Author's note: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters! This fan fiction was made only for the fun of it. I do not charge anything from people to read or comment on my fics! They will always be free, by fans for fans! I absolutely looooove Gajeel... (I know, a huge change from my Harper fit)... so I made a fanfic where, of course, he gets the girl. Gajeel x Levy all the way! Also, this fic continues Hiro Mashima's story after Gajeel was taken in by Fairy Tail. Enjoy! ~~~Also, I'm making a doujinshi after this fic ^_^ look forward for it!~~~

Chapter 1: A rose for you

The old fig tree that was sharing his shade over a rather small hill was what kept Levy company whenever she felt the need for some alone time with her books. She was quite oblivious to anything around her. Suddenly, a shadow covered her as she was sitting on the gren grass. She looked up, still concentrated over the story she was reading, but the person sitting in front of her brought her back to reality.

"Yo."

"Gajeel!" Levy was perplexed he came all the way from the guild. Gajeel folded his arms and nugded his head to the spot next to the blue-haired girl.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" He seemed a bit uncomfortable.

"Uhm, no, go ahead..." Levy didn't know how to react around the Iron Dragon Slayer. He was always on the defensive and rather cold towards everyone.

Gajeel sat next to her, even though there was more than enough space. He was silent for a long time, so Levy continued her reading in silence, fear keeping her senses sharp. At one point, Gajeel broke the awkward silence.

"Uhm, so I was wondering why you did what you did earlier." Gajeel kept his eyes on the ground and tried to act unimpressed.

"What do you mean?" Levy put her book aside and lowered her glasses.

"You know... You came to me and Juvia and welcomed us so... warmly... Why?" Levy felt his confusion.

"I'm not following... Why would I not welcome any new member of our family?" Gajeel raised his eyes and stared right into Levy's. Levy looked innocently into his eyes.

"After all I did to you... and your friends... I thought..."

"Oh, so this was the reason behind your question." Levy interrupted him and smiled warmly, relaxing slightly. "As long as Master went to bring you and Juvia home, it means that you can't be bad people. I trust Master's decisions." Gajeel looked amazed at her, feeling her shivers of fright, but still putting up a brave face, and dropped his head.

"I... wanna apologize... for what I did back then..." Gajeel cringed at the memories of him hurting her. He joined his palmes and concentrated with his eyes closed. A screeching sound could be heard from within his palmes. He blew his Iron Breath into a gap from his palmes before taking Levy's hand. His cupped hand opened in Levy's and she could feel something cold in it. When Gajeel pulled his hand away, she could see the small, grey object that was resting in her palm. It was an iron rose.

Levy raised her eyes to look at Gajeel as he got himself up and removed the dirt from his pants.

"Wow... It's... gorgeous! Thank you!" Levy was mesmerized by the beautiful grey rose she was given, the fear she felt around him dissipating completely.

"It's my way of apologizing." Gajeel looked over the hills, towards Magnolia.

"It's rather funny, you know? This is the tree I was pinned on.' Levy smiled just as Gajeel turned his head to look at her with a glint of shadow in his eyes. "I... didn't mean it like..." Levy tried to apologize, seeing the look in Gajeel's eyes.

"It's ok if you hate me for what happened. I wouldn't blame you." Gajeeel turned and was about to leave, when Jet and Droy showed up, their faces contorted with rage.

"Get away from her, creep!" Jet used his speed magic to get Levy next to his friend. "You have some nerve to speak to Levy after what you did!"

"Jet, calm down... He came to apologize." Levy tried to get some sense into Shadow Gear, but the two young men wouldn't listen.

"And you believe him?!" Droy was angry enough to make Levy cringe. Levy squeezed her iron rose and looked away. Just then, Droy sent an attack towards Gajeel, which could have been easily dodged by the Dragon Slayer, but it hit him head on. Levy looked shocked in the spot where Gajeel was before the attack and waited breath taken for the dust to settle. Jet siezed the moment and used his speed magic to beat Gajeel with his bare hands, punching and kicking him fiercely.

"Stop! Stop it!" Levy cried out as she got up and ran to Gajeel. She placed herself between Jet and Gajeel just as Jet sent another lightning-fast kick. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact, but she could only hear the thump it made. Opening her eyes, she saw Gajeel between her and Jet's kick, cringing from the pain. Levy's eyes widened in shock as Gajeel slowly lost his strength to stand. Levy caught him before he hit the ground.

"Gajeel!" Levy shot a spiteful look at Jet, who was too shocked to do anything but stare. "Are you satisfied now? What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Can't you see he's taking a beating without defending himself? Baka!" Levy's eyes were filled with tears of rage, seeing her two most trusted friends act like animals.

"I... I'm sorry, I almost hit you, Levy..." Jet lowered his eyes and backed away.

"That's it? How about apologizing to Gajeel, as well? You two, acting like animals, with no control. Don't you trust Master?" Jet and Droy looked away in shame, realizing it was Master Makarov's decision to bring Juvia and Gajeel to Fairy Tail. Levy shouldered Gajeel for a moment before he stood on his own feet heavily and pushed Levy aside gently.

"It's OK, shrimp. I deserved it." Gajeel smiled weakly and limped away from Shadow Gear. Levy threw an angry look towards her two companions and rushed to Gajeel.

"Don't push yourself." Levy moved to Gajeel's side to help him, but he pulled his arm away and kept limping towards the guild. Levy stopped for a moment, not sure how to respond to his reaction, but followed him insistently.

"I'm fine, go back to your friends." Gajeel said bitterly.

"You're not fine, you're hurt. And I wanna believe you are my friend, too." Levy motioned once again to reach under his shoulder and support him. Gajeel watched her intently as he accepted her help and ended the awkward silence that was growing between them.

"You're a brave little shimp. Not a very powerful one, but brave." Levy blushed before replying.

"It's rude to call people names, you know. My name is Levy Mc'Garden, not 'shrimp'." Gajeel smirked warmly.

"You need to be a certain height to be something more than a shrimp, shrimp." Gajeel smiled widely seeing Levy tongue him playfully.

"And I can get more powerful, but I think I need a trainer. You think you're up to it?" Levy looked intently in front of her, blushing violently.

"You want me to train you?" Gajeel looked puzzled.

"Yeah. I mean, if you don't have any other plans... I'd like to be able to fight without my magic, too. Like Natsu and Gray. Even Erza knows how to fight without her Requip Magic." Levy looked away, imagining herself standing her own ground.

"Why me?" Gajeel looked intently at her. "Why not ask them? I fuck up whenever I interact with people... As you can see." The blue haired girl smiled warmly and opened her small fist that was holding the iron rose.

"This proves otherwise." Gajeel looked away, blushing slightly. "And, besides, I tried asking them, but no one takes me seriously, except for Jet and Droy. They mean well, I'm sorry if they were too rough on you, they can be... overprotective sometimes." They walked in silence until the guild could be seen, Gajeel swearing internally for being too soft with her.

"The guild! Perfect! I'll just help you get to the infirmary and let Mira-nee get these bruises fixed."

"I'm fine..." Gajeel started, but Levy cut him.

"Shove it, Kurogane. I'm taking you to the infirmary and that's final!" Gajeel let her help him, mumbling something. They entered the quiet room and headed for an empty bed.

"I'll go look for Mira-nee, you stay here. And don't move!" Levy turned and left, leaving Gajeel alone in the infirmary.

"Stubborn little shrimp..." Gajeel mouthed, snickering with indignation. He started looking around the room, taking in every detail of the white walls, the few beds that were neatly tucked in and at the medicine locker, which was filled with magic books and potions. Just as he stood to leave the room (since Mirajane was taking her time), Levy entered with a puzzled expression.

"Hmm... Mira-nee is nowhere to be found... What should I do...? Yeah, I can't let you like this." Gajeel watched as Levy practically talked to herself, not sure how to react, thinking she was utterly insane.

"Why are you standing?" Levy ushered Gajeel back on the bed and hurried to the potion locker. She grabbed several books and put on her magical glasses. Gajeel jumped as Levy threw the books on a table near him and sat loudly on the chair. She opened a book and speed-read through it, placing it next to her after a long moment and took another, finishing it after a couple of seconds. In a matter of minutes, she learned how to heal open wounds and bruises of all sort and how to disinfect every cut. She opened the potion locker and got several bottles and returned to Gajeel's bed, not even noticing him as he watched her with wide eyes.

"Ok, this will sting a bit, but it should disinfect your wounds." Gajeel raised his metal brows.

"It should? You don't know for sure? Are you fucking kidding me?" Levy looked apologetically at him.

"Sorry... I've never done this. Mira-nee is the guild's nurse, but she's not around. And I can't leave you like this, either. I learned from those books how to do a basic cleaning if the wound and how to speed the healing process."

"You... learned. Like right now? That magical circle that moved the pages lightning-fast? Wow..." Gajeel couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea that learning magic existed. Levy merely blushed because of the compliment. Gajeel jumped a little when she added the disinfectant potion on his hand, so she proceeded to blowing a little air to the area where it stung. She added the healing potion and a bandage and continued in silence. It took her about half an hour to finish stitching Gajeel's body. All that was left was a nasty cut over his right eyebrow and a swollen lower lip. Levy got a clean cloth, added some cleaning potion on it and pressed it gently on the cut. Gajeel looked intently at her as she blew from her lips a bit of air, seeing him close his left eye when it started stinging. His stomach started feeling strange, twisting and turning. Levy caught his eye and the sensation in his stomach intensified , like a hand that was playing with his insides. Levy blushed violently and looked away to get some healing potion. Gajeel kept staring, mesmerized by the new sensations he was feeling. He watched intently as Levy's shaking hand pressed gently on his eyebrow and held there a moment too long, looking at him with piercing eyes.

"What? What is wrong? Why do you keep fucking staring at me like that?" Gajeel suddenly bursted, surprising Levy, who jumped.

"I... I didn't... I'm sorry... I..."

"Stop stammering, goddamn it! I can do this by myself!" Gajeel yanked the cloth from a stunned Levy and forced it on his lip, cringing from the pain. Levy's eyes saddened to the point of tears. She turned to get the healing potion ready for Gajeel and sniffed quietly, hoping that Gajeel wouldn't hear her, but the ears of a Dragon Slayer are more sensitive compared to those of a normal human, so Gajeel knew he'd crossed the line again.

"Fuck... I'm sorry I yelled at you... Goddamn it, stop crying!" Gajeel smelled the salty teardrops that were rolling down Levy's cheeks silently.

"I'm not crying." Levy's muffled voice was choked from the lump in her throat. She quickly wiped her teary eyes and turned with a red nose and the healing potion back to Gajeel, who put the cloth down and let Levy apply the healing potion on his swollen lip, glowering at her for making him feel so strange.

"You're all good." Levy told him in a small voice. Gajeel stood abruptly, saying a hasty 'thank you' and stormed out of the Infirmary without a second glance, leaving Levy questioning herself and her own judgment about the new Fairy.

Levy entered the common room, where everyone was gathered. Cana was playing drinking games with Macao and the rest while Natsu and Happy were stuffing their faces after coming back from a 2 week job with Lucy. Gray was not happy about being followed by Juvia, stripping his t-shirt because of the stress and throwing it by mistake on Natsu's head, just as he opened his mouth to get another bite. And the fight started.

"Oi, you perv, it's enough to see your naked body to make me sick, I don't need your stinkin' shirt on my grub!" Natsu hid a dirty plate in the t-shirt and threw it in Gray's face with enough force that tumbled him on the ground.

"You idiot, that fucking hurt!" Gray Ice-made a hammer, breaking it in Natsu's head and jumping on him as he was lying on the ground, unconscious. Levy smiled warmly and went to Lucy's table, which was in a protected corner, next to a sullen Gajeel.

"Hey, Lu-chan." Gajeel' s eyes snapped up when he heard Levy's bright voice. He took another long drink and followed her as she sat next to the Hearthfilia girl.

"What's up, Levy? You seem down for some reason." Lucy quickly noted, seeing Levy's bright smile fade after a quick look in Gajeel's direction.

"It's nothing, really." Lucy glared at her suspiciously. Levy felt the weight of Lucy's glaring for a long moment before admitting she needed someone to listen to her pathetic story.

"Ok, ok... I had a fight..." Gajeel snapped his head up in surprise and fought the urge to turn around and glare at the blue haired girl. Lucy merely listened to her as she sighed heavily. "It's those idiots fault, anyway, they never listen to what I have to say and they always jump to stupid conclusion..." Levy's eyes filled with frustrated tears. "Jet and Droy still think I can't take care of myself..." At this point, the tears were falling freely on her red cheeks and Lucy moved closer to her to wrap her arm around her.

"What happened? Tell me all about it." Lucy's soothing voice helped Levy control her tears enough to tell her about her encounter with Gajeel and how Shadow Gear freaked out when they saw him alone with Levy.

"Wait, wait... Gajeel... came to apologize?" Lucy sent a quick look over her shoulder and saw Gajeel getting up from the table to get another drink from Mirajane. "For real? Wow, I didn't think he had it in him." Lucy smiled fondly, watching Gajeel get in the middle of Natsu and Gray's brawl, which made him grumpy enough to join in and kick some Salamander ass.

"Yeah..." Levy blushed slightly, squeezing the small iron rose in her hand.

"Well, that's a huge step for him. I guess it was tough on him to step on his titanic ego and do something like that." Lucy squeezed Levy's shoulder in comfort. "Feeling better?" The blonde placed her forehead on Levy's, seeing her sniff heavily.

"Yeah... Thanks, Lu-chan." Levy smiled warmly, placing the fist that was holding the rose on her heart.

That evening, Levy made a chain for the iron rose Gajeel gave her and used Rune Magic to change the iron's chemical construction.

TBC

How about it? Did you liked it? Loved it? Hated it? Please review, your opinion matters to me as a writer.