.

.

"Looking up from underneath,

Fractured moonlight on the sea.

Reflections still look the same to me,

As before I went under.

And it's peaceful in the deep,

Cathedral where you can not breathe,

No need to pray, no need to speak

Now I am under."

-Florence and the Machine, "Never Let Me Go"

(:)(A)(:)

To the Flame

Chapter #9: Resta Con Me

(Stay With Me)

(:)(A)(:)

When she wakes up it is to the sound of Natsu's voice. It is dampened by the wall separating them, but she can still clearly make out his words despite the lowered volume.

"Can't you come back sooner?" He pauses before sighing. "No, I know, but I just – I really need you to look at her ... She won't let me! She refuses to go to a hospital, and I just barely got her to –" His words cut off just as her hand caresses the knob. As the door opens she can hear him huff.

"Look, I get all that, but will you come see her or not?" Her feet ghost across the warm wooden planks as she travels down the short hallway and pauses at the edge of the living area. Natsu is pacing restlessly in front of the couch as he listens to the detached voice emitting from the phone at his ear. "Fine." He nods, his eyes flicking over to meet her brown orbs as if he just noticed her presence. "Tomorrow night then, right? After your plane lands you'll come right over? ... Ok. Ok. Thanks Porly." Lucy can hear the person on the other line yelling, and Natsu pulls the device away from his face with a wince. "Sheesh, alright already. Not my fault your name is a bitch to say - OK! Ok! Thank you Porly-usi-ca. Better?" He pauses shortly, blinking. "Hello?" When he looks at the screen of the phone he frowns. "She hung up on me..."

He shakes his head, tossing the phone onto the couch carelessly and giving her an apologetic smile. "Hey, I didn't wake you, did I?"

She shrugs. She doesn't know if it was his voice or the beginnings of the sun's decent that woke her. When she looks out the window there are long rays of sunlight streaming through and casting shadows on the floor. She shrinks away warily. The glass will protect her from damage, she knows, but the light will still deliver a painful bite.

"So, uh, how'd you sleep?" he asks. "You were out for a good ten hours ... Do you feel better at all?"

Her eyes drift from the window to meet his hesitantly hopeful expression. She doesn't understand what he means by better – she had never felt bad. "I am comfortable," she responds, but she can tell by the way his face falls that it is not the answer he was hoping for.

He runs a hand through his sleep mussed hair and sighs. "Right. Ok." When their eyes meet she feels as if he is looking for something, but she can't imagine what it is. "You remember that friend I was telling you about last night? The doctor?" Her shoulders stiffen, still uneasy about the idea of being examined, but she nods to confirm. "She's out of the country for some lecture thing, but she's going to come by tomorrow night ... So I was thinking, you know, maybe you could just stay here till then?"

Her brows pucker in confusion. "Stay?"

Natsu's feet shift and his hands find themselves in his pant pockets. For the first time, Lucy notices that at some point he has changed out of his jeans and into flannel pajamas, though the shirt he is wearing is the same graphic t-shirt as last night. "Yeah. Stay. Like, here ... with me?" He gives her a strained smile that is burdened by embarrassment. "I'd feel a lot better if you did, and hey! It'll be a good excuse for us to hang out more, right?"

She does not mind staying – she is comfortable here with Natsu and his luxuries – but she doesn't understand why he seems so nervous about the idea of her leaving. "I will stay," she says softly and is rewarded with a grin that is so much brighter than the one before.

"Good." The way the tension slides off his back and shoulders tells her that he is relieved by her answer. She doesn't understand why. "I'm going to get in the shower, and then I'll scrounge us up something to eat, ok?"

She nods even though she has no desire to eat whatever it is that he will concoct. Food does not taste the way it should, does not leave her satisfied the way it does for him. Natsu still looks tired though, and she does not want to cause him further trouble by denying him. There is a weariness around his eyes that tells her he did not sleep as well as she did.

Natsu gestures towards the box in the corner of the room. "Feel free to watch some TV or something. I know it looks like an antique and all, but it still works." He makes a motion with his hands that she can't quite interpret. "If it goes out just jiggle the antenna and then – actually ... nevermind. Let me do it."

She watches as he fumbles with the knobs on the box, and nearly jumps when a voice other than Natsu's fills the room. Moments later the animated face of a man in a hunting cap appears. Lucy stares, mesmerized, and moves closer to the screen. She can feel Natsu's eyes on her as her fingertips graze against the characters cheek. This ... this thing, is familiar. She knows she has seen something like it before. The colorful images that flash across the screen pull at a hidden memory with an intensity that is unusual, but she still can't bring forth anything concrete. She knows but she doesn't remember.

Natsu's voice, soft despite the worry weighing it down, pulls her from her thoughts. "Luce? You ok?"

She nods, forcing her eyes from the screen. She wants to tell him that this is something she knows, but the worried pull of his brow makes her hesitate. Instead she says, "It has been a long time."

He releases a breath that she hadn't even noticed he was holding, his body relaxing. "This show?"

"No," she says, shaking her head. Her eyes slide back to the lighted screen. There is a rabbit eating a carrot and leaning confidently against a tree as the hunter stalks passed. The word tugs at her tongue, twisting at the tip, but it is only when it leaves her mouth that she knows it is the right one. "Television."

For a long moment there is nothing but the exaggerated sounds of the cartoons filling the apartment. When he crouches next to her, his hand resting on her shoulder, she is surprised by the seriousness of his expression. "Luce... where have you been living?"

She points to a place beyond the window, the direction in which she knows her meager belongings sit in a water stained room that smells like mold. "On the other side. By the docks." In the abandoned hotel right along the water. The place where people go to disappear.

His mouth curls in distaste. "Alone?"

She thinks of all the other residents that frequent her building. Her room is her own but only because the others avoid her. Still, she hears too much of their activities to ever truly feel alone, so she shakes her head.

"Are you staying with friends? Family?"

She finds this question to be easier than the last. Simpler. "No."

"... You don't have anyone to help take care of you?"

She blinks, head tilting. "I take care of me."

For a long moment Natsu just stares at her, silent. She can tell he wants to say something, she sees the way he chews on the words, but something must hold him back from speaking because he swallows them instead. Eventually he releases a long sigh, his hand running through his hair. "Alright, just – don't go running off before Porly gets here, ok?"

She frowns, confused. "I don't want to run."

"So you'll stay here till then? You won't leave this apartment without me?"

She pauses, thrown off the the seriousness of his voice. He is looking at her intently, as if her answer is worth more than what she understands. Slowly, because she is still unsure of its importance, she nods. The relief in his gaze is worth the weight of the promise.

"Thanks," he breathes, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze before standing. "I'm going to hop in the shower now, ok?"

She doesn't know why anyone would 'hop' when they shower, but because it is Natsu she doesn't question it. "Alright."

He hesitates a second longer, watching her carefully, before he disappears into the bathroom. Moments later she hears the water turn on, and her eyes turn back to the television, letting herself become absorbed in the comical sounds and the slap stick humor.

She's not sure how long she sits there, it doesn't feel like very long, when there is suddenly three distinct blows against the apartment door. Her body freezes. The sounds of the television fade into the background as she stares intently at the slab of wood across the room. Seconds later the pounding starts again, louder and more insistent. It is accompanied by a voice she does not recognize. "Damn it, Natsu! Get your ass up and open the door!"

From the bathroom she hears Natsu curse. "Shit! I'll be there in a second! Keep your pants on!" Moments later she hears the water shut off and a few more muffled curses as he bumbles around.

Lucy waits, but Natsu still has not emerged from the bathroom. She does not measure time the way he does, but she thinks he is taking longer than a second. The pounding on the door continues, obnoxious and loud. A frown pulls at her lips. She remembers that when someone knocks there is suppose to be someone there to answer.

She stands slowly, her feet quietly bringing her closer to the sound. Natsu still has not arrived, and the pounding is becoming inconsistent in its rhythm and making anxiety stir in her stomach.

She opens the door.

The man on the other side pauses, mid knock, his steel eyes wide and his mouth gaping. He is young, like Natsu, but his face is made of sharper angles and his gaze doesn't hold the same warmth. "What the–" His eyes travel down and his face goes pink like Natsu's hair as he stares at her legs. "Uh..."

Natsu emerges from the bathroom, his pajama pants hanging off his hips and nothing else. His wet hair is plastered to his forehead and Lucy can tell that he didn't bother to towel himself dry by the water still clinging to his chest. When he sees her, the door swung wide and the knob in her hand, he freezes momentarily before his face flushes and he rushes forward. "Damn it, you weren't suppose to open it!"

She frowns, confused by the way he grabs the blanket from the back of the couch and stalks towards her with a sense of urgency she doesn't comprehend. "I wasn't?"

"No, Luce." The dark haired man in the hallway is still staring at her like she shouldn't exist, and Natsu's expression darkens when he notices. "Gray, you fucking bastard, keep your eyes up here!" he snaps, securing the heavy knit around her shoulders protectively. The man he calls Gray immediately raises his eyes defensively.

"How the hell is this my fault?! Warn me next time you have a half naked woman in your apartment!"

Natsu ignores him. His hands hold the blanket around her shoulders closed, and he speaks to her softly. "Don't open the door anymore, ok? Whoever it is they can wait. Especially if it's this asshole."

She looks from Natsu, to the stranger named Gray, and back. She still does not understand why she shouldn't have opened the door when he was going to anyway – maybe it is another one of those unspoken rules that she has forgotten – but she agrees with a nod.

Natsu turns to the dark haired man who is still standing awkwardly in the hallway, his body turning to let the other man enter the apartment. "So what do you want anyway? Not like you to just drop by. Don't you have official police work to do or something?"

Gray scowls, taking the silent invitation to enter. "I'm not in my uniform, numb nuts – it's my day off." He crosses his arms over his chest, eyeing the apartment with a skeptical eyebrow while Natsu closes the door behind him. "Wow, I can actually see your floor."

Natsu glowers, his voice edged in warning. "Gray..."

"Mira asked me over to check on you since you sounded so sick when you called out from work this morning," he drawls. A smug smile curls at the corner of his mouth, and he sends the pink haired man an amused look. He nods towards her, and Lucy think it has a suggestive quality to it but she is more concerned by his words than his actions. "She's gonna be thrilled with what you came down with."

Lucy frowns up at Natsu. His face is flushed, almost matching the color of his hair, as he glares at his dark haired friend. As his mouth opens to retort, she brings her palm to his forehead and whatever words he was going to utter seem to wither on his tongue. "You are sick?" she ask. She cannot measure for fever, her skin is too cold, but she thinks that maybe the coolness of her hand may at least bring relief.

Under her touch he seems to warm even more before he reaches up and gently grasps her wrist. "No, he was just joking."

"Oh." Her frown deepens. "It was not very funny."

The corner of Natsu's mouth twitches in amusement. "Yeah, well, he's an asshole."

"Better than a moron," Gray snorts, and Lucy's gaze flicks over him curiously. He seems to be giving her the same kind of attention, though he is decidedly more thorough. He looks at her as if she is a puzzle. "So are you going to introduce me to to your girlfriend, or what?"

The glare that Natsu sends him is dark and full of veiled threats. "Gray, this is my friend, Lucy. Lucy, this is Gray. Don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth."

Gray holds out his hand, letting it hover between them. "Nice to meet you."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Natsu nudges her. "You're suppose to shake it, Luce." His tone is full of mirth, his mouth curling into a grin.

She blinks. "Oh." Her hand snakes out from between the folds of the blanket and tentatively grasps the man's fingers. She shakes them diligently, but she thinks that she may have done it wrong – the man named Gray is giving her a very odd look. She releases his hand. "You are Natsu's friend too?" she asks, curiosity brightening her eyes. Somehow she had never considered that he was linked to more than just herself.

Natsu answers for him. "Eh, he wishes," he says casually, stretching his arms over his head with a grin. "I'm way too cool for him!"

Gray rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you're more like the irritating brother I wish I never had," he grumbles, shooting the other man an annoyed look. "Don't think I'm going to cover for your ass either. I'm not going to risk my neck lying to Mira. You know damn well she can be a freaking demon when she wants to be."

Lucy frowns at the word 'demon' but Natsu seems unconcerned so she tries not to let it worry her. He shrugs. "We'll figure it out after I get some clothes on." When he turns to her his voice softens as he adjusts the blanket more firmly around her shoulders. "I'll be right back, ok? Stay here." She nods without argument and watches as he walks towards his room.

Gray yells at his back, "I'm serious Natsu! I'm not covering for you this time!" The only response he gets is a good natured wave before the bedroom door closes.

For a long moment, the man in front of her says nothing. In the silence between them it is easy to make out the sounds from the forgotten television. He is staring at her, his mouth drawn into a tight frown and his hands shoved casually into his denim pockets. "Hey, do I know you? You look really familiar."

She tilts her head. "I am Lucy. You saw me at the door." Did he already forget?

His eye twitches, and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, right. I kinda meant before that."

Before? Her brows furrow in thought and she looks harder at his face. There is something in the line of his jaw, the coolness in his gaze, that stirs the faintest whisper of recognition. She tries to grasp it, but it parts like mist between her fingers and floats away. "No," she mutters, shaking her head. "No, I don't think so."

Gray scowls. "I know I've seen you before," he mutters.

Natsu's voice, muffled by his bedroom wall, materializes. "Oi, leave her alone already! You probably saw her at the park."

The dark haired man blinks. "Park?" He gestures to the large set of windows in Natsu's living room. The last traces of light are already bleeding red as the sun fades from the sky. "That park?" The way he says it is strange.

Lucy nods, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "My bench is there."

Her answer seems to only confuse him more, but the sound of Natsu's door opening cuts him off before he has the chance to respond. He is wearing a simple white shirt with jeans. With one hand he uses the end of the towel hanging around his neck to dry his hair. "Room's all yours Luce. I laid out some sweat pants on the bed – why don't you go see if they fit?"

She doesn't really mind not wearing pants, but she thinks it might make Natsu more comfortable so she nods. "Alright." She starts to unfold the blanket so that she can give it back to him, but his hands stop her.

"Uh, go ahead and keep that. At least till you're dressed, ok?"

Again, she doesn't understand but she agrees anyway. He is not asking for much, and she doesn't really care either way. She gives one last glance to the man called Gray before stepping away. Her footsteps are light on the hardwood, and only the occasional groan and squeak of certain floorboards give away her progress. They are drowned out by the television anyway. Halfway to the room, she hears Natsu's voice. "You staying? Think I'm ordering pizza tonight."

The knob is cool on her palm as she opens the the door. Before it clicks shut she hears Gray's response, soft but edged with something she doesn't really recognize. "No... No, I need to go check something actually." A pause. "So you met her at that park? On a bench?"

Natsu's voice is muffled by the walls but his words still ring clear. "Yeah. That one right outside the window actually. She goes there every – what? Why do you look like someone just ate your grandmother or something?"

"Nothing. Just – I got to go. I'll talk to you later."

Lucy hears the apartment door slam.

AN: Hope you guys enjoyed! Thank you for everyone who has given their feedback and support for this story! You have no idea how much it means to me! And a big thank you to madartiste for being the best beta ever!

As always, please let me know your thoughts on this chapter! :)