Hi guys, welcome back to '"Just" Friends?'!

So I wanna preface with a Trigger Warning, if you have been through a car crash and have PTSD from it, please skip the end of the chapter if you feel you can't handle the description of one. I value my readers above all else and your mental and physical health is paramount.

Again, PLEASE skip the end of the chapter if you can't handle descriptions of physical injuries due to car crashes.

Stay safe, I love you all.

BlackRose999


"Just" Friends?

Chapter Ten: Safe, but not Sound


Natsu stared at the strip, not at all aware of Lucy's wary gaze. She watched the emotions flicker across his face, fear was first, then he finally settled on a look of half-joy and half-worry. "You're sure? These… These can be wrong sometimes…"

She nodded, "I have the picture at home… they said it's about a month or so along… Natsu I-"

He cut her off with a slow and passionate kiss, pulling her into him and wrapping her into his impossibly warm embrace. "Thank you…" He said in her ear, causing her to pull away in confusion. "What?"

He smiled and reached into his pocket. "I was waiting for the right moment, the perfect moment." He went to open it and she snatched it from him, turning and opening it herself. It was quite the ring, modest like her, but flashy at the same time. A Pear-cut diamond surrounded by pink sapphires, it stood easily an inch tall from her finger. "I wanted to find the right moment, the right time, but now… This is the time Lucy." He took the ring and laid it in her hand, giving her the choice to take it or not.

She gently picked up the delicate object, turning it this way and that, before watching herself slide the beautiful creation up her finger. Her heart made the decision before her mind could. And strangely, both agreed. She had no doubts. No belief that things wouldn't be as perfectly easy as they had been this last year or so of their relationship.

She touched his cheek with her newly-christened hand and kissed him deeply. They then rejoined the party, unaware of a retreating and seething Lisanna, who'd followed them and had planned on trying to start a scene in her favor.

She'd get even. She'd waited too long. And tonight the bitch who stole her easy life would pay for it.


Lisanna waited around the cars the Valets had parked, eyeing Lucy's car and waiting for the opportunity to get to it. She wasn't sure what she was gonna do yet, tampering with the brakes makes the most sense at the moment. 'She's engaged to him. To MY Natsu. Fuck them both.' She thought savagely. 'If I can't have him, she sure as hell can't!'

With that, she walked confidently over to Lucy's car, pulling a schematic of the engine up on her phone as she lifted the hood. She rummaged around for a moment, then subtly cut a small slit under the brake line, so that it wouldn't be noticeably damaged until it was too late. Then, she dropped the hood, wiped her hands with a wet wipe from her purse, and returned to the party.

Natsu and Lucy exited the Gala a few minutes later with the rest of the people leaving, blissfully unaware of anything amiss. She watched him help Lucy into the car and hop in the driver's seat. She smiled at him behind the other cars and watched as they drove off into the night.

Not knowing the full consequences her actions would bring her.


"Natsu, slow down, we'll get home when we get home." Lucy laughed, watching the forest seemingly fly by around her. Natsu smiled and tapped the brakes, watching the gauge. He frowned, then tapped them again. And again. And Again. "Natsu?... We're… we're going a little fast." "I know, but I think something's up with the brakes."

Lucy looked around, noticing the foliage getting thicker as they headed deeper into the forests around her estate. "Can we do anything?" He looked around, spotting the Emergency Brake. He looked back at the road and back to the E-Brake. "Ok. Lucy, your belt is on right?" She looked down and nodded, "Yeah?" "Ok good, loosen it a bit around your pelvis."

"Loosen it? Shouldn't I tighten it -" "NO!" Lucy jumped, and then again when Natsu grabbed her hand, "If you tighten it and we crash, you'll shatter your pelvis and at best, kill the baby. At worst, you'll make yourself unable to have kids ever again." Lucy blanched and immediately loosened the belt slightly, even going so far as putting her hand between it and her abdomen. She'd rather have a broken bone than a miscarriage.

Natsu fingered the brake, wrapping his hand around it and waiting for the right moment, a stretch of the straighter bits of the road appeared. "Brace yourself." He growled before gently easing the brake up, causing the car to growl and strain against the speed it had already amassed. He kept his feet planted, a hand on the wheel and a gentler hand on the brake.

Then he hit the ice.

Lucy screamed and put her unleashed hand against the door as the car swerved and spun, the tires locking up as Natsu overreacted and slammed his foot on the brake out of instinct. Cursing he tried to correct the vehicle, but only made the swerving worse.

The car hit the ditch and slammed the right rear end, and Lucy's door, into the trees.


Pain.

So much pain.

Natsu groaned as he tried to move, his hand reaching out toward Lucy. "Luce?..." He felt around and then moaned as he turned his head to look. She was crumpled against the ruined door, her head to the side against the shattered window with blood dripping down her face. The hand leashed to her belly was obviously broken at the wrist, and probably in other places as well.

He whimpered and called her name again, she was still breathing, but it was shallow and ragged. He fumbled around in the dark and somehow found her OnStar system on the roof.

"OnStar Magnolia, what's your location?" A woman's voice came through the still-intact left speaker. "S… Silica Road… Straight stretch… Ambulance…" He managed to say loud enough for her to hear. "Sir I can pinpoint your location using the OnStar system, it'll take some time for the emergency services to get there, but I can stay on with you until they do. Just keep talking. What's your name?"

"N-Natsu…" "Okay Natsu, how many people are with you?" "One… She's pregnant." "Okay, I'll update the alert and contact both police and inbound EMTs. Just give me a moment. Stay with me Natsu." Natsu groaned in response and tried again to reach for Lucy's hand. She moaned, and he squeezed her hand hopefully. "Lucy?… Baby talk to me." She made no movement, but murmured a sleepy "Natsu…?". He began to panic, a head injury was bad enough, but if she was awake enough to talk he couldn't let her pass out again.

"Baby. Baby stay awake." He managed to grunt out as he tried to shift his position, only to howl in pain as he realized his left shoulder was either dislocated or his collarbone was cracked. "Natsu? Natsu talk to me, what's going on?" "S… She's kinda awake. I think… She said my name…" "That's good, try to keep her awake." The woman said with a hint of hope in her voice. "The EMTs and police are twenty minutes out… Can you stay awake long enough for them to make it to you?" He groaned, "I can try…" The twenty minutes passed by with agonized slowness. Lucy had again passed out, and despite his best efforts to wake her back up Natsu had been unsuccessful. The woman; who's name was Minerva as he'd found out, had stayed with him for the entirety of it. She'd made him talk to keep him from passing out from the pain, and as he heard the sirens he felt himself relax and the need to sleep growing stronger.

"M… Minerva… I'm tired." "I know Natsu, but you need to stay with me. The paramedics should be there by now, do you hear them?" "Yeah." "Okay, I'm gonna go when I hear them confirm they're on-site and with you." "Okay." He murmured as his head began to loll.

"Hey! Hey, are you okay sir?" "This is Minerva with OnStar Magnolia, is this the EMT I spoke to?" The strangely white-haired man opened the door, "Yes ma'am, this is Elfman Strauss of Magnolia Mountain Hospital." "Glad to hear it, his name is Natsu and his passenger is pregnant, is he still awake?" Elfman reached out and touched his hand, sighing when Natsu groaned and turned his head slightly towards him in response.

"He's awake. Transporting now." Without further adieu, Natsu promptly passed out and joined Lucy in unconscious obliviousness.