TRIGGER WARNING - There are big mentions of self harm, suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide. Also elements of abuse throughout the story. Please read with caution.


Lucy's room was about a five-minute walk from Erza's office. The door was a plain, blank white but Erza said that she would be given some paints and could paint it, claiming it may make her feel more at home. Lucy scrunched her nose up. Yeah, she wanted nothing more than to feel 'at home'.

Lucy took the time walking there to assess the other doors lined up the ward. Erza had informed Lucy that her and these patients were all sharing this ward, and that she would see a lot of them.

There was a cream-coloured door with beautiful flowers decorating the corners, the names "Mirajane and Lisanna Strauss" printed in perfect cursive at the top left. Pretty names.

Lucy hummed before eyeing the one in front of it. It was a plain black door with the name 'Laxus Dreyar' written frantically in the centre in an electric yellow colour.

Beside that door was a metal grey coloured door, the name Gajeel Redfox written scruffily in the top right corner, and opposite that was a nice calming blue coloured door, the name Levy McGarden was written elegantly in the centre in perfect cursive.

Beside the Levy girl's door was a nice ocean blue coloured door, with delicate waves decorating the corners, the name Juvia Lockster was written in the corner. And opposite that was a cold blue coloured door with the name "Gray Fullbuster" printed solidly in the centre.

She turned to look at the door opposite her own. It was a flat black colour but had these distorted, fiery red patterns circling around the perimeter. They grew more frantic and scarier as they made their way to the centre, where the name "Natsu Dragneel" was printed in that fiery red colour. It was very well done and artistic; it must have taken a long time to complete.

"So, any ideas on what you want to paint your door like?" Erza asked, her voice snapped Lucy away from her thoughts. She dragged her gaze away from the door to eye Erza with a bewildered expression.

"What?"

"Your door. How are you going to paint it?"

Lucy didn't even try to suppress her scoff.

"I'm not painting my door. Thanks anyway."

"You're not? Most patients enjoy doing it!"

"Guess I'm not like most patients." Erza's gaze lingered on Lucy for a second longer. Lucy thought she was going to say something else before she moved to pull the door open.

"Alright. You get settled and I'll send someone to come get you before dinner. Be ready by twelve, okay?"

Lucy hummed in response before she made her way into the room. She didn't turn as Erza left, choosing instead to examine her new room.

It was much smaller than what she was used to, but it was nice. The single bed looked comfortable enough. The wardrobe had no door and it looked like the hangers were attached to the pole. From what Lucy could see there was no bathroom, but she had no complaints, other than the large mirror on the wall besides the window.

Lucy tapped it and huffed. Strong. She probably couldn't break it with anything in here. Lucy was a little surprised that she even had a mirror. She had read about mental hospitals, and they all sounded so… cold. Strict. But this one seemed quite tame and light. Maybe they did this for their age group.

Lucy glared at her own reflection and scowled at the unfamiliar but familiar girl before her. She was tiny. Only about five foot three or four - that's what she would guess since she had never bothered to measure herself. She had platinum blonde, flowing locks, that tumbled gracefully over her shoulders and swayed besides her waist. Her eyes were weird - Even her stupid Dad used to say so. They were too big for her face, and her eyelashes were so dark and thick they made the brown look unnatural. Almost amber. Lucy shuddered.

She had a small, proud nose and a defined jaw. Her cheekbones were too high, and she hated her small, pixie ears so much that she always hid them under her thick hair. She shook her head jerkily, whipping her face away from the mirror to set towards her bags.


Lucy had nearly packed everything away before hearing a light tap on the door. She contemplated ignoring it before it sounded again, sounding a little sheepish this time. She pulled the door open to see a girl who looked around her age. She was small, with pretty blue hair falling just above her shoulders. She had a modest figure, Lucy noted with a frown and her eyes were kind but anxious.

Her eyes shocked Lucy. Not the colour, but they were so… kind. Nice.

"Hello," she said in a feminine voice. "I was asked to bring you to dinner."

"Ah," Lucy nodded her head awkwardly. "U-uh, thanks. I'm coming now."

The girl smiled and stood back so that Lucy could step out. She extended a shaking hand out toward the blonde.

"I-I'm Levy, nice to meet you."

"Oh, I'm Lucy, good to meet you too." They shook hands and Lucy could feel relief rippling from Levy in waves. She led her down the school like hallway with an upbeat pace.

"So, Lucy? That's a pretty name." Levy said in a small, shockingly shy voice as she walked besides her. Lucy looked at her incredulously. If you're shy, surely the last thing you want to do is make conversation with a stranger in a crazy house. So why bother?

"Yeah," Lucy said slowly, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Levy's small voice sounded again, much to Lucy's disbelief. And annoyance.

"So," she squeaked. Lucy sighed. "Any reason your parents named you that? I bet it's an interesting story."

Lucy suppressed another sigh and resisted the urge to tell the girl to just back off.

"My Father always wanted a son," Lucy started. "There was some kind of problem with the ultrasound when they were finding out my gender, they said I was going to be a boy. Father was thrilled. So, you can imagine his shock, and anger, when I popped out with no…"

Lucy trailed off and shook her head, feeling uncomfortable under Levy's gaze.

"He planned on calling me Lucius." Lucy continued in a tight voice. "When I was born, he still wanted to. My mum had to seriously fight for me to be called just Lucy. I'm happy she did."

Levy laughed lightly, causing Lucy's head to snap towards her. She was giggling at her.

"I bet you were," she chuckled. "Lucius doesn't really suit you. Not at all. But Lucy does. It's pretty."

Lucy stared at her but eventually had to chuckle. Levy sighed happily and walked more confidently at the taller blonde's side.

"You can sit beside me and my friends at dinner if you'd like," Levy told her with a smile. Lucy frowned again.

"Your friends?"

"Yep! Don't worry, they're all very nice. Eccentric, yeah but they're all some of the best people you'll ever meet."

Lucy raised her brows. She spoke pretty highly of crazy people. Must be crazy herself.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked bluntly. Lucy could admit that she had expected the smaller woman to be hurt or offended, but Levy's eyes just softened as she stared down the hall they walked.

"You're curious, huh?" She muttered, smiling weakly. "I remember my first day here, some of the people's conditions were so obvious but some… I didn't know why they were here. I was always too scared to ask. I guess you're not."

Lucy didn't respond. Levy smiled again.

"I have severe anxiety. Well, had. I'm much, much better now but I could still use a little practice. I should be allowed out when I can be trusted not to have a panic attack or mental breakdown in public. My friends all have problems too. Obviously." She laughed.

"What are your friend's names?" Lucy asked. Were they the people on the doors?

"Oh, they're Mirajane, Lisanna, Gajeel, Laxus, Juvia and Gray. They're all very nice, and all on our ward. You may have to get used to Gajeel - He can be a little scary, but all in all they're all fairly easy to get along with."

Lucy noticed she had spoken of all the patients on their ward except one.

"What about Natsu or something?"

Levy's head jerked towards the blonde. "Natsu Dragneel?"

"I saw his door."

"Oh, well yeah, Natsu's our friend. He gets on well with Gray and Gajeel but he's very private. No one knows why he's in here for or how long he has been. He can get a little scary if you pry, so I'll warn you now not to if you do see him."

"What do you mean if I see him?"

"Well, Natsu doesn't really stick to his schedule." Levy explained, confusion plain in her voice, and Lucy was quite sure she could detect some frustration. "I'm not even sure if he has one - If he wants to come to a game, or group session then he will, but it seems that he doesn't have to because if he doesn't want to, he won't."

Lucy hummed. She cast her eyes back to the floor beneath her feet. She had never even met the boy and she was already curious.

"Anyway, we're here."

Lucy looked up to see, once again, a school like dining area. It took about three minutes to walk to from their rooms, the hospital was much bigger than she thought. Lucy hesitated before entering but Levy soon drew her in. She even got some of that god-awful food they were serving.

Lucy ended up walking besides Levy to a circular table with three people sat there. There were three girls, Lucy assumed they were Mirajane, Lisanna, and Juvia.

One had short, pixie-styled white hair and she was quietly eating her food. The girl beside her (whom Lucy assumed was her sister) the same white haired but it flowed down to her sides and framed her face beautifully. Her eyes were a stormy blue which were darting around the room at the slightest noise. The last girl had very pretty thick blue hair which fell in elegant curls down her back. Her eyes were the same colour, and she seemed to look dreamily at the man sat in front of her.

He, shockingly, was sat in only his underwear. He had raven hair and very nice eyes which seemed to look boredly down at his food. He looked up every now and then the scowl at the blue-haired girl, but Lucy was pretty sure she could see a blush colouring his cheeks. Another guy sat beside him, he had electric blonde hair and an intimidating scar covering his left eye. He ate his food quietly, his arms rippling with strength at the slightest movement.

"Guys," Levy said brightly as she sat down with her tray and gestured to Lucy. "This is Lucy!"

The pretty white haired one with suspicious eyes looked to Lucy with a harsh gaze. When she saw Levy's shine on the blonde, her eyes softened, and she looked more like a teenage girl.

"Hey there, Lucy." She said kindly, smirking and shook Lucy's hand over the table. "My name is Mirajane. Welcome to the hospital."

Lucy attempted a smile and shook her hand.

"Hello Lucy," the other white-haired girl with shorter hair smiled at her. "I'm Lisanna, I'm Mira's sister. Please let me know if you need anything."

Lucy smiled uncomfortably and nodded.

"Juvia is Juvia," the blue haired girl said, her eyes never wavering from the raven-haired man in front of her.

"Gray," the raven-haired man said, shooting Juvia an annoyed look. "Nice to meet you."

"Laxus." Was all the blonde-haired man said.

The six jumped in unison as another large, long-haired man slammed his tray onto the table.

"Which one of you fucking buffoons took my-" He roared in a raspy voice but was stopped short as Lucy automatically threw someone's plastic, and certainly not heavy enough, plate at him.

"You're far too loud." She muttered, her heart still thumping at the shock of his loud shout. The new black-haired man glared at her in disbelief.

It was silent before a gruff laugh sounded from behind her. The sound sent tingles down Lucy's spine, and she turned around to meet a pair of amused, deep green eyes.

"Someone shut Gajeel up," he drawled but her eyes were planted on his. They turned up in amusement, and he started chuckling again. "You must be an interestin' one."

Lucy seriously had to stop her jaw from falling open. This boy… Well, man, was seriously handsome. Shockingly so. He had deep, green bedroom eyes the perfect forest green. They bore into her own, though his were tilted up upwards in amusement.

He had a mass of – shocking so - light pink hair that hung over his eyes. He didn't appear to have styled it at all, but it looked good. He stood tall, at least a foot taller than Lucy, even with his slouch. And his voice. It rumbled deep in his chest and nearly made her bones shake. Lucy was intrigued by him. More so than she had ever been of any male before…

But she certainly wasn't going to let him know that.