CHAPTER 11

Hey guys, sorry for the late update; writers block is a bitch and mine was HUGE!

How do you like the new cover image?! Took me forever to find one I liked!

For those of you who read this I'm planning on changing the poll to just 2 options, since y'all are being stingy and just picking the route with less drama!

Hahaha, anyway, this chapters a little short, sorry, you'll know why when you get to the end XD

BTW: I got a Fairy Tail tattoo recently!

ALSO PLEASE REVIEW, AND SENT ME YOUR COMPLAINTS OR COMPLEMENTS ABOUT MY LATENESS/CHAPTER! THEY ARE GREATLY APPREACIATED!

This was a rare moment for Natsu; a time where he had to think…

You might say that its unfair to say that about him, but even he knows that he rarely ever thinks about his problems, normally he'd just punch something and that would be the end of it.

But in this particular situation using his fists were not optional…

And he was not handling it well.

The inside of his brain was like being in the middle of a tornado; millions of things were flying about but nothing of use came up.

This is why he never thought about things, it just messed up his brain, also why his friends called him an oblivious idiot half the time as well, hell Gray once had to point out when a girl was flirting… with… him…

HOLY…SHIT….

How had he not seen this before! It was so simple… in fact it came as second nature to him!

He would just be completely oblivious! That way she wouldn't feel embarrassed and he wouldn't want to kill himself from the shame!

Wow, using your brain really did come in handy.

[A/N: -_- Yeah, don't think that's how its meant to work Natsu]

Meanwhile Lucy was trying to sort out her thoughts of the situation, and boy did she have a ton of those swimming around in her head.

Lets take a little look…

'Ok Lucy, breath BREATH! I mean there's no way that Natsu would just randomly kiss me right? Not that I was particularly opposed to the idea but-

OMG WHAT DID I JUST THINK!? I hardly know him!

Wait… maybe I misunderstood and he wasn't trying to kiss me! I mean Levy tells me all the time about how I worry too much and over-think things, so maybe that's the case now!?

Alright, I'll just act like nothing happened, that way he wont feel awkward and I wont die of shame!

Whew, glad I calmed down and thought that through!'

Luckily for Natsu Lucy has a certain naivety about her that'll make his situation much easier than it would have been is she weren't.

But now there was only one problem remaining… who was gonna break the silence first?

…

"Ahem… s-so that was my friend who called… h-he said that it looks like your school is getting ready to leave pretty soon so… I think we should make our way back to the archery dojo… sound good?"

Well looks like Natsu decided to man up and break it himself.

Well at least the conversation on the phone provided an ice-breaker… more like a way to avoid confrontation.

"O-Oh is that right, wow they solved that issue pretty quick didn't they?" she said with a hint of nervousness that luckily for her Natsu didn't pick up.

"Y-yeah, well I'd expect no less with Erza there and all" said Natsu feeling slightly more at ease that she didn't say anything about his sudden topic choice.

"Well she does have a sort of strict aura about her, but I think she's pretty cool" said Lucy with more enthusiasm.

"Actually if anything she's a red-haired demon, you seriously don't want to piss her off ever, especially when she's eating cake" shuddered Natsu, the memories of the punishments she's given him flashing through his mind making him pale.

Lucy just had question marks floating above her head, but didn't ask anymore about it, she actually had something else on her mind at the moment.

"Well anyway we should probably head back there before they leave, wouldn't want you to get left behind now right?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Lucy's eyes went wide, just the thought of being abandoned… holy crap would her father freak out, and come to think of it when she gets home and he see's her ankle he'll probably call an ambulance or rush her to the emergency room.

Her eyes were swirling from panic, seriously her father always overreacted to the smallest things, and it embarrassed her to no end.

"Definitely don't want that, my dad will most likely call the cops if I show up after 5, and I cant go through that again" she said with a determined expression as she took a step forward.

But what she wants and what actually happens are not up to her [A/N: Grins evilly] and as fate would have it her ankle was still throbbing with pain, but thanks to Natsu not as much as before.

The second she put too much pressure on her foot it sent shockwaves of pain and caused her to suck in a large breath in order not to yelp, but she did have a few tears start in the corners of her eyes, and she stood still there while Natsu stared at her curiously.

"Your ankle still hurts right?" he asked concerned.

Lucy shook her head to tell him no "I-I'm fine its not that bad" she lied.

Natsu deadpanned, he could clearly see the pained look on her face, so why was she trying to act tough, and he thought that maybe instead of trying to help her outright he would tease her until she admitted she needed his help.

A sort of punishment for her he figured.

"Really? Well then come on, lets get going, you don't want to get left behind right?" he teased with a grin and started walking forward out the infirmary.

"I-I'm coming" she said as she tried to take another step, which still sent shockwaves of pain up her leg.

Now in Lucy's mind she had a perfectly good reason for acting tough, mainly that if Natsu were to pick her up bridal style again after what she thought was going to happen earlier she knows that she'll faint from overheating, so she wanted to save herself the embarrassment by walking herself.

Which she now regrets because it hurts like a bitch.

"Hey, what's taking you so long slowpoke if you don't make it there in time they really will leave" said Natsu who was already at the infirmary's door and holding it open while waiting for Lucy.

He wasn't trying to be mean or anything, he just wanted her to ask him for help herself, she was just too stubborn for her own good, but in a way he found that to be a cute quality in her.

Lucy knew that she had no other option but to ask for help, otherwise…

… just the thought of how her father will react makes her shudder.

"A-ano… N-Natsu…" she started, not looking up from the floor.

"Hmmmm, something wrong?" he asked casually, acting like he knows nothing.

Lucy looked up at Natsu's face, her cheeks were tinged with pink and she had tears in the corners of her eyes; which were as wide and glassy as a puppy.

Natsu literally felt his heart get stabbed, this… this face she was making… it was too cute for words.

"C-Could you please h-help me… I-I'm afraid that, i-it hurts too much to walk" she said shyly while fidgeting with her hands, not able to make eye contact with Natsu.

It took every ounce of self-restraint Natsu had in him not to run up to her and pick her up like some kind of prince charming and totally smother her with kisses, he could feel his leg twitching to run to her, but he really didn't want to act like a creep especially after that whole almost-kiss thing.

There was only one thing to do… play it cool, act like the non-caring delinquent everyone perceived him to be, but with slightly more affection towards Lucy of course; he didn't want her to think he was an ass after all, that might kill him.

Natsu cleared his throat "W-well lets bandage it for now and then I'll help you get back to the dojo, ok?" he asked while trying to calm his racing heart.

Lucy, not trusting her own voice just nodded and sat back down on the bed while Natsu went to get the stuff needed to wrap her ankle.

Lucy felt so embarrassed; she thought that she probably looked really stupid right then when trying to walk, and now she might have to face the embarrassing situation of Natsu carrying her again, oh man, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Then again a hole is the reason she's in this mess, holes should vanish off the face of the earth!

While Natsu was having some thoughts of his own; like how he was glad she admitted that she needed his help, but did she have to look so inhumanly cute while doing it, she looked like an injured puppy or something, hell his own cat couldn't even make a face that cute when he wanted fish, and his cat friggen loves fish!

After he found the necessary items to wrap her ankle he made his way back to Lucy; whose face was still pink from embarrassment, she was staring at her hands twisting her fingers on her lap; a nervous habit of hers that he noticed.

"Alright here we are, now I just need you to lift your leg and then I can get started" said Natsu as calmly as he possibly could.

"H-Hai" said Lucy reluctantly as she raised her leg for Natsu to wrap.

Natsu sat down on the chair and started wrapping her ankle, and he was kinda freaking out on the inside; while he was an expert at treating injuries thanks to the many fights he's been a part of, he had never helped a girl with injuries before, Erza didn't really count as a girl for him anyway, but Lucy… he was afraid he might hurt her even more.

Now he didn't think that she was fragile or anything, he was more worried about his nerves going haywire and accidentally wrapping her ankle so hard it turns blue, so it was no wonder why his hands were shaking while trying to wrap her ankle up.

Lucy wasn't worried about Natsu wrapping her ankle; in fact from the looks of it he knew what he was doing, it made her wonder how often he had to treat his own injuries considering that the first time she met him he was pretty badly beaten up.

There was dead silence the whole time Natsu was busy and it was slowly killing them both, Natsu didn't really know what to say, he was drawing a blank and it was pissing him off.

Lucy wasn't too comfortable with the silence either, she wracked her brain and tried to think of something she could use as a topic of conversation, then she remembered that she had actually wanted to ask him something a while ago, but there was just too much awkwardness in the air.

So now seemed like an okay time to ask him.

And the question she asked made Natsu's eyes widen in surprise.

"Um… so your… ringtone, i-if I'm not mistaken that was Dragonforce right?"

Meanwhile back at the dojo…

Levy was giggling like an evil maniac when Gajeel told her that Natsu was on his way, and if he weren't happy about her plan to beat the crap outta him he'd have been a little creeped out by it. Instead he was grinning at the thought of Natsu's face when he gets his ass handed to him by the shrimp.

Levy then sent a text to Lucy warning her about the bus leaving, and that she should hurry her ass up. Coz it would have looked suspicious if Natsu knew about it but Levy didn't inform Lucy.

Gajeel had to admit the girl was pretty devious, and he totally liked that. He found it to be one of her more redeeming qualities considering her anger management problems.

Inside the dojo Laxus was busy getting his ear chewed off by Headmaster Makarov, about how he should have handled the situation and how all of the chaos that had occurred could have been prevented if it weren't for him, which caused Laxus to silently brood over how his own Grandfather was taking sides in this stupid fight and making him look like the bad guy.

Whereas Mira was still crying hysterically while being comforted by her students, heck if she didn't calm down she wouldn't be able to drive the bus to take them back to the academy.

But the real tension in the area was somewhere else; specifically it was focused around Erza, Jellal and Kagura.

To say that the two girls were shocked to see the blue-haired male would be a gross understatement, in fact neither of them thought that they would ever see this man again.

Erza couldn't handle the silence any longer and decided to speak first while asking the question that both girls wanted the answer to.

"J-Jellal… w-what are you doing here?" she asked as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

Kagura just stayed completely still, sending a deathly glare in Jellal's direction.

Jellal snapped out of his thoughts and processed what Erza had just said "Well… I'm a first year student at Magnolia University this year… but I think I should also be asking why you're here, I mean… you should have graduated already if I'm not mistaken?" said Jellal with slight confusion.

After all, he and Erza were the same age the last time he checked, hell when they were kids they were in the same classes together. So why was she still in High School?

Erza's eyes widened for a second then she looked away to the floor in embarrassment.

"Th-there were certain… reasons… my parents just thought it would be best for me" she said.

Jellal kept silent, he hadn't seen Erza in years, 8 to be specific, so he didn't think he had the right to pry any further into her personal matters.

But, he was actually very happy to see her again. They were very close as children, in fact he had a pretty big crush on her too, and when he was in his last year of elementary school he had planned on confessing to her, but that was when the incident occurred.

The one that caused him to move away from his home town and never see any of his old friends again and made him go into therapy.

The one that made a girl hate him so much that he actually thought she would kill him.

The day his friend died.

"If you're a University student then why the hell are you at a High School!?" yelled Kagura in annoyance.

Jellal looked away from Erza and saw Kagura staring at him, eyes filled to the brim with hatred. He feared this moment for a while, he made a promise to himself that he was going to face her when he came back, but he never expected to see her so soon, he had only been in town for a week so far; barely any time to prepare himself for this confrontation.

"Oh I can answer that, I kind of forced him to come with me"

They turned their heads to the source of the new voice which turned out to be Ultear; who happened to overhear the conversation, not that it took much effort what with Kagura's obnoxious yelling.

"Ultear-senpai" said Jellal in surprise and slight relief; she had just saved him.

"Senpai?" questioned Erza, her brow raised in confusion.

"Hey there Erza, been a while, have you been making Gray's life miserable since he became your slave?" asked Ultear with an evil glint in her eyes coupled with a sadistic smirk.

She clearly wasn't reading the mood right, but if she was then she was trying her best to lighten it.

Erza was too confused by the situation to respond, so she just stood there staring at her in shock.

"Aw now come on, you don't have to keep anything from me~ Anyway the whole reason I brought little Jellal here in the first place is coz I offered him a ride home, and I thought it would be fun to get some footage of Gray cowering in a corner on the way so I made a quick stop." said Ultear with no hint of shame whatsoever.

Gajeel, Levy, Juvia and Gray were watching this entire awkward scene unfold, and feeling super uncomfortable about it.

Gray had covered his face with his hands in embarrassment, while the others just sweat-dropped at her actions.

"I take it your sister makes your life hell?" asked Levy; feeling sympathetic for the stripping boy.

Gray just nodded his head and Gajeel snickered.

"I think hell might seem like a vacation for him, that freaky woman is a super sadist, even I feel sorry for him and I don't even like him that much" said Gajeel with his arms folded, his face also showing sympathy.

Ultear felt a tick mark appear on her head; she could hear everything they were saying!

She made a mental note to get some dirt on Gajeel later as payback, and while she was at it maybe that little shorty as well

Levy and Gajeel suddenly felt chills hike up their spines.

Juvia noticed Gray's sudden… well grey appearance and tried to find a way to make him feel better.

"A-ano… J-Juvia doesn't think that Grays' Nee-chan is doing it just to torture him… b-b-but it might be her way of sh-showing affection?" she said in a nervous tone; afraid of speaking out of line.

Gray's eyes shot open in shock, the look on his face making Juvia even more nervous, then suddenly a figure appeared behind her and put her in some kind of chokehold/hug of death.

"You are just precious~ Juvia is it? My names Ultear! You are just adorable! Gray if you ever decide to get married it better be to this girl!" yelled Ultear in a cheery voice as she swung Juvia around.

"E-Eh!? M-m-m-m-m-married to G-G-G-G-Gray-sama!?" squealed Juvia as her face went a deep scarlet, she was also getting kinda dizzy from being swung around like a ragdoll; was this how all her plushies felt?

"Knock it off you lousy sister!" yelled Gray, his cheeks a feint pink in colour.

Levy and Gajeel just stared, not really sure of what to say or do at the moment.

"W-why do I feel like I'm watching a scene from some kind of messed up shoujo manga?" asked Levy with a dead-pan face.

Gajeel just grunted in agreement.

Finally after Ultear released Juvia from her vice-grip she managed to get some air back into her lungs. And in her list of things to think about she was glad that she seemed to have the approval of Gray's sister; thus improving her chances to get together with him.

Suddenly Juvia noticed a speck of pink and yellow moving closer towards them, at first she thought she was delusional from the choking or from imagining her and Gray married with kids for too long to the point where it made her hallucinate [A/N: Yeah, sweety your already doing that, you just don't notice] but then she realized that she was in fact in her right state of mind… and that those specks where most likely the Salamander and Lucy!

"L-Levy-san J-Juvia thinks she sees Lucy!" yelled Juvia while pointing at the specks, who were now close enough to be discerned as actual people walking side-by-side together.

Levy snapped out of her dead-panned state and looked to where Juvia was pointing.

And true to her sight there was Lucy… and the Salamander.

Levy was happy to see Lucy but, she was definitely not impressed by the state she found her in.

Lucy was using Natsu as a human crutch; his hand clutching her by the waist and Lucy's arm around his shoulder, like she was struggling to walk… they also appeared to be sweaty and out of breath… and flushed as well… and not only that but Lucy also seemed to be embarrassed about something.

So Levy being Levy, she put the evidence she had just collected from their appearance together in her head and came up with a conclusion as to why they were in that state…

…which she felt the need to vocalize in an extremely loud voice.

"OH MY GOD! HE VIOLATED HER SO BADLY THAT SHE CANT EVEN WALK ON HER OWN!"

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