Levy awoke the next morning to a weight draped around her waist and a warm breeze rustling her hair. She opened her eyes to see Gajeel's face mere inches from her own, his normally stoic face relaxed in sleep, his piercings glinting in the early morning sunlight.

Levy blushed profusely at their proximity, but did not try to move away. After Gajeel had calmed down last night she had been able to lead him back to bed and get him to lay down next to her. Once she had settled herself, he had wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She had stiffened slightly and a fierce blush heated her cheeks, but she had not objected. It was immensely comfortable laying there with his arm wrapped around her waist, the heat of his body radiating out towards her and keeping her warm enough that she didn't need a blanket.

She smiled at the memory and slowly snuggled closer, trying not to wake him. She didn't ever want this moment to end. Unfortunately, just a few minutes later Gajeel stirred and groaned as he woke from his deep sleep.

When he open his eyes and saw Levy's beautiful face smiling up at him, he couldn't help but smile back with the biggest, goofiest grin he had ever given anyone.

"Mornin' shrimp," he said fondly as he ruffled her hair.

"Good morning Gajeel," she said with a smile as she tried to comb her hair back into place with her fingers, not moving from her spot by his side.

This entire scene seemed perfectly normal, like they had been waking up next to each other every day for years. In the awkward silence that followed however, with the two Fairy Tail mages shifting uneasily, not sure what to say to each other next, reality came crashing back down around them.

The silence stretched on, finally broken by Gajeel as he stretched, removing his arm from Levy's waist causing her face to fall slightly in disappointment. He sat up, scratched the back of his head awkwardly and mumbled, "I'm gonna go shower."

Levy nodded, even though he was halfway to the bathroom door already and, as the door closed behind him, fell back onto the bed, her arm flung over her eyes. She sighed and tried to keep the memory of Gajeel's warm arm around her waist alive as long as possible.

She laid there while the water ran in the next room, a blush heating her cheeks and her heart racing. Gajeel was in the next room. Naked. She shook her head roughly and slapped her hands to her cheeks. She should not be thinking about that. She closed her eyes once more and tried to think of something, anything, but the iron dragon slayer just beyond the door.

Time got away from her and before she knew it the door to the bathroom was opening, and out came Gajeel wearing nothing but his usual pair of khaki pants and ruffling his hair dry with a towel.

"Oi!" he said in his usual gruff voice. "Are you gonna get up today shorty?"

She squeaked in embarrassment and nodded, putting out her right hand to push herself up before falling back with a cry of pain. Gajeel was at her side in an instant, his eyes scanning her body, trying to find the source of her pain.

"What is it?" he asked frantically. "What happened shrimp?"

She sat up slowly, careful not to put any weight on her right arm. "It's nothing," she said with a wince. "My wrist is just a little sore is all."

He narrowed his eyes at her and reached out to grab her right arm, bringing it around her body so he could see it. What he saw there made his eyes widen and his heart tighten in his chest. Her wrist was not the beautiful shade of ivory that it normally was, but instead and ugly smattering of black and blue. He lowered his head and released her arm, slumping onto the bed in disgrace.

"I did this to you," he whispered softly.

"Gajeel," Levy said softly after a moment of silence, reaching out towards him.

He shot up off the bed before she could touch him and shouted, "I did that to you!" his eyes were wild, full of pain and disgust directed at himself. "I hurt you again Levy! I hurt you!" His energy suddenly spent, he stumbled backward and leaned against the wall. "I did that to you..." he said more quietly.

He stood there, staring at the floor, disgust and self-loathing bubbling inside him. After a few moments, he heard the bed springs creak as Levy climbed off the bed and padded across the room to him.

"Gajeel?"Levy said quietly, bending over to meet his eyes beneath his raven hair. "Gajeel," she said, her deep brown eyes locking with his red ones. "I'm fine, really. It's just a bruise."

Gajeel only growled in reply and averted his gaze. Levy huffed in annoyance and placed both hands on either side of his face and turned his head so that he was looking at her once more. A slight blush colored his cheeks and his eyes were slightly widened in shock. He had not been expecting her to be so forceful.

"I'm not hurt Gajeel," she said slowly, pronouncing each syllable. "It's just a bruise. No big deal. And besides that," she said with a small, slightly sad smile. "It was an accident."

Gajeel stared at her a moment longer before averting his eyes and gently removing her right hand from his cheek. He brought her bruised wrist to his lips and kissed it softly.

Taken by surprise, Levy's face turned beet red and her muscles stiffened, unsure of what to do. She needn't have worried, for a moment later Gajeel dropped her wrist and scooted around her, heading into the bathroom.

As he closed the door behind him, Levy sat on the edge of the bed once more, her face hot and her heart racing. She wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw a slight blush on his face before he had walked away...

About an hour later, the unlikely couple headed out to the guild, stopping first by Levy's apartment in Fairy Hills so that she could change out of her dirty, stiff clothes from the day before. Levy had insisted that he didn't have to accompany her to the dorms since they were so far out of the way, but he merely shoved his hands in his pockets grumbling something about making sure she got there safe, and continued walking, forcing Levy to scurry along behind him.

They walked on in an awkward silence all the way to the guild, Gajeel slumping along in front with his hands in his pockets and Levy trailing a couple steps behind.

As they reached the guild, they could already hear the clamor coming from inside signaling that this day was just the same as any other day despite what had happened the night before. They pushed opened the heavy oak doors and entered the rambunctious guild, only noticed by a few that were not involved in the brawl going on in the middle of the room.

The two glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes before parting ways, Gajeel heading towards the bar where Pantherlily sat with a box of kiwi juice, Levy going over to where Lucy sat with pen in her hand and a thoughtful look on her face.