Chapter 18

In the end, let it be us

The days flew by like magic. It was now two days before the ball. Lucy had spent the time off mostly with Natsu but as well with their friend group. Lucy's house had become the group hangout spot since Alex rarely enforced rules that most parents do. Plus, he would feed them free food from the restaurant, and who wouldn't love that?

The best part of the break for Lucy was definitely the time she spent with Natsu, as they did what all unofficial couples would do, they would spend hours kissing, flirting, teasing each other, and the occasional pillow fight which normally resulted in something breaking. It got so bad that at one-point Alex almost banned pillow fights in the apartment, he could not afford to keep buying Lucy new glassware. "Seriously, who has the ability to break this many mugs?" Alex had whined after Natsu's pillow successfully smashed another mug left stranded on Lucy's night table one night.

Lucy currently stood in front of her closet as she admired her dress one more time. She had shown it to Natsu, and he insisted on getting an entire suit to match it, that way everyone knew she was his date. He never officially asked her to the ball, but Lucy accepted that it was just implied.

Unfortunately, Lucy's break hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows, as her phone continued to blow up daily with calls and texts from unknown numbers, all saying similar things. The fear in her bones grew as she wandered what Laxus had been planning. Originally Lucy had thought he was all talk, but she knew that was rarely the case with Laxus. She now regretted antagonizing him on the phone, it provoked him further. Her once hopeful thoughts that this would blow-over imploded in her head long ago, she was now forced to face the reality of the situation. She would either have to face him and force him to back off or she would be forced to deal with the repercussions of his actions.

Natsu remained blissfully unaware of Lucy's situation with the threats on the phone. Aside from that one-night, Lucy refused to tell him. She hoped she could somehow manage this herself, a small part of her still hoped Laxus was still just hurling empty threats her way, but the rational part of her brain recognized that as impossible. It was oddly enough Grey who knew most about the situation. He was getting coffee with her one afternoon when she received another one of Laxus infamous texts, Grey had read it before she had the chance to delete it

… … …

*Flash back

Grey sat in the coffee shop next to Lucy, they were waiting on Juvia and Gajeel to show up, but they were running late. As they sat, they talked about whatever came to their minds, Grey and Lucy had formed a very good friendship over the school year and although she didn't tell him much about what had happened between her and Laxus, he knew enough to connect the dots when he saw the text pop-up on her phone.

"How long Lucy?" Grey asked, eyes narrowed as he read the text closely. When he saw her quickly grab the phone to delete the notification, it told him this was not the first nor would it be the last threat she had received like this.

Lucy hung her head down, "Since the party, he's obsessed with destroying me. I wish I could just move on from it you know?" She said quietly.

Grey shook his head, "Does anyone know? Does Natsu know?" He asked her, his tone still serious.

"Not really, he saw me pick up a call from him once, but that was during exams. I don't want to freak him out with it, their empty threats Grey." She said surely.

Up until this point Lucy truly believed as much, he had made threats but never went through with them. Lucy thought that had proved his texts were nothing more then a small disturbance in her day. She had pushed the situation to the side of her brain and focused on her excitement for the winter ball and finding a dress with her friends.

"Lucy, I know your smarter than that. I don't know what Laxus did to you, but I've heard stories from other girls, I can only imagine what happened. If you think his threats contain no weight, then your sorely mistaken. Please take this more seriously, tell Natsu. He deserves to know when his girl is being threatened." He said sternly.

Lucy blushed, definitely inappropriate for the current topic, but being called Natsu's girl made her heart do a flip. She pushed the warm feeling aside as a much darker and sinister one set in. Maybe her hopeful thinking had got the best of her, but she truly thought she was safe from Laxus and his dumb attacks at her. It was Grey who made her notice how blind she had been being. Laxus had laid his hands on her before. Who's to say he would be above hurting her friends or Natsu just in spite of her. A shiver ran down her back at the thought.

Grey looked at her as he watched her think. He was dumbfounded to find out Lucy hadn't thought of this as serious, he thought she was more precautious than this. But he also knew she was human, and humans love to put the most hope in places where none can be found.

"Listen Lucy, I won't tell anyone, that's your choice. But as your friend I'm advising you to tell Natsu. He would never stop blaming himself if something happened to you or someone he cared about because of this." Grey said in a more sincere tone.

"Your right, I've approached this wrong. But what am I supposed to do? He keeps saying If I don't leave all of you that he will make me regret it. He's threatened all of you, yet he hasn't done anything yet. It was foolish of me to believe that maybe this was all a scare tactic, but it's not like I can fight him or force him to back down. I'm just at a loss for what to do." Lucy said. She felt like she was being backed into a corner by Laxus. She hoped her ignorance would save her, but reality always had had a fun way of slapping her in the face.

"Me neither honestly, but maybe start keeping the texts. Document them and the calls. If you pick up a call, record it. That way if something does happen, we have proof it was him. Just keep your guard up. I'll watch out for the group. But I won't tell them what's happening, that will just create panic and they may try to rush into something they can't get out of. Especially Natsu." Grey said.

Lucy put her face in her hands, stress gnawing at her insides. She hated how helpless she felt, like she was staring at her impending doom but couldn't move or fight it.

Before the two could continue talking a very cold and wet Juvia and Gajeel stormed into the café.

"Stupid bus broke down." Gajeel growled as he shook all the snow off his coat.

*End of Flashback

… … …

With nothing more she could do; Lucy took Greys advise partially and kept all the texts now saved on her phone. She still was adamant about not telling Natsu though. Things were so perfect between them; she wouldn't let her past ruin her future once more.

As Lucy zoned back into reality, she tucked her dress back away into her closet and laid on her bed. Her thoughts swirled around her brain like she was caught in a shaken snow globe. The worst part of it all was the stress of it had prevented her from playing anymore songs on the piano. She knew withholding all this was what kept her from her music, but she needed to. If she wanted to survive this, then she would have to repress the fear, push away the anxiety each text gave her, she would have to push them into a small box and close the lid. Until this all blew-over, whenever, or however that would be, she had to remain this way. Despite her promise of not letting Laxus take anymore of her, he had managed to still steal her music; and that was just as bad as being silenced.

Lucy's thoughts were stolen from her as her front door opened and shut. By the sound of the footsteps, she knew it was Natsu. She heard him as he threw his coat into her closet along with his boots. She listened as his footsteps grew louder until they were right in front of her.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu said with a grin. He shook out his hair in her face, successfully wetting her face with the snow that tumbled from his locks. She laughed as she rolled over and wiped her face off.

"Hey…" She said with a soft smile. Even though she had seen him only hours ago, she still missed him so much when he was gone. She felt like half a person when she wasn't around.

"I got us a super fun surprise!" He said with excitement. It took his entire begin not to blurt out what it was. This was something he had in the works for a while and now it had finally come, and in the perfect time nonetheless as it was dead winter.

"What is it?" She said, matching his excitement. She sat up eagerly, looking him over to see what the surprise might be.

"Put out your hand." He commanded, smiling ear to ear. Lucy giggled and put out her hand gingerly.

Natsu took no time to pull out his license and place it into her hands. In Fiore you could get your learners permit at 15 and full license at 16. He had no plans on rushing the full license until he met Lucy. He wanted to be able to drive them around and give them more freedom. He liked the idea of picking her up for nice dates or for school. So, he asked Guildarts to teach him how to drive properly to pass the exam so that he could drive them to the Fairy tail winter ball. Guildarts obviously agreed as he was fed up with Natsu constantly asking for rides everywhere or spare bus change when he would lose his bus pass, which was daily. When Natsu passed that morning, Guildarts gave him the keys to the car and said he could drive it for the day and have it the night of the dance. With that Natsu drove Guildarts back home and rushed to Lucy's house, beyond excited to tell her the news.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she saw his license. "Oh my god Natsu this is amazing! I feel bad for the other drivers though, I can only imagine what a menace you are on the road." She joked.

"For your information I am an awesome driver. I excel in driving like I do in all things." He said confidently as he took the license back and shoved it inside his wallet.

"Sureeeee bud…" Lucy said. She had never seen Natsu drive, but she knew he was the most easily distracted person to exist. She wondered at that moment if amazon sold car bumper stickers that read "Beware, Idiot at the wheel."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to prove it to you then. I'll drive us to the winter ball and back. That should show you how amazing I am!" He said as he joined her on the bed. He pulled her to him, so her head laid on his chest.

"Oh my gosh really! I can't believe Guildarts gave you the car for that night, man he must either really trust in your driving skills or have a super cheap car premium that he doesn't mind being raised." Lucy said, implying Natsu would crash the car and send Guildarts insurance through the roof.

"The first one duh! Anyways, now that I can drive, we don't have to worry about walking everywhere, especially now that its dead winter and the air is deadly cold." Natsu said as he shivered. He only hated two things in life: Grey and the cold. He wasn't sure which one he hated more as they constantly fought for first place.

"Sounds good to me, as long as your not a maniac behind the wheel I'm down." She said. She nuzzled his chest and listened to his heartbeat. The stress she felt moments ago melted from her mind as she listened to the beat of Natsu's heart. She still didn't know what to do about Laxus, but around Natsu she firmly believed she could find a way to figure it out. She didn't care if it was hopefully thinking, she let the thought put her mind at ease as she began to fall asleep on Natsu's chest.

Natsu laid against Lucy's pillows as he heard her breathing steady. She had fallen asleep on him once more, something he loved that she did. To him it meant she felt safe around him, she felt he could protect her. Natsu let his mind wander to his excitement for the winter ball, it would be there that he would confess his love for her. Natsu knew they hadn't made their relationship official, and as much as he enjoyed how they were right now, he wanted to make her 100% his. He wanted her to have his heart as much as he had hers.

Natsu began to drift asleep while writing his confession to Lucy in his mind. He could not wait for the day Natsu, and Lucy would become "we". To him, there would always be an "us" for them.

… … …

The night of the ball was only hours away. Lucy woke up bright and early, one from excitement and also because Natsu had slept as his house for the night. Lucy never slept as good in his absence, even in her sleep she craved his touch, his warmth, his being entangled with hers.

She took no time to shoot herself up and out of bed. She quickly scarfed down some apple cinnamon oatmeal and some tea before she ran out the door to meet her friends at the nail salon.

All four girls had made appointments to get their nails done at the same time, this way they could gush about the ball together before they would return home to get dressed. As Lucy ran to the salon only a block away, she felt her heart flutter, the excitement and anticipation for tonight ran through her veins. She was inpatient for tonight to come, even more inpatient to see Natsu again.

The girls spent the next two hours being pampered by the nail techs as they each got a full set of acrylics, except Lucy, she hoped that even if she couldn't play her music right now that it would return soon. Nails would only get in the way of that.

They all got nails that complimented their dresses. Except Lucy, who chose a white colour to match Natsu's dress shirt and white scarf that he would sure wear. After the girls finished, they hugged and ran home to get ready.

Lucy spent the next few hours with her hair in curlers as she sat around watching movies. It was still too early to get dressed or put on makeup, so she tried to distract herself from her excitement. During this time, she also texted Natsu, who wasn't acting his usual self. Even though it was only on text, Lucy noticed how mysterious he was being, she wondered what he was up to and was about to text him such when her alarm went off. It was finally 6, the ball started at 7:15. She squealed as it meant she could now get ready.

She pulled her hair out of the curlers as it fell into soft waves around her head, pleased with the outcome she moved onto her makeup. She decided to go for a toned-down natural look with light eyeshadow and some blush. She applied brown eyeliner into a soft wing and put some clear lip gloss on. She stared at herself in the mirror and gasped, she wasn't surprised on her makeup, but the fact that she truly recognized the girl staring back at her. For so long her own reflection felt like a stranger, a stark contrast from the girl she was deep down inside. But now she saw herself staring back, Lucy Heartfilia, the girl with the will of a dragon but the heart of a young girl. She smiled as she felt tears well up, she could now see how far she had truly come, she couldn't have felt prouder.

Lucy pulled on the dress and managed to zip it up by herself, with a struggle so hard she broke into a sweat of course. Just as she pulled on the dress, she received a text from her phone.

Natsu: "Downstairs Luce, ready when you are x" The text read.

She could feel herself shake with anticipation. She grabbed her keys and her phone and shoved them into the dresses pocket. She put on her shoes which she and Natsu had decided together on. They both would wear white Jordan's instead of fancy shoes. She thought the idea was cute and unique, plus it saved her from the blisters of heals which she greatly appreciated. She pulled them on and walked down the stairs of her apartment, when she entered the restaurant, she heard the gasps as all eyes fell on her.

… … …

Natsu spent the entire day trying to write out a confession to Lucy that perfectly captured everything he wanted to say. It was hard for him, in music everything just flowed out, but when it came to real words he tended to struggle. If only the ball had a piano, he would get up and sing to her. Alas, there wouldn't be one there so his speech would have to suffice.

He knew Lucy was catching on to his plan, he felt it in the texts she sent him, asking him why he was acting so silly. She joked that maybe he was nervous to show his terrible dance moves to which he played along. Anything to get her off his tail. His plan was to head to the gazebo a bit further out from the dance, he had asked Mira, who was coordinator of the Ball, to have it decorated. He would lead her there and tell her how he felt. A solid plan he felt sure of.

He got ready as quickly as he could and ran into Guildarts car. His father chased him out the door screaming that he better be careful with his car. Natsu laughed and assured his father everything would be fine. He sped to Lucy's, he felt he couldn't take another second without her. He parked the car out front and went inside where he was greeted by Alex. Natsu sent the text he was downstairs as he impatiently awaited her arrival back to him.

... ... ...

As Natsu stood with Alex, they both engaged in awkward small talk as they waited on his date. Despite knowing Alex well, Natsu felt oddly uncomfortable now. The Alex he spoke to wasn't just Alex anymore, but Lucy's older brother, her protector.

"I'm only gonna say this once and then we will never speak of this again." Alex said, cutting off the random small talk they forced upon themselves. "Lucy is my sister, I swear to God himself if you hurt her Natsu, I will make sure that your life ends before a single tear falls from her eyes. You understand me?" Alex said as he stared Natsu dead in the eyes.

Natsu stared back at him with equal vigor. "Alex, I promise you have no need to worry, I'll protect her with everything I have. I'm not going anywhere until she asks me too." He said with a boat of confidence. He knew Alex was only trying to play the role of the scary older brother, but his words still held weight. Natsu knew that deep down Alex would never allow Lucy to endure the hardships she once faced only years ago. But Alex didn't have to worry, he would keep Lucy's heart safe from others at all costs. He only hoped he could keep her heart safe from herself, she was her own biggest critic.

Alex smiled and put his hand on Natsu's shoulder, he knew Natsu would protect him, even at the cost of his own life. Didn't mean he still couldn't threaten him though, right?

The two were cut off by Lucy entering the dinning hall of the restaurant. They heard the gasps of the dinners as Lucy appeared from the corner where the staircase was. Alex watched as Natsu's eyes glimmered when he saw her. He smiled at the two, he was so happy to see someone love his little sister they way she always had deserved to be.

Natsu watched as Lucy approached him, her cheeks red as all the people in the restaurant watched. His lips were slightly parted in awe as she stepped closer. In that moment he wished once more he could freeze time and relive the feeling his heart gave as he looked at her.

Once she was within arms reach, Natsu stepped forward and closed the gap.

"Hey Natsu…" Lucy said shyly.

Natsu felt his face on fire. "Luce, you…. you look absolutely beautiful." He managed to say. He heard a string of "Awessss." From patrons who were in earshot of him.

"Thanks, you look pretty handsome yourself." She said as she looked him up and down. Like he had promised he had bought a suit the same navy blue as her dress. He wore a white dress shirt underneath the Tux coat. He matched it with a navy-blue tie and pants. Finally, he sported the same white Jordan's as Lucy and his famous white scarf, he couldn't imagine not wearing it tonight.

"Why thank you." Natsu said with a smirk. He then pulled the corsage he bought and placed it on Lucy's wrist. It was white Lilly's with navy blue small flowers in between, finally a golden band held it to her wrist. Natsu wore the matching white Lilly on his suit.

"Okay you two, time for photos!" Alex said.

The teens followed him as he brought them to the front of the restaurant where no dinners were sitting. He snapped a million photos of them in every position he could think off. It was when he started suggesting they do a bunch of silly ones that the two begged he stopped.

"Okay, okay! I'm done. But before you go…" Alex said. He then raised his voice to the people in the restaurant, "Can I get a round of applause for the lovely couple!" He said with joy.

The restaurants customers and servers all responded in applause and cheer for the two, thoroughly embarrassing them.

"Okay Now I am done, had to embarrass you at least once CeeCee, brotherly duty." He said with a wide grin.

To his surprise Lucy didn't try to slap him or get mad, she simply walked up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Alex, I couldn't have made it this far without you." She whispered into his chest as she hugged him. If it hadn't been for the man standing outside his restaurant that one fateful night, Lucy may have never ended where she was now. She was beyond grateful for everything he had done for her, words could never express how true the feeling was.

"This was all you CeeCee, I'm so proud of you…. Now go have fun! But not too much fun, you know…" Alex said the end with a Laugh. Now Lucy slapped his chest for the sexual joke.

"Ew Alex." She laughed. Alex Laughed too then leaned down and kissed the top of her head. He waived them off as they left for the ball.

Alex felt his tears well up as he watched them go, "She's all grown up now…" He whispered.

Authors Note: And soooo it beginnsssss! The next few chapters are gonna be a lot of hang on tight! I hope you liked this chapter, I pulled a lot of it from my own experience of going to prom with my boyfriend. We wore triple white Jordan one Mids to both of our proms. Lucy's dress is completely based on mine except mine was maroon. Natsu's completely matching tux is also based off my boyfriend who went out of his way to find a maroon tux to match my dress. Finally the Gazebo is based on the Garden Party I organized for my school! Not gonna lie organizing that damn thing was a challenge and I couldn't have done it without the help of my mom and another amazing mother on the committee. The party was held for over 500 people and its probably one of my proudest achievements.

The rest of their Winter ball experience will also be loosely based on my prom experience as well! Anyways Imma start working on the next chapter now as I have tomorrow off of work so i can finally stay up late yay!

Wow that was long anyways have a great day/night, Cya!

I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTER'S: I simply write the plot :) All rights are reserved by the creators of Fairy Tail.