Taking it a bit slower now, I don't want my chapters to seem like they've been rushed-written, *nervous laugh* Hope you like the extra details! Don't forget to review any opinions and ideas J

~I do not own Fairy Tail ~

It was a dry day, where the blistering sun had no cloud to accompany him in the blue sky, and I couldn't regret wearing jeans, a long sleeved shrug and a scarf anymore than I do now, but I guess I had to cover up the many war wounds I received yesterday. However, I couldn't stop feeling somewhat spiteful of Zeref, who wore a dark grey T-shirt with an indigo woolen cardigan topped off with a thick, long trench coat tied loosely to his waist with a white obi.

Then, there were his loose black trousers which would just touched the floor if they didn't crumple when they reached his leather loafers. I'd assume he would be baking under all those layers but his face was cool and content.

Oh, how I envy him.

"Here," Zeref stopped and looked at an old and dark pub with a little chimney poking out of the black, badly painted roof. I flashed my eyes in his direction but he had already disappeared into the building.

Dammit, Zeref, I thought we were going shopping!

"Hey, wait for me!" I reluctantly ran after him and entered through the wooden door, which I eventually found out you had to pull the doorknob.

As soon as I walked, in I realized that the outside most definitely deceived this beautiful architecture as I stood in dismay near the entrance. Firstly, I noticed its extremely high ceiling which had beautiful icons of angels and holy beings; some were sculpted into the peak of the pillars, and a massive chandelier in the middle of it all. The light it provided highlighted the golden walls which contained framed paintings (some I've seen before but couldn't put a name on) and small italic writing near the corners which told different philosophical quotes. I was speechless.

"Lucy, care to join me for some refreshments before we delight ourselves in some clothes shopping?" His eye glinted at me as he sat around a wooden table near the unlit fireplace. Flabbergasted, I silently walked towards him, engulfing this new scenery which I've never seen before, and then pulled out a chair where a red pillow laid.

"Despite the amazing selection of brews they offer, I'm afraid you're too young to drink so I brought you a cranberry juice, is that alright?" He passed me a glass which contained a mouthwatering, deep red juice with a few ice cubes in it. He began delicately sipping the frothy beer he had in his half-pint glass, and sighed gracefully when he placed it down.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He noticed that I hadn't said a word since I entered the place, to my surprise there weren't many customers in the place, just us and a few couples scattered around the massive area.

"Y-yes! I've never ever seen something like this, Zeref." I excitedly said after gulping down some of the refreshing berry juice. He smiled his beautiful and innocent smile; it enlightened me more than the coldest drink ever could.

"Sadly, it's usually like this everyday, just a damn shame that people avoid it from the outside. The bartender over there is a nice fellow, we get along, and he says that the only reason they cannot fix the outside is because they lack money. However, they also need to pay for new waiters, which they also lack due to the deceiving outside appearance." I quietly listened to him whilst guzzling the drink until it had disappeared.

"Would you like another?" He calmly asked and waited until I nodded shyly. "Mr. Dorindel, may we have another glass of the berry?" The bartender turned around to the sound of his name and smiled.

He was quite old and short, with a friendly grin and thin glasses covering his gentle, grey eyes. On his plump, wrinkly face, he had a white stubbly, beard and barely any hairs on his balding head. Soon, he waddled his way here, bringing another glassful of juice and took away my empty one.

"Before you go, did you say you wanted a part-time person around here to help around here?" The man suddenly turned jolly and agreed. "Well, my friend Lucy is new to town and she needs a job." My face whipped around to Zeref so fast that I felt my brain rattle in my head.

When did I ever say that?! Then again, I guess I would need to find a job because I can't rely on Zeref offering me pity clothing...

"Fantastic news, she can have a practice run on Wednesday at 5 o clock. Thank you very much Zeref." The man gleamed happily and bowed to my friend, who looked at the man's gesture slightly uncomfortably, but Mr. Dorindel quickly dashed back behind the counter before the moment could linger.

"You've got yourself a job here, I now have someone to share shifts with." Zeref proudly smiled to himself however I can't recall me saying anything about this arrangement.

Soon, we were back to wandering the steaming streets after a short and quick explanation of what I'd be doing in my future job. Surprisingly, it seemed pretty simple; all I had to do was wash dirty dishes, serve the drinks and food to the customers and clean the tables. Yes, it'd take a lot of hard work and effort but it's only for a little while, also Zeref would be there to help.

"Lucy, I think this place would be something to your liking." Zeref pointed at a bright pink and yellow shop, with big bubbly writing saying 'Little Princess'. My eye twitched at him, this was a children's clothing store.

"I'm not six!" I yelled at him and pulled his coat to lead him away from the colorful shop he was considering walking into. "Show me places where there are clothes and I'll decide, how about that?" I crossed my arms at him, still feeling offended from his offensive remark, but once again he looked confused on what he had said or done wrong.

A few moments passed as I strutted down the marketplace with Zeref closely following behind me.

"By now, I could guess that we've already passed every single shop in town, Lucy." He complained in a matter-of-fact way. Before I could stick my tongue out at him, I stood in front of a red and white themed boutique with retro clothes being modeled by some thin mannequins. I jumped up and down and skipped happily towards the black door with a tiny sign over it saying in cursive handwriting, 'Retrospective'. Loved it already!

"Zeref, oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed with absolute happiness as he bought me the cutest little golden sandals with a generous heel and a tight, blue tank top which exposed most of my waist and chest and it came with these flowing, long white sleeves. When we left the shop I couldn't help but feel like the happiest person on Earthland as I held the shopping bag which my new gifts were placed in, so I nuzzled Zeref's arm with my cheek and had a glazed look in my eye whilst he was secretly smiling to himself.

"It was my pleasure," He chuckled lightly, completely oblivious to why the new clothes made me so happy, which obvious answer would be: new clothes! "But it's getting dark so we'll have to walk back to the dorm now." And so we did.

"I don't know your last name, Zeref." I broke the silence with an honest statement: I really didn't know.

"It's Kurosawa," He forced out that word as if it was poison, "Though, can you please refrain from using that." He uncomfortably added.

"Mine's Heartfilia, and the same kind of goes with me too." The night sky was pitch black already and we hadn't even reached the dorms yet, I began holding onto Zeref's right arm for dear life. "Sure is getting dark..." My fear began leaping out before I knew it; I was terrified of the dark! Normally, it doesn't affect me when I'm with people but my heart was already pounding and my throat began clenching down a scream. "Please, can we hurry up?" I nudged his arm forward to which he reluctantly quickened his pace.

"What's wrong?" He sighed.

"I... I'm scared of the dark, ok?" I know, I know! At fifteen years old, I shouldn't be scared of the dark; I've even seen children half my age sleep with the light off. He began laughing heartily for a long while until he nearly collapsed to the ground. I was shocked by his insensitivity.

"You-you can't be scared of the dark, Lucy, that's impossible!" His laughter began to calm down and he managed a few words. "Sorry, but that is quite ironic, isn't it?" He seemed to be asking himself that.

"It's NOT funny and it's not ironic!" I yelled at him whilst letting go of his arm, almost throwing an angry tantrum but I could soon feel my voice breaking and tears began blurring my eyesight.

"If only you knew, Lucy, if only you knew..." He chuckled one last time and began walking forwards again accompanied with his regular, stoic face. I quickly ran to his side again and began quivering and collecting goose bumps all over my body, trying so hard to hold in my frightened whine. Suddenly, I felt his arm move and he gently placed it around my shoulders and dug me closer to his warm, comforting body, then nudged my head a little with his chin.

"Hey now, if you're really that scared then I'm sorry." His low, melodic voice sung through my shaking body but I kept looking into the opaque area in front of us, causing me to swing my arms around his body and place my head into his chest, hiding away from the darkness.

This continued until we finally ended up at the gates, this time before curfew, where lanterns and lamps clearly lit up the building and I soon felt my panic slowly ooze out of me. Now, the only thing that raced through my mind was not considered the most exciting event in life, but I couldn't feel anymore content about it finally arriving:

New school tomorrow!