One year later
Gray finally got home from a dinner meeting.
He walked into the foyer and carelessly tossed the overcoat to the chair nearby and let his bag fall to the floor. He was… tired. But at the same time, he wasn't.
He was feeling jittery. A strange feeling that wasn't too common to him.
"Hey, Gray. You're back." Natsu got up from the sofa where he'd apparently been dosing a little.
"Yes, I'm back. Finally home. Yep, yep."
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, standing up and walking to him.
"It's the stories. No, the awards. Ah, I don't want to fail Lucy and Levy." Gray let himself fall into the other's embrace, letting him hold some of his weight – he knew Natsu could take it, Natsu would be there to catch him when he fell.
"That doesn't look like you." Natsu commented.
"I don't know," Gray all but whined, holding tighter to the other's shirt. Pressing his forehead to Natsu's shoulder. "But these awards are quite important. There's a lot riding on this and, the hard part – they're friends."
"I see." Natsu said after a moment. "Then, I think I have an idea. Come." And he took him upstairs.
A/N: Not like anyone's going to check but this one took a while but is done.
I'd like to thank a few people for all the help. Everyone at the writing group, thanks for the wars, the handful of poor souls who read through this before hand, a pseudo-friend for checking a little something (she deserves the credit nonetheless).
And to you, reader, for making it to the end.
Not too shabby a way of finishing things, right?
Go check my AO3 for the full chapter.