Cake

Surprise! Special update even though I said this was finished. I had this idea for another pairing but I didn't think it would work out because of their character but it fits perfectly for gratsu.

And thus, my first modern day gratsu AU one-shot was born.

Sorry this is somewhat short... Guess it's more of a drabble than a one-shot.

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It was annoying.

So extremely, immensely, particularly, highly, exceedingly, tremendously annoying.

Natsu glared with narrow, loathsome eyes as he watched the black-haired stranger calmly sip his cup of lemon tea and read the newspaper. The stranger flipped the page, rustling loudly through the mostly-empty café.

Natsu grit his teeth and held himself back from marching over to that raven-haired man and demand an explanation. Because there it was, resting ever-so-perfectly on the scrubbed creamy white plate, untouched and uneaten.

A slice of cake.

See, that was the problem. This person came into Fairy Tail, the cutesy, tiny café he worked at on the side of his college classes, every morning and ordered a cup of lemon tea and a slice of strawberry cake.

A cake which, in fact, Natsu made personally, and quite frankly, he was damn proud of the positive results they brought in.

So why wasn't he eating it? Disregarding his personal feelings, why waste money every single day on something you won't eat? That's just dumb! Natsu thought, clenching his fists.

Natsu looked up at the man again, only to catch his eye. Natsu immediately fell under a spell, mesmerized by the obsidian-like hue that swirled in his retinas as they had a silent conversation words couldn't ever top. Natsu raised his chin slightly, as if to say I'm not backing down.

The man only scoffed and turned back to his paper, taking another sip of his drink. Natsu didn't have any time to be furious, because the clock had struck 11, and his morning shift was over.

Natsu tried to push that stranger and his aggravating habit of buying cake uselessly and clocked out. He hung up his apron and visor and said goodbye to his co-worker, Levy, before exiting the back door and locating his beaten-up cerulean car with the jammed passenger door.

Natsu sighed as he flopped into the front seat and rested his head against the headrest.

Another day, another perfectly good slice of cake wasted, he thought to himself weakly as he began to drive to his university campus for his Literature class.

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"And the usual again for today, sir?" Natsu asked with a faux-cheery tone in his voice, bowing the teeniest bit as he put on a fake smile for the customer.

Yes. That customer.

"Yeah, thanks," He nodded behind his newspaper. Natsu gritted his teeth and smiled wider, hands literally shaking with rage.

Don't punch the living day lights out of the customers, Natsu reminded himself. You need this job to help pay off your textbook debt.

Natsu turned on his heel with a flourish and marched off to go make the man's order. He grabbed a teacup from one of the shelves and nearly shattered it with the amount of force he put it onto the saucer. Grumbling slightly, he poured hot water and dunked a tea bag into the cup, finishing it with a freshly-cut lemon slice floating on the top.

There. Lemon tea done.

Next, he irritably swung open the freezer doors and took out the cake he had made that morning when he first clocked in. Knowing it probably wasn't the best idea for him to be holding a knife right know, Natsu pretended the cake was that man's head as he cut out a thin slice (because why waste a bunch of delicious cake with a thick slice?)

Natsu slid the slice onto a bigger plate, stuck a fork into the icing,

and took them both in his hands. He kicked the swinging doors open and brushed his way over to the man's table, who was staring at him intensely. Natsu tried not to feel intimidated as he set them down on the polished table.

"Is that all?" Natsu asked sweetly.

"Mmm. Thanks," The stranger said calmly, grabbing the handle of his and turning back to his paper. Natsu stood frozen in place, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

He wasn't going to walk away this time. No, not today. He felt his toes curl in his tennis shoes as he cleared his throat impatiently.

"You need something?" The man looked up from his paper, voice not sounding impatient at all.

"Is there something wrong with the cake?" Natsu asked innocently, tilting his head to deepen his cheerful smile.

"No, it's great, thanks," He responded emotionlessly.

"Then why don't you eat it? No, why don't you ever eat it? Because I make those cakes myself, and I'm pretty damn proud of them, and if you have some complaint about them I'd be more than happy to-" Natsu was cut off by the man giving him a pointed look.

The raven exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just don't like sweets, okay?"

Natsu raised his eyebrows, appalled. "So why do you-"

"Well, I just wanted an excuse to see you every day," He admitted, shrugging a shoulder lightly.

"W-what?" Natsu exclaimed, feeling his ears turn red. "What do you- what?"

The customer only laughed weakly. "Pathetic, I know. Sorry about your cake. I'll just order the tea next time."

"Uh, o-ok," Natsu stuttered, taking a step back before whirling around to the safety of the back room, clutching his notepad tightly. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, so very close to exploding with embarrassment.

When he retreated to the back room, he collapsed against the peach-colored wall and tugged at his tango pink hair in frustration. Way to go, Natsu, he thought. So smooth.

He busied himself by straightening up around back a bit before going to take more to-go orders and wait some tables. The lunch rush was already beginning to pick up, and his shift was about to end.

Natsu clocked out and hung up his apron and visor like usual, but turned around when he realized he forgot his phone on the counter. Frantically, he sprinted back through the front doors and nearly dived over the counter to retrieve his cellular device.

Just as he was about to go back to the parking lot, something caught his eye.

The stranger's usual table was now empty, which wasn't a surprise. The real surprise was that the slice of strawberry cake that usually sat there untouched was now gone.

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Short and sweet. Kinda lame, haha. :)