Hot summers were nearly unbearable to Gray. Everything burned to the touch and even if he was perpetually cold, he was always able to sweat in the heat. Even being stripped down to his boxers did nothing to relieve him. Which is precisely why he always was sick during the summer.

Cana knocked on the door to his small apartment one blazing summer morning. It was nearly noon and the 12 year old was growing concerned for her best friend. Levy, Jet, and Droy had left earlier that morning to go on a job and Natsu was busy helping Erza and Lisanna with chores Makarov put them on. This left Cana with only Mirajane and Elfman for company and that wasn't very entertaining when Mira was busy fighting with Erza and Elfman didn't talk much.

So, with a basket of soup and soda and sweets, Cana started out toward Gray's home (after getting directions, of course). She stood on the front step with her legs crossed as she waited for her best friend to answer the door. The door finally opened after several minutes and Gray stood in front of her sniffling.

"C-Cana?" Gray asked, stepping out of the way to let the girl inside. "What are you doing here?"

"You haven't been at the guild for three days, everybody's getting worried. So I came out here to make sure you were still alive," Cana explained, setting the basket down. "I also brought food!" Gray sneezed and thanked her as they took the basket of goodies into the tiny kitchen. "Are you sick?" Cana asked as she dished out the soup into bowls.

"It's the heat…" Gray said through a cough. He snapped the top of a can of soda and sipped at it as Cana did the same. They put the soup bowls onto a tray along with bread and Goldfish and took it to the living room. Cana hopped up on the couch and tugged Gray up beside her. The two ate with the TV on Spongebob. After finishing their lunch, Cana went back to the kitchen to get their desserts, two chocolate cupcakes with blue and yellow sprinkles.

After they finished the cupcakes, Gray started sliding down the back of the couch until he was laying down and his toes were resting against Cana's leg. "Are you sure you're alright?" Cana asked, "Do you need medicine or something?"

"I don't need no stupid medicine!" Gray insisted. He coughed loudly and clutched at his upset belly as Cana looked at him with sympathetic eyes. She got off the couch and started heading toward the bathroom. "Where ya goin'?" Gray asked.

"Just to the bathroom, don't worry." Cana smiled reassuringly and kept on until she was in the room. She popped open the cabinet above the sink and sifted through all the bottles for anything that would help for a cold. Sure enough, there was a bottle of children's syrup hidden behind allergy medicine that Cana took.

Back in the living room, Cana started pouring the liquid out on a spoon. "I don't need medicine, Canaaa!" Gray whined, turning on his side to face the sofa cushions.

"But it'll make you feel better, you big baby!" Cana fussed. She hopped up on top of Gray and turned him so she could see his face. "Now take your medicine like a man!" she yelled, shoving the spoon in Gray's mouth.

"Blech! Blech!" Gray gargled. He gagged and dropped to the floor, forcing Cana off his lap in his tumble. "So gross!" He gaped at the air and gripped at his throat as if it would get the taste out of his mouth. "That's not cherries!"

Cana giggled and helped him up. She handed him his soda and Gray gratefully sucked the whole thing down in one swig. "There, is that better, Mr. Grumpypants?" Cana teased.

"No," Gray answered plainly, taking her drink off it's coaster and drinking all of it at once. "That was disgusting."

"I could tell," Cana said with a snicker. Gray sneezed once more, which made Cana cringe. "Maybe it's time you get to bed…" she suggested.

Gray shook his head and insisted he wasn't tired. "Besides, I should probably go to the guild…" he added, coughing again and sniffling.

Like a doting mother, Cana still held that he should go to bed. "I'll even stay over if you want me to…" She blushed and looked at her feet at the statement.

"…OK, fine…" Gray finally surrendered, "but only if you stay!" Cana grinned and took Gray's hand as he lead the way to his room. She helped him into bed and turned on the air conditioner when Gray asked. Just as she was getting ready to leave the room, Gray piped up from under his blanket cocoon, "Where're you goin'?"

Cana turned around in the doorway, "…I'm going back to the living room?"

"No you're not!" he coughed. Cana rolled her eyes and crawled up beside the boy. Under the covers, the sheets were nearly frozen. She had never noticed that Gray's skin was so icy cold, even if he said it was just fine. Luckily, the blankets were warm in contrast to the air conditioning and Gray's body-freeze. "You're warm…" Gray commented, snuggling sickly against her.

Cana lifted her chin off his head in confusion, "Well, you're froze…"

"Nu-uh…" Gray sniffled, " 'M hot, too…"

Cana considered arguing with him, but decided against it figuring it was just one of his stalling attempts. "Just go to sleep, you dummy…"

Gray finally gave up and fell asleep. His cold breath blew evenly on Cana's neck and his heartbeat pattered on her arm. Cana drifted off as well, comfortable in the room and in Gray's hold. It was nice, just the two of them together for the first time in what felt like forever.

So, there's been a bit of a time-skip here. Skipped about two years because I couldn't think of anything more to add for the year. So, things might start moving quite quickly toward the present!

Next will be them taking a mission! If you have ideas for what they could have to do for their job, let me know!

Review and tell me what you thought!