Hey Guys. GOMENASAI FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I actually had a really hard time from this chapter onwards. After re-reading all my chapters, I changed a few stuff to suite the story better. Sorry again. Thank you all for the reviews and favourites and follows. You guys are so awesome, I love you all sooo much! Arigatou Minna!

Chapter 11: Lost

Three days. Three days had passed, and still nothing. Sitting by his window, Gray kept staring out at the pouring rain. The tit-a-tat of rain drops against the window did little to wake him from his daze.

Looking up to the clouds, Gray could see his reflection in the window glass, with the rain and dark clouds hovering in the sky as a back drop.

School hadn't been helpful to get his mind off of what he had heard on Monday.

"She had a heart attack Gray."

Looking out once again to the dark grey clouds that seemed to only get bigger, Gray gave out a shaky breath. Since then, everyday after school he would run straight back home and straight into his room. Then he would just stand in the middle of the room for a long time, just staring at the floor. Three days he did this, three days nothing changed.

Knock, knock!

Turning, Gray saw his door open to reveal Lyon enter the room.

"Gray…"

Lyon made his way into the room, sitting himself on Gray's bed, leaning forward, arms on his knees, staring at Gray, who had now turned back to look out the window.

"Sooo…I see you've been having a tough time at school."

Gray turned to find Lyon looking at him with a serious expression on his face. Looking at him, he knew that he ought to give him some answer, say anything. He never liked keeping anything from Lyon. Gray had always looked up to his older brother.

Growing up, Lyon had always been by Gray's side, watching over him, attending every soccer game he played in till junior high, even gave him advice on girls, which Gray never ever listened to. Lyon was, in Gray's eyes, the best father/ brother figure he would ever have.

It seemed ironic to Gray now, that the one advice he never listened to was the one that he actually really needed to know.

"Gray…"

Looking back up at Lyon, Gray shook his head and glanced at his brother before turning back to look out his window.

"There's nothing to talk about Lyon."

He wasn't saying this because he didn't want not tell Lyon, it was just that he couldn't tell Lyon. Lyon on the other hand 'tsked' and kept pressing on.

"Bullshit! You've been moping around the house every day after school since Monday. Mum's been worried sick about you and don't even try to tell me that it has nothing to do with us. It does if it means I have to see my little brother coming home every day looking like a broken, wounded puppy!" Lyon spat out.

Gray had never seen Lyon so mad in his life. Turning back to him, he saw that Lyon had a pained expression on his face. If Gray was feeling bad before, he felt worse now.

Slowly, he stood up from the window bench and made his way over to his bed, sitting himself next to Lyon. Lyon turned to see Gray hide his face under his bangs, his hands gripping his jean clad thighs.

Shifting closer to him, he sighed and turned to look out the window.

"…Sting dropped by to check up on you. He told me what happened, after the game on Friday. Gray, what the hell were you THINKING!?"

Gray winced. He knew Sting would have told Lyon. If it were to be anybody to tell Lyon, it would have been Sting.

Gray wasn't mad at all. He saw it coming, but hearing that Lyon knew what he had done, he couldn't help but feel even more ashamed of himself.

"Well? Answer me dammit! What the hell were you thinking betting in something like that?! Did you even think about what would happen if she found out?...did you really see her as just an easy win…"

At that moment, something in Gray snapped.

"SHUT UP!..."

Shocked, Lyon saw Gray suddenly get up from the bed and walk to stand in front of him.

"…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

Lyon just gave Gray a blank look.

"Gray…"

"Do you have any idea how I feel right now! I hate myself. I hate myself so much that I come home every day and run straight into my room because I can't bare to face you and mum. It sickens me to face you guys after what I did. And now you know, you know what I did, which makes me looking at you all the more worse, because it now feels real, that everything that happened on Friday did happen. "

At hearing this, Lyon's eyes widened and kept staring at Gray. Gray didn't move from his spot but was now visibly trembling. Lyon saw this and pulled him back down to the bed, with him holding onto Gray's shoulders, his face down.

"I didn't mean to hurt her. It was just a stupid bet."

"That's not all is there."

After a moment, Gray finally looked up to Lyon, his eyes not at all sad, but showed…nothing. They were emotionless.

"I can't do it anymore. I fucked up so bad. I'm done."

At this Lyon gave a confused look.

"What do you mean you're done?"

"I have been trying to find out which hospital Lucy is being admitted at, and nothing. Three fucking days has passed and still NOTHING! No hospital will tell me if she's there or not. None would even give me a hint. I can't do it anymore Lyon. I can't."

Gray began sobbing now. It wasn't a sad one, but one of frustration. It was true that he had been fighting with himself all this time, and all this time, he couldn't even see anything that was going to make a difference. Gray told himself that he was doing all this, hunting down which hospital had Lucy, just for the sake to apologize and try to get her back.

He knew that when he would see Lucy, he would try to not only apologize to her, but beg her, cry to her, tell her to hate him, but at the same time, ask her to love him again, a stupid wishful thinking on his part.

"What do you mean you can't? Gray, YOU'RE the one who did this, and now you're giving up? I'm confused. I thought you loved her.

"I DO LOVE HER. GOD! I LOVE HER LIKE CRAZY! I CAN'T GET HER OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND!...it's just that…I can't do this anymore. I can't keep looking for her and when I actually do find her, just to ask for her forgiveness. That's not enough Lyon. I want her back. FUCK!" He thumped his foot on the ground, clenching his fists.

"But…after the way I hurt her, I doubt she'll take me back. That's what I mean by saying I can't do this anymore. I don't want to find her only to lose her again. I can't bare to see her looking so hurt. SHE HAD A FUCKING HEART ATTACK BECAUSE OF ME!"

Lyon sighed.

Gray looked away and went back to sitting by the window, looking out again at the pouring rain. They sat in silence for a while before Lyon spoke again.

"You know…"

Gray looked back to see Lyon staring out the window over Gray, a plain expression on his face.

"The first time I met Juvia, I thought she was the weirdest girl I had ever met. She had, actually still has, the tendency to talk in the third person, and she would always call me 'Lyon-sama' wherever I went."

Gray honestly didn't know why Lyon was talking about his wife, especially in the way he was and he actually wasn't in the mood to listen, since he himself used to find his sister-in-law a bit of a weirdo as well.

"Lyon…"

"But you know what?"

Lyon looked up at Gray and to his surprise, Lyon had a small smile on his face.

"Meeting Juvia was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Gray widened his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he felt really uncomfortable hearing this from his brother. Lyon then looked up at Gray and continued.

"Even though I thought she was weird and a little…scary, I found that she had something that no other girl had."

"What was that?"

Looking at Gray, Lyon gave a smile.

"She...has a unique spark in her."

Gray was now really confused as to what that meant. Judging from the confused look on his face, Lyon smiled more and continued.

"Haha, ok let me explain little brother. My wife is different, yes, but that is what makes her special. It's a rare thing to find someone who tends to make you angry and happy at the same time, to make you creeped out, but at the same time, intrigues you so much that you can't help but want to know what other things they will do next. People like that don't come and go like the seasons. In a way, they're like diamonds. You have to find them in order to have them."

Looking back to Gray, he continued to smile.

"By the looks of it, I see that Lucy is your Juvia."

"Okay, that sounded so wrong." Gray couldn't help but snort.

"Girls like Juvia and Lucy, people don't usually see them as…normal, if you put it that way, especially guys, but that's what makes them so unique. Juvia would walk and talk to herself so often, girls would snicker and talk about her behind her back, guys would tease her about her never finding a guy who would like her, but she never cared. She would continue to smile and never judge."

Listening to Lyon, Gray couldn't help but compare all that he said about Juvia with Lucy. It was exactly the same. Even when the other kids would tease and glare at Lucy, she never paid them any mind. She seemed to just treat it like it was nothing.

"I can see that Lucy must be the same hmm?"

Gray looked up to see Lyon looking at him with the same smile on his face.

"There was a time when we were already dating that I got so caught up in what everybody said about her that I almost lost her by listening to their rubbish."

Gray could tell that it pained Lyon to talk about that particular aspect that happened a long time ago.

"I actually asked Juvia if we could have space, and she gave it to me. So, we stopped seeing each other for about a month. I can tell you, I tried dating other girls and let me tell you, it was hell. Soon I met Juvia again and saw that she was on a date with some other guy. I felt something in me snap and that did it. So I did what any crazy-in love fool would do, and pulled her to me right in front of that dude and showed him that she was mine by kissing her right there and then."

Gray couldn't help but gawk at Lyon, who was now fully smiling like he suddenly won the lottery. Gray, who had become very interested in the story, suddenly sat up and stared at Lyon.

"Lyon, I'm happy for you and Juvia, but…what does this have to do with me being a cowardly scum who can't even face Lucy to even give an apology?"

"Haha little brother, if you had been listening properly, you would know it has, well kinda has, everything to do with you and Lucy. I was exactly like you. I couldn't stand being with or without Juvia, but in my case it was because I was a stupid dick who listened to his dick friends, and so I was a coward. But seeing her with another guy, I realized…that I wanted her, Juvia was mine. And so I took what was mine."

"Well I'm happy for you and Juvia bro," Gray said as he then turned back to look out the window, not letting Lyon finish.

"Gray, I know that you are hurting, you're frustrated, angry, that you hate yourself, but telling yourself to stay away from Lucy is not the right thing to do. Yes what you did was despicable, but me telling you that would mean that I'm being a hypocrite…and by the looks of it, even if you both are still young, Lucy may be your soul mate."

Gray suddenly stood up and gapped at Lyon.

"wha…"

"Tell me, even before the bet, the first time you saw her, what did you feel. What went through your mind when you first spotted her, first talked to her, heard her laugh for the first time, see her smile?"

"Lyon, I already love her, you don't have to check if I do or not."

"Then why are you acting like you don't?"

"What!"

"Not wanting to see Lucy, giving up on where she is, trying to block her out of your mind, staying in here, wallowing in your own self-pity. What are you doing Gray?"

"What do you mean what am I doing! I've been trying to find her for three fucking days!"

"And now you're giving up?"

"NO!"

Hearing himself answer, Gray stood still and stared at Lyon for a long time. It was beginning to sink in, what Lyon had been trying to tell him from the beginning. He realized that he was scared. Not from seeing and losing Lucy, but scared from the fact that he had fallen so in love with her, that feeling left out, not being able to find her frustrated him to the point that he thought he didn't need to find her anymore. Looking back at Lyon, Gray saw that he was staring at him intently.

"No, what?"

Taking a deep breath, Gray answered.

"No, I won't stop looking for her."

"See? It shouldn't have taken you so long to figure that out."

Lyon then smiled. Gray couldn't help but smile back, before hugging his brother.

"Thanks Lyon."

"No problem. That's what big brothers are here for right? Just be happy it was me and not Ultear."

"Why?"

"Unlike me little brother, our sister believes in a more…physical approach to solving problems compared to a verbal one, if you remember."

Thinking about how their sister would intentionally beat up her brothers when they were small for calling her dolls names, Gray shuddered and gave a small nod of his head.

"Knock, knock…"

Turning, both were met with a smiling Juvia holding onto her purse.

"Sorry to disturb you guys, but I'm off to the store with your mum Lyon. We're going to buy some ingredients for when your sister arrives from Hargeon."

Smiling, Lyon began getting up and made his way over to his wife.

"Sounds good. Do you want me to drop you off?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to disturb your 'bro talk'."

Lyon smiled while Gray smirked.

"No it's okay, we just finished actually."

"Oh okay, well if it's okay. Hi Gray. Hope you're feeling better now?"

"Yeah I am, thanks Juvia," and with this he gave her a polite wave before seeing her walk off the hallway.

Lyon was just about to walk through the door, when Gray called him back.

"Lyon!..."

Turning, Lyon gave his brother a curious glance.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say…thanks again."

Smiling, Lyon replied.

"Everybody gets lost sometimes Gray, finding ourselves is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one if we are to keep the people we care about close to us, which means not giving up on them no matter the situation," and with that smiled once again before walking out of the room.

Gray looked out his window at the dark sky, rain pouring out of them and smiled.

"No matter what, from here on out, I'll find you Lucy. I'll find you and I'll get you back. I promise."

XDXDX

"Beep, Beep, Beep…"

The sound of Lucy's heart beat on the nearby monitor seemed to be the only noise heard in the entire room. The rain outside fell like a huge dark curtain over the city below, making it look like an island surrounded in mist.

"Urgh…uh…huh?"

Slowly drifting her eyes open, Lucy took several slow, small blinks before being able to fully open her eyes, which seemed to feel really heavy.

It took several minutes to register where she was, before memories of what had happened came rushing back.

She let out a painful gasp, finding it hard to breath. Looking down her chest, Lucy saw that there were several wires and tubes connected to certain parts of her body, namely her chest and arms. She cringed as she tried to move, feeling pain shoot through her chest as she tried to move up a bit.

She soon stopped her attempts and slowly laid back down, turning to look out her window, bringing her hand up to trace the rain drops that fell and rolled on the window glass. As she traced a rain drop, Lucy could feel something rolled down her own cheek. She knew it was a tear, yet let it roll down freely. She was still so tired. She could barely breathe without feeling a little pain while taking deep, slow breaths.

She continued looking out the window, not hearing the door to her room open to reveal Erza and Levy. Seeing her awake, both girls were about to call out happily to her until they saw her face. As soon as Erza saw Lucy crying, she knew that she was remembering what had happened on Friday. Her blood began to boil.

"That bastard! Making Lucy cry! I should have killed him when I had the chance!"

Levy knew by the look on Erza's face what she was thinking.

"Where's Jellal when you need him!"

"Erza…Levy?"

Both girls looked up to see Lucy looking at them. After a moment Lucy smiled at both girls and beckoned them to her.

Erza was the first to move and ran to Lucy, almost jumping on her but stopping herself after realizing that she couldn't exactly do that.

"Lucy you're awake! How are you baby? Do you feel pain anywhere? Are you comfortable? You hungry? Thirsty? God we've been so worried about you!..."

Lucy smiled up at her best friend. Levy then made her way over to them both and smiled down at Lucy.

"Hi there baby girl. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

Levy smiled while Erza continued to fret around Lucy.

"Oh thank God!"

Lucy looked up at Erza and brought her hand up to pull her towards her bed.

"Erza, please don't worry too much. I'm okay, see?" she gestured towards herself.

Erza gave a small smile, but she knew that though Lucy felt okay on the outside, she was still hurting on the inside. Levy seemed to know this as well for she gave Lucy a sad smile.

"Where's Jellal?" Lucy asked, noticing that he was missing, which was kind of rare, since he and Erza were practically inseparable since they got together.

"He's just gone down to the shelter to pick up some stuff. He should be back soon."

"Oh okay."

After this they slipped into a not so comfortable silence, with neither Levy nor Erza having any clue what to say. Erza was still angry at the fact that Lucy was in a hospital bed, while Levy was remembering how broken Gray looked and wondered if Lucy was, by any chance, thinking of him. Both girls didn't realize that Lucy had looked back at them, smiling.

"Why the serious faces?"

Erza and Levy blushed which only seemed to make Lucy smile even wider.

"Hehe you two always did look kawaii when you blush."

Levy giggled at that while Erza seemed to blush even harder. Lucy looked at Levy, visually asking her what was so funny.

"Hehe that's exactly what Jellal says when he sees her blush."

At this Lucy giggled with Levy, which didn't seem to help Erza at all. She gave a small 'hmpf' and looked to the side, her eyes closed, her head held up high.

"You guys should feel honoured. I don't just let anyone see my blush you know."

Opening one eye, she saw both Lucy and Levy both staring at her before bursting out laughing. At this Erza soon joined in the laughter. While all three girls continued to laugh, Erza was the first to stop, tears in her eyes from her laughter.

"Gosh I needed that laugh so bad."

"Me too." Levy replied.

"Me three." Lucy giggled.

Erza then made her way to the top of Lucy's bed and began stroking her head. Lucy looked up to her and smiled. She then felt Levy hold her hand, sitting down next to her on her bed.

Lucy let out on content sigh before looking back out the window. As soon as she saw the dark grey cloud that hovered in the sky, she instantly went quiet.

"Grey…Gray."

Immediately tears began flowing down her cheeks.

Erza and Levy, shocked at the sudden scene of Lucy crying, immediately started comforting her.

"Lucy! Baby what's wrong? Are you in pain?"

Levy was frantic seeing her best friend crying. Erza on the other hand, though worried, new exactly why Lucy was crying.

"No, no I'm fine Levy…"

"You're not fine Lucy."

Lucy looked up to find Erza giving her a sad look. Erza continued to stroke her head and cheeks before continuing.

"You're sad…about Gray, aren't you?"

Hearing this Lucy couldn't help but nod honestly. She had never lied to Erza and Levy.

"Oh Lucy…" Levy squeezed her hand.

"I'm so sorry. It's just that…"

"Don't say sorry baby, there is nothing to be sorry for" Erza said as she began stroking Lucy's cheeks again.

"We will always be here for you. Never forget that. We love you so much, and so we will always be one hundred percent behind you in whatever decision you make. Even if I have to suck up and try to like Gray when you get back together with him then…"

"That's never going to happen."

Erza and Levy looked down to see Lucy looking emotionless as she said it. Levy honestly froze, but Erza was so shocked that she let out a shaky cough.

"Lucy…"

"You heard me Erza, it's not going to happen." Lucy looked so emotionless that Erza thought that seeing her crying only a minute ago may have been a dream.

"We get that you hate him…" Levy inquired.

"I don't hate him. I could never ever hate Gray. I loved him. But…I can't do it anymore. I'm tired of getting hurt. This was the first time I had ever fallen in love and I'm so happy that I got to do that, but…I'm done."

Both girls widened their eyes as they listened to Lucy, who was now looking out the window as she spoke.

"Falling in love with Gray…felt like I was flying. Now I know what it feels like, I think I've had enough."

"What do you mean you've had enough? Lucy…"

"I've been getting hurt all my life Levy. To top it off, my condition isn't getting any better. Besides, I guess I was the only one to have fallen in love in our little 'wager'. Oh Levy please don't cry." Lucy said as she saw Levy silently crying beside her.

"I'm sorry, I just hate seeing you so hurt."

"It's okay beautiful, really. I'm actually not that sad anymore. Getting it off my chest, I guess it's helped. Please be happy, you too Erza." Lucy said as she looked up to see Erza having unshed tears in her eyes.

"Once I get out of here I'll go back to school and…"

"You honestly want to go back there after the way they treated you?" Erza burst out.

Lucy smiled.

"Yeah. I'm not going to run away just because of what one person did, oh well what a lot of people did, but still I want to go back to school. It's fun there Erza, I love my teachers and my classes."

"And what about Gray, what if you see him or sit next to him or…"

"It's okay, I'll treat him like any other person in class. But…that's all I'm ever going to be from now on. Like I said earlier, I can never hate Gray, but I don't think I'll be able to love him ever again as well."

At this Lucy smiled up to both girls, who were now wearing sad and pained expressions of their faces.

"Lucy, baby, are you sure, I mean are you sure you'll be okay? I mean saying this now and then later seeing him again…" Erza trailed off, stroking her cheek.

"Yeah I'm sure. Besides, I think Gray would have found someone else by now and if he has I'm happy for him. I still want to be his friend and that's what friends do right?"

She then looked out the window and closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

"If anything…I feel stronger now." And with that she trailed off to sleep, closing her eyes slowly, tiredness taking over her.

Levy and Erza were left looking at Lucy take in long, deep breaths before turning to each other.

"Erza…"

"Leave it alone Levy."

"But you know as well as I do that Gray still loves Lucy."

"We don't know that."

"Oh please, you saw his face when we saw him on Monday. He was completely broken., and now Lucy is trying to tell herself that she's stopped loving him. This is only going to hurt both of them…"

"I don't care if that bastard gets hurt! It's his fault that Lucy is in here in the first place. I don't care if he still loves her or not. Lucy is and always will be my first priority. She's my baby and I won't let him hurt her ever again. Not this time." And with that Erza turned and walked out of the room after placing a soft gentle kiss on Lucy's forehead.

Levy watched her go before turning back to Lucy, seeing her sleeping form sink into the covers. Watching Lucy sleep, Levy couldn't help but stroke her cheek, looking down into her face, taking in her features before seeing the tear stains on her cheeks. She knew Lucy was hurting, but she couldn't help but think that Lucy still loved Gray, even if she said she didn't.

Levy then leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her cheek before whispering into her ear.

"I love you baby girl. Sweet dreams."

She then got up and walked out of the room, leaning against the door. She then began thinking to herself on what was to come in the near future.

"I hope you know how to fix this Fullbuster."

After what happened to Lucy, Levy knew she should have hated Gray for what he did to her, but for some reason, she knew that he never meant to hurt Lucy and what's more, she felt sure that he did end up falling truthfully in love with her.

Walking down the hall she looked out the big glass windows and sighed. She would just have to wait and see, knowing full well that from here on out, the ride was going to get a whole lot bumpier.

Finally finished! Again I am so sorry for the late update, but from now on please expect to be updated a little faster, well compared to waiting for a week. Please review! Love you all minna! 3