A/N: While opening the door to my garage I noticed there was a sticker on it that said, "Certified by the IDA or International Door Association" I'm thinking wth, that actually exists? That certification does not help me feel any better about the quality of the door xD

Chapter 16 – Company Is The Best Kind Of Medicine

Lucy didn't want to have this conversation with Natsu. She really did not want to answer his question. Heck, she'd even listen to Natsu's hour long monologue of all his favorite pizza and burger joints in order to avoid the topic. She swore to herself she would never EVER ask him again what his favorite restaurants were, but this was a special case.

However, seeing the intense expression on his usual happy-go-lucky face, Lucy knew she wasn't getting out of this one.

"Layla was," she hesitated and fought with herself to find the right words to say. She continued saying, "Layla was my mom, but she was also my best friend. Throughout elementary and middle school my friends would always at me whenever I said I couldn't hang out because I was with my mom. But I didn't care, she was one of those people who always listened and always forgave. She cared and loved me that it covered for both her and my dad. The June 8th that happened seven years ago is burned forever in my mind. I was up in my room doing homework, when I heard one shot echo throughout the entire house. She was shot clean through." Her voice caught at the last part, "I didn't even get to say goodbye, I will never get to experience all the things I wanted to do with her."

Lucy sighed and her voice was laced with anger. "And now my dad has hired another lawyer, even though we had done all we could do to find her murderer. My dad and I have always clashed, both too stubborn to compromise with each other. We argued a long time over the phone, but in the end it's his money. He's just opening up old wounds."

Natsu knew saying 'sorry' wasn't going to cut it, so rather than focus on what she lost, he wanted to say something about how she overcame it. Impulsively he grabbed her hand, "Lucy, you're strong. Despite what's happened you always look after people like they're so precious. And I think maybe your dad hasn't come to terms like you have. "

Lucy gave a small smile, "That's the thing, to cope I wanted people I met to feel like they belonged somewhere, because if I was surrounded by joy then pain couldn't reach me. It's a kind of therapy for me, because if I stop and think about myself then I don't know if I'll be able to stop the tears sorrow."

Natsu looked at her thoughtfully, "I know exactly what you mean. This is a crazy coincidence but my dad left me on that exact same day, 7 years ago. Believe it or not, I was a pretty shy kid. But after the Fullbusters took me in, I changed. To fill the empty hole my father left, I had to be cheerful. I never wanted anybody to feel the same way I did, so empty that it felt I lost a part of myself. But you don't have to bury your troubles, I'm right her in case you need a hand to hold." He reached out and tucked a golden strand of her hair behind her ear, "There" he grinned, "it looked like it was bothering you."

She squeezed Natsu's hand in thanks and stood up, "I think I'm gonna take a quick walk around campus. I thought that I had gotten over her death, but I think all I really did was push it in the back of my mind." Before she left she looked him straight in the eye and said softly, "And Natsu, I'm not the strong one, you are. You experienced a very similar thing, but you're compassion is genuine. I feel like I'm only being nice to help myself."

The salmon haired boy looked at the place where she stood and sighed. What she said at the end annoyed him, and he wasn't going to stop until he proved her wrong.

*Thawk* The girl at the river felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. As she spun around to find her attacker she swore she was going to break their arm, or maybe their neck too. Once Erza caought sight of who it was she almost fell over from surprise. There was no mistaking the girl who was the no-nonsense manager of the band Underrated that was currently on hiatus for the busy semester. Erza glared at the little pipsqueak and pointed an accusing finger at her, "You know you could've just said my name instead of smacking me with that rolled up newspaper."

Wendy smiled apologetically, "Sorry Big Sis, I said your name like 5 times but you were kinda a space cadet back there. This was the only way I could think of."

Erza just blew at her side bangs to let out her frustration. She really didn't want to deal with Wendy after the whole shenanigans with Gray, but she sat down in the grass and motioned for Wendy to sit. Despite all the little sister antics Wendy did to her (like hit her with newspaper rolls and such) Erza had slowly begun to enjoy Wendy's presence ever since she had met her.

She looked over at the smiling girl beside her and noticed that indeed Wendy had her usual suede polka dot backpack that was filled with notebooks, markers, and her signature business cards. "Also didn't I tell you not to call me Big Sis? It annoys me."

"That's precisely why I do it."

"Don't you have better things to do than bug me?"

The usually mature girl gave her a big smile. "Nope, I get so tired of being proper that you're the perfect person to just be a kid with."

Erza laughed and lightly punched Wendy's arm, "Shut up, you're lucky I don't that I don't lovingly strangle you."

"Haha, I did it," Wendy cried. "Pay up, I could really use 5,000 Jewels right now."

With horror Erza looked at Wendy's outstretched hand. One time before a concert, Erza and Wendy were waiting for the rest of the team to show up. They grew so bored that they started a pathetic Truth or Dare game that consisted of a grand total of two people. At the time Erza questioned Wendy's somewhat sketchy dare that dared Erza to accept the bet that she would owe Wendy 5000 Jewels if Wendy managed to make Erza laugh after she had cried. It was so ridiculous at the time, but thinking about it now, inserting a bet into the game was a stoke of pure genius.

The red head grumbled under her breath something about Wendy being a sleazy, greedy entrepreneur and handed her the money. That amount might not seem like a lot, but to a poor college student with an insatiable sweet tooth it was a fatal blow.

"Actually, that's not why I came here," Wendy confessed. "It was a total accident but I was taking a nice stroll when I kinda overheard you and Gray's blow out. I was going to slip away quietly but you looked sad I wanted to cheer you up."

"Oh, that nonsense," Erza said tiredly. She leaned back on her arms and stared at the sky. "Half of the time I didn't even know what he was saying and the other half didn't know why in the world he was angry. Something about my past and me lying."

Wendy bit her lip, not sure whether if what she was about to say would be received well. "I think both of you are being stubborn to the point where you two are hurting each other with wounds that may never be able to close if you keep this up. I don't know who is in the wrong, probably both of you." She closed her eyes and said quietly, "I just don't want you to live with the regret of giving up on someone."

Walking home Erza stuck to the motto of 'out of sight, out of mind' in regard to Gray and Jellal. Talking with Wendy was nice, and she felt better after chatting with her. The girl hummed a tune to the newest song on the radio and avoided the cracks in the sidewalk like she used to do as a kid. She didn't want regrets, but she also didn't want to always live in the fear of making them.

A/N: This is just a reminder but Grayza week starts next Tueday! It's from August 18 to August 25. I'm so excited and instead of doing one-shots for the prompts I'm just gonna draw them. So on tumblr next week don't forget to search grayza week! The prompts are kinda lame but shhh, don't tell anyone I said that. xD Oh and the FT wiki only had a comparison that said 100 Jewels = $1 USD. My apologies to you guys who don't use USD! If you wanna try and convert that you can go to a cool currency website called xe,com Wow, that was such a nerdy recommendation I'm sorry xD Ok moving on, here's the shout-out corner.

BridgeBurn100 - Gosh that the best review ever. That's all I have.

Welcometotheanimeparade - Oh I know right?Even I don't know exactly who I'm rooting for. To say I'm on both their sides would be such a cop-out xD

Iceberry2666 - Haha yeah I lightened up on the angstyness. Afterward I noticed this story under romance and comedy and I'm like, "shoot, better lighten this up" xD

Absolute-ZERO999 - Even though it doesn't say have Grayza anymore, great pen name! Zero is my fave character from another manga I adore :D

HyunA4Minutes - Thanks so much. It makes me happy to read your review :)