The movie had been nice, a bit of a letdown, but it had given Sting and Mira something to talk about when they all went and got a bite to eat afterward. That had been her idea. While she and Sting hadn't quite hit it off, he hadn't ended up on her bad side either, and both had been pleasantly surprised when they realized that they had company that was more likely to chat.

"But I was expecting the knight to at least get captured fair and square," Sting complained.

"Eh…? But I thought it was chivalrous of him to trade his own freedom for the princess's, and a knight has to be chivalrous," Mira argued.

"He shouldn't have needed to trade himself. That dragon was a joke! She took him out by throwing a book at its head! What's the point of even being a knight if you can't take out a wimp that even the princess can beat?"

"Just because a girl is wearing a poofy dress doesn't mean she can't hurt you," Rogue warned. Mira nodded her approval, and later that evening proved that for Sting, banning herself and the blond from the café in the process.

"If I keep getting attacked, soon I won't be allowed anywhere in town…" Sting mumbled as they left.

Rogue had thought he was being melodramatic, but by the end of the week Sting was also banned from a small bakery by the outskirts of Magnolia.

"None of this is for life?" Rogue asked.

"Just a month, since I'm never the one who started it."

"I'm not allowed in there for six months," Gajeel grumbled. "Oy, Shady, should you be spending so much time with this guy?"

"I'm allowed to have friends," Rogue insisted.

Despite that, when Sting left the morning Natsu was supposed to return (no sense in setting himself up to be banned from even more businesses) Rogue took some time making sure there were no traces of the blond's scent on him, and held his tongue on the subject when he went down to the train station to welcome Natsu home. I had just been old friends spending time together again. There hadn't been any of those couple things Natsu liked, no holding hands, no kissing, no 'staring into one another's eyes', just spending time together. There was no reason to upset Natsu over something like that.

Nothing… nothing had happened while Natsu was gone.

Rogue sighed. He was a horrible person.

"You okay?" Natsu asked as he staggered of the train.

Rogue nodded. "You?"

"Euh… I've been better," Natsu admitted. "C'mon… let's go to the guild.

Getting Natsu's arm over his shoulder, Rogue helped Natsu walk straight until the effects of the train had passed. Lucy followed behind, giggling and telling them how cute they were together, putting all her efforts into making Rogue feel even worse about having caved and spent the week with Sting, regardless of whether or not he only meant to do it as a friend.

It wasn't until he was greeted to Mira's reassuring smile at the guild that his guilt eased. She'd been the one who came with him most often, and she'd never acted like there was anything wrong with him and Sting going places and talking. Heck, she'd done most of the talking with Sting. There had been a few times that Rogue had almost felt like a third wheel, which was neither too uncommon nor a bad so long as he wasn't trying to enjoy his boyfriend's presence.

Which explained why, while he didn't care too much at first when Natsu ran ahead of him to talk to the members of his team who hadn't come on the job with him, he didn't appreciate it when Natsu continued talking to them all throughout the afternoon, giving Rogue only a glance and a small smile when the boy came down and sat next to Natsu, fidgeting and trying to get at least a few words directed towards him.

"You need to use the bathroom?" Gray finally asked.

Rogue shook his head.

"Oh, he doesn't do that as much as I thought a pregnant person would," Natsu dismissed before resuming his story.

Wanting to spend time with his friends after a week long job was fine, but he hadn't seen his boyfriend for that long either! Rogue bit back a complaint and waited for Natsu to finish his story. How long had the jerk been ignoring him now?

And why was there a part of him thinking that it would be easier if Natsu finally hit that point where he stopped putting his all into impressing him?

No. It would be easier if he just brought himself to tell Sting that he had to stay away.

No! There wasn't any issue with friends hanging out. The issue was… that all the things they'd done… were things that they didn't usually do as friends. Meals, movies. He might as well have shown Sting his and Natsu's spot at the lake, then justify it by saying they were only hanging out.

Lost in thought, he missed the break in conversation that he'd meant to draw Natsu's attention during.

He gave up and went home.

-o-

"You left early," Natsu said as he entered the house.

Rogue nodded. "Though it didn't matter if I was there or not."

"Eh? What does that mean?"

"Rogue was waiting for you to talk to him," Happy told Natsu. "He kept squirming and looking at you with a desperate, longing look." Desperate was pushing it, but Rogue didn't bother to make any corrections.

"R-really?" Natsu looked at Rogue, lying on his back on his mattress and staring back at Natsu dejectedly. "I… I uh… didn't…"

"Notice," Rogue finished for him. "I'm going to bed."

"Without dinner?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Rogue's lying," Frosch told them.

Natsu hesitated, cocking his head slightly and wondering if he should maybe say something else. Rogue was already all wrapped up in bed, though, so he let it go and went to make dinner. If Rogue was lying then food would draw him out.

-o-

Under his breath, Rogue cursed his treacherous stomach, loudly protesting his refusal to get up and enjoy the heavenly smelling meal that Natsu was making a point of eating as loudly as he could.

"You're really not hungry?"

"I'm asleep," Rogue told him. It sounded beyond ridiculous, even when he already considered it childish, but he didn't care.

-o-

Rogue really was asleep the next morning. Frosch insisted that he didn't have work today, so Natsu let him sleep in and left to give the boy more time to cool off. He wouldn't be doing any work either. He'd caught Sting's scent here and there around town and almost expected the blond to pounce the second he turned his back on Rogue. It would be just like that bastard.

"Even though you told Rogue to try and make up with him the night he showed up," Happy reminded Natsu when he mentioned as much at the guild.

"That was before I saw how Sting spoke to him," Natsu insisted. More importantly, that was before Natsu had decided that the poor thing Sting had treated like garbage was a real gem, but he wasn't going to say that.

"I think it would be good if they make up," Mira told him. "You've said before that Rogue had trouble with thinking about his last relationship. You can only get so far in a relationship when one of the people involved is still hung up on the last person they were with. If Sting and Rogue return to being friends, Rogue's mind won't wander to Sting so often."

"Although there's also the risk that Rogue will find he likes Sting more if they go back to getting along," Gray teased. "Who'd want you over that cocky bastard anyway?"

Rogue might. Because even if we were dating and even if Sting had abandoned him, Rogue still kept all those photos where he thought Natsu wouldn't notice them.

"Maybe I should go home…" If there was a risk of losing him, Natsu couldn't afford to have Rogue upset with him any longer.

Mira shook her head. "Don't fret over it too much. Sting was careful not to do anything romantic even when you weren't around. Whatever his feelings, he's not going to forcibly take Rogue back from right under your nose." Natsu didn't quite buy that, but it was comforting to see Mira go demon in the middle of the guild hall and crush the bar under her fist. "And if he decides to try that after all, I'll make sure there isn't enough left of him to take anyone."

Everyone laughed while Makarov came over to yell about the ruined bar. He laughed along with them, spirits lifted from seeing that. Even hearing that Sting had been there when he was gone didn't bother him as much as he'd thought the confirmation would.

"I should still get home," Natsu decided once he was done laughing. "I think Rogue's mad at me right now."

"Then what are you doing here?" Mira asked, completely reversing her stance now that she knew that. "Go. Tell him you love him."

"But he knows I-"

Mira shoved him towards the door. Natsu stumbled, trying not to fall on my face. Once he regained his balance he laughed again, waving to them before running back home. If he still catching the lingering scent from Sting's romp around town the last week, it didn't affect him anymore. He was still in high spirits from having been at the guild when he threw his door open.

Rogue was still in bed.

"You alright?" Natsu asked, suddenly concerned that maybe Rogue wasn't mad so much as he was ill.

"Go ask your friends about it." Nope. Just that mad. Maybe he'd jumped back into bed when he heard Natsu running up the path.

Natsu sighed, walking over to Rogue's bed and ripping the sheets off of him before saying, "I'm allowed to have friends, right?"

Rogue cringed, wondering for a moment if Natsu had been speaking with Gajeel. Whether or not that was the case, though, he didn't want to seem like a hypocrite. "Or course."

"So why the rage? Well, rage for you, anyway. You know it's bad to be passive aggressive right? If you just shouted and punched me in the chest I'd at least know what you're upset about."

Only if he shouted about why he was upset, but Rogue decided not to follow Natsu's suggestion. "Why not just talk to your teammates about it? You're more than welcome to spend as much time with them as you want."

Scowling, Natsu racked his brain for any hints, finally remembering what Happy said last night. "Is this still about me ignoring you yesterday? I wasn't doing it on purpose."

"In a way, that's worse."

"Worse?"

Rogue nodded and sat up, meeting Natsu's eye. "If you had a reason to ignore me then fine. If you did it without realizing then that means I have no way of controlling whether you notice me or not."

"Well, you don't exactly go out of your way to be noticed. If you want someone to pay attention to you, just interrupt them mid-sentence."

"But that's not-" Rogue broke off, growling in frustration and running his hands through his hair. "If you want to spend time with the rest of the guild then fine. Just don't tune me out again. When I was with-"

He froze.

Natsu waited a minute for Rogue to move again, asking when he didn't, "When you were what?"

"With… you at the guild," Rogue said. "I didn't like it when I was at the guild. You stopped noticing me the second we got there." He was dimly aware that his complaining made him sound like a clingy girlfriend, but mood swings. It wasn't quite that, but they made for a nice excuse if anyone called him out on his behavior. And pretending that his hormones were getting the better of him beat admitting that he wasn't even about to complain about that.

When I was with Sting, he always checked with me before going off with anyone else.

He wasn't with Sting. He agreed with Natsu and he told Sting that they weren't getting back together and he insisted that if Sting hung around then they were only seeing one another as friends.

He was also the one who was too worried about it to say a thing to Natsu about the time he spent with Sting.

It was so quiet, he realized. Rogue had averted his gaze as thoughts of what he really meant took over, but now he looked back up at Natsu, waiting for a response.

The roset was no more willing to speak than Rogue was, biting his lip and looking away.

"Natsu?"

"I… I didn't mean to ignore you. Really. Let me make it up to somehow. I…" he took a deep breath. "H-hey, get out."

Get out! You user! You whore! I don't want to have to look at you again!

Rogue's heart stopped.

"Wh-what?"

"Get out of bed already," Natsu insisted. "You're skipping work, right? Whatever you had Frosch say, you've always worked this day. So go. If I'm going to make this up to you it needs to be a surprise. I can't surprise you if you watch me set it up!"

That… made more sense that what his mind had jumped to. Why get rid of someone while talking about doing something nice for them? Rogue's shoulders sagged with relief and he nodded, getting up and giving Natsu a quick hug before leaving for work.

-o-

To make up for missing work in the morning, Rogue was kept at the bar to help with basic repairs and serve beer that evening. He could only hope the scent of booze wouldn't cling to him even after he'd bathed. Neither he nor Sting had ever had much to do with alcohol (who wanted to lose control?) so it wasn't an area where he had much experience.

Any unpleasant smells were forgotten a few hundred yards from home. He could see a window open, which explained how the delicious scent of lamb had drifted so far out. His stomach rumbled and Rogue licked his lips, picking up the pace.

Frosch greeted him at the door, and pointed to Natsu as Rogue stepped in. "He's been cooking since you left."

For half the day? Rogue gave the stove a good look over. The heat wasn't too high. No lower than was safe for slow cooking in such a period of time. The meat wouldn't melt like that, but it would be much more tender than if it had been cooked in an hour or so like usual. That was a lot more patients than Natsu could usually put into something.

Natsu saw Rogue staring and grinned. "Sit down. Sit. I'll get this dished up."

Rogue obeyed, eagerly waiting for Natsu to set a plate down in front of him. The minute it took Natsu to get everyone's meals onto their plates was torture.

On his way over Natsu closed the window. Without the cold draft he had to decrease the amount of magic he was using to keep the place warm enough for Rogue so as not to roast his boyfriend. Though judging by the un-Rogue-like look Rogue was giving him as he carried dinner over, he would likely be forgiven for that as well as for ignoring him. God be praised for the food oriented mind. It was at least one trait those two had in common, so it made pleasing Rogue an easier task to figure out.

The plate was barely out of Natsu's hand before Rogue sampled it, enjoying the taste immensely. It was just as he'd expected. Not the perfect slow cook, but softer than normal and so delicious that he had to think to keep from making a fool of himself and showing just how good it was. No ridiculous "mmm" noises or goofy faces from him.

"You like it?" Natsu asked.

Rogue nodded "I never would have guessed you could cook like this."

"Well, I couldn't, but I had Mira teach me a bunch of nice recipes after our anniversary."

No nitpicking during nice meals. He let the term 'anniversary' slide. "Is that so? Why did you ask?"

"So I could make more stuff for you. You were so picky about restaurants, but you never make a huge fuss about what I cook. I wanted you to have more variety."

He was not blushing.

"Ah! You look cute when your cheeks turn pink like that!"

Okay. He was blushing. Rogue set his fork down and looked away, trying to hide his face behind his hair. Natsu laughed at that and leaned over the table, kissing a bit of exposed forehead.

Rogue wasn't sure what happened next. He knew he'd tried to turn away from a few more kisses before Natsu had ended up on top of them, both boys on the floor as they embraced, kisses, tongues dancing, lips tugging, wanting more. Something more passionate than he'd felt since-

Rogue gasped, breaking away. Natsu stared at him, confused as Rogue pushed back and sat up, catching his breath and refusing to look at Natsu again.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Rogue shook his head.

"Morning sickness? Bisca said you might still get queasy from time to time."

"No."

"And you're not mad."

"I… maybe." Rogue took a deep breath. "I just… I'm not being fair."

"Making out with me is unfair?"

"No. Yes. I…" he sighed. "Sting came by, after you left. We talked again. Just… normal things. I had Mira come along so she could verify that it was just friendly but… I'm not being fair."

"She told me." More or less. He was glad to hear Rogue being open about it, in any case. "I have my friends. Even if I'd rather you get along better with the guild, I can't stop you. Then I'd be the one being unfair. You didn't ignore me for Sting anyway, so you're not being unfair at all."

He hadn't even meant it that way. He'd told Natsu friends we fine, after all. What wasn't fair was…

"Spending time with him again… I wondered if I maybe like you because you two are… similar."

Because you remind me of the man I'm not over.

Natsu cocked his head, still not getting what Rogue wasn't saying. "If we both suit your tastes-"

"If it turned out-hypothetically speaking-that I only liked you as a replacement, if we kept going and I realized that was the case, would that be fair?" Rogue finally spat out. "I like you. I do. I'm just worried… you might not be who I really like."

He was still looking away, so he couldn't see he'd been a bit too honest that time. Natsu wasn't as skilled as Rogue at masking things, but he managed before saying, "So what? You said you liked me. If you like me because of something I have in common with Sting, then that's a trait you like in general. I just need to convince you that all my other traits are better to." Like my tendency to not send you out in the rain when you tell me you're pregnant. Natsu almost said that one, but thought better of it. Rogue knew what Sting had done. He didn't need the reminder, in any sense. "If you love some part of me that's like Sting, I'll make you love the rest of me too."

-x-

STA: I just randomly switched to first person while writing this and had to go back and correct it.

This chapter took a lot of effort. I really struggled with Rogue being mad and ended up just setting this aside and coming back and setting it aside and coming back and padding and padding. I'm sorry if it felt like it dragged. I probably would have set it aside all month, but the Inhuman chapter I'm working on has a big fight scene. I'm not so good at those, even though I like action stories, so I always procrastinate on them.

In other news, I think I'm gonna do a Zeref mpreg after this. Maybe. If I'm still high on him when I finish. Actually, if anyone is reading Inhuman on top of this, the whole bit with The Spell being a thing was originally planned for a Zeref mpreg that somehow included cake in every chapter. Thing is, I don't let myself post a story unless I'm fairly certain I can continue it (though sometimes I'm certain 7 chapters in, and at 20 it turns out I was wrong) and when I was checking out my plans for the story after having set it aside to finish a project I was working on several months earlier. I saw I had three chapters set up. I opened the first, which was a scene giving the basic info of how a magic mishap got Zeref pregnant with Jellal's kid and Jellal is taking care of him in secret. Then I checked the second, which was the setup for the rest of the plot with Jellal and his girl squad talking about plans to take out a dark guild. Then I checked the third, and all that I'd written in that document was "Words go here."

So when I couldn't think of what the heck the third chapter should look like I gave up on it.