Gray's not feeling great, so Natsu comes up with a surprise to help him feel better.

Takes place sixteen years after 'crash & burn' and three years after 'we are unbreakable'

-----

"You okay, Snowflake?"

Natsu slipped up behind Gray in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Gray's waist and kissing the back of his neck. Gray sighed, leaning back into the embrace and putting his hand over Natsu's on his stomach.

"I dunno," he said quietly, waiting for the hiss of the Keurig to stop before grabbing his coffee mug. He didn't turn around, just ran his thumb over the back of Natsu's hand and stared at the tiles along the counter. "Just tired."

"You always say that when you're sad," Natsu murmured against Gray's neck. He pulled Gray tighter against him and kissed behind his ear. "I love you."

"Love you too, mon coeur," Gray said softly. "I dunno, I've just been... work is stressful and stupid things are getting to me." He rubbed his face, then took a sip of his coffee. "My shoulder's been hurting which is dumb cause it's been seventeen years."

"Not dumb," Natsu said, taking Gray's hand and placing it on his scarred left arm. "This still hurts sometimes too." Gray ran his fingers gently down Natsu's forearm and across his wrist. "I'm sorry you're feeling shitty," Natsu added. "Anything I can do?"

"Mm." Gray set his coffee down and turned around slowly in the circle of Natsu's arms. Natsu gave him a soft smile and leaned in for a kiss . "Kisses are good."

"You guys are so sweet it's disgusting." They both looked up to see Sylvie standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a smile on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. Gray laughed, letting go of Natsu and moving over to hug Sylvie.

"That's new," Natsu commented, kissing Sylvie on the cheek and pointing to the ring in her septum . "What's your mom think?"

"She thinks you're a bad influence," Sylvie said, rolling her eyes and gesturing to Natsu's own piercing s . Natsu laughed, leaning back against the counter. "It's better now that I'm in the college dorms, though. We fight less."

"Told you," Natsu said. "You want a coffee before we head out, or you ready to rock?"

"Already stopped at Starbucks, your frappucino is in the car." Sylvie grinned.

"You're my favorite niece," Natsu said. "Don't tell Kiya or Ada." Then he turned and pulled Gray into another quick hug. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Gray said, kissing Natsu's forehead. "I've got a bunch of work stuff I've gotta get through. Go have fun with your music."

"'kay." Natsu waited until Sylvie was back at the front door before pressing another soft kiss to Gray's lips. "Text me if you need anything, okay? Je t'aime ."

Gray sighed, pressing his face into Natsu's hair before letting him go. "Je t'aime aussi ."

-----

"Why do you have Uncle Gray's meeting notes?"

Sylvie stood in the middle of Ryos and Sting's basement, frowning at the sheaf of papers on Natsu's chair. There were several crumpled pages, covered with Gray's neat handwriting and various doodles in the margins.

"'cause I have an idea," Natsu replied, grabbing another chair. He turned it around, straddling it and crossing his arms over the back . "But I need your help."

Sylvie raised an eyebrow and Natsu grabbed one of the pages, pointing at the doodles - they were actually lines of music that Gray had written. "I wanna learn to play this," Natsu said, "but I can't read music, it's almost as bad as reading books." He made a face. "If you play it on the piano, I can pick it up by ear, though."

Sylvie took the music from Natsu and glanced over it. Sting appeared behind her, peeking over her shoulder and shaking his head.

"This is why I play the drums," he muttered. "No music."

Sylvie started humming under her breath, fingers following the hand-drawn staffs and notes that Gray had scribbled down.

"C'mere," she said, gesturing for Natsu to grab his guitar and come sit next to the piano. She sat down and hovered her fingers over the keys, tapping out a few wrong notes before falling into a rhythm. She played the first few lines twice, then turned to Natsu, who closed his eyes and started picking it out on the guitar.

"How do you do that?" Sting asked, leaning against the piano and watching Natsu's fingers dance over the strings as he corrected himself.

Natsu shrugged. "It just sounds right," he said. He plucked out the melody a few more times, then nodded for Sylvie to keep going.

Half an hour and some creative flourishes later, Natsu was able to play the song from memory. He switched over to the electric guitar, fiddling with the setting on the amp before running through it again.

"I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be a classical piece," Sylvie said, kicking her feet up on a chair and twirling a strand of purple hair around her finger. Natsu grinned at her, running through a quick series of notes and ending on a loud chord.

"It's more fun like this," Natsu argued, looking up at Sylvie and Sting. "Now all it needs is some drums and bass."

-----

Gray sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. The computer screen was making his head hurt, and part of him desperately wanted a nap. He wished Natsu were home.

As if reading his thoughts, a text popped up on his phone.

hey snowflake, hows work? u wanna come for super? ryos is maknig that pasta u like. but if u dont wanna be with ppl i can come home. love u. <3

Gray smiled, tapping his fingers against the phone screen as he contemplated the question. He glanced out the window – it was still light out, and the drive to Ryos and Sting's place would take him along the beach. A nd a s much as he felt like curling up under the blankets right now, spending time with friends was probably a better idea.

The sun was just setting as Gray drove along the beach, soft layers of gold and pink slowly slipping behind the curve of the park behind him. It helped calm Gray's nerves, and by the time he got to Ryos and Sting's place, he was already feeling better.

"Hey, you," Ryos said as he opened the door. He examined Gray's face, then pulled him into a hug. "Bad day?"

Gray shrugged, returning the embrace and then leaning back to kick off his shoes. He resisted the urge to repeat the usual just tired, and instead said, "sorta."

"Well, I made linguine," Ryos said, motioning for Gray to follow him into the kitchen. "They've been downstairs all afternoon, I haven't seen them since they got here. You want something to drink?" He opened the fridge and gestured to the bottles of beer in the door.

Gray shook his head. "Not supposed to drink with the new meds," he said, settling down at the kitchen table and fiddling with the napkin on his plate.

"Are they helping at all?" Ryos asked, grabbing the water jug from the fridge and setting it on the table.

"I dunno ." Gray shrugged. "I t's only been a week, it's hard to tell. I still feel weird about taking them, which is dumb because Natsu's been on meds for forever."

"I'm sorry," Ryos said, sitting down across from Gray. "I hope they help."

"Me too," Gray said softly.

The door to the basement opened and Nat su popped his head out, smiling when he saw Gray.

"Hey, handsome," he said, moving over and kissing Gray's head. "I knew you wouldn't say no to pasta."

Dinner was comfortable and familiar, and Gray felt some of the melancholy slip away as they ate and traded stories back and forth. Sylvie talked animatedly about her mechanical engineering program, and Natsu teased her about the guy she was dating.

"You still think kissing is gross?" he asked, laughing. Sylvie rolled her eyes at him, sticking out her tongue.

"You know I do," she said, grabbing another slice of garlic toast. "And so does he."

"Have Ur and Xavier met him yet?" Gray asked around a mouthful of salad. Sylvie shook her head.

"I was actually thinking of bringing him for brunch on Sunday," she said. "I just hope papa doesn't embarrass me." When Sting raised his eyebrows at her, she elaborated. "He wore socks with sandals to Félix's graduation last week."

"The horror," Ryos mumbled from behind his wine glass.

"It was atrocious," Sylvie muttered.

-----

After dinner, Natsu grabbed Gray's hand and pulled him toward the basement.

"C'mere," he said, "I've got a surprise for you."

Gray frowned, but followed Natsu down the stairs into the practice space they'd set up. Natsu and Gray had spent a weekend helping Ryos and Sting soundproof and paint it, and they kept all of their instruments there.

"Go sit," Natsu said, nudging Gray toward the couch. Ryos sat down as well, kicking his legs up over Gray's lap and watching as Sting settled down behind the drums. Natsu grabbed his guitar and fiddled with the amp a bit, while Sylvie did the same with her bass.

"What song is it?" Gray asked, tipping his head back against the couch cushions.

"Surprise," was all Natsu said. He did some quick tuning, then settled down on the stool and began to play.

Gray watched, fascinated, as Natsu's fingers flew across the fret , dancing through a ridiculous progression of notes that ended in a loud chord. It was quickly followed by Sylvie and Sting joining in.

The song was bright, energy flowing through the notes, and Gray tapped his fingers against Ryos ' legs to the beat. They were almost thirty seconds into the song when Gray realized it was his music.

"I... wrote this," he said softly, and Ryos raised an eyebrow at him. "H-how..."

Natsu's eyes were closed now, and Gray knew he was playing from memory, fingers picking out each note. Natsu had described it to Gray once as colors, splashes of light that jumped out at him and dragged his fingers to the right places.

Gray's face softened as he watched, memories surfacing of Natsu at seventeen, curled up in the corner of the youth center with his acoustic guitar, hair falling in his face while he played. He was always so gentle with his instruments, even when he was dancing riffs down the fret of the electric guitar. Gray thought of those hands on him, tracing circles on his arms, curling in his hair.

Natsu was gorgeous, and Gray was so, so lucky.

The song ended on a flourish, and Natsu bit his lip ring as he looked up at Gray while the final chord rang in the air. Gray realized his cheeks were wet and he wiped them quickly.

"Hey, don't cry," Natsu said softly as he set down the guitar and moved to the couch, crouching down in front of Gray and running his hands up and down Gray's thighs. Ryos slipped out of the way, giving Gray and Natsu some space.

"You stole my notes," Gray said softly, reaching out and brushing Natsu's bangs out of his eyes.

"I did," Natsu said, sliding onto the couch next to Gray. He kissed Gray's cheek, then rested his head on Gray's shoulder. "Did you like it?"

" Of course I did," Gray whispered, sliding his fingers between Natsu's and squeezing his hand tightly. "You're amazing." He sniffed, looking up at the other three, who were all pretending not to look. "Thank you," he said, loud enough for Sting and Sylvie to know he was talking to them as well.

"It was fun," Sylvie said, plopping down on Gray's other side and snuggling up next to him. Gray sighed, leaning his head against hers and feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for the little girl who used to climb into his lap and demand he read to her. "But I told Uncle Natsu it was supposed to be a classical piece."

Gray snorted. "I don't think he'd play classical music if you paid him," he said, and Natsu nodded in agreement. "And it sounded good." Hearing Natsu's interpretation of his notes was... Gray couldn't think of a word to describe it.

"Well, you know what that means," Natsu said, bringing Gray's hand to his lips and kissing it. Gray raised an eyebrow at him, and Natsu smiled. "You're just gonna have to write more music for us."