Natsu was awake.

Sting felt dizzy, sitting on the edge of Natsu's bed, staring into his dark eyes and holding his hand tightly. Doctor Krantz hovered on the edge of the room, talking quietly with Igneel, but their conversation was just background noise. All Sting could focus on was Natsu.

"I missed you so much," Sting whispered, reaching up and brushing Natsu's hair gently out of his face. Natsu frowned at him, then looked over again to Rogue and Gray, who were sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

"Wh…" Natsu started to speak and then shook his head slowly and let out a huff of frustration.

"It's okay," Gray said gently, squeezing Natsu's thigh. "I know it's a lot. You've been out for a bit."

"L-long?" Natsu asked eventually, flicking his gaze back over to Sting.

"A couple weeks," Sting said. He ran his thumb over Natsu's knuckles, hesitating and then adding, "do you remember what happened?"

Natsu shook his head, looking back at Gray. "Hurt?" he asked, taking in the light bruising that still ran along Gray's jaw, and the cast on his arm.

"I'm fine," Gray said, giving Natsu a shaky smile.

"Hurt," Natsu insisted, frowning and reaching out a trembling hand to touch Gray's cheek. "Y-you…" He sighed, then tried again. "What? Did?"

"You and Gray were in an accident," Rogue said gently, running his hand up and down Gray's back. "But you're both okay now."

Natsu nodded, still looking unconvinced, then looked up as Igneel made his way over to the bed.

"Taayaa?" Natsu said hesitantly, and Igneel nodded as he leaned down and kissed Natsu's forehead. Natsu glanced back at the door, then asked, "Maan? Pita?"

"They're on their way," Igneel replied, voice thick with emotion. "Erza, too."

Sting saw Gray's face tighten at the mention of Natsu's parents, and he reached across the bed to touch Gray's hand. Rogue gave Sting a look, then squeezed Gray's shoulder and pulled him close.

A calm silence spread out through the room as Natsu looked around at all of them. His expression was still hesitant, but he clearly recognized everyone, and Sting couldn't help himself as he started to cry.

"Sting," Natsu said softly, squeezing Sting's hand tightly. "O-okay?"

"Yeah, sweetheart," Sting said softly, moving in closer and pressing a kiss to Natsu's temple. "We're all gonna be okay."


Gray knew he was dreaming because the car was upside down.

As bad as the crash had been, they'd been right-side up when the paramedics had arrived, lights reflecting in the mirrors while Gray held Natsu's hand and begged him to open his eyes.

In the dream, Gray was pleading in French, but Natsu was so cold and still. Then they were underwater and Gray's words were being carried away in little bubbles. The water around them turned red, thick and murky until Gray couldn't see Natsu, couldn't feel his hand, couldn't—

"Sweetheart, wake up." That was Natsu's voice, breaking through the haze of the dream, and Gray shuddered as he opened his eyes. Natsu was there, face just inches away, dark eyes soft and concerned as he touched Gray's cheek.

"You're alive," Gray whispered, pressing his face into Natsu's palm and bunching his fingers in the fabric of Natsu's shirt. The frantic pounding of Gray's heart slowed a bit as he breathed in the familiar smell of laundry soap and grapefruit chapstick. "You're... it's..."

"It's okay," Natsu whispered, shuffling closer until he could wrap both arms around Gray and pull him in close. "We're at home, you're safe. Look, here's Frosch."

There was a squeaky meow and Frosch appeared above Gray, sniffing his head and licking his ear. Gray let out a half-sob, half-laugh, and reached up to run his fingers through her fur.

Something else shifted behind Gray, and then there was a hand on his hip and lips on the back of his neck.

"Hey, love," Rogue whispered, moving closer until his chest was pressed up against Gray's back. Gray exhaled shakily and covered Rogue's hand with his own. He closed his eyes, letting himself feel safe between the two of them.

Sting blinked awake behind Natsu and yawned, sitting up a bit and rubbing his face.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, reaching over Natsu and touching the back of Gray's hand.

"Mm." Gray nodded, pressing his forehead to Natsu's chest and breathing deeply. Natsu was here, he was awake and alive and his heart was beating under Gray's ear. "Sorry."

Rogue shook his head, rubbing gentle circles on Gray's stomach. "You haven't had a nightmare in almost a month," he said. "You're doing a lot better. We're proud of you."

"I know," Gray mumbled into Natsu's shirt. Natsu kissed the top of Gray's head and stroked his hair, and Gray focused on matching his breathing to the soft, even rise and fall of Natsu's chest.

The four of them lay in silence for a while, eventually joined by Happy, who wedged himself between Natsu and Gray, and Lector, who curled up against Gray's legs. The dream slowly faded from Gray's mind until it was nothing more than thin, vague threads that he could easily push away.

When he finally fell back asleep, he didn't dream.


"I'm sick of this hospital," Natsu grumbled. Sting hummed in agreement, sipping at the cafeteria coffee and leaning forward on the table, studying Natsu's face. Over the past three months the scars on his face had faded until they were barely noticeable, other than the thin white line beneath his left eye.

"How was physio?" Sting asked. Natsu rolled his eyes.

"The usual, it hurts and Mira's mean to me," he said, stretching his leg and pouting when Sting laughed at him. The physio clinic and Gray's therapist were both at the hospital, which had made things a bit easier since Natsu couldn't drive, and Gray still refused to. "Pretty sure I hate physio less than Gray hates therapy, though."

"I don't think anyone hates anything as much as Gray hates therapy," Sting said.

"You guys are jerks." Gray's voice came from behind Sting and he jumped in surprise, tipping his head back to see both Gray and Rogue standing behind him. Sting looked back at Natsu and glared.

"How long have they been there?"

Natsu didn't say anything, just stuck his tongue out at Sting and laughed.

"To be fair, he's not wrong," Gray said, leaning down and kissing Sting's forehead. "It was horrible. You guys ready for lunch?"

Natsu nodded, letting Rogue take his arm and help him up out of his chair. At first, Natsu been annoyingly stubborn about letting the three of them help him, insisting on doing everything on his own. They'd all been as patient as possible, but Sting had been the one to snap and yell at Natsu for a solid five minutes after he'd fallen in the shower and nearly broken his other hip. Since then, Natsu had begrudgingly let them help him out.

"I want ramen," Natsu announced.

"We had ramen yesterday," Gray reminded him. Natsu gave Gray a pathetic look.

"I almost died," he insisted, sighing dramatically. There was a flicker of hesitation in Gray's eyes, and a flash of guilt across his face, but he pushed it away and rolled his eyes instead.

"You can't use that excuse forever," he said, grabbing Natsu's hand and pulling him in for a sideways hug.

"Sure I can," Natsu argued as they started to move toward the exit. His gait was still slightly uneven, but the physio had made the limp much less pronounced. "Plus, you love ramen."

Gray couldn't disagree. He pressed a quick kiss to Natsu's temple, whispering, "I love you, too," as they walked out the door and into the sunshine.


"Would it be easier if I wasn't here?"

Natsu leaned forward and when he touched Gray's shoulder, Gray flinched, tightening his hands on the steering wheel. He took a few deep breaths, shaking his head and staring out the windshield.

Breaking glass, shouting, blood, sirens.

"Focus on what's real," Rogue said gently from the passenger seat. "You're not there, you're here, you're safe."

Gray swallowed a few times, trying to calm the frantic pounding of his heart. They were pulled over on the side of a residential road, three blocks from the apartment. He'd made it farther than this before, but the anticipation of their trip to Vancouver was making him more anxious than usual – both because of the driving, and because they were going to visit Natsu's mother.

"W-we're... it's not winter," he said. It was June, now – nearly four months after the accident – and the sky was a bright, clear blue. Gray reached up and covered Natsu's hand with his own. "There's s-sun," he continued. "It's... a different car."

"There you go," Rogue said, rubbing Gray's thigh. "You can do this. And you can take as long as you need."

"We're gonna have to stop a million times for Natsu to pee anyway," Sting joked, and Gray let out a quiet laugh as he nodded.

"I did have two cups of coffee already," Natsu admitted, squeezing Gray's shoulder.

Sting elbowed him. "The neurologist said no caffeine," he admonished.

"It was..." Natsu frowned. "The one... where you don't? Not the awake one."

"Decaf?" Sting suggested.

"Yes!" Natsu said brightly. He still occasionally struggled with forgetting words, which Doctor Krantz had said was typical for the kind of brain injury he'd experienced. When he'd first woken up, most of the words Natsu had said hadn't made much sense, but it was noticeably improving.

Gray exhaled, letting go of Natsu's hand and reaching down to turn the car back on. Nobody else was on the street, and he pulled out of the parking space slowly, focusing on taking deep breaths as he approached the next intersection.

Half an hour later, they were out on the highway, and Gray felt himself slowly relaxing as he watched the trees pass by on either side of the road. He could hear Sting and Natsu talking quietly in the back seat – debating who would win in a fight between the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise.

"You doing okay?" Rogue asked, reaching over and running his fingers through Gray's hair, then rubbing his thumb over the back of Gray's neck. "We can stop if you need to."

"Mm." Gray sighed at the sensation, holding back a flinch as a semi came toward them on the other side of the highway. "Maybe... the next rest stop? Just for a few minutes?"

"Of course," Rogue said softly. "We're not in a hurry – take as much time as you need."


"Maan!" Natsu pushed himself up from the restaurant chair, wincing a bit at the pain in his hip and then moving forward to hug his mother. She kissed his forehead, hugging him tightly and then turning to the other three.

"May I hug you as well?" she asked uncertainly. Sting immediately nodded and stood up, pulling her into an embrace. Rogue followed suit, but Gray stayed seated, looking unsure. Maya and Sanjay had gone back to Vancouver two weeks after Natsu had woken up, and Gray had avoided them both the entire time.

Maya gave Gray a sad smile and moved to sit down, but Gray surprised everyone by slowly standing up and reaching his hand out to her.

"It's... good to see you," he said quietly, and when she pulled him close, he felt his chest tighten. He tensed for a moment, then slowly relaxed into the embrace.

"Thank you," she said, slowly letting him go and squeezing his arm.

Natsu shifted his chair and gestured for Maya to sit between him and Gray, then hesitantly asked, "Pita?"

Maya shook her head sadly, reaching over and taking Natsu's hand. "I'm sorry," she said, and Natsu nodded, swallowing hard and blinking a few times to clear the tears that appeared in his eyes. "He is..."

"Stubborn, I know," Natsu said quietly. He'd known that his father wouldn't come, but a small part of him had clung to the hope that maybe he was wrong. He tried to push away the ache of disappointment, but it settled heavily in his chest.

Sting's hand appeared on his knee, and Natsu let out a shaky breath, taking it and squeezing, then wiping at his eyes.

"How was the drive?" Maya asked, glancing over at Gray.

"It was... okay," he said, playing with his fork.

"Gray drove most of the way," Rogue added, nudging Gray and smiling. "We're really proud of him." Gray's cheeks turned pink and he ducked his head.

"That's wonderful," Maya said, beaming at Gray. "How are things at home?"

"I'm going back to work in a couple weeks," Natsu said, shifting in his chair. "Sting got moved to my room at the daycare for a bit to help me out, since I can't really pick any of the kids up yet. Lucy's been really good about making things easier for me."

Maya gave Natsu a proud smile, then turned to Gray. "And what about you?" she asked.

"I, uh, I went back to work a few days after you guys left," he said quietly. "It's been… good?" He didn't mention the part where he'd only gone back two days a week at first, and had struggled through several weeks of panic attacks before the sessions with his therapist had started to help.

The conversation was interrupted as the waiter came to take their orders, and when the food came, their conversation turned to lighter topics, like Wendy's swimming lessons and Rogue's new photography exhibit.

When the meal was done, Maya insisted on paying, and when they all stood to leave, she reached out gently and touched Gray's shoulder.

"Thank you," she said quietly, and he sighed, reaching up and covering her hand with his own. "I know this has been hard for you, and I… thank you for letting me be a part of your lives."

"It's okay," he said softly, trying to work past the anxious mess in his chest. "It's… it means a lot to Natsu. I want him to be happy."

"So do I," Maya said softly, turning to watch Natsu as he laughed at something Sting said. "And I'm glad he has all of you to love him."


Walking back into the hotel room was a welcome relief from the busy heat of downtown Vancouver. Natsu kicked off his pants and flopped back onto the bed with a happy sigh, shifting until he was nestled against the ridiculous assortment of pillows against the headboard.

"C'mere," he said to Gray, reaching out his hand and pulling Gray down next to him. "You okay?"

"Mm." Gray yawned, turning to face Natsu and pressing their foreheads together. "I love you."

"I know," Natsu teased, running his hand up to Gray's cheek and pulling him in for a kiss. Gray hummed contentedly, drawing his fingers up Natsu's side as he pressed into the kiss, letting Natsu take charge and run his tongue along Gray's lip.

The bed dipped behind Gray and he felt Sting snuggle up behind him. Rogue settled in on the other side of Natsu, and Gray felt a warm sense of contentment spread through his chest as he relaxed in between all of them.

"Gray." Natsu pulled back, brushing his fingers through Gray's hair and giving him a soft, serious look. "I'm not gonna break." Gray felt his cheeks flush hot and he tried to pull back from Natsu, who shook his head and ran his thumb over Gray's cheekbone.

"I know," Gray said softly, running his fingers down Natsu's arm. "I know, I just…"

Things had been different, lately. The first time they'd all made love after Natsu had come home from the hospital had been overwhelming, and Gray hadn't been able to stop crying afterward. They'd been intimate since then, but it hadn't been quite the same.

"You're not gonna break either," Natsu said. Gray swallowed, looking up at Natsu, who smiled softly at him. "We're okay, right?"

Gray nodded, sighing as Sting began to rub gentle circles on his stomach.

"I need you guys." Natsu's voice was soft and vulnerable, and he tipped his head back to look at Rogue, who was propped up on his elbow behind Natsu, playing with the hem of his shirt. "Please."

Gray let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes, focusing on the real things around him. The smell of Sting's shampoo, Natsu's heartbeat under his fingertips, Rogue's quiet breathing.

"I was so scared," he whispered, swallowing heavily. "Y-you… I thought…"

"I know," Natsu said, kissing Gray's forehead. "I know, but I'm here. I'm okay, and I love you, and I wanna make love to you."

Gray nodded, then leaned forward, kissing Natsu again. He shivered when Sting pulled him closer and whispered in his ear, "it wasn't your fault. You deserve to be loved."

Natsu hummed happily, hooking his ankle around Gray's and pulling him closer. Rogue kissed just below Natsu's ear, then took Gray's hand and placed it on Natsu's thigh, just over the thick, white scar from the surgery to fix his hip.

Gray let out a shaky breath, then carefully traced his fingers over the scar, enjoying the soft sounds that Natsu made into his mouth. Natsu shifted until Gray's fingers moved closer inward, drifting over the growing hardness under his boxers.

"Please," Natsu whispered, moaning quietly as Rogue pressed up against his back, holding him tightly and nipping at his earlobe. "Please, wanna… need you all. Wanna feel you in me. Please."

Gray ran his hand across Natsu's boxers again, stroking him more purposefully this time. This was okay. They were gonna be okay.

He slowly shifted until he was on top of Natsu, sitting in between his legs and gazing down at Natsu's face.

"Anything for you," he whispered, then leaned down and kissed Natsu again.