My Fair Dragon

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

*Rated M for Mature

Summary: It's the day before Spring Break, and Natsu can't wait for some fun in the sun. But his dreams come crashing down when a school project not only winds up making him stay at the home of his worst enemy, but also his biggest crush—Gray Fullbuster! Modern/AU/High School

Chapter 10 – Sunday (Warning: Abuse/Alcohol)

Natsu jerked from the bed, panting heavily. It felt as if his lungs were on fire. Placing a shaking hand to his chest, he tried to calm his breathing, but it did nothing for his trembling body.

He'd had another nightmare. And this one seemed to be the worst of all. He'd dreamt that everyone had left him: his friends had all abandoned him, his sister had deserted him, and…Gray had left him—kicked him out and left him—along with Lyon.

Natsu had literally felt his heart break, and the darkness started to surround him, mocking him, emphasizing that he was completely and utterly alone. But then something else happened, to make it all that much worse.

His uncle had come to him through the darkness. With an evil smirk on his face, he'd said that Natsu was all his now, to do with as he pleased. No one wanted him anymore, so he might as well make himself useful and stay with him.

Natsu had cowered in fear, even though it was just a dream. But that dream had brought his deepest fears to light.

And now here he was, sitting in Gray's bed…alone all over again. Biting back a sob, Natsu pulled his knees to his chest. He wanted Gray. He needed Gray. Back after the way he'd treated him yesterday—after Gray had said he loved him and took it back—the pinkette had felt nothing but the need to hurt him in some way.

But it wasn't Gray's fault. He had done nothing but help him. Natsu knew that Gray really did love him, but he was hesitant to admit it. So what did he do? Instead of being considerate to Gray's feelings, he'd hurt him.

Natsu felt panic seize him once more at the thought of Gray really leaving him. Moving off of the bed, he stumbled toward the bathroom. As he made it to the sink, he gazed at his reflection. He looked…lost.

Splashing a bit of water on his face, he sat down on the cold floor of the bathroom and pulled his knees up to his chest again, rocking himself back and forth.

How was he going to make things right again?

Gray paced the living room, thinking. What was he going to do about Natsu? Sure, he'd hurt his boyfriend by saying he loved him and taking it back, but later on, when he'd tried to apologize, especially after the whole gift incident, the pinkette had just brushed him off. He wouldn't even talk to him!

And even though he believed he was at fault, Gray couldn't help but feel hurt, too. It wasn't like Natsu had even tried to admit anything to him. Did the pinkette love him? Or was he just using him?

Frowning, he pinched the bridge of his nose. The only way he was going to know anything was if he actually spoke to Natsu. They needed to have long conversation; it was well overdue.

Pleased with his decision, Gray slipped out of the living room and made his way to his bedroom. When he opened the door, however, his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. Upon further inspection, he noticed that the bathroom door was ajar, but it was still too quiet for his liking.

As he reached the bathroom door, he pushed it the rest of the way open and peered inside. What he saw tore at his heart. Natsu sat on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest, and he seemed to stare vacantly at the wall before him. Gray noticed him trembling slightly, and it looked as if he'd been crying.

"Natsu?" Gray called hesitantly as he approached the pinkette. "Natsu?"

The pinkette's head shot up, as if he were startled, and tears started streaming down his face again. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "I'm so, so sorry."

Gray gathered natsu in his arms and led him back into the bedroom. Seating him on the bed, he sat next to him. "Pinky, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes, I do! Everyone's going to leave me. I don't want them to leave me. Don't leave me, Gray. Please don't leave me. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I won't ignore you again," Natsu pleaded through his cries.

Gray felt at a loss as to what to do, so he settled on the truth. "Natsu, I have to admit that you did hurt me, but your reaction was legitimate. I said that I loved you, and I brushed it off as nothing. But it does mean something, Natsu. I do…love you. And if it means anything to you, I forgive you, too."

Natsu slowly got his emotions under control long enough to hug him. When his breathing finally calmed, he pulled away, only to kiss Gray passionately.

Gray quickly responded. Gathering his boyfriend in his arms again, he deepened the kiss, devouring every little crevice in the pinkette's hot cavern, making sure to map out everything and commit it to memory.

When they finally pulled away, Natsu looked up at him longingly. "I love you," he whispered. "I always have. I just never thought that you actually would or who it was that you would actually love. The real me or the fake me? But now I know that I can trust you completely. I've been pushing you away because this is all so sudden, but I hadn't taken into consideration that this is new for you, too."

"We're both a piece of work, aren't we?" Gray admitted quietly. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a strong relationship. I know I love you, and anyone who disapproves can go fuck themselves. I don't give a shit what other people think other than you and Lyon. And maybe my bitch of a sister and mother. The same should go for you. Pinky, you'll always have us. No matter what."

"I think you're wonderful," Natsu replied softly, placing his head in the crook of Gray's neck. "I'll beat the crap out of anyone who says otherwise."

"Even your friends?" Gray knew he was touching a nerve, but he had to know how willing Natsu was to commit to their relationship.

"Even my friends," Natsu stated strongly. "I wonder why they haven't tried to contact me, though. They didn't even seem concerned that I wasn't there yesterday."

"I noticed that, too. But perhaps they might start looking now."

"What do you mean?"

"After you left the park, I might have accidentally given them a bit of a speech."

Natsu chuckled. "I would have paid to see that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gray asked with a glare.

"Nothing."

"Nothing, huh? We'll see about that. Tell me, Pinky. Are you ticklish?"

Natsu's eyes widened comically. "No! Don't you even think about it, Gray!"

"Too late!"

"Gray!"

Lucy paced her room anxiously. She was growing more nervous by the minute. After what Gajeel had said yesterday, she and her friends had been trying to get a hold of Natsu for hours. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of Erza and Gajeel, but the rest of them had been searching for the pinkette tirelessly.

But the scary part was that Lucy hadn't realized how much she didn't know about Natsu. She didn't know where he lived; she didn't recall ever getting a cell number, let alone a home number, from the pinkette. Natsu would just…show up.

Everyone had searched his usual hangout spots, but they couldn't find him!

"Calm down, Lucy. I'm sure natsu's fine," said Loke.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down? Our friend is missing!"

"Lucy, whatever it is, I'm sure Natsu can handle it."

"How do you know that? Are you absolutely sure he's okay? Can you prove to me that he's okay?"

Loke faltered, knowing that he couldn't assuage Lucy's fears.

Suddenly, Lucy stopped pacing. "What if Gajeel's right? What if Nikko is actually Natsu?" she asked quickly.

Loke felt a sense of amusement and horror wash over him. "Lucy, you're jumping to conclusions. Natsu wouldn't befriend Gray, and he would never date him."

"But what if he was? What if that's really Natsu, and everything he said was true about Gray being his boyfriend and all?"

Sighing, Loke said, "I don't think so. Besides, why would Natsu put up this elaborate scheme to deceive all of us?"

"To see if we trust him? To see if we're really his friends?" Lucy stated slowly, everything falling into place in her mind. "He wanted to know if we'd still accept him as our friend even if he's dating Gray. Natsu just wanted our approval and wanted to assure himself that we were really his friends."

"If that was really Natsu, then we have to help him," replied Loke. "He's making a big mistake."

"But what if he isn't? What if we're the ones making the mistake?"

Loke started frowning, not liking where this was going. "But Gray—"

"But nothing!" Lucy snapped. "Just because he's your so-called rival, doesn't mean he's everyone's! We don't know very much about him. And what if Natsu's gotten through to him and…turned him around or something?"

"Lucy, this isn't right."

"I can't believe you," Lucy stated, appalled. "After everything Natsu's done for us—all of us—you would turn your back on him because he's with Gray?"

When Loke remained silent, Lucy did something she never thought she'd do in her entire life.

"Get out, Loke."

Loke's eyes widened in shock. "But Lucy—"

"I want you out, Loke! I don't want to see you again until you've straightened yourself out!"

Loke left quietly. When he was gone, Lucy burst into tears. She couldn't believe what she'd just done, but she'd fix the problem with Loke later. Now, she had to go talk to Natsu.

"Well, Pinky. Lyon's gone out with some friends, so that means we have the whole house to ourselves. What do you want to do?" Gray asked suggestively.

Natsu was about to answer when the doorbell suddenly rang. "Who could that be? Are you expecting company?"

"No," he replied.

Releasing his hold on his boyfriend, Gray made his way to the door with Natsu trailing behind. When he opened the front door, the sight before him startled him.

"Lucy?" Gray asked, stunned by the teen's disheveled appearance.

"Gray, is Natsu here?" she inquired meekly.

Natsu beat his boyfriend in answering. "Lucy?" he called.

Brown eyes widened in surprise. "Natsu!" she exclaimed bursting through the door and past Gray into the pinkette's arms. "It really is you!"

Natsu hugged the blonde, still trying to overcome the shock of the situation.

"Yeah. What…are you doing here?"

Lucy pulled away and looked up at Natsu. "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. Gajeel was actually the one who figured everything out. He knew who you really were. After he said you were really Natsu and not Nikko, everyone was scrambling around to see if it was true. When we couldn't find you, I put two and two together, and I'm…kind of taking a break from Loke," she rambled.

All Natsu felt he got was that Lucy broke this off with Loke. The rest was a blur. "What do you mean you're taking a break with Loke?"

"He's…being difficult. He can't get over the fact that his so-called rival is with one of his friends. I told him I didn't want to see him for awhile to shock him into thinking about how he reacted," Lucy explained.

"What's going on?" Gray demanded.

"Lucy broke things off with Loke for awhile because he obviously can't get over his hatred of you. That accompanied with you dating me seems to have pushed him over the deep end. He's a mess," paraphrased Natsu.

Lucy eyed him strangely. "That's…why are you talking like that?" she asked.

"That's a long story. How about we talk about it over lunch," replied Natsu. He glanced over to Gray to make sure that was okay, but when he saw a weird look in his eyes, he was afraid to ask his next question. "Why do you look so…giddy?"

"Since Loke is so emotionally crippled at the moment, I wonder if I can make him look like an idiot in front of his fangirls," he mumbled, although it was quite loud.

"Don't push your luck, Gray. Now are you coming to lunch or not?"

Gray seemed to jolt back into reality at that point. "We are not having a guest for lunch."

"Yes we are," Natsu state firmly, glaring at his stoic boyfriend.

"Fine," he grumbled as he strode off to the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Lucy asked, confused.

"He's just pissed because whenever it seems like we have a bit of alone time, we get interrupted. Although, by alone time, I mean perv—"

"Shut the fuck up, Pinky, and get your ass in the damn kitchen! You want a damn guest? You make the fucking food!" Gray bellowed from the kitchen.

Natsu just laughed. "Don't worry, Lucy. He'll be fine. He's actually quite sweet when he wants to be."

"I'm warning you, Pinky!"

Natsu laughed as he guided Lucy into the kitchen.

Lucy was actually quite surprised to see Gray's reddening face. He was embarrassed! If only her friends could see this! Natsu and Gray were really good for each other. Not to mention cute.

End Chapter