Warning: Mentions of sexual abuse/rape. Does not go into details.
*Chapter Thirteen: Time's up
(October 7th, 2017, Saturday Night)
Natsu was a little more talkative during dinner than he had been the past few nights. Apparently, Mira didn't just tell Makarov about his idea for Halloween, but also everyone she came into contact with that day.
News spread fast at Fairy Tail. Not only was it a confined area, but people were more bored than before the outbreak, making them cling to anything that seemed remotely interesting. Natsu guessed his idea fit the bill.
"The kids won't stop talking about it," Levy giggled as she looked across the room, seeing most of the families sitting together. "They're so excited."
"I kinda wanna dress up," Gray said, then quickly glared at Natsu. "Don't."
Natsu, who was barely holding back his snicker, feigned innocence. "What? I wasn't gonna say anything. You should really just let it go."
Before Gray could respond, Erza spoke up. "It's a wonderful idea, Natsu. I actually forgot Halloween was coming up."
He believed her. Since the outbreak, they didn't do anything for the holidays. Everyone was too busy trying to survive, meaning celebrating an event or day was the furthest thing from people's minds.
Hell, they didn't even celebrate birthdays anymore. The closest they got was giving that person their desserts or any other small thing they could offer. It wasn't as if they could just go to a store and pick something up. The risk wasn't worth the reward.
Natsu nodded before turning to Lucy, seeing she was almost done with her food. "Do you wanna try dressing up this year? I can help ya make a costume."
Lucy looked up at him, her brown eyes flickering as a hint of a smile graced her lips. However, it was gone with the blink of an eye. "M-maybe."
Natsu furrowed his brows, wondering why her voice was so meek. He suspected it had something to do with her being around other people, but he didn't ask. He was already thinking about costumes again. "If it wasn't so messy, I think I'd want to try painting scales all over my skin. I could be a dragon."
He watched as Lucy's eyes flitted down to his torso. She stared there for a moment before asking, "L-like you r-ribs?"
Natsu blinked, almost forgetting that Lucy had seen him shirtless a few times. "Yeah, like that." Taking a chance, Natsu slowly grabbed the hem of his black tank top before pulling it up three inches, revealing the red scales tattooed on his skin.
Lucy gulped, but she didn't make any move to harm him. Decided he was safe, he lifted it a bit higher. "This tattoo hurt the most. Especially on my ribs and hip." He wouldn't lower his pants to show her where it ended. It could remain a mystery.
In a whisper, Lucy asked, "Wh-which hurt the l-least?"
Natsu grinned, releasing his shirt so it could fall back into place. Lucy's eyes stayed on that part until he shifted his body, putting his shoulder in her line of sight. "That's easy. This one." He pointed at the Fairy Tail symbol. "Barely felt this one compared to the others."
"Tell her how you cried when they were doing that one on your back," Gray laughed, causing Natsu to snort.
"I wasn't crying! I told you, I got something in my eye!" He didn't think anyone believed him, but he didn't let it get to him. "And you're one to talk! You're too scared to even get a tattoo!"
Gray shook his head, lips forming a smirk as his dark eyes flashed with amusement. "That's what you think. I was gonna get one, but this whole thing happened." He vaguely gestured around him. "So I guess we'll never know now."
Natsu was about to say that was pretty convenient for him, but Jellal cut him off. "Actually, I heard Rogue was doing an apprenticeship before this. If you got the right equipment and a generator he might be able to give you one."
"Really?" Natsu and Gray asked simultaneously, but Natsu sounded more excited. Why hadn't he thought of that? He knew Rogue wanted to be a tattoo artist, but he didn't think he could get a tattoo with their lack of electricity.
Without thinking, Natsu stood up, ready to go find Rogue and ask if that was true. However, once he took a step away, he felt something tug at his shirt. He turned, seeing a pale hand attached to his tank top.
Green eyes met brown, seeing the panic in them. Natsu parted his lips, realizing he was about to ditch Lucy to go find Rogue. He wanted to ask if she would be okay on her own for a minute or two, but the look in her eyes suggested he shouldn't even bring it up.
"I can ask him later," Natsu mumbled, talking more to himself than anyone else. As he took his seat, he watched Lucy quickly return her hand to her lap. He frowned, wondering if maybe she wasn't getting better. Maybe he was just imagining the progress she made?
Natsu ran a hand through his pink hair as he tried to sort through his thoughts. He had never dealt with someone like Lucy, so he didn't know what he should be looking out for. He knew he was in over his head, that much was clear, but he kept hoping the longer she was at Fairy Tail, the better she would get.
'I have no idea what I'm doing,' he thought, wishing Lucy came with an instruction manual. 'Wouldn't that make everything easier?'
"Sorry," he whispered, grabbing his fork so he could eat. He had been so caught up in the conversation with his friends he almost forgot he had food. He had to admit, it was nice talking with everyone over a meal. It was almost like old times.
Natsu didn't expect Lucy to say anything, so he jolted when he heard her whisper back. "N-no. I'm... sorry."
When he looked at her, she was looking at her plate. He didn't know what he was supposed to say, so he said nothing. He turned to his friends, listening to their conversation while he went back to his thoughts.
He had no idea what he was doing. That was the only thing he was certain of.
After dinner, Natsu tried to get Lucy to use the bathroom on her own again. He stood at the doorway to their room while she went. It took longer than before, Lucy continuously coming back to the room every time she saw someone else in the halls, but eventually she succeeded. As soon as she was done using the bathroom and brushing her teeth, she scurried back to the room as fast as she could.
"Good job," he said, wishing she was better with touching so he could pat her on the back. He settled for giving her a thumbs up, which caused her cheek to twitch. He swore she wanted to smile, but she didn't.
Natsu smoked his nightly cigarette before finishing his routine, using the bathroom and brushing his teeth before getting ready to sleep. The moonlight wasn't enough to see everything, so Natsu lit one of his candles, hoping the scent would spread through the room quickly.
Natsu went to take off his shirt, pausing when he realized he should ask Lucy if she was okay with it. Truthfully, he wanted to sleep in just his boxers like before, seeing as that made him the most comfortable. After stalling for a few minutes by pretending to straighten his bookcase, Natsu finally asked, "Hey, this is gonna sound weird, but are you okay if I sleep in just my boxers?"
He was ready for her to say no, but he was thankful when she said yes. Well, her exact word was, "Sure," but it was close enough for him.
He stripped down before stretching, wishing he could put in for vacation time, but knowing that wasn't how the world worked anymore. Well, that wasn't true. He could have all the time off he wanted, but it would require him to move off base, but that wasn't safe.
Natsu honestly thought the rest of his night was going to go a lot smoother than it did. He sat down on his mattress after grabbing his notebook and pen, flipped to his next clean page before writing down the date. Casually, he asked Lucy a question, not realizing it would set her off.
"So, tell me something. Why'd you freak out the first time I took off my shirt?"
"I-I..." Lucy's voice shook before cutting out.
He kept his eyes on his page, figuring she wouldn't answer. "I mean, it just seemed kinda—"
Natsu jolted when Lucy let out a choked sob. His head snapped in her direction, seeing her eyes filling with tears as she shook her head. He panicked, knowing it was his fault, but not understanding why the question caused a reaction that bad.
Fumbling, Natsu crawled across the floor, trying to reach Lucy so he could calm her down. She took one look at him before screaming, "NO!" While he flinched, she wrapped her arms around herself and curled her body into a tight ball.
Natsu's eyes shot down to his body, realizing he shouldn't have approached her while wearing nothing but his boxers. He stood, noticing the way Lucy tensed. Instead of saying anything about it, Natsu went to get dressed in a hurry, shrugging on his tank top and gym shorts before returning to her bed.
Lucy's watery eyes watched him like a hawk, but she didn't flinch when he sat in front of her, now clothed. She did however scoot backwards.
"Lucy, talk to me," Natsu urged, wishing things could be simpler with her. He didn't understand what was going on in her mind, but it wasn't completely his fault. She had been too secretive, not letting him know what triggered her.
Lucy shook her head, choking on a sob. Natsu furrowed his brows as he inched closer to her, trying to think of how to calm her down. The idea to wrap her in a blanket popped into his head. It somewhat worked last time, so he figured it was worth a shot now.
However, Lucy was sitting on her blanket. He reached his hand towards her, prepared to yank the blanket from under her, but she jolted. "Don't touch me!"
Natsu jerked his hand back, startled by her words. "I wasn't gonna touch you," he tried to assure, frowning when she shook her head. "Do you not believe me?"
"I'm sorry," she cried, still shaking her head.
Natsu didn't know what to think. He thought his mind would be spinning with thoughts, but it was blank. He swallowed, desperately wishing she would just stop crying and tell him what was wrong. "Lucy..." He couldn't think of anything else to say.
"I'm s-sorry," she repeated, further confusing him.
"Why are you sorry?" he managed to say, his eyes focusing on her watery eyes. "There's no reason to be sorry."
Instead of responding to him, Lucy's hands went to her arms. Her nails started digging into her skin as she mumbled incoherently to herself.
"Stop that!" Natsu scolded, reaching out to grab one of her hands. He succeeded in getting her to stop scratching herself, but only because she tried to scratch him. He caught her other hand, pulling them away from his face so she couldn't do more damage. His cheek was starting to heal, and he didn't want to start all over by having her rip out his stitches.
Lucy flailed in his grasp, trying to jerk her hands away from him. "Stop!" she cried out, attempting to kick him.
He took two hits to his legs before pressing his weight against her feet, securing them to the mattress. Natsu didn't know what he was supposed to do, but he knew he was making things worse. Still, he didn't want to let her go yet, fearing she would further damage her body. "Lucy! Stop moving!"
She shook her head, more tears falling down her cheeks as she squirmed. He hated seeing her scared, but he didn't know what else to do.
"Don't touch me!" she sobbed, her body suddenly going limp as she lowered her head. She shook as she cried, no longer fighting back. "Pl-please... Don't."
Natsu released her, scooting away to give her some space. He stopped when there was two feet between them, his heart pounding wildly as he tried to comprehend what just happened. He didn't understand why she just stopped out of nowhere. It was as if she gave up.
"Lucy," he tried again, hoping she could hear him. "Please, you gotta tell me what's going on. This... this isn't normal." As he said the words, he felt the truth in them. That wasn't normal behavior, even for someone living post-outbreak.
Lucy let her arms fall to her sides as she fell backwards. If it weren't for the wall, Natsu was sure she would have fallen down without trying to stop herself. Her head stayed down as she cried, her golden hair covering her face. Through her tears, she spoke, voice just as bad as it had been when she told him she had been hurt by someone.
"I-I'm s-sc-scared."
Natsu's face twisted with confusion as he shook his head. "Why? What are you scared of?" When she didn't answer, he asked, "Me?" The longer she stayed silent, the more he panicked. "Are you scared of me?"
Lucy looked up, strands of her hair stuck to her face. She shook her head, but the word she said stung. "Y-yes."
Natsu felt his shoulders fall, his heart sinking into his stomach. He voiced the only question that crossed his mind. "What did I do?"
Lucy didn't answer, only lowering her head again. If it weren't for her heavy breathing or her shaking, Natsu would swear she looked lifeless, just leaning against the wall. He wondered if him holding her down caused her to be scared of him. He was only trying to help, but he knew he made things worse. He thought about the question he asked that set her off, wondering how it could have such an adverse effect on her.
Natsu looked over Lucy, seeing every cut and scar that wasn't covered. He thought about the burns he saw, and the ones Yukino told him about. He remembered her saying there was a large scar on Lucy's stomach, then thought about her black eye and busted lip. His mind flashed to the time Lucy slapped Cana after being groped, or the times she tensed when he barely touched her. Lucy didn't like to be touched, at all.
His stomach twisted and his breath hitched. He hadn't been thinking of it as a possibility because he didn't want it to be a possibility. But now that he allowed himself to entertain the idea, his body recoiled, stomach acid shooting up his throat. He had to gulp it down, the taste not nearly as disgusting as the idea of it actually happening.
As he spoke, Natsu felt his eyes prick. He didn't wish it on anyone, not even his worst enemy, and definitely not someone like Lucy. She didn't deserve something like that happening to her. No one did.
"L-Lucy," he started, hearing the strain in his voice. He swallowed, his throat raw with pain. Natsu didn't want to ask her. Honestly, most of him didn't want to know. It would be easier to pretend like it didn't happen, to help Lucy heal around that part of her life. He knew it was easier to ignore, but he couldn't do it. He had to find out, for the sake of understanding her.
He hoped against all odds he was wrong, and that the worst thing that happened to Lucy was that someone physically harmed her. That was bad enough, but combined with what he was thinking... Well, he just hoped he was wrong.
"D-did someone..." He breathed, trying to get control of his scattered thoughts and the sharp pain in his heart. He tried to press his hand to his face to calm his mind, but he felt something wet. When he pulled his hand away, he realized he was tearing up, his vision blurring as he stared at his skin.
'Don't ask her,' his mind told him, but he shook his head. 'I have to. I need to know what she's dealing with.'
He couldn't begin to try to help her if he didn't know what was troubling her. Something was preventing her from getting better, or at least that was what he assumed. Without any experience in that type of situation, Natsu was struggling to know if his actions were hurting or helping.
"Did s-someone... t-touch—" He clenched his teeth, limbs going numb as he forced the last word out. "Y-you."
All she had to do was shake her head and say no. It was easy, she had done that before. However, nothing about Lucy was ever easy. His heart felt like it shattered when she looked up at him again, her bottom lip quivering as she nodded her head.
Someone had touched her.
Natsu couldn't breathe for a moment, his mind not wanting to accept that information. He swallowed hard, struggling to meet her gaze. He couldn't describe the emotions flowing through him. He caught a bit of anger and confusion, wondering what sick bastard laid their hands on her against her will. Disgust climbed to the top of the list of emotions he was feeling when he wondered one thing.
'How bad did it get.'
His hands were clenched into tight fists, wishing he had the person who did that to her in front of him. He would choke the life out of them if he had the chance. People like that didn't deserve to live. There was absolutely no excuse for touching someone against their will. None.
Natsu forced his jaw open, his voice dark and low. He didn't mean to sound that way, it just happened, his anger marring his tone. "Did someone..." His nails bit into his skin, his mind screaming at him to stop. He ignored it, asking the question anyway.
"Did someone rape you."
Lucy stared at him, her eyes filling with more tears. He swore time stood still, but the pain spreading through him was enough to tell him it hadn't. It took her a moment before she finally parted her lips, her voice scratchy as she whispered, "Y-yes."
Before Natsu could say anything, Lucy started wrapping herself up in her arms. She buried her face in her knees, refusing to look at him. Natsu was grateful. He was having a hard time looking at her. It wasn't that he was disgusted by her, far from it. He knew it wasn't her fault if someone violated her. He was just struggling to contain his rage when he looked into her sad eyes, seeing the broken woman that was left after such an event.
She was damaged, inside and outside.
And Natsu had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to fix that, or if Lucy could even be 'fixed'. There were no psychologists at Fairy Tail, no therapists. He sure as hell didn't know what to say to her. He didn't know how to help her, and that only made him angrier.
He stood up, pacing around the room as he tried to think. He cursed himself, wishing he knew all the answers. It was bad enough he didn't know what was going on with the outbreak, but now he had to help Lucy too.
Shaking his head, Natsu realized he didn't have to help Lucy, but he promised he would. Of course, at the time he hadn't known exactly what he was getting into. Now he had a better understanding.
'No wonder she cut me when I took off my shirt. She probably thought I was gonna fucking rape her!' He almost slammed his fist into the wall, but he stopped himself, knowing that if he broke his hand he would be screwed. They couldn't exactly use an X-ray now.
Unable to figure out what to do, Natsu growled. He placed his hands on the desk, leaning his weight towards it as he closed his eyes. 'Think! Fucking think!' He couldn't help her, not with those types of injuries. Cuts, sure. Burns, maybe. But mental scars? He was struggling to deal with his own emotional problems that came with seeing people die around him, not to mention the pain he felt whenever he thought about his missing dad. Or his birth parents. Or his brother.
"I'm s-sorry," Lucy whispered, but he heard it.
Natsu's eyes darted towards her, uncharacteristically cold as he said, "No. Don't apologize." Lucy tensed, causing him to flinch. "Fuck, I didn't mean to scare you." When he said that, he realized even more why Lucy was scared of him earlier. He was holding her hands and pinning her legs down. She probably thought he was going to try to rape her just then, and that thought broke his heart.
He would never do something like that to anyone.
Natsu slowly stood up, shaking his head before he headed towards her. He moved with caution, showing her his hands as he sat four feet away from her. Pressing his palms against the floor, Natsu cleared his throat.
"I promise," he started, voice thick with emotion, needing her to believe him when he made his vow. "I will never do something like that to you." He saw her eyes fall to the floor, but her face was still visible. Her tears ran down her cheeks freely, Lucy not bothering to wipe them.
"Lucy, I promise I won't touch you like that. I won't... I won't rape you. Please believe me." He felt his chest constricting at the very thought of her not believing him, of her honestly thinking he would rape her. "I won't do that. I swear on my life, I won't."
He didn't know if she was listening to him. The faraway look in her eyes suggested she didn't. Natsu wondered if she was reliving the memory of her being sexually assaulted. He couldn't imagine what kind of pain she was feeling.
Natsu's eyes widened when another thought popped into his head. He almost wanted to bash his skull against the ground, just to stop the damn thoughts from coming. Still, he opened his mouth, already feeling himself getting sick as he asked, "Was it just once?"
She shook her head before burying it again, giving him her answer. He stared at her, almost in disbelief. He didn't dare ask her how many times. He didn't want to know. Once was already too many times for something like that to happen.
Despite not wanting to know the details, Natsu's mind started to wander. 'Was it before the outbreak... or after? Was it someone she knew? Was it a stranger? Was it the same person who hurt her? Did her parents know? Did they try to stop it? Was that why her dad died? Did he die trying to stop it? What the fuck did she go through?'
Natsu felt his mouth watering, but not in a good way. He quickly got up, running over to the trashcan before vomiting into it. His throat and nose burned, but he couldn't stop, throwing up everything in his stomach.
He didn't see Lucy's gaze on him, but he felt it, a shiver running down his spine. Natsu pulled away before stumbling over to his dirty clothes pile, grabbing a relatively clean shirt before wiping his face. He couldn't stomach the information. He didn't know how Lucy was functioning. He didn't think he would if the roles were reversed.
Lucy's behavior was starting to make more sense to him. Every flinch, every jolt. The poor girl had been beaten and raped. He didn't understand it, not comprehending why someone would want to violate someone's body like that.
He felt more sick when he remembered her apologizing, as if something was her fault. As far as Natsu was concerned, she hadn't done anything he wouldn't have done himself if he was in her shoes. The cut on his cheek hurt, but he forgave her that instant. She was only trying to protect herself against him, and now he knew why she thought he was a threat.
"Don't ever apologize for that," Natsu mumbled, tossing the shirt back in the pile. His nose scrunched at the disgusting taste in his mouth and the smell in the air. He looked at her, seeing she was staring right back at him. "Please, don't say you're sorry. It's not your fault." He repeated it again, softer. "It's not your fault."
Lucy bit her bottom lip as she nodded, a new wave of tears filling her eyes as she looked down. "Th-thank y-you."
Natsu shook his head, his heart hurting all over again. He didn't understand why she was thanking him. Before he had a chance to tell her it wasn't needed, she spoke again. He went silent, not wanting to interrupt her.
"Th-thank you for h-helping m-m-me, N-Natsu."
Her image went blurry as his eyes watered, not bothering to fight off his tears. He nodded, turning his body before getting to work. He didn't have anything to say to that, so he decided to distract himself, if even for a moment.
Natsu grabbed his roll of toilet paper, blowing his nose to try to get rid of the bits of vomit that went the wrong way. He threw it away before grabbing his cup and the pitcher of water, gargling the water before walking to the window.
The cold air bit at his skin when he opened it, but it was necessary so he could spit the water out. He contemplated brushing his teeth again, but he didn't think he had the strength to do that. He was emotionally drained, and it wasn't even him who had suffered through that.
Natsu shut the window, hoping Lucy wasn't going to get cold from it. He looked over towards her, seeing her head was down again. The moonlight and candlelight glowed around her, highlighting the gold in her hair.
Natsu tore his gaze away from her so he could attend to his trashcan, pulling out the bag before tying a knot in it. He set it outside of his door, knowing he could deal with it in the morning. He didn't think he could go to sleep tonight with that smell lingering in the air, reminding him why he got sick in the first place.
The idea of sleep almost made him laugh, but it would have been humorless. 'No wonder she has nightmares,' he thought, regretting every time he got mad at her for waking him up. 'Her mind's just as damaged as her body.'
By the time Natsu finally sat in his bed, Lucy had stopped crying. Her body remained still aside from her breathing, her back leaning against the wall. She looked up at him when his mattress made a noise from the added weight, her eyes locking with his.
Natsu didn't know why he felt the need to say it again, but he did. "I promise, I won't hurt you."
A minute of silence passed while she stared at him, barely moving a muscle. Finally, she parted her lips, her broken voice barely a whisper. "Th-thank you."
Natsu didn't bother telling her there was no reason to thank him. He was just relieved she seemed to believe him. He couldn't have her thinking he was going to assault her. That was no way to live, especially if they were sharing a room. He swallowed, throat tight as he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
He was thankful when she shook her head. Honestly, he wouldn't have known what to say. If anyone he met had ever been raped, he didn't know about it. He couldn't offer her any good advice for coping with something like that. Instead, he stared at her, watching as she blinked slowly, as if keeping her eyes open was a struggle.
"Do you want to go to sleep?"
She paused before nodding, her eyes falling to her pillow. "Y-yes."
"Go ahead," he whispered, grabbing his notebook. He realized some of the papers were bent from carelessly tossing it earlier, but he couldn't bring himself to give a damn. It was just paper. "I'll be up for a few more minutes. That okay?"
Lucy waited until she got her blankets out from under her before wordlessly nodding. She curled against her mattress, bringing the covers up to her nose. She was facing him, keeping her eyes trained on his form.
He didn't question it, knowing she needed to watch him before falling asleep. As much as it stung to know she didn't trust him, Natsu couldn't blame her. Things were making more sense by the minute. 'No wonder she didn't want to get processed. She didn't want to be naked.'
However, Natsu still wondered why she was okay with having him present when she was processed, even if he didn't look her way during. He figured it really did come down to the fact that they met before the outbreak. He had showed her kindness at that gas station, and it seemed to go a long way. Plus, he figured one of the main reasons she cut him when he took his shirt off was because she couldn't see his face, blinded by his headlamp.
If he could go back, he would fix his mistakes.
Hell, if he could go back, he would have snatched Lucy and her family at that gas station and taken them with him. He would have driven his friends back to Magnolia, grabbed his dad and his friend's parents, then hunkered down in a safer location. He would have waited until he did all that first before alerting the media that something was about to happen, otherwise they could get caught in a riot if people got out of control.
Though, he doubted anyone would have believed him.
Natsu sighed, trying to get those wild thoughts out of his head. He couldn't change the past, so there was no point in entertaining the thought. If anything, it was only making him feel worse about everything that happened.
Natsu grabbed his pen and started writing. He jotted down the bare minimum, not wanting to go into the messy details he just learned.
Oct 7th, 2017. Morning watch today. Very boring, but that's good. Boring is good. Lucy kinda peed on her own. Getting better. Gramps said Lucy needs to get a job tomorrow. Don't think that's possible. She's not ready. She needs more time.
Natsu ended it there, not wanting to say more. He closed his notebook before putting it at the end of his bed. When he went to pull the blankets over him, Happy came scampering up, pawing at the covers.
A small smile graced Natsu's lips as he lifted the blanket, allowing Happy to crawl under to get warm. The feline cuddled against his chest, purring when he found a comfortable position.
Natsu pet Happy twice before turning his head, looking at Lucy's face. Her eyes were closed, her blankets rising and falling evenly to let him know she was asleep.
"Sleep well," he whispered, knowing she needed the rest. He hoped she didn't have any nightmares tonight. She deserved some peace.
Natsu blew out the candle after setting his alarm. He was going to be a runner tomorrow, meaning he would be away from the base most of the day. He knew Lucy wasn't ready to get a job tomorrow, but he didn't know what that meant.
Natsu knew she wouldn't be able to eat the meals Fairy Tail provided, but did that mean she had to leave the base? He didn't know, but he was going to do whatever he could to convince Gramps to let her stay. She just needed more time, then she would be able to work.
At least, he hoped all she needed was more time to get better. He wasn't an expert at dealing with emotionally unstable people, but he said he would make sure Lucy was taken care of, and he meant it. He wasn't going to go back on his word just because the path ahead of him seemed difficult.
He wouldn't go down without a fight.
(October 8th, 2017, Sunday Morning)
Natsu's brows furrowed when his alarm went off the next morning. He got dressed, wearing his slightly better clothes since he had less of a chance of encountering the undead.
He blinked slowly, trying to mentally prepare himself for the day. He was tired, but it wasn't because of Lucy. She didn't wake him up with her screams last night. Instead, it was his own dreams that made him restless. It was bad enough he thought about people dying on a regular basis. Did those images really have to invade his dreams too?
After Natsu got dressed, he looked at the time. It was now five minutes until Lucy had to be at Makarov's office, but he knew nothing had changed since last night. She wasn't ready. Still, he asked, knowing he should at least give her a chance.
"Are you ready to get a job?"
He had to go to Makarov with an answer, even if it wasn't the one he wanted. "You can't eat or shower if you don't work." He paused, hoping his words would set in. He didn't want to scare her, he just needed her to know the consequences of her decision, even if he didn't think it was fair. "I don't even know if you can stay if you don't work, but I'm gonna try to convince Gramps to let you stay."
Lucy held his gaze, tears staining her cheeks. He swore he saw her crying more than anything, and that didn't sit well with him. She shook her head, finally lowering her gaze. "N-no."
Natsu sighed, knowing that was going to happen. He swallowed as he nodded, not knowing what the outcome of her choice would be. He would try to talk to Makarov, but at the end of the day, he was the one who called the shots, not Natsu.
"It's okay," he forced himself to say, an ill feeling traveling from his stomach to his chest as he remembered what happened last night. "You just need more time. We'll figure this out." He didn't know whose benefit that was for, but he knew it didn't make him feel better. Judging by the way Lucy's body started to shake, he guessed it didn't help her either.
"I'll see you after work," Natsu said, hoping he was telling the truth. He knew he couldn't bring her to breakfast since she wasn't going to work, and he didn't know if she was allowed to stay now. "Make sure you take your pill and mass gainers while I'm gone."
He waited until she nodded before leaving, closing the door and locking it behind him. His heart felt heavy in his chest as he walked down the halls towards the office, the trash bag from last night in his hands.
He hoped Makarov would understand what was going on and give Lucy more time. He was a reasonable man, but he was also a logical one. An extra mouth to feed hurt the base. If Lucy couldn't pull her own weight ‐which was still too low, Natsu didn't think they would let her stay.
Natsu clenched his teeth, desperately wishing he knew what to do.
.
.
.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Was anyone surprised that Lucy didn't want to work yet? How long do you think it'll be until she works? How do you think Natsu's doing with all this? I think he's getting pretty overwhelmed. Did anyone guess what happened to Lucy correctly? It took a few days, but Natsu finally got her to tell him what was bothering her. Unless there's something else bothering her too? Who knows?
I mean, I guess I know, but I can't tell you that yet.
Up next, Chapter Fourteen: Babysitting
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