Author's Notes: Sorry for taking too long to update this story, I have tons of chapters to write and it was time to post this one. I already have the next few chapters written and ready to post in a few days, so expect this story to get a huge update for the next week! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little longer than usual.

Lucy woke up and took a shower. The water was warm and she was ready to start another day. She dressed up in a pretty top and a pair of jeans and went downstairs to the dining room to have breakfast. Her father was already sitting there.

"Good morning." she smiled.

"Good morning, Luce. Slept well?"

"I guess... I was thinking for a while before falling asleep about something that's making me very curious..." she looked at her dad, who only looked back at her with confused eyes, "My bodyguard. I know almost nothing about him and you don't seem to care much about sharing more information."

"Natsu is a good man, he is fit to take care of you."

"Right... That's not what I'm asking. Where do you even know him from? Who is his family? Who exactly is he?"

Her father put the cup down, "Lucy, have I ever given you any reason not to trust my word? Just do what I say and let him protect you, you don't need to worry about anything else."

"Is is that hard to tell me more about this guy? Is he some kind of dangerous spy or something?" Lucy laughed, but her had remained silent, "Okay, I get... You're not gonna tell me anything." she grabbed some bread and picked up her bag, "I'm off to school, anyway... Thanks for the breakfast."

On her way to school, she got a call from Levy telling to wait for her friend at the entrance. She waited for her for a few minutes and was getting impatient. Lucy looked at her watch and before she had time to lift her head, Levy was already in front of her.

"What made you get here so late? Your messy hair?"

"What?!" Levy tried to fix it with her hands, looking for anything unusual, "I didn't have enough time to brush it! Is it that bad?"

"I'm just messing with you, Lev." Lucy took out her cellphone and showed her latest messages to Levy, "Guess who."

"Wait, don't tell me that..." she looked at Lucy and she nodded back, "Sting? He tried to bother you again?"

"Yeah..." Lucy rolled her eyes, "He just can't seem to stop no matter how many times I tell him to leave me alone."

"Well, he's desperate with you, Luce. He was already obsessed when you were dating and ever since he couldn't accept you breaking up with him... Guys are crazy."

"Tell me about it... I just wish he would understand that I want nothing to do with him anymore. We ended things, that's it." Lucy opened up her notebook and looked at her notes, "You know, I even told him how much he hurt me and he didn't seem to understand much. It's like he has no idea how much his actions hurt me... It's ridiculous."

She started tracing her finger through her notebook to see where her next class was going to be and told Levy. They both walked towards the entrance of the school and while they were on the hallway, Lucy noticed a familiar face far away in front of them.

Natsu. He was with someone, Lucy couldn't tell who but she noticed it was a girl. She had short white hair and was very small, probably the same height as her. He was saying goodbye to her and the girl hugged him. Then, they both shared a kiss and it wasn't a quick one.

"Who's that?" Levy asked.

"I don't know... Never seen her before and quite frankly, I'm not very interested."

"You didn't tell me that your bodyguard has a girlfriend."

"That's because I didn't know and like I said, it's not like I'm trying to know about his life when I don't care."

Lucy tried to pretend that she wasn't surprised by what she had just seen. She grabbed Levy's arm and walked to their first class without looking at her bodyguard and that girl again. While they were on their way, they noticed some students decorating the rest of the hallway and the garden through the windows with some decorations for the upcoming prom.

"So, have you decided who's gonna be your date yet?" Levy looked at Lucy and winked.

"Date? As if I needed to go with someone to have fun at the prom."

"Don't be like that, Luce! We'll pick the guys together, don't play hard to get now."

"Levy, there's not a single guy here that interests me, especially in our class."

"Well... What about your bodyguard?" Levy winked.

"Did you just forget what we just saw? He has a girlfriend, why would I go with him?"

"I don't know, Luce... Are you sure he's not interested in you?"

"You're weird... Of course not, he's only around me all the time because my dad asked him to. Speaking of which..." Lucy looked at her watch, "We need to hurry, our class is almost starting."

When Lucy got home, she noticed Mavis sitting on the entrance couch and waved at her.

"Hey!"

"Hey..."

Lucy was about to head to her room before hearing how Mavis sounded in her reply. Her voice sounded upset and she noticed that Mavis was looking down without even looking at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm just... I'm a little bit tired, that's all."

"Yeah, right... You really think I'm gonna fall for that?" she sat down next to Mavis and put a hand on her shoulder, "Your my cousin, I think I can tell when you're upset and you definitely are. C'mon, tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing, I really don't want to bother you with my problems."

"What did I just say? We're family, of course you can bother me with your problems, even if you have a million of them. I wanna hear them all." Mavis smiled at her and Lucy smiled back, "C'mon, what's going on?"

"It's... my mother." Mavis breathed in and out before speaking again, "She's sick."

"Sick?" Lucy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"She's... very sick. She has some kind of illness and the doctors haven't figured out what it is yet."

"Wait... What? When did you find out?"

"A few months ago... I'm scared, Lucy. I don't know what's wrong with her and I'm scared of what might happen."

"Oh my god... Mavis, I'm so sorry... I had no idea." she noticed that her cousin was trying very hard not to cry, "Don't think like that, she's going to be okay. You'll see. You and I both know she's too strong for anything to happen to her."

Lucy didn't know what to say. It was the first time she was hearing that. Her aunt was sick and she didn't even know. Her father didn't tell her and he probably knew already. She put another hand on Mavis' back and tried to pull her in for a hug. Her cousin hugged her tight, trying to hold her tears and Lucy kept hugging her back without knowing what to say. She wanted to know more, but her cousin was getting so upset that whatever she said next could hurt her even more.

After a while, Mavis stopped crying and Lucy noticed that she had fallen asleep in her arms. She slowly tried to lay her down on the sofa and got up as quietly as possible. She wanted to at least put her to bed, but she thought that it was best just to let her rest for a bit. She was so fragile in that moment, Lucy hated not knowing what to say to her cousin to make her feel any better.

By that time, Natsu had arrived from school and Lucy tried to warn him not to make a sound with the entrance door to not wake up Mavis. He looked confused but as soon as he saw her on the couch, he walked over to Lucy while trying to be quiet. She gestured him for them to go upstairs and he did as she asked.

Once they got in, Natsu put his bag on the table and looked at Lucy, waiting for her to say something.

"Don't worry, it's nothing."

"I didn't even ask anything. Isn't she just sleeping?"

"Yeah, she is... It's just... Nothing, family problems. It'll pass."

"Okay..." he kept staring at her, "Why did you tell me to come upstairs, then?"

"Oh, right! To continue with our studies, of course. Did you forget what we agreed to already?"

"No, I remember. I just didn't think we'd be doing it today."

"Why? Are you tired or something?"

"Yeah, we practiced some football today at school and I'm still a little bit sore."

"Well..." Lucy grabbed one of his notebooks, "Good thing that studying only requires you to exercise your brain."

Natsu sighed, but decided it was better not to argue with her, so he grabbed a book and sat down next to her.

Lucy woke up earlier than usual and went downstairs to get some breakfast. She looked at the dining table and there was no sign of any food whatsoever. She entered the kitched looking for Virgo and couldn't find her anywhere. She found it very strange. She didn't know where Virgo could be and she wasn't exactly absent very often. She sighed and went to the fridge to get some milk to prepare her morning coffee. That's something she couldn't live without. She heard someone enter the kitchen not long after.

"Ugh, finally! Where have you been? I looked every-" she turned around and it wasn't Virgo, it was Natsu.

"I was sleeping."

"Not you. I was looking for Virgo. I can't find her anywhere."

"Can't you make your own breakfast?"

Natsu playfully smiled at her and Lucy rolled her eyes, trying to ignore his joke.

"I'm not a kid, I can very well prepare my own breakfast, thank you for asking." she grabbed a cup and poured her coffee, "How's your brain doing since last night? Still hurting from all that intense learning?"

"You didn't exaclty teach me anything I didn't already know, so it's fine."

"I don't know... It was hard to tell."

She gave him the same smile he had given her before and he understood that she was joking around too. It was the first time she was being so casual around him like they knew each other.

"So, why exactly did you leave your old school?"

"I didn't. I was kicked out."

"Really? That doesn't really surprise me, boys are always doing something stupid to get their asses expelled."

"It wasn't my fault."

"Right... That's what everyone says." she drank the coffee before continuing, "What was the reason?"

"Nothing... It was stupid, not worth talking about it."

"Really? You're just gonna leave me hanging like that?"

"Like I said, it's nothing to worry about. Everyone has their own problems."

"Ugh, you're no fun."

"Where's the sugar?"

"Here."

Lucy put the cup down after finishing her coffee and grabbed the sugar next to her before he had time to get it himself. When she turned around, Natsu was already trying to reach it and was too close to her. They were inches away from each other and even closer after Natsu tried to reach the sugar. She wasn't sure if he even noticed how close he was to her. If she moved, their faces would almost touch. For a few seconds, her body shivered when he noticed her eyes looking at him and how close their distance was. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before Lucy coughed lightly and handed him the sugar to break the tension that she was feeling in that moment.

"So, umm... That girl you were with yesterday... Is she your girlfriend?"

"What?"

"I saw you with a girl yesterday at school... Short white hair... I'm assuming she's your girlfriend, unless you're wandering around kissing every girl you meet."

"Oh, yeah... She's my girlfriend, yeah."

"Yeah, figured..." she grabbed a small croissant before getting ready to leave, "Well, I should go... I have tons of stuff to do now, so... Thanks for the morning company."

She smiled and waved at Natsu. He simply waved back at her and smiled after she left.

Lucy was heading towards the garden to get some sun and take a swim on the pool when she noticed that her father's office door was open. She thought she would use that opportunity to talk to him about Mavis and her mother. She wanted to understand why his father hadn't told her anything. She felt like a fool who had no idea about what was going on with her family. She opened the rest of the door and her father was sitting on the chair. When he noticed her presence, he smiled at her.

"Good morning, Lucy. You're up early today."

"Why didn't you tell me about Mavis' mother?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Her mother... She's sick and you didn't think I needed to know that?"

"Why would I bother you with that matter?"

Lucy almost had no reaction after that question.

"I don't know, maybe because it's my family?"

"You haven't seen your aunt in years. Besides, it's not something you should be concerned with. I'm taking care of it."

"What do you mean? How long have you known?"

"Since she went to the hospital the first time." her father got up and walked to her, grabbing both her hands, "Your aunt fainted one night, your cousin was the one who found her and called the hospital. I was informed right after."

"What is it? Her illness... Mavis says the doctors don't know what it is, but that's not true... Is it?"

"The doctors probably know what's wrong with your aunt, they simply don't want to tell us yet."

"Mavis is her daughter. She has the right to know."

"Lucy, it's not up to me to decide that. I'm only helping your aunt however I can."

"What exactly do you mean by that? Why is Mavis really here?"

Her father released her hands and went to his seat once again. He stopped for a minute before speaking again. Lucy was still staring at him waiting for an answer.

"I've been sending money to your aunt every month for medical care. Your cousin is here because I was supposed to pay for some pills that they couldn't afford. I called my private doctor to get them and Mavis came to get them."

"Why didn't you tell me, dad? Don't you think I should know? Even if I haven't seen them in months, they're still my family."

"Lucy... I don't want you to worry about these things, you have your own life, your own problems, this would just be another burden to you. After your mother, I wouldn't want you to deal with anything more."

Lucy felt her chest getting tight. Talking about her mother or even thinking about her made her sad. Even if she couldn't remember her very well, she still had some good memories that she didn't want to lose. She knew that her father was worried about her, but she still felt like being unaware of her family issues was not very pleasant. She wanted to know. She even wanted to help in any way she could. She just wanted to be a part of it, a part of her family and help her aunt in a way that she couldn't help her mother.

"I get it... It's okay, just... At least let me know if something changes."

Her father nodded and she decided it was best to leave and let him work. She had a lot to think about, she wanted to talk to Mavis about everything. She went to check on her after leaving the office and noticed that she was already awake. She was touching and looking at a necklace she had on. As Lucy approached her, she could see that it was a necklace with the Yin and Yang symbol. It was a simple necklace, but Mavis was looking at it with such a bright expression that made Lucy curious.

"What's that?"

"O-Oh, just a piece of jewelry."

Mavis was surprised by her cousin and tried to hide the necklace.

"Really? Why do you look so pleased looking at it?"

"It's just... a necklace that a friend of mine gifted me."

"Right... A friend? Just that?" Lucy smirked.

Mavis smiled back at her cousin and got up. She turned around and winked at Lucy.

"Yeah, a very special friend."

The next day, Lucy went downstairs and encountered Natsu along the way.

"Hey! Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Sorry, I can't accompany you today. I have to make a visit and I'll probably be late."

"A visit? Is that what you call it?" Lucy smirked at him and he just looked back confused, "I already saw you with your girlfriend, remember? You don't have to cover it up."

"It's not her, I'm going to meet someone who I haven't seen in a while."

"Right..." she looked at him, not really buying it, "Well, have fun anyway. I'm gonna stay at home today, so you don't have to worry about babysitting me."

"I was more concerned about your father, to be honest."

"Wow, you're not afraid that I might go tell him?" she smiled.

"Nah, I think you're cool enough to cover for me." he smiled back and opened the front door.

Without another word, he just walked through the door and Lucy stared at him while he left.

She went to the kitchen to get her morning cup of coffee and sat on the couch in the living room to watch the latest news on the TV. She was getting bored, though. There was nothing interesting for her. She went to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. She fell asleep on the chair outside and she probably had a sunburn, it would hurt in the next morning for sure. She went to take a shower after swimming and went to the living room before dinner. She grabbed her phone to look through social media while drinking her coffee when she heard the door bell. Since Virgo was nowhere to be found, Lucy got up and opened the door herself. She couldn't believe the face she was looking at.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I still remember where you live, you know?"

Sting. He was standing right in front of her. At her front door. He was right there, at her house with a damn smile on his face that she just wished she could rip it off.

"Well, I still remember human rights and I have every right to close this door on your face if I want to, so if you'll excuse me..."

Lucy tried to close the door and not look at that guy again, but he stopped it before she could do it and opened it up again. He walked inside her house without saying a word and Lucy rolled her eyes. She was done with him and couldn't believe his audacity. He hadn't changed a bit.

"Can you just leave, please?"

"Luce, I just wanna talk to you."

"I don't think you understand english that well, I told you before... I don't wanna talk to you or even see you anymore."

"Don't be so rude... I promise it's just talking."

"What else could it even be? Please, Sting... Just go away and accept the fact that we broke up."

"I will if you let me talk first."

Lucy sighed and put her hand on her face. She just wanted that to be over and the only way for that to happen would be to listen to whatever he had to say. She decided to let him say whatever he wanted and sat on the couch to listen.

"Fine, talk."

He sat next to her and Lucy got away from him when he sat too next to her, so he decided it was best to sit on the little couch in front of her instead.

"I want us to get back toget-"

"Oh, please! Is that really what you have to say? Absolutely not!" she got up and Sting grabbed her wrist.

"Just hear me out, Luce..." she sat down again and removed her wrist from his grip, "I know that I messed up in the past... Trust me, I had a lot to think about after we broke up... I know what I did and I was an asswhole to you..."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"I know how everything made you feel..."

"No, you don't. You have no idea how I felt after everything you did. You have no idea what I went through. I trusted you and you betrayed me, how do you think that made me feel? How can you possibly know?"

"Luce, all I can say is that I'm sorry... I was an idiot and I wasn't thinking clearly. I know I messed up, but all I'm asking is for a second chance. I want to prove to you that I've changed." Lucy laughed and he got closer to make her look at him, "I'm serious, Luce. I can't stop thinking about you, about what we had, about everything. I need you and I know you feel the same way."

"No, I don't. That's the whole point I've been trying to tell you."

He got closer to her again and slowly grabbed one of her hands. She looked down and her first thought was to remove her hand right away, but something in her body made her feel weird after his hand touched her. She looked at him and his expression was serious. She started having doubts in her mind. Was he being serious? Was he being honest? Lucy didn't want to remember all the bad times she had to endure after breaking up with Sting, she didn't want to remember any part of it. Still, something in her mind was telling her to at least try to see if he was really different. Something in her mind wasn't bothered by his hand touching hers. After a while, she finally removes her hand and looks away.

"I... I need time to think..."

"Of course, whatever you need."

He tried to reach for her hand again but she refused it by getting up.

"Go away, please. I need to think this through. Just don't bother me again until I give you an answer."

He nodded and she went straight to the front door before he could say anything else. He followed her and she opened the door for him to leave. He looked at her again and she was still looking away, trying not to make any unnecessary eye contact with him. Just as he was about to leave, Natsu suddenly showed up at the door. He was already back. Lucy noticed that he was looking at Sting with angry eyes. She suddenly remembered the little encounter they had when they were both walking from school. Sting looked back at him and she decided it was best to intervene before things got worse.

"Back so late?" she asked Natsu with a smile.

"Yeah, it went longer than expected."

He kept looking at Sting and Lucy reached out her hand to grab his arm and pull him inside. She got his attention after doing that and they both stopped their staring contest and went their separate ways. After Sting disappeared from her sight, Lucy finally closed the door and released Natsu's arm. She turned around and starting walking towards the stairs to go to her room. She heard Natsu's voice before she could take another step.

"What did that guy want again?"

"Nothing, you don't need to worry about it."

"It's exactly the opposite. I need to worry if someone's bothering you, it's my job."

"No one's bothering me, especially Sting. He's just an idiot, let it be."

"Why don't you just tell me what's really going on?"

"Everyone has their own problems, right?" she noticed that he got taken by surprise after that, "Goodnight, Natsu. Have a good night."

Without saying another word, she went upstairs and Natsu did the same after a while.