Hey everyone! So after I was asked to write a little more for this ff although I had actually intended Chapter 15 to be the last, I decided to add a little. Thank you so, so much for all your reviews!

Epilogue

My eyes flew open with a start and I found myself sitting upright in my warm bed. The sun was shining in through my half-drawn curtains and I could hear a few birds singing outside. It was only then that I registered the banging on my door, identifying the cause for my abrupt start to my day. I ran my hands over my face in an attempt to banish my drowsiness. I felt something slide down my lower arm and I pulled my hands away from my face to look. My mouth twitched into a fond smile when I saw the little metal bracelet I was still wearing.

So it hadn't been a dream after all, huh? Gajeel really felt the same way about me than I feel about him? Well he had kissed me so I guess it was safe to assume that he did. "Come on Levy! I know you're in there so open the damn door!" I removed myself from my candy floss daydream and forced myself out of bed, pulling over my morning gown before opening the door for my very worked-up friend. Lucy was wearing a white tank top that stuck to her figure. She had chosen a black, fluffy skirt and a pair of black sandals to match her outfit. A black bow was tied around her one-sided pigtail. "In- now!" She pushed me back into my room, not even bothering with a hello before shutting the door and looking at me, crossing her arms over her chest. I waited for her to start but she continued to scrutinize me with those big brown eyes of hers, a gentle frown playing at her lips and pulling her perfect eyebrows together slightly. "So uhm… what can I help you with Lu-chan?" I asked, taking a seat on my bed and gesturing for her to join me. She did, not before giving me another critical once-over. "You didn't call last night." She stated. I took a double-take, wondering if I had somehow landed in the wrong film. Why was she looking at me like an offended girlfriend? "Did I promise to do that?" I asked her a little sheepishly. Guilt was creeping up on me and that without me even being perfectly sure that I had done something wrong. I guess that was a super power of hers. Something she often used against Natsu to get him to chill out. "Well it ended up kind of late last night…" I offered her a half-hearted explanation and she quirked an eyebrow, encouraging me to continue, "I was… with Gajeel remember?" She nodded, "And well we went to Magnolia Southgate Park and sat underneath the tree…" I let my voice trail off when my cheeks heated up. As if she had just woken up from a daze, her facial expression morphed from angry into that of an excited teenage girl ready to talk about her crush from school. Her hands found my shoulders and she shook me slightly before speaking up. "Oh my word! Okay you're forgiven! Just please, tell me everything!" And so I did. I told her about how Gajeel had bought me food and how good it had tasted. I told her about how electrifying it had felt to kiss Gajeel and how surprisingly soft his lips were. I told her about his smile, about his laugh and about all the different things we had spoken about for the rest of the night. We had lost track of time completely! It was only once the lights in the tree were turned off that we decided to call it a night. Gajeel had insisted on walking me back home and who was I to object? He walked me right up to Fairy Hills, placing a long, gentle kiss on my lips before offering me a smirk and wishing me a good night. It had taken me a while to fall asleep, letting the entire evening play back in my mind over and over again, all the while having a huge smile on my face. Eventually, when my face hurt from all the smiling I had been doing, I had buried my face in my pillow and had eventually managed to calm my fluttering heart down enough for me to actually fall asleep.

"I can't believe he actually kissed you." She breathed. Her face had broken out into a bright blush and her eyes were shimmering, "Wow… Gajeel kissing you…" No, she obviously couldn't quite wrap her mind around it though, to be fair, neither could I. It felt more like some wonderful, too-good-to-be-true kind of dream that I had had but the bracelet around my arm reminded me that it had been real. An excited flutter built up in my stomach when I thought about seeing Gajeel again, for him to hold me again, to kiss me again. "So how about we get you ready then?" She seemed to snap out of it, her bright eyes filled with all sorts of ideas that I suspectedhad something to do with me.

"Get me ready?"

"Yeah. Come on! Get up Levy!"

An hour later I was walking through Magnolia wearing my crepe coloured dress that had black frills lining the edges around my collarbones and the bottom. The colour was the perfect shade to go well with my hair and so was the black headband and my loose black arm warmers. Lucy had managed to convince me into wearing my small black boots that sported a slight heel, making my legs look longer and more slender. I'm not sure why she insisted I dress up like that but I was sure she had some sort of weird plan in her mind. Well, I mean I did feel really pretty. I had a spring in my step anyway seeing as I was on my way to see my… wait… was Gajeel my boyfriend now? We hadn't quite established that yet.

Boyfriend.

The word made my stomach make an excited summersault and I bit down on my bottom lip.

It didn't take long for us to reach the hill and Lucy and I made our way up slowly, enjoying the cool breeze that swept through our hair and caressed our skin gently. "Are you ready to see your man?" She nudged me and it felt like fireworks went off in my stomach. I stumbled a step or two before coming to a clumsy halt and I lifted my hands to cover my cheeks. "Don't say it like that Lu-chan!" I whispered anxiously, trying to get my heart back to beating normally. She laughed at me endearingly, capturing me in her arm that she wound around my waist and began pulling me towards the quaint tavern. She pushed the doors open before letting me in first and I thanked her quietly before near to staggering in nervously. I stopped as soon as Lucy was through the door, my eyes sweeping the crowd, looking for black hair and red eyes.

I found Gajeel sitting at the bar with Natsu, arguing about something- what a surprise. When Lucy spotted Natsu, I saw her stiffen and back away a little. Did Natsu maybe have something to do with the bad mood she had had when she arrived at my room earlier that day? I wanted to frown but seeing Gajeel evoked such joy in me that I couldn't help but grin like a fool. I took Lucy's hand absentmindedly and forced her to follow me to the bar. As soon as we got a little closer, I saw something in Gajeel shift and he immediately interrupted the argument and turned to face us. "Thought it was you." His lips pulled back to reveal his smirk and his eyes swept over me a few times until they came to rest on mine. I felt like my body was burning up with embarrassment. I wasn't used to someone look at me like that. I wanted to have Virgo's powers so that I could dig a hole and disappear but from the looks of it I was going to have to endure that hungry and appreciative look in Gajeel's eyes a little longer. This was why she made me wear the dress, isn't it? She knew that Gajeel would like it. "Hey!" Natsu complained, obviously upset by the lack of attention he was suddenly getting from Gajeel. When he turned to see who could have possibly yanked Gajeel right out of their very important argument, his eyes fell on Lucy immediately. He held eye contact for a moment before averting his eyes and running a hand through his pink hair. I let my eyes pan between the two of them for a moment, wondering what could have possibly happened between the two of them to make things so awkward. I wasn't able to wonder that for much longer though before a hand took a hold of my wrist and pulled me closer. Suddenly I found myself standing in between Gajeel's legs while he sat on his barstool. His fingers traced the sides of my torso before coming to rest on my hips, holding on to me as though he was afraid I would back away. "Good morning Gajeel." I smiled at him and his smirk widened a little.

"Mornin' Shrimp." He let out a hardly audible 'gihi' before capturing me in a surprisingly gentle yet almost inappropriately passionate kiss.

"Okay what the hell?!" I had to pull away, not able to stifle the laugh that escaped me at Natsu's obvious shock at what he was seeing. He looked downright horrified! "Oh come on Natsu!" Lucy put her hands on her hips, "At least Gajeel shows the girl he loves that he loves her!" My mind went back to what Lucy had said about dropping hints at the festival. Could it be that she had tried but that Natsu hadn't quite understood or maybe even misunderstood? I could imagine that Lucy must have told him but he had failed to reciprocate those feelings. That must be it. That's why things were so awkward between the two of them. "So kissing is showing you love someone?"

"Wow…" Gajeel huffed disdainfully, leaning forward and taking a deep breath to take in what my hair smelt like, "Even I knew that Salamander"

"Shut up Gajeel!" Natsu retorted, all red-faced and worked up. His eyes panned between the three of us for a moment before they rested on Lucy, "Fine then! I'll kiss you!" Natsu announced. Lucy's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. I had never seen Lucy turn that red in such a short amount of time; I was even a little worried about her. She looked like she was moments away from feinting. "W…what? Don't be an idiot Natsu!" She stuttered but Natsu had already hopped off his bar chair and was now standing directly in front of Lucy. His face had straightened out completely and he looked more serious than I had seen him look since Tenrou Island. It was like he finally knew how to show her how much he cared, like he'd been looking for a way, other than saving her all the time, to show her how much she meant for him. "Right here?" She asked him when he lifted his hands to frame her face gently. "Right here. Right now." He muttered before leaning forward and pushing his lips to hers a little awkwardly. At first it looked like he wasn't quite sure what to do but after only a few seconds his lips were guiding hers and she leant forward, pushing against him and snaking her arms around his neck, burying her hands in his scarf. "Natsu?! Why the hell are you kissing Lucy man?" Suddenly both Erza and Gray were all over the new couple, questioning them. Well… Erza was threatening Natsu more than anything, saying if he ever broke Lucy's heart, that she would do something or other to every bone in his body… well let's just say I stopped listening there. I heard Gajeel chuckle and his hold on me tightened. I averted my gaze back to him, finding him looking down at me calmly. I'd never seen Gajeel quite that serene before. It made me snuggle up to him a little, not caring that the whole guild could see us, and placing a gentle peck on his lips. "What'd I do to deserve that one ey Shrimp?"

"Nothing." I smiled up at him, "You don't always have to do things to deserve something." I reminded him gently before something came to my mind. I pulled away slightly, as much as Gajeel would let me before pulling the bracelet that was around my wrist off. I held it up for Gajeel who let go of me only reluctantly to take the bracelet. "What'cha giving this to me for?"

"It's not to eat!" I exclaimed when he held it up in front of his face and he snorted but nodded his head, eyeing it curiously, "Remember when I told you that I bought it in Hargeon? Well I actually bought it as a present for you. It's just... I've never really had the guts to give it to you." His eyes left the bracelet and instead came to rest on my eyes. They were slightly wider than usual, reflecting his obvious surprise. "Thanks Levy." The words slipped out of his mouth so quietly that I almost missed them. I watched him take off his glove before sliding the bracelet over his hand. He held up his arm to appraise the bracelet, smirking approvingly before sliding his glove back on. Once he had done that he kissed me again, once again showing me how thankful he was more than saying it and I came out of the kiss flustered and thus I ended up blurting out the first thing that came to my mind.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well if I'm gonna protect your cute ass I'm gonna have to come on more jobs with you." I wasn't sure which part flustered me more; the part about my 'ass' being cute or about him wanting to come on more jobs with me. So, unable to decide, I lowered my eyes, looking down at my hands that were fidgeting with a loose strand hanging off of his black coat. Wasn't being around Gajeel supposed to be easier now that he knew how I felt? It was like he purposefully said things to fluster me, like he loved the way I looked when I blushed… that was it wasn't it? That's exactly why he was doing it.

That's exactly why he'd always teased me like that…

"Stupid Gajeel…" I muttered, puffing up my cheeks like a sulking child.

"Before ya start sulking again-," he got up, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder effortlessly, "-let's get going Shrimp! We got jobs to finish!" Oh my gosh! I clung onto the fabric covering his lower back while the blood rushed to my head and I felt my pulse resonate through my skull. Gajeel's arm was thankfully placed in such a way that it held the skirt of my dress down, conserving the little dignity I had left after being carried through the guild like a sack of potatoes with everyone watching. "Put me down Gajeel!"

"Ya walk too slow with those tiny legs of yours." He countered and I bit my tongue, especially when I saw Jet and Droy watching us. Jet was laughing and Droy was smiling fondly. Why weren't they helping me?! Why wasn't anyone helping me? Not even Laxus! Who, surprise, surprise, was sitting at a table with Mira who had a very smug look on her face. I hit him against the back, flailing more than hitting from the feel of it, giving up when I realized that it was all to no avail. He walked right up to our request board, snatching the first request that he found and gestured to Lily to follow us. The Exceed had been watching from the table he'd shared with Carla.

"Aren't you going to ask my opinion on any of this?!" I exclaimed, flailing a little more for emphasis.

"Nope." He'd already carried me out of the guild by now and we were already heading down the hill, Lily hovering next to my head. For some reason he looked even less concerned than any of the people in the guild had looked. "You can't just do this Gajeel!" I continued to complain and he chuckled, tapping against my bum with his hand, this making me burying my face in his back.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Gajeel!

"Hey Gajeel my headband is slipping!"

"Hold on to it then Shrimp!"

"Can't you just put me down?! I can walk perfectly on my own!"

"Not happenin'."

There were still a lot of things I didn't understand about dragon slayers. What I did finally understand though, was that the dragons didn't have to teach them about love after all because they were perfectly capable of loving and caring for someone- they had an instinct to. And although they showed it in unique and strange ways and sometimes needed help expressing exactly what they feel, I was certain that no other person I would ever meet would love me more than Gajeel did and still does. No-one would protect me more fiercely than Gajeel and no-one would make my heart skip a beat the way Gajeel always managed to do.

From the very start, from the moment he had joined the guild, I had always kept an eye out for him. Somehow I had always been aware of his presence. At first I had thought it was because I was afraid of him but after he saved me on numerous occasions and my awareness for him didn't vanish, I realized that maybe there was more to it than that.

And now I finally understood what Jet and Lucy had meant when they had said 'who else if not Gajeel'. Because really, who else would I have fallen in love with? There was no-one else that managed to make me that furious and yet so happy at the same time. It was Gajeel and it always had been.

That stupid, annoying, arrogant dragon slayer who had singlehandedly destroyed our guild hall all those years back.

That dragon slayer that had protected me from Laxus on more than one occasion and that dragon slayer who had saved my life on Tenrou Island.

I stopped flailing, taking a moment to enjoy the smell of Gajeel's cologne that clung to his clothing. I enjoyed the warmth of his second hand that was wrapped around my one ankle. I enjoyed the way his long black hair tickled my back just below my neck

I didn't even mind that I was hanging head down like a sack of potatoes. Although Gajeel was pretty much kidnapping me and forcing me to come on this job with him, I knew I wouldn't have dreamt of saying no if he had asked me before carrying me off. In fact, I felt excitement bubble up in me at the thought of going on a job with him; at the thought of going on a job with my boyfriend, my partner. I felt a smile spread across my face.

"I love you… Stupid Gajeel." I whispered, letting him carry me off to wherever we were going without another word of protest.

It had always been Gajeel… and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

-The End-

Aaaalright! Well there you have it guys! I might, if I ever feel like writing a short something or other on Gajeel and Levy, add some more short stories/ one-shots on to this story of their mission or whatever follows with some fluff for you guys. I just can't tell you when that'll be. It'll all depend on my mood or sudden bursts of inspiration. xD

I want to thank every one of you sincerely for all your amazing support! This is the first fanfiction I have ever posted and getting such amazing feedback really surprised me and really inspired me to keep writing and posting some other fanfictions! If you have any requests of fanfictions and one-shots you'd like me to write of other pairings or animes, inbox me!

I really, really hope you enjoyed my Gajevy FF and I hope you'll stick around for some of the other fanfictions I'm working on!

Love you guys lots!

Thanks again for reading this fanfiction! You guys rock!