10K READS OH MY GOSH YES ILY GUYS YAY!!!

Natsu's POV

"There's gotta be another way out..."

"I've been stuck in a cage with my doubt, I've tried forever getting out on my own."

It took a short second to recognize the lyrics, but then the song name almost instantaneously clicked in my mind. On My Own by Ashes Remain.

My hands began to shake as Gray smiled soothingly at me and nudged me to speak the next verse. He knew I knew the song- it was my custom ringtone and Gray heard it when someone called me one day. "Every time I do this my way, I get caught on the lies of the enemy, I lay my weapons down, I'm ready for you now."

Everything else faded away, as cliché as that sounded. Nervousness melted away and I think I actually enjoyed myself as we belted out the lyrics.

"Bring me out, come and find me in the dark now, everyday by myself I'm breaking down, I don't wanna fight alone anymore!" Even though it was a cheesy karaoke bar, I felt passionate while I sang and swayed lightly side by side as Gray and my shoulders brushed against each other's.

"Bring me out, from the prison of my own pride, my God, I need a hope I can't deny, in the end I'm realizing, I was never meant to fight on my own."

Violins serenaded in the background and Gray and I briefly locked eyes. Embarrassed, I shied away before I got lost in the sparkling obsidian irises.

All in all, I found it refreshing. Fun, if you stretched it out a bit. It was nerve-wracking, yeah, but no one we knew was there, and the few people who were didn't care one bit. The rush of morphine-like adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream was still flowing through my mind and body as we finished the song, basking in the pathetic applause of scattered elderly people in the deserted diner.

"Good song choice, thanks for telling me which one we'd do before we went on stage," I said sardonically at Gray as we sat back down at the booth.

"Shut up, you did fine!" Gray waved his hand at me. "Tell him, Loke."

Loke looked nervous, as he was being put on the spot. "Yeah, nice job. I could never do that, even for an audience of three or four people," He paused for a moment, as if he was searching for what to say next. "I bet your meals are almost ready. I'm gonna go check on them, alright? Be right back."

Gray and Loke shared a wave as I played with the fringe on my scarf absentmindedly, a bad habit I got into years ago. Whenever I was nervous or upset or simply bored, I found my pointer finger twirling around the strings and toying with them.

Gray and I sat in silence until I pointed out the obvious. "So, eight more on the list," I commented. "We're three-fifths of the way there."

"Not we," Gray corrected.

"What?" My face scrunched up in confusion.

"Not we," He repeated. "You. It's all you, Natsu. I'm just, as you so kindly put it a few days ago, your tour guide," He grinned cheekily.

"And I said you're more than that," I countered with the same hint of amusement laced in my voice. "Anyway, do you remember what's left?"

"Not particularly, but I have something planned after our brunch that will take care of one of them," Gray said mischievously, scratching the back of his head.

Curious, I asked him, "Which one?"

"It's a surprise~," Gray answered in a song-song tone that irritated me. I bit on the inside of my cheek and chewed at it to stop myself from saying anything else. Luckily, Loke returned with two large plates balanced in his hands, our steaming, right-off-the-griddle breakfasts were made. Gray had a stack of colorful banana and blueberry pancakes, which looked full of life in comparison to my loser omelette.

I took a small bite. It was really good, though. I reminded myself not to overdose on food intake this time, trying to remember how much of a calorie difference egg yolks made in an omelette. Would it be that wide of a significance, considering the hearty tomatoes and cheese were already dominating the dish?

I took two more average bites, watching with an awe that could only admire extreme weirdness as Gray scarfed his pancakes down, swirling them in imported maple syrup. When Gray caught me watching, he looked up with an obnoxious look. "What?!" He asked, a bit more rude than most likely indented.

I scowled. "Just watching you eat your pancakes, that's all."

Gray smirked and leaned a cheek against his propped-up palm. "Just can't look away, can ya, Dragneel?"

"Second name basis, we must be really tight if we're at this level of intimacy now," I joked with a hissy tone. Gray chuckled and rolled his eyes. My eyes travelled down to his attire: his thin, white, collared shirt had the top button undone, and the wrinkliness added a cutely messy feel to him.

Oh my God, why am I even thinking about shirt wrinkles? I mentally face-palmed. And Gray's shirt wrinkles, no less?

Breakfast was finished with idle chatter and not-so-secret glances between us. I chose to ignore that latter bit, because my brain liked to shut out and refuse any sort of underlying information that could possibly be useful and instead repeats 'he could never like you' like a
mindless drone.

He. I said he. I sighed out loud, knowing I was going to Hell and I hadn't even touched college yet.

"Something wrong?" Gray asked with genuine worry. I shrugged and told him I was alright with the realest smile I could muster up feeling like this. Gray paid for the meal (much to my anger, because I felt like I should've paid as a thank-you), and next think you know, we were back in the cozy Toyota, Gray motioning to my scarf for me to shield my eyes.

"Again with the blindfold?" I whined like a young child, wrinkling my nose in disgust. Hey, I couldn't help it! I hated not being able to see and my scarf smells like burning wood!

"Yes. Like I said before, everything is a surprise, and you'll ruin it if you can see!" Gray claimed exasperatedly. Knowing I'd never win this argument with him, I succumbed to his word and tied the scarf around my eyes, blocking my view of everything.

And we were on the road again. The path up to the diner had been somewhat bumpy on the asphalt- I don't even know if it was solid concrete anymore- but we eventually landed on smooth road again and I could hear other cars around us. Vehicles zooming, tires squealing, horns honking, the whole shebang.

"Did you enjoy the diner?" Gray asked to lighten the awkward mood. 

I shrugged. "It was alright. Your friend Loke seems... interesting," I said politely.

"And by interesting, you mean totally nosey and full of himself?" Gray guessed bemusedly.

I grinned. "Hey, those words came out of your mouth, not mine."

Gray laughed and the car fell silent again, but the aura wasn't as stiff, more like a comfortable silence. I clasped my hands in my lap and leaned my head back, waiting for us to arrive. And we did, after a long while of listening to the music of the stereo and counting the minutes.

It took twenty-two, in case you were curious.

"We're here," Gray sang as I heard him pull out the keys. Relieved, I tear off the scarf, securing it in it's usual place around my neck. My eyes dart up to see a blinking sign: Fish Out Of Water Aquarium.

From my right, I spot a school bus with elementary school kids unloading out the side door. I give a flat look to Gray, who is beaming. "Really? An aquarium?" I asked, bewildered to no end. Actually, these antics of Gray weren't exactly shocking to me anymore. I was starting to get used to it, and I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Let's go before those primary school kids beat us to the punch," Gray said, swiftly swinging the car door open and hopping out. I followed suit, begrudgingly, mind you, directly by his side as we entered the darkly-lit lobby, where Gray waltzed up to the lady running the ticket desk, twenty dollar bill in his hand.

I glared at him darkly as he sweetly chatted up the secretary and handed the note into her perfectly manicured hand. She told us we could take the Clownfish route or the Flounder route, since today was a slow day and it wasn't all that crowded.

Just you wait, lady, I thought. Fifty elementary school kids are about to come barreling into here and you're gonna eat those words.

Gray tugged me to the Clownfish route. "Why this one?" I asked, mildly curious.

"I love Finding Nemo, duh," He fired back seriously. I rolled my eyes. Of course. "Plus, the names don't matter. it's the same route, but the Clownfish Route's exit is the Flounder Route's entrance, and vice versa. It's the same stuff."

"You know your aquariums," I noted amusedly.

"Darn tootin', I do. Now come on," Gray grabbed my hand suddenly, making me flinch. "Let's go see some marine life up close, shall we?"

We made eye contact and I flushed, managing a nod. "Okay, let's get this over with, I grumbled.

Our hands stayed interlocked, which made it extremely hard to focus on any of the fish. I knew I could've just let go, but in all honesty, I didn't want to. So I stood there, ears burning, marveling at the multi-colored fish swimming around with their bug-eyes so laughable and their scales so shimmery.

Gray poked the glass to catch the attention of a rainbow fish. My eyes travelled up to the sign above the case: 'do not tap the glass.'

"Ooh, you're tapping the glass when it says not to~" I said with an immature, teasing tone as I pointed to the sign with my free hand. Gray makes a disagreeable expression and tapped it again.

"I live life dangerously," He grinned as he made a silly fish face at the fish, who swam away, disinterested when it realized the glass was blocking him or her. "Aw, don't swim away, little fishie! Come back!" He cried dramatically.

"My God, you're an idiot," I shook my head slowly, laughing. Gray joined in my laughter soon after, shrugging.

"Come on, I'll show you the sea turtles next."

As I followed him, I couldn't help but think two things.

One, he's still holding my hand. 

And two, I like it. A lot.

- - - -

Ohhhh yesss......!! Thoughts?

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you enjoyed Melting Gray, you'll be pleased to find out I have published the first chapter of the "sequel", Igniting Natsu! Check it out, please :) (I mean, if you want. No pressure.)