"So..." I asked the boy sitting in front of me with a suggestive tone of voice, grabbing his hands. "What are your plans for the golden week?"
That was our first major holiday since we've been together, and thoughts on spending it together kept popping up inside my head. Maybe by the beach, where we could play by the water, and he could run away from me, until I'd catch him and we'd fall on the sand and start making out…
"Oh, I'm going home, actually." Natsu answered like it was no big deal, and continued to eat his food, not looking at my direction, not realizing that he had completely blew me off.
All that I could do was rest my back against my chair, watching pink head eat. It was just so frustrating. Not because I wouldn't get to fulfill my beach fantasy, but his completely lack of consideration to realize that maybe I would like to go to his hometown and meet his family.
Natsu never talked to me about his life before college, about his friends back at home, about his parents. The only thing I knew was that his judo teacher died tragically, and even that took a lot for me to get him to open up to me.
"May I ask you a question?" I swallowed hard, searching for the courage to have that long overdue conversation. The pink-haired boy looked at me, the surroundings of his mouth dirty with food, while he agreed with his head. "How come you never talk to me about your family?"
Natsu choke on his own food after I said those words, taking a sip of his beverage to swallow it down.
"What do you mean?" He acted dumb.
"You never say anything to me about your origins. I mean, come on we've been together for six months now and I don't know nearly anything about your life outside of this university…"
"Gray…" Before my boyfriend could reason with me, his phone started beeping on top of the table. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry Gray, but they are needing me at the drama club." I rolled my eyes with those words, seeing the pink-haired boy stand up from his sit. "But, hey, I promise we'll have this conversation another time, okay? I just have to go."
But what did Natsu had to do with the drama club, you might be asking. What happened was; after the Olympics, his coach reported his behavior to the dean. My boyfriend managed to justify his act by saying he was too tired from being up all night on the cleaning team, and it was affecting the way he dealt with people. And so, he was assigned to help build up the scenario and props for the year's final play.
It was consuming all of his time, and making me even more frustrated.
…
I opened the door of my dorm, Natsu was standing there with a sorry face, which made me smile. He knew that face got to me every time.
"Hey. Is Loki here yet?" My boyfriend was asking about the premature trip Loki was going to take for the holiday.
"No, he already went. Come in…" The pink-haired boy pulled me for a casual kiss and walked into the room. "So…" I said, realizing I didn't want to postpone that conversation anymore. "Can we have that talk we couldn't have at lunch?"
"Come here…" Pink head pulled me by the hand, sitting us both on my bed. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you weren't welcomed in other aspects of my life…" He said, rubbing my cheek with his hand.
"It's not that… I just happen to wonder about how is your family like, and your hometown, and stuff like that, you know? And the more I dwell into those thoughts, I wonder why haven't you shared those things with me yet… I mean," I jumped in, before he could counterargue me. "you know my family, and my old home, and stuff like that. Granted, it all took place during a crisis and it wasn't planned, but I think that, by this time on our relationship, I would have shared this stuff with you. Don't you?" By the time I finished speaking, my boyfriend was looking down on the floor, shaking a little, his hand still holding mine.
"You're right." Natsu said, after a few seconds, still not looking at me, before he faced my onyx eyes again. "I want to share this things with you. Of course I do. You're the first guy I've ever been in love with. I guess I'm just…" His voice weakened before he could finish the sentence, facing down again. "Scarred…"
"I thought that might've been the case…" I said, taking a deep breath in realization. That thought came to me after a while I've been bummed out about Natsu never mention those stuff to me. When I realized that, I felt so stupid and selfish and decided to respect his feelings. If it weren't for it, I would have questioned him way earlier. I just couldn't keep it to myself when he plainly said he was going home for the golden week without a slight of consideration towards me.
"I just… Don't know how my family would be about all that, you know?"
"Do you think they might condemn it?"
"I don't know." He sighed. "My dad is very much the virile type. He never expressed any sign of prejudice or anything, but he is very intimidating, and put to himself, you know? I have no idea how he would react."
"And your mom?" I asked, making him shut quiet for a little while, making me think that I had hit a nerve or something.
"Look…" My boyfriend finally said, looking into my eyes again. "I can't take you to meet my family right now. But I can…" He entered more into the bed, sitting by the headboard, pressing his back against the wall. "Tell you about them." The pink-haired boy slapped his leg, making a gesture for me to lie on them.
"Is this the part I unlock your tragic backstory?" I jokingly said, lying my head on his lap, my body stretched on the bed, which made him laugh.
"Too real…" Natsu joked back, taking a deep breath before unleashing his memories. "It all started on a town called Magnolia. That was where my mom leaved. She was called Porlyusica, and she was a medical student on their local junior college. My father was the contrary of her. His name was Igneel, and he worked on a travelling circus."
"No way! Seriously? That is awesome!"
"Shhh, no interrupting!"
"Sorry…"
"Anyway, he was a trapeze artist. And for two weeks the circus stayed in Magnolia, and that was where they met. Now, Igneel was older than Porlyusica. She was nineteen when they met, and he was well into his thirties. My mom went to one of my dad's performances, and, in his own words, she immediately popped out from the rest of the crowd to him. She was sitting on the first bench, and smiling excitedly towards everything. It was her smile, he said, that got his heart. And so, my father asked my mother out by the end of the show, but she was too shy and demure to accept. He insisted though, saying he would be waiting for her at the town's square at nine o'clock, if she decided to show up. And so, she did. And they had a torrid romance. And for those two weeks, it seemed as though the world was perfect. Until a friend of my mothers told her parents she was having relations with an older man from the circus. In a huge fight with her strict, religious parents, Porlyusica got kicked out of the house, and resorted to Igneel in that time of need. She ran away with him, and the circus. And got impregnated with me. My father, then, decided to leave the circus, so they could start a proper family. They settled on another town, and they lived there, until her death, during labor…"
"Oh, my god…" I interrupted again, really driven into the story.
"And so, there was only my father and little baby me. He tried to keep on living there, but it was just too much to take in. Feeling like his emotions were keeping him from being an actual good parent, Igneel finally decided to take some action, and took a bus to Magnolia. He was going to return me to my grandparents, deeming them as more fit to take me in. But the bus broke down mid trip, and we had to spend the night in this small village, called The Dragon Village. During the night, my father stopped being a pussy, and came back into his senses. And so, decided to leave there, with me."
"Wow…" I said after a few seconds. Silent tears were falling down my face. I stood up, looking at my boyfriend's direction. "That is a really powerful story…" I grabbed his hand and aimed my eyes directly at his green lobes, making him smile.
"After that, me and my father lived there, happily, for the most part. He was always kind of stiff, but he always showed me love, in his own way, and he always wanted to taught me good lessons, but I could feel he was lonely, and he could feel I was lonely too. That's why, when I was five, he put me on a judo class, where I met my sensei I talked to you about." I swallowed hard, remembering that other heartfelt conversation. "And he met Grandine when I was about six. She was an elementary school teacher. They ended up hitting it off, and got married, and she even got pregnant, with my little sister, Wendy."
"You have a sister?" I smiled with that knowledge.
"I do. I think she would really like you." My smile grew bigger, until I fell back into reality, remembering that I wouldn't get to meet his sister anytime soon, because Natsu wasn't comfortable introducing me to his family yet. Trying to shake those thoughts away from my head, I gave the pink-haired boy in front of me a passionate kiss. "And you know why I painted my hair pink?" He questioned me, after the kiss ended, and we kept our heads closer to each other, feeling the air coming out of each other noses hitting our faces. "It's an ode to my mother, actually. After she went on leaving with my father, she painted her hair pink, like a statement after leaving her strict lifestyle behind. And all the pictures I have of her are from that period, so, that's pretty much the image I have of my mom…"
"Wow…" I said, tears popping on my eyes again. "You have such a story…" A smile appeared on my lips again. After a while just looking into one another's eyes, with our noses touching, I shook myself out of that state, lying on Natsu's lap again. "Anyway," I said, trying to get all the emotion baggage behind us. "how was the rehearsal today?"
"You know I'm not actually on the play, right?"
"Yes, I know, but you seem to watch every rehearsal till the end, so…" I teased him, passive aggressively about the fact that he was spending too much time on the auditorium with that play than with me, lately.
"It was lovely, if you should know…"
"They are doing Grease, this year, right?"
"Yes, and it is coming off better than ever, every rehearsal it just gets better and better…"
And so, my boyfriend got carried away talking about his newfound love for the university play. All I could do was smile, listening to him talk about something he was actually passionate about. Even though it might bother me how much time of his it was consuming, it was always nice to hear Natsu talk for ours about something that excited him.
"If you like the play so much, can you sing one of the songs to me?" I smiled at his direction, while he arched his brow at me.
Natsu, then, started to sing to Summer Nights, while caressing my hair. I closed my eyes, concentrating on his beautiful, heavy, tender voice. Who knew singing would end up being one more of his hidden talents? And with each talent I discovered he had, the more I loved him.
…
"Where are you taking me?" I insisted, as I was walking around for fifteen minutes at least with those blindfolds on.
"Stop being so impatient!" My boyfriend replied to me, holding my hand. He said he had a surprise for me, and blindfolded me, walking me around to wherever that surprise was, and I was getting really unease. "Here. You can take it off now."
"Finally." I got my sight back, and, surprise, surprise, the pink-haired boy was taking me to our spot, the tree at the park, all along. I lowered down my eyes seeing a small box by the bottom of the tree. "What's this?" I asked, lowering down, to pick it up.
"Well, you'll just have to open it." He gave me a smarty look, while I, very suspiciously, opened the blue box.
Inside, a train ticket. To some place called Cold End. Not understanding what it was, I moved my face towards Natsu's direction, who was anxiously smiling at me, but I couldn't help but to raise my eyebrow, in confusion.
"I don't get it. What's this, what's Cold End?"
"Well, The Dragon Village is too small of a place to have its own train line. But, a way to get there is to get off on Cold End's station and take a cab, it's only twenty minutes away, so…" My eyes popped with that explanation, I just wasn't getting it. What happened with the whole "I'm not ready for you to meet my family yet" thing?
"What…" I tried to work out a sentence, still lost with all that was going down.
"I know what I said earlier…" He grabbed my hand, getting closer to me, our noses almost touching. "But, seeing how touched you were when I told you my family's story, I decided you were too important to me to let my fear stand in the way…"
"So, that means I'm going to meet your family?" A warm smile took over me, whilst I pressed his hand tighter.
"Yes!" Natsu let a shout come out, in excitement, as pulling me over to a warm kiss.
I couldn't think of a better surprise.
…
We woke up on the next day, already packed, and, still half asleep, went to the train station. It was a two-hour ride. We could manage to make the old lady sitting next to Natsu exchange sits, so we could sit side by side during the trip.
Half the time, I slept in his shoulder. The other half we were awake, and, again, the conversation revolved around the play my boyfriend was helping put together. It was interesting at the beginning, then it got to the stage where I stopped listening on what he was actually saying and focusing only on how excited and cute he looked talking about it. But then, it became too much even for me, and I got bored, so I just focused on the view from outside the window while the words came out of the pink-haired boy's mouth.
Finally, we reached our first destination, and, for a while, I got Natsu focused on getting us a cab, not the play. But as soon as we got into a car, he came back.
"And so, this boy who plays the lead, Mitsuru, have I told you about him? Well, anyway, he tripped during the number…" Pink head told that story for me at least three times, and every time he would burst into laughter before he could properly finish it. I took a deep breath, while looking out the window.
"Hey," I finally dug out the guts to interrupt him from inside of me, seeing I didn't want to listen to the same stories again and again. "we are going to your hometown, are you excited?" I reached out to his hand, grabbing it and looking at his direction.
"I guess… I mean, I've been there a bunch of times, I used to live there, so… What about you?" He retributed my stare. "Are you excited?"
"Oh, definitely. What about its name, though?" I added, realizing more theater talk was about to come up. "Why is it called The Dragon Village? It sounds like something out of medieval stories, or something…"
"It's actually an interesting story…" Natsu said, sighing, and resting his back on the cab sit. "Legends has it the emperor that used to rule this part of the land, many years ago, had a son, who, due to a curse, was bound to become a dragon when he reached twenty, although with each year, more and more signs of becoming a dragon appeared on him, so the emperor prohibited the boy of leaving the palace and tried hard to stop the curse, by sacrificing his subjects from the villages all around his palace. But nothing seemed to work. When founding out what his father was doing, the prince was really furious, and his fury made him into a full dragon. He left the palace, and vowed to protect the people from the emperor's tyranny. He moved into a cave deep in the woods, but, in order to feel more protected, the villagers build a town next to that cave, and so, it came to be the dragon village.
"Wow…" I said, hearing that story. "Do you think it's true?" I looked over to my boyfriend, waiting for his response.
"Well, I don't know… The palace of the emperor really exists though, it's a few towns away. And the cave, too. We used to have field trips there in elementary school."
"That's amazing." I brought his hand closer to me, kissing it, making Natsu smile at me in response.
After a couple of minutes, we reached the village. My boyfriend asked the driver to leave us by the entrance, not that I knew why, and so he did. We picked our bags from the trunk and watched the car go, as we stood in front of a sign that read "Welcome to The Dragon Village".
Exchanging looks, we smiled at one another, grabbing hands, and walked into that place, bags in our hands and the sun shining above us.
Natsu guided me towards the town, but as soon as someone passed by us on the streets and greeted us, he soon blushed and let my hand go, greeting them back. It was an awkward moment, walking beside him like that. He was clearly anxious and nervous to be walking on his old town with his boyfriend next to him. I hadn't seen Natsu like that for a long time.
He finally stopped by a small house, of one floor and a wooden roof, turning over to me, and whispering.
"Okay, before we come in, can we decide how things are going to go in there? How are we going to act?" Natsu was breathing deeply and sweating cold.
"Natsu, are you okay?"
"I am, I just…" He stopped for a bit, trying to get his breath back. "Shit, I haven't thought this through…"
"Natsu." I tried to call pink head's attention, but he was about to have a nervous breakdown. "Natsu." I emphasized, grabbing his wrist, which made him look at me, scared by the sudden touch. "Calm down. It's going to be okay… If you don't feel like coming out just yet…"
"Shhh!" The pink-haired guy reprehended me, letting his wrist go. "I can't do this, Gray. I can't do this. I thought I could, but I can't…" Tears started coming out of his eyes, and stood there, watching my boyfriend suffer, trying to figure out how to comfort him.
"It's okay." I put my hand on his shoulder, but he moved it, not wanting me to touch him at the moment. "It's okay babe. I'll do whatever you want me to do… Please…" Natsu stood still in silent, looking at the ground, while his tears gradually stopped.
"You'll have to go." He looked back at me, saying like it was the most natural solution on the world.
"What?!" It came louder than I intended, making a panic look show up on my boyfriend's face. "What?" I repeated, with the same intonation, but whispering. "You can be serious…"
"I'm sorry. I love you, but I can't…" He replied to me, shaking his head on a positive way, trying to convince himself of that ludicrous idea. "You have to…"
"Natsu!" A sudden shout got us both out of that discussion. We both turned our heads towards the scream direction, seeing a small girl with blue hair stuck in pigtails. She was smiling at us.
"Oh shit." Natsu whispered, between his teeth, as he faked a smile. "Hey, Wendy." He waved her a hello.
"Mom! Natsu is here!" The little girl ran out of our sight.
"Oh shit, what now Gray?" Natsu turned around to me again, his forced smile giving place to a despair look.
"It's going to be okay. Trust me." That was the best I could come up with.
We both got pulled out of that conversation again, hearing the sound of the door opening. Looking at its direction, a relatively short woman with gray hair appeared at our sight. She wore glasses, and smiled at Natsu's direction, seeing him there.
"Natsu!" The woman pulled him for a hug.
"Hey, Grandine…" He said, strengthen up his own voice.
"And you are?" She said, after letting her stepson go, looking at me. Dead silence surged between the two of us for a split second, before I jumped in and introduced myself, before Natsu panicked again.
"Hi, I'm Gray. I'm Natsu's friend… from college!" I added with confidence, trying to act natural.
"Hi, Gray." I went to her hand, but Grandine pulled me for a hug, too. "Come in. Come in." We walked inside the small place. The living room took almost all of the house. It was divided between the dinner table in one side, and the television on the other, with two couches surrounding it. One in the front, and the other by the right side. There were two doors beside the TV, the one in the left was opened, revealing a twin bed with pink sheets on it. It was the room Natsu sister saw us through the window. The other one was closed, and it was probably his father's room. "Wendy, have you washed your hands?" Grandine's voice got me out of my analyzing of the room.
"Yes." A high-pitched voice came from behind me, making me and my boyfriend turn around. "Natsu!" Pink head's sister ran towards him.
"Hey, little thing!" He grabbed her by the waist, lifting the little girl up. "I've missed you!" My boyfriend gave the girl a kiss in the cheek, as I smiled, seeing him interact with his sister.
"I've missed you too." She hugged his neck. "But can you stop calling me little thing from now on?"
"I see… Not cool for your fifth-grade friends, huh?"
"I didn't say that…" She blushed, while her brother put her down. Then, Wendy realized I was there too, looking at my face, not knowing what to say.
"Hi! I'm a friend of your brother's." I stretched my hand to the girl. "My name is Gray."
"Hi, Gray." The blue-haired girl blushed, looking directly into my eyes. It was a little weird.
"Igneel! Your son is here!" Grandine yelled one more time.
Suddenly, the door of the room in the right opened. Out of it, came out a really tall man, walking with the support of a cane. He had long, red hair, hitting under his shoulder. His face was cranky and intimidating, and seeing him walking on our direction, made my body tremble a bit. He had a small unshaved beard and a scar on his left cheek, which made his whole look even more terrifying.
"Hey dad…" Natsu whispered shyly, seeing his father approaching.
"Screw that." The man smirked, deconstructing his grumpy face, grabbing his son into a hug. Watching them hug, I smiled, but also got even more nervous, seeing as the time for me to talk with that scary man was approaching. "And you are…?" He walked to me, with his frightening expression back on, which almost made me urinate on my pants.
"Hi, I'm Gray…" It took me a second to process out of my dread and answer him, stretching my hand at his direction. "I'm a friend of Natsu's…" Igneel grabbed my hand, barely breaking it, while I swallowed hard trying to pretend it wasn't hurting at all.
"Very well." He finally let it go and I waited him to walk past me, so I could shake my hand in relief. Unfortunately, Natsu saw that, and laughed at me, as I blushed.
He came towards me and put his hand on my shoulder, while we walked towards the table, sitting on the right side, while Wendy sat on the head. Their parents were bringing the food from the kitchen.
The food was roast chicken with mashed potatoes. Then the adults sat down with us and we dug in on the food. It was marvelous. Sitting there on that table, in the country, the whole family together eating the mother's food, it was really something else, like I was dragged into a yogurt commercial with your traditional happy old-school family gathering. It was quite comforting, actually.
"So, Gray…" Igneel's heavy voice called my name, while I had mashed potatoes all over my mouth. I looked at him, cleaning it with a napkin. "What is your major?"
"It's pre-law, actually." I answered, covering my mouth with the piece of paper.
"Really? Well, that's very different from Natsu's. How did you meet?" My whole-body shivered with that question, but my attention soon went to my boyfriend sitting next to me, that choked with his food and started coughing, as soon as that question was made.
"Natsu, are you ok?" Grandine asked.
"I'm fine…" Pink head replied, a few seconds later, after swallowing the food in his mouth, at last.
I looked at Igneel in front of me, seeing if he was still waiting for my reply, and, unfortunately, the scary man was looking at my direction, with his eyebrow arched, waiting on me to answer his question. I swallowed hard with that view, and clenched my fist, trying to find the strength to say something.
"Well… We met during a presentation, on the auditorium. He was sitting right behind me, we started talking, and… that was it." I looked over to Natsu, sitting next to me, with a side-eye, and we both smiled at one another, with that slight distortion of the truth.
"Natsu, I heard you got a silver medal on the university games. You must've been really proud of yourself, huh?" His stepmom barged in, smiling at the pink-haired boy, who forced a smile at her, and looked down, faced with that touchy subject.
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that." Once again Igneel's voice marked its presence, which made me tremble, again. It was just his voice was so hoarse and heavy, that when it made itself present, it just shook me. "What happened? I've seen you fight, I know you could take that gold medal, and shake those so-called competitors of yours to their core."
"Well, sometimes things just don't go as expected…" My boyfriend simply replied, still facing down to his plate, and clenching his fist, with a low voice.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Second place is still really impressive." Grandine barged in again, trying to keep the calm.
"I didn't raise Natsu by congratulating under-achievement." The pink-haired boy father stated, roughly, making me swallow dry and look at my boyfriend, who was still looking down with an unpleasant expression on. I could see why he was so scared of coming out to his family now.
"Yeah, I agree." Wendy said, reminding me the little girl was also on the table. "Natsu could really kick some…" She exchanged looks with her mother, who was not pleased with the possible end of that sentence. "Butts…" She smiled at the adult woman, who, surrendering, smiled back.
"I'm sorry I disappointed you, dad. Okay?" Natsu roughly snapped, still facing down.
"Honey, no one said you disappointed us…" His stepmom once again tried to keep things civil.
"Actually, I do believe you could have done better…"
"Igneel!" Grandine snapped at her husband.
"Can we just change the subject, please?" I slowly put my hand on Natsu's leg under the table, trying to calm him down, after he said those words, and silent reigned on the table. The sweet traditional family environment seemed to had faded away quickly.
"Well… Igneel," I swallowed hard again, before calling my boyfriend's dad, trying to change the subject, as requested. "Natsu told me you used to be a part of a travelling circus… That's awesome!" The redhead man smiled for the second time since I've met him, changing his grumpy face, which, somehow, made he seem at the same time more approachable and scarier.
"Indeed, I did. You must've assumed the way I look has something to do with it…" I shrugged, but, indeed, Igneel looked like a comic book anti-hero, with his scar and his walking cane. The only thing missing was an eye-patch for the look to be complete. "But actually, this scar I have is from when I got caught in a fire in my childhood. My house burned down." My eyes popped with that new piece of information, and how natural the man sitting in front of me delivered it. "And the cane was for when I built Natsu's new room when we were expecting Wendy. I fell from the roof, and it was it."
"Yes, I was wondering what the stairs led to…" My eyes looked over to the wooden stairs by the right side of the room, which led to a single door. "When walking over to the front of the house, I thought it had only one floor…"
"It's more of an improvised second floor, really…" Grandine spoke.
"And, dad, do you know if Yumi and the guys are coming to town during the summer?" Natsu came back to the conversation on the table.
"They always come, don't they? This are the guys from the circus I used to be a part of…" The man looked at me, explaining. He was not looking as scary now that I managed to build a conversation between us. "They usually come around July."
"Yes, and you know how I feel about you performing with them with your leg's condition…" The grey-haired woman imputed.
"Please, I've been doing it for years and nothing ever happened. They come here, to the end of the world, just for me, the least I can do is perform with them." Igneel looked at me like what his wife said was simply ridiculous, making me laugh with his expression. "But Natsu," Igneel got his attention back to his son, making us both tremble a bit. "besides the Olympics, how is college? We don't see each other since Christmas…"
"Well, dad…" I took a glimpse of my boyfriend, seeing him swallow hard before answering his father. "It's… Fine." He forced a smile at his father.
"Fine? Well, I'm sure it's more than fine. What have you been doing there? Have you found a new girlfriend since you broke up with that girl?" I shivered hearing those words, trying really hard not to look at pink head's direction again, so it would become too obvious. "Can you believe this guy?" Igneel now was talking to me, and I forced a smile at him. "He dates this girl he met on a trip I sent him to, to celebrate him entering into college, and we never get to meet her…"
"Igneel, please." Grandine barged in, once again, touching her husband on the arm.
"No, I'm just saying…"
"Well, if you must know…" I finally got the strength to say something, trying to end that awkward subject. Natsu looked at me in despair, kicking me from under the table, which made me smile before I could finish what I had to say. "Natsu is working on the school play." I said, and I could hear my boyfriend sighing in relief from inside.
"Really? Wow, isn't that something!" His stepmom opened a smile. "I didn't know you could act!"
"Yeah, well, I'm not acting on it, actually. I'm helping build the scenario and the props and stuff… And, I'm an understudy of the male lead…"
"What?!" I turned around to him, not containing my surprise. "You didn't tell me that!"
"I did, too!" Natsu replied, bothered. "I knew you weren't listening when I talked to you about the play!" He pointed his finger at me, with a victorious smile, and all I could do was swallow hard and face down. He had caught me. Soon, we both realized we were acting too much like a couple in front of his family, and faced front again, blushing.
"I never thought you were going to repeat my steps into the artistic world, son." Igneel smiled again, showing a bit more of his sweet side.
"Well, like I said, it's nothing major…"
"What is the play?" Grandine asked, in excitement, ignoring what his stepson just said.
"It's Grease…"
"Grease?" Wendy opened her mouth again, reminding me she was there, for the second time. "My friend Emi has the DVD. She showed it to me. I love this movie! Will you be playing Danny, Natsu?!" The little girl also appeared very excited.
"Probably not…"
"What about you, what are your hobbies?" The grey-headed woman focused her attentions on me.
"Well, I like swimming, actually…"
"Do you? And did you participate in the Olympics?" Igneel asked me.
"I did, yeah. We didn't win, though…"
"Yeah, but you were the first swimmer to get to the finish line in your category…" My boyfriend tried to make my accomplishment bigger then it was, putting his hand on my shoulder. "What kept you from winning was the other guys…"
"Well, sometimes this happens. We give our best, and our teammates do their best, but sometimes their best isn't as strong as yours, not that this makes you better than them. You just have to own that those are your companions and help them get better, never turning your back on them or blaming them. Their failure is your failure. And their victory is your victory. That is the meaning of a team." The ginger man in front of me lectured us, while taking a sip of his beverage.
"Oh dad, do you have to make everything into a moral lesson?"
"No, he is right." I interrupted Natsu, looking into his father's eyes, as he raised his glass at me, making me giggle.
After that, what followed was basically a normal conversation between a family during lunch. We laughed, shared stories, and ate. They really were your run of the mill typical family, but they were special that way, and I were already feeling accepted, between their voices and laughs, and hearing old family stories. I wasn't scared or intimidated anymore, and, sitting there, I thought to myself that, if I came to their house every holiday, and Christmas, and birthday parties, well, I would be lucky to have found a second family as special.
"Some family you have, huh?" I said to Natsu. We were all alone now, washing the dishes in the kitchen.
"Did you like them?"
"Are you kidding me? I loved them." Suddenly, the pink-haired boy stopped washing with those words, which made me turn over to him. "What?" He put his cold wet hands on my cheeks, making me look straight into his eyes, retributing the smile.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
My smile grew bigger, before Natsu pulled me closer, our lips meeting for a tender kiss. And we stayed like that for a while, until we heard the sound of glass crashing on the floor.
Immediately we stopped the kiss and turned over to the front, side by side. Igneel was by the door, looking at us, eyes popped and completely immobile. Seeing his surprised look made my whole-body shake, I thought the floor was opening from under me and that I was about to be swallowed by it. I couldn't move, and, yet, I felt dizzy and about to throw up like I spent the whole day spinning around me. My head was burning up, and my legs were weakened. I couldn't get my eyes off of the freakishly tall ginger man in front of me, as his eyes went from his son, and back to me, not showing a single emotion besides shock. And that made everything harder. Was he about to yell? Was he about to cry? Was he about to give us an acceptance speech or to beat the crap out of me?
"What is going on?" Igneel was finally able to build a sentence, his voice came weak this time, and his expression was still focusing on shock rather than anything.
I finally got out of the state I found myself in, when I heard tears coming from beside me. I turn my head around, and saw Natsu facing the floor, bursting into violent tears, back arched, and his hands on his knees. I, cautiously, put my hand on his shoulder, trying to, at the same time, calm him down and showcase I was there for whatever it was about to go down.
We stayed in silence, me and Igneel, on that kitchen, in opposite sides of the room, while everything that filled the silence was Natsu's tears. It took a long time, or at least, it felt like a long time, for him to calm down, as much as he could on that moment. As he stood up I could feel his whole-body trembling, by the simple touch on his shoulder. I rubbed it, gently, as he finally faced his dad again, trying to calm my boyfriend. I couldn't face Igneel at that moment, and kept looking to the pink-haired boy's face.
"Dad…" Natsu mumbled that word, and took a while for him to continue that sentence. Every second we stood there, in silence, made the situation grow more and more tense. "I lied." Pink head said with more convincement, taking a deep breath. He, then, took my hand off of his shoulder, and held it, crossing our fingers. Shaking, I found the strength in me to face the redhead again, who was still impassive by the kitchen door. "Gray is not my friend. He is my boyfriend." Natsu squeezed my hand, harder, looking for strength after that words had been said, and took a deep breath. "He is my boyfriend, and I love him. I don't know if you'll accept it, but this is who I am, and" He looked to me again, smiling, although I was too in shock to retribute. "this is who I love." After he said that part, my heart grew warm, and I gradually stop shaking as hard as I was, and I was able to smile back, after all. Then, pink head faced back his father, and I was able to do it too, with more conviction. "Well, I said what I had to say, so… Now it's on you. Do what you will…"
After a few seconds in silence, Igneel impassive face turned to an angry one. Not cranky like before. Actually furious. He walked with precision towards his son, and grabbed his two arms, making pink head let go of my hand, and face his father.
"How dare you?"
"Please…" I tried to say something.
"Quiet! I'll talk to you later!" He snapped at me, and all I could do was obey. "Have I taught you nothing?! Huh? We spent all this years together, and you dare come into my house thinking I'm some homophobe or something? Thinking I'm one of this people able to stop loving their son because of who he chooses to have sex with?!"
"Wait… What…?" I couldn't be able to stay quiet, trying to understanding what was happening before my eyes.
"Dad…" Natsu mumbled.
"Don't you know me? My own son doesn't know me? Have I failed as a parent?!" Then, the imaginable happened. The scary tall man with a scar burst into tears.
"Dad…"
"Damn it, Natsu! Haven't I thought you to respect people? To be true to yourself? That I'll be always here for you, no matter what?! And you think I won't be able to accept you, because your gay?!"
"I'm bi, actually…" Pink head tried to explain, amongst his shock.
"I love you, son!" Igneel finally let go of his son arms, and grabbed him for a hug.
"I love you too, dad."
I couldn't help but smile seeing that scene unveil in front of me. I gradually stopped shivering, as my heart got his normal speed back. Soon while my senses got back to me, one after another, I realized I had no place on that father-son moment.
"I'll leave you two…" I whispered, walking past them, still hugging, in silence.
I walked into the living room, and Wendy and Grandine were nowhere to be found, strangely enough. I had to assume they realized there was some commotion going down on the kitchen and decided to leave us.
My body was still hurting from that cathartic moment, as I sat on one of the dinner table chairs, trying to assimilate what had just happened.
And I waited for them to come back from the kitchen, while they were probably having a father-son moment. As my normal thoughts came back to me, I couldn't help but envy Natsu a little bit to have a father figure in his life, who loved him so much, like fathers should, and with whom he could count on. Sure, he didn't get to meet his mother, but at least he had Grandine, who also loved him as a son. I never met my father, not because of something unavoidable like death, but simply because he didn't care enough to stick around, and my mom never found anyone to replace him during my growing up years.
After at least an hour of me sitting by myself, occupying myself with my own thoughts, father and son finally got out of the kitchen, as I watched them, my heart pumping again, trying to realize what was going to happen now. Was the intimidating Igneel really going to have a conversation with me, and only me?
It appeared so, when he gave Natsu a tap on the back, and he affirmed with his head, giving me a tender look and walking up the stairs to his room. I started to shiver once more, seeing that tall father-in-law of mine walking towards my direction, and pulling the chair next to mine. Before he could sit, though, we were interrupted by the door being opened and Wendy and Grandine walking in, talking and laughing.
"Oh." The conversation suddenly stopped, when they saw us both by the table. "Hi. Is everything okay?" Grandine asked, a bit uncomfortably.
"Yes." Her husband replied, putting his hand on my shoulder, heavily, making me smile, although also a bit uncomfortably.
"Oh, okay, Wendy and I went to the ice cream shop. I was going to help her do her homework…"
"I don't need help to do my homework…" The girl replied, being pushed towards her room by her mom.
As the door closed, Igneel finally sat down by my side, making me take a deep breath, preparing for what was about to happen. I was actually liking the distraction.
"So, Gray…" Igneel's heavy voice spoke my name. Yep, this was really happening. With another deep breath, I turned my head over to him, our eyes suddenly meeting, which made my shaking worst. At least now I knew from where Natsu's green eyes came from. "You and Natsu, huh?"
"Yep. Me and Natsu…"
"I heard he say he loves you, but what about you? Are you happy with the relationship?"
"To be honest, sir, I think Natsu is the first person I've ever loved. He is actually a really special man." I smiled, tried to bring his softer side, which it worked, because he smiled back.
"Don't need to tell me." He replied, and we stood there, in silence, for a while. "When that boy's mom died, I flipped, you know? She died in labor, so it was me and a newborn, all alone. I had never been a father before. I had no idea what to do. I considered giving up. But I'm glad I didn't. It was amazing going from town to town with a travelling circus and all, but, it wasn't till I started to build a life so I could provide to that little boy that I really started living… He gave new meaning to my life," Igneel started tearing up again. "and now he is all grown-up. I can't say I wouldn't prefer to him to be straight, I'm not sure if it makes me a homophobe or not, but at least I would know he wouldn't suffer as much.
"Don't worry, sir." I grabbed the man's hand, smiling at him. "If we're going to suffer, we'll suffer together. And that is the best silver lining that we could ever wish for." He smiled back, and giggled a little, with my corny words. At least they were true.
"Let me ask you a question, Gray. Are you also bi…curious, or something, or are you gay?"
"No, I'm gay. As gay as they come, actually." We both laughed with those words.
"Yeah, well, who am I to judge? Life in the road was pretty wild, I would make out with anything that moved, no matter if it had a penis or a vagina…" That conversation was getting weird quickly. "Even animals weren't off-limits…" My eyes completely popped when Igneel said that, which made him burst into laughter. "Relax, it's a joke. The animal part at least. But let me tell you, besides the two women I've fallen in love with, some of the best sex of my life were with guys from the circus…"
"So I guess that also makes you bi…curious, or something." I smiled at him. Part of me just couldn't believe I was having a normal conversation and even cracking jokes with the scary man that almost made me urinate in my pants when I first saw him.
"I guess you're right. Anyway, Gray, I guess what I'm trying to do here is just secure that my son found a swell guy for a boyfriend…"
"Don't worry, sir. I won't ever hurt him…" As soon as I said those words, the man in front of me laughed, making me confused.
"Are you kidding me? Son, you're a young couple in love, of course you will hurt one another. But what makes a great couple is not the ability to not hurt each other. Mostly, the couples that don't do that are the ones that can't make their pair feel nothing anymore. What makes a couple great is to keep choosing one another, no matter how hard the adversity, and the obstacles, and even on the days that make you want to give up, to insist, because you know what you have with the one you love is worth it. Destiny isn't a thing, neither is the "meant to be" trope of the fairy tales. You have to earn your happy ending, by fighting hard to keep the flame and passion you have for the one you cherish inside of you lighted up. So, don't tell me you're never going to hurt him, this is bullshit. Tell me you'll always be willing to fix things up, and to apologize, and to never turn your back on him, no matter how hard it may get." By the time my father-in-law finished his speech, I was the one with tears on my eyes, but I couldn't help but to smile.
"And I won't." He smiled back.
"Why am I being so nice? When I had Wendy, the main reason for me to be happy for having a girl was so that I could terrorize her boyfriends. And now, I have the option to do the same with Natsu, and here I am, smiling at you…"
"Well, you better dig in on your opportunity, because as far as I'm concerned, I'm the only boyfriend or girlfriend he'll bring into this house." Once again, Igneel laughed at my words.
"I'm sorry but I have to repeat my words; you're young and in love, he is your first boyfriend, and you're his, do you honestly believe you will end up together, for life?"
"Yes." I said, unshaken. "I feel inside of me something towards your son I never felt towards anyone, and yes, maybe it's because he is my first love, but as you said, I'll never stop fighting for us, and deep down, something tells me he and I will be with one another for our entire lives. And," I barged in, before he could say anything "I know you're probably right and I'm wrong, but, what is the point of being in a relationship if you just assume that you're going to break up someday, you know? And even with ninety nine percent of chance of us breaking up through the course of college, I'll always be with Natsu assuming we'll grow old together. And I'll fight every day for this to come true." After I finished talking, it took a few seconds of the ginger man looking towards me with a straight face, which made me shake in nervousness, before he finally opened his smile.
"Very well… You're a hopelessly romantic, aren't you, Gray?"
"Guilty as charged." I smiled.
"Well, anyway, you should return to your boyfriend, he is probably thinking that I killed you and I'm cooking your body." The adult stood up and walked towards his room's door, with his cane supporting him.
"Igneel." He stopped after I called his name. "Before coming here, Natsu said you were stiff, but a loving man nonetheless. And even though I was terrified of you when we first met, I can see it now. Thank you…"
He didn't turn around, but I could hear him smirking, before walking into his room. As soon as the door closed, I got up, stretching my whole body, and went up the stairs. As soon as I opened the door, Natsu turned his head over to me, sitting on his bed, and smiled. One of his smiles that made my whole body feel warmer.
"How was it?"
"Let's say this…" I paused for dramatic effect. "Your father is loveable, but something tells me he will still be his scary self when we wake up tomorrow."
"Oh, you can count on it." We both smiled at one another with those words.
"And you?"
"We talked. He asked for our historic together, asked about my feelings towards you, if you were treating me right, parent stuff I guess…"
After that, I started walking around Natsu's room, seeing his stuff. The room was not big. The roof followed the triangular shape of the ceiling above it, making it a bit smaller. His bed was also a twin bed, like mine, he had a dresser by the side of it, and a book shelf on the other side. He also had a small couch built into the wall, by the window.
"Is that your mom?" I asked, seeing a picture of her by the bookshelf. She had pink hair, and wore glasses. On the picture, she was sitting on a rock, in the middle of the woods, smiling.
"Yes." Natsu replied, from his bed. "Turn around, there is another picture." And indeed, there was. She was younger, probably sixteen, with blond hair now, and on both sides of her there was two other girls. They were all smiling.
"She was really pretty. Her face resembles yours. And now I know who did you get your hair from." We both smiled, remembering how I found out he was a natural blond in the first place.
"That was the one picture she stole from her house when she got kicked out." After he said that I put the picture frame down and went towards him, sitting by his side, on the bed.
"Have you ever tried to contact your mother's family?"
"Yes. I asked my father that when I was sixteen, and he didn't oppose. He gave me every information he had on them, even the place where they used to live. Before I went there, I did a little research, found out my grandfather had died, and only my grandmother was left. I went to Magnolia, found the house, I even saw her from a distance. But I couldn't find myself to reach to her, to knock on her door." He looked to the other side saying that. "I guess I just wanted that option you know?"
"I do." I grabbed his hand. "I mean, I don't, actually, but I can imagine." The pink-haired boy smiled with those words.
Soon, another picture got my attention. It was more of a poster, actually. It had Natsu in his kimono on it, alongside his colleagues, all on their judo outfits posing, and an adult, tall, with medium-length orange hair till the end of his neck. After a while of me staring at it, Natsu joined me.
"Yes, this is me at twelve years-old. It was a judo championship."
"I can see you won." I pointed that out, seeing him on the center of the picture, with a gold medal around his neck. "Was that your teacher?" I waited to ask that question, not sure if I was supposed to, and asked very cautiously, immediately looking at my boyfriend's direction, to see if he was showcasing any sort of discomfort by that subject.
"Yeah." He simply said, not very pleased, going back to sitting on his bed.
"I'm sorry." I sat next to him. "I didn't know if I should ask or not…"
"It's okay." Natsu replied, stretching his legs and resting them on top of mine. "I mean, I'm already here, I'll be faced with stuff that remind me of him all the time, so…" He smiled at me, as I swallowed hard, regretting having asked. "Hey." Pink head came closer to me, smiling, trying to get me into a better mood. "It's okay." He played with my black locks, making me smile at his smile. "I can't wait to show you around town, tomorrow."
"Me neither." We stretched our heads even closer, for a kiss, and all I could think about was my talk with Igneel moments earlier.
Man, if that's a relationship worth fighting for…
…
"Do you want any desert, Gray?" Grandine asks, from the kitchen.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Grandine." I reply, sitting on the living room table.
It has been a while since I visited that house. That cozy, family house. Ever since Natsu died, I never came back. But, in an emotional crisis, coming back from work, I just drove, not even realizing what I was doing. And now I am here.
My eyes go immediately to the chairs in front of me. The ones where Igneel and I were sitting on the night we had that heartfelt conversations. That was a true mark in my life.
"So, Gray…" The grey-haired woman says, coming back from the kitchen, and sitting by the table head, holding my hand. "You should come visit more. I know, I know, it's probably really hard on you." She adds the last part before I can reply. "But it's just…" The woman looks directly into my eyes before completing the sentence, which makes the back of neck chills. "Even though with all the lost that has been consuming this family in the later years, I'll always consider you as a gain." She squeezes my hand saying this, tears popping up in both our eyes.
"Me too…" My voice weakens.
My mind go straight to that time when I thought I would go to Christmas with Natsu here, every two years, since we would alternate between his family and mine. And all the trips we were going to make to the family cabin. And how we would take our children there, someday. And now, those thoughts were going to be set aside.
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening pulled me away from my thoughts. My eyes go to its direction, and Wendy enters.
"Hello." The girl's eyes pop, seeing me there. "Gray!" She run towards me, for a hug.
"Hi, honey."
"See, I told you, we've been missing you around here, haven't we, Wendy?"
"Yes, we have." The younger woman replies, pulling the chair next to me, and sitting on it.
"I've been missing you guys, too." I grabbed their hands, smiling.
"How was practice, sweety?" Grandine asks her daughter.
I look over Wendy. Her hair is still blue, like it has been for all the years I knew her, but now it was short, in a Chanel haircut. She is all grown up now, in her senior year of high school, about to turn eighteen. And playing for her school's baseball team.
"It was tiresome." She sighs
"So, Wendy… Graduation is coming soon. Have you decided what you want to do, career wise?"
"I don't know…"
"She does know. She wants to be a doctor."
"A doctor?! Isn't that something?" I say, as the girl visibly blushes.
"I'm not sure…"
"Honey, you are just saying that because you're afraid your grades won't cut it, but you're a straight A's student…"
"Well, it's just that there are a lot of students in this country…"
"You're right, there are a lot of students in this country…" I say, making she look at me, in surprise. "And I know for a fact that you are one of the smartest." I touch her nose, making Wendy smile. "And I think you should treat kids and teenagers."
"Why is that?"
"Are you kidding me, with this hair, they're going to love you." I mess with her hair, making the teen laugh.
"Mom, can I have some ice cream?"
"Yes. Are you sure you don't want anything Gray?" Grandine asks, getting up.
"You know what, I'm down for some ice cream, too."
"All right."
And so, we spend the night eating, catching up, and laughing. I made the right decision coming there when I needed support. One night with those girls and everything I was feeling seems to have gone away. I needed to be with them. If just to be reminded of that part of my family I thought I had lost. Because, even if those fantasies of going to their Christmas parties with Natsu didn't get to come true, it doesn't mean I can't go to them, by myself.