Frost

51

It had been a month since Gray's return, and Natsu couldn't lie and say that the awkward atmosphere between the two of them was dying down. Now that the news about the ice mage had died down and with Magnolia receiving nothing but peaceful encounters, days in the guild hall were everything that was opposite of energetic. It was driving the dragon slayer insane.

He was always one of the first ones to arrive at the guild hall, dragging a half-asleep Happy who flew lazily by his side. As the day would go by, the dragon slayer would sit impatiently until one of his friends would show up. There were times when he would regret coming in so early because the end wresult was always him sitting for hours. But he enjoyed watching the world wake up.

Whenever the ice mage would arrive at the guild hall, Natsu's heart would race. Every day for the past month, he would walk into the building with a basket of fruits and other ingredients that Mira would use to make delicious meals and deserts. Natsu just couldn't keep his eyes off of him whenever they would talk. He could listen in if he really wanted to, but he would tune them out because he wanted time away from his comrade. He couldn't deny that was jealous that Gray wasn't talking to him, though. It was the absolute worst when the ice mage would catch him staring, too. His expression would always change whenever their eyes met, and, for this exact reason, Natsu decided he would keep his distance from the ice mage.

It didn't take long for Lucy to notice. She was bummed out for a week when Asa vanished out of the blue. She had explained to the fire dragon slayer that she really wanted to try to get along with him, but since he left and never returned, she assumed that it would most likely never happen. As she began to brush her shoulders off about it, she noticed the sudden distance between the two mages. The competitiveness was dying off, their conversations were shorter, and it was almost as if they were complete strangers.

It wasn't like that to Natsu. It was like a little break to him. Yeah, it's been a long time, and he most definitely missed Gray while he was gone, but having the ice mage back after such a large amount of time was so different that he just needed to get used to his physical presence. He knew the ice mage was there the entire time, but it was just so different. His voice, his laughter, and his eyes were what threw him off the most. Not to mention his thoughts running to their almost-kiss every time he saw Gray.

Gray, however, felt the opposite. He felt as though Natsu was keeping his distance on purpose. He felt that it was his fault, since he was the one who had attempted to kiss the fire dragon slayer in the first place. Maybe he made Natsu feel uncomfortable. Maybe he was against the idea of guys kissing guys. Maybe he was against the idea of Gray wanting to kiss him. The thought of it kept him up at night, and it had gotten to a point where his sleeping time was shorter, and he was more exhausted when he would arrive at the guild hall. What made his day worse was the fact that Juvia would cling onto him twenty-four seven, as well as the fact that he would catch Natsu staring at him. It made him angry.

Finally, after watching everything from behind the scenes, it was almost a month and a week after Gray's return when Erza decided to interfere.

It was difficult for her. She wanted to step in as soon as possible. However, a part of her wanted them to figure things out on their own. They've been like this ever since they came back from wherever they were during Gray's celebration. It was hard for her to watch the distance grow between the two of them. If it weren't for Lucy complaining to her about Natsu and Gray's relationship, she wouldn't have stepped in unless she absolutely believed that she needed to. Clearly, that was the case to Lucy since she ran to her about their situation. She agreed. It was better now than later when they were completely distanced from one another. It was around dinner time, and she was receiving three meals from Mirajane before standing up to take a quick walk around the guild.