A New Home (Gratsu)

How do I look?

"So how do I look?" Gray asked Natsu shyly. Back in the changing room he had put on a nice new pair of black skinny jeans, a fitted black button-down, and a fitted leather jacket. When Gray was homeless this was the way that he wanted to dress. Looking in that mirror before he walked out to Natsu gave him a very big confidence boost. That is until he remembered that this was basically borrowed money. Gray hadn't done anything to earn that money. It belonged to Natsu and his family.

"With your eyes, Gray," Natsu said gruffly. His head shot down as his nose started to bleed. Gray was just so damn sexy in those clothes! He didn't know what to do with himself so, naturally, he made a horrible joke.

"Ha. Seriously though... Is this alright?" Gray asked.

"You look hot." Natsu's arms stretched above his head before resting behind his neck. Natsu was trying to look relaxed. Trying and failing. If his stiff muscles didn't give him away to Gray then the blush that had somehow traveled down Natsu's neck definitely did.

"Shut it, no I'm not. By the way I called it. You're a total perv." Gray was used to getting compliments like these from Rogue but it was very different to hear them come out of Natsu. It just didn't feel right. It must be because they hardly knew each other.

"I am not a pervert! You're the one stripping off your clothes in the middle of a mall!" Natsu shouted at the boy. Wait- STRIPPING OFF HIS CLOTHES? Gray had somehow in the span of a few seconds shed both the jacket and the shirt. Beneath the two Natsu could see just how thin Gray was. His ribcage was completely visible and his hipbones shot out of his skin like hills. Between the two, though, was a thick layer of muscle. Gray looked as though he had zero body fat and those defined abs made Natsu lick his lips as he imagined tasting the contours and ridges of those muscles.

"W-what? OH GOD NATSU!" Gray realized what was going on as his hands unbuttoned the jeans. Luckily they were skinny enough that they didn't slide down his legs the moment the clasp at the top was undone. Gray dashed back into the changing room in embarrassment. This was something that almost never happened! The only person that he had done this in front of since he had lost Ur and Lyon was Rogue and that was after he had known the boy for over a year!

"You left your old clothes in there right? Why don't you change into those and I'll hold these out here for you. Exhibitionist," Natsu smirked as he tacked on that final word. He had to admit that seeing Gray without a shirt on was almost intoxicating for him.

"N-no... This is bad! This is r-reall-really bad! What's wrong wi-with me?" Gray sobbed as he smacked the top of his thighs in a futile attempt to punish himself. He had exposed the one thing that he felt most vulnerable about in the middle of a large mall. Not only that but also in front of an attractive boy that he had only met today. Yet for some reason Gray wanted to impress Natsu. He supposed it was too-little-too-late for that though. Natsu had seen Gray's body. He knew Gray was sick and broken.

"Gray? Gray what's going on in there?" Natsu heard the stifled cries coming out of Gray's room and silently thanked whatever god it was that left this store relatively empty at the moment. He knew that the last thing that Gray wanted to do was attract a crowd.

Gray didn't respond to Natsu who began to worry about the boy. In fact there wasn't any noise coming out of the changing room at all! Did Gray black out?

"Hey Gray? I'm-uh-I'm coming in if that's alright with you," Natsu said. He didn't hear any response again. As he twisted the knob to open the door worry filled his mind. What if something was seriously wrong with Gray? Inside of the changing room Natsu saw Gray pressed into the corner of the room and crouched in a fetal position. He was still topless and hadn't changed out of the pants.