This one is for Azareea from Deviantart. Feel free to tell me if there's anything wrong. English is not my native language.

Disclaimer: All about Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Surpriză de metal

Eleven at night. The sound of the clock echoed throughout the room, waking up the little bluenette that had fallen asleep a couple hours ago. Levy opened her eyes immediately and raised her head a second after. Looking around with blurred vision, she rubbed her eyes with her fists, trying to identify where she was. Recognizing the big bookshelves and the smell of old pages and ink, she remembered she was at the library of Fairy Tail. And all because of that. Levy smashed her head against the table with a groan. The ticking of the clock's hands had her face turning to see the time. 23:10.

"Oh my! It's too late!"

Picking up all the books that were spread all over the place where she was sitting, Levy ran out at full speed. She went upstairs, to find that the guild was almost empty, unless for a few mages that were sleeping or drunken on the floor. Mirajane Strauss was cleaning the last glasses before going home.

"See you tomorrow Mira!" Levy shouted, running with a tower of books that almost reached the top of her head.

Mirajane blinked, a little surprised at the rush of the bluenette. "Goodbye Levy-chan," she said in response as she saw the Solid Script mage crossing the doors.

She raced through the streets as fast as her legs allowed her, but it wasn't very easy with eight heavy books covering her visual field. She scolded herself. It was the third time in the week that she had fallen asleep. And all because of that! Shaking her head, she didn't noticed her way until she bumped into something, or rather, into somebody. With a huff, Levy landed on her butt, her books flying through the air and spreading on the floor.

"Watch where yer goin'," a deep voice spoke.

"Sorry, I wasn't look-…" she stopped in her tracks when she raised her head, noticing who the owner of the voice was. How couldn't she recognize it immediately? In front of her was no other but the Iron Dragon Slayer. She blushed. "Gajeel," watching him from that angle only made him look taller.

"What are ya doing out at this hour? And..." he looked around, "without your lapdogs?"

"They aren't lapdogs!" she answered as she stood up. "And you could just help me out instead of making fun of them." Levy started picking up the books from the ground.

"Gihi, don't get yer panties in a bunch, Shrimp," Gajeel sniggered and took the text that was nearer him. His grin disappeared and he grimaced, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Blacksmith's trade?" he asked reading the title out lout. "Why would ya be interested in this type of books, Short Stuff?"

She straightened immediately, her face bright red. Oh sweet Mavis, this can't be happening. "Umm, it's just..." she saw a smirk tugging at his lips. "They are just some techniques for my Solid Script!" the bluenette exclaimed, snatching the tome from his hands and readjusting her pile of books.

"Oh, really?" Gajeel approached her, his face just a couple of inches away from hers. "Or maybe you're just planning on making me some new kind of iron?" Oh man, he liked to tease her. And he liked to tease her a lot.

"W-What?!" she moved back one step. "It's not for you! I've just told you, it's to improve my magic."

"And how's cookin' gonna improve yer magic?" he smirked.

"Uh?" then she looked at the book name that was on top. Art of cooking: How to get through a man's heart. Why in Earthland did she have to choose a text with a title like that?!

"Bakin' cookies for yer boyfriend, eh Shorty? Which one of them is? The fly guy or the fatty one?"

"W-What?!" she repeated. "For none of them, they're just like my brothers. Anyways, I have to go," trying to avoid one more of his questions, she started walking as fast as she could, leaving him behind. Just a couple of seconds after, she felt him walking by her side. Levy looked at him for a few moments before asking, "what are you doing?"

"Walking ya home, isn't it obvious?" the Dragon Slayer answered with a growl.

Levy flushed by his proximity but said nothing. Suddenly, her track of thoughts was interrupted when she felt her books leaving her hands. Her face turned deeper than Erza's hair when she saw the tall man carrying all the tomes in one arm. "G-Gajeel?"

He avoided her gaze. "Just shut up and keep walkin'."

The petite mage smiled, too content to say anything else. They continued their way in a comfortable silence as the stars started to shine bright in the middle of the night. It was when they were near Fairy Hills that it hit her. She stopped abruptly and stared incredulously at Gajeel. He also halted, turning around.

"Shrimp?"

"You... You live in the other side of Magnolia."

"So what?" he shrugged.

"Then, why are you walking me home?"

He avoided her question answering with another one. "What? Have a problem with that?"

Levy just shook her head and followed Gajeel as he resumed their walk. She beamed openly, enjoying the cool breeze that caressed her skin. "By the way, where's Lily?"

"At home."

"I see." Finally she gathered the courage to ask what had been nagging at her mind for the last ten minutes. "And what were you doing outside at this hour?"

Levy swore she saw his stony expression cracked, only to hear him say; "Not of yer business," a few seconds later. The bluenette sighed; partially annoyed that she couldn't get any other response from him.

Both were quiet until they reached the front doors of Fairy Hills. "Thank you very much Gajeel," she said with a smile as the taller mage handed her the books.

"Yeah, ain't a big deal."

"Well, goodnight," she whispered awkwardly, a blush covering her face.

Gajeel turned around and waved a lazy goodbye. "Night, Shorty."

"Oh, say hi to Lily from me!" she called out to him before he was gone.

"Whatever," he replied.

Levy waited until he was out of sight. Then, she entered Fairy Hills. She let out a deep sigh, her back against the door. Looking at her pile of books, she was grateful that Gajeel didn't ask any other question. She went upstairs as silently as possible and locked herself in her room. It was a complete mess, but she got to start working, even if she just could sleep a couple of hours. That was the reason why she had fallen asleep at the library for the past few days. Gajeel didn't have to know that she was making a gift. A gift for him. Lucy had given her the idea. And Levy was tired from waiting. Waiting for Gajeel to make a move. The celestial mage had given her some hints that the Dragon Slayer might feel something for her too. And feeling brave, Levy made the decision to make the first move. Even though if that meant to put her friendship with Gajeel in risk. She sighed, hoping that all went right.

The bluenette looked around, and realized that she had only seven books with her. She could have sworn that she had brought eight. But as tired as she was, maybe she counted wrong, or just forgot it at the library. Opening the first text, Melting metal, Levy took out her magic pen and put her abilities into action. Little did she know that someone had taken the missing book.

How to confess and not die trying. Gajeel frowned. "What the hell with these damn book names?" he murmured to himself. He had taken the book that was at the bottom without Levy noticing. It was a thin tome, with a normal brown cover. Gajeel snorted.

He knew that the Shrimp was up to something. He recognized that she wasn't telling the true, at least, not completely. Sure, maybe she was using all that iron books for her magic, but the cooking ones? It didn't make sense. Not at all. Why would she want to cook something out of nowhere? And what the bloody fuck with that thing of confessing? That was the last straw. It was clear that she was preparing all that for someone. And it bothered him. It bothered him really much. And Gajeel was determined to find who it was for. And just maybe, beat the shit out of him. Because it was a him, right?

It was almost midnight when the Iron Dragon Slayer arrived at the house that shared with his Exceed partner, Pantherlily. Turning on the lights, he noticed the black cat sleeping by the couch. The noise of the closing door woke Lily up. He got up immediately.

"I fell asleep?" he asked himself, looking at the clock and then turning to Gajeel. "I thought you'd never come, were you stalking Levy again?"

He looked furious at his cat. "I wasn't stalking her!" he exclaimed, receiving a snicker from Lily. The mage scratched his head awkwardly. "I… walked her home."

"Well now, that's a progress. You had already been following her for two weeks. 'Bout time you did something else," the Exceed answered with a smile, only to see Gajeel sit down on the couch next to him, a frown plastered in his face. "And…you should be happy. Why don't you look happy?"

The Iron Dragon Slayer took out the book that brought with him and threw it to the table in front of them both. Lily looked at it curiously, reading the title in silence. "What's this?" he asked.

Gajeel crossed his arms over his broad chest. "It's one of Shrimp's books."

The black cat glanced through the first pages. "She lent it to you?"

"Yeah… kind of."

"You took it without telling her." It wasn't a question.

The mage became suddenly flustered "Argh! She didn't even notice."

"What you did is called steal, Gajeel," his Exceed looked at him disapprovingly.

"I just borrowed it. I'll give it back," he avoided his gaze. "But I took it for that," he grunted, pointing at the book name with an accusative finger. "Bookworm's up to something. And I want to know what it is."

"Or for who," Lily echoed Gajeel's thoughts, even though he already knew the answer. It was pretty obvious what Levy was doing. All fit together in Lily's brain like two pieces of a puzzle. But Gajeel seemed to have no idea, so the Exceed decided to tease him. Just a little. "You're jealous."

"Ain't."
"Liar."

Gajeel growled, giving him a murderous gaze. He sighed, then. He had been talking with Lily about Levy for about a month now. "What should I do?"

"Why don't you ask her what she's doing?" his partner suggested.

"I already did. But she avoided my questions." They remained in silence for a couple of minutes until a smirk appeared on Gajeel's lips. "I think I got an idea. Come on Lily, we have to sleep."

It was early in the morning when Gajeel arrived at Fairy Hills. He was hanging out of the corbel of the second floor. The difficult part wasn't get there. It was to not getting caught until he was in Shorty's room. If one of the girls appeared at that moment, he would be easily exposed. But he hoped that all of them were still sleeping, so he followed Levy's scent and moved as fast as he could till he was outside her window. Fortunately, it was unlocked, so he entered with ease. Gajeel was greeted by an empty bed. He froze. Levy wasn't there. She was awake. The Iron Dragon Slayer looked around. No signs of the petite mage, but the door was ajar. He smelled the room. Her scent was still strong, but he realized that she wasn't at the chamber. He sighed. She wasn't far, though. He had to hurry.

He walked between the bookshelves and the millions of tomes that were spread all over the floor. And then he saw what he was looking for. The books that the bluenette was carrying yesterday. Narrowing his eyes, he read as fast as possible through the pages that were open, trying to find something that could help him out to find whatever the hell the Shrimp was doing. And for who. Especially the last part. Almost 15 minutes had passed. Gajeel was going to give up when he found something that caught his eye. It was a note. A very creased note with a stylized handwriting that could only belong to Levy. He tried to figure out the meaning of the message between a lot of phrases that had been crossed out. He read the understandable sentences, attempting to find the relationship.

'It's difficult to say this out loud...' 'I don't know when my feelings for you started...' 'It's just so complicated to talk to you...' 'You don't even realize how I feel...' 'Even though you are so damn dense...' 'But the truth is that I love you...' Then, there was a name. Gajeel could tell because it was the end of the note and the word started with a capital letter. It had been replaced by little doodles of hearts. His pulse accelerated. He would be finally able to kick the ass of the bastard Levy had fallen in love with. A single 'G' was visible, followed by a smudged, scrawling writing. Wanting to see nearer, he took the paper in his hands. It was difficult to read the word but it wasn't completely illegible. There was the 'G', followed by an 'a', and then...

"No!"

He turned his head to the entrance. The door was now open. There stood a very wet Levy clad in a white towel that covered barely her ass, —in Gajeel's words—. McGarden didn't know why the Iron Dragon Slayer was at her room, but whatever the hell he was trying to do, she had to stop him from finding that. Gajeel remained in his place, without being able to tear his look away from her. When he finally had the strength to gaze down again, all happened in a matter of seconds.

"Gajeel, no!" Levy yelled, slipping when her bare feet stepped on the wooden floor. The bluenette tried to keep her balance as she slid through the room. Closing her eyes, she finally landed onto Gajeel's lap with a loud thump. She blinked, opening her eyelids again to find a pair of red irises glued to her. And then, a straw of blood coming from the black haired man's nose.

"G-Gajeel...?" Suspiciously, she looked down. And a second later, her face invented a new kind of red. Her towel has fallen. "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" she covered herself up with both hands, but Gajeel hadn't moved. "Stop looking!" And what are you doing here?!" she managed to say when she finally took her cloth and tied it with a tight knot.

Once he recovered and cleaned himself up, he tried to find a good excuse. "Umm, I just...I wanted to..." he got quiet when he saw a metallic glint out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to a little desk that was next to Levy's bed.

The Solid Script mage alarmed, noticing the direction of his gaze. She tried to incorporate but Gajeel was faster and took a rectangular object that was on top. It was a metallic bar, divided in sections that were made of different type of iron. It smelled like it was stuffed with some kind of food. Like chocolate cookies. And something has been written within it.

"No! Give that back!" she tried to reach him, in vain.

He took both of her hands in one of his while she kept squirming and yelling underneath him. His breath hitched in his throat as he read what it said. For Gajeel. Love, Levy. And then, all hit him like a tidal wave. The books. Her plans. The note. The metal bar. It was for him. It all was for him. He started to grin. "Hey, Bookworm what's this?"

Looking down, he could see tears forming in the corner of her eyes, his smirk disappearing as fast as it came. "Isn't it obvious? You weren't supposed to see it. Not now," she murmured, rubbing her eyes with both fists. She sighed. "Would you mind telling me now why did you come here? And..." she narrowed her eyes, recognizing a very familiar brown cover of the tome that projected from Gajeel's belt, "is that my book? How do you even-..." she couldn't finish her sentence as a pair of soft lips placed against hers. Her eyes widened.

"Gihi. It doesn't matter anymore," he broke away, chuckling as her face turned red again. Levy was about to speak when he leaned down to kiss her once more.

His tongue darted out ever so slightly, caressing her lower lip, asking for entrance. She was about to agree when a voice at the entrance of the room had them breaking away.

"Levy are you ok? I heard you scream and-..."

Scarlett stopped in her tracks, watching the scene in front of her. The bluenette then noticed her position with the man and the fact that she was almost naked. "E-Erza! It's not what you think." The redheaded woman turned to Gajeel, a frown covering her face.

"Go fuck yourself, Titania. I'm busy with Shorty here."

"What did you..."

In that moment, Gajeel realized what he had said. Oh shit, were his lasts thoughts before everything turned black.

Bonus

"Are you crazy?! Going to Fairy Hills knowing that you aren't allowed there is one thing. But insulting Erza... I bet you wanted to die, didn't you?"

Gajeel groaned in pain when Lily put the icepack on his crotch while the mage hold another by himself on his left eye. He looked at the iron bar that was now eaten halfway. It was delicious.

"It was worth it," he answered with a grin, remembering the taste of Levy's lips on his.

His smirk grew bigger. He was determined to taste them again.