Kakomine: Yay! I'm glad! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail!

Enjoy!

Chapter 19

"So, Lucy, how did you spend your vacation?" Mira asked. It was the first day back at school and everyone was talking excitedly in homeroom.

"I, uh, went to the beach," she told her, leaving out the fact that she went with Natsu's family. "What about you?"

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Mirajane exclaimed. "My family went hiking in the mountains," she smiled.

"H-hiking?" Lucy sweat dropped. "For three weeks?"

"Yep,"

Lucy was reminded yet again that the Strauss family was a very intense one.

"We went to the beach with Luce!"

Lucy froze and turned to see Natsu talking to Gray and Jellal. Everyone turned to look at her, and she tried to shrink down in her seat.

"Oh, you didn't tell me you went with Natsu," Mira said mischievously. "This changes everything,"

"Yeah, Lu-chan," Levy suddenly appeared. "If you went on vacation with his family, that means things are pretty serious,"

"So how was he?" Cana asked, smirking. "I mean, three weeks of romantic nights under the stars, seeing you in your bikini – something must have happened,"

"Stop it!" Lucy screeched. "Nothing happened! We are still just friends!"

"Sure, sure," Lisanna said.

Lucy started growling and the other girls decided to stop there. They went back to their usual gossiping.

"Did you hear about the new guys?" Levy asked.

"You mean the ones in the grade below us that are supposed to be super hot?" Lisanna asked.

"Yeah! I heard that they're like cousins or something," Levy said. "And they each have their own helicopter, boat and five cars!"

"They sound spoilt to me," Erza said.

"Apparently they already got into a fight with Gajeel this morning," Levy added, and Lucy saw the worried look on her face.

"Sounds like we should stay away from them, then," Mira said. All the girls nodded.

The morning flew by pretty quickly, and Lucy was walking with Natsu to lunch. They were arguing lightly, which was pretty common for them, when they heard a familiar voice calls out.

"Well, would you look who it is,"

They both turned to see Sting and Rogue standing behind them, smirking.

"What the hell are you assholes doing here?" Natsu demanded, standing in front of Lucy. She held onto his arm so that he wouldn't start a fight.

"We transferred," Sting shrugged. "Didn't expect to see you guys here, though – this is gonna be a fun year,"

"Why, you–"

"Natsu, don't," Lucy said. As much as she would like to beat the living daylights out of him, she didn't want Natsu to get in trouble for starting another fight.

Natsu turned to look at her, struggling internally before finally nodding.

"Do you always do what your girlfriend tells you?" Sting taunted.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Lucy screeched.

"On, hit a nerve have we?"

Lucy closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down. Luckily, she was saved by Erza.

"I suggest we all just head to lunch now," she called.

Lucy looked up to see her standing with Jellal, Loke and Gray.

Sting, obviously not wanting to fight when he was outnumbered scoffed and then turned back to the dining hall.

"This isn't over," he said dangerously, knocking Natsu as they walked past. Natsu growled, and Lucy's grip tightened on his arm.

"Are you guys okay?" Erza called when they were gone.

"We could've handled them!" Natsu burst as they group headed inside.

"You would really drag Lucy into a fight?" Gray asked incredulously, and Erza's aura turned dark.

"Well she did alright against them last time," Natsu retorted when they reached their table.

Everyone turned to Lucy blankly.

The blonde sighed and began telling the story.

"Wow, Lu-chan, I didn't know you could fight," Levy said, when she had finished. "And I really hate those guys for what they did to you and Wendy,"

"I just don't understand why they had to come here of all places," Lucy grumbled, her eyes drifting to their table. Of course they were friends with Laxus already.

"Just try and ignore them," Erza suggested. "And don't go looking for a fight," she added, glaring at Natsu.

"Whatever," he mumbled grumpily.

For the next few weeks, Lucy managed to avoid Sting and Rogue, and as far as she knew, so did Natsu. She rarely even thought about them now, as she had much bigger issues on her mind.

"When are you going to admit you like the guy?" Lisanna asked exasperatedly.

"Never, because I don't!" Lucy cried. She'd been cornered by the girls – again.

Lucy tried to block out their voices and concentrate on her English essay, but they were just too loud.

"That's it! I'm going to the library," she declared, gathering her stuff and storming out.

"Maybe we went too far," she heard Levy whisper as she left.

Lucy was walking along the path towards the library when she saw something move in the shadows. She immediately started to freak out, remembering how Natsu had once told her Laxus liked to lurk around here at night.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, ready to call for help.

She kept her eyes trained on the suspicious shadow. It looked like a person hunched over. Suddenly, it slid to the floor, and Lucy heard a groan.

All the fear vanished as she rushed over to help. When she got close, she saw a familiar form.

"Natsu?" she cried, bending down beside him. "What happened?" she demanded, voice filled with worry.

He had been beaten up pretty bad. She'd never seen him like this – he had bruises and cuts all over his face, blood everywhere. He was holding his stomach and breathing heavily.

"Assholes," was all he got out. "Cornered me. Had company,"

"Sting and Rogue?" Lucy gasped.

Natsu nodded. "And Laxus, Freed and Bickslow,"

Lucy gasped again. "Can you stand? We need to get you to the nurse,"

"No, not him," Natsu groaned.

"But Natsu–"

"You promised, Luce," he pleaded. "Nurse Bob is on right now,"

"Oh," Lucy said. Yeah, he definitely wasn't going to be much help.

Natsu tried to hold in his groans, but it wasn't working. He was in a lot of pain.

"Here," Lucy said, draping his arm over her shoulder. "I'll help you,"

Lucy helped Natsu stand, and together they headed for the boys dorms. Luckily, Scorpio, the dorm father, was out on a secret date with the PE teacher Aquarius, so Lucy was able to sneak in with Natsu.

She took him up to his room, which thankfully Gray was not in, and set Natsu down on the bed.

The boys dorms were set out like the girls, so Lucy went into the small bathroom and grabbed the small first aid kit and wet a cloth. She went back to Natsu and started cleaning his wounds.

He winced, but didn't complain. She guessed he was used to this.

"So, are you gonna tell me the full story now?" Lucy asked. Even against all those guys, they must have played some dirty trick for Natsu to get beaten this badly.

"Well like I said, they cornered me on the way back to the dorm," he said slowly. "Freed came and told me that Sting had you, and led me between the buildings there. I didn't realise they were all friends,"

He sounded very angry at that last part, feeling stupid. Lucy patted his shoulder, encouraging him to go on.

"When I got there, Bickslow grabbed me, pinning my arms behind me. The others were standing in front of me," he continued. "I should have been able to take them!" he roared.

"Shh," Lucy said. "It was five on one, those are hardly fair odds,"

"If they hadn't brought that up, then I wouldn't be in this position right now," he growled.

"That?" Lucy asked, curious.

After a moment, Natsu sighed. "When I was younger, I had an imaginary friend," he began. "He was a dragon. He was my best friend, and went with me everywhere,"

Lucy smiled, imagining this young Natsu.

"One day, this kid started to tease me, saying that dragons don't exist," he continued. "I got really angry, and a fight broke out. We were in the playground, and my dragon was watching from the side. Suddenly, a ball came flying from that side – a ball that had nails in it – and hit this kid in the head," Natsu paused. "I was so young then, I thought that my dragon had thrown the ball. I started freaking out, having panic attacks all the time. I tried to get rid of him, but he kept following me. I saw four shrinks, and was institutionalised twice," he concluded.

Lucy was shocked. She'd had no idea he had a past like this.

"Nobody is supposed to know," Natsu growled. "My parents know, and the people involved know, but you're the first person I've told – not even Wendy knows! Everyone was sworn to secrecy, my parents didn't want this to get out and haunt me forever,"

"Natsu,"

"So how did they know?!" he roared hitting the first aid box to the floor.

Lucy sighed and picked it up. Then she turned to Natsu.

"Natsu, I'm really sorry that happened to you," she began. "I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me, and I hate that those jerks somehow found out, but what's done is done. That was all in the past, and it wasn't your fault what happened to that boy. You need to try and not let it get to you," she told him gently.

"I don't know if I can,"

"You can, Natsu," Lucy told him firmly. "And you will. They saw how it got to you this time, so they'll probably try it again. It won't work if you don't let it,"

Lucy continued to work on his face while she spoke. He still looked unconvinced.

"Natsu, you are the strongest person I know," she told him. "If anyone can do this, you can,"

Lucy finished putting the last bandage on and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. Natsu's eyes widened.

"Now, let's look at that stomach," she smiled.

Natsu lifted his shirt to reveal a large bruise covering a quarter of his stomach. Lucy gasped when she saw it. There were a few cuts around it that she quickly bandaged up.

"Anywhere else?" she asked. He shook his head. "Okay, then take these and go to bed," she told him, handing him some painkillers.

"Thanks, Luce," he said as she helped him under the covers.

"No worries," she told him. "You've done much more for me," she winked. "Now get some rest," she patted the covers where his arm was before walking out.

The next day, Natsu still looked pretty sore as he walked into homeroom. Everyone immediately noticed and started whispering.

"You should have stayed in bed today," Lucy told him when he sat down.

He just shrugged. "I'm fine," he told her. "Besides, I don't want those assholes thinking they did a better job than they actually did,"

Lucy pursed her lips but didn't say anything. She knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind.

During PE that afternoon, they were doing laps. Lucy tried to convince Natsu to sit out, but he was too stubborn.

He did, however, slow down from his usual pace. Normally he would be up the front, him and Gray miles ahead of anyone besides Jet. Today, he jogged next to Lucy. She went a little slower than usual as well, trying to get him to take it easy.

"So, I heard you were in Natsu's room last night," Levy said when they were changing after PE.

"W-where did you hear that?"

"Gray said he could definitely smell perfume in the room," she replied. "And he said Natsu didn't even know that the first aid kit was there, let alone know how to use it himself,"

Lucy was silent.

"So you were there!" Levy cried.

"Well, he needed my help!" Lucy cried. "I couldn't just leave him like that,"

"So did anything good happen?" Levy asked, ignoring her friend.

Lucy just growled and walked away. She was getting tired of this.

A/N: There! I really wanted Lucy to help Natsu like he always does for her, so I hope this is okay!