The book of potential boyfriends

Chapter 1

The bet

"Take that Ice block!" Natsu shouted as he threw a ball of fire towards his raven haired teammate.

"You are so going to pay for that one flame freak!" Shooting ice lances towards his rival, Gray dodged the fireball sent his way.

"What did you call me stripper?" Natsu asked as he launched towards Gray with a flaming fist.

"You heard me ash for brains, I called you a flame freak!" Gray formed a glittering hammer of ice as they raced towards one another, ready for their next attack.

"Are you two fighting?" The scarlet haired beauty asked, peering away from the slice of cake in front of her. With narrowed eyes she glared at the two mages who quickly wrapped their arms around the others neck and proceeded to act as if they were the best of friends.

"No way Erza! We were just training, right Natsu?" Gray stated as he glanced wearily at his rival.

"Aye!" Natsu half expected to hear his partner and best friend mutter about how he was Happy number two but when the words didn't come, he looked around and noticed that she hasn't arrived yet. She was normally here by now so he started to wonder just what might be taking her so long.

"Natsu, do you know where Lucy is?" Erza asked as he shook his head, wondering the same thing. He tried to recall if maybe she had said something the day before about having plans but he couldn't remember anything like that.

"Why don't you take Gray and go check up on her. Make sure she is okay." Erza stated as Natsu and Gray glared at each other before turning to her shocked.

"Why does he have to come?"

"Yeah, why do I have to go with flame breath here?"

"Are you questioning my orders?" Her tone was calm yet deadly serious. Both boys gulped and ran out of the guild, frightened of an enraged Erza. Walking down the road, both men sulked, hating the idea of being so close to the other. They approached the blonds apartment as they each entered by their usual means.

Natsu slid in through the window as Gray used the chimney. Natsu and Gray both called out for the blond as they searched the apartment for her. After they searched all the rooms, there was only one left. A smirk crossed Gray's lips as his imagination went into overdrive.

"Maybe she is in the bathroom." Gray stated as he walked towards the door, picturing Lucy in the tub as he walked in and catching a glimpse of her in all her naked glory.

"I would-" Natsu stopped mid-sentence as he was about to warn the ice mage to knock first but decided it best to let it be. He wouldn't mind seeing the blond give Gray her famous kick that he experiences so often. Gray walked forward and grasped the door knob. He didn't hear any noise inside but still quickly pushed the door open and called out her name. No shriek or yell could be heard coming from the bathroom so it was safe to assume that she wasn't in there. Gray returned with a disappointed look on his face as Natsu snickered.

"You do realize that if she was in there you would be dead right now." Natsu stated bluntly. Gray nodded his head, but still thought that a moment like that would have been worth it. "I wonder where she is?"

"I don't know, but I guess we should wait here until she comes back." Gray said as he took a seat on the bed. "Erza would kill us if we returned to the guild without at least making sure she was alright."

"Yeah, I guess your right ice prick."

"What did you say, ash for brains?"

"You heard me pervert!"

"Why don't you say that to my face flame breath!"

"I just did Popsicle!"

Natsu leaped towards Gray and aimed for a punch to his jaw. Gray dodged before attempting to kick Natsu in the stomach. Another miss before Natsu landed a blow to the eye and Gray hit him on the lip. Punches and kicks were thrown back and forth as slowly but steadily Lucy's apartment became a mess. Gray charged towards Natsu, preparing to land another attack when Natsu grabbed his arm and flipped him over. Gray smashed into Lucy's desk spilling all of it's contents onto the floor.

"Shit, Lucy will kill us if she see's this!" Natsu exclaimed. Panic started to set in as he remembered the last time he caused any damage here. He shuddered at the memory before quickly picking up the mess that fell from the desk. "Gray get over here and help me!"

Gray didn't want to face the same fate that Natsu is familiar with so he helped without saying a word. Slowly the room was turning back to normal and thankfully they hadn't actually damaged the desk. Picking up the last bit of papers, Natsu noticed an odd looking book that was spread out on the floor. Flipping it over, he instantly recognized the handwriting and knew that it was Lucy's. But this wasn't the book the he normally saw Lucy writing in so he felt curiosity building in him as he opened to the first page.

"Hey Gray, look at this." Gray walked over and look at the blue book that was sitting in Natsu's hand. Gray's eyes widened as he read over the title.

Potential boyfriends in Fairy Tail

They flipped through several pages, and saw that most of the pictures had a large red X marked over them. Natsu was becoming confused as Gray was getting worried. He had liked Lucy from the beginning and he wondered what she thought of him. Flipping to the last page, there sat both Natsu's and Gray's pictures and neither had the X on it.

"We are the only ones without an X over our pictures. Natsu do you realize what this means?" Gray asked, a smile crossed his features once he realized that he might actually stand a chance with her.

"Yeah, that we are the only ones in the guild that she considers herself to be close enough to call her boyfriends but that makes no sense. She is friends with everyone in the guild." Natsu tried to figure out why she wouldn't want to be friends with any of the other males in the guild while Gray stared at his friend/rival. How could this man be so dense?

"No Natsu, not like that. She means boyfriend on a romantic level." Gray could see the confusion written on the dragon slayers face and sighed. He really didn't want to be the one to describe such things to Natsu. It would just be awkward. Natsu stood there, thinking about the meaning behind Gray's words.

"You mean boyfriend romantically like Bisca and Alzack were?" Well at least he realizes that there is a difference but does he know exactly what that is?

"Yes Natsu, like that."

"Then that doesn't make sense. Why would Lucy think of you in such a way?" Did this guy not realize that she apparently thought of him that way too or was he ignoring that fact?

"What's wrong with me?" Gray retorted. He was a much better pick for Lucy than Natsu was. At least he would know what to do with her once they got together. This guy probably thinks it will stay the same as being friends.

"Um, let me see...everything." Natsu added. A vein pulsed on Gray's forehead as his aggravation began to build. Right before he was about to comment back he thought of something.

"Hey Natsu, how about making a bet with me?" Gray asked. Natsu rose a brow at the dark haired mage and waited for him to continue. "Who ever gets Lucy to put an X over the others picture first wins."

"I'll take that bet, and you are so going down stripper." Natsu and Gray shook hands. Gray smirked at the fire mage as the battled in strength with who would give in first and let go of the others hand. Natsu had no idea what he was doing and Gray had experience with women. This was going to be too easy.