A/N: So, I'm guessing reviewing isn't really a thing anymore? Haha, well actually, it doesn't really matter to me as much as it used to - and I'll tell you why: over the last week, this story has received more than 1,700 views, and that is just absolutely astonishing. I honestly can't believe it. So even if I don't get another review from you guys, it won't even matter, because at the end of the day, I know this story is reaching people in a way that is special, and meaningful. So from the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you. Thank you so so so much for your support. I honestly feel honoured that I can share my story with you, as it has been something that I've been working on for the last two years, with me perfecting the plot as best as I could, and making it unique and special. I hope you stick around for the future.

Chapter Fifteen: Late Night Sessions (Part Two)

"I can't believe Gray trusted you with this, but I'm so glad he did."

The steaming water kissed Lucy's skin, as she sunk her body slowly and slowly into the tub. Tilting her head back, she pressed herself against the edge of the tub, relaxing every muscle in her body. Natsu wasn't in the hot tub yet; he had been beside the Bose speakers he had dug out of Gray's room, syncing them with his iPhone. He was barely wearing anything over his boxer shorts, and Lucy was worried by the minute about him catching a frostbite. "Dude, you're gonna get sick the longer you stand out there."

"Haha, don't worry, I'm almost done." Natsu tilted his head to meet Lucy's eyes, and offered a keen smirk, making Lucy's cheeks blush with a light shade of pink. His smile got her everytime - it was one of the sexiest things about Natsu. The continued distance that separated the two of them only increased Lucy's itch for him, and she was increasingly getting impatient with each minute that passed. Her eyes carefully examined Natsu's figure, as he continued to fiddle with his iPhone, looking as if he was looking for a playlist. A couple of moments later, the soft, crooning voice of Chris Brown could be heard from his song 'New Flame', and with that, Natsu set the phone down on the patio table.

Lucy closed her eyes, taking the smooth R&B melody slowly overtake her body. "I didn't know you were into Chris Brown." With the heat from the water, Lucy felt goosebumps running down her arms as she caught Natsu finally slipping into the water himself after being out of it for far too long.

"It just felt right." Natsu said smoothly, as he effortlessly glided over to where Lucy was at the tub. Lucy felt her body shiver as Natsu's fingers gently caressed her hips. Taking her hands up to the back of his neck, their lips collided. Natsu pushed Lucy gently against the edge of the hot tub, and his lips trailed away from her lips, making contact elsewhere on her skin, making Lucy release a soft grunt. Lowering his trail, Natsu found Lucy's neck, leaving wet, hot kisses down and around her neck and collarbone. Trailing further down, Natsu comes in contact with her lacy, indigo swimsuit top. Leaving soft kisses on her exposed skin, Natsu bit onto top - as well as nipping her sking alongside - causing Lucy to moan slightly. Not being able to go much further down due to the blazing hot water, Natsu brought his mouth back onto hers, and without objection or even receiving a proper invitation, Lucy parted her lips slightly, giving Natsu access to explore her mouth. The song had transitioned to "bitches broken heart", and Lucy's mind kept rushing at the attention she was getting.

He really knows his music.

Their lips came apart for a brief moment, with Natsu bringing them close to Lucy's ear. Shivering, Lucy's eyes were alerted when Natsu whispered softly into her ear. "Let's change things up a bit."

Confused, she continued staring at Natsu as he slowly backed away from Lucy. "What do you mean?"

"Let's play Never Have I Ever."

Trying to not laugh as his remark, Lucy bit her tongue. He stopped touching me because he wants to play some dumb game? "There's only two of us... isn't that gonna be lame?"

"Not the way I play it." Lucy immediately noticed the familiar Natsu smirk that always made her weak. It wasn't just a sign of confidence, but it was also laced with mischief. She knew whatever twist he added to the game was only going to have her surrender to him. "We each have ten rounds. We take turns asking each other questions, and whoever admits to the most had to agree to give the other what they want for tonight."

Lucy's eyes turned confident as soon as Natsu set down the house rules for the game. Normally she would be tense, and willing to cheat her way out of a game to avoid whatever punishment was associated with the loss... but she didn't care this time. She was okay with dominating just as much as she was with being dominated. Either way, she would win. "Alright... you're on."

And with that, Natsu's smirk took center stage once again, making Lucy's spine tingle. "I'll go first."

The first few rounds were harmless - innocent questions. Lucy noticed Natsu wasn't as much of a bad boy as he admitted, but regardless of the front he had towards her, it was working for Lucy.

"Never have I ever ditched classes."

"Oh fuck you." Lucy laughed while shaking her head, confirming that as an 'I Have'. "Never have I ever lied about my age to a bouncer to get into a club that didn't check ID."

"Haha, nice try." Natsu was becoming unbreakable by the round. However... because Natsu wasn't the bad boy she was expecting him to be, she was now slowly heading towards the losing end. Even though she didn't mind losing, the smug, playful look on Natsu was gradually bringing out the competitive side of Lucy, as she knew she had to dig deeper to bring out some of the dark, hidden guilt traps.

It was now Natsu's turn to ask the question, and being one down, Lucy was on edge, hoping she would have to say "I Have Never" to whatever he was going to ask her. The moments of him having to think about what he was going to say felt like hours, but as soon as his mouth opened, she was put out of her misery...

... or was she?

"Never have I ever... ran away from home."

Time felt as if it stopped then and there.

Fuck.

Lucy lowered her head. The blood in her head was rushing, as the buried trauma was starting to flow up. Natsu's words kept rushing through her head in an uncontrolled whirl; she was trying really hard to make eye contact with him, knowing she'd instantly choke from telling her lie.

But it didn't matter.

"I... I h-have."

Laughing, Natsu gave Lucy a playful look. "I didn't know you had the guts to do something like that! What happened?"

Natsu completely failed to see Lucy's panic state. He didn't even realize her traumatic expression clearly emitted in front of him. Breathing in as slowly as she could, Lucy tried her very best to calm her nerves down.

I guess I should tell him...

"I was... I was fourteen."

Lucy's words were barely audible, but Natsu was able to distinguish her soft whisper. He noticed an aura of nervousness, which prompted him to get closer to her. He wasn't as close to her where their skin made bare contact - but close enough to feel her anxiousness. Lucy's eyes slowly trailed up to meet his, and her eyes were met with Natsu's slightly concerned eyes. It looked as if he was now aware he pushed a button he shouldn't have, but before he could say something to divert from the topic, Lucy opened her mouth again, not objecting answering the question. "I remember it raining... that night."

Not fully understanding why, she tilted her head once again against the edge of the tub, allowing the memories to unearth.

"My dad was in his study; he had just finished whipping me that night with one of his belts. I broke the curfew rule - I was out with my friends until one in the morning."

Natsu's eyes widened, but Lucy didn't pay attention to him. She was focused entirely on unraveling the brutal, painful memory she had carefully buried over the last few years. "I remember my arms were covered in fresh marks, cuts, and bruises not just from that night, but from the other nights before. There were cuts on my body that were there for weeks that hadn't healed completely." A tear began to form in Lucy's eyes gradually with every world that came out of her mouth. "I would always tell myself that it was just because he was stressed form managing his many businesses, or the fact that Mom was no longer alive and he was alone and sad... or even that it was his way of showing me love."

"You worthless child! Why couldn't you have died instead of Layla?!"

Lucy's eyes shut swiftly with the voices she started hearing in her head. Natsu's body reacted, almost reaching out to comfort her... but retreating just before his hand could make contact with her. Something told him she wanted her moment, with just her... and nobody else.

"But... my body stung with every move I made because of those bruises... and I knew I couldn't deal with it that any longer."

Closing her eyes, she gazed up into the frosty, but twinkling night sky. "I took my passport, 200 000 yen from his emergency vault, whatever clothes I could fit into my backpack, and a map... and I headed for my grandfather's house."

"Please keep my father distracted long enough for me to leave. Please! I'm sorry I'm leaving like this... but I can't stay here anymore!"

"It's so weird..." Lucy sunk herself further and further into the heated water, trying to ease out her own built-up tension. "The maids that were under his payroll were the ones that helped me escape. They even poured out their own savings to give to me, and gave me the proper times the trains left to Magnolia."

"Getting from Yokohama to Magnolia wasn't easy... but it ended up being the best decision I ever made." Lucy sighed calmly, but soon enough, she turned to face a stunned Natsu with a small, and gentle smile. "Haha... who would've thought, right?"

Natsu was quiet as he could possibly be, even though his eyes didn't leave Lucy's. He was trying to process everything he had just heard come out of her mouth. His eyes caught the mist forming around her own eyes, but he noticed how hard she was trying to hold them back in, One thing he couldn't do, however, was understand the pain she felt then and there.

She ran away to save her life.

He felt a surge of guilt coming over him, as he came closer and closer to Lucy. Grabbing her legs as gently as he could, he brought her towards him, with her voluntarily wrapping her legs around him. Gently pushing her back against the edge, he pressed his nose against hers, before planting a soft kiss on Lucy's lips.

"Game over. I win."

Even though they were only on their seventh round, Lucy didn't object. Her emotions were overwhelmed, and she felt her head getting slightly dizzy. However, she put her best confidence front for Natsu, and looked as seductive as she could for him. "Alright. What do you want, then?"

A moment passed with out words, until Natsu nuzzled his nose against Lucy's neck, with his breath giving her goosebumps. "Let me give you what you want."

Holy shit...

Taken completely aback from what he had just said to her, Lucy felt her body slowly tense up with nervousness. Natsu was always switching up his game, but this felt different to Lucy. He slowly are carefully placed his lips on her upper cheek, kissing away the tear that had left an imprint on her face. Feeling shivers all over her body, Lucy inhaled sharply. Natsu took this opportunity to tip her head back over the ledge, and placed lustful kisses all over her collarbone, neck, and bare chest. "Tell me what you want."

Lucy's head was spinning; her feet almost felt lighter whilst the heavy water was weighing her down. Natsu's lips praised her body in ways she couldn't have comprehended, and she felt her body flutter with the touches. "I want you..."

The words barely left her mouth - almost in the form of a light whimper. Her breathing was getting slightly heavier, whereas Natsu's hands were venturing further, reaching for the laces on the back of her bra. He started untying the, but only one by one. He wanted to tease Lucy, as she moaned. "Louder."

"I want..." Lucy was almost breathless from the pleasure. His hands sent her spine tingling, making her whole body surrender to his gentle, yet seductive touch. "I want... I want you." Finally finding her sense of voice, Lucy grabs for the back of his head, gripping onto his perfect, salmon-shaded hair. "I want you to give it to me like you've never had it before." That daring person that she had introduced to Natsu was back, and ready to impress and be impressed herself. She liked who she was around Natsu - bold, daring, and confident. She knew that he liked that about her too.

"Luce..."

Hearing the moan from his lips empowered her beyond anything else comprehensible.

...

"I never knew who my dad was."

It was almost midnight, and Natsu and Lucy thought it would've been better to take their dirty act inside, away from the late-night watchers. Lucy took Natsu's initial silence to mean he had fallen asleep, but his sudden voice startled Lucy enough to have her face his direction. "He died from a heart attack when I was one, and since then, it had just been the two of us."

Lucy was taking each one of this words in slowly, and a flutter of empathy appeared in her chest. Having a parent die was something she had experienced, even if it wasn't a parent she never truly knew. "I'm so sorry."

Shaking his head, Natsu chuckled softly. "I barely even knew the guy. I don't really have anything to miss."

Grabbing the sheets that wrapped her naked body, Lucy rested her head on Natsu's bare chest. "I know, but for me, it always felt weird seeing normal families with their adorable children walking around everywhere... knowing I never got to live out anything near that."

Unexpectedly, Lucy felt Natsu's hand on her head, gently ruffling her hair. "I really am sorry." His hands ventured over to her cheek - which had turned a slight shade of pink - to stroke it softly. The calmness of his touch lingered for a moment longer than it should've, forcing Lucy's eyes to close, taking in the warm feeling.

So much for no talking... huh?