Hey, it's Merikatori ^^~ I'm sorry I took so long. I finished last Sunday, but my Bete - Iza was suddenly busy. Anw, thanks to her, new chapter has arrived XD

Thank you for reading, following, making this story your favorite and of course, reviewing. I appreciated it a lot.

Enjoy ^^~ I'll try to write a longer chapter next time. I've been kinda busy these day.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Pure

Chapter 21 - What the hell is this?

"What the hell is this?" – Loke held the Ipad near Totomaru's face, glaring at him.

His manager stopped texting for a minute to look at the device in his star's hand.

"Oh, hey… It's your picture on the... Internet. Yeah, why?" – He exclaimed, then indifferently went back to what he was doing.

"I'm serious, why did you do that?" – He asked again.

After standing about ten minutes on the street while tons of people were taking pictures, murmuring, and snickering at him, Loke was finally able to go back to his car. The driver then took him home and when he was having dinner, trying to forget that humiliating situation, Kira hurriedly popped in into the dining room to tell him that his engagement was spreading all over the country like wild-fire. Loke immediately knew who had done that since there were only four people that knew about the engagement, including him.

"And don't you dare play the fool with me. My father would never meddle with my affairs. What's more, Kira is very loyal to me, I know that well. So tell me, why the hell did you do THIS?" – Loke slammed his hands on the table and yelled at his manager; apparently, the guy didn't care enough to even look at him in the eyes. Right after Kira's shown him the news, he had grabbed the Ipad where the article about his engagement was in and straight away came to find his manager. Jude wouldn't be happy about this.

Totomaru lifted his head to look at the angry star and sighed.

"Well, let just say that I've saved you from humiliation, although it's just temporary. A thank you wouldn't be so bad, you know." – He frowned.

Tch, I'm always the one who has to run around, cleaning up his mess and this is how he talks to me. Ungrateful bastard.

"Save me? You've just MESSED UP my chances with LUCY!" – Loke grabbed Totomaru's collar and shook him like a more explainable answer could fall out of him if the model did that.

"Oh, for God's sake… The girl doesn't even remember you…" – Totomaru removed Loke's hands from his shirt. – "She made you stand in front of hundreds of people, wearing a bikini, and you still want to marry her? Seriously? Don't you have some dignity, Loke?"

Kids these days. He thought.

"Shut up! That's none of your business." – Loke hotly retorted back.

"No, your business means my business, too. I'm you manager and I have the mission to put down whatever could damage your reputation. That's my job."

"It's just a silly bet. I only have to hold a press conference and tell them about it. Everything will be fine. You didn't have to tell them about the engagement, though!"

Loke really didn't know what to do. Jude would soon call him and demand an answer for this deed. And Lucy… Yes, the real problem was Lucy. How would she react on those news since she still had her amnesia? Would she object? …Eh, Probably? Her mother… Scratch that, there was something more important... Would her two best friends object? Definitely.

"The engagement will draw the press's attention from the bet, it will give you quite some time to figure out what you have to say the next time you see them. Your name is all over the newspapers, television, and internet now. Your popularity will shoot through the sky like a rocket. Moreover, you could use this chance to bargain with Jude and Lucy. Thus, you could increase the pressure on Jude, making him quickly persuade his daughter to say yes. It's a win-win situation." – Totomaru shrugged. Maybe it was a little dirty, but… Oh well, that was how showbiz worked.

"That's not how I want to do it." – Loke narrowed his eyes. He didn't like the solution his manager just offered him. Not-one-bit.

"Well, it is now your only alternative. You have no other choice." – The guy smirked.

Loke gritted his teeth. The rice had been cooked, he couldn't do anything to fix that. The only way out that he had now was playing along.

"You'd better hope this could work. If it doesn't, then you're fired." – Loke took the Ipad and headed to the exit.

"As you wish." – He heard Totomaru saying before he closed the door.

[At Heartfilia Mansion]

"What the hell is that?" – Layla turned off the TV after the news'd been shown.

"…"

"How long were you gonna keep it from me?" – Layla glared at her husband. She was a gentle woman; but when the gentle woman was glaring at you, you knew that you had pissed her off.

"I was going to tell you as soon as Lucy got back her memories." – Jude answered slowly, but with ensuring.

There was no point in denying since everything'd slipped.

"You know that I will never agree on that engagement, right? So… Were you trying to manipulate our daughter behind my back?" – Layla took a sip of her tea.

The married couple was sitting at the coffee table in the living room, facing each other. The press was outside of the mansion and many reporters were trying to climb into the back yard to take some photos, which they hoped could show the face of the daughter of the most wealthy family in this country. Layla had been having a small tea party with some of her friends in the yard when the press popped out of nowhere and "attacked" the mansion. When Layla and Jude didn't have any idea of what was going on, she received a call from Sting. The boys asked her if she'd already watched the entertainment news on TV or not. That was how they found out that the secret engagement had been revealed. Due to that fact and the flocking press, Caprico and the body guards had to tighten security around the Heartfilia's estate.

"I didn't do this, okay? I don't know why Loke did what he had, but I'm sure that he has his reason. And about the engagement, I owed Celes a lot. I couldn't say no to a favor for him." – Jude tried to explain to his wife.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this from Layla for long, but he didn't expect that she would find out this way.

"I don't care whatever the hell you owed him, but I'm not gonna let you sell Lucy up as a payment of you debt!" – Layla raised her voice, but Jude seemed unaffected.

"I'm not selling her up. Loke and Lucy are a well-matched couple. Loke is famous, Celes family is rich. With Loke, she will have a bright future."

"Are you kidding me? She will still have bright future, even if she doesn't get married. But the point is, Jude, she doesn't love him. They don't even know each other. Loke's just come here, asking for her hand in marriage and you said yes? We are in 21st century, for Heaven's sake. This will never work." – Layla said firmly.

"Well, I've already said yes to them. The only person I have to persuade now is Lucy." – That time, it was Jude who calmly took a sip of his tea.

"Oh? You think just because she has an amnesia, you can make her say yes to that engagement?" – Layla raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe… You never know what will happen if you don't try. I just have to be sure that I'm making a right move."

"Have you forgotten about Sting and Rogue?" - Jude narrowed his eyes, hearing his wife mentioning his daughter's best friends.

"I'm her father, she will do what I say." – He frowned. Why couldn't she be obedient like some other wives? But, maybe her stubbornness was the reason why he was drawn to her in the first place. He just wished that her inflexibility didn't carry hereditariness.

"And I'm her mother. And I say she can do whatever she wants as long as she has my permission." – Layla said, holding her head high and giving her husband the I-am-better-than-you-that's-for-sure look.

"Layla…" – Jude put down his cup of tea. – "That means war, you know?" – He said slowly.

"Oh, you've just realized that? This has been a war since you said yes to Loke without telling me. Well, dear husband, why don't you give it up, because you don't stand a chance."

Jude raised an eyebrow. Interesting.

"Challenge accepted. Let's see who'll win this, dear wife." – Jude smiled tauntingly and Layla returned the expression.

"Wow, you could clearly see the thunder and thunderbolt blowing up between them." – Virgo whispered to Caprico; the butler just nodded. Two of them had been standing about a feet away from the coffee table, as quietly as grave until Virgo broke the silence.

Oh dear, this is not good. Caprico thought.

They were still having a glaring contest until Jude's phone rang. He broke the eye-contact with his wife and quickly answered his phone. It was his daughter. What am I suppose to tell her? He asked himself.

"Lucy." – He murmured when he looked at the phone.

"Turn on the speaker volume." – Layla urged.

"Father…" – Lucy called, her voice now filled the quiet room. Father? What's wrong with 'Dad'? Jude knitted his eyebrows together, making his wife look at him skeptically. There was a long pause before she said something again.

"Eh… Dad… Ehm… Have you… watched the television?" – Lucy hesitated.

"Yes, Lucy. I've seen the news. I wanted to tell you everything after you fully recovered. I didn't think that Loke would do something like this when I clearly told him not to. I know you have a lot of questions, but this is not the right time. Hiding your identity is our priority right now. We don't want the press to disturb neither your studies nor private life."

"I understand. So what should I do now? Sting told me that the press is surrounding our house."

"Yes. Your mother was the one who told Sting to keep you at their house even though I don't want you to stay with Weisslogia, but we have no choice. Caprico, along with your stuff, will be there in a few minutes. You will stay over at one of my hotels in town." – Jude said, planning every move in his head to fix the mess that Loke'd made.

"Dad! It was just an accident, it's not his fault. And uncle is on his assignment so… Can I stay here instead?"

"No." – Jude said and Layla gave him a furious look, which he just shrugged off. – "Lucy, you have to understand that your identity could be revealed any moment. I know the press… And what would happen if they found out that you stayed over at your friends' house? Boys, nonetheless. We know that you're close, but they don't know that. So, for your safety, you're gonna stay at my hotel and that's final."

Layla mused. She had to admit, her husband had a point. The paparazzi were like wild animals and when they saw even the smallest chance, they would use it to assault people out of who they could make a good article – or so they thought. What's more, Lucy was still young; she was a strong person, but sometimes she was very fragile. She was Layla's little girl, after all.

"Your father is right, Lucy. When this incident settles down, you could stay over at their house as many nights as you want." – Layla said casually.

"Layla!" – Jude frowned at her.

"What?" – She shrugged, hearing her daughter laugh at the other side of the phone.

"Okay. I'll wait for Caprico. Thanks Dad, Mom." – She said, then hung up.

Jude looked at Caprico and the old butler immediately got the message. He and Virgo quickly went to Lucy's room to pack her stuff for her. She was supposed to go back to the dorm tomorrow.

You'd better have a damn good plantiff to explain this, Loke. Jude thought.

[Erza's dorm]

"What the hell is THIS?" – Gray suddenly shouted, eyes widening.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me Juvia posted another ton of your pictures on her Facebook and Twitter again." – Erza asked, narrowing her eyes at Natsu, who was grinning with his famous toothy grin.

Erza, Natsu, Gray, Levy, and Gajeel were at Erza's dorm, hanging out together. Levy was doing homework and the rest of them were playing card, excluding Gray. He was checking Twitter when he was overflowed with a new tweet, saying that the super model – Loke – was going to marry the daughter of the most wealthy man in this country. Gray felt like he'd just been slapped in the face.

"Lucy's gonna marry?" – He exclaimed loudly.

They snapped from what they were doing and turned to look at him like he was crazy.

"What?" – Erza quickly stood up and moved to stand behind him, taking a closer look at the tweet, the rest of the friends following closely behind.

"Oh, shit. What the…? What does that mean?" – Natsu grabbed the laptop's screen and shook it.

"Let go, you dumbass." – Gray punched his stomach and the rosy-haired guy fell on his back.

" 'They don't know the name of the girl yet.' Lucy's name hasn't been revealed." – Levy read.

"Yeah. But it's just a matter of time, you know the press." – Erza rolled her eyes.

She was right. They wouldn't let this go if they had found out Lucy's name.

"I wonder what happened. Lucy would tell us if she's truly going to marry someone… Or so I thought." – Gray frowned.

"Yeah… And the Loke, nonetheless. She could have chosen someone smarter!" – Natsu shouted.

"Like you're any better than him." – Gray snorted.

"What do you mean?"

"Guys, stop it." – Erza warned and both of them immediately shut up.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions first. We should ask her what happened. She wouldn't hide something like this from us." – Gajeel resounded after being quiet for a moment. They all nodded in agreement.

Sting, Rogue… You'd better have some explanation for this. Erza thought.

[Weisslogia's house]

"Okay. Thanks, Dad, Mom." – Lucy smiled and hung up.

"You're gonna stay at your father's hotel?"

Lucy turned to look at Sting and nodded.

"Yup. Caprico will come to pick me up in a few minutes."

She announced and they fell into the utmost silence again. Awkward one. At least, that was how Lucy and Sting felt. Rogue seemed to not care that much. He was swimming in his own thoughts about some places far, far away. At least, that was what Lucy and Sting thought. Well, neither of them had the desire to ask him what he was thinking of since they were busy finding a way to ease the tension in the room.

"So… How was your trip?" – Sting asked, looking back and forth between Lucy and Rogue.

Lucy flinched at the mention of the trip. Fortunately, that went unnoticed by Sting.

"Ehm… It was good, great. Next time, the kids want to see you, too." – Lucy smiled, a little bit unnaturally, but still genuinely. Sting grinned at that.

"Sorry I couldn't be there. I…" – He glanced at Rogue. – "Got some stuff to do."

"Oh, right." – Lucy laughed nervously.

Great… Just a moment ago, we were so natural, talking, smiling, teasing one another about the engagement and now I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. Lucy sighed inwardly. Maybe staying at Father's hotel is a good idea.

"How about you, Rogue? Did you have fun?" – Sting asked. Rogue was about to glare at him, thinking that he was mocking him, but stopped when he realized it was a sincere question. He sighed.

"Yeah… I had fun. A lot of things had happened, but… I had great time." – Rogue said, looking straight at Lucy.

We will never be the same again, right?

The girl stopped parrying his sight and she smiled when she saw a spark of contentment in the look he gave her.

The corner of Sting's lips turned up. In a blink of an eye, he thought that he had seen the three of them flew back to the time before Lucy'd gone to America, before they'd had to face so many troubles that carried equally numerable feelings. At that time, they were still innocent, and those feelings which they called 'love' were still vague.

'Before they were lovers, they were friends', that was what they said.

In fact, they had to grow up no matter what, even though it meant they would get hurt, they would be desperate, they would be sad because of so many things… But Sting wouldn't let all of those things tear them apart. They belonged together.

*Knock knock*

"It must be Caprico." – Lucy quickly stood up to open the door.

And her servant it was. Caprico and Virgo bowed to her as soon as the door was opened, wearing casual clothes.

"Good evening, Lucy-sama. Sting-san, Rogue-san." – The butler said and the boys nodded back.

"I'm so sorry you have to see us like this. It's the only way that we could get out of the house without being noticed by the press."

"Oh, that's okay. It's good to see you guys in 'normal' clothes for once." – Lucy giggled.

Sting and Rogue moved to stand behind her and the girl turned around to say good bye.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." – She beamed and suddenly gave each of them a peck on the cheeks, then quickly turned around, thereby missing the sight of both of their faces slightly reddened.

Sting snickered. It was weird, really. Kisses and hugs, they was nothing strange to them, they'd already known one another for ten years… But sometimes a small kiss from her, even in a purely platonic form, could make him or Rogue perplexed, just like the first time.

"What's so funny?" – Rogue asked coolly when Lucy got into the car. He waved at her and she smiled back.

"Nothing." – Sting shrugged.

Rogue just hummed, turning around and going back to his room. Sting trailed behind.

"So… Something interesting happened?" – Sting hesitated.

Rogue was still pissed at him. The blonde knew that and he wanted to find out, why.

"Don't wanna talk about it." – Rogue murmured.

"Oh, come on. I know something happened. Something's wrong? We could find a way to fix it, you know."

"It's my business." – He said, opening the door, then slammed it into Sting's face.

"Seriously? Are you having PMS or something? Why are you so bitchy?" – Sting swung the door open to find his brother rummaging in his back pack, trying to find something.

"It isn't called bitchy, it's 'I mind my affairs, you mind yours'. Now, would you please get the hell out of my room?" – Rogue took out his phone, shrugging off his coat and starting to busy himself to avoid talking to Sting.

"I will not leave this room until you tell what happened that has made you so upset."

Rogue closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. This conversation with Sting was the last thing he wanted to have right now. He didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to think about it, he just wanted to forget about it as soon as possible. Maybe after that, he could finally forget all of the most awkward and painful moments he had ever had with Lucy.

"What the hell are you trying to do, Sting? You're dating Lucy, then you stayed home instead of going to the foster house so we could have some private moments? " – He shook his head, asking what'd been lingering in his mind ever since the moment he'd seen Lucy at the front door of Polyuska's house. – "I don't get it."

Sting stared at him, then sighed in defeat. – "I just want you to be honest with your feelings."

Rogue snorted, then it turned into laughter. Sting couldn't figure out whether it was a bitter laughter or was he laughing in amusement.

"Honest with my feelings? You-are-dating-her, Sting. What did I get when I told her how I feel? I didn't know that watching people get rejected was a sick habit of yours. Fuck off, please." – He checked in his Twitter's account, scrolling down and down without really reading the tweets.

Sting glared at him. Rude. He snatched the phone out of Rogue's grasp and turned it off. Rogue rolled his eyes, approaching the bed to lie down, his back facing his brother.

"We're not finished yet. I'm still talking to you."

Rogue didn't budge. Well, it was rare to see Rogue acting so childish. Something really bad must have happened. Actually, Sting was curious, but, most of all, he wanted to see Rogue lose his temper. Sometimes his cold façade was really annoying. Sting picked up a pencil from the study desk and aimed it at Rogue's head. The spiky head of the 2B pencil poke hard at the top of the black-haired guy. Yet, he only turned around to glare daggers at his brother. Sting just grinned tauntingly.

Rogue rolled his eyes again and turned back to his original position, ignoring the other person in his room.

Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts… Don't let him get under your skin, he's just stupid. Yeah, he's stupid, you're not like him.

Something hit his head again and this time, it was an eraser. He closed his eyes, praying to God or whoever the hell was up there in Heaven to help him not to get up from the bed and strangle that idiot.

Sting wouldn't leave him alone, though. He threw everything he had in his hand at Rogue. A cap of a pen, a ball of paper, a battery charger… It didn't hurt, mind you. But it was annoying as fuck…

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?" – Rogue screamed when his stand was put at limit.

"Stop what? I just want to talk to you. I'm trying to get your attention." – Sting threw back his imaginary long hair and giggled like one of the fangirls of Rogue. Upon seeing that, his brother made a really weird face.

Rogue wanted to chuckle, but as the same time he really wanted to punch Sting right in the face. Sting knew that he hated the giggling of his fangirls so much.

"If you do that again, you won't leave this place in one piece." – He warned and grabbed the pillow to cover his face.

Sting shook his head and looked around to find something else to throw at Rogue. He looked down at his feet and grinned.

I wonder if Lucy's gotten to the hotel yet. Yeah… That's it. Thinking about Lucy.

At the same time, Rogue returned to pondering about the girl. She represented much more content thoughts than the idiot in his room. Strange as it might seem, he found himself stop thinking about everything that'd happened this morning or the day before. All the thoughts he had in his mind now were those happy moments that Lucy'd ever gave him since they'd become friends.

But well… life was cruel. As soon as he was about to achieve his goal in ignoring Sting, something else hit his back, hard. And this time, he was a little hurt. Rogue turned around half-way and found a slipper on his bed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Although he never admitted it, everybody knew he had an obsession with cleanliness. So the last thing he ever want to find was a dirty slipper… on his tidy bed. He opened his eyes to scowl at Sting who was beaming like an innocent boy.

"Oops."

That's it.

"You FUCKING ASSHOLE!" – In a flash, Rogue got out of his bed and threw himself at Sting.

…

[Flash back]

"I'm about to do something, Lucy. Promise me that you won't be mad at me. After this, we will never, ever talk about it again. If that's what you want." – Rogue said, cupping her cheeks and caressing them with his thumbs…

"Anything." – If she couldn't return his feelings, maybe she could do something for him?

He smiled gently, leaning down quickly. Then he kissed her…

The moment his lips touched hers, Lucy froze in shock. Her mind screamed at her and she tried to pull back. But it was not as easy as she thought, because Rogue was keeping her face firmly in his hands and put more pressure in the kiss. It quickly turned from a soft, almost like a chaste kiss into an aggressive and bold one. Lucy put her hands on his chest and used everything she had to shove him away. Yet, it was like she only added more fuel to the fire. Rogue pressed her against the wall; his left hand entangled itself in her hair and pushed her head towards him. His tongue roamed all over her closed lips, trying to coax her to give in. The more she resisted, the more it urged him to go against her will.

No! Please, stop! Stop!

Lucy felt scared, but not of him. Yes, that was the most terrifying thing. She was not afraid of what he was forcing her to do, she was afraid, because what he was doing excited her. Her heart was racing and the adrenalin was quickly absorbed by her blood, pumping it hard through her veins. She wanted to scream at him, asking what the hell he was doing, but couldn't find any strength to do so, because the moment he put his lips on hers, all her strength was already gone.

"Open your mouth." – Rogue pulled back to whisper in her ears, his eyes never leaving her lips. Lucy turned her head aside, shaking it as a 'no'.

"Open-your-mouth, Lucy." – He commanded, this time louder and clearer. – "It's just a kiss." - Slipping his hand underneath her sweater, he found her warm skin. His palm rambled all over her bare back and Lucy gasped in alarm. She glared at him angrily, preparing herself to yell at him. Rogue took the chance and sealed her lips with his again, pushing his tongue pass her lips and down her throat, tasting every corner of her sweet mouth. She jolted at the tentasion, something weird was happening inside of her. And in about ten seconds of haze, Lucy closed her eyes and gave in, slowly moving her lips and following his movements.

"Tch, she cheated on him?"

No.

"Yeah, Sting loves her and she cheated on him."

No... I...

"Ew, what a greedy bitch."

"I feel sorry for them."

Please, stop.

"And she calls herself their best friend."

No.

"Hypocrite."

Lucy's eyes snapped open and her vision was blurred with tears.

She sniffed slightly, instantly making Rogue pull back to look at her face. He was stunned by what he was seeing, his brows knitter together and regret clearly present in his eyes.

"No, Lucy. Please, don't cry." – He wiped her tears and hugged her tight. – "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Lucy. Don't cry." – Rogue caressed her hair, desperately wanting to reverse the time to fix this.

Lucy shook her head and hugged back his torso.

It's my fault, Rogue. I'm sorry.

…

[End of flash back]

"Hime-sama… Hime-sama!" – Lucy jolted when she heard her maid calling her.

"Eh… Yes, Virgo?"

"Are you okay? You look pale."

Lucy stared at Virgo for a long time before forcing a smile.

"Yes, I'm okay. Just a little tired."

Virgo looked unconvinced, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Okay, I'll make you some herb tea when we get to the hotel. It will help you feel better." – Virgo bowed slightly and beamed.

Lucy just nodded. I hope so, Virgo. I really hope so.

End of chapter 21

Done XD I have no idea how long this story is gonna be, but I think it will have less than 30 chapter :D Don't want it to take so long, it'll be boring XD

I have a new idea for a new story XD I'll write it asap when I finish Pure. Thank you for reading ^^~ Tell me what you think.

Also I know some of you still wonder who is gonna end up with Lucy, but I don't want to spoil so you just have to wait and see XD XD

myvo: Here's your new update ^^~

Mandy422: Ah, yes ^^~ I'm student now \m/ I'm so happy about it XD And I add some kiss scene between Rogue and Lucy in this chapter XD How could I leave out something like that, right? It's not like we have a kiss scene every chapter, gotta treasure it =)))

zin-chan-luvs-u: Thank you for your review XD Here's my new chapter.

Bloody Amethyst: Well, if you notice a little more carefully, you'll see that Lucy almost totally has her memories back XD She just hasn't told it to anyone XD

I'm . such . a . geek: Thank you! It was not my purpose to make him a douchebag in this chapter XD I didn't expect him to turn out like that :)))

ulquihimesz: Hey ^^~ Thank you. Well, like I said you'll just have to wait and find out XD Here's your new chapter.

Lauren: Thank you for you opinion ^^~ Well, I have the same thought as yours at some points... It's really hard, but I made my decision XD I hope it will satisfy everyone's imagination :)))

bluefrost15, 13darksoulsand1madhater, guest, Stellalona. Thank you all /3 You guys are the best /3