Scandal (Book One)

Chapter 12

I tossed and turned all night, not being able to sleep a wink.

Lucy.

Lisanna.

Why did life have to be so confusing? I stood up, careful not to wake Lisanna, who was beside me, slumbering peacefully.

I watched her for a moment, almost mesmerized. She was so beautiful; and she was so quiet.

Smiling, I bent down, kissing her on the cheek. She stirred, grabbing her pillow and turning around. "B-Bickslow..."

My heart caught in my throat. What?

My smile quickly returned. After all, she was probably just having another crazy dream. I picked up a pillow that lay beside her and headed for Lucy's room.

~

(Lucy's P.O.V.)

Natsu.

I hugged my pillow, bringing it close to my chest. My mind was racing with stray thoughts that littered my brain. I was so tired and yet...I couldn't sleep.

Suddenly, someone lay beside me, and I could feel my breathing quicken.

Act like you're asleep, Lucy! I mentally instructed, burying my face into comfy white sheets, allowing my breathing to steady into a natural rhythm.

"Lucy," A voice threaded with sleep whispered, "are you asleep?"

"Yes." I said rather dryly, picking up my pillow to toss it in Natsu's face. Taken by surprise, it smacked him in the nose. "Ow! You're so...violent."

I snickered. "I know."

He sighed, lying beside me, staring wistfully up at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. "Lucy," he began, voice still tired. "I know what you did for me. On the Carnival night."

I could feel my eyes widen in fright. Would he be mad at me? For lying? I dug my nails into the sheets, trying to keep my worrying under control. But it didn't help. The anxiety grew and manifested, making almost what felt like a hole in my stomach.

"How do you know?" I whispered.

"Because Lis would never do something like that for me--only you would." His voice was still weary, yet there was a kind of sadness to it. Something I couldn't quite place.

But...did he know? About the other thing? The questions hurt, making my heart race. I wanted him to know, to get it over with, but at the same time I didn't, for I was fearful. About he might say. About what Lisanna might say; this time straight to my face and not in quotes.

"Do you, uh, know, then? About the other thing?"

He paused, and with each passing moment of silence made me even more fearful. Was he pretending he didn't hear me? Was he--"What thing?"

The question saddened me but at the same time made me want to scream with relief.

"Nothing." I turned so my back would face him, snuggling into my covers.

There was a moment of almost blissful silence, the two of us comfortable in one another's presence. Until Natsu finally spoke up. "It's cold tonight." He muttered, voice low so he wouldn't awaken Lisanna. I felt as he nudged over to the side of my bed and swung his legs around to meet the floor. "So you can borrow this," he got up, plopped something into my hands and walked away.

It was even colder now that he was gone.

But I didn't complain. I was thankful for whatever he had given me, for it was plush and warm.

And soon, all my restless thoughts had been settled and I fell into sleep's embrace.

~

I awoke as my phone rang, or rather, beeped. Loudly.

Very loudly.

Still groggy, I threw my hands around until I grasped my phone and squinted into it, the light blinding this early.

Unknown: Meet me at the Food Court at 9 A.M.

I yawned, my tired, 6 A.M. awoken brain to tired to care about some text. That was when I noticed what I had snuggled with all night, the scarf that I had held tight against my chest.

Natsu's scarf.

Last night hadn't been a dream, or a nightmare, no, it had been some odd hybrid between the two, a reality.

Something about just that thought made me feel a wave of heat. But I just didn't care.

I nuzzled into the scarf, and it was warm and smelled nice. Smelled like cologne. Natsu's cologne. The smell alone was enough to put me at ease as I fell back into a much-welcomed sleep.

~

"Luce, how could you have let me ride on that damn roller coaster...alone?"

"Stop being a whiner; it wasn't my idea. And I didn't let you, it was more like you were in the mood to do something stupid, and I for one, was not about to get dragged into it. Especially when it involves you and rides." I replied, nibbling contently on my cotton candy.

"Or were you too scared?"

I whipped my head around, momentarily forgetting about my cotton candy, meeting Natsu's sly gaze with my own vicious glare.

"Scared of getting vomit on my designer clothes, yes." I said, pausing for a moment, grimacing at just the idea. "But scared of rides? Of heights?" I paused again for a moment, waiting for Natsu's reaction.

"Maybe."

"Luce!" Natsu whined in disappointment. "Goddamnit. You so had me going. But why? C'mon, just one ride. One."

I grumbled, "Think of how easy it is to die! It's so scary! Plus, what if a bird is so shocked that a human like me, with amazing fashion sense I may add, is up there in the sky that it gets so confused it forgets how to fly and drops from the sky, dropping to his death? What'll happen then? Think of how sad the bird's family will be. And I may be charged with murder!"

"It doesn't have to be scary." Natsu insisted, voice a soft plead. "I'll be up there, too, y'know. I can always protect you and take the blame for you murdering a bird."

I looked away. Gosh, he is such an idiot sometimes.

Yet part of me strived to make him, no matter how much of an idiot he was, happy.

So I agreed.

And had the best time of my life.

~

I awoke to gentle bird song, the scarf still held protectively in my arms. It was exactly 10:09 A.M.

Was anyone else awake?

I strained my ears to listen for noise, but when coming up with nothing, lay back in bed. After all, it is a Saturday. Lisanna was probably out doing her crazy shopping--Natsu forced to tag along.

Lisanna.

The way she had been crying, sobbing, when I found her that one night after the carnival...had that all been an act? But why? To spite me? That didn't seem to be enough, to support all she's done, if it's even all an act.

Natsu...

Before I could think any more on the subject, thick duct tape covered my lips. My heart rate immediately accelerated as more was used to pin my legs and arms.

I couldn't even use my mouth, bound by duct tape, to gasp as I looked into the blue eyes of none other than Sting.

Sting Eucliffe.

A/N: sorry I haven't updated! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter? Please leave reviews! I'm extremely grateful for all the wonderful comments I've received as of late! Thank you all so much, trust me, it means a lot. Anyways, I don't think I'm gonna do a Question Of The Chapter for this one. There are a lot of them, and this author, regrettably, is just too lazy to type them all. Anyways, good day and Happy Shipping!

||THIS BOOK IS UNEDITED||