Seeking Stars In Your Eyes

☆ Fifteen ☆

Natsu had gone made a stop before going home, last night after baking with Juvia.

His head was pounding, he needed some fresh air. Natsu had taken the long route home, with a pitstop at one of Natsu's favorite cafes. He sat by the window sipping a smoothie and a small turkey sandwich.

After his head had stopped pounding and his heart beating so fast that it made him dizzy. Probably didn't help that his emotions were on overdrive. He was feeling so many things it was confusing.

Pain, Love, Fear, Affection, Jealousy, Scorn, Regret, Uneasiness, and anxiety. 

Add on the task for tomorrow, and you got yourself a hot mess of emotions ready to bust. If he burst around Gray, He would get worried and then possibly take it out on Juvia. That would be really bad, and If She told him, Natsu would lose Gray and Juvia would be annoyed at him. 

Scenarios flew through his head each one not helping him.

Natsu was used to this, paid for his stuff and left. When scenarios start flying through his head, he acted impulsively.

Natsu found himself at home, at 8 pm at night.  Unlocking his door, he saw Gray on the couch watching some weird show.

"Hey, Natsu." Gray waved.

"Hey," Natsu said louder than intended.

 "Erza tell you that tomorrow-" Gray smirked, It was payback time.

"Yea. They're gonna pay!" Natsu fist pumped, "They're gonna regret messing with FAIRY TAIL!"

"YOU BET!" Gray laughed.

The two wizards were looking forward to the next day when they were going to kick that Dark Guilds ass. That was at noon, but before their awaited battle there was a little detour.

Natsu had woken up in middle of the night again, more careful than last time not to wake Gray, snuck down the stairs to get a glass of water. He chugged the water like he had a Carolina Reaper and the water was milk.

He breathed in and out carefully and steadily like he often found himself doing after waking up in the middle of the night. Breathing exercises to calm him down.  Even though he can't forget, and he hardly ever picks up alcohol, he finds a way to clear his mind. Thinking of a blank piece of paper intensely.

Natsu walked over to his fridge and pulled on the handle on the freezer. He dragged out a small pint of salted caramel ice cream. He used a spoon to dig into it, savoring the flavor, focusing on that instead of the context of his dream.

He relaxed and went back to bed.

When the mages awoke, it was daylight. Natsu ate some of the muffins he made yesterday before he left.  He had almost forgotten about the whole ordeal, but then he saw Gray and was reminded that everything that happened. He looked at the ground, silently cursing himself.

"Hey, you okay? You look tired." Gray nudged Natsu.

Natsu didn't want to lie, he wasn't a liar. But half-truths weren't off the table.

"I woke up in the middle of the night." Natsu looked up again, shrugging.

"Are you okay? Nightmares?" Gray furrowed his eyebrows in worry.

Natsu sighed, "Yes, I'm fine. Now stop acting like a therapist, its weird seeing you all like 'and how does that make you feel?'. I'm not a child."

"Okay..." Gray too, ate one of the muffins Natsu made.

Natsu rubbed the top of Gray's head, in a failed attempt to noogie him. Natsu was just too short.

"Gray, What type of shampoo do you use? My god, your hair is so damaged and dry?" Natsu looked at the taller mage.

"Oh, Its a three in one-"

"WHAT?! Nope, unacceptable. We're going to the store now." Natsu didn't let him finish, he grabbed Gray's shirt and dragged him out the door.

"Hey! What about later?" Gray removed his shirt.

"We're gonna be on time. Don't worry." Natsu brought Gray into town, and into Sally's beauty store.

"A beauty store? Are you serious?" Gray grumbled, he felt too manly for this stuff.

"Yes. Pick out some shampoo and conditioner. Body wash too if you want. I'm paying."

"Fine." Gray picked some stuff out, Natsu wouldn't let him get anything that was of poor quality or cheapest.

Natsu noticed that the sent that Gray had picked out, was like peppermint or lavender.

Natsu could totally imagine Gray's hair smelling like that.

He shook those thoughts away, not now Gay thoughts

"So to the train station?" Gray asked.

 Natsu asked Happy to fly the bag back to their house, and mee them at the train station.

"Yep." 

The two got a message from Erza, they looked at each other and read it.

Erza: BOYS, WE MUST ACT NOW! Max was attacked last night. 

Gray and Natsu's expressions darkened, that dark guild was going to pay.