Hey Guys I'm back! (=^.^=) Hehe, sorry I've put this story on hold for so long ^.^' I am making it my mission to finish this story before the end of January, I really need to finish what I started! The delay started off as not knowing what to write next, to having no motivation, to having no time, and it just kind of spiraled downward from there. I promise I will update chapters much faster now! Thank you so much to everyone that's stayed with me until now! I've already started on the next chapter and it's pretty juicy ;) Enjoy!~

Chapter 9: Secrets

Stepping out of the musky cabin, the smell of fresh leaves and grass were like heaven to Lucy's nose. The blond and the salmon haired boy strode side by side in silence. The only sound was the wind rushing through the trees. Every now and then the back of their hands would brush against one another, and for some reason Lucy couldn't bring herself to move to prevent it.

The memory of the way she had quickly withdrew her hand and scooted away as if he were diseased haunted her, replaying like a broken record; over and over again. It was an understatement to say that she felt bad about it, but considering everything he had put her through in the past, it had seemed like the right reaction at the time.

As far back as she could remember they had always referred to each other by last names only, especially when they insulted one another- so always. It was just something that they said when they were young, but then as they got older it became sort of an unspoken insult. As if to say that they were too unimportant or insignificant to each other to even remember the other's first name.

"You know my entire back story" Natsu stopped walking, breaking the silence, "it's only fair that you share something equally as deep."

Lucy turned to face him only to find those teasing eyes and a grin so stupidly wide that she couldn't help but grin back.

Suddenly it was like all the worries she had ever had just melted away and it was just the two of them surrounded by greenery; shrouded from the rest of the world. Water began to drizzle down from the skies, first softly, then louder and faster. In that moment Lucy realized that everything had changed between them. They were no longer "insignificant" to one another. In fact, Natsu was the most significant person in her life.

A small laugh escaped Lucy's lips "I suppose it is. Well… What do you want to know?" Natsu pondered it for a few minutes. He already knew exactly what he wanted to ask but didn't want to push his boundaries, so he thought of the least pressing way to put it.

"Why… why are you always alone?"

The question took Lucy by surprise. She had always partly blamed Natsu for the fact that she didn't have any real friends, but that wasn't completely true and he somehow seemed to know it. Sure, people thought she was a bit odd for reasons that she could easily link back to Natsu, but that was just an excuse. She could have easily cleared up any misunderstandings if she had really wanted to. Instead she sat in silence and let them think what they wanted, it was her own secret way of pushing them away. But how did he…

"It's just… easier...to be alone." She could see Natsu's questioning face on hers from the corner of her eye. She rubbed her hands together nervously. "Sometimes solitude is a better option than putting your upmost trust in someone and having it shattered… It's just better to rely on yourself."

For a few minutes, the two of them walked along without uttering a word, their clothing and hair soaked, but neither of them seemed to mind. Without warning Natsu took Lucy's left hand securely in his. "You can rely on me if you want." He said looking forward trying to hide his growing blush. "I mean- I can't guarantee that I won't let you down or anything", he quickly added sheepishly. "…but I'll be here for you whenever you want to talk."

Lucy could only gape. "Back then I was always alone," he continued "-after the fire incident I mean. I didn't really know how to interact with other kids my age; I think that's why I stuck a giant wad of gum in your hair the first day we met." He smiled, now understanding that was only half of the truth. "Sometime right around then Gray and Lisanna found me, and the rest is history. The two of them have been my family since. Sometimes, you just need to find the people that'll stick around." Too nervous to face her he waited for the repercussion of holding her hand, but nothing came. To his astonishment she only held on tighter.

"Thank you, Natsu."

This time it was Natsu who pulled away and stepped in front of Lucy's path. "You okay there, buddy?" He put his palm on her forehead. "Your temperature seems fine…" Deep concern laced his features.

"What are you talking about?" The blond raised an eyebrow.

"You called me Natsu. Not Dragneel. To my face. Purposely." He watched her with wide eyes.

Lucy took a hesitant step back "Errr… sorry." She wasn't sure where it had come from, it had just seeped out of her.

"Don't be", he grinned his big, goofy grin. "I like it." A vivid crimson color surfaced on Lucy's face.

Once more he took her hand in his, "The rain is getting worse, I can hardly hear myself think, let's get out of here!"

"You think?"

And just like that a salmon haired boy and a golden haired girl ran, hand in hand through mud and fallen leaves like little kids. Their beaming faces lit up the dreary backdrop, speeding home as fast as they could without slipping.

By the time they made it to the apartment door they were both drenched and out of breath. Natsu checked his watch, "5:45, with fifteen minutes to spare." A camera placed to the right of the door frame stared down at them, following their movements. "Then again the old geezer already knows that." They both made disgusted faces at the camera before entering the house and locking the door.

"I call the shower first!" Lucy cried gathering her pajamas from the closet so she could change in the bathroom to prevent further awkwardness.

Natsu rolled his eyes, "Just don't take an hour."

"I'll try", Lucy teased throwing him a clean towel to dry off with in the meantime.

Halfway through her shower the lights died and Lucy sighed, thinking the bulbs had blown again. The blond was out in 35 minutes and opened the bathroom door to complete darkness. A pungent smell floated through the air.

"Natsu?" She walked into the dining room (a small table near the kitchen big enough for only two people) with wild eyes. In the middle of the table a single candle lit up the darkness. Two plates sat across from each other, both freshly streaming with parmesan pasta, fried chicken, and French fries.

At first all she could do was gape in awe. The onyx eyed boy appeared from the kitchen, the rain still damp on his hair.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, then I remembered that you live here and probably only bought stuff that you would eat." He smiled nervously running his hand through his salmon locks. "So I kind of just- ugh- threw this together."

"This is… amazing!" Lucy finally spoke, "I honestly don't even know how to cook. I bought all that telling myself that I would learn, but I usually stick with the microwavable stuff."

Natsu beamed, "That explains the fifty packets of Ramen Noodles in the cupboard. I could teach you if you want."

"That would be incredible! Though I never thought I would be taking cooking lessons from a kid that almost burned down his own house." She said taking a seat trying to preserve this moment in her brain.

Natsu laughed taking a seat across from her, "Yeah well, life is full of surprises isn't it!?"

"Um, what's with the candle though?" Lucy blushed glad for the darkness.

"Oh, the lights went out." Natsu replied trying to sound nonchalant while coming to the realization of what it looked like.

Lucy took one bite of the creamy pasta and just about melted with the fork still in her mouth, "the last time I had a real home cooked meal was-"She stopped, realizing she was about to share a bit of her past with another human being for the first time in her life, then looked up to find Natsu watching her with interest.

She felt a part of herself wanting to recoil and dodge the subject completely but pushed it away, she felt like she owed him some sort of explanation.

"When I lived with my parents. The table was gigantic; like something from Beauty and the Beast. It was meant for a lot of people, but it was mostly just me. Especially after my mom passed. My dad…he…"

"You don't have to tell me." Natsu remembered the basket of unsent letters, saw the pain in Lucy's eyes, and lowered his gaze to the bowl of pasta.

"I know, but I want to. My dad became… different. He shut everything out except his work. He became distant and cold, even the look in his eyes became hard. He would lock his home office door and wouldn't come out for days, sometimes weeks." Her voice began to break, "Sometimes I would just sit outside his door and silently cry myself to sleep. He wouldn't even let his own daughter in. He wouldn't let me in when I needed him most." She hadn't noticed but tears had begun to spill from her eyes and onto the white tablecloth. "S-s-sorry, I didn't mean to make this awkwa-"

Before she knew what was happening Natsu had crossed the room and was knelt beside her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"It's going to be alright." He said in a quiet, soothing tone.

They stayed like that in the dark for what felt like a long time. Rain knocked on the roof and lightning flashed through the windows but neither of them paid any attention.

When Lucy's sobs began to fade Natsu spoke, "Is that why you ran away?"

Lucy shook her head still buried in his arms, "I didn't run, he sent me away." That was all she said and Natsu didn't push it.

After they had both finished eating Lucy convinced him to let her do the dishes while he took a shower. She figured it was the least she could do after he had cooked such an amazing meal and she broke down on him.

Even though it had turned into a balling fiasco, Lucy felt like a gigantic weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. It felt good.

Lucy didn't realize how tired she was until her head hit the pillow. It had been quite an eventful day after all. She had been tardy and the guard dog from Hell, Laxus had let her go, she had witnessed Ms. Mirajane trying to kill a student, made up with Natsu, forcefully took her first kiss with Gray Fullbuster, ran off with Natsu while being chased by a mob of Gray fan girls, walked a couple miles through a forest, almost died from the stench of Natsu's home, ran through the rain hand in hand with the boy she used to hate, and then bust out about her past like a water spout. On a normal basis this would have sounded like hell, but she smiled as she drifted off.

"BOOOOOOOOOM" The sky erupted in an explosion of sound. Thunder boomed and lightning struck, flashing shadows of jagged patterns onto Lucy's sheets. To say she was surprised was an understatement. Lucy jumped out of her bed with a start only to trip on something lumpy and fall face first on top of it.

"Ughhhh" a voice moaned in pain beneath her.

"What the!? Natsu!?" She immediately pushed herself off of him with a tomato red face after realizing that her arms had been pinning him down. She was now kneeling beside an either half-awake or half-dead boy. Lucy had to move her face close to make out his figure in the pitch blackness.

He was gripping his gut in pain while writhing on the ground. "Ahhh, what the hell!?"

"S-sorry….. What the crap are you doing on the ground?"

Natsu regained his composure enough to sit up straight and lean against her night table. "The springs in the couch were starting to kill my back so I figured the floor was a better option. Obviously I didn't account for getting kneed in the stoma-" Now that her eyes were adjusted Lucy could see Natsu's eyes widen at a sudden realization.

"You're scared of thunder." It was more of a statement than a question.

Lucy held up a fist in embarrassment, "If you tell anyone, I'll hurt you." Whatever reputation she had of being tough would be shattered by this.

Natsu held both hands up dramatically, "Oh no, what are you going to do? Force me to change in the bathroom again?"

Before Lucy could swing, another wave of thunder shook the skies and she froze in absolute terror. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She hugged her knees hoping Natsu wouldn't notice.

When the roaring stopped the room was filled with only silence and the sound of harsh rain.

"Heartfilia?" When she didn't reply he reached a hand out in her general direction and onto her trembling shoulder. "H-he-hey, it's alright!" He quickly sat up and wrapped his arms around her in a hug realizing the extent of her fear. "How did you- how did you put up with it all alone?"

"I usually just b-buried myself underneath the covers until it was over. I-I don't mind it too much during the day, but at night, that's when it's the worst." Lucy wasn't sure if she was stuttering out of fear or the fact that her heart was beating at about a hundred beats per second. He was so close, he smelt like burnt cinnamon, he was so warm.

"Hey, you don't have a fever do you?" She touched a hand to his forehead.

"Don't be dumb" He shook her hand off and yawned "I'm too strong for that. Viruses disintegrate in my very presence."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Of course they do."

The room went back to silence, only it wasn't an awkward silence. It was a comforting one. Lucy buried her face in his shoulder and they stayed like that in the dark until she felt herself start to doze off.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you like this, I should probably-"

"If I wanted to I would have moved" Natsu stated so bluntly he even surprised himself. "I-I mean, unless you're uncomfortable." He was so glad the room was dark so she couldn't see how red his face was.

"Um… yeah, it's a bit- uh, I don't think I can fall asleep sitting upright." As she began to let go, thunder roared and she gripped him tighter than before. "Ah, sorry…" Lucy immediately pulled herself away and began to stand up. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She stood beside her bed ready to get under the covers when she surprised even herself, grabbed her pillow, and tossed it on the ground beside Natsu's head. He looked up at her, genuinely wondering what was happening.

Even in the dark she couldn't meet his eyes so she stared at her feet. "I…I don't… want you to look like any more of a peasant, so I guess I'll lie here with you." A part of her couldn't believe what she was doing, but another part of her was happy that she was. She couldn't make out his facial expression in the dark and she couldn't even begin to imagine what it looked like. Natsu hadn't moved a muscle as if frozen. Lucy snatched the blanket from her bed, threw it on top of the salmon haired boy, and then got under herself.

She couldn't bring herself to face him so instead she lay facing the opposite direction, they lay like that in silence for a while. The sound of the rain beating against the roof and the occasional thunder and lightning was drowned out by the pounding of her heart.

What the hell am I even doing!?

Lucy felt a tug on her pillow, "Hey, are you just going to hog the pillow? What do you think this is?"

"Umm, my apartment?"

"I think you're forgetting your hostess etiquette, I'm pretty sure the guest always comes first."

A wide smile spread across Lucy's face and she burst out laughing; not one of those controlled laughs, but the ones that you just can't hold in, the ones that leave you gasping for air when you're done.

"…What was so funny?" Natsu asked when Lucy's fit had dissolved to giggles. Lucy wasn't sure if it was because it was so late, but she turned over so she was looking up at the roof and started to blurt without thinking. She told him about the exquisite parties her parents used to throw with hundreds of stuck up, rich snobs. How they made her take etiquette classes and how she hated every second of it. How the kitchen crew and maids would help her hide from her tutors because they were like family. That she would always hid under the snack tables with a book so that she wouldn't have to make polite small talk, and only came out when her mother called her name to share a dance.

After she was done Natsu didn't say anything for a while, he sat with his head propped up by his elbow, and only stared at her features shadowed by the darkness.

"Who did you say you were again?!

Lucy snickered, "Me? No one important, that was all my parents." She lifted her head and pushed the pillow in the middle so there was room for both of them. Any tension between the two of them in the past seemed to have eased. Natsu placed his head beside hers and the room was silent again. There it was again, he smelled like cinnamon and she could feel the comforting warmth radiating off of his body. Lucy's mind drifted off in thought and just when she thought Natsu had fallen asleep he spoke up.

"Face me for a second." The random command took the blond by surprise and she did what she was told, turning over to face him for the first time. Their faces were only inches apart so she could make out some of his features in the blackness. The gleam in his eyes, the outline of his lips, the-

Before Lucy could process it all Natsu had gently taken hold of her chin in his fingers. She was so shocked she didn't react, her heartbeat picked up and she was sure that he could hear it ramming against her ribs. His thumb gently slid its way up to her lips and traced its shape as if memorizing every detail. Under normal circumstances she would have pushed him away, but she didn't feel like her normal guarded self and she knew she couldn't. She didn't want to push him away, and this realization scared her.

"Luce…will you promise me something?"

He whispered while running his thumb over her bottom lip. Lucy couldn't even find the words to reply. Luckily enough, she didn't have to.

It was 1AM and someone was ringing the doorbell as if their very life depended on it.

"Who the hell!?" Lucy got up from the daze, heart still hammering wildly inside her chest, and Natsu followed close behind her.

Both of them were prepared to find the short, balding man with a new threat of some sort, which, at this hour would be considered a new all-time low. Instead, bright blue eyes stared and reality shot back to both of them.

"Lisanna?" Natsu spoke, his tone becoming serious, "What are you doing here?"