Gray was not, in fact, waiting outside for Natsu. He was sprinting as hard as he could back towards their hotel, clutching the paper shopping bag to his chest. His breath came in heavily, he could feel it burning down his throat and into his lungs. He pumped his muscles as hard as he could, running at a considerable speed for a remarkably long period of time.
Gray stumbled around a corner, his momentum almost causing him to crash on the pavement, before reaching the hotel. He panted as he slowed down. He wanted to lean against something, take a second to breathe and relax, but he didn't have time. He rushed inside, past the desk workers, up the stairs, and finally careening towards he and Natsu's shared room.
He missed the key slot three times, cussing way too loudly for such a public space, before it lined up and slid in. The heavy door squealed slightly as it opened. Gray stepped in, his thighs burning. He spun suddenly, trying to find a place to hide his bag. He got onto the floor, sliding the bag under the night table. If Natsu looked hard, he would see it, but Gray assumed he wouldn't pay too much attention to the underside of the nightstand.
Gray did not have time to rest. He had to get back. Dreading running again, he started slowly, power walking out of the hotel with a determined look in his eyes. He began to run again the moment he stepped out into the street, scaring a nearby pedestrian. Gray did not stop to apologize to them, nor did he give them a second look as he barreled down the sidewalk.
Gray was in front of the antique store again within five minutes. He collapsed into a public bench, panting so hard that his entire esophagus was dry and burning. He had held his top sprint all the way there and back, approximately 10 minutes with a small breather inbetween, which is no easy feat.
His chest rose and fell heavily, his mouth hung open to allow as much air as possible to fill his lungs. Gray wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, trying to return to some level of composure. Had Natsu come out yet? He wanted to check back in, but maybe Natsu would think that was weird. Gray continued to sit outside, deciding to wait until Natsu came out for him.
Natsu was still inside the shop, getting angrier by the second. He sat himself on the aged floorboards, propping his head up with his hands. The old woman had come in twice, then quickly left both times upon seeing Natsu muttering to himself in annoyance. The third time she came in, she decided to ask.
"Now, young man, what is keeping you here?"
Natsu, being someone who is always very eager to rant, sighed loudly. "It's Gray, that asshole!" He stopped suddenly, realizing his profanity may not be appropriate, and slapped a hand over his mouth.
"I'm 74 years old, I've heard swear words before." The woman chucked. "That boy seemed so sweet, though. What did he do?"
Natsu removed his hand from his mouth sheepishly. "I don't know! After buying that thingy from you, he was super mean and then," Natsu began mockingly replicating Gray's voice, "You done yet? I'm gonna sit outside until you're done." He put his head into his knees. "I thought we were doing really well. We hadn't fought all day and he made me really, really happy at the flower path…" Natsu drifted off, just saying his thoughts aloud despite the woman not being able to understand what all of them referred to.
"It sounds to me…" The woman began, leaning down to look into Natsu's face. "That you care. And something tells me that he cares, too."
Natsu thought about her words. "I do care. I think I knew that, at least a little. But… him? How do you know he cares?" Natsu stopped suddenly, something occurring to him. "Wait! What did he buy?"
"You'll find out eventually." She answered ominously.
"What the hell does that mean?"
The woman simply laughed. "Go out there and talk to him. It'll be fine. Plus, you're scaring my customers."
Natsu stood, dusting off his pants. "Thank you, miss."
"I'm glad there are some kids that listen to old ladies like me."
"Of course!" Natsu grinned. He waved excitedly as he left. The woman just laughed and returned to her work.
Natsu anxiously came out of the store. He met eyes with Gray, sitting on the public bench outside. Did he seem winded? The gift bag was nowhere to be seen. Natsu paused for a second, confused. Gray mistook this pause as anger.
"I'm sorry, Natsu. I don't know what came over me."
"Thank you. I was worried." Natsu mumbled, too quietly to hear.
"What was that?" Gray stood stepping up to Natsu. "I didn't hear you. If you're mad, I get it, I–"
Natsu cut him off by holding his hands out. He looked up, staring into Gray's surprised face. Natsu took a second to observe his expression. His eyebrows were upturned slightly at the inner corners, causing his forehead to crease. His eyes were slightly wider than normal. His lips were barely opened, as if wanting to say something but holding back.
Natsu took a step forward, closing any remaining distance between them. He held out his arms, closing them softly around Gray's midsection. Gray relaxed suddenly, less afraid of what Natsu's reaction would be. He returned the hug, leaning down slightly and squeezing Natsu to him. Natsu squeezed him back, tightly, trying to communicate his thoughts with only this action. He knew it wouldn't be enough, so he soon spoke.
"I want to be your friend, Gray. I guess I was just scared you didn't feel the same way, even after all these recent moments together."
"I do." Gray responded, short but sweet. "Want to be your friend, I mean. I really do."
Natsu sighed in relief. "Can I ask why you were being mean?"
Gray hummed a soft yes, the word being more felt through his chest than actually heard. "I bought a gift for you. I didn't want you to see it and… man, I guess I'm bad at planning that kinda shit out."
Despite himself, Natsu laughed. Gray couldn't help but smile. "I can't believe that's what I got all mad about. And yeah, that was a really bad way to go about it. I mean, damn, you could've done that a million different ways." Natsu chuckled, slipping his arms out of the tight grasp to instead hold them loosely around Gray's sides. Gray mirrored this action. They pulled apart, both quietly laughing.
"So… food?" Gray asked.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm a little too tired for a restaurant right now."
"I can't believe you're saying that either. Do you wanna get some shitty, greasy food and bring it back to the hotel instead?"
"Absolutely."
The pair continued, past the antique store and the sweet old woman peeking out of the front window. They saw a little restaurant tucked into an alleyway, a wooden sign reading 'sandwiches'. They looked at each other briefly before nodding together, deciding on this restaurant non-verbally.
The inside was small, only fitting two little tables next to the ordering counter. A bored girl leaned against the counter, picking at what seemed to be peeling paint. She looked up when the boys entered.
"Welcome to Sally's Sandwiches, what can I do for you?" She rehearsed without emotion.
"Uh, give us a sec." Gray said, waving a hand to temporarily dismiss her. They both looked hard at the sign above the counter, quickly deciding on what they wanted. Natsu ordered a spicy chicken sandwich, a large number of fries, and an Italian Beef sandwich, just to top it off. Gray ordered a reuben. Natsu had promised to share his fries with Gray, and he decided to hold him to it.
Natsu paid, receiving the food only fifteen minutes later. They thanked the girl at the counter, getting only a bored grunt in reply.
The walk back to the hotel was happy. Natsu swung his arms, the bag of food rustling with every step. Gray watched him, smiling.
"What?" Natsu asked, laughing lightly.
"What, what?" Gray replied, trying to act like he hadn't been caught staring.
"You've been looking at me, weirdo." Natsu said, getting right to the point. Gray crossed his arms while walking, choosing not to grace him with an answer. "Oh, you idiot!" Natsu laughed. "Tell me!"
Gray pressed his arms harder into his side, his face tinted pink. "You looked… cute." The last word was muttered, but Natsu heard it just fine. Gray expected him to just laugh it off and make fun of him, but he didn't.
"You're cute, too."
Gray nearly fell.
"I mean, there's a reason all those girls like you." Natsu added, joking. "And there's no way it's your personality doing that."
Gray laughed nervously, shakily. "Y-Yeah… that's logical, I guess."
Natsu didn't seem to notice Gray's embarrassment. He walked on obliviously, now getting pretty close to the hotel. Gray debated over a few things to say, but ended up saying none of them. They walked to their room in silence.
Upon opening the door, Natsu ran and jumped onto the bed, sinking into the mattress.
"God!" He exclaimed. "I can't wait to go to sleep tonight."
Gray chuckled, climbing into the bed beside him. "You usually never get tired."
"Yeah, it's strange." Natsu's eyes drifted closed for a split second before opening again. "Wait! I wanna eat, first." He grabbed the bag of food from Gray's hand, digging through to find his order. He unwrapped the sandwich zealously, taking a large bite and falling onto his back. Gray did similarly, though with a little more restraint.
A squat cabinet sat across the foot of the bed, stocked with labeled movie lacrimas and board games. After about a minute, Gray stood, opening one of the cabinet doors.
"You wanna watch something while we eat?" Gray asked, turning towards Natsu. He simply nodded, his mouth full of food. Gray thought about what Natsu might want to see. Probably action, right? There wasn't an extremely large selection, and Gray didn't see any action titles that looked any good. Natsu probably wouldn't care if a movie was bad, but Gray did. He didn't want to sit through a whole two hours of a horrid movie just for Natsu's sake.
There was only one movie that really caught Gray's eye. It seemed to be a mix of genres—a mystery and romance. Gray tapped the lacrima, waking it up. It emitted a multicolored ray of light which stretched and shifted until an image was being projected onto the wall. Gray moved the lacrima to ensure it was in a good, secure spot. He tapped it again, causing the movie to start.
Gray returned to his spot on the bed, finally digging into his food.
"What movie is this?" Natsu asked, realizing that Gray had already started it.
"I don't really know. It's called Rose Parade. It was the only one that looked interesting."
"Where have I heard that before?" Natsu mused, something in his memory triggered. "Oh, right! That came out, like, two years ago. Lucy said it was good."
"It better be, because nothing else in that pile is."
Natsu laughed, settling into the blankets, focusing on the rectangle of light reflected onto the wall. Gray did the same as the music crescendoed and the first shot of the movie began.