A/N: Chapter twenty is finally here, and I'll be branching off that little cliffy I left you guys with, because ily all ❤ (A bit short, sorry ❤)

Chapter Twenty

Everyone was silent on the way back to the Outpost, and the rain kept the mood somber and slightly depressing, in Gray's opinion. Natsu's eyes were downcast, and he seemed curled in on himself. It was worrying, and Gray kept glancing over at him, but Natsu wouldn't meet his eyes.

The streets were oddly quiet, as they had been the past week, and the rain was still coming down heavy, beating against the windows and the street like sharp shards of glass. The wind howled like an angry wolf, throwing the rain against them with a vice.

Eventually it drove them to a half-run, and the gates were in sight within a minute.

Gray quickly flashed his card at the guards, who opened the gate and let them through. They ran to the door and into the warm safety of the Outpost, stopping to catch their breath, their clothes dripping water in a constant drip drip drip against the marble floor.

"Well," Atlas said eventually, straightening. "That was fun."

They parted ways, Atlas heading back to Natsu's apartment while Natsu followed Gray to his. They left a trail of water all up the stairs and down the hallway, and when they were finally in Gray's apartment, they wrung out their clothes and shook the water out of their shoes, splattering the floor and walls with large drops of water.

Gray walked over to the dresser and pulled out some clothes. Natsu had a few clothes thrown in, most of them stolen from stores, and Gray tossed him a clean set of clothes. "You can use the bathroom to change."

Natsu nodded wordlessly, and stepped into the bathroom. Gray changed quickly and collapsed down on the couch with a sigh. His hair was still dripping water on the floor and the couch, and his clothes stuck to his clammy skin. He rested his feet on the coffee table and let his head fall back.

He was worried about Natsu. He knew that seeing Zeref probably brought back some unwanted memories, and he wasn't sure if Natsu was ready to deal with them yet. And the fact that Zeref was alive was troubling, to say the least. Of course, half of him had hoped that Zeref had survived just so he could kick the shit out of him himself, but he supposed thinking like that was stupid.

Zeref alive was a very big problem, for all of them.

Natsu stared at his reflection in the mirror. His pink hair was dripping wet and stuck up in odd places, like cowlicks. There were dark purple strokes under his eyes, like someone had taken a paintrbrush and swiped it under each one. His once tan skin was starting to look paler, and his face had become slimmer, his cheekbones more defined.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The clothes Gray had given him were warm and dry, but they stuck to his skin a bit, which was still damp from the rain. Sighing again, he stepped out and stopped briefly to gaze out the window at the storm, which was still going strong.

He looked to the right to see Gray sitting on the couch, his eyes closed and his legs sprawled out on the table, his head lolling to the side. Natsu thought he was asleep, but then he opened his eyes a bit and raised a hand to wave lazily at him. "C'mere, Natsu."

Natsu smiled a bit at that, shoving his memories and pain aside and walking over to sit beside him. Gray pulled him closer and rested his head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about, y'know, Zeref..." He grabbed Natsu's hand and squeezed, as if offering comfort.

Smiling weakly, Natsu squeezed his hand back. "That's okay, Gray. It wasn't your fault he lived."

Gray straightened to a sitting position and looked him in the eye. "Don't worry, Natsu. I promise you I'll kill him. He'll never hurt you again. Never."

About an hour later, Gray had left to go tell Makarov about Zeref, leaving Natsu to his thoughts. Unfortunately, he couldn't make here nor there of his thoughts, so he decided to go find his uncle. It turned out not to be that hard, considering Atlas was just hanging around in Natsu's apartment, cleaning his sniper rifle.

"Oh, hey kid," he said when Natsu walked in. "What's up?"

"Just wondering if you wanted to play cards or something," Natsu replied, leaning against the door with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Atlas set down his cleaning rag and grinned. "Oh, you're on, kid." He hopped to his feet. "I hope you got better at poker since we last played."

Natsu shrugged as they headed out towards the stairs. "I guess you'll find out, old man."

They made their way to the rec room and set up their game at one of the tables, using bullets as chips. Natsu glanced up at Atlas as he shuffled the cards, biting his lip. Atlas flicked his eyes up briefly before turning his attention back to the deck.

"I know that look," he said. "What's wrong, kid?"

"Well, I'm feeling a little conflicted about something," Natsu said carefully, deciding not to reveal the whole truth. Atlas nodded. "Since we're on the subject of poker, I've got some advice for ya."

"What?" Natsu asked, leaning forward intently.

"Life is like a game of poker, kid," Atlas said, cutting the deck with one hand. "There's always four choices. Fold, by giving up." He bridged the cards. "Call, by giving minimal effort. Bluff, by ignoring the problem." He dealt out their hand. "Or go all-in, by giving it your all."

"But," Natsu said, brows furrowed, "in poker there's always stakes? What're the stakes in life?"

"There's always stakes, boy. Your life, the lives of your family and friends, your happiness, your safety; there's always something."

For a while Natsu stayed silent, staring at the table with his brows furrowed. Finally, he nodded, and picked up his cards. "Yeah. Thanks, Uncle Atlas."

"No problem, kid. Now let's start."

Gray returned to the apartment after talking to Makarov feeling slightly crestfallen. Makarov had only said to give him a few days to come up with a plan, which left Gray stuck in a wary mood for however long he took. That, and the fact that Natsu was clearly struggling with dealing with his traumatic memories, and he wouldn't even talk about it.

Unlocking the door, he pushed it open and kicked off his shoes, glancing around for Natsu. He found him curled up on the couch like a cat, his shoulder resting on the armrest and his eyes firmly trained on the book resting open in his lap.

Natsu glanced up at him and offered a smile before turning back to his book. Gray collapsed on the opposite end of the couch, pulling Natsu's legs into his lap. He yawned loudly and rested his head on the back of the couch, turning to look at Natsu. "What're you reading?"

"Gatsby," Natsu replied. "You have a lot of classics on your bookshelf."

Gray shrugged. "Eh, what can I say? Nobody ever wants to raid the classics section. I like to think I'm preserving them for the future generation."

Natsu sighed. "Future generation, huh? Not sure if there's gonna be one."

Swatting him on the shoulder, Gray said, "Oh, have some optimism."

"I do have optimism," Natsu protested, frowning slightly.

"You tell yourself that," Gray said, patting him on the shoulder, standing. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned, flopping down on the bed. It was starting to get dark outside, the setting sun casting a warm golden glow across the desolate landscape, the sky tinged purple and a dark navy blue as a few faint stars began to shine.

"It's probably about time for dinner," he said offhandedly, glancing back at Natsu. He nodded. "Oh, yeah, you're right."

"Wanna go down?" Gray asked, pushing himself to a sitting position.

Natsu nodded and stood. "Sure. I'm starving."

Gray grinned and stood as well. "When are you not?"

When they reached the cafeteria, there was a few small conversations, most of them about the ongoing rain. Gray and Natsu stood in line, and Gray found himself glancing out the window with a slight frown. Where was all that rain coming from? It hadn't rained like this in years.

They gathered their food and Gray started towards their typical table in the corner, a few steps ahead of Natsu. He set his tray down and started to sit, but then he realized that Natsu was still a few feet from the table, wavering, mid-step.

Gray stood up, taking a step away from the table and raising an eyebrow. "Coming, flame brain?"

Natsu's eyes met his for a few seconds, and for the first time Gray took his appearance in fully. Their were dark bags under his eyes, and his frame was gaunt, and skinnier than usual. His skin had lost its usual tan and was pale and tight across the bones of his face, and even his normally vibrant eyes seemed duller.

Gray frowned, taking a step toward him. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" He took another step, placing his hands on his hips. "If you're sick and you didn't tell me, I'll kick your ass."

Natsu blinked at him. Then two things happened. The first was that the tray slipped from Natsu's hand, causing a loud crash and stirring the conversation around them. The second was that his eyelids slipped closed and he fell to the side, landing sprawled out on the ground, his limbs in disarray.

Gray was beside him in a moment, along with a small crowd of others, murmuring worriedly. He slid a hand under Natsu's shoulders to support him and lifted his torso off the ground. When he saw the blood, he was immediately terrified, but let out a small breath of relief when he saw that it was just from a gash on his head. The relief was short-lived, however, because he realized that Natsu could have a concussion.

Ignoring all the, "What happened?"s, and the "Is he alright?"s, Gray scooped Natsu up bridal-style and turn towards the door. Suddenly, Lyon came jogging up to them, brows furrowed. He turned as people started following and glared to get them to back off before turning back to scurry after Gray.

"What happened?" he asked, falling in to step beside Gray.

"I don't know," Gray barked. He took a shaky breath. "I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just... stressed."

Lyon patted him on the back, his mouth set in a grim but sympathetic line. "I'll go fetch his uncle while you take him to the infirmary."

"Thanks," Gray said feebly, and then Lyon was sprinting off, towards the stairs.

The infirmary was relatively empty when he stepped through the door, and Wendy was sitting at her desk, doing another crossword. She glanced up at him, her friendly smile quickly dropping into a worried frown when she saw Natsu. She pushed her chair back and hurried around to him, asking, "What happened?"

"I— I don't—" Gray took a deep breath to steady himself. "He just... collapsed." His voice cracked on the last word, and he cleared his throat. "Where should I put him?"

"Over here," Wendy said, clearing off a cot. Gray set Natsu down carefully, and couldn't resist brushing back stray strands of his hair before pulling away. Wendy was too busy to notice as she pulled out a flashlight, checking the batteries before coming back over. She pulled open his eyelid and shone the light at his pupil, before doing the same with the other. After that, she took his pulse, and listened to his heart.

"So?" Gray asked anxiously, crossing his arms and gripping his elbows tightly. "Is he okay?"

"His body is under extreme stress for some reason," Wendy said with a frown, her brows drawing together. "Tell me," she said, looking up at him, "has he had any problems sleeping lately?"

Gray tore a hand through his hair. "I— I... I don't know. I thought he looked tired earlier, but I didn't— I should've realized..."

Wendy rested a hand on his shoulder. "Shh. It wasn't your fault. It's not your fault he didn't tell you. He's a very self-reliant person."

Turning away, she grabbed an IV bag from the shelf. "His body needs to rest, to gain back strength. I'll put him on fluids for a few days, and then I want you to watch him carefully, and make sure he gets enough sleep."

Gray nodded weakly, his hand clenched into a fist. I should've known... I should've seen. Why didn't I see?

Atlas came running in then, breathing heavily. "What the hell happened to my nephew?!"

A/N: *laughs maniacally* Sorry guys. (Lol nah.) You'll just have to waiiiitttttt! (Ily guys, plez dun hurt meh ❤ ＾Ｕ＾)