Title: Who Says Fairy Tales Only Happens In Books?

Summary: Natsu is a very "keep-to-myself"-sort of person who has had a hard time making friends, mostly because he doesn't share the same interests that most people of his age. He works at bookstore in the busy city of Magnolia, which has been in the Dragneel family for generations. It's a really cozy place away from his peers and Natsu would love to just spend the entire day there. Then, he meets Gray Fullbuster…

Couple: Natsu x Gray (NatGray / Graysu)

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Chapter One: He's Strange

It was 3:30, an impatient rosette mentally noted glaring down at the poor cellular device that dared told him he was still 30 minutes away from his haven. He shoved the plastic black cell phone back into the pocket of his jeans, shifting a little to get comfortable again as he stood in the aisle of the subway train. He had given his seat to an elderly couple; manners that had been drilled into his head ever since he could walk by his father. He could hear a dull noise of other teens, his peers, a few feet away forcing the rosette to focus on his haven: the bookstore where he worked. Thirty minutes of stop and go, the rosette was finally at his stop; he slipped past all the other passengers who had just taken notice to arriving at a stop. He ran up the stairs of the station using his momentum to pivot on his toes, rounding the corner to see his haven in the close distance.

'Almost there...' He gleamed, smiling to himself as he brushed past slower-walking people before stepping inside the familiar atmosphere of his father's bookstore.

"Ah! Natsu, you're here? A new shipment of books came in today, do you mind taking care of it first?" The rosette looked over to the cash register to see his dad pointing to the room where shipments were placed until they could be put away; said rosette nodded his head before heading back to the room his father had pointed to.

"Nggh," The box was heavier than it looked; Natsu hefted it up enough so he could carry it into the room he had just left, one glance told him that he needed to head to the 'Best Sellers' section.

He set the box down in front of the display for best selling books; he opened the box and began putting the book on the shelf carefully, listening to the background noise of his dad ringing customers' purchases. He liked being here. The bookstore had been in his family for generations, which was a lot than other people could boast about; Natsu was more than happy to spend all of his free time here instead of out with his peers.

"Is this the new book by Kristen McIll-?" Natsu looked up to see a male his age, who stopped mid-sentence when the duo locked eyes, with messy raven hair pointing to the book he had just shelved.

Ignoring the simple fact that the author's name was clearly in big bold red letters, Natsu stood up grabbing a book on his way: "Yes, they actually just arrived today" with a smile. He extended the book out to the male, who took it into his own hands before turning the book over and by the look on his face wasn't pleased with the price of said book.

"Damn... 35.68 for this... Ultear, I swear... you really are a pain," Natsu heard the other groaned in defeat as the male put the book back onto the shelve before leaving.

"That was weird..." Natsu mumbled as he placed the last book on the shelve as he heard the male and his dad talk: "Leaving already, Gray?" "Yeah, haha" and with that the door opened and closed.

He tossed the box into the back room before walking over to the cash register, curious if his dad knew the strange teen; "Hey Dad, did you know that guy?"

"Who? Gray...? Yeah, he comes in here everyday,"

'Huh?' "Really? Then how come this is the first time I've seen him here," Natsu knew he worked everyday here and he knew all the regular customers so how did this 'Gray' slip by unnoticed.

"Yup, he comes everyday around the same time... If I remember correctly, his family just moved here" His father spoke, rubbing his chin adding in a soft tone: "I had offer him and his family to dinner"

"Dad! You barely know the guy! He could be some perverted-" "-sexy beast-" "sexy beast - wait, what?" Natsu's head turned to the cause of his slip-up: the strange teen named Gray.

"I forgot something," Gray muttered, walking over to the best sellers section picking up the book Natsu had only moments before handed to him.

Natsu watched dumbfounded, 'Was this guy an idiot or something?', as Gray paid for the book adding: "Before I forget, Mr. Dragneel-"

"Please call me Igneel,"

"Ah, Igneel... My mom said it was a really great idea and was wondering if tomorrow night would be good." Gray lifted the bag off the counter waving bye to Igneel before chuckling as he brushed past Natsu.

'What the hell was that about?' Natsu felt like screaming; he couldn't understand the raven, which meant a lot considering he couldn't understand why his peers were so hooked on partying and whatnot.

"He seems to be more comfortable now," Igneel walked away to chit-chat with the other customers, leaving Natsu alone standing staring at the door until his legs started screaming for movement.

Natsu sighed and continued his work: helping customers, working the cash register, and organizing books. Finally his work was done, his dad was counting the money in the register as he locked the front door and pulled the curtains down on the windows.

"I'm leaving first. See you at home, Dad" Natsu announced, heading out the back door locking it on his way because he knew his dad would forget.

He sighed, walking towards the subway station to catch the 9:15 train; as usual the train at this time of night is empty enough that Natsu would be able to sit after the five hours of standing. He leaned his head back against the chilled glass windows; his trip home would take about twenty minutes, which was always enough to relax after work. Twenty minutes passed quickly as Natsu thought more on Gray, the strange teen. Said teen continued to stake a place in Natsu's mind as he walked home; he figured his dad would make him go with the excuse that he could make a friend. Unlocking the front door of the Cape Cod house him and his dad lived, Natsu knew his usual reasoning would fall on deaf ears; Gray constantly came to the bookstore! He flopped down on his bed, hoping tomorrow would pass by without him.

He

wasn't

ready

for

another

disappointment.

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Csilla: I finally got around to writing a new fanfiction since Christmas~ and because Gray x Natsu was voted so many times: I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it :3

&thanks Kris for helping me with the title - who knows what I would do without you? OwO

&Yes, Kris I used your name in here XD