Hello everyone. I hope everyone is having a good year so far... 2020 has not been kind to me. Things keep piling up and honestly, its getting hard to see the silver lining. I hope releasing a new chapter would make you all happy and in turn, me happy to see what you all think. I'm just as excited to get to the end of this story as you all probably are.

Much love to you all! Let me know what you think


Levy wove through the makeshift tents in the park. She glanced between the rows looking for that familiar head of pink hair. I mean how hard can he be to spot?

As she neared the far edge of the tents, she heard the sound of voices talking. Curious, Levy followed the sound until she stumbled upon who the voices belonged to: Natsu and Lisanna. Levy saw Natsu walking away from Lisanna but found it odd Lisanna was so insistent he stay.

Levy was about to open her mouth to shout towards the pinkette, but another voice yelled instead, "I love you!" Both Levy and Natsu's eyes shot open. Levy watched as Lisanna began to explain herself before Natsu put an end to it. She had never seen Natsu so angry before, but she knew he was right to feel so.

Things between the two of them didn't really end well and she knew it negatively affected Natsu. She would hear bits and pieces of Gajeel's phone calls with Natsu from time to time. She knew Natsu struggled with relationships since their break up and even suffered from a lack of drive. It pained her to see a friend, so lively, in that state.

That's what made her happy to hear he was with Lucy; not just the fact that she always hoped they would get together, but also because they were good for one another. Natsu encouraged Lucy and Lucy inspired Natsu to dream.

She was proud to see him standing up for himself and for his relationship with Lucy. But that proud smile faltered when she heard Lisanna's claim. "Don't lie to me! I know about you and Lucy! I know about your little game to pretend to be something you're not, and all just to appease Jude?! Your relationship is a lie!" A lie? Levy entertained the thought it was fake, but she thought that was some silly notion created from reading too many fanfictions.

"That's where you're wrong!" Levy jumped at Natsu's suddenly booming voice. "I love Lucy more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life." Levy gasped; he loves her! "She isn't afraid to go after what she wants, and she inspires me to do the same. I'm happy… I suggest you find something that can make you feel the same." Levy was excited to hear it and immediately began imagining what a future with Lucy would look like for him.

Levy jumped when she heard the crunch of the gravel underneath approaching footsteps. She ducked behind a tent so she wouldn't be seen by the two people; it was an awkward conversation to begin with, she didn't want to make it worse by spying. "I'm gonna tell everyone you two aren't really engaged!"

Levy's eyes shot open, oh no! I can't let her do that! Levy took a deep breath in, preparing to step out and expose her from her hiding spot, but Natsu beat her to it. "Go ahead. I will make it right." She smiled to herself; he could handle everything himself.

She heard the crunching of gravel once more. Levy decided to stay in her spot until he walked away, but she was confused when she heard a faint voice once more. She peered out from her hiding spot to see Lisanna crying and grasping onto Natsu's jacket.

"One last kiss? Please?" Levy's shoulders slumped as she stared at the couple. "One last time," she barely heard him whisper. Levy saw the two move closer together. She couldn't bare to see the desperation and tension anymore, so she decided to leave the area as quickly and quietly as possible.

She couldn't help but smile as she made her way back to the others. She couldn't wait to see the happy couple together!

His mind played through all his relationships; all things started with Lisanna and declined from there. He longed for a connection at first, trying to find someone he could commit to and vice versa, but the ones who came after that couldn't cut it. Eventually, he got tired of trying and he settled for whatever fling he could come across. He soon forgot what love really was…

Then in walks Lucy. She hadn't seen him in years and yet she still treated him as if no time had passed. She was still the same joyous self she was in high school except now she had more scars to prove she fought for her happiness; she never gave up.

She reminded him there was more to life than the downs; that despite the horrible things that happened, there was still so much to hope in and live for. She showed him what love was and reminded him he was loved. He still had friends and family and now, he had her.

He smiled again and tears welled up in his eyes just thinking about his future; he was hopeful for the first time in a long time. With his new enthusiasm, he picked up pace to race towards his future.

He ran through the jungle of tents until he came to the clearing in the park. He passed by the various events until he came upon the courts. Natsu paused a moment to find Lucy among all the people, and he couldn't help his huge grin when he did.

"Luce! Luce, I found it!" He called as he ran up to her. Lucy turned her face away from him as he approached. He stopped a few feet away from her and glanced down at her arm. He furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw she had already been treated. "Who fixed up your arm?" His smile dropped when he saw Lucy edge away from him and cower into Grandine's arms.

"Luce?" he questioned as he took a step towards them, but he flinched as they backed away. Igneel stepped between them to stop him. "Natsu." He looked towards his father, who wore a displeased look on his face.

He took a moment to look around at the people around him. The face of those around him wore similar looks… of anger, confusion and hurt. "What's going on?" He asked his father softly.

"Natsu, you need to leave." He looked back to his father. "What?! Why?"

"We saw you," Grandine spoke up. Igneel moved slightly so Natsu could see Grandine. "Lucy and I… we saw you with Lisanna." His heart sank a little at the thought; why was she there? "I can explain…" he began but was cut off by his mother. "How could you do that to Lucy?!"

"It's not like that at all!" He pleaded.

"You two are engaged!" Igneel added.

"You don't understand." He yelled again, this time looking to Lucy for help. The blonde kept her eyes firmly affixed to the ground. Not getting any help, he decided to show his cards. "Lucy and I aren't really engaged." There were many gasps and dropped jaws along with wide eyes, including Lucy. "We lied about the engagement."

"W-why would you do that?" Igneel asked incredulously.

"I didn't want to come home as the screw up son; I didn't want to disappoint either of you. Living in your shadows is not a cozy place so I agreed to help Lucy. And she…" He glanced over at her to see she has left the safety of Grandine's arms.

"Why would she?" Jude spoke up in a shaky tone.

"Lucy wanted you to be happy; she loves you so much and she wanted to make you smile."

"So, you lied… to all of us. To me." Jude motioned to the crowd of people that had now gathered around the chaos.

"We did lie about being engaged… but I didn't lie about how I feel about your daughter." Natsu turned around to face Lucy once more. "Lucy has always been a light in my life; to guide me, to provide warmth and comfort, to shine joy into my life… Lucy, I have never been happier than I have this week. I love you."

The crowd was silent; some awed at the sweetness of Natsu's words while others remained quiet to see what happened next. Lucy calmly walked past Grandine and Igneel towards Natsu. She stopped within arms reach of the pinkette and gave a small smile. Natsu's face went to a warm smile to absolute shock when he saw her right arm reel back and come forward at him.

He tried to put his arm to block the strike, but he was only able to block some of the blow. The sheer force of the hit sent him flying back a few feet and made him fall backwards onto his rear. When the dust cleared, he looked up to see Lucy standing over him; her eyes were wide with fury and tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

"You love me?! You LOVE me?! First you agree to pretend to love me by playing house then you do all these things that make me think otherwise. And I go crazy wondering if there is something more here but it's all just a sham. Here you are sleeping with me one minute and making out with your ex the next."

"He WHAT?!" Sting yelled from his place on the bleachers. Luckily, Yukino was able to keep him under control and uninvolved.

"Was this all just a game to you? You use me to make things right between you and your parents so you wouldn't feel like such a loser?! Then you go and play with my heart to make me think we had something."

"We do have something real here, Luce," he stated as he attempted to take her hands in his own. She threw her hands out of his grasp. "Then why were you with Lisanna? You told me there was nothing between you two."

"There is nothing! Not anymore; that's all in the past."

"So are we… I can't do this anymore." Lucy removed the ring from her hand and placed it in Natsu's hand before she started to back up slowly. Natsu glanced down at the ring before looking back up at the retreating girl. "Lucy…" Natsu reached out but the girl turned and bolted in the opposite direction. Natsu took a step towards her direction, but Levy stood in his way and raised her hand. Natsu looked down at the blunette and was surprised he was met with a smile.

The small girl ran off towards the blonde, leaving him and the rest of the crowd to pick up the pieces. Natsu grabbed fistfuls of his hair and cursed internally; he had to leave. He turned and stormed off, trying to sort out his own mind.

The crowd was silent for a moment before people slowly started trickling out of the stands and out of the park. Igneel sighed before turning around to face the others still there. "Well I guess we should be cleaning up then. Not much reason to stay here…" He anxiously glanced over the faces of his wife, his daughter, and Mrs. Spetzo before ending on Jude.

His eyes widened as he saw Jude's eyes bulging and his face turning red. "Jude?" he asked as he slowly reached a hand out towards the blonde man. Jude clutched his chest in pain and began to lean forward in his seat. "Jude!" Grandine cried as she and Mrs. Spetzo rushed to his side. Grandine observed Jude for a moment before turning to her husband and yelling, "Hunny, get the care now!" Igneel nodded before running off towards the parking lot.

Grandine yelled at Wendy to get a wet washcloth for Jude's head. Wendy retrieved it just in time for Igneel to drive the car right up to the volleyball court. Grandine turned to direct Mrs. Spetzo, "We need to get him into the car." Mrs. Spetzo nodded and placed one of Jude's arms around her shoulders as Grandine took the other. Together, the two lifted Jude from his seat, walked him to the car and placed him inside. Mrs. Spetzo jumped in the back with Jude as Igneel took the to the hospital. Grandine and Wendy jumped into their other vehicle and followed close behind.