A/N: Thank you all so much for all your continued support. I am sorry that this story is taking forever to finish. Please know, that it cannot be forgotten, and there will be an ending. I have been having so many more ideas coming to me recently—some dark themed stories, but also comedic ones which I always loved writing in the past.

So, without further ado, on with the story. . .

WARNING: Pease note that there are certain subjects and statements in this chapter that some readers may find upsetting.
. . . . . .

Chapter Nine

Natsu didn't insult me by asking if it was his.

He knew it the way he knew the sky was blue. The way that the oceans were deep and that the sun would rise in the morning. There was no questioning. No doubting. It was a knowledge that hit him to his very core. Like a pebble being dropped into a still river, the ripples driving outwards until every corner of it was aware of its presence and existence.

We still sat in our embrace. Wrapped in each other. Two anchors weighed down and drowning in the stillness. In the quietness.

He had one hand on my knee and another in his hair. Vulnerable. Beautiful.

When he finally looked at me, it was like it was the first time. And I wanted to cling to him. To never let him go. To hold on to this, and to us, and to pretend that this was always how it was meant to be.

But it wasn't.

He had been the sea, and I had been the sky. Always reaching for the other. Desperate to be one for the rest of existence. The line between us the place where our stories would meet.

"We could get married," he said, his voice hoarse. "We could go down to the courthouse first thing in the morning. And then you could live here, and I could take care of you."

But one could feel. And the other was a ghost. And in the end, as much as they imagined and as much as they dreamed, they could never be.

His eyes were glassy. His chest rising and falling as he waited for me.

Reaching out, I traced his cheek.

His jaw.

His lips.

He kissed my palm, grabbing my hand and holding it to him.

"You don't love me, Natsu," I sighed through a broken whisper. "And, and I don't think I love you either. I could never do that to you."

His grip tightened, but he didn't pull away.

"But we could, Luce," he assured, brushing my hair back, resting his forehead against my own. "I really think we could."

I cried.

His grip tightened.

"I want to," was my confession, holding his hand to my chest. "I really do."

He sobbed.

A strangled, foreign sound. One that didn't suit him. One that I never wanted to hear again. It was a sound that he didn't deserve to be the creator of. Wrapped in pain and suffering. Waiting a lifetime to be opened and set free.

"I'm so lonely, Lucy," he whispered, the broken cry which had been living in his stomach crawling its way up. "I'm so lonely."

It finally broke him.

And me.

His melody of melancholy.

And we held each other. Defying the odds. The sea and the sky. For the first time. Meeting exactly where they were.

. . . . . .

Natsu drove me home. He was quiet, but at peace. I'd catch him looking at me every so often, and where he should have looked away, he didn't. He smiled.

And then I was at peace.

The night was warm, and the stars were out, and for a moment, I pictured this to be what happiness was like.

And I hoped he did too.

The engine purred, and the streetlights guided us, and our songs of sorrow were nothing but a memory of the night. His eyes were still scratched, and his lids were puffy, but his admissions had been spoken, and with that came his release.

Natsu was beautiful. The most beautiful man I had ever seen if I were to think of them all. His heart and his intentions were pure, and I wished nothing more than to know him. To know more than his body and his bed.

To know him the way my dad knew my mom.

To know him the way he wanted to know me.

"Natsu," I broke through the silence. "I meant what I said when I told you that I wanted to."

He took his eyes off the road when we stopped at a set of lights. His gaze gentle like his soul. When the lights turned green, he looked ahead, and without saying a word he reached over and placed a hand on my stomach, his fingers hot to the touch.

"I know," he answered.

I placed my hand over his, holding it tight. Willing him to stay. When he had to bring it back to the wheel, I felt cold.

"I want to be your girlfriend," I said, looking ahead as he turned into my street. "If you want me to be, that is."

He stopped when I pointed to my house, not that he needed directed with the police cruiser parked outside. Putting the handbrake on, he turned to look at me, his cheeks dusted pink and his lips tugging upwards.

"I'd like that very much," he answered softly. "I mean, we're always going to be together now, right?"

I smiled, and he took my hand, kissing my palm again.

"Probably a better place to start than going down to the courthouse in the morning," I smirked.

He laughed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, humming in agreement.

"Yeah, that probably wasn't the best first suggestion."

He was silent again, but he didn't let go of my hand. He held it on his lap, drawing circles above my thumb with his own, the quietness wrapping us in its shroud. Fingers entwined; I didn't want to leave him.

And he knew.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked, nodding to my house. "I could talk to your dad for you. Tell him everything.."

"You have no idea how much I want that right now," I said, my gaze following his.

"But?" He prodded.

Looking at my house, every light on, calling me home out of the darkness, I couldn't help but sigh.

"Natsu," I began, my head falling slightly, "ever since I can remember, I have been everyone's 'good girl'. You know, the one that could do absolutely nothing wrong. At home. At church and dancing—no one ever expected. . .anything from me."

He scoffed slightly, sliding closer to me, and resting one hand on the wheel.

"And then you met a random guy at a party." He simplified.

I turned his face until he was looking at me, our noses brushing gently.

"I wouldn't take any of it back," I said. "Not anymore."

And he believed me.

"My whole life," I carried on, "I have been sat on this pedestal, used as this example for young Christian women and how they should live their lives. And I have fallen so hard so many times recently, and the guilt has plagued me. . .and with my mom's accident on top of that—"

"You landed really hard," he finished.

I didn't have to say anything.

Natsu knew.

"I need to do this myself," I said, looking back at the house. "I have put my family through so much recently. They don't deserve it."

I could tell he didn't agree with me, but still, he nodded, giving my hand one last squeeze before letting it go.

"I want you to call me if you need me," he said firmly as I went to open the door. "I can be here in ten minutes."

Nodding, I leaned back and kissed him, savouring one last moment of perfection before reaching for the door once again.

As I climbed out and slammed it shut, Natsu wound down his window, leaning over in his seat so he could see me.

I expected him to wish me goodnight. To reiterate his demands for contact should I need him. I didn't expect him to say what he did.

"That pedestal, Luce," he began, and I nodded. "It's okay to be on it. And it's even okay to want to be on it. Just know that there is a great big ladder at the back of it and you can choose to go up and down that ladder as many times as you want, and even if you feel like you miss a step, I bet you God's not going to let you get hurt. . .and neither am I."

I couldn't speak.

I didn't have to.

Smiling softly, Natsu wished me goodnight before driving off. The Camaro's taillights waving their own as it turned round the corner.

"I'm going to love you," I whispered to the night.

. . . . . .

The walk up the pathway felt long and winding, the house towering over me, waiting for me, as I stood on the steps. When the door opened, I didn't know if it was coincidence, or if they had heard me.

Mavis stood in the hallway with Magnolia Police Department's very own Sergeant Fernandes, tear tracks staining her porcelain cheeks as she stared up at me as if I was a ghost.

"Jude! Ashley!" She cried in agony. "She's home!"

Clutching onto the arm of Sergeant Fernandes, Mavis made way for me to come in, the gentle click of the door as I closed it echoing even throughout the chaos.

"Where the hell have you been!?" She demanded, a fury I had never witnessed before rising in her. "Do you have any idea what horrible things have been going through our heads for the past twenty-four hours!?"

My mouth was dry. My voice lost in the mayhem. Sergeant Fernandes' soft words were nothing but mumblings as I heard my sister thunder down the stairs; my father, sobs wracking his body, scrambling out from the living room to see if my return was to be believed.

"Lucy!"

Ashley reached me first, her arms wrapping around me as she broke.

My father collapsed.

I didn't know what to say.

And I didn't know what to do.

Their pain crawled across the floor like a wild beast and ripped my heart out, throwing it into the pile with their own.

"How could you," my dad choked out as Sergeant Fernandes helped him up. "How could you be so selfish?"

His words were like a well-deserved knife to the gut, his eyes filled with suffering as he watched me fight for my voice.

"I think the important thing is that she is home safe," Sergeant Fernandes interjected, calmly.

"Jellal is right, dad," Ashley agreed, looking to the tall bluenette for support. "Lucy is home, and she is safe."

Weakened and broken, my dad opened his mouth in anguish, a cry like nothing I had heard before bursting out as he fell back onto the stairs, clutching the banister for support.

"Dad," I finally managed, my voice barely above a whisper, "I am so sorry."

Tears filled my eyes as I gingerly stepped forward, my father holding his hand up in defeat as he continued to cry.

For me.

For my mom.

For the life he remembered.

Mavis, with a strength I envied, went to him, taking his hand as he continued to break.

"I thought I'd lost you too," he whimpered, burying his face into his free hand. "My baby."

I couldn't take it.

I ignored his protests as I marched towards him.

I ignored his rejection as I wrapped my arms around him.

I held on until he let go.

Until he gave in and pulled me close and kissed my hair.

Until his love for me was stronger than his hate for me.

"I'm sorry," I tearfully whispered.

Tonight, wasn't the time to talk.

There would be a million tomorrows for that.
. . . . . .

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was of two minds where to leave this chapter. I wanted to capture a multitude of emotions, especially with the end scene, and I can only hope that I have done it justice. I wanted to depict chaos, so I'm really hoping that came across.

I would love to hear what you all think and would really appreciate if you left a wee review.

Hopefully the next chapter shouldn't be too far behind this one.

And for anyone who likes a dark thriller, I have just started a new story called Cruel Summer. Please give it a little read and tell me what you think :o)