I just want to say I love this pair to death and have had this idea for quite some time now. I must warn you, there are going to be several other pairs I love included so watch out for them – Natsu/Lucy id definite and will be mixed in.
This will be a whole story but there will be random fillers or shorts that don't contribute to the story but contribute to the pair. There will also be some potty mouth on Gajeel's part, so sorry if you're a minor!
Now, on with the story! I love reviews so getting any decides the speed of my updates.
I don't own Fairy Tail.
OoOoOoO
Another night at Fairy Tail came to an exciting and (obviously) loud end.
Cana had challenged the majority of the guild to a drinking contest. And as history would have it, she was taken up on that challenge and she wiped the floor with everyone.
Most members didn't last long; many went home after the first two hours and by midnight, only a handful of people were left behind.
Mirajane, Macao, Lucy and Levy were the only ones there who weren't drinking; Cana (who was still well enough to walk), Natsu, Gray, Juvia, and even Gajeel had managed to last this long before either passing out or reduced to a slur of words and a sway of movements.
"I think it's time to end this" Mira whispered to her friends as they observed the other guild members.
Macao nodded in agreement and volunteered to drag Gray to the boy's dorm; Mirajane offered to take Cana and Juvia to the dorms and Levy said she'd help. Lucy knew where Natsu lived and everyone turned to face a passed out Gajeel.
Pantherlily had gone back to where they lived so he was alone for now.
"We need someone to take Gajeel home" Levy spoke up, taking in the iron dragon slayer's sleeping form.
"Thanks for volunteering Levy! I'll manage to bring the girls home so don't worry." Mirajane said with a smile.
"Eh? N-no, I-I-I don't even know where he lives!" Levy stammered as Mirajane pulled out her pad and pen she used during waitressing. Quickly scribbling down on it she explained "Master had me memorize where everyone lives in case of an emergency."
Before she knew it, Levy and Lucy were dragging their respective dragon slayers home. Levy was struggling under Gajeel's weight, remembering briefly the horrifying time he was injured during the S-class exam to protect her.
Levy blushed at the way that was worded. After all, she was more than excited when Gajeel declared himself as her partner and her heart fluttered when he told her he was going to make her an S-class mage.
"Geez, Natsu's like a hot water bottle" Lucy complained as she sat him down and spun around to cool her shoulders. Levy looked at which street they were at.
"Looks like this is where we part" she informed Lucy, who twisted around in surprise.
"Eh? Already? Ok, then; you sure you'll be alright on your own Levy?"
"Sure I will. I should be there in no time and then run back to Fairy Hills" she replied with a yawn.
"Alright, be careful Levy!" Lucy called out to her as she lifted Natsu back up.
"You too Lucy!" Levy cried back as she hoisted Gajeel to a more comfortable (for her) position and continued on her way.
The spring night was beautiful and the cool air felt good against her skin as she trekked through the town to Gajeel's apartment.
It wasn't exactly located in the best part of town, but at least the building wasn't dirty or run down; in fact, it was a lot like Lucy's, just less colourful.
Levy double checked the address and then froze; she would need a key to get in.
Setting Gajeel down, she checked him over for any pockets. Pulling the edge of his jacket out, she searched his pocket while glancing up and down the street; she didn't like the feeling of 'snooping' but it was necessary.
She managed to grasp a key chain and pulled it out; it was a tiny cat and Levy couldn't contain the smile that was growing on her face. Checking the key against the front door, she unlocked it and kept it propped open by writing out "ROCK" with her pen. She dragged Gajeel inside and dispelled the word, and checked her paper once more for the apartment number.
Heaving, she started on the stairs since it looked like there was no elevator. It was a tiring exercise and she was just about ready to collapse when she reached his floor. Writing another "ROCK" to get him through the next door, Levy checked the paper once more for the right apartment number; she did not want to look like she was breaking into one of his neighbour's homes.
Heaving for the final time, she reached his place and unlocked the door. Thankfully, the door was light enough to stay open on its own and she stepped over the threshold with a huge sigh.
And with that sigh, her knees gave in and she collapse while still holding onto the iron dragon; needless to say, he fell on top of her.
Levy's breath hitched as Gajeel's full weight crushed her torso. She needed to think of something fast!
"Gajeel?"
Levy turned to the sudden voice and saw Pantherlily come out of what looked like the linen closet.
He took one look at them before saying, "Sorry for interrupting, I thought he had come home alone."
Levy blushed as she realized the position she and Gajeel were in.
"N-no, Lily! It's not like that! Please, help me; he's fallen and too heavy for me to lift!" Levy hissed as she tried to readjust herself in a way that didn't make them look scandalous.
Lily transformed into his larger form and lifted Gajeel up with effort and dropped him on the couch. Gajeel gave no indication whatsoever that he was aware of what had happened.
Breathing large gulps of air, Levy got up and thanked Lily. Lily nodded back and transformed back to his smaller form, going back to the closet.
"Do you live in the closet?" Levy asked. "Sort of, it's my own room" Lily replied with a smirk. Levy nodded and looked back at the iron dragon slayer once more. He looked so peaceful.
"Will you be fine getting home by yourself?" Lily prompted, breaking Levy's trance.
"Huh? Oh! I-yes, I will. Don't worry about me!"
Lily chuckled. "You are more than welcome to stay here; not even he's cold hearted enough to throw someone out of his home. Especially one who has treated him kindly."
Levy blushed. "I'd…like to stay for a little while, just to catch my breath." Lily nodded. "Do as you wish." And with that, he went back into the closet.
Levy looked around the apartment; sparsely furnished, it wasn't all that messy as she imagined it would be. There was the odd take-out container here and there, some scraps of metal which was to be expected, and some weaponry which she wasn't sure was for sparring or eating, but that was it. Not that bad for a bachelor pad.
Her eyes went back to Gajeel and she suddenly thought fast; he'd have a nasty hangover and she knew dragon slayer senses would be more sensitive than regular humans. She ran to his kitchen and picked up his garbage can (which had no garbage in it, and would explain the take-out food boxes) and looked through the cupboards for a glass which she filled with tap water. Taking those things back to Gajeel, she set the can up in the optimum place where it'd catch...whatever came up…and set the glass down on his coffee table.
He's like a…well, a sleeping dragon Levy thought with a smile. You wouldn't be able to guess he's a scary guy like this; well, he still is scary…
Levy's thoughts trailed off as she went through past memories of the dragon slayer and herself; the Phantom Lord incident, where he crucified Team Shadow Gear to a tree and branded her; the uproar Luxus caused with the Raijinshuu and how he had saved her and Fairy Tail (Levy blushed when she remembered how he called her amazing); the whole story about Edolas and his pride and affection towards Pantherlily; and the recent S-class exam incident, where he had saved her yet again.
He shifted and Levy held her breath, thinking he had maybe woken up; he didn't, only his hair moved into his face.
Like a reflex, she brushed it away from his face. Next thing she knew, his eyes flashed open and he had hurled over the side of the couch and (thanks to Levy) into the garbage. Levy winced at the sound of displeasure from his throat as well as the heavy thunk's of most likely metal bits hitting the bottom of the can.
Once he had finished his whole ordeal, he wiped the side of his mouth with his hand and blinked around in a daze.
"The fuck…?" he slurred, confused. Last he remembered he was in the guild, now he was at home on his couch and the garbage was next to him. Had Lily done it?
Remembering how sensitive his ears were at the moment, Levy whispered "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit" he replied back, resting his head back down before frowning at her.
"What're you doing here? Where's Lily?"
Levy smiled nervously. "Lily's in his, um, room. You were passed out at the guild so I…volunteered to take you home. Mira gave me the address…"
"Oh" Gajeel said with a yawn.
"I can leave now if you'd like-"
"Just stay; can't be bothered with walking you home right now."
"I can make it by myself" Levy assured as she got up.
"I SAID STAY!" Gajeel barked at her, rubbing his temple from the noise he just made. "I ain't letting you walk home yourself. Just crash in my bed; here, I'll lend you some stuff." Levy didn't argue; she knew the whole 'guy pride' thing whenever she stayed in a hotel with Jet and Droy.
Gajeel rose, winced from a head rush, and walked through one of the doors in the room. Levy followed slowly, unsure if she should go too or not. Finally peeking in, she saw the bedroom was much messier than the main room. Piles of clothes and more scrap metal adorned all the corners and spaces in between.
Gajeel was rummaging through his closet and tossed a t-shirt to Levy that was two sizes too big for her but she accepted anyways. Crouching down, he sifted through for the clean pair of shorts with the drawstring waist that he could smell and tossed those to her as well.
He pointed to the bathroom. "You can change in there." Levy nodded and took the bundle in her arms into the room. Pinching the bridge of his nose from the quickly-growing headache, he slipped off his shirt and grabbed some pyjama pants, stifling a yawn.
Then BAM! The pounding in his head began to grow exponentially; never again would he drink with that alcohol harpy! How she didn't wake up with the world's worst hangover every morning was beyond him!
"Shit…" he muttered as he lowered himself onto his bed. Just gunna lie down till she gets out, Gajeel tried to convince himself.
OoO
"I'm done Gajeel" Levy whispered as she exited the bathroom with her clothes neatly folded in her arms. She could only write "Toothpaste" and swish her mouth with it since she didn't have a toothbrush with her but she figured it was better than nothing. The shorts managed to stay at her waist, although she had to pull about a yard of the drawstring to make it so, and she tied the bottom of the t-shirt to keep it from slipping off. It'd be cold with her belly exposed but she figured that'd be a problem a blanket could solve. "Gajeel?" she whispered again as she looked around.
She blanched when she saw Gajeel was in his own bed; surely he wasn't thinking they were sharing his bed? Levy blushed intensely when the image popped in her mind and shook her head to get it out.
"Gajeel?" Levy dared to speak up as she approached him. Nothing.
Looking closely, she saw that it looked like he had just collapsed onto the bed (shirtless too, which made her blush more) and had pyjama pants hanging loosely from his hand.
"Guess you're really are tired. Then I'll take the couch" she said to him even though he couldn't hear.
Leaving her things on the side table, she quietly rapped on the linen closet door. She wondered if Lily's room was a cute as she'd imagined it, with a matchbox bed and Barbie doll furniture.
Lily opened the door and Levy could barely contain her gushing; not quite the image in her mind, but it certainly was adorable with all the miniature things! Lily's room was technically a three-story one and he furnished it well, considering the things he could buy were less than 50 jewels. There weren't any Barbie things, and levy resided with that being a good thing.
"May I help you?" he asked sleepily.
"Sorry to wake you, but do you have a blanket in there? I need one for the couch."
"He's making you sleep on the couch?" Lily asked incredulously. Sure Gajeel was a harsh guy, but to be rude like that, and especially to Levy?
"No, but I think he crashed on his bed and I really don't want to wake him" Levy said with a wince of just how he'd react.
"He isn't much of a morning person, I'll give you that" Lily agreed as he flew to the lower level of the closet and pulled a plain cotton blanket. "If this is too thin, we can always give it to him and you can take his blanket" Lily smirked.
Levy smiled back. "This will be fine, thank you."
"Go steal a pillow from him. Good night." Lily said and closed his door.
"Good night" she replied back and set her blanket out on the couch. She pushed the garbage with her can back to Gajeel's room, positioned it, filled his glass back with water, and came out with one of his discarded pillows.
Yawning, she managed to fall asleep pretty quickly.
OoO
Gajeel shot up out of his dream, where Metalicana was teaching him to fly and he was actually doing it until he smashed into a cliff, and he winced at another head rush and rolled over his bed to puke again.
Expecting it to splash all over the floor, it surprised him that it landed cleanly into a garbage can and he nearly swallowed what was left in his mouth.
Looking around, he managed to grasp the situation; Levy's smell was strong and coming from the living room, she must've gone to sleep there when he collapsed onto his bed. Grumbling to himself and a bit embarrassed, he got up and went to the living room.
She was a bit of messy sleeper, which surprised him. Her legs were sprawled in different directions, her arms were wrapped around her torso, and her pillow (wait that was his pillow!) had landed on the ground with a blanket.
Gajeel scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not sure what to do and now trying not to look at the amount of exposed flesh that was showing right now; her hip was definitely more defined and the dip of her waist was…more than appealing to him, I assure you. The shorts hang on loosely and left nothing to the imagination as her smooth legs shifted and she curled up into a ball in her sleep.
Sighing, he scooped her up with little effort and carried her into his room. Something pulled at his heartstring as she snuggled up closer to his warmth. He walked back to his room and gently laid her down on the bed, pulling the blanket over her. When she had finished stirring in her sleep, he left and threw himself on his couch.
It took him a while to fall back asleep; after all, her scent was overpowering his nose as it was all over the couch, blanket and pillow.
OoO
Levy awoke groggily, noting that it light outside the window. There was an itch in her mind that wouldn't let her rest.
Looking around, she suddenly realized why the couch seemed so big and comfy – because she was on the bed instead!
Scratching her head, she swung her legs over the side and brushed the side of the garbage can; of course! Gajeel must've moved her after he had woken up; and but the amount of…leftovers in the garbage, it looked like he had an unpleasant awakening.
Sighing, since he had forgotten to bring it with him and she should probably prevent another accident, she pushed the garbage out to the couch where sure enough, Gajeel was sleeping.
Shaking her head ruefully, she walked around the room and shut the drapes from the straying sunlight, stopping by his kitchen to refill his glass of water. Setting it down, she observed the iron dragon slayer; he was grumbling about something in his sleep, scowling heavily. She smiled to herself and tucked the blanket closer around him. She hoped his dreams wouldn't bother him.
OoO
Gajeel looked around; it was all dark around him, only the faint sound of water dripping could be heard in the distance.
Where the fuck am I?
He called out to Pantherlily, but his voice only echoed into the distance. He called out to Metalicana, but there was no reply.
He began to run, he didn't even know where he was going or what direction but hey, it can't go on like this forever, right?
Well maybe not forever, but it went on for a real long time; he had run on and on and on for god only knows how long and he hadn't reached anywhere that could be a 'where'.
Frustrated, he bellowed into the darkness. And then he felt it; a presence that was familiar.
Swerving around, he saw Natsu standing behind him. He had a scowl on his face but Gajeel was just relieved he wasn't the only one there.
He tried to talk to Natsu, but couldn't even speak; his voice was completely gone. Wondering how he could ask Natsu what he wanted, he noticed that Natsu was still scowling heavily, as if fire could shoot out his eyes. He wouldn't have marked it as strange if Natsu actually did anything, but he wasn't even saying anything. Gajeel got into a battle stance, ready to challenge Natsu to get him to react, but…nothing. Natsu just continued to stand there.
Several more people began to appear, first faintly from the darkness but gradually getting brighter and brighter. They all held the same expression towards him. Most of them did anyways; there was Bunny-girl, next to Salamander; Titania on his other side, Stripper next to her, Juvia beside him, the alcoholic chick beside her…it went on and on with more and more guild members. Wendy was peeking at him from behind Natsu with wide eyes and he could tell it was out of fear.
Gajeel looked down at himself and then back up; why were they all staring at him like that? He hadn't done anything! He didn't even know where he was!
Again he tried to reach for his voice, but it just wouldn't come out. He looked all around him at the faces that looked down on him; just what was going on?
Then, Natsu slowly angled his body away from him, turned around completely, and began to walk away, Wendy clutching onto him and giving him a backwards glance before turning away, their cats followed, and then Bunny-girl did too. Slowly, they all began to leave, barely giving him another glance as they departed silently. Gajeel looked all around him in confusion and it brought him despair when Lily began to turn away, shaking his head in disappointment. The last to leave was the Master, looking like he wanted to use Fairy Law over and over again if it would just cause him immense physical pain.
Gajeel made a full sweep around him, to see if anyone had stayed behind at all, or if there was some other explanation, when his eyes met with Levy's.
Relief poured through him when he saw at least she didn't have those eyes that hated him; in fact, she was smiling her usual sunny smile at him. But when she opened her mouth to speak, it was as if she was underwater; the sound that came out was muffled terribly, only a handful of words recognizable even with his incredible hearing and he couldn't put together what she was saying.
But she continued to speak as if she didn't notice; whatever she was saying, she was enjoying the conversation even if Gajeel couldn't speak at all. He tried to dictate that to her with his arms but it was as if she didn't even see him move. He could hear his name, and could only stand there in the muffled tones of her voice as he watched her smile at him.
At least there's one thing normal about this place he thought hopefully, thinking there may still be a way out. Levy had leaned forward to him, hands clasped behind her back, looking up at him with her cheerful eyes and the tone of her voice suggested she was asking a question.
Gajeel tried his best to answer, not even sure how to get his voice back when suddenly, in a flash, she was held up in the air by an arm that was choking her; and the arm belonged to him.
He could barely hear her weakening pleas to let her go as he grasped his upper arm with his other hand; he had no control over what he was doing to Levy!
It's not me! He wanted to scream, and extended his claws to bore into his arm. Although blood flowed freely he felt nothing, not an ounce of pain as he continued to choke the life out of the girl.
His eyes searched into the darkness for something that he could stop himself with, but there was only one thing that appeared during his ordeal; a tree.
No…not just any tree…the tree, the one where he crucified the very same girl.
Gajeel began to swear mentally out of his mind as his feet began to move to the tree; he was doing it again! He was going to do it again!
By this time he had lost control to the rest of his body as he let Levy drop and created metal bands. Levy was gasping for air but didn't move from her spot. He could hear her calling his name and the pain in her voice, but there was no way to stop him from doing what came next.
He pulled her arm violently and began to pin her to the tree once more, every movement seemed to slow down as he clamped the iron bands around her arms.
He stepped back as she was done hanging and then began to tear her shirt to expose her belly. Glancing around to see just what would appear to brand her with, it horrified even him when his claw extended forward and scratched at her stomach.
Now her scream was crystal clear as it resonated into the darkness, and Gajeel's hand continued to carve into her flesh, her blood pouring out of the gashes and the heavy scent burning his nose.
It was killing him mentally about as much as it was killing her physically to see her get hurt – and by his hand no less! The symbol being scratched wasn't even definable through all the torn flesh and blood; blood and bile began to drip from her mouth and her face was stained with tears and sweat as she begged for him for him to stop.
"Ga…jee…please…it hurts…Gajeel…I…please…(sniff)…stop, please…it hurts so much…please, Gajeel…(vomit)…please…STOP!"
OoO
Her last scream jolted Gajeel out of his hellish nightmare, and in the adrenaline he sat right up, panting heavily.
Levy, who had been surprised from the sudden awakening, quickly grasped his garbage can towards him, thinking there was another accident coming up.
But he just stayed sitting there, looking forwards in a daze. Putting the garbage down gently, Levy picked up the glass of water and handed it towards him while calling his name softly.
That seemed to snap him out of his daze as he became aware of her being there. In a second, he had grasped the hem of her shirt and lifted it up to expose her stomach. Levy had flinched back and was blushing at the proximity the two were at and the fact he was lifting her shirt.
But before she could react, Gajeel replaced the fabric and stood up, rubbing his face. Levy managed to get up shakily and hand him the water, asking "H-how are you feeling?"
"Fine" he murmured as he downed the water in one shot. Levy nodded and a knock came to the door.
It was followed by banging and Gajeel's hand flew up to his oversensitive ears; just how much did he drink last night?
"I'll get it" she told him as he flinched in the pain but Gajeel was following her in his own fit of rage.
Levy opened the door a bit to peek at the ones on the other side, who happened to be the other dragon slayers and exceed.
Natsu looked unaffected by his drinking last night and was grinning cheerfully with Happy just as happy. Wendy was just giving a confused smile while Charle just gave her a frown.
"Hey, Levy! What're you doing here? Where's the scrap heap?" Natsu asked in his booming voice.
Gajeel reached for the door before Levy could reply, pulling it back so hard it nearly came off by the hinges.
"JUST WHO THE-" (he glanced to see Wendy) "H-HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?" he roared.
Natsu casually leaned back. "We're here for Lily actually, metal breath. But it looks like my timing was bad for you guys" he replied with a cheeky grin. Gajeel and Levy looked down at their attire; both had messy hair and tired faces, and Levy was red-faced and wearing his clothes. Coupled with Charle's remark of "To come to the door so forwardly" they managed to grasp just where their assumptions had led.
"N-n-no, i-it's not-" Levy blushed even more before Lily showed up behind the two, zooming over the top of their heads.
"So much commotion for so early in the morning" he remarked. He turned bigger and gave Gajeel a punch to the head.
"That's for making her sleep on the couch; really, try to be more of a gentleman when you have a guest over." Lily scolded before transforming back.
"Natsu, I see you're feeling better after last night." Levy stated to get the topic changed.
"Yeah, my house was no good so I went to Lucy's. She got mad for some reason; I think it was because I was faster than her; beat her to her own house and I was half asleep!" Natsu cackled as he high-fived Happy.
"And how are you, Wendy?" Levy asked the young girl as she turned her attention to her.
"I'm good" she said with a grin.
They bid their goodbyes, Natsu sending another jeer her way, and they were gone. Shaking her head, she went to check on Gajeel; he had been blasted to the kitchen and was rummaging through the cupboards.
"Hungry?" Levy guessed. Gajeel only nodded as he picked through the cutlery, obviously looking for something specific.
Levy offered to write him up another "IRON".
"Yeah! Make it nice and big!" Gajeel gestured enthusiastically.
What is it with boys and food? Levy wondered as she wrote out the word and summoned it to life. It dropped with a metal ring and Gajeel was quick to pounce on it.
Levy grabbed her clothes and went straight to the bathroom, changing out of his clothes and writing up "TOOTHPASTE" for herself again.
When she had finished, carrying her pen and his clothes in her arms, she approached him.
"Where should I leave these?" she asked.
"Just dump 'em anywhere" Gajeel said with a dismissive hand, too focused on his meal. It tasted good, purified like steel but with the tang of iron still there.
Levy left them on his bed and turned to Gajeel.
"I need to get back to the dorms, take care of yourself and…I guess I'll see you at the guild."
"Hey, bookworm…thanks…for last night…" Gajeel managed to get through his mouthfuls. Dammit, he was trying to be sincere.
Levy just smiled back. "No problem" she said before going through the door and shutting it behind her.
Her smile made the nightmarish image from the darkness flash through him mind.
Shit.
OoOoOoO
Well, what do you think? Pretty long I know, I almost don't want to get your hopes up because the other chapters sure won't be this long!
I've had this idea for quite a while and Gajeel's nightmare is important. Does it make sense to anyone? (Or enough sense I guess, since I can't explain it yet).
Drop me a review to let me hear your thoughts! Only then can I write another chapter!