Lucy continued on walking. She stored away the book in her bag and left it there. She never opened it during her hike, and Natsu never tried to reach out to her.

Night fell upon them, but instead of camping out in a cave, Lucy climbed up a tall tree and sat on a branch. She kept looking over to her bag which held the book. She wanted to open it so she could talk to Natsu, but she was scared of what he might do. For once, she was actually scared of him.

He was the first to break the awkward silence.

 "Did I scare you that bad? I didn't mean to, but I needed to make sure that you would never write in the book." Natsu said, carefully choosing his words.

 "You could've just told me then. Do you not trust me to keep to my word?" Lucy asked softly.

"I do, but you have to remember that trust grows over time."

"Like the lack of trust you have for me. Seeing as you refuse to trek me something." Lucy mumbled, her eyes widen as she realized what she said.

"What do you mean? I have a decent amount of trust for you. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Nothing! Nothing. Here, hang on." 

Lucy pulled out the book and opened it, feeling more comfortable now that Natsu was back to his calm self.Natsu

"That feels better, but seriously. What did you say exactly? I trust you greatly. I respect you and I don't expect the sane in return, but -"

"Just ignore that I said that. I'm not thinking clearly. You honestly did scare me that badly when you pinned me against a tree." Lucy said, laughing it off. Natsu still wasn't convinced, but stopped trying. He looked around and sighed.

"You took us the wrong way by the way." He smirked.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me earlier when I was starting to wander of the path?!" Lucy yelled, smacking his arm in playful anger.

 "We were in silent anger at each other! It would've been awkward if I just told you out of randomness that you're wandering off the trail."

 "Ugh. I'm tired, so we'll get back on track tomorrow. I'm surprised we haven't run into anyone yet."

 "I've been paying attention to that actually. Everything seems too quiet. Fairy Tail hasn't tried looking for us. Your father hasn't sent anyone out to find us yet. We haven't crossed any villages to cause a ruckus. Something's off, and it doesn't feel right." Natsu said, crossing his arms and slouching.

 "Well don't jinx us to get into trouble. I'm just gonna get some sleep and hope that you don't kill me with your stare." Lucy giggled, lying down and closing her eyes. Natsu sighed and looked over at the book. He hesitated before reaching out, and he actually managed to touch the book once again.

Why do you let me touch you now?! He thought in confused anger.

He went through Lucy's bag and pulled out a pencil.

You aren't really going to write in it, are you? The voice in Natsu asked, a smirk in his voice.

 "I'm just going to see if it still happens." Natsu whispered, taking the pencil and stroking it across the page. He yelled in pain and threw the book and pencil on the ground. He curled in a ball and grabbed his chest.

You just killed part of yourself. You know that right? The voice snickered. Natsu tried to respond, but his chest still ached as if he were shot by a bullet and had broken his rib cage.

Look, you checked to see if writing in the book would still kill you, and Lookit! It does, so don't mess with the book. I'm surprised it even let you touch it. What's with it?

 "Like I'm supposed to know! Ugh! It hurts like crap!" Natsu grunted, breathing heavily as the pain started to fade away.

You're only doing this to yourself. Be lucky that I'm not trying to escape right now. I'm too tired, so good night my good vessel.

The voice disappeared and Natsu still laid in pain. Lucy stayed asleep through this whole thing, not knowing why Natsu was still in pain the next morning.