Hangover

Groaning softly, Gray's eyelids fluttered open only to slam shut at the bright light coming from outside. What time was it? Every muscle ached and accompanied by a splitting headache and feeling like he had swallowed sand this was probably his worst hangover to date.

A hand pushed a glass of water into his face and he blanched, batting the cup across the room just to be met with another from his friend's other side.

"I'll be sick." He mumbled.

"You need to drink it. Come on, I'll get you junk food if you drink one glass." Loke's voice was stern as usual. As much as he flirted and slept around, at the end of the day all he cared about was being loyal and looking out for his friends.

Begrudgingly Gray accepted the ice cold water and shuddered as it washed away a little of his fatigue. Then he used Loke's arm to pull himself off the floor and staggered towards the front door, noticing Cana still sound asleep on the couch on the way. Deciding it would be much better for their safety to leave Cana undisturbed and bring back some food for her later, the boys left and moved sluggishly along the road.

"So you were pretty drunk last night," Loke started after a few minutes of silence. Oh great. Here comes the lecture.

"You don't say." Gray rolled his eyes.

"Dyou remember anything?"

The raven-haired teen just shrugged as they entered the fast food restaurant and walked up to the familiar cashier. After adjusting his ponytail so even more of his face was covered than usual, Rogue gave a blank look to the pair of customers and absentmindedly brushed his hand over the bites on his neck.

"Fuck Loke he has more hickeys than you." Gray muttered.

"You got a girlfriend now Rogue?" asked Loke.

"Boyfriend." Came the monotone reply as their usual order was shoved into their hands. Unnoticed, Sting had crept up behind Rogue while glaring at Loke and Gray.

"Stay away from my boyfriend. And Natsu too while you're at it. Especially you Fullbuster."

Taking the cue to leave, the boys moved to a booth in the back corner.

"Natsu?" asked Gray.

"Dragneel. All three were at the party last night, don't you remember?"

"Eh? Dragneel wasn't there, I woulda recognised his dumb dye job sticking out like a sore thumb."

"Only because you spent hours staring at his photo for your sculptures."

"Shut up. He's gotta have one redeeming feature in his appearance or I'd feel bad for taking the piss out of a guy with a face like his."

Loke just sighed in reply, taking a chunk out of his burger while Gray sipped on one of his three cold drinks. A few minutes passed in comfortable silence before Loke attempted to breach the subject again.

"So… What do you think of Natsu?"

"Why dyou care so much? Jealous? I've got enough friends Loke I don't need childish, cocky douchebags either. What can I say, he's got a nice shade of pink in his hair but I've got an artist's eye. That's the only reason I noticed."

"Really, you're not interested in him?"

"You're seriously asking me if I'm interested in someone whose friend just threatened me to keep us apart? The guy pisses me off. So happy all the time, probably wouldn't know trouble if it smacked him in the face. Dumb shits like that who believe all the rumours that are spread about us can suck my fucking dick… No not like that!" He added seeing Loke's sly grin.

Holding his hands up in mock defeat, Loke led Gray out of the restaurant and back to Cana's. They dropped a bag full of food next to her while she was still knocked out on the couch before leaving and locking the door after them. Being close friends for years they had a rhythm and knew how things worked. Today, like every Saturday, Gray would spend the day at Loke's and stay as long as possible until he felt ready to go home.

They would talk about school, Loke's latest girlfriends, Gray's latest project, anything really. Gray would express his thanks for once again paying for his meals and letting him stay for a while and joke about getting Loke's grandfather to adopt him. A comment always brushed aside but never forgotten.

All Loke knew about Gray's home life was that it was bad. Horrible even. Gray's parents were long dead and his foster mother had also passed away just over six years ago. The adoptive siblings he was left with were resentful for being stuck with another mouth to feed. Both were involved with some dangerous activities but Lyon also actively held a grudge for not being able to surpass Ur by going to uni to study robotics or engineering. Having to work hard to provide the bare minimum for their family had left Lyon bitter and aggressive. One way or another he would take it out on Gray but he didn't know the details.

For as long as he had known Gray there had been periods of time where he would disappear for a few weeks without a word. Staying in the house he hated was unusual enough but when he reappeared he would always be unscathed and unwilling to talk about it. Even after Cana assured him this was normal behaviour for their friend, he could tell Gray was hiding something. However, prying deep into his personal life and scaring his best friend away wasn't on his to do list. All he could do was be supportive and check up on his friend as often as possible. Watch and wait. Watch and wait.

A/N I may have forgotten about them being hungover by the time their conversation started oops. Let's just pretend they perked up quickly.

This chapter was inspired by reviews from MYDAY123 and Sara Snow to show Gray's opinion on Natsu and have another chapter focussing on him which I'm quite happy with. I also snuck some more background info in there and hopefully you can see that hiding his injuries is the reason Gray can't get a job. I plan on trying to split the focus a bit more in the future but I do like using Natsu as the focus and making Gray a bit more mysterious.

And to Zunifex: Gildarts is coming don't worry.