Gratsu Weekend 2019

Day 3 Prompt: Soft and Destiny

It's Not Always Rainbows and Butterflies

Gray woke up to an insistent tapping on his window. He knew it wasn't Natsu because he'd given up on locking his window a long time ago, just left it unlocked for his friend to crawl through when he needed to.

He wiped the sleep out of his eyes and quickly got out of bed to see who was visiting him so late. Wendy Dragneel was standing outside his window, and she looked terrified. There was blood on her clothes and she was crying, her body shaking as the sobs escaped her.

"Wendy!" Gray quickly opened the window, "What's wrong?"

"You need to help him, please!" Wendy wailed, "Something's wrong, he can't get up."

Gray grabbed a pair of sweatpants off the floor and found some shoes. His heart was racing, and his chest felt like there was a tremendous weight on it, but he kept moving, trying hard not to think about what he might find.

Please God, let him be alright. I promise if you just get him out of this in one piece I will get him help, even if he hates me for it.

He felt a strange calm descend upon him, "Is your uncle awake?"

Wendy shook her head, "I waited until he passed out to come get you."

"Where's Natsu?"

"He's in my room," Wendy sobbed, "My uncle was trying to... and Natsu he-- I begged him to stop but..."

"Shh, you know he can't do that," Gray leaned out his window to pic her up and pull her through, setting her on his bed. He hugged her hoping to give her some comfort, although he knew she was too worried for it to do much good. "Everything's going to be alright. Just stay here, I'll be right back. If my dad comes in..."

He paused for a moment to think about what he wanted to say. "Tell him everything."

Gray was done fucking around. It's not that he believed in destiny or anything like that but having Wendy be the one to come get him felt like a sign that things had gone far enough.

He exited out his window and began to run as fast as he could. Natsu had come to him in some pretty bad states over the years, to have Wendy say he couldn't get up was scaring Gray shitless. He struggled to control his racing thoughts, to just focus on getting to Natsu's house as quickly as possible. The distance between their houses had never seemed so far. He pushed himself to run even faster, driven by his ever-growing worry.

He finally reached the house, immediately noticing it had fallen into disrepair. It saddened him to see it, Igneel had loved his home and his family with all his heart, he would be devastated if he knew what had become of both.

Gray peered into all the windows, but when he finally found Wendy's, it was locked. He saw Natsu lying on the floor in a small pool of blood and immediately became frantic.

He ran over to the front door, praying it was unlocked although he'd happily break it down if he had to. He worried Natsu's uncle might have awoken and part of him wished for it, he would love any excuse to unleash his anger on the person responsible for putting Natsu through so much.

Gray had to fight every single instinct he possessed to keep from rushing in, he knew he had to go in smart. He paused to take some deep breaths before turning the knob slowly, opening the door as quietly as he was able. He stood still, waiting for his eyes to get used to the dark before hurrying to Wendy's room. Her bedroom door stood open, and he rushed to Natsu's side.

"Natsu," Gray called out, his voice barely above a whisper, "Can you move?"

"Gray?" Natsu's voice was strained, and Gray immediately sought out one of Natsu's hands with his own, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently.

"I'm here."

Gray felt a squeeze in response and fretted about how weak it was.

"Wendy?" Natsu panted out with difficulty.

"She's okay," Gray assured him, squeezing his hand again, "She's at my house."

"I did it, I kept her safe." An impossibly serene smile bloomed on Natsu's lips. It softened his features and made him look so much younger. It was the closest to Natsu's real smile that Gray had seen in a long time, yet it filled him with dread. It felt like Natsu was saying goodbye and he couldn't bear it.

Gray kissed Natsu's forehead gently before studying him, trying to figure out where the blood was coming from and striving to stay calm, even though all he wanted was to pick Natsu up go, "Don't talk anymore, we need to get you out of here."

"Can't move, everything hurts," Natsu tried to smile again, "I'll be okay, get out of here before he comes back."

"I'm not leaving you," Gray growled in protest, "How can you even ask me to?"

"Don't want you to get hurt." Natsu's words came out in shallow pants, his breathing becoming even more labored. Gray was torn between feeling exhilarated at Natsu's obvious concern for him and panic at his rapidly deteriorating condition.

"Well, isn't that touching, the fairy is worried about his little boyfriend," Gray stiffened as he heard the mocking voice not far behind him. He'd been so focused on Natsu he'd never even bothered to keep track of any movement in the house.

He turned his head to see the outline of a man standing in the doorway. It was too dark to get a good look at his features, but Gray could tell that he was tall and appeared to be well built. The alcohol on his breath was still pungent enough that Gray could smell it. He held what seemed to be a beer bottle in his hand as he walked into the room and attempted to get closer to Natsu.

Gray let go of Natsu's hand and stood up, assuming a defensive stance. He was more than ready to fight if it came down to it.

This man had spent the last six years chipping away at Natsu both physically and emotionally, destroying everything he'd been and leaving only a shadow of his previous self, all in a bid to get at Wendy. Gray hated him with all his heart.

"Get away from him boy, I'm not done with him."

Gray bristled at being called boy. He could feel the rage boiling within him, urging him to destroy this man. To inflict on him a thousand blows, one for each time he'd dared lay a hand on his beloved.

"Stay away from him," Gray roared, his body a coiled spring just waiting for Natsu's uncle to make a move to snap.

The sounds of sirens cut through the tension in the room, and for a moment Natsu's uncle seemed unsure, but he moved forward with a speed that did not seem possible given how drunk he appeared.

Gray was already getting ready to push kick him when the light in the room was turned on, and as they all blinked to get used to the sudden brightness, a body rushed in and tackled Natsu's uncle to the ground. The beer bottle broke, spilling its contents on the floor and filling the air with its bitter smell.

"Get the hell away from my son," Silver Fullbuster growled, angrier than Gray had ever seen him. Natsu's uncle seemed confused by Silver's presence, and Silver used it to his advantage, quickly reaching down and grabbing him by his collar. He pulled Natsu's uncle up to a standing position and threatened him with his fist.

"Just give me a reason." Silver snarled as the man tried to shake off his hold. He shook the man roughly.

Gray was having trouble reconciling his mild-mannered father with this angel of wrath that had appeared out of nowhere to smite Natsu's uncle.

"What you tried to do to these kids...you're lucky you're Igneel's brother; otherwise, I'd have no trouble killing you." Silver spat in the man's face.

"Dad?!"

Silver ignored him for the moment, it seemed his anger was not limited to Natsu's uncle but he spared a worried glance at the boy lying on the floor. "Natsu, hold on son, an ambulance will be here any second."

"Did you hear that, Natsu?" Gray turned his attention back to Natsu, only to find him lying unnaturally still, his skin had acquired an unhealthy blue tint. He grabbed Natsu's wrist to try to feel for a pulse, but he couldn't feel anything, his own heart was beating too fast.

No, he had to be alright! He was free now, they both were. It couldn't end like this!

This time there was nothing to stop Gray from shattering, his tears flowed hot even though inside all he felt was a debilitating cold. He quickly grabbed Natsu's hand in his, seeking out the comforting warmth he'd grown so used to. To his relief, he saw that Natsu was still breathing, although they were very shallow.

That's when Gray felt arms gently trying to pry him away, and he fought against them, vaguely hearing his father asking him to stop.

"You need to let us help him, son," A paramedic smiled at him kindly, his face blurry amidst Gray's tears. He let himself be led away while two other paramedics began to work on Natsu, speaking in a language too technical for Gray to understand.

Gray nodded, not really hearing the words but understanding that they could help Natsu. There were policemen in the house as well, and he wondered how all these people had come in without him noticing.

The paramedic handed him over to his father who immediately surrounded him in a hug and let him cry on his shoulder. "Shh, he's going to be okay."

Gray nodded once again, watching as the paramedics attached lines to Natsu's arms and put a brace on him, gently sliding him onto a stretcher. They rushed him off in an ambulance, and all Gray could do was watch them drive away, sirens blaring, before a host of policemen descended upon him, asking questions that were not able to pierce through his haze.

A/N We are now in real time. Last part will be Want to Make You Feel Beautiful