love, like rain

4. cliff jumping

Things came to a head on a chilly evening in November.

"Why is it so goddamn cold?" Sting grumbled, kicking the snow off his boots and shivering as he stepped into Natsu and Gray's apartment. "Your backwards seasons are ridiculous."

"You're the one with backwards seasons," Natsu teased, reaching out to take Sting and Rogue's jackets. Sting's cheeks were pink with cold and his fingers were freezing where they touched Natsu's. "I can't picture winter in June."

"Well," Rogue said, squeezing Natsu's arm as he passed into the living room, "it's never really winter in Greyton. Not like here, anyway."

Gray appeared in the doorway to the kitchen drying his hands on a dish towel. "You did say you wanted to see snow," he said, laughing as Sting shook the flakes out of his hair. "You got your wish."

"It's pretty to look at," Sting admitted. "But it's cold and it's awful."

"Here," Natsu said, shrugging off his hoodie and handing it to Sting, who took it gratefully. "You really need some better winter clothes. Or are you just planning to keep all of my sweaters instead?"

Sting's cheeks flushed pink as he zipped up the hoodie and mumbled an incoherent response to the question, then ducked into the kitchen to help Gray with dinner. Something funny twisted in Natsu's stomach at the sight of Sting in his sweater – as well as the knowledge that Sting had at least two of his other hoodies squirreled away at his and Rogue's apartment.

"You need help with anything?" Rogue asked, fingers brushing Natsu's elbow. The touch jolted Natsu out of his reverie but looking up at Rogue didn't make him feel any less confused. Rogue's hair had grown out a bit in the last few months and he had it pulled back in a messy French braid with some shorter pieces falling in his face. It looked ridiculously good on him.

Natsu sighed internally. He and Gray had talked a million times about telling Sting and Rogue how they felt, but neither of them could bring themselves to say we like you as more than friends. It seemed too taboo, even though Natsu was nearly a hundred percent certain that they felt the same way.

"Yeah," Natsu said, holding back a shiver when Rogue's fingers stayed for a moment too long on his arm. "Let's go set the table."

~

Dinner was the same noisy, flirtatious mess as every weekend. Even after only a few months it felt like Sting and Rogue belonged there, filling some sort of empty space in Natsu and Gray's lives that hadn't existed before they'd shown up.

"Can you pass the salad, babe?"

Natsu handed over the bowl, realizing belatedly that Sting had been talking to Rogue, not him. There was a brief, awkward pause where the word 'babe' hung in the air between them, but it was quickly broken when their fingers brushed, and Sting gave Natsu a bright smile.

"So," Gray said, pushing his empty plate forward and leaning back in his chair. "What are you guys doing for Christmas?"

Rogue looked at Sting, who shrugged. "We don't really have plans," Rogue said. "Back in Greyton we'd have a braai outside in the afternoon – like a big barbeque with the whole neighborhood. Somehow I don't think that would work out too well here."

"You'd freeze before you could eat anything," Sting grumbled, knocking his foot against Natsu's under the table as he took another bite of salad. "It's supposed to get even colder in December! It's unreasonable."

Natsu laughed, taking a sip of his beer and gently kicking Sting's shin. "You're not gonna wanna leave the house for the next couple months, huh?" Sting shook his head and made a face.