crash & burn

27. an important decision

shipwrecked by a sea so stormy
i'm lost but i'm never lonely
i can see it now, that you were my way out
- hedley, "we are unbreakable"

"Welcome back, everyone!"

Mira burst into the common area of the Youth Center with a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, books tucked under one arm and a coffee in the other. "Happy New Year!"

An assortment of vaguely enthusiastic murmurs circled through the group, and Gray contributed with a half-hearted "yay" mumbled over his cup of coffee.

"It looks like everyone is bright and chipper today!" Mira teased, and a couple of people groaned. Cana, Erza and Lucy were almost asleep in the beanbag chairs, Laxus and Gajeel were both slumped over the table with their heads in their arms, and Gray and Natsu were both on the floor. Gray leaned back against the wall, coffee mug balanced on his knees in front of him, and Natsu's head rested on his shoulder. Gray was pretty sure Natsu was snoring.

"Wake up, sunshine," Gray murmured, nudging Natsu. "Mira's here." Natsu grumbled unhappily, nuzzling Gray's shoulder, but sat up, rubbing his eyes. Something in Gray protested at the loss of contact. He felt unsure and uncertain this morning, and the warmth of Natsu pressed against his side had helped keep those feelings at bay.

Natsu grumbled, grabbing his own coffee from the table in front of them and taking a large gulp. "Why'sit gotta be so early?" he complained. Gray had to agree – this was a far cry from the late, lazy mornings they'd had over the Christmas holidays. Waking up before the sunrise, wrapped up in the warmth of Natsu's arms had made it even more difficult to get out of bed, although Natsu had bribed him with a shower together. Which had ended up taking about ten times longer than it should have, but in Gray's opinion, it had definitely been worth it.

"I know everyone's probably pretty tired today," Mira said cheerfully, leaning against one of the desks and smiling at everyone. "I hope you all had a good vacation! Why don't we start off with a quick go-round, with everyone sharing one thing they're looking forward to this year?"

"Did that," mumbled Laxus, without raising his head.

"Oh?" Mira said, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yeah, we all had New Year's brunch at Laxus' grampa's place," Lucy explained, twisting into a sitting position and tugging her hair back into a messy ponytail. "So we all talked about our favorite memories or things we're excited about."

"That's wonderful, I'm so glad you're all getting along outside of group!" Mira enthused, and while Gray sort of hated her for being able to be this cheerful first thing in the morning, he could feel that her smile was genuine. "All right, how about we do something more relevant to the program instead. Do you all feel comfortable discussing how you've been moving toward your goals for the group?"

Nobody disagreed, although Gray wasn't certain what he had to contribute to this discussion. He hadn't improved, or gotten anywhere, or done any—

"I'll go first," Lucy offered. She was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a baggy sweater, and she cradled her Starbucks cup between her hands. Her legs were stretched over Erza's lap, and her back rested against Cana's knees. "I moved out from my dad's place. We are on speaking terms now, but I'm staying with my ex at the moment, which isn't as bad as it sounds." She twirled a loose piece of hair around one finger. "I have someone helping me look for housing, and my ex and I are working on a real custody agreement with Kaden, where he actually pays me some child support."

"It sounds like you're really proud of these choices, Lucy," Mira said. Her face was soft and her smile wide and authentic. "Those are definitely measurable ways that you're working towards your goal."