Lucy left before I woke up, I'm kind of glad she did, I don't know if I want her to remember yesterday's conversation or not. Lucy alone I can't see it. Lucy isn't the kind of person that is alone, she's too kind, too loving. I unroll the piece of magazine with the number on it from my pocket and stare at it. I know it's the number she was afraid to answer. I don't think I could ever forget something that makes Lucy so still.

"Call it." I order myself, a piece of paper shouldn't feel so heavy. I grab my phone and type in the first three numbers before my thumb takes on a mind of it's own and deletes those numbers and dials Grey's instead.

"What's up? "Grey answers almost immediately.

"I got the number that Lucy won't answer." I tell him straight off.

"So, call it." Grey doesn't hesitate, he knows how he'd handle it if it was Juvia. I know how he'd handle it if he had the number.

"Do you want me to call it?" He offers.

"No, I can do it I just…" I stare at the paper.

"There's a guy that literally makes your girl pass out from anxiety at the thought of him." Grey says firmly "we need to handle this whether she wants us to or not."

"What if she's not ready for me to know?" I ask, "what if she just needs more time to tell me."

"Natsu." Grey interrupts, his voice severe. "Stop with the what ifs, the are's are; he's scaring Lucy, he's making her faint, he's making her keep secrets from you." Grey ticks everything off "if you don't want to call, that's fine, but give me the number so I can." Grey is the kind of friend you desperately want in school and in the club and anytime you need someone to back you up.

"I can do it." I tell him "I just don't want her to get upset again, I hate it when she's upset."

"She knows that, it's why she tries to pretend she's okay." Grey says the thing I was afraid to hear.

"She doesn't think I can protect her, does she?" I look down at my hand. it still aches.

"She just knows you don't like it when she's upset." Grey says, "call that number and see who's doing this to her."

"Yeah…" I shove my hair back "yeah, I'll call now, thanks, Grey."

"No problem man, tell me what happens." Grey hangs up first and I stand there for the longest three minutes of my life just staring at my own phone.

"Call." I order myself. My thumb hits the first number and then the second. Finally, the full number is displayed on my phone. All I have to do is hit call he's scaring Lucy

A familiar ringtone makes me freeze, my thumb just over the call button. "Lucy forgot her phone." I pull the blanket aside and reveal her IPhone. It's just a number on the screen, it's not the same number but it's got the same area code and the same first three digits. I grab her phone. What are you doing, she'll get so upset if you answer her phone without telling her. My subconscious yells at me but my thumb hits the answer button anyway. I'll tell her later I promise as I bring the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Who's this?" it's a woman's voice.

"Natsu." I struggle to keep my voice clear. "Lucy forgot her phone."

"Where is Lucy?" the woman demands.

"Working, she'll be back later." I stop myself before I can tell her a time, maybe Lucy doesn't want to talk to this persona either.

"May I ask who's calling?" I ask.

"May I ask who I'm speaking to." She mocks me, she sounds a little drunk.

"Natsu." I tell her my name again.

"And why do you have Lucy's phone?" She demands.

"She forgot it at home," I try to keep my voice controlled but this woman already doesn't sound like the reasonable type.

"And who are you to my daughter?" she barks. DAUGHTER! I swallow the lump in my throat.

"Her boyfriend." I say more firmly.

"Well tell her her mother called for her and if she's not too busy abandoning her family to give us a call." She slurs her words a bit "tell her two years is a bit long to sulk over a cup." the woman, Lucy's mother, hangs up and I just stand there. Her mother? I can't seem to move.

Her MOTHER. Why is she avoiding her own mother? I call Grey again.

"What happened?" Grey asks immediately

"I didn't call the number." I admit.

"I'm coming over there." Grey growls.

"No, wait." I grab my hair "I didn't call because Lucy's phone rang and so… I answered it." It's not like I've never answered her phone before but I knew she wouldn't want me to do it now.

"Who was it?" Grey demand.

"Her mom." I shake my head.

"Lucy has a mom?" Grey sounds equally as surprised.

"I guess so." I know that we sound like idiots because obviously, she has a mom.

"What did she say?" Grey asks trying to move past the realization that Lucyhas kept her entire family from me.

"She sounded a little drunk." I tell him "and she said Lucy hasn't spoken to her in two years."

Grey doesn't say anything for a minute. "So…" he pauses again "she called her daughter, who she hasn't spoken to in two years…drunk?" He says it like a question but I know he's just dumbfounded at the idea.

"I guess so." I don't know what else to say.

"Maybe Lucy has a good reason for not talking to her." Grey sighs.

"She has to, Lucy wouldn't just abandon someone." I sit on the bed.

"Look, Natsu…" Grey hesitates "you still have to call that number, take a minute here, then call it." He hangs up." I toss my phone back onto the bed and lay back.

"Natsu!" Lucy sings my name. I tuck her phone under the blankets but then I stop. Don't start keeping secrets from her I grab her phone and head out to her. She's got a few grocery bags and her hair is up in a messy bun on her head and she looks beautiful even if I can see the sweat stains in the pits of her white t-shirt.

"I got some food!" She sings holding the bags out, I can see the carton of eggs through the thin plastic bag.

"Awesome." I hurry over and grab the bags from her. "here," I tuck her phone into her pocket "You forgot this on the bed." I peck a kiss on her cheeks and lead the way to the kitchen.

"Thanks, did I get any calls?" She asks as I unload the bags.

"Uh…" I shouldn't lie to her.

"Oh, I got some spinach and cherry tomatoes on sale, I'll make us some eggs." Lucy grabs the bag of spinach, tomatoes and eggs. She takes them over to the stove as I unload a bag of potatoes, some pasta and rice and a few jars of sauce.

"Do anything interesting today?" Lucy asks taking out a cutting board and slices the tomatoes into even tinier pieces.

Tell her the truth I think "uh… nothing interesting."

"What time did you get up?" she asks whisking the eggs and cooking down the spinach.

"Just a little bit before you got home." At least that's not really a lie. I didn't get out of bed until about an hour ago. I spent most of the morning staring at the ceiling trying to figure out if I should call the number.

"Well it's good you got some rest." Lucy smiles at me over her shoulder "you were tired when you came home last night."

"Yeah, rough night at work." I pack the fridge with the groceries and go to stand beside her.

"Saturday nights are always busy for you guys." She stirs her mixture together and starts humming another song. I wrap my arms around her as she cooks.

"What song is that?" I ask kissing her neck. She giggles and stirs the eggs.

"Even though we ain't got money by Danny Jones." She turns the stove off and takes the pan off the burner. I reach over her and grab some plates.

"I've heard it before, I think." I set the plates down.

"Yes, I've played it on the speakers before; it's one of my favorites." She places a fork on each plate before she scoops out a portion onto each plate for us.

"Is that what it's called?" I knew that, I just need to take this conversation away from what I was doing while she was walking dogs.

"You knew that, already." She accuses.

"This looks good." I pull her chair out for her but she doesn't take the seat immediately.

"Everything okay?" I ask her, but she's looking at me like she's about to ask me something. So I do something I know will make her change the subject. I lean closer to her.

"Is it a thing?" I ask, I hate myself for it. Lucy's eyes go wide and she forces a smile and takes the seat.

"Nope." She says, "everything's fine." She throws a bite back and looks at her food.

I take my seat and try not to choke on my own heartlessness. She doesn't hum anything, she doesn't even look out at the window.

"Let me get you some lemon water." I go to the fridge and grab the old milk carton she uses to keep her lemon water cold. I grab her favorite stemless wine glass from the cabinet and fill it just under the brim for her. I stash the water back into the fridge and set her water on the table.

"Thank you." She smiles at me "you're so thoughtful." Her smile is so genuine.

"I answered your phone." I blurt, it's a good thing I never look at other girls. I could never be a cheater.

"What?" Lucy freezes with the rim of the cup against her lips.

"I heard your phone ringing and I wasn't going to answer it but it wasn't the number you didn't want to answer before so I answered it and-" I cut myself off, I really don't want to upset her but I can't do this, I can't lie to her. I just want her to be happy and clearly something is keeping her from being happy.

"Who was on the phone?" she asks timidly.

"Your… it was your mom." I tell her.

"Oh…" Lucy looks lost, her eyes kind of glaze over and she stares at her plate for a few moments. "Must have gotten my number from him." her voice is so low I don't think she meant for me to hear it.

"Lucy?" I touch her hand, she flinches and her eyes refocus on me. she looks like she just remembered I was there.

"Sorry, yeah…um… guess I'll call her back later." She goes back to her food but she's not okay, she's lost in her head, her brows drawn together, when she's not chewing on her food she's chewing on her lip.

"Anything you want to talk about?" I offer, maybe she wants me to offer. I watch her but she doesn't even look at me.

"I didn't think you'd mind if I answered you phone since it wasn't the number you didn't want to answer." It's only half a lie. We answer each other's phones all the time but I knew she wasn't going to want me to answer her phone when she's clearly trying to avoid someone or a more than just one person.

"No, it's fine." Lucy tries to shake it off but I can see her anxiety.

"Can I ask you a question?" I shouldn't be pushing her.

"Mmhhmm." She bites at her lip.

"Why don't you ever talk about your mom?" I ask her "or your family?"

Lucy pushes her food around her plate, she wants to say something, I don't think she knows how to say it.

"I…" she almost seems to push the word out. "It's…" she chokes on the word. I reach for her hand to comfort her but she pushes away from the table and walks out of the kitchen. The door clicks behind her.

go after her I order myself, instead I grab my phone and I try to call her. Her phone goes off in the living room. I wait for the voicemail anyway.

"hey, leave a message at the beep." She sounds happy and carefree and completely Lucy on her voicemail.

"I love you, Lucy." I say, "I love you so much, I didn't mean to upset you." I hang up and set my phone on the table.

Go after her she's not far, not yet but Lucy doesn't leave unless she needs space.

Go after her…

Dear Paper,

Yeah, sounds right, paper, since the paper is what I'm writing on.

He took me for a walk. Just a walk, nothing fancy, no dressing up or drinking. We just held hands and walked and he told me about growing up in Oregon and why he wanted to move to New York and why he started writing. He promised his mom he'd keep writing before she died. They were really close. He even shed a few tears and I held him and I don't think I've ever found a man so attractive.

I love that he's not afraid to cry. Not even in front of me.

Author's Note

Tonight will be a multi chapter post see you in a sec