Gray couldn't wait to see the fireworks. Usually they stayed inside on the Fourth of July and Gray and Lyon huddled by the window, or sat on the edge of the fire escape, legs dangling from between the spaces in the railing as they tried to get a decent view through the surrounding buildings in the center of the city and failed. They didn't celebrate because it was the day after Ultear had died, the cancer finally weakening her immune system enough so that a fever had been her end, and Ur wasn't in anywhere near the mood she would need to be in for any festive atmosphere. But it had been a year since Zeref and Natsu had moved in across the hall and Ur couldn't say no when Natsu asked her to join them, green eyes wide and bright and his expression begging. Natsu had that effect on people. Ur had learned to deny Gray and Lyon things because they were a bit quieter and understood why she would say no in the first place, but Natsu was like a shining star, vibrant and energetic, stealing the attention of everyone in the room with ease by flashing a smile or widening his eyes. No one could muster up the willpower to say no to him, to dim that light when it dazzled them so effortlessly.
That, and Gray was pretty sure that Ur had looked in his direction when Natsu asked her to celebrate with him and Zeref and to 'bring Gray and Lyon, but mostly Gray,' as if she was measuring how important this would be to him. He had nodded slightly, hoping Natsu wouldn't see it, and she had smiled at Natsu and said they would be there. Natsu had lit up and run to Gray, pulling him into a tight embrace that knocked them both to the carpeted floor and had Gray flushing because Ur was looking right at them and Lyon was laughing at his embarrassment in the corner, teasing him about having such a sweet moment with his 'boyfriend,' a taunt that caused Natsu to turn around and stick his tongue out at him. Gray's face had resembled a tomato for the rest of the afternoon with the shade of red he wore as Ur giggled whenever Natsu blatantly ignored the boundaries of personal space, grinning cluelessly.
Most of the tenants watched the sky light up from the fire escapes, with a significant other or their children, and a few of them actually set tables and chairs on the street, leaving one lane open for cars to get through while they invited people from the entire block to eat food and have drinks. Neither Ur, nor Zeref were the level of sociable that would be required for hanging around so many people, Ur getting a bit anxious around crowds and Zeref outright ignoring anyone he deemed unnecessary to speak to. Zeref had spoken to the landlord, showed her his fake identification that said he was nineteen, not fifteen, and convinced the woman to lend him the keys to the rooftop for a night, so that his 'son,' Natsu, could enjoy the fireworks without being overwhelmed by the amount of people gathered below. Zeref could be incredibly persuasive, and the landlord was a nineteen year old girl named Mavis who had inherited the building from her parents and had developed a sort of crush on Natsu's brother. It wasn't very difficult for him to get her approval, although he did ask Ur why the landlord would offer to buy him dinner and Ur had laughed before taking in his deadpan expression and tentatively explaining what dating was because he genuinely had no clue. Gray still thought that a wide-eyed and stunned Zeref was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.
When they got up to the roof, Natsu told Ur that he'd slipped out with the key because Zeref had been blushing as Mavis asked him a series of questions in the hall. He thought it was funny because Zeref never talked to people he didn't want to talk to so he 'totally knew he liked her.' Ur shook her head and told them not to open the rooftop door for anyone else and that she'd go get him. Lyon had waited about two seconds before chasing after her to avoid, 'the sappiness' of Natsu and Gray.
Gray smiled awkwardly at Natsu, shrugging. Natsu took his hand and dragged him over to the the edge of the roof, face reaching just over the small brick wall that went around it as he stood on the tips of his toes, and pointed down at the street.
"They're laying out their own fireworks!" he told Gray, voice practically shaking with excitement. Gray smiled softly as he stared at Natsu, not even glancing down at the people. Then he scowled at himself and looked away with a determined expression. Now was not the time to be distracted by weird thoughts of Natsu and girly mangas that Ur bought.
Just then the first firework shot up into the sky and Gray openly stared. It started a trend, miniature explosions of bright colors, diverse and enchanting, small and large, in every direction that his eyes turned, painting the dark background of the sky, shining just as brightly as the stars they blocked out for only a moment before fading away into thin air in the blink of an eye. A flash of white. A flash of red. A flash of blue. All beautiful and breathtaking and high up above where he would have to grow wings to reach them. Angelic. And then a firework that flew up once, burning softly as it rose, then exploded in a shower of faded pink that Gray felt his heart pounding in response to. He climbed up on the ledge to get a better look, smiling. He turned to look at Natsu, but Natsu wasn't looking at the display. He was looking right at Gray, jaw dropped slightly and the look staggered Gray.
Natsu had seen the first three fireworks. And then he'd turned grinning toward Gray and seen him, mouth slightly open, smile creeping onto his face as the lights danced reflections in dark midnight eyes, eyes as dark as the sky. He'd never seen Gray look so awed and captivated and it made his heart race, his eyes lock onto the view forgetting all about the fireworks and the sky and the people below. This. This was the view that mattered. Then Gray was standing on the ledge to get a better view of the lights above, turning back to glance at Natsu and losing his balance. Natsu shot out tan fingers to grip a pale hand, snatching his arm back against him, causing the both to fall towards the center of the rooftop, Gray landing with his head against Natsu's chest.
Gray's eyes were wide and startled, by the near fall, by the way Natsu had jolted forward to save him, but most of all, he was shaken by the look he'd seen on Natsu's face before he lost his balance. Natsu had a look on his face, parted lips, wide shining eyes that became nearly translucent with the reflections of the fireworks, as if he'd never witnessed anything quite so beautiful. Except he hadn't been looking at the fireworks. He'd been staring directly at Gray and that was something Gray didn't know how to react to. It was better to think he'd been hallucinating, but then he'd have to accept that having Natsu look at him that way was something he actually wanted to happen and he was much too stubborn to accept that.
Natsu's arms wrapped around his shoulders tightly, and Gray felt tiny convulsions wracking the chest beneath him. He moved slightly in Natsu's hold, head moving up to get a look at light green eyes and messy pink locks, but Natsu gripped him tighter, one hand rising up to the back of his head, shuddering breaths against his ear. Gray quit struggling and just lay there in his arms, safe and warm as he smelled the scent of cinnamon, smoke, and fresh-baked cookies, a scent that made him smile at the thought of Natsu getting Zeref to bake in the apartment in the middle of summer.
He didn't get much of a chance to enjoy the comforting smell because Natsu finally let him go and Gray raised his eyes and felt his heart constricting at the sight of tears escaping wide green eyes that looked entirely too terrified, much too angry even through the wetness.
"That was stupid, Gray!" Natsu cried out, muffled as his throat tightened. He clenched little fists at his sides and yelled at Gray, "You're so lucky I was here to pull you back from the edge!" He paused, a new wave of tears spilling over as he mumbled out, "You could've… could've-." Natsu's voice cut off and he covered his eyes with an arm, not wanting Gray to see how shaken he was, wanting Gray to see him as brave because Gray was always brave, with the fires he pulled Natsu back from and standing on the ledges of rooftops even if that seemed like a very very stupid idea to Natsu now.
Gray tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't come up with anything. It had been stupid. It had been reckless. He could have fallen to his death if Natsu hadn't been there with him and Gray felt tears rising in his eyes to mirror Natsu's as he took in his best friend's trembling. He knew it wasn't because Natsu was cold. Natsu never got cold. He was shaking with fear at the idea of Gray dying and Gray had never felt so guilty for making someone worry about him before. Not even Ur crying had made him so emotional so quickly.
He opened up his arms and wrapped Natsu in a hug that let him feel every quiver in small tan limbs and he hurried to try and reassure him. Gray found his voice a moment later.
"I'm okay, Natsu," he whispered. He was okay. Safe. Because Natsu reached out for him.
Natsu encircled his arms around Gray's waist, tight, secure, leaving no space in between them. He breathed in deep, shuddering through the last haze of his tears, taking in the calming scent of gingerbread and pine trees and honey that he'd come to always recognize as Gray in the past year.
"You got me," Gray said softly as he felt Natsu's chest rising with less speed and convulsions beneath him, felt the heart that beat so closely by his in that moment slowing down. He continued soothingly, "I'm okay. Look at me, I'm okay, I promise." He pulled back and looked at a much calmer Natsu whose eyes were tinted pink in the white area and smiled a tiny smile in his direction.
Natsu sniffed once, small hands rising up to clear away his eyes and to wipe at his face, cheeks pink in a rare fit of shyness that had Gray scrambling to clear away the slightly awkward atmosphere that was threatening to fall around them.
He nudged Natsu. Natsu looked up at him and Gray grinned smugly. Natsu drew eyebrows together in confusion. "What?" he asked, tone the tiniest bit apprehensive.
Gray smiled, "I pull you back from the fire, you pull me back from the edge."
Natsu blinked once and then his eyes widened in recognition of their phrase and the fact that he had done something for Gray now too. He laughed shakily, but it grew louder and Gray started laughing softly too and by the time Ur managed to drag an awed Zeref away from Mavis and up to the roof with Lyon leading the way, Gray and Natsu were both smiling widely and trying to use the cameras that Ur left in her purse to compete over who could take the best picture of the best firework and then arguing over what made the best firework the best one.
When Ur tucked Gray into bed she asked him if he'd had fun with Natsu. Gray smiled sleepily, telling her that he always had fun with Natsu, murmuring something about 'pretty green eyes' and being 'pulled back from the edge' as Ur quietly slipped out of the room.