Rogue stared stupidly at the shards at his feet, not even thinking to move when the beer those shards had once restrained began to spread out and reached his shoes, soaking in and promising to make them reek to high heaven for weeks. That was the third order he'd dropped and they'd only just begun serving alcohol for the day.

"Is it a problem with Natsu?" Mira asked as she came over with a mop and a bin for the broken glass.

"Is… what?"

"You seem distracted is all," she told him. "Natsu was looking forward to taking you out yesterday. Did something go wrong?"

The image of Sting, unable to keep his pained expression masked, running from him and Natsu like that was all it took to make the situation go away, flashed through Rogue's mind. "You could say that." Mira gave him a look that said that wasn't enough. He obliged her and added, "Sting showed up."

"Oh my." Natsu had kept nothing about Rogue's situation secret from the guild, so she could only guess as to how that had gone. She patted him sympathetically on the shoulder before bending down to pick up the shards. Rogue debated protesting the gesture before getting down as well to help her. It was his mess after all.

His mess… if he had done something to make Sting think he was unfaithful, that meant the situation with Sting and Natsu was his mess too.

Rogue sighed and tossed another piece of glass into the bin.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mira asked.

"I don't want to think about it," Rogue declared, getting up and grabbing the mop so he'd maybe be a little further from someone who was making it harder not to think of.

"But you are thinking about it," she pointed out, "Or else you wouldn't be breaking so many glasses. What happened? Was he… he wasn't telling you off again, was he?"

"No…" Rogue grabbed the mop and got to work soaking up beer. "He was apologizing."

"That was good of him," Mira said. She hastily grabbed up a chunk of glass before Rogue could sweep it aside before adding, "So you two are friends again?"

Rogue shook his head. "Natsu chased him off. I'm not sure… I do like Sting still, even if I shouldn't. It's just… I'm not even sure if I shouldn't."

"That sounds tricky. Maybe if you-"

"Oy!" One of the more recent returning members, Miki, shouted, "Is my drink ever coming?"

"Just a minute!" Mira called. Taking the mop from Rogue she smiled sympathetically and said, "You take the day off. I can cover for you here." When Rogue tried to protest she held a finger up to silence him. "I'll be fine. As it is you're actually creating more work for me anyway."

"I… right. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Just fret over how to handle the situation with Sting. Go beat something up in frustration. Get yourself ice cream. Whatever works."

-o-

Ice cream had sounded like a good idea. Mid October there were no places on the street where you could buy it on a stick, but there was one ice cream parlor in town. It was a bit of a walk from Fairy Tail, but once the idea had been put in Rogue's head he couldn't say it didn't sound delicious enough to be worth the distance.

At twelve weeks his stomach stuck out just enough to confirm the rumor going around town that he was pregnant, but it had been a wide enough spread rumor within his first few weeks in town that Rogue was used to the teasing and 'help' it got him by then. After he patiently explained to the girl running the parlor that he did not want to try basil flavored ice cream and would rather just have vanilla (and no, adding pickles would ruin it) he paid for his cone and went out to enjoy his treat on a bench in the cool autumn air.

Maybe he could wash that down with hot chocolate…

Rogue was in the middle of convincing himself that he was already putting on enough weight and did not need to indulge in more sweets when Sting sat down beside him.

"I thought you left."

"I'm renting a hotel room." Sting paused, hoping that didn't sound like an invite. When Rogue showed no signs of being bothered by the comment, though he was blatantly trying to hide his discomfort over Sting's presence, he continued. "I… is it alright if I talk to you… here… like this?"

"I don't think Natsu would be pleased."

"Right. Natsu…" Sting looked away while until he was able to compose himself again. "I promise, I just want to talk."

Talking might help, Rogue couldn't deny that. It might also make things worse on Natsu's end. "I don't think I should," Rogue decided, getting up to leave.

"Please!" Sting cried, getting up and grabbing Rogue's sleeve. "Please, Rogue. Just… I won't…"

Rogue looked down at Sting's hand. Grabbing his sleeve. While he could tolerate it if it made others happy, he wasn't much of one for physical affection and he hated being manhandled. No matter how many times he dropped that hint for Natsu, he'd still end up having his arm yanked here and there. Sting had thought to just tug his clothes enough to get his notice.

It was stupid to get emotional over such a simple gesture, but Rogue felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Please, Rogue," Sting repeated. "I just want to talk for a little while. If you don't want me around afterward then I'll go."

Rogue thought about it, and shook his head. "I'm getting cold. I don't want to stand out here for a long talk."

But he hadn't said he wasn't interested. Sting's shoulders sagged in relief and without thinking about it he dropped his desperate tone and switched to the friendlier one he'd usually used with Rogue. "That's probably because you decided to eat ice cream, stupid."

They both froze, stunned by how easy, how familiar, that had sounded. Rogue swallowed to try and force down that lump that was rising again.

"Um…" Sting let go of Rogue's sleeve and took a step back. "Maybe we can go somewhere warm? It's a little early for lunch, but we could get a meal and talk over that, my treat. N-n-not as a date. Just… uh…"

Rogue looked around. He'd left the lunch Natsu had made him back at the guild, which was way on the other side of town. That diner he hadn't been able to go to with Natsu, by chance, happened to be one street over. The idea of Sting treating him was a little odd after they'd spent so long sharing funds, but he did want to talk, and a free meal was a good excuse. "Alright. There's somewhere you can take me."

"Thank you."

"Don't. You're the one paying."

Sting laughed at that and followed Rogue to the diner. Whatever smell Rogue had objected to only yesterday wasn't bothering him now, and he and Sting took a seat in a window booth, ordering the house special before the waitress could even ask what they wanted and shuffling about in their seats awkwardly once she left.

When she returned with their drinks Rogue nursed his water like it was a barrel of cheep beer. Sting downed his drink like it was in a shot glass. The end result was that Rogue's drink looked untouched and Sting's shirt looked wet.

"Minerva cut her hair," Sting said suddenly, taking Rogue by surprise. "It's a lot shorter now. You almost wouldn't recognize her, except that she acts just as bad as before. I think she did it just because the master commented on liking how long it was. It's weird that she'd try to pester him like that, isn't it? I think she looks cuter with it short."

"Uh…" Rogue had no words. He'd been bracing himself for more apologies and explanations, not guild gossip.

"Actually, she was really mad at me after I had to admit that you'd left. You never sent the guild a notice that you were leaving. Since I wasn't talking about it they were starting to think I'd murdered you or something." Sting laughed at that. "I think at any given point you'd have been more likely to kill me, though."

Probably true. Rogue would have acknowledge that, but there was something he was more concerned with than whether or not he had it in him to suffocate Sting when he was being a pain. "You aren't going to keep apologizing?"

Sting didn't seem the least bit surprised by the question. He shook his head and said, "I already said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"And you think last night was enough to make up for it?" Rogue asked, annoyed.

"No. I'm not that stupid. Saying sorry and getting chewed out by Natsu didn't make up for anything. But if I kept saying sorry today, would that be enough?"

"Of course not!"

Sting nodded. "I turned on you at a time when you needed me most. I can say sorry for the rest of my life, but you already know I'm sorry, and saying it any more won't make up for what I did. It certainly won't change the fact that I did it. I'll think of something to really make up for it. In the meantime… I just want you not to hate me for it. All apologizing more would do is keep what happened at the front of your mind. I'd rather you remember something more pleasant about me, so I thought… maybe we could just talk about normal things. The sort of conversations we'd have if we were… just… friends."

Just friends. The words made Rogue's heart clench, but it tidied everything up perfectly in his mess of a love life. He nodded his approval.

Sting kept talking after that, catching Rogue up on everything that had happened at Sabertooth since he left. Everything but what Sting himself had been doing, but Rogue decided not to comment on that. If Natsu hadn't been there to cheer him up Rogue would have spent that time sulking about Sting, and if Sting was trying to avoid making him think about what happened between them…

Their food came. A beef barley soup that smelled heavenly and a salad with anchovies that would drive the cats nuts when they smelled it on Rogue's breath. They took a break from the conversation to eat. Rogue finished first, and Sting stopped trying to blow on his soup to cool it down to ask, "How have thing's been going for you?" His eyes drifted down to Rogue's stomach "How's your… the guild?"

"Fine."

"No details?"

Rogue sighed. "It's fine. I can't go on jobs, so I help take meal orders and file records and my life has never been so dull."

"That does sound dull… so… nothing's… um…"

"You're allowed to ask about the bab-"

"How's your kid?" Sting asked before Rogue had even finished granting permission.

Rogue rolled his eyes. "It's yours too."

It became eerily silent between them, because two days ago Sting hadn't believed it was his. Two days ago…

"Natsu said-"

"Natsu offered to help me raise the baby," Rogue informed him. "Given the current situation, he will likely be a larger part of its life than you are." And why did that bother him so much? "Regardless, you are still the father."

"Right..." Sting looked down. "How… how's our kid?"

"Just fine. There aren't any health concerns. Because I'm not the gender the hospital is used to dealing with they make me come in more often, but they haven't told me the baby's gender yet."

"That's good… have you thought of a name?"

"Not yet."

"And my suggestions don't count for much, do they?"

Rogue shrugged. "As long as it sounds nice I'd listen to an idea from anyone."

"How about Alex? Either way it-"

The window burst, glass shards flying across the table. Sting had just a moment to regret not finishing his meal in time before Natsu's fist connected with his chin. The blond tumbled out of the booth and rolled back onto his feet, positioning for battle.

Natsu sprang at him again, fire enveloping his fist as he rushed at Sting, who was readying his own magic and braced for battle.

But the battle never happened. Before Natsu could distance himself from the table Rogue reached out and grabbed his scarf, yanking him back against the wood with all his might.

"Rogue!" Natsu cried.

"I like this place," Rogue told him. "You two aren't allowed to wreck it."

The growl deep in Natsu's throat ebbed away when he saw blood trickling from the hand Rogue wasn't using to hold onto his scarf. He'd pressed it up against a piece of glass when he reached out to stop him. Maybe wrecking the building wasn't a huge concern for Natsu, but putting Rogue in the crossfire was. He mumbled something in objection to letting Sting go, but let his magic disperse.

Sting stayed on guard while the two argued.

"Why did you let him get close to you?"

"He wanted to talk."

"I don't like this."

"I don't like you breaking into Lucy's during the middle of the night, but I don't attack her for it and that activity actually includes a bed."

"But that's just harassing her!"

"And Sting just wanted to talk."

"You two were getting a meal-"

"I forgot to bring my lunch with me. He offered to pay if I was willing to talk."

Natsu blinked, rage forgotten for the moment. "You take food bribes?"

Rogue scowled. It was not a food bribe. It was him taking advantage of an offer for food and agreeing to give something in return.

"I should go," Sting decided while Natsu was still calm. "It was nice catching up with you."

It had been an attempt at leaving before Natsu could get mad again, but hearing Sting's voice reminded Natsu that he had been mad, and he threw off his scarf to get one last punch on the blond before letting him leave.

Sting disappeared while the restaurant's owner ran up to Natsu and began demanding payment for the broken window. That would have lightened Natsu's mood, had Rogue not also disappeared while he was paying for the damage.

-x-

STA: Happy New Year's!

So I ended up taking my laptop with me to Arkansas and sort of having internet, but the connection was really shoddy and never lasted more than a minute, so I didn't post anything while I was on vacation. It's getting late and I had an 11 hour drive today, so maybe I'm too tired to post the next chapter of Inhuman? That sounds about right. I can post that next time I think of it.

My favorite part of this chapter... is probably the pickle line. I was in the middle of writing Rogue getting ice cream when it suddenly occured to me that I was half way to the pregnancy craving, but I'm trying not to give him any outlandish stuff. This is Rogue, after all.