Birthday Party

Today was Cana Alberona's nineteenth birthday.

In other words, the guild had another reason to throw a ridiculously wild party. Not that Fairy Tail needed an excuse to get drunk, fight, and destroy furniture but today, there was actually a legitimate reason to get drunk, fight, and destroy furniture.

Which was exactly what was happening as Gajeel Redfox sat on the stool at the bar, observing Natsu and Gray exchange fists. The iron dragon slayer would have usually joined the brawl by now but fighting two completely drunk idiots didn't seem quite appealing especially since Gajeel was still sober.

The guild was filled with yelling and cheering as Cana and Makarov engaged in yet another drinking contest. Gildarts stood next to his daughter, cheering her on as she tilted her head back to gulp out of a beer barrel that was bigger than the brunette.

Gajeel sat quietly by himself with a mug of ale in his hand. The dragon slayer was never one for huge parties and rarely ever got drunk thanks to his high tolerance to alcohol. Celebrations like this never took place back in Phantom Lord, and Gajeel found himself liking the crazy parties that seemed to occur every week. Although, Gajeel was never as festive as the rest of his guild mates, he often ended up getting into a drinking contest or two and sometimes pulled out his guitar for a song, much to the guild's protest.

The whole guild was chaos with over half the members drunk to their bones. Natsu and Gray were still at each other's throats, spitting drunken insults at each other. A very drunk and very angry Erza quickly got in between the boys and quite literally knocked the sense out of them, not that the two had any sense to begin with. Juvia sat happily in the corner, ogling Gray's exposed upper body. Lucy sat with Wendy and the white and blue Exceeds, rolling their eyes at the scene before them.

"Gajeel, why don't you go have some fun like everyone else?" Pantherlily sat on the bar table beside Gajeel with his little arms crossed.

"I am having fun," Gajeel said bluntly.

"Sitting at the bar and drinking doesn't count."

"Yeah well you're just sitting," Gajeel pointed out.

An audible sigh of annoyance could be heard as the black Exceed jumped down to the ground and walked away. Gajeel smirked and took a long gulp out of his mug. Somewhere on the other side of the guild, a loud laugh pierced through the air. Gajeel's sensitive ears picked up the noise immediately and recognized the sound as Levy's laugh. The slayer curiously turned his head and spotted her out of the crowd. Levy McGarden stood on top of a wooden table, a beer grasped in each of her hands. The bluenette was senselessly laughing and dancing to the non-existent music.

"Levy-chan!" Jet and Droy said in unison. "You're drunk, maybe you should get off the table!"

"But thissss is fuuunnnn," Levy slurred back and took a sip from the bottle in her hand. The solid script mage laughed at a silent joke and skipped around the table like a little girl. Going around in circles didn't serve her drunken state any good and she stopped as the dizziness hit her. Levy swayed as her foot stepped a little too far off the edge of the table and she dropped the beers as her body began to fall to the ground.

Gajeel prepared himself to catch her but before he could even stand up, Levy was swooped away from the floor by an unknown person. The man's face wasn't one that Gajeel recognized and he was instantly alarmed. Strangers did sometimes show up at the guild's parties and especially for Cana's parties in hopes of getting free alcohol.

Levy was still in the stranger's arms and Gajeel noticed how dangerously close his hand was to her bottom. A low growl emitted from Gajeel as he stood up.

"Looks like this little lady is drunk," the man mused as his dark eyes glinted. "I can take her somewhere with a bed so she can…rest."

The man turned to walk away in spite of Jet and Droy's protests. Levy tried to wiggle free, even as intoxicated as she was, she knew this man was bad news.

Gajeel was in front of the man before he could even take one step forward.

"Please get out of my way," the outsider spoke politely but his tone was threatening.

Gajeel wasn't one for words and instead of saying anything, he swung his fist, hitting the man square in the face and knocking him backwards. Levy slipped out of the stranger's arms as he flew unconsciously and Gajeel caught her in mid-air.

"I'm taking you home, shrimp."

Levy mumbled something in protest but didn't complain as Gajeel carried her out the guild door. Jet and Droy were too stunned to speak and their mouths were left hanging open. Lily grinned knowingly as his partner left.

"Um, how does he know where she lives?" Happy wondered.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gajeel walked through the doors to Fairy Hills with Levy in his arms and scrunched up his studded brows. The dragon slayer couldn't remember what room Levy lived in and there were too many different scents for him to trace hers hack to her room.

"Oi, shrimp." Gajeel gently shook her until she open her sleepy eyes. "Where's your room?"

"I think…" Levy trailed off as if she was thinking hard on something. "I don't know…"

"You don't know where your own room is!" Gajeel angrily exclaimed.

"I can't remember." Levy had stopped slurring her words but her voice was tired and soft.

Gajeel exhaled, he couldn't take her back to the guild or she might consume too much alcohol but he couldn't drop her off at a friend's place either since everyone was still partying. That means there was only one choice left.

Levy felt the chilling night air as they exited Fairy Hills and the bluenette was beginning to regret wearing her usual loose dress and sandals. The mage's brain was fuzzy and every time she moved, her surroundings became a blur. Levy could only feel the steady beat of Gajeel's walking and the heat radiating from where their skin touched. A warm sensation rose to her cheeks and Levy was grateful that Gajeel was looking straight ahead. She let her eyelids droop over her eyes as her head leaned against Gajeel's broad chest.

Gajeel tensed when he felt Levy's head against his chest. Levy's bare legs rested over his sleeveless arm and the contact made Gajeel's heart jump against his chest. Her soft, blue hair brushed against his naked arm, sending shivers up his spin.

A few minutes had gone by before Levy felt Gajeel slow to a stop and heard the creak of a door opening. Gajeel entered his dark house, not bothering to turn the light on as he made his way to his room. He blindly walked toward his bed and set Levy on top of the mattress. Gajeel rummaged for his lighter and lit the candle beside his bed.

"You can sleep here tonight," he grumbled and quickly fled the room, shutting the door behind him. Happy's voice suddenly spoke in his head, you're embarrasssssseddd. Gajeel mentally told the annoying cat to shut up as he set up his bed on the couch.

Back in Gajeel's room, Levy stepped out of her shoes and crawled under the blanket. Her heart pounded in her chest as she thought to herself, I am sleeping in Gajeel Redfox's bed. Levy laid her head on the single pillow on his bed that smelled of something distinctly male and distinctly Gajeel. The lone candle provided little light for Levy to look at his room. Gajeel's wooden walls were bare except for the cluster of ripped-out newspaper articles taped in the corner. Levy squinted her eyes and realized that they were reports of dragon sightings. She quickly looked away, knowing that wasn't something for her eyes.

The thin blanket did little to keep her warm and Levy soon found herself curling up into a ball. Levy thought about asking Gajeel if he had another blanket but doubted that would do any good plus she didn't think the dragon slayer had heating in his house. Moments passed and Levy couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't possibly fall asleep in this cold.

Levy's voice called through the silence. "Gajeel!"

Gajeel burst through the door in seconds, wearing loose pants and a sleeveless t-shirt. "What?"

"It's really cold…" Levy trailed off, not sure of what she expected him to do.

Gajeel stood at the doorway in silence with a blank stare. An awkward silence resulted and Levy stared down at her hands fiddled with the edge of the blanket. Gajeel slowly walked toward her and blew out the candle. Levy looked up into the darkness with surprise, before she could ask what he was going to do, she felt the bed tilt as Gajeel put his weight on it. She was stunned into silence as his arms circled around her, pulling her towards him until she was against his chest. Levy's heart raced as Gajeel laid on the bed with her encircled in his muscled arms. Her face felt hot and she didn't know what to do until she decided to take a dare. Levy slowly lifted an arm and carefully draped it over Gajeel's large torso and relaxed her body, letting herself sink against him.

"Goodnight, Gajeel," Levy whispered.

"'Night, shrimp," Gajeel grunted.

It was definitely warmer now.