If I Didn't Have You; nalu

8: Quondam

"What is it?" I wasn't scared of Lucy like everyone else was. I had known her for a long time, but something in the back of my mind had been telling me otherwise.

"You're not scared of me right?"

"Wh--,"

"It's just that ..." She looked up and tried reaching the sky with her hand, "I've heard rumors about me. I don't know why everyone thinks that everything up until now is my fault. I even believed in them for a while, but quit after realizing that Erza wouldn't have wanted me to. If she had been here, she would have probably yelled at me for being so stupid." A silent tear ran down her cheek as she blinked, "D-do you believe them?"

I stared at her, stunned. "OF COURSE NOT! They don't know anything about you Lucy! Don't let it get to you." By then, it might have been too far to do anything. She had already started to break.

She tried her best smiling, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She nodded her head and walked away under the rain.

Things continued on like that. Boys who had once crowded and liked her, stopped. They no longer talked to her, asked her out, flirted, or even talked much with her. Girls who were in the grades below us, who had once admired Lucy, stopped. Lucy's own coach didn't even invite Lucy to the parties that the tennis team held after games. Lucy knew about them, but decided to not go, because she didn't want to hurt anyone and didn't want to bring a gloomy atmosphere with her. 

She knew everyone was avoiding her. Only those who didn't know about her would talk to her, but rumors and lies would go around fast and they'd instantly stop associating with her.

Another time, she got surrounded by our classmates during lunch. Everyone feared her, and fear lead to hatred and denial.

"I had absolutely nothing to do with it!" She yelled, determined to change everyone's view on her.

Everyone began whispering and even yelling in her face that she should leave because she only brought bad luck.

"If you continue hanging out with Levy, something bad might happen to her." 

"Caring about your friends is not a crime!" She cried, "I'm not doing anything wrong." 

Truthfully, those rumors were strengthened by Lucy's past. A girl with a dead family? That obviously meant she was haunted. It seemed that death took hold of her family and friends. Nobody would willingly want to be around someone like that.

Our friendship remained intact, but it wasn't strong enough to push us forward together.

I never noticed that I was gradually blending in with the vicious crowd, the one that made all those rumors. Only until that incident happened, was when I abandoned Lucy.

❄ ❄ ❄

End of Flashback

"Miss Levy, your friend is waiting for you outside, do you--," The maid stopped in tracks as she spotted a tear on Levy's eye. "Are you alright? Do you not feel well?" She quickly rushed to her side to take a closer look and feel her temperature. 

Levy shook her head and quickly wiped it away with her sleeves, "I-I'm fine. My allergies are coming back, that's all." 

The maid didn't believe it but didn't press any further. 

And with that, Levy walked outside, underneath the now clear sky.

"I see that our paths are bound to cross again, Lucy Heartfilia." 

"Even if I can't see you... Even if we are separated far from each other... I'll always be watching you. I'll definitely watch over you forever." 

"ERZA?" Levy frantically turned around and searched for the source of the voice. 

There was nothing, except for the gloomy dark walls and the carpet that ran around the floors.

'Ah, it was just my imagination.'

✩°｡⋆＊❀✿❀✿ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ