Natsu sits alone on the school roof. it's late and he stares at the sky thinking of all he'd been through recently. It'd been two weeks since he'd arrived. In that time he'd become a gang leader and solidified his station as the worst person in the school. He now had a nickname he was supposed to use on the street. Apparently the whole gang had one. Juvia was Rain Woman, Gray was Ice King, Wendy was Little Dragon, Gajeel was Iron Dragon, and he was now Salamander. He sighs and peers over the edge of the roof. "What am I doing", he thinks. He stands and walks from the edge. He returns to his room and lays on his bed. He thinks momentarily of a thought he'd had many times in the last two weeks. "Why me, what did I do to cause this?" he sinks into a shallow restless sleep.
-Lucy-
Lucy sits huddled in the corner trying not to hear the voices in her head. She tried to call for Levy but couldn't reach her voice. She rocked back and forth clutching at her ears trying in vain to stop the torrent of madness. She managed to stand her mind crying out for blood as she wailed silently for quiet. She stumbled to the bathroom and ripped open the cupboard. She dug through the bottles and tubes within but her hands never found the pills she needed. She collapsed to the floor and retreated within herself as the voices continued their onslaught.
"YOU ARE NOTHING", the voice of her father. " YOU'RE ONLY A BURDEN", Levy's voice. Her father once more screams at her, "YOU USELESS WASTE OF AIR, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ANYONE?" She falls under the words, tears flow from her eyes, and she begins to beat at her head. Finally one quiet voice speaks through the onslaught, the voice of her mother. " come with me Lucy, come with me". She stood and walked from the room and as made her way to roof in a daze. In her mind she followed her mother through the garden on the way to somewhere better.
Lucy was dimly aware of her motion as she floated within her mind. Some one else was driving, but not Happy Lucy. Lucy didn't know where she was going she only knew that the voices were following her and that this was the only way to escape them. She didn't remember what time it was. She only felt the temperature drop and then she was falling.
-Natsu-
Natsu woke with a start, he didn't know what had woken him but he felt scared. He looked around the room and saw that his scarf was missing. He cursed himself for leaving it on the roof and rose to get it.
As he reached the stairs he became aware of a light rhythmic slap, like bare feet on stone. He hurried up the stairs and turned the corner to see the door swinging closed. He ran to the door and shoved it open. He saw a girl, barely dressed and walking straight for the edge. He called out and ran forward. She turned just as she reached the edge and he knew who it was.
She fell backward over the edge and he leapt forward. He reached the edge as she started to fall from sight he reached down to grab her, but missed. He rolled over the ledge and grabbed again.
-Lucy-
Lucy became aware as the sky spun over her, she reeled over backward and saw the ground far below. She began to scream but her voice was cut off as she jerked to a halt her legs fling past her as her tank top bit into her armpit. She clutched her arms to her chest to keep from slipping through and free falling. She heard and loud growl above her and looked up.
Above her muscles bulging as he held her by the back of the shirt in one had and the lip of the roof with the other. His teeth clenched and his eyes set determinedly was Natsu. She began to cry as he held her. His eyes brightened with a fire she'd never seen in anyone before. The veins on his arms popped out as she began to rise.
He flung her over the ledge with a roar. She rolled on the shale . scraping her shoulders and knees. She crawls back to the edge as Natsu pulls himself up over the lip. He gets up on his knees and looks in her direction. She freezes as blood trickles from his nose. He glares down at her. She falls back onto her heels as he stares. She suddenly becomes aware of her less than adequate state of dress, especially her now completely destroyed top. She looks back at him but instead of his eyes being locked on her body they bore into her eyes. He raises a hand and she winces. But a blow never lands instead he's pulling her forward into him.
"Why would you…?" he chokes past tears as he clutches her." What did you have to gain from ending it all?"
She says nothing. She simply wraps her arms around him and sobs into his chest. She cries from fear, pain, sadness. She eventually quiets and as the adrenaline fades she shivers from the cold, and feels blood dripping from all her small cuts and scrapes. Natsu pulls away for a second.
A moment later he returns and wraps something around her. He puts an arm under her legs and lifts her into his arms. She clutches at his shirt as he carries her inside. They descend the stairs and walk along an empty hall. She doesn't know where he's taking her, and she doesn't care.
She wakes not realizing she'd fallen asleep as he sets her down on a sofa and walks to turn on the light. He walks into the bathroom and comes out with a first aid kit. He silently cleans and disinfects all the little scrapes and nicks from the roof. He pauses and looks seemingly for the first time at her ruined shirt.
" Do you mind raising your arm?" he says color flushing his cheeks. "I mean so I can see where the shirt was." he stammers and lowers his eyes.
Lucy nods and raises her arm enough for him to inspect the friction burns underneath. Once he finishes he walks over to his dresser and takes out a shirt. He hands it to her and turns to the kitchenette. She puts the shirt on and removes the scraps that used to be a tank top from underneath. Natsu returns and ands her a tin. Opening it she reveals the cookies he'd made, she didn't even know how long ago.
Natsu clears his throat and looks her in the eye," what were you doing on that roof?" His question isn't accusatory, or angry, just concerned. She thought for a second then, tears once again in her eyes she began to tell him everything. Once she finished Natsu stood turned out the light and returned.
Standing over her he says softly, "You'll sleep her tonight ok".
She nods and he picks her up and places her on the bed. As he turns away she grabs his hand and looks into his eyes.
"Stay with me. Please just until I fall asleep". She pleads and he nods. She moves over to one side of the bed and he sits partially upright. She gets close to him and leans her head on his chest closing her eyes and falling asleep to the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He wraps one arm around her and lays his head on top of hers.
-Levy-
Levy wakes to the sound of her alarm. She rises from her pillows and stretches. It's a little before the school alarm goes off and she gets ready like everyday. After she eats she heads to Gajeels dorm to say good morning. It's a long breathless greeting that only ends when the school alarm sounds. She disengages from Gajeel and heads to Lucy's dorm to wake her.
Levy hesitates in front of Lucy's door. She's never liked going in there. She worries one day she'll find Lucy dead, or worse. She opens the door and peers inside. Her stomach drops as she sees the sheets torn from the bed and Lucy nowhere in sight. She rushes to the bathroom and stares dismayed and the medicine cabinet, the door hanging from a single hinge and bottles flung everywhere. She checks the whole room but Lucy is nowhere here either.
Levy begins to panic, who knows what Lucy could be doing, wandering around in a hazy rage. She doesn't want to think of all the possibilities that flood her mind. Wresting control over herself Levy calls Gajeel.
"Hey shrimp, what's shaking"? His voice rings over the speaker calming Levy enough to speak.
"It's Lucy, She's missing". Her voice is shaky and drips with fear.
For a time the line is silent until Gajeel speaks. " I'll get some people on it", he pauses before continuing in a tender tone," Don't worry we'll find her."
He hangs up and she slumps to the floor. She cries hoping with all her heart that Lucy's alright. She could never forgive herself if she didn't come back safe.
A few minutes later she receives a text from Gajeel, " We found her. She's in Natsu's dorm."
She's already running when the next text arrives and she doesn't stop to read it. It reads: " Don't worry, she's fine. I'm heading to your dorm, meet me there before you do anything."
-Natsu-
Natsu rouses slowly. He glances at his clock and groans. He goes to rub his eyes but stops as he feels a weight on his arm. There's a muffled groan below his neck, and he looks down to see Lucy. Her head is resting on his chest and her torso and legs are pressed up against him. He glances at the clock again and decides to stay still at least until the school alarm sounds.
Natsu sits with Lucy sleeping atop him for another half an hour before he becomes conscious of his need to pee. He tries to delicately disentangle himself from her but it's nearly impossible. After a minute of struggling he finally detaches himself and heads to the bathroom.
He returns to find Lucy sprawled over the bed. He chuckles quietly and enters the kitchenette. He sets about making breakfast.
Natsu's cracking eggs when the school alarm rings. Lucy raises her head and rubs her eyes. Natsu smiles, her hair is a mess and he can't help but thinking she looks adorable in his shirt.
"Morning sleeping beauty", He says cheerily.
Lucy looks around and gets to her feet somewhat wobbly. She winces as all her scraps and cuts are stretched by her movement. She walks over to the counter and sits on a stool.
She fidgets for a moment before speaking," Thankyou. For saving me I mean." she looks down, " I'm sure i wouldn't be breathing today if you hadn't".
Natsu poors the eggs he'd been whisking into a pan to scramble. " It's fine.", he turns to her. " I help people out of habit".
She giggles at this and wipes the mist from her eyes. " Yeah you're right". She pauses before looking back at him. " I feel safe around you."
Natsu sighs dumping the eggs onto a couple of plates. " you're probably the first person to say that in years".
She inhales as he passes a plate to her . " I don't normally have this much… awareness, without going insane." the words are slow and choked, like they are a pain to say.
Natsu looks up and sighs. " If you ever need my help you know where I am". He sits beside her and begins eating. She leans in to him and starts eating as well.
suddenly the door flies open and Gajeel bursts in.
" Boss, I need your help I'm looking for-". His voice trails off as his eyes fall on Lucy eggs halfway to her mouth.
A smile plays at the corners of his mouth, as he takes in the shirt she's wearing and the mussed up sheets. He turns to Natsu, "Well congrats on the hit. But Levy's worried sick, so a notification would've been useful".
Lucy's and Natsu's eyes both go wide at his words. " It's n-n-not… We didn't… No!", they both stutter in unison. Gajeel's already on his phone texting Levy.
"I'm gonna head over to meet her at her dorm to talk her down before she gets here. You two just sit tight." he leaves as he's talking closing the door behind him on his way out.
Lucy finishes her eggs and Natus takes the plate to the sink. She strides to the couch and her eyes fall on a long white piece of thick quilted fabric. She picks it up and looks at it. Natsu walks up behind her and takes it wrapping it around her neck.
"It's a scarf, I got it from my father. Before he died." he says softly.
Lucy puts her hands up to the scarf and lifts the fabric to her face. She could swear it smelled like Natsu, and she found it comforting.
Natsu walks towards his dresser calling back over his shoulder, " I'll get you some pants to borrow so we can get you to your room".
As Lucy waits for him to return the door bursts open again and Levy rushes in. Natsu turns a pair of sweatpants in his hand. As Levy charges in. marching up to him and sticking her hand in his face. Natsu holds up his hands and backs up as she berates him.
" You sick ass. What do you think you were doing with Lucy? So help me if you anything that hurt her, I'll kick your ass myself! Do you think it's fun scaring me half to death while you have your way with my best friend." She inhales for more but Lucy intercedes.
"Levy stop, he didn't do anything." Lucy shouts aware that she doesn't look convincing of that point.
Levy turns to Lucy shock in her eyes. " You're sober", she breathes quietly. Lucy nods.
Natsu blushing thoroughly says," I can attest to that. In fact she was sober all night." He makes a cutting motion trying to appeal to Lucy not to elaborate on the subject.
Levy looks Lucy up and down, noticing the scrapes on her legs. Lucy walks over to Natsu who hands her the pants. She tugs them on and turns back to Levy who was staring at the scrapes on her hands and lower back that were exposed as she dressed.
"What happened?" Levy asks at length.
Lucy explains the events from the previous evening. Glossing over the part where she and Natsu had shared the bed. Levy just looks on stunned.
FInally she says," we need to get you ready for class". She grabs Lucy's hand who in turn grabs Natsu's who grabs the Jeans and t-shirt he'd set out the night before for this morning as Levy Drags them to Lucy's dorm. She Drags Lucy through the door and turns to stop her from dragging Natsu in with them.
She closes the door on him and he's left in the hall pants in hand. He looks around before quickly switching his clothes. He watches the door waiting for the girls. In a surprisingly short time they are back out and Lucy latches on to his hand with her own as Levy once again begins leading them away. He tosses his Pjs through the door as it swings shut and is pulled along by the girls.
When they arrive at the class Lucy refuses to sit in the back, wanting to sit in the front with Natsu. NAtsu tries to ask the guy next to him to move but the guy is already in the back by the time he finishes saying hey. Natsu blinks atthis and shrugs.
Lucy shoves her desk closer to his and leans against him for the whole class. Natsu glances At Levy nervously but she seems fine with it. " I will never understand women" he thinks adamantly.
During the Class everyone looks a lot more relaxed around him. He doesn't quite know why but he feels relaxed to and he can't help but smile as Lucy takes notes with her arm looped through his.
-Lucy-
*in Lucy's dorm*
Lucy spins around for Levy to see her 's dressed in Legging and a long sleeve shirt that's both cute and concealing. She nods and looks seriously at Lucy. " We need you to get him to stay with you. Try to play the role of loving girlfriend for a while. We can't have him saying anything, and it would probably help make it easier for everyone if they see you relaxed with him." she says straightening Lucy's shirt.
Lucy doesn't see any reason for anyone to be on edge around him, and didn't think she'd have trouble pretending to love him. She was pretty sure she already did, and she was naturally very affectionate and Clingy. She smiled as Levy pushed her to the door.
A note: I probably won't be able to upload next week because I have finals all this week. :(
I hope you're all enjoying my work. Nyaaa!