AN: This is for Gajevy Week 2016. I have never written for this in the past, but if you've read my other works on here, then you kinda know my style. If you haven't, please check out my Gajevy fanfictions!

*I do not own any of the pictures.

*I do not own any of Fairy Tail - that's all Hiro Mashima.

AN: This is beyond late. But better late than never finishing it. There are probably -most likely- some errors. I haven't begun to edit these yet, I'm focusing on my main story first.

Gajevy Week #7 - Mistakes and Lessons

Gajeel held his phone up to his ear after his thumb pressed the contact's number. This was now the tenth time he had called just this hour and was hoping -praying- that she'd finally pick up, only to hear the voicemail again. He violently swore, dropping the phone onto the passenger seat beside him.

He gazed out the windshield, turning his truck onto their street. How would he fix his mistake if he couldn't get her to talk to him? It wasn't as if he didn't want to repair the damage he had done to their marriage. He was actively trying. But did she want to?

He retrieved his android to call again. He was not going to lay down and give up on her. On them.

Her pleasant voice spoke on the other end as her voicemail began. He rolled his eyes, knowing he should have expected her to ignore him, and prepared his words for the recording.

"Hey baby, please hear me out. Let me talk to you, you don't have to say anything. Just listen, alright? I learned my lesson. I give up. I can't hold out against you. You know why? 'Cause I love you. You're everything to me, Levy. I'm sorry about what I did. I get it, I was an asshole. But if we talk this out, we can attempt to mend this. It's possible and I'm ready and willing, so long as you are too. Please, Levy. I do love you. I don't want to do this world without you. Call me back when you get this."

Sighing, Gajeel pulled into the drive. Levy's car was parked on the lot beside him. So she was home. Part of him was relieved, the other part… the other part was angry. If she was indeed home, then she would have her phone on her. They could have been talking out their issues instead of ignoring each other. No good could come from not caring about their marriage enough to speak to one another. No matter how pissed off and hurt they were.

Walking up the stone pathway that led to the porch and green front door, he reached out to open it. Instead of giving under Gajeel's thumb, the handle stood solid in his grasp, effectively stopping him in his tracks. He muttered, "You gotta be kidding me…"

Hoping the lock hadn't been changed on him, he quickly tried his house key with a shaky hand. The tumblers matched, enabling the key to turn. The knot in his stomach untied as he entered their home.

There was an air about the main room. Something off. A feeling he couldn't explain. At first glance around the living room, everything was the same as when he had left. Walking further inside, Gajeel noticed the differences.

The quilted throw blanket he had bought her, usually folded on the back of the couch, was gone. A few picture frames mounted on the wall were missing from their places, leaving a space on the wall behind oddly noticeable. There were no more candles in the decorative holder on the coffee table.

He palmed his keys, turning to his left. He sucked in a sharp breath.

The bookshelf that had once held Levy's many books was bare. His red eyes stared blankly at it, his mind trying to come up with a solution to what his eyes were seeing. Did she really do it? Did she really leave like she had threatened she would?

"Levy!" He shouted. Panic was steadily rising within him, but he stamped it down. He couldn't let himself overreact. Not yet.

Rushing to the hallway, he opened the bathroom door. Nothing seemed out of place. Brushing aside the shower curtain, he only saw his things. There was no flowery shampoo, no pink soap, not even her hair ties that she always left on a hook by the shower head. He checked the cabinet behind the sink. Her toothbrush was gone, her body spray, her comb and makeup. All were gone.

"Fuck, Levy! Don't do this!" He cried. His heart rate climbed and he could hear it in his ears as he left the bathroom for their bedroom.

She was nowhere to be seen. The dresser drawers were open and empty, as was her closet. All of her clothing was packed away in the suitcases on the bed. Two of the three were zipped up. The third was still opened with folded clothes sitting organized inside. Some were waiting to be packed, stacked beside it on the bed. A duffle bag was overflowing with her books and a large shopping sack was filled with all of her hygiene and hair products.

Gajeel stared at all of it. He couldn't breathe. Levy was really leaving. She was leaving him. All of her things were packed up as far as he could tell. If it wasn't for all of it still sitting in the house, he would have thought she was gone for good. Her car was still parked in the drive though. Where was she?

He found her phone on the bedside table. Without thinking of anything but the very real possibility of his wife leaving -or worse, he unlocked it. There was his missed calls, his voicemail notifications, his texts. All unopened. There were texts from Lucy and Mira.

Levy, I really think you should talk to him. Don't throw it all away because of some guy. Gajeel made a mistake. We all have. Don't punish him for it. Instead you should help him understand how it hurt you. You need to do the same. Talk it out. But let me know when you want to talk with him, and I will be over there in a heartbeat. Natsu too. I'd rather us be there in case things get out of hand. It's not something Gajeel will want to hear, but you have to tell him so things can begin to heal.

Gajeel's eyes narrowed while he read Lucy's message. What was she talking about? Wasn't he the one who had hurt Levy with his actions? He looked through Mira's message. It was basically the same thing. Both of Levy's friends had given her similar advice. But the issue it seemed wasn't him. It was something else. Something he knew nothing about. He was tempted to look through her other messages, but he stopped himself out of love and respect.

He murmured as his finger locked it and tossed the device onto the bed, "What the hell is it then if not me?"

His mind was running a mile and minute as he tripped over himself through the hallway and into the main room. Stumbling into the kitchen, he leaned a hand on the back of a kitchen chair. He glanced around for any sign that his wife had been there. Cabinet doors were closed. Pictures on the fridge were still held there by magnets. He frowned when his eyes settled on it; the back door was slightly ajar.

He pulled the door out of the way and opened the screen portion. On the back porch was their outdoor furniture. Sitting in one of the cushioned chairs was Levy. Her back was to him, hunched over with her elbows on her knees. It was obvious that she was crying. Her sobs had grown loud now that he was outside.

"Levy?" Gajeel asked in genuine concern. His brow furrowed. "Are you ok?"

His deep voice startled her. She jumped in her seat and spun her head around, gripping the iron arm rest. Her eyes were red and wet, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. "Gajeel!"

He cautiously moved towards her. "What are you doing? What's going on?"

She shook her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her finger. "You s-shouldn't be here."

"Yea? Well I am now."

"No. Please l-leave." She tried to push him away, but he caught her wrist.

"Last I knew, this was still my property." He spoke with authority, but kept his eyes from hardening. She glanced away as he stared at her.

"Levy, don't do this. Just talk to me."

She hastily rose from her chair, pulling her hand away from his grasp. "I said go!"

Fresh tears slid down her cheeks and she sniffed. Her broken, brown eyes stared at him, burning him as he beheld them. Surely he hadn't caused her that much pain. With what he had done, it was a minor setback. A negligence on his part. It was truly fixable. No, there to be something else.

"I heard what you said. I'm not leaving until we talk this shit out."

He crossed his arms and held her gaze. Her eyes fluttered for a moment before they dropped to the ground. Could she not even look at her husband? Was what he did really that horrible?

"There's no need." Levy calmly stated. She wiped her cheek and swiftly darted. "I'll leave then."

Gajeel slid between her and the door before she could reach it. Her abrupt halt made her blue curls fly into her face. He tried to keep his face as he had had it while he spoke with his arms still crossed. "And just where ya gonna go?"

"I-I don't know, I'll think of something." She shrank away from him and averted her eyes from his scrutiny. She was uncomfortable, fidgety.

"Why have you packed up all your things? What's goin' through your head?"

Silence followed after his questions. Either she knew and wasn't telling him or she honestly didn't know. When she wouldn't open her mouth, he decided to press further. But frustration was rising and threatened to overflow. His wife refused to speak to him. What good would that do in this ugly situation?

His words snapped out. "You gotta talk, dammit!"

Anger flashed through Levy's features. She sped past him to the door, ignoring his attempts to catch her with his strong arms. "I don't want to talk to you! Not yet!"

She burst through the back door. When she saw that Gajeel was in hot pursuit behind her, she ran to the hallway for their room. He stopped the bedroom door before it could fully slam close and barged in. His eyes widened as a thick book rushed towards him.

Dodging it and letting the novel strike the wall behind him with crumpled pages, he scowled at her. "What the fuck was that!?"

"Gajeel!"

Another book flew the distance from across the room. This time he caught the book and tossed it to the ground. "Levy!"

"Can't you get it?" She cried out with gasping breaths from her previous sobs and the sudden bout of running. "It's over! Between you and me, it's over!"

He simply ignored her comments. Who was she trying to kid? He knew her words weren't true. Pointing to the bed, he indicated to her phone. A blue light in the left left corner signified that there was at least one text waiting to be read. His breathing settled down, but was already threatening to rush on him in fear. "You've got a message. It's probably Lucy. You should follow her advice, ya know."

Fear flashed in Levy's eyes before she scowled again. "You went through my phone?!"

"I didn't go through it, I-"

"That's private, Gajeel! It's-"

"It's also a bill that I pay! So you can have a damn phone to talk to me when we're apart!" He roared, featuring a vein or two showing from his neck. "I should just cancel the line, seeing as though you won't speak to me with it, let alone face to face! I said I was sorry, dammit! Multiple fuckin times! I shouldn't have said and done what I did towards you. I told you I'm going to try harder to be the man you married. I am trying! What else do you want me to do or say?!"

Levy's bottom lip quivered. She promptly picked up the folded clothing next to the suitcase and pressed them into it. Teeth bit down on her lip to keep it still as she tried to keep busy, despite his shocking presence.

He inched closer to the messy, occupied bed, his eyes never leaving hers. Concern was etched on his face. "Did I really hurt you that bad?"

A tear fell onto her cheek and her mouth worked, but no sound escaped.

"Levy," Gajeel's features softened. "You know I didn't mean it. I was angry, we all say things we don't mean when we're mad. I let my temper get away from me. That's all. I figured you were still pissed when you told me not to come home that night. But it's been four days, Lev. You gotta put things in the past and forgive me."

Levy started as she gazed at him. "I-I-I can-"

A tune began to play, making her violently jump. Her phone lit up with a picture of Lucy and her phone number. Gajeel nodded to it. "Better answer it."

She shook her head.

"Quit being a damn child and answer your phone for once." He spat, snatching it from the mattress and tossing it none too gently towards her.

Her hands flew up to catch it before it hit her in the face. She frowned at her husband before pressing the call button. "H-hello Lucy…"

Her blonde friend's voice was high pitched. "Levy! Finally! Why haven't you answered me? I thought the worst. Is everything ok?"

Levy briefly closed her eyes. "I'm fine Lucy. I just, I've just been busy."

"Doing what?"

She swallowed nervously, very aware that Gajeel was listening. "I'm packing."

Lucy was quiet for a moment. "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know. I just have to to get a new perspective."

"You don't have to leave. You need to talk to your husband. You can work it out. He'll understand. He loves you."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes the moment he heard Lucy's short sentence. Levy's eyes flickered up in time to see it. Her heart raced.

"I'll understand what?" He asked calmly.

"Lucy," Levy quietly spoke. She wet her lips with her tongue. "I have to go. I'll let you know what's going on after."

"After what? Lev-" Her friend's voice was cut off at the ending of the call.

"I will understand what, Levy." His deep voice was rougher, firmer. He wasn't asking her to tell him what Lucy had meant.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the bluenette turned to him. "You want me to talk? I'll talk. That day we had that fight was hard for me. It was the first time I had ever been called certain names. It scared me to hear those words fly from your mouth with such blatant disrespect. You were on the verge of violent-"

"I was not-"

Levy shouted at the interruption. "Let me finish!"

Gajeel clamped his lips together, though a growl erupted from his throat. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood with a stance that could scare any man.

"I was angry at you for not apologizing to me. Gajeel, you cannot call me those names. I am your wife. I am due more respect than that. When you snatched my wrist to move me out of your way…" She took a shaky breath. "It was good that you had left. I finally felt safe in my own home."

Sighing, he hung his head and winced at her last words. "I felt horrible after it was said and done, and I feel that now. Remorse has been the only emotion I have felt for the entire time we've been apart."

Swallowing again, Levy weakly nodded. "Me too."

"No, you had every right to throw my ass out." He attempted to move to touch her, but she held up a hand.

"But I didn't. I'm the one who should have left. I drove you to say those things… by being the very things you called me. I was." Levy struggled to get the words out as her lips quivered.

"Baby…" Gajeel wanted this whole mess to end, but she wouldn't let him near.

"I-I didn't want to be alone through the night. So I c-called Lucy, but she was out on a date with Natsu. Mira too, but she was working. I d-don't have many friends…"

Gajeel's red eyes narrowed again. He placed his hands on his hips. "You are already past what I had said to you, aren't you."

She merely nodded, still obviously struggling with something.

"Then what the fuck is it already!" Gajeel exclaimed in frustration. What else could it be? The answer was just out of his reach, yet Levy was keeping it from him on purpose. It was grating on him now, and he had to look deep inside himself not to let his anger fluster him, for Levy's sake.

Levy's chest heaved. It was clear she was organizing her thoughts. "I… Well, I went to the library to get a few books, and I-I ran into Gray."

"Really. What's that dipshit doing in a library?" Gajeel snorted. He knew she loved to go to the library. The circulation desk workers all knew her by name. It was the one place aside from her own personal collection of reading material where she could find enough silence to read for hours. The only thing out of place was that their mutual friend wasn't the type to read much.

"I had messaged him. I wanted someone to talk to, to keep my mind busy. I was around so many books, but I couldn't focus on any one of them. Ironic huh…" She admitted, twisting her fingers together in front of herself. "But he ended up surprising me there instead."

Gajeel didn't say anything. He nodded and let her continue.

"He just kept me company till the library closed."

"And you came back home." He shrugged.

Levy bit her lip and picked up her phone. She started to carefully walk around him to the hallway before continuing. "Yes, he walked me home."

Gajeel followed her into the living room. She set her phone on the end table. He noticed that she constantly kept something between them, whether it be the sofa, the coffee table, or a chair. It was odd. But he kept silent to let Levy speak. It was nice to hear her voice speaking other than on her voicemail.

"Gajeel, I don't want to talk anymore…" Her stomach had begun to twist into knots as she relived that night. It wasn't something she wanted to remember. She had made a mistake too. It wasn't just Gajeel's fault that their marriage was on the verge of breaking.

"Well why not?"

"I just don't."

"Did he leave?" Gajeel asked lightly, thinking he could get the story out of her.

She kept her eyes down, letting him know the answer was beyond what he was wanting to hear. His brow raised. "Gray didn't stay the night."

When she didn't respond right away, he felt something inside him jolt. He had to work to keep his voice down. "Levy. Gray did not stay the night. Did he."

Before she could react, her phone lit up with a new message. It was across the room where she had set it. Standing beside the table, Gajeel looked down at it. It wasn't from Lucy or Mira. The number wasn't saved in her contacts. It was a number he recognized though. He slowly turned to her.

"Tell me what is going on. Right now, Levy." He stated forcefully.

"W-who is it?" She weakly raised her hand to point to her phone in question.

"Who it is," Gajeel spat, "Is Gray. Why is he still messaging you?"

A tone indicated another message had been received. And from the same number. "What the ever-loving fuck, Levy!"

"Gajeel, wait! Don't open it!" She cried as she bounded towards the table.

He ignored her and took her phone, quickly moving away from her as he opened the messages. His eyes narrowed as he read. He could hear the blood rushing to his head as sudden, frightening information was presented to him. Rage was slowly bubbling within his chest and his stomach bottomed out. Had he drove her to this? Had he inadvertently driven his wife to... cheat?

"Levy… Lev... " Gajeel wrestled with himself, with his emotions that were jostling together. He looked at her but found that he couldn't hold his gaze. His eyes closed and he shook his head once. "Did he stay? With you?"

The pain was almost too much to bear as he saw her head nod her affirmative. "Gajeel, please listen to me. It's-"

"You slept with Gray!?" He roared, the loudest he had ever been in the years she had known him. The pure instinct pulsed through him and rage filled him to the brim. "FUCK!"

Levy's tears now streamed freely. She shrank away from him with a suppressed cry when he chucked her phone across the room, sending the device flying to smash into the wall. It left an imprint in the drywall before it splattered into pieces.

"Honey, it's not what you-" Levy began from mid sob.

"You don't get to call me that!" He pulled his phone from his pocket with one hand and pointed to her with the other. "You stay right there!"

She relented, not wanting him to become violent or worse. "Please, just listen to me!"

He searched through his contacts and selected one, bringing the phone to his ear. He was quick to speak when his friend answered. "Gray, you fuckin' son of a bitch!"

"Whoa, whoa, hello to you too. What's your problem?" Gray answered in kind to Gajeel's tone.

"My problem? You took advantage of my wife! What the hell? How could you do that to her? To me!"

"What? No I didn't. I asked if she was sure if she-"

Gajeel couldn't believe his ears. "You asked her permission to have sex with her? Are you fucking nuts?!"

"This could all be fixed if you would just hear me out, you thick brick of a man!" Levy exclaimed at the top of her lungs. The effort of raising her voice to a near screan had scratched her throat and it would be sore the next day, but Gajeel was overreacting. Just as she knew he would. This situation was exactly what she was hoping to avoid.

"Levy? Is she alright? Don't you lay a hand on her!" Gray threatened with a bark of his own.

"And who are you to tell me what to do about my wife?"

Levy got into her husband's face, now unafraid of his temper and uncontrolled emotions. She took a stance and punched him in the arm as hard as she could. "Idiot! I didn't sleep with Gray!"

It took a moment for Gajeel to hear what she had said. He looked her in the eye as she shook her hand and rubbed it from punching his hard, muscled body, grimacing. He abruptly ended the call with Gray, cutting off the man's angry words, and tossed it to the couch cushions below.

Now that Levy had his attention, she continued with an even tone. "He did stay over, but he slept in here, on the couch. I didn't want to be the only one in the house at night. Usually you are here. It just scared me to be alone for the first time in years. So he slept over. In here." She gestured around the room with her arm.

Gajeel just stared at her, taking it all in. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"Just that night?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow.

"Every night, except last night."

Her husband shifted his weight as he studied her facial expressions. He knew her well, and knew she was being honest. But the way she had hesitated in telling him about it made him slightly suspicious. Why would she be crying outside if she was over what had happened between the two of them? There was something missing.

"Why not last night?"

Levy took a visible breath, letting her shoulders drop. "That's the thing. He... " Her words trailed off and she looked up as if trying to recall memories.

"Go on." Gajeel commented calmly.

"I think he started getting the wrong idea about why he was staying here. I liked the company in the evening, but I've been either at work or at the library during the day."

Gajeel leaned on the back of the couch, half sitting on the top. "Ok… I need more info here."

She sighed, not knowing how to explain things to Gajeel in a way where he wouldn't blow everything out of proportion. A blow up could be inevitable. "I know he's your friend, Gajeel. He wouldn't do anything to make you angry on purpose. I had told him we were fighting, and I think he took it as we were going to get divorced. He thought it was over between us, so he thought he could get away with kissing me. I wasn't expecting it, I'm sorry."

A darkness grew in Gajeel's eyes and his shoulders squared up with the rest of his body. Levy hurried with the rest of her story before he could go off into the deep end.

"But I told him I couldn't do that, that I wouldn't. I told him to leave, that I would be fine alone. I don't want to fight with you anymore, Gajeel. For a time, I thought it did and divorce crossed my mind. But I don't want that either. I just want to get past this so we can live again. We will change things so that this never happens again. I love you, I don't want to lose you forever."

He took several slow, deep breaths to steady himself. What had happened greatly pissed him off. Not Levy. Levy did nothing wrong. She was too innocent even now to have done a betrayal so willingly. He also knew when she was attempting to lie. Her stuttering always cluttered her words, but here she spoke with absolute certainty. He could see it it her large, brown eyes.

"Why sneak around on me? Why would you keep me from knowing that he messages you?"

She played with her fingers in the air in front of her. "I wasn't sure how you would take your friend trying something on me, given that we were recently at odds. I didn't want things to get out of hand."

"And packing up your shit? You planned on leaving me for good? How did you expect me to take that?" He glanced towards the hallway, remembering how it felt to see all of her items missing from their original spots and the suitcases filled and ready to go. His eyes looked wounded.

Tears accumulated and Levy's voice threw thicker. She felt ashamed. "I didn't know what to do. I thought that you had changed for the worse, and I was so scared for the future. I thought getting out for a while would clear my head, relieve stress, and maybe then I could figure out what to do. I dodged your calls because I was afraid you just wanted to berate me for something, or for kicking you out of your house."

Gajeel snapped his head towards her. "Why would I want to do that? I wanted to work it out with you. If you had listened to the voicemails, you would have known that. I can't just let you go. I love you too damn much to be that petty."

She nodded, her gaze wandering up to catch his. "I'm so sorry. I messed up."

With one more breath, he rose from the sofa and walked purposefully to her. His arms enveloped her, pressing her to himself. He felt her relax with his embrace before he opened his mouth to speak. "Don't be, I'm the one who should be sorry. I started all of this."

"We both made mistakes here. I'm the one who pushed you to the edge." Levy said. Her words were muffled by his shirt.

"You were just trying to talk to me. I was an ass as usual; I pushed you."

She tried to shake her head against him. Her small giggle was made audible when she raised her head. "We've learned our lesson though."

Gajeel smiled and leaned his chin on the top of her head. "Yep. I won't call you a cunt-ass bitch again. Unless you really are being one."

"Hey!" Levy tore herself away from his chest to glare up at him, but his arms held her closer, preventing her from leaving his grasp. He chuckled and bent down to kiss her forehead.

"Relax, Shorty. I'm kidding."

"You better be." She threatened. She shrugged out of his arms and took a deep breath. She felt lighter than she had been in the last few days. A genuine smile appeared on her features.

Gajeel too felt much better than he had. Seeing her smile was something he missed. Things could now finally begin again. He started forward to turn on the lamp to brighten up the room until his eyes saw the broken plastic bits from Levy's phone on the floor beyond it. "Shit…"

"What?" Levy quickly turned to follow his gaze. In his rage, he had destroyed her cellphone. "Oh."

"I'll buy you a new one tomorrow. A better one."

She nodded and went over to pick up the pieces. A large hand slid to her back pocket and lightly squeezed. Still leaning over, she her head to him and gave him a look.

"Gajeel. We-"

He quickly cut her off before she assumed what was on his mind. "I know, I wasn't meaning that. I need to get my things from the truck. And then I'm going to help you unpack yours."

"Ok. Then what?"

He took his hand from her and straightened. "Then we'll get some food."

"Or we could get some food first and then we can unpack our things. And then tomorrow we can replace this broken thing." Levy happily amended the plans. She held the phone pieces in her hands and started for the kitchen for a plastic bag to put them in.

He nodded. "Alright. Sounds like a plan. Just one more thing to add."

"What's that?"

"We'll remind each other everyday that if we could get through this last week, we can get through anything. Together."

Levy's lips pulled into a smile. "Yes. Together."