Gray woke up the next morning, feeling like as if all of his troubles were gone. He rubbed his eyes, squinting as he looked around his bedroom. He stood walking down the stairs, only to remember at that moment that Erza Scarlet had stayed the night, sleeping on his couch.
And yet when he arrived down there, Erza was nowhere in sight. The blanket that she used was folded with precision, and the pillow neatly stacked on top of it. He assumed that she must have woken up early and left without a single word.
He ran a hand through his hair, putting the blanket and pillow back into its rightful place, and then walked back down the stairs.
He headed for the kitchen to grab something to eat, only to get the absolute shit scared out of him.
As soon as he turned the corner, Erza popped out of nowhere, almost running into him. He jumped back a little, holding in a (girlish) yelp.
He placed a hand over his heart, trying to calm himself down, before meeting the redhead's eyes.
"I thought you left! Oh my god, you scared the hell out of me." She gave him an amused look, and continue to the table, setting down two bowls.
He raised his eyebrows, not completely sure of what she was doing. "You seriously think that I would leave without saying thank you?" She questioned the puzzled ice mage as she sat down elegantly.
He took a seat as well, pulling the bowl over, only to see it full of cereal. Out of all the thank you meals Gray could think of, cereal wasn't really there.
He didn't say that of course, but he ate it anyway. He took sneaky glances at his red haired friend, admiring her.
Her eyes were no longer bloodshot, and her hair obviously wasn't brushed. Her scarlet locks were a bit tangled, turning out to be curlier than normal.
It was the part of Erza that was quite refreshing to see for Gray. The tiny bits of natural imperfections, the way she was calm. It was her natural beauty. Effortless beauty that she seemed to pull off so well.
When both of them finish and cleaned up their things, they made their way to the door. She stood there quietly, her arms politely in front of herself, her fingers tightly locked together. Gray on the other hand showed how sleepy he still was.
He squinted when he opened the door, the sunlight way to bright for his eyes. He was slouched, pushing his fingers through his raven locks, as he leaned on the door frame.
He turned to her, seeing the morning lights bounce off of her scarlet strand of hair. The warm glow of her eyes when the sun hit them. She was completely kissable at that moment, and it was the only thing that Gray wanted to do.
He wanted to kiss her right there in the doorway of his home to break the silence formed between them. He wanted it to be sweet, and long and passionate. He wanted to run his hand through her smooth scarlet locks to the very edges. And yet he was able to push the sudden feelings of romance back down inside.
They had just started to be friends again. It was a rush to do something so rash at this moment.
"Gray. Thank you. You had to deal with me after all the stuff that I-"
"It's okay Erza. I understand. It's fine really. I'm over… that. But… you know that if you ever need anything come to me, alright?" He looked down at her, as she smiled slightly at him. She nodded, her smile not leaving.
"Well, I'll see you at the guild from a distance I guess?" He chuckled lightly at her comment, rolling his eye whilst shaking his head.
"Yeah. I'll see you there." She nodded, strolling through his door and out into the world. And he knew that it was going to be a great day. He could just feel it.
When Gray finally arrived at the guild, he was automatically met by Natsu, Lucy and Happy. The trio, grinned at him, dragging him over to the bar, only to be met, once again by Mira and Cana.
Mira beamed at him, while Cana gave him a small two finger salute, taking a sip from a mug at the same time.
"So. We're gonna do the mission thing today right?" Lucy questioned, making sure everyone was on the same page. She gained a nodded from the brunette.
Gray sighed, leaning up against the table. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the group.
All of them looked happy and excited, even Natsu. Even though Gray understood how this could get annoying quickly, but he would put up with it. For them.
"Okay. Should we go over anything?" Cana inquired. Everyone shook their head no, except for Natsu, but they ignored him mostly, they knew he could pick it up later.
"Wait. What's the job?" Gray asked simply. Lucy turned to him, taking out the request form, looking over it carefully. She cleared her throat.
"We're looking for a certain type of flower. The flower is apparently a bright white lily with a blood red center. It's called the snowlily. Or as its nicknames says 'Blood Red Snow'." She paused, her eyes meeting Gray's for a moment before continuing.
"It apparently can grow in even the harshest winters. The flower has the magical property of slowly melting in the summer, leaving a cooling sensation." She took another break, looking at Natsu, only to be met by a concentrated stare. A stare that made her heart speed up.
She cleared her throat once more, forcing her eyes to look back down at the paper. "The request says that he needs it for his sick wife, who at the moment is going through a rough time surviving the birth of their newest child." Tension grew through the air. Everyone knew how it felt to lose their parents, especially at such a young age.
"He says that the flower will be able to heal her. He also said that he won't be able to pay us, but that he would serve us a meal to replace it." The silence that was from their group was replaced by the tremendous noise of the guild.
"Okay. I'm down. Let's get this done as soon as possible." Gray grumbled, causing the others to share a look. They agreed although Happy was extremely confused, mostly for the fact that he had zero idea what was going on.
"Alright! Let's go get her." Lucy said beaming at the boys. They smiled back as well, Natsu's being a bit brighter. It was hard not to think that Lucy was cute when she smiled like that. So kind and bright, like a child.
Happy flew by Natsu's side as they walked over to the other side of the guild. They arrived at the table in the corner of the guild, where Erza was.
Next to Erza was Wendy and Jellal. They seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. Natsu was the first to approach, with Lucy and Happy close behind. Gray straggled behind, wanting to keep a bit more distance.
"Erza! We're going on a job,and you're coming with us!" Natsu announced. Erza raised her eyebrows, questioning the authority of the pinkette. Sighing, Lucy shook her head.
"Ignore him please. We were wondering if you would like to join on us on our mission." A small smile crossed the redhead's lips, while Natsu furrowed his eyebrows, a small pout on his face.
"But that's what I just said!" He whined. In response, Lucy smacked her forehead. Erza shook her head, her attention finally draw over to Gray, who was standing idly by, awkwardly.
Her smile stayed, although seemed to change a bit. She stood, walking out of the booth and nodded.
"Of course, I would live to go on this job with you." Smiling, they ventured off to the train (which of course Natsu didn't approve of.)
They arrived just in time, and were able to find seats. Gray and Erza were on one side, while Happy, Lucy and a very sick Natsu were on the other.
It was pretty awkward at first, silence was the only thing that could be heard from three out of the four mages. Natsu was groaning from the motion sickness, which was the only real noise that any of them made.
The ride would have lasted for about 6 hours, and in about an hour after leaving, Natsu, Lucy and Happy we're asleep.
Natsu's head was in Lucy's lap, and Happy was asleep on top of Natsu, while Lucy slept sitting up. Gray and Erza looked over the pair and smiled.
"They would be a really cute couple." Erza inquired. Gray nodded, although he was thinking 'yeah, but you know who else would be a cute couple? Us.' But he knew that being a smooth, flirty, cocky bastard wouldn't help at all.
"Yeah. But Natsu doesn't have the balls to ask her out… and poor Lucy would have to deal with him… why would I want to put such a dreadful thing into her?" He said shaking his head. He was joking of course. He knew how Lucy felt about Natsu, it was quite an easy thing to spot.
"Don't say stuff like that. Lucy would be lucky to have Natsu. Anyone would really." He of course nodded at her comment, for what she said was true, although she had someone like that before. She had him.
But he of course, once again, he pushed his thoughts down again. He cleared his throat, trying to be more confident than before.
"I guess that you have a point… but still think that Lucy would probably ask him out first, if it was the case of course." She glared at him, puffing her cheeks in a cute, yet intimidating way. She turned her head to the raven haired teen, and then too the sleeping trio.
"Unlike you, I actually have faith in Natsu. I think that he can pull through." She stated, almost like as if it was a fact.
Gray turned to her, bringing one leg up on the booth, resting his hand on it. He had an amused expression, a cocky smirk easily identifiable on his lips. He had also ended up stripping away his shirt in the process of turning.
"Is that a challenge Miss. Scarlet?" He questioned.
She turned her head, the scarlet strands of hair over her shoulder, miraculously flipping to her back, in the most graceful manner possible.
"Why yes Mr. Fullbuster, I believe that it is." He of course, smirked even more. It was always nice to see her happy like this. Especially since it was so rare to see her fooling around.
"Okay, well if I win, then you have to… tell me why you broke up with me." He had a content smirk on his face, while her confidence seemed to flatten. She knew that he it could have been a worse request. It would be simple and easy and fast. Like ripping off a band-aid. With the same amount of pain.
"Okay, and if I win, then you have to buy me cheesecake for a whole week, when ever I want it." He nodded, agreeing to it completely. He felt confident that Lucy would come through for him.
"I think that we have a deal Ms. Scarlet." He offered her his hand, and she gladly accepted it. Gray couldn't help but feel a slight tingle from her touch, but ignored it completely. It felt like she shocked him. Like as if she had electricity running through her fingers.
But he knew that wasn't true. In all the years, that had never happened. It probably just a weird mishap or something.
"I think that we do, Mr. Fullbuster."
The rest of the hours passed like as if it was nothing at all. Gray was staring out the window, the blurred visions of trees and hills passing by.
After a certain point in time, he could barely feel the weight on his shoulder any more. Erza had ended up falling asleep, and with the help of a turn, her head seemed to land directly onto his shoulder.
He ignored it completely. He was used to this when they were dating. And now to have it back, even if it was accidental, it made him a bit happier. He felt like the heartache that he had felt for over week was finally healing.
The train seemed to slow, which ended up slowly reviving Natsu. When the train came to a complete stop, Natsu jumped up, looking even better then normal.
He smiled continues as Lucy glared at him for waking her up. Lucy turned her head, rubbing her eyes cutely. Her eyebrows knitted together as the sun was too painful to look at.
So instead, she turned her head and saw Erza snoozing away on Gray's shoulder. She smiled at them, trying to hold in a successful yelp.
"Well, we should get off while we still can. The trains gonna leave any minute, so prince charming, why don't you wake up sleeping beauty so we can get out of here." Gray glared at the blonde, blood quickly rushing up to his cheeks.
He brought his eyes down the redhead, knowing that his life could be in danger. When they were still dating, he had woken her up several times, and almost always ended up being judo flipped or in a headlock.
So let's just say he was going to be gentle about this.
Gray elbowed her lightly, and sadly it didn't work. He did it a bit harsher, seeing that she was stirring a little. With some success, he did it again repetitively until she finally woke up.
She glared him, only to look around and remember where she was. On a train. Going on a mission. Her eyes widen and stood, adjusting her posture.
Gray stood as well, only seconds behind his comrade. They moved towards the exit, with Happy sleeping on top of Natsu's head.
When they got off, they moved out of the way, to get away from the crowds of people flowing out of the carts.
With the sound of chatter and footsteps echoing through the station, it was no surprise that Happy woke up. He yawned and stretched on Natsu's head, barely opening his eyes.
"We should split up, since it is a fairly big town." Lucy stated, her eyes scanning over the heads of the citizens. She turned her eyes back to Natsu and Happy.
"We'll take the left half, and Gray and Erza are gonna take the right half. Right?" The group nodded, slowly making their way through the station, heading in their respected direction.
And their first mission after a small break, began.