Frost

52

I hope you all had a happy holiday season and I pray you have a wonderful New Years! Please wear your masks whenever you are out in public and wash your hands properly! It is GREATLY appreciated! :)

It took a while for Natsu to realize that he had gone silent. Erza and Gray were waiting for him to speak, but no words would come out of his mouth. It wasn't a lie when he said he was a little bit scared. Who wouldn't be when you're about to confess your feelings to the person you love? Natsu tugged at his scarf and took in a deep breath. He glanced around the room before making eye contact with Erza.

"Would it be okay to make the other dragon slayers go to a different room?" he asked. Across the room, he was able to hear Gajeel cursing at him. Erza frowned. "Why? Is this something you need to hide?"

"Well, no . . ." Natsu couldn't really answer why. There was no real reason for the dragon slayers to go into another room, let alone force them to for his benefit. It's just that they had the advantage when it came to hearing the conversation between the three of them. He just didn't want others asking what they heard in case someone was clueless about their situatuon and became curious. He preferred it if others talked to him personally about the situation.

"Then I think you will be fine. Unless you want to go somewhere more private? We could always go to Master's office." The fire dragon slayer gulped. He preferred their current seating rather than confessing in front of Makarov in a confined space. Gray answers for him. "I'd rather hear it out here then in there if I'm being honest," he laughed nervously. The sword mage nodded and gave her attention back to Natsu. The dragon slayer took in a deep breath before sighing.

"I've been distancing myself from you. I needed time away," the dragon slayer stated. He was going to continue, but Gray had spoken over him, already questioning Natsu's explanation. "You needed time away? We've been separated for months!"

"Let him finish," Erza growled. Gray almost protested, but he gave in to Erza's glare, groaning and turning back to Natsu with a concerned look.

"I have my reasons, so I would appreciate it if you saved your comments for when I'm done." The dragon slayer bit the inside of his cheek and looked at the ice mage, who had his arms folded across his bare chest. Natsu gulped, wanting to end this as soon as possible, and he confessed, "I'm in love with you!" The words came out faster than he had intended. It was clear to both Erza and Gray that he was nervous. All though the sword mage was able to understand Natsu's confession clearly, the ice mage was struggling. It was so sudden, and it was the complete opposite of what he was expecting from Natsu. He had assumed that his feelings were not reciprocated, and here Natsu was, telling Gray that he loved him.

He definitely wasn't expecting this.

"Wait wh-" Gray wanted to question Natsu and ask him to repeat the statement again, but he was immediately interrupted by Erza, who hushed him obnoxiously. The ice mage furrowed his eyebrows at her, and his mouth remained slightly open. He was still processing the three words that had escaped the dragon slayer's mouth. At the same time, Natsu was feeling the adrenaline from his confession. His heart was racing rapidly, and he thought it would burst out of his chest as he tried to comprehend the look Gray was currently giving him. Was it sympathy? Was it concern? Disgust? Did Gray not have feelings for him after all? What if he did? The expression was completely unreadable for him. Natsu's mind was racing, and before he knew it, words began to pour out of his mouth.

"I distanced myself from you because every time I was around you, my heart wouldn't stop beating. I got so nervous whenever you were near me, and I would think about what had happened at the park. But it sucked because when you weren't around, I would look at you, and I wanted to talk to you so bad." Natsu paused for a moment. He was a bit shocked, and he wasn't sure if his reasoning made any sense, but he continued, "I just couldn't keep my eyes off of you, Gray. I don't know how long I've been in love with you, but Erza was the first person to bring it up to me. Even then I didn't believe it, but after a while I was able to conclude that it was true. I really do love you. A lot. I don't think there's anything I can do about it." This was the best way he could explain them.

Gray blinked a few times, analyzing and repeating Natsu's words sentence by sentence in his head. This had to be a dream. Natsu? Natsu confessing and explaining his own feelings? To him? The ice mage scratched his head a few times, rubbed his chin, and then placed his head on his forehead. This was astonishing. He looked over at Erza, who was smiling warmly at the dragon slayer. She then said, "Thanks for coming clean, Natsu." Said male blushed and looked away. Gray turned towards Natsu and saw that he would glance at him every now and then, waiting for a response.

"I . . . I have no idea what to say . . ." Gray almost whispered. Now the dragon slayer and the sword mage were looking at him intently, waiting to see what he had to say. Was this what Natsu felt like before his confession? Was he as nervous as Gray was? The tables had turned on him. He was in the spotlight now. Gray could feel all the pressure on him, and he had to make sure every word was right, or he would screw everything up. He knew he had to talk eventually. Not only did Natsu have to come clean, but he had to as well. These were Erza's intentions the whole time.

"I mean, I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't hope this would happen . . . because I did . . . but I didn't know that that was the reason why you were distancing yourself . . ." Gray mumbled, fumbling with his own fingers in the mean time. Natsu leaned in, not really needing to hear what the ice mage had to say more clearly, but rather anticipating what words would come out of his mouth next. Gray was able to notice the light blush that grew on his comrade's cheeks. He looked away for a few moments.

The ice mage gulped before he continued with his own confession. "I'm in love with you, too, Natsu. I never thought I would ever say that to you, but here we are," Gray laughed nervously. He had butterflies in his stomach, and he was beginning to feel sick—in a good way. The adrenaline in him was rising, and he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Gray honestly had no idea how Juvia was able to confess her love to him almost every day. She had some serious guts. The ice mage continued, "You are very special to me. When you didn't talk to me, I was miserable. I thought I did something wrong, and I blamed myself for making things awkward and uncomfortable between us. I honestly didn't think you would feel the same way about me as I do you. You don't know how happy this makes me."

Gray felt his lips curving upwards. His cheeks began to grow hot, and he placed a hand over the lower half of his face. He avoided eye contact with Natsu, but he looked at the scarlet-haired mage that sat next to him. Her smile showed that she approved of his words.

It was silent for a few moments. Gray had almost forgotten about his steak that rested half eaten on his plate. People were talking quietly in the background, probably his fellow guildmates conversing about what all the blushing and the smiling was about. He couldn't help but to look around the room. Some curious eyes met his, and he looked away. The ice mage was able to steal a glance at Natsu, whose face was bright red. He wore a look of determination on his face and ate his steak with an intense amount of pride. When he finished, he wiped his face.

"Okay," the dragon slayer spoke, his lips curving upwards slightly.

"Okay?" Erza questioned, an eyebrow raised and her arms folded across her chest. Natsu nodded towards her and placed his fork on his empty plate. He then looked at Gray, who was looking at him with curiosity. Their eyes met, and then Natsu gave him the biggest smile he has ever seen.

"This makes me happy, too," he stated. Gray smiled and reached across the table, placing his hand on one of Natsu's. Their fingers intertwined. The two of them couldn't help but to burst out laughing when their guildmates gasped out loud, confused about what had just happened between the two of them. Erza knew that, because things were now clear as day between them, things were going to get better for both Natsu and Gray.