A/N: shout out to smartcookie727 for helping me settle on an outfit. You got me, girl. You always got me.

CHAPTER EIGHT: PRECIOUS MEMORIES

When you look at me and smile
it feels like my heart will stop.
How about you?
It's really hard for me to handle.
All day I think of you.
We went in circles for a long time.
But even if it's now, I'm all right.
Oh, every time I see you, when I see your eyes,
my heart keeps fluttering.
You're my destiny;
the only person I want to protect
until the end of the world.

Lucy was dead.

Natsu held her lifeless body in his arms. Fresh blood dripped from Lucy's closed eyes, tangling itself in her long, beautiful hair. Sobs punctured his throat like teeth ripping out all hope, blood and spit occluding his airways. He couldn't breathe.

Why was this happening? If he'd woken up in time, if he'd been there, maybe Dimaria wouldn't have...

"Lucy, please."

Natsu took a breath. This wasn't real. He was dreaming again. That had to be it. He relived the moment in a cycle, so bloody and brutal it stained his vision red. He'd caught a taste for revenge, sweet and seductive. He'd lost count of the times he'd beaten Dimaria bloody.

It didn't matter what he said now, how much he begged, Lucy wouldn't move. Dimaria's body hissed smoke behind him, the stench of burnt flesh and coagulated blood fueling his blood lust. His only regret was that he hadn't savored that woman's defeat.

The real nightmare wasn't reliving Lucy's death, it was enduring the painful truth. It was knowing how much he wanted to hurt Dimaria and having every opportunity to do it. He wanted to kill her for what she'd done. For what he thought she'd done.

No, it wasn't enough to simply kill her. He wanted Dimaria to suffer. To gasp for breath and beg him to stop.

"Natsu?"

Natsu balked. Lucy moved in his arms. She'd never spoken to him before. Not in this dream, where memories slumbered deep with ghouls to create atrocities. He placed his ear to her face, listened for a breath. Nothing.

Had he imagined it?

Lucy's lifeblood dripped hot and heavy between his fingers. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, pressing her face close to his chest. He couldn't stand to see her like this.

"Lucy?" he dared to ask.

The body in his arms vanished, replaced by a cloud of glittering stars. Her soul dripped through the gaps in his fingers, ice-cold and forgotten. Natsu stood.

This wasn't part of the cycle...

"Wake up, Natsu. You're having a bad dream."

Natsu's eyes fluttered open.

Lucy hovered over him in their bed, blonde hair trailing down her face. She caressed his cheek and eased him awake with her soft smile. Natsu teetered on the bridge between sleep and reality. Could he still be dreaming?

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to wake you. It's just..." Lucy lifted their intertwined hands. "You were hurting me."

Natsu tore his hand free. "I'm sorry, Lucy."

Her smile brightened. "You couldn't help it."

And that's exactly why he was sorry. Natsu was powerless in his dreams. If he couldn't stop himself from hurting her, if he did something worse, how could he ever forgive himself? Asleep or awake, Natsu could only blame himself. And with the demon seed growing again inside him, it was only a matter of time before he screwed up.

Natsu shivered at the thought. Lucy adjusted the blankets. The strap of her top dropped into the crease of her elbow, exposing her soft skin. Natsu reflexively pushed it back onto her shoulder, his fingers lingering a second too long. She was so warm. Alive. Lucy touched the hand on her shoulder.

Propped on an elbow, Lucy leaned closer. She looked so vulnerable, soft, like the crocus he'd given her just yesterday. But Lucy's petals were in full bloom, strong as they were vibrant. She held his gaze captive in a realm where time simply didn't exist. Natsu raised his hand and brushed her cheek, lazily curling his fingers into the hair on her neck. She leaned over him like warm sunlight.

"You know, I've been thinking," she said.

Maybe it was the fatigue taking over, but the diffidence in Lucy's tone left him hungry to be near her. Natsu's body moved by itself. He abandoned reason, succumbing to languor. He drew her closer, rising on his elbow to meet her half-way. He brushed his nose against hers. Happy stirred on the bed, mumbling in his sleep. Lucy moved away, tucking strands of hair behind her ears. Embarrassed.

"Jellal told me something before," Natsu said. He inclined fully and stared at his hands.

"What did he say?"

"That talking would help."

Lucy sat up on her knees, attentive. "It's true. Whenever I have bad dreams, Levy and I usually talk about them. Or I write letters to my mother."

Natsu crossed his legs and intertwined his fingers, not entirely sure where to start. "But will this really work?

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't a nightmare, Lucy. It's a memory."

Lucy's expression softened, sympathetic, sad. "What kind of memory?"

He didn't know how else to put it, so he just said it: "I thought you were dead."

"But I'm not, Natsu. And I have to live with that."

"No, not in the mountains," he said. "During our war with the Empire, I thought I'd lost you again." Again, because Future Lucy's death was as real to him as this Lucy's would be. "I couldn't handle it, Lucy. Seeing you like that, so still. I couldn't control my actions. It wasn't me. And yet it was. You were the one thing keeping me together when everything seemed to be falling apart. It was like my humanity just slipped away. Hurting Dimaria..." Natsu hesitated. "It was freeing. I think a part of me liked it."

Lucy did well to disguise any disgust she felt. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He quirked a brow. Was she really about to lecture him on sharing secrets?

"I held you in my arms, Lucy. You weren't moving. I couldn't think clearly at all. I thought you were dead. You were suddenly gone and it didn't matter at all if I died with Zeref. I would have done anything to rid the world of his army once and for all. If Erza hadn't stopped me back then, I don't..."

Lucy embraced him. Natsu caressed the small of her back, his hands trembling. This was real. Lucy was real and alive. He felt so ashamed, like his dreams were enemies he couldn't beat. Something he couldn't protect her from.

"I'm right here, Natsu."

Happy squeezed between them. "Me too," he whimpered.

Natsu held them both tightly. "I don't want to live without you," he said. And he meant it.

"Don't say that," Lucy whispered. "No matter what happens, with or without us, you have to live."

"Lucy..."

"Promise me, Natsu."

Natsu buried his face against her neck. "I promise."

Fifty one. Fifty two. Fifty three.

Beads of sweat dribbled from Natsu's chin. He watched each drop splatter the hardwood floor, where Lucy insisted he remain until the morning's workout was over. Heaven forbid he ruin that ugly pink carpet in the middle of the room.

He lowered himself into the next push-up, his arms burning at last. Lucy's weight shifted on his back. She patted his shoulder playfully, Good job.

"How many push-ups is that?" she asked, flipping loudly through the pages of her book. "Three? Four?"

Natsu stifled a laugh. Better not to lose composure than accidentally throw her on the floor. He proceeded with ten more, and each time she counted lower, giggling as she bounced on his back.

"You're awfully brave for someone who lost a bet yesterday," Natsu quipped.

"Oh~?" she asked, overconfident.

"That's right, Lucy. Today's the day!" Happy sprang to his feet, invigorated from his own haphazard set of push-ups. "You have to wear whatever I choose. All day."

She tensed, almost losing her balance. "Are we seriously doing this? I thought you were joking."

Natsu grunted a yes. He'd lost count.

"Pffft, Lucy. You're so red," Happy teased. "Are you thinking about something dirty?"

"Don't make me hurt you, cat!"

Natsu adjusted his position, shifting into a plank. "It doesn't matter what he chooses," he said seriously. "You're always pretty."

"Natsu, you're being too nice," Happy said.

Lucy tumbled off his back. "I-I'm okay." She covered her face and squealed. "I think."

This time Natsu couldn't contain his laughter. He sat upright, watching her frantically recover the place in her book. She marked the page with a slip of paper and set it aside.

Their apartment was comfortably empty. Pre-furnished, Lucy insisted they didn't add anything unnecessary to the decor. They wouldn't be here forever, after all. Better not to grow attached. Even so, Natsu found it strange to see her living without a desk and quill. It wouldn't stop her finding the means to read and write, he knew, but it was eerie all the same.

"Those bandits won't stand a chance today," Natsu said.

Happy flexed his muscles, playfully showcasing his post-workout body to Lucy. Despite her obvious sulking, Lucy applauded his hard work and gave him a playful pat on the head.

"Good job, you two. You've earned a big breakfast," she said.

Sprawling on the loveseat, Lucy brushed skeins of damp hair off her face and tucked them behind an ear. Natsu's heart raced. He couldn't remember which parts of of last night were a dream and which were reality. It didn't seem to matter. She'd woken him when he needed her. In that moment of closeness, he'd felt it: an ache of wanting. The desire to taste her.

Natsu's stomach tingled. In all their time together, Lucy had always been remarkably beautiful. Her spirit. Her face. Her smile. All of her. But it was only recently that Natsu felt compelled to do something about it. As though he had a right. A need.

He wanted more.

Virgo materialised in the centre of the room. Lucy shrieked at the sudden intrusion. Natsu and Happy erupted with laughter. They'd been expecting her.

"Princess, I brought your outfit as requested," Virgo announced.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Not that."

Virgo held the garments high above her head. It was the very same outfit she'd worn to Everlue's manor, back when Natsu had inadvertently tricked her into being a maid. It wasn't the costume that would embarrass her, however, but the memories that came with it. She'd taken him so seriously back then. Seeing the outfit here, knowing what he knew, left him sentimental.

"Time to change, Lucy!" Happy cheered.

"I hate all of you," she said.

"Then, if it would please you, Princess." Virgo offered her arms as though waiting to be cuffed. "Please punish me appropriately!"

Lucy's body visibly prickled. She waved her hands in frantic protest. "No, no. You're fine. Thank you."

"Then, should I help you dress?" Virgo offered.

"Sure..." Lucy shot Happy a scathing look. "It's not like I have a choice."

Lucy emerged from the bedroom a short while later, sparkling despite her obvious discomfort. She held a pillow to her chest, her face blossoming with colour. Silken black ribbons dangled from buns on Lucy's head.

Her stockings ran shorter than the previous ones, scalloped ruffles barely touching the knee to leave room for her thigh holster. She wore the arm guard as well, but Virgo had decorated it with thin black lace to match the current theme. Slowly, Lucy lowered the pillow, and Natsu's heart stuttered violently in his chest.

Natsu had always thought Lucy put too much confidence in her looks and not enough in her abilities, but this Lucy, the Lucy who fought to protect everyone in the Alvarez War, seemed suddenly shy. Seeing her so modest made Natsu's heart race. He couldn't catch the feelings running through him, so he let them trample his sensibility until his brain fogged with nothing but images of her.

She fidgeted with the long ribbon at her collar, the blouse buttoned high to her neck. Virgo had stitched little black stars into the white apron.

"How does it look?" she mumbled.

Natsu's mouth opened. Countless jokes filled his mind, running rampant, words tripping over each other. He locked them away and swallowed the key.

Memories of their first meeting surfaced to the forefront of his mind. These thoughts connected like stones forming a bridge between times. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were destined to meet.

"How does it look, Master," Happy corrected.

Lucy visibly blushed. "Not a chance."

Natsu grabbed the tails of his scarf, seeking sense amidst his addled thoughts. This was no different to seeing her wear Virgo's Star Dress. And yet, knowing where the outfit came from made all the difference. Natsu kept it with his trove of precious memories. His heart beat a maudlin tune.

He'd never imagined that Lucy would become someone so important to him. She'd simply been there at the time. Someone he'd protected. Someone he wanted to help. He wanted to be with her forever.

Happy nudged his shoulder. "Natsu? Why aren't you teasing Lucy?"

"What?"

Lucy crouched on the balls of her feet, her face too close, her hands gentle on his shoulders. "Do you feel sick?"

Natsu shrank away. "Those bandits will be on the road by now."

Lucy side-eyed Happy. "What did you do to him?"

"I'm offended," Happy snapped.

"Should I take it off?" Lucy asked.

"No!" Natsu blinked. Was that his voice just now? "No. Don't take it off."

"Maybe you broke him with your huge thighs," Happy chortled.

"There's enough lace here to strangle you twice over," Lucy threatened.

"It's hot," Natsu mumbled.

Both whirled back to Natsu and said, "What?"

Lucy placed her hand on his forehead, her palm cool, her breath sweet with the aftertaste of flavoured tea. Erza had always told him to pick and choose his battles. This seemed like a good time to flee. He sprinted for the bathroom.

"Natsu?!" Lucy called after him.

"It's too hot in here," he blurted, slamming the door behind him.

"Happy, did our Dragon Slayer just say he's too hot?"

A low mist daubed the blue horizon, coating the merchant's road in deep, grey silence. From his perch in the fork of a large yoshino tree, Natsu saw silhouettes form in the thick haze. The wagon was almost here.

Lucy needed his eyes to see, so he watched over her from above, detecting the slightest of movements ahead.

White petals fluttered like snow all around him. Natsu snatched a petal from the sky and rubbed it between two fingers. His arms tingled with gooseflesh. Thoughts of snow delivered Natsu to the mountain. Meredy's screams shot through his focus like stars falling from the sky, blowing apart his dreams. He killed the thoughts and buried them alongside Ultear, praying neither would return to haunt him.

"Will Lucy be okay?" Happy whispered.

Natsu's gaze fell to the lower road, where Lucy hid behind a row of freshly trimmed hedges. She motioned with a quick hand signal: Wagon sighted. Natsu heightened his senses and listened. Wheels rocked and creaked over the hillside, slowed by heavy cargo. He closed his eyes and inhaled a long breath. Natsu heard only three other heartbeats. Lucy, Happy, and the driver.

Ascending the tree, Happy shadowed his gaze and, hooking his tail over the branch, dangled to get a closer look. "I don't see any bandits."

Sheltered by an umbrella of leaves, Natsu gripped a lower branch and leaned in closer. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Two more heartbeats. No, three. Four?

Crap. There were five of these bastards, and Lucy was just sitting there, waiting to be...

Natsu inhaled soft breaths and calmed his racing heartbeat. Lucy was right there, in view. Nothing would happen. Besides, he trusted her, and she'd insisted on gauging the situation before he charged in all flames and fists, as she'd put it.

"Pfffftttt. Look." Happy gestured to Lucy's sudden change in position. She'd stood into a half-crouch, her body arched low against the trim of hedges. "You can see Lucy's panties."

Natsu choked, blood mantling his cheeks. What panties?!

"Hm? Why is your face so red, Natsu?"

Natsu grinned despite himself. "My face isn't re—Hey, they're here!"

Lucy leapt into action, her whip gyrating overhead. She took out three of the bandits with ease—but not the ease of a skilled fighter. It was like Lucy had battled air. She struck a fourth bandit and the figure vaporized like cloaked mist, tattered cape shivering to the ground. Lucy grabbed the cape and surveyed the battlefield.

There.

The final bandit leapt off the wagon, striking Lucy hard across the face. A second strike sent her reeling across the road. Natsu jerked forward. She leapt back out of harm's way, two keys spread between her fingers. Happy grabbed his sleeve.

"We promised Lucy," he said.

Natsu grit his teeth. 'I need you to be my eyes, okay?'

Just what was he supposed to be looking for, anyway? They looked like regular bandits to him. And if they were mages, their magic was nothing compared to Lucy's. This fight would be over in seconds.

Something was wrong.

No matter what Lucy did, the bandit came back for more, appearing as if from nowhere. Lucy suffered kicks to her back and side, her body hurtling back and forth like a spin-top trapped between two walls. Blood sprayed from her nose.

"Lucy!" Happy screamed.

Flames kindled in Natsu's belly. He couldn't take this anymore.

Rebounding, Lucy summoned Gemini in a flash of powerful light. Natsu froze in the immensity of her power. Nothing came between Lucy and her spirits. Not even lack of training. Gemini-Lucy flanked the bandit, and together they snagged the enemy in a tangle of two whips.

"You can do it, Lucy," Natsu whispered.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Why are you stealing Bar Sun's cargo?" Lucy demanded.

. .Thump.

There were more?

No, just one. Someone close. And they were moving fast.

Footsteps padded the grass beneath him. Natsu glanced below. A sixth bandit rolled one of Sun's barrels onto the roadside, panting with exertion. The woman lowered her hood to reveal cropped black hair, tipped a deep purple that matched her violet gaze. She glanced over at Lucy and Gemini, a wicked smile on her lips.

That's it!

The other bandits were copies.

Natsu flung himself out of the tree, snaking his legs around the bandit's neck. She hurled him over her shoulder, smashing his body into the ground. Natsu gasped from the unexpected blow. Flames burst from his fists. He swung a right hook. She dodged and crushed his chest with her boot.

What the heck?

Natu's heart squeezed and the seed within him sputtered violent rage. Natsu choked on it. Visions of Dimaria's bloody body echoed through his mind.

"Would you really hurt a woman?" the bandit asked.

"I don't see a woman," Natsu spat.

She licked her lips and kicked him hard across the face. Tendrils of mist loosed from her palms, shimmering into a new shape. Natsu shot flames into the headless clone, evaporating it.

"I know your trick," he said, grinning a devil's grin.

The woman reeked of sudden fear. "You and your girlfriend should've stayed home with your weird fetish."

Lucy descended from the sky like an angel bringing salvation, Happy's wings spread large at her back. She drove an axe kick into the woman's neck and flipped over the bandit's head, landing clean on Natsu's face. Her hands slapped the ground above his head. Lucy's skirt rendered him in total darkness.

He felt along her body with his hands, squeezing her waist. Lucy's thighs warmed his face.

"Is this the real Lucy?" he asked.

"O-of course it's me!"

Sure, it sounded like Lucy, but Gemini had played this trick before. And his Lucy would definitely be standing by now. He had to be sure. Slowly, Natsu turned his face and bit Lucy's thigh. She vaulted with a screech and her back hit the wagon with a loud creak.

"I can't believe you bit me!" she wailed.

In gaps through the mist, Natsu saw the wagon, its stock barely plundered. The horses reared and huffed, their reigns falling loose between them.

Natsu sprang upright. The driver was gone.

Happy hovered over the unconscious bandit on the ground. She'd been an easy fight. Too easy. Something in Natsu wasn't satisfied. A hunger for violence spiked, but the brief time was enough to make him sick.

"You know, if she hadn't kicked me so hard, I'd be impressed," Lucy said. "All this time they've been looking for a group of bandits, when they should have been suspecting the driver."

Of course. If the driver could make clones of herself, she could make it look like an ambush while taking off with the barrels herself. Nobody would suspect a thing. And it explained why the bandits attacked in broad daylight. She relied on witnesses to make her look like the victim.

"I knew you'd figure it out," Natsu said.

Gemini-Lucy latched onto his arm, snuggling so tight they cut off circulation to his bicep. Lucy blanched.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she scolded.

"He's so handsome," they echoed.

Happy dissolved into laughter. "Is that supposed to be Lucy?!"

"Master," they cooed, ruffling their skirt, "how can we please you today?"

Natsu yanked his arm free. Gemini-Lucy pursued him, throwing her arms around his neck, her face too close. Natsu tumbled onto his back.

"Quit it, Lucy!" he snapped.

"It's not me!"

Gemini-Lucy smirked at him. "Do you want to know it?" they asked.

Natsu stopped struggling. "What?"

Their hands slid under Natsu's shirt, fingers skating across his chest. Natsu didn't move. Didn't breathe.

"Do you want to know her true feelings?"

The spirit vanished. Natsu collapsed flat on his back, the tension so thick he could carve it into blocks and build a village worth of houses.

Lucy dry washed her hands. "That's enough of that," she said, roseate cheeks dimpling with a shy smile. She wiped a smudge of blood from her upper lip. "Let's go claim our reward."

Natsu's stomach hurt. "Just..."Warmth radiated through his body. "Give me a minute."

Pleased with their quick work, the owner of Bar Sun doubled their reward, throwing in a couple of drinks and a new job as a bonus. Natsu tucked the flyer away for another day.

They emerged from the bar near midnight, the moon a winking crescent in the sky. Lucy staggered, almost tumbling off the pier. Natsu caught her by the waist. He helped her walk up the stairs and onto the main street.

"Natsu, Natsu, Natsu," she chanted, bopping his nose with two fingers. "Won't you scratch my head?"

She shoved her head under his chin, nudging his neck with her face. Happy lifted her head and held it steady as they proceeded onto the next street, taking a shortcut between two rows of houses.

"You're heavy, Lucy," Happy complained.

"It's because I'm so full of love!" she squealed.

Natsu pulled her closer. "When did you get so drunk?"

"Yesterday!"

Well, she wasn'ttechnically wrong.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Lucy purred.

'Do you want to know her true feelings?'

Natsu bristled. "You want your head scratching?" he guessed.

Lucy giggled. "Yes! But no, that's not my secret!"

She threw her arms around his neck, falling slack against him. Her weight stopped him dead in his tracks. Natsu held her waist while Happy tried—struggled—to right her again.

Her face inched closer, her breath bitter with ale. "C'mere, I'll tell you."

Despite a sudden burst of adrenaline, Natsu didn't move. She brushed her lips against his ear, wobbling sideways. Happy barely managed to hold her steady. She purred softly, and then she kissed his cheek.

Natsu dropped her.

"Owie!" she cried.

"Me too, me too!" Happy yelled.

Lucy snatched him from the sky and smothered him in kisses. Natsu's face heated. He'd forgotten just how dangerous a combination beer and Lucy could be.

"We should leave. It's late," he said.

Her eyes glistened with tears. She gripped her apron in fists, her body trembling. "Did I displease you, master?"

Natsu choked. "What? No. You didn't displease me."

Lucy dropped to her knees.

"What should I do?" she wailed.

"You made her cry, Natsu," Happy said.

Booze and embarrassment fused in Natsu's body, draining what remained of his sobriety. He allowed himself a moment to sway on the brink of intoxication.

"Get up, Lucy," he demanded.

She stood immediately.

There it was again, that twinkling urge to tease her.

"Spin around," he said.

She twirled gracefully, minus a wobble at the end. She grinned happily.

"Strip!" Happy yelled playfully.

She struggled with a few buttons, popping the front of her dress wide open. Natsu squeezed the material closed, holding it shut against her breasts.

"What's wrong? Does my body not please you?" she asked, so serious every organ in Natsu's body stuttered to a halt.

"What? You're perf—I mean, I never said—listen, this isn't the right place for this."

And she'd kick his ass when she remembered in the morning.

"Where is the right place?" she asked, almost squeezing herself out of the material between his hands.

Natsu averted his gaze. "Home is the... Wait, no. What?"

"I think you broke him, Lucy," Happy teased.

Lucy moved too quickly. His hand drifted into her shirt, cupping a handful of lace and skin. Lucy purred a noise so sweet, so seductive, Natsu almost fainted. Blood dripped from his nose, pressure and heat building in his face. He blinked rapidly, dizzily, his fingers a twitch of life on her warm skin. He tore his hand free and stepped away, alarmed at his own drunken response.

"Oh no, that's not good. If he loses too much blood he won't be able to operate where it counts," a voice said.

Minerva and a blushing Yukino stood behind them.

"Hello," Yukino said.

Minerva smiled in greeting. "My, my, it has been a while, hasn't it?"

Lucy threw herself at Yukino. The two girls embraced, Yukino clumsily fixing Lucy's buttons.

"Yo," Natsu said, barely containing his own embarrassment. "What're you guys doing here?"

"We're on a job," Yukino said, scratching Lucy's chin.

"It seems you two were on quite the mission yourselves," Minerva added.

"Lucy was so cool!" Happy yelled. "She fought off five bandits by herself!"

"Well, when she sobers up, you should bring her to our inn." Minerva gestured to a tall building across the street. "I'm sure Sting would love to see you, Natsu."

Natsu perked up at the news. "Sting's here?"

"You're so cute," Lucy giggled, nuzzling Yukino's face.

Minerva pulled Lucy close. "You and I need to talk. In private."

Lucy visibly blushed. "Right now?"

"Tomorrow," she said, walking Lucy back to his side. "It's a date."

Natsu helped Lucy stand. "Tomorrow, then," he said.

Minerva smiled. "Make sure her needs are met~"

The way she said it made Natsu's stomach hurt.

The two girls walked away, leaving Natsu with nothing but a faint goodbye. Lucy grabbed fistfuls of his scarf, yanking him so close she almost strangled him.

"What's wrong now?" he asked, wrenching her fingers open.

Lucy's tongue dipped into the crease of her mouth. She leaned closer, a sultry glimmer in her dark eyes.

"Take me to bed, Natsu."

"Lucy..."

She stumbled into him. Lucy landed firm on his chest, Natsu's head bouncing off the pavement so hard he couldn't think clearly. Her face swirled in his line of sight.

"I can't take this anymore," he groaned.

"Are you okay?" she panicked. "Where does it hurt? Natsu? Hey, don't close your eyes. Wake up. Right now!"

Natsu squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm fine. You're heavy, Lucy."

"Does it hurt? Tell me where it hurts! I'll make it better!"

"Yes," he jibed. "It hurts a lot."

But there isn't a cure for love.

Song: Everytime - Chen, Punch.

COMING SOON—–
CHAPTER NINE: TRUST AND TEARS