I know it has been a while, and I do apologize, but I finished now:3 I was actually really busy with school and college apps, and I had a major writer's block and apparently I've gotten lazy :p but here's chapter 10!

Enjoy!

I do not own Fairy Tail!

Chapter Ten: Because He Really Cares

Natsu was beyond furious. It was his fault. His own damned fault that Lucy now belongs to his rival. He could never forgive himself for making such a stupid bet, especially when his mind was incoherent. Then there was Sting to blame as well. It's partially his fault for using a spell that only dragon slayers are able to use. But why did it work on Lucy, when it was only supposed to work on his fated mate? No, the fire dragon slayer could not accept that Lucy might just be destined for Sting. He was brutal, violent, abusive, and could care less about her well being.

So what was he supposed to do? He wanted to take action, to attack the white dragon slayer until he could no longer stand. He wanted to take Lucy far away from him, but he could not even get close to her. Not without his permission.

Lucy is one of the most precious person in Natsu's life. His best friend, almost like younger sister, and he was always the one there to protect her. Whenever she needed to go on a job to pay her rent, he was always the one who came with her. They went through challenging days and nights, fighting mages, going through another universe, and fighting in the Grand Magic Games together. They even sometimes slept together (not in the dirty kind of way). Now he could not even crash at her place without fear crawling in his skin. He was not afraid, the feeling just came over him and there is nothing he could do but wait until Sting allows him to come near her.

The fire mage glanced up at his exceed and groaned. Man, was Happy lucky that he was not a dragon slayer and able to talk to Lucy whenever he wanted. Even Laxus could not come close to the stellar mage, and he more than expressed his anger after finding out about this. He had thrown a not so silent tantrum and hit anyone in his way with random bolts of lightning. It would seem Lucy and him have gotten quite close over the past week. The fire mage could not blame him. He knew if anyone got to know his partner rather well, they became extremely overprotective of her and Laxus was no exception to this.

"Natsu," The fire dragon slayer turned to his childhood friend, who he harbored much greater feelings for, "I'm sure Lucy will be fine." Lisanna smiled at him, momentarily removing the troubling thoughts from the dragon slayer. He returned a slightly forced smile at her, but his smile did not last long. He couldn't shake the feeling that Sting was doing something to hurt Lucy, and this in turn hurt him as well.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" Laxus walked in the guild, his lightning surrounding his body. He had a grimace that almost seemed permanent.

"What happened now Laxus?" everyone present in the guild turned to the three mages who were conversing.

Laxus frowned, his eyes narrowed at no one in particular, "He's not in her apartment anymore. It's been two days, but I still can't come anywhere near her. I heard her crying. She still doesn't understand what's really going on."

Natsu head raised higher, his eyes widening, "Two days? He left her for two days? Is he crazy? He can't leave his–––his..." he could not say it. Natsu could not say that Lucy is now Sting's mate. It hurt him to say it and it hurt him to know that he was at fault. "What if she's in pain?"

Laxus' head whipped at the fire dragon slayer's final question, "What? What do you mean?" Although Laxus is a dragon slayer, he was a second dragon slayer, which meant he was limited to certain things that first generation dragon slayers learned from their dragon parents. The mating process was unbeknownst to him until just recently, and all he could clearly understand was that he could not go anywhere near Lucy.

"Igneel told me that if a dragon and his mate stay too far from each other's presence for far too long, it would naturally inflict physical pain on both. They are going to constantly seek each other out," Natsu explained, his mind a jumble.

"So, being the stronger one, Sting would be more oblivious to the pain. Unlike Lucy..." Lisanna immediately stood up, causing the two dragon slayers to look at her in question. "I'll check on her. I'll take care of her since neither of you can go anywhere near her."

"Thanks Lisanna," Natsu gave her a genuine smile and watched as she made her way out of the guild. When she was out the door, he stood up, "It's high time I deal with that bastard."

The sun was setting as Lucy sat by her window. Her eyes roamed the sky and then the river and street below. She felt weak, like all energy was drained. She could barely move around, which limited her to staying at home. She wanted to go the guild, to talk to her family there, but being in the condition she was in and the last command Sting had given her, she could not even step outside her door and she still could not figure out why her body was acting against her will.

The stellar mage had hoped that maybe Team Natsu would stop by her place like they usually did, but Erza was still on a mission and she did not know if the others were as well. She hoped maybe Natsu would come, but after the words he spoke a few days back, Lucy just was not sure anymore. Heck, even Laxus would not come anywhere near her.

You belong to him now.

The words would not leave Lucy's mind. Has Natsu given up on her completely? With a heavy sigh, she sat on her bed, and let her body fall back.

There was something wrong with her. She should be glad Sting has been gone for two days. She should be celebrating, but as time passed, she felt weak, she felt so needy. And she knew exactly who it was she needed near her at the moment. And she hated herself for not understanding why. Why Sting? What was going on that she does not know about?

A knock on her door startled her. She raised her head up a bit and took a few seconds to look at it, "Come in..." she groaned. She really had no energy to even stand up. She could hear the door open and close almost silently before she sat up to be greeted by a worried looking take-over mage. "Lisanna?..."

"Oh! Lucy, are you alright?" Lisanna ran up to her, her eyes filled with horror as she examined the celestial spirit mage. She was pale, her skin no longer flushed with her usual healthy shade of pink. "Lucy..." The young take-over mage sat down on her bed, her hand coming up to Lucy's forehead. "No fever..."

"Lisanna, where's Natsu?" Lucy only looked at the ceiling above her. "He's been so distant lately...It isn't like him to just avoid me without reason..." A sudden chill ran up her spine, causing her to shiver. Another question was threatening to escape her lips, but she managed to hold it back.

Lisanna could only watch, her eyes filled with sadness. She knew she was not the right person to tell her of her situation. "Is there anything I can get you? A drink? Soup?"

Lucy sighed, "Lisanna–– I feel like I'm going to die soon. I feel so weak, my body must be giving up on me," Holy crap, I sound like an old lady! Lucy inwardly chuckled to herself.

"Don't say that!" Lisanna's lips formed a tight line. "Natsu will be very upset if he hears you say that. And he's very worried about you. Just tell me what you need, I'll take care of you for the time being."

"Then why won't he come see me?! Why won't anyone come see me? What happened to how things were before...?" Lucy's voice faded. She turned her head to look out the window, "Thanks Lisanna...for being here."

The take-over mage smiled, "I think you should take a walk to get some fresh air. It will do you well. How about it?"

Lucy groaned, "I can't. I don't know why, but whenever Sting tells me to do something, my body only responds to his commands. I don't know what's going on anymore," she raised a hand in the air, "And look at this! Why do I have white dragon scales on my hand?"

"Lucy, I think it would be best for you to ask Sting. He knows what's going on better than anyone else does. And trust me, Natsu really wants to see you. If only Sting would let him, Natsu would more than stay by your side."

The stellar mage was not listening. Her mind was a jumble, and her heart full of mixed emotions. "Where's is he?" her voice was a small whisper. "Where's Sting? I think..I need him..."

There was laughter amongst the group of mages surrounding the large, round, wooden table. Right at the center of the crowd were the twin dragon slayers of Sabertooth, along with Orga of the black lightning and Rufus. The two exceeds were too busy enjoying their fish meal rather than listen to the Fairy jokes that Sting continuously blurted out.

Orga was the loudest to laugh, "Hey man, how's your Fairy slave doing? She still as feisty as ever?"

Sting stopped laughing, his eyes narrowing, a glare shot towards the black lightning mage. He stood up, his hand turning into a tight fist, "Don't talk about her like that!" A few moments of silence before Sting finally realized what he had just said. He stumbled back into his chair and combed his hair with one hand, a breath escaping his lips. Oh shit! When did I start defending her?

He closed his eyes, trying to convince himself that his words meant absolutely nothing at all. Leaning back on the chair, he looked up at the ceiling. He could not lie to himself. A part of him was desperate to see the stellar mage, but another part was trying to pull him away from any trouble that his actions could lead further into. If he'd known that the mating ritual would actually work on her, he never would have tried. He would be content with just trying to show them off, rather than actually getting stuck with a Fairy for a mate.

He hated IT, but he didn't particularly hate HER.

Then Sting began to wonder. What were his feelings for Lucy? He despises her guild, but not her, though, he is supposed to. He hated the fact that she was so close to many guys, even ones that are not part of her guild. Hell, even Laxus was fond of her. Okay, so maybe Sting was a little possessive when it came to her, and yeah, he was a little abusive towards her, but really, he had every right to be. She is his mate after all. And he IS NOT jealous.

A loud commotion brought the white dragon slayer out of his reverie. Sabertooth members were rushing out of the building to see what was going on. Curious, Sting stood up and walked outside to find an angry fire dragon slayer burning the path from which he came. "Sting! You Bastard!" Flames engulfed his form as he approached the guild building.

Sting walked forward, his expression neutral and uncaring. Natsu stopped, his eyes narrowing, teeth clenched, and his body poised to attack. "You know, I knew you'd show him here, I just didn't think it'd be this soon, Natsu-san. Are you here to ask for permission to go see Blondie?"

"Her name is Lucy. That and I want to ask you something," Natsu was surprised at how calm his voice sounded. Even with anger written all over his body language, he managed to stay coherent minded.

Sting did not answered, which pushed Natsu to continue, "I don't know why you even tried to use the mating ritual on Lucy, and it never should have worked." Sting could not help but glare at the words the fire dragon said. "But as her...as her...mate... you have a responsibility–"

"Get to your point already Natsu-san. I don't have all day here," the white dragon slayer was becoming more and more impatient.

Natsu could not help but think about how much he really hated Sting, especially now. The guy could care less about Lucy, which only made him question what sort of transcendental being had come to the conclusion that they would make a compatible couple. He knew he would regret saying it, but he had no other choice, "Just...please, go back to Lucy. She's not as physically strong as you are, so you won't feel it, but she's weak."

Sting laughed, "You seriously just noticed that?"

A growl escaped Natsu's lips, "Bastard! You should know better than I do that if you leave her side for too long she could die!"

Surprise was written all over Sting's face, which clearly made it obvious that he did not know as much about dragons and their mates. He suddenly grew worried. How long has it been since he last saw her? A few days? That isn't too long.

"Sting," Sting could not even bring himself to tear his gaze away from Natsu to respond to Rogue. "Go to her for now. You have no use for a dead fairy."

Sting's heart was beating fast as he ran through the streets until he finally reached Lucy's apartment. She was inside the building and she was alone, but Lisanna's scent was still lingering in the air. He proceeded to jump to her window only to find her asleep on her bed. She looked like her usual self, aside from the difference in the color of her skin. She was pale, anyone with two functioning eyes would be able to see that.

He walked over by her bed and took a good look at her. She was a mess. A beautiful mess and he noticed the way the color was slowly returning to her skin. He let out a sigh of relief and stood there for a few moments as she shifted her position.

He was about to walk away to sit on her couch, when she mumbled something.

"Stupid..Sting– Nats..Laxus..will save me.."

His eyes narrowed, flashed red, and his teeth gritted in anger. She was going to regret that.