Natsu glared off into the distance, watching the sun set further and further. He didn't know why people thought sunsets were so beautiful. They signaled the end of a day, and Natsu hated it when things ended. He preferred watching the sunrise. The start of a new day was always promising, and that was more beautiful than any ending. Unless of course, the ending was a new beginning. But did that make it an ending at all? Did anything ever really end? Natsu decided not to hurt his brain and settled that everything is a cycle.

He let his eyes wander from the sunset over to Lucy, who was currently engaged in some sort of argument with Happy. It didn't sound like either side was winning, but Happy had already succeeded by making Lucy angry. Since Wendy and Carla hadn't come with them on this job, Happy had nothing else to preoccupy his time with. He should have known that by this time of day Lucy was at the end of her rope, and she'd sent the cat flying with one of her famous kicks. Natsu grinned; his two closest friends and they were at each other's throats.

Natsu looked behind him at the inn they'd come across while on their way to the next town. It was small, but it was better than camping out, and Erza and Gray were inside checking for vacancy. Of course, Erza's ginormous luggage cart was parked right outside, and Happy had elected to hide on top of it in order to avoid the still fuming Lucy. The blonde shouted some threatening words at the "stupid cat" and appeared to regain her composure before approaching Natsu.

"Are you alright? You look totally spaced out."

"Yeah, I'm just kinda tired."

"Hopefully there's room for us. I don't think I can spend another night sleeping on the ground."

Natsu didn't respond, turning his attention back to the sunset. He wasn't trying to ignore Lucy, but he had something on his mind. Lucy hated awkward silences, so she decided to fill the void herself and keep talking.

"I was surprised at first that Gray wanted to take this job with us. He's been doing his own thing lately. But then again, there was that whole thing with Juvia this morning."

Lucy thanked her lucky stars when Natsu actually turned to look at her. Apparently Natsu was more interested in guild gossip than he let on.

"What thing with Juvia?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't there. Well, today Juvia was being extra clingy, and Gray must have been in a bad mood or something because he snapped at her! She started crying, which is nothing new, but then he sat her down and told her that he values her friendship but he's not interested in a romantic relationship. Then she started questioning him about "another woman" and of course she jumped to the conclusion that it was me." Lucy looked extremely annoyed by that last statement. It still sent shivers down her spine whenever she heard the words "love rival".

Natsu did his best to portray an idle expression, but inside his mind was racing. Okay, so he'd kinda been crushing on Gray for a while. No big deal, right? Natsu wasn't very good at dealing with his "feelings", and at the time he was pretty sure it would just go away. What do they call that? A passing attraction? Whatever. Bottom line is, it didn't go away. Natsu was content to ignore the feelings and just fight Gray whenever they got too difficult to deal with. He thought about talking about it with Lucy, but as much as he trusted her, he didn't know if she could keep it a secret. Telling Happy never crossed his mind. The whole guild would know before he even finished the sentence.

Lucy took Natsu's blank stare as an invitation to give him her opinion. "Anyway, I'm sure she'll still follow him around like a lost puppy dog. I would say I feel bad for any girl Gray flirts with, but I don't think I've ever seen him do that kind of thing. He must just be shy, otherwise he'd probably have been all over me when I first came to the guild." Lucy closed her eyes, imagining herself arriving at the guild and countless men surrounding her, showering her with flowers and gifts.

This time, Natsu was ignoring Lucy. Picturing Gray flirting with Lucy would have just upset him; dragon slayers are notoriously territorial. But she was right about one thing: Natsu also couldn't recall a time he saw Gray flirting with a girl. Sure there were the ones on Galuna island, but Natsu liked to think he was just trying to be nice. Did this mean there was a chance? Could Gray be feeling the same way he was? Natsu didn't want to get his hopes too high, but was it that far fetched of a thought? Even though it sometimes seemed like they hated each other, Gray always stuck around. Why would he be part of "Team Natsu" if he didn't like him?

Both Natsu and Lucy turned around when they heard the unmistakeable sound of Erza's approaching footsteps. The requip mage had a smile on their face and motioned for the two to come inside. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and hurried through the door. Natsu lingered to retrieve Happy from the top of Erza's luggage, and watched as she struggled to pull the cart inside the inn. Surprisingly, it fit, and he followed behind as she lead them to their room. Happy walked by Natsu's side, clearly still keeping an eye out for the raging blonde.

The room wasn't very big, but it had a bathroom and four cots, which was all they needed. There was a sliding door that led out back behind the inn, and the group discovered a fire pit complete with sticks for roasting marshmallows. The fire was already lit, and Erza apparently kept a supply of marshmallows in one of her may suitcases. After they settled in, the five of them slipped outside and spread out around the campfire. Happy kept burning his marshmallow too much and ended up making Natsu do it for him, which he should have known would result in Natsu eating his marshmallow. Erza took pity on the cat, giving him one of her own.

They were silent for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet of the night. Lucy may have hated awkward silences, but she was totally ok with comfortable ones. She'd had more than her fair share of marshmallows and was currently lying on her back, staring up at the stars. Erza had left at some point to retrieve a bottle of….something suspicious. She didn't offer a drink to anyone else, and she downed it before anyone could ask. Her expression seemed very conflicted, and it was Gray who broke the silence.

"Uhhh….you alright Erza?"

"I'm FINE."

Her sudden increase in volume made even Natsu jump. Lucy sat upright, visibly startled by Erza's sudden outburst. The blonde looked as though she was going to say something, but she found herself trapped in Erza's arms. The requip mage was almost in tears, and Lucy didn't know whether to be concerned or fearing for her life.

"I'm sorry...I just...I love you all so much! The armor around my heart is impermeable to all except you. I don't know how you've put up with me for all this time."

It was very apparent that whatever it was Erza was drinking was not free of alcohol.

"Awww, we love you too Erza. And we don't "put up" with you. You're our friend, we love having you around." Lucy struggled to speak through Erza's death grip. She looked earnestly to Natsu for help.

"Uh, yeah! Even when you're being really scary! As long as there's someone else at the end on your sword." The expression Lucy gave him told him he could have worded that a little better.

Gray joined in to make sure she was convinced. "We couldn't be a team without you Erza." Even though Gray wasn't talking about him, the genuine smile and caring tone of his voice still put butterflies in Natsu's stomach. However, their words only seemed to make Erza more hysterical, tightening her grip around Lucy.

"Thank you so much! And you especially Lucy. Other women are so intimidated by me….I rarely ever have someone to help me do my hair or paint my toenails. Will you help paint my toenails Lucy?!"

"Sure, we can do that first thing tomorrow. But right now, I think we should just go to bed." Lucy stood up, pulling Erza up with her. The blonde waved goodnight to the guys before slowly walking back to their room, practically carrying the intoxicated redhead with her. As soon as they were inside, it was silent around the campfire once again. Natsu finished the last of the marshmallows, this time saving one for Happy. The exceed ate it in one bite and then sprawled out into the grass, rubbing his stomach in satisfaction.

Natsu stole looks at Gray as they watched the fire begin to burn out. He couldn't decide if the moon or the flames illuminated him better, but what he did know was that he was handsome as usual. It felt like a double edged sword when it came to Gray's stripping habit. Natsu was never at a loss if he wanted see Gray shirtless, but he couldn't deny it made him a little angry that everyone else could see him too. He wondered what it would be like having Gray all to himself. I'll never know if I don't try.

"Gray."

"No flamebrain, you can't eat the fire yet."

"Gray."

Hearing Natsu say his name again instead of getting angry and insulting him caused Gray to look up at his pink haired friend. The look on Natsu's face was one that Gray didn't see often, usually only when he was thinking about Igneel. Gray silently wondered if he looked the same way when thinking about Ur.

"I….got something to tell ya."

Gray shifted his weight a little, feeling awkward. He wasn't very good at consoling people when they were sad, and Natsu had never talked to him about Igneel before. Not all the mushy details anyway. "Ok. What is it?"

"I guess I just wanted you to know….that I care about you. A lot." Natsu couldn't tell if he was feeling the heat from the fire or if his face was starting to match his hair. He averted his eyes away from Gray, scared of his response.

Gray was puzzled, to say the least. That really wasn't what he was expecting the dragon slayer to say. "I..uh...care about you too. We're nakama, remember?" A dreadful thought swam through Gray's mind. Does he think I don't care because we fight all the time? I thought trading insults and having brawls was just part of our friendship. Gray deeply hoped he hadn't made his friend feel like he truthfully didn't like him.

Natsu was having a struggle in his mind too. His words had completely gone over Gray's head. It wasn't the ice mage's fault. Natsu almost never talked about things like this out loud. He wasn't sure what to say, or how to say it. The truth was, he didn't know exactly how he felt about Gray. He just knew he wanted him to be more than a friend. How could he make that clear?

"I know that. I just meant that you really matter to me. I like spending time with you and stuff."

Gray smiled in disbelief. Natsu had never been great at communication, and apparently he felt the need to show his appreciation for Gray's friendship. Gray decided that Erza's sudden outbursts had probably made Natsu feel like he needed to say something too. He almost chuckled at how easily Natsu was influenced by the people around him. He was like a little kid. But Gray couldn't deny that sometimes Natsu's immaturity brought him joy.

"I like spending time with you too, loser."

Despite the fact that he felt like Gray still didn't understand what he was trying to say, Natsu couldn't help but smile at the warmth in Gray's words. He decided he could deal with this another time when Gray didn't look so unfairly dazzling in the moonlight. Not long after that, Happy complained that he was tired and all three of them went inside to sleep. Natsu passed out with a smile on his face, feeling like tonight was at least a partial success.

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