I woke feeling sore, itchy, and not at all well-rested. I pulled the comforter farther over my head, curling in on myself. I didn't want to be awake yet. To be awake would be admitting that what happened the other day was real. That my father was really dead. I took a deep breath and was greeted by the scent of campfires and saltwater. Raising an eyebrow, I opened one eye to an unfamiliar wall. Oh, that's right. I fell sleep on the way back from Hargeon yesterday. Natsu must have tucked me into his bed as opposed to leaving me on the couch. I was relieved—and mildly disappointed—to see that I was alone. I was just beginning to wonder where Natsu was when I heard a voice float in from the main room.

"You've really done it this time," Gray scathed. I flinched slightly at his tone. Three guesses on who he was talking to, and what they were discussing.

"Oh, get off my back, Jackass," Natsu growled back. I sighed and buried my face further into his pillow, my stomach twisting painfully. Gray only ever took that tone when they were arguing about me.

"You disappeared with a victim for an entire day, Natsu." Bingo. "What were you thinking?"

"Clearly, he wasn't thinking at all."

My eyes shot open in surprise. What was Gajeel doing here?

"There's a psycho after her, and you disappear with her. Without back-up. You're lucky Gildarts didn't take your piece and your badge for that. Where the hell did you go?" Gray's voice was angry, but there was an underlying current of worry.

"I took her to the beach. It was no big deal." I could practically see Natsu shrug. Apparently, Gajeel disagreed, if the scuffling sounds were any indication.

"You took her to Hargeon? Two hours away? With someone after her?" Gajeel demanded, voice practically shaking with rage. There was a small crash, which almost covered up a low grunt.

"I had my phone on me, I was armed, and she needed to get some air. She needed to get away for a while. Do you have any idea how stressful all of this is for her? Over the course of almost two months, she's lost her home, her boyfriend, and now her father. A lesser person would've broken a long time ago." Natsu's voice had softened as he spoke, taking on a warm quality that made my heart swell and race at the same time. I brought the comforter to my chin to cover my smile.

"So, you kidnapped her so you could take her on a date? Seriously? I get that you like her, but there's a time and a place," Gajeel sounded both incredulous and furious. I briefly wondered what his face must've looked like. It was probably purple by now.

"This isn't about me!" Natsu shouted, before lowering his voice again quickly. "It had nothing to do with how I feel about her. She needed a mental health day. That's what I gave her."

"So, you don't deny it," Gray said darkly. There was a pause before he continued, "That you like her."

"Of course I don't," Natsu stated. My heart squeezed. I knew it was too good to be— "It's pretty damn obvious that I like her. That doesn't mean I'm trying to date her right this second."

A breath I didn't even know I'd been holding was forced out of me. He liked me? How could he be so confident about that? How could he say that without any reservations? He sounded so comfortable with it… I lifted the comforter off my body, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Scratching at my dry, rat's nest head of hair, I stumbled out of the bedroom and right in between Natsu and Gajeel. Both men stared at me in shock.

"Luce," Natsu breathed, a look of mild horror crossing his face. "I didn't know you were up."

I ignored him.

"Gajeel," I growled, fixing him with my best glare. The way he stiffened, I imagined that I must look worse than I thought. "Back off. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Actually, Lucy, he did," Gray cut in. "Talking you out of the precinct yesterday was super unprofessional—"

"I didn't ask if what he did was unprofessional," I spat, turning my glare onto the dark-haired man. He flinched. "Natsu didn't do anything wrong. Seriously, you've had this beef that I just don't understand since we first got to the safe house. I don't understand what's gotten your panties in a bunch, but it's starting to get old."

"My beef," Gray ground out, clenching his hands at his sides and leveling me with his own icy stare, "is how unprofessional it is for Natsu to pursue you while he works your case. It's against protocol, Lucy. He's not allowed to date you as long as he is involved in this case."

At this point, the color of Natsu's face was rivalling Erza's hair. He also had his hands clenched at his sides, but his head was ducked in uncharacteristic shyness. He almost looked like he was in pain.

"I just said I wasn't trying to date her right now…" he mumbled. I felt irritation bubble up inside me, simmering just under my skin. I scratched at my arm in an attempt to liberate the wayward energy, but it only added fuel to the fire.

"I'm so sick of this!" I suddenly shouted, throwing my hands up in the air and scaring the hell out of the three men in the room with me. "It's like I don't even belong to me anymore! Not one of you, once, have asked me how I feel about any of this! You're all just sitting there deciding things for me!" I looked Gray right in the eye. "You think I don't know that Natsu and I can't be together right now? News flash, Jerk Wad! I wasn't even sure about how I felt about him until literally two seconds ago! And even if I had figured it out sooner, I wouldn't have dated him right now anyway!" I turned to Natsu.

"We need to talk." Ignoring the other two men in the room, I gripped Natsu's wrist roughly and dragged him into his bedroom, slamming the door behind us. When I finally turned to face him, he was shifting his weight between his feet, scratching at the back of his head. He refused to make eye contact with me. Seeing just how uncomfortable he looked, I began to simmer down. "Look—"

He put his hand up to stop me, finally looking into my eyes.

"Can I go first?" I nodded silently, and he continued. "I didn't want you to find out like that. I wasn't going to say anything until after we had that bastard that hurt you," I was surprised when I didn't flinch, "behind bars. I'm not expecting anything from you!" he added hastily, putting his hands up in a surrendering position. "If you don't feel the same, that's totally fine! I really like being your friend, and I want to continue to be your friend after this is all over."

Natsu shifted again, breaking eye contact again. My heart warmed and swelled, and I couldn't help the small smile that crossed my face. After a small pause to collect my thoughts, I took my turn.

"I'd really like that. Staying in contact when all this is over, I mean." I took a deep breath, feeling my face heat up. It was now or never. Once these next words left my mouth, I wouldn't be able to take them back. Gathering up all of my courage, I looked in right in the eye. "I like you, too. And I would like to see where this goes—once all of this is over."

The smile he gave me damn near melted my heart.

"So, we're in agreement, then?" I raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding him. He put his hands into his pockets and visibly relaxed. "This isn't a rejection, and it's not really a confession. It's a…'to be continued'."

I smiled a little at that. A "to be continued," huh? I liked the sound of that.

"Yeah, a 'to be continued,'" I agreed. Natsu offered his hand to me.

"We'll discuss this again when things calm down. Until then, we're best friends. Shake on it," he insisted, stretching his hand a little. I raised an eyebrow. He couldn't be serious. His intense eye contact begged to differ. I sighed, unable to stop the giggle that escaped my lips. Shaking my head, I took his hand in mine.

"Deal," I said, giving his hand a firm pump. He returned it.

"So, we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool."

The door opened, revealing Gray.

"Sorry to break up this…whatever this is, but we got a tip," Gray said, waving his phone in his hand. Natsu's eyes immediately sharpened.

"They found him?" he demanded darkly, his hand tightening on mine. Gray shook his head.

"There was a sighting. Gildarts wants both of us." Gray addressed me. "You'll stay here with Gajeel. You two will not leave this apartment, do I make myself clear?" Gajeel let out a growl in the living room, and Gray turned in the doorway. "Don't give me that. Lucy is our responsibility, so I want to know exactly where she is at all times." Gray shot Natsu a dirty look, to which the pink-haired man had the decency to look mildly guilty. I couldn't help the small giggle that erupted at his behavior.

Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll babysit Blondie. Don't worry, we won't be taking any field trips." Gajeel stated, also glaring at Natsu. This time, the man in question simply rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay. I fucked up. Message received." Natsu gave my hand one more reassuring squeeze. "We'll be back before you know it. I'll give you a call on Metal Face's phone when we're on our way home, so be thinking about what you want for dinner." He released me and followed Gray out the front door.

"See you soon!" Natsu called over his shoulder, rushing to catch up to his partner. I walked out into the living room and waved, placing my other hand over my heart. When both detectives were gone, I sank to my knees.

"What am I doing?" I mumbled to myself, feeling my heart flutter under my hand. I closed my eyes, desperately trying to slow it down.

"I could ask you the same question," Gajeel groused, standing beside me. I shot him a look before standing back up and making my way over to the closet that held my suitcase.

"I'm going to take a shower," I informed him snootily, not caring if I offended him. I was still mildly peeved over his and Natsu's earlier argument.

"You do that, Blondie," Gajeel scoffed. Obviously, he was still pretty irritated with me. I turned on the ball of my foot, making my way back into Natsu's room, when Gajeel's voice stopped me.

"I'm just worried about you," he muttered. I spun around just in time to see him head for the kitchen. I opened my mouth to call him back, but something stopped me. I was still itchy and covered with sand from the beach, and I wasn't quite ready to have a civil conversation with him.

I showered quickly, pulling on a pink v-neck t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. My bare feet slapped loudly against the wood floors in the silence that surrounded me and my friend. He was sitting on the couch, thumbing through a notebook, his back to me. I stepped closer, drying my hair with my towel. It was getting longer, now stopping at the middle of my back. I examined the ends as I sat down next to Gajeel.

"So…" I prompted. He simply raised a pierced brow at me, indicating that he wasn't going to make this easy. I gave a long-suffering sigh before beginning again. "Look, I get that you're worried. I would be lying if I said I'm not either. But Natsu is a really good guy." I pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my thighs. "I've really gotten to know him over the past few months, and he treats me really well."

It was Gajeel's turn to sigh.

"I know Salamander is a good person," Gajeel confessed. I mouthed 'Salamander?', but he ignored me. "I don't know him that well, but everyone at the precinct has only great things to say about him. 'Oh, he helped me do this thing!' 'He solved this case really quickly!' 'He's so funny!'" I cringed at Gajeel's high-pitched, mocking tone. "It's just…Straight was a lot of those things, once upon a time, too.

"We never did tell you how we became partners, did we?" I shook my head in the negative. "About four years ago, Straight was transferred to Magnolia. No one knew why. A few days after he got there, Clive called me into his office. Said that he wanted to assign me as Straight's partner. Asked me to keep an eye on him. It wasn't until later that I realized why."

Gajeel paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. I waited patiently, silently, for him to continue.

"He would do anything to catch a perp, and I do mean anything. Things that were against the law. He would use excessive force, would pull false confessions from suspects during interrogations…I caught him planting evidence a couple of times."

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked quietly, trying to control my breathing. I wasn't getting any oxygen again. Why the hell couldn't I breathe?

"I did, a few times. Clive said he would look into it. He could never pin anything on him. Then, Straight met you…" Gajeel trailed off. Taking a shaky breath, Gajeel soldiered on. "He started to get better. He started going by the book, quit beating up on suspects. I thought…I thought…that you were helping him. So, the few times Straight fucked up I kept quiet. He was happy, you guys were living together, and I didn't want to make things harder for either one of you. He seemed to be treating you well, so I figured that he couldn't be all bad…"

Gajeel's eyes screwed up, like he was in pain.

"And then I got that phone call. That damn phone call from you, saying he hit you." His eyes shot open, and he grabbed my arms. "It was more than just him beating up on you, wasn't it, Lucy? Don't even try and argue. I've been looking into it. Your coworkers noticed a change in you. You stopped hanging out with them, stopped talking to them in the office. You started dressing different… He was hurting you, wasn't he. And I don't mean physically." It wasn't a question, so I didn't give an answer.

My stomach twisted painfully, and my heart started to beat harder. Sweat coated my palms, and I curled in on myself on the couch, wrapping my arms around myself. I had opened up so much in the last few months about Dan. I chanced a glance at Gajeel, weighing my options. I could deny everything. I could pretend like I had no idea what he was talking about, and spare myself the horrible aftermath. But did I want to? I had been dealing with things on my own for the past two years, and I was tired. Gajeel had been nothing but a good friend to me in all that time. I searched his blood-red eyes and saw something that surprised me: guilt. Realization hit me like a freight train. Gajeel blamed himself for this. For Dan putting me down and keeping me under his thumb for two years. For him beating me. My heart bled for the man sitting next to me, and I reached out to grab his hand.

"It's not your fault," I rasped around the lump in my throat. Tears built up in my eyes, threatening to fall. "None of it is your fault. There was nothing you could've done."

"There was plenty I could've done," Gajeel argued, voice uncharacteristically soft. His hand tightened around mine. "I'm a cop, Blondie. I could've gotten you out of there. I could've saved you—"

"Now you stop that right there," I scolded, shooting him a glare. "Even if you had known about what was going on, I wouldn't have cooperated." My gaze softened. "You did me one better, Gajeel. You let me save myself."

He looked at me shocked, but seemed unable to say anything. I gave him my best smile as I explained further.

"When I called you that night, you never once questioned me. You didn't blow me off. You came directly to the apartment, and let me make the decision on what I wanted to do. You didn't pressure me to press charges, although I know you wanted to. You've allowed me room to grow and heal over these past few months, while making sure I knew that you were there for me. That's all I could ever ask for."

"But Lucy, none of it is your fault, either," Gajeel argued, looking a little misty-eyed. "He manipulated you, and convinced you of lots of things that weren't true. He isolated you so you felt that you had no choice but to stay." Obviously, I didn't look convinced, because he let my hands go. "What's it gonna take to prove that to you?"

"I have no idea," I breathed, turning away from him. "Time, maybe? How do you bounce back from this?"

"Therapy," Gajeel deadpanned, causing me to chuckle. I eyed him for another minute before I had an idea.

"How about this: we can't stop each other from blaming ourselves, yeah?" He seemed ready to argue, so I cut him off before he could. "So, why don't we make a promise."

"What kind of promise?" he asked warily.

"That I won't blame you for what happened, and you won't blame me. That way, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that even if the rest of the world is convinced it's our fault, we know one person who isn't."

Gajeel considered this for a moment. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then nodded at me.

"Sounds like you got yourself a deal, Blondie." Our conversation was interrupted by Gajeel's phone going off. He read the text message quickly before scrunching his face up.

"What's it say?" I asked, my curiosity piquing. Before I could read the message over his shoulder, Gajeel locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket.

"Shrimp texted me. Said she found the guy she thinks is working with Straight. Apparently, it was an inside job." His hands clenched into fists. "She wants me to meet her, but I can't leave you here alone. She doesn't want to call for back-up yet; not until she's positive that he's working with him."

He seemed so torn, it broke my heart. As much as he tried to hide it, he obviously cared about his petite partner. I reached out and touched his shoulder.

"So take me with you," I offered, not surprised by the way he stiffened under my hand.

"No way," he denied, shaking his head. "Nevermind what Queen Elsa would do to me, Salamander would kill me if I let anything happen to you. No, we're staying here."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What if Levy is in trouble? We can't leave her!" I knew that wasn't fair, but I was just as worried about Levy as he was. Gajeel warred internally with himself for a few moments longer before throwing his hands up with a curse.

"Fine! Grab some shoes and let's go. You stay right beside me, understand? You say nothing."

I nodded and slid my feet into my flip flops giddily, feeling like a little kid again. I knew this was serious, but a part of me was so excited. I was going to get to see a real interrogation! I quickly locked the front door with the spare key Natsu had given me, and rushed to catch up with Gajeel on the stairs. We loaded ourselves into his car and we were off. After about twenty minutes, Gajeel's phone dinged again.

"Can you check that, Blondie? Might be Shrimp." Gajeel gave me his passcode and sure enough, the text was from a contact labeled Shrimp. I giggled as I opened the text, reading over it. I opened my mouth to relay the message, but stopped when something occurred to me.

"Gajeel."

"What?"

"I don't think this text message is from Levy."

Gajeel jerked, turning his intense red stare on me.

"The fuck do you mean, you don't think it's from Shrimp?" he growled dangerously. I read over the message again.

Do you have Lucy with you? Even as I read the message, Gajeel's face stayed twisted in confusion. I swallowed.

"Levy doesn't call me 'Lucy.' She calls me 'Lu.'"

"Shit," Gajeel cursed, flipping a u-ey at an intersection. "Give me my phone." He quickly tapped a few buttons before putting the phone up to his ear. "Shrimp? Where are you?...It doesn't matter why I'm asking!...Have you been anywhere else today?...Are you alone?...Okay…Okay…No, stay where you are. Lock your doors and call the Captain. I've gotta get Blondie back to Salamander and Icicle's apartment…Okay…You, too." He hung up, hitting the gas.

"According to Shrimp, she's been home the entire day and hasn't spoken to anyone. How the hell did I get a text from her number if she didn't send it…?" Gajeel asked himself under his breath, running his hands through his long, black hair. I thought on this for a moment before the answer came to me.

"Those scammer sites!" I exclaimed, snapping my fingers. Gajeel gave a startled shout and turned to me, his eyes asking for clarification. "There are these websites you can go on where you can make a phone call or send a text message from any number you want. Scammers do it all the time. My cousin got caught up in a scam where the cons used the number for the police station to call her."

"It's gotta be Straight. He's probably waiting for us at the location he texted me. But how did he know I was with you?"

We slammed the car doors and Gajeel grabbed my arm roughly, pulling me up the stairs to Natsu and Gray's floor. I unlocked the door with shaking hands, falling through the door as I pushed it open. Gajeel caught my arm to keep me on my feet as we entered the apartment. I stumbled into the living room, about to sit down, when I heard a loud thump. Flipping around to check on Gajeel, I found him laying on the floor with a figure standing above him. My blood ran cold as I recognized ruddy-brown hair, blood-shot eyes, and khaki pants. It couldn't be. He couldn't be here. I was supposed to be safe. The man ran a hand through his shaggy hair, took a shuddering breath, then smiled at me.

"Time to go, Lulu."

Oh shit! An update! Sorry it's been so long, you guys. School has been royally kicking my ass recently. For those of you who are interested, I proposed my thesis and got the green light! I finally get to start on my research! I'd like to thank everyone who has given me words of encouragement. They were much appreciated.

Now, I got a review asking if I based this story off of Taylor Swift's song "Begin Again." I mean, kinda? There were a few things that inspired this story. The idea first came to me while I was reading x-benihime's story Heartstrung, which if y'all haven't read yet, DO IT. It's so good! Then, as I was formulating the plot, the song "Begin Again" came to mind. The song inspired the title. My final piece of inspiration came from the film Safe Haven, based off the Nicolas Sparks novel. So, you were kinda right!

We are in the final stretch, people! I'm anticipating maybe 2 more chapters, and then we're gone! Thank you so much for sticking with me, even with my crazy update schedule, and I hope y'all enjoy the rest of the story. As always, I'd like to give a special thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed since my last update. Y'all's support is what keeps me writing and updating. Things are getting a little crazy with school as I near graduation for my Bachelor's, so I can't promise when the next chapter will be uploaded, but as always I promise to have it out to you guys as soon as I can.