Chapter 22

There are moments in our lives when we feel lost. There are also different types of feeling lost, there's the lost in the supermarket or forest and then there's the I have no clue who I truly am lost. I honestly can't tell which one's worse because they both bring around sadness and in both situations we almost lose all hope some people more than others. I would hate to lose or feel like I'm losing myself or the people around me but I would also hate being lost in another country without knowing how to get back home.

Late time on Was it Fate or Destiny?:

Sting stood up, fear crossed his face and he started checking his pockets again. Lucy stood up to checking her pockets and breathed a sigh of relief that her phone was still with her. Lucy then processed to look around the grass for Sting's phone knowing how it was a valuable item, maybe his life span.

"Maybe it fell over the cliff." Lucy said looking towards the edge

"No!" Sting panicked as he ran to the edge but he didn't stop fast enough.

Luckily for him, there was a deep Lake below that he landed in. Lucy watched in anticipation waiting for his head to come above the surface so she would know he was alright. By doing so she brought both her feet to the edge to her toes were almost out of ground.

"Lucy call someone for help" Sting yelled to her once he surfaced

Lucy sighed relieved he was ok and she turned around only she forgot there wasn't much ground for her to turn so she started to descend down the cliff.

Sting looked above him when he heard a scream he knew all too well. He looked up to see Lucy falling down the cliff in a boat form so he knew he could easily catch her. He put his arms out ready to catch her bridal style. Lucy was too busy having a mini heart attack to fix her position so she just carried on screaming at the top of her lungs like that was going to help her in some way.

Oof!

Sting fell into the water and Lucy joined him. Thankfully the water was clean enough for him to open his eyes and see Lucy sinking to the bottom in the Lake. He dived after her grabbing hold of her waist and swimming back to the surface. Once emerged out of water Sting half dragged and half carried Lucy's lifeless looking body to shore. They hadn't been underwater for long so she couldn't be unconscious.

"Luce get up," Sting said softly, trying to catch his breath "we have to start finding a way back home."

The currents the lake had weren't that strong but he was still recovering for the dive, swimming and the part where he fell off about a 6 meter high cliff in a 4 meter deep lake. He took slow and easy breaths but kept looking at Lucy's chest to see if it was going up or not.

"Luce," Sting said stronger than before "I don't want to have to give you mouth to mouth."

Lucy was unfazed and didn't move, she seemed frozen in place, like snow white after she ate the apple. Sting studied her, she seemed to be cold, the water was at a cold temperature. He felt her check and it was indid cold.

Only one thing to do here. I just hope it works. Sting thought going on his knees next to her, parting her lips, pushing on her chest and then blowing air into her lungs from her mouth. He repeated that until Lucy coughed up water. Thank goodness she's ok, man I thought she was about to go.

Lucy coughed up water and started to realize where she was. She faced Sting and smiled a thank you. Sting just nodded back before turning to face the lake they had just been in. The sun was out and hot so he took off his T-shirt. Lucy watched to see what he would do next - she was checking him out at the same time - his chest was wet which made him look hotter than usual that he looked sexy to her. Sting squeezed the water out of his shirt and got up to hang it on a brunch.

"It should dry pretty fast," Sting told her "when it's done take your clothes off and put it on so you don't catch a cold."

"What about you?" Lucy asked grateful but concerned about him as well

"Once your clothes dry I get back my shirt but for now this should be ok." Sting answered sitting next to her again.

"So what are we going to do?" Lucy asked looking around them

Pure nature at all ends no form of anything close to manmade. Lucy didn't mind it but she had to find a way to get back to the house before school was over or Rufus would know that she ditched...again.

"I don't know but first thing should be finding a source of water," Sting said "we've already done that already so it's ok."

"We also found out that we can't go back the same way we came." Lucy joked

"What do you want to do now?" Sting asked looking around

"We can look for food or talk but I just want to sit in the sun and dry a bit." Lucy replied laying on the grass

Sting joined her and they looked up at the sky, enjoying the rays on their skin. Lucy closed her eyes just for a bit and Sting did too. They had no idea what they were going to do. They were two teens, in a forest, without their phones and they didn't know how they could get back home. They were lost.

"What happens if we never get back up?" Lucy asked eyes still closed

"Positive thinking might be nice," Sting answered her "Trust me, we'll get back up there."

"What if we don't Sting?" Lucy asked worried "How are we going to get back anyway?"

"We'll find a way" Sting tried to reassure her

"How?" Lucy screamed getting up looking at his calm expression "How the fuck are we supposed to get back to civilization?"

"What's so bad about the woods?" Sting asked her, keeping his voice the same unlike Lucy who was screaming at him

Sting had always loved the woods, they were his escape from his real life after some times. He grew up next to them and practically lived in the for most of his childhood but that was before he met Loke.

"The fact that family isn't here!" Lucy yelled like it wasn't obvious "All our friends will be looking for us Sting, what happens when they can't find us!"

Sting knew that they was a difference to how him and Lucy saw the woods. While Sting saw the woods as a way to escape, Lucy seemed to find it like a wall that blocked her out of her happy friendful life. They were almost like opposites but they weren't they just had different childhoods and that was understandable.

"I can't help thinking how worried they will be about us," Lucy screamed looking worried herself "It'll drive them crazy."

"You said us." Sting noticed outloud

"Well I'm not missing alone, am I?" Lucy snapped at him

"That's not correct." Sting informed her

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked clearly not getting what he was pointing out

By now his pants were a bit dry but he didn't like the feeling of them sticking to his skin. Lucy looked down at him and could tell he was uncomfortable but didn't care if the question made him feel that way but it wasn't the question, it was just his pants. Sting opened his eyes and looked at her before standing up and taking of his pants. Lucy looked away blushing because of his sudden action and the fact that he didn't give her any warning whatsoever.

"Sting that's a bit embarrassing." Lucy commented

"For you or for me?" Sting asked hanging up his pants

"Both?" Lucy asked back "Just give a warning next time."

Sting walked back towards her and popped down right next to her again looking at the river that was only a few centimetres away from them. Lucy was still not facing him still blushing.

"Why did you take them off anyway?" Lucy asked now curious.

"I was uncomfortable and I hate when things stick to me." Sting answered

"Oh." Lucy said looking down at herself seeing that now her shirt was see through

"My shirt is almost completely dry," Sting told her "You can put it on in a few minutes."

"Ok thanks." Lucy said grateful

"Good to see you've calmed down." Sting commented laying down and closing his eyes

Lucy didn't understand she did feel like she wasn't calm, she was more than calm she was relaxed and happy to have some more time with Sting. She smiled and looked up to the sky with her back still away from the other blonde and she let the sun shower her with its warm rays.

"I've be calm this whole time," Lucy corrected him "expect the moment when I was falling off the cliff."

"Says you," Sting spoke softly, clearly tired now "you wouldn't shut up about how they were looking for you and how they must be worried sick about where you are."

"I clearly said us." Lucy spoke

"Well they're only looking for you." Sting informed her matter of factly

"Why would they only be looking for me and not you?" Lucy asked looking at the blonde next to her now confused

Sting let out a sigh at how she was being too naive and dumb at that very moment. It was like she didn't know him at all even though they had spent almost all day together and she was the one trying to get to close and he was the one trying to push her away so when he didn't answer he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Sting?" Lucy asked looking at him

Maybe his sleeping but it's not even close to 5 yet, how can he be tired. Lucy thought examining his face

"We should probably start looking for a place to sleep soon if you're already sleeping." Lucy said moving over to him to shake him awake

Sting was perfectly awake and knew exactly what was happening around him so when Lucy thought he was sleeping he smiled inwardly and decide to have some fun with this. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he loved seeing the blonde in stress because she looked sort of, kinda cute to him.

"Sting come on, wake up would you." Lucy whined now not wanting to be alone in the woods with no one to talk to, so she shook him harder before standing up and walking away

Sting just kept his eyes close, with a steady breath. He let his right eye open just a tiny bit to see the look on Lucy face but she wasn't there anymore. He opened his eyes fully to see where she was at. Lucy had moved to where his shirt was drying, only to find it was perfectly dry so she took off her clothes and put the shirt on, finding it fit just like a dress, a short dress that reached mid-thigh.

"Sting you better be awake or I'll pour water on you." Lucy threatened walking close to him now

Sting shot up surprised to where her voice was coming from. He didn't back to look at her but waited for what she would do next.

"Good you're up," Lucy said walking closer at each word "Now can you please explain why you said; they are only looking for me"

Sting frowned at the pushy blonde behind him and let his head fall to the ground besides him and he closed his eyes.

Why can't she understand, take a hint or read the fact that I do not want to talk about why I said that because that would lead to a whole different story. Sting thought frustrated and annoyed by Lucy's eagerness to find out more about him. He didn't feel like getting into his past or even letting Lucy close enough like his let Rouge and Laxus and most importantly Loke. He couldn't do that, he wasn't ready. Sting wasn't ready to open up just yet. He liked how they were together, Lucy had shared so much but he could share with her his stories they were too deep and it only caused him pain to talk and remember them.

"Sting, for goodness sake stop avoiding my question." Lucy yelled at him hovering above him now

Sting didn't move or open his eyes as he felt the suns warmth fade a bit, knowing full well that Lucy was now above him.

"Why are you even avoiding the question?" Lucy asked yet another question

Sting didn't budge so Lucy went down to his level and practically got on top of him irritated at the male blonde before her for ignoring her like he was. She had her legs at both sides of him now and she was sitting along his hip line.

"Lucy get the fuck off me," Sting told her "I can feel your wet underwear."

"I don't give a fuck," Lucy told him standing her ground "you are going to tell me why you said that whether you like it or not."

"Why are you being such a pain in the ass?" Sting said, his voice raising for once

"Because you're being a even bigger one," Lucy snapped back "I just want you to answer my damn question. What's so hard about that?"

"I have my reasons that I don't feel the need to share with you." Sting yelled at her

"Why not?" Lucy yelled back saddened and pissed off "Why can't you every share with me something, anything about you Sting? Why can't you just open and let me in, let me be there for you and let my fucking care for you like you do to me."

"I don't feel the need to." Sting yelled back "I don't feel like I want to tell you anything. You wouldn't understand anyway, you would judge me, look at me and then walk out on me."

"Why would you think that?" Lucy yelled hitting his chest "Why do you think that I'll run, that I'll see you differently. I know you have a past but that does not define who you are now."

Sting looked at her and saw the way her eyes showed so many emotions in them that he couldn't name most of them. They were both clearly mad, irritated, upset and worried but it felt like there was more to this conversation than meet the eye.

"Look," Sting said softer this time "I don't open up to just anyone because I-"

"Because you're afraid," Lucy cut him off looking into his sky blue eye, watching his every move "you're worried, ashamed, confused, lost or even worse insecure."

"Don't start assuming things Luce." Sting said hurt that she thought all of those things about him

Sting looked at her, his face emotionless but on the inside they were flowing and flying around his head. The only word that hit him hard that she said was lost and he knew he was. For so long he has been trying to find himself, half the time he doesn't feel like he's really living his life, he feels like someone else is living it and he can't do anything about it.

"You're right about one thing though Lucy," Sting admitted "I'm lost, I'm so lost that I have no idea who the fuck I am but at the same time I do, I'm so lost in the past I haven't been in the present and I haven't been seeing the future."

Lucy looked shocked, she didn't expect him to come clean like that and what he said was a bit deep but she didn't care. She felt like she had finally gotten through to him, like he was just starting to let her in.

"What happened in the past to make you say that?" Lucy asked

"Shit! That's what happened, so many bad things happened that I couldn't do anything about it and yes it messed me up but it also made me put my guard up and my walls made out of steel," Sting told her "so when I say people are only coming because they are looking for you and not me then I mean they are only looking for you because this wouldn't be the first time I've stayed away from home."

Sting looked her straight on seeing what she would do, what emotion she would give a way to make him regret saying what he just did, a sign to tell him that he was right about how Lucy would just looking at him like he was messed up and walk away from him forever. He looked and searched, in her eyes and body language but saw nothing. Part of him was relieved but another part of him was annoyed.

"What do you mean it won't be your first time?" Lucy asked wanting to know more, wanting to understand the blonde male underneath her

"I've walked away from home, I've stayed away from home more than I can count," Sting told her "Rouge, Laxus and Gramps will just think it's just another phase like it has always been but Loke would know the true reason for my disappearance and might look for me but he can't know because he left."

Sting tried to keep his voice from cracking at the memories that were flooding back to him all at once and he knew that Lucy would have probably noticed his voice cracking when he said he left. Lucy looked at him while he looked at anything but her and she knew this was hard for him to say, she knew he was nothing going through a hard time but she didn't care, she had to find out more about Sting so she could be there for him.

"Why would only Loke look for you?" Lucy asked "I mean Laxus is your brother and Rouge is your best friend."

"Laxus is my half brother, same mum, different dad," Sting confessed "Rouge is my best friend sure but he can't handle me at times and believes I need my space."

"While Loke knows what you're going through," Lucy guessed "he's always been there but he hasn't been there from the beginning"

"Neither of them have," Stng added on "It was just me and the woods"

"Why just you and the woods?" Lucy questioned

"Let's just say I didn't get this scar from an animal or in a fight." Sting let out bluntly

Lucy looked at his scar above his left eye, the one that she thought related her to Laxus but it seemed to go deeper. She raised her hand to slowly touch it. Sting watched her closely waiting for her to let her guard down. Lucy hand one hand on his abs while she leaned forward with the other hand and started to trace his scar.

"Did you get hit as a child?" Lucy asked

"My dad only did it once with his whip that he kept for my mum." Sting told her

"He hit your mum too!" Lucy asked angered

"All the time, I didn't find out about it until it was too late," Sting told her, his face going cold and sad at the memory "He never loved her, never cared for her, he hated her and blamed her for everything."

"That sun of a bitch!" Lucy screamed

Stings face stopped showing the emotions before he started to cry. He moved up using his hands for support as he looked straight at Lucy about to tell her something only Loke knew about, something that he knew he was going to regret but he felt the need to tell the blonde before him.

Laxus left when he was 14 to live with gramps who adored him to no end, gramps and dad didn't get along well because dad did something that I never will find out about. Mum was always in the next town working on her job but one day she got rapped walking home and she didn't want to go home and tell dad because she knew he would be pissed off so she stayed with a friend for 12 years. She had gotten me from that rap but she still loved me no matter how she got me. She decided to go back to her husband and her 14 year old son she hadn't seen only to find he was gone and all that was left was her husband who when he saw me got pissed and dragging her into the house keeping out me of course. I didn't know what was happening and I didn't think to over think it because my mum knew she would get the whip when she got back anyway but she took the risk because she loved that asshole. She missed him and her other son that she was stunned not to see him at home. When she walked out she smiled at me and introduced him as my dad, I was happy and he looked at me as if I was dirt he walked on. A month later and I came home from school on time for once because it was mom's birthday and I had a great gift for her, I made it at school. I opened the door to find she was on her knees crying, without her top on while her husband hit her with the whip calling her all these names. I was shocked and I dropped everything running to her side before he hit her again but he still brought the whip down and bam, my eye hurt. Mum looked at me, grabbed me and started to take care of me right after she noticed. Dad walked out of the house and didn't come back till a week after. When he did they fought but I didn't interfere because I promised I never would anymore. The next day mum was gone and I was left alone with dad. I avoided him at all costs all through those months, I stayed in the woods just like this one and ventured out to far one time and ended up at Loke's place. He saw me and smiled and we become friends, I told him everything because he had pinned me down and demanded to know why I looked so lost and beaten up and I told him.

Sting finished his story and looked at Lucy for her reaction. She just looked at him letting the tears fall from her eyes as she cried because of his past, because of what he went through. Sting didn't want to cry, not now and not yet. This wasn't the whole story, of course there was more than that but if he went any farther then he would be crying his eyes out.

"I'm so sorry." Lucy said through the tears

"For what?" Sting asked

"For your past, for what happened to you but that's not going to help you and yes I know there is probably more to why you act the way you do and the source of it is probably because of your mum leaving you but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I may tell you one day but," Sting started

"It's ok, tell me when you want, I won't push you anymore." Lucy told him wiping away her tears

Sting looked at her and smiled a true smile that he thought was impossible, he did feel happy and proud that he finally got something out that he hadn't in a long time that maybe he was starting to find himself slowly by slowly. Lucy smiled back at him and pulled him into a hug and kissed his forehand and at that moment Sting cried and buried his head in her chest holding her closely.

The thing about being lost is that there is always a way to find yourself or a way out of a place you don't know. It just takes time, hope, courage and maybe friends to help you see it to the end. There is also the motive but does that one really matter?