And here comes part 2. I hope you like it.

Part 2

She stepped trembling into the kitchen and looked sick and broken, completely finished. He ignored her and took a sip of his coffee, as his dark soul mirrors slid across the news. He had slept crazily and his words of yesterday night, he was sorry now. But he would not take his words back. This time he would not collapse again. Not the way he used to do it every time. He did not want her to sink any further, but slowly he was just tired. They were grown-up and he had learned the hard way that life was hard, that he had to be more serious, that he could not always be the childish idiot, who was always in a fight or destroying things.

"N-Natsu," she began softly, and he growled in response. Her voice sounded scratchy and rough and inside he cursed her, then he looked up. Pain shot through his heart. Deep shadows lay under her eyes and she was so pale that she already seemed lifeless. Her eyes were red and glassy. And she was shaking all over. Did she cry again? He sighed, ran his hands through his salmon hair, then set his tablet aside.

"What is it?", he asked, and silence spread. He could hear the street noise, which was like a low hum in the background.

"I ...", she started in a trembling voice and her voice broke away. He frowned, folding his arms across his chest.

"Yes?"

"You ...", she started again, and he saw how her slender hands clawed into the wide fabric of the shirt. She seemed so lost in it and apparently, she could not say her words. Annoyed, he snorted. He'd always hated it when he had to pull all the shit out of her nose and didn't just spit it out. He looked at his watch while she was still lost in front of him, unable to get the words she had to say to him.

"If you have nothing to say, then you can disappear, okay? I'll go to work in 10 minutes", he said, breaking the silence and his words sounded hard and cold. But that was the way they were interacting with each other now. She flinched as if he had hit her and her fine features twisted painfully.

"I ... do you hate me now?", she asked, looking up at the floor with her shoulders raised, not daring to look at him. He could almost grab her fear with his hands. And he knew that she was just afraid of it. He knew it, it was him who caught her when her parents threw her out.

"Give me a reason why I should not hate you", he commented, grabbing his cup and tipping off the coffee. His throat was burning with the heat of the drink, but it did not itch him now. He was still angry with her. He did not want her to die of her crappy addiction, but she did not listen to him. She let not help herself and take more and more from this shit. Now she raised her eyes and he saw the fear in her eyes. And it hurt. When did that start? Oh right, when he got together with Lisanna. It had started, he remembered darkly. He was not with her anymore. She had cheated on him then with Bixlow.

"I ... we are best friends. We've known each other since kindergarten", she whispered, her voice filled with fear and uncertainty. Tears formed in her eyes and he wanted to hug her. But he wanted her to change. And if that meant he had to push her away, then it had to be. They ran down her cheeks as he looked at her unemotionally, then sighed, craning his neck.

"That's no reason", he said, straightening up and getting up. He loomed over her head and she looked at him wide-eyed as he studied her coldly.

"I ..."

"You should get dressed now, Lucy," he said cold, interrupting her words. She stared at him, eyes wide. She seemed frozen, tears streaming down her cheeks again. Then she sniffed and staggered forward, shaking her head.

"Please ... me ..."

"I have to go to work."

"Natsu ... I ... I", she started again and before he could pull away his arm, she embraced his arm in desperation. She howled snot and water as she clung to him.

"Please ... I do not want that ..."

"What? Hmm? What you do not want? That I go? That I end our friendship? Then watch out, Heartfilia. You are a wreck. A degenerate little bitch, which I have to save the ass for almost half a year almost every damn evening, because she is already bled with too much cocaine and grass or alcohol! Do you seriously think that I do not have enough of that?", he asked, feeling the anger rise in him. He glared at her and snatched his arm away from her, turned away, and walked through the kitchen toward the hall. He heard her run after him and put on his shoes, took the gun holster from the hook and put it on. He was about to reach for the jacket when she half-jumped him and pressed her narrow body against his.

"Natsu ... please, I do not want to lose you", she wailed, and he groaned annoyed. He did not want to push her away. But he could not watch her destroy herself. Didn't she notice that herself?

"Lucy ...", he started and his voice was thick as he uncompromisingly grabbed her thin arms. She was so thin, so fragile. It made him sick. She clawed at the fabric of his shirt so hard that he felt her nails in his stomach and growled irritably.

"No ... I ... I love you!", her voice was hysterical, and he felt her shaking. She loved him? Are she serious? Was this her way, to show him that she loved him? By destroying herself and fucking with strangers on dirty toilets? He laughed in disbelief, pulled her arms away from him, turned and pushed her away from him.

"You love Me? Is that supposed to be a bad joke? I can't believe you. You pull yourself in drugs and alcohol and fuck unprotected through the area. And you call that love?"

"I ... I ask ... I do everything for you", her voice was pleading, and he paused. Could it be? Honestly? He could not believe her that much. Despair lay in the brown, murky soul mirrors.

"Then make a cold withdrawal and if I just see you taking a drop of alcohol or something else, you'll never see me again, is that clear?"

She stared at him with wide eyes and his heart rate quickened. And then ... she nodded, and he saw the determination in her eyes. He saw a hint of the old Lucy in her eyes. The Lucy he loved. He always wanted to protect.

"Well ... if you can do that, then you can stay here today and tomorrow I'll take you to a clinic. And woe, if I get another call from Levy!", he growled, and she swallowed hard as she nodded and smiled hesitantly at him. He nodded, then took the jacket off the clothes rack, threw it over and picked up his keys.

"And please, take a shower. You stink after alcohol, drugs and men", he growled, before he pulled the door closed and locked it from the outside. Since there was no second key, she could not leave the apartment. So, she would not even donate if she had withdrawal symptoms. And as he walked down the hall, got into the elevator to get into the garage, his heart burned, and he grimaced.

She stepped trembling under the shower and stood under the cold water, closing her eyes and sliding to the floor. Everything turned, she was bad, and her body ached. He hated her. But he gave her a chance. Lucy gritted her teeth tightly and pulled her legs close to her body. She had wanted to forget at the time. The shock of getting together with Lisanna had just been too big and then somebody had offered her her first joint. She had wanted to forget her feelings, but she just could not make it and she kept getting drawn into a whirlpool of sex and drugs.

Her confession earlier had been pure panic. Her last desperate act so she would not lose him. If he had pushed her away, that would be the end of her life. Then it would all be over and she would have put an end to her life. And now she sat here in his shower and let herself be sprayed with cold water.

Her heart ached and she grimaced, shaking and staggering, bracing herself against the wall, then reaching for the vanilla cup. The look of her brown irises stopped and she frowned. Why did he still have her favorite shower gel here? She reached for it instinctively and swallowed hard. Maybe there was still hope. She smiled slightly, then squeezed some of the bright yellow shower gel out of the tube, rubbed herself into it, and washed away the stink and sweat of the last night. In particular, she cleaned her private parts. Later, she always disgusted herself and yes, she knew he probably did not believe her. She would not believe herself.

After more than half an hour under the water, she stepped out of the large shower and wrapped herself in a white, fluffy towel. She studied the washbasin and the small cupboard above it. Feeling how she got nervous and swallowed. She used to always have a toothbrush here. Was that one still there? Her hands trembled as her fingers approached the handle of the closet door.

She swallowed again and opened the small closet and her eyes widened, her throat tightened and she began to cry. He had not thrown it away. Her toothbrush, her hairbrush, skin and hair creams that were hers were still there. That was one of the things Lisanna had never understood all the time. Lucy had often stayed overnight with Natsu and Natsu often with Lucy.

And for practical reasons, she had given things of him and he had done the same with her. Sniffing, she brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth. Then she creamed her arms and face, put flush into her hair. Her heart was racing as she left the bathroom and went to his bedroom. She also had some clothes here, but was not sure if they were still there. Could she hope? She swallowed as she approached his closet and opened the doors. Her heart was thumping and then ... she opened her eyes when she saw her clothes. Neatly stacked. Her knees buckled and she began to cry again, howling unreservedly with relief and happiness that he had not thrown away her things.

And now, we're here. The end of the second part. I would love to know your thoughts. Let me know ;)