If Time Permits

Act II

Chapter Fourteen

One Year Later…

"Ms. Heartfilia, I just need your signature on this press release."

Lucy paused in her long stride and turned on her heel. "No problem Stacy." Reaching for the file her assistant handed her, she quickly signed it and flashed the younger girl a bright smile. "You have a good weekend and try not to stress out about the Sampson account. I don't think anything will come up."

Stacy smiled back at her, pressing the file to her chest. "I know, it's just my first account that you let me handle on my own and I'm afraid something will happen to mess it up. I don't want you to regret trusting me."

Lucy gently squeezed her shoulder. "I'm not worried at all about it. I picked you for a reason, Stacy."

She nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Heartfilia. I hope you have a good weekend. It's your birthday tomorrow, right?"

Lucy sighed with a small roll of her eyes. "Don't remind me. No one wants to be reminded that they're almost thirty."

Stacy laughed a little and quickly said her goodbyes as Lucy made her way out of the building.

It had been a…trying year to be honest.

The last conversation she'd had with Natsu had been the last she had heard of him. She had left with Dan just as she had planned the next day. She did not, however, stay with him. As soon as they had arrived at her apartment, she had told him everything. Everything from the moment she had met Natsu until the day they kissed. She had poured it all out, sitting across from him on her couch and tears of guilt falling down her face. She had tried to stay calm, but the utter heartbreak on his face had been her undoing.

He had loved her so much and she had broken his trust. He had even loved her enough to forgive her and move on but she knew as soon as Natsu had kissed her, nothing would be the same for her and Dan.

The silence following her story was suffocating. Lucy tried to stop her tears but every time she looked up and saw just the complete devastation on Dan's face, a new wave of guilt hit her. She pressed her lips together tightly and wiped her tears away. This was her fault and she was grown up enough to deal with whatever consequences that would come.

"Why…" Dan's voice interrupted the silence, a raw edge to it. "Why did you stay with me?"

She bit her lip and forced herself to look into his eyes as she answered. "Because…I do care about you. And I loved what we had together before all of this happened. I was hoping that it didn't mean anything and that I could move on but…" she shook her head with a sad smile. "But I can't. It changed something in me. And I won't lie to you and say it didn't."

Dan nodded and took a deep breath. "What if I wanted to move forward with it? What if I want to keep you?"

Her breathing hitched and more tears fell. "I would have to say no. You deserve everything that a woman can give you. All her love, all her devotion and all her heart. Unfortunately, I don't have all of mine to give."

He nodded again and got to his feet. Lucy stood as well and took both his hands in hers. "I did love you Dan. And I want you to know that none of this…none of it is because of you. You were the best man I could ask for. This is all on me."

She watched him walk to the door and smiled at him sadly when he turned to look at her. "I hope you have a good life, Lucy. You deserve the best too."

And with that, he was gone.

Lucy sighed as she pulled up to her apartment. After her and Dan had broken up, she had passed his account to one of her trusted co-workers that she knew would do right by him. She still heard updates about him and how great he was doing. He was actually already dating a woman he had worked with several times and she heard they were very happy. She was relieved that what she had done to him hadn't stopped him from being happy with someone else. If nothing else, it eased her guilt a bit.

She had heard absolutely nothing about Natsu. Every time she spoke to Levy or Gray, she made sure that he never came up. She didn't really want to know what he was doing, if he was with someone else and happy.

She didn't regret leaving. It had been the best choice at the time. But she didn't regret that their timing just never seemed to work. She hated that they never seemed to get the chance that she felt they could have had. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. Maybe they weren't as destined as she had believed all those years ago.

Unlocking her door, she froze when she saw her apartment. Balloons filled every available space for her ceiling and a giant Happy Birthday banner was center stage above her coffee table. She stepped cautiously into her apartment and let the door close behind her.

Who in the world would have had access to her apartment to set this up? The only other person with her key was Dan and she was positive it wasn't him.

"Hello?" she called, looking around. "Is anyone here?"

She heard someone shuffle from behind her and whirled around with a gasp.

"Hey, Luce. Happy Birthday."

Her eyes filled with tears and she felt her heart squeeze.

"Natsu," she breathed.

THE END

(AN: That's it guys! Can you believe it? After over a year, this story is finally done. I know a lot of you are going to hate me for this vague, open ending but I felt it did the story justice. Nothing about their relationship has been easy so I feel like writing their final reunion would almost cheapen it a little bit. That doesn't mean that I won't write maybe a one shot continuation of it, but this story arc is done for now. I hope you guys still love it. I really can't believe the kind of support you guys gave me through the entire journey! You guys are the best readers that anyone could ask for and I couldn't have done it without you. I adore you all!)

Jane