Day ten of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Fears'!
Type: Modern RL AU
Theme: Fears.
Pairing: Gratsu
Natsu woke in the middle of the night with a cold sweat, and sat bolt upright in his bed, gasping for air. Outside, all was still, and Natsu wiped his sweaty forehead irritably, running a hand through his hair. He was just getting up to turn on his fan when a sound boomed outside. Natsu jumped and his head snapped to the window. Outside, it had started raining, rain pounding against the windows like shards of glass. But that's not what Natsu had heard.
Another boom felt like it shook the house, and Natsu felt himself let out a whimper as lightning streaked across the sky. He turned ever so carefully and was just reaching for the edge of the blanket when the loudest boom of all tore through the air, and Natsu shrieked and leaped under his bed, grabbing his phone from the bedside table in the process.
He squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds, fear pulsing through him, his breathing ragged. After a horrifying chorus of thunder and lightning and howling wind, Natsu couldn't stand it anymore. Tears streaming down his face, he picked up his phone and called the first contact he saw.
After a few rings a tired voice said, "Hello?"
"G-Gray," Natsu whimpered into the phone.
"Natsu?" Gray asked, his voice sharpening, immediately alert. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"N-" Another loud crack of thunder cracked through the air like a whip, making Natsu whimper again and pull himself into a tight ball on the floor.
"Natsu," Gray said after a while. "Are you... scared of thunder?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"I'll be right there," Gray said and hung up. Natsu tossed the phone to the side, curling up into a tighter ball and squeezing his eyes shut, shivering and sobbing with fear as thunder tore through the house.
After minutes that felt like hours, cool hands slid under the bed and pulled Natsu out, gentle arms wrapping around him. Natsu responded after a moment, wrapping his arms tightly around Gray and burying his face in the other boy's shirt. Gray murmured soothing things that Natsu really didn't hear, gently stroking the back of his hair and moving down to trace gentle circles on his back.
After a while Natsu grew tired, and Gray scooped him up and set him gently in the bed, turning to go turn on the fan and attempt to drown out the thunder. Natsu caught his sleeve. "P-please d-d-don't g-go."
Gray turned and smoothed Natsu's hair back to kiss his forehead. "I won't. I'm only turning the fan on, okay?"
Natsu nodded and let him go reluctantly, and Gray switched on the fan to full blast. A stroke of quick thinking hit him and he grabbed a pair of headphones from the top of Natsu's dresser. He slid under the covers and plugged the headphones in to his own phone, turning on a playlist of his favorite songs. He met Natsu's eyes and slid the headphones over his ears, watching as Natsu's face slowly calmed. He pulled the sakura-haired boy against his chest, resting his chin on the top of Natsu's head and closing his eyes.
Natsu snuggled against him and they fell asleep like that, the din of the thunder barely audible to Natsu through the sound of Gray's music.