Chapter Text
It was a typical summer night, the air was warm, comfortable even. Lucy, Gray and Natsu had just completed a job and were travelling back to Magnolia. Natsu and Gray had gotten into another one of their heated fights on the way, which had resulted in their train tickets being destroyed. And just to add onto their bad luck, they had been informed that the local hotel was all booked up, meaning they had to camp out for the night. Normally Lucy wouldn't have minded. Camping certainly wasn't her favorite, she much preferred sleeping in a nice, cushiony bed, but she didn't hate it either. She loved sleeping under a blanket of stars, loved the sound of the cracking fire, as well as the provided warmth. But that night, camping was anything but welcome…
The mission they went on had been assigned to the trio specifically by Erza, and since one did not simply defy Erza, they were forced to accept. A month ago, it would have been a dream come true for Lucy, but now.. Things were so messed up between the three of them. They had barely even been able to complete their task, since the boys were down each other's throats worse than usual. Now it was the first time that the three of them had truly been alone together in weeks, without any distractions.
Lucy sat alone by the fire, watching the flames raise and lower in a rhythmic dance. She stole a glance to her right, Gray was sitting with his arms crossed, far away from her, and even farther away from Natsu. He had been trained to be able to withstand freezing temperatures, so he had no reason to sit anywhere near the campfire, or her. She let out a faint sigh, and turned to her left, where Natsu was. Of course, as a fire eater, he was plenty warm on his own and was sitting away from her as well. She felt a horrible twinge in her heart, and had to force herself not to allow her hand to go to it.
The last month had been horrible, one of the worst times of her life. Once again, she had seriously contemplated running away, starting a new life. She had even packed her most valuable things once, she had been so close to leaving… But she just couldn't. It wasn't like when she left her father, and her old life. Things were different now. She loved Magnolia. She loved Fairy tail. Her guild meant the entire world to her! She would do anything for her friends, she would give her very life for any one of them, without question. This was the only place that she could ever be happy. She was sure of that.
Things were just so much harder now that she was on such bad terms with Gray and Natsu. Of everyone that had ever come into her life, they were the most important to her. She loved them so much more than she could ever begin to explain. Natsu was the only reason she had this wonderful new life, he had saved her and been there for her countless times. She had met Gray shortly after, but they hit it off really quickly too and had also gotten very close.
She had gotten very close with both of the boys actually... Her boys. She didn't mean for it to happen, she would have never guessed that things would've ended up the way they did. But she was drawn to them, both of them. Before she knew it, she had started sleeping with Gray. She fell in love, quickly. He was sexy and dark, with a tragic history. Dangerous and bold on the battlefield. Cocky and heated when it came to Natsu. But he had another side to him that nobody else knew about. He was romantic and passionate with her. He had cared about her so deeply once… She had hooked up with Gray before Natsu, although she loved Natsu first. Natsu was her best friend, she had struggled with her feelings for him for a long time, and couldn't bring herself to ruin what they had.. To risk scaring him off and losing him altogether.
That fateful night when Gray was feeling down, lost in the dark memories of his past, she had only meant to hug him to comfort him.. To show him that she cared about him, that she loved him and would always be there for him. She never expected that he felt anything for her, other than friendship. So when he turned their embrace into a heated kiss, she was more than a little surprised, but all of that slipped away in record time. She had gotten lost in those powerful lips, had been so taken aback by his fervent display, she kissed him back with the same intensity. From there, they only grew closer. They never told anyone, nor talked about being exclusive, they just took things in stride. Natsu must have noticed their change though.
He got a bad reputation for being a dunce, kind of oblivious to a lot of what was going on around him. But he was close enough, as Lucy's best friend and as Gray's lifelong rival, to notice that something was going on between them. That's when he told Lucy how he really felt about her. How he had been too scared to lose her, to tell her the truth, so he just bottled it up inside. Believing that she was in a secret relationship with Gray, he finally came clean. When his gorgeous dark eyes looked into hers with that fiery intensity, she had thrown her arms around him so fast that he nearly lost his balance. Of course she loved him. He was strong and dedicated, like nobody that she'd ever known. He never gave up and was always there for his friends, always. He could be childish at times, a lot of the time, but she loved that about him as well. He brought out the more adventurous, fun side of her, like nobody else could.
That was in the past now. Things would probably never be the same between them again, between any of them. Both Natsu and Gray had expected her to choose one of them, and she couldn't. She was a smart girl though, she knew it wasn't fair to keep seeing both of them. She knew how it made both of them feel and it broke her heart. She loved them both equally, so unable to make a decision, she was forced to break it off with both of them. As was to be expected, neither of them took it well. Since that day, a little over a month ago, she had basically been alone. All of them had. They wouldn't talk to her unless they needed to, for guild stuff and they were fighting more than she had ever seen.
Everyone back at fairy tail knew something was up but nobody dared ask… Nobody except for Erza, who was afraid of nothing and nobody. She had asked each of them, point blank, what was going on. However, none of the answers satisfied her, which made sense because none of them were the full truth. Lucy was pretty sure that was why she had assigned them all this quest, she was trying to force the three of them to be together and possibly fix things.
She only wished she could fix things. She would do anything to go back and change the past. If she wouldn't have let things go anywhere with either of them then everything would still be okay between them. She would still have her two closest friends.
Tears began to sting at the corners of Lucy's eyes and she knew she only had a second before she wouldn't be able to hold them back any longer. She quickly stood, walking away from the fire and grabbed the full bottle of alcohol from her bag before taking off, towards the nearby lake.
As soon as she reached the water, she noticed there was a dock further down the shore and wasted no time making her way to it. She flung her shoes onto the wooden surface and sat at the edge, dipping her bare legs into the ice cold water. The chill sent a satisfying shock throughout her body, jolting her awake, as a surge of energy shot through her. It wasn't enough to stop the tears from finally falling though. She let them slowly slide down her soft cheeks, while she pried the lid from her bottle, praying that it would make her feel better. She didn't have a chaser, or anything to mix it with, but so what? Anything was better than the horrible pain in her chest, and the antagonizing memories coursing through her mind. Plus she was starting to get used to it. She had spent plenty of recent nights drinking alongside Cana after leaving the guild bar.
The familiar burn of the liquor sliding down her throat, began to calm her down. She took a few long swings and sat the bottle beside her. It didn't take long before her entire body was heating up, hot from the alcohol. The water at her feet was combating the heat nicely, stopping her from outright sweating. She stared out into the dark water, unaware of how much time was passing. Every couple of minutes she would take another long swig, and more than a few times she had burst into tears again, thinking about how badly she had screwed up with the two people she cared about the most in the world.
Natsu had noticed when Lucy got up from their campsite and disappeared into the woods, he also knew that Gray had noticed… since the two of them had briefly locked eyes, as they stared at the empty place where she once sat by the fire.
Even though he and Lucy hadn't talked much since everything went south between the two, her absence left a massive hole, that couldn't be ignored. He assumed that she just had to pee, or maybe wanted to go for a walk, but it felt like she had been gone for a long time. He thought back to what she had been wearing, wondering if she was warm enough, but he couldn't remember. He felt useless for not paying enough attention to the details, but he couldn't look at her without feeling all the pain of losing her. Not that avoiding her was helping much either… He thought that the more time that went by, the less he would miss her. Instead, it felt like he missed her more and more with each passing second.
He glanced back at the campfire again, it had probably been at least 45 minutes since she'd wandered off… alone. He left his spot, where he had been leaning up against a tree trunk and double checked the tent to make sure Lucy wasn't actually in there. She wasn't. He couldn't just sit there and worry about the increasingly concerning amount of time that she'd been gone. He knew damn well that she was strong and could defend herself in many situations.. But it was the more unlikely, scarier scenarios that were looping in his head, causing him to really worry. What if something terrible happened and he let his pride stop him from getting to her quick enough? Shit. He waited too long, now he was beginning to panic. He did a quick search of the surrounding area, before following the path that she had taken to leave.
He caught onto her trail quickly, able to follow her scent, and soon found her sitting on a wooden dock by the water. He stood behind her a good ways, watching her, a beautiful silhouette in the distance. She was a hell of a sight, even in the dark, where he could barely see her. God he missed her.
Seeing that she was fine, and that he'd worked himself up over nothing, he was about to head back to camp. But as he turned to go, he spotted her move out of the corner of his eye and stopped to look back. She was drinking something. It only took a moment before he realized that it was the liquor she'd picked up before they left for their mission. He thought it was strange when he saw it on the counter, amongst her other times. He had only seen Lucy drink a few times after all… He squinted, focusing on the liquid inside the bottle. Had she really drank half the bottle by herself? Now he was back to being worried again. She was sitting at the edge of some deep water and she could be kind of clumsy…
Deciding that it wouldn't be a good idea to leave her alone, he reluctantly joined her on the dock. She turned, tensing, when she heard footsteps coming up behind her.
"Oh… Natsu.." She said his name so quietly, it was practically a whisper. Turning away from him, back to the water, she wordlessly grabbed the bottle of alcohol and shoved it between her thighs. She let out a small hiss as the cold glass of the bottle touched her bare skin.
"You've been gone for a while.." Natsu stared at the back of her head and then out into the lake, sparkling under the moonlight.
"Have I?"
He swallowed. He wanted to kick himself for letting things get so bad between them. He cared about her, of course this isn't how he wanted things to be between them. He had gotten just a taste of what it was like to be with her and now it's like they weren't even friends at all anymore. He took a step closer, instinctively. "Ya mind if I sit?"
"Of course not." She scooted over, making room for him beside her.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little nervous about being alone with her, so close.. closer than he had been in a long while. But he couldn't let things continue on this way. She was too important to him. Silently, he joined her, sitting beside her at the edge of the dock. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. He hadn't been so close to her for a long time, he only hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt. His eyes went to the liquor bottle that was still between her legs. He could see about half the bottle and none of the contents inside. Without a second thought, he reached for the neck of the bottle. She was surprised at first, by his sudden movement but loosened her grip, allowing him to take it. She kept her eyes focused on the lake in front of her as he examined the amount that she'd drank.
"Luce.."
As soon as her name left his lips, she felt the tears well back up in her eyes. She looked down at her lap, fisting the hem of her blue skirt and before she knew it they were already falling. She could help it, she knew how pathetic she must look, but his voice… his sweet sweet voice, saying her name, like he still cared about her.. like she hadn't hurt him… it was just one word, but it was too much. Her cheeks were soaked with the wetness from her eyes almost immediately, running down her chin and dripping onto her lap.
"Oh shit. I'm sorry Luce." Natsu wrapped his muscular arms around her, he just wanted her to stop crying. He couldn't stand to see her cry.
Lucy's breath hitched when she suddenly felt his warmth against her, felt his strong arms holding her. She hadn't felt him in ages. The mixture of built up emotions and too much liquor, clouded her mind. She threw both of her slender arms around his neck, pressing herself tightly against him. He pulled her closer, and she wondered if he could hear her heart beating loudly inside of her. Natsu pulled away from her, just enough to wipe the tears from her face. But when she looked into his eyes, they just started falling again. He furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Natsu." She whispered. He looked at her so intently, listening carefully. "You're my best friend." She nearly choked on the words, trying to get them out, while she was still crying.
He ran his hand through the back of her golden hair, fingering her locks. "You're my best friend too-"
He hardly had a chance to get the words out, before her lips crashed into his. He loved her. What could he do, besides kiss her back? Shifting positions, he pulled her onto his lap, so she was straddling him. He kissed her with every ounce of passion that he had. He was so deeply in love with her, it physically hurt. He could tell that his heartache was taking a toll during battle as well…
Sitting on his lap, making out with him, she felt some of her sadness melt away. She stopped crying, as soon as she started feeling aroused. Pulling away from his warm lips, she moved her own to kiss down his jawline. She felt him stiffen beneath her skirt, and let out a faint moan against his neck. "I love you Natsu." She said breathily, against his ear, continuing wet kisses and licks down his neck and onto his collarbone.
"I love you too Lucy." He released his grip on her, "But-"
'But' She removed her lips from him, as her blood ran cold. 'But' how could she have been so stupid? Realizing that she'd just made a bad situation even worse, she practically jumped off his lap, covering her mouth, horrified by what she'd done. Nothing had changed. She was just hurting him all over again. She walked to the middle of the dock, turned away from him, she buried her face into her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. "Oh god, Natsu. I'm.. so sorry. I shouldn't have… shit."
It all happened so fast, Natsu was still staring at her stunned and confused. Lucy swiftly wiped her tears and took a step to leave, but lost her balance and fell into the water, hitting her head on the edge of the dock on the way down. Natsu jumped up, faster than he had probably ever moved, horrified by what he had just witnessed and dove into the water after her.
When he resurfaced, he had Lucy in his arms. He pulled himself back onto the dock with one arm and held her with his other, pulling her up too. When he laid her down on the hard wood, she began coughing violently and choking up the water she had swallowed.
"Luce.. fuck. Are you okay?" His voice was dripping with worry, as he pushed her wet hair out of her face.
She nodded, and tried to sit up but grabbed the part of her head that she hit and fell back against the wood.
Natsu grabbed the bottle of alcohol, before scooping her up in his arms once again, carrying her back to their campsite. On the way there, he thought about how much of a dick Gray was for not even attempting to check up on her. How could he ever trust that Gray would be enough for her, when he so obviously didn't even care?
Gray stood next to the fire, pissed and hurt. First Lucy had disappeared and then that pink haired fuck was gone too? He had sat there for as long as he could manage, before his curiosity finally got the better of him and he had taken off into the woods to see what was going on. That's when he had spotted them.. Together. His heart damn near broke as he watched the girl that he loved kissing the one guy that he couldn't stand the most. It would've hurt to see her with anyone, but why did it have to be Natsu? As soon as he saw them, he quickly turned away, resisting the urge to slam his fist into the nearest tree. He walked back to their temporary shelter, stopping once he'd gotten to the raging fire.
He stared lifelessly at the flames that were licking the cool night air. He was angry for so many reasons, he couldn't decipher which one was the worst. He was angry at Natsu for getting the girl, the only girl that he had ever truly wanted and definitely the only one that he'd ever loved. He was upset with Lucy, both for choosing the salamander over him and for not having the guts to just tell him the truth. How long had they been seeing each other, the whole time? Had she just lied about ending things with both of them because she didn't think he could handle the truth? Lastly, he was pissed at himself for ever letting himself fall for her.
How easily she had come into his life after joining fairy tail. He had been so closed off before her, but she had a way of helping him open up. Actually, she seemed to have that effect on a lot of people. He sighed loudly, kicking at the dirt on the ground. Why hadn't she just told him the truth, yeah it would've hurt like hell, but he could've handled it. And don't even get him started on Natsu, the coward. Even if Lucy hadn't been able to bring herself to be honest, probably afraid of hurting him.. Natsu still should've been man enough to tell him the truth. Either he seriously needed a lesson in manliness from Elfman or he was even more of an asshole than Gray had suspected.
It wasn't like they were exactly friends, the guy certainly didn't owe him anything, but it was true that the two guys had grown a lot closer since Lucy joined their guild. Before her, Gray didn't bother going on jobs with Natsu, but after a while the three of them almost always travelled together. In the beginning he and Natsu could hardly keep from strangling each other but they ended up getting along better than either of them could've ever imagined. Lucy made sure of that. So, it still felt like a betrayal that he didn't fess up about him and Lucy continuing their relationship. He had come to think of the guy as being, well… okay.. at very least, he thought Natsu liked to take the higher moral ground. He always went on about how fairy tail was a family and how he would do anything for his guild.. did that not apply to him? And what, were they only pretending to not be getting along every time he was around them? Why go through that much trouble?
He kicked at a rock that was beneath his feet, sending it flying far into the distance until he lost sight of it in the darkness.
He had just returned to his previous spot, sitting on the ground far from the fire, when he heard footsteps nearing closer. Obviously one of them, if not both of them returning. Unable to hide his scoff, he watched from the corner of his eye as someone came into focus. No. Not someone. Both of them. When he spotted what looked to be an unconscious Lucy, draped over Natsu's arms, he jumped to his feet. His anger was quickly replaced by concern.
"Gray.." Natsu's voice cut through the silence.
"What the fuck happened?" He demanded, closing the distance between them and finding himself on Lucy's other side. He stared down at her, realizing that she was soaking wet and not very responsive. Though, she was clearly alive and mostly fine. She had definitely been through much worse.
Natsu's eyes flickered up to meet Gray's for a moment, before making their way back to Lucy again. He adjusted his hold on her, bringing the bottle of liquor up for Gray to see. "Too much to drink."
He eyed the half empty bottle, feeling a pang in his chest at the sight of her like that. It didn't help that she was also in his arms.. But that was besides the point right now. He wasn't going to be petty when it came to her well being. He watched goosebumps spread across her entire body and his eyes met Natsu's again, as they shared a look of concern. "She's freezing, she needs to be warmed up." Gray swallowed as he glanced towards the still lit fire.
Natsu followed his gaze. "She's shivering..." He took a step towards the campfire but was stopped by Gray's arm.
"She needs to get out of those wet clothes first, or she'll never warm up."
"She doesn't have any other clothes..." Natsu stated blankly. Both boys looked down at Lucy when she let out an ambiguous sound and shifted closer to hug into Natsu's warmth.
"I'm sure you can find other ways to warm her up." Gray kept his tone as neutral as he could, but the underlying venom in his voice was clear. The pink haired boy just stood there, looking utterly confused. Until finally, Gray glanced back at him and added. "Survival 101. Body heat." He rolled his eyes at his uselessness. "Fucking flame brain, are you really this dense? Take her wet clothes off and warm her up with your body. You'll be just as hot as the fire and she'll be easier to manage while she's lying down." He folded his arms across his chest, the act made him feel like a pouting child, but he couldn't help it… He did feel like pouting. He wanted nothing more than to be far far away from the two of them.
"Ohh, Okay." Natsu finally understood, the expression on his face wasn't one of happiness though. He didn't look all that thrilled about the situation, which was understandable, but he had still expected Natsu to at least smirk or something. He was cocky any other time.
Gray took a deep breath, before stepping out of the way to let Natsu carry the woman he loved into the tent to strip her and cuddle up to her. But as he was about to walk away, to stew in his own unhappiness, a hand reached out and gently grabbed his arm. Assuming it was Natsu, he whipped his head towards him angrily, ready to unleash his fury. Instead, he was met with Lucy's half lidded eyes, as she fought to keep them open. His eyes followed her hand to where it connected with his arm, and he was frozen in place at her touch. It was the first time she'd touched him in quite a while and he felt helpless and angry all at once.
"She obviously wants you to come." Natsu walked away, taking her into the small tent that Lucy had insisted on bringing. Gray stood in place for a long moment before hesitantly joining them.
Natsu laid Lucy on the blanket at the floor of the tent. She had set it up earlier, not wanting to sleep out in the open, having woken up to animals and bugs way too many times. He removed his scarf and vest, tossing them to the ground, just as Gray finally entered through the flap that he'd left open. The look on Gray's face showed a mix of emotions, which he understood all too well, since he was most likely feeling all the same ones. Gray sealed up the tent after he was inside and then stood there, awkwardly, by the door. Natsu knelt down at Lucy's side, placing his hand on her cheek. "Luce." He cooed, trying to get her attention. No response. "Hey, I'm gonna take your wet clothes off, so don't Lucy kick me when you wake up." He chuckled. She nodded her head now, letting him know silently that it was okay, before dozing back off.
"Little help here snowcone?"
The ice mage reluctantly went to Lucy's other side, propping her up, while Natsu removed the drenched shirt that was suctioning to her skin.
"Wh what about her… bra?" He asked, unsure if he should strip her completely or not.
Gray nodded his head, "It's not like we haven't both seen her naked.." He was already reaching to unhook her bra with one hand, as he continued to hold her up with the other.
Natsu's face flushed. Of course he knew that already, but he didn't like to be reminded. He wished that he was the only guy to ever lay eyes on his beautiful Lucy…
His eyes widened when her bra slid to her lap, leaving her giant, supple breasts fully exposed to the two of them. Her nipples were almost painfully erect from the cold air meeting her soaked skin. Both of the boys swallowed thickly at the sight of her ridiculously perfect tits. Gray laid her gently back down, her breast jiggling delightfully at the movement. And Natsu had to all but tear his eyes from her gorgeous upper half, as they moved on to her lower half instead.
"Ready?" Gray asked, waiting for confirmation before lifting her hips and allowing Natsu access to slide her skirt and panties off. He lowered her hips, turning away from the sight of the naked Lucy before him. She wasn't his to look at anymore and he wouldn't gawk at her while she was passed out…
"So.." Natsu trailed off, not knowing how to begin. First thing first, he needed to take off his own wet pants. Shouldn't be that weird to be in his boxers around Gray, since the damn exhibitionist was always in his boxers around everybody. Natsu stripped down to his underwear, leaving his wet clothes in a pile with Lucy's.
Gray heard his pants hit the ground and thought nothing of it. Lucy needed to be warmed up, she was seriously at risk of getting sick at this rate. He stood up, collecting all the wet clothes, eliciting a curious glance from Natsu as he did so. He ignored his questioning look and took the clothes out, hanging them on a makeshift clothing line near the fire, to dry.
"Where's Gray." He heard his angel's voice and again, stopped in his tracks, seriously considering his options before returning to the tent to find out what she wanted. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she had never woken, suddenly he regretted ever coming back in. Then his eyes shifted to the right, where Natsu was pressed up against the side of her. Still wearing his sopping wet underwear. At the sight, Gray almost lost it.
"You fire eating fuck." He placed his hand on his forehead, rubbing his thumb and index finger over his temples, to show his stress.
"What you damn popsicle? I'm getting seriously fucking tired of your attitude." Natsu rebuttaled.
"There's no point to any of this, if you're still making her freeze, with those things on." Gray gestured to his boxers, amazed by the pink haired boy's stupidity.
Natsu glanced down at his boxers and then back up to Gray with furrowed eyebrows. "You want me to get completely naked?" He asked, utterly stunned.
Gray scoffed loudly. "The last thing I want is for you to be naked. Especially against my-" He cut himself off, stopping himself from saying something stupid.. something he'd regret later. "Nevermind." He shook his head. "But you have to take them off."
Noticing Natsu's hesitation at stripping while he was in the room, Gray turned off the lantern, enveloping the tent in pitch black.
"Here goes nothin." Natsu announced, taking off his last remaining article of clothing. Now his dick was fully exposed, as he pressed himself back into Lucy's side. He felt more than a little weird lying with her like this, given the circumstances, but it's not like he hadn't done it before. Gray was right about that.
Gray sat away from them, on the other side of the shelter, thinking about how fucking stupid this situation was. He couldn't help but be jealous, knowing that the fucking pyro was laid up with Lucy… naked.. while he was quite literally left in the dark. He sat there sulking until he heard her voice again.
"Gray." It was a little louder this time than it was before, and he wondered if her body heat was returning to normal. He wished there was something he could do to help.
"You gonna answer her or not?" Natsu asked, irritated that he would dare to ignore her in her time of need. Especially when he was right there and had absolutely heard her call for him.
Sighing, he walked over to her empty side and knelt down beside her. "What's up Luce?" He whispered sweetly, grabbing ahold of her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm so cold." Her teeth were chattering together and the sound nearly broke him. "Could you.." She couldn't get the rest of her sentence out, and she didn't have to. The direct request from her, snapped him out of his self pity right away and he found himself lying at her other side. Lucy was now sandwiched between the two boys. The situation was really weird, but what could he do?
"You're still wearing your clothes." Natsu stated.
Gray rolled his eyes to himself, since it was too dark for anyone else to see. "My clothes aren't wet, idiot."
"You said, survival 101 was body heat." He fired back, without missing a beat.
Gray was a little shocked by his own words being thrown back in his face. He could feel Lucy shivering at his side, and he had admittedly done little to warm her. He was thankful that even though he was an ice elemental, his body was not ice cold, he was just of normal body temperature. He didn't say anything, just stood up and began stripping his clothes off, down to his boxers. When he was about to lay back down, Natsu stopped him.
"Underwear too." He knew, even without being able to see, that Gray hadn't taken them off.
Gray felt his face get a little hot, embarrassed at the thought of being naked in a room with the pink fuck. Not only naked, but way too close to him as well. "No chance."
"Do it for Lucy."
Those words made his heart nearly stop. He would do anything for her. Anything.
"Ya love her, right?" Natsu added quietly, there was no hint of hostility or teasing behind his words. He was just asking, double checking, as if he needed to know for himself.
His initial thought was to ignore his dumb question. It was none of his business anyway. "More than anything." Is what he actually answered, letting his boxers fall to his feet as he stepped out of them. He took a deep breath, finding his place once again, on his side of Lucy.
Natsu scooted in as close as he could against her and he felt Gray do the same on her other side. Natsu gathered her hair and pulled the wet locks away from her face and body, realizing it was probably cold against her skin.
After a long while had passed, where they had been lying in silence. Natsu finally broke it, "I love her too, ya know."
"Why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be telling her?" Gray asked, much more calmly than would have expected from the ice mage normally.
"I wanted you to know." He started. "She's my best friend, but it's more than that.."
"She's my best friend too." Gray declared, for once he wasn't trying to one up Natsu, but was actually being honest.
Silence fell upon them again for a moment. This time it was Gray who spoke. "Look, I saw you guys on the dock." For some reason, probably the fact that they were hidden in the darkness and had been forced into a vulnerable situation… He felt more willing to open up than normal. "If you're together.. you could have just told me. It's not like I'd try to stand in the way of her happiness. Even if it is with you." The end of his sentence had been barely audible but Natsu caught it. He had very good hearing after all.
"If she would've picked me… You would have been told. Do you honestly think that Luce would hide that from you? You should Know better than most that she's not that cold. No offense." Natsu nuzzled his face into the back of her neck, for his own benefit, as well as hers.
So.. they weren't together? The corners of his lips twitched as a slow smile spread across his face. He pushed himself closer into her, nuzzling her from the other side. He hadn't been sleeping well, but that night he fell asleep with no trouble. In the silent darkness of the night, it was easy to forget that Natsu was there. It felt like it was just him and Lucy again and he relished in it. Little did he know that just on the other side of her, Natsu was feeling the exact same way.
When Lucy woke up for the first real time, she felt immediate warmth. it was still dark and her head was spinning as she tried to piece together exactly what had happened the night before. It took her a second to figure out exactly where she was. Even though she was lying on the ground, and the blanket was doing little to protect her back from the unforgiving hardness of nature, she actually felt more comfortable than she ever had before. She could feel both of the boys she loved cuddling into her. She honestly didn't even realize she was naked until she felt the bare skin of both of them against her. If anyone else had dared undress her, she would have pulled out her keys to teach them a lesson.. But not them. She remembered her kiss with Natsu and could kind of recall falling into the lake, though that part was a bit fuzzier. She was completely dry now, and that was all thanks to Natsu and Gray.
She had never been quite that close to both of them at once, not to mention that they were all completely nude. Thinking about herself being the only barrier between the two naked boys, was almost impossible to imagine, yet it was happening. They were always bickering and even physically fighting, but when she needed them, they were willing to do the unthinkable. She loved them both so much.
Her eyes were still heavy lidded from her tiredness. But now that she was capable, she desperately wanted to change positions. As carefully as she could, she rolled onto her side, and was now facing Gray. She only knew that because of his familiar scent. When she shifted into her new position, both of the boys woke up briefly and did the same, closing the empty space between them and her one again. She buried her face into Gray's chest, as Natsu pressed himself against her backside. She struggled to fall back asleep, since she could feel all of him against her.. a feeling that she had missed greatly in his absence. But eventually, the sweet scent and closeness of Gray lulled her back to sleep.
The next time she woke up, she was greeted with the beautiful sight of her precious dark haired boy. Instinctively, she reached a hand out to touch him, trailing up his lean chest until she got to his neck. When he fluttered his eyes open and they met hers, she melted into him. She had been deprived of his beautiful eyes for far too long, and they looked back at her with such happy content. Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts firmly against his chest as she kissed him. There was no hesitation as he kissed her back, Natsu was still asleep, breathing heavily as he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. She felt him growing harder against her ass.
All of a sudden, she was ripped away from Gray and pulled over to Natsu, as his own lips crashed against hers furiously. She was lost in him the second that their lips met. She heard Gray scoff loudly from behind her and she pulled away from Natsu, just in time to be rolled back over to Gray. He was losing his patience for the pink haired boy and wanted her to be further away from him so he couldn't take her back. He rolled onto his back, and pulled Lucy onto his lap so that she was straddling him. He gave her no time to think, before he brought his hand to her neck, pulling her back down to meet his lips. Natsu was stunned, as he watched Gray manhandle his woman.
Lucy was transfixed by his kiss, by his roughness and possessiveness over her. Having kissed both of them, feeling them so close.. she was soaring. She had already felt Natsu hard dick and now, as her and Gray shared sloppy kisses, she felt his erection between her thighs as well. She was so aroused, she felt her wetness leaking onto Gray. Pulling away from his lips and looking into his gleaming eyes again, her mind clouded over. "Gray. I love you." She smiled down at him, he smiled back, when it reached his eyes, she kissed him again.
Natsu had enough, he felt like he had been stabbed in the heart, at her cruel words. He was about to leave them to it, when suddenly Lucy jumped off of Gray, leaving both of the boys stunned. She backed up slowly, until she reached the entrance of the tent. The look on her face was one of panic as her eyes locked onto Natsu's.
"I'm so sorry." Was all she said, before she bolted from the tent and out into the early morning air.
Gray grabbed ahold of his throbbing dick, trying to hide it the best he could, now that he was left alone with Natsu. The pink haired boy did the same, hiding himself as well. Neither of them moved from their places, just stared silently at the entrance of the tent, where Lucy had left.
Being the first to leave the awkward situation that he had been left in, Natsu quickly pulled his clothes from the clothing line by the burnt out fire, and dressed. He was joined a moment later by Gray, who had also dressed. Well, dressed as far as Gray was concerned, wearing pants and no shirt. Lucy left a quick note, letting them know that she'd gone to get food and that she'd be back shortly. He crumbled the note up, after reading it and threw it into the fire pit, where it lay amongst the unlit ashes.
Now he was stuck there, alone with droopy eyes. He wanted to punch his lights out and was barely resisting. Then Gray had to go and provoke him..
"So did you like the show?" Gray smirked, arms folded smugly across his bare chest.
Natsu was fuming, smoke seeping from his ears in angry little swirls. He balled his hand into fists and with lightning speed he was in Gray's face. He threw a punch but it was dodged, as the raven haired boy predicted his movement. The next fifteen minutes had been a blur of fire and ice, and in typical fairy tail fashion, the boys had destroyed everything in sight. Luckily in this case, that wasn't much. The tent was in shambles, and the surrounding trees had been ripped from their roots. Natsu and Gray were breathing heavily, having come to a stand still, they were just staring at each other angrily with fists still balled. Finally both boys slunk to the ground, on opposite sides of the ruin, waiting for Lucy so they could get back home.
"You're an ass. You know that?" Natsu spat, refusing to look at the jerk that he had the displeasure of being aligned with.
"If you would've kept your hands off her-" Gray fired back.
"If you would've kept your lips of her-"
"Well if you would've kept your dick off her-"
"You had yours all over her too buddy so don't go blaming everything on me!" Natsu ended their quarrell.
The two sat in silence for a while, wondering just what the hell was taking her so long.
"We both know the real reason you're upset is because of what she said." Gray sighed, finally looking over at Natsu.
Natsu scoffed loudly but didn't deny it. "Yeah, well she told me she loved me last night.." He watched as Gray's jaw clenched tightly.
"How can she love both of us? It's not fair."
"You know, she was really upset last night. She drank so much..." Natsu told him, the worry in his tone evident.
Gray thought back to the half empty bottle that Natsu had been carrying the night before, and to Lucy, limp in his arms. "Yeah. I think this whole thing has been taking a toll on her. She hasn't been herself lately."
"Neither have you."
"It's not like I can just pretend everything's fine. Not after being rejected by the girl I love." Gray was being more open than normal, only because he knew that Natsu got how he was feeling.
"Yeah. I know." Natsu rubbed his face roughly. "I just wish things could be different. I can deal with the pain but I hate to see her suffer like this."
Gray nodded his agreement. "She seemed pretty happy this morning…"
"Yeah. She smelled pretty happy too." Natsu couldn't help but remember the scent of Lucy's obvious arousal, from earlier. It was impossible to miss with his heightened sense of smell.
"Gross." He hated that Natsu even knew her scent.. But what a creepy thing to say. And he always called Gray a pervert..
"Nothing about Luce is gross. Certainly not the way she smells." Natsu defended his girl.
Gray rolled his eyes. "That's obviously not what I meant, fucking fire breath. I love everything about her."
"Well what are we gonna do? Things can't really go on like this. Both of us have basically already lost her, since she can't pick."
"How the hell should I know? It's not like we can both have her!" Gray threw his arms up in frustration.
Natsu wasn't much of an idea guy. Nobody had ever accused him of being smart. Normally he went with the first idea that popped into his head, which in most cases was to fight and destroy. But the idea that came to his mind at that moment, the only solution that he could think of, seemed pretty good. "Why not?"
The scoff that emitted from Gray was so strong that ice actually shot out. "Why not, what?" He glared. "Why can't we both have her?!"
"Yeah." Natsu said, matter of factly. "I mean, don't get me wrong.. I'd rather have her all to myself… But since that isn't going to happen-"
"I knew you were a moron but this is next level." Grey stated. "How the hell would that even work?"
He thought for a moment before coming up with what he was sure was a perfect solution. "What If we alternate days with her?"
"That would never work."
"Why not?"
"What would we do when we're all on a job together?… because we always are. Then one of us would have to see the other two together and pretend to be okay with it? Fuck that." Gray said irritatedly.
"Got any better ideas? Or are you okay with neither of us having her, then she'll eventually just end up with someone else.."
The thought of her being with someone else was enough to send a shiver down his back, which was saying a lot since ice had no effect on him. He had already gotten a taste of what it was like seeing her with Natsu, and it sucked… but not as bad as he had originally thought. Now he was sure that it would be way worse to see her with someone else. "What if… we both dated her.." He averted his gaze from his rival, embarrassed to even be suggesting this. "..Together."
"Together?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Just forget it." Grey insisted, deciding that his idea would never work anyway.
"No, I wanna hear it."
Relenting, he decided to throw the idea out there. "We could date her.. together. Like, fuck man Idunno." He was struggling.
"You mean like.. all be together?" Natsu finally asked.
A bright pink blush spread across Gray's face, he was so embarrassed and confused at his own idea. He didn't know what he was even saying. "It's just, we both get jealous when she's with the other, because we feel… left out. Right?"
"Yeah, ya got a point there." He agreed. "I didn't like when you had her all to yourself because I wanted her. But.. it was still kind of… hot. Ya know?"
Gray scrunched his brows, trying to understand what he meant. "What was hot?" He asked, curiously. "Watching Lucy… with me?"
Unable to bring himself to say anything, Natsu just nodded his head in response. Gray was more than a little taken aback by his confession.
"Idunno. Maybe I was just worked up cause I haven't been with her in so long." He shrugged it off.
"Do you think it would work?" Gray asked, glancing at Natsu. "I mean, wouldn't we still just be fighting for her attention?"
Now it was his turn to really consider what Gray had suggested. "Not if we truly shared her… It would probably take some time to get used to. But I guess it would kind of be like in the tent. Except we could both have her, we can't be greedy. Or it won't work."
Gray thought about the night before and realized that it had been weirdly easy to be around his rival with no clothes. They had all been naked and cuddling Lucy and it almost felt… natural. "Think she would go for it?"
"Like I said, I could smell how turned on she was earlier, and if she cares about both of us.. I don't see why not. But we can never tell anyone else about this. Got it?"
"Duh. Like I'd ever want anyone to know about something like this." Gray fired back.
"Something like what?" Lucy's sweet voice broke through the little bit of tension that still hung in the air around the boys. Both of them whipped their heads in her direction as she approached the wreckage of their campsite. She didn't even bat an eyelash, so used to them destroying everything they touched. Well, with the exception of her. But she had expected them to fight after she left, how could they not, given the circumstance?
"Lucy.." Both of them said in union, standing up to greet her. Gray and Natsu exchanged a knowing glance.
"We have a proposition for you."
END CH 1 (: