It was nearing 9 am when Erza knocked on the boys' hotel room. They hadn't slept since the storm hit, just laying in their bed as the rain slowed and the sun rose. Erza attempted to open the door, only to find it stuck. She looked at Lucy and Fati beside her, searching for an answer.

"Did they lock it?" Lucy asked.

"They better not have." Erza warned.

Inside, Natsu and Gray were not aware of the girls outside their room, nor the danger they were going to be in. Instead, they laid comfortably, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Gray?" Natsu mumbled, finally breaking the silence. Gray looked at Natsu, signaling for him to continue. "What's up with you and Juvia?"

Gray paused, a little confused. "She's a stalker and I'm her victim, same as always. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking about what she would do if she saw us right now. Then I really wasn't sure if you two were together or not and I–"

"We're not together." Gray interrupted. "I am so sick of hearing that! She chooses to keep hanging around me despite how many times I've turned her down. I mean, I don't hate her. She's nice, at times. Just weird as shit."

Natsu looked guilty. "Sorry for bringing it up."

"No, no, it's not your fault! I just hear it all the damn time. So I'm just going to make it very clear: Juvia and I are not dating. And you can tell everyone you know. In fact, please do."

Natsu chuckled softly. "Yeah, I will."

The girls, outside, heard very faint murmurs from inside the room. Gray made his ice room to block incoming sound, not outgoing sound. Erza took the murmurs as meaning that the pair were ignoring her knocks. She re-equipped a heavy sword into her hands and hoisted it over her head in a threatening stance. It took about five seconds of intense non-verbal debate between Lucy and Fati before they chose to stop her. Or rather, try to.

Lucy, scared to summon a spirit lest Erza see it as a declaration of war, simply grabbed her around the waist and tried to pull her away. Fati jumped for Erza's wrists, managing to make her drop her sword. It fell to the ground with a muffled clang. Erza glared at her assailants.

"If you two are going to let Natsu and Gray get away with ignoring us–" She growled.

"We don't know if they're ignoring us!" Fati interrupted. Lucy thought they probably were, so she went for a different angle.

"C'mon, Erza! We can leave them behind. That means you can fight the monster all by yourself! And you get all of the money!"

Erza wasn't convinced by their arguments, however re-equipped her sword into nothingness anyway. "Fine! If you two are so insistent that we leave those idiots behind, then I shall."

Erza strode stiff and quick down the hall, leaving Lucy and Fati behind to gape that they actually managed to stop her. They hurried to follow her. Natsu and Gray were none the wiser. Inside, they continued to talk.

"And while we're talking about it, what's up with you and Lisanna? I don't want to pressure you, but… I'm curious. I don't often get to ask." Gray, taking advantage of their conversation, pried.

"Oh… that's a little more… involved." Natsu took a steadying breath. "We dated for some time. Right after she got back from Edolas, I… I fell in love with her all over again. I kissed her in the hut we made as kids. Y'know, the one with her grave?"

Gray listened intently, nodding where appropriate, shocked at Natsu's forthcomingness.

"It was nice for some time. It took about two months before we both realized that, well, we had changed. We weren't kids anymore. Edolas changed her, and her loss changed me. It felt nice to have her back, but it just didn't work in the long run. We kinda… drifted. We stopped kissing, stopped going on dates. Eventually, we stopped calling each other our partners. There was never one moment that it all broke apart."

Natsu began to sniffle, his eyes burning and his throat clenching. "I guess the part that bothered me wasn't that we weren't together anymore, but… t-that it had to be this way. That she had to leave originally."

Gray surprised Natsu with a hug, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Natsu." Natsu remained limp under his arm.

Natsu smiled weakly. "Now it's my turn to say that it's not your fault."

"I know it's not my fault, I'm just sorry that you had to go through that. Now stop being such a dunce and hug me back." Natsu laughed softly, curling into Gray's side and reciprocating the hug. They squeezed each other for a brief moment before separating.

"Fuck, man. We're both shit at romance." Natsu joked.

"Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Frankly, I'm close to giving up and dating men. They seem simpler." Gray agreed, laughing.

"Not according to Lucy! You should hear the horror stories she tells me about dates. That girl either has the worst luck or just attracts the worst kinds of men."

"That's Lucy, though. I don't think the bad men come to her, I think she's into the bad men."

"You have a point." Natsu admitted. "Though, to be fair, we probably think men are easy to date because we are men."

Gray laughed. "Yeah, that's possible. I've never dated a man."

"Would you be open to it?"

"...Are you asking me if I'm gay?"

Natsu stopped, realizing in that moment what he had asked. "Uh… well, I guess I did ask that."

"I am."

Natsu went dead silent, his eyes growing wide. "I'm sorry, repeat yourself?"

"I'm gay. Well, bi. Or pan. I don't know, they're kinda the same to me."

Natsu simply squeaked in response. Gray looked at him incredulously.

"Dude, what? You're the one who asked me." Gray considered Natsu's reaction. "Oh, don't tell me you're homophobic, you fire freak!" He rolled to get out of the bed, suddenly angry.

"No, wait, that's not what I meant!" Natsu yelled desperately, grabbing Gray's waist to stop him from leaving. "I'm bi, too! I was just surprised! I promise!"

Gray stopped struggling to escape from Natsu's grip. He sighed heavily. "Of course you'd make this harder than it needs to be." Gray sat back down, turning his head to see Natsu, his face pressed against Gray's back. Natsu looked up at him sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"This time, you should be."

Natsu giggled in relief, collapsing onto his back and stretching his arms over his head. He kept his hands in the air, observing the lines on his palm, the way the blue of his veins showed through his skin. He spoke. "Yeah, I'm bi. Or pan, or whatever. Like you."

"Like me." Gray smiled to himself. "Why were you so surprised?"

"I don't know, I guess I just wasn't expecting it. I mean, it's just… every girl in Magnolia has a crush on you."

"That's their problem. A lot of girls crush on you, too."

"Liar."

Gray rolled his eyes. "Either way, just because girls like me doesn't mean I only like girls."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I just, well, I don't know. It never crossed my mind. We treat it as a kind of hush-hush topic in the guild."

"Freed and Laxus are obviously dating and nobody talks about it."

"Right! Oh my god, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who sees it."

"I have no clue how people don't see it. They don't even try to keep it a secret."

"I once saw Freed blow Laxus a kiss across the guild hall."

"That is so adorable."

"More to the point, it's just hard to talk about sometimes." Natsu looked Gray in the eyes. "I've shared a lot with you today."

"You have." He matched Natsu's stare. "Everything is safe with me."

"Thank you." Natsu sighed. Despite the cold room, it felt warm between them; like whatever connection they created tonight was a living, warm-blooded creature that brought them closer. They allowed their newfound friendship to simmer for a moment.

"Not to break up the moment, Gray, but I'm tired." Natsu settled into the blankets. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Natsu." Gray laid into the mattress behind him, stretching his arms and closing his eyes. The last thing he thought before falling into a deep sleep was about how grateful he was that he and Natsu could be so open with each other. Needless to say, both Gray and Natsu slept deeply and peacefully.