So i came up with this random AU story centered around two of my favorite Fairy Tail Characters xD Hopefully no OOCness (except for Evergreen - i'm making her the bully, just because i needed someone lol - but tell me if there's obvious OOCness so i can work better at fixing it)

Anyways, hope you like it~

Chapter 1

The halls that ran through the dorm rooms were all quiet. Levy smiled. The only time Magnolia Academy was quiet was during the holiday breaks when all the students went home to their families. Levy was one of the few students that had to stay at the school for the two weeks of break time.

Levy didn't mind the loneliness though. She had her books, and the school librarian had left her the key since, she too had gone home for Christmas.

Levy, with a book in her hands, walked down the girl's dorm hall, and towards the lobby that separated the girl's wing of the building from the boy's wing.

The lobby was circular, and filled with lots of couches, a few coffee tables and desks, as well as a pool table wedged into the corner. Levy smiled at the warmly lit room and settled herself down onto her favorite loveseat. She propped her thin legs up onto the cushion and leaned against the armrest.

The blue-haired bookworm opened up her most recent book and continued where she left off this morning.

It was a fantasy book – one of her guilty pleasures – and quickly her mind was lost in the hero's epic battle with an evil wizard who had kidnapped his beautiful fiancé and was attempting to use her in a human sacrifice to bring a terrible demon back from the Underworld. Levy was there beside the hero as he fought for his love, lashing out with his enchanted sword and –

"Helloooo – earth to Levy…" a wizened voice called to her in the midst of battle.

Her head snapped up, causing her red-rimmed glasses to slide down to the tip of her nose. She looked up to see a short old man shaking his head while smirking lightly. She coughed and straightened her glasses, "Oh, Headmaster Makarov! I didn't see you there."

The headmaster chuckled, "I should have known better than to interrupt you while you were lost in a book. But I came down here to see how you've been. I know the holidays are always hard for you."

She smiled at the man that had been her real father figure over the past four years. Though he was the headmaster at her school, the two had developed a father-daughter like relationship – especially around Christmas time.

"I'm fine, Master," she said softly using the nickname the students came up with, "I've got my books to keep me occupied."

Headmaster chuckled again and patted her shoulder, "Well, I'll leave you to your story, then. Merry Christmas, Levy."

"Merry Christmas," she returned as she retreated back into her book. But her mind couldn't get back into it. The Hero's epic battle was very enthralling, but her thoughts kept returning to Master Makarov. The reason they had been so close was due to her tense family situation. Her parents were, so say the least, unconcerned with their daughter. They were rich CEO types, who cared about money, social events, and status. Their homely daughter wasn't good for anything except wasting their money, embarrassing them in front of others, and lowering the high status they had worked so hard to build – so they sent her away for most of the year, only bringing her home for the summers where she was usually secluded in their home by the beach.

But for all the holiday's that she was left to spend alone on campus, Headmaster Makarov had been there to keep her company when none of her small group of friends had stayed. Tomorrow was Christmas, and per usual, they would spend it in the kitchen with any of the other students who were left at the school, attempting to make a nice dinner for them all.

Footsteps brought her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see another of the Holiday-Stayers – but this one was her least favorite of the small group.

Evergreen Raijinshu.

Her long brown hair flowed over her bare shoulders – despite the snow outside, she was wearing a bright green strapless dress. Evergreen was very full of herself, and didn't particularly like Levy. She constantly teased Levy for being a nerd, and often made fun of the bookworm's strange blue hair.

"Hey, Nerd, Whatcha reading?" Evergreen said in a mock sweet voice as she leaned over the back of Levy's favorite loveseat.

Levy sent a scowl towards the girl, "None of your business."

Evergreen slapped the book out of the blue-haired girl's hand, causing the book to tumble to the floor and close.

"Cut it out Evergreen – can't you be a little nice? It's Christmas Eve…" Levy sighed as she bent to pick up her book, hoping she remembered where she left off.

Evergreen let out an indelicate snort, "Shut up, Bookworm." Evergreen stalked off, stepping through the door that led to the boy's dormitories.

Levy held her book in her lap and sighed. "Now I'm not in the mood to read this…"

She stood up, clutching her book to her chest, and headed back to her dorm room. Usually she shared it with one of her best friends, Lucy, but would have it to herself until Lucy came back after New Year's eve.

She dropped her book on her bed and decided to take a walk through the snowy campus grounds. It was a nice campus, and she definitely wouldn't be bothered by Evergreen if she went outside for a while.

Levy smiled, took her glasses off and set them on her nightstand, and threw on a fluffy red winter jacket. A nice walk through the snow would be just what she needed.

A tall and slightly threatening boy with stud piercings in the oddest of places sat on a bench hidden in the small park on the Academy's grounds. Due to his fearsome appearance, you'd think he had snuck onto the property, but he was actually a student at the school. One of the Holiday-Stayers as well.

Soft snowflakes were drifting lazily down from the gray skies which reflected the boy's mood.

He hated the holidays.

Hated all the forced cheer, and kindness. Hated all the people who expected the same sort of happiness from him.

The boy grumbled to himself and threw an empty beer can at a nearby tree. Obviously beer wasn't allowed on campus – but as his looks suggested, he was quite the rebel, and knew how to hide things if necessary.

Footsteps crunched in the snow behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see a familiar blue-haired girl coming towards him. He knew the girl – Levy McGarden – but had never particularly spoken to her.

The girl noticed him sitting on the bench and stopped walking. She sent a small smile at the boy, "Oh, hi Gajeel. Didn't think anyone would be out here…" her eyes flickered to the cluster of beer cans at his feet and looked at him with nervous concern, "A-are…is everything okay?"

He glared at her but didn't answer. Great, his buzzed thoughts started to rant, here comes another cheery-do-gooder, going to ask me whats wrong and tell me to be happy. Another person to wish me a "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holiday's" depending on if they were concerned about being offensive. Another fake person with fake cheer and fake concern.

"Just peachy," he growled as he took another sip of cheap beer.

To his surprise a nervous smile played at the corner of her lips, "Not a big fan of the holiday's either?"

He nodded gruffly and directed his gaze towards the snowy scenery before him. The park was littered with tall trees, small gardens which some of the students tended themselves, and many pathways and little outlets with benches, all blanketed in white powdery snow. It was a beautiful place, but it was lost on Gajeel, who was buzzed and too angry to notice.

Levy stood still for a few minutes, also looking at the scenery before them – but unlike the studded boy on the bench, she wasn't too intoxicated by alcohol and anger to see it.

Finally she moved and sat down beside Gajeel. She could see that they shared the loneliness that the holiday's brought, and somehow wanted to help him. She leaned against the back of the bench and looked up at the sky, letting the lazy snowflakes land on her face. She started to speak, not really sure what was making the words flow from her mouth, or why she wanted to share them with this boy she had never even spoken to before.

"I know this time of year is supposed to be one of happiness and giving – and that everyone loves this season – but I can't stand it. It's lonely, depressing, and much too forced. I'd rather we just skip to New Years and be done with all this Christmas stuff," Levy sighed, keeping her eyes up at the sky.

Gajeel stole a glance at her and then mimicked her position, letting his face turn up to the sky. He grunted in agreement and passed her an unopened beer, kept cold by the snow.

She took it without a word and popped the top open. The two of them sipped at their beers in silence, both comforted merely by the other's presence. The cold air bit at their extremities, but still they sat there on the bench for nearly an hour. Once their cans were emptied, and the sky had grown darker, Levy decided to go back inside.

Levy could feel that Gajeel's anger and loneliness had at least been abated, and she felt slightly pleased that she'd been able to help.

She stood up and gave the studded boy a small smile before turning back towards the lobby between the dormitories.

Gajeel watched her go, his fuzzy thoughts deciding that she was actually pretty decent – for a bookworm, that is.

Evergreen scowled at the blue-haired girl as she walked through the door into the lobby, "Where've you been, Bookworm? And what's with that stupid smirk on your face?"

Levy looked over to her fellow Holiday-Stayer, "Hmm? Just been watching the snow fall."

Evergreen rolled her eyes, "You're so boring, you know that?" She sauntered off to find one of the Holiday-Stayer guys – most likely her crony known by the nickname Bixlow.

Levy shrugged and peeled her fluffy jacket off of her body. Snow had fallen into the creases, so as she took it off, white powder accumulated on the floor. She shook the snow out of her strange blue locks and set off towards her room. After putting away her jacket and putting on her glasses, she figured she'd go see what Headmaster was trying to cook for dinner. It was always warm in the kitchen, and she'd be able to sample any goodies he was making.

She hung her jacket up on the hook in the closet, and quickly started off towards the kitchen.

Her thoughts wandered back to Gajeel, and she hoped idly that he'd try to sober up some before dinner tonight. She tried to think if she'd ever really spoken with him before, but could remember nothing but sharing a few classes together. They were both seniors, but he had always seemed so unapproachable and pretty much unfriendly. The only person he really hung out with was Lily – a tough guy who was usually pretty sociable, despite his unusually girly name.

Maybe his parents were hippies, she thought randomly and off-topic.

She came to the swinging doors that led to the kitchen, and pushed through them. Levy found Master Makarov scowling at a large pot of water on the stove top.

She quietly stepped up beside him, "What's the matter?"

He was slightly startled to see her, but answered quickly, "Stupid water won't boil. It's been sitting on the stove for thirty minutes now and it's still cold!"

Levy leaned over and immediately noted the problem, "The flame went out, Master. That's probably why it isn't heating up."

He turned his scowl to her, "Eh – smart-aleck." He turned off the burner and relit it. The flame burnt bright orange and started to lick at the sides of the pot. "Well – that solves that problem."

Levy rolled her eyes with a smile, "So have any more dilemmas that need solving?"

"That's all at the moment, but you could help me with desert! I'm attempting to make a few pumpkin pies. We only have twenty students here at the moment so four pies should be enough."

Levy helped Master prepare the pies, while simultaneously setting the large circular table set up in the mess hall for the twenty one people currently at the school. Master was the only member of the staff that didn't leave the school. Technically he was already home. He had his own little condo built on the back property.

In a way, the holiday's here at Magnolia Academy were pretty fun. Master gave the student's free reign over the holiday breaks, as long as they didn't break or seriously damage anything or anyone. The students were relatively left to their own devices – Master trusted the small group of Holiday-Stayers to not get into any trouble, considering he knew them all pretty well. There were a few in the group that he liked to keep an eye on, but besides the select few, he trusted them on their own.

Finally the sky outside had completely darkened, giving way to night even though it was really only five o'clock. Makarov, Levy, and another girl by the name of Mirajane who had come later to help out had dinner finished and ready to eat.

Master rang the school's bell that signaled the meal, and slowly, the other eighteen students trickled into the mess hall for dinner. Everyone found a seat, usually by their friends, and waited for Master to issue the Christmas Eve Challenge.

Every Christmas Eve, Master would give the students a fun and festive challenge for them all to participate in. Sometimes it was a game they'd play at dinner, while other times it was a scavenger hunt through the whole school that ended at midnight.

Everyone was chatting amongst themselves about what it could possibly be this year, but Levy just admired the warm atmosphere in the room. She noticed Gajeel slip into the room, his cheeks still red from the cold outside, and watched him sit down in an empty across the circular table from her.

He still looked a little buzzed, but he was keeping to himself so as not to draw any attention to himself. Gajeel scowled at nothing, keeping his eyes down.

Master came into the room, carrying a bright red Santa hat in his hands and a wide grin on his face.