A/N: Hey all! This is the sequel to 'crash & burn,' set thirteen years later. If you haven't read it, here's a quick summary [spoilers]: Gray and Natsu meet in a program for troubled youth, where Gray is dealing with his brother's drug addiction and Natsu's living in an abusive foster home. Natsu attempts to kill himself and Gray saves his life, and gets him out of the abusive situation. Eventually Gray opens up to Natsu and tells him that his brother shot him while he was high, and he's still traumatized by it. They fall in love, and in the epilogue they end up getting married.
CW for past trauma, past self-harm, reference to a past suicide attempt, drug use/addiction. Each chapter will have a trigger warning, please make sure to check those!
Gray is Québécois, so all French used is Canadian, and most of it is colloquial. Translations are done based on equivalence and are not exact transcriptions.
Come visit me on tumblr as splendidlyimperfect. ^_^
"How can you possibly need to pee again?"
Gray looked over at Natsu with fond exasperation. Natsu shrugged, grinning innocently.
"Seriously, we've only been driving for..." Gray glanced at his watch. "Four hours. And you've made me stop three times already."
"I can't help it!" Natsu argued, unfolding his legs and yawning. "Too much coffee."
Gray snorted, flicking on the signal and pulling off the highway into the small town of Terrence. It was the same as the last three tiny places they'd stopped in – a single gas station, two or three restaurants, and a hotel. The mountains stretched high above the town, deep green and heavily forested.
"We might as well get gas," Gray said as he pulled into the station parking lot, wincing at the prices. "Câlice, it's expensive here. All right, go take your break." Natsu leaned over and pressed a kiss to Gray's cheek.
"Love you, Snowflake," he said. Gray huffed, then turned and returned the kiss as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Love you too. Take your garbage with you." Gray gestured to the myriad of candy wrappers and chip bags that littered Natsu's side of the car – even after ten years of marriage he had a hard time believing how much food Natsu could eat. "And get me something."
"Sweet or salty?" Natsu collected the garbage and shoved it all into a chip bag, then headed toward the gas station.
"Surprise me!" Gray called after him, getting out to fill up the car.
Natsu pushed the door to the gas station open, tossing his garbage in the trash. His eyes skipped over the racks of candy, then made his way through the aisles and stopped up in the lineup at the bathroom.
Natsu's phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, leaning against the wall. It was a message from Lucy.
How's the trip so far? Did Gray manage to get you out of bed at 5:30? Natsu laughed under his breath, fingers flying across the keys.
ya but he cheated, cold hands. He yawned and rubbed his face. were in some tiny town. is kaden ecxited for the tri thalon? The washroom door opened and Natsu glanced up briefly, then returned to his phone. tell him to send us pics and were proud of him. He began to search for an emoji to add, but jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Natsu?" A young woman was standing in front of him, maybe five or so years younger than him. Her long hair was dyed a deep blue and her brow was furrowed in confusion. "Is that you?"
"Uh... who's asking?" Natsu shrugged off the hand uncomfortably, pulling his hoodie tighter around him. He glanced out the window and saw Gray, still standing by the car outside. Natsu wished he could summon Gray inside with only his thoughts.
"Natsu, it's Wendy."
Natsu blinked. He looked at the girl's face again, tracing the shape of her eyes and the small scar at the corner of her mouth that he'd missed the first time. A strange tugging sensation filled his chest and he reached out almost instinctively, grasping her forearms.
"Wendy?" he asked softly. She nodded, confusion on her face transforming into a smile that he remembered so well. "You're... you..." Natsu swallowed. He hadn't seen her in twenty years, but suddenly he was ten years old and back in the foster home, telling her stories in the blanket fort they'd made. They'd been inseparable for nearly a year, and then one day had woken up without her. She'd been adopted, and he'd never seen her again.
Until now.
"I can't believe it's you," Wendy whispered, letting Natsu pull her into a hug. She was still shorter than him and her head easily tucked under his chin, just like it had when she was six. A whirlwind of emotions was surfacing in Natsu now and he exhaled shakily, pulling back and staring at her again.
"Are you – do you live here?" she asked.
Natsu shook his head. "No, we – my husband and I – we're on a trip. Just stopping for – we needed gas. Snacks. I had to..." He trailed off and gestured to the washroom. Wendy laughed and shook her head, then glanced up at the till where another woman was waiting to pay. Her hair was nearly the color of Natsu's, but he didn't recognize her.
"That's my girlfriend, we're on our way to a conference," Wendy said.
Natsu shook his head – all of this was starting to feel overwhelming. His hands were shaking and Wendy gripped them tightly. Natsu saw her eyes flick curiously down to his badly scarred hand, then travel up his arm to the marks on his neck and face. It didn't bother him as much anymore, but this felt less like casual curiosity from a stranger and more of a request for an explanation.
"Can you – are you in a hurry?" he asked. His voice was shakier than he thought it would be, and he was both relieved and apprehensive when Wendy shook her head.
"No, we're not due in Vernon until tomorrow." She smiled again, wide and genuine, and Natsu's chest ached. He'd been certain he would never see her again.
"Do you want to... can we have lunch?" It was going to take him and Gray over a week to reach Québec anyway, so a few extra hours wasn't going to kill them. "I dunno anything about this place but I'm sure there's a shitty diner somewhere." It felt strange to be swearing around someone he'd last seen when she was six.
"I'd love to," Wendy said, glancing behind Natsu as the person in front of him exited the restroom. She took out her phone and pulled up a map, then flipped it to show Natsu. "Meet here in half an hour?"
"So, uh… Wendy," Natsu said. He sat next to Gray in the restaurant booth, jiggling his leg nervously and tracing old scratches in the wood with his nails. When Gray rested a hand on his knee, Natsu exhaled. "This is my husband. Gray."
Wendy reached across and shook Gray's hand, giving him a wide smile, then gesturing to the girl beside her and saying, "This is my girlfriend, Sherria." Gray shook her hand as well, then looked back at Wendy curiously.
"We, uh… we were in the same foster home together," Natsu said after a moment of awkward silence. Gray raised his eyebrows.
"The one…" He trailed off, gaze flicking down to Natsu's hands. Natsu ran his finger over the small, white scar on his thumb and gave a hesitant nod, chewing on his lip. Gray brought his hand up to cover Natsu's, raising an eyebrow. Does she know?
No. A soft shake of Natsu's head.
"I'm sorry," Wendy said softly, leaning against Sherria. "It's—I haven't thought about it in a while either. It's a lot to remember."
"Mm." Natsu squeezed Gray's hand, then grabbed a menu and started to flip through it absently. "So, you're going to a conference?"
"Yes!" Wendy nudged Sherria and smiled. "We're both pre-med, we're going to the Burn Network Symposium in Vernon."
Natsu looked up at her, frowning, then shook his head and laughed. He saw her eyes flick back down to the scars on his hand, then back up to his eyes apologetically.
"Hopefully you'll end up in the place where I stayed after this happened," he said, rolling up his sleeve and holding out his arm. "I'm a volunteer firefighter. Happened, what, eight years ago?" He looked at Gray, who nodded. "Second- and third-degree burns. Had a ton of skin grafts, it took forever to heal."
"Wow, that's amazing healing for third-degree burns," Sherria said, leaning over and peering at Natsu's arm curiously. "Did they use silver? Applying nanotechnology to burn therapy is brilliant, there's a workshop at the sym—"
"Sher," Wendy said gently, nudging Sherria, who suddenly looked mortified.
"Shit, sorry, I just get carried away." She ducked her head.
"No, it's fine," Natsu said, tugging his sleeve back down. "I can't believe you're old enough to be a pre-med student. It's… you were six."
Wendy sighed, looking down at her coffee. "Did you—I mean, was…"
"I found my own way," Natsu said quietly. "Eventually." Gray squeezed his hand again, running his thumb over the back of Natsu's knuckles. "You got out though. How's your family?"
"Good," Wendy replied, pulling out her phone and flipping through a couple photos, then passing it to Natsu. It showed a couple in their mid-fifties, hugging Wendy and another girl who was as dark as Wendy was pale. "That's Kiera, you remember her?"
Natsu swallowed, setting the phone down on the table and pushing it back over to Wendy. His chest hurt, and he couldn't figure out why he felt like crying.
"Yeah." Natsu's voice was tight, like it was stuck in the back of his throat. "She—I'm glad you found a good family." Gray let go of Natsu's hand and wrapped his arm around Natsu instead, rubbing his thumb reassuringly across Natsu's shoulder.
Wendy hesitated, looking between Natsu and Gray. "Did your dad—did he come back?"
"No." The word was short and sharp, and Natsu exhaled, rubbing his face and looking back up at Wendy. "Sorry, it's not you. No, he never came back. I, uh, I bounced around 'til I was seventeen and then met this asshole." He leaned back and looked up at Gray affectionately.
From there, the conversation flowed easily. The four of them talked over pancakes and bacon – Natsu learned that Wendy and Kiera had moved to Toronto after being adopted, and that Wendy wanted to become a doctor in the NICU. Gray talked a little about his work, and Natsu told Wendy about the garage he ran with Sting.
When the bill came, Gray grabbed it from the table, shaking his head when Wendy tried to insist on paying. Gray leaned over and kissed Natsu's head, then gestured to the front of the restaurant. Sherria excused herself and followed him as well.
Natsu sighed, playing with his half-empty cup of coffee and dragging his thumbnail across the faded paint. Wendy reached out and put a hand over his.
"I'm sorry," she said gently. "Sounds like things were hard for you."
"Yeah," Natsu replied, trying to smile. "It was shit, but it's over now, right? We both have families." He wanted to curl up next to Gray and cry.
Wendy squeezed Natsu's hand. "Yeah, and Bill and Sarah are wonderful," she said. "But… I also found my real mom."
Natsu looked up at her, eyes wide. "Your—you what? How?"
"There's places," Wendy said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Like a database, you can sign up and see if they're looking for you, too. My mom… her name's Kelly. She was fifteen when I was born, she couldn't take care of a kid. We met up last summer, and it actually went really well."
Everything around Natsu went blurry, fading away into the background as he took a shaky breath. Wendy kept talking, showing Natsu a picture of herself and her mother, who looked almost exactly like her. It was background noise, though – everything else was static. He could find his dad?
Gray had mentioned it, once, before the wedding, but Natsu had refused to even entertain the idea. Natsu's father had abandoned him at eight years old to hide and fight and scrape his way through his childhood. He had left, just disappeared one day and made everything fall apart.
A gentle hand on Natsu's forearm brought him back to the present and he blinked, pulling away from Wendy. She looked at him sadly as he wiped his eyes.
"Sorry," Natsu whispered, trying to push back the lump in his throat. "I don't—I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It was a lot to think about," Wendy said, gently taking Natsu's hand in hers. "It took me a long time to decide if I wanted to do it. I don't regret it, though."
Natsu's heartbeat pounded in his ears, and when they stood up to leave the restaurant, it felt like the floor was shifting underneath him. Gray's hand in his grounded him a bit, but Natsu's skin thrummed uncomfortably when Wendy hugged him.
"Keep in touch, okay?" she said, passing him back his phone where she'd typed in her number. She pulled him in again and squeezed him tightly, whispering, "I missed you so much."
"I… missed you too," he said quietly, feeling not quite real as he pulled back and gave her what he hoped was a convincing smile.
After they watched Wendy and Sherria pull out of the parking lot and back onto the highway, Gray took Natsu gently by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug, not saying anything when Natsu started to cry.
"I don't know wh-why I'm so upset," Natsu said into Gray's shirt, arms wrapped tightly around Gray's waist. "I just—it's…"
"It's a lot to take in," Gray said, kissing the top of Natsu's head and rubbing his hand up Natsu's back. "Do you wanna stay here for the night? We don't have to keep driving."
Natsu was about to shake his head, but the tears kept falling and he pressed his face against Gray's shoulder, sniffing as he leaned heavily into the embrace.
"Yeah," he said softly, rubbing his face and then wrapping his arms around himself. He felt eight again, small and scared and lonely, missing his best friend and his dad and the mom who had disappeared.
"Okay," Gray said softly. "Whatever you need."