Warning: Triple-ish update? Since I updated this at 2:30 AM the next day... So maybe it doesn't count. Ah, whatever. Enjoy.

Natsu's POV

"Now get in."

Maybe you haven't realized this yet, but I'm not the type of person who likes being told what to do. That being said, i immediately disagreed with the command and full sass-mode had been flicked on like a light switch. "Maybe I don't want to," I huffed, crossing my arms.

"Maybe you don't have a choice," He fired back with a murderously sweet, melodic voice.

"I have human rights, Gray," I teased, feeling myself slip into the sweet escape of being with him. Oops, I've done it again, I thought wearily as I bit the side of my cheek in anger. Haha, Britney moment. "Plus, skipping school is bad. Someone could find us out."

"Ah, what do they care? Plus, that's why it's spontaneous! Now, let's go!" He said excitedly, opening the car door. I scoffed and remained in place. "Natsu, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," He threatened slyly, leaning against the frame.

"Oh really?" I challenged, raising an eyebrow. Bring it, dude.

"Really."

"Alright, humor me. Let's see what you've go-" I was cut off by Gray screaming at the top of his lungs. I jumped what felt like three feet in the air and covered my poor ears to block out the screechy sound. "Oh my god! Quit it!" I yelled, scrunching my eyes closed.

"Get in the car," He repeated sweetly. I stared at him in shock for a split second, unable to move, and he began to yodel. "Loo-loo-loo-loo-loo-"

"Alright, alright! I'm getting in, just... stop doing that! You'll make a scene!" I hissed under by breath, sliding in to the car, more because I didn't want my face being shown publicly around this twat.

"Glad to see you could join me on this journey of ours," Gray said happily, holding up a scarf. "Now out this on."

"What are you, kidnapping me now?" I asked, wrinkling my nose at the neckwear.

"In a sense, yes. I just don't want you to see where we're going," Gray explained. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna lead you to some abandoned, death-trap warehouse."

I sighed a bit in relief, but still felt pretty skeptical. However, when Gray looked at me with pleading, innocent eyes, I caved and grumbled curse words under my breath as I tied it around my eyes, leaving room for my nose and mouth to breathe.

I heard the ignition and the car revved as Gray backed out of his parking space. Then we were off, zooming off to who-knows-where. I felt like a blind person, completely oblivious to the infinite world around me, depending solely on the other four senses. I don't know what I would do if I was blind- I would never get to truly experience every aspect of the beauty in nature, I guess. I felt really grateful I had my sight after thinking of all that, and I felt bad for sightless people. (A/N: *falls over crying*)

"Either talk to me or turn the radio on, because this is extremely boring," I dead panned, turning my head in Gray's general direction. I heard him chuckle, a button being pressed, and a nozzle being cranked.

My Chemical Romance was on the current station, and I nodded, impressed. "MCR is never on the radio, that's sick," I grinned. "Love this song."

"This is actually just a CD I have for the car," Gray explained. "Because exactly- MCR is never on, and neither are the other holy emo bands."

"Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy?" I guessed hopefully.

"You know it," He agreed amusedly. I could practically hear the smile in his voice, and I beamed as the beginning guitar rifts of Welcome to the Black Parade began to blare out through the speakers.

We sat in silence, albeit both of us were humming or softly singing along to the lyrics, as Gray drove me to this mysterious location. Since I wasn't able to see a clock, I wasn't fully aware of how much time had passed, but it felt like around forty minutes until I felt the car slow down into a parking space and jingly keys being ripped out of the slot.

"We're here," Gray announced happily. Not able to contain my excitement, I ripped off the blindfold, only to find a near-empty, shabby diner.

"Ew," was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Gray stared at me, visibly offended. "It is not 'ew'," He countered. "It has character."

"Isn't that what everyone says about run-down places?" I questioned, sliding the car door open and hopping out. Gray circled around the front hood to join me.

"Celeste's Diner is a wonderful place. I've been here more times than I can count. Come on, you'll love it," Gray grinned. He took my hand, intertwined our fingers, and dragged me through the doors.

Painstakingly overwhelmed by the fact Gray was holding my hand, legitimately holding it this time, I was suffering with shallow breathing and heart irregularities as we stepped through the doors. Inside, I was greeted with the cozy feel of a diner right out of the 50's. Rubbery, bright red booths were pushed against the polished glass windows, black and white checkered tiles littered the floors, and old-timey music and movie posters were hung on the walls, alongside many, many, celestial bodies and stars. In the corner near the door, a small stage, microphone, and sound system was set up.

In the center of the diner was a to-go ordering counter, plain and wide like the ticket counters at airport check-ins. I scoped the place out as we took a seat . There were about four people in the diner besides us, mostly oldies with steaming coffee mugs and newspapers. Jazzy music was blasting through the nostalgic jukebox by the counter.

I picked up the menu, knowing full-well I felt completely full from the single granola bar and coffee cup alone from an hour ago, but I knew I had to hide my secret from Gray, and therefore scanned the menu for something light to order. I decided for a small cheese omelette and another cup of coffee, because hey, let's go crazy.

"Why did you take me here?" I stared intently at the menu hiding Gray's face. Only his dark hair was visible above the laminated leaflet. Gray lowered the menu, setting it on the tabletop.

"It's a special place to me. Kind of a boring story, but I used to live nearby here and my previous best friend is the son of the owner here," He explained, shrugging one shoulder. "I come here a lot, and I don't know, it's pretty peaceful and nostalgic."

I couldn't help but smile. "That's great."

"Gray baby!" A hearty voice pierced my eardrums, cutting me off from continuing what I was going to say.

"Aunt Celeste!" Gray said back just as cheerily. I raised my eyes to see a woman a bit on the large side, with an apron covered in sauce and wearing a violet plaid shirt underneath it. Her gingery-grey hair was secured in a knot in the back of her head.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in months! How are you! Oh, who's this, a new friend? Hello, dear, I'm Celeste, owner of this establishment," She talked a mile a minute, gesturing to the sparkling diner around here.

"I'm Natsu," I stuck out my hand for her to shake, and she took it, squeezing firmly.

"Ah, what a nice handshake you got! Very mature of you, I like it. Gray, I like this boy. My favorite season is his name and he's got a wonderful grip."

Gray chuckled, not exactly knowing what to say in response. "Is Loke here?" He asked instead. I had no idea who that was, so I sat in confused silence, pressing my lips in a firm, thin line.

"Yes, I believe he is, I imagine he'd want to see you. Loke, Gray's here!" Celeste bustled into the kitchen, voice fading away.

"Well, she seems nice," I raised my eyebrows.

"She's a bit overpowering, but she means well," Gray laughed. "Wait until you meet Loke and maybe even Aries, if she's around."

"Who's Aries?" I asked, feeling completely out of the loop.

"Loke's only serious girlfriend in years. He's a total player, but something about Aries keeps him on his toes all the time," Gray explained. "Don't be alarmed by the-"

"Bro!" I heard someone shout.

"-Yelling," Gray finished, turning around to find a boy with unruly orange hair and tinted eyeglasses. "Loke! Hey, man."

"Sup, dude? Haven't seen you in a few months, where ya been?" Loke said, taking a seat next to Gray like he owned the place.

"School and shit, been a major pain in the ass," Gray pretended to be pissed before pulling a disgusted expression.

"I feel ya, man, I feel ya. Too many assholes and not enough babes," Loke crossed his arms. "Hi, who are you?" He said sharply to me, and taken aback, I admittedly forgot my name for a moment.

"That's Natsu, my good friend," Gray introduced me for me. "Came here to get some world-class Aunt Celeste burgers and fries."

"Hey, quiet dude, cool hair," Loke nodded at me. I touched my hair tentatively, smiling a bit. "I'll tell Mom to get right on those. On the house, just like usual."

Loke stood up sharply and retreated back into the kitchen, the powerful aura he gave off traveling behind him like a trail. I looked at Gray blankly, and he gave me a sheepish smile. "He's also a bit overbearing. It runs in the family."

"He's an interesting one," I rolled my eyes playfully. "And burgers and fries? It's like 10 in the morning."

"Never too early for these bad boys. Trust me, they're the best things on this planet. You will not regret a bit of indulgence on an early lunch," He grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"Whatever you say," I shrugged lightly, turning my attention to outside. There were only one or two cars in the parking lot, meaning you could see a pretty nice view of asphalt. Not the most invigorating sight, let me tell you.

Loke returned, hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets coolly, taking his former seat in the booth. "So, what's new?" He asked the two of us, including me like I was legitimately a part of the conversation too.

"Natsu here is completing a bucket list he made while he was drunk, and he has to finish all twenty items before gratsuation," Gray jutted a thumb at me. I scowled, did he tell everyone that or something?

"That's cool! How many have you completed so far?" Loke rested his chin on his hands.

I racked my brain, trying to count. "Uhm... Let's see here." I counted everything in my mind from the best of my memory. "Eleven, counting the spontaneous act I completed from skipping school to come here today."

"Rad. A little more than halfway done, then, yeah?" Loke asked.

"Feels like I've done way more than just eleven," I shared a glance with Gray. Loke raised his eyebrows with obvious melodrama.

"Well, you could do twelve right now," Gray countered, pointing towards the corner stage. "There's a karaoke bar calling your name to sing and do well."

My heart dropped to my stomach. "Oh, hell no. No way. I can't."

"Natsu, you have to," Gray argued.

"I do not," I fired back.

"Yeah huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

"Ha!"

"Damnit!" I cursed, clenching my fists. "Gray, I'm not going up there."

"Come on, party pooper! There's like, three people! They can barely hear anyways, they're so old," Gray begged.

"You're so cruel," I couldn't help but laugh at the old people wise crack.

"But not wrong. Come on! Hey, I'll go with you. Loke, hold our spot," Gray pointed to Loke.

Loke swung his arms across the booth. "Don't worry, I'll protect it from the bustling crowd just aching for this golden spot," He promised, sarcasm practically dripping off his words. Gray lugged me up to the stage, typing some words into the karaoke search bar on the small computer desktop manning the station. After he was satisfied, he stood up, flicking on the mic.

"Is this on?" He muttered into the microphone. His voice was projected and echoed against the plaster and glass walls of the establishment. "Um, hello everybody, how are you doing this morning?"

When Gray got no response, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm Gray, and me and my friend here, Natsu, say hi, Natsu-."

I glared and leaned into the mic. "Hi," I said blandly.

"Yeah, we're going to be singing a song, it's one of my favorites, and it goes a little something like... This."

He pressed a button and violin chords began to flutter throughout the vicinity, just like my heart decided to do as it nearly beat out of my chest. Gray grinned at me before beginning to sing.

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

- - - -

A/N: and the gratsu national anthem resurfaces oh my god what am i doing