why is fairy tail ending

Chapter Thirteen

Reach out

They didn't even have to tell me what bar they're at, since I could hear Gray's muffled screams and Erza's loud scolding from miles away. I bet if I closed my eyes and followed the sound of their voices, I'd never get lost.

We decided to go out after school and club activities were over for today, and I was the last one to join. It was my turn to clean the gym, so I told them I'd be late. I sent Lucy a couple of text messages before I entered, and braced myself for what was about to happen. I wanted to follow Sting and Lucy, but I wasn't sure my heard could take it.

"Well look who's here" I heard Gray's teasing before I even got to the table.

"Looks like the cleaning lady finally finished her shift," Gajeel joined in.

"Did you forget your feather duster?" Even Jellal couldn't stay silent.

"Now now, I think it's quite admirable of him to stay behind and clean up the mess." Erza chimed in, taking a sip from her beer, as I pulled out a chair to join them, "I just home there was someone there to clean up after his cleaning."

And the laughter started again. I asked for a beer myself, and rolled my eyes at them. "Yeah yeah, enough about my cleaning skills already."

"Natsu did you finish in time for the ball?" Gray laughed out, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Try not to lose your glass slipper on your way back!" Gajeel pounded his fist on the table to emphasize his fits of laughter.

"Alright, alright," Jellal, being the most responsible one here, "So I heard your school has some sort of sports festival?"

"Oh," I mumbled, glad that the subject had changed, "Yeah. I'm on the soccer team. We're going to crush everyone that stands in our way!" Pumping my fists, I swallowed down some beer.

"Yeah, and I'm going to mop the floor with the other schools when I enter the court." Our basketball champion shouted out, making a few heard turn our way.

Erza and Gajeel weren't on any of the teams, so they didn't talk about it much. Jellal seemed interested, but even though his school was going to participate as well, he wasn't playing in any of the tournaments either. But he'll come anyways, as an excuse to see his girlfriend.

"Is that stalker still following you around, Gray?" Jellal asked, a fatherly look of worry in his eyes as though having a hot babe stalking you was some sort of bad thing. I'd give anything to have Lucy follow me for even an hour. The things I'd to within that hour… damn…

"Yeah," Gajeel's voice snapped me out of my fantasies, "I saw her wearing your jersey at the end of the day, and she was screaming at something on her phone. She kept repeating things like 'HOW' and 'Exclusive pictures' or something. She occasionally mentioned 'love rival' or I don't know, some shit like that."

"Lucy probably gave it to her," He said, and his eyes immediately darted towards mine. I read a momentum of panic in his look, since he probably thought I didn't know about it, and wanted to explain. But talking about it in front of everyone wouldn't be a good thing, so I just pretended I didn't hear what he said, and drowned in my drink.

"So do you plan on telling her how you feel, or not?" Erza interrupted, slamming her mug on the table, "It's not nice to play with somebody's feelings."

Tell me about it.

"What about you Gajeel?" Gray immediately did his best to change the topic, and it sort of worked, since everyone's eyes were on him now, "What do you plan on doing with that bookworm?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," He cut off, and took a sip to busy himself.

"Sure you don't," I laughed, joining in. Gajeel scowled and turned his head to the side, giving us all the more reason to tease him. Even Erza said a few jokes every now and then, and the hours passed by quickly. I was glad to have such friends that could take my mind off what was probably going on this very instant. I shrugged, not allowing those pessimistic thoughts to clutter my head, and tuned in to what they were speaking.

"What do you mean, weird past?" Gray mumbled, watching Jellal intently. The latter ran a hand through his liht blue hair, and somehow evaded answering the question directly.

"I don't know much about it myself, but my mom said she practically begged her parents on her knees to let her move out of that place." He glanced towards me, as if what he had just said was supposed to have a different impact on myself, than the others.

"Who are you guys talking about?" I asked, shaking my head to thoroughly erase what had been invading my mind.

"Your beloved." Gray teased.

My ears perked up at the mention of Lucy. I didn't even care to correct him for saying 'your beloved', or blush or tell him to stop; because everyone on this table and farther, knows that it's true. I turned to look at Jellal, interested in what it was that he wanted to share about Lucy, since he was her cousin and all.

"As I was saying," he resumed, "When I talked with my mom about it, it seemed as though Lucy had begged her parents to move out of their small house, and come to live in this bigger city. I remember visiting her with my parents since we're her only relatives here, and she had a roommate living with her. Some random girl, I don't recall her name. And then she moved out like, two or three months ago, I don't know. So now she's paying her rent all by herself even though we wanted to help her out. Her parents send her money too, but it doesn't cover everything." He stopped for a drink, and I felt my lips drying as well, "But I vaguely remember some sort of phone call with my mother a while back, maybe two or three years ago, before she moved here. My mom talked to hers, and she mentioned something about some sort of secret that got out, and Lucy was devastated." He set down the glass, looking at everyone but me, "So I guessed it was connected to why she wanted to leave the place."

The table got silent for a bit after that story, and I had to bring up my hands to massage my temples, in order to reposition all the bits and pieces of the story to fit it in my head. Moving here all alone? Paying rent? Secret? I thought I knew everything there was to know about this girl, but could I possibly be wrong?

"This is getting kind of exciting", Erza choked out, apparently having the alcohol get to her head. What round was she on? What round was I on?

"Yeahh, I'm getting chills!" Gray muttered, and Gajeel could barely control his laughter. Even Jellal seemed a it wobbly. It was a school night, so we should've probably stopped at this point.

"I think this is enough for today," Jellal voiced my thoughts, as he grabbed Erza's coat. "We'd better be going. You guys have the sports thing and all that, and I have to do a project for the academy."

"Well look at me, I'm Jellal and I go to the prestige academy for young talents," Erza mocked, slurring the words as though she'd had something in her mouth, "and I looooooove bragging about it!" She pulled her hand though the sleeve of the coat her boyfriend held out to her, and kissed him on the spot. If we were completely sober, we probably would've made fun of them.

"I shall be off as well" Gajeel shouted, paying his share of the bill, "The dark knight has to protect the city of—this city right here." He staggered off along with the couple, and I glanced towards Gray from across the table.

"Looks like it's just you and me," He leaned forwards, a devilish smile on his lips, "Imagine the possibilities."

It was automatic. My slap was automatic.

He laughed though, and so did I. We paid the rest of the bill, put on our jackets despite the fact that we were warm from the beer, and headed out for another adventure. Walking around the city while laughing like maniacs could've probably gotten us arrested, but I didn't care at the point. We weren't drunk – we were just… tipsy.

"Sorry about today bro," My companion suddenly blurted out, a lightheaded look clouding his dark eyes. "I didn't think about it much and just passed her my jersey." I nodded, looking to the side, "I mean, she was half-naked, and it was either that, or I had to ogle her curvy—"

"I get it." I interrupted, a flash of anger disrupting my previously peaceful mind, "I guess I'm more angry with myself, since I wasn't there to give her mine." And I couldn't bear to look at him any longer, so I chose to stare at the sky above me, counting the stars, "But it's fine really."

He smiled, "Yeah. And Juvia's probably washed it a thousand times by now and worn it to bed. Lucy even took some pictures of me and sent them to her. Oh." And he pulled out his phone, "That reminds me." I didn't look to see what he was doing, "I actually did the same thing. But I didn't do it in front of her though," I finally glanced at the phone screen he practically shoved in my face. Oh my.

Oh my, oh my.

A picture of a blonde in her highschool's swimsuit. The dark blue material was glued to her figure, hugging her curves, and barely covering both sides of her ass. Well I guess that when you have a body like that it's bound to spill out of normal clothing. I mean, damn. If I wasn't with Gray right now, I would've probably licked the thing. I had to control voicing out my desires, and instead focused on staring at her blonde hair. Her wet blonde hair. Holy shit. Even though the picture was taken from behind and without her consent, I could still tell that it was her. Lucy. My Lucy.

I didn't even notice that I'd walked straight into a pole until the cold metal smacked me across the face, refreshing my head a little. I could head Gray's loud barking laughter, as he almost choked at the sight of me trying to peel myself off from the traffic light. He crouched down, enveloped in gagging fits of laughter, as his phone dropped to the sidewalk, forgotten.

"Alright it wasn't that funny", I mumbled, but he couldn't reply. He was rolling down the edge of the street, clutching his stomach and howling with laughter. I rolled my eyes, but it was a bit funny to me too.

After what felt like decades, he got up to his feet, still chuckling to himself.

"Send that photo to me." I commanded, "Then delete it."

"Yeah, yeah."

Turning on the lights in the living room, I locked the door behind me, and strode over to the kitchen. I wasn't able to hold down anything in my stomach because of the alcohol, so I settled for something softer, and picked up a pudding cup from the fridge. I plugged in my dead phone to have it charge while I fumbled with the cover of the pudding cup, trying to peel it off perfectly.

Dropping down my pants and pulling on some pajamas, I was ready to hit the hay, when I heard some messages arrive on my phone. I probably got a few of them while my battery was empty. I walked over to my phone, but the minute my finger touched it I was interrupted.

By a knock on the front door.

Now, I'm not the easily scared type. I'm not the scared type at all, actually. But this creeped me up a bit. Hesitating on whether or not I should respond and let whoever was out there to know that there's someone inside, I staggered over to the door. A while after, I heard the doorbell ring exactly four times.

No way.

At this time of night?

I opened the door, and sure enough, the person I expected to be there, was standing in front of me right now.

"Dad?" I choked out, trying to grasp the situation at hand. "It's two in the morning."

"Ah, but is it, though?" He asked, pushing past me to walk in. "I never really understood that. Two in the morning… but the sun's not out yet. It's still dark outside. Why do we call it two in the morning?" His usual random ramblings continued to fill the house as I confusedly closed the door behind him.

He ran a hand though his dark red hair, looking around the place as if scanning for errors I'd probably made, but gave up when he found none. We don't have a housekeeper for nothing, old man.

"How's my favorite son doing?" He asked, even though I was his only son. I mumbled some sort of reply, still not understanding why he was here. He strode over to the kitchen to grab himself a beer can, and slouched on the sofa. I looked closely at him, noticing that he had more wrinkles than last time I saw him, and that the long hours of work had taken their toll. But no matter what I said to a workaholic like him, it wouldn't change his mind.

"How's your mother?" He asked.

"How's your wife?" I countered.

"Touché", he laughed, but I wasn't joking. I haven't seen her in like a month and I highly doubt that he's seen her either. I don't know how they continued to function like that, but every time I asked, he would assure me that they talk on the phone for an hour every single day, and meet up whenever they can.

"So why are you here?" I spat out.

"That's no way to greet your tired father now, is it?" He asked, but the comment didn't affect him at all. "I'm passing here on my way to the next city where our firm is, since I have some business to take care of there in person." Of course it was because of work. "Your mother will probably come home in a few weeks time, and I'll try to come by as well."

I'll try = don't count on it.

Anything he said at the moment only made me angrier. I clenched my fist in protest, ready to slam it directly in his face if it comes to it. He turned to look at me, smiling casually in a $6000 suit, a rolex on his hand. I couldn't care less about all the money we possessed at the moment, as long as I couldn't buy real parents with it. I felt the blood boil in my veins, but tried not to show it.

"You know what this place is missing?"

Real parents?

"A vase."

And my last nerve snaps.

"A VASE?" I shouted, pounding my fist against the table, catching my father by surprise. No. It doesn't need vase or any sort of inanimate object. It needs love, peace, people… I'm the only one living here and instead of it being open, I feel suffocated. Coming home to an empty house was something I was used to, but it didn't mean that I liked it. "What do you mean a fucking vase? What this place really needs is—" my mouth becomes dry as I feel my head pound, "never mind. You won't get it."

"Natsu." I turned to look at his bloodshot eyes, glaring at me in a way I'd never seen before, "If you raise your voice at me one more time, I will close your bank account."

"Of course," I let out a breath of air, mocking him, "Of course you'd threaten me with your money. But have you thought that even for a moment, I don't really fucking care about any of that shit?!"

"Watch your language—"

"I'm speaking English!"

"Young man—"

"Old man—"

I wobbled on my feet, trying to catch balance once more.

"Are you drunk?"

"I'm not drunk, you're drunk!" I inwardly cringed at the worst comeback in world history.

And before I could humiliate myself even further, I grabbed my phone, my jacket and keys, and dashed through the door, knowing that if I stayed there for a while longer, I would've either fainted or killed him with my bare hands. And I don't know which was worse.

One hour and one shot of store-bought vodka later, I situated myself on a bench in the park. Counting how much money I had on me, and the fact that I didn't bring my car, I calculated that the best thing to do was sleep out here.

And at that moment when it seemed like my world was about to crash and burn, I remembered the picture Gray sent me, and smiled. If there was one thing that could calm me down, it would be looking at the thing I love most.

I opened up my phone, ignoring the fact that I only had like 5% battery life left, and opened the messages. Sure enough there were only two. One from Gray and one from—

Oh my god.

I rubbed my eyes, certain that my vision was playing tricks on me. I almost feel off the bench when I saw that I had been right. One message from Lucy.

I squealed like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert.

I think this was the fastest time I've ever clicked open in my entire life. My heart stopped as I read the simple text.

Yes, I'm fine. Thank you.

Holy mother of—I'm going to die.

Okay, deep breaths. Let's go. Breathe in – breathe out. Okay, okay, I'm good. I'm great!

LICY HRY YOU REPLUIED OHH MT GOD IM DRYING

I'm drying? Really?

SORRY I WAS EXCITED. HOLY SHIT UM HI YEAH HELLO YES WHAT DO I SAY FUCK

I pushed the vodka bottle off the bench. Like hell I need that shit now.

I waited for five minutes. Ten minutes. I checked to see that it was well over 4 AM, and I was positive that she was sleeping already. After five more minutes of waiting, I decided to send her even more texts. That's the logical thing to do, right?

So uh yeah, wazzap

Disregard that last text I was trying to be cool.

No wait I am cool wtf

I'm a bit tipsy sorry.

Zero replies. I waited some more, but the battery on my phone was left to 2%. I felt some sort of depression kick in after this fucking hell of a day, and my mind went blank. I wanted to spill everything to her, right here and now. Cry out my feelings, run over to her house and hug her, tell her how much it hurts to just be alive.

My hands had moved without me realizing it. And I sent another message.

I had a fight with my dad. I need someone right now.

My vision blurred for a moment, and I rubbed my head, thinking that it was from the alcohol and lack of sleep. But when the image didn't clear up, I noticed that I had tears in my eyes. I was actually sad enough to cry.

Someone? Who am I kidding…

I felt something warm drip down my left eye, sliding down my cheek while leaving a trail of evidence that I was hurt. That I was broken. That I had a lot of problems in the back of my thoughts which I tried to ignore.

I need you, Lucy. You.

One percent. My battery will die along with my heart. I stared at the screen, smiling. When life gets you down, you have to smile to keep it together. But was this really keeping it together? I'm sitting on a park bench with two dollars in my pocket, freezing to death, unable to go back home because of my father. I wanted to go to one of my friends, but the thought of breaking down in front of them while I'm in a state of shock told me otherwise. I didn't even take my credit card so I can't get a hotel room. Is this keeping it together. I don't think so.

My ears perked up at the sound of my message ringtone. I looked down, feeling my heard twitch when I noticed Lucy's name come up.

I moved to open it.

The screen went black.

Motherfu—

I threw the contraption against a tree.

It took me a moment to realize that the echoing screams of laughter were in fact my own. I sounded violent, animalistic even. My cries of hysterics filled the empty park as I fell to my knees in agony. It didn't take long before those hollers of laughter transitioned into crying. I yelled as loud as my hoarse throat would let me, hitting the grassy ground as though it were the earth's fault for my misfortune.

I needed someone to comfort me. I needed someone to tell me that my father wasn't angry with me, and that my mother wasn't having an affair, and that money didn't matter, and that I meant something to someone, and that Lucy's text wasn't something like 'fuck off' or 'you're bothering me'.

After a while of laying there, I noticed that my face was dry. I had cried myself to a state of nothingness. I couldn't feel a thing.

I got up on my wobbly legs, trying to balance my way to the bench I had been sitting on, when I heard something move from behind me. Oh fuck. I was half-drunk and broke, standing in the middle of a public area. That's either a thief to rob me, or a police man to arrest me. I don't even know what's the worse option. Or it could be… dad? But would he come running after me though?

Deciding that I still had the element of surprise that my opponent thought he had, I turned around as fast as I could to try and scare him off.

I almost fainted.

"Lucy?" I mumbled, blinking to make sure my eyes weren't lying. She had some sort of sweatpants on, and her top was covered by a light pink coat. Looks as though she had ran out of her house without paying any attention to her clothes.

I felt like I hadn't seen her for decades. Like the time we spend together got to shortened in the last few days, and I'd missed seeing her so much…

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Your location was on so I could see where you were and—"

And at that one moment,

I started crying like a baby.

Author's notes: Nooooooo! Why am I torturing poor Natsu?

Anyways I'm on a roll. I wrote this 4000+ word chapter a few hours after the last one. What is going onnnn

Thanks for reading everyone, and your reviews warm my heart

~With Keys, Through Flames! Aye!~