Glad to see that I haven't angered you enough that you decided not to read the last chapter of Crushed! I am so sorry that I haven't updated sooner but... I have no excuse which makes me feel like an even worse person... Darn...

But I am quite happy with how this story has turned out! My first completed story! Yay! I was actuallyembarrassed when I had to write the last scene... I was blushing and my friend was looking at me and going: "What the heck are you writing to make you so red?" Me: "NO! DON'T LOOK AT IT!" I don't know if I did an alright job since I've never...actually... kissed a guy so... =[ self pity time... anyway,

Hope you liked the story Kennedy! It was fun to write this lovely little Nalu fantasy...

But enough of my ramblings, ON WITH THE LAST INSTALMENT OF CRUSHED!

Lucy sat underneath the old tree in the middle of the park. It made an excellent place to grieve she realized grimly; She had sat in the exact same place when she was hit with the news of her father's death. Seemed like an appropriate place to return to. A dead father and a broken heart both made her chest contract painfully in a physical way due to emotions. Lucy wondered what would have happened if Lisanna had never returned from Edolas, would Natsu have wanted to be with her then? Or would he still not think of her in that way? Lucy's gut was tugging in the direction of the latter. She sighed and pulled her knees up against her face, the rough bark of the tree dug into her back. A sudden breeze blew through the air and caused leaves to dance along the ground, several children were gleefully chasing after them with outstretched hands. How she wished she could be as carefree as them... She wished that her childhood could have been as easy as theirs.

'No." her mind suddenly piqued up, "If you had such an easy life you never would have run away from your father and you never would have met Natsu. Which means you never would have been able to join Fairy Tail. Is that what you want?"

"Well no..."

"Would you rather be at home still? Constantly grieving over your mother and being treated like a princess twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week?"

"Shut up..."

"But then again, maybe your father wouldn't have died if you had just stayed home-"

"SHUT UP!" Lucy screamed, covering her ears with her hands. The children all stopped laughing and turned to look at her, Lucy averted her eyes. Why did her mind torture her so? There was never a day that went by when she didn't think of how Jude Heartfilia might have lived longer if she had just stayed with him. She wished that she had been kinder the last time that she had seen him. How pitiful he was; so weak and vulnerable. She had no idea that he would pass in just seven short years.

"LUCY!?" Her head whipped up at the sound of her name. She watched as Natsu, his arms flailing wildly at his sides, ran down the stone steps and dash towards her. She quickly pushed herself up off the ground and started to sprint in the opposite direction, attempting to free her keys from her belt at the same time. But before she could summon any of her spirits, Natsu tackled her to the ground and sent them both flying through the air. He twisted so that when they landed Lucy ended up on top of him, totally protected.

"Natsu! What was that?!" Lucy pushed herself off of him and glared angrily.

"I have something I need to tell you!" Natsu smiled widely, his pointy teeth shining in the bright sun, he seemed to be unhurt by the tumble. Lucy continued to glare at him menacingly, wishing he had been injured for the stunt.

"And you couldn't have just walked up to me like a normal person?" He looked at her innocently,

"I was too excited... Are you still mad at me? What did I do wrong?" Lucy began to see red,

"You have the... nerve to ask me what you did wrong? Just... Go back to Lisanna! I bet she's wondering where you are anyways." Natsu looked at her, confusion painted plainly on his face.

"What are you talking abou-"

"I HEARD YOU!" She screamed, "I heard what she said and what you replied!" Natsu's face scrunched up as he tried to think through the past few days and what Lucy could have overheard. His eyes lit up as he came up with a possibility.

"Did you hear Lisanna's confession?" Lucy just continued to glare at him. "Did you hear what I replied?"

"Enough to know that you love her."

He looked at her funny, "As a nakama, yes."

"Yes, as a-What?" Lucy's scowl faltered and Natsu took it as an opportunity to explain.

"I told her I loved her as a close friend, not romantically." He said, rubbing his lower back, he had actually hurt himself slightly in the fall, his still healing injuries did not appreciate the new additions. Natsu looked at Lucy's shocked expression and said, "Maybe I should explain."

FLASHBACK

Every time Natsu tried to move it was as if Erza was throwing him into the wall all over again. Lisanna was doing a terrific job of nursing him back to health however; She was administering the medicines that Grandine provided her with regularly, and it was making a noticeable difference in his condition. Well, at least according to Grandine it was. Natsu was in such a drugged out fog he could barely feel anything. He was in an almost comatose state for the first twenty-four hours. When he finally awoke it was late in the evening of the following day. The first thing he noticed was how much better he was feeling, 'I must be getting stronger! It usually takes at least two or three days to recover from an Erza inflicted injury!' He thought. The second thing he noticed was how hungry he was. Moments after he realized this, Lisanna appeared from behind a stack of his belongings, holding a bowl of broth.

"I thought you might be hungry." She set the container on his lap and watched as he hastily brought it to his mouth and started swallowing the liquid inside in large gulps.

"Ank-oo!" He managed to say between mouthfuls. She smiled sweetly at him and nodded. All that could be heard for the next minute was the sound of broth sloshing from the bowl into Natsu's mouth. And when he was finished the rustling of bed-sheets as Lisanna gently lowered him back down into a laying position. As Natsu snuggled into his blankets Lisanna gave a small cough and started to speak.

"Natsu?" The tired dragon slayer grunted in reply, too comfortable in the pile of blankets to make a proper response. "I have something to tell you... I-I... Remember when we were kids? And we were raising happy...? I think that I want to have that sort of life... for real..." The room was filled with a deafening silence; Natsu eyes were wide as he processed the information. He gave a small nervous laugh in the back of his throat,

"...What do you mean Lisanna...?" He mentally smacked himself, that wasn't what he meant to say at all. Lisanna gave an almost inaudible sigh and started to explain to Natsu in a slow patient tone.

"I mean Natsu, that I love you more than a nakama. I love-love you." Natsu said nothing as he thought; there was a point in time where he thought he had loved Lisanna. He had liked her when they were kids and when he thought she had died he had considered the fact that he had loved her in a romantic way. And yet-

"Lisanna, I... love you too...but not in that way." He thought he heard a thump outside the door, his head up and turned towards it but his ears picked up no further sounds so he ignored it; returning all his attention to the situation at hand. "You are one of my closest friends; I grew up with you and hatched Happy with you. But... It doesn't feel right to say that I love you romantically... I don't know why. It's like a gut feeling or something." Lisanna's face stayed impassive, the only sign that she had heard what he had said was her slightly quivering bottom lip. She smiled and spoke, her voice unwavering.

"I understand, and I think I know why too..."

Natsu looked up at her, innocent curiosity shining in his eyes, "Really? why?"

Lisanna smiled at his obliviousness. "I'm sure you'll find out eventually." He frowned, "I'm going to go and clean up... Over there..." She said, pointing to a point of the room that was blocked by one of Natsu's many piles of rubbish. When Lisanna had disappeared behind the tower Natsu attempted to stand up, expecting a lot of pain. He was pleasantly surprised when he was able to get to his feet with hardly any discomfort at all. There was only a dull throbbing in his head which was easily ignored. He walked around the room a few times; letting blood circulate through his legs. He shook away the pins and needles that prickled uncomfortably beneath his skin, and started towards his door.

"I'm going to go and visit Lucy!" He called out to Lisanna, "I haven't seen her in almost two days!" As he exited his house and shut the door behind him he didn't hear the soft hiccup that came from the other side of the room. Or the bitter-sweet smile that Lisanna wore on her face; sad that she had been rejected, but happy that Natsu was probably going to figure out what she meant earlier.

END OF FLASHBACK

Lucy stared at the boy in front of her with wide eyes. Natsu looked her straight in the eye, his stare unwavering. She tried to look for a sign that he could be lying but soon found that she was losing herself in the seriousness of his black irises. She felt tears start to form, prickling behind her eyes and making them itch. She started to rub her them, trying desperately to push back the water that wanted to flow freely down her face. But despite her efforts, a single tear slipped through and fell down her cheek, leaving a thin line of water behind as it trailed down her face and neck. Natsu jumped,

What's wrong Lucy? Did I do something wrong again?" Lucy watched as he panicked; hopping from one foot to the other and looking around frantically. She smiled at the sight, he looked so much like a small child when he was worried. He noticed her change in facial expression and leaned over,

"Are you okay now? What did I do?" His brow was scrunched together in confusion and his eyes were bright with relief. She couldn't hide her feeling for another moment, 'he's so clueless he might never realize otherwise.' She reasoned with her mind. So she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips on his,

"Everything." She mumbled against his mouth, she felt him jerk back slightly in surprise and freeze, not moving. She felt a jab in her chest and began to pull away, feeling foolish that she could even think for a second that Natsu could feel that way for her. Just because he turned down Lisanna didn't mean that he liked her that way. Suddenly Natsu grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back towards him. His hand snaked around her waist and pressed her even closer to him. Their mouths were slanted over each other's, moving together furiously; putting all their pent up feelings into the kiss. Lucy's hands were buried in Natsu's salmon hair and his free hand was tangled in her blonde locks. He gently nipped her bottom lip with his sharp canines and then soothed it by sucking on it. Lucy moaned and opened her mouth on reflex, Natsu took opportunity of the moment and slipped his tongue inside. He fought for dominance with an almost animal-like approach; tasting, exploring, feeling. Lucy had just started trailing her hands down Natsu's stomach when a high-pitched voice rang out from above them.

"You luuuuurv heeeeeer!" Happy flew over their heads, smirking with an impish grin. The two jumped apart; Lucy's cheeks flushed a bright pink not unlike her, now, boyfriend's hair. Natsu smiled and pulled her head back towards him to press his mouth on her forehead.

"Yeah." Lucy buried her face into the white dragon-skin scarf that dangled in front of her so she could hide her blushing face; which had now surpassed pink in colour and was now a splendid shade of red. "Yeah, I do." he said, lifting Lucy's chin so their lips could meet for another kiss.

THERE IT IS! MY VERY FIRST COMPLETED STORY! Ahhh! it feels so good! I hope you all liked it!

AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REVIEW EVEN THOUGH IT IS COMPLETED!

THANKS FOR READING!