I do not own Fairy Tail, and I am sorry for being dead. There's more about that at the end of the chapter.
Enjoy.
Back at the guild, Natsu couldn't move. Lucy said the three words that stung in his ears. She hated him? Was that even possible for Natsu to understand? For someone to love someone so much, only to make them hate you. Natsu was almost catatonic. "No." he whispered. Gray, still sitting at the table, got up and patted Natsu on the back on his way out. Gray noticed the look on Natsu's face, how such pain was written all over it. Gray would try and fix this.
He finally reached Lucy's front step. He lifted his arm to knock, but he was hesitant. Should he knock? Should he even bother to tell Lucy anything? She was precious to him. Gathering the courage, Gray knocked. He heard shuffling and noises before the door was opened slowly. Lucy, standing there, looked like a wreck. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying it seemed, and her hair looked like a rats' nest.
Lucy's eyes glanced at the ground. "Gray."
Gray twitched, her voice was hoarse. "Lucy." Gray stepped forward, "May I come in?"
Lucy nodded and stepped back for Gray. He walked in and sat down on Lucy's bed. He patted the spot for Lucy to sit next to him. Lucy complied.
"Gray, to be honest I really don't wanna see you right now." Lucy spoke softly. The truth should hurt him, just as she was hurt.
"Yeah I know, I'm an asshole, but look…" Gray turned Lucy toward him. He gave her a serious look. He began to tell her the truth. "Natsu is an idiot."
Lucy chuckled sadly. "Yeah… So are you."
Gray smiled. "Yeah I know, but Natsu is a bigger idiot." Gray sighed. "We made a bet. A stupid bet, and it wasn't the right thing to do. Maybe I did like you a long time ago, maybe I thought this was my chance but I realize now, that I want Natsu to realize his feelings. That flame-brained baka needs to realize that he loves you. The way he talks about you with such happiness in his voice and whenever you walk in the room his eyes light up." Gray sniffled, he was pissed. He never cried in front of a woman before. "He loves you. He fucked up, but please try to forgive him, and me too." Gray's eyes averted from Lucy's.
Lucy began tearing up. "Gray, I… I don't know what to say." Lucy leaned into Gray more and more until she was embraced in Gray's cold arms. His touch was a cool feeling of being refreshed.
Gray whispered, "I'll always love you Lucy. But Natsu loves you more. That fucker just doesn't realize it."
Lucy couldn't hold back the tears anymore. To have Gray as a friend made her happy. She let it go, she let her tears fall onto his chest. "I forgive you." She whispered barely enough for him to hear.
Gray breathed a sigh of relief and held her tightly. This was a moment he needed to cherish, knowing it would be a while before he could be able to hold her so closely again.
Many minutes passed of Gray comforting Lucy. Now feeling rejuvenated, she mustered up the courage to let Gray go. He stood slowly and walked to her door. He stepped outside and exhaled deeply, like he hadn't been breathing for a thousand years. He turned on his heel to meet Lucy's eyes again, and on impulse, pulled her into a crushing hug. The tears were flowing from both of them again. Uncontrollable silent sobs.
"I love you Lucy." Gray whispered, kissing Lucy's forehead. "I'll always be here for you."
Lucy hugged Gray tighter. She whimpered. "I love you too." She nuzzled her head into his chest. "Thank you… For everything."
With that, Gray let go. It almost felt painful for the warmth to be gone. His heart was frozen, but he felt it thawing because of Lucy. She flashed him a smile, tears streaming down her face, and waved goodbye, shutting her door. He would always love her, but from afar.
Walking back to the guild, Gray slammed the doors open. He saw Natsu drinking at the bar and angrily stomped toward the pink-haired mage, pulled him by the scarf and out the door. Gray threw Natsu to the ground. Dirt and pebbles dirtying the mages' clothes.
"What the fuck, popsicle?" Natsu squawked.
Gray grabbed Natsu by the collar, hauling him up, having their noses almost touching. "Do you have any idea what you did to Lucy?" Gray shook Natsu hard. "She was fucking crying in her apartment all alone!" Gray hissed. He threw Natsu back to the ground, landing with a thud.
Natsus' eyes widened. "Lucy! Is she okay?" He began to get up to go race to her house.
Gray kicked Natsu back down. "Listen you fucking idiot. I just spent an hour and a half comforting her, because she told me everything! She thought she was in love with you but after you fucking blurted out about a bet and everything, now she's not so sure!"
Natsu just sat there, listening to Grays' words.
Gray continued, "Now what I want you to do is go visit her, and fucking apologize. Hold her. Tell her how much you fucking love her because if you don't I will make your life a living hell if you hurt her again." Grays' eyes were filling up with tears. This was hard for him to do. He loved Lucy probably just as much as Natsu, but this was the right thing. He could've definitely taken advantage of Lucy in such a vulnerable state, but she wouldn't have deserved that. All Gray felt was that if he could see Lucy happy, he would be able to be happy.
Natsu noticed how serious Gray was and got up, dusting himself off. "Alright. I'll do it Gray." He turned and began walking, but called over his shoulder, "Thanks you stripper. Maybe you're not so bad after all." And Natsu waved him off.
To Gray, that was the nicest thing that idiotic flame-brain had said to him. Unknowingly, a smile had crept on his face. He sighed, turning toward the guild, wiping his eyes. "Love fucking sucks."
It was dusk when Natsu reached Lucy's house. As always, he climbed through the window, but noticed that Lucy was asleep. He didn't want to leave now. So he decided to wait. He went to sit at Lucy's desk and became bored after only a couple of minutes of waiting. Natsu then went looking through Lucy's stuff. He noticed drafts of her novel, little doodles and other things, but then he noticed a little envelope with writing on it. He lit his finger for light and read the piece of paper, 'To: Natsu'.
Natsu contemplated opening it. But he figured, it says it's for me, why not open it? Natsu began reading the nicely written letter.
As Natsu read every word, every letter, emotion flowed through him. She felt this way, and he caused her to feel such things like this. He read the letter over and over and over. He almost memorized the entire thing by sunrise.
"Natsu?" Lucy rubbed her sleep deprived eyes. "What are you doing here? What are you reading?" Lucy noticed the pained look on Natsu's face. Even though she was still angry, still hurt, seeing that look on Natsu's face made her feel upset. He was still her best friend, she couldn't just leave him alone in a time like this. The time she spent with Gray showed her to forgive and forget, and that is exactly what she was trying to do. The first step was talking, she supposed. She pondered whether it was safe to step foot out of her bed, but she took the risk. She stumbled out of bed, and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Yes I know I have been dead for months. I haven't updated since last year. But here's the thing, I actually have an excuse this time. I moved, again. To California this time. It was really stressful and then I had to get back into school, so I started a new school basically a month before it ended and then I had to take finals. I also have a job and summer homework. I know those are all shitty excuses for not updating but I'm really sorry guys. I really am. I hope I can update sooner. I've never been good at updating soon but I'll try better next time. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next chapter.
