratifying. He needed to stop; for his mental health, for the sake of his freedom, Natsu couldn't even begin to think about what kind of prison they would him to if they ever caught him with his pants down and his dick in Lucy.

Although she couldn't see it, everyone cared for her. The men all wanted to fuck her, he saw they way they stared and stared during that stupid ball, their eyes clung to her breasts and hips and ass. It made Natsu shake with unexplained jealousy, why do I even feel this way? Lucy was not his to be protective over, for goodness sake he was still mourning his wife.

But Lucy had something about her that made men and women want to do things for her. She had the institution wrapped around her finger. The guards went on about how sweet she was almost as often as they mentioned her tits, the nurses complimented her style and smile. She had a way of making people want to help her, and Natsu was under her spell.

Sighing again, he punched his pillow and turned over in his bed and tried to think about something other than Lucy.

He failed, two hours later, he was sat up and hunched over in his bed, his shaft was gripped tightly in his hand, wet with his own spit. He rubbed himself vigorously and let his imagination run away with him. He thought of the way Lucy tasted, and the way his wife's skin felt so smooth and gave under his hand, and the way Lucy clenched when he pinched her just right, and the sounds his wife made when he used his tongue, and Lucy's breasts and thighs and lips and, after a while just Lucy. It took him a pitifully short amount of time to finish and when he was as clean as he could get he could finally feel the guilt creeping up on him. No matter how many times he told himself she was gone he still felt ashamed when he thought about Lucy instead of her. He lay in bed, tears streaming, feeling pathetic and missing her painfully.

Lucy put the last roller into her hair and wondered which lipstick she should wear today. The house was awfully quiet since Caleb had just gone to school and Levy, Gajeel and Akane had headed off to Magnolia. It was a tearful goodbye, Lucy cried, and promised to come visit soon, Levy cried and hugged her friend tightly telling her she would call every single weekend from now on, and Akane cried because she was hungry, she could have sworn she saw tears in Gajeel's eyes too but he just told her to fuck off when she asked.

Lucy was about to give up on the lipstick when the ring of the doorbell interrupted her routine. Lucy tutted and looked down at herself, she was still in her night dress, a white silk robe was thrown hastily on top while she waited for Freed to finish up in the bathroom, but it would have to do.

"I'll get it darling, it's probably just Caleb forgetting something again". She hurried down the stairs as the ringing became more insistent, throwing open the door she stood to ask Caleb what he had forgotten but found herself looking down on a shiny bald head.

"Good Morning Lucy" Dr Makarov's voice made Lucy take a step back.

"Dr Makarov" her pitch rose in surprise, and a blush spread over her cheek when she looked down at her attire "W-we weren't expecting you" she hastily pulled her robe together and lead Dr Makarov into the house.

"Sorry for calling so early, I just had to hand Freed some documents before I drive up to Crocus" he explained. Lucy still preoccupied with the fact that she just talked to her husband's boss with curlers in her hair and her pj's still on.

"Please make yourself comfortable in the lounge and I'll go get him" She hurried off before he could even say thank you and her face still burned when she found her husband, he was mostly dressed and buttoning his shirt.

"Dr Makarov is here for you" Lucy blurted out.

"What? What for? You answered the door like that?!" he questioned while hurrying with his tie.

"He has something to give to you before he goes to Crocus, and I didn't know he was at the door Freed, I thought it was just Caleb" she explained while blushing all over again.

Freed huffed "Well, next time endeavour to look through the peephole before you open the door in your nightgown" he eyed the length of her dress, it was riding high on her thigh as usual and sighed before making his way downstairs.

Lucy took a deep breath and tried not to feel ashamed by Freed's words. Quickly she put her hair in a shower cap and jumped into the shower.

By the time she got out she felt she had washed away Freed's unkind remarks and dressed more decently, in a flowy midi tan skirt and a simple white shirt. She marched around the corner and turned on her winning smile and was immediately disarmed by Dr Makarov's piercingly wise gaze. Her smile dimmed into a small shy thing, she felt like he knew everything she had done and everything she ever would do.

"Do you like- umm, would you like some tea or coffee Dr Makarov" she mumbled and scrubbed her hands on her skirt.

"Yes tea would be wonderful Lucy" his moustache moved upwards to allow a small smile to show.

Lucy hurried into the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove and set up the three teacups with three saucers underneath. She stopped and picked her nails while she waited for the whistle.

"Thank you Lucy" Dr Makarov smiled and reached for a cup when she brought in a tray full of drinks. "I hope you will be attending Dr Heinrich's dinner party, I will not be back from Crocus until tomorrow and I loathe to miss it, they are always quite eventful" he chuckled to himself.

"There's a party tonight?" Lucy looked between the two men while she sat herself opposite.

"Yes, that is-" Freed coughed., and tried not to look at his boss. "I must have forgotten to let you know Lucy, Dr Heinrich is Marie's husband. They've invited us to come tonight"

Lucy sipped her tea so Dr Makarov couldn't see her frown, but the tension could still be felt, Dr Makarov gave and uncomfortable smile.

"Well, I better head out, sorry for calling so early again…" the rest of his speech left as Freed guided him out towards the front door. Lucy fled to the kitchen with Dr Makarov's hardly touched tea. She heard Freed wonder in with his own plate later.

"I wish you would have let me know earlier" She turned towards him to pick up rubber gloves and gauge his reaction. He was frowning as per usual.

"Yes I forgot Lucy, people do that from time to time" she could hear him rolling his eyes at her.

"I may have had something to do today Freed"

Her husband scoffed at her. "And what would that be?" his voice dripped with condescension.

Lucy already felt tears springing to her eyes, she dropped the porcelain teacups in the sink much too roughly and turned to face him.

"I said I wanted to go find a job but you were the one who insisted that I stay locked in here like I'm a fucking patient, so you especially don't get to make fun of my idleness". She bit her lip and tried her best not to sniff.

"Gods Lucy I was just a joke, why are you being so sensitive?". He reached out and tried to hold her but she pulled away.

She took in another breath and found she couldn't calm herself down. Her choked down sobs soon turned into laboured pants that made her head spin.

Freed finally noticed her struggle to breathe, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" she waved away his hands and reached for the back door handle. "I just need some air". Her hand gripped for the handle but felt air when everything suddenly went black.

"Lucy? Lucy can you open your eyes?" she felt cold water on her face, Instinctively she groaned and rolled away from the cold.

"I'm up, I'm up" she held onto the person over her and opened her eyes.

Freed's hair curtained around them both, his face just above her and his hand inside a cup of water. She looked around and found she was on the couch.

"What-"

"You fainted Lucy, and you hit your head on the way down". He guided her up to a sitting position. "How are you feeling?" he held onto her hand tightly, and let her rest her legs on his lap.

"I- I think I'm fine, my head is a bit sore" she reached up and rubbed at the sore spot on the side of her head, feeling Freed's finger intertwining with her own over the spot.

"Do you want me to stay home?" He combed through her hair.

"No I'm alright" she pulled her legs off his lap. Freed's eyebrows pushed together obviously not believing her. "I used to have fainting spells when I still lived with my dad sometimes, they happen when I get stressed"

"Well don't go to sleep until I come back, I don't think you have a concussion but if you throw up call the doctor…Call the doctor to make an appointment anyway, just in case" she looked up at him sharply.

"That's really not necessary Freed, I've seen doctors about it before, I'll just put some ice on it and-"

"Lucy just book the appointment…please" she nodded when she realised he was just worried about her.

"I'll see you tonight. No sleeping okay?" she accepted his peck on her lips.

"Lucy…Gods" Natsu bit hard on his inside cheek. His heart pounded so hard he could feel it in fingertips. Lucy ass pressed into his hips, she hadn't even bothered to take off her underwear so with every glide up and then down, Natsu could feel soft damp lace tickle the side of his shaft. It was maddening.

Lucy huffed on top of him, blond fallouts from her ponytail stuck themselves to her forehead and temples. Her eyes were screwed shut and her hand gripped the arm wrapped around her waist. She leant forward and pressed herself back onto Natsu's length too hard. Immediately she clenched around him her bottom lip quivered, her climax so spontaneous that she had no time to scream out she just held onto Natsu and let the sensation wash over her. Vaguely she felt her vision blacken around her periphery, she fought off unconsciousness while she heard him swear violently and muffle the noise using her shoulder. Natsu quickly withdrew from inside her before he came all over the floor of the wooden shed.

They both panted and sat together for a second; he knew what was going to happen next. Lucy would rise from his lap, pull down their skirt and avoid eye contact. She'd make up an excuse about how Caleb would be home soon, or that she had something in the oven and scurry off. He wouldn't see her for another few days if he was lucky, if he wasn't so lucky she wouldn't come back to him for a week or more.

It had been going on regularly now, so often that it had become part of his routine. She would wonder into his shed and watch for a while as he worked when she got tired of being ignored she would come over and touch his shoulder or his back. When she finally looked up at him with her big brown eyes, she would always look shy and a little embarrassed even after they had been together so many times. Natsu would kiss her without her having to ask, but he would always let her take the lead, every time they were together Lucy would always be the one in control even when Natsu was on top of her.

But today she seemed reluctant to leave, she slid off his lap and sat next to him, one of her legs still rested on his thigh and she did nothing to fix her skirt. Her hand still held onto his arm and Natsu thought it was because she wanted to go again. He looked around at the shed. All the sex and the pining after sex and the thoughts about sex meant that he was very behind, the reconstruction of the shed was supposed to aid with his rehabilitation.

The shed was supposed to show that he had the ability to create and not just destroy and no judge would dispute that hard labour had reformative qualities. But at this rate, it would not be finished by winter as they expected for it to be. He looked back at Lucy, her eyes were closed as she basked in the sun, golden hair looked bleached in the light and her lips were red and raw, they shone with her lip balm and his saliva and he watched when the pink tip of her tongue tasted them. Natsu thought that maybe he wouldn't mind going again.

"What were you doing when you were 21 Natsu?" The man next to her her jolted and looked at her closed eyes. She wasn't very chatty after sex.

"I was working in auto-shop to put my wife through night classes" he pushed back his hair and tucked himself back in his pants.

She cracked an eye open to look at him "I can't imagine being married back then, I was just too…immature"

"Immature?" he looked at her confused.

"Yeah, I went to that college because I knew my dad didn't want me to go, and I did a degree that I knew he would hate. Every decision I made was because I resented my dad, which meant I made horrible decisions" she didn't really know why she was suddenly opening up to Natsu about all of this. She had never even discussed her college years with Freed.

"What horrible decisions did you make?" she finally opened her eyes to look at him.

"Are you going to be my new therapist?" she smirked.

"I think it's good to vent to someone sometime, you already take out all your sexual frustration on me so what harm can this do" Natsu gave her that roguish smirk and Lucy blushed "What were the bad decisions?"

"Well I went out drinking every single chance I got, I made friends with horrible, mean girls and I fucked like half of the school"

"What?!" Lucy giggled at his shock.

"What? Did you think I was a virgin?" Natsu snorted with laughter at her remark and received a slap in response. "It wasn't really half the school, but it was a lot of guys…and some girls too"

She giggled when Natsu looked away with red cheeks.

"Why did you marry so young?" she suddenly got serious again, curiosity glowed in her brown eyes.

"Well where I'm from everyone got married pretty young anyway. You're supposed to get married, get a job, and provide for your family. People didn't even approve of the fact that I let her go to night school" Natsu face pinched in slight frustration at the thought of her nosy and irritating relatives that constantly put her down and berated her choices, it used to be them against the world. It was supposed to be him, her and their baby.

Lucy was positively shocked. "I had no idea the rest of Fiore was so conservative, I thought it was just my dad" she scratched her head.

"And your husband" Natsu imputed.

"Huh?"

"Your husband, he's more conservative that you are, no?" Natsu looked at her quizzically, wondering why she never realised that before while Lucy wondered the same.

"I guess his relationship with his ex-wife was quite traditional. He told me she'd never had a job"

"And now he wants you to be the same" Natsu finished off for her. Lucy met his eyes and wondered if he was right.

"What happened to her?" Natsu broke her tumbling thoughts.

"Who?"

"His ex-wife? What happened to her?"

Lucy bit her lip deciding whether she should reveal that much about Freed to his own patient, knowing too much about someone that was supposed to be an impartial third party couldn't be good for Natsu's therapy.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to" Natsu tried his best to sound non-committal.

"No- I'll tell you anyway, I don't really know what happened, except she has a severe nervous breakdown or some kind of mental problem. Freed still gets the bills for hospitals so I think she still alive"

"So you really don't know?" Natsu looked, green eyes shone with concern and shock. It made Lucy immediately defensive.

"Well, he never really talked about it. I think he is still trying to heal from what happened… he once told me she also suffered postpartum depression"

"Post huh?" his face scrunched adorably with confusion

"Post-partum depression or some people say post-natal depression, it's when you get depressed after giving birth. I think Freed blames himself somehow" she sighed and leant into his shoulder heavily.

"So, you don't know where your husband's ex-wife is, or if she's dead or alive?"

"I know she's alive Natsu" she frowned and looked away.

"But the hospital could be where they keep those coma patients so she's as good as dead if that's the case. Or if you haven't seen any of those bills in a while she might be dead and he just didn't tell ya" he rested his head on her shoulder and held her gaze.

"No, I don't know- but it doesn't really matter to me. He can tell me when he's ready"

"Do you really believe that? It doesn't matter to you…really?" his voice oozed with sarcasm that annoyed and amused her at the same time.

"Don't you want to find out?" he continued, "You can find out if you want to" he looked at her, comically excited at the thought of uncovering a 'mystery'. If he were a dog his tail would be wagging.

"I don't want to invade his privacy like that" Lucy's voice had dropped to a whisper as if Freed could hear her conspiring against him.

"But you deserve to know. You're his wife. I never kept anything from my wife".

She bit her lip not knowing how to respond to that. Deep down she knew she wanted to know what had really happened between Freed and Mirajane. She thought that it would finally offer an explanation for her husband's behaviour.

"Just wait for him to go to sleep and look in that beat-up old briefcase of his" Natsu was the devil on her shoulder at this point, he was strangely good at making her do what she wanted and not what Freed wanted.

"But he wakes up in the middle of the night to do work" she put up a flimsy excuse.

Natsu raised a pink eyebrow "I'm sure you can think of a way to distract him from work Luce, you come here and distract me all the time". He gave her a smirk that left her blushing. "Plus ain't you going to that party today? Dr Heinrich can't shut up about it, If that doesn't wear him out I'm sure you can"

But their conversation was cut short when they heard leaves rustling a little way off. Somebody was heading into the garden.

Lucy stood up so quickly that all the blood rushed from her head and dizziness overcame her, she shook it off as best she could and immediately began adjusting her clothes and pushing her fallouts back into her ponytail. Natsu didn't do much to adjust his jumpsuit but made sure that his dragon was safely tucked back into his pants. Casually he walked back towards the opposite wall where he had abandoned his nails and hammer, while a slightly frantic Lucy took up the tray leaning on the empty window pane.

"Natsu, there's been an incident in the- Lucy?" The man coughed to try and reestablish his professionalism "Ma'am what are you doing back here?"

Lucy spun around and saw the stern Wednesday and Saturday guard Mark looking at her with thorough confusion.

"Oh hello Mark, I was just bringing some cookies and water for you and Natsu" she grinned when she heard his stomach grumble loudly. "I guess I came just in time" Markus blushed, the red looked out of place on his cheeks, and reached out for a cookie and held back a moan when he tasted it.

"Are they good?" Lucy giggled when he nodded vigorously. She headed towards Natsu, stooping slightly she offered the tray to him. He took two and stuffed them into his mouth while taking another five and stuffing them into his pocket and then winked up at her. Lucy almost laughed before remembering that they had company.

"Where are your manners Natsu?" Mark's gruff voice reprimanded swiftly. "Ma'am I'm not comfortable with you bringing him food while I'm not present," he told her in a low whispered voice.

"Please call me Lucy, Ma'am makes me feel old. And I know you are just around the corner to save me if something happens" she smirked when Markus began to blush again. Finally gathering himself, he readied for another argument only for Lucy to cut him off.

"What happened in the main building? Is Freed okay?" the worry in her eyes made Markus give in finally.

"He's fine Ma'am. Some patients were caught outside their designated working zones without permission".

Lucy nodded and quickly looked towards Natsu before claiming that she had left something in the oven and walked back to the house, Natsu's comment ringing in her head, Don't you want to find out? You can find out if you want. She needed to know.

A/N: Please leave me a review! What did you guys think? Wil Lucy find what she's looking for or will she chicken out?
I know someone mentioned this and I was also thinking about letting Levy and Gajeel and Akane linger for a bit longer. But I decided against it because it will increase Lucy's feeling of isolation, that Freed is causing with his emotional abuse, which will ultimately push her towards Natsu so yay?…Depending on how you feel about Natsu's Mental wellbeing lol.

Anyway, I will post the next chapter ASAP because this is a bit of a cliffhanger and I don't want to leave you guys hanging like that (no pun intended).