Here's the second part that, like, one person requested but I wrote because I wanted to and you can't stop me. Idk what happened guys. Literally, they're all just on crack, and I'm okay with that, because at least they're CUTE and on crack. Anyway, on with the story. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did, but I don't.
Everything had been going so well in the past month. He and Natsu had started dating, and every time Gray held his hand or kissed him, he couldn't help but just feel so happy, so elated. It was like, for the first time in a long time, something had finally gone so absolutely right that Gray could die happily knowing that he'd lived a nice life. He didn't intended to die any time soon though, because of his certainty that Natsu would find a way to resurrect him and then kill him again.
Of course, while everything was pretty much perfect in Gray eyes, there was still the problem that they'd yet to tell anyone in the guild. It made him feel anxious, like if someone stared hard enough they'd see right through him, see how he felt. And he was scared of what some of the guild members would say. Nothing could deter him from dating Natsu, absolutely nothing, but he didn't want to lose any friends over it either. And so they were stuck in a sort of limbo, being together but telling not one. Gray felt it was only a matter of time before they'd have to pick one or the other.
"Gray?"
The boy in question looked up from where he had been absentmindedly picking at the wooden table they were seated at while he thought about what could happen in the future, and he hummed in acknowledgement of the dragon slayer's question.
"You look serious. Whatcha thinkin' about?" Natsu asked, tilting his head to the side while he studied Gray's expression. The concern on his face made Gray smile softly. He really did love that pink-haired idiot.
"Is something wrong, Gray?" Wendy asked from across the table, reminding him of the fact that they were not alone.
"Uh, it's nothin' really…"
"Doesn't seem like nothin' to me," Natsu said pointedly.
Gray let out a long sigh. "I'm just…thinking about some things…"
"What kind of things? You look like you're brooding," Lucy said, looking at him curiously.
"I am not brooding! I don't brood!"
"That's not true. You brood a lot," Natsu stated matter-of-factly. How unfair. Gray couldn't believe his own boyfriend had now turned against him. Boyfriend.
His hands tightened into anxious fists at his sides, worry seeping back into the pit of his stomach. The distraction arguing had brought hadn't lasted long. When had he turned into such a worry wart? This couldn't be good for his health.
A warm hand suddenly grabbed ahold of his under the table, making all the anxiety leak out of him. He glanced at Natsu out of the corner of his eye, but the dragon slayer did a good job of looking completely nonchalant. Gray's mouth didn't so much as twitch, but his eyes smiled, crinkling at the corners.
"They say brooding is unbecoming, Gray," Natsu remarked, like he had no idea what Gray would even be thinking so deeply about.
"Shut up, flame brain. You probably don't even know what 'unbecoming' means." He twisted his hand discreetly to wrap his fingers around Natsu's own even as he verbally insulted him. He squeezed the pinkette's hand back gently in silent thanks. Being able to hold Natsu's hand felt like some sort of gift from the gods, despite having to hide it. That is, it felt that way until it was noticed.
"Let go of my darling Gray's hand, you empty-headed fire-breather!"
Gray froze then. Everything within him just completely halted, even his brain stopped working. There was but one thought in his head, and it was quite literally, "Oh shit."
No one aside from those at their table paid Juvia any heed, she made over-the-top comments like that all the time, and they always went ignored. Now was no different for the others, but it felt entirely so to Gray. All of her previous comments had been unfounded.
The water mage was trying to pry their hands apart, shouting something about the rudeness of Natsu's attempt to make a move on someone who was so clearly already her's.
"My dear Gray, don't worry! I'll save you from this hoodlum!" Juvia proclaimed, and Gray felt his face heat up at the situation. The girls and Happy were staring at them. He released his hold on Natsu's hand. The pinkette looked at him in bemusement, but his eyes were also just slightly too wide, like he feared Gray would go along with whatever nonsense Juvia was probably spouting.
"I…" Gray looked away from Natsu for a moment to face Juvia. "Juvia, could I…talk to you for a second?"
"Why of course, darling," she said, voluntarily following him to the far corner of the room. "What do you need to tell me? Wait! Is this you confessing your love for me! I knew this day would come!"
She looked to him expectantly, a smile spread largely across her face.
"I'm sorry, Juvia, but I…" This was the hardest thing that he'd ever had to force out of his mouth. Not because it was untrue, but because it would undoubtedly result in Juvia's unhappiness, and he didn't want her to be sad. He may not have been interested in a relationship with her, but she was still his guild mate and friend. He undoubtedly cared for her just as much as he cared for all the others in the guild. "It's not like that…" Her grin remained in place, like she hadn't heard him. Then he said, "I…I don't like you, not like that…"
Juvia's face pinched up then, like, despite already having been told the same thing hundreds of times, she was just now getting it. "But then…you're saying you like…"
There was a pause, before, "Yeah."
And then she burst into tears, enough to drown everyone in the guild hall. "My darling Gray is in love with a boy!"
He felt his face grow flush once more, and he hurried to hush her, though he already knew it was too late. All eyes turned to them at the proclamation, and a strange sort of cold feeling settled in his stomach, climbing all the way up to his chest. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe fear or worry or dread, but it was enough to make him feel oddly sick. Gray looked over to Natsu and managed a shaky, sheepish smile. The dragon slayer just looked back at him in surprise before his shoulders shook in muted chuckles at Gray's expense. Natsu reaction somehow managed to chase the chill away.
All was silent, and Gray cleared his throat awkwardly. His idea wasn't a good one, but he itches with the sudden need to push this words past his lips. "Er… I know this is probably a horrible time to be saying this for the first time, but I…I do love you."
Natsu's face softened into a happy smile. "Yeah, I know, dumbass." He didn't have to say it for Gray to hear the unspoken, "I love you, too." Just knowing that Natsu did love him, really did, made him feel like the world was in his hand, like, no matter what, he could do anything. It didn't matter if all the people on the planet hated them, so long as his dragon slayer loved him.
"Listen, Juvia," Gray said, content smile disappearing from his face briefly as he turned to face her again. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell-"
"I-it's okay," Juvia said, sniffling and wiping away her tears on the sleeve of her shirt. "I get it, I do. It's just… You'll be happy, won't you, my darling?"
Gray nodded, lips quirking up just the slightest bit at that dumb nickname of her's. Juvia sighed. "Then…be happy for me. You two are rather…cute, I suppose." And she smiled too.
He had forgotten that there were other people there aside from the two of them, but when a familiar blonde rushed at him with an excited-sounding squeal and there was an uproar of voices asking a myriad of questions, Gray was reminded of the others' presence.
He let out an "oof" and patted Lucy awkwardly on the back as she began rambling about just how "utterly adorable" him and Natsu were and about possible "ship names" for them, whatever that meant. Happy was proudly exclaiming whilst flying high above them all that he had seen this coming from a mile away. That made Gray chuckle.
"I'm glad you guys are happy," Wendy told him once he'd finally unattached himself from Lucy, smiling her sweet smile.
"It is a bit…odd, though, isn't it?" Carla asked, not unkindly, just factually. Carla was a bit more practical than most in the guild.
"Carla!" Wendy scolded, probably assuming such a statement would be taken offensively. But Gray wasn't really offended.
"No, she's not wrong." Gray looked to where Natsu was talking with Mirajane and Lisanna, and his lips turned upwards. Even his heart felt like it was smiling. "We're not exactly a normal couple. But who likes normal, anyways?"
Carla turned to follow his gaze, pausing a moment to nod, perhaps to something she'd thought, before saying, "This guild seems to stray as far from normal as a guild can. I suppose you fit right in."
"I think we do," Gray agreed.
Off to the side, Gray could hear a discussion going on between Natsu and Gajeel.
"So, the Salamander's datin' a guy, huh?" the other dragon slayer was saying, Pantherlily at his side.
"Yeah, but don't think this means anything. I can still kick your butt," Natsu told him, but the smile Gray could detect in his voice made him sound quite non-threatening.
"Wipe that dumb grin off your face before I get the idea that you're actually happy," Gajeel growled.
"Well, I wouldn't be happy about talkin' to you anyway," Natsu said, and then, "There's something I just remembered that I gotta do."
Gray turned to see what Natsu was up to. By the time he located the other boy with his eyes, he was already on the second (forbidden) level of the guild, leaning over the railing with what Gray assumed was the "dumb grin" Gajeel had mentioned moments ago plastered across his face.
"Hey, Gray! I didn't tell you!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I love you, too!"
Gray's face was tinted only a light pink then, an improvement from its usual glaring red. Somewhere off to the side, he could hear Gajeel guffawing and Pantherlily trying to calm him before he choked to death.
"Get down from there, you idiot!" Gray shouted up to him.
"'Kay!" And he vaulted over the railing, stumbling a bit before steadying himself on his feet and heading in Gray's direction.
"It appears you two are getting along better than I thought," Erza commented from behind him.
"Yep. I'm sure it's all thanks to you," Gray managed to say before Natsu tackled him in a hug, not unlike the one Lucy had subjected him to.
"What is wrong with you?" Gray asked from his position beside Natsu on the floor. "Did you have something to drink in the five seconds I wasn't watching you?"
"No." Natsu was still smiling that big, dopey smile. "I'm just really happy."
"Drunk off of happiness, then?"
"Yep, that sounds about right." He pecked his cheek, and Gray's face turned crimson for the third time that day.
"You're just acting like this because everyone else is around, aren't you?"
"Well, maybe a little," Natsu said, then whispered quietly so that only Gray could hear, "But I do love you."
"I know." Another grin spread across his face as Natsu intertwined their fingers again. A great many grins had been shared that day, and Gray hoped for a great many more. With his hand wrapped around Natsu's, it didn't seem quite so unlikely as one might think.
