Sting woke to the feeling of gentle fingers running through his hair. He hummed, keeping his eyes closed and pressing back into the touch. It wasn't Gray – usually he went straight to kissing Sting's neck. It wasn't Rogue either, because Rogue usually scratched Sting's head. These fingers lingered behind his ear, tracing the curve of his hair on his neck, meaning it was...
"Hey, you." Sting rolled over to the sight of Natsu's dark eyes, framed by long black lashes and set in a sea of soft brown skin. Natsu smiled, running his fingers down Sting's cheek and leaning in for a kiss.
"Hey," he whispered. Sting's eyes flicked up to the bedroom window where heavy sheets of rain crashed down against the pane. Thunder rumbled distantly and he made a sleepy sound, rubbing his face in the blanket. "You okay?" Natsu asked.
"Mm," Sting replied. Natsu's fingers continued to comb through Sting's hair, brushing wayward strands from his face. "Long day." Natsu sighed in agreement, shifting closer to Sting until they were nose-to-nose and running a hand down Sting's side. "Where are the other two?"
"Driving home," Natsu replied, voice soft. It felt like they were wrapped in a cocoon of gentle silence, broken only by the patter of rain and the occasional roll of thunder. "They went to pick up that stuff from dad, Rogue was baking cinnamon buns with mom."
"He'd better bring some home," Sting said, humming contentedly as Natsu drew his fingers across Sting's cheek and rubbed up behind his ear. Natsu pressed a kiss to Sting's nose, cupping a hand behind his neck.
"Gray wouldn't let him leave without them," he murmured. Natsu's fingers traced the curve of Sting's neck down to his shoulder, then ducked under Sting's shirt to drift over his collarbone. Sting made a soft sound in the back of his throat, tipping his head to the side as Natsu leaned in and pressed a kiss to his neck.
Sting exhaled as Natsu's lips traced a pattern down to the spot where his neck met his shoulder, and instead of the bite that Sting expected, it was just a gentle kiss, soft and barely there. The light caress of Natsu's fingers as they drifted down Sting's arm was out of character, but Sting wasn't complaining.
"Can I?" Natsu's hand moved to the bottom of Sting's shirt and tugged on it. Sting nodded, sitting up enough for Natsu to pull it over his head and throw it aside. Then Natsu pressed Sting gently back into the bed, settling in between his legs and leaning over him with both hands on either side of Sting's head. "I love your eyes," Natsu murmured, leaning down and kissing Sting, lips barely touching.
Sting could taste the sugar from whatever caffeinated concoction Natsu had bought at Starbucks, mixed with the grapefruit chapstick he used. Natsu pulled back a bit and Sting leaned up, pushing himself up on his elbows to catch Natsu back in another kiss. Natsu exhaled against Sting's lips and rubbed their noses together. Sting could feel Natsu's eyelashes brushing against his cheek, soft and feathery.
"What are—"
"Shh." Natsu silenced Sting's question with another gentle kiss, then nudged Sting to lie back again. "I wanna..." he trailed off, looking up at Sting, dark eyes saying something that Sting couldn't quite understand. "Just. Lemme..."
He gave up on words, leaning down instead and returning to Sting's neck, kissing gently and drawing his fingers over Sting's skin in feather-light motions. His hand drifted down Sting's arm, tracing soft patterns over his skin and rubbing his thumb over the pulse point on his wrist.
"Natsu..." Sting whispered, shivering as Natsu's lips made their way down his collarbone. Natsu twined their fingers together, bringing Sting's hand up next to his head and pressing down on it as he rested his cheek over the left side of Sting's chest.
"Your heart's beating so fast," Natsu murmured, pressing a kiss above Sting's heartbeat. "For me." Sting moaned softly in agreement, squeezing Natsu's hand. "For us. All of us."
"Yeah," Sting replied, bringing his free hand up to stroke Natsu's cheek. "All of you."
Natsu turned his head and placed another kiss in the center of Sting's palm, then grabbed his hand and pinned it to the bed by his wrist. Sting whined, low in his throat, as Natsu continued kissing down the center of Sting's chest, all the way to the soft, blond trail of hair that started right below his navel.
"I love you," Natsu murmured, releasing Sting's wrists and bringing his hands to the waist of Sting's pants instead. "So much." Sting lifted his hips up as Natsu undid his jeans, sliding them and his boxers carefully down his legs and throwing them to the other side of the bed. "You're perfect." Natsu's voice was so low that Sting could barely hear it, the words murmured softly against the inside of his thighs and the curve of his hips.
Sting pressed his head back into the pillow, shaking at the soft touches. He and Nastu were usually rough – tongues and teeth and bruises and bloody lips. But now, it felt like Natsu was drawing things out of him, pulling joy and affection and adoration from beneath Sting's skin.
"C'mere, baby," Natsu whispered, moving up to lie next to Sting again and kissing his neck. He reached between them and slowly began to stroke Sting, languid and unhurried. Sting moaned, tipping his head back and feeling tiny sparks ignite on the trail that Natsu's tongue left behind.
Natsu cupped the back of Sting's neck and pulled away for a moment, gazing into Sting's eyes and smiling. It was a soft, contented smile – not the cocky smirk he usually wore, or the silly grin that came out when they were playing. It was peaceful, soft, open.
"Your eyes are so blue," Natsu murmured, tilting his head. "I should tell you you're pretty more often. I'm sorry I don't." He stroked Sting lazily, moving back down to kiss him.
Something had happened today – Sting could feel that there was a soft grief behind Natsu's words, but Sting didn't say anything. He just let himself go to the press of their lips, to the gentle touch of fingers on the back of his neck, to the hand that was pulling him closer and closer to release.
"N-natsu, gods, you're..." Sting gasped, rocking his hips forward into Natsu's hand. "I'm..."
"It's okay," Natsu said against Sting's lips, twining his fingers in Sting's hair and kissing him deeper. "I've got you, sweetheart."
Sting tensed against Natsu as he reached his peak, gripping Natsu's arm tightly. Natsu kept whispering to him, soft words coaxing him gently through the sensation.
"You're so good, I love you so much," Natsu whispered, pressing their foreheads together as Sting groaned and shook. "You're beautiful. I love you." It felt like the tight, intense rush inside Sting was never ending, prolonged by each word that passed Natsu's lips. He panted and shuddered, riding it out until he was shivering in Natsu's arms.
Natsu wiped his hand on the blanket and pulled Sting tightly to him, wrapping both arms around him and resting his chin on Sting's head. The circle of Natsu's arms was warm and comforting, and Sting melted into the embrace.
They lay like that for a while, wrapped in each other, until Sting felt Natsu's arms shaking around him. He pulled back a little from the embrace to see that Natsu was crying.
"What's wrong, love?" he asked, pulling the blanket over both of them and rubbing a thumb over Natsu's cheek. "What happened?"
Natsu shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and sighing. "My coworker... Melissa, you remember her?" Sting nodded, running his fingers through Natsu's hair comfortingly. "She... her husband died yesterday."
"Oh, sweetheart." Sting sighed, taking Natsu's hand and lacing their fingers together. "I'm sorry."
"He just... some drunk driver hit him." Natsu's voice was thick and Sting kissed his forehead. "It just... it just happened, and now he's gone and she didn't get to tell him..." he swallowed, shaking his head. "I couldn't lose you," he whispered. "Any of you. I need... I need you to know how much I love you. All the time."
"We do," Sting said gently, switching their positions and pulling Natsu to his chest. "We all do." He kissed Natsu's hair. "And we love you so much too."
"I know people don't get it," Natsu said, voice muffled. "How we can… how there's enough of me for all of you, but there is, and I love you all so much, and I don't say it enough."
"Love, you-"
"I should tell you every day," Natsu whispered, wiping at his face. "Tell you that you're pretty and funny and strong, and that y-you make me laugh a-and I love being with you." Sting's arms tightened around him. "I should tell Gray that he's... he's so patient with me, and I love th-the way he makes my favorite food when I'm sad. And Rogue, h-he washes my hair when we shower together and it's just the n-nicest feeling and he kisses me even when I'm b-being obnoxious."
Natsu's voice trailed off and he started to cry again. Sting made soft soothing sounds, stroking Natsu's hair and holding him tight.
"We love you too," he murmured. "You're our... you're the heart of us." He sighed, wishing the other two were here to comfort Natsu as well. "You're... you're bright. You make everything warm and you bring us together and you keep us strong."
Natsu shuddered against his chest and Sting continued to stroke his hair, softly singing one of the songs he would use at the daycare to calm the upset kids. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray..."
He could feel the grief in each shake of Natsu's shoulders and he kissed his boyfriend's head, trying as hard as he could to communicate his love through gentle touches. "You never know dear, how much I love you..." His voice dropped lower and he buried his face in Natsu's hair, whispering the words against the backdrop of the rain.
"Please don't take my sunshine away..."