A/N: Here I am updating this story again. This story should have been complete already but my absence from FF took it's took. But I planned out the rest of this story so I am ready to get rolling. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Lucy's POV
The biggest question probably bouncing around anyone's head right now is why I would let Natsu, someone I utterly disliked, go along with me to visit my sick father. Well, aside from the hangover and lack of sleep, I wanted to keep an eye on Natsu. He had broken into my apartment and had been watching Erza, so getting him out of Acalypha was my best option right now. I was not going to let him in the room with my father of course, but I felt better knowing Natsu would be nearby and not doing illegal things like breaking in to my apartment again.
"You finally awake?" I turned to the sound of Natsu's voice. He had tired bags under his eyes, and his voice sounded as exhausted as I felt.
"Getting bored?" I replied sharply. I had no interest in talking to him, and it was torture enough being in the same car as him.
"I like sleeping you better. Less mouthy," Natsu retorted. If we weren't driving, I would've punched him in the nose.
"Are you always so smug and irritating?" I asked, glaring at him.
"Only when the company is," He grinned at me. I rolled my eyes. The ego on this guy was just astonishing. We sat in silence for a while, Natsu focusing on the road and I spent the time looking out the window at the passing blue sky.
"I'm sorry about your dad," My eyes widened as I looked over at Natsu.
"Didn't know you were capable of being nice," I said, crossing my arms.
"Says the woman who got drunk and I let sleep at my place," Natsu replied.
"One time thing," I waved my hand, dismissing the thought.
"But I am serious. I lost my parents as I told you," Natsu said, a bit of a haunted look on his face.
"When my mom died, he was all I had," I said. My throat clenched slightly as I thought of the night of my mother's death.
"I'm sure he will be happy you are visiting him," Was that empathy I detected in Natsu's voice.
"Since when did you care so much?" I felt even more confused when Natsu chuckled.
"I don't. I can just relate, that's all," Natsu responded. I mentally shrugged. I should've known he didn't care. He had no reason to. We were just associates and that was it.
"Such a charmer," The words slipped off my lips with such noticeable sarcasm.
"Especially last night," Natsu laughed. I shot him a confused glance.
"What are you talking about?" I asked. What the hell did I do last night?
"Oh, nothing," Natsu said with a cheeky grin. I sighed, giving up on wondering. Natsu wouldn't tell me if he didn't want to.
"Only five more minutes," Natsu nodded to the sign pointing to the hospital. I sighed in relief. Soon I could get out of this car and put some distance between Natsu and me. We rode in silence the rest of the way. I felt strangely awkward. Natsu had been empathetic, and I could tell something happened between us last night by how he was alluding to it. I would get him to tell me eventually.
"Finally here," I said as we pulled in to the hospital parking lot. We got out and headed inside to the main lobby.
"Wait here," I told Natsu as I pointed to the waiting area. Natsu nodded, taking a seat in one of the chairs. I walked over to the front desk.
"May I help you?" The woman looked up from her computer.
"I need to visit Jude Heartfilia. I am his daughter," I said. She nodded, typing on her computer for a few moments.
"Looks like he is on the fourth floor in room 237," The woman replied, returning her gaze to me.
"Thank you," The woman nodded as I walked away. I gestured for Natsu to follow me as we headed for the elevator. My breath hitched in my throat as we rode the elevator up. I hadn't been in a hospital since my mother passed away, and now the thought of seeing my father lying in that hospital bed was truly shaking me to the core.
"Relax. This is one of the best hospitals in Fiore. He will be fine," Natsu said, noticing my anxious motions. I nodded, not saying anything. We arrived on the fourth floor.
"Would you mind waiting out here?" I asked as we approached my father's room.
"If that's what you want," Natsu shrugged as he leaned against the wall. I thanked everything that he was not being difficult right now. I took a deep breath as I went in to the room.
"Hey Dad," My voice came out shakily as I approached the bed he was lying in. His eyes shifted from the TV to me, his gaze brightening slightly.
"Darling! You're here. I was afraid you may not come," My heart lurched at how weak my father sounded.
"Of course I came. Why wouldn't I?" I asked, taking a seat next to his bed.
"Because I became a terrible father after your mother died," My father reached for my hand, his arm steadily shaking. I took it quickly, not realizing how much I missed my father until now.
"You were overcome by grief. I understand," I gave my father a small smile, despite my desperate need to cry. My father looked pale, exhausted and weak. It made my heart feel heavy.
"You look so much like her now. She would be so proud of the woman you have become," A couple of tears leaked out of my father. I knew by his expression that we were thinking of the same thing; the night she died.
"Mama! Are you okay?" A five year old me cried out as I saw my mother cough up more blood in her hospital bed.
"I am afraid not, my dear. But worry not, no matter what happens tonight, I will always be with you," She smiled weakly.
"Should I get the doctor, my love?" My father approached my mother, taking her frail hand in his.
"No. I know that there is nothing I can do. Just take good care of our darling girl," My mother rested her forehead against my father's, tears falling from both of their closed eyes.
"I promise, Layla. I promise," Was the last thing my father said before the rapid beeping of the machines fell flat.
"How terribly I failed that promise," My father's voice echoed in to my thoughts, as if he had seen exactly what I had just seen. I shook my head.
"Mother was your true love. I don't blame you for anything," I squeezed his hand slightly. My father gave me the strongest smile he could muster.
"Who is that?" My father nodded to Natsu standing in the hall, the boy's expression unreadable as he watched our exchange.
"Just someone I work with. He drove me up here to see you," I replied. I knew if I told my Dad the truth about Natsu, he would surely begin yelling and stressing out, and I did not want to make his condition worse.
"Really? He seems like a nice boy," I saw Natsu's eyes widen a bit as my father said that. I felt bad, because in my mind I knew Natsu was a horrible person. He killed, he stole and he was a master criminal. But I also thought of his recent kindness; how he had taken care of me when I had gotten drunk, and how he had wasted his time to drive me up here. Could it be possible that underneath all the crime that Natsu was a good person?
"I suppose he is," I turned back to my father, not sure if I had meant the words I had just said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natsu shift uncomfortably before walking away.
Natsu's POV
"Really? He seems like a nice boy," My eyes widened as I heard her father speak. I was shocked. No one had ever called me a nice boy before, even before I had become a drug lord. For some odd reason, those words had struck me hard. No one had ever thought of me as a kind person, not even myself. I lifted my head, waiting for Lucy to disagree with her father. Our eyes locked for a moment, a million thoughts running through her gaze, like she was thinking about what to say.
"I suppose he is," Lucy turned back to her father. I felt my breath hitch in my throat. I was sure that Lucy was going to spill what she knew about me. But no, she had agreed I was a nice person. I suddenly felt a weird feeling drop to my stomach, and I needed to get some air. Taking out my phone, I texted Lucy that I was going outside for a cigarette. Moving as fast as I could, I made my way to the elevator and down to the lobby. Ignoring the receptionist's farewell, I hurried outside. Once I was a legal distance from the hospital, I pulled a cigarette out from the pack. I sparked it up, taking a few much needed drags. What was happening to me? Why had their words affected me so much?
"Just someone I work with. He drove me up here to see you,"
"Really? He seems like a nice boy,"
"I suppose he is,"
Tears began to fall down my face. I was nowhere near a nice person. Not after all the things I had done. After my father abandoned me, I was thrown in to some run down boy's orphanage. The staff was nice enough, but I was always teased by the other kid for my pink hair and not being wanted by my father. I was bullied at school, and I always failed every class. I could never get jobs and I could never make friends. Until my freshman year, when I met Lisanna at a park in Apalcypha, where she had been selling weed and pills. We began to talk and smoke together, and slowly she became my first friend. As time went by, I began selling with her, falling in love with how much money I was making. A life of crime is never what I wanted, but years of bullying, pain and the inability to get jobs had made the pull of selling even more compelling.
"You alright dude? You look pretty bummed," I turned to see a girl with short white hair approaching me.
"Just don't want to go back to that stupid group home tonight," I said, shrugging slightly.
"Want a hit? Takes the edge off," I turned to look at the blunt she was holding out in her hand. I had never done drugs before, but with the way I was feeling, I felt a terrible urge to say yes. Nodding, I took the blunt and inhaled a ton. I immediately began coughing as the weed burned my throat.
"First time?" She asked, taking a seat on the bench next to me. I nodded as I handed the blunt back to her. We began to talk and smoke, and slowly I had begun to feel slightly better.
Near the end of our junior year, we had begun to date. I had fallen deeply in love with Lisanna, or so I had thought at the time. We talked about expanding our business, and slowly over the summer we had set up a nice little operation from her old home. She showed me everything she knew about selling, and I had used the money I earned to take her out on dates or buy her nice things. As our business grew, we began to talk about getting a place together and settling down in the future. This had all been ruined one night however, as some of the people in the operation began to prefer me over Lisanna. They started rumors of how Lisanna was cheating on me and planning on getting rid of me when our business had taken off enough. They suggested I start my own operation and to dispose of Lisanna before she could dispose of me. As time passed slowly, I began to buy in to their words. So one night, the night before our graduation to be more precise, Gray and Gajeel set fire to her house, the fire that nearly wiped out her family. In the ensuing chaos, I stole all the money she had stashed in the basement and fled along with Gray, Gajeel, Sting and Rogue. As we ran from the house, I heard Lisanna calling my name. I never once stopped to turn back. And all those moments had led up to now. Even though I hadn't set the fire, I had indirectly ruined Lisanna's life, ruined her family. Could I really do that to another person? Part of me found it justified, since my own family had been taken, but the other part still remembered Lisanna calling after me that night, and it had always hung over me. The night I had begun to fall in to depravity. I knew I could never erase a life of crime, or all the horrible things I had done, but maybe I could do the right thing this time. I knew that if I used Lucy's father as leverage over her that it would corrupt me beyond redemption. I still planned on breaking her for deceiving me, but I didn't have it in me to ruin another family. Especially after they both called me kind. I had just finished my second cigarette when I heard footsteps approaching behind me. I turned to see Lucy walking up to me.
"You took off fast," Lucy eyed me suspiciously.
"Just needed some air," I said, shrugging. She stared at me for a moment, contemplating something.
"Look, I still think you are a shady prick, but you didn't have to look after me last night or waste your day coming with me. So thanks," She gave me a half smile.
"Don't mention it," I replied. She studied me for a moment before looking off in distance.
"I'm getting hungry. Want to stop somewhere to eat?" I asked. She nodded slowly and we headed back to the van. After today's events, a new air hung between us. One still plagued with dislike, but some sort of lighter feeling had broken through. We kept silent as we drove to a nearby diner.
"Just a Coke for me," I told the waitress after we set down.
"Water is fine," Lucy told her. The waitress nodded, winking at me before walking away. Don't tell me this woman was going to hit on me. After high school, I had begun to work out and really give a shit about my looks. As time went on, more women began to notice me and I became kind of a playboy outside of my drug business. Random woman would hit on me and I would often have one night stands with them. But as my business grew, I began to grow out of that. I hadn't even had a real relationship since Lisanna.
"So is your father going to be alright?" I turned to Lucy, needing a break from thinking about Lisanna.
"The doctor said that he has progressed far, but not far enough that they think they can't cure him," Lucy said.
"That's good," I said, feeling slightly relieved. Not for Lucy herself, but for her father. Watching him interact with Lucy, I had deduced that he was a good man. We eventually ordered our food and began to eat. We didn't really talk, that weird air still hanging between us. Eventually, it was time to pay our bill.
"I've got it," I said, grabbing the book before Lucy could. She said nothing, just looked at me confused. She said nothing however as I threw some cash in it, enough to give the waitress a good tip.
"Let me run to the bathroom real quick, then we can go," I said. She nodded as I got up to head over to the bathroom. Once I was inside, I went over to the urinal to free my bladder from the urgency. Once I was finished, I walked over to the sink to wash my hands. Before I exited the restroom, my phone began to ring.
"Hello?" I asked, answering the phone.
"Sorry to bother you, sir," I heard Gajeel's heavy voice echo through the phone. He sounded panicked.
"What is it?" I asked. Couldn't this wait? I wanted to get back to Lucy. Wait. What the fuck did I just think?
"Rogue was just arrested," My eyes widened. Rogue was one of my best dealers. Whoever nabbed him had to be good.
"Do you know who arrested him?" I asked.
"You'll never believe this, but according to the news report, it was Erza Scarlet," I nearly dropped the phone. Erza Scarlet? How was that even possible? I had seen Lucy kill her. My body began to tense witj anger. Those two had pulled a fast on me, hadn't they? I take back what I thought earlier. I wanted to be nowhere near Lucy except to wring her scrawny neck. To think that I had even given up on using her father for leverage. Peeking out the bathroom door, I glared at the back of Lucy's head. She played me, and now I was going to play her. This woman had no idea what is coming for her.
"Go ahead and take a few of the others to the prison and initiate the escape protocol," I said through the phone. We had a few men on the inside as guards, and we had long since set up and escape protocol in case I or any of the main members of the circle had been arrested.
"Right away, sir," I hung up the phone after Gajeel spoke. The game was afoot.
"You messed with the wrong man, Lucy Heartfilia," I whispered under my breath.
A/N: Is it bad that I am in love with this story and am already updating 24 hours later? Lol. Anyway, drop a review and give me your thoughts! See you soon for the next one!
