"No fair! You cheated!" Natsu all but screamed at Gray, who did a victory dance while laughing at Natsu.
"Just admit it man, I'm way better than you!"
"Are not, stripper!"
Gray looked down and shrieked in surprise, seeing he wasn't wearing a shirt, unaware of the fact that he took it off himself. He had a habit of doing that, and was just lucky it happened a lot more at home than it did out in public.
"Probably just got hot in here from me beating your ass!" Gray taunted.
Natsu groaned, unable to take that for an answer. They had been playing a newly released game, one that Gray was persistent on them buying the day it came out. Natsu was more skilled with his pc, but that didn't mean he'd use it as an excuse to lose to Gray.
"Agh! Best out of eleven!" Natsu said.
"I already beat you six times, dimwit."
"So?!"
Gray looked at Natsu, staying quiet and hoping the idiot could figure it out. When Natsu stayed silent, Gray finally explained.
"Best of out eleven means whoever gets to six first wins." He said, pressing an annoyed palm to his forehead and sighing. "We would have to play best of out thirteen, and that would mean I would need one win and you would need seven in a row to beat me. Luckily for you, you don't have to be smart to realize something like that isn't possible for someone like you."
"Are you trying to say I can't beat you seven times in a row?" Natsu accused.
"Considering I've already beat you six times in a row," Gray said, voice devoid of emotion, "yes."
Natsu rolled his eyes, "beginner's luck, seriously."
Natsu acted annoyed when Gray went to turn the game off, but Gray could tell Natsu was glad to be done with it.
"At your rate, you're more likely to start talking to that girl than you are to beat me," Gray said with a smug grin.
Natsu's head whipped around, eyes locking with Gray's and his own face matching his friend's grin.
"Well since you brought it up…" Natsu said, leaving his words hanging in the air for Gray to piece together.
It didn't take him long.
"You didn't."
"I did." Natsu answered cooly.
"Saying hi when you pass each other out of awkwardness doesn't count." Gray challenged, confident that that was all the interaction Natsu had gotten.
"Not that it's any of your business, but she asked to sit and talk to me! Ha! Face it, Gray. You may be better at me in that game, but in the real world? I get the girl!"
"The girl who's dating the star football player? Or did they break up?"
"That's a minor setback…"
Gray's eyebrows raised in disbelief. Hadn't Natsu said that he would never go after a girl who was taken? How he wasn't interested in Lucy in that way? How it was best to just give up?
"What happened to 'I don't chase after girls who are taken?' Famous last words, huh?"
"It's not like that! Something's off with him Gray. I've seen her crying, and he came over towards the end of our conversation, and it just felt… tense. She doesn't seem comfortable around him." Natsu said, thinking back to when Sting had interrupted them with his presence.
He meant it. Maybe it was too good to be true, and a part of Natsu felt terrible for wanting it to be true, but he really did believe Sting could be the cause for Lucy's tears.
He remembered the way she had slightly stiffened when he came over. Remembered how her eyes stopped meeting his, how her hands began fidgeting, and how, despite them dating, she seemed to recoil a bit at his touch.
Natsu wondered then if Sting had been the reason he'd seen Lucy crying. He wanted to ask, and maybe he would, but definitely not in front of Sting.
Not yet, anyways.
If Natsu had confirmed that Sting had been the source of her sadness, then he would confront him. Or maybe not. He never really was a good fighter outside of his games, and challenging the star quarterback seemed like a death wish.
And then there was the problem with why Natsu felt the need to beat him up if he had hurt Lucy. Sure, Natsu liked Lucy, had fun talking to her, but enough to fight for her?
It was weird. He never felt like this before, and didn't know how to feel about it. How could one person change the way he viewed things? He didn't understand why he had come to care for Lucy so much in a short amount of time, yet he just couldn't get himself to stop.
Gray's mocking words brought Natsu back to reality, "A real empath you are, Natsu Dragneel. You see someone crying and think something might be wrong. Just how do you do it?"
Now he was annoyed.
"I'm serious, Gray! Just for once can you stop insulting me and listen?"
Gray's smile faded. He crossed his arms, now matching Natsu's tone.
"You think he's hurting her?" Gray questioned.
"What? No! I think…" Natsu paused, wondering how he could word it the best way possible. "I'm not sure. Not like, abusive, I don't think. At least, I didn't see any bruises on Lucy, and she didn't seem disgusted by his touch, just like she didn't think it felt right. But I haven't talked to her much, and from what I have seen all I can piece together is something's hurt her, making her cry, and the only reason I could see from what I know is that it's Sting."
Gray took in all that his friend said, pondering what the answer could be. Natsu sat in the silence, waiting for Gray to give his opinion, surprised that he even wanted it.
He wasn't sure that he really did, but he needed to tell someone else, wanted to hear how crazy it sounded outside of his own mind, and right now Gray was the only person he could tell who he wouldn't care if they ended up making fun of his theory.
"Sounds like you don't know enough yet. Only thing you can do is get closer to her and figure it out, or even ask her yourself."
Natsu looked down.
"Gray… why do I want it to be true? I don't want her to be hurt in any way, but it's almost like I want Sting to be the root of it."
"Give yourself some credit. You may not be a wise guy, but your heart's in the right place. There's no harm in wanting to figure out what's wrong, but emotions are just weird. It's like you want Lucy all to yourself, and the only way to achieve that is for Sting to be out of the picture. Just trust in yourself, and if it does come down to who the better man is I'll bet you come out on top."
Gray didn't know where that came from. It was like an old philosopher possessed him for a minute, and when he looked at Natsu he guessed the same thoughts were running through his mind.
"Woah, Gray. I didn't know you thought so highly of me." Natsu said with a sheepish grin. "I won't judge you for coming out, so please don't judge me when I say I'm straight and can't be with you."
"That's not what I meant and you know it! You asked me to be serious so I was!"
"I asked you to be serious, not confess your feelings for me!" Natsu said between his laughs.
"Whatever," Gray scoffed.
And this was why the pair rarely had deep conversations, because their whole lives they just bickered back and forth with the other. It was pretty hard to take the other seriously when it came to talking about themselves.
"Oh, would you look at the time." Gray said, lifting his arm and pretending to look at a watch that wasn't really there. "It's time for you to get out."
Gray just about shoved Natsu out of the room, shutting the door and turning the lock. What an idiot.
"Hey Gray?" Natsu said from the other side of the door, voice now serious again.
Gray wanted to ignore him, but found himself giving in anyways.
"What?" He answered.
Natsu's reply was quick and muffled, and had Gray not moved near the door he would've swore he missed it.
"Thanks," Natsu said, voice laced with real gratitude before he turned on his heels and left.
He had one goal in mind. Whether it was because of Sting, or because of something else, Natsu swore:
He would find out what upset Lucy.
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