The group sat around the fire and ate to their hearts content. The fish was actually pretty good and Natsu added some of the wild mushrooms he had collected earlier so everyone was feeling pretty full. Happy had fallen asleep cuddled in Natsu's arms so Gray was contemplating asking Natsu some questions about what he was told. One glance at the dragon slayers face told him that he was relaxed and happy so he thought he could Atleast try. "Natsu." Sarah spoke up before Gray could even form what question he wanted to ask. "Do you remember the agreement we made? You've gotten wreckless again, and clearly the dreams are bothering you. I told your team what happened with Amara and J. As well as what happened with your first family after Igneel" Natsu gave her a relieved look and sighed. "I guess y'all have questions. But before you say anything i would like to explain."

Natsu stood up put Happy down on his seat and walked away a bit, stopping with his back to the group and his head down. "It's hard for me to open up about the bad stuff. Ask me about Igneel and I can give you story after story. Thinking about him doesn't hurt this bad because I understand what he was doing when he left me. But A-amara and J were a different story. Everything was fine with us. We were happy. I was falling for them, not as intensely as most people fall in love but I was content. I assume she told you we were into BDSM but I won't tell you specifics unless you really wanna know. We were doing a scene and it ended horribly. Something J said triggered a memory in me and I just...snapped."

Natsu paused and turned around. He could feel the apprehension on everyone behind him but what stuck out was the knowing look in Gray's eyes. "I turned to BDSM after having consensual sex the first time. It was with some girl who's name I can't remember, but I remember thinking that I didn't really want her to touch me. I think she noticed because she backed off and let me explore her body for awhile. She was pretty experienced and asked me to tie her up. Do you know what Shibari is?" He looked up again and saw that Lucy looked confused. "It's Japanese bondage. She talked me through it and made sure no knot was too tight, but after I was done I realized how hot it was. She looked beautiful sitting there like she was. We ended up spending a few hours with her showing me different knots and ropes before we actually got to having sex. It was good. As good as your first time can really be. She talked me through it all and as soon as I was done I left. I had a few partners after that but I always felt so unfulfilled. Until I saw her for the first time. I never stopped being...attracted to Lisanna. But she was so different. So when I saw Amara I followed her and ended up at that meeting."

Happy turned in his sleep and Natsu's breath caught. Sarah noticed this and walked over to Happy "I'll put him inside for a nap. I'm sure you would like to finish this conversation but I could use some sleep as well." She picked up the exceed and walked over to Natsu, giving him a quick peck on the lips before she went inside the house.

Natsu took his seat again and looked up at his friends with tears in his eyes. "I am so sorry I ran off like I did. I just felt so overwhelmed and didn't know how to handle it. I swear I was going to do the job but when I realized how close I was to Sarah I decided to stop and chat with her. You don't know how this feels…I feel so weak. I can't be in a committed relationship because I'm scared. But I'm tired of the one night stands. I just thought if I talked to someone who already knew maybe i could sort my head out. I didn't mean to worry you guys and I definitely didn't think you would follow me."

Gray had been taking in everything Natsu was saying and he definitely understood him better. Although Natsu trusted them now it took years before he actually started to talk to them about stuff. His hopes dreams and aspirations. But he had no idea about the deep rooted issues Natsu had.

"I'm not mad at you Natsu. You're one of my best friends! We're basically siblings! But now that we know the full story please don't do that again. It worries us. You don't have to put on a brave face in front of us. Ever." Lucy said while fighting back tears. She stood up and slowly walked over to Natsu and pulled him into a hug. Erza stood as well and joined them. "Talk to Gray." She whispered in his ear. "He has been so worried."

"Hey Erza wanna see if she has an extra room? I would like to sleep off some of this food before we head to the job!"

"Good idea Lucy. Let's go!"

The girls disappeared inside leaving just Natsu and Gray alone. Natsu refused to look up at Gray feeling too awkward to say anything to him yet. The ice mage knew he needed to be patient. He needed to be sensitive so he didn't run off again. Thinking back to the day before he decided an apology was as good a place as any to start.

"Hey, I still don't quite understand why you were so upset about the other night, but I am sorry I didn't think to clean up before popping in on you. I just saw the fire and was worried so I ran over as fast as I could."

"You don't have to apologize for that Gray. I had time to think about it. With the nightmare still fresh in my head I snapped without thinking. You are a grown man and allowed to do what and whoever you want."

Gray came closer to him and waited for him to look him in the eye before continuing. "I just have one question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to but at some point I want to know. Do you-do you have feelings for me?"

Natsu took a step back eyes wide and hands trembling. Holy crap! How did he just come right out and ask him that? On one hand, finally! He could open his heart and tell him how he felt. But on the other hand he was terrified. He never thought that he would get to this point with Gray. What if he didn't reciprocate his feelings and they stopped being friends? What if he did have some feelings towards Natsu and then he hurt him? He couldn't handle either one. Hurting Gray was something he never wanted to do, but he felt like he would explode if he didn't tell him.

"I— I uh. Yes. I do."

"Oh." Gray said pretty shocked. "Okay…"

"Yeah. I don't expect you to feel anything back but since you asked…"

"No I mean it's okay. I've never really looked at you that way but I would be lying if I said I didn't think you were attractive." Gray rubbed the back of his neck. What am I saying? Okay so he is sexy. Very sexy actually. But admitting that just opens another can of worms! What is he wants to date me? He didn't know if he could do that. We're rivals for gods sake!

Natsu took a seat by the fire again and sighed. "It's okay. I prepared myself for this. I just decided I would rather you know so then you could make the decision on if you wanted to still be friends with me or not. No hard feelings if you don't want to be. I totally understand."

Gray glared at him. "Why wouldn't I want to be friends with you anymore? You know I am bisexual. I have no issue with you having a crush on me…"

"It's not a fucking crush you damn Ice Princess. I am in love with you. I have been for years. Since way before I met them, I just didn't know how to tell you without ruining our friendship. And then when I was getting comfortable with the idea of telling you? You slept with Juvia. No way was I confessing then. I always thought y'all would end up together. I didn't want to possibly ruin your chance at happiness or embarrass myself."

Gray was floored. He is in love with me? That goes far beyond some crush. But when he really thought about it, it made sense. Everytime Gray would get drunk and hit on someone at a random bar Natsu would get pissed and insist they had to leave. Juvia would start with her "Gray-sama" crap and Natsu would get angry and either pick a fight with Gray or storm out of the guild. Hell he couldn't even remember the last time he got in a fight with anyone alone because the dragon slayer always joined in. He took punches for him whether fighting a member of Fairy Tail or some enemy. He caught him blushing and looking in his direction a few times but when he looked around someone was almost always behind him.

"Gray, if you don't stop soon you'll be naked."

What? Oh shit. Not realizing it he had stripped down to just his boxers again. Quickly throwing his clothes back on he started thinking of what he could do. Losing Natsu as a friend wasn't an option. They fought a lot but that was fun for both of them! Sparring was a sort of release for them both and they always left tired and sweaty but very happy. So the way he saw it, he had two options. He could ignore Natsu's feelings, and hope that their friendship didn't become strained. Unrequited love had a way of pushing people apart. Or he could take the plunge and see what being intimate with the dragon would be like. Not giving himself a chance to second guess he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to the dragon slayers.