DISCLAIMER - I don't own FT. And that's the tragedy.

"I almost killed you, dumbshit-

"But you didn't."

"I know that, you fu-

"Then drop it already!"

"Stop cutting me off mid-sentence-

"Kiss me first."

Gray snorted at that. "In your dreams, you trash-

"You've got a nice ass, y'know?" The Dragon Slayer grinned.

Gray Fullbuster looked at him. Really looked at him. The way Juvia used to look at him. The way Zeref looked at Mavis. The way Lisanna had started looking at Natsu.

It hit him hard that what he was thinking was leading him to dark territories of his mind. Gray shook his head and sighed.

"What? Are you too scared to kiss me?"

The Ice Mage said nothing. Instead, he stood up and picked up the blue coat Lucy had gifted him on his twenty second birthday, slung over the arm of a chair. His dark hair fell before his left eye -sometimes he felt this could let half his emotions escape Natsu's scrutinizing gaze.

"That's cheating."

"But I never meant to-

"Should've thought of that before banging sluts." Damn, he hated the way bitterness made him forget who was to blame.

Natsu snarled, "You bastard."

Gray moved past him, walking straight toaward the door in his full height. A step behind him Natsu stood, his shoulders hunched and fists blazing in fire.

Before he could stop it, Gray saw fire punching past him on the ground. It was also then that he realised, that after all of his words and silences and painful looks, Natsu insisted on the same old method of communication.

But no longer.

Gray resisted the urge to fight back -it was programmed into him; the need to fight Natsu. The insatiable demand his blood put to give Natsu what he wanted. But he also knew what the end would be, and frozen hearts could never be close to fire without getting cracked.

Opposing elements, after all, no matter how stunning, always brought along destruction.

Natsu punched the guild floor again.

It was two in the morning, Gray thought. It was too early to be going through this, dammit.

Sooner than he knew, Gray Fullbuster was circled by the red flames of Natsu Dragneel's frustration. With said man on top of him.

"Talk to me, you fucktard!"

Gray refuted to comply.

If he talked, he'd let go of his covers...

If he gave in to the urge of going along Natsu's plan, lives would be destroyed.

Acting like a fucking doll was the only option.

Minutes passed, and the heaviness in his chest increased.

Until he realised that the despair was joint.

The ice mage felt the other shivering on top of him. The fire died down. Inside, Gray felt a frozen butterfly die over his heart. I'm so sorry. But, it was the way it was supposed to be. From the beginning.

They'd rebelled enough against faith.

Natsu stood up, the infamous energy of his ceasing to bubble. Shakily, he asked for the last time, "That's a no, then?"

Gray wanted to say something else. He wanted to do something else. But what he wanted, fuck, was the death of Natsu. And so many others.

And so, he said nothing, letting it all vanish.

Natsu nodded and left the guild after saying, "If you say so."

But if he loved Natsu, he couldn't have him; if he had Natsu, he couldn't see him. If they were together, it would kill everything.

And Gray Fullbuster knew very well that some wrongs were greater than some rights, and some tragedies were more important than a million happy endings.

It was simple misfortune that the tragedy had to be theirs.

So the next morning Fairy Tail is laughing and having fun, Gray Fullbuster sits with Juvia and Cana, refusing to look in the opposite direction.

Because in the opposite direction, Lisanna is holding a baby with salmon hair.

Because in the opposite direction, Lisanna is holding a baby with eyes that smile bigger than a wide mouth.

Because in the opposite direction, Lisanna is holding Natsu's drunken mistake.

A fucking mistake.

Had Gray said yes to Natsu, they would be in the forest by now, away from their home but in a heaven for themselves.

But had Gray said yes, Natsu's son would have to bear the consequences. Natsu's son would have to go through what he did, what Cana did, what Natsu himself did. What nobody should go through.

And hadn't they decided to provide for a childhood better than they dreamt for themselves?

So they avoided each other's eyes.

They don't laugh at each other first thing in the morning and then lunge into a full make-out session.

They don't fight the way they used to.

Because the last fight in which Gray responded was when he found out about Lisanna's pregnancy, and he almost killed Natsu.

Before it becomes evident, years pass, and they don't even talk anymore.

They also don't kiss and tickle each other, they don't dream about each other and before it registers, they're over each other.

But in the end it was always because Gray loved Natsu, and Natsu loved Gray more, and if they got together, there would be so many happy endings killed.

And so Gray decided that their tragedy was more important than their happy ending.

And because Natsu loved Gray, he let him leave his life.

A/N: I doubt it will happen since I'm not a star in this fandom, and what I now am going to write (if) it will be hugely different to what I used to write. Tbh, what I've published here earlier includes some heavy disappointing work, yet I'm going to ask you to review. Thank you. Also, I shamelessly love the fact that FT has such fan service, lol. XD