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Chapter 4: The Past

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"Lucy, what street do you live on? I'll walk you home."

Lucy grimaced. "No, it's okay. It's actually pretty far away," she lied.

"Really? That's even more of a reason for me to go. I don't want you to get MURDERED or something," Loki said with a smirk.

Lucy froze. That word... She looked at him in horror. So he really knew... "...Fine. But just this once. I don't want to bother you with walking me home everyday," she said.

Loki looked at her. "...Okay, okay. I understand," he said with a sigh.

Phew... that takes care of that.

"Anyways, let's get going. You should get home before your parents worry," Lucy said to Loki, walking off.

Loki smirked, and followed her. "Yes, your majesty," he snickered.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh, be quiet," she muttered.

Once they went past the point where no one could see them, Loki grabbed Lucy's wrist, turning her around. His eyes bore into hers. Lucy was taken aback for a moment, but soon recovered. "Let go of me," she growled.

Loki just stayed quiet, studying her.

She started to get uneasy. "What are you doing?" she asked quietly, her voice slightly wavering.

Suddenly, Loki backed away. "Let's get going," he said, letting go of Lucy's wrist and walking forward.

Lucy stared after him. What the hell was that? She decided to push it to the side and started to follow Loki.

Soon enough, they arrived at Lucy's house. Loki went back to his old self.

"That wasn't as far as you said, Lucy," he said with a smirk.

"Really? I'm SO sorry. You can get going now, asshole," Lucy spat, about to close the door.

"You really should watch your mouth. I could ruin you at any time," Loki said, that smirk still plastered on his face.

"Tch.." Lucy gripped the door handle. "Fine. I got it. Just go away, please," she muttered.

"Will do. See you tomorrow, Lucy."

She slammed the door, leaning against it. She could feel the tears coming. She looked up at the ceiling, hoping they would go away. But they didn't. They soon came, streaming down her cheeks. She fell to the floor, sobbing. "God dammit... Why did this happen..." she cursed.

She felt her phone vibrate. She took it out, opening it. It was an unknown number. She was about to delete it, then remembered.

"Contact me after school. I'll reply once I can."

She opened the message.

'Hey, it's Gray. Are you alright?'

She quickly replied as fast as she could.

'Yeah. I'm fine.'

Her phone vibrated right after she sent it. She opened the new message.

'Hey! Are you okay? That guy didn't do anything weird, right? Right?'

She smiled to herself. Natsu...

'Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm doing the best I can to just deal with it.' Send.

Vibrate. 'Oh that's good. Natsu was super worried about you, that idiot. Don't even ask me why, cuz I don't have a clue.'

'Lol I guessed from his last text. Thank you for worrying about me, too.' Send.

Vibrate. 'Thank god! I don't know what I'd do to that bastard if he did anything!' Her smile brightened. He's really full of energy. Just like the sun.

'Lmao. Now I know I'm safe if he DOES do anything. Thanks.' Send.

Lucy waited for the next text, all giddy and happy. Having friends... it's been such a long time that I didn't realize how awesome it was! While she was waiting, she went ahead into the kitchen and started cooking. Even though she just got home, she was starving. She put some water on to boil. Then, she heard her phone ringing.

Lucy was quite surprised, looking at the caller ID. She smiled to herself, opening the cell to answer. "Hello?" she answered, giggling a bit.

"Hey! I couldn't settle for just texting. It's boring," the man on the other line complained.

Lucy grinned. "Why'd you want to talk to me so bad?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Huh? Oh... um... I don't know! I just kinda did... heheh."

He sounds so flustered. It's too cute. "You sure are a mess, aren't you Natsu?" she said with a giggle.

"I'm not! I'm just... worried about you. Why do you even act like that to him, anyways?" Natsu asked.

"...Why don't you come over, Natsu?" Lucy offered. "I'm making something to eat right now, so I can't exactly talk."

"Really? Is that really okay?" Natsu asked.

He sounds so happy just by a simple offer to come over. He really is something... "Of course it is. I wouldn't have offered otherwise, right?" Lucy said while laughing.

Natsu was silent for a second. "Okay! I'll come over! Where do you live?"

"347 Shishizu Street. It's the biggest house there, so you can't miss it," Lucy said.

"Okay! I'll be right over!" he exclaimed, then hung up.

Lucy giggled, walking back over to the pot of boiling water. She put in some pasta, then set the kitchen timer for 9 minutes. Once that was done, she sat down on the couch, looking at her phone. Gray hasn't replied yet...

After 4 minutes of waiting, the doorbell rang. Lucy yelped, surprised. "Ah, coming!" she called out, tripping as she got up. She quickly sprung back up to her feet and ran to the door. She opened it, looking the man before her.

"Natsu! Come on in, okay?" Lucy said, backing up to let him in.

Natsu walked inside, then looked around. "Sure is a nice house you got here, Luce," he said.

"Thank you. It's not really the best thing out there though," Lucy said, embarrassed to actually have a boy here.

"There's no one else around. Are your parents out?" Natsu asked, walking over to the living room.

Lucy froze. "Ah... yeah. They usually come back late at night," she said, making sure her voice didn't waver.

"Ah. I see," Natsu replied, still looking around. "Whoa!"

Lucy rushed to where he was. "What? What is it?" she asked, worried there was something wrong.

Natsu pointed at the TV. "That's the biggest TV I've ever seen!" he exclaimed.

Lucy face-palmed. He would... "Anyways, the foods almost ready. I hope you like pasta!"

Natsu nodded, staring after her as she walked into the kitchen.

Once the pasta was done and dished out, with the addition of some tomato sauce, she handed a bowl to Natsu. "There you go. Don't make too much of a mess," she said with a grimace. She'd seen him eat before.

"Thanks!" Natsu said happily as he tried his absolute best to not spill food everywhere.

Lucy smiled at him as she ate. "You really are something..." she whispered.

Natsu looked at her, finished already. "Huh? You say something?" he asked.

Lucy shook her head, also finished. "Not a thing!" she giggled and took their plates, placing them into the sink. She walked back over and plopped onto the couch.

They both stayed silent for a while.

"You want to know, right?" Lucy asked.

"Huh? About what?" Natsu replied, looking at her.

She looked down. "About why I'm doing this," she murmured.

He looked away, scratching his cheek. "You don't have to if you don't want to..." he said, a bit nervous.

Lucy clenched her hands, trying her best to hold her tears in. "It was 4 years ago..." she began.

-Flashback: 4 years ago-

'We were on our way home from school.'

"Lucy! Hurry up! We're going to miss PikaPals!"

'There was a boy named Johnathon. He was... my first crush.'

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Jeez... Lucy! Johnathon! Wait for us!"

'My other friends at that time were Veronica and Richard. We called Veronica Vivi, and Richard Rich.'

"Nah! You two are too slow!" I teased as I walked ahead of them.

"You won't wait cuz you want Johnathon all to yourself, Lucy!" Vivi teased back.

I flushed. "I do not! Don't say stuff like that, Vivi!" I yelled, embarrassed.

'We were perfectly happy. Then suddenly we were... kidnapped. I awoke in a large wooden room, tied up. I saw my friends around me in the same condition, yet unconscious. I overheard the kidnappers talking...'

"Well, we got the kid. What should we do with the rest of them?" one of them asked.

The other man cracked a sickening smile. "Why don't we just kill them?"

'I was horrified. I didn't know what to do. I just faked unconsciousness until one of them came over. I peeked out of one eye to see them taking Johnathon and untying him.'

The one man grinned to the other. "We'll start with this boy," they laughed.

'I suddenly felt the ropes around me fall off. I looked to the side to see Rich. He was awake. I didn't know how he did it, but he had untied me and himself.'

"Rich?" I whispered.

He was panting. "We... have to get you out of here..." he whispered back. "They're... probably after you... Lucy..."

'It dawned on me why they would kidnap us in the first place. It was me. They were after me.'

"But what about the others? I can't just leave them here! They... those men are going to kill you guys!" I whispered.

'But Rich wasn't even afraid of dying. All he wanted was my safety.'

"We'll... get you out... no matter what..." he panted.

Tears came to my eyes.

'Suddenly, I heard screams. Painful screams. I looked over and... They were actually doing it! They were... killing Johnathon! Torturing him, even! They stabbed him over and over and over! They just wouldn't stop! I tried to go help him, but Rich held me back!'

"Let go! I have to go save him!" I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks non-stop.

"No! You have to stay here!" Rich commanded quietly.

"No! I have to save him! Let me go!" I cried quietly.

"I'm not letting you go, Lucy!" he said. "I'm not letting you go..."

'I realized that Rich was actually... crying. Soon after that, the screams stopped. There was a dead silence. The two men came over, not even noticing us being untied, and took Vivi away.'

"No.. they're going to kill her too!" I cried as soft as I could. "Please, Rich... just let go..."

"I can't Lucy... I can't let them have you!" he sobbed, as quiet as I was.

'When they looked away, Rich grabbed my hand and ran for it. One man was coming after us. I heard Vivi's screams while we were running. Rich was getting tired, and he couldn't run as fast. He started to fall behind.'

"Rich! Keep running! You're going to get caught!" I cried.

'And soon enough, he was caught. I watched in horror as the man tried to catch me too. But Rich was slowing him down. He gave up, and went back into the cabin where we were being held.'

-Back to Current-

Lucy held her head in her hands, sobbing and shaking. The shock from the memories were still there. "I don't even want to think what happened to him..." she whispered.

Natsu looked at her, not sure what to do. He decided to put his arm around her to hold her close. "It's alright. It's in the past now," he said, trying to comfort her. He didn't exactly know what to say in this kind of situation.

Lucy looked up at him. "And that's not the worst part of it. Loki knows everything. Absolutely everything," she said, shaking with fear. "He said that he'd tell everyone in school that I was a murderer if I didn't act like he wanted me to." She looked at her shaking hands. "I had no idea what to do. How did he know? Who is he? I keep asking myself these questions." She held her head in her hands again. "I don't know what to do. I can't deny the fact I didn't kill them. It was my fault. Even if I did deny it, no one would believe me. Loki would just say he knew because he was my childhood friend. That's what he had planned all along. What should I do? What the hell do I do?"

Natsu looked at her, pissed off at Loki. "That bastard... I'll show him-"

"Don't do anything! Please!" Lucy cried, clinging to Natsu's shirt. He was thrown off. "If he knows that I told you, he'd do it! He'd tell everyone! Everyone!"

Natsu looked down at her and sighed. "You don't need this though. You've gone through enough already," he muttered.

Lucy continued to sob, burying her face into his shirt.

"I know... I know..."