Warning: Nothing too explicit, but still mature content ahead. The story is rated M for a reason, but feel free to skip this chapter, I'll post a summary later.

PART I – Resolution

Chapter XVIII – Burning up

"Give me all of you! I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU! ALL OF YOU! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self-in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart."
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Combat class after the incident was much easier than usual, the commander deciding that they needed some more basic training before learning complicated moves. Well, to say the class was 'easier' might be inaccurate, actually. The moves were easier to reproduce, but the energy it demanded was colossal. Not only did he make them practice every single move they had learnt to this day, he also made them run laps around the sports field, do pushups, squats, sit-ups and made them practice the plank. After what, they went back to running around the field...

Surprisingly, the commander did every exercise with them. He actually ran more laps, did more pushups, squats and sit-ups and held the plank longer than any of them... He was obviously started to feel tired as well, but he still kept pushing himself even when he gave them a break. Lucy frowned as she looked at him. He was on the other side of the field, still running.

"Did he eat a lion or something," she mumbled to herself.

Loke chuckled, still laying on his back, trying to catch his breath. His face was very red and he was panting.

"I have no idea," he said. "He was acting weird when he came back, averting his eyes and mumbling to himself. Gray asked what was wrong and he started growling that everything 'perfectly fucking fine', to quote him. It's tiring, but it's funny."

"Speak for yourself," she retorted, "I stink of sweat and my whole body's aching..."

Loke laughed and sat up to grin at her.

"Want me to massage you tonight? I'm skilled with my hands."

"No, thanks."

Loke chuckled and collapsed back on the cold grass. The commander was still running.

"Maybe you should offer to massage him," Loke suggested. "He'll probably need it."

Lucy observed the commander. Loke was right, he was overdoing it. She wouldn't be surprised if his whole body was sore and stiff when evening came. Lucy imagined him shirtless, all muscles tight from his intensive training, drops of sweat running down his chest to his lower abs and disappearing under the fabric of his pants. She didn't think she would mind giving him a massage.

"Stop saying stupid things," she groaned at Loke.

"You're blushing," Loke noted.

"I'm not."

"You sure are."

"Shut up."

When the commander came back, he told them to do some stretching and asked Gray to help him out. Lucy paired up with Loke, as usual. Her friend applied light pressure on her back to help her stretch the muscles efficiently and she heaved a deep sigh of relief, barely holding back a moan that would have caught her friend's attention and triggered lewd jokes. When she lifted her eyes, she found the commander already staring at her. He was leaning over his left leg, chest pressed against his knee and arms stretched out to hold his heel. He averted his eyes when she caught him, but she still had the time to see the dark look in them, the contracted jaw and the faint red tint on his ears, face and neck. She blushed and averted her eyes as well. He was probably still tired and hot from running around the field.

"I'm sorry to disturb you while you're fantasizing about our dear commander," Loke suddenly laughed, "but you're crushing me."

Lucy blushed even more when she realized that she indeed was pushing a bit too hard on his back. When Natsu finally told them they were good to go, everyone was sweaty, tired and sore.

"I can't even feel my legs anymore," Loke whined.

"Yeah," Gray agreed. "I thought we were starting to match his pace, but he's been holding back all along. That guy's a monster."

"You guys are just weak," Gajeel whizzed and panted, "it wasn't that hard."

Lucy scoffed and shook her head. Gray, though, openly made fun of him.

"What are you playing tough for?" he sniggered. "You can barely stand on your legs. You want us to carry you, old man?"

"Yeah, I saw you trip on your own foot about two minutes ago," Loke added.

"I'm going to slaughter you," the punk growled.

"How are you doing to do that if you can't even catch us," Gray laughed. "I still can run, you know. You don't look like you can, though."

"Speaking of running," Loke nudged Lucy with his elbow. "Look at that."

They all turned around to look at the field and saw that the commander had started running again.

"Seriously?" Gray mumbled.

Even Gajeel winced at the sight. Lucy arched a brow at Loke when she heard him snigger.

"He can't be doing this for pleasure," the young man smirked, "he's trying to vent his frustration."

"You want to talk about that in front of Lucy?" Gray asked.

Gajeel smirked and ruffled the blond's hair.

"You think that'll bother her? She's been living among us for months."

"True..."

"As I was saying," Loke went on with his dumb smile still nailed to his face, "I have a theory."

"Here we go," Gray scoffed.

"The commander can somehow detect the feminine smell Lucy emits."

"What the hell..."

"You think he's a dog or something," Gray sniggered.

Loke ignored them and pointed to the running man.

"Think about it, he's always angry when I joke about making out with her or when I touch her, but he doesn't give a damn about what the others do. And today, he suddenly couldn't stand still and had this weird, perverted look on his face. Why do think that is?"

Lucy sighed as Gajeel shook his head, not managing to hide his amusement.

"I'm not sure if I want to know," Gray admitted.

"Lucy's been wearing his shirt, that's why," Loke declared with a victorious smile. "He saw her sweat in it and stretch her muscles and groan in relief..."

"I didn't groan," Lucy grumbled, blushing.

"The point is," Loke ignored her, "he's trying to ignore the fact that she turns him on."

"This is stup..."

"This might actually be true," Gray laughed. "Natsu's never been an expert when it came to women, but this one's disguised as a man too! That would explain a lot of things, actually!"

"Maybe he knows that you're a girl," Gajeel suggested.

"I don't think so," Lucy retorted. "He would have asked for an explanation. And you're getting all worked up over nothing. He's been angry with me ever since he met me."

Gajeel scoffed and winced when his sore limbs throbbed painfully.

"And you never wondered why he's always upset at you even when did nothing wrong?" he asked.

"Though we have to admit that you often do something to piss him off on purpose," Loke smirked.

The young woman shrugged.

"I can't help it," she explained, "seeing his face makes me want to annoy him."

"Well, seeing you sweat in his shirt makes him want to run laps," her friend laughed again.

The boys kept teasing her until they reached the dorms, deciding that it was safer to stop talking about things that could give her away if anyone was listening to them. Loke let Lucy have a shower first because he needed to go see Erza for a moment.

Lucy lazily let her clothes drop to the cold tiles of the bathroom and stepped under the shower, turning the water on. Her whole body was still stiff and sore from training, but the only thing that really disturbed her was the mental image of the half naked commander she still hadn't managed to erase from her mind. She could still see his eyes when she closed hers, remember the way he stared at her with that dark, hard look. Her friends thought that Natsu could somehow sense that she was a girl and that having her around turned him on.

She took her sweet time under the shower, but the uncomfortable feeling pooling in her stomach just wouldn't disappear or ease up. She sighed. Loke wouldn't be back soon if he had things to discuss with Erza, she probably had enough time. Her hand reached down and she lightly bumped her forehead against the wall when her fingers brushed against the sensitive bud between her legs. She didn't rush her preparations and instead enjoyed the hot, but soft waves of pleasure that ran through her body before getting serious. The hot water seemed to increase the effect of her fingers' movements because she was soon panting and the hand supporting her against the wall clenched into a fist. She hadn't exactly had many occasions to relieve herself since she had enrolled in the Academy, so the sensation was stronger when she could do it.

Pretty soon, Lucy's overactive imagination decided to give a shape to the hot water running down her body. With her eyes closed, she could picture the commander's arms around her and feel his chest against her back. Her breathing quickened and she gritted her teeth to keep silent. Which she would forever thank herself for, because she heard the door of her bedroom open a second later.

"I'm back," Loke called from the other side of the door. "Are you still showering? Were you that dirty?"

Lucy inwardly growled and laughed at the same time.

"You have no idea," her inner voice laughed.

She sighed, understanding that she wouldn't be able to finish and growled as she walked out of the shower to dry herself. She cursed as she struggled with the chest bandage, feeling edgier than usual, and shrugged her shirt on before exiting the bathroom. She smirked when she heard him curse when he noticed she had used up all the hot water. When he got out, he accused her of bullying him and demanded that she massaged his aching back to make up for using up all the hot water. She obviously refused and they exited the room to go to the refectory.

At their table, Gray and Gajeel were arguing over something that was probably childish and in which she had no interest. Yes, she was still upset and edgy from having been interrupted. It would take her a moment to calm down. She sat next to Loke and sighed in relief when she noticed that the commander wasn't there. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to look him in the eye if he had been there. She ignored her friends' conversations and ate in silence, only lifting her eyes when Loke cursed.

"What is it?" Gray asked.

Loke was holding a rather stylish fountain pen in his hands, frowning at it.

"It's Erza's," he said. "I forgot to give it back to her."

"Then, go give it back."

Loke winced.

"I can't. I have to go see Makarov after diner."

Lucy took it from his hand and focused back on her diner.

"I'll just give it back for you," she assured.

"Don't stab anyone with it," Loke joked.

She glared at him and it made her friends laugh.

"What's wrong, now?" Gray asked. "You weren't that grumpy when we left the field."

"Mind your own business," she groaned, "I'm just tired."

"Seems like the commander isn't the only one who needs to vent his frustration," Gajeel sniggered.

Lucy turned her head to glare at him – and possibly to insult him – but she didn't even have the time to open her mouth before another voice was heard from behind her.

"What is it you said I need to vent?" the commander growled menacingly.

His voice sent shivers down her spine and, in her head, she was suddenly reliving her shower fantasies. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough to send her blood rushing to her cheeks and harshly remind her that she hadn't been able to release her pent-up frustrations. She jumped to her feet, picked her tray and walked away from the table, mumbling a quick: "see you later." Since she didn't really have anywhere to go and she obviously couldn't go back there, she headed to the medical wing to hand back Erza's pen.

The redhead was – fortunately – in her office when she got there. She didn't bother to knock and casually invited herself in. Erza nodded at her to acknowledge her presence, but kept writing something on her computer. Lucy sat down in front of her desk and waited.

"Sorry about that," the redhead sighed. "There are many erroneous depositions about the Butcher and it's part of my job to find out what is right and what is wrong."

Lucy nodded comprehensively. It was not like she had anything better to do, anyway.

"It's fine," she assured. "I came to give this back."

She put the pen on the desk and Erza arched a brow.

"I hadn't even noticed its disappearance," she admitted. "Did you ditch your friends at the refectory just to come here and give it back?"

Lucy blushed and averted her eyes.

"Not really," she mumbled. "I wasn't very hungry."

The doctor frowned at the young woman.

"It's not good to skip dinner," she said. "Is anything wrong? Are you sick?"

Lucy shook her head and sighed, rising from her chair.

"No, no, I'm fine," she assured. "Don't worry about m..."

"Lucy." The redhead pointed to the seat sternly. "Sit."

The young woman obeyed, pouting like a five year old brat.

"Talk," Erza ordered.

"It's nothing," the blonde sighed. "It's just something the boys said..."

The older woman frowned in worry at this.

"Do they have a problem with your past?" she asked. "Do you think one of them could talk?"

"What? No," she shook her head. "I didn't even tell them about my past yet."

"Why? Don't tell me you still don't trust them..."

"Of course I trust them," Lucy groaned. "They just didn't ask and I'm waiting for the right time to bring it up."

Lucy spent the next ten minutes promising her redhead friend that she was fine and Erza said she'd eat with her the next day, to make sure she actually did eat enough. It made Lucy chuckle to see her behave like her mother. She could have been a great friend for Michelle.

"Before you go back to your room," Erza said, "could you do me favor?"

Lucy shrugged and nodded.

"Sure, what do you need?"

Erza gathered several files and pointed to red one.

"Natsu has a complementary file," she explained, "it's the same color as this one and has the same code on the first page, see? I don't have the time to go there to get it, but I urgently need it, it's crucial. Could you go get it for me?"

Lucy tried her very best not to let any emotion show on her face, knowing that her friend was surprisingly perspicacious when it came to those things.

"Sure..."

She exited the room and climbed down the stairs slowly, gulping. She walked out of the building to be confronted to the biting cold that did nothing to alleviate the uncomfortable warmth that spread through her body from her stomach. She took a deep breath in as she got closer to the dorms.

"Act natural, Lucy," she whispered to herself, "he'll probably be mean to you anyway, so you won't want to jump him."

A strong gust of wind sent shivers down her spine and she was glad that she was wearing the bandage, otherwise anyone would have been able to see her hardened nipples.

She felt warmer as soon as she entered the dorms, though. She climbed up the stairs and noticed that the corridors were completely silent. Most of the recruits still eating, apparently. She took left at the end of the corridor and walk down the new corridor to stop in front of the commander's door. She waited, hesitant. It was stupid to worry about it, it wasn't like he could read her thoughts. She'd just ask for the file and leave.

She knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. She knocked again. Still no answer. Damn, Erza said it was crucial for her to get the file back. She knew that it was wrong, but Lucy was feeling brave, she grabbed the handle and pushed it: the door opened. The young woman checked the corridor to make sure she was alone and entered the room. Since she had been there before, she didn't waste any time looking around and directly went to see if the file was in the drawer of the nightstand. Bingo, she grinned as she took it out. Now, she only had to get out and it will be as if she never even came. And, of course, at the exact moment she was going to open the door again, she heard voices from the other side of the door. She froze.

"Yeah, I'm almost done," the commander assured, "I'll give the list to Gramps tomorrow."

"Alright," someone answered – Laxus from what Lucy could hear – and walked away. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah."

During this – very – short conversation, Lucy flew toward the wardrobe, entered it and closed the door. She almost laughed when she remembered the first lesson of a student officer: a soldier must always keep his composure, no matter the situation. "Nice job, Lucy," she inwardly cheered, "that was a very wise move! You could always have explained the reason of your presence to him, he would have understood. But now that he's entering the room, you can't possibly just walk out of the wardrobe and say hi!" The commander sighed as he dropped his sports bag beside his bed, right in front of the wardrobe. Why was here? Shouldn't he be going to the refectory at that time?

Through the slit between the door and the wall, Lucy watched the commander throw his shirt to the side and crash in his bed. A long moment passed and Lucy started to really regret acting before thinking. This was ridiculous, she had to get out of this wardrobe. She would just tell him that she panicked and did something stupid, but she didn't do anything wrong. She was gathering her courage to do just that when she heard a growl from the slumped form on the bed.

"Damn," he mumbled, "you just had to go see if everything was ok, you idiot..."

Lucy frowned, wondering what he was talking about. His voice was low and rasping and ripped Lucy of every ounce of courage she had managed to muster. She stood still and waited. Maybe he'd leave soon... She waited as he turned and shifted on his bed, cursing and mumbling to himself about some stupid door that needed a lock, if Lucy heard right. She almost blenched when suddenly sat back up and pushed himself to the edge of his bed. He walked to his door and Lucy couldn't see what he was doing, but she heard him turn the lock. She frowned. Was he going to sleep already? It was still pretty early...

She heard the clinking of something metallic and her eyes widened when she saw him crash back in the bed, hands on his belt. His whole body was tense and the look in his eyes had never been this dark before, at least not in her presence. He lifted his hips off the mattress and Lucy had a nice view of his abs contracting as he did so. Her eyes widened when she saw him tug at the waistband of his pants and underpants, his right hand slipping under the underwear a second after she caught a glimpse of the large bulge underneath the fabric.

Oh.

Lucy managed to avert her eyes from the – very – appealing scene for about five seconds. She couldn't believe she was going to watch that. He groaned when his hand wrapped itself around his length and she gulped when he closed his eyes. She'd probably be ashamed of herself for peeping at him – "not peeping, Lucy," her inner voice corrected, "you watched the whole show attentively" – but she simply couldn't help it. When she fantasized about him under the shower, it had only been about sensations and imagination. Now, she had the real deal under her eyes and she enjoyed the live visual as well.

She gritted her teeth and inwardly cursed when she felt a familiar throb come back to life between her legs. She really should have taken care of that earlier... Gosh, she really was a pervert... The sensation worsened when she noticed that the commander's slow movements were speeding up, as well as his breathing. His pants slid down and Lucy started to feel uncomfortably hot in her wardrobe when she noticed she had a much clearer view of his hand working beneath his underwear. She had to press her thighs together when she heard him growl again.

He then took a deep breath in and forced himself to calm down, only massaging the throbbing member slowly. Lucy almost growled in frustration and disappointment: how long did he plan to take before finishing? He was killing her there! With her left hand, the young woman rubbed the back of her neck in a vain attempt to calm herself down, only to mentally berate herself when she noticed that her right hand was already between her legs. Damn, her own body was betraying her.

Lucy tried closing her eyes to decrease the intensity of the warmth throbbing in her lower belly and between her thighs, only to find out that you didn't need your eyes to excite your imagination. She couldn't see Natsu's hand move up and down his sex anymore, but she could hear him pant and hiss and groan and the sounds didn't help her at all. She also involuntarily focused on the smell in the room. It wasn't the unpleasant smell produced by bacteria on the skin when one sweated, it was more like the way your skin smells after having been exposed to the sun for a few hours. It was hot and intoxicating. Good Lord, she was going to die in this wardrobe.

She opened her eyes again and watched through the slit as the commander's hands started moving faster again. He contracted his jaw and the muscles of his arm bulged as he kept speeding up. He had a really tight grip on himself and Lucy briefly wondered how he didn't feel any pain when handling his member with so much brutality. The question didn't bother her for more than two or three seconds, though, as she saw him pant more and heard louder groans and hissing noises. Lucy herself was reaching her limits, she didn't think she could keep sitting in this fucking wardrobe for much longer. She was undeniably and ardently turned on.

"Fuck," he growled.

A minute later, he loudly hissed one last time and his hand came to a stop. He bent down to grab a pack of tissues and wiped himself. Afterwards, he leaned against the wall for a moment, steadying his breathing. Lucy caught a glimpse of his firm butt when he stood up and walked to the bathroom before closing the door. She waited for a moment and finally heard the water being turned on. Taking this as her cue to leave, the young woman opened the door of the wardrobe and silently walked toward the door, her file still under her arm. She unlocked it and exited the room, barely daring to breath.

The freezing cold of the night air did nothing to cool her heated body down and her head was still spinning when she entered the medical wing and practically sleepwalked to Erza's office. She knocked weakly on the door and Erza had to tell her to come in twice before she actually entered the office. Erza raised her eyebrows when she saw her friend's very red face and her strange behavior.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worriedly. "What happened?"

Lucy shook her head and averted her eyes as she walked to the desk to put the file on it.

"Nothing," she mumbled. She loved Erza dearly, but this was a bit too embarrassing to tell... "I have to go."

"Yeah, right, you wish," the redhead retorted. "Sit and talk."

"Damn..."

Lucy realized she had cursed out loud when her friend smirked in victory and pointed to the seat in front of her desk.

"I'm all ears," she assured.

Lucy's face caught fire as she told Erza that she had to enter the room without the commander's permission and how she panicked when she heard him come back.

"I hid inside the wardrobe..." she confessed. "I didn't mean to spy on him or anything, I just didn't think..."

"Yes," the doctor nodded, still not understanding why her friend looked so shaken.

"And... I... he..."

Lucy then proceeded to tell her friend about the private show she got, trying not to sound as if she had been very happy with her predicament. Erza opened wide eyes as she listened to her young friend and Lucy glared at her when she noticed that she was having a hard time holding her laughter back.

"It's not funny..."

Erza couldn't help but chortle when she heard her friend's sulking voice and saw her childish pout.

"Sorry, but I can't agree with you on this," she chuckled. "I think it's very funny, on the contrary. They were so many ways you could have used to get out of there... But, well, I'm not judging you or anything. I mean, you're a healthy young woman and Natsu's a good-looking young man, so it's only natural that you'd..."

"I'm leaving," Lucy interrupted as she rose from her seat and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Erza laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, but it's just so funny, hahaha! I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow!"

Lucy closed the door without answering, but she wasn't really angry at her friend and she was happy she'd get to eat with her the following day. She was just very frustrated at the moment and she couldn't bother being polite. When she opened the door of her room, she found Loke sitting on his bed, reading a comic. He arched a brow when he saw her.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Get out," she ordered.

"What?"

"Go hang out with Gray and Gajeel, or anyone else," she said, "it doesn't matter. Just get out for... I don't know, about half an hour."

Loke smirked as he put his comic down and slowly got out of bed.

"Why?" he chuckled. "You look very red, you know?"

"Be quiet and leave."

She could still hear him laugh when she closed the door, but he did stay away from the room for more than half an hour.

Lucy slept like a baby that night and didn't even mind that she was woken up by the loud snoring of her roommate. She cracked an eye open and looked through the window. The sky was dark grey and menacing. Nothing surprising there, it was almost November.

"Tell him I forgive him."

Lucy frowned. She heard the words in her head as she was staring at a white cloud. Who forgave who? Were the words even directed at her, or did she hear them on TV or somewhere else? Loke shifted in his bed and Lucy turned her head to look at him. He stretched, yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily before looking at her. She chuckled when she saw his strands of hair stick out in every possible direction. He grinned at her and sat up.

"You watch me when I sleep?" he asked. "How romantic."

Lucy scoffed and sighed as she pushed herself off the mattress.

"I just woke up too," she answered. "I slept so well I'm not sure if I'm really awake."

Loke chuckled.

"I know what you mean."

They heard knocks on the door and Loke groaned as he stood up and went to answer it, Lucy noticing only then that he had slept in only his underwear. Loke was good-looking, even she could see it, but he didn't make her blush or feel uncomfortably hot or anxious like Natsu did. It was incontestable that the attraction she felt toward the commander easily surpassed any other. When she looked at Loke's bare back, her mind immediately brought back images of the commander's bare torso, the previous evening, as his hands reached down. Lucy groaned and hid her head under the covers. She really was hopeless.

"Yes?" she heard Loke say at the door. "Oh, good morning, commander. To what do we owe the pleasure of your early visit?"

Lucy's heart hammered furiously in her chest and she looked over her cover to see the commander standing in her doorway. He glanced at Loke's appearance and then at her. His jaw contracted and she swore she saw his fists clench dangerously. He breathed in deeply and focused his attention back on Loke.

"I have a proposition for you both," he said, "do you have a moment?"

Natsu entered and Lucy's panic increased. Since Loke knew about her, she stopped wearing her bandage at night. She clutched her blanket to her chest as the commander briefly looked at their beds, only to decide to keep standing, arms crossed over his chest, even when Loke offered him to sit on his bed.

"I'll be quick," he assured. "Luc heard about it yesterday, there's a serial killer going berserk in town and we're forming teams to arrest him. It will be a dangerous mission, so feel free to decline, but would the two of you join my patrol?"

Loke's eyes widened, Lucy had forgotten about this, so she hadn't told him about the Butcher and the patrols.

"Well, this is unexpected," Loke mused out loud.

"You don't have to give me your answer right away," the commander said. "I'll give Gramps the names of the selected members at noon."

"I agree."

Loke stared at Lucy in surprise, raising his eyebrows.

"That quickly?"

Natsu's eyes finally found hers and she nodded.

"I volunteered yesterday," she told Loke. "I haven't change my mind."

Loke smiled, amused, and shrugged when he turned to the commander again.

"Well, we're both in, then," he grinned.

The commander nodded and turned to the door, making sure not to look at any of them.

"Fine," he said. "See you later."

And with this, he left. Loke closed the door and turned to her, frowning in confusion.

"He didn't look too well, did he?"

She nodded.

"Well," she said, "he'll be the only one to suffer the consequences if we can't catch this killer in time. It would make me anxious too."

"Right."

Truth be told, she wasn't convinced by this explanation either. She could see that the commander was being colder than ever lately, he took his distances with the recruits, and call her paranoid if you want, but she was pretty sure that he was doing everything he could to avoid her. He didn't come to the refectory for breakfast and Lucy hated to admit that it bothered her more than it should have. Erza even came to join them, but it wasn't enough to reassure her and lift her mood.

First period was Mathematics and Lucy sat by the window, as usual. She mostly ignored her teacher, she didn't understand anything about exponential functions last time she checked, she wouldn't miraculously get it today. She stared out the window and soon realized that someone was running laps around the field. She squinted her eyes to try and recognize them, but to no avail. She remembered the way the commander kept running the previous day, even when he already looked exhausted. Was he the one running today too? His limbs would become sore again if it really was him. Sore and stiff. Lucy gulped, her mind replaying the scene from the previous evening in her head.

She didn't know why the commander was behaving weirdly lately, but it didn't change anything for her: he could be as cold and distant as he wanted with her, she still wouldn't let them send him to Joya. She wouldn't let them take him away too. Of course, she was aware that her attachment to Natsu would only cause problems for her in the near future, but she was pretty sure that living away from him would only make things worse for her. She scoffed when she thought of her original plan: nothing was going as planned, but she couldn't exactly complain about it.

"Hey, sleepy head," the teacher called her. "I'm talking to you. Come to the board and solve this."

Lucy frowned, looked at the board, saw that the teacher had written incomprehensible things and realized that she didn't even know how she was supposed to start.

"Come on," he insisted, holding his chalk in front of him.

"Ugh," Lucy groaned as she stood up.

oOo

Lucy sighed as she slumped in her seat, dropping her tray on the table.

"I hate maths," she groaned, "and I hate Bob."

Gray chuckled and raised a brow.

"What happened?"

Lucy groaned and let her forehead bump against the wooden table.

"Don't ask..."

Gajeel sniggered while munching his chicken, only looking up to send her a mocking look.

"Bob asked her to help him with a demonstration," he explained, ignoring Lucy's glare. "Turned out he wanted to show us that the navel is actually a very ticklish place. Don't ask me why, the only thing I understood was that this idiot's here is very ticklish."

"She yelped and slapped his hand away," Loke added, "I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself."

The boys laughed loudly, but stopped talking about it when Erza, Elfman, Sting and Rogue joined them. When they were all reunited, saying ''her'' when talking about Lucy, or hinting at her true gender was obviously out of the question. So, instead, they made fun of Sting, who had apparently tried to steal roses from the garden to give them to a nurse-in-training.

"If you want to offer flowers, you have to buy them, you moron," Loke teased him.

"Where do you want me to find a florist here?" the blonde brat retorted. "We almost never leave the academy!"

"Why don't you take her out on the week-end?" Lucy suggested.

Sting stared at her with a dumb look on his face, his cheeks quickly turning red.

"Look who's being shy," Gajeel smirked, "how cute."

"Shut up," Sting growled, blushing even more.

"It's manly to ask a girl out!" Elfman shouted.

The redhead doctor nodded approvingly at this.

"It is, indeed," she agreed. "You should go for it."

"She looks interested in you as well," Rogue noted.

"You can't ignore a girl's feelings for too long," Gray said.

Lucy sniggered and arched a brow at him.

"Look who's talking," she retorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

They kept teasing each other and making childish jokes until the doors of the refectory were abruptly pushed open and the commander walked in: all conversations died right away. Erza jumped to her feet and quickly walked toward him. He was panting, but this time it didn't make Lucy feel warm or anything. His clothes were clinging to his sweaty body, making it obvious that he was having difficulties breathing. But the most worrisome thing was the blood on his forehead that ran down his face on his left cheek.

"What in the world happened to you?" Erza asked.

Natsu shrugged her off and picked up a tray to go get food.

"I tripped and fell," he answered, "no need to freak out. I'll go wash after I ate."

"You've been running all morning?"

The commander shrugged, put an apple on his tray, beside his plate and coffee. He walked toward their table, Erza right behind him.

"Yeah," he said. "Why do you sound so surprised? I train everyday."

He dropped his tray on the table and Lucy froze when he sat right beside her. Erza sat in front of him.

"There's a large difference between exercising for two or three hours a day and running non-stop for six hours!"

"I didn't run non-stop," the commander corrected, "even I need breaks sometimes."

"You got dizzy and fell," the doctor pointed.

"Things like that happen all the time," he argued. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to eat. Can you hand me the salt?"

It took Lucy ten full seconds to understand that he was talking to her. She looked at him dumbly and saw him arch a brow at her.

"Well?" he repeated. "The salt?"

She gave it to him and kept observing him as he started eating. Despite his condition, he looked much calmer than he had this morning. And it was always a good sign to have a good appetite, so there was no need to worry about the commander, really. He was right, it wasn't uncommon to trip and fall while running, and his cut didn't look deep or dirty. But, deep down, Lucy knew that running for so long wasn't normal. And she knew that his extremely dilated pupils weren't normal either.

End of chapter 18

Hello again. So, I don't really know what to say. I don't think the scenes were that explicit, but if it was too much for you, you'll have to skip some later chapters that will be far more intense, haha!

Please, do let me know what you've thought of this chapter, it will help me take some decisions for the way I'll write the upcoming mature scenes.

On another note, I got messages saying that some reviews you guys sent didn't appear on the site. I contacted to tell them about it, I hope they'll solve the problem soon!

Once again, thank you very much to everyone who showed their support by leaving reviews, I read all of them and you guys are just so kind to me, haha! I seriously love you! Thank you to those of you who favorited or followed the story.

Finally, to the Tumblr user nalufanficreblog, you called yourself a nobody when you shared my fic on the site. Well, thank you very much for being such an awesome nobody, I'll keep your name in mind!

Reminder: Loke and Lucy are just friends and I won't change that fact in my story.

Questions/Answers:

Q (from almost everyone): Who was it that saw Lucy?

A: For the sake of the plot, I can't say it clearly yet, but I think it's pretty obvious now, haha!

Q (from LadyPugtato): What is your upload schedule for all your stories?

A: I don't have a schedule, I just post the chapters when they're ready, haha!

Next chapter coming soon!