Author Note: Hey everyone! Here is the eighth chapter of Pastry King and it's actually a bit longer than usual so I hope you enjoy it! I sort of revamped my writing style again so I'm not sure if you'll notice but if you do, let me know if you like it or not. It's all thanks to a certain reviewer of mine!
Title: Pastry King
Rating: T
Pairings: Gray x Natsu
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters do not belong to me.
Responses to Reviews:
nori of the sea: Thanks so much for your review! I definitely missed you last chapter since you always write some nice, motivating ones. And I'm sure Gray will turn out for the better, hopefully for Natsu's sake. Have fun reading the chapter!
AsDarknessSpreads: Haha, I'll leave that to your imagination as to what was exchanged between Gray and Lyon. And yeah, we'll get to see more of Zeref soon! Most likely in the next chapter though but other than that, enjoy the eighth chapter of Pastry King!
darkhuntressxir: Yeah, Gray was definitely an asshole in the last chapter but he may or may not have his reasons. And hopefully Zeref does well in the interview so we can see him work with Natsu! Have fun reading!
grayxnatsuFT: Aww, I absolutely loved your review; it was so nice. And I'll do my best to update as fast as I can but you know, other things such as work prohibit me from doing so. Who knows? There may be more smut in this chapter! Read and find out!
RadioHeart: Aww, thank you so much for taking the time to review then! I definitely appreciate it and I hope you continue to do so!
Guest: Well, here's the update! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Dark Sorcerer of Fire: Ah, if it isn't my favorite reviewer who also happens to be my biggest critic. I did change my writing style for this chapter but I'm not too sure if it's going to be noticeable but I hope so. Hopefully, the thing that is bothering you will start to go away after this chapter; otherwise, I'm not sure what I'll have to do! Maybe I should just stop writing this fic. Just kidding! I actually wonder what you will think of the developments in this chapter and maybe it'll leave you on the edge of your seat this time! Have fun!
isuyoo: Haha, we'll see if Zeref somehow becomes rivals with Gray. Or what if he suddenly becomes rivals with Natsu? That would be interesting. Anyway, thanks so much for your praise and I would love to see more reviews from you. Have fun reading this chapter!
CsillaDream: Wow, you read everything I've written so far? Well, welcome to Pastry King's fan club! And make sure you eat right now! I don't want you to pass out before we reach the end! I absolutely loved your review so don't apologize for it being so long. In fact, I encourage you to keep reviewing like that! And thank you so much for your praise! I'll do my best to ensure I live up to your expectations!
Natsu's POV
After stretching my arms and legs, I turned on my side to get a better sleeping position. I shut my eyes tight, trying to fall back asleep but my mind kept revolving around one thing: the events from last night. Sighing, I stretched out my hand and grabbed my phone to see that it was 06:24. Of course, even though I have the weekend off, I would still wake up early. It's funny because I thought I would catch up on the sleep I've been missing out but I guess I didn't need any. Now that I was wide awake, I didn't want to leave the comfort of my warm blanket especially when it felt kind of cold in my room. When an image of Gray undecidedly popped in my head, I felt annoyed. No, that's not the right word. Embarrassed is more like it. As sad as it may sound, I really couldn't stop thinking about last night.
Erza and Jellal were all lovey-dovey but it's not like that wasn't to be expected. Even though I was alone in my room, I felt embarrassed when I thought about Erza cradling me like a child. And worse, she saw me crying. No, that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that I was crying because of Gray. I ran my hand through my hair and shook my head at myself. I hate this. I hate feeling like I don't have any control over my feelings.
'You know you'll always be family to me.' I smiled thinking back to what my big sister said. It's not like I didn't expect her to console me or anything. No wait, yeah, I definitely didn't expect her to do something like that. Erza wasn't cold or anything but her way of expressing her feelings were definitely, well, I guess you could say it was unique. But last night was the first time in a long time she held me in her arms. It actually made me feel a little bit better. Not that I would say this to her of course; that would be too embarrassing for me. Now that I'm thinking about it, the last time she held me was when Igneel passed away. I guess she really has been there for me when everything seemed to be going downhill.
I turned and laid on my left arm when I felt that tingling feeling in my right arm. You know, the one you feel when you've been lying on it for too long. Didn't want to cut the blood flow and have my arm give out on me. When an image of blue hair popped up, it reminded me Erza's boyfriend. Jellal was usually quiet, a bit shy, and he rather observe rather than participate. At least, that's what Erza said. Surprisingly, I actually didn't see any of that last night and you would think I was with a different Jellal considering how talkative he was with Lyon. Maybe my older sister said something for him to get along with the others or maybe it was just the alcohol talking. Either way, they both talked all night long and if you asked me, they kind of looked like they were a couple. That didn't last long since Erza popped into their conversation every now and again. I didn't even know what they were talking about but I think it was about Lyon's history with Fairy Tail's Patisserie or something of that nature.
Gray, on the other hand, was really quiet, which sort of reminded me of how we had breakfast. Tch, just thinking about him pisses me off. Who the hell does that guy think he is talking to me like I'm not as good as he is? I don't know if he has a split personality or what but the Gray I was with at breakfast was entirely different than the one I was having drinks with at the bar. Hmm, maybe he has a side that he shows to strangers and another that he shows to people he knows. Still, that doesn't excuse him for being a dick and thinking he can get into anyone's pants, never mind my own. Although, I do have to admit that he's sexy with those looks of his. And his lips were so soft, wet, and definitely irresistible. Did I mention how good he smells? I swear, it's like some sort of pheromone that makes you want him.
Wait, I'm doing it again. I rolled my eyes at myself. I feel so pathetic. I keep talking about him like he's an asshole and the next second, I'm saying how fuck-able he is. Something is definitely wrong with me. I started to get out of bed but not all the way as I started to rub my eyes to get some of the sleepiness out. I brought my head up and looked at the ceiling, expecting to see something else that may not have been my ceiling. I felt goosebumps when the thought of seeing a dead girl hovering above me ran thorough. Stupid Loki for saying that rumor. Even though I didn't want to believe him, I made sure not to look at the ceiling again before finally getting out of bed and putting my slippers on.
As I moved through my apartment, I soon found myself in the living room. Hmm, I'm kind of thirsty. I entered the kitchen and popped the fridge open, revealing a brand new bottle of orange juice. I quickly grabbed it, twisted the cap open, and began to taste the citrus flavor as it ran down my throat.
"Ahh, tastes good." Gray… why did you have to be such a dick last night? And why do I keep thinking about you? I hate how you spoke to me but I can't stop thinking about you. No, I refuse to even remotely like an asshole of your caliber. I wrinkled my nose as I made my way towards the living room with my juice. I wonder if it's because of all that money that makes him think he can act like that. Refusing to think about him any longer, I made myself comfortable on the couch as I grabbed the remote control to turn on the television.
"And before we end this interview, we're only four months away from the National Pastry Competition. Is there anything you want to say to our viewers?" When the camera zoomed out, I narrowed my eyes in discontent. The pastry chef on the television was a slim man of average height that had tanned skin and spiky crimson hair, similar to Erza's.
"Nothing except for the fact I can already hear the judges declare me as the winner." I rolled my eyes at his boisterous attitude. "Oh and Natsu, you won't be winning this time."
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." I looked around the room feeling a bit embarrassed when I realized that I was just talking out loud.
"Natsu? Ah, you mean the renowned pastry chef who made the rose macaron?" The interviewer asked as Erik nodded his head before continuing.
"His macaron is nothing compared to the one I'll have at the competition. You better be ready Natsu." A devious grin formed on his face as I immediately changed the channel to the weather channel, already annoyed with how the morning was going. Erik, nicknamed Cobra, and I have some sort of a history, which still pisses me off to this day. Around a year or two ago, he accused me saying how I stole his rose macaron recipe and I had to defend myself on more than one occasion before the Pastry Committee finally decided that it was my invention. The whole ordeal was excruciating, life-draining, and most of all, annoying.
"Today, we have a high of 64 degrees Fahrenheit with a mix of clouds and sun early in the morning. Later on today, it will become cloudy with winds light and variable." Sounds like a good day to just stay in and do nothing all day. Hmm, but wasn't Gray going to be at the patisserie today to do some work? Maybe I should stop in so I can see him… maybe we can chat for a bit or something. Wait, what am I thinking? Why would I want to see that asshole? I stood up from the couch and placed my hands on my hips. I refuse to see him ever again!
~08:42~
That's what I said but now, I'm standing in front of the patisserie like a lost puppy returning back home. The doors aren't open just yet but from peeking through the window, I could see Lucy tidying up the dining room. Should I just go back home? I turned my head around to see the sun starting to fade away due to incoming clouds. I sighed as I took out the keys from my pocket and entered one of them in the keyhole, successfully unlocking it while being as stealthy as possible.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" And of course, I wasn't quiet enough. As I entered the patisserie, I locked the door behind me before closing it shut. "I thought Erza said you had the day off?" I smiled as I rubbed the back of my head.
"Yeah, guess I got bored at home." Lame excuse but I didn't expect to be interrogated right off the bat. She stared at me quizzically before giving me a look of astonishment.
"Really? If I didn't have work, I would have slept until around noon." I looked around the dining room, hoping that the raven was somewhere around here but he was nowhere to be found. "Ah don't worry, Erza isn't here if you're looking for her. She said she had some business to take care of at our new patisserie."
"Ah, well don't mind me. I'll just be doing some work in the kitchen." As I approached, it looked as if she wanted to say something but she remained quiet.
"Um, Natsu?" Surprised by her whisper, I laughed a bit nervously. Guess I really am a bit anti-social or as Zeref would like to call me, an introvert.
"What is it?" I paused in my steps, waiting for a response but once a couple of seconds passed, the silence became a bit awkward. I didn't know whether or not to let her continue her inner battle or say something but my gut feeling was telling me to choose the latter. "Lu…"
"Never mind. Forget I said anything." She gave me her usual smile but I gave her a look of disbelief. Regardless, I debated whether or not I should probe further but shook my head as I made my way into the kitchen. She'll tell me whenever she feels ready.
"Natsu! What are you doing here?" Sting immediately ran over and greeted me as I glanced over at the other two pastry chefs in the background. They both had smiles on their faces but Loki's smile seemed to communicate a message such as: 'Looking for Gray?' Just as I was about to speak, Sting took my hand and brought me over to his station. "Look at what I just finished! I was hoping to show them to you on Monday but since you're here, what do you think? I call them Honey Bee Macarons!" Honestly, I was amazed at what I was saw. It was a yellow macaron with chocolate ganache for the stripes, and honeycomb filling in the middle.
"Looks like someone is impressed." Even though Loki made a singsongy comment, I couldn't help but agree. Each yellow macaron had three stripes, a pair of eyes, and a smiley face, which makes sense for them to be called a honey bee macaron. I picked one of the finished macarons up, gently placed it in my mouth, and ate it slowly, making sure to taste every ingredient.
"Doesn't the honeycomb give such an incredible dynamic to it? It lends its own sweet and bitter flavor to the ganache while making it chewy but filled with specks of crunchy honeycomb. I think it complement the crunchy and chewy texture of the macaron really well." I placed the rest of the macaron down on the plate, knowing full well everyone's eyes were on me, waiting for my reaction.
"I can't lie, this tastes really good! Nice job Sting." I patted him on the back and I couldn't help but have a huge smile plastered on my face. It's been a while since someone impressed me and I felt really proud of him. I knew he was different from the rest of the chefs who came in here looking to learn from me but seeing this, it puts him on a whole different level.
"I told you he'd like it." My heart jumped at the sound of the voice as I looked past Sting to find the source. Standing by the locker room door was the man I was hoping to see. Gray, the obnoxious entrepreneur. I returned my gaze to Sting as he laughed to himself.
"Sorry for not believing you. It's hard to impress one of the most famous pastry chefs of all time." For some reason, I didn't know what to do right now. Should I say something? Should we even bother talking about last night? Was there even something to talk about? No, stop overthinking this. He wouldn't care about how I felt, right? Maybe I should just ignore him. But that doesn't make sense. If I wanted to ignore him, why did I even come here?
"You all right over there?" Loki's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I stared blankly at the four-eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said as I walked past Sting and Gray without sparing the raven a second look as I entered the locker room. When I got to my locker, I could hear the door open and close behind me but I chose to ignore whoever came in, especially if it was the raven. Even though a little part of me was hoping it was him.
"So you're not even going to say good morning?" And it was. I entered the combination on my padlock and opened it up to see my chef uniform inside.
"I thought I said I would beat your ass the next time I saw you. Besides, I have nothing to say to you." I took off my light jacket and hung it inside, waiting for his response.
"Are you really going to get worked up over what I said last night?" I shut the locker door loudly and turned around to face him.
"I think I have a pretty good reason, wouldn't you agree?" All of my feelings started to swell up inside and we haven't even talked for more than a couple of seconds. Was this guy really that thick?
"And what reason would that be?" I stared the raven down and somehow, we found ourselves in a eye-staring contest. However, even though my eyes were locked with his, I could see out of my peripheral that he was dressed in another suit. It made him look dashing might I add. My eyes began to squint as did his but I could feel my own starting to give way.
"Don't play dumb." I closed my eyes and looked away, impressed with how I got away without losing to that bastard.
"Oh? What's wrong? Did your eyes need a break?" I snarled as I opened my eyes to see a smirk. "I could have sworn you liked me. Isn't that why you went out with me to have breakfast? I thought we were pretty intimate when we held hands later that afternoon." When that particular memory of us holding hands became clear as day, I could feel my face warming up. No, I refuse to turn red for this guy!
"I only went out with you out of respect for Erza. You were her investor and that's it. Don't mistake my kindness for feelings that obviously don't exist." I really wanted to stop when I saw a shocked look but I couldn't control my mouth. I just kept going. "I could never like someone who's an asshole, enjoys toying with people and treats everyone like shit." I began walking towards the exit and as soon as I was next to him, I paused. "You're exactly the kind of person I thought rich people were; self-righteous idiots. Thank you for showing me that it was true." Before I could walk out, I felt his hand grab my arm and I felt myself being thrown further into the locker room as I fell back on my ass by a couple of feet. "What the fuck?" I looked up to see the approaching figure, ignoring the pain coming from my ass as I was a bit shocked that he threw me to the ground.
"You have some nerve talking to me like that. You really have no idea who you're talking to do you?" I smiled, hoping it would anger him further.
"I know everything I need to know. You're a rich fucking bastard. What else is there to know about you?" I pushed myself back up on my feet as I patted my clothes, removing any dirt that may have gotten on me. When I looked back, my plan worked when he seemed to be a bit pissed off that it actually made me relish what I was doing. It made me happy to know that I had some sort of an effect on him even though it wasn't anything remotely positive.
"My name is Gray Fullbuster, CEO of Fullbuster Enterprise, the world's leading company in electronics and a Fortune 100 company. You would do well to remember that." I immediately felt goosebumps by his venomous tone. For the first time, I felt a bit nervous around the raven and it wasn't the type of feeling you had around people you didn't know. No, it was the type of feeling you only felt in a life or death situation. I gulped as my pride wouldn't back down. I didn't care if he was God himself, he has no right to treat me like this.
"Is that so? Well my name is Natsu Dragneel, the most renowned Pastry Chef of Magnolia and the leader in revolutionizing the pastry world. You would do well to remember that in this patisserie." I said with a cold tone. I was expecting another retort but instead, he started to laugh. Not too loud but enough to catch me off guard. "What the hell is so funny?"
"You really are a first aren't you?" I raised my eyebrow questioningly.
"A first?" I asked, urging him to explain.
"You're the first person I've met that's treated me like this. It's quite… entertaining." I grinned as I felt a bit happy to know that I was a first in something in his life. Even though it may not turn out too well in the end, at least it's something.
"Whatever. Don't think you're off the hook for last night."
"You sure like to hold grudges don't you?"
"And you sure like to piss people off don't you?" He shook his head, which actually made my heart sink a bit.
"Your IQ must be pretty low if you need to keep using my words." I glared at the raven, which he responded by grinning. "What's wrong? Do you need a dictionary?"
"That's okay. I already know the definition of pathetic." He laughed once more and to be honest, it sounded quite nice. It'd be something I wouldn't mind hearing again if we weren't throwing such venomous words at each other. And not in this locker room.
"I thought you would love my personality. A lot of people find it to be quite mysterious and attractive." I gave him a questioningly look. Who the hell would find this guy to be mysterious? He had a terrible personality even though he looks extremely attractive with that soft, raven hair and mysterious onyx orbs.
"Whoever thinks that about you must be crazy. Insane even."
"I guess that must mean you're insane."
"What?" I felt a bit confused but when he smiled at me, I immediately made the connection. "Please, don't think too highly of yourself. I would never find you attractive. Ask me again 100 lifetimes from now."
"Is that so? Let's find out if that's true shall we?" Feeling confused again, I didn't have anything to say. However, when he began to approach me, I instinctively started to walk backwards.
"What are you doing?" I asked even though I felt like I knew the answer; I didn't want to believe it. My heart began to race and I felt more nervous with each step I took going back. He didn't answer; instead, he gave me the look of a predator who had his prey in a corner. When I felt my back hit the lockers behind me, I looked to my left since that was the only direction to move in.
"Didn't I say last night that you're not going to get away from me that easily?" As soon as he said that, he ran towards me and placed his hands on both sides of the locker behind me, preventing my escape. I swallowed a bit of my saliva, nervous yet a bit excited of what might happen. Did I want this to happen? If so, why do I feel so nervous? "You want this don't you?" Before I could do anything, his lips melded with my own as his tongue forced its way in as memories of last night rushed back simultaneously. When I felt his arms wrap around my waist, that did it. I started kissing him back as I wrapped my own arms around his neck. When he removed his lips, I was a bit disappointed but that soon went away when he placed them on my neck.
"Ahh… Ga-Gray…" I moaned out his name, cursing at myself for doing so. I didn't want to seem needy but when his hands went from my waist to rubbing my ass, I wanted him. Badly. I closed my eyes as I felt his leg rub against my crotch as I could feel myself heating up down there.
"Why do you taste so good?" He said as he licked my neck and when he found one of my pleasure points, I almost yelled out in ecstasy. "Looks like I found one." He immediately went back to making out with that particular spot as we grinded one another. I felt like I was in heaven as he continued his hypnotic movements. Just as I was about to grab his manhood, a familiar voice made itself known.
"Are you guys doing all right in here?" Gray immediately created an immense amount of space between us as he fixed up his tie making it look like nothing happened. I, on the other hand, turned around to face the locker, trying to hide the embarrassment of being caught.
"Yeah, we're fine. Why?" I was glad that the raven decided to do all the talking as I tried to gather myself at what just happened. It all felt so good but how could I just let him take me over so easily? For a second time?
"It's just you two have been in here for a while. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Part of me hates how my sous chef just had to ruin the moment but should I be grateful? I panted hard into the locker wishing I could just go back into Gray's arms and continue what we were doing.
"We were just talking about the the plan for Monday. Interviews and such." A moment of silence passed but I kept staring at the locker in front of me. I didn't want Lyon to think something else was happening.
"All right, if you say so." When I heard the door open again, I exhaled a huge breath but I tensed up when I heard another voice.
"Natsu!" I turned around to see my protege ignoring Gray as he passed him. "I couldn't wait any longer for you to come out of the locker room so I was wondering if you weren't busy, maybe you would want to hang out later tonight? Maybe have dinner and such?" Sting give one of the biggest smiles in the world and it took me awhile to process what he was asking me. I had no real reason to say no so… I didn't.
"Um, sure, why not?"
"All right! Maybe we can also watch a movie or something." I looked past the blonde to see the entrepreneur who seemed to be really pissed off. Probably mad that I said yes. Although, he really shouldn't since we're not together or anything, right? "Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?" My attention was brought back to reality as I looked back at the blondie to see him glancing between the raven and myself.
"Yes, we were having a conversation. Do you mind leaving so we can finish?" I was a bit surprised by how cold and straightforward Gray was but when I glanced back at my protege, he looked unfazed.
"Sorry about that. I'll talk to you later in the kitchen." He said as he began to walk out of the locker room. He definitely has some thick skin on him. As soon as the door closed, I half expected us to continue what we were doing but wasn't surprised when it didn't happen.
"Why are you going out with him tonight?"
"Did you miss the whole invitation?" Gray was definitely pissed off. I could tell when his eyebrows were arching downwards and touching each other. I knew why he was pissed but it's not like I could have said no. He bit his lower lip and looked downwards as if he was contemplating something. I gulped nervously, waiting for his reaction. When he looked back up, his anger didn't seem to have dissipated.
"I thought you wanted me, not some second rate pastry chef." And that's when I snapped.
"You're such a fucking asshole. Why the fuck do you keep putting people down? I don't care if you do it to me but when you do it to people I care about, we're going to have a problem."
"From what I heard, he didn't even start until yesterday. Why do you act as if you've known him your whole life?"
"Because it's called having respect! Something you seem to lack! Yeah, this definitely wasn't going to work out between us. And whatever, all you see me as is a booty call anyway. What's wrong with you? Are you that insecure?" I seemed to have hit a nerve when his glare vanished.
"Insecure? Wow, you must really be stupid huh?"
"Fuck off! You know what," I closed the distance between us as we were practically feeling each other's breaths. "Just get out of my face. I hope I never see you again." Shit, what the fuck did I say?
"Fine, so be it." No, wait. "It was nice knowing you Natsu Dragneel." I didn't mean to say that! When he left the locker room, I couldn't move. I couldn't even chase after him. All I did was slam the locker next to me with my fist, realizing what I've done. Fuck, I really messed up didn't I?
Author Note: And now, we are at the end of the chapter! One of the longest ones I've written for this story so I hope each of you appreciate the time I took to do this. Please let me know what you think through a review! I really appreciate the amount of love I received last chapter and I look forward to reading each of your reviews with delicious detail. Thanks!