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"Gajeel, where are we going?"

"Gihihi, you should know, this was your idea."

Levy scoffed as she followed Gajeel through the unfamiliar neighborhood. It had to be past midnight, judging by how every house they passed was completely devoid of light. Only the stars and the occasional street light provided any sort of vision for Levy. Though, she had a feeling even with the sun was out she still would have no idea where she was going.

She always seemed to end up in these types of situations when it involved this man. Just a half hour earlier, Levy was in her dorm, minding her own business, when Gajeel knocked on her door and told her to put on her shoes and follow him. He said that they were finally going to fulfil that idea she had years ago. Levy agreed to go along because she was intrigued, but also because she had an inability to deny Gajeel anything. There was one problem, however.

"I told you, I don't remember what my idea was. It was three years ago! And I was drunk!"

"You'll find out soon enough," Gajeel shrugged. "we're almost there."

Levy sighed and surveyed the dimly lit neighborhood around them. She didn't recognize a thing. She was basically wandering an unknown neighborhood in the middle of the night without her phone or any idea of what she was doing. If this was anyone but Gajeel, Levy would have deemed this nonsensical and turned back ages ago. But no. She just had to agree to this ridiculous idea. Well, her idea. She wracked her mind for what she could have said at that party her sophomore year.

"Are we going to… T.P. a house?" Levy guessed, from behind Gajeel.

"Nah," Gajeel grinned. "But that sounds fun too."

Levy rolled her eyes at Gajeel's idea of 'fun'. Gajeel thought spraypainting boobs on their school's statue sounded fun last semester.

Gajeel suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, nearly causing Levy to run into him. Then, he motioned her to follow him and they snuck up to the house and creeped around it, where a gate lined the property's yard.

"Alright, we're here. Hop this fence."

"What?" Levy asked, startled. "Why?"

"Just do it, you wuss," Gajeel said. He squat down and intertwined his fingers, creating a foothold. "C'mon."

Levy bit her lip. She really wasn't sure what Gajeel was planning. And she had a feeling she wasn't going to like it.

But… this was Gajeel. The guy she crushed on since their Freshman year, the guy she couldn't summon the courage to talk to until she got drunk at a fraternity party. The same party where she had this marvelous idea, apparently.

With a sigh of defeat, she stepped onto his palms and let herself be hoisted up the wooden fence. She swung her legs over and dropped down to the other side. She landed on soft grass. She couldn't make out much else about the yard. Without the streetlights it was too dark to see.

"Please tell me we're not robbing this house." Levy groaned, as she heard Gajeel drop down beside her.

"You could say that," he said. "you see that up ahead?"

"I can't see anything," Levy grumbled, squinting in the darkness. Wait. Levy furrowed her brows. Just a few feet away, she could make out tiny moving reflections of the stars. Was that…

"A pool?" Levy asked, stepping closer.

"That's right!" Gajeel's voice confirmed.

Levy approached the pool and peered down. It looked like a bottomless abyss from here. It appeared to be pretty big too. This must be a nice house.

"So this was my idea?" Levy asked, turning around. "To sneak into someone's- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Although the light was sparse, Levy could make out rough outlines. And the movement of Gajeel's silhouette, along with the ruffling sounds, told her only one thing. He was stripping.

"This was your plan, shorty," Gajeel's figure replied, snickering. "three years ago at that party, you came up to me, completely wasted, and told me you had this great idea you thought we should try out. And so, I'm finally holding it to ya. We're going skinny dipping."

"I – What – " Levy scrambled for words, but none came. The situation was just too ridiculous. Had she really said that? She never recalled a single event from that night, to be honest. The only thing she remembered was that after that party, she and Gajeel had started conversing during class and they struck up a friendship. Though, if that was how their first meeting went, why hadn't Gajeel mentioned it earlier?

Before Gajeel could shrug off the last of his clothing – his boxers – Levy spun away with a cry.

A loud splash ensued, and Levy uncovered her eyes and saw the light dance on the newly disturbed surface of the pool. Gajeel's figure treaded the water, looking up at her.

"You're up, shrimp."

Levy's eyes flickered around wildly for some sort of excuse, until her eyes landed on the house. She gestured towards it. "Gajeel, we can't just this family's pool! They're gonna call the cops on us!" Though, this was the least of her worries. She was more concerned about the idea of stripping in front of the already naked man in front of her.

"Relax, the owners aren't here," Gajeel shrugged, leaning back to float on the water. "I did my research."

Levy let her hand fall, slowly. This was truly absurd. Here she was, in some stranger's backyard in the middle of the night, about to go skinny dipping – with Gajeel, no less – all because of some drunken idea she had years ago? Of all situations she imagined herself in with Gajeel, she never thought of this possible scenario.

"What, you're not gonna join me?" Gajeel's asked, a little hurt leaking into his voice. Though Levy had a strong inclination to believe it was an act meant to guilt her. "Even when we only have a couple weeks left?"

Well, that much was true. Finals were in a few weeks. Graduation was in a few weeks. The thought alone made Levy terrified. Not just because she was being thrown out into the real world unprepared, but because she going to miss everybody. Jet, Droy, Lucy, Natsu, Erza.

Gajeel...

She wasn't worried about her close friends. She knew they would put in just as much effort as her to keep in touch. Heck, she was practically family to Jet and Droy.

But Gajeel was different. Levy would definitely want to keep in contact after graduation, but she had no idea if Gajeel would. She didn't doubt he would reciprocate in the beginning, maybe as a courtesy response to Levy's emails and messages. But then maybe his replies would come less frequently and grow shorter, and Levy would also start responding less so as to not to feel like a bother, and eventually they would be reduced to nothing more than distant acquaintances who occasionally wished each other Happy Birthday through facebook.

She knew Gajeel would move on. Levy just didn't know if she would. Well, she would have to eventually, right? She wouldn't have much of a choice. But it was still a heartbreaking thought for Levy. She really loved being friends with Gajeel and all the time she spent with him. She was really going to miss him.

Levy squared her shoulders. Well. More reason to take advantage of the present, right? She'd just have to enjoy every last moment she had with him. Even the moments with less than favorable circumstances.

She could hardly believe what she was doing as she slipped out of her clothing. This was the first time she's ever stripped in front of a guy, but if he couldn't see her then it didn't count, right? The air was colder than she thought, despite the warming season. After shaking off her sandals, she sprinted to the pool, shrieking as she jumped. The cold water enveloped her all around, shocking her systems. She clawed her way back up to the surface and gasped in the warm air.

"You actually did it." Gajeel said with a laugh, from just a few feet away.

Levy chuckled weakly, treading water. "Well, not completely. Just the top layer."

"What?! That's not skinny dipping then, you cheater!"

"Well excuse me for not wanting to strip in front you!" Levy snapped, aiming a splash of water towards his voice. Her hit was confirmed by Gajeel's grunt.

"I stripped!" He retorted, splashing her right back.

"That's different, you're a guy!" Levy yelled, with another splash.

The splashing progressed to the point where they aimlessly smacked the water at each other and erupted into laughter. Soon after they started goofing around in the borrowed pool. They practiced backflips, taught each other tricks, perfected cannonballs, attempted hand standing, tried balancing on each other's shoulders (well, only Levy stood on Gajeel's shoulders, for more than one reason), and hit eachother with pool noodles.

Despite her earlier doubts, Levy was having the time of her life. It was the first time she really felt like she was being a rebellious college student. Her parents would faint if they found out what she was doing, and who she was doing it with. But Levy didn't care. It was really nice, spending some private time with Gajeel. Was this what it was like to be in a relationship?

Levy supported herself on the edge of the pool, giving her legs a break. She looked over to Gajeel, who was swimming idly in the center. A burning question was still clouding her mind.

"So…" She started, resting her head on her arms. "If I had this idea years ago, why did you wait until now to bring it up?"

"That's obvious, isn't it?" Gajeel snorted, joining her on the pool's edge. "You were terrified of me until last year."

"I'm sorry," Levy squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, because she quite literally couldn't believe what she just heard. "What?"

"Yeah!" Gajeel insisted. "You hardly spoke to me for two years, even though we had multiple classes together, and ya couldn't even look at me."

Levy stared in utter disbelief, before an eruption of laughter burst out of her. It was hilarious, because he couldn't have interpreted her behavior any more contrary.

"What!?" Gajeel demanded.

"I'm sorry," Levy's laughter calmed down to a chuckle. "it's just, I wasn't afraid of you. I really wanted to talk to you, actually. I just didn't know how."

Gajeel didn't respond right away. He watched her, with an expression she couldn't make out.

"Ya should have gotten drunk earlier then, shrimp."

Levy smiled wryly. "And had more bright ideas like this one?"

"Hell yeah. Ain't this fun?"

"Yeah," Levy admitted softly, facing him. "this is fun."

A silence fell in between them, with nothing but the chirping crickets and buzzing insects filling the air. Levy's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but it was still difficult to see Gajeel's facial expression. She was dying to know what what he was thinking.

Maybe it was her imagination, but it felt like Gajeel was getting closer. But that was outrageous, right? It's not like he would actually…

No, he was definitely getting closer.

Despite the cool night, Levy felt everything around her heat up. Millions of thoughts whirled around her head in the manner of seconds. This can't be happening. She must be dreaming.

But if it was a dream, there was no way she was going to interrupt it now. Not when they were this close. They was less than two inches in between them now. Levy mentally begged her breath not to smell like chlorine.

The distant sound of a car had barely registered in Levy's head. That is, until the headlights turned into the driveway, temporarily illuminating them.

Both of them whirled towards the house. A car door opened and a mumble of voices arose.

Levy spun to Gajeel. "I thought you said the owners weren't home!" She whispered-yelled at him.

"How was I supposed to know they would come back tonight?!" He whisper-yelled right back.

The sound of a key being inserted into the house had them both scrambling out of the pool in a blind panic. Levy somehow found her clothes and snatched them up, yanking on her shorts. She forgoed her shirt when she heard voices echo within the house and instead sprinted to the fence they had hopped earlier. She heard Gajeel cursing behind her, as he struggled to find his clothing.

Levy threw her shirt and sandals over the fence and attempted to jump over herself, but only managed to get a grip of the edge and strained to gain a foothold on the smooth surface. She started to panic until she felt Gajeel's hands grip her waist and then practically chuck her over. She landed on the other side with an ungraceful thud, but she quickly sprung up again after Gajeel swung over and together they sprinted down the street.

They ran, half naked, with their clothes tucked underneath their arms. Levy never felt like she's sprinted this fast in her life. They ran until they passed the block and turned the corner. They finally slowed down when they reached the other end of the neighborhood. Levy bent over to catch her breath, letting her sandals and shirt drop to the ground. Her lungs felt like they were on fire.

"Gihihihi…"

Levy looked up. Gajeel was snickering. She frowned and opened her mouth to berate him, but what came out instead was a giggle of her own. The adrenaline of the close call was wearing off, and hysterical relief took it's place. She couldn't stop giggling. Their chuckles grew, and soon both of them were were roaring with laughter in the quiet neighborhood in the middle of the night.

She should be mad, honestly. They could of gotten caught and had the police called on them, which could have led to less than fortunate consequences, such as Levy being robbed of her graduation or scholarship. But she couldn't bring herself to care. They got away, and that's all that matters.

Levy peeked over at Gajeel's laughing form, and felt a fondness grow in her chest. Yes, he was an idiotic oaf at times, but at least he was a sincere one. A nearby streetlight flickered nearby, illuminating them in a yellow glow. She noticed that Gajeel was still dripping wet from their excursion. And that he also hadn't had the time to pull on his shirt while they were making their escape.

"Like what you see?"

Levy snapped her eyes back up and saw Gajeel grinning down at her knowingly. She felt the heat rush into her face. Well. There was no use in denying it now. She'd been caught.

"Maybe I do." She responded with as small smile of her own, not breaking eye contact.

His grin widened and he leaned over, dangerously close. Levy was reminded of the similar situation they were in just moments ago. But she refused to back down. He bent over her shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck.

"Well if we're being honest then…" He spoke in a low voice next to her ear. He raised his hand and brushed it against her arm. Levy felt her breath hitch.

"...I like yer bra." He finished, lifting her fallen strap back onto her shoulder.

Levy felt a furious blush spread on her cheeks and the indignation build up in her, but before she could form the words to yell at him, Gajeel tilted her chin up and pressed his lips onto hers.

It was soft. And sweet. And not like anything she ever imagined from Gajeel. It was probably better than she could have ever imagined. His scent filled Levy's senses and suddenly she felt the overwhelming urge to experience more. She leaned into him and grasped at his shoulder. He responded by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer, tangling his other hand into her hair. She moaned into him and moved her hand up to his neck. A deep growl rumbled from the back of Gajeel's throat, and something squirmed inside of Levy.

When they pulled away, Levy felt short of breath. Gajeel, who still had his arm around her waist, looked down at her, amused. She smiled up at him, blushing. It was like just some of the romantic moments Levy's read about in her books. Although, no amount of words could quite describe what she just felt.

A cool breeze drifted over the two, causing Levy to shiver despite their proximity.

"Cold?" He asked her, inclining his head.

"A little." She admitted. Her hair had been consistently dripping cold droplets on her bare back since their hasty retreat.

Gajeel paused for a moment before his eye caught on her discarded sandals and shirt at their feet. He released his hold on her and bent down to retrieve them. Levy sighed softly to herself, disappointed that their moment was over. She was already holding out her hand as he stood up, ready to accept her shirt, but instead his hand passed over her open palms and slung around her shoulder, pulling her into his side.

"Alright, let's get you home before you catch something." He said, leading her down the street.

Levy mentally froze as she blankly walked under Gajeel's arm. However, it didn't take too long for awareness to sink in again and she shyly huddled into his arm, grateful for the warmth.

This night ended up being nothing like Levy had expected it to be. With results she never predicted either. Of course, they were outcomes that she gladly accepted. Levy suddenly realized she was no longer worried about losing touch with Gajeel after graduation. If the determination he showed in persuading along every step of this adventure was any indication of his willingness to maintain a relationship, Levy wasn't concerned in the slightest. And she couldn't be more relieved.

A thought hit Levy just then, and she turned to glance up at the man next to her.

"Gajeel?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I have my shirt back?"

He pursed his lower lip, as if thinking about the request.

"...nah."

Her protests were drowned out by his laughter as the two continued down the sidewalk, neither one breaking contact for the rest of the night.

A/N: Hey guys, let me know what you thought in a review! I would really appreciate it!