A/N: And here comes the next chapter. Thank you for all of your reviews and advice from the last chapter! I was a little hesitant on that last chapter. :)

Well, we are close to the end! Only a few more chapters left so hang on everyone!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail or anything that it owns. The manga/anime and its characters (as well as anything originating from it) belong to its rightful owner. The following fanfiction is purely for entertaining purposes by a fan. Thank you.

WARNINGS:

AU, Yaoi (boyxboy romantic relations), a bit OOC character for Natsu (tad less self confidence, ect.), Gratsu pairing (GrayxNatsu), swears (cuzz words)/profanity, bullying and/or assault, suggestive scenes, mentions, and angst

I apologize if any of the listings under warnings offends you but it is purely for writing purposes for this fanfiction. I apologize if it is offending in anyway. It is purely fictional. I also apologize if any of the language used may be offensive, I try my best to keep it tame and there are no offensive intentions behind it.

-disgurlruvs

CHAPTER 11

Someone Blue

"You're so stupid." Natsu mumbled to the raven who just grumbled. The pinkette sighed before pulling the rest of his backup bandages from his pockets and gently reaching for Gray's scraped knuckles.

However Natsu hadn't given up on reprimanding the college student yet. Frowning, he looked up to meet those stunning eyes with a glare, "Now tell me. Was it necessary to do all that?" he scowled and purposely pressed harshly with the cloth in his hand which he'd dampened using a water bottle. He didn't have disinfectant on him so this was the best that he could do for now. But from experience he learned it did the job surprisingly well as a substitute until one got their hands on proper medical equipment.

"Was it?" he pushed when he didn't receive a response.

Gray sighed and turned his face to the side, "If I was honest, I feel like I barely did shit. FUCK- OUCH! Shit Natsu!"

Natsu huffed as he placed the cloth down on the hood of Gray's car and reached for the bandages.

It had been well over half an hour since the scuffle with Cobra. In that time Gray had managed to calm down, and he'd pulled the unconscious boy harshly to one of the pillars. While he delt with that situation Natsu had called Sting who'd almost had a panic attack over the phone. After screeching at Natsu for what felt like forever and his attempts to to run over to the faraway stadium, Natsu heard some disruptions in the background of the call before a yelp and a new voice which belonged to none other than the idiot's boyfriend. Natsu had gratefully described the situation again to the calmer and more responsible one of the two who then told him to wait while they called the police and head on over themselves.

"Well you are an idiot. A big fat stupid jerky-"

"Natsu." Gray interrupted, his tone now stern.

"Huh?" Natsu asked nonchalantly despite feeling a dreadful sense come over him. He had a pretty strong feeling that he knew what Gray wanted.

"I've waited long enough," Gray removed his now-bandaged hands from Natsu's "delicate" care. Instead, he looked straight down into olive, innocent eyes with a dangerous glint in his own, "Tell me. what. happened."

He'd had enough. The college student had been practically trembling in rage this whole time since he'd never gotten to take it out on Cobra before with Natsu interfering. Some may deny that and said he'd felt enough damage, but Gray could refute that with a fury in his eyes. He felt like the pile of garbage could have at least gained a few more bruises and one or two more broken bones. At least.

Natsu on the other hand, felt his jaw start quivering almost immediately after those words left those lips. Turning to the side, Natsu fiddled with his hands with a nervous smile. Over the few minutes he had to himself while Gray calmed himself, he'd manage to get his nerves on hold for the most part and had start thinking rationally about the situation and what had happened with Cobra again.

"W-Well, you know I think you already have the gist of it from how C-Cobra desc-cribed it. He just caught me when I was walking home from school one day and just messed me up some. No big deal. Sting came before he could do anything serious anyways so..." Natsu finished with a nervous swallow, turning to Gray with the same faltering smile.

It almost fell when he saw Gray's glare still standing strong.

"What do you mean it isn't a big deal?" Natsu flinched at the infuriated tone.

The boy immediately looked down, too skittish to be able to meet that terribly emotional glare. Emotionally enraged glare he meant. "I-I mean well, you know I go to high school with a bunch of stupid teenagers. And my classmates and I rough around a lot. S-So, the injuries were just a tad more serious this time. He just caught me outside of school." Natsu tried once more to wave it off, but he winced when a growl met his words instead.

"Rough around?" Natsu held in a gasp when Gray stepped closer to him, eyes narrowing. "Don't fuck with me Natsu. You call this roughing around?" his fury spilled from his lips.

Natsu let out a mix of a gasp and some sort of a squeak when Gray suddenly stepped even closer to him then snatched his scarf off, "W-Wait Gray! Give it back!"

Ignoring him, the raven instead grabbed his chin, tilting it up while pulling one of his his sleeves off and down his shoulder, "Then what the fuck are these?!"

Natsu couldn't answer that question. His eyes were glued to Gray's expression. Why was he so angry...?

His jaw was gritting down so hard, it only emphasized his strong jawline. His eyebrows furrowed deeply, long locks covering them here and there. Natsu had to admit he liked them better when they were relaxed. Next he trailed his eyes from that strong nose which was flared in anger up to his beautiful azure eyes. This was the part that confused him. Why were his eyes so angry? Natsu had said it was okay. So it was okay.

Natsu numbly trailed his eyes own Gray's expressive face once more before they fell onto his now-exposed skin.

Littering the soft skin laying there, were dark bruises. There were wounds, now scratches along with bite marks. And there was a portion, a strip, which was pink. If Natsu recalled it correctly, that bit of skin had been a deep red only a few days ago. He had received a terrible scrape there.

Natsu hadn't purposely meant to, but he had unintentionally been clever with exposing the part of his collars and shoulders which were free of marks to play casual. However, with the amount of how much Natsu's soft skin caught Gray's attention, the older man had been analyzing what he could see all day and was bound to catch sight of them.

Tears slowly welled up in Natsu's doe eyes before he finally screwed his eyes shut. Tears immediately started brimming his lashes with no stop at the sight of what Cobra had done to him, "L-Leave me alone!" He yelled, pushing himself away from Gray, shocking the other male.

Turning away, Natsu angrily wiped at his eyes, sobs escaping his soft lips, "Leave me alone!" he yelled again. "So what?! I know what he did to me isn't okay, isn't normal, but so what?! I can't change that!" he screamed suddenly, turning to the frozen raven with a glare full of tears.

He couldn't help it. He'd kept himself quiet all this time. He'd tried to shove it away to some deep corner in his head. He'd tried to fill himself with distractions and blindly followed Sting around for those five days during the day, happy for the lack of questions and instead the distractions that Sting offered him, while at night he would muffle his sobs after endless nightmares, worried someone would hear him.

He'd kept it all in because that's how he coped with things. But he was tired now. He was tired of his bullies, he was tired of being alone, and then Cobra came and just added the finishing touch.

But Gray wouldn't leave him alone. The one person Natsu loved so much because even though he was mean and teased him, he was sweet to him and he showed him amazing things. The one person he was scared of losing so much, but now he was going to let it all go.

"I can't do anything! He hurt me! He scared me! He did all sorts of things to me but I couldn't and can't do anything! I know what he did to me! I know it! Y-You don't have to t-tell me stupid idiot!" he cried. Sniffling, he continued with cracks in his voice, "For days after being in that alley with him, I had nightmares, I was alone, I was ashamed- scared! He'd marked me all over and that was all I could see! So just leave me alo-one!" he shouted. Finishing, his legs trembled as the stress caught onto him and he continued crying loudly. Stumbling, he almost fell but was quickly caught by Gray again who enveloped him in a warm embrace.

Gasping between his sobs for breaths, Natsu scrubbed at his eyes for the tears to stop while Gray rubbed his back gently. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Natsu sniffled as he screwed his fingers tightly into Gray's shirt, "Even at school," he began with a much softer, broken voice, "everyone is so mean. So mean. It's so lonely. I don't wanna tell Sting because he would just worry. I don't wanna spoil anything for him and Rogue because I care for them. But I still cause Sting so much trouble. I-I just- I-" A heavy hand fell on his head, halting his mumbling as it started patting his locks comfortingly.

A few minutes passed in silence with a sniffling Natsu tucked into Gray until, "Hey," a soothing voice spoke, "Listen, look at me."

Hiccuping, Natsu wiped at his eyes again as he looked up and met his eyes reluctantly, "W-What...?" He'd done it now. Natsu already regretted spilling everything. He was so dramatic. People had it worse out there and here he was, laying his problems on Gray who was kind enough to not leave yet.

In contrast to Natsu's dejected thoughts, a warm smile stretched out onto Gray's lips as he looked at him with those intense eyes. He slid his hand gently up to Natsu's wet cheek, cupping it.

"There is no way you're alone." Natsu frowned at that and Gray watched as those plush lips opened to retort, but instead when he brushed his thumb over the soft skin, he admired how they stuttered closed so easily.

"I'm here, Sting is, and there is this Rogue too. You don't have to try alone. Of course it's too much for your slow, little head." he chuckled as Natsu's brows furrowed. "You're adorable. You're hot-headed, but caring. Your emotions get out of hand easily and you think too much about little things. You cry easily and get sassy a lot. You blush easily and are too innocent for your age. You always think about others and blame everything on yourself. You wear your heart on your sleeve and let people who don't deserve you get close to you. There are other people around you. People who notice you for your good, people who care about you and know so much about you. Why are you so afraid?" Gray whispered fondly, caressing his soft cheek.

A soft, sweet blush had grown onto Natsu's upset expression during the short declaration, which slowly faltered into a lost one. Thinking silently, Natsu let his lips fall into a sad pout as he thought more. "B-Because I don't want to lose you," he mumbled. He looked down into the shadow his and Gray's body created, biting his lip. "I lost people who are important to me. I lost my parents and I sulked alone even when my friends tried to help. I lost my precious friends who I loved so much then, a-and at one point I almost lost Sting. When time came for me to realize I made a mistake staying alone, there were all these mean people around me already. I'm scared that if I show too much you'll leave. I... I don't want that..."

Gray sighed silently when Natsu avoided meeting his eyes again. "If the people you love, love you back, then they won't leave because of you."

Natsu almost seemed to flinch at the statement. He stayed quiet at first, thinking of the different faces of the people he loves before drifting to a stop on two. "...B-but my parents..."

Gray tilted his head up gently yet forcefully so the boy could look at him and drill it into his small brain, "That was something you couldn't control. That wasn't your fault. And your friends were trying to help right? They loved you too right?" Gray asked and waited till he received a feeble nod. "Then why would they have left? Perhaps they thought it would do you better to heal alone. And isn't Sting still here? From what I've seen he is always fussing over you and never gets tired of it. He obviously loves you and I can bet Rogue does too." Gray spoke. Waiting patiently for a response, he smiled when Natsu's ears turned red from what he could see and the pinkette fidgeted in his arms.

"Ok." he whispered eventually, making Gray smile as he witnessed the distressed expression lift from his delicate face.

"Alright," he spoke loudly again, catching Natsu's attention and his questioning eyes, "so I have a confession as well. It's a pretty good example of someone actually making a shitty mistake and deserving what he gets. It's also related to the ass laying over there." he motioned to the unconscious male laying against the pillar.

Natsu also turned glance at the male, almost hesitantly at first, but soon more curiously before turning to Gray with furrowed brows, "What do you mean?"

Concern quickly filled his eyes as Gray knew it would when he saw a grim expression fill his, "I'm sorry."