Peppermint

Goodbye

On July fifth, Natsu does not get up at sunrise.

Instead, he lies completely still with his head on Gray's chest and Happy tucked beneath his arm in the spot he often proclaimed was the warmest. The steady thrum of Gray's heartbeat drowns out all the other sounds and his worries as he stares at the packed bags by his door. He and Gray will leave for the cave he grew up in in just a few hours, but for now, he stays where he is.

Two weeks ago he wouldn't have believed any of this was happening.

He hasn't been back to the place he grew up in years, because he was too afraid he'd find things he didn't want to, but now he was going to go back there and face it all. He feels nervous and at peace at the same time. I won't be alone. I have Gray.

That was another reason he hasn't gone back. He doesn't think he could handle it alone if things are worse than what he is prepared to accept.

Gray shifts beneath him, and he's pulled out of his thoughts. He huffs and grumbles a bit in his half awake state and presses his face into Natsu's hair. "...Why're you 'wake..." Gray's voice sounds almost whiney when he's woken before ten, and Natsu can't help but laugh softly. "...too early...."

"I know, Snowflake," Natsu whispers. "That's why I didn't move. I didn't want to wake you." He smiles as Gray tugs him closer and tucks him under his chin to cling to him like a koala. Gray also tugs the pink and black comforter up and almost over their heads in an attempt to forget he was awake beneath the warmth.

Usually, Gray would fall back asleep once moving to be more comfortable, but his breathing didn't even out again. Gray's hands were moving gently up and down his back, and if Natsu were any less stressed, he'd be purring. "You're thinkin' real loud."

"Sorry-"

"No," Gray cut him off, "don't apologize. You're high strung because you're worried." His soft lips press against Natsu's temple, and as Natsu relaxes some, he starts leaving more kisses all over his face, neck, and shoulders. "And I'm going to do everything I can to help." every word was punctuated with another kiss, and Natsu could already feel some of his fears melting away like ice.

Gray's hands reach out and cup his cheeks, and Natsu lifts his own hands to cover them, "You're such a sap."

"Am I?" Natsu didn't get the chance to respond before Gray's hands were off his cheeks and digging into his sides, forcing loud uncontrollable laughter to bubble out of his lips. He tried to pull away or push Gray off, but the laughter may as well have turned his arms into noodles. "Am I still sappy?" The tickling only got worse when Natsu nodded against his own judgement. Gray continued to leave kisses all over him between the laughter, making sure to hit the spots that Natsu told him tickled over the past two weeks.

"You guys are loud." The last word was drawn out and ended in a yawn as Happy stared at them both. Both of them had frozen when they realized they woken Happy, and now Natsu was just trying to get air back into his lungs. " I'm gonna go sleep at Lucy's...."

Gray snorted and reached over to pat Happy's head, "Sorry Happy. You remember that we're leaving today, right?"

Happy stared at him as if he was looking through him before nodding, "and that there's food in the fridge if I don't stay with Lucy or Wendy... I know." He wiggles out of the blanket he was tangled in and walks across the bed to hug them. "Stay-" he's cut off by his own yawn, "safe."

Gray hugs him back, then squishes him between him and Natsu in a bigger hug, "We will."

Natsu pats Happy's head gently. "Yeah, we'll be back in no time, Happy."

He smiles softly, assured that they'll be okay, and wiggles out of the hug to pick his blanket back up. He yawns as he flies low to the floor, still half asleep, and he heads right out the door.