Festival of Love

There were times in Levy's life where she liked being short.

There were many, many, many more times when she hated it.

Many of her hobbies involved heights, such as large bookshelves, high-up supermarket shelving, generally things on high ledges. Another disadvantage of being short was not being able to see over a crowd.

Which was a shame, since she liked going to concerts and music festivals.

So here stood Levy now, in 5 inch platform boots, thigh-high black socks, tiny red shorts and a black bandeu top over her red bikini top. A thin, see-through mesh cardigan graced her slender shoulders and a red and black bandana tied back her hair. She wore no jewellery other than a white dream catcher necklace with thin white feathers on a long thread of material. Despite the boots, she barely reached 5'4" and still had a hard time looking over the heads of others.

She'd arrived on time to the festival, having caught an early train up to the festival's city and taking the shuttle bus to the arenas. By the time she received her armband - now one of several from over the years- went through security and immersed herself into the rows of stalls known as "The Village", it was about 11am and the first band was due to play in two hours.

She stopped in front of a Churro and Chocolate* stall and ordered a portion for her breakfast, and nodded when the lady asked if she wanted cinnamon on top. She payed the price - a tad expensive, but it was a festival after all - and dipped the first sugar-and-cinnamon-coated churro into the small cup of hot chocolate sauce, almost moaning in delight.

She ate them quickly, and despite there not being many of them they filled her up and worked well as a meal. She drank the rest of the hot chocolate sauce and threw away her rubbish in a nearby bin. As she turned around a shadow fell across her as a tall, dark-haired man threw rubbish into the bin over her head. She let out a small squeak of surprise.

"Oh. Didn't see ya there shorty." The extremely tall man seemed genuinely surprised. He backed a few steps away. Looking her over, he added: "Aren't ya a bit too young to be at a rock festival?"

"I'm twenty-one!" Levy spat out indignantly. "I've been going to this festival for the last five years!"

"Really? The whole weekend each time?" the man suddenly seemed interested.

"The first two times, yes. But now I can only get two days off of work in a row at this time of year if I want a week off in July, so I've only been able to go one day of the three for the last three years." Levy looked the man up and down as she spoke.

He was tall - generously tall, possibly a foot taller than her in her platforms. His hair was long, thick and held back in a silver bandana with dark green designs. His body was sculpted perfectly, in Levy's opinion, as she flickered her gaze over his tight, white Skillet tshirt and black skinny jeans. Even his chunky black boots with strange green laces suited him.

And those piercings. Boy did she want to touch them.

There were several in each ear, a few down his nose and along his eyebrows, and even a few along his forearms. Levy felt herself blushing. Dammit, why did she have to have a fetish for piercings? She had a couple herself: two in each ear and a belly button piercing, all of which could be visible in her outfit and it seemed this guy approved.

"I'm Levy, what's your name?" she surprised herself, holding her delicate hand out for him to shake. He seemed equally surprised but smirked.

"Name's Gajeel." He shook her hand, to which they both noticed that his hand, despite the size difference, held hers perfectly. "Ya here alone?"

"Yeah," Levy shrugged. "None of my friends like the same kind of bands I like. Too heavy for them I guess!" She chuckled, imaging her childhood friends Jet and Droy and possibly Lucy trying to listen to rock.

"Sucks for them, they're missing out," Gajeel laughed, and it was the most unusual sound Levy had ever heard: gihihi. She chuckled in disbelief.

"Ne ne, Gaji-kun!" a younger-looking version of Gajeel came running up to the pair with a blonde of similar age following. "Stop trying to chat-up girls and buy us beer like you promised!"

Levy frowned. The boys were clearly younger than her and yet they were nearly as tall as Gajeel too. She figured the boy with black hair was his brother.

"Raios, you and Sting are still underaged. Plus it ain't even midday yet, no-one drinks this early. I ain't buying ya shit." Gajeel put his hand on his brother's face when he reached up to punch him. "Knock it off will ya? Be thankful yer even here with me this time."

Raios immediately stopped struggling and sighed. "I guess..." he glanced at Levy. "You're cute, which school do you go to?" he smiled, whilst the blond, Sting, rolled his eyes in the background.

"I'm not in school, I'm an adult!" Levy's frown turned into a pout. "I already told Gajeel here that I'm twenty-one."

All three boys looked at each other with doubt.

"Look," Levy sighed, digging into her bag for her ID. After staring at it for a while they seemed to believe her.

"Anyways, if you're not gonna buy us drinks we're just gonna try some of the games around the Vilage," Raios and his friend waved goodbye.

Just then, Gajeel got a text message on his phone. He checked it, then smiled. A real smile, Levy noted, not just a smirk.

"An old friend of mine is here somewhere," he tells her. "Sorry to cut our chat short an' all, but I'm gonna go find her. I haven't seen the chick in years." He grins at her cheekily. "And even if I don't look it, I'm twenty-three in case yer wonderin'."

And with that, the tall, dark and handsome man Levy had started to admire left as quickly as he ran into her. She didn't know how to feel about that.

A couple hours later, after a few bands have played and Levy was enjoying chips on a somewhat clean patch of ground, she spotted Gajeel with a girl whose hair was similar to hers, but long and curly. This girl was also beautiful, tall and had perfect curves. No wonder he was eager to leave, she thought, then shrugged. There was nothing to be had from this crush anyway. It was a one-time thing, she wasn't going to see him again anyway.

It was evening now, about 9pm and the headlining band were starting to play. It happened to be one of Levy's favourite bands, Aerosmith, an ageless classic in the rock world. She had her hands up, chanting along with the words, but frowned at the fact that she couldn't really see them. Even right at the back of the crowd on a higher slope, even with her boots, she couldn't see them. She was getting frustrated.

"Hey, Shorty!"

A familiar voice made her jump out of her haze. Gajeel had shown up and was standing next to her. She also noticed that despite how relaxed he was, everyone around them had moved away slowly to give him space. He did seem intimidating after all.

"Hey, Gajeel, how's your friend?" she replied politely, though she cursed herself for bringing the other girl up.

"Juvia? She's fine. I met up with her before she was going on a date, we've both gone our seperate ways in life but it was great to see her happy. I think she really likes the guy she went to meet after spending the afternoon with me."

"Ah," Levy responded unwittedly. So she really was just a friend?

"How ya enjoying Aerosmith?" Gajeel nods to the band taking a break on stage on the other side of the crowd.

"I'd enjoy it more if I could actually see them," she mutters, thinking Gajeel couldn't hear. Though of course, he could and he caught it.

"Shorty's too short eh?" he laughed, making her pout. "Well, only one thing for it then,"

"Huh?"

"Up ya get!"

Levy half-screamed, half-yelped when Gajeel grabbed her around her waist and hoisted her onto his shoulders. She smacked him in the head as he laughed harder.

"Gajeel! How could you? You could've at least asked me!"

"Gihihi, but it wouldn't have been as funny then! Come on Shorty, let's get a better look at Aerosmith!"

With that said, Gajeel began to push his way through the hundreds of people gathered in front of the stage. Levy blushed as he kept his hands on her thighs, steadying her on his shoulders.

They got right to the front, in front of the extended stage at the front. Aerosmith were going crazy, as were the fans. Levy finally started relazing on Gajeel and sang along with Stephen Tyler, waving her hands in the air with him.

For the next hour or so, they stayed like this, and Levy was surprised the Gajeel sang along with some of them too. And that he wasn't tired of carrying her yet.

"Yer really light." was all he'd say and pat her knee.

At the end of the latest song, Stephen Tyler quietens the audience, and the sudden silence catches their attention.

"Can I just say that this audience is amazing?" The crowd screams and he shushes them again. "But I just want to embarrass some people here tonight. See that couple?" He points straight at Levy, making her squeak in surprise. The camera's flicker to her and suddenly her's and Gajeel's faces are for everybody to see.

"We've been playing for two hours and he's still kept her at the front and on his shoulders. Now that's dedication!" he chuckles, making the audience half-'awwh' half-clap. Levy blushed at all the attention. She pulled Gajeel's hair and asked to be let down, though only when the singer of Aerosmith started singing again and the attention was off of them again.

As he set her down a bubble of space kept them from being bumped into, once again thanks to Gajeel's intimidating look.

"Well that was embarrassing," Levy sighed.

"Why? Cause ya were seen with someone like me?" Gajeel frowned, confused.

"No!" Levy gasped, then blushed again. "I just don't like being the centre of attention... plus they thought we were a couple and well.."

"Well why not?"

"Eh?"

Levy couldn't say anymore as Gajeel suddenly swooped down and kissed her, holding her gently by her shoulders. She was almost too surprised to kiss back but as he twirled a strand of her hand in his hand she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing back.

They parted a couple moments later. Gajeel smirked. "Whattaya say? Wanna try this dating shenanigan chicks seem to dig?"

"Hmm, why yes. Yes I do."

He laughed.

Hi guys this is a very quick one-shot I wrote since I just came back from a 3-day festival (friday to sunday) with some friends. its a british festival called Download and it was AMAZING. Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park and Aerosmith headlined the three days and I saw several other of my favourites like Fall Out Boy, Bowling For Soup, Skillet, Blessthefall and more. So that's where I got the idea from.

Also I've finished all my college work and the year finishes next week. So expect me the update The Rhythm of Love soon! Love ya guys!

*Churros are spanish donuts that are lightly fried in long strips and coated in sugar, the served with hot chocolate sauce. they can also have cinnamon coated on them.