It's been a while. How are you all doing?
Please Review!
When Rogue opened the door, the twins began shouting, announcing to the whole house that Lucy was there. Bisca and Rogue's father, Alzack, ran over to see what was happening. Alzack was just in the shower, having only gotten home minutes before Rogue, so he just had a towel around his waist.
"I didn't know Lucy was coming over," Bisca said with a disapproving tone. She loved Lucy, but she always liked being informed.
"I didn't either," Rogue said. "Can I please get through? She has blood on her and I need to help her clean up and calm down."
"It looks like she has glass in her feet," Alzack said, looking closely at Lucy's bloody feet. She curled her feet up, shy about Alzack looking. "Bring her up to my office and I'll help her after I change."
Rogue took note of how Lucy visibly stiffened. "I'm taking her up to my room. I can do it just fine," he said, wishing his father wasn't a doctor. Between his parents he couldn't even get a paper cut without having to be taken care of.
"That could get infected if you don't take care of it," Bisca said. "You better let one of us help you."
Lucy was shaking now. "No, really, you need to let me do it." His parents knew that Lucy was shy, but they didn't always remember that she was fragile, as well. "If you're worried so much then move and let me do this faster!"
His parents finally backed off so Rogue ran up the stairs. He went into his room, closing his door despite the house rule - no girls behind closed door without someone else being there.
"R-Rogue," Lucy choked out, sobbing all over again. He pulled out the first aid kit his parents made him keep in his desk and pulled out everything he'd need. She winced as he began taking the glass out as gently as possible. "It h-hurts."
"I know, baby, I know," he said sweetly, trying to calm her down. Her body shaking with sobs wasn't helping keep her keep still. She'd flinch every time he'd pull out a piece of glass. "Just calm down. It's going to be okay. I just need to get this glass out, then you'll be all better."
After a few minutes, Rogue was wrapping her feet. When he was finished with that, he sat beside Lucy and let her curl up into his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair and slowly rocked back and forth as she cried. Once she calmed down a little more, he moved her off his lap. She whimpered and looked up at him, making his heart clench.
"I'm going to go get you some water, okay? I'll be right back." He kissed her forehead before leaving. He could hear her crying again the moment he started walking away.
As promised, he got her a glass of water. He also called Yukino and asked her to come over. He sat with Lucy after she drank her water.
"Lucy?" Yukino asked gently, coming into Rogue's room after a quick chat with Bisca. The blonde was curled up into Rogue's side, silently crying. "You look like a mess!" she laughed. "Come on, how about we take a bath?"
Lucy looked up at Yukino with hopeful eyes. When she saw the look her friend was giving her, she slowly nodded. Rogue picked her up, since her feet were still hurting her, and led her to the family bathroom down the hall. He had a bathroom, but it didn't have a tub, only a shower.
Yukino turned on the water to fill the tub. She grabbed some bath bubbles and put some in, as well, since she knew Lucy liked them. She turned to see Lucy stiffen as Rogue set her down and began to leave."Rogue," Yukino said sharply. He quickly came back in. She mouthed "don't leave" and moved closer to Lucy.
Rogue looked away as Yukino changed Lucy. After a towel was wrapped around Lucy, Rogue picked her up and set her in the tub, carefully slipping off the towel as he did so, managing not to see her at all. He knew that seeing her wasn't the best thing at the moment, since she needed him to help her, not lust over her.
"I'm going to go get some of Sorano's clothes," Yukino said, leaving the room. Sorano was Yukino's ten-year-old sister. She wasn't fat, but her body hadn't filled out yet, so Lucy would fit into her clothes easiest.
Rogue watched Lucy carefully. She eventually stopped crying, but she still stared blankly at the water. He wanted to know what was wrong, but he didn't know how to ask. He'd never seen her so upset before and he didn't want to ask the wrong thing. He was usually the Lucy Expert, but he was at a loss.
Luckily, she began talking all on her own.
"Gray broke up with me," she said quietly.
Rogue's eyes widened. Why would he do that?
"And Laxus came home."
Rogue's breath caught in his throat. He really hadn't expected that so suddenly and without warning, either.
"He hates me. He thinks I'm a failure."
"You're not," Rogue said, sitting on the edge of the tub. "You guys haven't seen each other for five years. You can't expect it to go perfectly at first. It's going to take some adjusting. I'm sure he's different now just as you are."
Lucy turned and jumped into Rogue's arms, getting soap and water all over him. He stiffened, not sure what to do. He really had no choice but to hug her back, so that's exactly what he did. He wound her arms around her. He flinched when he realized that she sitting on the edge of the tub and he initially grabbed her butt. He moved his hands so he was holding her waist, being more careful this time. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine that they were back in his room, fully clothed, and that he wasn't reacting to having her so close to him.
"I knew I shouldn't have dated him," Lucy mumbled, hugging Rogue tighter.
"No, Lucy, you should have. He just shouldn't have broken up with you," Rogue said, his head spinning. He couldn't believe what was happening.
Lucy loosened her grip so she could look at him. "Rogue," she said, making him open his eyes. "I want you to kiss me like you did that day at school."
He hesitated only a moment before lightly pressing his lips to hers. She instantly melted against him. Their lips moved against each other, their tongues dancing together. Her hands tangled into his hair. His one hand moved to her butt to pull her closer, the other molding against her neck. She pushed against him, making him lose his balance and falling to his back, the kiss breaking.
Rogue's eyes scanned over Lucy before he could stop himself. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing heavy. Her hair was wet and all flowing down her back. Her hands were on his chest, her arms thin and long. He was never a fan of big breasts, so her's were perfect to him. Her legs were extremely thin and her hip bones stuck out. He never realized she was so skinny. It bothered him, of course, but he didn't care. He still loved her with all his heart. He had accepted long ago that she was extremely thin, so seeing it for himself hardly changed anything.
It seemed like an eternity, but it was only seconds before Lucy was kissing him again. He groaned and sat up, pushing her hips back as he did so. She looked at him in confusion, wondering if she did something wrong.
"Yukino is going to be back," he said, trying to catch his breath. "You need to actually take a bath."
Lucy nodded and got back into the tub, looking away in embarrassment. Rogue gave a wide smile. He was happy that she wanted him. There was a part of him that wasn't sure if she was just looking for someone to care, but at the moment he wasn't letting that side take over.
Yukino came back a few minutes later with two sets of clothes and pajamas. She helped Lucy wash her hair before they had her change into the light blue dress Yukino grabbed. Yukino didn't fail to notice that Rogue didn't look away. She decided to question him later.
"Bisca wanted us to go down once we had Lucy dressed, so let's head down," Yukino said, nodding at Rogue to pick Lucy up again.
By the time they were down the stairs, Lucy was asleep in Rogue's arms.
X
"I didn't think she would run off," Laxus said, breaking the silence. He and Layla had been driving around for almost an hour, searching for Lucy.
Layla sighed heavily. "Lucy isn't the same now. She barely talks to anyone, hardly eats, and cries at the drop of a hat. I wouldn't expect you to know that. I just wish I would have met you at the airport instead of her. I could have explained everything."
"She must have heard from someone else that I was coming because I didn't tell her. I was planning on it being a surprise for all of you." He felt terrible that his plan backfired.
"Luckily being a policewoman has its perks,," Layla said, looking down at a piece of paper. "Ex-policewoman, that is. I called the station back in Clover and they gladly looked up the addresses of all Lucy's friends."
"Damn," Laxus laughed. "Who's first?"
"Natsu."
X
Once Lucy woke up, everyone had already finished dinner and Bisca had left for work. Alzack didn't delay with offering dinner, though. She declined.
"Come on, you have to eat something," Alzack said. "It's not healthy to skip meals."
Rogue noticed how uncomfortable she looked. "Did you even eat today at all?" He was just becoming more and more worried as the day went on.
Lucy shook her head once.
Alzack's eyes widened. "Okay, you're definitely going to eat now. When was the last time you've eaten?
Lucy looked at Rogue and nodded towards him. His eyes widened. "This weekend? Lucy!"
Rogue pushed Lucy into the kitchen, sitting her at a stool. He sat beside her, making sure she didn't leave. Alzack put a big bowl of soup and a slice of buttered bread in front of Lucy. She crossed her arms and slumped back. Rogue tried to get her to eat, but she wouldn't open her mouth.
"Dad?" Rogue asked. "Could you just leave us alone? I'll get her to eat, you go bathe the girls."
"Just make sure she eats, okay?" Alzack asked. He gave a worried look to Lucy before leaving.
"Lucy," Rogue said gently, putting an arm around her waist. "You need to eat so you can stay healthy. I don't know why you're not eating, but it won't help anything."
"I can't," Lucy mumbled. She put her head against Rogue's chest. "It makes me sick."
Rogue scrunched his eyes in confusion. "It won't this time. Mom's the best cook ever, remember? You've always loved her cooking. Come on, I'll eat some, too." He made a big show of eating some of the soup, making her giggle. "Now you have to eat some."
Lucy hesitantly ate a spoonful. Rogue smiled at her. She smiled faintly and took a bite of the bread. It is really good.
Even though Rogue already ate, he still ate half of her food to make sure she kept eating, since she didn't want to eat alone. It didn't end up being a lot of food in the end, but he was just happy that she ate something.
Lucy's stomach churned. She jumped up from the stool and tried running to the bathroom, but she didn't even make it out of the kitchen before her feet gave out on her. They were still really sore. Rogue ran over to her and saw that she had a hand to her mouth. He quickly picked her up and led her to the bathroom in his room, since the girls were bathing in the family one.
Lucy knelt in front of the toilet and gasped. Rogue sat down so she was sitting in between his legs and held her hair back. His heart clenched as she emptied her stomach. He looked up and saw that Alzack was standing there with only worry on his face. It looked like he was torn about something.
When Lucy had finished she began to cry. She leaned back against Rogue and buried her face in her hands. He held her tight and rocked her, trying to get her to calm down. He knew that she was always a little sad unless distracted, but since she moved away she became a mess. He originally thought that Gray was helping her be happy again, but that wasn't true at all. He was just a cover. She was no longer being distracted at all.
Everyone else was.
