This would be a long overdue return fic for Four Gifts by DarkMoonKilling. This is me saying thanks for writing a Laxana like I requested, and also an apology for taking soooooo long! Please forgive me…

Anyway. This will be a Gray x Lucy x Natsu ONE-SHOT…but who does she choose in the end?

One thing that Lucy Heartfilia was quite certain of was that both of her best guy friends were quite attractive, and it was exceedingly frustrating. As a young woman of a blossoming nineteen now, she thought it was high time she looked for a man and as none of her searching outside the guild had turned up any worthwhile results, Lucy thought she might as well look around at her nakama and see if there were any promising prospects among the men.

When Lucy had first decided to check out what kind of men her guild had to offer, the first three off her list were the master, Macao, Wakaba, and Alzack, followed shortly by Romeo. For one, the first three were much too old and the last was only fourteen now—and Lucy thought that Romeo and Wendy would make the cutest couple in a year or two so she wouldn't dare interfere with that. As for Alzack…well, he was already married to Bisca, wasn't he? The next one marked off her list was Gildartz because he was also older and he was Cana's father—dating a friend's father would be a bit odd, would it not?

Elfman had then started giving Laki a talk on manliness and how she ought to be more manly and he was the next one off her list. Laki was a woman and so she shouldn't have to be manly in the least, and for some reason Elfman didn't understand that.

Evergreen, though, had taken him aside immediately after that and had been nearly screeching at him to make him see that point and Lucy thought that they, too, were on their way to coupledom.

One by one, the men of the guild were marked off of her list. Droy was—she hated to say it—a bit too fat and he and jet were still obsessed with Levy…although she was already dating Gajeel and they'd been together quite happily for over eight months now. Warren was just…Warren. For Lucy, there wasn't anything special about him, and her man needed to be at least somewhat special to her. So that narrowed it down to about four.

One of those four would have been Gajeel, but as he was dating Levy he had been dropped earlier. And so the final three on Lucy's list of possible boyfriends from Fairy Tail were, of course, the firebreathing Salamander, Natsu Dragneel, the ice-wielding Gray Fullbuster, and, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the shockingly handsome lightning dragonslayer (of sorts) Laxus Dreyar. She had history with all of them, and that was something she decided essential in choosing a boyfriend from Fairy Tail.

Laxus was a bit complicated. He had ordered Evergreen to turn Lucy (and several of the other girls) into stone when he tried to complete the Thunder Palace…and that wasn't really good history between them, but history all the same. Not to mention that he had jumped in during the fight with Hades and had tried his best to help by first attacking on his own and then lending his power to Natsu in the hopes that the true dragonslayer could actually accomplish what he himself could not. That took courage and Lucy admired that.

Gray…well, he was an indispensable comrade to Lucy. He was one of her most fierce protectors when she was in danger. He was always there, always by her side, when she needed help. He was also an exhibitionist with a damn nice body…but that was utterly beside the point, because the other two in her final three also had nice bodies.

But then there was Natsu, who was also always there when she needed help and had the added bonus of being the one that led her to Fairy Tail after she'd been tricked by the man named Bora who had pretended to be the Salamander. Natsu had been her first friend in Fairy Tail and that meant so much.

So, as Lucy had almost feared from the beginning, the only two ideal men she could find among her fellows in Fairy Tail were her two best male friends. And if Lucy was frightfully, painfully honest with herself…she'd had feelings for both of them before. She still had feelings for both of them, to some degree. It was just that she wasn't exactly sure how deep her feelings ran and if they just so happened to be the same for each guy, what was she to do? But then again, if one of them actually liked her back and the other didn't, then the problem was solved right there, wasn't it?

And so the blonde celestial mage was facing a dilemma she was hoping she wouldn't have to face. The choice between crossing the lines of friendship with one of them hung over her head and she really didn't know who to choose.

I just need to dig around a little to see if either of them likes me back, she decided, nodding once and sipping at the water in her hand. She raised her chocolate eyes to watch her two friends arguing to find that Gray was in a state of undress that she found mildly attractive; his shirt was gone but his pants were still there…although they were unbuttoned and hung deliciously low on his lean hips. Natsu, however, was easy on the eyes as well. Although his attire was no different from usual, he had been sweating and the clothes clung to him in all the right places.

Lucy turned to the bar and let her forehead land on the wood with a nice, solid-sounding thump.

How do I even start investigating whether or not one of them likes me? Lucy inwardly lamented as Mirajane bustled over, asking her if she was alright and if she needed anything for her forehead.

"I'm fine, Mira," the celestial mage responded, her face still pressed against the countertop so that her words were slightly muffled. "I'm just thinking about a few things. Don't overreact, okay?"

"If you say so," the white-haired woman said uncertainly, turning to take another drink over to Macao, "but just tell me if you need something, all right?"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, closing her eyes.

Images of the two men swam through her mind; the dark-haired, sarcastic, sexy ice mage smirked in her mind's eye, as if saying he would win over the dragonslayer and the pink-haired, childish yet hot-as-hell fire mage had his huge, toothy grin on his features. Both of those expressions were sexy in their own way and Lucy just didn't know how to even begin weaning information out of them on the subject of how they felt about her.

It had been three weeks since Lucy had finally narrowed down the playing field to Natsu and Gray and she had yet to make any progress finding out who they liked…but that was about to change. And it was about to change in a hurry, all because she was hurt.

Really, it wasn't that bad. Just a mild to severe ankle sprain; it was nothing the blonde hadn't dealt with before now.

"Lucy, you really should sit down," Gray told her, walking close to her and continuously casting worried glances down at her swelling injury. "Walking on it is only going to make it worse right now, until we can get you proper help."

"As much as I hate to say it," Natsu said from Lucy's other side, also walking unusually close as he peered concernedly at her ankle, "ice-for-brains is right, you know? It's better if you get off of it for a while and let yourself rest up some."

"I'll be fine!" the girl in question protested loudly.

"If you don't sit down, then I'll have to carry you!" both young men said in unison, the impulsive words entirely spontaneous. Gray and Natsu had never consulted each other on such trivial matters as what they would say to Lucy when they were focused on trying to keep her from falling or something else.

Both of the male mages blinked in confusion and shared a look, but Lucy was inwardly cheering. Since both of them were so protective of her, there was a higher chance that one of them would actually like her enough to be her boyfriend, right?

"What're you doing copying me, flamebrain?" Gray chose to ask at that moment, shattering Lucy's hopeful delusion of going on a nice romantic date—although the face of her companion was still a blank spot in her daydream, as she hadn't yet chosen who to pursue if she were to decide upon one of the two men.

"What? You're the one who was copying me, you bastard!" Natsu roared, fist lighting up.

Lucy sighed at their antics and turned to continue walking. Her twisted ankle turned as she did so and she found herself hissing in pain, sitting on the ground.

"Lucy!" both of her prospective boyfriends dropped down by her, one on either side. The celestial mage found it quite endearing that their fight had immediately ceased when she had crumpled to the ground in pain. That was a definite sign that they cared—and although the care could just be that of a teammate, it could still lead to more or hide deeper feelings from her. Lucy chose to believe that one of them had to like her. Just one of them would be best. And yet she still didn't know who to choose when they were both being so sweet to her.

"I said you should sit down," Gray said in a concerned voice, although his voice still rang with the definite tone of an I told you so.

"But you didn't listen to us!" Natsu said, almost exasperatedly, looking down towards the blonde's ankle.

"It's just a shooting pain," the girl tried to wave them off. "I'll be fine in no time at all!"

The two didn't even dignify her excuse with a verbal answer. Their dark glares were enough to let Lucy know that neither of them intended to let her up. She tried anyway, only for Gray to push her back down before she was three inches off the ground, shaking his head firmly when she looked to him indignantly.

"I'll start a fire," Natsu announced decisively. "Gray, you should set up camp."

The dark-haired man actually nodded to him. He had agreed with Natsu again. And it was all because Lucy had been slightly injured. What's more is that Natsu actually called Gray by his first name when he would usually call him something insulting. Gray said Natsu's first name much more freely than Natsu used his. So, since the dragonslayer had deemed this a good time to use the ice mage's given name, Lucy knew he was quite serious about making her stay still.

"Come on, this is nothing!" Lucy protested, unable to stop herself. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to test who just might have the deeper feelings for her?

"You're not walking on that ankle," Gray repeated dangerously, taking the sleeping bags from Natsu and starting to spread them out as Natsu disappeared into the trees to gather firewood.

There was silence then between Lucy and Gray as she huffed and crossed her arms, slightly annoyed by being treated like she was fragile.

"I'm not going to break if I walk on it," she stubbornly said, standing up while his back was turned. "It's not like I'm made of glass, you know."

"Lucy," Gray sighed, but she had made her way—limping behind his back—to where he had already laid out her sleeping bag. She didn't let him say anything else.

"Give me one of those and let me help," Lucy's hand descended into the dark-haired man's line of sight and he dropped Natsu's sleeping bag abruptly and turned to her. Faster than the blonde could see, he hooked one arm behind her knees, lifting her feet off the ground and causing her to start falling backwards. Gray's other arm came up and caught her before she could really hit her head on the ground and she found herself in a bridal carry.

"I will not let you help," the shirtless man declared fiercely, carrying her a few steps over to her sleeping bag and dropping her unceremoniously on top of it. "Stay there and be a good girl or I'll freeze you to the ground."

Lucy had a feeling that Gray would be true to those words so she let out another sigh and watched him unroll first Natsu's sleeping bag and then his own. He had just finished making a few ice cubes and wrapping them in a towel for Lucy's ankle when Natsu reentered the clearing and dropped the pile of sticks he'd gathered.

"How's the ankle?" he asked, clearing out a spot to set up the fire.

"She walked on it again when I wasn't watching," Gray reported dutifully, which Lucy found rather strange. "But other than that one time, she's been sitting there like I told her to."

"Because you threatened to freeze me to the ground," Lucy grumbled, but it was only halfhearted. She was really and truly grateful to them and sincerely happy that they cared enough to go to this extent just when she sprained an ankle. But…which one meant more when it came right down to it? The care Natsu was showing by lighting the fire and even starting to cook, or the care of Gray, who refused to let her so much as stand up on her injured ankle?

"At least that kept you off your feet," Natsu retorted, then smirked. "Nice work, you icy bastard."

Gray just grinned back, taking no offense at all to what would normally be fighting words.

The injured blonde in question let out a groan of frustration, flopping back on her sleeping bag. But secretly, she was really happy.

Gray had gone off for firewood when Lucy was struck with the sudden need to go to the bathroom. Natsu was busying himself over the fire, so she slowly sat up. Gray had gone across the clearing to enter the trees for firewood, so if Lucy snuck back behind her she wouldn't run into him and maybe she could finish her business and be back before Natsu even noticed she had been gone!

The celestial mage rose to her feet almost soundlessly—but as a dragonslayer, Natsu's advanced hearing picked up the smallest of sounds and he spun around. He was immediately on his feet.

"Lucy, you need to sit back down! Didn't Gray tell you that he'd freeze you to the ground?"

As the dragonslayer approached, Lucy knew he'd push her back down and force her to stay there, but she couldn't let him do that. She really, really had to pee.

"Natsu, it's just for a minute," she took a slightly painful step back.

"I don't care! You've walked on it enough for today!"

"I have to go to the bathroom, damn it!" Lucy threw her hands in the air. "And I can't have you following me for that and I can't do it without getting up so would you please, please let this one slide?"

Natsu had the sense to go red in the cheeks.

"Oh, yeah. Well, c'mon," he walked over and drew her arm across his shoulders.

"I thought I said I couldn't have you following me?" Lucy was taken aback—she thought Natsu would understand the circumstances! "Are you some kind of sick pervert or something, following a girl when she goes to the bathroom?"

"Not like that, Luce!" Natsu kind of chuckled, "I'll help you to the trees and then let you go in and do your business, and then you come back to me and I'll help you to your sleeping bag. You won't have to put as much pressure on your ankle if we do it this way, you know."

Oh. Lucy felt exceedingly stupid now. She should have known better than that, because Natsu wouldn't do something like that to her. He was too afraid of her wrath almost as much as he feared Erza's anger being turned upon him. It was common knowledge in Fairy Tail that you'd die if you pissed Erza off too badly, but next to that it was Lucy that you didn't want to anger.

"Oh," she finally voiced aloud. "Thanks, then…but I still could have made it on my own."

"Deal with it," Natsu said, just as stubborn as she. So Lucy stepped into the trees when they reached the edge of the clearing and went in a little way to do her business. She washed her hands thoroughly in a nearby brook and went back to Natsu just as he had instructed her to do. Once more he pulled her arm over his shoulder and helped her back to the sleeping bag.

Lucy had been sitting down for about two more minutes when Gray reappeared with the firewood he had gone to gather.

"Any trouble with her while I was gone?" the ice mage asked Natsu, piling his sticks with what remained of those from Natsu's trip into the woods.

"She got up again," Natsu said simply, and Gray cast a glance at Lucy. She felt the threat of being frozen to the ground more acutely for a few seconds—right until Natsu finished explaining. "She had to go to the bathroom."

"That's fine, then. Did she do much walking?"

She is right here, the blonde wanted to say. They were talking as ifs he couldn't hear them and they were probably doing it entirely on purpose just to annoy her.

"I helped her to the edge of the trees and let her walk in and do whatever on her own, and then when she came back out I helped her back."

The dark-haired man nodded as if in approval of the other's actions.

What's the world coming to? The blonde wondered, once more letting herself fall back onto her 'bed'.

After getting back to Magnolia after her mission with the boys, Lucy had managed to catch a cold. She didn't know why, just that she had and it really irritated her. First she hadn't been allowed to walk because her ankle was swollen like a balloon and her sprain was severe according to Wendy…but then she had to somehow catch a cold. Now, just when her sprain had gone and she'd been given the okay to walk on it once more, she had caught a bad cold and was bedridden. It was infuriating!

One thing about being stuck in bed with a high fever and a runny nose was that it gave her plenty of time to sleep and another thing was that it gave her way too much time to think.

She still hadn't discovered any hidden feelings from either of her targets. They were both so protective where she was concerned and they both were really sweet when she was hurt or sick, like she was now. Her heart was a roiling mass of undecipherable emotions and she couldn't tell which boy that they were more about.

"How's that fever?" a voice asked from the doorway, and a familiar guy followed it into the room. He lifted the ice bag from her forehead and made a face when he found that it was mostly water already. Holding the water-filled bag in one hand, he reached with the other to feel her cheek. Lucy could feel that his fingers were much colder than her cheek—even colder than they would have been under normal circumstances.

"Still there?" she asked, referring to the fever.

"Yeah," he sighed. He ran his free hand through his dark hair and looked down at the ice bag. Lucy watched it wriggle a little in his hand until the unmistakable sound of ice clinking together inside reached her ears. Gray then replaced the ice bag on her forehead. "Have you been moving around more than you're supposed to?"

"No," the blonde huffed, and it was the truth. She'd done just as Wendy had said and only gotten up when she needed the bathroom or food or drink…which wasn't very often because there was usually someone there with her that would go get whatever she needed for her.

"Well, just keep following Wendy's rules and I'm sure you'll be better in no time," Gray told her, not looking at her.

"Don't worry so much," the celestial mage said softly. "It's just a cold."

"I know," Gray looked up at her ceiling momentarily and then turned his gaze to her. "I know, but I can't help it."

And then, to her surprise, he brushed a few strands of hair aside and leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her temple. If it weren't for her fever, a blush would have been highly visible on her cheeks.

"G-Gray?"

"I like you, Lucy," he said gently, smiling a little weakly. "So just get well soon, okay? And when you're better, you can respond."

Gray rose from the edge of Lucy's bed and walked off, raising a hand in farewell as he passed through her door. A few moments later, she heard the door to her apartment open and close and, with his confession still hanging on the air, Lucy was all alone again.

Gray likes me, she couldn't help but mentally repeat it again and again. It had been two hours since the ice mage had been by to tend to her for a brief spell. Two hours since Lucy's investigation had actually produced some results—one of her two choices actually liked her back! It made her heart fluttery and made her feel even warmer than the fever did.

"I brought some soup from Mira!" came a voice as the other man burst in through the door to the apartment. In just seconds he was at her bedroom door, pink hair just as ruffled as ever. He held a thermos in one hand and wore a huge grin on his face. "Why don't you sit up? I'll go get a bowl and a spoon!"

The thermos made a gentle thud on the wood of her bedside table as the dragonslayer went into the kitchen.

Lucy did as she was asked, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She was thankful that she didn't grow dizzy this time like she had the last time she had sat up. The blonde adjusted the pillows behind her so they kept her propped up and she reached out to grab the thermos, twisting the lid off and letting the delicious aroma waft up to meet her nostrils. Until that moment, she hadn't realized just how hungry she really was because her mind had been fully occupied by the sexy ice mage that had confessed to her.

"Here it is!" Natsu's cheerful voice broke into her thoughts, and he sat a tray across her lap, taking the thermos from her hands gently and pouring some of the steaming food into the bowl. It looked and smelled absolutely delectable.

"Thanks so much, Natsu," Lucy said, picking up the spoon and blowing gently on the spoonful of soup she scooped up with it.

"No problem!" Natsu smiled at her, opening a lunchbox of his own and digging into a ham sandwich.

The duo ate in relative silence, the occasional conversation easygoing and comfortable. Between them, there was a feeling of camaraderie that Lucy had always known was there but had never really acknowledged. They had an easy, instant kind of friendship, and it was something that Lucy really treasured.

When the meal finished, Natsu took Lucy's bowl and spoon to the kitchen and she heard him wash it quickly before he returned to her side.

"I have to go soon," he told her, looking absently out of the window for a brief moment. In an impulsive move, the dragonslayer lurched forward a few steps and hugged the celestial mage tightly to him for a few long moments. "But I wanted you to know, Luce…I really like you. Even if you don't feel the same, you'll always be one of my best friends, but I wanted you to know."

He released her then, smiling a bit sheepishly but still the same childish expression that Lucy liked about him.

"Natsu—" Lucy didn't even know what she'd been about to say, but he raised his hand.

"Later, Luce!" he said, leaping from her window sill without even a second thought about the action. And he left Lucy in turmoil once again.

They…they both like me?

The blonde definitely had too much time to think about things when she was stuck in bed. Especially after her two favorite men had both confessed to her within a span of three hours. Now Lucy actually had to think about which one she liked more when, until this point, she'd been expecting their feelings to decide which one she would try to date.

"Lucy!" Mira greeted her as soon as she walked into the guild a week later. "You're better now?"

"One hundred percent!" the blonde responded, beaming at the white-haired woman. She felt giddy and excited to be back because she had finally made her choice. It was going to be hard, but she would have to let one of them down. And yet…the thought of telling him that she liked him, too just had her in a fantastic mood.

Now to talk to Natsu and Gray, Lucy mused softly, scanning the guild for them.

"Oh, I wonder what Natsu and Lucy are talking about?" Lisanna wondered aloud absently, her eyes on the duo across the guild. Gray, seated shirtless at the bar, followed her gaze. The two were actually being really serious about whatever they were talking about.

So that's it, huh? Gray thought to himself. I guess she chose him.

He couldn't deny that he felt jealousy bubbling up in the pit of his stomach, but if flamebrain was the one who could make the blonde happy then Gray would be happy for her. His heart might be breaking, but as long as hers was fine then he would be all right. There were others…he'd just have to get over her first. It was going to be hard…but it's what Lucy would want, right?

Lisanna glanced at the ice mage as he watched his best friend and crush interacting across the room. She smiled softly. She could completely understand how he felt—she'd felt the same since she came back from Edolas.

"I understand," Natsu smiled cheerfully at Lucy. He scratched the back of his neck a little sheepishly. "It's actually what I expected. So go ahead and talk to him now, before he gets the wrong idea."

Lucy smiled softly at the dragonslayer.

"Thanks for understanding, Natsu," she said, giving him a quick hug. Then she turned and scanned the room for the other boy—where was Gray?

It only took a few short moments for Lucy's eyes to find the dark-haired ice mage at the bar, talking to Lisanna and sipping idly at a glass of ice water. His button-up shirt and the t-shirt from underneath it were both lying on the floor by his stool, but he still had his pants on this time. The blonde absently watched the muscles in his back expand and contract as he lifted his glass to his lips again, and then she shook herself.

Don't stare at him, she scolded herself. You have to go talk to him!

"Gray!" Lucy called, waving at him as she walked up to him. He turned to look at her and she shifted her weight a little nervously. "Gray, can we talk for a few minutes?"

"Sure, go ahead and sit," he gestured to the stool beside him, although he thought he knew what this was going to be about. He put on a brave face, trying not to let the hurt show through. The ice mage cast a glance at the white-haired girl he'd been talking to and she smiled encouragingly at him.

"I'll just go talk to Sis for a while," Lisanna said, waggling her fingers at the two before walking off to talk to her older sister.

"So…" Gray stretched the word out, hinting. He just wanted to get this over with so it could start healing. If she was going to shoot him down, he wanted to be able to recover with dignity and he couldn't do that if she dawdled. He might just crack if she drew it out.

"Well…I wanted to tell you that I was honestly surprised when you confessed to me," she clasped her hands in her lap, looking at the wooden countertop of the bar. "I didn't expect it at all. And then Natsu confessed to me later that day and I just didn't know what to do…"

Lucy's dry laugh made Gray's heart squeeze a little painfully.

"Lucy—"

"No, wait 'til I'm done, okay?" she cut him off, looking up at him. "I have to say it before I lose my nerve!"

The way she sat with one fist in front of her, clenched in a pose of pure determination, made Gray grin softly to himself.

Damn it,he thought, that Natsu is one lucky bastard after all.

"Go on, then," Gray prompted, even though it hurt him to do so.

"I'm getting to it!" Lucy cried, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and then started to blush, closing her mouth. Her face stayed red even as she took a few steadying breaths and Gray was kind of confused but he thought it was adorable. Finally, she took another deep breath and said, "It was really hard, trying to sort through all of my feelings, but I finally realized that I liked one of you. I just had to figure out which one, you know? And so I started thinking…how did your confessions make me feel?"

She was fidgeting and Gray wished she'd just put him out of his misery already. He wouldn't interrupt again, though. He just nodded to let her know she could go on with her explanation.

"And I realized that when you told me you liked me, I got all flustered and felt really warm…and when Natsu said it, I was flattered but my heart didn't feel quite as fluttery."

Here it is, Gray thought, she's going to tell me—wait…

"So…um…" she looked up and smiled nervously, her cheeks a bright pink. "I like you too, Gray."

Lucy was nervous—how would he take it? Would he be mad at her for taking so long to get to the point? Had he suddenly gotten over his feelings for her? Or had he been pretending to like her the whole time just to get on Natsu's nerves?

The celestial mage let out a small squeak when the dark-haired and shirtless man pulled her off her stool and straight into a tight hug. Her hands rested on his well-defined pectoral muscles and her ear right over where his heart was beating erratically against his chest. She closed her eyes and slowly wrapped her arms around him in return, letting the beating of his heart sound in her ear.

"I'm so relieved," he said softly, his nose in her hair and his lips right beside her free ear.

"Huh…?"

"You were talking to Natsu so seriously, I thought that you'd picked him…I was trying to figure out how I could possibly move on when you make me feel this way…" he laughed a little nervously. "God. Lucy, you have no idea how much it hurt."

"I'm sorry," Lucy pulled him closer. "I'm sorry that I caused a misunderstanding by talking to him first…I just thought I had to..."

"It's okay," Gray leaned back enough to kiss her on the forehead. A small smirk showed on his features, and he then asked, almost his confident self, "Go out with me?"

They were so close she could have kissed him, but that would have been moving a little quickly, so she stood up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek. She pulled away, beaming, and he grinned back.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said, leaning nearer, "but I think you missed."

Lucy couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up. Apparently he didn't think it would be moving too fast, and she decided she could live with that. Fairy Tail was full of fast-paced people anyway, and she'd grown used to living in the fast lane.

Gray started leaning down as Lucy tilted her head up, and they met in the middle to cheers from the surrounding guild members. Lucy heard a wolf-whistle that sounded suspiciously like a drunken Cana and she heard a few naughty remarks from Macao and Wakaba—of course—but she didn't care right now. All she cared about was the way Gray's arms were encasing her in a circle and the way they were grinning idiotically at each other.

And like that, Lucy's dilemma was solved.

SURPRISE. I made it GraLu instead of NaLu! I usually wouldn't do that, you know, but I felt like a change for once. DarkMoonKilling, I hope you liked it! Plus…it's like 5500 words long, so I hope length makes up for delay? Hahaha!

I had fun writing this. I love NaLu, don't get me wrong. But I for some reason really loved writing this one.