Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

She couldn't be sure if Gajeel Redfox had suddenly taken his position at the gym to heart…or if she was being ignored. The cold shoulder felt to be a bit much and it wasn't like he had been the one stark naked behind a criminally thin shower curtain. If anyone had any right to avoid anyone, it was her and she definitely had.

In her defense, she felt that she had went about it like an adult, instead of blatantly refusing to acknowledge him while they were in the same room, she had taken her embarrassment- and her very yellow belly, Lucy had helpfully added- elsewhere. Levy took a few days to get the entire ordeal out of her system, so she went running- mostly from the geese- in the park with Lucy. It had been a better way to get her exercise in and talk with her friend sans the threat of being tripped or shoved into Khal Drogo's impressive arms by her friend. Not wholly unpleasant, but she didn't want to become that girl at the gym.

The fresh air had done it's job and her mind was clear now and she was ready to tackle whatever post-accidental shower encounter conversation that came her way.

Though, she definitely wasn't going to be the one to bring it up first.

Which left the two of them in an unofficial (possibly one-sided?) standoff from across the gym. He moved from one end of the big, fancy desk to the other, tack-tacking on the keyboard and trading out towels for the customers' keys and greeting people when they walked through the front door. The only breaks in his concentration were when Lily would phone in from his office in the back, where the gym owner had holed himself up to finally prepare his paperwork for the subsequent tax season. Gajeel would look up, glance out the front doors, squint against the bright light from the afternoon sun filtering through the glass doors, and give his report of events from out on the floor, hang up, and then, glue his dumb, criminal eyes back to the computer screen.

He'd wind up damaging his vision and wearing glasses.

In an effort to give herself a good dose of humor for the day, she tried to envision him with coke bottle glasses with heinously colored frames that clashed with those ridiculous eyes of his.

However, just like with everything else since she had been made aware of his presence, it came back to bite her in the ass.

Instead of coke bottle frames that slipped childishly down his nose, they were slick, rectangular frames and his hair was knotted up at the back of his head and there were the beginning traces of 5 o'clock shadow on his jaw.

Levy resisted the urge to slam her head against the key pad on the treadmill.

She needed to get out more.

Or move ten cities away.

She gulped and whipped her head forward when he glanced up to speak to someone.

Her reflexes just grazed good-enough-not-to-die on better days, so it was hard to believe he hadn't already caught her boring holes through his noggin. The man seemed completely oblivious to her very obvious, flashing, neon sign presence. Now, Levy McGarden wasn't one to wear anything for the attention of a man or to please one, but the color of her shorts were all but demanding of it. She'd bought them just to bait him because, in all honesty, she missed his sarcastic drawl interrupting her peaceful runs.

Between the day she bought the damn eyesore of active wear and now, Levy had worked out ten different digs he could make and twenty more comebacks she could respond with for the pool of comments she figured he would choose from.

She enjoyed the back-and-forth that came so easily between them and, more importantly, messing with him.

Gajeel looked like he bench-pressed minivans and would snort at the idea of brushing one's teeth three times a day and stole from little, old ladies on the weekends, but he was pretty much a pushover. Even better, an easily tongue-tied pushover. It spelled out many quick wins for her and Levy would have been lying if she denied pre-composing one-liners about the shower debacle, she had been prepared for this. A small part of her even screamed out that she was a little bit excited. She liked Gajeel's laugh and he made her laugh in turn and-

Man, was she in deep.

Not the biggest of her problems, to be sure. However, they were still relatively new to each other and what if he saw her as something like a distant younger cousin he could joke with, but didn't have any real connecting conversations or anything in common? She would die if she had to hear the infamous 'I like you as a friend' line one more time.

Especially from him.

And in Lily's gym to boot.

He didn't have any obligations to like like her and she wouldn't blame him or stop talking to him, but damn, if it didn't hurt to think she had misread this entire situation and made herself out to be a fool.

Maybe she should have swallowed her pride and talked to Lucy anyways. Her friend would have given her a few more tips on Gajeel's personality and insight into whether or not he had been flirting back with her. Levy groaned and shook her head, slowing the treadmill down and taking a swig of her water.

Being out of the dating game for so long had taken its toll and she couldn't remember the last time she was interested in a guy and actually had to make the first move.

Her own indecisiveness aside, he still hadn't so much as glanced toward her. It wasn't like her bright blue ponytail was easily mistaken as someone else's head of hair- the closest would be Juvia's, and hers was longer and darker. Levy was her own form of giant, neon sign and Gajeel was showcasing an impressive level of cluelessness formidable to Natsu's.

Well, there had to be a familial resemblance somewhere.

Gajeel hadn't been too busy to chat with Juvia or Lily or even shoot disapproving looks to Totomaru, where the latter manned the rock wall. The fact had irked her more than it should and with that, her indecisiveness was cut away as she made her mark.

An overly juvenile action, one she knew he'd appreciate.

Levy yanked off her thin headband and aimed, the projectile shot across the gym and snapped beautifully against Gajeel's cheek. She had never seen someone of his size startle so violently, but it choked her breaths as she quieted her laughter. He had very nearly thrown the chair backwards with his weight- she almost blew her cover when another fit of laughter overcame her with the vision of nothing but his giant feet and the wheels on the chair stuck up in the air.

Muttered curses made their way to her as she schooled her features, picking her pace back up to make it look like she had been intensely focused on some goal.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught him scanning the gym with narrowed eyes as he scrubbed his hand over the wide headband he wore. His gaze landed on her and Levy swore she could feel the tips of her hair fry with his burning suspicion. The baby hairs on her neck stood on end and a shiver wracked her frame, he was too good at this game and she had had no chance of winning even before she shot her headband at him. The little tell was all he needed to know exactly who was guilty of hitting him with a lime green hair accessory.

The man had stubbornly snapped it against her head enough times during their back-and-forths to recognize it right off the bat.

Not her best plan, but she was thinking on her feet- literally.

Perfect trajectory and target hit aside, he delivered his best glare- the heat of it nearly burned her shoes to the track. She risked a glance out of the corner of her eye and he somehow managed to make eye contact, holding her in the spot. Levy gulped and his eyebrow quirked up, in amusement or annoyance, she couldn't tell.

Those emotions seemed to stay neck-and-neck for him, the fine parallel line between the two was too thin to even see most days.

By some cosmic blessing, someone emerged from the door to the locker rooms and approached the desk, handing back the towel they had borrowed for their car keys. A rush of air left her in a whoosh as he was forced to look away and her feet were freed from the weird spell that made them feel glued to the track. Levy hoped the distraction was enough to sway him from staring her down until she left or worse, kicking her out of Lily's gym for being five-years-old and risking someone's safety.

Namely her own if his lack of patience with annoyances had anything to say about it.

Her hands jolted on the handle bars of the treadmill, embarrassingly noting that her heart rate had begun to pick up. Gajeel Redfox had one hell of a pokerface and she was a heart pinned to her sleeve, noticeable and gaudy and more telling than her words ever could be. Levy shook her head and powered down the machine. A few more people had trickled into the main room to cool down on the treadmills and the ones that had been free on either side of her were now being used. She didn't need complete strangers glancing over at her and thinking she struggled to jog or that she might have been having a heart attack.

Just as Levy hopped off the treadmill and began her trek to the locker rooms, something smacked against her temple.

She scrubbed at the irritated spot, whatever it had been had a definite pop to it and her skin tingled from the contact. Levy glanced around and when it was clear no one else had seen what happened, she moved on. Her shoe rolled across something, nearly making her trip. When she looked down and lifted her foot, there rested the lime green headband she had been wearing. A smile began to split her lips when she picked it up, disappearing the second she looked up to speak to Gajeel.

Lily stood in the doorway behind Gajeel, arms folded across his chest and his own brow quirked in a way that was expressly for chiding children.

Levy gulped and ducked her head, nervously shuffling forward when he ticked his head in order for her to come to the desk. She had the distinct dread that only came whenever she was called to the principal's office when she was in school. Her stomach twisted in knots, it wasn't a feeling she had expected to feel again. Seeing as she was well into her twenties and no longer in school. When she reached the desk, Gajeel shot her a blank look, not a single sign of possible hope or the same dread that crawled deep in her belly. Levy cursed his pokerface once more and vowed to learn the trick to looking completely unphased.

When she met Lily's dark eyes, bold and striking to the soul, she gulped. A grin split the older man's face as he leaned down toward her.

"I don't believe flirting falls under the list of duties I pay Gajeel to do, Miss McGarden."

"Oi, 'm not-!"

Lily looked pointedly at Gajeel, talking over and cutting off whatever it was that was about to come out of his employee's mouth. Nothing appropriate after he denied flirting, she guessed. "Which is why I am kindly kicking the two of you out of my gym and to the nearest restaurant to continue this on your own time and money." He winked and that familiar pull of his scar with the motion eased her inner turmoil and pulled a light flush to her cheeks.

Gajeel grumbled petulantly from his seat in front of the computer, refusing to look at either of them.

Lily snorted and shoved the younger man's shoulder. "And I'm definitely not paying you to pretend to work while you're actually playing Solitaire."

It was Gajeel's turn to blush- though he'd deny he did such a thing until his dying breath- and Levy laughed.

No wonder he had appeared so focused on the screen.

Gajeel groaned and leaned back in the chair, swiveling the seat to face Lily. "Ya've got a pretty full house here."

"And I also have Juvia and Totomaru, who are both more than willing to pick up whatever slack you weren't covering to begin with. We're not packed to the gills and everyone's damn tired of watching you two dance around each other for the past few months. It'll do our heart health good to see you finally talk."

Levy opened her mouth to come to Gajeel's defense, but Lily gave her a look and froze her in her spot. "About anything that doesn't revolve around this gym, Levy."

He reached forward and affectionately nudged the top of her head, causing a few pieces of her bangs to fall free. The older man smiled and ticked his head in the direction of the lockers, dismissing her from his desk as relief flooded her. She glanced toward Gajeel and offered him a sympathetic smile, mouthing a 'good luck' as she ducked away for the locker room. Just as the doors swung shut behind her, she caught Lil's roll rumble as he said something to Gajeel, his teasing tone easy enough to catch, and a drawn out groan come from her co-conspirator.

When she reemerged into the main lobby, Gajeel was waiting by the doors with his own duffle bag slung over one broad, very broad, shoulder and tapping lazily at his phone's screen. Her eyes swung to the desk where Juvia attempted to strike up a conversation with a smile that was all too cunning and sweet for her liking. Levy's eyebrows slowly climbed her forehead as she noted Gajeel's eyes quickly darting to his old friend and muttering something under his breath she couldn't quite catch.

The pointed focus on his phone suddenly made sense and she was wondering just how she was going to get to the door without falling under Juvia's line of sight. She wasn't nearly that short. Just as Levy had started to form her plan for going out the back door fire escape to run around the entire building to get to the front door, Gajeel looked up and she caught the flicker of a smile twitching in the corner of his mouth.

Well, she did have one thing going for her- Gajeel wasn't dreading seeing her and he hadn't stood her up at the gym.

Points for that.

Levy cleared her throat when she popped up at his side a few moments later. "So…"

Gajeel pocketed his phone, slipping his hands into his pockets and shrugging. "So?"

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and briefly glanced down to her running shoes, then around the gym. "A-Are we really gonna do this?"

He sighed and out of the corner of her eye she caught his hand rise, before it snapped back to his side. Levy got the distinct feeling he had been about to lay his hand on her shoulder, or, more characteristically, the top of her head. Gajeel cleared his throat to get her attention. "You don't have ta do anything you don't wanna do."

Levy looked at him then, forgetting Juvia's pressing presence at her back and going out on a limb. "But it's something you'd want to do? I mean, you're not out here protesting or tearing out of the gym before I could get out here."

"'m not. And if you haven't already caught on, I'm not the type to go on other people's whims." He whipped his head back to Juvia, narrowing his eyes when she only tilted her head in response, making her ponytail fall prettily over her shoulder, and widened her eyes questioningly- innocently.

Levy stepped closer and tugged lightly as his jacket sleeve, urging him to look back at her. She smiled shyly and tried in vain to fight the oncoming warmth of her blush. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"Believe it or not, I do actually have manners," Gajeel scoffed. Juvia snorted behind them, gaining their attention as she shook with the effort to cap her laughter. Levy turned back to Gajeel and quirked her brow, folding her arms over her chest. He groaned and threw his hands up, shrugging his shoulders. "Okay, so some manners."

"That sounds more like it."

Gajeel scoffed and turned for the door, holding it open for her and muttering under his breath as she passed by. "Let's get going, brat."

She laughed, the sound breezy and infectious. If she had been looking at him, she would have caught the larger man falter, blinking owlishly one or two times before shaking his head and breaking free from the gym's threshold to follow after her.

He cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck as he fell into step beside her. "So, uh, food?"

"Sounds good."

"How do you feel about really good, bad Chinese food?"

She gasped and placed a hand over her heart. "After just working out?" Gajeel flinched and fished for something else to say before she winked at him and smiled. "You know me too well."

"I actually don't know you that well at all."

She paused just in front of her car door and turned to him, searching his face for any sign that maybe he was regretting agreeing to the whole ordeal. Aside from an awkward shuffle from being under her observation, he just seemed adamant on the fact that he didn't know her. Levy smiled and elbowed his middle gently. "Well, what else would you call a man that knows my favorite TV program, restaurant choices, and someone who walked in on me in the shower and lived to tell the tale?"

"Your next murder victim, probably."

Levy threw her head back and laughed, the sound deep and too full for her slight frame; it pulled a lopsided smile from Gajeel as they approached their cars. "Please, if I wanted to kill you, I'd have to hire someone bigger than you to drag your huge corpse to the river or something. And that takes a lot more money than I have."

"Are you calling me fat?"

She rolled her eyes and opened her car door, nodding to his own vehicle a little farther down the parking lot. "Let's get a move on, Redfox. We still have an audience at the front windows and I'm starving."

"What's yers say?"

Levy pressed her hand to her mouth and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Gajeel scoffed and smirked at her, leaning forward over the table. "What? Afraid someone's gonna hear ya?" To drive his point home, he looked past her and then, behind him at the emptied restaurant. "'Cause there's so many people here ta judge you if you say it too loud and all."

His smile was smarmy and all too pleased. Even after being forced out of the gym and shoved into what, for all intents and purposes, was an actual date, their banter continued to flow easily. Levy had been a little more taken aback when Gajeel turned out to be one of those guys that had no problem sharing his food. Thank goodness they had both agreed feeding the other was too much, but having him occasionally leave a piece of his meal on the corner of her plate- insisting she try it- was kind of a nice surprise.

The man had excellent taste in food and she quietly wondered how long it would take him to admit that he was a great cook as well. Or what his reaction would be when he learned that it had been Juvia that had divulged that piece of information.

Whomever had said that a way to a man's heart was through his stomach had clearly gotten it backwards, because she was halfway to eating herself sick and purring over the restaurant he had lead her to.

She swatted his arm and glowered. "For someone to claim they have some manners, you sure aren't acting like it."

"You'll get used to it." As the words left his mouth, Gajeel startled at the unintended meaning. He opened his mouth to correct himself, but she beat him to it.

Levy bit her tongue as she smiled in challenge. "Will I now?"

She noticed him lightly bite the inside of his own cheek and she muffled a laugh as he murmured, "We'll see, shorty."

"I think you're short-changing me, Gajeel."

He took a bite of his egg roll before pointing the pair of chopsticks he held in his hand toward her. "Nah, I'm pretty sure yer genetics took care of that."

Gajeel Redfox was probably the only person on the entire planet nicknaming or lightly insulting people he had just met. It took her a few weeks to catch on that it was not so much a slight as it was endearment in his eyes. She'd heard him call Juvia various epithets concerning her hair and other parts of her personality to know the fact about it being an endearment to be true. And, if she was being completely honest with herself, what girl could resist Khal Drogo serving up a lopsided smile and the slow drawl he put on the word 'shorty'?

Definitely not her.

"You're impossible." Levy scoffed and shook her head disbelievingly. "You've never even asked if I'm okay with the short jokes."

"If ya had an issue with it, you'd've told me an' then, I would have heard it from Lil' and Juvia too. Now, quit stallin'. What's yer fortune?" He stood from his own booth and slid into the seat next to hers. "C'mon, I read mine out loud and it didn't kill me."

Levy rolled her eyes and shoved her shoulder into his. "Okay, wise guy, I'm going." She cracked open the cookie, popping half of it in her mouth before unfolding the tiny slip of paper. Her mouth stretching into a wide grin before she bit down on her tongue, coquettishly waving her fortune to Gajeel. "I think I win this one."

He snatched the paper and guffawed at its text, giving her that lopsided smile and gently shoving her shoulder back. "Yeah, I'd say ya did."

There was no missing the gossiping giggles in Chinese coming from behind them and absolutely not the way he briefly glanced down at her mouth before pinning his eyes back on hers.

A/N: So, there's a game with fortune cookies where you- very maturely- add on '-in bed' to the end of the fortune. The fortune that Levy got is inspired by one I have and it says 'You may lose the small ones, but win the big ones'. Regular comedic genius, I know.

And with that, gym au comes to a close! Thanks for keeping up with the story and your patience between updates, it's much appreciated.

Edit: Please do not leave me reviews or messages saying I should check out the other gym AU. That story uses domestic violence and includes a fairly graphic flashback chapter. I was severely triggered by their scene and I would rather not have our stories lopped together. I do my best to create a safe and healthy reading environment and I personally believe that there are some issues that have no place in what we do here. Thank you for your time. -Lionus.