~Lunch~

Lucy went to sit at the roof of her school. For some reason it always made her calm. Just looking out at the sky, without worrying. But, at the same time... she couldn't help but think about how easy it would be to just jump off.

All of a sudden she heard a crack of the door.
"Hey Lucy," Said raven haired boy as he aproached Lucy.
"Oh, hey Gray.." Lucy said quietly.
"Are you okay? You seem down." Gray asked with concearned voice.
"Actually, I've never been better," Said Lucy as smile appeared on her face. Gray looked at her with relief, not aware of what she was planning.
"I'm glad to hear that," He said with a smile.
"Hey, Lucy uh.. I wanna to tell you-"

~RRRIIINNNGGG~

"Sorry Gray, I have to go. You'll tell me later, okay?" Gray didn't have time to give her a response, Lucy was already gone.
"I wanted to tell you thank you..." Gray said as his hand dropped and he looked down.

~After school~

"Come with me, blondie!" Said a guy with lightly blue colored hair and black eyes.
"W-Why?" Lucy said, but he already had a hold of her wrist.

"Why can't you just die?! Nobody needs you here!" Said the boy.
"What's your deal? You don't even know me." Lucy asked as she was pinned to the wall behind the school.
"Little bird told me that you punched my little sister Lisanna." He said as he kicked Lucy at her stomach.
"I never hurt anyone, please, you've got it all wrong..." She said as she caughed some blood.
"Die!!" Blue-haired boy screamed as he kicked her more and more.

Lucy's eyes were dull once again. Her body became used to the fact that she is beaten every single day of her life, so it developed defense machanism.

Lucy started to pass out and the last thing she saw was... pink hair.

"You bastard! What do you think you're doing?!" The pink-haired boy yelled as he punched blue-haired boy in the face.
"What?! She is the loser! No one likes her! She deserved to die!" He yelled as he tried to punck back, but Natsu was to fast and strong for him. The fight was over quick with obvious winner.

"Lucy! Are you okay?" Natsu yelled as he held her close.
"D-Dragneel..? Y-You.. Why?" She said as her eyes were still dull and her look was faint.
"I'll tell you later, you need to go to the hospital!" Yelled Natsu and picked Lucy up, bridal style.

"Dragneel, no. I have to go home..!" Lucy said with a weak voice as she was laying on the back seat of Natsu's car.
"Don't worry. The hospital will probabbly call your parents." He said and it made Lucy tremble in fear.
"No! Take me home! Please! H-He'll kill me." She said as her eyes filled with tears. Her body was dirty and her hair was full of dust.

"Who'll kill you?" Natsu said in panic, so Lucy realized what she just said.
"I can't go to the hospital! Please Natsu! I'm begging you!" She screamed as tears fell like a waterfall. Natsu was shocked, this was his first time hearing and seeing Lucy Heartfilia cry. He felt concerned for her health, yet guilty for bullying her with everyone else. Natsu made a turn that would take them to his house.

"Fine, but you're coming to my place." He said as Lucy couldn't keep her eyes open for any longer. She fell unconcious.

When they came to his place Natsu came out of his car only to see Lucy sound asleep. A faint blush appeared on his face, but he quickly came back to normal. He took Lucy in his muscular arms and came inside his house.

~4 hours pass by~

"Ugh.." Lucy said as she wake up and tried to sat up. As she did so, she saw pink-haired boy asleep on the floor with his upper body leaning on the bed. She looked around and saw that his room is pretty normal for a teen boy.

She gently stroked his hair and he started to wake up as well.

"Hey.." Lucy said as he looked at her.
"You're awake... that's good." Natsu said with relief in his voice.
"Thank you for saving me and treating my wounds... I'm sorry." She said as he looked at her in confusion.

"What are you sorry for?" He asked.
"Well.. you hate me. I know it was a trouble to take care of me. Again, I'm sorry. I'll be on my way." Lucy tried to stand up, only to be down on her knees by dizziness.
"Whoa! Easy there!" Natsu said as he helped her sit back on his bed.

"Listen, it's not trouble. And I don't hate you." He said with kind voice, something Lucy didn't hear in a long time.

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That's it ladies and gentleman.

I want to hear your thoughts.

What do you think about Lucy's defense mechanism?

Does Natsu really care about Lucy or is it just guilt?

Next chapter: One Last Time