I feel totally uninspired to write this right now, but let's see if simply staring at the computer screen works out. 

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Gray's POV

Something wasn't right.

I could tell by the way Natsu's eyes were slightly rubbed and bloodshot and the way he shied away when Sting talked to him. That wasn't the typical confident and snarky Natsu I had learned to appreciate (and ignore the snarky bit, because that got under my skin a lot.)

My eyes kept wavering to the side to sneak not-so-inconspicious looks at Natsu. He stuck out his tongue in concentration as he glued rhinestones to a pinecone. He still had that sad aura clouding around him, and I couldn't shake off the feeling something was off with him. 

It was weird, really. Just a couple days ago I was happily (okay, not that happily) in a sturdy relationship with a beautiful girl, and now I was questioning everything I thought I had sorted out, all because of this idiot who had decided to drink nine of those sugary, alcoholic happy bombs.

The next activity was the scavenger hunt, and then lunch. When people were starting to clean up the spilled glue, gems, and scraps of construction paper, we all put our creations nearby our other belongings and clumped into the crowd of people waiting for directions.

The breakdown of it was that the girls and Sting were extremely pumped to do to this scavenger hunt, and the rest of us guys were laying low and wishing we didn't have to. I thought it seemed like a fun idea, slightly childish and lame, but fun nevertheless. But when the announcer lady, a frail woman with a rouge messy bun and large glasses, announced there'd be a cash prize for the winning pair, suddenly everyone was a lot more interested in the game.

"Wait, pair?" I turned to Rogue.

"That's what it says on the pamphlet," Rogue waved a light blue brochure in my face, slapping my head with it to knock some sense into me. "Partner scavenger hunt, 11:30 to 12:30. Didn't you look at the schedule at all?"

"Haha," I chuckled condesendingly. "You know I don't read."

"The only thing you don't do," Rogue pointed out. "But yeah, better find a partner. And as much as I bet you want me to be your partner, I already have one."

His eyes travelled fondly to Sting, who's currently in a second heated, whispered conversation with Natsu. Natsu glared at him and clenched his fists bitterly as he hissed something back. Rogue doesn't seem fazed by their argumentive discussion and continued to stare like Sting will disappear from the earth tomorrow and it's his last chance at looking at him.

I momentarily thought it was very adorable, but instead I faked a gag. [A/N: Do I have no soul if I laughed at the irony of this?] "Rogue, stop staring. You'd be less obvious if you scribbled 'madly in love' on your forehead with a Sharpie."

Rogue blinked and shook his head, turning his head back forwards. "Oops," He said sheepishly. "No regrets, man. He's mine, aye."

I nodded with a confused expresison, pursing my lips. From the makeshift stage (it's really just a rug and a microphone and speaker set), the same lady tapped the mic to gain everyone's attention. "Attention, everyone! We will now be commencing the favorite event of the day, the partner scavenger hunt!" She announced cheerily, sounding like she was hyped up on too much coffee from this morning.

A roar of applause cut her off from speaking further. She smiled warmly and waited for the clapping to die down. When it does, she spoke again. "So, to go over the rules, you have one hour to find everything enclosed in the manilla envelopes over there. Each team of two will pick an envelope at random and race to get everything and be back here first to win the prize," The woman explained seriously. "This year's prize is... a fifteen dollar iTunes gift card!" 

A single groan escaped the mouth of a teenager somewhere in the crowd. Must be an Android user, I guessed bemusedly with a guilty grin on my face.

After the lady finished explaining everything, the crowd disspersed to grab their manilla envelopes. I felt lost as I looked around for a partner, and I jumped when I felt a hand press itself harshly on my shoulder. I whirled around to come face-to-face with Natsu, who had a grimace on his face. "Yo, want to be partners? Considering every other one of our friends is paired up already. So do me the honor and all that jazz?"

I shrugged, playing hard to get. "I don't know," I dragged out the vowels annoyingly. "Do you really even wanna be partners with me?"

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Of course I do. We're friends aren't we?" He glowered.

My heart, as cliche as this sounds, skipped a beat. I exhaled to regain my sanity and beamed. "Sure thing, then," I finally complied. "Let's go get an envelope, ne?"

Natsu nodded in agreement and we pushed through the crowd of kids from the ages from four to twenty to get our hands on a packet (uhm isn't it pacquet tbh) and when we did, I twisted the metal clasp and pulled out a piece of paper, crisp from not being folded or creased in the envelope. Natsu peered at the paper, immediately scowling. "Ugh, I'm so done with looking at lists," He joked half-heartedly.

"Well, you're checking off an item of a very important list today," I reminded him cheerily. "Okay, let's see here... ten things: something smooth, something round, something brown, something bumpy/rough, something sharp, something colourful, a feather, a pebble, a clover, and some kind of wild berries, which reminds us not to eat, because they are hazardous to our health," I read off the list. It doesn't look to be too difficult, because most of the items leave you to be creative, and I liked creative.

"Okay, let's go!" Natsu broke off into a run towards the forest. I scrambled after him, nearly tripping over my feet as I tried to catch up. When we get inside the forest, most of the groups had already spread apart, and I didn't spy anyone we knew. Two teenage girls, a dark-blue-haired one and a pink-haired one that looked vaguely familiar from behind rushed by us, giggling. 

Natsu glared at them, shaking his head before looking at the floor. "I swear I saw a clover patch somewhere when I was walking," He mumbled, scanning the earth below his tennis shoes. "Oh, look. A rock."

"Thanks, but we don't need a rock," I reminded him. 

"No, it's very smooth, so that can be our smooth object," Natsu told me with a 'duh' tone. Feeling stupid, I quietly nodded and we continued to briskly walk down the path, search left and right and looking everywhere. 

"Oh! Something round," I picked up an old coin dropped by a previous walker. I brushed off the dust, revealing that it was a nickel. Natsu grinned and gave me a thumbs up. 

"Two down, eight to- hey, a piece of bark! Something rough!" He peeled off a loose piece of tree bark off a nearby trunk, ripping a good-sized chunk off and pocketing it. I did the same with the coin and we moved on.

After finding a small white bird's feather, a pebble from a stream, and a brown, crumbly leaf that looked like one of those keyboard emoticons, I noticed we seemed to be off the trail. I listened for sounds of nearby people, but heard nothing but birds above and sounds of rushing water.

"Do you think we're lost?" I asked Natsu, sitting on a trunk that fell from what I assumed to be a bad lightning storm. Natsu didn't hear me, he was staring blankly at the ground, kicking his toe into the dirt and tearing it up pathetically. I cleared my throat, trying to get his attention. When he snapped out of it, I repeated myself. "Do you think we're lost?" I questioned again.

"No, I can find my way back from here," He muttered to himself. Confused and worried, I scooched closer to him, ignoring the stinging pain the uneven bark brought on my butt from the friction. 

"Hey, uh, are you alright?" I asked kindly, keeping my voice low and soft. My parents always spoke like this to me when I was younger and skinned my knee while playing or lost something important to me. I kneaded my hands together nervously, waiting for any sort of response.

Natsu blinked his eyes shut. "Mhmm!" He answered through clenched teeth. His hum sounded strained, and I wasn't buying the failed lie.

"Are you sure? Wanna talk about it?" I pressed. Was I pushing some sort of friendship boundary, pressuring him to spill the beans about whatever was eating him on the inside? I really hoped I didn't come off as too strong, because I liked being around Natsu, and didn't want him to feel weird or uncomfortable around me. I waited a few moments for Natsu's answer, and when no words left his mouth, I stood up in defeat. 

I knew I made things awkward. I just had to open my big mouth and now I've ruined any slim chances I already have. Oh, I knew it, knew it, knew it-

"Sorry," Natsu looked at his lap, clenching his fists. "I appreciate your care, but I don't really wanna talk about it, you know? Family issues and stuff."

I nodded quickly. "Of course! Yeah, family issues can suck sometimes. Well, I'm always here and yadda yadda yadda. You get it, right?" I laughed timidly.

"Right," He looked up at me, smiling through watery eyes. When did he start crying? I wondered worriedly. "And Gray?"

"Yeah?" I bit my lip.

"Thanks," He said honestly, standing up. "I mean it. You're a great person. You can be really irritating, aggrivating, loud, obnoxious-"

"Okay, I get it," I raised my hands amusedly, raising my eyebrow.

"-childish, vexing, and annoying," He continued on, smirking briefly at my irritation. "But you're still really kind and caring, and I appreciate you being here for me."

I beamed, feeling myself blush. I hid away from him, trying to hide my eyes with my fringe. "Yeah. Of course. Now can we win this scavenger hunt? I just wanna get to lunch," I complained, holding my stomach and attempting to silence it. A groan escaped from what sounded like Natsu's, and he touched his belly tenderly. Guess he's hungry too, I figured.

"Definitely," He grinned, extending his hand out to me. I took it and squeezed as we raced off through the twisting vines and thickets with their colorful flowers. "Ooh, take this for our colorful object," He paused to yank a hot pink flower off a vine, placing it delicately in my palms. I squeezed it in the manilla envelope, along with everything else we had, and we went off to find more things in nature.

"You know, scavenger hunts are really fun," I noted after ten minutes of peaceful, comfortable silence, well, save for all the natural sounds surrounding us. "You have to stop and look at nature to find what you need. Like, really look at it, you know? I really like that, taking a step back and just being," I told Natsu, who was immersed in putting a brown, pointy stick in the package.

He nodded in agreement. "And truly appreciating the real beauty of the world around you," He added in thoughtfully, smiling softly. I couldn't help but agree with that, nature was extremely beautiful and not man people realized that (or had the time or will to). We walked past a holly patch and plucked off a sprig of the holly. After it was put away, he realized something. "Hey, is that everything on our list?" He asked out of the blue, taking a step closer to me.

I checked and double checked. "Uh, I don't know, let's see. Something smooth, that's the stone, something round, the coin, something brown, the the leaf that looks a lot like the emoticon, something bumpy/rough, the tree bark, tsomething sharp, the twig, something colourful, the flower, a feather, a pebble, a clover, and some kind of wild berries, which is the holly we just picked," He scanned the list, nodding in confirmation. "Yep, that's everything! And boy, am I glad, because I'm starving," I clapped my hands together. "Yippee! That was quick, maybe we won!" I dreamed, knowing we'd only been out here for about twenty minutes, I estimated. Surely the little kids hadn't found everything in that time.

"Same," Natsu agreed weakly. "And maybe. There's only one way to find out," He told me, ushering me down the trail to the exit. After three minutes of briskly jogging and me wishing I hadn't cancelled our gym membership, we made it through the prickly clearing and feeling the late-April sunshine on our backs. 

And it looked like everyone was there already. 

"Finally, you're here!" Levy said as she, Gajeel, Lucy, and Flare ran up to us. "Where have you two been? The hour is nearly over!" They raised their eyebrows suspiciously up at us. "What exactly were you two doing in that forest?"

I flushed and glared at the blunette. "Nature hunting, obviously," I narrowed my eyes at her. "Nothing else." From my side, Natsu nodded, looking a bit pinkish in the cheeks as well. "Who won the scavenger hunt?"

"Those two girls," Gajeel pointed to the stage, where I could barely see two teenage girls surrounded by a crowd of people.

"Oh that's my sister," Natsu recalled, looking over as well. "And her girlfr- good friend, Chelia. You know her, Gray," He nudged me. I nodded. So that's why she looked so familiar. "Yup, they're just great friends," Natsu babbled on more than he should've, enough to make the girls' eyebrows raise. Gajeel was too disinterested to care.

"Why do you say it like that?" Lucy questioned suspiciously. 

Natsu paled as he attempted to brush them off with a chortle and a shooing wave. "Ah, nothing. Nevermind. So, were we basically last place?" Natsu swiftly changed the subject again, a pattern I was beginning to follow and grow mildly curious about myself.

"Not completely last, a certain pair hasn't shown up yet," Levy said knowingly. "And I bet I know why."

"Making out somewhere in a forest," Gajeel grunted, crossing his bulky arms. "Classy."

"They're adorable, shut up," Levy looked up at him, bangs falling on her face. "You're just jealous of what they have."

"I'm not jealous of anyone, because I have you, and you're better than anyone," Gajeel grumbled, although said grumble was more tender as he put his hand on her pale cheek. Levy grinned and they shared a brief kiss.

"Ew, go away," Lucy pushed Levy. "Stop your fluffiness. We should go find Sting and Rogue, don't'cha think?" She asked our group.

We all collectively shrugged like we were connected in some possessed way. "Nah, they'll turn up sooner or later," Natsu piped in. 

"With hickeys on their necks," Gajeel added, nodding as he snickered. The girls shared an eyeroll and we all went back to our blankets, taking our seats in a large circle, leaving no room for Sting and Rogue. 

"When's lunch?" I wondered out loud. 

"In five minutes," Flare looked at her phone's clock. I nodded as a thank-you and we all made conversation about Earth Day and the like. Flare and Lucy were telling us about how they nearly fell in the stream when we spotted Sting and Rogue coming out of the forest, quickly letting go of each other's hands and waving when they spotted us.

After holding back our snickers (and sly remarks), we scooched to make room for the duo and waited for them to explain themselves. I had an intense two-second staring contest with Rogue, mirroring the one with Natsu and Sting, when they finally gasped in exasperation and caved.

"We got a little caught up in the moment, alright?" Sting exclaimed.

"The poor squirrels," I commented solemnly. Natsu laughed at that. We shared a smile, one that made my heart flutter and head conjumbled, one that went unnoticed by everyone else. 

"Whatever. We don't have anything to say to you peasants. Come on Rogue, let's go get in the line for lunch," Sting offered his hand to Rogue, who complied and took it, smiling sheepishly at all of us. When they were out of earshot, Gajeel leaned in to make a hush-hush announcement, grinning evilly.

"I told you they'd have hickeys on their necks."

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EYYYY WRITING CHAPTERS IN ONE SITTING IS THE ONLY THING I CAN DO PRODUCTIVELY IN MY LIFE.

I almost quit on this chapter but I kept going, and I think it came out okay. Thoughts on Gray? Natsu? The four (five now, don't forget Chendy!) pairings in the book? 

I really, really want to write a new story. I won't forget this one, obviously, but I have some ideas. But I don't think it will be Gratsu. I'm already writing a Lashton story, I have one for Phan, one for MakoHaru, and another one for Gratsu. You already know of the fanboy!au, but I feel like it wouldn't fit with my Gratsu profile.

I also may or may not really want to do a Stingue spin-off of The Drunk List. It wouldn't be some sort of bucket-list-related story like this one, but it'd be a lot of drama (you know, the class) and the becomining of Sting and Rogue. Just a small idea in my head, no promises. I need plot ideas and stuff to think about, but what do you all think about that idea? Yay or nay? 

Plus, the idea of moving on from fanfiction (not all entirely, you creeps!) and writing a story with my own characters sounds good to me, now that I've matured in writing and all that crap.

To be honest, I don't even watch Fairy Tail anymore. That's why I'd like to more of the parings I ship more nowadays, like Phan and Lashton. All I'm saying is I may not do anymore Gratsu stories after this. I'M NOT SAYING THAT I WON'T. I MAY DO THE YOUTUBE FIC, OR ANOTHER ONE IF I FEEL LIKE IT. Just expect other pairings in the future, okay? Okay. I haven't read TFIOS either. Oops. No regrets.

Next update: Whenever I feel inspired. (Because who follows strict updating schedules anyways? Hah!)