I listened to creepy carnival music while writing this. To the side is carnival ride Gray and Natsu go on.

Gray's POV

In general, I liked to think of myself as a chill, happy-go-lucky kind of guy.

But when things rub me the wrong way, I hold it in for as long as I can, but when I can't control myself anymore, I'll word-vomit everywhere. And just like the mental image you're getting from that analogy, the result is never pretty.

"But why her? Why the girl who simply took his money at an ice cream parlor? He doesn't even know her?" I complained, flopping backwards on my bed and glaring at my bedroom ceiling. Unexplainable emotions were flowing inside of me, rendering me moody and confused. I always thought I read through things like this and how the world worked, but when it came to myself, I was groping around blindly in the dark. 

"I just don't understand why you're getting all worked up over this," Rogue muttered in a dry, monotone voice, texting on his phone and not bothering to look up. I was used to his cold, reserved side, however, and it didn't really bother me anymore. We clicked because I was a talker and he was a listener, kind of like north and south points of a magnet. "I mean, leave the guy alone. He's eighteen, let him make his own decisions."

"But still," I whined, elongating the 'i'. "I wanted to go with him."

"Interesting words coming from a straight guy who's already in a relationship," Rogue clashed, just as my phone buzzed from my desk. "Speak of the devil, that's probably her," He nodded off to the ring of the device, sounding pleased and cocky.

"It is not," I defended, jumping off my bed and crossing my tidy room to check the notification. I saw Juvia's name pop up and I kept a straight face, sliding into my desk chair and opening the message.

Lots of kids are going to the carnival Saturday night... we're going together, right? The message read. I could sense the urgency and obsession in the words, and knowing I'd probably regret this, I typed a hasty reply in agreement, not as excited as I thought I'd be.

"Was it her?" Rogue asked dully.

"Yeah," I nodded. "She asked to go to the carnival with me tomorrow," I explained, knowing he already figured that much out already, because I was an open book when it came to things like this.

"Figures. You know, the vibe that I'm getting from you seem bored of her," Rogue finally looked up from his phone, staring at me seriously. "Like you like someone else," He continued slyly, raising his eyebrows as if to hint at something else.

I shook my head furiously. "If you're implying I like Natsu, I don't," I narrowed my eyes and moved to sit on my L-shaped couch in the corner of my room. "I'm simply excited about helping him with his bucket list."

"And why are you excited?" Rogue pressed. I hesitated to respond, not truly knowing the answer myself. "Exactly."

"Rogue, I'm not-!" Rogue cut me off with a flat look.

"Fine. Go on your carnival date with Juvia, and see how much you 'enjoy' it, then," He commanded, curling his fingers to make quotation marks. "There's nothing wrong with change, Gray."

"Stop being philosophical," I whined, feeling creeped out. I scooted over, peeking to check what he was doing on his phone. He had been typing on it all morning, face occasionally lighting up with bashful, rosy smiles. He immediately locked it, trying to play it cool. "Who're you texting? Oh wait, I bet I know already. Your favorite blondie," I smirked, knowing the tables had turned.

"Don't ever call Sting that again, I swear," Rogue blushed, pushing my face away angrily. I leaned back again like a coiled-up spring, probably resembling one, considering the bounciness.

"What did he say?" I asked eagerly, hungry for information.

"..." Rogue refused to respond, pressing his lips together tightly.

"What did he say?!" I repeated firmly.

"...He was excited about going to the carnival with me! That's it, alright? Now get off me, you twat!" Rogue shoved me away playfully, averting his gaze and covering his face with his hoodie and failing in his attempt to shy away from the conversation I was truly enjoying having. 

"Heh, you like him, don't you," I grinned, poking his cheek, making a 'boop' sound effect. Rogue looked at me in denying disbelief before he sighed and nodded. "Knew it. Have you guys kissed yet?"

"That's none of your business," Rogue deadpanned, scowling.

"Tell me! You have, haven't you? How many times?" I rushed out, clapping my hands together like a jacked-up seal.

"For your information, Gray, we haven't kissed at all. I'm going to kiss him after the carnival. And I swear, if you ruin it for me, I will never talk to you again," Rogue hissed, scrunching down on the couch. I figured that he would be pissed, but I knew Rogue would come back after a week or so to cool down, so the threat didn't bother me. "Conversation over. Back to you."

"No."

"You like Natsu."

"I do not!"

"Mhmm," Rogue shook his head slowly. "Lies."

I buried my head in my hands, feeling emotions I've held inside tipping over the brim like a sloshing pot dangerously filled with bubbling-hot water. "Fine! You know what? Maybe I do like him a little bit, okay? But I can't do anything about it, because I'm with Juvia and he's probably going to be with Taylor really soon and I've only known him for a week and crap. I'm so screwed," I admitted depressedly.

"Gray, I'm going to be serious with you here," Rogue said quietly, showing little emotion like always. I scoffed, considering he was always being serious, and this would be no different. "You are the one who makes things happen. If you like Natsu, you should go for it. You may not have the power to magically make Taylor vanish, but you do have the power to break up with Juvia and think things over a little bit, because this could be a big deal."

I looked at him blankly for a few moments. "So what do I do, 'o wise one?" I said with a straight face, not knowing why I was still able to joke around after dropping that atomic-bomb confession. ((ha ironic considering hES GAY))

"Easy," Rogue clicked his tongue mockingly. "Let life do it's thing and ride the wave. Whatever happens, happens."

"Easy for you to say," I spat bitterly, like there was poison in my mouth. "You're happily in the crush-returns-your-feelings paradise, while I'm here swimming in the friendzone, and I'm drowning under life's so-called wave."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Considering practically everyone I knew was going to the fair this evening, my friends and I had assembled a mass carpool to save gas and protect the Earth, because that's what Natsu's parents said once, according to an exasperated tale told by Sting. The people piled into the giant, energy-effecient mom-van went as followed:

✻ Gajeel driving, with Levy in the passenger seat, both enjoying the wonderful luxury of major leg room.

✻ Sting, Rogue, Flare, and Lucy in the middle row, having to suffer the lesser amount of leg mobility area.

✻ Juvia, me, Natsu, and Taylor in the back, squished into a tiny row that was only meant for three, but we managed because we didn't want to take two seperate cars.

Believe me, being pressed up and side-groped by Natsu and Juvia for the duration of the twenty-minute car ride wasn't exactly as fun as it sounded. Especially when you're like a 6 foot tall tree and squeezed between other, slightly shorter trees. It didn't help I practically admitted I was possibly harboring feelings for the male tree. I need to stop thinking about trees.

It also didn't help that Gajeel was playing some screamo-emo music that I wasn't allowed to enjoy because I wasn't hardcore enough, according to my parents. From in front of me, Flare and Lucy, resident lesbians, were giggling softly and whispering things into each others' ears, blocking out the rest of the world and thriving in their own.

I literally sighed with exasperation at Sting and Rogue, who were both head-over-heels for each other but hadn't confessed yet. I felt like they knew they liked each other but some whining thought in their mind was keeping them from doing so and therefore rendering them self-concious and reserved, so they were talking calmly about some drama production at school and pinkie fingers so close to touching not even a ladybug could squeeze through the gap.

As for Taylor and Natsu, they were talking like normal people, not acting all lovey-dovey and marshmallow mushy. They were, however, smushed against each other, and they didn't seem all that bothered about the aforementioned action. That bothered me, but I didn't understand why.

I found myself subconciously staring at Natsu out of the corner of my eyes until Juvia tugged at my top and pulled me to her attention.

"Gray-sama, I was wondering..." Juvia trailed off awkwardly. "Could we go to the love boat ride first?"

I looked down on her. Juvia looked really pretty today- her blueberry hair was in a pristine ponytail, she had a loose pink tank top with LOVE written on it in black, and modest white shorts. If I wasn't so mentally confused right now and having Natsu's arm touching mine, I'd be drooling.

To quote myself this morning, I was so screwed.

"Guys, we're here!" Lucy announced excitedly, pointing out her window. Sure enough, happy screams of children and tipsy-turvy music were echoing around us, and iridescent, blinking rides shot up into the sky, swirling around the air in metallic ribbons. Thankful I was finally escaping what felt like being inside a conortionist's box, I scrambled out of the car right behind Juvia.

I nearly kissed the ground, I was so happy to stand on it. But I didn't, because I would be crazier than one of the sketchy clowns.

After the lot of us finally managed to pay for individual tickets, which would be used for rides, food, and games, we stood in a socially-awkward clump in the middle of the street, not knowing what to do first.

"Well, see ya," Gajeel announced bluntly, wrapping his arm around Levy and guiding her away from our cluster. "We'll meet back here at eight for that carnival ball thing, then we'll head home." We all collectively rolled our eyes, knowing the happy couple would much rather spend time alone.

"Um, Flare and I are gonna go check out the roller coasters," Lucy pointed timidly straight ahead towards a horrifyingly-colossal amusement ride, taking Flare's hand. "See you guys later?" They both offered us happy smiles before turning around and heading away, ditching us as well.

"So, are the four of us gonna stick together or split up?" Juvia asked, not sensing the cloud of awkward one bit and talking like everything was flowers and sunshine.

"I like the sound of that," Taylor agreed, stepping a tad closer to Natsu. I tried not to slap her, so I just did it with my mind. Back off, woman, I automatically thought, much to my personal dismay.

"Okay, sticking together it is," Natsu announced, nodding. We silently agreed to begin walking down the crowded fairway, passing games and looking to see what was interesting or had prizes worth winning.

"Let's go on that!" Taylor pointed slightly skywards at the hanging chair spin ride. You get in these little two-person compartments, the machine spins you around, and the force raises you into the air. Sounded like a death trap, but it'd certainly be a fun way to die, so why not.

Thankfully, the wait was a lucky five minutes, so we passed the time chatting with Taylor and getting to know her. 

"So, Taylor!" I said with a high-pitched tone that probably would been looked at as suspicious if I wasn't so good at keeping cool. "What high school do you go to?"

"Uh, I actually graduated last year," Taylor answered meekly, breathing out a short laugh. "I go to Fiore State, and I live on campus."

"What's your major?" Juvia piped in, staring her down. I probably should've guessed she would be jealous of any girl that gets within a hundred-foot radius of me, and the enviously-burning eyes boring into the brunette confirmed that suspicion.

"Biomechanical engineering," She responded, smiling brightly, not fazed by the hard glare at all. "I'm really into science, so I decided to pursue it in adulthood."

"That's amazing," Natsu grinned. "Is college fun?"

"I guess so. Tons more freedom, you know? But I'm one of those kids who's always studying instead of partying, so I'm definitely not the most extravagant social butterfly," She giggled, leaning against the waiting rail and crossing her Chuck Taylors over each other.

We were next in line after that, and after we were situated, I found myself next to Natsu in the rollercoaster ride. How the boys got in one compartment and the girls in the other, I would never know. Maybe someone was watching over me today.

As we were slowly raised into the air, I noticed Natsu wasn't really saying much. "What's up?" I asked curiously.

He paused for a moment before smirking. "Us?" He questioned cheekily. I snorted and gripped the handlebar. "Oh, you scared?" He asked, nodding to my hands.

"I'm allowed to hold the handlebar without being labeled as a scaredy-cat, thank you very much," I fired back. Natsu held his hands up coolly.

"Woah, someone's Mister Sassy Pants today," He remarked. "Oh, those games over there look fun. We should go over there after this," He pointed down the horizon to a street of sleazy carnival games, typical shoot-em-ups and ball-tossers. "My favorite is the duck fishing game, though."

"Okay, that sounds good," I agreed, nodding. "Are you going to do the carnival game thing on the list today?" I wondered out loud, curiosity bubbling inside of me so much that I couldn't keep still.

The machine began to whirr and we were slowly beginning to twirl around quicker and quicker. "Yeah," Natsu called over all the noise. "Maybe I can do some other ones today," He suggested, looking forward. I stared at him with fondness in my eyes, but when he looked back at me, I ducked my head down to shade myself.

I nodded dully, shutting up and enjoying the ride. The feel of flying was rather euphoric for me, and I grinned happily and let myself twirl in circle after circle, feeling chilly wind whistle through my hair and nip at my skin. The ride lasted only five minutes, but it only felt like one until we were being lowered to the ground and asked to exit in the back.

The girls bounded over to us dizzily, looking drunk. "Heeyy, Gray-sama," Juvia smooched my cheek. "Where to next?" We exited through the gate and collected ourselves nearby a food stand, adjusting wind-swept hair or whatever girls deemed necessary to do every five minutes.

Natsu and I shared a look before simultaneously nodding. "Carnival games."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So I honestly didn't want to end this here but this got kinda long. However, I'm going to continue right now because a lot more is going to happen at this carnival and I'm uber excited!

Yay. Moving fast in this one aren't we. Yep yep yep.

Question of the day: Which of these non-gratsu pairings in this is your favorite?