Silence

12

After our encounter with the Paisley of Sorcerer Weekly, Gray dragged me all the way to the dress shop. There, you could get dresses and suites for special occasions. This was where Juvia had gotten herself measured and her dress sewn. She could've bought one from here, but the bluenette wanted hers to be 'extra special'.

It's extra special since I designed it.

I smirked at sudden thoughts about the dress and it's future as we entered the store. I didn't realize I was making weird faces until one of the employees made a weird face at me.

Gray laughed.

I rolled my eyes as we made our way to the men's side of the store. Over there were dress shirts, suites, ties, dress shoes, and dress pants. Gray grunted.

"I have to wear all of this the whole time?" I nodded, making him groan with anger. I began to search through the black suites. I already knew that Gray would prefer that over a white suite.

After a while of looking for a decent sized one, I shoved the perfect black suite in his arms. "Try this on," I ordered. I pushed him into a dressing room before he could protest.

I sat outside his door and waited. He was taking a while. I heard sounds of struggle and things falling. But otherwise, he seemed fine. That is, until he called me in.

"N-Natsu?" Gray said, peaking his head out the dressing room door. I looked over in his direction to let him know I had his attention.

"C-can you help me put on my tie and coat?" I groaned and walked inside the crowded dressing room. There probably wasn't even enough room for three people. I sat on the small table in the corner of the stall and he jumped into his shoes. He stood there helplessly as he waited for me to direct him on what to do next.

"Walk," I ordered. He listened. Gray looked up at me with a satisfied look, maybe even a tiny smile.

"I'm keeping these," he said as he placed them next to me. He finished buttoning up his white dress shirt. The tie I chose for him was black. That was the next step. I stood up in front of him and wrapped the tie around his neck. He sighed and waited patiently for me to finish. I looked up at him with a small smirk on my lips.

"I can't believe you're getting married before me," I said, trying to start a conversation. He laughed quietly and looked up at the ceiling.

"At least I beat you at something." I hit him in the chest and he looked down at me. Smiling. I looped the tie around again and again. "I thought you and Lucy were a thing?"

"Nah, she's too much for me," I said. Gray nodded and looked at the wall behind me. I pulled the tie through the open area and pulled, making Gray gag. "Too tight!" He gasped, and I laughed. It wasn't too tight. It was just right. I bent down to grab his coat. I began to pull the inside out sleeves to their desired position.

"How in the world could you mess up on this?" I laughed. He rolled his eyes. "I couldn't get my arms through! Jeez!"

I grabbed his right arm and tugged on his sleeve. I cuffed the ends, doing the same on the left side. He then buttoned up his coat while I tucked in the tie.

"There! You look like you're ready to go to your wedding," I said with a sad smile on my face. Gray tugged on the coat a little as he moved his shoulders around. He then faced the mirror that was on the wall of the stall. He admired himself.

"Not too bad."

He looked at me through the mirror and faced me instantly. We were so close because of the small amount of space we had in this stall, which made me feel slightly uncomfortable. "What's wrong Natsu? You don't seem happy," Gray asked.

I just shrugged. "Not really feeling well today. The hot dog was good, but it didn't seem to cheer me up either," I mumbled. Gray nodded and began to take off his clothes. I rushed out before he took everything off. I waited until he came out of the dressing room. He had everything he needed.

"Alright, time to get you a suite!" Gray said with a determined look. But I didn't move. He turned around and his hands dropped to his side. "Why the long face?"

"Your clothes are gone," I squeaked. Gray looked down, only to notice that he was only wearing his underwear. He groaned and walked into the dressing room. He marched back out with another determined look on his face only a few moments later.

"Let's go get you a suite!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the men's section.

•••

I ended up getting a white suite with a red tie since that's what the groomsmen and the man of honor were going to be wearing.

The two of us made our way back to the guild hall in the rain. All I could see was falling rain and my hair falling into my eyes, but the sound seemed very relaxing. I took in a deep breath of the cool nighttime air. It made me smile only slightly.

"Thanks for designing Juvia's dress," Gray stated. I looked towards him. I felt a blush creep up to my cheeks as I looked down to the ground. "Oh, it's no big deal," I said.

"Yes it is! If Erza designed that dress, Juvia probably wouldn't even wear it! She loves your design!" Once he finished that sentence, I placed a hand on his mouth before he could talk even more.

"Shut up! Erza could be listening to us right now!" I squeaked while looking around to see if she was anywhere near us. Gray pushed my arm away and laughed. He then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Erza! If you can hear me, it's the truth!"

I tried not to laugh, but I was also kind of scared that Erza would pop out of nowhere and chase us both down. Yes, that would be a nightmare come true. Not that I have nightmares like that.

Gray looked around to see if he could catch anyone running towards us. But no one was in sight. "See? What were you afraid of? No Erza." I smiled and nodded in response. We continued walking down the peaceful road that led us to the guild hall.

We pushed open the doors to see that there was hardly anyone out. It wasn't too late. It was about seven. People were most likely taking last minute jobs.

We greeted Mira, who was taking an order from Droy, who was being scowled by Jet, who was saying, "You need to eat less!"

Gray and I separated soon; he was waving to me as I walked away. I sat back at the table that I was sitting at earlier that day. I looked around to see if there was a Lucy or Happy in sight. Now thinking about it, I hadn't seen Happy in a while. I hoped he was okay.

When I noticed it was all clear, I pulled out the crystal in my pocket and placed my forehead on the table.

It seemed to have grown only slightly. It made me smile. I looked up from underneath the table. I faced Gray's direction and saw him laughing at Gajeel, who happened to be yelling at him. Gajeel's face was a bright red, and it made me wonder what Gray had told him.

But I really didn't care, because I knew that Gray had somehow loved me.