~Lucy's POV~

I tapped the bottom of my pencil on cheek out of boredom. I glanced at the glass clock that was placed near the front of the room. I was the only one in the lab that had finished their experiment already. Chemistry just came easy to me, I hardly ever had to prepare for it. 

Our objective was to separate a Heterogeneous mixture using whatever method we sought necessary. It was just some water pulled from the ocean. I used sublimation to separate my mixture, so that all of the sand would be separated from the water. 

A few of my friends were in this class. Gray and Juvia were stationed near the front of classroom, but I didn't really know anyone else. I looked around the room, my eyes meeting with a white haired girl. She had the brightest blue eyes imaginable. The color looked mechanically created, but I knew they were real. 

I swiftly turned my head away from her, recognizing her face. That was Lisanna Strauss. I remember one of my first days attending this school, I saw her and Natsu arguing by the lockers. I had totally forgot that they used to date. I chewed on the end of my pencil nervously. 

Maybe she was jealous? Natsu and I weren't officially dating, but I'm guessing it will happen in the near future. I don't know what happened between those two, but it's not really my place to ask. I started feeling anxious. Maybe I was just scared she would intervene in Natsu's and I's relationship. 

The breaking of glass snapped me out of my senses. I turned my head towards the shattering noise, seeing yellow flames spring to life. A Bunsen burner had caught someone's shirt on fire. They were supposed to have a lab coat on, what were they doing? It was someone that I didn't know, but I immediately stood up from my seat. 

They were panicking, trying to stamp out the fire. Our teacher ran over to the emergency sprinklers lever, and pulled it. The fire alarm screeched it's dreadful song. Water then began to spout out of the metal tubes above us. I tried to cover my head from the water, but soon enough, we were all drenched. The icy water hit my skin, making me shiver. 

A few of the students were laughing, hanging on to each other. Juvia laughed as Gray tried to cover her with his lab coat. I found my self starting to giggle at the stupidity of this situation. Soon enough, the sprinklers stopped, dropping any excess water on the floor. There was at least an inch of water covering the floor. 

"Everyone will report to detention after school!" Our teacher, Mrs. Star said furiously. Her glasses had fogged up immensely. 

"Wait, we didn't do anything?!" A guy known as Elfman shouted. 

"I don't care who did it, you are all going to help clean up this mess!" She said while removing her glasses. "And if you don't show up, you're going to receive a zero in my class!" She pointed her glasses towards the door and snarled at everyone in the room. 

I sighed and removed my soaked lab coat. I placed it on the table and made my way towards the exit. I slicked my hair back, and wiped my face clean of the water. As I brought my hands away from my face, I noticed a tan residue stuck on my fingers. 

I instantly sweat dropped. The makeup that I had applied earlier was melting off. I gasped and covered my left eye. I quickly grabbed my backpack which was fortunately placed outside of the classroom. 

"You okay Lucy?" I froze in my place as I turned away from my peer.

"Yeah I'm fine!" I replied happily, trying to convince my communicator that nothing was wrong. I started to walk away but felt a hand on my shoulder. The strong hand physically turned me around, exposing my cowered face. 

Gray grabbed my wrist before I could stop him, exposing my black eye. Juvia was also behind him, showing me a worried look. Gray's previous happy expression faded into anger. 

"I knew it," Gray said as he looked down at the floor. He balled up his fists, his veins starting to show on his arms. Juvia's hands were covering her mouth, eyes brimming with tears. I stood frozen in my place, unable to move. 

Gray made a noise of frustration as he punched the nearest locker. His fist had made a dent in the blue painted metal. His knuckles were now burning bright red with irritation. Juvia grabbed Gray's arm, trying to calm him down. 

It was as if my legs carried themselves, running away from reality. I ran away from them, dropping my backpack in the middle of the hallway. I don't know where I was going, but I just ran. I passed familiar faces, each giving me the same look. They were confused, worried, terrified. 

I made eye contact with Levy, continuing to run. Her eyes widened as I passed her. Everyone was exiting their classrooms due to the recently pulled fire alarm. I was pretty small, so I easily passed through the small spaces. 

I hit the back doors with a big thud. I opened them quickly, the chilling September wind hitting my face. I ran outside to a place where no one would likely find me. There was a tree behind the equipment shed. At times when I needed to study, I would always sit under the trees large branches.

I fell against the tree, sliding my body down its rough bark. I was panting heavily, grasping for air. I placed my hand over my heart as it started to steady. I hugged my legs tightly and stared at the grass. Tears were starting to form in the corners of my eyes. I didn't want people to see me as the typical blonde with daddy issues. 

"Nice hiding spot,"  I heard a masculine voice say. I instantly knew who it was. I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. He sat on the opposite side of the tree, our backs separated by the strong wood. 

"Everyone knows," I said cutting to the chase. I covered my face with my hands. "I'm such an idiot," I stammered as I wiped the tears from my eyes. I heard the click of a camera go off, which made me curiously turn my head. 

"I knew that would get your attention," Natsu said as he grinned. He took his thumb and wiped a tear from my eye. I shuffled from my spot so that I was sitting right next to him. 

"I made everyone upset. Gray punched the lockers, Juvia started crying, things weren't supposed to turn out this way." I rested my forehead on the top of my knees, crying. A headache began to form at my temples, this always happened when I cried. 

"No one is angry with you, they're upset because you're hurt. They really care for you Lucy, that's why they're upset. It's like, you see me smiling, but I'm actually really hurt when you cry." I nodded my head slightly, wishing that this day was over. 

"Maybe if you told them what was going on they would understand." He gestured towards the group of people walking towards us. I glanced up from my hiding space and saw all of my friends. Natsu stood up and offered his hand to help me up. I took a final look at my friends. Most of them were crying. Other than the girls, Gray and Loke looked ready to burst. Their eyes eager to know the answer to their questions. 

I took Natsu's hand and stood up. 

"I'm sorry I made you all upset. I'm sorry that I hid the truth from you guys. You are all near and dear to my heart, and I don't know what I would do without you. You guys deserve to know what's going on." I looked at Natsu for reassurance. He nodded his head to reassure my notions. 

"Ever since my mom died, my dad started drinking again. One night I snapped at him, and well," I paused. "Things got out of hand," I said gesturing to my eye. I laughed at how awful of a friend I was. 

"Why didn't you tell me Lucy!" Levy said running up to me, hitting me with a hug. Soon enough, other arms were embracing me. 

"You idiot," Gray said as his arms wrapped around me. 

"Don't be sad Lucy," Erza said as she joined the pile. Soon enough everyone was in a group hug surrounding me. I had never felt so loved, never felt so happy.

Tears were starting to fall down my face. I sobbed as I embraced all of my friends.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon enough, our dog pile came to an end. We all sat under the tree as I told my friends about my mom. I explained her with such bliss, she was such an inspiration on my life. We talked, joked, acted like everything was okay.

"You're not staying with your dad are you?" Levy asked suddenly, her eyes full with worry. 

I shook my head. "No, we agreed to meet up once a week for lunch until he solves his issue." Her smile returned. 

"So where are you staying then?" Gajeel asked, not seeming interested in the conversation. 

"Well-I," I replied nervously. Was it really appropriate to say that I was staying at Natsu's place? 

"You could always stay at my house sweet cheeks," Loke said seductively. He sent me a wink in the process. We had a weird relationship. So weird it was kind of funny. I laughed at his comment.

"In your dreams buddy!" I said as the whole group laughed. Natsu sent a menacing glare towards Loke, causing him to flinch. "I'm taken care of, don't worry." I shooed away the topic receiving an annoyed glare from Levy. 

"I know where she's staying, she's staying with N-," I threw myself at her. I covered her mouth quickly, causing a scene. She was mumbling something, even though my hand was blocking out the sound. I instantly felt something wet against my palm. I took back my hand out of disgust. 

"You licked me?!"I questioned grossly, wiping my palm on my still wet pants. The final bell rang for the day, interrupting our conversation. "We'll talk later," I said grinning at Levy. I pointed two fingers at her eyes. "Gray, Juvia, and I have detention." 

"What? Why?" Natsu questioned as he took to my side. 

"There was an accident in the lab, so we have to stay to clean up." I looked around to see if any of my friends were watching. "I'll be home in a bit," I whispered in Natsu's ear. A shade of pink appeared on his cheeks as I walked away from him.