Help Me Gray

Chapter Sixteen

"I'm still confused. How did all of this begin?" I blush and remember waking up and having Gray's underwear pressed to my face. I shake my head, trying to clear the image from my head and the embarrassment I had felt. "Natsu, you're beet red!" She exclaims which makes my face burn hotter and in turn making Gray chuckle. "Aww come on! You guys are keeping something good from me, I know it!"

"Oh, Lucy! Don't you need to pay rent?" I remind her in an attempt to change the subject.

She squints her eyes at me, "I know what you're doing but your lucky you're right. Don't think I wont bring this up later!" With that she takes off towards her home waving goodby and leaving Gray and me to walk alone.

Gray reaches out and places a hand on my waist and pulls me close, keeping his hand on my side. "Are we heading to the guild?" He asks.

I shrug. "What are we gonna say?"

"The truth. They'll understand." I nod but can't help but feel butterflies. Gray must have felt my unease as he plants a kiss on my forehead while walking and rubs my arm reassuringly. "Don't worry," he says with a reassuring smile and grasping my hand.

It doesn't take long to make it to the guild and when we step inside it's as rowdy as ever, with Erza in the center of it all. "What's going on here?" I ask out loud to no one in particular.

"Well," Mirajane says coming out of nowhere, "they were roughhouse as usual and knocked Erza's cake onto the floor."

Gray shakes his head, "That woman is a walking disaster!"

Mira just giggles at Gray's remark and then her face lights up like she has something important to say. "I almost forgot! We got a new member yesterday!"

"Oh? Who is it?" I ask but before Mira can utter a single word a man with dark hair flies through the air and lands with a thud at our feet.

"Here he is!" She lifts him up by the collar of his shirt with one hand and places him on his feet. "This is JP. JP this is Gray and Natsu!"

We exchange greetings but before anything else is able to be said, a pair of hands appear out of nowhere and grab his ankles and pull his feet out from under him. I reach out to grab his hand but it's too late. He lets out a howl as he is dragged back into the fight.

"Oh dear," Mira says with a worried look on her face. "I do hope they don't rough him up too bad," she sighs. She finally turns her attention away from the chaos and her gaze falls between Gray and me and a smile spreads across her face. "I knew it!"

Gray raises an eyebrow quizzically at her. "What do you mean?"

She waves her hand at him dismissively. "I was wondering when you two would finally get together!" she giggles innocently. "It took a little longer than expected but you two finally figured it out..."

"I'm confused..." I tell her. "How did you know?"

Mira rolls her eyes playfully, "You two constantly bickered like a married couple. It wasn't too hard to see the sexual tension between you two."

I can feel my face grow warm with embarrassment at the mention of "sexual tension" but I quickly brush it off. "What about the time you told Lucy I liked her?" I ask.

She giggles and slaps me on the shoulder hard enough to stagger me. "A girl can't start a little drama? Besides, Lucy has a thing for you but you already knew that."

Gray raises an eyebrow at me, clearly wanting to know how I knew. "It's a long story," I say, hoping he'll take the hint. Instead he crosses his arms and stares at me. "Fine," I mutter. "I'll give you the short story. Lucy and I took a job alone together and during some down time she confessed her love for me. It was a well thought out plan involving a stuffed animal."

"Wait, do you mean the cat?"

I nod and continue. "When I turned her down she was really upset, demanding to know why. I didn't want to lie to her so I told her the truth despite being so scared. I told her I think I like guys but I wasn't quite sure at the time."

Gray nods, "Makes sense. So how did you end up with Mr. Whiskers?"

"She ended up giving it to me as a sign of support."

Gray pulls me into a hug and squeezes me tight and Mira squeals with glee. "I'm sorry, Natsu."

I pull away and look up into Gray's beautiful dark blue eyes. "Sorry for what?"

"That you didn't feel comfortable enough to tell me." He kisses my forehead gently and I blush. We both jump when a loud thud interrupts our moment and notice Mira unconscious on the floor with a smile on her face. Gray rubs the back of his head and chuckles, "I guess we were too much for her." I nod and help Gray lift Mira and take her to the infirmary to recover where Porlyusica gives us her usual earful.

"What should we do now?" I ask Gray once we had left the infirmary.

He reaches out and ruffles my hair, laughing when give him an annoyed look which makes me laugh as well. "I don't know. But as long as we do it together, I don't care."