I love you.

He had been meaning to say it for far too long, too many years. They had stood together, fought together, laughed together and cried together. They had hated one another to start off with, their arguments enough to topple buildings, fists becoming well-versed with faces far too regularly. Regularly enough, in fact, that the guild had tried to separate them, keep them apart, to minimise the damage to the guild hall as much as to each other.

It hadn't worked, of course. Even back then, even when both had felt little more than a frustrated fury at seeing the other, they could not be kept apart. Did not want to be kept apart. Their friendship, it seemed, had been cemented long before one had met the other. Predestined, perhaps, if either wished to believe that nonsense.

I love you.

They were a team, the four of them. Well, the four of them and Happy, he thought with a small, wry smile that held no mirth. Erza, the impenetrable force and moral compass. Lucy, stronger than she gave herself credit for, the heart of their group. Natsu, loyal to a fault. And Gray, with a strength of will stronger than anyone. They fought together, against insurmountable odds, somehow always managing to pull through. It happened so frequently, in fact, that they had almost started to believe that they were invincible, that it could go on like that forever. Almost.

I love you.

The little Exceed clung to him, face pressed into the damp fabric of his black shirt, denial still coursing through him. Happy had not spoken a word all day, and no one tried to force a reply from the usually jovial cat, watching him with sad eyes and heavy hearts as he allowed himself to be carried without complaint.

The soft pitter-patter of rain drowned out all save the rustling of leaves, intensifying with a fervour that he knew, they all knew, was not natural. Water streaked down his cheeks, both hot and cold, hair flattened against his head, water destroying the soft spikes it usually held. The hole in his chest ached more with each passing second, and he had never felt quite so alone, despair rolling off him in waves as he stared down at the little headstone.

I love you.

It was too small. The tiny, carved lump of marble that did not - could not - portray the essence of the person beneath it. Nothing could, he knew, yet the very size of the thing spiked his anger. He wanted to break it, to shatter it into a thousand pieces, to deny that such a thing was needed. Or to replace it with something bigger, something grand, yet he knew nothing would do. Nothing would be right. Nothing, save having him back by his side, alive and well.

I love you.

"Why?" The rain had washed into the freshly dug dirt at his feet, soil turning to mud that splashed up his thighs as he fell to his knees. "You stupid, stupid-" A sob cut him off, and he swallowed it down, eyes squeezing shut against the sting of tears that would not stop falling. Had not, it seemed, since he held the body of his friend in his arms, lifeless and limp and far too cold.

"I loved you." He sucked in a hiccuping cough, swallowing against the rising bile. "Love you. Selfish bastard, why couldn't you at least let me tell you that much? Why-" He felt Happy shift in his arms, the soft sound of sobbing reaching his ears and he held the Exceed tighter still. "Why did you have to leave? Did you think I'd be able to manage without you?" Not that he had been given much of a choice, really. No, that choice had been taken from him almost a week prior, when he had lost everything he had ever loved.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Not chickening out on me now are you, Snowflake?" Natsu grinned over at his friend-come-rival, mirth sparking in his olive eyes. Gray simply huffed out a laugh and punched his friend in the arm, not quite hard enough to bruise, sporting a grin of his own.

"Not a chance, flame-brain. I just wanted to talk to you about something is all." He had thought he might be nervous, and perhaps he was - just a little - yet there was something about being around Natsu that put him at ease, even with something like this and he wondered why he had waited for so long.

"Can it wait? We're missing all the good stuff!" He could say no, could ask Natsu to wait, to listen. Yet, the excitement in the dragon slayer's voice, layered into his expression, was simply too much. There was no way Gray could deny him this. Besides, he had put it off for years, another few hours wouldn't hurt.

"Yeah." Gray replied with a chuckle. "Yeah, I guess it can." Already three paces ahead, bouncing a little in his excitement, Natsu turned to his friend with a smirk.

"Race ya!"

"I love you." Forehead pressed up against the cool, wet marble of the headstone placed above the body of his best friend, the only thing truly holding him upright, Gray wept openly, body shaking as sobs wracked his pale form. "Natsu, I need you to come back, I can't-"

The only reply, was silence.