A/N: This is a sequel to 'crash & burn'! All French translations are at the bottom.
"I am exhausted." Natsu kicked off his shoes and rolled up his pants, grabbing Gray's hand and tugging him down through the sand toward the beach. March in Montréal was chilly, and he yelped at the icy water on his ankles. There were no large waves here, just the wind and the gentle ripples on the surface of the lake. "I hope Ultear isn't too mad about the maple syrup in Felix's hair."
Gray snorted. Cabane à sucre had been fun but tiring. The kids had spent all afternoon on the ice slide, and they'd taken a horse-drawn sleigh ride around the farm where the festival was held. Their favourite part, as always, had been tire sur la neige – maple syrup poured on snow and rolled onto a popsicle stick.
They'd dropped the kids back off at grand-maman and grand-papa's house an hour ago, then taken a drive through the city and ended up at the lake. Jean-Doré beach had been one of Gray's favourite places to play as a kid, and the sensation of water around his ankles was bringing back so many memories of his family.
"Mmm." Gray shivered, pulling Natsu closer to him and kissing his jaw. Thinking of family reminded him of why they were here. His stomach was full of butterflies, jumping from one place to the next as his finger traced the shape of the ring in his pocket. Why was he so nervous? Of course Natsu was going to say yes.
"Remember when I was a dumbass and asked you to teach me to swim in the ocean?" Natsu grinned, pushing his hair back out of his eyes. "That was fucking cold."
Gray laughed, wrapping his arms around Natsu's waist and burying his face in the pink-haired boy's neck. He felt Natsu's arms rest on his shoulders, and a kiss was pressed into his hair.
"You okay, Snowflake?" Natsu's voice was so close, breath tickling his ear, and Gray sighed happily. "You've been pretty quiet today." Gray nodded.
"I sent a letter to Lyon," he mumbled into Natsu's shirt. The pink-haired boy froze for a second, then hugged Gray tightly to him.
"How're you feeling?" Natsu knew that Gray had been reading all of the letters Lyon sent him – one every few weeks for the last three years – but Gray hadn't really talked to him about writing back. It hadn't occurred to him until he'd come home with an engagement ring and realized what he'd needed to do.
"…relieved, I think?" Gray leaned back a bit, smiling when Natsu kissed his cheek. Dropping that envelope in the mailbox had given him some closure, but he wasn't sure he'd ever feel one hundred percent certain about his decision. "I told him I forgave him. That I was…letting him and all that anger go, because…" He hesitated. Natsu looked at him curiously.
"Because…" he prompted.
"Um, I…" Gray swallowed. He'd thought of a thousand ways to do this, but now that they were here, he knew that nothing mattered but the question and the answer. "I have…something to ask you." His cheeks burned pink and he swallowed. "T'es mon meilleur ami et je t'aime tellement." Gray looked up, running his thumb over Natsu's cheekbone. The other boy's head was tilted to the side and his brow was slightly furrowed. Gray took a shaky breath, feeling his hands trembling."Veux-tu m'épouser?"
There was a beat of silence, and Natsu's eyes widened.
"Are…you asking me what I think you're asking me?" His voice was soft as he reached up to capture Gray's hand on his face. Gray nodded and he reached into his pocket, pulling out the ring.
"Do you wanna marry me?" He asked again, holding up the ring in his trembling hand for Natsu to see. The pink-haired boy's eyes widened further. "Wanna wake up with me every morning?" Gray's voice caught on the words and he exhaled shakily. "Wanna spend every day with me for the rest of our lives?"
"Hell, yes," Natsu whispered, and Gray let a burst of nervous laughter erupt from his chest. He took Natsu's hand and slid the ring onto his finger as Natsu brought his other hand up to his mouth, choking out a soft sob. "Gray, fuck, I love you so much."
"I love you too," Gray murmured, leaning in and capturing the pink-haired boy's lips with his own. The water was freezing around their ankles and their shoulders tensed against the cold as they kissed and kissed and kissed. Gray could feel Natsu's tears on his cheeks, mixing with his own, and he still wasn't sure why he was crying.
"You make me so happy," Natsu said after a moment, voice shaky. He wiped at his eyes and then ran his fingers through Gray's hair. "How long have you been planning this?" He looked down at the ring on his finger, grinning.
"Since we booked our trip here," Gray admitted, bunching the fabric of Natsu's sweater between his fingers. "I wanted…I thought, because we have the whole family together…and we can tell them..."
"You're adorable," Natsu murmured, kissing Gray's nose and removing the ring for a moment to get a better look at it. It was a soft, burnished gold with reddish undertones that were catching the lights from the street. Natsu brought it closer to his face, then covered his mouth with his hand as tears began to well up in his eyes again. In Gray's handwriting, the single word always was engraved on the inside of the band. "Gray…"
"I meant it then, and I mean it now," Gray said, thinking back to three years ago, sitting in his apartment and promising Natsu that he would always come for him. He wiped the tears from Natsu's cheeks with his thumb, smiling softly. "You're stuck with me."
"Good," Natsu murmured, slipping the ring back onto his finger and leaning forward to kiss Gray. He nipped at the dark-haired boy's lower lip, wrapping his arms tightly around Gray's waist and pulling him close. "Wanna go make out in the car like teenagers?"
"You're incorrigible," Gray laughed, then moaned as Natsu's lips moved to his neck, and then the hollow of his throat. "But…I could be persuaded." He could feel Natsu's grin against his skin, and then sharp teeth dragging across his collarbone. A hand fisted in his hair and he shivered, arousal arcing through his body.
Natsu leaned back, grabbing Gray's hand and pulling him out of the river and toward their discarded shoes. Then he turned and pressed a quick kiss to Gray's nose before pulling him up the hill towards the car and into the night.
"Do I have to wear a dress?" Sylvie looked concerned, arms crossed over her too-large Montréal Canadiens hockey jersey. Natsu laughed, crouching down next to her.
"Of course not, tresor," he replied in French, letting out a soft oof as she crashed into him, hugging him tightly. "You can wear whatever you want."
"Even this?" She asked, pointing to the jersey. Natsu smiled and nodded. Sylvie cocked her head and looked at him suspiciously. "Do you have to wear a dress?" Natsu could hear Gray snort as he shook his head. "Cause Aunty Joelle wore a dress when her and Uncle David got married. Can boys wear dresses?"
"Of course they can," Natsu replied, smiling at her. "But I don't like to wear dresses, so no, I won't wear one." He picked up Sylvie – a more difficult feat now that she was bigger – and brought her over to the couch where Gray was sitting. She looked morose, and he put a finger under her chin. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"I don't want you to go away," she said quietly, lower lip trembling suddenly. Natsu shot Gray a puzzled look, then his eyes widened in realization. Joelle and David had moved away to Florida shortly after getting married.
"We're not going anywhere," Natsu assured Sylvie, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to her head. "You can't get rid of us that easily." She gave him an uncertain look.
"You'll still be Uncle Natsu?"
"Of course," he said softly, brushing her bangs out of her face. "I'll always be Uncle Natsu. Getting married doesn't change anything." Gray nodded, leaning in to rest his head on Natsu's shoulder.
"We're just gonna have a big party and talk about how much we love each other," he said, grinning as he tilted his head up and kissed Natsu. Sylvie squealed, trying to escape Natsu's arms.
"Grossssss," she cried, giggling as both her uncles leaned in and started to pepper her face with kisses. "Weddings are yucky! Maman, help, Uncle Gray and Uncle Natsu are gross!"
"I think they're adorable," Ultear argued, leaning over the back of the couch and pinching both Gray and Natsu's cheeks. Sylvie took advantage of the distraction to squirm out of Natsu's arms and dart over to where Felix was playing on the iPad.
"Do I have to wear a dress?" Renaud appeared where Sylvie had been, and Natsu burst out laughing, scooping up the little boy and shaking his head.
"I'm making an executive order – nobody has to wear dresses unless they want to," he announced, loud enough for everyone to hear. Renaud looked thoughtful, then shrugged and wrapped his arms around Natsu's neck.
"I am very happy for you," Ultear said seriously, sitting down on the couch next to Natsu and smiling at him. "But you must know that you have always been family. This doesn't change that." Natsu blushed, ducking his head and burying his face in Renaud's soft hair.
"Do you take the family name, then?" Grand-papa asked, coming out from the kitchen with a mug of coffee in each hand. Natsu looked over and Gray and shrugged. Gray's last name was hyphenated, giving him both his parents name and Ur's. Natsu hadn't even thought about it.
"I don't know, grand-papa," Natsu said honestly. He didn't have any particular attachment to his name, but he wasn't certain if he wanted to change it either.
"In my day, all the ladies took their fella's last names," grand-papa said genially, handing a coffee to Natsu. "But I'm told that's old-fashioned." Gray gave him a fond look, taking the other cup of coffee from him. "But in my day, men couldn't marry other men either!" Gray groaned.
"Guy-Yves, leave those poor boys alone." Grand-mama, a petite, white-haired woman with enormous earrings, brandished her cane at her husband. She hobbled over to Gray and wrapped her arm around him, and he smiled up at her.
"I don't mean any disrespect," grand-papa insisted, waving his hands in front of him. His hair was sparse and wispy, and it gave him a sort of mad-scientist look. Natsu adored him, and they had spent hours together – him teaching Natsu French, and Natsu teaching him to play the guitar.
"Then be extra respectful and go set the table," grand-maman insisted, winking at Gray as grand-papa gave a silly bow and then returned to the kitchen. "We are both very happy for your two, of course," she said to them. Gray leaned up and kissed her cheek.
"I know, grand-maman," he said, then squeezed Natsu's knee and indicated that he was heading out into the hallway. He stepped out of the noise of the living room, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialling Freed's number. As the call connected, he settled himself onto the stairs.
"Gray? Aren't you supposed to be in Montréal?" Freed's voice was sleepy, and Gray realized suddenly that it was only six-thirty back home. "Is everything okay?"
"Câlice, désolé." Gray ran a hand through his hair, groaning and then continuing in French. "I didn't mean to wake you up, it's not…sorry."
"Mmm, it's fine," Freed said, yawning. Gray could hear them get out of bed and tug on a sweater. "I should get up and start working anyway. You okay?"
"Yeah," Gray replied, grinning stupidly. "I'm great." He hadn't told anyone he was going to propose to Natsu, not even Freed, and he hoped they weren't upset that they hadn't been in on it. "I wanted to call you because I'm sure Natsu is going to send out something stupid on Snapchat or whatever, but I wanted to tell you first…"
"Tell me what?" Freed asked suspiciously. There was the sound of dishes being moved and a coffee machine turning on in the background.
"I, um…I proposed to him last night." Gray couldn't stop smiling, even though there was nobody around to see it. His cheeks hurt.
"Gray! I'm so happy for you!" Freed's voice was more enthusiastic than Gray had expected – Freed wasn't interested in marriage, and they were content to live as a common-law partner with Laxus. "I'm assuming he said yes."
"Of course he said yes," Gray said, rolling his eyes. "He's…my family is kind of going nuts right now. They're all very excited, I just needed to get away from it for a bit."
"Understandable," Freed replied. "I'm really happy for you. He's good for you, and I know your sister says that all the time, but she's right. He's a good man, and he grounds you." Gray's face flushed bright red, and he covered it with his hand.
"I know," he said softly. "I'm…I love him so much." He felt himself choking up again and he groaned. "He's also made me into a ridiculously sentimental sap, it's awful."
"Emotions aren't awful," Freed chided. "I guarantee that I'll cry at the wedding."
"Speaking of the wedding," Gray said suddenly. "I wanted to ask…we're probably just going to have something casual at the beach, but you still need witnesses to sign the paperwork. And you're the first person I thought of. So even if we're not doing it formally…would you be my best person?" There was a pause, and a sniffing sound on the other end of the line.
"Okay, so I'm crying now," Freed said wetly, laughing. "Of course I will. That means so much to me, thank you Gray."
"You're my best friend," Gray said simply, but saying it made his chest ache in a peculiar way. Lyon had always been his best friend, and after he disappeared, Gray had struggled to relate to other people. Natsu had forced his way into Gray's life, and the people from group had been thrust upon him, but Freed had been the first person that Gray had chosen to be friends with since he was sixteen.
"You're my best friend, too," Freed said quietly, sniffling again. "And I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks," Gray said. He could hear Sylvie calling his name in the background, so he added, "I think it's breakfast time, so I should let you go. I'll text you when I'm home?" He stood from the stairs and stretched.
"Sounds good. Say hi to your family for me. Love you."
"Will do, say hi to Laxus for us," Gray replied. "I love you too, à plus tard."
"Allô, maman. Allô, papa." Gray crouched down, brushing dust off the set of headstones, uncovering the names.
Élodie Marie & Mathéo Gabriel
Immortels sont ceux qui demeurent dans les âmes d'autrui
"Hey, mom." The next plot over held a single headstone, this one with intricate engraving around the top of it.
Ultear Milkovich
Chacune de mes recontres me contient en partie
The first time he'd visited here had been two years ago, the first trip he and Natsu had made out to visit his family. Before that, it had been too painful. Even now it was difficult to see their names, and it dragged him back to memories of his five-year-old self, clinging to Ur's sweater and crying for maman and papa. And then to ten years later, dropping to his knees next to Ur's blood-stained body and sobbing for her to wake up.
"Voici Natsu," Gray said softly, pushing the thoughts away and standing up to take Natsu's hand. "I told you about him." He felt tears slipping out the corners of his eyes and he reached up to brush them away, feeling grateful for Natsu's arm around his waist.
He'd never brought Natsu here – it had always felt too personal, like it was too much of himself to give away – and Natsu had never pushed it. But now...
"We're getting married," Gray said, swallowing hard and wishing that they were here, that he could see maman's face when he told her they were getting married. He wished papa could hug him, tell him he was proud of the man he'd become; wished that mom could give Natsu a once-over to 'make sure he was good enough for her son'. "Vous me manquez." Natsu's hand tightened around his waist.
"J'aime vraiment votre fils," Natsu said, voice hesitant and uncertain. Gray exhaled wetly and leaned his head against Natsu's, closing his eyes and letting the tears fall. "I promise I'll take care of him. I'm sorry I never got to meet you all."
Gray's chest ached and he felt himself sliding to the ground, curling in on himself and letting the tears fall. It hurt how much he missed them. He'd never thought he'd need them like this – the thought of not having them there to watch him marry Natsu...
"Oh, Snowflake," Natsu whispered, pulling Gray tightly to his chest and stroking his hair. "I'm sorry. I wish they could be there." He kissed Gray's head, holding him tightly. "Je t'aime." Gray took a few shaky breaths, trying to compose himself.
"You...don't have your parents either," he said, noticing the look of sadness that flashed across Natsu's face. "I'm sorry."
"It's..." He sighed, settling down on the ground and tugging Gray closer to him. "That's different. I don't miss them like you miss your parents." He rubbed his face, shivering as the spring air picked up. "I never knew my mom, and my dad..." Natsu sighed. "He left. It was his choice."
Gray ran a hand up and down Natsu's back, leaning into his fiancé for comfort. Natsu rarely spoke about his parents, and the one time that Gray had asked if he'd wanted to try and track down his father, he'd been moody about it for days.
"Guess we're both a couple of orphans, then," Gray said lightly, nudging Natsu, who thankfully smiled and turned in for a kiss. "I really think they would have liked you though. Especially mom. She had a thing for..." Gray tilted his head to the side, trying to think of how to describe it. "The misfits, I guess." Natsu snorted but didn't argue. "She was always 'adopting' my friends, especially if they had a rough home life, or something going on. You would...she would have loved you." Gray felt himself tearing up again and Natsu squeezed his shoulder.
"They would all be so proud of you," Natsu whispered, kissing Gray gently. "And I am, too."
Natsu & Gray
would like to invite you to celebrate
their marriage
Saturday, June 14th
at 7:00pm
Daven Beach
wear what you want
we'll provide snacks
no alcohol
kids welcome
RSVP by May 1st
see you soon!
French Translations
Cabane à sucre = sugaring off festival
Tire sur la neige = maple taffy
T'es mon meilleur ami et je t'aime tellement. = You are my best friend and I love you so much.
Tresor = sweetheart
Câlice, désolée = shit, sorry
Allô, maman. Allô, papa. = Hello, mom. Hello, dad.
Immortels sont ceux qui demeurent dans les âmes d'autrui = To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die (Gray's parents epitaph)
Chacune de mes recontres me contient en partie = I am a part of all that I have met (Ur's epitaph)
Voici Natsu = This is Natsu
Vous me manquez = I miss you (all)
J'aime vraiment votre fils = I really love your son
Je t'aime = I love you