Chapter 2

Natsu called in sick for the first time in over a year, and he'd already taken the following day off so that wouldn't be a problem. He'd spent some time online the previous evening searching for things that might cheer Gray up and had come up with a few ideas.

He felt terrible for not realizing just how sad and lonely Gray was, too worried about putting in as many hours as he could to really give it much thought. He'd tried to be up for whatever Gray had been up to when he got home, but he realized now that had not been enough. Natsu had never experienced Christmas, but for Gray, it was a big deal.

Gray had a lot of traditions that he'd enjoyed over the years, and now that he found himself alone he was lost and hurting, and Natsu was the worst person in the world to make that better cause he was at a loss at what to do. He did have the list though, and the things that he and Lyon had discussed the night before. Now he just had to secure a rental car on Christmas Eve.

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December 24th :

 2. Trim the tree
 8. Singing Christmas carols
 9. Long Walks to look at decorations then home for Ur's hot chocolate
10.Christmas Lights
11.Stupid Ugly Sweaters

12. Kissing Natsu under the mistletoe

The rental car idea had not worked out so well. The last person he'd talked to had actually laughed at him over the phone and suggested he look into bus tickets, which had actually been a decent suggestion but also a dead end.

"Come on 'Jeel," Natsu whined over the phone, "You know I wouldn't ask unless it was important."

"You getting laid is not important to me." Gajeel retorted.

"It's not like that, I just want to do something nice for a friend," Natsu argued back.

"A friend that you're interested in," Gajeel reminded him.

"That's beside the point, he's staying in my apartment. If that's all I wanted I would have done something about it already. Now stop being a dick and let me borrow your car."

Gajeel remained silent on the line for a few minutes as he considered the request. "Fine, but you're going to owe me big, and if you get even one scratch on my baby, I will repay you with my fist."

"Deal. Thank you!" Natsu exclaimed, now that things were beginning to work out for his plan he was getting excited. Gajeel agreed to drop off his car before noon.

Natsu grabbed some clothes from his closet and put them in a backpack. He tiptoed, not wanting to wake Gray as he grabbed a change of clothes for him from the coat closet, then grabbed his motion sickness medication from the bathroom. He called Lyon again to let him know what time to meet them.

Natsu had already bought tickets for all three of them to attend the event. He really hoped Gray liked it. He looked through his closet, trying to find some old sweaters he wouldn't mind messing up, eventually coming up with a white one and a gray one. Natsu might not have any Christmas sweaters but he was an art student, and he was perfectly capable of making his own ugly ones.

Natsu laid both sweaters on his bed and studied them thoughtfully. He opened the cabinet that contained all his art supplies and pulled out different colors of felt as well as scissors and needle and thread. He grabbed his glue gun and plugged it into the wall then went into the living room to grab some of the leftover candy from the previous night.

Gray stirred, and Natsu stood still, not exactly sure how to act around his friend now that he knew his feelings were returned.

"Natsu?" Gray opened his eyes slowly. "You're not going to work today?"

"Nope, I forgot to tell you last night they gave me the day off, tomorrow too."

"Isn't it a little early for candy?" Gray blinked slowly taking in his friend who had his arms full of candy.

"I'm working on a project," Natsu grinned sheepishly, "Actually, would you like to help?"

"Sure, you've put up with all my stuff," Gray shrugged, stretching and getting up from the bed. He looked down at his clothes with surprise. "Did I fall asleep on you? I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, just come into my room when you're ready," Natsu encouraged him as he headed back to his room, "All my art supplies are in there."

"Ok, I'm gonna make some coffee, do you want some?" Gray asked already headed to the kitchen.

"Yes please!" Natsu yelled from his bedroom, already focused on his project. The beginning stages of a project were always his favorite, everything was fraught with possibility. Colors, textures, materials, shapes, sizes. So many decisions and every one could either make his vision come to life or make it fall flat.

He looked at the list one last time before hiding it under his pillow and deciding to make his a Christmas tree. They could trim it together with scraps of fabric, candy and whatever else he could scrounge up, maybe buttons? He cut a tree shape and began to sew it on to the sweater, deciding it was safer since the weight of the decorations might be too much for the glue to handle.

For the other sweater, he'd decided on the reindeer with the red nose, making the face as big as possible and cutting antlers that went all the way down the sleeves of the sweater. He was sewing those in when Gray came into the room balancing two piping hot mugs of coffee and two bagels with cream cheese.

"Mhmm... thanks! You're a lifesaver," Natsu grabbed the coffee from his friend and inhaled deeply.

Gray chuckled and smelled his own drink before looking at what Natsu was working on. "What are you making?"

"We are making ugly sweaters," Natsu said as he continued sewing the antlers to the sleeve. Natsu observed his handiwork critically. "Do you think the reindeer needs glasses?"

"Uhm, sure... but doesn't he need eyes first?" Gray replied as Natsu attacked his collection of felt scraps coming up with white, black and turquoise.

"Already on it!" Natsu grinned showing him the black and white scraps he was holding.

"Can you cut up two large white circles and two smaller black ones? I'll work on the glasses."

"I don't know, Natsu. I'm not exactly crafty." Gray said nervously.

"Dude, you baked cookies and made gingerbread houses, you're fucking Martha Stewart as far as I'm concerned." Natsu teased, "Besides it doesn't matter if you mess up, they're supposed to be ugly, remember?" He handed Gray the scissors and began to draw a large pair of glasses that he would have Gray cut out while he got together all the materials he would need for the other one.

Natsu looked around for old buttons, beads and pipe cleaners and set them in a pile. He began laying out the candy and positioning the Twizzlers as garlands. They continued to work in silence, and Natsu turned on his radio, Christmas music played from the speakers, but Natsu made no move to change the station.

"You don't have to do that, I'm sure you must be sick of Christmas music by now."

"Nah, it's okay, it's a fitting soundtrack to what we're doing," Natsu grinned, "To be honest, at work I just kind of tune it out. Do you like this one?"

Gray tried not to blush, the song that was playing was All I Want For Christmas Is You.

"Yeah, it's ok. Hey Natsu? Why are we doing this?"

"Oh, we'll need them for later."

"Why?"

"Not telling, it's a surprise," Natsu winked with a shy smile, "You've been planning a lot of activities for us to do and I've been slacking, so today it's my turn."

He heard his apartment buzzer go off and got up to answer it. "I'll be right back, keep working on this okay?"

Natsu ran downstairs and opened the building door. Gajeel was standing in front of his car which was conveniently parked in front of the building.

Natsu hugged Gajeel, who was one of his oldest friends, "You are the best, I owe you big time!"

"Not a scratch, and I expect a full tank of gas when I get it back," Gajeel growled before handing over the keys. He softened his voice and ruffled Natsu's hair before saying. "Good luck kid, we're all rooting for you, and if you want to take more days off, I can cover for you." Gajeel gihied at Natsu's obvious discomfort and walked off towards the bus stop.

Natsu went back inside and checked on Gray's progress. He was using the glue gun to decorate the tree with the bits and pieces Natu had laid out. Natsu sewed on the reindeer eyes and glasses and watched Gray work as he ate his bagel. He caught himself appreciating the way Gray's brow furrowed as he applied glue to an object and attached it to the felt, immediately smiling as he admired his work. Natsu quickly looked away, glad to see his friend seemed to be enjoying himself. Natsu made a few suggestions and then looked down at his watch, they'd need to leave in about an hour.

"Alright, that's probably enough. We should give the glue some time to set before we put these on." Natsu commented, he thought they had both come out pretty good, maybe not quite as ugly as they should have been but oh well.

"I'm gonna take a shower and get ready. We need to leave here in about an hour."

Gray nodded and went to watch TV as he waited for his turn in the bathroom. He wondered what Natsu had planned, he'd had a lot of fun working on the sweaters, although the fact that it had been a Christmas related activity had been kind of odd. Had he said something last night? Gray couldn't remember.

An hour later they were ready to go, Natsu had packed them food, and they left the apartment both wearing their sweaters under their coats. Gray had chosen the tree one while Natsu was wearing the reindeer with the squiggly antlers.

Natsu unlocked the car from Gajeel's key fob and opened the door for Gray.

"I thought you got motion sick," Gray asked in confusion.

"I do, but it's not as bad when I'm driving," Natsu explained. "We have a long car drive ahead of us, so I went ahead and took medicine a while ago."

"Where are we going?"

"It'll be more fun for you if you let yourself be surprised." Natsu felt a buzz in his pocket and saw he had a text from Lyon.

Preparations have all been made.

Natsu smiled to himself in anticipation. He was really excited to do this for Gray, and after all wasn't that what Christmas was supposed to be all about? He turned the ignition and remained quiet until he had gotten on the highway. Natsu didn't often drive so even with the GPS feeding him directions he was still nervous.

Gajeel's car had satellite radio, and Gray played with it until he found a station that listed bands he enjoyed. He settled back on the seat as Pyro by Shinedown began to play.

"Turn it up a little, I like that one," Natsu requested as he began to sing along. Gray joined him, and soon they were both belting it out, laughing as it became increasingly clear that neither one of them could carry a tune. Natsu stretched his arm out blindly to pat Gray on the shoulder but to his great embarrassment, somehow ended up brushing his fingers on Gray's cheek instead.

Natsu's entire face turned beet red as he realized what he'd done and he quickly moved his hand back to the steering wheel. "I'm so sorry! I was just--"

Gray laughed, amused by Natsu's distress, "It's ok, at least it wasn't a punch."

Natsu had to snicker at that, Gray had a point. They had become rather well known for their fistfights over the years, that and their constant bickering. They listened to music in comfortable silence, but Natsu could tell that Gray was becoming more curious. He caught him peering at all the road signs, trying to figure out where they were headed.

When they were about thirty minutes out from their destination, Natsu changed the station to Christmas music, and as Gray sang along, Natsu made up his own lyrics much to Gray's amusement.

"Hey, we're not that far from our place," Gray suddenly said.

"Really? Where do you live?" Natsu feigned innocence as best he could but thankfully Gray was too busy looking out the window to notice.

"Where are we going?" Gray asked suspiciously.

"Just be patient, it'll only be a little longer."

"Do you think we could drive by my house on the way back?" Gray asked, and he looked so hopeful that Natsu did not have the heart to say no.

"If that's what you want."

Natsu saw the turn he needed to take to get off the highway. It was going to be small-town roads from now on.

"Wow, look at that!" Natsu pointed out as they began to drive past ornately decorated storefronts and houses. Natsu could almost touch Gray's excitement as he talked about all the things they were seeing.

He began to talk about Ur and Lyon and how they had spent days decorating their house inside and out and Natsu could hear the love dripping in his words.

Soon they turned into the parking lot for the Botanical Gardens where an attendant guided them to a spot. They got out of the car, Gray gawking at the little he could already see. Natsu was grinning from ear to ear, already seeing that he'd made a good choice.

He'd heard about this place from some people at work but had promptly forgotten it because he didn't think it had anything to do with him. However, when it showed up on Natsu's search, he thought Gray would like it. The Botanical Garden had covered their entire landscape in beautiful lights of every color.

Natsu brought out the food he'd packed and headed towards the place he'd agreed to meet Lyon with Gray following behind, overwhelmed by all the colors. At one point Natsu had to grab Gray's hand so he wouldn't get lost in the crowd, dragging him towards the main building.

They entered and headed towards the small sitting area where there were some tables, Lyon already sitting at one of them. He rose to meet them.

"Took you long enough," The voice was enough to grab Gray's attention.

"Lyon?" He asked in disbelief, "But how..."

Gray looked back at Natsu who had stepped back to give the two brothers some space. He began to set out the food he'd made so they could eat before they entered the gardens.

"I got a furious call last night," Lyon glared at Natsu before sighing, "But everything he said was true, I was an asshole."

Gray stood there nodding dumbly, still not entirely sure what was going on, and Lyon wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. "I should have thought about how this would affect you," Lyon whispered, "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

"Yeah," Gray hugged Lyon back, "I've been thinking about you a lot and about her... I miss her."

"I miss her too, every day," Lyon told him sadly, neither one of them wanting to say Ur's name.

"Food's ready guys," Natsu called out, having already taken his seat at the table. They ate quickly and got in line for their time slot. Natsu handed the attendant his phone with the email receipt, and they were given stickers to put on their coats.

"When did they start doing this?" Gray asked in awe, his eyes never straying from the lights outside. He had been to the Botanical Gardens several times over the years, but it had never looked like this before.

"This year, actually," Lyon replied, "To be honest I was surprised Natsu knew about it."

Gray dragged his eyes away from the lights to gaze at Natsu, who was busy taking in their surroundings. Lyon snickered and whispered, "If you don't finally make a move on him after this, there is no hope for you."

"What if he turns me down?" Gray whispered urgently.

"Are you stupid?" Lyon hissed, then softened his tone when he saw that Gray was serious. "I'm almost certain that's not going to happen. Now let's get out there and look at some lights!"

The three of them made their way outside, the late afternoon air surprisingly cold, making them zip their jackets all the way up and cover their heads and hands with hats and gloves. They stood still for a minute trying to determine which direction to go first.

Natsu tried to stay behind the two brothers wanting to give them the time he knew they needed to reconnect, but neither of them was having it. Gray grabbed Natsu's hand and kept him by his side while Lyon walked on Gray's other side.

Natsu was surprised when Gray didn't let go of his hand. Instead, he squeezed it and started telling him about other times he'd been there. He showed Natsu his favorite areas and with a mischievous grin told stories of getting lost on field trips or scaring Ur by playing hide and seek with Lyon.

Gray showed him where there had once been a park and stopped at every fairy house to explore the inside. It was nice to see this side of Gray, to have him share some of his life before they had ever met.

Gray oohed and aahed at all the lights, especially liking how they reflected on the ice while also enjoying the ones frozen underneath the surface. Natsu took lots of pictures of the displays while Lyon took a picture of Natsu and Gray as they sat on a garden swing with their arms draped around each other's shoulders and smiling at the camera.

Natsu was looking forward to the last item on Gray's list, but he had not spotted a mistletoe yet. Too soon their time ended and they had to leave. The three of them heading back to the parking lot.

"I don't want this to end," Gray turned around and looked at the lights one more time before seeking Natsu out. "This was incredible, Natsu, and you even got Lyon here! Thank you!"

Lyon gave Gray a meaningful look and left them alone to go get something from his car.

"I'm glad you liked it," Natsu beamed, and they stood there neither one knowing what to do or say.

Lyon returned with a large thermos of hot cocoa and some hot cups only to notice neither Natsu nor Gray had moved from where he'd left them. They stood there locked in a stare that was quickly derailing into a panicked gaze. Lyon did not have the patience for this idiocy. He'd had enough.

"Oh for the love of God," Lyon cried out in frustration, "You two are dating, just deal with it! Now have some of Ur's hot cocoa." He filled the cups and shoved them in their faces.

Gray detangled himself from Natsu's eyes long enough to grab his cup, "Did you say Ur's hot cocoa?"

Lyon smirked, quite satisfied with himself, "Just don't ask how many batches it took to get it right."

Gray placed the cup under his nose and let the steam warm up his face as he smelled the contents. He closed his eyes, visions of past years playing in his mind before he finally took a sip. He let out a small whimper, it was perfect. Just like this whole day. He thought about what Lyon had blurted out and realized his brother was right.

Everything they'd done since he'd begun staying at Natsu's apartment had been a date.

"This is really good, Lyon, " Gray watched as Natsu complimented his brother while making no mention of Lyon's earlier words.

"I'm gonna go home and get the rest of the stuff ready," Lyon told Natsu handing him the thermos, "Come over when you're ready."

Natsu and Gray agreed and watched Lyon drive away, Natsu refilled their cups and covered them with the lids Lyon had provided. He pointed towards the car and Gray nodded walking behind him. Once they had sat down, and while they waited for the car to warm up, Gray asked the question that had been on his mind for the last few minutes.

"There's just one thing I don't get?" Gray puzzled.

"What's that?"

"Why did you do all this?" Gray's mind was quickly putting things together, ugly sweaters, singing carols, Ur's hot cocoa, Christmas lights..."Oh my god, you saw my list!" Gray groaned in humiliation.

"I--I did," Natsu admitted honestly, cheeks burning red at being caught, "I hadn't really understood how important all this was to you and when I saw how upset you were last night I just, I had to do something."

"I don't know what to say," Gray hid his face in his hands.

"Hey, don't do that," Natsu chastised him as he tried to pry the fingers away, "There's nothing embarrassing about being sad because you're grieving or about wanting to relive moments that made you happy. It's perfectly normal. Your aunt meant a lot to you, and this is your first year without her. Things are different, and it's scary, but you're not alone, you don't have to go through this alone."

Gray thought about Natsu's words and realized he was right. Things were different, and it was scary but that didn't mean he had to give up on Christmas, he just had to learn to enjoy it differently. He could still hold on to old traditions while creating new ones, with Natsu. Still, he couldn't help being embarrassed by the last item of his list.

"That's not what I meant," Gray mumbled from behind his hands, "I was thinking about number twelve."

"Oh, uhm what's wrong with number twelve?" Natsu said as bravely as he could.

"You mean you don't mind it?" Gray slowly peeked out from behind his hand fortress.

"Why would I mind it? I've been looking for fucking mistletoe all night," Natsu complained, "Botanical garden my ass."

Gray started to laugh at Natsu's frustrated tone, "You know the mistletoe was never the important part, right?"

"Well, but it was on your list for a perfect Christmas."

Gray chuckled at how cute Natsu was and tried to hug him, but the car didn't really make it easy. "Let's go home, I want to show you my house."

Natsu looked a little disappointed, but he plugged in the address Lyon had given him and drove off. Gray grabbed his hand in his, and they spent the twenty-minute drive listening to music. Natsu knew the moment Gray began to recognize things because he squeezed his hand tightly.

The neighborhood was pleasant, the houses big but not overly so and they were all decorated for the holidays. There was a snowman in front of every house save one, which turned out to be the one they were going to. Gray didn't even comment fascinated by everything that was there.

Lyon had decorated the entire house by himself. All the outdoor lights, all the inflatables everything was precisely where Gray remembered. He could see the undecorated Christmas tree through the big bay window, it was surrounded by boxes that contained all their ornaments. His heart flowed with love for Natsu who had lit a fire under Lyon's ass and for Lyon who had apparently done nothing but set things up for Gray since he'd gotten that call. Pulling together in one day what used to take the three of them several days.

Gray jumped out of the car almost before Natsu had managed to park it, running around to the driver's door and pulling Natsu out with him. They stood in front of the house, and Gray let the familiar air calm him and bolster his confidence.

He turned and faced Natsu, hugging him tightly against him. When they separated Gray smiled and put his arms around Natsu's waist, pulling him close before finally bringing his lips down gently to Natsu's and pressing against them. Natsu could only smile into the kiss before responding with pressure of his own. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before, it wasn't just pleasure that filled his body it was much more than that. For the first time, Natsu felt like he belonged somewhere with someone. That feeling was something he'd been waiting for his entire life.

He looked forward to decorating the tree with the two brothers who had welcomed him into their lives and building the snowman that had been Lyon's own addition to the list.

Gray grinned at him and said, "We're home!" before leading him inside the house, and Natsu knew that no matter how many Christmases they celebrated together this would always be his favorite one, for it was the one where he gained a family.

The End