(Opening Up)
Later on that night, Lucy woke up about an hour after the group of four found a Spot in an alleyway. The others were still sleeping so she didn't want to wake them up. She stretched and walked to the end of the alley.
Caesars Palace was just a street away so she could have time to reflect on their whole journey. During this, her heart had softened and she was more open to the idea of trusting someone again after being betrayed by her last owner.
This was the most fun and carefree she had felt in a long time. She put her days as a dog fighter and the trauma it had left her in the back of her head. She got the chance to be a normal dog again.
She had been gone for more than fifteen minutes before Bolt had noticed that she was missing so he went to go find her.
He used his nose to find her and saw her sitting in front of the Bellagio hotel, watching the water L from the fountain dance. She didn't notice him coming up behind her.
"Lucy?" Bolt said, making her ears twitch around. She peeked over her shoulder and saw Bolt jumping up on the ledge to view Bellagio with her.
"Hey there, Bolt," she replied, looking back at the glowing hotel. "Can't sleep?" Bolt asked her, feeling himself blushing once again.
"Not really," Lucy replied vaguely, "I didn't wake you, did I?" Bolt grinned a bit and wagged his fluffy tail. "Kinda," he replied.
They watched the water dance for a little while longer before either one of them said a word. "Lucy?" Bolt said, looking at her.
"Yeah?" She said, smiling warmly. "I've been meaning to ask, how did you get those scars?" He asked, looking closely at the scars on her body.
Lucy's smile instantly dropped and she glanced away. "I don't want to talk about it. Please just leave it be," she said, her voice hardened. She jumped down from the ledge and started to walk away with her head dropped.
Bolt noticed the change in her tone. "Lucy… you can trust me. The scars, the way you reacted to that stick a while back. Lucy, please tell me what happened," Bolt said, following her.
"It's my business, Bolt. It's best for you to not pry," Lucy growled, barely turning her head with her teeth bared. Bolt stopped a few inches behind her.
The shepherd wouldn't let it go though. "Lucy, you helped me, so why won't you let me help you?" He said, sounding more sincere.
Lucy spun around and bared her teeth at him, hackles raised all the way. "BECAUSE IT'S NOT YOUR BUSINESS, THAT'S WHY!" she shouted at him, tears in her eyes.
Bolt was taken aback by her outburst. "I… I'm sorry, Lucy," Bolt said, feeling bad about making Lucy upset like this.
"I don't need your apology. Why don't you get us something to eat and make yourself useful?" Lucy growled, walking passed him.
Bolt watched her leave; His heart broke when he saw how hurt she was.
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Lucy kept walking unconsciously through the dark streets. For a part of her was mad at Bolt because of him asking about her scars. She never talked about her scars with anybody; It was the one thing she kept to herself.
Another part of her felt bad for even shouting at him like that. He was trying to help after all.
"He wouldn't understand how I feel… That dog's been kept in the dark for too long," she muttered to herself.
After a while, she had a weird feeling that something was wrong. "Maybe I should check on that dog before he gets himself into trouble," Lucy said, turning around.
While she walked, that feeling was getting stronger. Something was definitely wrong.
She sped up her pace to a gallop and followed Bolt's scent and an unfamiliar scent mixed in with it.
She heard the sounds of deep, threatening growls coming from an alleyway up ahead. When Lucy found where the growling was coming from, her instincts to protect Bolt came out.
He had a piece of steak in his mouth but a bigger dog were creeping closer to him. Lucy didn't hesitate to run in front of the incompetent white shepherd with a growl.
"Lucy?!" Bolt yelped in surprise. "Don't just stand there! Run!" Lucy said, having a stare down with the big dog.
"They're gonna hurt you!" Bolt shouted, both ears dropped. "I know what I'm doing!" She replied, getting in the correct stance of when she was a fighter dog.
She didn't ever want to go back to that time, but she wouldn't let the dog she's having feelings for get hurt. The first thing she did was leap at the big dog and she used her entire body to push him back.
"Come at me, you mutt!" Lucy growled, circling him. She kept her attention on her opponent and nothing else.
The dog did so and sunk his teeth in the side of her neck and pinned her to the ground. Lucy snarled and used her hind paws to kick him off.
Lucy sunk her fangs into his neck and pushed him to the wall to dominate him. She held him there for a few seconds until he stopped fighting. She released him and backed up to let the dog up.
"Get out of here. Now!" She growled at the dog. The dog didn't hesitate to run out of there with his tail between his legs.
Lucy turned to face a stunned Bolt. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked.
"Where did you learn to fight like that? You were amazing," he asked, wagging his tail.
Lucy looked away, red appearing on her white furry cheeks. "You really want to know? You really want to know how I got these scars?" She asked him.
"Yes, I do. Tell me," he replied. Lucy sighed, seeing that she couldn't keep this to herself anymore.
"I've never told anybody this. Not even Mittens. But, I was a fighter dog. Whenever I would lose a fight, the human who kept me would use a stick to beat me. That's why I was shaken when Mittens had that stick in front of my face. It reminded me of that. My owner… he sold me to them to make a quick buck. I thought he loved me but… when I saw that devilish look on his face, I knew I was wrong. I've lived in that place for four years of my life before I escaped. I didn't trust anybody after that. Nobody wants to have a dog with old scars," Lucy said, feeling herself getting choked up at reliving her past.
Bolt listened to each word thoroughly. He didn't think she had been through such hardship like this. He heard how hard it was for her to even tell that story.
Lucy felt Bolt rest his head on hers. He was giving her the comfort she needed.
"You've been through so much. I can tell how hard it was for you. But, you can let it out if you want," he told her.
Lucy finally gave way into tears, burying her face into Bolt's shoulder. Nobody had ever helped her like this.
It felt good to put her trust into him, which wasn't easy for her to do. She had felt like she couldn't ever trust anybody ever again after she'd been hurt so many times.
