Date: July 5th 2016

Word count: 2, 491

Gajeel had always thought shopping with Lucy was the worst.

Now, after spending more than two hours running all around Hargeon's mall with Levy, he changed his mind.

"Never again, woman." He growled at her. "Never fucking again!"

"Okay, I understand! Can't you be just a little bit... I don't know... QUIET?"

Late holiday shopping... more like true hell. Earlier that day, when he had called his tiny blue-haired muse in order to ask her if she would want to join him on a rather short yet nice trip to Hargeon – and, as it seemed, to wake her up – Gajeel didn't expect to inflict complete panic on her. But... he did. Levy, as forgetful as she was (what is the point of her almost holographic memory if she couldn't use it for important matters?), didn't remember to buy all her Christmas and New Year gifts, even though she had them listed with her beautiful handwriting – not like he cared for her handwriting or something... And now, instead of having few relaxing hours away from home and noisy friends all of themselves – for himself, damn it, stupid mind! - they were running all around the mall, searching for all the stuff of her list.

"I offer a little break..." the bluenette suggested, leaning on one of the decorative columns. She was panting heavily, her thick winter jacket thrown over her arm, droplets of sweat dripping down her temples. Her hair, before in a messy bun, had fallen down, her wild locks sticking at every possible side. Her bags were on small pile by her feet. "There's a café nearby... wanna grab a cup or something?"

"I accept the white flag" he said with a smirk, watching her snort cutely. Actually, the young artist was in no better shape than his little muse – his hair, pulled in what was supposed to be ponytail, was now a mess, was sticky with sweat, he was panting from having to run all around the mall. "Only if I get to pay for it."

"Why can't I do it by myself? Another stupid stereotypical shit?"

"Nope, because I'm a damn gentleman, Levy." He chuckled. It wasn't often to hear her say something so inappropriate, especially in public. "Besides, recently you sneak everything free from Mira's. It's my turn to spoil ya a little, don't you think?"

A cute, pink blush dusted over her cheeks and Gajeel cackled slightly, receiving one of her dark looks who easily rivaled Erza's own as well as Lucy's. He helped her pick up all her bags, both the big and the small ones, then offered her his hand to help her balance herself. It was almost comical, such a small girl, errr, woman, carrying so many stuff. Yet he knew if he dared to laugh at loud, she would kick him in the nuts, which was bad. He wanted to have children, thank you very much.

So he just helped her maneuver around both Christmas decorations, scattered all around the large halls of the building, as well as the other customers who made their way through the crowd. They had to hold hands in order to don't get separated and all honestly, he didn't mind it, even though he was trying his best to hide his blush from the contact. That stupid little part of his mind was practically purring in pleasure, enjoying the amazing feeling of her soft skin against his.

She's my friend, damn it.

The café was small but nice, few comfy-looking chairs circling small coffee tables. As they walked in and chose a booth to sit in, a nice and beaming – maybe a bit too much – waitress welcomed them and took their orders.

"Hot chocolate for me" he said after making himself comfortable on the plush chair. Bags were scattered around the legs of the table, her huge pile and his few ones.

"Good choice, mister" the waitress chirped softly. Unknown to him why, she reminded him a bit of Mira. "And what would your cute girlfriend here want?"

Girlfriend. His jaw fell agape, his cheeks and ears and nose feeling warm on the second. On the chair just next to him, Levy blushed in deep, bright red, eyes widening at the implication of the two of them being in relationship which involved something more than just friendly affection. He suspected he wasn't looking any different.

"Girlfriend?"

"She will want one with all extras" Gajeel managed to stutter out, gaping like a fish on dry land. "The chocolate, I mean. Yeah."

Their waitress only chuckled slightly, visibly amused by their antics. She wrote down their order, then informed them it will be served after few minutes and walked back behind the bar... leaving both young people blushing brightly, unable to say anything to deny what she said.

"Girlfriend?" Levy finally said, covering her mouth in disbelief. "Girlfriend?!"

"H-h-hey! Calm down!" He growled slightly at her. "I didn't know I'm this bad for being in relationship with..."

"That's not what I meant!" If it was possible, her face went even darker red, clashing with her bright blue hair. "I just... I didn't expect... I'm sorry..."

"You're find, Lev." He patted her knee gently, his other hand scratching the back of his neck. "I mean... I didn't expect it either, huh? Sure feels strange..."

"Yeah..." She was looking down. "How about we keep it a secret? And don't tell anyone?"

He placed his hands over hers.

"Deal."

Their short – yet, as it seemed, extremely colorful – visit at the small coffee shop included more 'cute', as Shana – the waitress – called them, couple moments. Gajeel wasn't really surprised when she told them she was part of the Blendy family, cousin of Sherry and Chelia – if the bright pink hair wasn't any indicator of it, then all the 'love' talk was. She admitted she enjoyed helping young 'love birds', just like them, to get together, just as another familiar to them barmaid. And when she learned who Gajeel younger sister was...

"I swear, these Blendy girls are totally insane" he said when they finally walked out. "All of them."

"Ow, stop it." Levy was holding few of the free chocolate chip cookies Shana gave them for free, to 'celebrate' their 'love'. "I think it's cute."

"I don't like being publicly embarrassed by another love-freak." He snorted slightly. "Do you?"

"Well… no… But…" She blushed again. "What's wrong if someone accidentally mistakes us for a couple?"

"It's just embarrassing!"

He didn't understand why she suddenly wanted to talk. She was the one who accepted it more scared than just surprised… yet after the initial shock, she calmed down.

"Am I that bad?" Her question broke his train of thoughts. "I mean, I'm not perfect and I do have many flaws, but… Would I be such bad choice as girlfriend for you?"

Gajeel stopped dead on his tracks. He knew very well about her lack of self-confidence, about how she felt like the ugly duckling around other women – which she, by the way, wasn't – and all her other insecurities. Yet it pained him to hear her talk like that. She was nothing but perfect – why couldn't she understand it?

How could he explain it all without letting out his growing feelings for her?

"Levy, I… It's not because of you."

"What, you'll give me the 'it's not you, it's me' speech? Seriously?" Her hands tightened into fists, ready to drop all her bags. Levy wasn't looking at him, no. "I'm not that stupid, Gajeel."

"I know you aren't." He sighed. "Look up. Look at me."

She did and his heart gave a tug when he saw the tears, ready to fall with every second. Okay, Redfox, just talk. Tell her how amazing, beautiful, smart, unique she is.

"I don't even want to hear you talking about yourself like that" he started, keeping his emotions down. "You're amazing. You're smart. You're beautiful. You're damn bright. You have the most shining smile I ever had the honor to see. Every person – me damn included – would be happy to have you as their girlfriend because you're everything anyone would want to have."

She sniffed softly. Then she dropped her bags on the floor and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly. Gajeel looked down at her, seeing only her wild blue curls. Carefully, his arms wrapped around her small form, holding her close to him.

"Thank you" he heard her whisper gently, his ears barely catching it.

"Always for you."

This was, for sure, one of the weirdest Christmases in his life, but it wasn't like Gajeel could protest against it, after all.

Okay, maybe spending the Christmas Eve at the waiting room at Magnolia's "St. Vermilion" hospital wasn't the best plan for the night... But hey! For once it actually wasn't his fault. It wasn't actually anyone's fault, if you don't count the guy who sold these bad stuff to his little innocent sister.

As it happened, Wendy went out for a walk with some friends to see the annual Winter Carnival with all beautiful games and the delicious foods served of different stands and all these other stuff. Of course, why wouldn't she enjoy the few hours of freedom before hell broke? He would have done it too, probably, if he wasn't busy to help his mother cook all the food. Seriously, who – aside from Natsu – can eat so much?!

Anyway, from what he knew – what she told him, they bought some sweets from some guy at the Winter Carnival - completely innocent, adorable cookies with the form of stars and gifts. She even showed him some pictures she made of them, of how 'ungodly cute!' they were and all that silly stuff. Sure, cute... until she threw up on old man Makarov's carpet. She had been complaining from stomach aches through the whole day - even when their mother offered to check on her to make sure she was okay, Wendy proved her Redfox blood by stubbornly rejecting the sole idea of that.

Considering the fact now all the family - all their ginormous family - was at the ER, Gajeel thought it was rather pointless.

The doctors told them and all other people who has the same issues that the food paint used for these cookies was actually extremely toxic. Luckily, every victim was out of life danger... but everyone had to endure the horrible stomach aches and the feeling of sickness for few days. He pitied all of them, but most his little sister and all her friends who fell into that trap.

At least he wasn't alone in that - unfortunately or not, it depended on the person you were asking. Of course, Charle, being the faithful best friend and always by Wendy's side, suffered from the same awful pain... which meant her family was at the hospital, just like his.

"What a way to spend the Christmas Eve..." Levy whispered from her seat next to him. From what she told him, she was sleeping when his mother called her parents - well, her and the parents of all other Wendy's friends - to tell them to take her sister to the ER. "Don't you think so?"

"Mhm." He was damn worried for his little pipsqueak, but he also knew she was strong as hell and stubborn as much as him. "It's so... boring..."

The bluenette laughed loudly at that comment, making few of the other people around to look at them with confusion. She had taken seat on his right side, her head resting on his shoulder as she leaned on him. They had chatted a little since she came, sleepy but worried out of her mind, and he had managed to calm her down with two cups of hot chocolate

"What is so amusing to you, Shorty?" he growled, annoyed by her otherwise cute laugh.

"Oh, nothing… you just usually complain about how noisy your family is… and now you're complaining about how bored you are without them." She chuckled again. "Tell me, what do you prefer: being with them, or being here?"

Gajeel thought for a second, carefully picking the words for his answer.

"Being here, with you. You're a lot quieter than them… at least most of the time."

She blushed - that beautiful blush only Levy could have, red and pink dusted over her cheeks. The artist smirked slightly - she surely looked cute when her face turned all warm. He loved when he managed to make her blush and prided himself for it, how it took so little to make her squeal and hide her cherry-red cheeks

"What's it now?" he asked, ready to tease her. "You look like that red-nosed deer of Santa. How was its name..."

"Rudolph. The name. It's Rudolph." She stuttered a little. "You… you prefer spending time with me over with your family? Really?"

She's really cute when she stutters, he thought, his ears turning a bit red. Well, she was always cute, but with messy hair and these red-framed glasses… there was something special.

"Yeah." Then an idea came to him. "Actually, I've got something for you."

"Don't tell me it's another short joke" she complained, pouting slightly. "Please, don't. Your short jokes are awful."

A smile made its way to his face and Gajeel smirked, looking at his watch. Just few seconds… It was almost midnight, which meant it was almost Christmas. And he wanted to give her his gift for her. He wanted her to be the first he would wish 'Merry Christmas' to, to be the first to have his gift.

"Lev?" He nudged her gently.

"Hmm?" The bluenette looked up at him, blinking softly.

"It's midnight." He smirked slightly. "You know what it means, right?"

"Oh!" Her eyes sparkled and she sat up, forgetting how tired she was. She was smiled and god… he loved her smile more than any gifts he could ever have. "Merry Christmas, Gajeel!"

"Merry Christmas." He pulled a small box from his jacket and placed it in her hands. "There, you have your gift."

Levy looked at him, then the box. Then back at him, then the box. That continued around a minute, her blush growing darker and darker with each second.

"Is that… for me?"

"Of course, stupid! Just open it…" He growled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Jeez, and you're supposed to be smart."

Silence. Yes there was that goddamned silence. Well, until…

"OH MY GOD IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!"

Hint: he got her a necklace.

Sorry for the late chapter, but I had a bit of work!