Author's Note: This is a short chapter but it contains much less angst than previous chapters. Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter. Please leave reviews! They keep me going.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Fairy Tail.

They'd left the safe house a week ago and continued to live on the run from the Avatar Guild. Gray knew the guild would continue to actively search for them for months before they gave up, and even then they'd kill them on spot if they ever saw them again. He knew them though. They're tactics. They're behaviors. They might be good trackers, but they were lazy. They wouldn't take the rougher route to pursue their prey, so Gray had led Natsu into the woods when they left the safe house. A week later and they were deep in the forest. It wasn't a daunting challenge to either mage to live off the land. They had plenty of experience from prior jobs they'd completed. Natsu had slowed them down a little the first day or two because of his injuries but by now he moved as quickly, if not more quickly, than Gray. Although on the run and away from society the two were living comfortably off the land.

However, they weren't as comfortable living with each other. Well, more accurately Gray wasn't comfortable being in Natsu's presence. Every time he looked at the dragon slayer he was overcome by guilt and his nightmares weren't helping. Every night he relived the rape in his dreams. Sometimes it happened exactly like it did. Other times he did something different, but still equally as horrible to Natsu. The worst part wasn't the dreams themselves though. It was their effect on him. Every morning he woke up hard and leaking, a few strokes away from orgasm. He hated himself. Hated how on some unconscious level he'd enjoyed what he did to Natsu. He shouldn't be allowed to be breathing free air. He should be locked away for the rest of his life. Natsu shouldn't have to suffer his presence. Although from the fire mage's behavior towards him he wasn't suffering adverse effects from being around his rapist. That led to the other reason Gray wasn't comfortable around Natsu.

Natsu was always trying to get Gray to sleep with him again. He hovered around the ice mage constantly, and he was always doing things for him, like setting up their sleeping area or gathering food. It had taken Gray awhile to realize he was doing this to try and get Gray to want to sleep with him. Once he had realized it though he'd immediately tried giving Natsu the cold shoulder. That had had disastrous results. Natsu had woken up screaming one night, despite the fact that he hadn't originally been having nightmares, and was completely inconsolable. It had taken Gray three hours to calm him down enough to tell him about the nightmare. Natsu had told him in his dream that Gray had left him alone in the woods and Jerome found him. He hadn't been able to get any more out of the fire mage but he could guess how the rest of the dream continued. He began talking to Natsu again the next day. There hadn't been anymore nightmares.

What really bothered Gray was the unsettled feeling he felt around Natsu. He knew he couldn't lie about the fact that he felt a certain affection for the fire mage. He had been unwilling to put a name to it when it first began early on when he'd rescued Natsu from his cell in the Avatar Guild. Now, though he had to admit that he had feelings for Natsu. And he hated it. Not because Natsu was a guy. Gray had known he was bi since he was fourteen and had had a crush on Cana and Macao. It was the fact that he didn't know why the feelings had developed in the first place. He'd never felt any romance towards Natsu before. In fact, he'd used to hate the dragon slayer before that hate turned to grudging respect and then eventually friendship. He'd never felt anything more for him before the whole mess with Avatar, and that's why he couldn't accept it. It felt wrong to have those feelings for him now. Partially because he couldn't be certain the feelings weren't just derived from the situation and partially because the Natsu he was with now was hardly the real Natsu. The real Natsu wouldn't be eagerly helping Gray gather food and look for shelter. He'd have been bitching about having to work with Gray and saying Gray didn't do his fair share. Natsu certainly wouldn't have been trying to get Gray to have sex with him. Gray knew this, and that's why he couldn't ever act on his feelings. When Natsu got better, if he got better, he'd be disgusted with Gray. Whatever feelings the fire mage had towards him now would warp into hatred. Gray couldn't stand the thought of losing Natsu forever. He didn't want to make it worse for himself by giving into his feelings and really falling for the fire mage.

Currently, the two were hiking along trying to find a new place to settle for the night. It had rained all day and they were hoping to find someplace that wasn't too wet. But as Gray looked up at the sky and saw the sun lowering steadily in the west he had to admit defeat. He plopped down the bag he'd packed roughly on pine needles under a tree. Natsu turned to stare back at him.

"We're staying here," Gray told him. Natsu immediately smiled and began to bunch the pine needles together in a makeshift bed. Gray didn't fail to see that he was making a bed large enough for the two of them. Pretending he didn't notice he began to make his own pine needle bed.

"Gray!" Natsu implored and Gray's head snapped up. He stared over at Natsu before. Although the dragon slayer had hinted in many ways what he wanted from Gray he'd never spoken a word about his intention. Gray was surprised he finally was now, but decided to play dumb.

"What's wrong?" he asked innocently.

Natsu frowned at him. "Why are you making another bed?" he questioned frustrated. "I made this one big enough for the two of us."

Gray closed his eyes for a minute. "I told you I didn't want to sleep with you, Natsu," he sighed.

"I thought you meant you didn't want to have sex," Natsu grumbled. "Why can't we sleep together and cuddle at night?"

"Friends don't cuddle with each other," Gray replied weakly.

"You cuddled with Juvia all the time!" Natsu argued.

"No," Gray responded. "She cuddled me, and I didn't want to cuddle with her any more than I do with you." Immediately he felt guilt rush through him as he saw Natsu's face crumple and without even thinking about it he was pulling the fire mage into his arms. "I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry."

Natsu peered up at him with weepy eyes. "Please Gray," he pleaded. Gray bit his lip. Would it really hurt to give in and let Natsu have what he wanted? Especially since right now it was just cuddling. Sighing, he gave in.

"Okay," he sighed pushing Natsu back and abandoning his own pile of needles. "But let's eat something before we go to bed." He unzipped his bag and pulled out a bag of jerky he'd packed away. It traveled well. After a week it was almost gone, but it was nice for nights where they weren't around a food source. He ripped off a piece for him and Natsu, giving the fire mage the bigger piece. After they'd both ate they found a separate tree and took care of business before returning to their resting spot for the night. Natsu had beat him there and was lying on top of the pine needle heap. Gray awkwardly laid down beside him, keeping some distance between them and closed his eyes. He opened them when he felt Natsu slide backwards into his chest and started tugging on his arm.

"What are you doing?" Gray asked resisting Natsu's actions.

"Cuddling requires body contact Gray," Natsu huffed, and Gray couldn't help himself. He laughed. He laughed until his lungs hurt from lack of air and tears streamed down his face. Every time he was about to stop he'd look at Natsu's indignant expression and start laughing again. Finally, his laughter subsided and he turned to look at Natsu.

"You're a pain in the ass, Flame-brain," he teased.

Natsu scowled. "You're the pain, Ice Princess," he shot back.

Gray shook his head and wrapped his arm around Natsu's waist and tugged him back against him. "Good night, Natsu," he said. Natsu somehow managed to scoot even closer to him.

"Night, Gray," Natsu murmured before falling to sleep in the ice mage's arms. Gray shook his head. This was all messed up.