It was a peaceful morning, the sky was a pale, hazy blue and the greenery swayed softly in the light breeze. The wind playing with the long blonde hair of the young girl sitting on top of the hill over looking the rather large school. Somewhere deep inside the massive halls were her two brothers that she loved dearly. The first being her older brother, Laxus, who was a senior with blonde hair that naturally spiked in all directions and a tough build, earned through hard nights of training for football. The other brother was only half a year older, Sting. He, unlike her, was more brawn than brains. His hair was as blonde as hers that also spiked on its own and had dark blue eyes. Sting was a lot like Laxus. Overprotective and caring only towards her. Only a select few didn't get their silent treatment and/or rude tempers.

Sure they were actually related. They were all adopted but they spent a lot of time together and just bonded like normal siblings.

But also in those dreaded hallways was her current boyfriend, Liam. And today she found out they weren't so perfect. Like she thought they were.

The day had started off normal. The siblings waking up early and yelling at each other, but it all went downhill from there.

…

"Lucy Heartfilia! Hurry up! Out of the shower before I throw the cat in there!" Laxus yelled, pounding on the one bathroom door that the three shared.

Lucy stepping out of the now open door simply smiled and sighed at her brother. "Calm down Laxus, I'm out already."

Her older brother growled lowly in his throat and slipped into the bathroom and all Lucy could do was giggle at him. Laxus definitely wasn't a morning person, unlike herself. On the other hand, she was always so cheerful.

Before stopping in her bedroom to finish getting her bag ready for school, Lucy peeked into Sting's room to see if he was awake yet. But the lights were out and she couldn't see anything.

"Sting? Are you awake?" She asked from behind the door, afraid to walk in the dark room. She never knew what could possibly be on that floor.

However, she heard a soft grunt come from him and by the way it sounded, he was still snuggling his pillow. Lucy barged into the room, careful with her footing, and sure enough, the boy was buried deep under a mass of blankets and pillows.

"Sting!" She shrieked

Sting sat up slightly, looking rather annoyed and threw a pillow at her. Lucy quickly ducked, barely dodging the attack, and heard an angry hiss as the cotton mass hit the family cat. She faced the sleeping boy and sighed heavily. Stomping over to the bedside, Lucy prepared for war. She gripped the blankets and gave a sharp tug but only managed to slid to her butt. Sting had a firm grip on his comforter, one that Lucy couldn't compete with.

He muttered a soft yet threatening 'No' then rolled back over on the bed. Lucy gave him her small growl, far less scary than her brothers' growls. She stood back up and was about to jump on him when Laxus shouted into the room.

"Sting get out of that bed before I pull you out."

Sting groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. If it was one thing Sting knew for sure was to never cross his brother. Lucy laughed at him. Sting glared at her causing her laughter to envelope her. Her whole body rocked and she gripped her sides as she slipped to the bed. She felt Sting push her off the bed. Then Sting lifted the hysterical girl onto his shoulder. This quieted her laughter just a little but not much. He dumped her on the ground outside his room and slammed the door shut.

Lucy stood up, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

'Yep, today is going to be a good day.' She thought while smiling and grabbed her things for the day out of her room beside Sting's. Then she waited by the car for her brothers to be finished.

…

Once at school, Laxus went his way towards his few friends and Sting disappeared without a word. Lucy stood for a moment, smelling the warm air, inhaling the deep floral scents. Her lips pulled back on her gleaming face. She gripped the door handle and pulled, opening the metal door to step through. She was currently making her way to her usual haunt in the mornings where she would meet Liam.

This early in the morning, there was always this one empty hallway that led to the courtyard out back. Here was a small garden in which one could hide and never be found. Lucy used to have it to herself but decided to share it with Liam since it was the only place her brothers didn't know about.

At the moment, the sparkling girl was walking quietly down the abandoned hall, smiling at the thoughts of seeing Liam. In front of her, in one of the classrooms, she heard a couple laughing and a few rustling noises. Lucy, at the moment, thought nothing of it, thinking they were just like her and her boyfriend and tried continuing as quietly as possible.

"Liam!" a rather loud moan escaped the room.

Lucy froze and her heart skidded to a still. 'Liam? No, it couldn't be him. It had to be another Liam.'

Slowly her legs carried her to the classroom the voices and noises were coming from. With her mind pleading violently, she peered in the window on the door.

Before her eyes was a close couple, too close for a school. Lucy could see the girl's face and recognized it as Summer's, her best friend since middle school. Just seeing her face made Lucy a little embarrassed to see this intimate moment.

Though the only thing she could see of the boy was his back, she automatically knew it was her Liam. She recognized the mane of shaggy brown hair resting on the head and the jacket around his elbows. Lucy's blood ran cold in her veins and she couldn't held onto the gasp that rose in her.

Her best friend and Boyfriend were sneaking around behind her back.

"Liam... when are you going to break up with Lucy?" Summer quarreled, looking at a spot on his chest.

"Have you seen her brothers? I'm going to have to wait for her to break up with me!" Liam hissed, a look of fear in his eyes.

"I know but,.. I'm tired of sneaking around and I don't want to hurt her." Summer pouted.

"I know and I'm sorry love."

Lucy could barely hear anything. All she could hear was breakup and sneaking around bouncing around in her head. She fell back from the door, gasping for air.

'This isn't happening! This is just a dream! It has to be! One horrible dream! Wait just one moment and Laxus will be waking me, telling me I'm late for school.' Lucy's mind screamed. Her hands gripped her head tightly and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Wake up wake up wake up." Lucy chanted over and over again as tears spilled down her face. But as she said this, it became more and more real to her.

Upon hearing a commotion, the couple ran out into the hallway and froze once they saw Lucy.

"Lucy.." Liam gasped, turning stark white.

Lucy looked up at the two, tears still in her eyes along with a look of pure rage. Without saying a word, she turned on her heel and ran out into the courtyard. She really didn't want to hear their excuses. She marched straight to the garden and was about to step in when she had a sudden thought. Liam would know to find her here. So the saddened girl walked up the hill at the side of the school building and sat on it, slightly hidden in the tall grass.

…

Lucy spent the whole day on the hill., thinking, replaying the memory of this morning, and watching the students carelessly travel around the massive building. When she heard the final bell of the evening, she thought about going home but realized if she did Laxus and Sting would know something was up. And she didn't want them to know. They would overreact. So she pulled out her phone and sent a small text to her brothers and laid back in the grass.

….

Lucy finally walked into her house around ten. It had gotten dark by the time she finally peeled herself off the hill. Before she walked into the living room, she checked herself in the hall mirror. She looked dreadful. She grabbed a tissue out of her purse and started harshly wiping the tear stains off her cheeks and straightened out her hair. Braving a smile when she was done, she walked into the living room and flopped down on the couch next to her father.

"Hello, sweetheart." He greeted without looking up from the evening paper.

"Hi, dad."

Lucy tried her best to sound cheery. Sting and Laxus were laying on the floor and looked up at her when she spoke. Sting had a look of relief that his sister was finally home and Laxus had a quizzical look.

'why is he looking at me like that?' Lucy thought.

"Lucy, why do you look so pink?" Laxus asked and Lucy was puzzled as her brother pointed at her.

She looked at her skin and saw what he meant. After spending all day in the spring sun, her skin had slightly burned, not much and by morning it would be a healthy glow, nothing more. Lucy tried to come up with a good lie but nothing was coming to her. At her silence, their father looked up from his paper.

"Lucy, Why are you covered in grass?"

Lucy froze. Why hadn't she checked or thought to clean off her clothes? She was caught now. No maybe not. She could use this.

"Oh it's nothing. L..Liam and I spent the afternoon gazing at clouds at the park."

Everyone seemed okay with the answer and Lucy let out a breath of relief. Well almost everyone. Laxus still looked unconvinced.

"Well goodnight!" she jumped off the couch and bounded to the staircase.

She heard her brothers say a quick goodnight and follow her up the stairs. She was outside her door when a hand fell on her shoulder.

"Lucy are you okay?" Laxus asked, clearly worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied and entered her room, avoiding more questions. She crashed on her bed and felt more tears leak out of her eyes.

….

Laxus stood outside her door a little longer. Something was definitely up. For one, she had lied about being with Liam. He had seen the boy at the library around six. Two, she was not fine. He could tell. She wasn't bubbly and happy. She was just there. He was going to find out what was wrong and he wouldn't give up until he knew.

…

The next morning, Lucy stood in front of her mirror, studying her outfit. To be honest, she didn't care, but she couldn't go to school in sweatpants. Her brothers would automatically know something was up. So gathering herself out of bed, she had picked out a simple white tank top with a plaid purple and black button up t-shirt, leaving it unbuttoned and a pair of light-wash skinny jeans. Liking how it looked, she pulled on a pair of black ankle boots. Now she stared at her blank face. She grabbed her makeup and started giving herself a little life. Not much, just a little blush, a bit of eyeliner and mascara, and a dab a pink lip gloss and done. She pulled her hair up for a moment then decided to let the smooth blonde hair to hang lose around her shoulders.

Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her school bag and skipped downstairs. Lucy gave a half-hearted laugh when she saw her brothers sitting in the car, bickering. She climbed into the car and stared out the window as they traveled to school.

"So, anything happen yesterday?" Laxus questioned, looking in the rear-view mirror at Lucy.

"Not anything interesting." She never glanced up from her window.

Laxus was yet again unconvinced and Sting glanced at him curiously.

When they parked in the student parking lot, Lucy ran out and into the building but the brothers stayed in the car.

….

"See what I mean. She is acting abnormally." Laxus said as he watched her disappear.

"I don't know. I just think she finally hates mornings. Don't worry, She'll be normal this afternoon." Sting brushed it Laxus's worries and crawled out of the car.

Honestly, Sting was also worried for their dear sister, but he didn't want to admit to something being wrong with her.

…

Inside, Lucy saw Summer and Liam waiting for her by her locker. She still didn't want to see them so she ran towards the library as fast as she could and as quietly. After that incident, Liam tried talking to her inbetween classes all day and every time she brushed past him, half-running, refusing to listen.

Finally, during the last period, she skipped so she wouldn't have to sit beside him for an entire hour. What she didn't know, Liam followed her to the hill outside.

"Lucy." The boy started, his voice a little shaky.

Lucy froze. Why did he come out here?

"What do you want?" she asked without looking at him.

"To talk about yesterday."

"What's to talk about? You and Summer have been sneaking around behind my back. From what I heard, she wanted you to dump me already but you wouldn't because you were scared of my brothers. The only thing I need to know is how long? How long were you cheating on me?"

"Six months."

That feeling of not being able to breath returned. Six months? That wasn't even half of their relationship.

"I never meant to hurt you-" Liam started.

"Then you should have thought about what you were doing. You should have manned up and broke up with me before you did that."

Liam looked at her and took a stopped forward. Lucy instinctively took one back. He tried again and she reacted the same.

"Lucy, I didn't want to. I loved you, I really did. It's just Summer, she-"

"Stop! Just stop!" Lucy shrieked, squeezing her eyes shut, refusing to let him see her cry and not wanting to see his face.

Liam took advantage of the moment and stepped forward, taking her wrists into his hands.

Lucy's eyes snapped open and tried to tug her hands out of his but he was strong than her and kept his grip.

"Lucy, listen-"

"Let go of me!" Lucy screamed. When he didn't, she kicked his shin causing him to yelp and let go. Lucy lost her balance and tumbled down the hill.

Liam stared in horror and raced down the hill. "Lucy!"

Lucy sat up, sore from the fall and looked at him. Tears were in her eyes, threatening to spill. "Will you please leave me alone now?"

The boy stayed for a little while but then turned and walked back to the building. Once he left, she laid down and watched the cloudy sky. Her head pounded and her body shook from terror but that was all she felt. She slowly examined her arms then sat up to check her legs. Her palms were scratched a little and her knee managed to tear through her jeans and get a cut. This incident only darkened her mood. Not only could she not hid this, but Liam had caused it. She grimaced as she stood up and looked around for her bag. Ten feet from where she landed, her bag had been thrown open, spilling its contents all around. Sighing in frustration, she began collecting her things.

It was when she was done collecting everything when she panicked. All around her, the final bell tone was ringing off walls and the hills. Soon her brothers would be out there and if she didn't hurry, they would see her at the bottom of the hill with a bloody knee. Lucy made sure everything was in her bag and closed it and raced to her brother's car. It was a bit tricky since one knee screamed in pain every time she put pressure on it.

When she reached the car, dread filled her. Laxus and Sting were already there. At first, they didn't notice her but when they did, their faces darkened.

"What happened?" Sting hissed.

"I.. I tripped." Lucy lied.

"Lucy Heartfilia! You did not trip! I can see that much in your eyes! Now what happened?" Laxus intervened.

"Liam and I had an argument and I fell."

"What were you arguing about?" Laxus questioned.

"He let you fall!?" Sting shouted.

Lucy could only stare at her feet as her brothers questioned her, ignoring their deadly glares. Sting could be down right scary when he was angry. But Laxus was worse. Lucy didn't even have to look at him to know he was beyond pissed. She could feel it. His anger was radiating off of him.

"Tell me exactly what happened. Starting with yesterday. And don't you dare tell me it was nothing." Laxus sneered, his voice thick with venom.

So she did. Starting with the scene in the classroom and ending with the argument on the hill. By the end of the story, Laxus and Sting were steaming with anger and Lucy gulped.

"I'll show him it was right to fear us" Sting yelled and stalked off, looking for his prey.

"Sting please no!" Lucy cried, desperately but her brother just ignored her. She tried running after him to stop him but her was too fast for her injured knee. When she almost fell, Laxus came up beside her and held her up and they began to follow Sting.

Once Sting had finally into their view, the blood drained from her face. Just a mere few feet from Sting was an unexpected Liam rumbling through his locker. Nobody else saw it coming. One minute everything was fine and the next, Liam was sprawled on the ground with Sting standing over him. Sting then started kicking him. Several girls still in the hall screamed -including Lucy- at the violence. Lucy tried to pull out of Laxus's grip but he refused to let her get inbetween what was happening.

Sting then bent over and picked Liam up by his collar. He brought their faces level and sneered, his face twisted in rage. "Stay away from my sister!" He growled deeply. The only thing Liam did was nod his head, his entire body shaking. When Sting released him, Liam fell back on the floor and Summer ran to him, trying to comfort him.

The sight caused Lucy's chest to tighten uncomfortably. She leaned limply against Laxus and allow him to guide her to the car while Sting grabbed her bag from her.

Laxus had remained quiet the entire ride home. Lucy could tell he was furious, beyond the grasp of sanity. She didn't like when he was like this. He was even scary to her when he was like this.

When the car was parked in the driveway, Laxus got out and disappeared to the garage, without looking at Lucy. She thought about going to talk to him but knew it would do no good when he was in there. Seconds later, the two younger siblings could hear raging, screaming music wafting from the building. Sting just ignored Laxus's behavior and helped Lucy into the house, avoiding their parents.

They stopped hopping/walking when they got to the bathroom upstairs where Sting got out the first aid kit, put her on the counter, and cleaned up her knee. Now that the blood was cleared, Lucy could see the large black bruise that also occupied the flesh.

Sting could just tell Lucy wasn't very happy with his actions and it surprised him when she spoke. He expected to get the silent treatment for at least a day.

"Thank you, Sting."

It was barely a mumble but Sting heard it and Lucy was baffled she actually said it. Sting just looked at his baby sister. He had been taking care of her since they were five. He knew that behind that small smile she had was an pain he couldn't bandage and it saddened him.

"No big deal." Sting smiled and helped her down. She was about to turn to exit when Sting wrapped his arms around her, giving her a warm hug. "I promise, no one is ever going to hurt you like that again." He whispered in her ear.

Lucy smiled knowing that he actually would do it. She pulled away from him and took his fist into her gentle hands where she looked at his knuckles for any harm from the punch to Liam's face. There was just a few cracks in the skin but not much.

"At least I'll always have you and Laxus."

….

Later that night, Laxus walked into the house sweaty and exhausted. He knew what he had to do. He couldn't hold back forever. He couldn't hide his anger forever.

He poked his head in on Lucy to find her fast asleep, looking twice as innocent if it was possible. He remembered how when she first came to live with them, She was terrified that the boogieman was going to get her. Every night she would tiptoe into the room that him and Sting had once shared and wake them, crying because the boogieman was in her room. And now, it wasn't some make believe creature he was protecting her from, it was real people.

Laxus quietly closed the door and walked to Sting's bedroom. Of course he was still awake.

"We can't let that happen again." He said calmly.

"Agreed"

It was all they said and all they needed to. Laxus and Sting both agreed when it came to Lucy and the important people in their life. They didn't need instructions or guides; just each other.

Laxus then left and prepared for a long war against the sea of monsters that would eventually prey upon Lucy. He would never allow another guy to hurt her like that. He would have to get past Sting and Laxus himself.

Nobody stood a chance against them.