The Drunk List [Gratsu]

fifteen

...on a side note i want to ship gray x levy because their ship name would be gravy

Natsu's POV

I didn't expect time to fly at this dumb Earth Day convention, but somehow, it magically did, and before I knew it, hours and hours had passed, and the dinner, homecooked by my mom and her friends at some lady get-together last night, was being served to all.

The sun was beginning to go down, tropical and fruity hues of pink, orange, and yellow illuminating the air. If you craned your neck high enough, you could see a sliver of darkened, star-less sky. It gave off a tranquil vibe that set me at ease, and I sighed peacefully. I brought my neck down to a normal angle and inched forward in line.

"I'm hungry," Sting complained from behind me.

And it was gone.

I clenched my teeth, fighting the urge to whirl around and give him a knock in the gut to get him quiet for once. He may be my best friend but god, Sting needed to learn when to shut up.

"Sting, you've said that four times now," Rogue grumbled from his side. Obviously by the edge in his voice, I could tell Rogue was getting annoyed as well. "We're in the food line, be patient." He sounded a lot like a stingy mother. I bit back a scoff.

Sting made a tiny whiny noise and exhaled through his nose grumpily. "Fine."

I heard the ruffling of hair. "Good boy," Rogue teased.

I rolled my eyes. Idiots in love.

"Why am I even in this line anyway? I'm not even hungry," I whispered to myself, musing out loud. I turned to take a step out of the line when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to find Sting as the owner of said hand, looking at me with fiery eyes and a sickly-sweet smile.

"No, stay," He said kindly, narrowing his eyes briefly at me before sharing a happy smile with Rogue. "You must be hungry, it's been six hours since lunch."

"I'm really not-" I was off with a daring raise of Sting's eyebrows. We had a stare-down, glaring at each other and having a conversation with our eyes.

"Do you guys have best friend telepathy or something?" Rogue asked amusedly from Sting's side. My eyes flickered down- their hands were intertwined. I would've cooed but I was angry at Sting into pressuring me to stay to eat.

Speaking of said boy, he was pleading me with puppy-dog orbs. An inner wall inside of me crumbled and I heaved a sigh. "Yeah," I forced a laugh. "Guess a bit of dinner wouldn't hurt."

"Good to know," Sting said dismissively. From that point on, they included me more in the conversation, although I knew hardly any of the names they were gossiping and storytelling about. So I kept mostly quiet, save for the occasional hums of agreement. I twiddled my thumbs boredly. The line inched along. I sighed again.

In the food line, I took a single helping of wilted salad with cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, and pathetic dressing. Feeling Sting's cold glare on my back, I quickly snatched the smallest bread roll I could find, a bottle of water, and scurried for the blankets.

I felt like Sting was trying to be assertively supportive, but I kept taking it the wrong way. Like I was being bullied and forced into eating when I simply didn't feel like it. Maybe I was just being melodramatic, or maybe he was, I don't really know. I decided to swallow the irrational idea and assume the benefit of the doubt- Sting was only trying to be helpful, and I should be appreciative.

I looked over at said male and he shot me a supportive smile. I breathed a sigh of relief, confirming I was just being crazy and he was only being my best friend.

It seemed like all the couples were canoodling under the stars, wedged in each others' arms and enjoying the silent bliss of their own company. The kids were pointing out twinkling stars and giggling with each other. I sat cross-legged on my blanket, taking a slow bite of my salad. I cringed at the bland taste of the lettuce but chewed it anyway.

I managed to get down most of the salad and the entire bread roll whilist nervously gulping down the crystalline water. I looked around me- it was very quiet, which was odd, considering the personalities of the people I came here with. From my left, Levy and Gajeel looked like a living cliché; the good-girl bookworm and ruthless, grumpy rebel cuddling peacefully, with Levy resting in the crook of Gajeel's shoulder. Further beyond them, Lucy and Flare were on their stomachs, whispering and smiling happily.

From behind me, I heard Sting hold back giggle. My eyes travelled behind my shoulder to see them lying side-by-side, turned on their sides to face each other. Instead of looking at the stars, they were staring at each other, heads propped up with elbows and at a respectable distance. Rogue rolled his bottom lip and whispered something I couldn't quite make out, and Sting stifle another laugh. 

I turned back around, lying back. I put my left hand under my head, cushioning it, as my right hand hung loosely on the blanket floor. I stared at the array of twinkling stars, trying to take in every last one and enjoy the beauty of every single star. 

I felt a dip on the blanket, and when I looked to find Gray, taking a seat next to me, uninvited. I raised an eyebrow, and he laid down. "You looked like you wanted some company," He shrugged one shoulder, putting his right hand under his head as he smiled sheepishly at me.

I inhaled through my teeth, not completely for the idea, but not totally opposed, either. "Why not," I responded lightly. "What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just been a long, fun day," He beamed.

"Certianly one to remember." My mind drifted to back when I found out about Wendy's secret, the looks of disgust from the toothpaste Oreos, when I relapsed this morning, and the scavenger hunt. It definitely was a day to remember, that's for sure.

"Yeah... Definitely," Gray agreed immediately.

I was silent for a moment. "Do you ever think about how insignificant we are?" He asked out of the blue, watching the stars intently. A shooting star passed, and I didn't think to make a wish, because things like that were cliché and completely against science, anyway.

"Uh, well, today I helped this girl when she skinned her knee, and I like to think I left some sort of impact on my family friends, and you certianly need me to help you with your bucket list," Gray laughed.

"But still, in comparison to the stars and the universe, we're so tiny. I bet out there there's some giant purpose we aren't fufilling, and until someone discovers that purpose, we're just wasting away generations and generations of life," I rambled. 

"Everyone is put on this planet for a specific purpose," Gray pointed out.

"So we fufill our own personal purposes until that lone person comes along and changes everything," I added dazily, feeling my mind drift off as I stopped talking, continuing to look at the vast, besparkled sky. Only hazy midnight blues and deep raspberry pinks splashed through the inky black sky. 

"Or that lone person could single-handedly change one person, whether the expected it or not, and for them, it'd be everything," Gray said quietly. "You know? Like the expression 'you're my world'? That sort of thing."

"Do you still love Juvia?" I said before my brain registered that as a bad thing. I clamped my mouth down, biting my tongue to shut myself up. Gray shifted uncomfortably, but solemnly shook his head.

"Nah," He whispered. 

"Do you like someone else, then?" I wondered. 

I was then totally aware of the contact between our pinkie fingers. It was the tiniest and briefest of touches, but that microscopic bit sent sparks flying through my body and an unexplainable, fuzzy feeling in my upper thorasic area. My heart skipped a beat as I realized the feeling was normal, perfect even. Like it was meant to be, if that made any sense. Which, it did not, not right then and there.

"No," Gray answered dismissively, avoiding eye-contact. I swallowed the lump in my throat, alongside any extraneous words to the conversation, letting the silence speak for us. I turned my head back up to the sky, which seemed to be sparkling a bit brighter than before. 

My heart thudded.