Sad Savior

Chapter 4:

"Don't you see, Gray? I deserve the pain..."

He had heard it, through the door. And it hurt. It hurt so bad, he could barely bear the ache in his heart. She put those nasty burns and bruises on herself?

.

.

.

Feeling tears stream down his face, he slammed open the door and pulled the young blonde into a tight hug. He pressed her to his chest and buried his face in her golden tresses. He felt her wince and tense in his embrace, but he just couldn't help it.

"You don't, Lucy.." Came out a hoarse whisper.

In response her eyes went wide. He heard it...?

"Please, don't wreck yourself even more.. You've taken enough already.." His voice was deep, rough and it broke at the last part. It was full of pain.

And she felt bad. She knew how he felt and now he must have felt even worse than before. "I'm sorry, Gray..." She whispered quietly, as her bottom lip began to quiver.

He squeezed her in his embrace and slowly her hands landed on his back, returning the hug, as she buried her face in his chest, silent tears falling from her eyes.

They fell to their knees and their embrace grew more firm, as she cried into his chest. He didn't want to let her go. He was afraid she might hurt herself, if he did leave her alone and he didn't want to risk that. He promised himself to protect her, but never did he expect that he would have to save her from herself. But nevertheless he would protect her from anything, no matter what it would take him and if he had to protect her from herself then so be it. He was willing to stay by her side for as long as it would take her to heal.

"I feel dirty, Gray... misused, filthy... I tried to wash it off with hot water, but I only burned myself in the process..." She murmured quietly and tightened her grasp around his torso.

His eyes widened. So that was were the burns came from... "Lucy, just because that fucking bastard... did what he did doesn't mean you are less worthy... He's the one who should suffer and not you.." It hurt him to know she was feeling so miserable that she even put harm to herself. He was also growing angrier not only at himself, but also at the guy who did this to Lu-

"Maybe it's my fault..." She mumbled, shrugging slightly.

How could she say that like it was nothing?

"I mean, maybe my clothes were a little too revealing..?"

That was it. He couldn't take anymore of this, it was making him sick to his stomach. "Stop, Lucy."

"Huh?" She looked up at him, a look of utter confusion evident on the girl's features, as he pulled back from the hug, though his hands remained on her shoulders.

"Don't you ever dare blame yourself for what happened." Gray's raven bangs shadowed his eyes and his grip on her shoulders tightened, but not enough to hurt her. "What happened was.. horrible and I'll never forgive that fucker for what he did, but it was certainly not your fault. It was anything but your fault." The words came out without any emotion. He sounded cold, just like he always did.

"But-"

"Don't 'but' me now. I am right and you know that."

She lowered her gaze, her face showing a look of sadness and tiredness, as the tears started to stream down her face once more.

All of he sudden he crushed her to himself again, wrapping his arms around her in a protective way. Immediately her hands settled on his chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly, as she cried into his chest. Even though he was having a hard time fighting back the tears himself, he wouldn't let them fall now. It wouldn't help them at all. Instead his hands trailed circles on her back in a calming manner, and eventually she stopped crying. She slowly pulled back and freed herself from his embrace, wiping her eyes, even though they both didn't want to let go just yet. He placed a hand on her cheek and caressed her soft skin, staring down into her beautiful brown orbs.

"It's going to be fine, I promise. I'll make sure to protect you and if it's necessary even from yourself." He gave her a kind smile and placed a kiss on her forehead.

And finally she smiled again. A genuine real smile. "Thank you, Gray.."

With that they both got up and readied themselves for bed.

Oh, how long had it been since she slept so well?

The next morning he woke up with a smile on his face. He turned his head to see if Lucy was still asleep and indeed, she was. And she looked so peaceful it warmed his heart and his smile grew even wider. He gazed at her for a little longer, before he got up from his 'bed' and made his way into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He decided to make some pancakes and so he got out all the ingredients and mixed them together. Just when he was done with that, he heard light footsteps approach from behind and again a wide smile formed on his dry lips.

"Good morning, Lucy." He greeted, giving her a brief glance over his broad shoulder. Just then he realized that she was wearing one of his shirts and some boxers. "I see you made yourself at home, huh?"

At the last comment he saw her blush and heard her mumble something like "You told me to...".

"What are you cooking?" She asked and walked closer, getting on her tip toes to look over his shoulder.

"Pancakes. I hope you're fine with that?" He turned his head to look down at the pan in his hand.

A small smile adorned the female's features and she nodded her head. "It smells really good.. I didn't know you were good at cooking."

He chuckled dryly. "Well, who else is here to cook for me?"

She laughed and walked over to the dining table, sitting down on one of the chairs. "I actually want to tell you something, Gray.."

He remained focused on his pancakes, though gave a quick nod. "What is it?"

"Thank you.. for yesterday. I really don't know what was going on with me..." She murmured and looked down at her hands.

"To be honest, I understood why you had done it." He lowered his gaze and released a soft sigh.

"Really?" Her head snapped up as a look of surprise crossed the blonde's face.

"Yeah, I mean...I can understand that you feel that way. But after all I think it's best if we try to move on and leave that behind.." He scratched the back of his neck and then placed the pancakes that he had cooked on a plate and brought them to her. "You should eat, you must be exhausted and hungry."

She nodded her head slowly and hesitantly began to eat. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm not hungry at all." He sat down on the opposite side of the table and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Alright, if you say so.." She shrugged and continued to eat her pancakes. "They taste really amazing!"

He laughed. "I'm glad to hear that."

"So, when are we going to tell the others?.."

"Well, about that.. I already told Natsu, but really only him.." He responded, giving her an apologetic smile.

"O-Oh, I see... And what about the others?"

"Whenever you feel ready for it of course, we don't have to rush with it and I understand if you need some time first."

Her lips curled into a smile and she nodded her head. "Thank you..."

"Maybe we should meet up with Natsu, now that you know. I'm sure he wants to see if you're okay.." The raven haired male suggested, shrugging.

"Y-Yeah, you are probably right.. He deserves to know after all." Having finished her pancakes, she stood up from her sitting position and brought the empty plate into the sink.

He got out his phone and typed in his best friend's number. "Alright, I'll call him and tell him to come over."

She gave him a quick nod, before exiting the kitchen. "I'll go get ready in the meantime then."

"Sure." He called as he lifted the phone to his ear.

…

…

…

"Ice Princess?" Came out a groggy groan.

"Good morning to you too, flame brain." Gray said, a hoarse chuckle escaping his lips.

"What do ya want, droopy eyes? It's like six in the mornin'." The pink haired boy growled.

"It's almost 12 am, squirt." The dark eyed male replied.

"Whatever. Why'd ya call me anyway? Is somethin' wrong with Luce?"

"No, she's okay, I guess. I called you because I wanted to let you know that I told Lucy about the conversation we had. We decided to invite you to come over now."

"Wait, ya told her? What'd she say?"

"Nothing. She just asked when we are going to tell the others." Gray got up from his seat and walked into the living room, letting himself fall down on the couch.

"And when is that?"

"When she's ready of course, idiot." The older male hissed into his phone.

"Hey now, I'm not an idiot, idiot!" Natsu yelled in return.

"Anyway, you should get here as soon as possible."

"Fine, ice prick. Be there in 20 minutes."

And with that they both hung up and Gray stuffed his phone back into his pocket and got off the couch. He then jogged over to his bedroom and walked in, only to be welcomed by the most wonderful view he had ever seen. There stood Lucy. Almost completely naked. The only things that covered her up were some small lacy panties and the bra that she was just putting on. His jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes went wide, as blood dripped out of his nose.

"KYAA! GRAY! GET OUT!" Her yelling voice snapped him out of his trance and he quickly turned around, as a deep blush dusted his cheeks and he wiped his nose.

"S-Sorry Luce.." He mumbled quietly.

"JUST GET OUT ALREADY, YOU PERVERT!" She yelled again, pointing her finger at the door.

"A-Alright.. sorry again..." He murmured as he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

FUCK.

He knew exactly that she was straight up gorgeous and her body was amazing, but never had he expected that. The more he thought about what he had just seen, the harder it got not to go back in there and just take her, right there and then. But he would never do that. He knew she wasn't ready just yet and so he just shook the thoughts off his mind and walked back into the living room, sitting down on the couch again.

"I'm not a pervert..." He mumbled, crossing his arms over his bare chest. Yes, he 'lost' his shirt again. "Okay, maybe just a little.. but what's so bad about it.. I have my needs too.." He told himself and nodded his head. Just then he heard someone clear their throat behind him and he slowly turned his head to see Lucy standing there. And oh boy, did she look angry.

"Your needs, huh?" She repeated his words, raising a delicate brow.

He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Can we just forget that this ever happened please?"

She released a sigh and nodded her head. "But don't tell anyone, okay? Not even Natsu."

"Of course." He responded and nodded his head in return.

Just then they heard someone knock on the door and Gray quickly got up from the couch and walk to the door. "That's probably Natsu." He said and opened the door.

But to his surprise it wasn't his pink haired best friend...

- So, I don't quite know how to put this, but do you guys ever get super frustrated over the most stupid things? Because for me it's so frustrating to know that GrayLu will never happen. I don't want to accept the fact that Gray and Juvia are probably going to end up together. I just really don't ship them. I also think that if Juvia wasn't there, Lucy and Gray would actually have a chance. But oh well, I can't change anything now, can I? -