Lucy smiled to herself. It had been a week since she and Natsu made up. She wasn't having nightmares any more, and the cold chill that had ran down her spine a while back didn't happen any more. All was well. She was well rested and happy again. All was right.

The sun shinned properly down on the land. The wind barely blew. It was a perfect day. If anything were to be said missing from the day, it would obviously be a lie. Nothing could have been wrong; nothing could have gone wrong; nothing should have gone wrong.

As Lucy turned down the road to her house, she saw a figure in the distance. She stopped in her tracks as the figured looked her way. It wasn't long before she recognized the boy. The Celestial mage continued forward, only this time to the boy.

"Hey, Natsu," she said, "I'm surprised to see you outside my house. Normally you'd have broken in already. What's up?"

Natsu smiled at her. "Nothing. I just wanted to give you something. Happy is waiting for me though, so I can't really stay long."

"Oh. Alright. What were going to give me?" Lucy questioned.

The boy dug through his pocket for a small box that was wrapped up nicely in white wrapping paper and a pink bow. He held it out to the girl, leaving Lucy utterly surprised. She took it from his hand with a small smile. "What's thi-"

"H-Happy helped me pick it out. He said you'd love it. And I thought it was nice." Natsu sputtered out, cutting the girl off completely. "And Mirajane helped me wrap it."

Lucy's smile widened. That explained so much about how nice it looked. There was no way Natsu could have wrapped it himself. She fondled the edge of the pink satin ribbon. "Do you want me to open it now?"

"Of course."

"Okay." Lucy tugged at the ribbon and peeled off the white wrapping paper, revealing a blue case containing the real present. She looked up at Natsu, but he was only staring intently at the box.

Lucy just shrugged and pulled off the lid of the box. A red heart, both one inch wide and one inch high, sat on a pile of soft foam. The heart was connected to a golden chain, making it into a necklace. The heart even glistened, almost as if it were wet.

Lucy picked up the heart, lying it in the palm of her hand. She was completely stunned by the item. "I-It's beautiful, Natsu."

"I'm glad you like it!" Natsu said proudly.

"Like doesn't even describe how I feel about it."

"Put it on, Luce." Natsu suggested with a tooth grin.

She nodded, undid the clasps, and put the marvel on. The chain was excessively long, making the heart hang almost in her shirt between her breasts. She continued to hold the hear, however, still looking it over in amazement. She had so many questions.

"Where did you get it? How much was it? Do you know what the heart is made of? When did you and Happy get it? Why? Why would you buy it for me?"

"Well," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't think it'd be right of me to say how much it was or anything, but I will say that it wasn't in a price range I wouldn't spend on you. Why I got it for you? Well, let's just call it both a 'welcome home' and 'thank you for accepting my apology' gift."

Lucy set the necklace back down onto her chest and threw her arms around the boy. "Thank you, Natsu. I love it. When did you ever mature this much?"

The pinkette shrugged and pulled away. "I can't keep Happy waiting that much longer. He really wants to go fishing. I'll see you later, Lucy."

"See you later, Natsu." Lucy waved, blushing slightly.

He disappeared off in the distance at a fairly fast paced speed, and Lucy didn't move from her spot until she couldn't see him at all. He really had matured, if only a littler. It both saddened Lucy and pleased her. She wasn't sure which was the right feeling to follow.

As Lucy walked up the stairs to her apartment, something felt off about her whole situation. Chills ran down her spine again. She almost didn't want to enter her home, and yet she ignored the feeling she and proceeded with caution. It was her home, after all.

She opened the door slowly and entered slowly. And there he sat. In the middle of her living room on her couch sat the one person she had been truly fearing for such a long time now. She stepped in slowly and shut the door behind herself. Her fingers ran down her left thigh to find her gate keys.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy questioned with a stern look.

He just smiled at her. "Welcome home, Lucy! It's been a while. I hope you are well."

Lucy frowned. "Why are you here, Felix?"

Felix's smile widened. "Am I not allowed to visit the girl I love? I just wanted to see you. Lucy, I'm desperate. I need you. I really do. I miss you."

The blonde smirked. "That's fine and well, but I don't miss or need you. I'm much happier without you. And I don't plan on going back with you."

Felix smiled and stood up off the couch. "I figured you'd say that."

He walked around, dragging his fingers across every surface he passed. "This is a really nice place you've get here. How much does it cost you?"

The unwanted man stopped at her dresser and slowly opened the top drawer, revealing her undergarments to him. He smiled and pick up a pair of black laced underwear. "You have really nice taste."

She brought a specific to her chest in case she would need it; Loke's key. "you need to leave. You really aren't wanted here. And if you don't willingly leave, I will force you to. Do not force me to. You won't like it."

Felix frowned for a second before a sly grin reappeared on his face. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. In fact, you really can't do it."

Lucy pushed her eyebrows together. The man was prone to lying. It was just how he was. She had no reason to believe him now.

"You don't believe me." Felix sighed. "Try if you must, but I assure you that it won't work. I hired a friend of mine with script magic to put up a block against all Celestial magic. He's a very good wizard. Probably one of the best I know. You really can't do anything. You are powerless, Lucy."

Lucy didn't want to believe him. She really didn't. But something in her gut just shouted that he was being truthful. And it hurt her so much to be so powerless. It hurt her to think that he might have actual been truthful about such a thing. She felt like a rat in a maze, only there was no escape. There was no way out. She wanted to cry.

Felix moved close to the girl. His smirk was wider than ever before; as wide as a Cheshire cat's. He had her where he wanted her. He stepped behind her. "It was fated to be this way. There was no way for it to not happen. You are mine, Lucy."

He grabbed a bit of her hair and sniffed it gently. "You will always be mine. I love you, Lucy."

His other hand wrapped around her face. A silk-like cloth was in his hand. Lucy resisted for a little, but never once did she actually have the strength to fight him off; to break free. It wasn't long before she was limp in his arms.

He put the cloth back into his pocket and eyed the heart wrapped around the girl's neck. He picked it up. "And if Natsu tried to get between us, I'll kill him."

He tore the necklace from her neck and tossed it into a corner.

Hiya. How's it going? So... this was chapter 14 of Here Without You! What did you all think? I know it was short... :U I didn't intend it to be short. It seemed a hell of a lot longer when I was hand writing it. xD Well, I'll try to make the next chapter longer!

So...

Stuff is going down!

Can anyone foresee where exactly this is going? (I have all my idea written out, so I'm not taking suggestions really, but if you want to give suggestions still, that's fine. I might be able to incorporate a few ideas. So don't be shy to share! I love every suggestion I get any ways. They are always so great.)

Um...

Before I end this, I want to say, we are actually getting very close to the end of the story. Boo. But I don't feel like I can continue this much longer. I'm sure you all understand. It feels like it needs to be ending soon, doesn't it? Feels like this chapter could be the start of the climax? (Don't worry, there won't be a long 'GOTTA FIND LUCY. NATSU GOING CRAZY' bunch of chapters now.) But what I really want to say is...

Thank you.

Thank you all so much for reading my fanfiction. This is probably the first one I've ever written from start to end... and honestly? I was never expecting to get as many readers and loyal followers as I did. I love you all so much. Thank you so much for sticking with me and my usually really bad writing. I appreciate. I really do. And hopefully you'll all stick with me for when I decide to start that Gruvia story I mentioned a few chapters/MONTHS ago? I really am thinking about doing that. I'm going to start planning it right after I finish this one.

I love you all.

Thank you so much for all the support.

SO!

Enough sappy-ish stuff from me.

Review? I love reviews. They make me feel special. OR! You could follow the story or me if you haven't. Or you could favourite the story (not going to push favouriting me as an author since I only have one story). But any ways. Review, favourite, and follow. Or just review. Reviews would be nice. Reviews are nice.

I like reviews.

Once again, thank you all so much. I hope to see you all in the next chapter, Chapter 15! Something big is coming!

Love always,

ZatsuneMiku1/Rebecca Lauber!