DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fairy Tail! Just my creativity..

Gray sighed from where he sat, face down on the table. His skin was prickling and he was sweating. To top it off, he was pissed. His body, used to biting cold and harsh winters, arctic temperatures even, could not adapt itself to extreme heat and the extreme temperatures Magnolia had. Running his hand through his hair, he slumped even more. This heat was sapping up all of his energy. He mentally berated himself for coming to the guild today. He didn't even know for what reason he had decided to come. Grumbling, he made to stand up, albeit a little unsteady on his legs. He gripped the table to balance himself and having done so, he relinquished his grip.

Dragging himself to the large oak doors, he made his way out of the guild. As he was doing so, people yelled at him to close the doors, shouting something along the lines of "It's already hot in here..." He raised an arm to show them he had heard and closed the doors behind him. Keeping his head bowed, he trudged through the crowd, not really knowing where he was going. Bumping into someone, he raised his head up, ready to tell the person to "piss off". Blinking many times, his eyes focused on pools of emerald green, the person looking way too happy.

Groaning, he raised his hand to swipe at his forehead, which was coated in a thin sheen of sweat. As soon as his hand made contact with his forehead, he withdrew it. His skin was hot to the touch, his sight was blurring and he was having difficulty breathing, which was also not helped by the fact that the dragonslayer was standing close to him, rading heat. The said dragonslayer, finally out of his daydreams, frowned as he looked at his friend. The man was slumped and also swaying lightly on the spot. "Oi, Ice Princess, where are you headed"?

Seconds passed. Getting no reply at all, to his query, he frowned even more, and stepped closer. Jerking his chin up, his eyebrows scrunched together, at the heat rolling off his friend in waves. His body was burning up and his skin was also flushed. Gray's swaying was even more prominent now. After what seemed like hours, but were mere minutes, his legs suddenly gave out, the pavement rushing to meet his face. His sight faded to black and he simply felt no more...

Cursing, Natsu caught the limp ice mage before he could fall. Gathering him into his arms, he pulled him away, shaking him. But there was no response. Cradling his friend close, he lifted him bridal style and at once rushed to his house. No, not his house. His house was a dump and he doubted he would be able to find his bed anyway. He headed to Gray's house, knowing the way, for once. People yelled curses and threw whatever they could lay their hands on, irritated, as he had scared some of their customers before. Natsu groaned, it was months ago and sides, it had been an accident. Why couldn't they just forget what had happened?!

Natsu's nose perked as he picked up a familiar scent, signalling that he was close. As soon as he saw the wooden doors, he doubled his speed, making it inside in 5 minutes. His eyes roamed all over all the place, taking a deep breath. He loved this place. It was far better than Lucy's apartment, though he'd never admit to it. The fragrance of the freshly fallen snow was so intoxicating, it always made Natsu sleepy. Walking deeper into the house, he carefully climbed the stairs and pushed the door of Gray's bedroom open, gently. He knew this place like the back of his hand. After all, on many sleepless nights, he had ran all the way here, to sleep with Gray, in his bed. Being close to the ice mage always gave him a sense of comfort and security. He'd snuggle and cuddle with Gray, who, never for once, was aware of the fact. Before the sun even rose, he'd wake up and free himself of Gray's surprisingly tight embrace, taking care to not wake him up. Tiptoeing out of the rooom, he'd dash out of the house and head to his own. And so, this process kept repeating...

Blushing, he shook his head and concentrated on the task at hand.

Laying Gray onto the mattresses, he sat vigil in the chair opposite to it. Leaning over, he brushed a few strands of Gray's hair back, from where they were sticking to his face. Hopefully, being in his own house would cool his body down, a bit. Standing up, he rushed to the kitchen. Several minutes later, he returned, a bucket of water in once hand and towels in the other. Dropping them by the bedside, he picked one of the towels and soaking it thoroughly in the water, he wrung it, until it was no longer dripping wet.

Having done so, he folded it into a square and placed it on the ice mage's head. Sitting down, he resumed his vigil once more. Every while, he'd repeat the process again. Again and again, until the towel was not usable any longer. He'd then throw them aside. By nightfall, he was pretty exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep. But he couldn't afford to sleep, not now, while his friend was sick.

Reaching over, he placed his hands on his friend's forehead and was rewarded with a slight decrease in temperature. Grinning happily, he carded his fingers through his Gray's raven locks. It was soft, so soft that Natsu thought it was like, touching Lucy's curls. His ears perked at the sound of a familiar voice. It was Happy. Oh shit. Happy! He had almost forgotten about Happy. The exceed must be worried.

Stepping out, he saw the blue cat, not a moment too later.

Happy tensed, but then beamed, when he saw Natsu waving at him. Flapping his wings even harder, he flew to Natsu and on reaching hugged him. Pulling away almost quickly, he inspected Natsu closely, he looked tired. His clothes were also ruffled somewhat.

"Why were you here at this time of the night, Natsu?" he questioned, somewhat serious.

"Gray's sick, Happy. So I'm here to take care of him until he's better." Natsu replied. On hearing his reply, Happy once again broke into a large smile. "Oh, so you loooooooove him, then!"

"Ssh, Happy, Gray will wake if you don't lower your volume, and no, it's nothing like that. I just happened to meet him on the way to the guild, so I picked him up and am taking care of him now. Sides, I don't like him." Natsu told the feline. It could've been the truth only if Natsu's ears hadn't turned bright red and his face flushed. He then turned his face away and then tried to revert his expression back to his annoyed one, which boldly told the onlookers, "Like hell I care".

"Aye, sir!" Happy replied, smiling. He had seen Natsu blush when talking about Gray, but it was very quickly replaced with a scowl. The feline giggled, he knew Natsu was lying about not liking the ice mage. It was so obvious!

Happy then exited, flying to Lucy's house, no doubt. Natsu waved and then he retraced his steps to the inside of the house and back to taking care of Gray. When he reached, however, he was surprised to find azure orbs blinking sleepily at him. He gulped, not expecting the ice mage to be awake. Cautiously, he approached the bed. Those eyes followed every movement of his. At last, he reached the bedside. He then decided to test if the ice mage was aware of his surroundings or not. Fortunately, Gray decided to drop the bomb, then and there.

"Where am I?" he questioned.

"You were running a high fever and had collapsed in the middle of the street, after bumping into me, so I brought you home, and have been here since."

"Wa...ter. Water." he said, after some minutes of silence.

"Oh, yeah. Here."

Handing the glass of water from the bedside, he backed. Gray slurped the water noisily, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he drank. Suddenly, he began chugging the water as if it was his lifeline. Seeing this, Natsu was once at his side, prying his fingers off the glass. Gray whined when the glass was out of his reach.

"Slow down or else you'll not be able to swallow all. Sheesh! You're worse than a kid. " Natsu reprimanded.

Gray smiled momentarily, and rolled his eyes.

"You know, we've fought so much that I don't think we've been like this for a long time. Talking like this..." he trailed off.

Natsu smiled as well, sitting on the bed next to him. "Yeah, even though we are best friends, we haven't done more than fight all the time." He admitted.

"Sometimes, I wish it could've been different."

Gray nodded, sending a lock of black hair flopping into his face. Natsu's fingers itched to push it away for him. He then inched closer to Natsu and wrapped his arms around him, snuggling his head into his chest. Sighing, he closed his eyes, feeling tired.

Natsu semed to jump at the contact, and began to unwrap Gray's arms from himself, when he stopped. Gray's eye cracked open and he whispered.

"Stay." It was so silent, Natsu would've missed it if he hadn't been listening closely.

Nodding, he also inched closer, and wrapped his arms around Gray, pulling his close. Gray's nose nuzzled his chest, sighing in content. They stayed like that for the rest of the night.

NEXT DAY

Natsu blearily cracked one eye open. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. He could not piece together where he was, when suddenly, like a thunderclap, he remembered. He looked down and saw Gray sleeping, his head on Natsu's lap. Sometime, during the night, Natsu's hold loosened and so Gray had slid down, to where he was now. He looked so peaceful.

Natsu stared for a long long time, trying to take in each and every detail of Gray's face. His lips, so pink, looked so so inviting and his chest, somehow exposed during the night, revealed flawless skin, accentuated by the muscles on his body. In a burst of spontaneity, Natsu wondered what it would feel like to touch Gray's lips with his own, and without thinking of what he was doing, he dipped his head down and gently pressed his lips to Gray's fever-scotched ones. As soon as the moment came, it was gone. Natsu looked stunned, as if he couldn't believe what he had just done. His eyes were wide and fearful, though his cheeks told a different story. They were flushed and his ears turned bright red. It was hot! The heat was unbearable even to him.

Shaking his head, he tried to sort out his feelings. This wasn't normal, in any case as far as he knew. Then, why had he felt the sudden strong impulse to kiss Gray? Was he really that ignorant of his feelings that Happy had sought to tease him? Was he really, really in love with the stupid stripper?

Natsu chuckled bitterly, finally admitting that he had been in love with Gray from the start. So what, it won't matter at all, Gray sees me only as a friend, nothing more. And Natsu really wouldn't be able to handle it if Gray left him too. He couldn't. Not after the pain and loss caused due to Igneel's disappearance and Lisanna's death, which turned out to be false in the end. Lisanna had left him alone, like Igneel had. Natsu didn't think he could ever cope if Gray left him too. He'd rather spend his life being by the latter's side as best friends, than him not being there at all. And Natsu had a feeling that if Gray knew if what had transpired right now, their friendship would crumble apart forever.

Gray slept on peacefully, seemingly unaffected by what had happened to him just now. Natsu glanced a look at the ice mage. While sleeping, Gray looked just like an angel and the way he slept resembled that of a baby, fists curled at one side, and legs spread messily. Who would've thought that the ice mage who looked so calm and quiet when asleep, could wreak havoc whenever he was fighting with Natsu. Natsu hesitated for some time, but when it seemed that the latter was still in a deep sleep, he carefully pried his hands away, taking them in his own and opening them with little to no force. He then ran his thumb over the ice mage's palms, expecting to find callouses here and there, as a result of his ice molding magic and the countless fighting he got into. What he hadn't expected was that instead of Gray's palms being calloused, they were soft and his knuckles were too smooth.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the room and bathing Gray in a golden light, accentuating his features. For the millionth time that day, Natsu shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his thoughts. Standing up, he stretched and yawned, and made his way to the bathroom. After a few mins, he emerged fresh and nodding at the still sleeping ice mage, he made his way to the bathroom again and returned, holding towels in one arm and a bucketful of water in the other.

TBC.