Okay guys...here it is, my very last request. And this one goes out to my pal, WolfieANNE. Sorry it took me so long, but it gave me a fit. lol Hope this is what you were looking for :D

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

A HAND IN THE DARK

It was nearing 5 when Jellal finally made his way out of the school to head home. He'd had to stay late for a tutoring session with his math teacher, and it had gone a bit later than usual because finals were coming up. He'd gotten so far behind this last year, and his teachers had been kind enough to give him extra time and help to catch up.

He'd been a mess when he'd lost his parents. It had been so sudden, going from a happy normal teenager to an orphan with nowhere to go in the space of only a moment. His entire life had changed with that one car wreck, and he'd gone downhill fast.

It had started small, skipping school to avoid the questions and concerns. How are you doing? I'm so sorry about your parents. Can I do anything to help? Each one was a reminder that he was alone, and he hated it. He'd supposed they trying to be there for him, but it had only made him angry and distant. And gradually, things had gotten worse. He'd been so overwhelmed with school, his new foster family, his life. Everything was different and lonely. And he'd wanted nothing more than to hide.

He'd found himself slipping away to his room, hiding from everything and everyone. It was the one place he could be alone without the pitying looks, the hugs that never helped anyway. He just couldn't deal with it anymore, and that's when he'd begun drinking.

Jellal had hated life then. He'd woken up every day wishing he'd died with his parents and knowing no one could ever understand. And so he did the only thing he could – he stayed drunk as often as possible. He didn't want to think, didn't want to feel. He just wanted to drown it all.

It had taken him nearly causing a wreck himself to wake him up to the fact that he wasn't just hurting himself. His foster parents were at their wits end, and for the first time, he'd noticed the bags beneath their eyes. In his grief, he'd never even realized that they had worried, that they hadn't been sleeping.

He'd thought he was alone in this, but he was wrong. He'd learned that there were people that cared, that could understand what he was going through. All he had to do was let someone in, and once he had, it had slowly starting feeling like he could breathe again.

He wouldn't go so far as to say that he was over it. He'd never get over the loss of his parents, but he was learning to live with it. He was pushing through the pain and trying to find his way back to the guy he'd been before. And that meant buckling down in school so he could still make college in the fall. He still had a lot of work to do, but for the first time in quite a while, he felt like he could do it. Finally, he felt like he had some hope.

He had just made it to his car when he realized that he'd forgotten his Calculus book, and with the extra work he had to do tonight, it wasn't something he could go home without. With a groan of annoyance, he tossed his book bag into his front seat and headed back inside. He made his way down the empty hall in silence, and had nearly reached his locker when he heard a sound that pulled him to a stop.

It was a pitiful noise, a soft little wail, and Jellal couldn't help but follow it to its source in an empty classroom. He opened the door quietly and found a small form huddled on the floor in the corner. It was obviously a girl with her small figure and her dainty wrists, and when she brushed the hair from her face, he realized he knew her.

They didn't really run in the same circles, and to be honest, Jellal wasn't quite sure what her name was. But he hadn't exactly been all that insightful over the last several months. He couldn't say with any certainty that they hadn't actually met before.

Still unaware of his presence, she sniffled and dug something out of the pack beside her, and it took only the flash of reflected light on its surface for him to realize it was a tiny blade. He frowned as she set the sharp edge to her upper thigh and drew it across her skin.

He wasn't naïve. He understood what she was doing, and with the evidence of the small marks and scars littering her leg, he could see that she'd been at it for a while. It was clear that she was struggling with something, and if she was cutting, then she felt like she didn't have anyone to lean on. And he sure knew what that felt like.

Without even stopping to consider what he was doing, he stepped forward and dropped down beside her on the floor. She jumped at his sudden appearance and scrambled to hide what she'd been doing, but Jellal set a comforting hand on her arm.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to judge."

She eyed him warily, brushing covertly at her cheeks. "You're not gonna tell?"

"No, it's your business. Just thought you might like some company."

Her brow winged up at his suggestion, and she drew back. "You want to hang out with me..."

She sounded positively stunned, and Jellal couldn't for the life of him figure out why. "Yes," he chuckled. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, yeah. You're Jellal Fernandes." She said it so matter-of-factly, like it was some sort of affluent title.

A smile burst across his face at that. "Why yes, I am. Nice to meet you."

The blonde girl looked down at his proffered hand as if he'd offered her a snake, and he shook his head and laughed. "It won't bite you."

Her head lifted, and she gazed at him, all serious again. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you looked like you could use a friend. Because there was a time not too long ago that I needed a friend."

She blinked at him slowly, some pain flashing in her eyes, and then she cautiously reached for his hand. "I'm Lucy."

Jellal nodded, giving her an encouraging smile. "So Lucy...you wanna tell me why you're sitting in here all alone?"

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "I...I don't think so. I mean, I don't even know you."

"Sure you do. I'm your friend, Jellal."

Still, she didn't seem convinced, so he leaned back against the wall and sighed, "I guess I'll start then. I had a great life a year ago. You might call it perfect. I had it all. Nice home, good grades, good friends...terrific parents, and then one night everything changed. My parents left the house to go on a date of all things..." He laughed mirthlessly and shook his head. "They were always doing that, acting like a couple of teenagers. It used to embarrass me so much. Now though..."

The blonde beside him tipped her head, her eyes holding a surprising amount of sympathy. "What happened?"

"They got in a wreck on the way home. They were killed instantly."

Her eyes filled, and she sniffed. "I'm so sorry. I...I didn't know."

"I lost everything that night, and I felt so alone, like no one could possibly understand what I was going through. And all I wanted to do was hide. I wanted to forget that they were gone, that my life had suddenly turned to shit, but I couldn't. So I started drinking, and it worked...for a while. But nothing could erase the truth. They weren't ever coming home."

He looked over at her and shrugged. "I nearly got myself killed one night, and that's when I realized that I needed to get my shit straight again. I was throwing my life away, and my parents wouldn't want that. So now, I'm trying to catch up with my school work so I can still get into college."

It was silent for several minutes, and then she spoke, her words a soft whisper. "My mom died. She had cancer...the kind that takes you slowly. She said it gave her time to say everything she wanted to say first, but I just wanted her to go." She gave a choked sob, then shook her head. "That sounds so awful, doesn't it? I just hated to see her in pain like that. And now that she's gone, my dad...he's gone too."

The blonde took a deep shuddering breath, as if she were pulling the words from deep inside her, a place she had stuffed them because there'd been no one to listen. And Jellal knew what that felt like, so he waited, giving her the time to find what she needed to say.

"He works all the time now, and..." She bit her lip as more tears spilled down her cheeks. "I...I think he hates me. He gives me this look sometimes, like the very sight of me hurts him. It took me a while to figure it out, but I think it's because I look so much like Mama. He just...he's never around, and when he is, all he does is avoid me. And I..."

She broke down then, hard wracking sobs taking over her small body, and Jellal looked over in understanding. He knew what this was like too, that moment when you finally let yourself say it, when you finally admit the truth out loud. It was hard, and God, it hurt.

He slipped an arm around her shoulder, easing her small frame against him, and she came willingly, clutching at his shirt as if holding on for dear life. He could feel the fierceness of her sorrow, and he was surprised by how much he hated it for her. He didn't really know this girl. He'd only ever seen her around, had never taken the time to memorize her name. But somehow, in this moment of shared tragedy, he felt like he did know her.

Maybe by sharing their deepest darkest secrets, they'd become connected. He felt like she truly understood what he'd gone through, and from the fact that she'd revealed her own pain, she seemed to feel the same way about him.

And sure, he didn't have all the answers for her, and maybe saying everything they felt wouldn't change a thing about their circumstances, but somehow it helped, knowing that someone out there in the world could relate. It was the difference between standing in front of his parents' graves alone and standing there with a friend holding his hand. And that meant the world to him, so he wouldn't squander it. He'd be there for her, give her a shoulder to cry on, be a sounding board to vent to...whatever she needed, because the truth was, he needed her too.

And for the first time in so very long, he felt like he wasn't alone in his mourning...and now, neither was she.

A/N: I'd just like to say that I'm not promoting the idea of cutting. I have known several people who've done it, but I myself have not. That's not to say that I don't empathize with what they've been through because I do. I know there are a lot of situations where you have no control, when it feels like everything in the world is crashing down around you, and there's nowhere to turn, no hope in sight.

I've been there, and it's frightening to feel so alone. So here's what I'd like to say: If you feel like this, talk to someone. Maybe it's a friend, maybe a parent or a teacher. Maybe a FF pal because I sure have found some amazing ones here. But talk to someone about what you're dealing with - hell, talk to me. But don't keep it inside. Those dark emotions and fears will find a way to come out, to express themselves, and many times those alternate ways do nothing but hurt you worse.

So use your words and tell your tale. Because people are listening. Someone out there is just like you, looking for someone else who can relate. Remember, you don't have to be alone in this. There are people out there who can help, people who care. And I'm one of them. So stay happy, my friends...and stay healthy.

Your words are your freedom - go find them.