We were walking down the sidewalk hand in hand. I was pretty damn nervous considering I never held hands with anybody, even Lisanna. But Lucy never let go, and neither did I. The whole mushy, romantic thing about tingles and fireworks whenever your "soul mate" or crush touched you wasn't really present, but it sure did give me anxiety. I just hope my hand wasn't sweating.

Did I just imply that Lucy was my soulmate?

I mean, I wouldn't mind if she was…

I didn't say anything because I knew Lucy was pretty vulnerable and emotional right now, so I let her think for a little bit while we walked to my workplace. The whole ordeal made me even more nervous since she was about to meet my friends and I wasn't sure how they would react to meeting her. I just hoped they wouldn't kill each other.

After a few minutes of the walk I felt Lucy's hand relax in mine and squeeze lightly as I tugged her along. The walk took about fifteen minutes. We were silent the whole time, but it wasn't awkward, it was comfortable. I stopped in front of the building with Lucy at my side. The banner labeled the place "Fairy Tail."

I sighed and looked at her, relieved to see an expression of awe on her face. "So, this is where you work?" She asked, glancing at me.

"Yep, good old Fairy Tail." I turned towards her. "I want you to meet my friends."

Her eyes widened and pink tinged her cheeks. "A-Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

"No, it's fine. It'll take your mind off things. This place is really special to me and I want to share it with you."

She smiled at me, and I took a moment to marvel at how beautiful she looked, her hair blowing in the wind. "I really like your smile..." I mumbled.

I didn't realize what I said until she blinked, speechless. I jumped away frantically. "Um...we should probably go inside now."

We bounded up the steps and I heard her mumble inaudibly, but it sounded like she said, "I like yours too." That brought a smile to my face.

I slammed the tall, double doors open and yelled, "I'm back, bitches!" Everybody looked up at me, startled, and Lucy slapped me on the arm.

"Natsu!" She hissed silently. She continued scolding me until she heard a chorus of greetings coming from everybody in the room. I grinned and looked around, seeing familiar faces everywhere.

Mira came up to me with a huge smile. "Hey Natsu! Who's your friend?" She asked, eyeing Lucy.

"Mira, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is my boss, Mira." I said.

"Oh my! Is this the Lucy you told me about?" Mira gasped. "I'll get you two a table right away!"

After she was out of earshot, Lucy leaned in and whispered in my ear. "So, you talk about me, huh?" She giggled seeing the blush on my face.

Mira beckoned us over to an empty table and we walked over. I pulled out the chair for Lucy and she smiled at me and said thanks. I quickly sat down and looked at my white-haired boss. She said, "So, how'd you guys meet each other?"

"We go to the same school," Lucy answered. "I started tutoring him in Pre-Calculus."

"I always knew Natsu was a straight D student." I scowled at her. "Oh, calm down, Natsu. I was joking. Anyway, what would you guys like to order?"

After we ordered our food, my friend Gajeel sauntered over with his girlfriend, Levy, by his side. They seemed to be arguing about something, as always. Sometimes I wonder why they're a couple, especially since Gajeel is the complete opposite of Levy. He's obnoxious and rowdy and Levy is sweet and smart. They're the epitome of The Odd Couple.

"Aye, Salamander. You got yourself a girlfriend or somethin'?" He asked, painfully slapping me on the back as he gave studied Lucy. I felt like punching him for looking at her that way. Not exactly sure which way he looked at her, though. I'm not good at reading faces and emotions.

"She's not my girlfriend, metal for brains. We're just friends."

He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Well, you might want to wipe the lovey-dovey look off your face, idiot. It's obvious you have a thing for her." I felt my cheeks heat up at his remark. Was I really that readable?

I looked over to see Lucy and Levy talking animatedly about some book I hadn't heard about, then again, I never read so why would I have? At least they got along. I saw Gajeel's eyes narrow at her and when I was about to elbow him in the side for looking at her again, he pointed and proclaimed, "You're that girl I saw on TV!"

Lucy stopped talking and looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"You were in that bunny costume trying to get people to donate money to charity." He explained, crossing his arms.

Lucy flushed. "U-Uh, yeah. That was me."

Gajeel grinned. "I'm gonna call you bunny girl." He said as he walked over and rustled her hair. She protested against his actions, but to no avail.

The rest of the night went on, Lucy and Levy talking about books, Levy and Gajeel fighting, Gajeel calling Lucy bunny girl. It was interesting, to say the least. Our food was good, as always; Mira is the best cook. It tired me out, though. So when I got back from walking Lucy home, I collapsed on my bed. After a few minutes, I decided I might as well do my Pre-Calculus homework, and it was actually pretty easy. Maybe the tutoring was working after all. When I was done, I went to bed.

{~•~•~}

I was driving in the car with my Mom in the passenger seat and my little sister, Wendy, in the backseat. I had my driver's test in a few days, and I wanted to get more practice in. I was nervous to say the least. We were on our way to get dinner as my Mom and Wendy argued over what to get.

"We should get pizza!" Wendy had said.

"Honey, we always eat pizza. Why don't we get sushi?" My Mom asked.

"Pizza! Pizza!" Wendy chanted. She was ten at the time, five years younger than me.

Mom sighed. "How about this: we'll get you a pizza and we'll eat sushi."

Wendy cheered and I switched lanes to go to the pizza place. It was really foggy out, so I had my headlights on, but I could still barely see. So I went about ten below the speed limit.

I came up on a green light to turn around, as the pizza place was on the other side of the street, when a commercial truck slammed into the passenger side of the car. My Mom's head slammed against the window as Wendy was thrown into the opposite passenger door. My Mom was later pronounced dead on arrival. Wendy had almost pulled through, staying alive a few more hours, but died on the operation table when they failed to repair the organs that were injured before she bled out.

It was a very horrific scene, but I only got out with scrapes and bruises. I knew I should've died with them.

The other driver was charged ten years for running a red light and killing two people, but that didn't heal the emptiness in my heart.

{~•~•~}

I woke up with a jump, breathing heavy and my clothes damp from sweat. I rubbed my face with my hands and got up out of my bed, changing my clothes into a hoodie and some jeans before heading out. I was going to my private thinking place; a Sakura tree in the middle of the woods near the school. I stumbled upon it one day when I couldn't bare the judgmental faces of my classmates. That was about a year ago. It took me about ten minutes as I followed the small path into a clearing. My eyes widened at what I saw.

Lucy was lying in the grass, staring at the stars.

{~•~•~}

I might come back later and add to this

we'll see hehe

Well now that that's done, tomorrow I can write the next chapter

And there'll be some tea spilled ;)