That damn security guard was still chasing them down the street, but he was getting farther and farther away by the second. The two young adults weaved in and out through the crowd of people, screaming 'excuse me!' whenever they bumped into someone. Natsu was on the cross-country team throughout high school, and was the fastest runner. Lucy wasn't so bad at running either. She never liked sports or anything, but she was just a really fast runner.

Lucy closed her eyes for a moment, remembering why.

~Flashback~

Lucy was at her old house, a mansion by the looks of it. Lucy was only fifteen years old and was supposed to be studying business like her father told her to at that time of day.

Lucy didn't give a duck's ass.

She was out with her horse, her only company when Loke wasn't around. He had bronze colored fur, with a chestnut brown mane and beautiful onyx eyes. Part of her father's plan for her was to make her a proper lady, and horse-back riding was required. It isn't like she minded, she had a great time horse-back riding and it gave her time to get out of that house.

Lucy didn't wear the beautiful dresses that she got in the mansion, but settled for black leather combat boots with laces, black riding pants, and a red velvet blazer with a white tank top under it.

She suddenly jumped off her horse, which caused him to look at her. "Say Gene," the horse perked up hearing his name. "How about we have a race? Whoever can get to the end of the meadow first," she points to the end of the meadow she was in which was about thirty yards away. "wins." She ended with a smile. She didn't know why but the horse seemed to understand her, getting into a racing position. Lucy mirrored his movements. She knew she was no match for a well-built horse, but she wanted to feel to wind on her face and exercise her muscles a bit before she goes back into the house she calls a prison.

"Ready?" Gene moved his eyes toward her to indicate that he was. "On your mark, get set, GO!" She and Gene started off sprinting. Even though her opponent was a full-grown horse, she was running only a little bit behind. She started to stress every muscle in her body to try to push herself forward.

BOOM!

The sound of a gun shot through the air, and a second later, Gene fell onto his side, his head laying on the ground, and his eyes looking up at her painfully.

"GENE!" Lucy cried as she dropped on the ground him. He was bleeding badly, with a bullet in his upper right calf. She looked to see where the shot came from, and saw two men in the bushes, looking at her with astonished eyes. They must have thought Gene was a stray horse. They quickly picked up their muskets and ran deeper into the woods. Lucy turned her attention back to Gene, whose life was streaming away him. "Someone, please, help me!" She screamed into the air. She wasn't that far from the Heartfilia Estate, so she was sure that one of her gardeners or staff had heard her.

She was right.

Bursting through the trees was her butlers Capricorn and Cancer. "Cancer, get help!" Capricorn exclaimed at his fellow staff member. Cancer didn't think twice about taking off back into the brush to go fetch the veterinarian. Capricorn rushed over to where Lucy was, who was about to faint from the mental stress.

~ A few hours later ~

Lucy was pacing around her bedroom, worrying about her horse. Gene had been a gift from her mother, and losing him would be like losing her all over again.

Cancer knocked and opened the door. "Gene is alright, ebi. You can go see him." Cancer said. The teen smiled as she ran over and hugged him, before taking off towards the stables, not caring if her father catches her running through the halls.

She bursted through the door of the stable to see her veterinarian, Sagittarius, kneeling beside Gene. Beside him were Capricorn and her maid Virgo, who had solemn looks on their faces. Lucy was confused by this; shouldn't they be happy that Gene is alive and well?

Lucy walked toward them, and they all looked at her, even Gene, and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She saw Gene's calf in a bloody bandage and the bullet that pieced his skin in a bowl next to Sagittarius. "Is everything alright?" Lucy asked, worry crossing her features. Sagittarius looked into Lucy's eyes.

"Moshi moshi, Lucy-sama. Gene will be alright. However, the bullet pierced one of his nerves, so he is permanently paralyzed in his hind legs now." Sagittarius said, not looking into her eyes at the last part of his sentence. Lucy stood there shocked, with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She made no attempt to hold them back and just let them fall before running over to Gene and hugging him around his neck.

"I'm sorry, Gene. I'm so so sorry!" Lucy cried. Lucy's staff found it a good time to leave her be. They saw that she didn't want to be around anyone besides her horse at this moment. She cried herself to sleep and ended up resting her head on Gene's abdomen, while just laid his head down, silently watching over her.

Her father scolded her to no end after that, telling her that a proper lady would not sleep in the stables. She scoffed at her father, who didn't care about anything else other than money and turning her into a proper lady so she could get married and he could get more money.

A few months after she turned sixteen, Gene died. Lucy was devastated to no end, but her father remained indifferent about it, saying that she should just continue her studies and forget about that 'pathetic' horse. This death made Lucy realize something.

She needed to get out of there, fast.

She had nothing to be here for. Gene was gone, Loke was out of her reach, and her mother was gone. Her father treated her poorly, but she still loved her staff. She wrote notes to every one of her staff, who she considered her friends, and left them on their night tables. She slipped out quietly, jumping from her window to the tree close by and climbing down until she reached the ground. After that, she started to run. She was running faster than she ever had before, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was reminded of Gene, but that just made her run faster.

I hope you are watching, mom. Because I know I'm making the right choice. Lucy thought as she exited the estate, and disappeared into the forest that surrounds her house. She went to the one place that she thought she would be safe in.

Magnolia.

~Flashback end~ (Sorry if that was an eyesore. :p)

Lucy was pulled out of her thoughts as Natsu yanked her hand. He dragged her into an alleyway and held her against the wall, both of them panting harshly. She was going to ask him what he was doing, but he just covered her mouth with his hand, indicating that she shouldn't talk. The security guard just ran passed the alleyway, screaming, "You rotten kids, where are you?" Once he had passes and he was out of sight, Natsu took his hand off her mouth.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, their noses almost touching, before they both looked to the side at the same time. They were both the color of Erza's hair. Natsu backed up a little to give Lucy her space. Natsu found his eyes wandering over to Lucy's again, making contact with hers for a few moments. Then something happened.

They both burst out laughing at the same time.

Lucy was trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes, but she laughed so much that she could barely breathe. Even Natsu was holding his sides. Anyone who saw him depressed before would see a completely different person. "That was fun!" Lucy exclaimed as she exited the alleyway with Natsu in tow. Natsu calmed down a bit, and was now wiping the salty water from his eyes. "Who was that guy, anyway?" Lucy asked, looking at Natsu.

"He was just some phony security guard that bought his police costume from Party City and is just there to get free candy from the snack shop and look into women's purses." Natsu shuddered at the memory when he tried to sneak a look into Erza and Juvia's purses when they last went there. A thought occurred to Lucy.

"How do you know he got his outfit from Party City?" She asked with a curious expression. Natsu smirked.

"I saw him buying it." Lucy burst out laughing again, which Natsu joined shortly after.

After getting themselves some hotdogs and taking a lap around Magnolia park, they realized that it was already getting dark, so Natsu offered to walk Lucy him. Lucy was about to decline, but Natsu was already dragging her towards her apartment.

Natsu and Lucy were walking down the road towards Lucy's apartment, and Lucy was walking on the stone wall that was about four feet above the ground. Natsu was about to tell her that she should be careful, otherwise she might fall in, but he was mesmerized at how the silvery glow of the moon reflected on her golden hair, making her shine like a goddess. Natsu shook his head while blushing, hoping that Lucy didn't notice. Lucy hopped off the ledge when they arrived at her house.

"Alright, this is my stop. Thanks for today, Natsu. I had a lot of fun." Lucy said with sincere eyes.

Natsu shook his head. "I should be the one thanking you. I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Natsu said while giving her a boyish grin. "Listen, my friends and I are taking a walk around our college campus to try to get used to navigating ourselves around on our first day of school. It would be great if you would come with us." Natsu said with hopeful eyes. Lucy stared at him blankly before her mouth turned into a very wide grin, and Natsu swore that every inch of heat from his body rose up to his cheeks.

"I would love to come with you. I'll ask Gray if it's okay with him." Lucy said smiling. She said goodbye before turning around to go back into her house, but she spun around again. "Oh wait! Here, give me your phone. I'll give you my number." Lucy said, handing him her phone. They did a number exchange before Lucy went back into her house, saying that she would see him tomorrow.

Once again, Natsu was staring at her closed door for a few seconds before he sighed and started to walk off.

Suddenly, he heard the door of Lucy's apartment open again. Before he could do anything, Lucy stood on her toes and gave him a very friendly kiss on the cheek. It wasn't romantic, but more of a kiss shared between friends. As quickly as she came, Lucy went back into her house and closed the door quickly, leaving Natsu standing star struck, holding his cheek.

Natsu, after recovering his mental state, started to grin and stride off towards his house, thinking about what tomorrow would bring.

What he didn't know was that Lucy was leaning her back against her door, holding her lips, while thinking the exact same thing.

Hi everyone. I know it has been a long time since I updated but I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I promise, the next chapter will be longer.