A/N: Okay so yeah I decided to write a GaLe/Gajevy fanfic. It was originally from a prompt from my friend and I kind of got into it... So yeah. Anyways I hope you like it. And if you don't sorry. I might continue it (I hate one shots after all) but maybe not idk. I'm still busy writing my other fanfic but... Idk. Anyways enjoy ^_^
There's a reason why people say love is a drug. It's euphoric; the feeling of love, when one is submersed in it. It could practically be considered a drug itself. People don't want to stop once they've started, and they never seem to let go of their addiction.
But the true essence of love being a drug lies not in its addictive qualities, but the final crescendo before one falls.
They call it a drug because you keep doing it until finally...
It kills you.
And you're left with nothing but broken shards.
She:
The girl was minding her own business, simply making her way down the bustling streets of Crocus, and trying in vain to find some sort of peace and quiet in the crowded city.
'It would be rather nice to find a bookstore...' She thought, her feet making quiet, padding noises as she continued down the avenue she was currently walking on. She sighed and shook her head, skirting around a vendor who had come rushing towards her.
They were all like this. The vendors. Moving around the streets in a buzz, all in a feeble attempt to rid themselves of their worthless merchandise.
She supposed everyone was like that, really. All of the foolish little people moving along in their lives with no real goal, with no real meaning. Everyone just went with it, continuing on in the endless cycle that was life.
But in the end it never really seemed to mean anything.
All of those people, living the same lives, in the same places, doing the same things. Live, die, repeat. Live, die, repeat.
It made her sad, thinking of it.
So she simply tried to avoid it and forget about how two dimensional everyone seemed to be.
She couldn't change things after all. She couldn't even be different. There was no way she could avoid the inevitable, so why weigh herself down with such burdening thoughts?
She shook her head and continued onward in her endless quest for solitude.
He:
The man was casually making his way down the streets of Crocus, not really thinking about much, and not really doing much of anything. Why should he? The games were over, and he finally had a day off to explore the city. Not that there was much to see, actually. Just the pitiful homeless, the broken glass from storefront long abandoned. It was tragic, and yet he found some sort of twisted beauty in it.
The way everything was so beautifully broken, as if had all been orchestrated for this very moment, this very minute in time, just for him to see.
Although there were plenty of others bustling down the worn cobblestone streets.
But he could ignore them for now.
That's what he normally did. Ignore other people.
He grunted and moved onward down the street, the thoughts of the few people at the guild he did pay attention to filling his mind.
He was halfway through with a rather sizeable chunk of metal too, when a familiar someone from the guild caught his eye.
He saw her, the small wisp of a woman, dancing along the crowded streets of Crocus, somehow keeping a certain air of grace and elegance about her even in the rattiest side of the city.
He blinked, and like that the bluenette was gone, disappearing through the throng of people in a flash. He frowned, and before he even knew what he was doing, his legs began to carry him in her direction, further down the street towards a place he had never planned on going to.
Not that he had been planning to go anywhere anyways.
He never made it a habit to plan things out in the first place.
The raven haired man grumbled and sped up his pace, the catlike exceed at his side doing the same to keep its place floating in the air beside him.
She:
The young woman paused and finally stopped in front of it, the place she had been seeking for so long. It was a beautiful safe haven in the midst of all the crowds, a quiet nook that she could finally tuck away into and read.
A library. She had, at long last, found a library, and to her pleasure, she saw that it was mostly unoccupied, save for a few elderlies that must have been regulars. She had been meaning to find one for quite a while, actually. And now that she had finally struck upon such a treasure, she could hardly contain her euphoria.
The girl made her way inside, beaming as she tugged open the ancient door with a strained pull, her lack of upperbody strength showing as the door only budged slightly under her yanking.
After a moment she got it open and made her way into the quaint little building, noticing with pleasure the smell of worn, yellowed books filling her nose.
He:
The man entered the rat hole of a building, reading the sign above it with distaste before he went inside.
He frowned when he entered, the undoubtable smell of rotting books and people wasting their lives away hitting him.
He had never really liked reading anyway. Probably because he had never been particularly good at it, but he would never admit that to be his reason.
It was a waste of time, he figured. Who'd want to sit around and waste days of their life with their nose buried in some book? They could be out exploring, partying, falling in love. The possibilities seemed to be endless when one wasn't consumed with a silly work of literature.
All the same he continued his crusade and delved further into the never ending store, hoping to find the one thing he had come for, which seemed rather scarce in a place like this.
She:
She browsed through the shelves, her fingers finally landing upon a really beautifully bound book of poems. She picked it up, mindlessly thumbing through it while she hummed a familiar tune.
He:
He approached her, quietly maneuvering his way through the precarious shelves of books. His eyes landed on her, raking over her pixie-like frame as he took her in. He couldn't hide the grin from his face, smiling genuinely while he noticed her humming some song to herself. He had never really noticed how nice of a voice she must have had. But then again she had never sang.
"Oi! Shrimp!" He blurted, casually leaning against one of the shelves that lined the aisle.
She jumped, practically dropping the book that filled her small hands, and he laughed, the deep rumbling sound shaking his entire body.
"G-Gajeel!" She squeaked, and he grinned at her.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Why are you here?" She inquired, her face turning red as she looked at him.
She:
He had that stupid grin plastered to his face, the one that held arrogance, and disdain, and sarcasm, and childishness, and gruffness, and condescendence all in one. She had grown to love that idiotic grin. And to hate it.
In essence, she had grown to love and hate that very man that it belonged too.
Or rather, she had once hated him, and now she couldn't stop loving him.
Well... love wasn't really the right word. It was more of a mutual kind of crush. Mutual in the fact that it wasn't at all, that is.
She really should have stopped rambling on like that, she reminded herself.
She shook her head of the pervasive thoughts and continued to listen to the metal man.
He:
"I saw you walking down the street, and seeing as I had nothing better to do, I followed you here. Might as well spend the day with my favorite Shrimp, eh? I got nothing better to do, after all." He explained, but the bluenette only blinked at him, slowly taking in what he had said.
"Wait..." She paused, her frown deepening. "Did you just say that you followed me?"
"Well yeah." He deadpanned, and she shook her head again.
"Honestly, I should get a restraining order." She muttered, a slight smile taking over her soft, pink lips. He grinned.
"Oh come on, you've gotta admit it's great to have me here." He chortled, and she rolled her eyes.
"It's absolutely lovely, I do enjoy being stalked by strange men and then having them invade my privacy while I'm just trying to enjoy some peace and quiet." She retorted, and his eyes went wide.
"Oi!"
"Only kidding, of course." She said with a grin, causing him to settle down a bit. "It's nice having you here with me and all, as long as you don't pester me while I'm trying to read.
"And I won't." He announced.
But suddenly, without realizing it, the bookshelf he was leaning against began to tip over, and so, before he could so much as catch himself, much less the entire piece of furniture, they both went tumbling down.
She:
She stared at him, giving him a look of amusement as he tried to claw his way back up from the ground, spitting out angry curses the entire time.
He was always like this, deep down. She knew it. She had been one of the few to see it, his air of childishness, the clumsiness that filled not only his being but hers as well.
She wasn't the only unlucky one, it seemed.
And deep down she knew that he was a softie as well, the iron that made him melting away to reveal the soft interior.
He:
The man awkwardly picked himself up from the ground, brushing himself off as he righted the bookshelf. He didn't even want to think about the mess that awaited him on the other side. But for now it seemed as if no one had noticed, so he simply let it be and continued focusing on Levy.
She:
"You okay there, Gajeel?" She inquired, giving him a teasing grin. He huffed, regaining his composure.
"Doin just peachy, Shrimp." He answered, crossing his arms and making a note to himself not to lean against any more furniture.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" She grumbled, cradling her book of poetry to herself and turning away from him, beginning to make her way down the aisle.
He:
The man saw the woman quickly making her way away from him, and he felt as if he was missing his chance.
'Chance for what?' He asked himself, but let the question linger in his mind as he strode after her, his quick footsteps easily overtaking her short, brisk ones.
She:
"Hey, I didn't follow you for you just to ignore me." He blurted, but she simply raised her nose in the air, giving him a haughty look.
"I didn't come here to be followed in the first place." She replied, turning a sharp corner and heading down a hallway, this one surprisingly not lined with shelves.
"Well I came anyways. You should honestly be honored that I'm gracing you with my presence." He announced with a grin, trying to win her attention.
"Oh Gajeel of the lowest caste, if you cease to pester me like the prick you are and learn some manners, perhaps I would enjoy your company a bit more. But for now it seems as if you can only annoy me, sir." She drawled, giving him a devilish look.
He:
"Well aren't you just the sweetest?" He grumbled, surprised at the comment she had just made. The girl flashed him a grin, and he rolled his eyes, trying in vain to hide the grin that was taking over his own face.
"I am aren't I?" She inquired, giving him a rhetorical question. He scoffed.
"Since when were you so cheeky?"
"Since always. You just haven't had the common courtesy to notice." She said, bumping him softly with her hip. He blinked, and stared down at her.
She:
"Well, I think I'm going to go read. I've decided that you can accompany me if you wish. But I know you don't like books, so don't feel like you have to stick around or anything. I wouldn't want to be a burden or something." She muttered, not wanting to ask him to stay, even though she wanted him too.
"I think I will stay and grace you with my presence a bit longer." He said with a grin, and she rolled her eyes slightly, continuing to smile at him.
"So full of yourself aren't you?" She teased and he gave her a grin again.
"Would you expect anything else?"
She laughing alongside him then, her tinkling laughter mingling with his fractured Gi hi hi's.
They:
Somehow they would up together, hours later, as the small library was about to close. The two of them were tucked away in a back room, with she sitting comfortably on a long sofa, and he lying down in her lap, an innocent look on his face as he snoozed away.
No one would ever know of the day they spent together, wasting away hours in the quiet corners of Crocus.
Only the two of them ever would.
And maybe that's how it should be for the both of them.
It was their own little heaven.
Their own little eternity.