Frost

4

"What the hell Natsu! You burned my wrist!" Lucy yelled, yanking her hand out of Natsu's grip. Natsu didn't know why he brought Lucy along, for she hadn't bothered to search for anything. He brought Juvia with him because she wanted Gray back just as much as he did. He brought Erza and Jellal because they were the only other people who have searched Gray's apartment. And Happy came along because the two were partners in crime.

"I don't care! Listen, Jellal and Erza, you both missed a big piece of evidence in Gray's apartment!" Natsu hissed. He didn't want anyone else to listen, because he didn't want to get anyone's hope up.

"Well, is the evidence here, or-" Jellal started.

"I'll just take you there," Natsu whispered. The group of six quietly exited the partially destroyed guild hall full of confused people.

The walk to Gray's apartment was a quiet ten minutes. Everyone was anxious to know what kind of evidence Natsu had found. Finally, when they reached Gray's apartment complex, Natsu pulled out the ice mage's keys. Everyone thought about it, but no one questioned why Natsu had Gray's keys.

Once the door was unlocked, Natsu led everyone to Gray's bedroom. Once all five people and the exceed were inside, Natsu opened the closet.

"Voila!" Natsu expresses, showcasing Gray's closet. Inside, all his clothes were still neatly hung, and Natsu could still smell the faint scent of laundry detergent. He felt a shiver on his shoulder, but he raised his body temperature to get rid of it.

"It's a closet," Jellal stoically said. His arms were crossed, and his foot tapped repeatedly against the carpet. Everyone except for Happy and Natsu nodded at Jellal's statement.

"Obviously! But there's something special about it," Happy flew over to Natsu. "Look at it closely!"

The room grew quiet as the four young adults stared at the closet. Erza scratched her head. Soon, Natsu noticed a few people starting to shiver.

"I-I don't get it," Juvia muttered. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Natsu whispered to Happy to find the thermostat, and the exceed flew out of the room.

"And I thought I was the idiot," Natsu sighed. "Gray strips a lot, so if he were to go somewhere then he probably took some of his clothes, if not all of them. However, every outfit that I can remember is here."

This raised a few eyebrows, and the cold went away. Happy flew back into the room and sat on Gray's bed. "So what you're saying is that he most likely didn't go anywhere?"

"Yeah!" Natsu's eyes widened, and he placed his hands on his hips. A big smile grew across his lips. He was proud of this evidence, for it was one step closer to finding Gray. However his hopes and dreams were soon crushed.

"He could have left town in a hurry a bought clothes in a different town," Lucy said before sneezing. Everyone could hear the sickness in her voice, and they watched as she rubbed her nose.

"But why would he be in such a hurry?" Juvia asked nervously. She ran her fingers through her long blue hair and looked around the room. No one knew why he would have to leave town in a hurry. It was just another mystery.

•••

Natsu walked home from the guild hall by himself—no, Happy was no where in sight. Lucy offered the cat five who fishes to help her comfort Juvia for the night. The dragon slayer was worn out, and he plopped inside of his hammock before covering himself up with a blanket. He was tired and stressed out from this. The week has made him lonely and miserable. He stopped going to Lucy's because he knew Juvia was there.

Natsu slowly closed his eyes. It only lasted for moments until he felt something icy and cold on the back of his neck, he yelled and moved around quickly in his hammock before getting flipped over into a pile of trash.

Meanwhile, Gray watched as the dragon slayer dusted off the trash from his clothes. If he were able to speak to Natsu, he would scold him for the mess he was living in. Either that or he would've cleaned the mess up for his birthday present. Not even for a birthday present, he would do it to get the house cleaned.

But Gray noticed that if he touched Natsu, he would make one part of Natsu's skin go cold, while if he touched anyone else then they would be unbothered. The same goes for his chilly aura, except it's the other way around.

Natsu started to curse as he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and climbed back into the hammock. If Gray couldn't let anyone else know he was around, then he would have to tell Natsu somehow.

•••

Natsu walked into the guild hall wearing a winter hat, coat, gloves, sweatpants, boots, and his signature scarf. A few people laughed as he walked through the doors, and his face immediately turned to a bright red color.

"Hey Natsu! What's with the winter gear? I thought you were the fire dragon slayer!" someone shouted. Natsu didn't know nor care who it was. He clenched his fists and roared, "Shut up!" The entire guild was full of laughter.

The dragon slayer made his way passed the empty Crime Sorcière table and passed the Saber and Lamia table to make his way over to his own table. Juvia and Happy were talking about a sick Lucy, who seemed to be absent at the moment. Across from them was Wendy and Carla, who were also conversing. Their conversation was about Gray.

"Maybe we should throw him a party when he gets back," Natsu heard Wendy suggest before she looked up at the older dragon slayer. Carla, Happy, and Juvia also gave him a questionable look. Now, Natsu was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"When did you get all those clothes!?" Happy exclaimed while worrying about his friend suddenly. "I thought you hated that type of wear!"

"It's not like I wanted to get them! I had to get them," Natsu mumbled before sitting beside Happy and Juvia. The water mags giggled and relaxed her head on the table. Happy looked at Natsu like he was crazy, and Carla and Wendy went back to their conversation.

"When did you get them?" Happy asked.

"Last night," Natsu spoke guiltily. He scratched his head and looked away from everyone. Erza walked towards the table and glared at the back of Natsu's head before touching a spot behind his ear. The dragon slayer hissed.

"What is that?" Erza asked. She checked for more ice burns on Natsu's neck, and she actually found two more.

"Natsu? Why does your neck have red spots?"

Natsu turned to face Erza before saying anything. "This is why I grabbed all this winter gear. I kept feeling some serious chills on my neck, so I went to sleep in this. It was fine, because it stopped."

Soon, Jellal and a few Crime Sorcière members came to check out the burns. At the end of the table, Gray sat and watched knowing that he was the one that caused Natsu's ice burns, and he knew it. But it's the only way he could grab their attention.