The Rules and Regulations of Love (Nalu Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-One

Lucy

Rule Number Twenty-One: Through Thick and Thin You Can Always Count On Your Friends

My fist hurt. Not as badly as my heart did, though. Geez, I never thought this kind of pain was possible. But after I saw Natsu kissing that girl Lisanna from school, I knew that I'd never be the same. Because he'd cheated on me and broken my heart. I'd always known Natsu was a serial dating playboy, but I never expected him to cheat on me. I'd always thought that what we had was special. Then again, I guess that's what all of his other girlfriends thought too. I didn't know what made me think I was so special. Maybe it was because he and I teased each other and were sarcastic to no end. Maybe it was because he'd sat through The Notebook for me as means of an apology. Maybe it was because I'd given him my all. Maybe it was because I'd just thought he was in love with me. Obviously I was wrong though, so very, very wrong. And now I was paying the price. I never thought I'd live to see the day when a guy would reduce me to laying in bed with the covers pulled over me, sobbing in the dark confines of my messy as hell room.

A knock sounded on my door and I sniffled, yelling for whoever was there to leave me alone. I didn't want to be near anyone right now. I just wanted to wallow in self pity and sit in the darkness. My door creaked open anyways and I swore loudly, cursing at whoever was there to leave me alone. When I was angry and sad I swore. It just slipped out. It was something I couldn't control, and I didn't have the energy to try and control it like I normally did.

"Lucy Heartfilia, you watch that mouth of yours. Foul language like that isn't allowed in my household," I heard my mother's voice say, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Leave it to my mother to care more about my language than my tears.

"Just shut up and leave me alone," I grumbled. I knew I'd be in trouble later for swearing and for talking so rudely to my mom, but I just couldn't bring myself to care.

"Lucy, stop talking like that. Come out, I need to talk to you."

When my mom saw that I was making no move to do as she said, she tried pulling on the covers to get them off of me, but I was holding on to them tight in my fists, determined to stay hidden from everything. I didn't want to face the reality that Natsu and I had broken up. I just couldn't believe it. The man that I had loved so deeply and truly had been kissing another girl. And I know that Natsu wasn't the only guilty party, but I knew that if I hit Lisanna I wouldn't be able to stop. After a few moments, my mother gave up trying to pull the covers off me and sat down on my bed, causing me to roll towards her. She didn't weigh a hell of a lot or anything, but my bed was old and my matress was soft, so even if a three year old sat on my bed I'd go rolling.

"Lucy, honey, please come out. There's something I need to say, and I want you looking at me."

The catch in my mom's voice gets to me, and I lift the cover a millimeter and peer out with one eye, surprised when I see my mom looking down at me, a soft smile on her face when she saw my eye.

"Listen dear, I know I haven't been the greatest mother to you these past couple of years, but you've just always been so independant and outspoken, I didn't think you needed me. Your brother's always been slightly problematic, and I've spent so many years worrying about him and babying him, making sure he didn't go back to the way he used to be. You just never seemed to care, so I didn't try to get close to you like a mom should be with her daughter. And now I regret that more than anything, because you've just had your heartbroken and I have no idea what to do. I know next to nothing about your boyfriend other than what Dad's told me, and his information is about as good as my singing." I couldn't help but laugh as she said this, mostly because it's a widely known fact in our town that my mother can't sing worth a damn. If we got a nickel for every person that loved my mother's singing, we'd be dirt poor.