Prompt: "Been Meaning to Say Hi"
Pairing(s): Gray x Natsu, Cana & Loke & Gray

Natsu had been in a funk all day. He couldn't help it. Today was the anniversary of the day Igneel had abandoned him, leaving him to wake up in a field alone and lost. With no idea what to do or where to go. He'd stayed on that field for days, letting the rain pour over him until Makarov had found him and offered him a home.

Ever since then, that day had become difficult for him. During the rest of the year, he was able to keep most of his negative feelings at bay. But on this day without exception, he felt bewildered by his loss, and it was just too much.

He used to take solo missions to have an excuse to leave Magnolia for the day, but quite often they ended in disaster and after he'd almost gotten himself kidnapped Gramps had forbidden him from going out on his own on this day.

Usually, he would just hole up in his house, thinking about Igneel until he made himself cry. Happy knew to leave him alone, and Mira would bring him food and leave it on his doorstep, usually with a sweet note.

This year for some reason, the thought of being alone didn't appeal to him. He wanted to be around people, even if he wasn't feeling particularly social. So he decided to go to the guild, despite knowing it was probably not a great idea.

Natsu opened the doors quietly, nothing like his usual entrance, so no one noticed his arrival. Most of his friends weren't there, they'd probably gone out on jobs knowing better than to ask him to come along.

He trudged over to the bar, making the snap decision to drink the day away. It's not something he ever did, and he had no idea if he could even get drunk. His elevated body temperature burned through both alcohol and poisons quickly, it was a side effect of his Fire Dragon Slayer magic. But maybe if he drank consistently, he could manage it.

He drank glass after glass of fire whiskey, ignoring the concerned looks he was getting from both Mira and Cana.

"Slow down, Natsu," Mira chastised, "You're not used to drinking like this, you're going to make yourself sick."

"I'll watch him," Somehow without him realizing it, Gray had sat next to him, "Give me one of whatever he's drinking."

"I don't need you to- to," Natsu stared at Gray trying to remember what he was trying to say as Gray watched him, eyebrow raised in amusement. "Babysit, yeah that's it!" He said proudly.

"Never said I was," Gray replied, "I've never seen you drink this much before, I thought it might be amusing." He took a swig from the drink that Mira had put in front of him.

"Ugh, this tastes awful, how do you drink this shit?" Gray turned to Mira, "Vodka, and keep them coming, please."

Mira pursed her lips, unhappy at the idea of having both Natsu and Gray drunk in the guild but she nodded.

"I like it," Natsu shrugged, "It feels warm in my belly."

"So how come you're drinking anyway?" Gray was studying him intently, and it made Natsu feel uncomfortable. He could see the concern in the deep blue eyes, and it freed something inside him, a feeling he wasn't familiar with. It confused him, and he broke the gaze before Gray could notice.

"July 7th."

"Oh shit, I'm sorry! Is it that day already?" Gray's shoulders slumped, and he looked sad, and that helped soothe away some of Natsu's hurt.

"It's fine, I don't expect anyone to remember," Natsu looked down at the bar trying to figure out why Gray was affecting him so strangely today.

"Uhm, do you want to talk about it or something?"

Natsu shook his head, talking was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. "Drink with me?"

Gray grabbed his cup and raised it, "To Igneel."

Natsu allowed him to clink it against his own glass as he repeated the toast, "To Igneel."

They spent hours drinking glass after glass, and soon they started to talk as the alcohol loosened their tongues. Cana and Mira tried to keep a subtle watch over the two volatile mages, but so far they were getting along.

Currently Gray had gotten Natsu to tell him stories about his time with Igneel, and they were both laughing hysterically slamming the palms of their hands on the bar. Gray managed to slip off his stool, and Natsu almost lost it.

He knew Gray was much drunker than him, but he liked seeing the usually distant mage loosen up, it allowed him to observe him without Gray realizing it.

He started doubling down on his drinks, wanting to enjoy this feeling of closeness and peace. He was having a great time!

xxx

Two hours later

"Why did he leave me behind?" Natsu was having trouble putting his words together, and Gray thought he looked like he was about to cry.

Hearing Natsu's words was painful, they were an echo to the words that he often thought regarding his own parents and Ur. He hadn't expected to be this affected, but Natsu had never reached out to anyone on this day before, and it ignited some of the feelings that Gray had been struggling with for the last few months.

He knew it was just a coincidence that he'd happened to show up when he had, but Gray was glad that he'd gotten to see this vulnerable side of Natsu, without the aggression that would typically accompany it.

"Was I not enough?" There was no hiding the tears this time, and Gray just wanted to convince him that he was more than enough. That Igneel's disappearance couldn't possibly have been his fault because if there was one thing that resounded in every one of Natsu's stories, it was the love the fire dragon held for his human son.

"You were more than enough," Gray tried to assure him.

"Then why did he leave me?" Natsu gazed at him, eyes begging him for an answer.

Gray wished he had an answer that would give Natsu the peace he craved, but he was too drunk to come up with anything. All he had were the feelings that had been raging inside him, and before he even realized what he was doing, he was leaning his face closer to Natsu's until their foreheads were touching.

Gray could hear Mira and Cana cooing over them, but he ignored them, focusing only on soothing away Natsu's hurt. It was all he'd planned to do, but once he felt Natsu cradle his head on his shoulder and snuggle into him instead of pushing him away, he stopped thinking. He rubbed Natsu's back in gentle circles.

When Natsu finally moved away to stare at Gray in wonder, there was something in his eyes Gray had never seen before, and like a magnet drawn to its opposite, he felt a pull towards Natsu. He licked his lips before pressing them against Natsu's slightly chapped ones. He could feel Natsu responding weakly before pushing him away, hard.

"What are you doing?" Natsu yelled as he wiped his hand across his lips.

Gray's thoughts fought with each other for control, but no explanation was forthcoming. He was horrified that he'd taken advantage of Natsu's grief to throw himself at him.

"Why did you do that?" Natsu demanded again, and by now, everyone in the guild was staring at them open-mouthed.

How could he lie after he'd already done such a horrible thing? He braced himself for the violence that was sure to ensue and answered honestly, "B-because I'm in love with you."

Natsu stared at him with a guarded expression, but he didn't say a word, just turned and ran out of the guild.

"Natsu!" Gray yelled after him, but he knew better than to follow. He'd fucked up, and now he would have to give Natsu time to figure out how to deal with him. "I'm sorry," Gray whispered.

"Well, that was one way of telling him," Cana sat next to him.

"It's not funny," Gray snapped, hiding behind his bangs as best he could as he tried to ignore his guildmate's commentary on what had just happened.

"I know, honey" Cana cradled him against her while he felt a presence he recognized sit next to them.

"Where did you come from?" Gray muttered in annoyance.

"Oh you know, here and there," Loke replied vaguely, "I'd been meaning to say hi, so I dropped in. Looks like I picked a good time too." He gave Cana a questioning look as he took in Gray's misery.

"He finally confessed to Natsu," Cana said it quietly but Gray could still hear the amusement in her voice.

"Damn it, I missed it!" Loke whined before asking eagerly, "Did Natsu punch him?"

"I fucking hate you guys," Gray complained, moving away from Cana and banging his head on the bar.

Loke chuckled before grabbing him by the arm and pulling him up. "Come on lover boy, let's get you out of here. Cana, you coming?"

"Yeah, might as well."

Loke led them to Gray's apartment where they could talk in relative privacy.

To be continued...