Chapter 13
"Give me a second Gray, going to change into some actual clothes" he said casually as he ran up the stairs. Gray turned towards Lucy as she sipped her coffee and watched tv. "Hey Lucy…ahh never mind" he said waving it off. She shrugged and went back to the tv. "Wonder why Natsu is the only one to handle her when she's like this" he thought as Natsu came back down in a black t-shirt and blue jeans. "Oh no red for once, feel like that's all I've seen you in" he teased. "Shut up man" Natsu teased back as he grabbed his coffee and started walking towards the back. "Where are we going?" "Lucy isn't going to want to hear this . Brings back some thing's she'd rather not think about" he said with a sullen face. "Understood" Gray said as he followed Natsu to the pool room. "Is she going to wonder where you are?" "Nahh, If I'm right, she should have finished her coffee and will be back to sleep soon. After a couple hours, she should be fine" said Natsu. "Damn you make it sound so simple" "It wasn't always, trust me" informed Natsu. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, Gray sat in another. "Damn ,high school, that's a ways back now" laughed Natsu. "Honestly, the way Lucy is , the kind , caring person she is. She's always been like that, just nobody saw it for a while" Gray smiled as he thought about that.
"We didn't have a lot of friends back then. I'll be the first to admit unfortunately I wasn't her friend at first either." Gray gave him a conflicted face as Natsu said "Evelyn treated me like shit and with the way I was raised, I didn't know any better then to hang with the rich people like me. I didn't talk to anyone else" "So then how the hell did you two end up together?" Gray asked wanting to know. "She was persistent and didn't give up. I was a rich snob thanks to Evelyn. But I'll be damned if Lucy didn't see something in me. The first time we met, I was hanging with these assholes, not that I knew it at the time but anyway, I had no clue who she was but she walked up to me like it was nothing." "Was it?" "No, of course not but as I'm sure Lucy has told you because we came from different backgrounds ,there were lines people didn't cross and that included talking to people…lower then us" Gray gave him a disapproving look. "Hey! You wanted to know and this was back then you jerk, I'm not that person anymore" Natsu snapped insulted. "Sorry" apologized Gray sincere. Letting out a breath, Natsu continued " As I was saying , she walked up and said hi. The damn morons I was with didn't say anything. I thought it was rude so I said hey to her. The way she smiled at me after I said that, you would have thought I had given her her most favorite thing in the world. God, she was so happy" Gray saw the love on Natsu's face as he kept going.
"She went to ask if she could sit with me unfortunately the guys I was with fought hard against it so she walked away…but when she looked back at me, I don't know, something just told me not to lose her. So the next day at school, shocking she tried again but I didn't let her get shooed away this time. She sat and ate lunch with me before we had to go to class. Then sadly word got around that a "lower class" psh girl was trying to get my attention. Fucking prissies." "What happened?" he asked. "People" Natsu answered grimly. "They spread so many damn rumors about her, It kills me I didn't do anything about it till later. But Lucy is nothing if not stubborn, she continued to try. Finally, despite all the rumors, I walked up to her and asked her why. I'll never forget her answer" "What did she say?" "You looked lonely, after that we became best friends. The rich snobs that hung around me stopped which I was grateful for honestly. I knew they were only hanging with me because of my family but that didn't matter to Lucy. Soon enough we hung out all the time after school. Before I knew it, I had changed, and it was thanks to her…then it happened" Natsu said in a sad tone.
"What?" " It was about a month after we became best friends , her parents were coming home from a night out. I was home when Lucy called me..they had been killed" Gray's eyes widened in shock. "How?" "Car accident, the driver was going too fast and went past a red light..Her parents were in the car that was hit. They died on impact." "My god…Lucy" Gray said full of remorse. "Yeah…she was a mess after that. That's when her panic attacks started. School got bad for a while. Some asshole would say something which triggered an anxiety attack. One time a guy named Scott I think, we were sitting at lunch when he walked over. He looked us right in the face and said " she should have died with her parents" "Knowing how protective you are of her now, I could only think you didn't let that slide" "I didn't" he said darkly. "I got up and punched him right in the middle of his damn face. I would have kept going if Lucy hadn't stopped me and pulled me off him" "I'm scared to ask what you did to the fool" "I'm not proud of it. You wonder where I got the nick name hothead from. I broke the punks jaw and nose, gave him a black eye. He was bleeding all over his face." "Damn even back then, you did not like people messing with her did you" "Natsu gave him a hard look as he said "she was the first real friend I had who just had a tragedy happen. No fucking way was I going to let someone get away with wishing her dead" Gray nodded understanding as Natsu continued. "Once she pulled me off him, we went where no one could see us. Immediately she asked if I was okay, not thinking about herself" "Sounds like her" said Gray. "She started crying and thanked me. She thanked me for defending her. No one had ever thanked me for anything. I couldn't help it, I grabbed her and kissed her." "What did she do?" His cheeks turned pink as he warmly smiled and said "she asked if we could be together. After that, we were inseparable. Eventually she had to meet my parents. "Oh I bet that was a delight" "For my dad, he couldn't be happier, he was glad I finally found someone..and well you read the letter. Evelyn…was not pleased" "You really don't use mo..iiii don't give me that face man" Gray panicked as Natsu gave him a evil dark glare. "No I don't because she isn't!. She never was." "I'm sorry"
Calming his face and tone, he said "sorry, just bugs me. She treated Lucy like shit. From the first time she stepped into the house you would swear it was the Eiffel tower with how amazed she was stepping into my parent's house. My dad came to meet us and welcomed Lucy right away. Evelyn immediately tried to kick her out, but I refused to let her, and dad backed me up while she threw insults at Lucy." "I can see that actually" said Gray. "After that, dad made sure to have her come over when Evelyn wasn't home. I wish It could have been more often but sadly Evelyn didn't leave the house much. But my dad really did like and accept her, or he wouldn't have helped her." "Help her with what?" "After her parents died, she was alone. She didn't have any other family. We would've had her move in with us but we both knew Evelyn would never accept it. She went and lived in a apartment on her own. She struggled keeping up with payments. I told dad and rather then turn her away or diss her…he helped her Gray. In secret from Evelyn, he would make payments on Lucy's apartment to make sure she didn't lose it while we were still in school" "Damn, your father was a hell of a guy" "Yes…he was" said Natsu as he remembered Igneel.
"That doesn't explain the drinking and why she gets like that" " …" "Natsu..what's wrong?" Gray asked concerned. "Nothing... just remembering. Not happy memory. When dad passed away from being hit by a car..yeah mafia boss got hit by a car. Go figure. Anyway...I wasn't the only one who was a mess. His death destroyed Lucy and me. If it wasn't for her, I don't know how it would have gotten through the rest of school. Once we graduated, I got the hell out of my house as fast as I could despite all of Evelyn's bashing and retorts and blah blah. that's not important. Moving past that, we got our own place, and went to college where we made some actual friends. It was nice. Then we started going to parties and that's where it started. The first time Lucy got drunk off her ass, she went ballistic. My father's death, her parent's death and the fucking bullying all came back to her and she'd react bad to anyone trying to help. She did to everyone…except me. She knew I wouldn't be scared off like our friends. I'd yell right back at her. That usually got her attention. If that didn't work, I'd hug her. I'd hug her till she calmed down. I found out years back, one of the reasons she would let me help was because she was afraid to lose me" "
Lose you? why would she think that?" "It was an insecurity she had. She had already lost her parents, my dad..she didn't want to lose me too but I assured her every time I was not going anywhere. After that, when she got drunk. She'd keep quiet as much as she could around other people until we got home where she unleashed everything she felt." "Ahh, and that's why your used to it" "Yep" "But she didn't lash out like that for a while has she?" "No, she's gotten better then she used to be. After she finally realized I wasn't leaving, most of her bad feelings went away. Though some like to linger her head every so often when she drinks." "Now I see why she doesn't drink" "Exactly but last night... that was the happiest I had seen her being drunk" "Oh we all saw that" teased Gray. "Shut it" said Natsu. "Damn you two , you went through a lot of shit" "Yeah but I don't regret a single thing..well errr, scratch that maybe a couple things but meeting her will never be one of them" "I believe it" said Gray getting up.
"The first night I met you, I told you Lucy wouldn't have smiled like she did if she wasn't truly happy. Everything you just told me makes that statement even more true. You are everything to her too Natsu. Anyone would have to be blind not to see that" "Thanks Gray, I appreciate it" Natsu said humble. "your welcome" "Come on but we gotta keep quiet" said Natsu in a hushed tone as they walked back through the house to the living room where Lucy was passed out on the couch. "Told you" Natsu said with a soft smirk. "Damn" said Gray but he wasn't really surprised. He knew nobody on this planet knew Lucy better then Natsu and the same with him. Taking all the cups, Natsu set them down in the sink then quietly walked and crouched in front of Lucy as he pulled the blanket all the way over her. "Is she going to wake up with you doing that?" Gray whispered. "Nahh, she'll be out cold for another couple hours." Whispered Natsu. Putting her hair behind her ear, Natsu couldn't help but smile as he looked at her peaceful face. "I love you so much Lucy, my heart. Thinking about everything we went through; it's just made me fall in love with you all over again. Get some sleep" He saw her face start to frown as her eyebrows went down and made small noises. "Shhhhhhhh. It's alright Luce. I'm right here." He said lovingly as he rubbed her hand. Gray watched her frown turn into a smile. "We aren't alone Luce. It's not just you and me anymore" he said quietly looking at Gray who nodded in agreement as he stood up and kissed the top of her head. "Holy shit, well as someone who got to see it actually happen that you can calm her like that. I'll just say I'm glad for you guys" "Thanks, do you want to stick around, or you got somewhere to go?" asked Natsu. "Nahh, I can stick around here for a bit. Juvia's working anyway so got the day" "Cool, take a seat then" said Natsu as he sat and slipped Lucy's head onto his lap as he placed a hand over it where Lucy grabbed it surprising Natsu but happy as he watched her lay on it.
It was a couple hours that Lucy started to stir. She rubbed her face and slowly began to open her eyes. She looked down and saw she was laying on Natsu's arm making her blush. "Hey" she turned her face to see Natsu softly looking at her. "Natsu" she said quietly and happy. "Hey baby" she did a cute smile at him. "Did your headache go away?" She nodded her head as he lifted her chin. "nightmares gone" "Uh huh" "That's great" he said quietly as he lowered his face making her make a cute noise as he kissed her. Her hands reached up to his face. After a minute, he reluctantly released from her mouth, he felt bad because he could see she wanted more. He shook his head playfully and said "later baby" she nodded her head in agreement. Natsu released her chin and looked forward where Lucy did the same. "Sorry Gray" she apologized. "Hey, no need to apologize Lucy. You guys love each other. Nothing wrong with that. She giggled as Natsu wrapped both his arms around her cocooning her. "Did I sleep long?" she asked. "You slept a couple hours. No more then usual after your hangovers" "I'm sorry I couldn't entertain you guys" "Luce, I may just have to smack your head if you say that again" he said joking. "What?" she said looking both of them. "Ha, Lucy you do not have to entertain us. You are not one of those. What the heck made you think of that?" said Gray. "I don't know..just felt bad for falling asleep" "No worries Lucy, promise" assured Gray. "Gray and I had an interesting talk while you were asleep anyway" said Natsu. "really? What did you two talk about? "Well, I told him about our past and how we met" "Oh" she peeked her head over at Gray. " I understand Lucy and I swear I won't tell anyone" he said with a sincere smile. "Thank you. As you know, it's not all bad..just a few things I really don't like remembering" she said quietly as she turned her body back towards Natsu.
"Hey, it's alright Luce. I know you couldn't hear me but while you were sleeping." "we aren't alone anymore..that's what you said isn't it?" He opened his mouth slightly and closed it, he wasn't shocked that she heard it. "I heard your voice telling me it was alright..then almost like a whisper I heard you tell me we aren't alone anymore." "It's true Lucy, now we have Gray, Erza, Jellal, hell even Gajeel." "I'm so happy we do" she replied. Lucy turned her body still wrapped in the blanket over so she could watch tv with the guys."When is Layla coming home?" Lucy asked. "Levy is dropping her off this evening." Said Natsu. "My baby" she said sweetly. Natsu's phone went off as he reached and grabbed it answering. "this is Natsu, what's up" Gray watched as Natsu's smile turned into a serious face. "Okay, I'll be there soon" he said flatly as he hung up. "What's up?" asked Gray immediately. "Zeref" he answered getting Gray's attention. "Luce, I'm gonna have to ask you to get dressed baby. We need to go to the base" said Natsu "Alright" she answered as she got herself unwrapped and up the stairs. She came back down a few minutes later in a purple shirt with black jeans and some medium height black boots. "Let's go. You said we had to go right?" she said looking at Natsu who was stuck staring at her. "Yo, come on boss" teased Gray smacking his forehead. Shaking his head, Natsu fumbled for words "Sssorry haha . got stuck staring at a star" Lucy blushed as she walked out the door. "Come on Romeo" said Gray. "Yeah, yeah "I'm coming" he said as he locked the door. They arrived at the base where Erza and Jellal were already there. "Hey, what's up guys?" greeted Natsu.
"Not much" answered Jellal. "Someone told me they have information on Zeref. So let's hear it" said Natsu getting straight to the point. "Yes apparently Zeref because of who he is. He had some resources here in Magnolia that apparently that had been waiting for him to get out of where he was." "Do you know who they are?" " yeah, got some addresses here..don't ask how we got them" said Jellal as he handed Natsu a file. Natsu opened it and him and Lucy looked at it together. "And these sources are legit?" Lucy asked. "Yes" said Erza. "Okay then, guess I know where I'm headed." Said Natsu as Lucy turned to him ready. "When are we going?" "Lucy…I'm gonna ask that you stay here for this one" "What? why?" " Because things could get ugly and I do not want you caught in the crossfire of that" "Okay" she said understanding,not happily but she understood. He kissed her forehead as he looked at her and said "I shouldn't be gone too long okay?" She nodded as he lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles on both. "I love you" "I love you too" He looked at his friends with a stern look. "Protect her" "We will" said Gray as Natsu closed the file and left. "Please be careful Natsu" Lucy thought.