Unbetaed.

Notes/Warnings: Just a quick thing that popped into my mind. I don't even… Dumbasses. -.-

J – Jealousy

It didn't even start over anything really.

It just did.

One day Gray was looking distracted at Lucy and Natsu who were walking ahead of him, super close, heads together and giggling – just imagine! Giggling! – over one matter or the other.

It was an image that seemingly stayed with Gray, despite Erza's questions and their own mission there.

It irked him.

Didn't sit well, in the least, with him.

Extending his hand in a gentlemanly fashion so that Lucy could jump from the slightly tall crumbling wall and curling one arm around her waist didn't help matters either.

Gray found himself grinding his teeth and had to consciously stop when he caught Erza's attention. The red headed mage was looking at Gray somewhat quizzically but at one point Gray realized that she seemed to be hiding her amused smile.

Why?

Why was she smiling?

For that moment the question ran around his mind but suddenly there was a loud noise, one of the outer walls crumbled and they found themselves surrounded.

Guess that I'll have to worry about this later... Gray had the presence of mind to think before he jumped into the fray and for some frenetic moments things got blurry.

#

It was the way that she leaned so much against Gray that made Natsu's eyebrow twitch.

He didn't have anything against her, no, the moments of animosity in regards to Juvia had began and ended with Phantom Lord.

So, why this?

Natsu threw a glare at Gray and Juvia who were sitting pretty close in a table near the wall, in a sconce where few light reached, sides plastered against each other. Natsu could even see how she had leaned so much that she was resting her head on his shoulder.

Oh, that just isn't right!

Natsu took deep, measured breaths and curled his hand tightly over his fork, making it bend without nary any force. A small flame seemed to curl around his hand – but he only noticed this when Happy brought his attention to it.

Natsu caught himself and let go of the fork, hurrying to put it back in its original position.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Happy asked with concern.

"Yeah, yeah. It's nothing." Natsu waved him off, his eyes coming down to his place. He speared the fork on the meat with a little more force than necessary before bringing it to his mouth, chewing decidedly.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Erza asked as she set her dishes and mug on the table. She stood before Natsu, one hip cocked against the table. She obscured Natsu's vision slightly, only allowing him to see Gray for a few moments. The ice mage had turned his head, his shirt having been lost somewhere along the way, and was seemingly speaking attentively at her, his hair obscuring the side of his face.

"No, no." Natsu replied distractedly, trying to tilt his head to see more of the scene, unmindful that he was being really obvious in his actions to those close to him. "Sit, sit" the fire mage waved at Erza.

"Is there something interesting, out there?" Erza asked as she started turning in the direction Natsu was looking at.

"No! Stop!" Natsu all but hissed to make the older mage pause in her actions. The red headed mage looked unimpressed.

"Very well…" Erza said as she sat down, looking at her friend cautiously.

Natsu noticed her look and frowned, glaring at her when a small, smug, smile appeared on her lips.

"What?" he demanded.

"Hm?" Erza asked, innocently, cutting one piece of meat and eating it. "Did you want something?"

"I want to know why you're smiling at me like that." The fire mage asked testily.

Erza paused and leaned forward on her elbows, staring intently at him, lips in a firm line.

"You'll find out about it, soon." She finally replied, leaning back and resuming her eating.

"Wha-?! That's not fair, Erza! I want to know what it is!" Natsu whined a bit, flopping on the table and, momentarily, catching a better view of the ice mage.

"Soon." Erza said in a sing-song voice – which was something that, just, didn't happen – and then ignored Natsu when he insisted about asking about the matter.

#

It didn't take long for the situation that Erza had predicted to come to fruition.

It was during a mission, Natsu and Gray had become stranded from the rest of the team when the cave's roof collapsed, making them be on one side while the others were on the other. Quickly they started to find a way out and, to pass time, some of the crazy soldiers that they'd fought. It would make time pass, at least.

"Tsk, of all the time for this thing to collapse, it had to be now." Natsu grumbled as he threw some rocks away. He was pouting slightly as Gray had forbidden him from just punching a whole in the structure. "Instability in the whole structure, my ass." He muttered under his breath. "Maybe you could help secure this place, then. Your magic must serve for something, ice brain."

"What did I tell you? Didn't you hear when Yerop said that one single shake and everything would go down?" Gray shook his head and let the rocks he had just taken fall to the ground, coming up with his forearm to clean his sweaty face.

"I bet that if you had Juvia here you'd let her use her powers." Natsu grumbled as he sat down petulantly.

"What?" Gray stood dumbfounded, his wrist still pressed against his forehead. "What the hell are you talking about? I was just thinking that you would be grumbling because you got stuck here with me."

"What about?" Natsu clapped his hands to get rid of some of the grime in them.

"…" Gray sat down, his eyes becoming obscured from the weak light that still lined the walls. "I'm not Lucy." He said in a nonchalant way.

"I know that… And?" The fire mage was slightly thrown by the course of the conversation. He arched an eyebrow and asked, "But I can also say that I'm not Juvia."

"I wouldn't want Juvia to be in this place." Gray waved him off.

"No? She and you, alone…" Natsu countered, leaning slightly forward.

"That's ridiculous! More so I-" Gray shut himself abruptly, clapping one hand over his mouth for effect.

"You're not going to tell me you're not interested, you've been all so lovey-dovey as of late. Always sitting in semi-hidden corners and such…" Natsu paused and tilted his head to the side, noticing Gray's weird expression. "Are you okay?"

"You've been looking." Gray answered, dumbfounded. "You wouldn't notice that unless you've noticed. Have you been looking for something, hm?" Gray leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"M-me?" Natsu spluttered. "No! Nothing! It just happened and…" Natsu was starting to fidget a little.

"Come on. Spill." Gray said, the ghost of a smile fluttering over his face.

Natsu crossed his arms, looked to the side and puffed out his cheeks.

"I was looking at you, okay?" he glared at Gray before looking to the side again. "Now shut the fuck up."

"Even if I told you that I was looking right back?" Gray asked in an amused tone.

"Wha-!?" Natsu turned his head back sharply, staring wide-eyed at Gray.

"Yes, I-" Gray was about to continue but that was when a hole was opened on the rubble. Voices emerged from it, breaking their moment.

"Are you alright?" Someone was saying from the other side.

"Yes, we're fine!" Natsu was quick to assure. He looked at Gray before returning to his fidgeting.

"We'll talk about this later." Gray said as he gave a small squeeze to Natsu's shoulder before standing and helping their friends enlarging the hole.

#

And talk they did.