Flames and Steel

Natsu was walking on the sidewalk, heading for somewhere. Although, he didn't exactly know where, but not knowing where didn't really bother him. He felt that everything was fine, and that there was no reason for him to know where he was heading.

He stopped at a crosswalk, and waited for the traffic to stop so he could cross. When the traffic stooped, and the sign started to flash that he was safe to cross, he took a step off the crosswalk and onto the street. That was when shit hit the fan. In the blink of an eye, the whole world was turned upside down. Everything started shaking, the buildings around him started the crumble and fall down.

He franticly looked around, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. 'An earthquake? But we've never had an earthquake here before, why the hell is it happening now?' He looked around, still confused, and saw people running around in terror, trying to escape the debris of falling chunks of stone. Trying to get to some place of safety.

He tried to follow after them, but found out that he couldn't move. He quickly looked down at him self to see what was wrong, but everything looked normal. This didn't make sense, why the hell couldn't he move? He sat there, focusing all of his mind power on trying his hardest to move, and his muscles finally started to obey him.

The only problem with this was that he felt sluggish, that no matter how hard he tried; he couldn't stop running in slow motion. He started to feel the fear, and uncontrollable, animalistic fear beginning to bubble up inside him. He was now trying his hardest to flee, away from the danger and towards some sort of safety, letting the human instinct of fight or flight take him over. His body was not responding to him, even though he was trying his hardest to move.

The ground continued to rumble, but he felt the shaking of the ground increase right below him. He looked down with fear in his eyes, as a hole opened up right below him. He tried to reach for the edge; to save him self, but it was no use. With a shout of terror he fell down the hole, and into the black depths.

Natsu could feel himself falling, but it was pitch black so he couldn't see where he was falling. All he knew was that he felt light, and he could feel the uncontrollable terror and fear building up inside of him as he fell into the unknown. He kicked and flailed his arms, trying to grab on to something, anything that would save him. Just as he was about to give up hope, he saw a bright light above him.

"Natsu."

He saw a hand reach out of the light for him, a lifeline in this ocean of terror, and he reached for it. Natsu felt that the voice was vaguely familiar, and reached out for the hand. The first try his fingers brushed the hands, but with a shout he reached out for the hand again. This time he was successful, and he grabbed hold of the hand. The last thing he saw before he went into the light was scarlet hair and a warm, gentle smile.

Natsu bolted upright in his bed, panting and sweating. He quickly patted himself down while looking around, confirming that he was actually still in his room safe and sound. He fell back down onto his back with a sigh of relief. 'It was just a nightmare. Thank god, it didn't really happen.'

All he could remember was that the world had shook, and he had fallen somewhere, and the color scarlet. He laid his hand across his forehead, remembering how warm the color of scarlet had felt. With a smile, he fell back asleep, this time with his dreams full of warmth.

Gray looked over at Natsu as they were walking from the car to the school, a curious look on his face. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

It had been two weeks since the first time Natsu and Erza had studied together, but Natsu was still remembering it like it was yesterday. Ever since then, they have hung out together more and more, sometimes studying at Erza's house again, or going out and just hanging out.

Natsu was walking with a small smile on his face, the dream he had after the nightmare last night the reason why he was smiling and happy. While someone who didn't know Natsu as well as his friends did wouldn't see it, Gray could tell that Natsu was practically bubbling with happiness. The way he was walking, the slight change in attitude then normal, and some other things were all clearly stating to Gray about Natsu's state of mind.

Natsu quickly tried to hide it, his small smile receding, and his tone was defensive when he replied. "I'm in the same mood as I always am. How about you mind your own business."

Gray snorted and shook his head, deciding to keep silent instead of starting up an argument right before school started. Although he had a feeling of what it was that had him in such high spirits, he would observe some more before he knew for sure. As they rounded the corner, the person who he had a feeling was the reason was standing right there talking with Juvia, with her back facing them.

Gray looked at Natsu from the corner of his eye, gauging his reaction. Natsu's reaction made him go from eighty-five percent sure to about ninety-nine percent sure that Erza was the reason. Natsu's face brightened up like the sun at the sight of her, and his smile came back, but this time bigger than before.

Since Juvia was the one facing them, she saw both Natsu and Gray and waved at them with a smile. Gray waved back, but Natsu was too busy looking at Erza to notice the wave. Gray hid a smirk as Natsu made a beeline towards Erza, who had turned around to see what Juvia was waving at.

Gray watched Erza closely for her reaction at the sight of Natsu, and what he saw did not surprise him at all. Erza's face also brightened up like the forth of July at the sight of Natsu, and she gained a big smile on her face. Both of their reactions was enough to tell Gray what he needed to know, and he was quietly gloating about his observing skills on the inside as they walked up to the girls.

Natsu walked up to Erza and started to talk to her with a relaxed and content look. Gray walked up to Juvia, and whispered to her "Look at the two lovebirds." Juvia raised an eyebrow and looked over at Natsu and Erza.

She had known that Natsu and Erza had become close, but was confused at the reason why Gray said lovebirds. She hadn't really been paying close to them and their relationship. She blushed at the thought of why she wasn't, stealing a quick glance at Gray.

But as she looked closely at Natsu and Erza, since she knew the both of them as close friends, their body language made it look like there was a huge neon sign above them that said "THESE TWO LIKE EACH OTHER!"

Erza was listening intently to whatever Natsu was saying, and laughed as he finished. From an outsider, it would just look like two close friends talking. But to Gray and Juvia, they could see the small quirks and things that they were doing that was saying that it was deeper than that.

As they started walking, both Gray and Juvia noticed that Natsu was standing closer to Erza then normal friends would, their shoulders were practically touching, which wouldn't seem like anything by itself. Add that together with the other things that they were doing, and it would turn into a whole different story. Both Erza and Natsu had on content smiles; they both listened intently to what the other was saying, always with a smile on their faces.

Gray and Juvia could also tell that Natsu and Erza were touching each other a lot, as in small brushes of the hands and shoulders. Erza smacking Natsu arm in playful annoyance and playful anger, Natsu brushing his hand against her arm, and this added to what Gray and Juvia (who was thinking back and seeing them) had noticed about their attitudes with each other earlier had both Gray and Juvia sure that the two had deeper feeling then just friends.

Juvia smiled softly at Gray. "Juvia believes that Gray is right." Gray at first had been unused to Juvia's talking in third person, but had slowly gotten used to it. At this point, he would have thought it weird or that something was wrong with her if Juvia did not talk in third person. As Gray got to know her better, he started to feel like he was growing to like Juvia as more then a friend.

Gray smirked, a smug look on his face. "Of course I'm right!" Juvia giggled, and Gray had to cough into his fist to hide his blush. 'She's so cute…' If Gray were to be honest with him self, he knew that he did indeed like Juvia as more then a friend. The only reason as to why he avoided it, or doubted himself, was the fear that she did not have the same feelings as him, and that she would reject him.

That one fear was what was keeping him back. As he listened to Juvia go on about some celebrity relationships, he had a brief insight. He remembered what Igneel had told him before about a crush he had as a kid.

'If you stand by and do nothing, then nothing will happen. However, if you take action, you have a chance to make something happen. Sure, she might reject you, but that's a part of life. But there is always that chance that she has the same feelings as you, but is also just too scared to say anything about them. That's your duty as the man, you must take the big leap of finding out if the feelings are the same or different.'

Gray smiled faintly at the memory, and than steeled him self, knowing what he had to do. He had to take the proverbial leap, and see if the feelings were the same or not. As Juvia finished her talk about the celebrity couple, he went for it.

With a deep breath, he asked the question. "Juvia, would you… do you want to hang out next Friday? Maybe go to the movie or dinner or something…." He trailed off, and looked to the side. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it was going to explode.

If she accepted, then during that date on Friday, he would be sure to see if their feeling were the same. If she didn't, than he would find some other way to find out.

Juvia on the other hand had come to a dead stop. Her eyes were wide open, in shock of what Gray had asked. 'Did Gray just… did Gray just ask Juvia… on a date?!' She felt like her face was on fire, the red spreading across her face. When she noticed Gray starting off to the side, looking embarrassed, she knew that this was her chance. It could be that he was embarrassed because it sounded like a date, and he just wanted to hang out. Or it could be that he was embarrassed because he was asking her for a date.

So with this in mind, she calmed herself down with a deep breath, and put a smile on her face. "Juvia is okay with this. What time is Gray going to pick Juvia up?" She would go to this and find out which one of the two Gray wanted. If he wanted to be just friends, she would accept that with a smile on her face, even though she wouldn't get to be with him, she would be able to be by him until he hopefully grew feelings for her. If he wanted to be more than friends with her, she would gladly and happily accept that.

Gray quickly looked at her, and saw the smile on her face. He processed her words, that she had accepted, and he gained a smile. "I'm free all of Friday, so how about around four-thirty to five?"

Juvia smiled and nodded. "Juvia thinks that this sounds wonderful."

Gray smiled and they continued on walking, heading towards their classroom. Natsu and Erza were nowhere to be found, so Gray assumed that they hadn't even noticed that Gray and Juvia had stopped and went on ahead to their classroom.

Meanwhile Natsu and Erza had just looked behind them, and noticed that Gray and Juvia weren't behind them. They looked at each other, than shrugged and continued towards first period, talking about how bad of a rapper Lil' Wayne was.

Later that day, as Gray and Natsu left the locker room after practice, sweating like usual, Natsu decided to ask where Gray was that morning. "So, where did you and Juvia disappear to?"

Gray smiled a little bit as he thought of that morning. "I asked if Juvia wanted to hang out with me this Friday, and she agreed to it." Natsu smirked at this, and thought this was a perfect opportunity to get back at Gray.

"So, a date."

"Hopefully."

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks. He had been joking when he said date, trying to get Gray embarrassed, but Gray's reply hit him like a sucker punch. He stared at Gray. "What do you mean hopefully?"

Gray just looked back at him with an amused expression. "What the hell else does 'hopefully' mean? I'll say it again then. Hopefully, Friday will be a date." Gray continued on towards the car, with Natsu just staring at his back, still shocked into stillness. With a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, he jogged to catch up to Gray, who was halfway to the car.

"So… does that mean you like Juvia? And as in girlfriend status, not friend status." Gray shrugged and looked out the window.

"Truthfully? Yes. I do like her as more than a friend, but I don't know if she returns that feeling. So that's what this is about. If she returns my feeling, then I will have a girlfriend at the end of Friday. If she doesn't, then I'll have a really good friend at the end of Friday. That's why I said hopefully." Natsu got in the drivers seat, thinking this over. As Gray got into the passengers seat, Natsu grinned and held out his fist.

"Well then, good luck man. Hopefully everything turns out good." Gray smiled in return, bumping fist with Natsu. "Thanks. I do too, bro, I do too." Gray then looked at Natsu with sly grin. "So what about you and Erza? Made your move yet?"

Natsu's hand jerked, causing him to miss the ignition with the keys. He tried his best to hide it, but completely failed when he stuttered, "W-w-what the hell does that mean?" To say he was surprised was an understatement. He was caught completely off guard by Gray's question; therefore he couldn't come up with a reasonable response.

Gray laughed at Natsu's reaction. 'Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of revenge ' Gray thought with a smile. "It means what I said, did you make your move yet?"

Natsu quickly recovered and sent a glare in Gray's direction. "I don't know what your talking about, me and her are just friends. You hear me? Friends." Gray opened his mouth to say something, but than decided against it. He would just have to let Natsu do what he needed to do at his own pace.

Gray knew that what was holding Natsu back was what was holding him self-back before, the fear of rejection. Its what almost everyone fears, and Natsu just had to find the guts inside of him self and take the leap, like how Gray was going to do. All Gray could do to help was give Natsu a push in the right direction.

"There's something that dad told me before. He said if you don't do anything to change the relationship, then nothings going to happen. You have to make the first move, to take the hit and see if the other person feels the same. It will be fine for you though when you take that first step, because I know for a fact she has deeper feeling than just friends for you."

Natsu was looking out the window with a bored expression, but he was in reality listening very intently to what Gray was saying. 'That makes sense, but I need to make sure that Erza feels the same myself. I can't be sure if its coming from someone else.'

They drove the way home silent, Natsu thinking hard on what to do, and Gray was letting Natsu think. By the time they got home, Natsu knew what he was going to do. While Gray was taking his chance with Juvia, Natsu would also take his chance with Erza on Friday.

Friday

Natsu and Gray stood a foot away from each other, waiting for Brad to throw the ball in the air. With their first game being next week, the coach wanted them to practice playing an actual game, so he had started finishing practices with a scrimmage. This time though, Brad decided to dedicate the whole practice to a game, which had caused an excitement in both the team and the school.

Brad had made Natsu the captain of team one, and Gray the captain of team two. He had then split the team up into two teams, making it as even as he could. Brad put Jason, Max, Loke, and Droy on Natsu's team. He put Jet (who got that nickname because of his speed), Alzack, Tyson, and Brett onto Gray's team. The rest sat out and waited to be subbed back in.

Although it was only a scrimmage game, a lot of the students had showed up to watch, packing the stands, which caused some people to have to stand in order to watch the scrimmage.

The reason for so many people showing up was that everyone had heard that the basketball team this year was actually good, and they all wanted to see for themselves. Natsu and Gray had been able to save some seats in the middle of the first level in the stands for Erza, Lucy and Juvia.

The whistle blew, and both Gray and Natsu burst into action, jumping into the air for the ball. Natsu got to it first, knocking it back to Loke and getting the game started. Loke dribbled the ball down the court, passing it to Droy for the lay up once he got to the three-point line. Natsu's team ran back down the court, high fiving Droy for the point. This continued on for the first twenty-four minutes, both teams playing hard until the buzzer went off signaling halftime.

The crowd had been cheering throughout the game and got even louder at the end of the second quarter. Since both teams were from their school, half of the stands rooted for Natsu's team while half rooted for Gray's team. Erza and Juvia had been in the middle, so the line was in between them, with Erza's side cheering for Natsu's team and Juvia's side cheering for Gray's side.

At first they had wondered how that worked out, but shrugged and moved over a seat, so both crowds weren't right next to each other.

The score of the game was fifty-two to forty-six, with Natsu's team in the lead. Both teams gathered around their captains, planning on what to do for the next two quarters.

Natsu looked at his team, his manner and attitude serious. "Alright, we have the lead for right now, but that could easily change. We have to keep up our game, even push harder. Don't go for the three-pointers unless you are sure you can make it. Lets stick to the nice and easy points, we need to make sure we get points after every time we pound down the court, alright?" They all nodded, panting and wiping the sweat from their eyes. Natsu's mouth broke from the serious thin line to a grin, and he put both his arms around the players next to him.

"Now lets get out there and kick their asses, so we can brag in the locker room." Jason, Max, Loke, and Droy broke out into smiles, letting out a "HELL YEAH!" in response.

Over at Gray's side, his speech was similar. "We may be down, but ill be damned if I let Natsu of all people beat me. So when we get back on that court, we work our asses off and score some points, and wipe those confident smirks right off their faces. Sound like a plan?"

He put his fist in the middle, and everyone stacked their fist on top. Jet looked around at everyone and grinned, answering for them. "Sounds like the best plan I've heard yet."

The whistle blew, and the players went back onto the court. Both teams looked ready to win, both of their captain's words rejuvenating them. Once again Gray and Natsu walked into the middle of the court, ready for the ball to be thrown in the air. As the whistle blew again and the ball was thrown into the air, both of them jumped for the ball. This time Gray got it, and everyone burst into action.

The points started to rack up, both teams playing to the best of their abilities. At the start of the fourth quarter, the score was eighty-six to eighty-four, Natsu's team still in the lead, but barely. With two minutes left, that was when everything got intense. The crowd was continuously cheering now, and the sound of their names being chanted granted everyone on the court newfound energy.

The game was tied; one hundred and two to one hundred and two, and neither team was going to back down. Brett had just scored the tying point, and their team was running back down the court. Natsu passed it into Max, their point man, and the clock started again, ticking to one minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

Natsu ran ahead of Max down the court, and everyone started to move. Max faked out Brett, and blew past him. Both Gray and Tyson closed in on him to block the shot, but as Max stopped and looked about to shoot, he quickly passed it to Jason in between Gray's legs. Jason grabbed the ball, and jumped up into the air, successfully dunking the ball.

Natsu's cheering side broke out into cheer, so loud that it seemed to shake the ground a little bit. Jason ran back, high fiving everyone, as they got ready for the counter. As Alzack brought the ball down as their point man, Natsu looked up at the clock. One minute and twenty-five seconds.

Natsu shouted. "Man on man, don't let them score!" His team immediately followed his directions, switching from zone to man on man. Alzack passed to Tyson, who went for the three-pointer, but hit the rim. As the ball bounced away, it flew towards where Natsu was guarding Gray. They both went for it, but with Gray reaching it first.

Using his momentum, he burst past Natsu, who was trying to regain his balance from the jump. He went up for the lay-up, but instead passed it behind Loke who had jumped up to block the lay-up. Alzack had broke through and caught the pass, going up for the two-pointer. As the shot went in, it was Grays' team's time to cheer. The ground shook a little again as the sound of the cheer echoed in the gym.

As Natsu grabbed the ball and walked out of bounds to pass it in he looked over to the crowd. His eyes immediately found Erza's, and they looked at each other for a second. Erza than smiled and gave him a thumbs up, giving him a silent Good Luck! He smiled and returned the thumbs up, then turned back towards the court, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

Natsu passed it to Max again, and made his way down the court. He glanced up at the time again, and shouted, "Lets move, we need to score!" when he noticed that there was only one minute left. Max double-timed it down the court behind Natsu, and they increased the pace of their moves and passes, increasing the pace of an already fast paced game.

Max stopped and passed it to Jason, who quickly passed it to Natsu, who also quickly passed it to Droy. They did this to try and make the defense mess up. Natsu heard Gray shout "Man on Man! Man on Man!" Even though they went to man on man, the opening showed up quickly, and Natsu took advantage of it as soon as he saw it.

He darted past Gray, and ran towards the basket, no one around him. Loke, who currently had the ball, immediately noticed Natsu and chucked it as hard and as fast as he could towards Natsu, who caught it and went up for a lay-up. As the ball went into the hoop, Erza and all of Natsu's team's cheer side stood up, cheering and clapping.

Gray's team hustled down the court, intent on not losing this game. Alzack brought down the ball, and quickly passed it to Gray. They did the same thing that Natsu's team did, trying to find the opening. Natsu and his team were playing man on man again, but the opening still came. Brett dashed past Loke, and Gray saw it. Gray went up for a shot, but as Natsu jumped to block he realized the fake. As the ball went past him and into Brett's hands, Natsu's eyes widened and he took a step towards Brett as he landed.

Natsu was too late though, and the ball went into the hoop again. The crowd cheered again, and Natsu hurried up as he looked at the clock. Six seconds. He passed it to Max, but Max was stopped as Brett had come up to block him. The seconds started clicking, and Natsu wildly waved his hands in Max's direction. Max saw him and threw the ball at him one handed. Natsu caught it, and quickly glanced at the clock. Two seconds left.

Time seemed to slow down, as he looked at the ball then the net. He realized that it would most likely not go in, but went for it anyways. With a jump, Natsu took the shot from half-court, time still slowed down for him. The crowd was silent, caught up in the moment, all eyes on the ball as it traveled towards the net.

With a swoosh, the ball went into the net. The buzzer went off marking the end of the game, and the crowd went crazy. At this point, both sides were cheering, because it was such a great game, with a fantastic ending. Loke, Droy, Jason, and Max ran up to Natsu, yelling in happiness and amazement at how he made that last shot. Natsu smiled and cheered with them, and smiled even greater when he looked at Gray and his team walking up to them with smiles on their faces.

Natsu walked towards Gray with his team behind him. As Natsu and Gray reached each other, shook hands and brought each other into a bro hug. They pulled away grinning like idiots. The rest of their teams were doing the same, shaking hands and talking about how good of a game it was.

Natsu and Gray looked at the crowd, who was still cheering. They saw Erza, Lucy, and Juvia standing their smiling, and they waved at them. The girls waved back, and then turned around as the people behind them started to talk to them.

Gray looked back at Natsu. "I got to say, I'm surprised you pulled that last point off, I thought for sure that was going to be a tie game."

Natsu grinned. "Yeah, I am a bit surprised myself on how that went in. But, dude, I got to say that it was a fantastic game. I don't think I have had a game as fun in awhile."

Gray grinned back. "I second that, with the skills both our teams have, we are going to dominate this year."

Natsu held his fist out for a bump. "Hell yeah we are. With the two of us leading the team, that is." Gray laughed and bumped Natsu's fist.

"Exactly. Although next scrimmage, I'm definitely going to win."

Natsu scoffed "Yeah, in your dreams man."

Gray opened his mouth to retort, but before they could continue Max appeared next to them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "Let's save to trash-talking for later. Coach wants us in the locker room." With that said Max walked off towards the locker room, most of the players following him.

Natsu and Gray both were about to follow after but stopped when Erza and Juvia walked up to them. Juvia and Gray walking off a bit so they could talk. Natsu looked behind Erza. "Where did Lucy go?"

Erza pointed towards the door. "She got a text from her mom, she had to leave." Natsu nodded. "Ah."

Natsu glanced at Gray and Juvia, remembering about their date. He looked back at Erza "Gray is going to be gone today with Juvia, so do you want to come to my house today to study?"

Erza smiled "Sure, although you're going to have to pick me up. My dads gone on a business trip and my mom is meeting with her friends for today, so she wont be able to drive me."

Natsu nodded. "Of course! I'll pick you up after I take my shower back home." Natsu looked over towards the locker room door, where Max was waving for him to hurry up. "The coach wants us in the locker room, so I'll text you when I leave for your house."

Erza nodded. "Okay, see you later." With a smile and wave Natsu started to walk towards the locker room, Gray catching up to him halfway there. Natsu glanced over at Gray. "At what time are you leaving to go hang out with Juvia?"

"Right after we get home and I can take a shower. I'm going to take the Porsche, that cool with you?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders and opened the locker room door. "Fine by me, I'll probably drive my bike over to get Erza. We decided to hang at our house today and study."

Gray smirked "Yeah, "study"."

Ntsu looked over and glared at Gray, but didn't say anything as they joined the other players.

Brad was looking at everyone; a serious looks on his face. The players glanced at each other, wondering what was going on. Brad took a deep breath "I am…." He paused and everyone gulped, fearing the worse. His face than broke into a huge grin "absolutely thrilled by how you guys played! I mean, lets be real here, I don't see anyone beating us, much less even keeping pace with us. You can definitely quote me on this, this is the year that we kick everyone's asses and turn this basketball team around for the future!"

The players grinned at the coach than cheered, whooped, and whistled. They felt the same as the coach, and they were ready to start playing games and winning. Max stepped up " I think I speak for the whole team when I say that you are the reason for this. Thanks Coach!" Natsu, Gray and the others cheered some more.

Brad held up his hand "Don't thank me yet. We still have to win all our games and win the championship. With that said, hope you guys have a great weekend, and be ready for practice on Monday."

The team dispersed, going to their lockers in order to change. Gray and Natsu hurried up in changing, so that they could get home as fast as they could. Natsu put on his street clothes, but paused when he got to his shirt. With a shrug, he put the t-shirt in his backpack, sticking to just the tank top that he usually wore underneath his shirt due to the sweat and the heat outside.

They walked out of the locker room and towards the car. Natsu got into the drivers seat, with Gray getting in on the other side. Natsu backed up and put the car into gear, starting the drive back to their house.

When they got home, Natsu parked in the garage. They walked into the house, with Gray rushing towards the shower and Natsu going to the kitchen to get a snack.

Natsu walked into the kitchen to find his mom, Ur, cooking. Natsu walked up, his mouth watering at the smell. Ur looked over and laughed lightly at Natsu expression, bringing Natsu in for a hug, although she quickly pulled away as she felt the sweat on him. She crunched her nose up. "You should go take a shower."

Natsu broke out of his trance and walked to the cabinets to find a snack. "I wanted to get a snack before, I'm starving." As he pulled a box of cracker and cheese out, he glanced over at his mom. "Why are you cooking so early? Are we having an early dinner?"

Ur shook her head, focused on the cookbook next to her. "Nope, me and dad are going to a business dinner soon, so I thought I would cook something for you."

Natsu smiled "Thanks!" He put some cheese on a cracker and put it in his mouth. "Since Gray is going out tonight, I thought that Erza could come over tonight to study. Is that fine with you guys, or do you want us to go to the library instead since you are going out?"

Ur looked up at Natsu with a knowing smile. "So both of you have dates?"

Natsu blushed and looked away. "No mom, we are just friends that are studying."

Ur studied him for a second, giving a soft laugh as she looked back at what she was making. "If you say so. I'm fine with it, and I'm sure your dad would be fine with it. You should go ask him to be sure though."

Just then Igneel walked in. "Fine with what?"

Ur told him, and Igneel also gained a knowing smile. He walked up to Natsu and put him into a headlock, effectively giving him a noogie. "So the little man is finally growing up eh? Starting the new life with a girlfriend?"

Natsu struggled for a few second and broke free of the headlock, glaring at his dad. "No! We are just friends! Friends that are studying together."

Igneel laughed, and grabbed a cracker and some cheese, plopping it into his mouth. "Uh huh. I'll believe that the moment pigs can fly."

Ur turned off the stove, and put a lid on the pot. "Honey, stop teasing him." She looked at Natsu with that same knowing smile. "Even if you are right." Natsu opened his mouth, but was cut off as his mom continued on. "The soup is done, all you will need to do is heat it up. I made a lot of it, so there will be plenty for Erza when she comes over."

Natsu puffed his cheeks out, and looked to the side. He then gave a sigh of defeat. "Thanks mom. I'll ask her if she wants to stay over and eat."

Ur smiled "Your welcome." She then grabbed her husband's arm and started to drag him towards the kitchen door. "And now for you. We have to find you something nice to wear."

Igneel groaned as he dragged his feet. "There's still thirty minutes left until we have to leave! Can't I get dressed later?" Ur gave him a look that said he would change now, or he would feel pain. Igneel sighed and glanced back at Natsu. "I do have to warn you though, wait to marry. They get to be so bossy once you're married to them." Ur just hit him on the head as she dragged him through the door and up towards their room.

Natsu grinned at their antics. He could have sworn that they were just two teenagers and not his parents sometimes, but he still loved them both dearly. He continued to eat, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. A few minutes Gray walked in wearing a polo shirt and a nice pair of jeans, and went to the cabinets to rummage through them in order to find something to eat.

Natsu finished up and put the crackers away. "I'm going to go take a shower. Since you'll be gone by the time I'm out, good luck on your date." Gray snorted. "Yeah, good luck on yours too."

Natsu just let that slide, since no matter what he said they kept on calling it a date. He walked up the stairs and to his room, throwing his clothes off as he walked through his room towards the shower. He turned the shower on and put it so it would hot.

Natsu stood in the shower with his eyes closed, letting the warm water run down his body. He could feel the sweat and grime coming off his skin, and he could feel his muscles relaxing. He stood there for a few minutes, just soaking up the water letting his body relax. He then grabbed the body wash and began to clean himself off.

As he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist, he stood looking at himself in the mirror. He was solidly built, from both the martial arts training and the basketball training.

Both Natsu and Gray were black belts in Chinese Martial Arts. Ever since they were little, they had wanted to know how to defend themselves. Igneel had agreed, and had found someone through his business connections. While they were growing up, they were taught Chinese Martial Arts, they had just made black belt last year. Every now and then both Gray and Natsu fought against each other, keeping their skills honed.

Natsu grabbed another towel and rubbed his head, getting all the water out of his hair. He walked to his closet, throwing the towel he used to rub his head onto the bed. He opened his closet door, and started browsing through his clothes for something good to wear. He picked out a similar look to Gray's, a polo shirt and jeans, and laid the clothes over his chair.

He unwrapped the towel and wiped down the rest of his body, then began to put the clothes on. He grabbed his wallet and bikes keys, putting them in his pockets as he grabbed his phone and unlocked it. He sent a text to Erza.

"I'm about to drive over to your house, I'll be there in about 20 minutes." He locked the phone and put it in his pocket, grabbing his bike backpack and walking down the stairs towards the garage. Natsu put his helmet on, and as he grabbed an extra one for Erza he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out his pocket and looked at her reply as he sat down onto his bike.

"Alright, see you then! :)" Natsu smiled and sent a smiley face back, then attached the extra helmet to his backpack and started up his bike. He pulled out of the garage and started down the driveway, heading towards Erza's house.

Gray and Juvia stopped at the first spot that they were going to hang out, the park. Gray got out and walked over to Juvia's door, opening it for her. Juvia smiled and stepped out of the car, grabbing her purse as she got out.

Juvia was wearing a nice summer dress, but she could have been wearing sweats and a baggy sweatshirt and Gray would have still thought that she looked stunning.

The walked over to a bench and sat down, looking out over the park. They started to talk about random things, like what new movies were coming out, and whatever came to mind. They just chatted, getting to know each other better. Gray smiled as he listened to Juvia talk about one of her favorite T.V. shows, NCIS, while he watched some kids playing on the grass, playing what looked like tag. 'I could get used to this.'

Gray noticed that Juvia had stopped talk, and he looked over at her. She was giving him a questioning look. "Juvia is curious as to what has made Gray happy."

Gray continued to smile her. "Nothing, just thinking that I could definitely get used to this." Juvia blushed and looked to the side. Gray glanced down at his phone to check the time, and saw that it was six o-clock.

He stood up and offered Juvia a hand. "Our reservations for dinner is in an hour, so we should get going." Juvia accepted the hand and stood up.

"That reminds Juvia! Gray never said were we are going." Gray smirked as he led the way towards the car.

"It's a surprise."

While Gray is at the park

Natsu stopped in front of Erza's house, turned his engine off, and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Here"

He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. 'I should really get this trimmed sometime. Getting a bit long' His attention was brought to the front door that had opened, with Erza walking out. She hugged her parents who were behind her to see her off, and started to walk towards him.

As she reached him, Natsu waved at her parents, who smiled and waved back. Erza looked at the bike. "I know you love to drive this, but shouldn't you have brought your car?"

Natsu shrugged. "It's a nice day out, perfect weather for riding bikes. Why, is there a problem?" Erza looked at the bike for a few seconds.

"Well, first off, there's not really any room. Also I don't have a helmet."

Natsu grinned as he pulled the helmet from his side, handing it to Erza. "There's your helmet, and for the room that's not a problem. You just sit on the back and hold…" He broke off for a second as he realized what she meant. He quickly continued on, trying to hide his embarrassment. "…on to me so you don't fall off"

Erza gained a red tint to her cheeks, but nodded. She put the helmet on, on got on the back of the bike. As her arms wrapped around his stomach, he could have sworn he died and went to heaven. Although he was a little embarrassed at being his close to her, he knew without a doubt that he definitely wouldn't mind being this close to her more often.

He started the bike up, and waved to her parents one more time before he drove forward, back toward his house. At the beginning they both were a little tense at being so close, but slowly relaxed and enjoyed the ride. Halfway through, he felt Erza rest her head against his back. Natsu smile grew, and stayed on his face the rest of the drive back.

When they got to his head, they walked into the house. As Erza walked in, she gawked as she looked around the house. Natsu was confused at her reaction at first, but quickly came to the realization. 'This is the first time she's been here.'

Erza continued looking around. "So big…" Natsu laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess." She gave him an incredulous look. Natsu laughed, and took a step forward and held an arm out, pointing towards the rest of the house.

"Would you like a tour, madam?" Erza laughed at his "butler" persona, but nodded. Natsu smiled and led the way through the house, showing her all the rooms. There was the library, a sound room dedicated to them practicing at home, all the rooms, the family room, living room, kitchen, and even their own gaming room.

As Erza stepped inside the gaming room, her eyes widened. The room was packed full of games, going from arcade games to the console games plugged into the flat screen TV. She looked at Natsu. "That's a lot of games you have." Natsu laughed and walked into the room.

"My mom likes to call this the man-cave, since some days my dad, me and Gray disappear in here for a few hours." Erza followed after him, looking at all the games.

"Why do you have so many?"

Natsu smiled fondly as he responded. "When my dad was growing up, arcade games where the things back then. When he got his money, he decided to collect old arcade games. He figured it would be cool having them, and it would be good for his kids."

Erza nodded in understanding. She looked around for a few more moments before Natsu brought back her attention. "So yeah, that's the house basically. We have a pool and stuff in the backyard, but we can check those out later."

"Were did you set up the stuff for studying?"

"My room."

They got to his room, and Erza picked up a math textbook. They focused on studying for a bit, but it slowly turned into them talking. Soon the books were all but forgotten as they sat around chatting. Natsu went to his desk and pulled out some cards.

"Do you know how to play poker?" Erza nodded her head, and Natsu sat back down and starting dealing. They sat around, playing poker and talking, the relaxed atmosphere comforting them both. After a while of this, Natsu glanced the clock on his nightstand.

After seeing what time it was, he stood up and offered a hand to Erza.

"It's almost seven. Care for some dinner?" Erza's stomach answered for her, grumbling in need for some food. They laughed as Natsu helped Erza up, and they walked down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?"

Natsu opened the door for her. "My mom made us some soup before she left. I don't know what kind of soup it is though. All we need to do is heat it up."

Juvia gasped as they pulled up to the restaurant. "Here?! But Juvia has heard that this place is really fancy! Juvia is not dressed up for this!"

Gray waved his hand is dismissal. "Trust me, you look fantastic." Juvia nodded and blushed, trusting Gray's judgment. Gray led the way into the restaurant. They stepped into the restaurant, and Juvia started to feel the butterflies in her stomach.

She wasn't really nervous about being in the restaurant, but as they stepped in it started to sink in. She was on a date. A date with Gray none the less. As Gray walked up to the person at the front and told them of their reservation, Juvia looked around, holding her hands in front of her.

She looked back at the girl at the front. She had gained a knowing smile as Gray told her about their dinner reservations, and Juvia blushed as the girl led the way to their table.

"Your waiter's name is Loke, and he will be with you shortly. Have a nice date." She said as they sat down, with a smile directed more at Juvia then Gray with the last part. They both blushed slightly, but nodded their thanks.

As the girl walked away, Gray turned to Juvia. "She said Loke right?" Juvia nodded. Gray stared for a moment, then shrugged and started up a conversation with Juvia. A minute later, their waiter walked up. "Welcome, what can I get for yo-" He stopped as he saw the two people in front of him. "Gray? Juvia?"

Gray's head shot in his direction. "So it was you! How did you get a job working here?" Loke quickly recovered, and rubbed the back of his head. "My dad's the owner of the restaurant." After they nodded in understanding, he continued on. "Well with that little surprise done with, what are you guys doing here?" He gained a mischievous smile. "A date?"

The both blushed, yet again, but Gray quickly covered it up. 'Why the hell am I blushing so much? Get it together Gray.' "Actually, yes, a date." Loke's eyes widened a little, but quickly gained a smile. "Well then, congrats! What can I get for you two lovebirds?" Gray rolled his eyes at the word lovebirds, but ordered what he wanted for dinner and Juvia ordered what she wanted.

Loke nodded and walked away, giving Gray a thumb up when Juvia looked away. Gray rolled his eyes again, but nodded and returned his attention to Juvia. They went back to talking, just enjoying each other's presence while they waited for their dinner. Once their dinner came, they sat there in a comfortable silence, eating their dinner.

After their dinner, Gray paid the bill and they walked out, but not before Loke gave Gray another thumbs up. Gray opened the car door for Juvia, closing it as she got in and walked around to the drivers seat. He turned the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot, but not towards Juvia's house.

Juvia gave him a questioning look. "Juvia is curious as to were we are going?"

Gray gave her a smile. "I want to show you something, another surprise." 'This is it. Once we get there, its now or never.'

They drove for twenty more minutes, and Juvia was growing even more confused once they started to go up a mountain. Gray saw where the spot was, and turned the car onto a little dirt road, and parked, turning the car off. He got out of the car, and walked around the car to open Juvia's door. She accepted his hand and got out of the car.

"Where are we?"

Gray led the way forward. "You'll see."

They walked for a minute, and then the trees cleared up. What Juvia saw took her breath away. They were looking down at the city, and with all the lights contrasting to the stars in the sky was a breath taking sight. Gray grinned as he saw her reaction.

"Juvia is wondering how Gray found this spot." She said a little distracted, still looking at the sight before her.

Gray shrugged. "Natsu and I were driving around, and then stumbled across this. It involved some yelling, and chasing, but turned out good in the end." Juvia giggled at his little description, able to picture what had happened.

Juvia felt Gray gazing at her, and looked towards him, blushing a little at his look. Gray then looked out towards the city. "Juvia?"

"Yes?"

"Do like someone, as in more than a friend?"

Juvia blushed even more, and even considered lying and saying no as to no arouse suspicion towards her. She took a deep breath though, and answered with a hushed voice. "Yes" She replied honestly.

Gray's heart skipped a beat, but he knew he had to know at least a little more before he took the leap. He asked one more question. "Are you close to this person."

Juvia answered this one honestly too, although her heart was beating so fast and loud she could have sworn that Gray could hear it. "Not as close as Juvia wishes they were, but yes."

Gray stood silently for a few seconds, building up the confidence. With a deep breath, he turned to Juvia and grabbed her hands. He looked in her eyes, and saw something flicker in them. He could have sworn that he saw a flicker of hope in them, and with that in mind he asked the question. "Juvia Lockser, will you go out with me?"

Juvia stood there, shocked beyond belief. This is what she had always dreamed of, but never thought would happen. She thought for a moment that maybe she was in a dream, but quickly dismissed that idea. Gray was standing in front of her, holding her hands, and had just asked the question she had always wanted him to ask.

At the long pause from Juvia, Gray began to grow nervous. Was he wrong? Did she not actually like him as more then a friend? Did he just ruin his friendship with her? After what seemed like an eternity, with all those doubts building and gnawing at his mind, Gray started to open his mouth, to try and brush it off as a joke, to do something to try to save what he thought a ruined friendship.

Before he could say anything though, Juvia snapped out of her trance and her face broke out into a huge smile. "Yes! Of course Juvia will, Gray!" It was Gray's turn to be shocked, but that didn't last long, as overwhelming happiness swept over him. Gray brought Juvia into a kiss, who was a little shocked at first but quickly melted into his embrace.

It was then that Gray shared his first kiss with the girl he loved, and he hoped it would not be the last one they shared.

Natsu was slowly walking back upstairs, thoughts running through his brain at lightning speeds.

They had sat and ate dinner together, then going back up to Natsu's room after doing the dinner dishes. They had gone right back into talking, and just relaxing. Natsu had forgotten if he had closed the dishwasher, and excused himself as he went back down stairs to check.

As he was walking back up stairs, it hit him. The chance to make his move on Erza, to "take the leap" as Gray had previously stated, was now. He was going to go ask Erza out. This was the reason why he was walking up the stairs slowly. He was trying to build up the courage. As he reached the top of the staircase and walked to his bedroom door, he took a deep breath. 'Man up Natsu! It's just seven simple words! Stop being such a pus!"

With that clear in his mind, he opened the door. Erza looked up at Natsu, but noticed that he was acting strangely. He looked nervous, but seemed to be walking with a purpose.

Natsu gulped, and took another deep breath. "Erza… Can I ask you a question?" His heart started to beat fast, and he tried to calm himself, but to no avail.

From his posture and the vibe she was getting from him, she sensed that this was something big. He was acting nervous and un-Natsu like, and had just asked if he could ask her a question, which he knew he always could. Her eyes widened a little as a thought formed in her mind. 'Is he going to?..."

In her romance novels that she read (but told no one that she read), this was how the romantic scenes always started. Her heart started to beat a little faster, but she responded as best as she could without betraying her inner feelings. "Yeah, why?"

Natsu swallowed, but dredged forward. "Erza…" He took another breath. "Will you-" Just then his phone went off in his pocket, making both of them, who were caught up in the tense moment, to jump. Natsu quickly dug his hand into his pocket, looking at who was calling. It was Lucy.

He hit the answer button, and held it to his ear "Hello?"

"Natsu! Thank god you answered. Sorry to bug you this late, but what was the Math homework again?" Natsu felt an immense feeling of annoyance wash over him as she finished. He had been interrupted, right before he asked Erza the big question nonetheless! He mentally growled at Lucy and her forgetfulness, but answered her question.

"We didn't have any homework, just to study for the test on Monday."

"Oh really? Wow, my bad. Sorry for calling so late, but thanks! Well with that aside, what's up?"

"Uh Lucy, I'm a little busy. Can I talk to you later?"

"Oh, uh sorry! Alright, talk to you tomorrow!"

Natsu hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Will I what?" Erza asked hesitantly, but secretly a little hopefully.

Natsu looked over at Erza, and all of the doubts and fears he had been previously having steam rolled into his mind. The doubts about whether she liked him or not, the fear of rejection, and the fear of ruining their friendship stopped him cold in his tracks.

All of these things hit him, and he knew he couldn't go through with the "leap". All of the confidence he had built up had been completely and utterly destroyed by Lucy's interruption. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I forgot what I was going to ask. If I remember, I'll be sure to ask." He lied. Even though it hurt him to lie to her like that, he knew that there was not a chance that he could ask her out.

Erza nodded, but inside she was hit with disappointment. She had thought that maybe he was going to ask her the "question", but as it turned out he wasn't. She silently berated herself for getting her hopes up, and put a smile back on.

At first the talk was a little slow and Natsu tried to act preoccupied with a problem. Erza scooted over to help him out. The talk came back, and they went back to chatting and studying, the moment behind them.

As it got late, Natsu drove Erza back home and dropped her off, driving back to his house with a wave of goodbye to her and her parents as he passed by the front of their house. The drive back was a hard one for Natsu, because the whole time he was regretting, and hating him self, for not asking Erza.

He knew that it was his fault, which made it even worse for Natsu. As he lay down in bed, he stared up at the ceiling, thinking of what could have been. He drifted off to a restless sleep, his regret and anger at himself entering his sleep and ruining his dreams.

(A/N) And boom, my new chapter! Got a little busy, so sorry for the late update. Hopefully the long chapter sufficiently makes up for it! :)

Also, I'm going to go on a two to three week break from updating. Notice how I said updating, not writing. With my making of my new story, I want to get ahead of my chapters in updating, with both stories. So I will spend the next two to three weeks relaxing and writing, and get three to four chapters ahead. So then even if I have a bad week, I don't have to force myself to write and give out a bad chapter, instead I can give you a chapter that I had previously wrote.

This doesn't mean I'm not accepting new ideas or fixes in my writing; I can go back and edit the chapters or add to them if the change isn't major. So keep the reviews coming, I accept all types of reviews with open arms!

Also, tell me if I got Juvia's speech correct. I was having a little trouble with that, and want to make sure to get it correct for the future.

-Infallible