A/N: And another. The last one is coming up soon, since I already wrote it a while ago. Now that I finished writing these two chapters, I'm just going to post them right away so this story can be complete. You're welcome hehe

"Natsu!" I screamed, pushing past a security guard. Everything was blurry, but my eyes focused on Natsu's face, the only thing still clear to me among all the chaos. He looked surprised, but his brows were furrowed in that determined manner I'd seen so many times. He was ready for a fight. And apparently so was Zeref, because the serial killer was lunging toward Natsu, somehow breaking through the crowd of people both fleeing and trying to restrain him.

Natsu put his hands up just in time to partially protect himself from Zeref swiping at him. A red streak across the side of Natsu's neck was left behind, carved out by Zeref's sharp fingernails. Crying out, I tried once again to push against the security guards to reach Natsu. I didn't know how this had happened, but I had to help him.

"Lucy, don't." It was Mr. Makarov's voice. He'd found me, and was holding me back. I should've been able to push past someone so much shorter than me, but Mr. Makarov was strong, his hands gripping my wrists so tightly I felt like my bones would break.

"But Natsu—"

"Don't put yourself in danger. The police are handling it."

He was right, of course. After that one swipe at Natsu, Zeref had been restrained by cops. All I could see of him now was a crowd of blue uniforms pressing Zeref's body to the courtroom floor. But he'd broken free from his cuffs once, so couldn't he do it again? Even if my brain knew that the danger had passed as quickly as it came, the adrenaline rushing through my veins told me I had to go protect Natsu.

Thankfully, Natsu was brought to me instead. The police escorted him toward the very door I'd been about to leave from, and his body crashed into mine in a tight embrace.

"Thank god," I breathed, my face pressed into his shirt. Somehow still entwined, we were herded out of the courtroom, away from Zeref and into safety.

"Stay here until things calm down," someone said, though I didn't know who. Everything was still spinning, and all I could see were vague shapes. The only thing concrete was the warmth radiating from Natsu's body held tightly to mine.

A woman near us was talking. "I knew it was suspicious. He was so quiet this whole time, so cooperative even though he knew he'd end up with a life sentence like this. Not really sure what he thought he could accomplish with that little stunt, though."

"Maybe he thought he could get in one last one before he was locked up forever," suggested her companion.

The first woman quickly shushed her. "Don't say something like that," she hissed. But it was too late; I'd already heard it, and the words made me squeeze Natsu a little tighter.

"Is this what they call the suspension bridge effect?" Natsu said, adjusting his hold around my shoulders.

I looked up to give him the most offended expression I could muster at the moment. "Natsu, we're already dating," I said, a little breathlessly. My heart was still pounding, and my head dizzy. Honestly, I was surprised I could speak at all.

"Yeah, but all of a sudden I really want to kiss you and never let go."

"That was scary," I said. What I didn't say was that I felt the exact same thing. My arms felt paralyzed, as if I let go of him now something bad might happen. "Maybe later when things calm down and we're not in front of so many people."

"After this, he'll definitely be locked up forever, right?"

I nodded. "He has to be."

"They'll probably want to talk to me even more now that this happened," Natsu said.

"Is your neck okay?" I pulled back so I could reach for the cut on the side of his neck. It was a red streak, and looked like it went fairly deep, but it wasn't bleeding very much.

"It stings a little," Natsu confessed, reaching one of his own hands up to touch it gingerly.

"He's already left so many marks on you," I said. "Why did he need to leave another one? Hasn't he don't enough to you already?"

"It's not easy to break out of handcuffs. I don't know what he wanted to do, but he put a lot of effort into doing it."

"I'm sorry, Natsu. Maybe it's because I was making fun of his names."

"Nah. He was already planning it."

I still felt guilty.

"Natsu? Lucy?"

We both turned to Mr. Makarov, who was standing nearby with a troubled yet somehow calm expression.

"Let's go sit down for a little while while the police sort this out, okay?"

I looked at Natsu, who nodded.

I was forced to let go of him so they could look at his neck. Even though it wasn't bleeding, he apparently would need a couple stitches, so he was taken away from me to go to the hospital. I wanted to go with him, but honestly, I was just so exhausted and a place like the hospital, which so often reminded me of my mother, would only be even more draining. In the meantime, Mr. Makarov took me to his house where I waited in Natsu's room for him to come home.

Natsu came home still feeling groggy from the car. I jumped up from his bed and ran over to greet him as he entered the room.

"Did you get your stitches okay?" I said, twisting my body to peer around at the side of his neck. The spot where the wound had been was covered in a gauze bandage so I couldn't see. Perhaps it was for the best; stitches were a little creepy-looking sometimes.

"I have to be careful not to stretch that side of my neck," Natsu said. "It's gonna be a pain, honestly." He sighed in frustration and sat down heavily on the floor.

"I hope it doesn't scar," I said.

"Yeah, well..." He reached up absently to touch the gauze with his fingertips. Letting out another long breath, he let his arm drop to his side. "I'm just really tired of this. I don't even want to go to the court anymore. Zeref might try to make a scene again."

"I don't think they'd let him get away with it a second time," I said.

"Mr. Makarov said he might go to a mental institution instead of jail," Natsu said.

My eyes widened. "Really? Because of what happened, or...?"

"Well, it might've happened anyway. But they're putting him in solitary for the rest of the trial so he doesn't hurt other inmates like he tried to hurt me."

"He didn't just try to hurt you, he actually did hurt you," I pointed out.

Natsu dismissed that's notion. "It's just a scratch," he insisted.

"A scratch that required stitches."

"Not sure why. It was hardly bleeding; didn't hit an artery or anything."

"Natsu, you've got to be more careful with your body. Don't just brush things off all the time. If you're hurt, you're hurt. Denying it only makes it worse."

"I'd tell you to kiss it and make it all better, but there's this stupid bandage over it," Natsu said.

I blushed, a pleasant warmth in my stomach. "You're really okay if you still have the energy to make stupid comments like that," I said. I kissed the side of his neck, the uninjured one. "There. Close enough."

He looked at me with that wide smile of his. "Do it again. I liked that. It tickles."

"Natsu, you do realize that Mr. Makarov is— oh, don't pout, you know I'm right."

"Don't worry, kids, I'm not listening," came Mr. Makarov's voice shouted from somewhere else in the house.

I looked at Natsu, who was still pouting. "See?"

He lay back and made himself comfortable on the bed. "Whatever," he said. "Here." He patted the space next to him, one arm outstretched. His eyes were smiling as he watched me expectantly.

Smiling a little, I crawled next to him and we settled into each other's arms, just lying there and breathing together.

"I want to kiss you," Natsu said after a while, his voice low, "but I'd have to turn my neck a lot."

Shifting, I pushed myself up from the bed and leaned over him. Taking a moment to make sure my hair wasn't in the way, I bent down and kissed him. "There," I said. "I did it for you."

"Can you do it again?"

I rolled my eyes but complied. "Don't get too carried away," I said between kisses. "You're injured, you know."

"By the way," he said, "Jellal caught us when we snuck out of class the other day."

I froze, pushing myself up with arms straight. "Again?!" I cried.

"Again?"

Sighing, I fell onto the bed next to him. "According to Levy, Gajeel saw us making out in the stairwell once."

"Damn."

"Yeah." I looked at him pointedly. "Never again, Natsu. Never. Again."

"What?" he whined. "No, come on, it was just twice."

"Out of what, three times we've snuck out to meet during class? We apparently suck at this. We'd better stop before a teacher catches us next time."

"Orrrr we just need to get better at it," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Despite myself, I laughed. "You're impossible. Oh, speaking of Gajeel, did he tell you about him and Levy?"

"Wait, did they finally...?"

"They're going out. For real."

The most exasperated noise came from Natsu's mouth. "Finally! Took that lug nut long enough. God."

I giggled. "Guess Gajeel didn't tell you. According to Levy, he's even more shy about romance than Gray."

"If that's the case, I'll have to tease him mercilessly," Natsu said evilly.

"I won't stop you," I said, grinning.

The sound of the front door opening and closing with a slam brought me out of my little Natsu bubble, and I looked toward the bedroom door to listen as Uncle Atlas and Wendy announced their presence, as well as the arrival of dinner. I sat up to let Natsu hop to his feet.

"Pizza, awesome," he said, running for the door. He stopped, turned around, and came back to grab my hand and drag me along with him. "I don't want to give you up," he said, "but Wendy misses you, so you have to play with her a lot tonight, okay?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Of course. I miss her too."

Of course, I had to wait for Uncle Atlas to quit monopolizing both children before I could really talk to Wendy. But he was staying in a hotel in town, so he eventually left, and Wendy and I went to her room to catch up on all we'd missed about each other during the past couple hectic weeks. No Natsu allowed, of course.

"By the way, Natsu never answers when I ask him about you moving. Did it get canceled?" she asked.

My mood instantly sobered. I shook my head. "No. It's still happening, I think. Daddy hasn't said anything about it, which means he hasn't gotten a job in Magnolia. Which means we'll have to move to Hargeon."

"There's still some hope though, right?" she said, reaching for my hand. "I don't want you to leave."

I forced a smile as I looked at her. "I don't want to leave either," I said.

When I got home from school a few days later, I was surprised to find my dad already home waiting for me. My stomach dropped. I knew what this was about. I was surprised we hadn't had this talk a week ago, but I wasn't complaining. If anything, I wanted it to be postponed longer. And longer, and longer, until it was all but forgotten. Unfortunately, reality was never so kind.

"Lucy. Come, sit."

I slipped off my shoes, slowly, and sat down on the other end of the couch. I couldn't meet his eyes.

"I'm sure you know what this is about, Lucy."

I nodded once. "Moving," I said, my voice cracking a little as the word left my mouth.

"Yes and no," he said.

I finally looked at him. What did that mean?

"As expected, the company is closing. It actually happens at the end of this week; they postponed it a little. So after this week, that job will no longer exist."

So far it was all as I expected.

"I thought about it, and like I said, it will be hard for you to transfer schools in the middle of your senior year, not to mention it will complicate your college applications. Which, now that all that business with Zeref is over, you will focus on them properly, right?"

I nodded dutifully. I'd forgotten all about those in the recent excitement. Oops.

"A friend recommended me to a bank that was looking for an assistant for their CEO. Not just a coffee-getter, but someone who could actually get some work done as well. I have the experience, but the salary was too low for the work. Criminally low, really. But then they promised that if I live up to my resume, I might be considered for management-level promotions. It wouldn't be for a couple years, but if they come through with their promise, I think it'd be worth it to stay in Magnolia and try to work my way up in a new bank. Plus it means you can stay at Fairy Tail..."

Tears. By the time I felt them coming, they were already spilling down my cheeks, so I just opened up my mouth and sobbed like a child.

"Daddy," I cried, voice nasally and sniffling and wiping furiously at the tears on my cheeks. "Daddy, thank you. Thank you."

After a childhood of feeling unloved by him, and then his coldness after my mother's loss, his disastrous attempts at reconciling...he'd finally done something right. For the first time in my life, I really felt his love for me. Obviously our relationship would never be perfect after all he'd done, but he was trying, and just this once, that was enough.

True to character, Daddy didn't hug me or try to console me. He just sat there, awkwardly looking away and nudging a tissue box a little closer. Had he brought that out here ahead of time, knowing I'd cry? "We still have to move," he said. "We can't keep the two-bedroom. We can stay in this building, but it'll be one bed, one bath. Maybe even in the basement, since those are cheaper. It'd be nice if we could still have an upper floor just for the windows, but no promises."

"Same building would be easiest, for moving purposes," I said, nodding. I sniffled. "Really, thank you. I was so worried I'd have to move and leave all my friends, and then college applications would get so complicated too."

"I had to think long and hard about it, but I couldn't uproot us so close to your graduation. This is what's best. There's no point in thanking me; you'll be moving out soon enough, and then a two-bedroom would be excessive anyway. Might as well just stay here instead of moving cities just so we can keep living in a bigger place. Speaking of you leaving, I can't help you with tuition."

"I know. You've told me a million times."

He frowned. "Well, that's that. Any questions?"

I shook my head.

"Then we're done here. You can go tell all your friends. I'll be in the office."

"Thank you, Daddy. Really."

I sent a flurry of texts to my friends, and soon I had a whole crowd of them asking to come over and celebrate. They all showed up in front of my apartment and tackled me with hugs as soon as I opened the door.

"Lucy! You can stay!"

"I'm so happy, Lucy!"

"All that worrying for nothing."

"Shut up, Gajeel. You know you were worried, too."

"Pipe down out there!" my dad shouted, silencing all of us. We looked at each other and broke out in laughter.

"Come to my room," I said, ushering them all inside. I didn't think there had ever been so many people in the apartment at once before. Levy, Erza, and Juvia were all here, and Gajeel, Gray, Jellal, even Loke (I hadn't even texted him, so one of the guys must've picked him up on the way over. Whatever, I didn't mind.) And, of course, Wendy and Natsu.

"Cool, we get to see Lucy's room," Leo said as I pushed them all toward my bedroom.

"Hurry up before my dad gets mad. And who invited you, anyway?"

"Sorry, he was at my place when you texted," Gray said. "I didn't think you'd mind though."

"It's fine," I sighed.

"Yes, Lucy approves of me!" Loke cheered.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go inside."

Wendy tugged on my t-shirt. "Lucy, I'm really glad you can stay in Magnolia," she said, smiling up at me.

"Me too," I said, returning the smile.

Then she skipped ahead and grabbed my bedroom door before I could walk through it. "You have thirty seconds," she said, glancing conspiratorially between Natsu and me. "Starting...now!" She slammed the door shut.

Natsu and I looked at each other, confused. There were also some confused shouts from inside my bedroom and I heard some people trying to get past Wendy, but nobody came through.

"Twenty-five!" Wendy shouted.

Natsu and I looked at each other again. "But my dad..."

"Don't care." Natsu attacked me, and I gave in, laughing.

"Halt!" Erza burst through the door, immediately splitting us apart. "Natsu, I know you're happy she can stay, but you have to share Lucy."

"I don't want to share," he bit back, earning himself a sound smack on the shoulder.

"Don't hurt him, Erza," Juvia said from behind her, grinning.

I let myself be dragged into the room among the chatter and bickering of my best friends. I was just too happy. I actually got to stay in Magnolia and graduate with the rest of my friends here, and they were as excited about it as I was. After all that stress and worry, everything went well in the end. I was so filled with happiness it felt like I would burst.

A/N: Thanks for reading!