The sight of the celestial spirit mage and the iron slayer entering the guild together had been something she'd had slight difficulty getting used to at first. It was an unexpected pairing, however, over these past months it had become something that occurred quite frequent and the barmaid had no other choice than to accept. So when they entered that evening she already knew that they had gone out on a job and she could easily surmise that the job had also gone well as, it usually did, from the smile on the blonde's face.

The stellar mage bounced her way over to the bar, taking the bar stool next to Cana, she was sure she'd regret later, before she gave the girl a warm smile and a greeting. "Welcome back Lucy."

"Thanks Mira, could I get my usual?" The barmaid nodded her head before setting about making Lucy her strawberry smoothie, excited to hear how her job had went but just as she had delivered the blonde's smoothie the drunk had already begun her version of questioning.

"So, Lucy, I see you went out on yet another job with Gajeel." She began and Lucy rolled her eyes in response. "And it wasn't as long either, bet that didn't give you a lot of time for -"

"Yes, Cana I did." She interrupted, exasperated with the brunette's teasing. "And no Cana, nothing is going on between Gajeel and me."

Suppressing a giggle, Mira spoke up, wanting to keep the cheerful mood. "How did your job go?" Lucy smiled.

"It went well. We completed it successfully as we usually do; got the full reward too." Mira nodded.

"Good to hear. I was -" Mira cut herself off with a sigh at the sound of the guild members calling out for more refills. "We'll continue later." Lucy gave her a nod and the take-over mage began her usual routine of prepping the drinks before heading out to make her rounds, almost wishing Kinana hadn't taken the night off however it was slow and she could always talk to Lucy later, the blonde did have a tendency to stay a little late on the nights she knew Mira would be alone.

-x

The night had continued to keep her away from behind the bar, especially when Cana had decided to convince several mages to join her in a drinking contest, how the card mage continued to do so she'd never know when it always led to her being the victor. Smiling she continued her duties, amused as the members of Fairy Tail slowly began to pass out one by one.

Cana bid her good night not long after the sixth mage passed out, giving her a lopsided grin before leaving the guild, her blue eyes noticing a certain blonde haired man following suite. Shaking her head she began to clean up around the drunken mages, sighing softly as she maneuvered them out of her way so she could continue cleaning. Once the mugs were collected and she had cleaned up any spills she made her way back behind the counter and began cleaning up there.

Once finished with everything Mira had been unsurprised to see a sleeping Lucy at the bar, why she would dare to challenge Cana was beyond her. Making her way around she blinked in slight surprise not expecting the blonde to have been awake.

"Lucy?" she called softly, an amused smile on her face as the girl's brown eyes shifted toward her, a lopsided smile lighting her face.

"Hey Mira" She slurred and the barmaid giggled.

"Ready to head home?" The stellar mage pushed herself into a sitting position as she nodded her head, Mira immediately reaching out to steady the blonde when she began to sway. "Careful Lucy."

Lucy giggled in response, allowing Mira to assist her in standing up, her arm going around the older girl's shoulder and the pair began to walk towards the guild's entrance, Mira huffing as Lucy struggled to keep to her feet and nearly toppled over.

"Come on Lucy, work with me here."

A soft hiccup left the blonde as she stumbled before finally standing straight, though still swaying slightly. Mira sighed in relief, wrapping her arm around the blonde to help steady her as they continued their walk.

"Mira!" The stellar mage half whined swaying a little too much to the left, nearly causing the take-over mage to lose balance. Lucy let out a yelp as she pulled her back into an upright position, giggling and leaning against her and sighing. "You're so nice Mira."

The barmaid let out a soft chuckle as she shook her head. "Lucy, I do this for everyone."

"You're nice Mira." Lucy hiccupped. "Not Cana." Lucy shook her head. "Cana's always so mean to me." She hiccupped once more. "I don't know why. She always thinks I'm doing things but I'm not." She sniffed as she straightened up. "Why does she always have to pick on me?" Lucy stumbled before catching herself. "It's not fair." She grumbled. "Everyone's making assumptions. Like Yukino. Yukino is always making things out to be more than they really are." She turned to Mira. "But they're not!" She half shouted. "They're not!"

Mira could only smile at her drunken friend's rant. It wasn't the first time the blonde would ramble on about something and truthfully Mira never really had a clue about what she was talking about but it was funny to hear.

"And Gajeel!" She yelled loudly startling the barmaid. "That bastard's in on it too. Pretty sure he saw my boobs while I was taking a bath and I know he's not gentleman. He's making things worse!" Mira blinked in confusion not sure how Gajeel wound up in the mix. "Yukino and Cana always going on about it and I – we work together." She nodded her head. "We aren't more." She turned to Mira again glaring at her. "We're not more Mira." She growled out. "So don't get any ideas. He's always indifferent toward me."

Mira shook her head, suppressing her amusement. "Don't worry Lucy, I won't." Turning onto the stellar mage's street she began searching for the blonde's apartment, curious about her sudden silence.

"Mira." The stellar mage called after a moment.

"Yes, Lucy?" Glancing toward the celestial mage she turned her attention to guiding the girl home.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Frowning, the S-class mage sent her a short glance out of the corner of her eyes before pulling her along.

"Of course you are Lucy." She assured the girl, raising a brow at the sound of a snort coming from beside her.

"Of course I am." She scoffed. "How come I can't ever use my feminine wiles to entice a guy? Every time it's always back fired." She huffed. "Maybe I'm not as pretty as I thought I was." She sighed. "Mira, do you think Yukino is right?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion unsure what the blonde was even talking about. The two girls had sat at the bar for hours during Yukino's stay however Mira had been on the floor that night, Kinana was behind the bar and she wasn't into catching up on the latest gossip, as Mira liked to call it. She opened her mouth to respond however couldn't exactly find the right words to say.

Guiding the blonde into her apartment building they carefully began climbing the steps before she finally responded. "Do you think she's right?"

"No." Lucy shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense. I -" Lucy cut herself off. "Maybe." She said after a moment.

Mira looked at Lucy, taking in her expression as they reached the top of the stairs. She kept silent, wondering if the celestial mage would continue or not. Making their way over towards Lucy's unit she pulled out her spare key and unlocked the door.

"Gajeel -" She began. "Gajeel's nakama." She finally said. "We're working together on jobs; that's all." Mira guided her into the apartment, picking up the belt she dropped on the floor and placing it on her desk. Lucy kicked off her boots, flopping down onto the mattress. "Mira." The stellar mage called, Mira laying her back in the bed and covering her up.

"Yes Lucy?"

The blonde let out a yawn as she snuggled into the bed. "Thanks."

Mira smiled at her. "Good night Lucy." She whispered before leaving the girl's apartment, making sure to lock up.

Making her way out of the building and to her own home the barmaid couldn't help but think about the stellar mage's rant. While it was random and nonsensical for some odd reason it puzzled her. Thinking it over she knew Cana teased her frequently about Gajeel and she wondered if maybe Yukino had brought it up too. She did happen to over hear a moment of their conversation about Lucy's jobs as of late so maybe she had.

Chewing her lip the S-class mage suddenly felt her matchmaker urge take over as she slowly began connecting the dots, now realizing just how Gajeel was related to her frustration. A smile began to creep over her face as a plan began to formulate. She knew exactly what could be done and Lucy was unlikely to say no to the idea either.

Humming to herself the barmaid made her way home, quietly entering her house so as not to disturb her siblings. Changing into her night clothes she sighed happily, before crawling into bed, intending to plan all the details out tomorrow morning.

She let out a heavy sigh as she walked with the small group of girls partially led by Mira. She wasn't entirely sure why Mira had dragged her along with Cana, Levy and Erza out on a shopping trip. She had barely been able to recover from her hangover these past couple days and if she were honest she wasn't in the mood to shop today. She still wanted to curl up in her bed and sleep through the last of the lingering effects of her excessive alcohol consumption and just enjoy some peace and quiet.

"Everything okay Lucy?" Humming softly upon hearing her name, the blonde looked to the bluenette beside her.

"Yeah" She nodded, giving her a small smile. "Think I'm still a tad hungover."

Levy gave her a sympathetic smile. "You sure you're up for shopping?"

Lucy smiled reassuringly. "Of course!" She chirped. "How could I not be?" Levy simply smiled as the pair entered the second shop of the day.

Suppressing her urge to sigh, Lucy merely glossed over the clothing, finding herself uninterested in much of the clothing there. On a normal day she knew she'd likely dip into her savings just to afford her purchases but today just didn't hold the same appeal. Pulling a top off the rack she merely sighed and put it back, half considering just telling the others that she was going to head home.

Making her way through she soon found Levy, smiling at her, ignoring the curious look on her face. "You know." The solid script mage began. "I'm curious about something."

Lucy glanced at her fellow booklover. "About what?"

Levy gave a slight shrug a small smile coming to her face. "Well, it's just that you used to question me to no end about him and now I just feel like it's my turn."

Lucy blinked in confusion before she rolled her eyes, knowing what the girl was talking about. "Levy I -"

"I have to ask." Her friend interrupted. "I mean, you've never made breakfast for Natsu before so how could I not be curious."

Lucy sighed. "First of all, Natsu has always invited himself over to my place and he scarfs down all of my food so there is no possibility for me to make breakfast. Secondly I have never stayed at his place nor have I ever been offered to stay the night there either."

"And what about Gray?"

"He sleeps too late." She replied instantly.

"Why not make him lunch?"

Lucy let out a soft snort. "Of course, Levy, because who wants to spend their day at a friend's apartment just so they make them lunch." She rolled her eyes. "I'm not his girlfriend."

The moment the words left her mouth Lucy instantly knew the reply that was coming her way, the slight smirk in the bluenette's lips nearly made her visibly cringe.

"So then, you make Gajeel breakfast because you like him and want to be his girlfriend?"

"Of course not!" She nearly shouted, blushing in embarrassment when people began to look their way. "That's not why I make him breakfast Levy." She hissed, receiving a smile from Levy.

"But you don't deny liking him and wanting to be his girlfriend." Lucy's face instantly flushed and she turned away in embarrassment.

"Of course I like him were nakama." She mumbled.

"Yes, but you want more." Levy stated and Lucy stiffened.

Yukino had made the assumption as well. "I never said that."

Levy chuckled. "Maybe but you do want it. You want him."

Lucy shook her head. "No, why would I -" She looked at Levy in disbelief, pouting at the look in her eye. "Stop teasing me about him. We're not like that. We're just pa -" She cut herself off, eyes widening at the words that almost left her mouth.

"Lu?" Shaking her head the blonde looked to her friend.

"Huh?"

"Lu, are you okay?" Clearing her head of any thought that came to mind she nodded, giving the girl beside her a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." She laughed nervously. "Sorry, I -" She shook her head. "I'm sorry Levy. We're supposed to be shopping and here I am ruining the fun."

Levy tilted her head curiously, a small smile coming to her face. "No worries." She replied before turning to the clothing. "But you know I did see this cute dress I think would look great on you."

Lucy giggled. "Show me."

Smile widening the solid script mage took hold of her friends hand and began to drag her over to the dress, knowing that the blonde needed time to figure things out on her own.

After stopping for lunch the group of girls continued their shopping spree, Lucy finding herself, making up for her lack of interest before and maybe a little more. She hadn't bothered to complain when Mira dragged the group to a few lingerie stores and suggested several rather racy undergarments to the blonde, Lucy giving in to one or two of them but sticking to her usual comfort zone with the garments.

As evening drew near the girls slowly began to part Mira being the first to leave, needing to get ready to meet with Freed for their date that night. Erza was soon going her own way too as she had to prepare for a 'special S-class job' for the weekend. Eventually Cana slipped off too with the intent to try on her lingerie for Laxus making Lucy shake her head. She already knew for certain that the drunk would only be able to try one if she was lucky.

Sighing Lucy sent a glance to Levy, smiling. "I've had a lot of fun today." She sighed in contentment.

"That's good, but are you sure you should have bought so much?" Lucy giggled giving a shrug.

"I'll probably regret it later when I look at my account." Lucy admitted. "But for now, I don't care. I had a lot of fun today."

Levy smiled. "Me too."

"So, I haven't had the chance to ask but how have things been going with Hibiki?"

Levy blushed, smiling softly. "I think pretty well. We -We've actually started to see each other casually."

"Really?" Lucy asked excitedly, giddy when Levy nodded in response. "I'm so happy for you." She hugged the small girl tightly. "I told you to have confidence."

The bluenette laughed at her friend. "Yeah, you were right. The interguild jobs have been giving us the opportunity to spend some time together – even with Eve and Ren around."

Lucy grinned happily. "Good, I'm glad things have been turning out."

"Me too." Levy replied softly.

Giggling the two girls continued their walk, parting ways when it came time, Lucy waving enthusiastically at her friend before beginning her walk home. Glancing down at the bags in her hands Lucy adjusted her hold on them, her eyes catching the logo on one of the lingerie bags and in an instant she could feel the regret for buying so much sink in.

She shook her head. It wasn't the regret of all the purchases she made; it was the purchases at that particular store in general that had her feeling this way. The blonde stiffened at her train of thought, shaking her head. Those outfits were not bought exclusively for him. She bought them to feel sexy because women were allowed to feel sexy for no particular reason, not to turn on the guy she had a crush on.

In an instant the blonde stopped walking shock surging through her. She shook her head vehemently. Denying it over and over. There was no way. They were nakama, and probably partners. The blonde looked down at the bags, a sigh escaping her as she continued walking. She had almost told Levy that today. Maybe it might not have shocked her friend but it did her.

She hadn't been ready to accept the changes in her life, denying that anything was different and yet, already she was starting to move on. Her heart had already accepted things before her brain could catch up to it. Or had she known and her heart wasn't able to take the changes? Lucy bit her lip mulling it over for merely a moment. She knew it. She knew it without a doubt, her brain was denying the fact that her team had subtly dissolved because calling Gajeel her partner had actually felt right.

Reaching into her pocket the blonde pulled out the key to her apartment as she entered the building, carefully making her way up the steps to her unit. Unlocking the door the stellar mage entered her home, closing the door with her foot as she made her way over to set her things on her bed.

Sighing softly the celestial mage made her way back over to her door, pulling off her boots as her conversation with Levy came to mind. Yukino had suggested it to her first, that she wanted Gajeel as more than just a partner and now Levy. She was sure Mira was thinking about it too because Cana was suggesting things. Everyone had seemed to think it so it brought to mind the question.

Did she really have an interest in the iron slayer?

He stood in front of the job board scanning the various posts trying to find something that he knew they'd agree upon however any one he knew she'd like he wasn't even remotely interested in and anything he wanted to do – well that was usually met with a strong protest before she'd finally give in upon his insistence. He continued to scan the board his eyes glancing toward one in particular that he was itching to take since he first saw it.

He skimmed the board once more before grabbing the job, deciding this time to first tell her the amount of money they'd be getting paid and then tell her the type of job. He was sure she'd be less likely to protest, though he wouldn't doubt he'd hear her grumble and complain frequently through-out.

"Are you sure that job is a good idea?" He heard Lily ask and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course it is." He grumbled out. "I know how bunny girl works." He smiled at the sound of Lily's chuckle knowing the cat already was aware of what he intended to do.

As they made their way out of the guild towards the blonde's place, his mind instantly conjured up the discussion he had with Lily last night. They had both fully agreed upon the topic however the issue was how did he approach her about it? It was an uneasy subject given her current situation but he felt that if he approached it just right then maybe, just maybe she'd say yes.

His pace began to slow as he racked his brain trying to come up with the best scenario, deciding in the end to just casually mention it to her or something. Maybe see if she had ever thought about it and then mention that Lily wanted her to be their partner too. Satisfied with the idea he focused on making his way to the stellar mage's place, Lily flying beside him.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" Pantherlily inquired and he glanced to the black Exceed.

"Of course she will." He half growled out. "Have you seen the pay on this job?"

"Gaj-"

"Wait out here. I'll be back in a minute." He interrupted, almost feeling bad for blatantly ignoring his friend's concern. Quickly climbing up onto her windowsill, he rolled his eyes not surprised she had left it open again. He was sure one of these days she'd get robbed. "Oi, bunny." He called as he peered into her place, his brow rising at the amount of bags on her bed.

"What Gajeel?" She entered into his line of vision and he gave her a crooked smile.

"Got a job for us." He reached for the paper.

"Not interested." Pausing, the slayer turned his attention to the blonde.

"Why not? It's got a great reward on it." Pulling the paper from his pocket he held it out for her to look over.

Lucy sighed heavily. "Gajeel, as much as I appreciate the thought. I'm not going."

"It's not going to be that long of a job." He informed her. "Should be less than a week." He glanced at the ad to double check.

"Thank you but I'm still not going." His brows furrowed.

"Why the hell not?" He nearly demanded.

"I'm just – I just don't want to go." She replied exasperated.

"I told you it has a good reward." He reinforced, trying to show her the amount of jewels. He couldn't help the feeling he got when she glanced at the paper and he just knew she'd agree to go.

"I get that but I just don't want to go." Lucy reiterated. "I – Just go without me okay?"

"You're going to regr –"He began but was quickly cut off.

"Gajeel" She barked. "I said I don't want to go. I just want to stay home."

Grinding his teeth he ended the argument. "Fuck it; you don't want to go, fine." He jumped down from her window. "Come on Lily, it's just us!" He hollered and stomped his way down the street. "Fucking bunny girl." He growled out.
"The hell had crawled up her ass and died?" He grumbled out, resisting the urge to glance back.

"What happened? I thought Lucy was joining us?" Gajeel ground his teeth in irritation.

"She didn't want to come."

"No? Did something happen?" Lily asked in concern. "Is she sick or -"

"Hell if I know why the damn bunny girl decided not to come!" He snapped. "She said she didn't want to go, okay?!"

Lily remained silent at his partner's outburst, merely keeping close to Gajeel as they continued on toward the train station, completely aware of the reason for the slayer's frustration. They had only actually discussed Lucy joining them officially as a partner last night and from what he was aware of not only had he wanted Lucy to join but apparently Gajeel had thought about it quite often and was very pleased to know Lily had approved of the addition as well.

He thought about the celestial mage's reasoning for not wanting to go figuring perhaps Lucy just wasn't in the mood to go on a job, it wasn't like she was telling them she didn't want to be partners. So, there was no real reason for Gajeel to be upset...though he may not see it that way. Glancing to Gajeel he opened his mouth to speak however thought better and kept silent. He'd let the slayer stew for a bit, but once he was calm enough he could remind the man that they could always try again.

Her chest constricted as she stared at the window where he had disappeared from. Confused and angry she shoved all her bags off of her bed before slamming the window closed. Staring at her reflection she swallowed thickly, her hand tightening into a fist.

Her head fell against the window as a sob fell from her lips, her head hurting from the torrent of emotions she felt, unsure why she had told him no. She had wanted to go on the job with Gajeel but she just couldn't bring herself to say yes. If she had – If she said yes and went on that job with him it meant realizing things she never knew she knew. Shaking her head she pulled away from the window.

The moment he had said he found them a job her heart skipped a beat. He hadn't needed to convince her with a short job or a lot of reward money. She just wanted to be with him. She wanted that partnership that she knew was eminent but more importantly she wanted more.

She sniffed as she sat back on her bed, wiping the tears from her eyes, futilely willing herself not to cry any more. Cursing Yukino for pointing out the fact that there was something there and Levy for reinforcing the emotions and herself for denying them for so long. She let out a weak laugh as she continued her attempt to dry her eyes.

"Stupid." She mumbled out, sniffing. Making her way toward her desk she pulled several tissues from it, blowing her nose and drying her eyes. "I'm such an idiot." Letting out a sigh she glanced over her shoulder to the bags on the floor, her eyes landing on one particular bag, its contents starting to fall out.

Turning to them, she shuffled forward, reaching out for the small gray bag, her brows furrowing at its weight. She lifted one of the items that had partially fallen out, her face flushing, at the contents. She had accepted the bag from Mira who claimed it was just a gift she wanted to get her. Stuffing it back in the bag she paused upon feeling her fingers brush something. Sifting through the items she pulled out a black chainmail bra.

She blushed furiously, shoving the garment back inside, a heavy sigh leaving her. Even Mira knew how she felt about Gajeel. Suppressing the urge to groan as the blonde realized why Cana had been snickering to herself, no wonder Mira told her not to open the bag until she got home. Picking up the bags she placed them on her bed once more before putting everything away. Once finished she decided to head out to the guild. Hanging out with her insane family always seemed to be the pick me up she needed. That and a strawberry smoothie.

Locking up her apartment she began her walk, chewing on her lip as she mulled over her recent discoveries. Now that she acknowledged those feelings for the iron slayer her next question was what to do with them. Her options were obvious; either confess to him how she felt, or keep them emotion inside her. Though neither option was exactly easy, her choice would be much simpler if she knew how the man felt for her.

Lucy sighed, feeling slightly depressed. That would probably be a near impossibility. He was too hard to read and always seemed agitated with her, in fact if she thought about it there weren't many jobs they had gone on where he hadn't yelled at her for causing him extra work. Her shoulders dropped as she thought over the time she had been with Gajeel. He didn't really seem to like her much and now she wondered why he had continued to go on jobs with her.

Suppressing her urge to groan she focused on getting to the Fairy Tail guild hall, smiling at the thought of a smoothie from Mira. Pushing all thoughts of him out of her mind she decided she could think about the metal headed jerk another time.

-x-

It had been three days since she had discovered how she felt about Gajeel and so far she was no closer to deciding on what to do about the emotions than that first day. Of course that was probably because she was avoiding any thoughts of him in favor of reading a new book that had come out.

Sighing in contentment as she sipped on her strawberry smoothie the blonde adjusted her position on the bar stool as she flipped to the next page to continue reading. Soon distracted by the sound of someone calling her name or rather a nickname she hadn't heard in some time. Placing the bookmark in its place she closed her book and smiled warmly at the sight of the grinning fire breather.

"Hey Natsu" She greeted. "How have you been?"

"Good, Lis and I got back from this great job last week. It's a lot of fun being able to work together now that we're dating." He took a seat in the barstool next to her. Lucy smiled at her friend opening her mouth to reply when he turned to her. "Hey Luce?" Lucy tilted her head in curiosity.

"Yeah Natsu?"

"Do you want to go out on a job with me?" The stellar mage blinked in surprise at his question. "It's been a while and I thought it'd be fun if we went out on a job together."

The blonde bit the inside of her cheek as she shifted in her seat, looking away from his hopeful expression. She felt hesitant to reply, unsure if she should go or not. Their team had faded and she was partners with Gajeel now, would it even be okay to say yes? She frowned at her thoughts. Natsu wasn't her partner but he was still her best friend, of course she could go. Turning to the fire slayer she nodded her head.

"Of course I'll go on a job with you." He instantly grinned and jumped off the barstool. "Make sure you pick one I can handle!" She yelled after him as he hastily made his way over to the job board.

She watched as he skimmed the board and not but a moment later had he pulled an ad off the board. The celestial mage rolled her eyes already knowing he had just chosen something at random rather than consider the jobs. Natsu made his way back, grin on his face as he yelled out for Mira.

"Luce and I are taking this one." He grinned widely at the barmaid when she came over.

He shifted on the seat, his stomach slowly settling as the train pulled into the station, regretting taking the train in the first place. He usually only took it to shut the damn bunny girl up. Shifting once more he carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, struggling to keep his nausea at bay. Leaning his head back against the seat he let out a heavy sigh.

"Are you alright Gajeel?" Lily inquired and the slayer waved his hand at his cat, returning his focus to keeping control of his stomach.

Once his stomach was finally settled he carefully stood from his seat, glad the trip was over and he could just head home. Picking up his bag he felt his lips twitch as Lily flew ahead of him, waiting for him to catch up. As he began walking down the aisle he considered what Lily had told him during their job. Maybe the exceed was right in that she wasn't refusing the partnership. It wasn't like she even knew they were going to ask during the job anyways he had just jumped the gun in his excitement.

Stepping off the train and onto the platform he stiffened upon the scent of strawberries hitting his nostrils. Pushing through the crowd of people he sniffed, the corner of his lips lifting upon confirming it was her scent. Bunny girl was at the train station. Had she come to meet him and Lily after their job? He stopped that thought before it got any further, it couldn't be. She didn't even know when they'd be back.

Following her scent he ignored Pantherlily questioning him, pushing past the people only to pause as he caught another scent. His brows furrowed, stopping several feet away from the ticket booth. He ground his teeth in annoyance at the sight of the pink haired slayer grinning like an idiot next to the bunny girl.

"You didn't even bother looking at the job did you?" She accused the fire mage and he felt his body go rigid. "Why am I not surprised.

"Come on Luce it'll -" Turning he shoved his way through the crowd of people and out of the station, anger searing through him at the thought of the pair going out on a job.

"Gajeel?" He ignored the exceed as he made his way home, his agitation growing with every step. "Gajeel?" The slayer growled in response, nearly kicking his door open when he got home. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm heading out." He barked out tossing his bag onto the ground and storming out of the house. He needed to hit something.

Arriving at the guild he made his way to the gym and nearly knocked down one of the punching bags when he hit it. Growling he continued to hit it, his ire still rising at the idea of the two together. It pissed him off that she had decided to go out on a job with salamander and not him. What reason could she have for going with Natsu and not him?

He drove his fist into the bag once more.

He had offered her a perfectly good paying job and he even considered the job – if only for a moment – before taking it. He knew he could bribe her with the money, especially since he knew she was aware that he'd never let her lose out on a reward. If it hadn't had such a high reward he would have pocketed it for himself for later.

She had barely glanced at the paper though and outright refused to go on the job with him. It made no sense. What point was there going on a job with Natsu when he was there.

Because they're partners.

He cringed at the feeling that thought gave him. He had truly wished for the partnership with her, to take that step to make themselves a team. She seemed to enjoy working with him and Lily, although maybe he should have known – the bunny girl did have a tendency to protest his job choice often, but he had dismissed it as she had often protested her team's job choices before.

He ground his teeth as he took another swing at the punching bag. Maybe the reality of it was that he realized he had also wished for more than that but –now it was clear to see. It would never happen. The moment that fire breathing moron would show up in her life she would immediately ditch him and run to her partner.

The two of them would never be partners and they'd never be more.

Gajeel slammed his fist into the bag, cursing as it was sent flying across the room. He growled lowly irritated with the damn bunny girl, with his own feelings and with the entire situation in general. Marching over to the bag he hoisted it up and fixed the chain holding it. He turned to begin taking out his frustration on it once more however found himself unable to move.

Lowering his fists he soon left the gym and began making his way home, not bothering to greet his cat when he entered the place. The slayer immediately went to the bathroom to clean up before heading straight to his room and collapsing onto the bed. He closed his eyes determined to push the blonde out of his mind, to forget any feeling he had toward her and remind himself that he had always been alone for a reason.

Hey Everyone! It's been a while since I was last on here and updated anything. unfortunately life has been keeping me busy and not giving me much time to really write but now that things have settled and I am working on my fics again. I started with editing bits of chapter nine. I didn't like certain parts of it so I gave it a bit of a touch up. Anyways I'm working on Chapter 10 and it will be following this one soon. Anyways hope you enjoyed Chapter 9 and soon enjoy Chapter 10 of Astraphobia. Thanks for reading! ^_^