chapter ten

Sorry for the hiatus! Writer's block, I guess... this chapter is much longer than usual, to make it up to you! Thank you very much for your reviews, and for sticking with this story! Hope you all have a happy new year :)

Levy burst out the doors of the hall and skidded a little on the cobblestones outside, looking frantically around for Gajeel. She hadn't been in the closet that long surely, he couldn't be very far away, she thought, biting on her lip as she stared down the nearest path for him. She began jogging down to the riverside boardwalk, hoping he had decided to head for his house. She could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest as she ran, squinting as the last rays from the setting sun shone bright in her eyes.

"Gajeel!" she called out, unable to see anything, not even silhouettes as the sun blinded her. She stumbled as the cobblestone path changed to the wooden slats of the boardwalk, and she reached out, letting her hand skim the top bar of the iron fence at the edge of the river as she ran. She was getting a stitch in her side, she knew- she certainly hadn't stretched beforehand, and sprinting was not her forte.
"Gajeel!" she yelled again, now worrying that she had guessed incorrectly, that he had gone some other way... The sun at last dipped below the western hills, and as Levy blinked away the blue print left on her retinas, she found that she could see- and that she was ten feet away from running straight into someone.

She slowed and staggered a little before walking, gripping the stitch in her side, resting her weight on the iron fence as she blinked furiously- and finally recognized Gajeel.

He was sitting on a bench, his elbows resting on his knees, his chin propped up on his fists. He was looking straight at her. Levy stopped in her tracks, now realizing how stupid she'd been. She'd run after him, desperately, and now that she'd found him, what now? She hadn't planned out anything to say, how to begin... What did she even want to say?
She held up a finger to let him know she needed a minute, and leaned forwards, resting her hands on her knees, taking longer to catch her breath than she really needed as she struggled to gather her thoughts.
It wasn't as if she knew why he'd stormed off. He might have been jealous, but then again, he might just as reasonably have been bored, or he might have had an errand to run.

Either way, Levy thought, mustering her determination and straightening up, either way, I am going to tell him what's what. Today's the day, Levy. Today's the day.

She cleared her throat. Gajeel looked at her expectantly, but oddly enough, he also looked a little resigned.
"Why did you leave?" she asked. Gajeel tilted his head back and shrugged. Levy wondered if it was an illusion, but somehow it seemed like he was making an effort to look relaxed and uncaring.

"Just needed some air. Why'd you come after me?" he asked her in turn, keeping his eyes shut and his head tilted back. Levy chewed her lower lip for a few seconds- a few seconds too long, perhaps, because Gajeel noticed her silence, sat up, and looked at her curiously.
"What's up? Did you want to say something?"

Levy's hands suddenly felt cold and damp, and she wiped them discreetly on the back of her jacket, still biting her lip.
She was beginning to panic. Why had she chased him? Why couldn't she have just... just left it alone, left it all alone? She thought about just leaving, just saying nevermind and going.

Then she thought of Gajeel, and having to see him all the time, forever afterwards... and never ever ever saying how she felt, never knowing if maybe... just maybe...
She clenched her fist. The image of Lucy's smile filled her mind. Lucy's courage never failed her. She was always brave, whether she was fighting an enemy, sacrificing herself for her team or her celestial spirits, or just spitting out what she had to say.
Levy looked hard at Gajeel and stood up a little straighter.
This time, she was going to go in fists-first. Gajeel looked even more confused as Levy marched up to him, her hands clenched at her sides, her face set in determination.
Levy prayed she didn't look as nervous as she felt.

"You okay, shrimp? You're shaking like crazy."

Apparently, Levy's prayer had not been heard.

"Shush." she said abruptly.
I am going for this. I am going to do this.
"I... I came after you because... well, I mean... I guess..."
What the fuck am I saying. This is not strength! This is not telling him what's what! This is ridiculous! Grow a fucking pair!
Levi grit her teeth and scowled angrily at Gajeel. He looked a little taken aback. She didn't blame him.
I am going to just straight-up tell him. How long have I been crazy about this asshole? He told me himself, he's going to make me bigger. And I believe him. I believe he already has. I just have to be a take-no-shit sort of person, like he is. Yes.

"Gajeel," she began abruptly and loudly, making them both start a little. "first of all, I want you to know that I really like your hair. And also, I really like your piercings. I also think you are a lot nicer than some people think you are."
Levy took a big breath and stood a little straighter, staring hard at the ground.
"But you can be very blunt, and very sarcastic, and you have a pretty short temper. Not to mention, you tease me constantly. My main issue is that you sometimes jump to conclusions and don't let people finish what they're trying to-"

"Is there a point to all this?" Gajeel interrupted, sounding very bored. "Because I could do without this tidal wave of criticism, thanks." Levy glared at him, and caught the smallest flicker of a grin pass over his face for a second, before it settled back into a scowl.

"As I just said, you don't let people finish! I'm getting to the point!" she took another breath, now very much wishing she had just shut up and melted into the ground. "I'm annoyed you ran out of the party, because... because I didn't kiss Jet and Droy. I didn't do anything with them."

"I don't care who you-" Gajeel began to interrupt again, but Levy carried on.

"I know, but I do. Because... because for a long time now, all I've wanted... all I've needed was-" suddenly her mouth stopped working.

She completely froze up, staring at Gajeel, unable to look away, very aware of the sweat on her hands, at the back of her neck... Up until that point, Gajeel had still looked vaguely bored and confused, but now, slowly, slowly, he began to look very disbelieving...

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Levy just stared at him, finding herself oddly unable to move, just completely seized up. After a few seconds, Gajeel sort of reached out and lightly brushed her hand. As if she'd been shocked, Levy started suddenly. She turned away quickly, gripping the iron fence at the edge of the boardwalk tightly in her hands, staring straight ahead into the red-stained horizon.
She was still shaking. She couldn't believe it.
She had said too much, but not enough. There was no going back, but she couldn't find any strength within her to continue. She felt numb, but terror was pulsing through her like a sickness.

She heard Gajeel stand up behind her and tenses up, expecting tears to prickle her eyes, as they often do when she's stressed, but none did. He came slowly up beside her and seemed oddly hesitant as he rested his arms on the fence. Levy turned her head away, squeezing her eyes shut. Her costume felt itchy and uncomfortable now, but the discomfort hardly registered with her as it seemed that every fibre of her being was vibrating with tension.
He said her name, and she slowly, unwillingly, looked back around.

"Hey," he said very quietly, turning to her, and she just tipped her head forward and rested her forehead on his stomach.
She didn't even know what was happening, what she was supposed to be doing or saying. She was somehow very tired, and yet still painfully tense.
Gajeel awkwardly patted her on the head, and they stood like that, her forehead just below his chest, his hand on her head, for a few seconds.

Very, very quietly, Gajeel muttered something.

"What?" Levy asked, surprised that her voice still worked, despite how tight her throat was.

"What were you saying before?" he repeated, louder this time.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. But... maybe... I guess it is time.

Levy felt drained, but even so, she spoke up.

"I... I want to become somebody in your eyes. I want to be... important to you." she said, softly and haltingly, but it was so quiet she had no doubt Gajeel could hear her.
She opened her eyes, looking at the ground, her head still tipped against him, as she wrapped her arms tightly around her waist like a layer of armour.

"I want you to love me." she mumbled at last.

Levy now shut her eyes because it was over, it was all over, there was nothing. Nothing now.
She thought of Lucy, and her constant reassurances, that he likes her, he likes her, he likes her... they all seem cold, like ice.
Lies, lies, lies.

"Hey." Gajeel said, breaking her out of her cloud.

She didn't look up until he reached down and tapped her under her chin. She reluctantly settled her gaze on his mouth; she refused to meet his gaze. He flashed her a quick smile, and she was startled to see that it looked nervous; his front teeth pulled slightly on his lower lip.

"Does your head actually not even reach my chest? I gotta say, you are seriously the shortest person I have ever met." he said.

Levy's jaw dropped, and she scowled angrily, about to give a snappish retort.
But suddenly, Gajeel's hands were gently cupping her face, and he was bent down, and his lips were gently, gently brushing hers... He quickly pulled away and looked directly into her eyes, his thumbs stroking her cheeks.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked, his voice even lower than usual.

Levy stared at him, completely taken aback.
She couldn't even speak, she just stared. Her hands pushed her hair back out of her face, and she was shaking and nervous, terrified because Gajeel's face was so close, and she was desperate to kiss him, and he just kissed her...
Her tongue seemed to stumble over her teeth for a few seconds before she could say anything coherant, her mind was reeling... Gajeel suddenly pulled away a little, as though thinking she was going to say no, and he looked apologetic...

But finally, her body came back under her control, and she did what she'd wanted to do for months... for years... Her hands flew up to the collar of his shirt and dragged him back down within proper reach, then slid into his thick hair, gripping it gleefully and pulling him to her, all the while saying breathlessly, desperately, 'Come here, come here, come here...'. Her eyes hazily registered Gajeel's surprised expression relax into a smile, and then darken into a gloriously dangerous grin, a wide, sharp sort of smirk she just wanted to drag into bed and tie up with rope.

He kissed her, and it was so good, better than anything, better than everything... His hands wove their way into her hair, fisting it and pulling her closer to him. She pressed against him, standing right on her toes, kissing him back, grabbing his hair, his clothes, her hands running over his arms and shoulders, gleefully feeling his muscles.
Levy felt light as a feather, but so hot, so warm as her hands soaked up the feeling of his skin shifting beneath them, his muscles rippling under her fingers as he pulled her closer, as his hands trailed downward out of her hair, running down her back, finally stopping at her butt, at which point Gajeel's mouth broke away from hers, and she grabbed his shoulders as he lifted her up, sitting her down on the iron-bar fence and holding her there, safely in the cage of his strong arms.

Levy raised her hands to his face and held him, gazing up at him breathlessly as he looked down at her. Levy felt her cheeks warm and what felt like a herd of tingles stampede down her spine as she saw that he was smiling, and gazing at her with such happiness... such love...

"Come here," she breathed again, and tipped her chin upwards, glad that she was now nearly his exact height.

Their lips met, and Gajeel opened his mouth almost immediately. His warm breath fanned over her cheeks, and she once again slid her hands into his long hair...
God, his hair...
She wanted to make an honest woman of his hair.

It seemed ages until finally Levy pulled away, breathless and tired, and just leant back, letting her hair fall away from her face as Gajeel held her up over the river, his hands linked firmly behind her back. Levy grinned as the cool breeze blew through her hair and over her warm skin. She sat back up and she poked Gajeel's nose, looking down as she grinned.

"Hey." he said, knocking his forehead against hers gently.

"Hey, you." she mumbled happily.
She could not believe this, she absolutely could not believe this was happening.

"You're really, really cool. And I love your hair." she said suddenly, looking straight at him and then laughing, because she had not planned on saying that... things just kept slipping out.

"And I think you're sexy." she blurted out, then bit her lips.
"Fuck, sorry!" she said quickly, and then-
"Fuck, sorry, sorry!"

She couldn't believe this. She just couldn't stop, and now Gajeel was laughing, and he looked so...

"Holy shit," she breathed before leaning in and kissing him quiet.
Somehow, it was very much easier to be brave and do these things now than it had been only about ten minutes ago. Gajeel pulled away and looked at her with an amused expression on his face.

"I'm flattered. And I've gotta say, it's actually really..." he trailed off, looking at her and shaking his head.

"What?" He smirked.

"I find your swearing very sexy." Levy burst out laughing.

The sky was darkening by the time they set off for home, walking hand in hand, talking, arguing, laughing, and kissing.

"So, were you actually jealous of Jet and Droy? Is that why you left the party?" she asked curiously, feeling as though she might burst from happiness- she was certain, completely certain, that this would be one of the happiest days of her life.
Gajeel glanced down at her and smirked a little.

"I guess so... but probably in a different way than you might think."
Levy frowned up at him.

"What do you mean?"
He looked as though he were considering what to say.

"Come on. Tell me!" she said, shoving against him lightly.
He shoved back, then caught her with a grin and a shake of his head when she stumbled sideways.

"Fine, fine. It's not a big deal, but depending how you take it, it might be a little..."
Once again, he looked as though he were considering how to phrase something.

"I guess... I didn't think that they would actually do anything to you. I mean, they're always all over you, which I do find annoying-" he scowled a little, and she grinned, thinking about all the times he'd intervened whenever Jet and Droy had ever been fighting over her.
"-but I wasn't worried about that."

"Then what was it?" Levy asked, now genuinely confused.
Gajeel gave her a quick reprise of that sharp smirk, and Levy felt her face get hot again.

"I was mostly jealous, because I was thinking about everything I would have done with you in that closet."

Levy stared up at Gajeel and his stupid, stupidly smirking face, and felt a bolt of heat shoot straight through her and end right between her legs. Her heart seemed to begin to hammer a little more eagerly.
Her face was burning, she knew, but... oh, god...

"Gajeel..." she breathed, stopping in the lane, pushing her hair back nervously, then trailing a hand over her neck, which was probably also blush-pink.
"I..."

She was certain that her face was bright red now. Gajeel stopped too, and turned to look at her, looking a little embarassed, as though he was worried he'd offended her.
If only he knew how many late nights she'd spent imagining... dreaming of...
She bit down on her lip, and then walked over to him, stopping when she was just in front of him, and sliding her hands up into his hair, into his beautiful hair...

"Can you please lift me up?" she asked softly, smiling when he obliged, holding her up so her face was just a little higher than his.
She linked her legs behind him and leaned into him, burying her hands in his hair until she was pressed tightly up against him, her elbows bent over his shoulders. She could feel him kiss her shoulder gently and breathe her in as she put her lips right to his ear.

"Can you... I want you to..." she pressed her mouth against his neck for a minute, gathering her thoughts, which were pretty much still whirling around some vague image of herself and Gajeel in a confined space... alone...
"Show me."

She heard Gajeel inhale sharply, and she kissed his neck softly again. She was a little light-headed- barely, barely an hour ago, she had been terrified, uncertain, insecure... and now she was kissing the neck of the guy she'd been in love with for pretty much the last four years or so.

"Take me home, and I want you to show me." she said, pausing between words to kiss up the side of Gajeel's face, until she finally looked straight at him. He gazed at her with an intensity which made her blush even harder, and she wondered for a minute if she had been too forward, if she had shocked him, but- he suddenly veered to the right of the path, and Levy was just about to ask where they were going when she felt her back gently hit the brick wall of a building.

Gajeel pressed her against it, and Levy's legs, still crossed around his back, kept her there as he pressed his arms on either side of her head, boxing her in as he looked at her with a wild look in his dark red eyes, a look that made Levy remember that this was the Iron Dragon Slayer...

"Got it." he replied at last, and Levy was glad to know that she was not the only one who was a little breathless.
She pulled his face to hers and kissed him softly at first, then it became sort of desperate and hungry as Gajeel leaned his body into her and tilted his head to one side, deepening the kiss.
Levy shifted against him, and he suddenly inhaled sharply, and it was only then that Levy realized what exactly was hardening and pushing against her...

"Hey guys!" A bright, and hellishly familiar voice said loudly from their left.

Levy jerked her head back so hard, she hit it painfully against the brick wall.
Gajeel seemed to almost give himself whiplash as he snapped his head around, quickly moving his arms to Levy's waist and gently putting her back onto the ground and subtly moving to stand behind her.
She suddenly realized why he was trying to cover himself and would have laughed, had she not been so angry.

Lucy was standing at the side of the path, two large duffel bags slung over her shoulders, blushing a little, but smiling very brightly, and what was worse, with a look of steely determination in her eyes.
She was here for a reason, Levy realized and scowled.

"Hey, Lucy. What's up?" she asked in a strained voice, hoping the darkness at least somewhat concealed Gajeel's hands, which were sliding gently upwards, over her hips, under her coat, his fingers softly running along her bare waist...

"I'm here to pick you up for our sleepover, silly! I was just on my way over- don't worry, I've packed for you. Come on!" she said, pulling Levy forward by the hand and dragging her down the street.

"What sleepover? I didn't-" Levy began to protest, but Lucy shut her up with a look.
"Um," Levy began, turning defeatedly to Gajeel, who looked pretty irritated.
Yeah, ditto...
"I'll...I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, feeling her cheeks warm again, struggling to face him while Lucy frog-marched her away.

Gajeel's scowl broke into a grin as he stepped forwards, his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, short stuff." he replied.
Levy beamed at him and finally turned to glare at Lucy.

"What was that for?" she hissed. "I do not believe you didn't know what we were doing. And I've never, ever, been told about this sleepover. But we were kissing, Lucy, he was kissing me-"

"I know that." Lucy interrupted, shooting Levy a broad, satisfied smile.
"I know. I saw you by the river, and I knew, I just knew how it was going to go. So, I rushed home and packed two bags -don't worry, I climbed through Gajeel's window and grabbed your pyjamas and bathroom stuff- just so I could grab you before you made it back." she said happily, still keeping a tight grip on Levy's arm to prevent her breaking free and running back.
Levy's jaw dropped.

"Why, though, Luce? I... We... He was kissing me! He likes me! ...He was kissing me!" she repeated again, completely, completely clueless about Lucy's motives. Her friend just tapped her nose conspiratorially.

"I know, I know! And we'll talk and laugh and sigh about that as soon as we get to my place. But don't worry, I had a good reason."
Levy sighed and submitted, allowing herself to be dragged through the darkening streets back to Lucy's place.

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