"So, you're the flower thief."

Gray froze, peeking up through the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the house he was currently crouched next to. Standing on the crumbling, dilapidated porch was a man, maybe Gray's age, with bright pink hair and a checkered scarf around his neck. He leaned against the rotting railing, looking at Gray with raised eyebrows and a small smile on his face.

Shit, Gray thought, looking down at the flowers in his hand. Nobody had ever been here before. As far as Gray knew, the house was abandoned, but there were daffodils growing here, and he needed them for—

"Hello?" The man frowned at Gray, whose cheeks burned with embarrassment. Gray glanced down the road, considering making a run for it, but the man was already walking down the path towards the gate.

"I don't bite," he said, glancing down at the messy bouquet in Gray's hands. Gray stood up slowly, brushing the snow off his knees, and when he met the man's eyes, he felt his face grow hotter. Holy shit, this guy was cute. Messy hair, smattering of freckles, green eyes that sparkled with amusement.

"I, uh- I didn't think anyone lived here," Gray said quickly as he realized that he'd been staring, and the man was waiting for an answer. "S-sorry."

"Nobody does," the man replied cheerfully, tugging the chain off the gate. He pushed it open, gesturing for Gray to come into the yard. "At least, not right now. It was my dad's place, but he, uh… he hasn't lived here for a while."

"Oh," Gray said quietly. He looked down at the flowers in his hand, then held them out awkwardly to the man. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"No, it's fine." The man shook his head. "He would have been happy that someone was using them. I'm Natsu, by the way."

"Gray." They shook hands, Natsu's fingers warm against Gray's. Natsu gestured for Gray to follow him toward the house, and Gray stared around the garden as they made their way up the path.

The yard clearly hadn't been touched in a while, but it had obviously once been a beautiful garden. It was still early spring, and only the bravest of flowers had started to push their way through the thin crust of snow. Cold light reflected off the ice that covered the surface of the old stone fountain in the center of the yard.

Natsu knelt down next to a patch of small, white, bell-shaped flowers that were growing wild near the edge of the path. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small pocketknife, then snipped a few of the stems, standing up and handing them to Gray with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Gray asked hesitantly. Natsu's fingers brushed Gray's as he handed over the flowers, and Gray shivered.

"Yep," Natsu said, turning to look at the rest of the garden. "On one condition."

Gray raised an eyebrow as Natsu stepped off the path and bent down to pick some dark purple flowers that Gray recognized as crocuses.

"Well," Natsu said, handing the sprig of flowers to Gray, "they are nice flowers. So I think I'd better come with you and make sure whoever's getting them is pretty enough to let you steal them." He grinned at Gray, stepping back onto the path. "If that's okay with you, of course," Natsu added quickly.

Gray hesitated, looking down at the bouquet. Snowdrops for sympathy and hope. Crocuses for joy. Daffodils for remembrance. It was perfect.

"It's not that kind of…" Gray trailed off as he looked back up at Natsu. Natsu's face was bright, but Gray could see dark lines of exhaustion under his eyes, and the kind of ache etched into his skin that only came with grief.

"It's fine," Natsu said quickly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, that was stupid, I-"

"Sure," Gray interrupted. Natsu looked up at him, face instantly lighting up. "Yeah, I could use the company."

The sun was pale and cold as they made their way down the steep hill from Natsu's father's house and headed into town. Gray's breath hung in front of him in white clouds, and he tucked his face into his thick scarf, sneaking glances at Natsu as they walked.

"I need to decide what to do with the house," Natsu was saying. His hands were shoved deep in his jacket pockets, but he walked close enough to Gray that their elbows bumped together every few steps. "I'm thinking of moving back here."

"What happened?" Gray asked, then immediately winced and shook his head. "Sorry, that was – it's none of my business."

"It's okay," Natsu said, giving him a small smile. "He passed away last week."

"Shit, I'm sorry," Gray said quietly. Natsu shrugged, tipping his head up as tiny flakes of snow began to drift down around them.

"He was sick for a long time," Natsu said eventually. "We knew it was coming, it's just…"

"Still hurts?" Gray's voice was soft, and Natsu nodded. "You were close?"

"Yeah." Natsu smiled, tucking his face into his scarf. "Yeah, we were."

They were quiet for a while, and Natsu followed without question as Gray led them down a path through the park at the bottom of the hill, away from the noise of the early-morning market.

"So," Natsu said eventually, looking over at Gray and nodding at the flowers. "Tell me about this date."

Gray hesitated. "It's…" he sighed. "It's not what you think."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at him, then shrugged. "If you, uh, want me to take off, I can." He shook his jacket sleeve up and looked at his watch.

"No, it's…" Gray fiddled with the stems of the bouquet he still carried. "We're, um, we're here."

Natsu looked around in confusion. They were standing outside the iron fence that surrounded the city cemetery, and when Gray pushed open the gate, Natsu's expression quickly changed from puzzled to mortified.

"Oh, gods, I'm an idiot, I'm so sor-"

"C'mon," Gray interrupted, reaching out and grabbing Natsu's hand before he could take a step backward. Natsu froze, looking down at their hands, then back up at Gray. Before Gray could apologize and pull his hand away, Natsu nodded, stepping through the gate.

Gray picked his way between the headstones – nobody had been here since the snow had started to fall, and a heavy silence surrounded them as they walked. Gray was very aware of the fact that they were still holding hands, but Natsu didn't say anything, and Gray wasn't about to let go.

"Here," he said eventually, coming to a stop in front of a simple-looking headstone. He crouched down, finally relinquishing his grasp on Natsu's hand, and brushed the snow away from the inscription.

Mika Fullbuster, 1967-1996

"Hey, mom," Gray said quietly, setting the flowers down in the snow. "I miss you."

"Gray, I can go," Natsu said softly, taking a step back. Gray shook his head as he stood, turning to look at Natsu. "I didn't realize- I thought…"

"It's okay, honestly," Gray said, tucking his hands back into his pockets. "It's nice to have company, actually. My brother used to come with me, but he got married and moved away last year."

Natsu looked down at the headstone, then back at Gray, and Gray could see him doing the mental math.

"She had me really young," Gray said. "She died when I was ten."

"I'm sorry," Natsu said quietly, digging the toe of his shoe into the fresh snow at their feet. Gray shook his head, smiling softly as he looked back down at the flowers. "That must have sucked."

"It did," Gray said, running a hand through his hair. "But you know what it's like."

"Yeah, but I had thirty years with him- you were ten, that's…" Natsu looked up at Gray and chewed on his lip. "You must have been really close."

"Mm." Gray shivered, kicking at the snow. "She worked really hard for us. Being a single teen mom with twins must have sucked, but she was… really great. I miss her a lot."

Gray's fingers found his phone in his pocket, and before he could stop himself, he'd pulled it out and swiped it open. His background was a photo of them – him and Lyon, about five years old, and a beautiful young woman with long, dark hair and a warm smile.

"Wow," Natsu said, taking Gray's phone and staring at the picture. "She's beautiful." He hesitated, looking up at Gray with pink cheeks. "You look just like her."

The words hit Gray in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. It took him back to her funeral, to aunts and uncles that he didn't recognize saying, you have her eyes.

"Hey, shit, I'm sorry," Natsu said hurriedly, and when he put a hand on Gray's arm, Gray realized he was crying. He quickly wiped at his eyes, but the tears kept falling, and he groaned with embarrassment, trying to turn away.

"S-sorry," he said, squeezing his eyes shut. "I didn't- I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Natsu said. "I know. It's only been a week but there's… sometimes I think I'm okay, and I almost forget, and then it comes out of nowhere and makes it feel like I can't breathe. I get it."

Gray nodded miserably, sniffling and wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Do you want a hug?" Natsu asked quietly. Gray hesitated – he hadn't hugged anyone in a long time. He and Lyon had never been much for physical affection as adults. As kids, their mom had hugged and cuddled them all the time, but after she died…

"Y-yeah," he said, and as soon as Natsu's arms were wrapped around him, he exhaled in relief. Natsu smelled like coffee and incense, and he was warm and gentle and exactly what Gray needed.

They stood there for a long time, and when Gray finally backed away, his cheeks were dry and he felt more relaxed than he'd been in a long time.

"Thanks for the flowers," Gray murmured, looking down at the bouquet settled in the snow.

Natsu reached out tentatively and took Gray's hand, and Gray didn't even think about it, just slid his fingers between Natsu's and pressed their palms together. Natsu gave him a soft smile, and Gray tugged him a bit closer.

"Anytime," Natsu said, bumping his shoulder against Gray's. "Maybe I'll even plant some new flowers for you to steal."

Gray looked over at him, eyebrow raised. "You're gonna stay?"

"Well," Natsu said slowly, looking back in the direction of the house. "Kingston isn't very interesting, and I can find a job here pretty easy. And there's this, uh, cute guy who lives there that I kinda wanna get to know better."

Gray's ears immediately turned pink and he was glad he was wearing a toque that covered them.

"Oh?" he asked hesitantly, hoping his voice wasn't too shaky.

"Mhmm," Natsu said, squeezing Gray's hand. "You wanna go grab a coffee? There's this place I used to go with dad, they make the best apple pie you've ever had."

Gray felt a warmth kindling in his chest, a flame that pushed away the loneliness and lit up the parts of him that hurt.

"Yeah," he said, smiling at Natsu through the drifting snow. "Yeah, I'd like that."