There were many proud moments in a parents life. From first steps to first words you couldn't help but feel your heart swell every day when your child learned something new. Parenthood was unexpected like that, you never knew you were capable of loving anything this much, until your child just pops into the world and demands control of your life. It was hard to count all the times his son made him teary eyed and mushy over the years from being a cute little shit who liked to latch onto his leg when he tried to leave for work, or sneak in bed with him in the middle of the night because he was afraid of some monster he made up in his head. His kid knew his old man was bigger and badder than anything his little imagination thought of. Most of the time when he thought about his brat, his heart would just melt, hell almost all of the time it did. But, it wasn't realistic to like anyone all the time, even if they were your child, especially if they were your child. And right now was one of those moments when his kid was driving him right up a fucking wall. "Gajeel?" Shit, ten times out of ten when his kid got home from school he would find every reason to bug the shit out of him or watch what he was doing, it didn't matter what he was doing. Metalicana was a mechanic by day and did metal work out of the scraps at night. Gajeel would always stick his little head under his arm to watch his technique, some days he would be something as complex as rebuilding an engine piece by piece. Other days he would something as simple as bending wires to spell out someones name for a necklace or something, the only thing that never changed was his son right there wanting to absorb everything he was teaching because Gajeel vowed to be bigger and better than him some day. "Gaa-jeeel?"
He wanted to ignore the fact that his son came home from school and ran past him. Talking to that kid was like talking to a wall, he could hear his sons door slam a minute later and he knew something was wrong. Metalicana knew there was a good chance that his son was upstairs over reacting about something, and that he was going to pretend that nothing was bothering him. But, at the same time it was his duty as a father to go deal with this kind of shit. "Hey brat, what's wrong?" Metalicana's had to deal with his son being emotional more times than he could count, he definitely got that flair for being dramatic from his mother. Metalicana was an expert at dealing with her temper tantrums and mood swings too before she left. They did the same exact thing, they would go hide their face in a pillow and pretend they weren't crying. He was a pro at rubbing backs and deciphering mumbled talk into a pillow to find out what was ailing his son at the moment. He rolled his eyes at the muffled response of "nothing" that came from son, they always did the same song and dance. Gajeel would whine for a good fifteen minutes before he actually told him what the problem was, and then they would argue about it and his son would turn back into his normal feisty self who had way bigger balls than any ten year old should ever have. Metalicana was trying to be patient, but he knew he could understand his brat a lot better once he snatched the pillow he was moping into. "The hell you crying about kid? You get into another fight?"
"No."
"Did ya lose?"
"Hell no!"
"Fail a test?"
"I'm not stupid, old man."
"Fine, fine. You're a smart guy and nobody can kick your ass. So what's all this crying shit about huh?
"Who the hell's crying old man?"
"Obviously my darling, but emotional offspring. What you having girl trouble or something?"
"Oh shit, are you having lady troubles? I thought I had a couple more years before I had to deal with this shit."
"Shut it!"
"Alright, alright... Sorry. Okay, just... Tell me what happened."
School for Gajeel was six hours and thirty minutes of hell, or three hundred and ninety minutes, or 23400 seconds. Okay, so he was pretty good at math, at least that was a tolerable sort of hell. At least there were only three hours left in the school day and he could run home and mentally prepare himself for the four unnecessary hours he had to suffer through tomorrow. Gajeel didn't really see the point in having a half day of school before Christmas break, the last time they did any real class work was two days ago and ever since then it's been crossword puzzles and coloring like he was in preschool again. Other kids seemed to love the freedom of playing with their friends and doing Christmasy shit while they were at school. Gajeel on the other hand would have loved to miss the seven A.M wake up call just stay at home.
The only good thing about having all this free time on a painfully unnecessary day of school was the fact he could pretend to be sleeping. It was almost impossible to actually get any sleep with the way some of his classmates were running around after being hoped up on sugar and set free by a teacher who seemed to want to be here just as much as he did right now. Normally he would love to join in the fun, he had a bad habit of starting fights and even when he wasn't the one causing trouble he had no problem finishing them just as easily, but he was already on his second strike this year and he if got another one before the new semester started he would most likely be expelled. He was sure his old man could sweet talk his principle into getting a slap on the wrist and a suspension, but then his dad would find a way to make his life a living hell the whole time he was stuck at home. So he was trying to keep his head down, if he was pretending to be asleep, his teacher wouldn't be watching him. If his teacher wasn't watching him, he couldn't get in trouble, and people would leave him alone.
At least his seatmate was quiet and would leave him alone. On the first day of school he was late to class and ended up sitting right next to Natsu, it took his teacher all of two days to realize that arrangement wasn't going to end well and made him switch seats with the blonde princess in front of the room. He hated the change at first, sitting in the front of class meant the teacher could watch his every move, and she always knew when he was daydreaming or not doing his work or sleeping. It was obvious both girls were heartbroken by the switch and would spend every moment before the bell rang and during breaks to reunite again. Gajeel made it a point to wait until the last minute to find his way to his seat because of this, he had walked in way too many conversations about what books they were reading and how much they loved whatever character for some reason. The girl who sat next to him always had some pile of book on her desk that would somehow to spread to his, and on more than one occasion he "accidentally" pushed it on the floor because he was bored and had nothing better to do than mess with her.
Sitting next to one of the smartest people in class had its perks though, the girl was a perfectionist. Every time they had to do a group project he was guaranteed an A because she would pick up the slack if he didn't feel like doing it and still let him put his name on it. She would usually scold him the whole time for being lazy, but if he lied and said he didn't understand the work she would talk him through it step by step and still do most of the work. He remembered she wouldn't talk to him for over a week when he scored higher than her on a math test once, she didn't understand why he was pretending that he wasn't smart, and he told her he didn't want to be a nerd like her. He knew he hurt her feelings, and he felt bad about it for a long time before he finally had the courage to pass her a note saying "sorry" and she wrote him back saying "It's fine." Gajeel didn't usually care about hurting peoples feelings or calling them names, so he just figured sitting next to her all this time was making him soft.
"Hi Levy!"
"Hey Jet! I was going to say that! Hey Levy!"
"Hi guys!"
Ugh between his seatmate's blonde reading buddy and these two she had a hell of a fan club. Even though he found her conversations with Lucy about books to be terribly boring, at least Lucy would acknowledge that he was there. She never stuck around too long, they would chat for a minute, exchange books and promise to catch up later. These two on the other hand were absolute pests, and always fighting for her attention. They always came together like it would be the end of the world if one of them talk to Levy than the other one. They barely ever got more than a sentence out to her though, they were always arguing about who liked her more or who she liked more. Which the girl on question never responded to this because she was either too absorbed in a book or so used to their fighting that she only piped in at "hi" and "bye." They either completely ignored Gajeel or shot him dirty looks like it was his idea to sit next to her in the first place. One day Gajeel grabbed her hand just to get a rise out of the two of them, he ended up writing his name with the words "was here" on the back of her hand and did his best not to laugh when they ran to help her wash it off.
Sure Gajeel was out of his cootie stage, he didn't remember who started that rumor but he spent a good year avoiding all contact with girls until his dad sat him down and told him it wasn't a real thing. He still wasn't convinced, until his dad pointed out that his babysitter he's had since birth was a girl and if she had cooties Gajeel would have caught them a long time ago. So girls weren't contagious, fine, you still wouldn't catch Gajeel carrying around books or holding hands with one any time soon. He didn't understand the point of making an ass out of yourself like that. He had seen his share of love confessions recently and the whole thing seemed pointless, boring, annoying, and honestly pretty embarrassing when you didn't get the response you wanted. For what? to hold a girls hand and eat lunch with her for a week until you both got bored and ran off to other people? Gajeel has plenty of friends who were girls, and he didn't want to pick any of them flowers and push them on the swings and or anything mushy like that.
"Levy I got you a present!"
"What? Droy, you stole my idea , I got her something too!"
"Guys... You didn't have to get me anything, I didn't get anything for you..."
This was stupid, and Gajeel didn't want to be here for this. He was still pretending to be asleep so it would be a dead give away if he just got up and left, he didn't know why he was so annoyed by the exchange but he just wanted the two idiots to just go away. Gajeel knew if he did what he wanted to, he would get in trouble. Probably sent to the principles office, his dad would be called, and then he would have to deal with that headache too. He really didn't care, but he knew it would hurt Levy's feelings if he just got up and threw her presents in the trash or out the window and he really didn't want to deal with making her cry and then being forced to apologize in front of the class even though he wouldn't even be a little bit sorry. And if he started a fight with Jet or Droy or both of them if he felt like it a rumor about him being jealous and having a crush on Levy would get around and then he would just end up in more fights, with more trips to the office and more of his dad making him talk about his feelings with a lady who thought he had anger problems. The whole thing was stupid and he knew it wasn't worth it, but he really wanted to do something about them coming over and making an already annoying day at school worse. He didn't know when he grabbed her hand or why he did it but she never tried to pull away and didn't let go until the bell rang no matter how sweaty their hands got or who might have saw their fingers laced together during the last hour of class. He refused to look at her until long after she left with her pile of books and gifts she got from two idiots who practically begged for her attention, and Gajeel sat there for a while wondering why he was so mad.
"So you're pissed cause some other kids bought your little girlfriend some presents."
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"So a girl you like."
"I don't like her!"
"Okay, so you're telling me the reason you're in here moping like a little cry baby, is because some kids in your class, bought a girl you DON'T like a present."
"... Shut up..."
"Gajeel, you are a terrible liar. An you obviously have a possessive streak, which I would love to blame on your mother. But, this ones all me." Metalicana was trying to think of the best thing to tell his son in a situation like this, Metalicana knew exactly what he would have done, but telling his kid to knock someone's teeth out over some grade school crush would just be bad parenting. "Come over here and give your old man a hug." Gajeel always made a face and acted annoyed when it came to any sort of affection, but even though his son liked to pretend he was a tough guy, even if Gajeel wouldn't say it he knew his hugs always made him feel better. "I would be a terrible dad if I let some guys swoop in and steal your girl like that, so this is what were gonna do. You're gonna stop all this moping, grab your coat and your just going to have to get a present that shits on whatever those other kids got for her."
"I don't know what to get a girl, I'm gonna pick something stupid..." Man his kid was cute, he couldn't wait for this whole thing to blow over and tease him about it later. He was definitely bringing this up at Gajeel's wedding, and to his prom date, and anyone else who would listen. "What kind of stuff did mom like?"
"Hard booze and other men."
"What?" Shit he didn't mean to say that out loud.
"Nothing kid, nothing. I'm sure you'll pick out the perfect gift."
It was just like Gajeel to make him eat his fucking words like this, they had been in the mall over an hour now and they weren't any closer to finding this girl a gift. Metalicana fucking hated coming to the mall, he really hated the mall when it was crowded, and he absolutely despised it the week before Christmas. Frustrated was an understatement but he didn't want to discourage his son from making his own choices, but the kid was an idiot when it came to picking gifts. Metalicana had never wore a tie in his life, but had a drawer full of them from his son who for some reason thought a knife would be a good gift for this girl. "Dad, what about this one?" This was the third knife Gajeel pointed to, the first one was pink because all girls liked pink, the second one was orange because it was the color the girl wore all the time, and now this one was blue because it matched her hair. Metalicana understood his sons reasoning and it was honestly a good start, but the subject matter was way off and Metalicana was trying to think of a way to tell his son lightly.
"Gajeel, kid. Just because you like collecting knives doesn't mean she does too. Maybe we can pick out something a little less likely to get you kicked out of school." Gajeel was shooting down all his suggestions like he was the one trying to pick out weapons, teddy bears was a no because one of the other boys got her one. Candy was a no because she would just eat it and it wouldn't last. He couldn't buy her clothes because neither of them knew what her size was, Metalicana was damn near his wits end when his son finally stopped in front of the book store. "Your girl like books? You got yourself a bookworm?" Gajeel didn't answer but Metalicana still thought it was funny, it was like pulling teeth to get his kid to pick up a book that wasn't a comic, and here he was looking through fairy tails for a little princess who stole his heart.
"Dad she has like a million books, what am I supposed to get her if she already has everything?"
"I don't know, a gift card?"
"Oh my god! You're no help at all. I don't know why I even asked you, you're so old!"
"Sheesh, sorry for trying to help! I'm gonna go sit my old ass in the cafe, until you're done."
A half hour and a cup of coffee later and Gajeel came back looking more dejected than he did this morning. "What's wrong now?" Metalicana was trying his best to be patient with his son, but he was over the bad attitude and the moping Gajeel had been doing all day. "Okay, you can either sit at this table with your face in your hands and keep mumbling like that and we'll go home empty handed with you being a brat. Or you can tell me what the problem is, and we can put out heads together and figure out something before the mall closes, so what's it gonna be?"
"They don't have her name..."
"What?"
"I wanted to get her one of these cool looking bookmarks , but they don't even have her name over there. I checked three times already!" Metalicana could tell that Gajeel was losing his patience, and honestly Metalicana was too. Two hours in the mall for nothing and his kid was being brat at every turn.
"Gajeel... Then. Pick. Something. Else."
"I don't want to pick something else! This is stupid! I'm stupid! You're stupid! I just want to go home!"
"Fine."
"FINE!"
"Gajeel... Are you really not going to go to school today?" Metalicana knew that last night was rough, and even though Gajeel was being a brat it wasn't his fault. He knew he wasn't a perfect parent, and he often got frustrated with his son, being a single father wasn't easy but it was his job to put his kid first and do what's right. He couldn't help but feel guilty when they got home and Gajeel stomped his way upstairs and locked himself in his room all night. The kid didn't even want to eat dinner and usually he had to worry about Gajeel eating him out of house and home. He wouldn't usually force him to go to school on a half day, but he thought Gajeel should at least talk to the girl he had a crush on, even if showed up empty handed a well written love letter worked wonders on girls no matter what age they were. Metalicana was going to figure out a way to fix things for his son before he had to return to school in a few weeks, so Metalicana worked while Gajeel slept or whatever he was doing in his room alone for the twelfth hour straight. It wasn't that hard to weld four small letters together, but the finished product came a lot better than he thought for a few hours of work.
"Okay, brat I know your hungry. So, I'm gonna pick up some grub across the street so you don't starve to death up here. Maybe come out for air while I'm gone, a shower wouldn't hurt either. Don't think you being mad at me is going to make me forget you went to bed without washing your ass last night." Metalicana knew it was a cheap move to be bribing his kid with food like this, but he knew Gajeel couldn't say no to his favorite pizza and a piece of cake from the bakery up the street.
"Excuse me?" Metalicana could have swore someone just said something to him, but he couldn't see anyone between him and the door, he turned around to look behind him and he knew he just had to be hearing things. "Excuse me!" Shit! He swore he heard it again, this time he put down his boxes to see that there was a tiny blue haired girl standing between him and his door. "Excuse me, sir. Is Gajeel home? I brought him his homework."
"And who might you be? The homework fairy? I don't think my sons in much of a homework doing mood right now." He thought it was cute that the little girl looked so worried, she was still hugging the folder to her chest when she explained Gajeel had his head down in class almost all day yesterday.
"Is he sick? I can help him with his homework if he's sick. My name's Levy McGarden and we sit together in class." Gajeel was either going to love him or hate him for this, but he would deal with the consequences later.
"Levy huh? Well, miss Levy how about you call you parents and tell them you're going to stay here for lunch and help Gajeel with his homework. He might be sleeping, but just walk right up those stairs and knock on the first door to the right. And tell him the present he got you is in my room."
"He got me a present?!"
"Oh yeah! He worked really hard on it, just wait until you see it!"
Metalicana knew he wasn't a perfect parent, but he knew his son was going to be way too happy to kill him.