Disclaimer: Impractical jokers are aweeeeesome—oh wait...*clears throat* I. Do. Not. Own. Fairy Tail. Well...except for the OC's.

Fear. It's what told her she was alive. The cold she felt told her she deserved it. The warmth she longed for screamed at her to stop trying. The darkness that always engulfed her was her closest friends. Not an acquaintance but a friend. Probably her best friend. It was the only thing that could shield her from this cold reality. From the suffering she's been having to face.

Happiness was such a foreign word. Has it really been that long? It feels like it was only yesterday when her Mom and Dad were having a pillow fight with her. Like it was yesterday when she got lost in the forest, and her parents went on a rampage to find her—when they did, they hugged her until they were forced off by the maids. It felt as though it was only yesterday when they went to buy some ice cream, and had an ice cream fight. But in reality it wasn't.

It was seven years ago.

The sound of laughter was heard from downstairs. Shouts were heard as well—shouts for her name. She whimpered, and hugged her legs closer to her body. The clothes in the closet reeked of alcohol, and drugs. Cockroaches were nesting between her toes, and the closet shook with every step that was made. It was as if a dinosaur was going through the house. Thump, thump, thump. Were the only sounds she heard. But, then again it might've just been her heart.

Lucy's tongue ran across her chapped lips, as her stomach growled in hunger. However, she knew if she went down stairs now, she wasn't going to be fed...she was gonna be the supplier. "Lucy." A gruff voice shook her world—not in a good way. She shivered, and shrilled back in disgust. There was once a time where she was excited to hear that voice. Now, it simply sent fear down her spine. Her heartbeat grew louder and louder, when she heard him step into this room.

He's gonna find her.

She pushed herself more into the corner—well as much as she could, anymore and she would've fused with it. Not that she'd mind. She could hear all of his friends drunkenly going up the stairs. If they found her, she wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow—and it's not her father that'd cause it. As if—in an instinctive move she pushed her legs tighter together, and held her breath.

"Where's our little princess?" Jose pouted. Looking for the small blonde that he enjoyed—in every way. Whether it was the sex, or the beatings. His mouth watered as he thought of her screams of agony.

"Hiding. Lu-Lu you know that if you come out now there will be less of a punishment?" Jiemma sang. Having thoughts of doing the wondrous things he's been desiring to do for a week now.

Lucy almost gave in at that.

Almost.

Lucy knew better though, if these men could rape a fourteen-year-old it was evident that they could lie to the same girl. Lucy felt the tears round up in her eyes, but she quickly pushed them down. Tears hadn't run down her face in seven years, and god knows it wouldn't be for these bastards. Her 'father' and his friends. Lucy heard them approach the closet, and she was confused as to what she could do. Could she run out? No, they were all big and strong. Could she continue to hide? No, they would eventually find her.

So, she decided to do the one thing that she could. She got up from her position, and opened the closet door, to the familiar faces of Jose Parlo, Jiemma, and her Father. Her face whipped to the side, and it stung at the same time. Her hair scrambled around her face, and she looked up.

"Punishment time" Jiemma grinned and placed his cold lips next to her ear "Princess."

Lucy wakes up with sweat covering her like a second skin. She opens her eyes, and sees the darkness of the room. Her breathing picks up, and the air feels as though it has been kicked out of her lungs. Her body starts to shiver uncontrollably as she gets up, and stumbles to the door. Her heart beat is erratic, and feels like it'll burst out of her chest. Sweat runs down her face, as her thoughts go wild. Help, help! She screams in her mind, as much as she'd like to get out those words she's unable to do so. Lucy finally reaches the doorknob of her room, and opens it. Lucy's met with darkness again, but this time, there's a small light.

The light from Natsu's computer.

Natsu's eyes flick to the sweating blonde who was leaning next to the storage room—her room. She looks as though she had run a hundred miles to get here, and then ran ten more for the fun of it. He watches as she looks at him with vulnerability clear in her eyes. Sweat continues to cascade down her face.

"Do you have a nightlight?"

Natsu furrows his eyes at the question. He grabs a cigar and lights it up, then takes a drag from it. In the week that she'd been here she'd never asked for a nightlight. Thinking back, he never turned off the lights during those times since he had to finish some paper work, tonight he did it from the computer; so that's why he turned them off. Why was she afraid of the dark? Hell, for her first mission he heard that she penetrated a guy's dick with her heel.

"Why?" He takes another drag of his toxic addiction.

Lucy bites her lip, and furrows her eyebrows. The sweat stops gliding down her face, but she feels like she is suffocating. Too much darkness stood around her, she runs over to where Natsu is—making sure not to trip over anything, and bathes in the light of his big 32" monitor. Her heart continues to beat rapidly—but not out of the fear of the dark, but how close he is.

"I don't like the dark" Lucy shrugs as if it's no big a deal, and puts on her usual cheery façade. "What, is Natsu Dragonmeal worried about little ol' me?"

Natsu rolls his eyes at the obvious change in subject. "Go back to your room I have work to do." Natsu took another drag of his cigar, and focused on the monitor screen. Levy is the best hacker in Fairy Tail—hell, she's one of the top five hackers in the world. However, Natsu knew a couple things about hacking—no he isn't on the same level as Levy, however in his books he's pretty good.

Lucy pouts, and starts to move closer to the light. Natsu's eye twitches at her actions. He never let anyone come behind the desk, unless he wasn't doing anything and he needed certain needs to be...met. Natsu is a very secretive man, and the closest thing to trust he has gotten to, was with his family. Fairy Tail. "Back of, Busty." He growls at her, leaving no room for discussion.

"Can you turn the light on?" Lucy asks, ignoring his comment, in her desperate need for light.

"No."

"Then, I won't back off."

"You seem to have misunderstood me" he grabs her wrist and pulls her toward his body, and brushes his lips against her earlobe. "It was a demand, not a question. Now, you've got five seconds to back off before I snap your wrist like a pencil."

Heat travels all over her body, like an explorer. Her heart thumps with a weird feeling, and her cheeks heat up. Lucy furrows her eyes at this feeling, what is it? Natsu's voice is cold and demanding, causing her to get off of him. What he had said wasn't just a threat; it was promise. Lucy moves backwards, until she's leaning on the side of his desk. Her back is covered with the cold darkness, and her front is covered with the warmth of the light. Her heart roars against her chest. Her ears hear loud drums—no, her heart. Her body starts to shake, and her breaths become shallow. Unsteady. Before Lucy knows it her feet are moving backwards.

Into the darkness.

Lucy doesn't know what's happening. Lucy doesn't even know why her legs are moving. It's as if her brains on autopilot, and is going to the dark; like a magnet. Lucy's eyes lose focus, and the bright brown is now a cloudy brown. The darkness covered half of her body already, as she took small steps back. She doesn't want to go back into the darkness. She doesn't. So, why is she going now? Why can't she stop? Will she be alone like before?

Help, please! The child inside Lucy screams. The child that would always beg, the one that thought the darkness was her friend. Memories appear inside her head. Flashing through, each one slightly longer than the last. The last memory plays out.

"I-I can't take this anymore! Please, stop. You're my Father, for crying gout loud. You're supposed to protect me, not hurt me." Lucy shouts. Her screaming simply made him madder. Jude growls at her disrespect, and her bootless attempts at trying to get him to stop.

Jude grabs the empty bottle from the ground, and picks it up. He smashes it against the wall—so half of it is in pieces, and the other is a sharp weapon. Lucy let out a heart wrenching scream when she realized what he planned to do. Lucy's eyes were now bloodshot, and the tears kept on coming. She couldn't stop crying. She couldn't stop being afraid.

Jude frowned at the girl before him. He grabbed her hair and brought her up, tired of her pleas. He forced her to turn around. He ripped of the jacket she had on—revealing the tank top she was forced to wear. Lucy begged for him not to do this anymore, she begged, and begged—but he still did it. An enormous pain stuck the back of Lucy's left shoulder. Jude dragged the glass down, and covered the girl's mouth with his free hand. He didn't want to bother the neighbors. He drags the glass down causing more blood to be spat out. He continues doing that until it forms an 'X.'

Lucy's vision was blurry—and Jude sensed that. "Don't go to sleep yet ya worthless brat." He growls, before lifting the tank top up and did the same thing on her lower back. Lucy just wanted the pain to end, she could feel her blood running down her back. She could feel it all. She felt it when he did it a third time to her hip, and she felt it when he pushed her down—on her wounds. Why did she have to suffer like this? Why?

"Those are the places where she got shot," his eyes grow colder than they already are—if that's even possible "it should've been you."

Lucy felt the tears continue to run down her face, as she got up, and walked out the house with a bloody tank top. Sweat was running down her face when she reached the park. Luckily no one was there—well it was one in the morning. Lucy felt her conscious kicking in and out, but she had to get to that comfy looking bench. However she couldn't make it. Her breathing grew shallow, as a smile fell onto her face.

I'm coming mama. She thought. However before she passed out she saw a man with a black trench coat, catching her. He felt warm.

Her body by now is almost engulfed in the darkness. However, it vanishes. All of it. The darkness disappears, instead it is replaced by a beautiful light. The light she almost left. Lucy turns her head and sees an angel—wait no, that's just Natsu. His face is blank, and he looks a little irritated, but slightly concerned. Lucy's legs give up, and she feels herself falling. However, he catches her. How did he go from one side of the room to beside her in less than a second?

Natsu furrows his eyebrows as he stares at the blonde. "Why are you afraid of the dark?"

Lucy gives him a pained smile "I'm not afraid of the dark as much as what's in it." Then her world goes black. However, the small smile still rests on her lips. Thank you, Natsu.

WOOOOOOOOOOW HEA-TO THE FUCKING-VY! Sorry, it wasn't funny or anything like that. But, I need you guys to know that Lucy's past is a dark one, and even though she's afraid of it—the dark was once her comfort, that's why she was going in it. It was like an automatic response. She ran to the door when she was in the dark, during her time in her room. However, this time, Natsu pushed her away from the light. So, half of it was to her, and the darkness covered her back. Hope you can understand this confusing chapter! Thank you aaaaaall!

NOW TIME FOR THE AWESOME REVIEWS!

Thenextnexus: AAAAAW! Thank yooooou! Hope you keep on reviewing *Does the whip and smirks* yeah, girl I can do it! HAHAHAHAHHA LIIIIIIIT!

Cinder Dragneel: W-WELLL...GRAZIE! caramella è la vita. Italian...yes, I know it! *puts on sunglasses and walks away with Will Smith, and jumps in Men in Black 3. But then jumps back and looks at Cinder* Okay, I lied, I simply used google translate!

BakaFangirl: A) if it's annoying then don't read it. Please. B) She needs to build a relationship with everyone, I can't have her waking up and everyone loving her randomly. Then she and Natsu getting married simply on the third chapter. I do things for a reason BakaFangirl, understand that please. And, plus Lucy's personality is major in this story. She's the comic relief.

faerytael: Lol, glad you like my personality. *snickers then goes to family.* SEE I TOLD YOU PEOPLE LIKE IT YOU SHIT-HEADS. *Mom looks at me with the look saying she's going to go Hulk on my ass* I-IM SOOOORRY!1

J.C: Lol. I had a dream similar to that, except Ants ruled the world and I was trying to not die...shit, I need help.

Guest: SHE WILL, SHE WILL, SHE WILL. MAYBE FOR THE MONEY AND THE POWER AND THE FAME RIGHT NOW—oh...this is on *taps microphone, feeling awkward*

faerytael: GUUUUUURL! You 'ont know how much I was mad about killin' him off! But, I can't have a love triangle...or maybe I can...DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

Alexa: Thaaaaaaaaaanks!*whispers silently* do you have any more of that...y'know haaaappy powder? *Alexa gives me a crazy look* Y'know the Fun Dip! HAHAHAHHA YOU THOUGHT IT WAS DRUGS, HA GOTEM...DEEZ NUTS—wait, dafuq am I talking about I'm a girl!

Guest: *Crying like I just finished the Notebook* BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I WIIIIILL!

Guest: In joy...or sadness. If its sadness then *gives her/him some ice cream.* If it's in happiness then...*eats ice cream and walks away in slow-mo like a Queen B, while crying in joy.*