Does Love Last Forever?

Chapter 3

 Lucy set the steaks in the oven to keep warm. She had found a pretty tablecloth and some candles to use as a centerpiece. Glancing out the window, she saw it was now dark. Normally the promise of food would bring Natsu right away. He'd be hanging over her shoulder, whining about how hungry he was and how long did it take to cook the food! It had been several hours though. I guess I shouldn't have lit the candle, Lucy sighed to herself, seeing how low it had burned.

Getting up from where she had been working on her latest book, she blew the candle out. She was starting to get irritated. How had not being able to keep his hands off her come to standing her up for dinner? Then again, she hadn't invited him personally, but she was pretty sure Happy had given him the message. Also, didn't Natsu want to see her? She hoped Levy was having better luck than her.

After a bath that did nothing to relax her, she turned off the oven that she had left on warm, wrapping up the steaks and putting them away. Her appetite had disappeared as her disappointment had grown. Sighing, she got into bed, hoping she'd wake up to a warm presence next to her in the morning.

The next morning, she woke up cold and alone. Her sadness changed to irritation. Had he partied at the guild and passed out, not even considering her feelings? Jerk. She stomped to the guild, ready to chew him out.

In the distance, she saw Levy and Gajeel walking, hand in hand, with Lily next to them. Obviously their evening had gone well. Lucy blew out a sigh. Maybe she was looking at this all wrong. Maybe Natsu and Gray had knocked each other out. Maybe Erza had. Her temper started to cool as she got closer to the guild. Opening up the doors, the noise hit her first. It was later than she usually arrived, and the room was packed. She looked around for salmon-colored hair but all she saw was Happy sitting with Wendy and Carla.

She approached the table and Happy jumped up when he saw her. "Lucy!" he cried guiltily. He gave her a hug, then looked up at her with what she could only describe as "puppy dog eyes" (even though he was a cat).

"I told Natsu you'd be mad at us if we didn't come for dinner but he told me he wasn't feeling well and went home. He said you'd understand." The blue exceed talked quickly, taking a deep breath of air after he finished.

Lucy blinked. He was sick? She hadn't thought of that possibility. Man, had she been selfish! She felt ashamed with herself. "Where is he? Is he feeling better?" she asked Happy, who was snuggling in her arms.

"He's at home," Happy sighed. "He wouldn't come to the guild with me, but told me to go ahead."

"Maybe I should go check on him," Lucy thought aloud. Happy nodded his head.

"He seemed kind of down. I know you would cheer him up, Lucy! He loooooves you!" Happy teased. However, after being mated, it kind of lost its effect!

She had Mira make some of Natsu's favorite chili, complete with extra hot sauce, and brought that along with her as she made her way to Natsu's house.

"Natsu?" she called softly as she opened the door after no response to her knock. It was unusually dark inside. She noticed the window shades were down which gave the room a gloomy feel. "Natsu?" she called again, wondering if he was sleeping.

She set the chili down on one of the tables and went to go pull up the shades.

"Don't," came a voice from the darkness. It sounded like Natsu, only deeper and rough. Lucy's hand paused on the shade. Her body turned and her eyes strained to see where the voice was coming from.

"Happy said you weren't feeling well, so I brought you some of Mira's chili," Lucy smiled in the direction the voice came from. "Here, let me fix you some."

"No. You need to leave." His voice was flat and emotionless. Had she ever heard this tone from Natsu before?

"Why don't you want me to take care of you?" Lucy asked, confused. "Are you afraid that what you have is contagious?" Happy hadn't told her he was this sick! No wonder he had told the cat to go on to the guild hall. "Do you need Happy to stay with me?"

There was a deep sigh, then he repeated again, "You need to leave."

"Natsu, you need to talk to me," Lucy began, getting upset. "Tell me what's wrong and I'll see if I can fix it!"

Natsu gave a bark of laughter, but it sounded almost mockingly cruel. "No, there's no way to 'fix' me."

"Natsu, I don't understand . . . " she began, but he interrupted her.

"Lucy, you need to leave. I don't want to see you, I don't want you to help me, and I don't want you coming back."

"Natsu?" she whispered in a hurt tone. "I don't understand. . . did something happen when you and Gajeel were gone? I thought we were . . . "

"No. Sorry, Lucy, but it's all been a mistake."

"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling weak-kneed. She held on to the back of a chair to keep herself upright. "You chose me to be your mate. We were together in a very intimate fashion," she felt her cheeks warm. "Everything was fine before you left."

She heard him give a sigh and she squinted in the darkness, just able to make out the shadow of his figure. Was this really Natsu or was this some kind of cruel trick?

"Listen, that was a mistake. Don't make it harder than this is. Just go away!"

Lucy began to speak again, but her words were stuck in her throat when she saw his fist light up - it was enough that she recognized it was really Natsu.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked. "It was dragon mating season. I was horny, you were available, and you didn't say no, did you?" he continued, his voice taking on a cruel tone. "Face it, Luce, you were a bit of a slut weren't you? Being away from you made me realize that really, anyone would have sufficed. You just got the body that made me want to come back for more so why not make you think it was more than it was? You should really be embarrassed - it didn't take much for me to get you to sleep with me, did it?" he finished with a derisive snort.

Lucy tried to blink through the tears. "You don't mean that!" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "The Natsu I know would never say that! Who are you?"

Again, the cruel mocking laughter. "This is me, babe, take it or leave it! Rather, why don't you leave it - I'd rather not see your face anymore! I don't know why I even thought you attractive - the longer you're here, the uglier you seem!"

Lucy choked back a reply, tears streaming down her face. She never realized that Natsu could be this cruel!

"Are you stupid? I said, get out!" he barked, and he shot flames towards her. Stumbling, she turned and ran out of the house, down the path, and into the nearby woods. Once she found herself gasping for breath, she let herself fall to the ground and let out a wail filled with hurt, anger, and raw emotion.

It was almost dark by the time she got herself under control. Sometime during her breakdown, she had fallen asleep, and she now awoke to a raw throat and dry eyes. Looking around, she finally got her bearings and began to walk towards Magnolia, to her apartment. She walked as if in a daze, her heart shattered, not really seeing or hearing things around her. She finally found herself in her apartment, not sure how she had gotten there. She numbly made her way to her bed and, fully clothed, crawled under the covers and went to sleep.