Chapter 10

Romeo woke up to a loud tapping sound coming from the direction of his window. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, then he glanced at the clock on his nightstand: 12:47 am. Groggily, he wondered who would knock at his window at this time of night. He walked over and opened the curtains to find himself staring at his girlfriend. "Wendy!" he exclaimed. Quickly, he opened the window and helped her climb inside.

She shrugged her bag off her shoulder and let it fall to the floor, while Romeo shut the window behind her. As he followed her to his bed, he noticed that her face hung low with her hair covering most of it, but she couldn't hide how blank her eyes were and how defeated she looked. She sat on the bed, and finally, she allowed her vulnerability to show through her tears. Romeo turned on his lacrima light and gently asked, "What are you doing here?"

Wendy, who was so emotional she could barely talk, said, "Please hold me." Romeo noticed her eyes were red and puffy. He also noticed she hadn't changed her clothes since he last saw her.

Romeo obliged and sat on the bed beside Wendy. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "It will be okay." Wendy cried into Romeo's shoulder as he rubbed circles on her back to try and help her calm down.

When she finally calmed down, she pulled away. "Can I stay here? I don't wanna be back at the house with him."

"Of course," said Romeo. "Why don't you wanna be at home?"

Wendy shook her head — she didn't want to talk about it, but Romeo had to know. "I get that you don't wanna talk about it, but I need to know something just in case my dad finds you here. Can I just ask you questions?"

She nodded.

"Did you tell Natsu?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Did he get really mad?" he asked next.

She nodded.

"Did he yell really loud?" Romeo asked.

She nodded.

"Did he threaten to hurt me?"

She nodded, and he sighed. "Did he ground you for the rest of your life?"

She shook her head and held up one finger.

"One month?" Romeo asked, dumbfounded.

She shook her head, and he sighed again. "One year?" he asked.

She nodded. Romeo was about to hug her when she spoke again.

"He broke a table," she said quietly, her voice breaking with grief. Romeo's eyes widened as she spoke. "He said that all I did was cause problems and that he couldn't take care of another baby. I'm afraid he will kick me out."

Romeo pulled Wendy close and kissed her head. "Maybe he was just shocked and upset. Stay here tonight; he might have cooled down in the morning. If he kicks you out, you can stay here."

She nodded and pulled away with small tears in her eyes. Romeo wiped them away and saw her backpack on the floor. "You can change here. I'm gonna write a note for my dad and leave it in the kitchen so he won't freak out if he finds out you're here."

She nodded as he left the room with a random piece of paper from under his bed.

Romeo grabbed a marker off their coffee table and wrote:

Dad,

Wendy is in my room. She came here last night crying because she got into a fight with Natsu. She's afraid he's going to kick her out. If you wanna ground me more for letting her stay, go ahead, but I couldn't just turn her away. Don't tell Wendy I said this, but you should call Lucy. I don't think they know she ran away. Also, please tell Lucy to talk to Natsu because if he yells at her like that again, he will make her do something stupid. She is super scared.

Thanks for understanding. I love you, Dad!

Romeo

Romeo returned to his room to find Wendy lying in his bed under the covers. He climbed into the bed beside her, and she sat up so that he could put his arm under her and pull her close. They fell asleep, lying in each other's arms.