Hey! Guess who's still alive after a month of nothing? ME!

Ok, so I know I posted this tiny little thing a couple weeks back maybe? A week? Who knows. But that was unplanned and honestly it was what was able to get me going again. Don't worry, there's a bunch of stuff planned for fics from me over the course of the summer, so stay tuned!

Enjoy the chapter guys!

Chapter 4

"Momma… why is he so mean?"

Tears streamed down her face, hiccups and coughs racking her frame as she sobbed into her pillow.

"Momma, what did I do?"

Her room was full of her cries. No one was going to comfort her. The help had been sent home for the weekend and she was all alone. Her father wasn't talking to her, not that he ever did anyways.

"Momma…"

She hugged the pillow to her. The pain radiated from her chest, this knife in her heart was killing her. She didn't understand. Why?

"What did I do?"

She was met with silence.

"Why did he have to tear it up?"

The silence was stifling.

What could she do? She was stuck here, practically imprisoned in this deafening silence.

Lucy cracked her eyes open, looking out into her room as she sniffled and wiped away her tears from her cheeks. Curled around her pillow, she stared out into her room. It was pink and frilly, but at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to have it turn all gray to match the emptiness inside her.

Silence slithered through the room, her occasional hiccup being the only thing to disturb it. Her head hurt and her eyes were sore, never mind what her voice would sound like in the morning. Her father had left her broken, shattered, torn to pieces, much like her picture.

She was finally happy, and it was all torn away in little under five minutes of her talking to her father. How was that even possible? Was it so bad for her to be happy?

The rest of the weekend continued like that. By Sunday evening, it was almost routine. She would wake up and cry until she was numb again, sit on her bed and stare at the wall. Mealtimes would bring a rough knock on her door, and a plate of food on the ground. At least her father remembered to feed her. Lucy would only pick at it, nibbling around the edges of everything, never finishing. Then after dinner, she would go back to her bed and continue to stare at the wall, dead on the inside. Eventually, she would find herself asleep, only to wake up and find the world no different.

Monday was a blessing when it came. She would be free from the silent prison for the majority of the day.

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror as she was getting ready. Her eyes were hollow and she honestly looked like she was the walking dead. She felt lost, that no one cared. What if everyone was faking at school because they pitied her? Did she even matter to them?

"Lucy, it is time to leave," Daniel announced.

Lucy glanced at her door then back to her reflection. Today was going to be a long one. She straightened herself and put on a brave face. No one was going to find out about this.

"Okay! I'm coming!"

She left the mirror, grabbing her school bag, and left her room. She was going to make it through today, no matter what.

The ride was silent, Daniel keeping his focus on the road, leaving Lucy to her thoughts in the back seat. There weren't many there to begin with, she was trying hard to not think about what happened last Friday. She really just hoped that no one at school asked her about how her dad liked the gift.

Natsu knew immediately that something was wrong when she walked into the classroom, and Gray sensed it too. Her smile was too bright. He'd seen that smile enough times to know that something wasn't right. Her eyes proved it too, hollow with almost no life in them.

He nudged Gray. "She doesn't look ok. Do ya see it too?"

Gray glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah, somethin's up."

They continued to keep an eye on her, watching as she flinched slightly when one of the boys sitting next to her started yelling at the one across from him. This went on for a few minutes and Natsu could see that she was getting increasingly upset about all the noise, but knew she was too nice to actually say anything about it. She always kept a low profile in class.

With a pair of glares, the boy finally shut up and was quiet for the rest of the period.

Lucy kept to herself like always, letting Natsu walk with her from class to class, but not once was there a word spoken between them. He figured that if she wanted to talk about it, she would, until then he was content to just make sure she was okay.

By the end of the day, Natsu was itching to ask her what was wrong. She kept herself out of the way from everyone, standing on the sidelines when she used to be in the middle of everything. But this was like the days at the beginning of the school year, timid and quiet.

He looked over at her as they walked through the hallway as they followed the crowds to the bus stops. She had her head down and she kept silent the whole time.

Screw it, he was going to ask.

"Hey, uh, Luce?"

Seeing her jump at her own name didn't make him feel any better about this.

"Y-yeah? Wh-what is it?"

Natsu frowned. This was so much unlike her, it hurt to see her like this. And it's only been a day!

"Is everything okay? You've been kinda off today."

He pushed open the door and let her through first. She pushed past him as fast as she could, squeezing by in the doorway. Other people rushed past him before he could let go of the door without it hitting someone in the face.

Lucy was waiting for him at the corner of the sidewalk, hugging herself. She was shifting around, looking extremely uneasy. What was bothering her?

"Lucy?"

Again she flinched. Why was she so scared of her own name?

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, giving him a brief smile. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

And with that, she was gone.

Natsu stood on the sidewalk, watching her disappear around the corner of the building. It hurt to see her like this, he was her friend, and shouldn't she feel like she could share with him what was going on? Wasn't that were friends for?

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was going through something that much was for certain. Hopefully, it didn't last too long.

A week went by and still nothing had changed.

Lucy was still avoiding any questions about why she was so out of it and why she was so jumpy. Levy had mentioned that she had a few bruises appear on her back, the bookworm had noticed when they were changing for gym. Natsu's blood had boiled at that, but every time he had tried to bring it up with her, she would evade the question, or completely ignore him. It was getting to the point where Natsu wondered if she would ever go back to the way she was after they became friends.

It was Friday. The last day to talk to her at all until Monday. He wasn't going to let this go.

He pulled her off to the side after school again. They were going to have this talk.

"Okay, Luce, spill. What's been eatin' you the whole week?" He crossed his arms and cocked his head a little, looking genuinely concerned.

Lucy still couldn't stop herself from flinching at the sound of her name. It was no better than Monday. The whole week, all her father had done was summon her to his office and berate her for all these little things. She wasn't dressing properly, her grades weren't good enough, and she didn't spend enough time studying. He would say her name with such loathing, that she was actually beginning to dread it. And now it was the weekend, she didn't know if she could go another night in that silent prison.

"It's nothing real-" she began.

Her pink haired friend cut her off. "No, it ain't nothin', you haven't been yourself all week. All of us have seen it."

She started, and finally looked him in the eye. All Natsu could see there was this...this fear. Her eyes were wide and overly bright, on the verge of tears.

"E-everyone?" she whispered.

He nodded. "Yeah, everyone."

She drew into herself more, making herself small in front of him.

"L-listen…I don't really want to talk about it…" she muttered, eyes downcast.

Natsu sighed and looked away from her, clenching his teeth. There was so much he wanted to ask, but if he pushed her too much she would break right here. He knew what she was going through, he went through it too. It broke him and it took forever to recover from that.

"Okay, you're not gonna talk 'bout it. Cool." He turned away from her to get to the buses. "But, Luce?"

She watched him turn over his shoulder with a concerned stare.

"Just...whatever it is, don't let it break you."

Ok, I know it's not as long as some of you had hoped. I'm trying a slightly different writing style and it's taking a bit to get used to. So bear with me a little bit, ok?

Anyways, I survived my finals, and the mental health problems are being taken care of, and overall I'm in a better place than where I posted the Author's Note chapter thingy. I appreciate all of your concern. But onto the reviews for the actual chapter!

Akamagerain: Yes! GrayLu brotp is one of my favorites! Glad you enjoyed that part. ^^ And Natsu sure is, and their fight was fun to write too. Just bless Erza. xD

Snavej: Hahahah, you honestly made me laugh xD Writing that scene was really hard, glad you enjoyed!

ClosetPotato: Oh Zeta, how I have missed your caps lock reviews. I alway love them. Keep them coming you dingo! xD

xxIAmTheSkyxx: Ok, lemme say first, holy cow, that was a lot to read for a review and holy crap it was helpful. Thanks so much for the super constructive review, I always love your input on things. :D And thanks again for the beta read!

Okie dokes, that's a wrap. I don't know when the next update will come, but sooner than this one I promise! It really doesn't take me long to write a chapter, but life happened and made it difficult for anything to get done.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, as always, please leave a review! It keeps the inspiration and updates coming!

Until next time,

Mogi