Melting Gray [Gratsu]

44

Chapter Forty-Four

☆ Natsu Dragneel ☆

There was milk everywhere.

"Oh," I looked down, seeing the milk spill out of the jug. I must've dropped it. "I'll go get some towels from the bathroom..." I mumbled.

"Natsu, wait," I heard Mika call out for me frantically while I walked towards the restroom. I grabbed two large handfuls of the paper towels and headed back to the spill; there seemed to be even more milk than before. The jug was still overturned, and I thought about turning it upwards but instead I found myself crouching down, trying to sop up the milk.

"Natsu," Mika tenderly placed her hand my shoulder, righting the jug with her other hand. I had forgotten she was even there. I ignored her, scooping the milk closer towards me.

"Hey, it's alright..." Mika begged, shaking my shoulder. "We'll get someone to come with a mop. It's just milk. No use crying, right?"

I ignored her again, scrubbing harder and fighting back tears. The towels were becoming a soggy lump in my grasp.

"Natsu, please-" Mika choked out. She hauled me up into a standing position. I stood, hunched over, until my knees buckled and I would've collapsed, but she caught me before I fell into the milk puddle again. The side of my jeans were soaked through with milk, freezing my leg.

"There's milk everywhere," I hissed at the puddle.

"I know, honey. I'm going to get a supervisor, you sit here," Mika suggested with a forced calmness in her voice, like she was talking me out of doing something I'd regret later. "Just take a breather, okay? Is your cousin with you?"

I took a deep breath and nodded, clenching my fists. "She's buying hair ties." Mika headed towards the front where she could find a person with a mop while I crouched by the puddle. White liquid had spilled across the entire aisle, and I frowned.

Mika returned shortly, with a young, stick-like cashier pushing a mop towards the aisle. One look at me he was already silently judging. Not saying a word, he began to push the mop back and forth to clean up the mess. Meanwhile, Mika stood next to me and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Natsu, I need you to listen to me," Mika began firmly, squeezing my shoulders tighter. I didn't make eye contact, but I was listening. Whatever you say won't change a thing, Mika, I thought miserably.

Mika looked determined, with her lipstick-lined lips pressed in a tight line. "We are all going to get through this together, but being sad will not help the situation. We have to be positive, okay? The thing Gray needs most from you is your support, which you have been giving him this entire time."

The choking lump in my throat made me cough, and I fought back the tears that were brimming my eyes. "Mika-" I tried to say, but it was so hard to speak cogently. "Gray's been ignoring me for a couple weeks now. I thought he was mad at me, so I ignored him back. It's like we-" I squeaked out the words, but I couldn't get myself to say it. "We haven't spoken at all. I haven't given him any support in the slightest recently." I began to shake with fear and worry, the guilt setting in (well, it felt more like the weight of a million bricks falling on my chest).

"Hey, sweetie, it's alright. You two are gonna work this out. I promise you, everything will be okay. Now you say it," Mika demanded.

"Everything will be okay," I repeated breathlessly, not believing a single word.

"Now say it like you mean it," Mika requested, seeing through my obvious lies of discouragement.

I took a deep breath, and said it again. "Everything will be okay." Saying it slowly, forcing myself to believe it, I felt slightly calmer. Mika took her hands off my shoulders "What happens now?" I decided to press, voice shaking. I felt like I was holding back every emotion I was feeling right now, keeping it locked in a trunk and thrown down a bottomless well. I didn't want to know what kind of explosion would go off if I cracked