"This place is yours," Levy gushed, practically skipping around in excitement, unbothered by her perpetually scowling boyfriend watching her from behind.

Gajeel had bought a house near the edge of Magnolia, because apartments were "hella expensive and too unreliable." Levy guessed that it was part of his possessiveness, being part dragon and all, wanting a place he could truly claim as his own. Owning a house was an uncommon practice in such a bustling city, but Gajeel was never one to pay attention to social norms anyway; he paid directly in jewels and the house was his. It was small, with two bedrooms and a yard, but still much roomier than the apartment he and Lily previously occupied and unlike any of their guildmates' residences. Levy also took acute notice that it was conveniently located two blocks from Magnolia's largest bookstore, which she convinced herself was nothing more than a happy coincidence, despite her want to believe otherwise.

She had insisted on helping him move in — a flimsy excuse to spend the day with him, since they both knew that he would end up moving everything by himself anyway. And of course he saw right through it, but he agreed on the condition that she make him iron afterwards, as if that made any difference. She ended up staying the night too, much to Lily's amusement, and in the morning, she woke up disoriented in his massive bed before she realized her surroundings. When she emerged from the bedroom, Levy was again rendered speechless like the day before, barely taking notice of Gajeel as she again marveled at his new abode.

"Is it so hard to believe that I bought a house?" Gajeel grunted, annoyance evident in his narrowed eyes.

"What if it is?" She challenged, bouncing over to join him on the couch and accidentally knocking over a metal vase on the floor.

"Oi, I haven't even finished unpacking and you're already breaking my shit," he groused, his frown deepening.

"Tch, you have so much scrap metal lying around its a wonder I'm not broken yet," she retorted, "or worse, I might have contracted tetanus, or—"

"What?"

"Maybe you should spend more time at the bookstore, now that it's so close. And then you'll finally understand the things I talk about," Levy scrambled onto his lap and leaned towards his face with a snarky grin, her nose grazing the studs on his, and he took the chance to steal a kiss. She giggled then, falling against him as he enveloped her in his arms, and they sat in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's presence.

"I really like your house," she murmured after a while, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder.

"Yeah?" he snorted. "Then stay."

He didn't fully register that he said those words aloud until she lifted her head and peeled away from him, breaking his strong hold on her waist. "Really?"

She stared at him with an intensity that would have been unsettling if he didn't know her so well — but he knew her better than most people, and he recognized the seriousness and uncertainty clouded in her wide eyes.

"Well… kinda, I mean… since you're always hangin around my place anyways…" The slightest hint of pink spread across Gajeel's face as he muttered something else unintelligible, and he realized how crass he probably sounded. As if the whole idea was a just joke to him, like he didn't care at all whether she was there or not. As if it had no impact on their relationship and he could just rescind the offer and pretend like nothing happened.

His words were hanging in the air now, and Levy was gaping at him with her head cocked to the side. He inwardly cursed her damn adorable expression for freezing him to the spot, his mind overflowing with thoughts that couldn't form into a coherent explanation on his tongue. He'd always meant to ask her to move in with him, but properly — not nearly as abruptly as he just did, and not when he himself was just barely settled in. Fucked up again, a voice in his head hissed.

But Levy had also grown to understand his mannerisms, recognizing his bluntness and apparent indifference as his way of masking affection. She hugged him fiercely as she got over her initial shock at his remark and let out a squeal, catching the dragon slayer off guard, leaving him even more flustered. Gajeel growled in protest when she drew back just as quickly, but the smile she gave him was big and radiant and perfect and he couldn't find it in himself to force any sort of negative reaction.

"I'll start packing tonight!" she declared, happiness and determination overflowing in her voice.

"Wait, that doesn't mean —" but his thought never finished forming, because a second later her lips were on his, and everything else vanished from his mind completely.