A/N: Not my first Fairy Tail fanfiction, but my first Levy/Gajeel. Hope you enjoy!

Don't Leave My Side

"What's wrong with this exam?" Gajeel exclaimed in annoyance. He and Levy were walking through the forest on Tenroujima, looking for Mavis's grave so they could get Levy one step closer to being an S-Class Mage. "Choose a path? Find a grave?"

"Sure, whatever!" Levy said a bit petulantly, stalking off on her own a little. Not that Gajeel really noticed in his annoyance, of course.

"I came here because I wanted to beat up Salamander or Erza…" Gajeel said, obviously disappointed. "These giant monsters are all so boring!"

"So you don't care what happens to me?" Levy asked, stopping and puffing her cheeks out.

"Huh?" Gajeel said in confusion, looking over at her. "I didn't say that!"

"But you just fight with everything," Levy said angrily, unable to see how he had showed at all that he cared about her. "You don't think anything of me! Nothing at all…" she finished sadly.

Gajeel placed his hands on his hips and finally turned to face her, an interested look on his face. "Ah, you think you can take me on, little one?" he asked skeptically, incorrectly interpreting what Levy was saying. He patted the top of her head condescendingly and said, "Then you'd better get big and strong to face me head on!"

Levy casted her eyes down and took a couple shaky breaths. When she spoke, it was completely in contrast to the joking manner Gajeel had spoken with. "I'm weak, that's just how it is," she admitted. "I'm small." She said it as though it was the worst thing in the world to be small.

Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest. That wasn't a legitimate excuse. "Sheesh, you have better things to do than get depressed," he said.

Levy's bag suddenly hit him in the face pretty hard despite the fact that Levy had just told him she was weak, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground. "Get lost already!" Levy cried as she began to run off. "Stupid Gajeel!"

He watched her from the ground as she ran off into the woods, her orange outfit and blue hair making her stand out against the pale green foliage of the forest. Gajeel sighed and got up, jogging after her as she continued running. As he did so, he tried to rub the pain out of his face. What did Levy carry in that bag, anyway? It felt like a pile of bricks!

As Gajeel began to catch up to her, he could hear a soft sound other than the sounds of their feet hitting the ground and the normal forest noises. "I hate him! I hate him!" Gajeel heard her saying to herself. That stopped Gajeel in his tracks, Levy leaving his line of sight as she continued to run through the forest.

She hated him.

Well, he didn't need her and she obviously didn't need him. She was smart enough to figure it out on her own. Gajeel caught one last glimpse of her blue hair streaming behind her, made an angry sound, and walked over and sat down on the ground, his back against the trunk of a tree.

"Stupid Levy…" Gajeel said, leaning his head against the tree and closing his eyes. "I'll never get to fight Salamander and Erza now."

She hated him, so why bother? She was a weakling anyway. He didn't need to have anything to do with weaklings if they didn't want him there. She could obviously take care of herself if she was confident enough to run away like that…

Then what was that weird feeling in his gut?

He let out a little growl and pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his face on his arms, which were on his knees. He wasn't going to kid himself: he didn't know why, but it hurt him that she hated him. He usually loved it when people hated him! What was going on?

"Dammit," he swore angrily, opening his eyes.

He was starting to feel guilty for some reason, too. He hadn't meant to make her cry. Then again, he didn't really know what he had done to make her cry…

He sighed and stood up, figuring he better apologize. She needed his protection anyway. She was a weakling after all, and if there was one thing weaklings needed it was protection. He began walking in the direction she had set off in, her scent guiding him. He had made sure to memorize her scent before the trip started. It wasn't really that hard, considering it was one of the loveliest scents he had ever had the pleasure of smelling.

He began to feel uneasy as he approached the spot where her scent was thickest. Was he really that nervous about speaking with her? It was just a stupid apology...there was something seriously wrong with him today.

He stepped into a clearing and immediately stopped, his heart freezing in his chest and his eyes going wide, trained on the figure on the ground.

"Levy…" he whispered past his dry throat.

She was laying spread-eagled on the ground, a sword stabbed through her stomach and sticking straight up. It was staking her to the ground. On the hilt was a white slip of paper with a spiky, heart-looking shape drawn on it.

Grimoire Heart…

The name of the guild barely registered in his mind, all of his attention going to the fact that Levy was dead. And it was all his fault. If he just hadn't said what he had, if he hadn't stopped chasing her, if he hadn't left her side, none of this would have happened. He could have saved her…

He wouldn't have to be looking at her corpse splayed on the ground, her normally vibrant blue hair devoid of life. He wouldn't have to see her impaled by a sword, dark blood staining the area around it. He wouldn't have to feel his eyes and throat burn or his heart twist in his chest as he fell to his knees on the ground, a cry of agony welling up inside him. He wouldn't have to regret not telling her he loved her…

The irony of the fact that he didn't realize he loved her until she was dead didn't go unnoticed.

He crawled over to her side and grabbed her hairband from where it had fallen on the ground. It had been sliced in half by the sword, but it was fixable. He did a quick patch job by tying it back together and pulling her hair back to put it on. He may have liked her hair down better, but if she was going to be dead, he figured she would be happier if she looked how she wanted. A breeze blew through the small clearing just as he finished tying the hairband on her, the wind disturbing the complete silence that had settled. He had fixed it…

As he realized that none of what he was doing mattered at all Gajeel let a cry of agony out, anger at himself and Grimoire Heart making his blood boil. It wasn't fair; why did Levy have to die? Why, when she was so innocent and pure, and he so full of hate, anger, and contempt for his fellow man, was she the one who had died?

His body exploded in pain as it slowly began shifting, thickening, and growing, his anger fueling the transformation. He was still screaming, screaming so loud he was sure everyone on Tenroujima would be able to hear him.

Levy was dead. Nothing else mattered. He would make Grimoire Heart pay even if it cost him his own life. There was no real point in living now anyway.

At this point, his magic was swirling around him rapidly, blowing anything and everything around him away. Levy remained untouched, though, her perfectly dead body remaining undisturbed and peaceful.

She's dead. She's dead because of me.

Gajeel's magic exploded outwards, the force so strong that it blew the surrounding trees straight out of the ground. His body exploded outwards, too, though it stopped as quickly as it had started. So did the magical explosion, too.

Gajeel was completely taken over by anger at this point, his sane mind lost. There was only one thought in his mind.

Grimoire Heart.

Wendy looked up from where she was sitting on the edge of a cliff, startled as a scream split the air. It was a terrible scream; one of agony, grief, and anger all at once. Oddly enough, Wendy could tell exactly who had just screamed.

"Gajeel…" she said, confused and worried. Never would she have thought Gajeel was someone who would scream like that. What could have possibly happened to make him scream so terribly?

Then a giant black dragon, its heavy wings lifting it in the air, took off from the spot that the scream had originated from. "Gajeel?" Wendy said in surprise, her eyes following the dragon into the air.

There was no mistaking it; there was just something about the dragon that screamed Gajeel.

White hot fire blasted from Gajeel's jaws straight at the giant ship that was flying at Tenroujima. The guild's symbol on the side had caught his eye.

The fire melted the hull with ease, his giant wings keeping him airborne as the glands in his mouth continuously unleashed the torrent of flames. He kept it going until there was nothing left in the sky and no magical traces left at all, then turned around and headed to the island.

He hadn't relieved enough anger yet.

He needed to kill more.

It had been a week since the day Levy had died.

Gajeel sat at a table in the corner of the guild, booze in hand as he stared unseeingly at the wall in front of him. He had finally woken up after releasing way more magic than his body could handle. He still couldn't even remember what had happened after his magic had exploded out of him.

All he was sure of was that Levy had died.

He didn't know how he had gotten out of his bed, which was where he had found himself after waking up, and he didn't know how he had made his way to the guild, but before he knew it he had found himself here, walking through the front doors.

He had gone and sat in the corner immediately, ignoring the whispers, though he had caught a couple, "Dragon"s and "Levy"s.

Mirajane had brought him over a beer with a smile that quickly faltered when she saw the look on his face. He looked just about ready to kill the first person who talked to him.

But nobody was that stupid…

Except, of course, Natsu. "Oy, Gajeel!" he cried out, running up to him.

Gajeel took a long drink of his beer, trying to make Natsu see that he didn't feel like talking right now. But, Natsu being Natsu, didn't take the hint. "Do you want to fight me?" he asked excitedly. "I'm fired up!"

Gajeel's lips pulled back in a snarl and he extended his arm into an iron pole, slamming Natsu into the ceiling before he fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

"Natsu!" Happy cried, flying over to his fallen comrade.

Gray stood up and began forming ice around his hands, glaring at Gajeel. "What the hell is wrong with you, Gajeel?" he asked.

Gajeel stood up combatively, taking a fighting stance. Tension crackled through the air for a good ten seconds as the two tried to stare each other down. "Hey, are you drunk or something, Gajeel?" Cana asked as she picked up her barrel and took a nice, long swig.

Gajeel relaxed, said, "Tch," and turned around, putting his hands in his pocket.

As he left, he heard a loud whisper from an unknown voice. "I knew he'd be trouble."

Gajeel let his eyes close and smiled in amusement. His shoulders hunched a bit. He didn't need them. He didn't need anybody. Being disliked by everybody was more his style.

He walked out of the guild and gates and started walking down the streets of Magnolia. He walked aimlessly, regrets concerning Levy still swimming in his mind. If only he had done anything other than what he had done…

He arrived at a park and sat down heavily, resting his head and back against a tree. Was it even worth living anymore? Not only had he failed Levy, but he had failed himself. He had killed the one person he was closest to in Fairy Tail. Makarov had promised him something other than solitude; Gajeel didn't know why he expected to actually be accepted. He sighed and decided. Tonight he was going to leave the guild, and that was at the very least. He didn't need Levy's death to be his defining feature with everyone he knew.

"Why would you leave the guild?" a voice asked from beside him.

Gajeel jumped, his head whipping to look at the source of the voice so quickly that he felt a twinge go up his neck. His eyes went wide. "Levy?"

She casted her eyes down, misinterpreting why he had snapped his head over at her. "If it's because of me, please don't," she said.

Gajeel didn't hear her. "Levy…what…"

There were hot tears forming in Levy's eyes. "I'm sorry about hitting you and running away!" she cried. "You were right; I had better things to do than be depressed!"

Gajeel sprang at Levy and hugged her with all his might, a big grin on his face. It was even better than hugging Panther Lily. When he pulled back, he failed to notice the blush staining Levy's cheeks due to his excitement. "You're alive?" Gajeel exclaimed.

Levy blinked up at him. "Well, I'm certainly not dead," she said. "Nobody told you?" Upon Gajeel's blank look, she continued. "Wendy found me on death's door, though, and healed me up. I was just released from the infirmary." She paused for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Don't tell me you went on that rampage because you thought I was dead!" Gajeel just beamed at her. He didn't really care about being embarrassed at the moment. "Didn't you at least check for a pulse first?"

Gajeel's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "Eh?" was all he managed to say.

Now Levy was really confused. "So you assumed I was dead…then turned into a giant dragon and destroyed Grimoire Heart to avenge me?" she asked. Nobody had ever accused her of being stupid, that was for sure.

Gajeel, trying to at least save some of his dignity, crossed his arms in front of his chest and turned his nose up at Levy. "Hey, who said I turned into a giant dragon and destroyed Grimoire Heart to avenge you?" he asked.

"Then what made you so angry that you actually turned into a dragon?" Levy asked with genuine curiosity.

Gajeel froze. He scratched his neck awkwardly as he mumbled, "Well, you see…Fairy Tail…you're my comrade…I mean…I didn't…"

Levy giggled, making Gajeel's face turn red. "You know, you're not so scary when you're embarrassed," she said.

That, in turn, only made his face flush an even deeper red. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Alright, it's because I thought you were dead that I did all that stuff. You happy now?"

Levy frowned at him. "But how would me dying make you that angry?" she asked.

Geez, she's really slow on the uptake, isn't she? Gajeel couldn't help but think to himself. "Tch," he said. "If you wouldn't have hit me in the face with your bag, you would've known." Levy looked at him inquisitively. Gajeel pouted, determined to not stutter this time, and said, "I was going to tell you that since you're so small, you'd be hard to find, so…don't…so don't leave my side." Okay, so he stuttered, but he did better than he had initially thought he would. It would have been so much easier to say if they had been in the middle of a fight or something.

Now they were both red, determinedly looking away from each other. Gajeel sighed. There was one more thing he needed to do. Why was this just one awkward moment after another. "And Levy…" he said. Levy glanced back at him only to see that he was studiously looking to a tree directly to his left. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

"Gajeel…" she said, making him look back at her.

At the wrong moment, it turned out, as she was going in to hug him. Their lips met upon Gajeel turning his head and they both froze, their eyes going wide. As they quickly jumped back, Gajeel decided he had blushed more in the last five minutes than he had in the rest of his life.

"Gajeel?" Levy whispered. "Did you just…kiss me?"

"Tch," was his response. They were both avoiding each other's eyes again. "You were the one who kissed me, baka!"

There was silence for a long moment, then Levy squared off with him, putting her hands on her hips. "I kissed you, you say?" Gajeel turned to look at her challengingly in response to her firm tone. "If I had kissed you, I would have done something like this!"

Without warning, she put her hands on his cheeks surprisingly gently, leaned her face in, and firmly pressed her lips against his. Gajeel froze as their lips remained locked, then mentally shrugged and gave in. So maybe it was possible that she could give him a run for his money in some things. That was good; he liked it that way.

When they broke the kiss they were both red still, but this time they didn't break the lock between their eyes. Gajeel grinned at her, pleasantly surprised, and she smiled back shyly.

Gajeel let out an amused chuckle and said, "Now you really better not leave my side, you understand?"

Her shy smile turned into a brilliant one that even made Gajeel smile. "Right," she said.

They grinned at each other before Gajeel turned around and began walking back towards the guild, Levy happily walking right next to him.

And maybe, just maybe, Gajeel figured, Fairy Tail wasn't so bad after all.

A/N: Hope you liked it! They're definitely fun characters to write! Please don't forget to leave a review on your way out; they're the inspiration I need to churn out more fics!