Don't Burn On My Watch

13

"Violet."

I rolled over in my sleeping back to meet eyes with Natsu.

"There's a spider on your face."

And on that note, I'm sure my shriek woke up every living creature in the area. Natsu laughed hysterically as I lept up, frantically brushing my hair and clothes. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I danced around the tent. Well... dancing is a 'graceful' way to describe it.

"I'm only kidding!" Natsu choked out over his laughter. He was neary crying, gasping for air.

I froze, grumbling, "You know I don't think that's funny."

He rolled his eyes and crawled back into his sleeping bag. Rude. There's no way I'm going to be able to relax enough to go to sleep now.

I unzipped the tent door and stepped out into my shoes, breathing in the fresh, morning air. Besides the bugs, camping is... fun.

Holly crawled out of her tent into the dirt. She looked tired. Like she had just been woken up suddenly out of a nice dream. She pulled herself off the ground and brushed the dirt off her pants. When she saw that I was up, she stormed over and pointed her finger in my face.

"I was having a beautiful dream about my wedding that you disturbed."

I pushed her finger out of my face and sighed. "Again?"

She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Maybe."

"With Gray? Marriage? Unlikely."

"Don't talk so loud!" She hushed, desperately.

I walked over to the benches by the ashes of previous fires and sat down, the wood creaking. Holly pulled a large thermos out of her pack and took a long sip. She offered it to me, but I never was much of a coffee person. Coffee always makes me nauseous.

The fresh, woodland air was intoxicating enough to wake me up alone. I had never been camping, but I had heard the distant sound of birds chirping. In the middle of the woods, if you were quiet enough, you could hear everything. The leaves crunching under stealthy creatures, the sound of the branches swaying with the breeze, and the sound of Natsu and Gray waking up.

Holly turned around and scoffed at the sight of them. "Are your sleep schedules as intertwined as your menstrual ones?"

Gray rubbed his head and sat down next to her, grabbing the thermos. "Not funny." He mumbled.

Natsu winced as he pulled a rock he stepped on out of his foot.

"Natsu, shoes."

"Oh." He said, turning around and grabbing them. "Thanks."

"Ah... the unforgiving Mother Nature." Gray yawned, stretching.

"Hey!" Holly said loudly. Gray winced at the volume of her voice. "I'm basically Mother Nature."

As a weird coincidence, the soft splat of bird poop on her head broke her out of her self vanity. Her astonishment melted into a piercing scream as she ran off for the lake.

We shared a quiet chuckle among us before heading back to our tents to get dressed for the day. The plan was to go hiking, which I'm sure Holly would be reluctant to do at this point.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and slipped on my tennis shoes. It looks like I'm going, no matter how many times I try to play the clumsy card. Natsu unzipped the tent and poked his head in.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

I nodded, following him outside to meet Gray, who was maintaining a firm grip on Holly's shoulders.

And so we set off, walking under the shade of the trees in pairs of two. Natsu had his arm wrapped around my shoulders and our steps were in sync. On the other hand, Holly wasn't really in sync with Gray. She actually wasn't really walking at all. Gray was carrying her on his shoulders and she was enjoying the view from high up (which she doesn't usually get to do). He didn't seem to mind, and I could swear he enjoyed the way she played with his hair while we walked.

Maybe they weren't the perfect couple, but we weren't either. Is there such thing?

I stood up taller and kissed Natsu on his cheek.

He blushed and looked down at me. "What was that for?"

"I love you." I whispered.

He bit his lip. I could feel how hard his heart was pounding.

"I love you too." He sighed, kissing the top of my head.

I guess camping was a good way to get to know each other away from the likelihood of Lucy spying on us.