(Typical disclaimers: I don't own Fairy Tail, no matter how much I wish I did. Rated T for Gajeel. Enjoy!)

It had started simply enough—Gray asked Lucy to come with him on a mission, and Juvia asked Gajeel the same thing. Neither stopped to ask who else would be going with them, or where they would be going, or even what the mission would entail. They both had just said 'sure' without a thought and had begun regretting it the moment they met up at the train station.

Gray and Juvia had begun seeing each other a few weeks prior, but Lucy and Gajeel hadn't exactly talked very much since the Phantom Lord incident. Sure, they had inadvertently heard about each other through Levy, but they had never once sat down and had a conversation.

And all of a sudden, they were paired up to help guard a private beach and guest house while their companions oversaw the main house, the client and his family. Not even Pantherlily was around, since the client's daughter had immediately taken a liking to him and declared him her personal protector for the duration of their three-day stay. The exceed had agreed easily after being promised an extensive supply of kiwis.

Which left the dragon slayer and the celestial mage standing in some of the most peaceful and romantic scenery either had ever seen. Together. In swim suits. As the sun set.

In other words, it was awkward as hell.

"S-so, uh..." Lucy finally spoke, unable to take any more of the uncomfortable silence. "You and Levy-chan, huh?"

He turned slightly and raised an eyebrow at her. "No," he said simply.

The girl cringed. Five more minutes of silence passed. "Damn it, Gajeel! Just talk to me already! It's too quiet!" she exploded.

The male's eyes widened, his surprise evident on his face as he watched her childishly stomp her foot. Without any warning, he burst out laughing.

"Hey! Gajeel! Are you laughing at me?!" the blonde demanded. Inside, she was marveling over the fact that he was capable of amusement in something other than his cat, her best friend, or his sadistic hobbies that she had once personally experienced. She decided that she kind of liked this side of him, even if it sort of felt like he was making fun on her.

"Let's just go swimmin' or somethin', Bunny Girl," he chortled.

She made a face at him but followed as he headed for the water. Once they were waist-deep in, she found herself watching his profile. He was rather handsome, she supposed. Levy-chan definitely hadn't lied about that. But he was so... so stoic! She frowned at him, tracing the gentle waves underneath her palms before a wide, wicked grin stretched across her face.

"Neh, Gajeel~?" she called out innocently.

He turned to her. "Wha—"

She threw a handful of water into his face before almost doubling over laughing at his shocked expression as his hair dripped sea water into his eyes. Next thing she knew, she was practically tossed under a wave as she heard the deep, rumbling chuckles of the slayer she had instigated a water fight with. She couldn't help but smile in triumph, even if she did get a little bit of the ocean in her nose.

She tried tackling him from the back to push him down, but all it ended up doing was pressing her chest flush against his back as her arms wrapped over his shoulders. She squeaked, surprised that he hadn't budged an inch, even as her legs wrapped around his torso in an attempt to not fall back. He peeked over his shoulder, met her eyes, and gave her a grin that made her heart stop.

Then he just fell backwards, causing them both to go underwater.

They continued in this fashion for almost half an hour before they realized that the sun had almost completely set and that it would be dark soon. After climbing out of the water, they headed back to the guest house and Lucy made dinner while Gajeel did a perimeter sweep.

She had really enjoyed herself with him, and it had caught her completely by surprise. She hadn't been scared of him for a long time, but she had never quite been able to see what her best friend saw in the man. But now she had caught a glimpse, and she had to admit that hers and Levy's types were much more similar than they had previously credited.

The blonde hummed to herself as she stirred the beef and broccoli, thinking about the conversation the two girls would have when she returned home. After setting the table, she stuck her head out the window.

"Gajeel!" she called. "Dinner's ready!"

Someone came up silently behind her and plopped a heavy head on her shoulder, causing her to shriek. "Who ya lookin' for, Bunny Girl?" an amused voice questioned, obviously fighting back laughter.

She shrieked, hand pressed over her rapidly beating heart. "You scared the hell out of me, you jerk!"

He just chuckled as he stood up straight, ruffling her hair until it was no longer manageable. "What'd ya make, Bunny? Smells pretty good," he commented, turning around and plopping down at the table expectantly.

The blonde stuck her tongue out at him, kicking his shin lightly to which he growled almost playfully as she slipped into the kitchen and brought back the beef and rice. After setting both pots down on the table, she once again went back the way she had come from and returned with a tray.

She set the tray down next to the rice and handed Gajeel a cup of tea, as well as a few bricks of iron that she had gotten from Virgo. The man's eyes practically glittered with excitement when he saw them and he immediately grabbed one, taking a large bite out of it as his expression lit up with something like bliss.

Lucy couldn't fight back the giggles, seeing him look like that.

"What?" he growled indignantly. "This is pure iron! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find pure iron?!"

She just continued laughing, causing the iron dragon slayer to blush ever so slightly as he reached over and plopped his hand down on her head, his fingers convulsing as he attempted to intimidate her.

His actions only doubled her amusement. It was only after her chuckles died down that she realized the large man in front of her was sulking. She fought down more laughter as she reached up and took his wrist, lifting his hand off her head and placing it back over his half-eaten brick. She smiled at him warmly.

"Sorry for laughing," she told him softly. "I just didn't expect big ol' Black Steel Gajeel to have such a cute side, alright?"

He winced and tried to shoot her a glare, but couldn't quite fight off a light blush.

"Let's eat, neh?" she grinned, dishing out the food and picking up her utensils, gesturing for him to do the same.

He let out a huff and they ate together, neither saying much even as they cleaned up and headed awkwardly back into the living room. After a few more moments, Lucy let out a loud sigh.

"Want to watch a movie, maybe?" she offered.

The slayer shrugged. "Sure," he grunted, getting to his feet and crossing the room to the TV lacrima. He browsed the selection for a few minutes before glancing back at the blonde with a wicket grin that made her shiver.

"Uh, Gajeel...?" she questioned nervously.

He just chuckled as he made his way over to the couch next to her. "This is gonna be great," he declared with a dark excitement, watching her face pale as the horror movie started up. He laughed uproariously for a bit before turning his attention back to the screen just as the first kill was made. The girl held in a shriek, unconsciously moving closer to the secure warmth of the man next to her.

By the time the movie was halfway done, she was clinging to his arm and occasionally ducking her face into his shoulder when something particularly gruesome happened. His overall opinion was that it was funny as hell, not to mention the fact that she was rather soft and smelled pretty good.

As the movie came to an end, he realized that not only was she practically in his lap, she had also dozed off at some point. The slayer held in a chuckle as he tried to pull himself away from her, but she protested groggily and climbed the rest of the way on top of him as a result.

He was stunned, to say the least, but wasn't entirely unhappy with the position. After a few minutes of being frozen, he just let out a sigh, pulled a blanket over the both of them, and leaned over so that they were laying down as she snuggled into his chest. Gajeel felt conflicted, to say the least. He liked Levy—at least, he thought he had—but here he was, cuddling with the bluenette's best friend after playing around with her all day. And he couldn't deny that he rather enjoyed it.

… Fuck.

When Lucy woke up, she was surrounded by a comfortable warmth and something heavy draped over her waist. After squirming around for a moment, she opened her eyes—and came face-to-sleeping-face with Gajeel Redfox. She held in a scream as her mind processed what had happened the day before. And in a sudden rush of recognition, she came to realize that from the view of an outsider, it would have looked like they were a couple.

She had practically had a date with him! And, oh Mavis, she had liked it.

What was she going to tell Levy?