Okay so, this is the second one-shot I'm doing in answer to one of Leoslady4ever's works, it's Gajeel's side of the AU plot. I hope you enjoy :D
Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail
LAST FRIDAY NIGHT
It was a damned shame to say he wasn't all that surprised, staring at the ceiling as he leaned back to get his eyes off the stack of bills he was writing checks for, but he was surprised at who it was calling. Every damn Friday he ended up having to rearrange the schedule because someone would call the hell out, few Fridays ever passed that allowed him peace of mind, and he looked over the schedule.
"I know it's really last minute, Gajeel, and if it's not possible I'll just move it to her day off." Gray Fullbuster was dating his best friend, he used that term lightly though, and Juvia also happened to be one of his best bartenders. The blue haired woman was strong, sexy, and one look could cut the raging perverts that hounded her and any other women at the bar down to size and send them on their way; Gajeel hummed into the phone as he shuffled through his options.
"Give me a minute to see if I got coverage." Gray gave an affirmative hum, allowing Gajeel to put the device on hold, and he looked over the table of names and hours. Laxus was a no go, he'd asked to have today off specifically for a family event, and Totomaru wasn't allowed near the bar since he almost blew the damn place up the last time. As far as bartenders went Gajeel was stuck, with Laxus and Juvia out it only left himself, but he didn't want to den Juvia's chance for a good date with the man who she'd been fawning over like some school girl. He wasn't an idiot, he knew Gray wanted nothing to do with her at first, but he was pleasantly surprised that the dark haired man was giving her a chance.
"Gray, I got it covered, just do me a favor." He returned to the call.
"Anything, man, seriously." Gajeel rubbed the bridge of his nose, mentally preparing for the long night ahead of him.
"If you're serious about Juvia...just keep her happy; I will deny saying this if it's spread around but she's the closest thing I've got to a best friend, treat her right." He knew the threat was implied, Gray knew the threat was implied, and he heard the man on the other end let out a breath.
"I got it, man, I wouldn't have asked her out if I wasn't serious. I was a little weirded out at first with all the over-the-top love declarations and with her following me around." He paused, making Gajeel think of the times Juvia declared to him that Gray looked lovely when he was drinking his morning coffee, and then the male picked it back up.
"But she's a great looking woman and she's a lot of fun, she deserves the same chance that I know she'd give me if the tables were reversed, and I can't imagine that I'll have a bad time." Gajeel nodded sagely, glad that his high school acquaintance had grown up this much, and the pair ended the call so Gajeel could drive home and get something to eat before getting stuck here even longer. He finished the last of the checks and quickly sealed them in envelopes, blessing the makers of the peel-and-stick kind since he hated licking the damn things, and after putting on the stamps he locked up and headed out.
The crowd seemed much more amped up than normal, then again Gajeel hadn't worked a Friday night shift in a couple months and was more used to the beginning of the week crowd, but he took it in stride. Girls swooning at him, which were ignored, and guys getting shot down by those girls seemed to take up the first few hours of the night. Every chance he got he would mark down when a bottle was emptied and thrown away, to keep inventory easier since he would have to do it before he left for the night, and he was in the process of marking down another bottle when a loud voice echoed over the pounding music and loud people.
"Bartender! Can we get some shots down here?" He saw the brunette waving and quickly looked at the scope of her friends, four girls, and then he heard a sweeter (though equally loud) voice.
"Make it a double." There was a 'whoop' from the girls and he had to smirk, it seemed these ladies were out to simply have fun tonight, and so he finished what he was writing before making their drinks. He handed them toward the group and the sassy looking blond took her drink, her slender fingers brushing his, and she downed it without preamble before setting some money down.
"Thanks for the drink, man!" She was grinning, cute despite the sexy crimson slip of fabric hugging her fine figure, and the other girls took their own shots and paid before they slipped off to the dance floor. He counted the bills, mildly surprised since all of them tipped quite well, and he smirked as he walked to fill other orders while keeping a very careful eye on the group. He might be a hard ass, the kind of guy who drank his liquor straight and didn't take shit from anyone, but he was also raised to respect women and with that group he could only imagine how much trouble they could cause. All four of them were attractive, he'd have to be blind not to notice, and with how they had a double shot to start the night...well he'd make sure they weren't harassed.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he caught sight of the little blond shifting through the crowd, watching as she weaved through the crowd, but he got distracted by another girl calling him out for a drink; when he looked back she was leaning on the bar and examining either her ankle or her shoe. Gajeel walked over and glanced down.
"Everything alright?" He watched her head raise, not at all startled by his appearance, and was suddenly looking at the warmest chocolate eyes he'd ever seen; they were breathtaking, like molten chocolate.
"Oh...yeah. I just hit a bit of a snag." He raised a brow as she laughed to herself, not quite seeing her humor, and she shrugged at his lack of understanding.
"Snagged my heel on the carpet over there. And...dammit, it popped off the rubber sole." He watched her frown, knowing that it wasn't too expensive of a fix if taken to the right place, and then she looked up at him.
"Your boss should fix that. I could have broken my neck on that thing." He felt the smile twitch to his face and tamped it down, she was right about that except that she wasn't quite drunk enough to get that hurt, and he had to admit that he was suddenly a little curious about the sexy blond.
"I'll make sure he knows." His answer was to appease her, he would be taking a look at the carpet when the place was empty, and she raised her own brow this time.
"Okay," Her voice was uncertain, she'd picked up on his amusement it seemed, and he shook his head.
"So, can I get you something to help you mourn the loss of your rubber sole?" He was trying to be playful but the idea of her breaking her lovely neck in his club didn't sit well with him, he couldn't muster up a playful smirk quite yet, and she tilted her head very slightly to the left. She was examining him, he could feel it just with how she was looking at him.
"Yeah, a beer please." He grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped the cap off the bottle before handing it over.
"No more shots?" He prompted, glad that she was playing it safe (again not something he'd admit if asked), and he watched her shake her head distractedly; something was bothering her, she'd come out here for more than just a fun night of dancing and drinking. It made his eyes narrow and he knew that he had to get back to the swing of filling orders in a few moments.
"No, if I drink too many, you'd have to carry me out." Her response earned a smirk, this little blond was a lot more than what she showed to anyone it seemed, and Gajeel couldn't help but reply.
"And where exactly would I be carrying you?" He watched her spin around, flushed, and her response made her seem much more innocent than he imagined she really was.
"Nowhere! I didn't mean you specifically! I just meant...oh nevermind!" Before he could even say anything she put money down, once again tipping very well, and he laughed lightly to himself as he went back to work; was she a regular? He began watching her as she went back to her friends, who were making their way to her, and he absently handed another beer out as he watched her. The girl was a walking contradiction that had him trapped, sexy as hell but she acted so damn innocent, and he watched her jump when she finally reunited with her friends. Gajeel had a lull in orders so he worked on inventory, and watched her, and he actually blinked in surprise when the brunette pointed at him after saying something. He did grin when the blond slapped her friend's arm down, which was funny, and he couldn't help but keep glancing up at them while writing what he would need to order in the morning.
Hours passed and last call was announced, which prompted a large number of shots and beers to be handed out, and then after another hour he watched as people left the club in droves before the room was empty. Gajeel sighed softly to himself as he closed out the register, counted his tips, and finished inventory; while he did that Aria and Sol took care of vacuuming the carpeting and cleaning the room, he had a crew that came and really cleaned up in the morning but it was easier on them to do small things before they left. Gajeel walked around the bar and searched for the snag in the carpet, finding it with ease, and frowned before setting a reminder in his phone to call a place in the morning.
"I something the matter, Boss?" Sol, his most dexterous and polite bouncer, looked over the snag and Aria frowned.
"Oh how sad that our lovely carpet is ruined, but thankfully nobody was hurt." Aria was a little over dramatic but his size alone scared people off, the man could really lay a beat down when he was pissed off, and Gajeel stood up.
"Yea, a cute little blond ruined her boot on it, I'll have it fixed in the morning." He replied absently, not seeing the matching smiles, and he wiped the counter down to get rid of water marks before taking the money for the morning deposit and heading out to get some sleep. As he drove home his thoughts were stuck on that pretty little blond who he didn't even have a name for.
Three weeks, since he wasn't sure if she was a regular or not he began taking Friday nights, and for three weeks it was the same thing where her and her friends would show up to drink and dance until the late hours of the morning. Sol and Aria had informed Laxus, Juvia, Elfman, and Totomaru of his infatuation with the pretty little blond after they realized why he took Friday nights on the second week. Needless to say it prompted questions he didn't have the answers to, which made him angry, and yet he knew she noticed him. Every time she walked in the door she would look at the bar first, call him crazy but he imagined she was looking for him, and he was not unhappy to watch her dance with her friends. He could honestly watch her dance for days and never be unhappy with the way her hips moved, he could only imagined what it would feel like to dance with her, and...dammit!
'I am not falling head over heels for a girl I don't know. Fuck.' That one thought was soon abandoned though when, after the second week, her brunette friend came to get beers for them.
"Hey, what's your name?" She purred suddenly, as he was handing her the open bottles, and he raised his eyes to hers and huffed.
"Gajeel Redfox, you?" She grinned.
"Cana Alberona, and that pretty little blond of mine that you're watching is Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet 'ya." The minx slipped away with her drinks, after handing him cash for the beers, and he couldn't help but watch them again. Lucy Heartfilia. He knew her, though not directly, because she a writer for a large magazine company that Juvia was over-the-moon obsessed with. Apparently the blond did an advice column and a music column. He knew she was sassy, he'd read some of her articles when he found the prints laying around, but she'd barely displayed that recently. He imagined she was going through something though and that she would be back to normal when she figured it out. Everyone had times where they had to rediscover themselves, why not her? So it was his surprise when she came alone, completely alone, and continued to do her thing.
His eyes followed her all night, the way she danced was never changing but she wasn't really talking as she had before, the fiery spark in her eyes had dulled to an ember; he imagined she might be lonely, since her friends weren't here, but why would she have come? Unless it was either to see him (his heart did not speed up at that thought) or to prove that she could do this alone. He smirked at that, she might not have her girls but she would have him, he couldn't understand why he'd felt proud of her but...he did. Though his anger went through the roof as the guy she was dancing with began straying his hands a little too much, he knew Aria and Elfman had picked up on his anger when they tensed from their positions in walking around the throng of dancers.
"It's fine, guys." He spoke into the small radio that they had for communicating, so he could tell them if something went wrong, and they both nodded and went back to scanning the crowd on their own. He relaxed when Lucy eased herself out of the creep's hold and waved before turning toward the bar, he kept his eyes glued on the scene though when she barely made it two steps before the man's hand wrapped around her slender arm. Oh hell no. Lucy shook her head at whatever he said, her body language was all but screaming that she wanted to be away from him, and as the man moved an arm to her waist Gajeel was in action. Nobody did that shit in his place and Gajeel moved around the bar and headed into the sea of moving bodies, nobody was batting an eye on the scene of the blond being grabbed and it pissed him off even more, and he was a man on a mission as he drew closer.
"Let me go!" He clearly heard the demand, which was the sign of 'back the fuck off' to any normal human, and the man pulled her closer before Gajeel managed to get to them. He grabbed the man's wrist, the one holding her arm, and pressed his thumb into the soft skin on the underside while his other hand pulled Lucy away from the man and behind him. Before the man could utter a word Gajeel pulled his fist back and let it fly, all his anger and frustration and worry packed into a single punch, and the creep dropped before he signaled Elfman and Aria over.
"Fucking piece of shit...get this asshole outta here and call the cops." He watched as the bouncers dragged the creep to the door and turned to see Lucy's wide eyes watching him, he couldn't decipher her expression but she didn't seem to be too afraid. He reached out for her arm but couldn't see it all too well in the lighting.
"You okay?" He caught her nod, her lips parted slightly as her pupils expanded, and he felt her pulse jumping under her skin. Or was that his? Gajeel inwardly cursed.
"Y-yeah." He caught the stutter and his expression hardened, he needed to make sure nothing was broken, and he raised his eyes to hers.
"You sure?" If she wasn't then he'd be driving her to the hospital himself if the damage prompted the need, and then she offered him a faint smile as he lips closed and she nodded.
"Yea...and thanks." He couldn't help but smile back, slipping his hand around hers.
"All in a day's work. Now let's get you out of here." The crowd seemed to part for him, he did just punch a man out of course, and he led her past the bar so he could take her to a room with better lighting. He wanted to check her arm out completely.
"Um...where are we going?" He offered her a soft look, wanting her to be comfortable, god forbid she think he was doing just what the other creep had tried to do to her.
"To the office. I want to get a better look at your arm. Plus, I figured you could use a break from all that." He let her enter first, the lighting far better than in the other room, and he was glad to see she wasn't freaking out.
"Alright, let's see," He had he sit down and raised her arm, his eyes hardening almost immediately in anger at the sight of the discolored skin on her delicate limb, the bruise was nasty and would only be worse in the morning.
"That son of a bitch. I ought to go beat his fucking ass to a bloody pulp for this." He let his anger get the best of him in that moment, he couldn't help himself, Lucy had been hurt by some sleaze and the man was just laying on the ground with what he hoped was a broken nose.
"I didn't realize that being a bouncer was part of your job," Her quip dissolved his anger, her playful tone was something he hadn't heard but he knew her capable of, and when he lifted his head he was surprised to see the bright smile on her face. Was she...was she smiling because he'd been angry? He didn't bother to stop himself from smiling in return.
"Well, this is my club. Doing a little bit of everything kinda comes with the territory." He returned just as easy and watched the way her eyes widened, a slightly flush forming on her face, and then the uncertainty. Someone had taken the little blond beauty and made her lose who she was, there was no other explanation, and Gajeel watched her worry her lower lip with her teeth.
"I...I didn't know. But if you own this place, then why..." They both knew what the question was, hell he'd been hoping she would ask it soon, and he decided to help her out a little more. His lips quirked slightly.
"Why do I work so late at night?" She nodded, now fully biting her lip, and he honestly was fighting the urge to kiss her senseless. She was obviously dealing with a break-up still, if she was uncertain about someone going out of their way to see her, and he wouldn't make the first move until he was positive she was ready.
"Let's just say I like the people I get on Friday nights," He offered a wink, releasing her arm (that he totally meant to hold for that long), and he leaned against the desk as her flush darkened. He had just confessed, indirectly, to seeing her and damn if her reaction didn't make her even more sexy with a red flush on her gorgeous face.
"Well...thanks." She didn't even know what to say and his male pride purred at that, he couldn't help the smug grin on his face.
"I was happy to help. You looked like you could use a hand." Then she smiled back, and then it grew wider and her dull ember of confidence erupted into a small flame in those molten eyes of hers. The girl tipped her head and nodded.
"Well, it's a good thing you came when you did..." He raised a brow at her pause, wondering just where she would take this.
"Because I was about to kick his ass." He couldn't help but laugh, after his eyes widened from her declaration, as the image of her laying a beat down on the man formed in his mind. Her giggling joined his laughter, damn she had a nice giggle, and he managed to speak.
"I'm sure you were." He watched her as she tilted her head again.
"My name's Lucy, by the way." He couldn't help but smirk.
"I know." The girl looked alarmed.
"You do? How..." The sudden drop to her shoulders was followed by a pursing of her lips, she knew just as well as he did how he knew.
"Cana..." Gajeel nodded in reply.
"Yep, just like I'm sure she told you my name." The blond turned a bright shade of crimson at his accusation before nodding innocently.
"But I'd like to tell you myself." He extended a hand, watching her blink before she slid her hand into his once more.
"Gajeel Redfox, at your service." They shook and she grinned.
"Lucy Heartfilia, and it's a pleasure." He couldn't help but savor the feeling of her soft skin against his, hoping that something would happen with this because he was a little more than infatuated with the little blond.
"Boss, Elfman can't man the bar forever." Aria's voice sounded from his radio and he sighed before looking at the blond.
"You ready to handle the crowd again?" The blond nodded and he let her exit first before following her, his eyes straying downward to her swaying hips, and he captured her hand again.
"Lucy...stay close to the bar, okay?" She blinked and nodded.
"Sure, Gajeel, it'll be easier for you to pry me off any more sleaze bags who try to get handsy." He laughed and nodded.
"Too true." She grinned and he couldn't help but return that grin.
"Boss I think your face is broken."
As I said above this is another Gajeel side of Leoslady4ever's AU prompt to GaLu Week 2015 which is chapter 3. Please read her works because that's what inspired this!