Warning: Mature themes, characters are also out of character, and this is set in a realistic world (as in, not Fairy Tail).

1. That Time, Once Again

He always remembered the reason why he kept himself away from people. It didn't turn out to be voluntary at first; he tried to appear pleasant and he tried to make friends with others, but his efforts did not reach the people around him. All they knew was that he looked frightening. He looked rough and mean, so they kept away from him. He had trouble making friends when he was in kindergarten, because his classmates were frightened of his face, and their parents warned them not to mix with mean people.

It was almost inevitable that he fit into their assumed personality of him. Based on his appearance, everyone thought he was a deviant child. There was only one person who approached him without any fear when he was around ten years old. She saved him from a group of delinquents a few years older than him.

He thought she was strange. No one ever bothered to look at him pleasantly like she did. He knew she was older than him, perhaps about five years older.

"What is your name?" She asked him brightly.

"Gajeel Redfox." He answered, scratching his short, messy black hair a little shyly.

"Alright, Gajeel. I'm Levy. Nice to meet you." She said smugly, patting his head.

He admired this girl who showed no hesitation in becoming his friend.

But they only knew each other for three days before she had to leave with her family to another town, and he returned to his lonely lifestyle.

She never lacked love, but she was greedy for it.

A pleased sigh escaped her lips.

He kissed the soft skin of her neck and continued his kisses all over her, and she responded with pleased sighs and moans. His kisses felt as if they were filled with love. She knew she would be lying to herself if she ever thought he loved her, but she was fine with that kind of lie.

"You're beautiful," He whispered to her as he hovered over her in her bed, and she smiled. He kissed her neck, biting her soft skin lightly before burying himself into her, and she moaned.

All his words were lies, because when she awoke the next morning, he was gone without a sound and without a message. His name slipped her mind. She knew he didn't remember her name as well. At least she felt loved for a brief moment in her life—as fake as it was.

She feared losing love, and she feared having so little of it. She wanted a lot, and a lot, and a lot of love.

But she knew how hard love can betray. She wanted love that was fleeting but in abundance.

No attachments. That was all she wanted.

Gajeel placed his bags down as he searched for his keys to his new home. "Tch," He sighed irritatedly as he rummaged for the keys he received from his foster parent. "Stupid old man," He muttered aloud as he searched for the keys in the pockets of his bag. "I didn't need this whole 'try a new place' thing." He said. "Damn it, where did I put those keys?" He gritted his teeth. And then he heard a chuckle. He turned to look at a petite woman who looked at him with amusement.

She zipped up her coat before walking towards him and tapping on a small box that was attached to the wall next to door. "We use cards here, not keys. Flash your card here, and you'll open the door." She said. "Nice to meet you, neighbour." She said as she walked off.

He stared at her back until she disappeared at the corner of the hallway.

"Levy." He whispered.

Levy walked out of the apartment building and walked towards her office. She had worked as a writer for a fashion magazine for just a year, and she was satisfied. Her true objective was to become an editor for a magazine, and she hoped she could prove it as fast as she could. She remembered the face of the man she slept with two nights ago. He was just a guy she met in one of the company parties recently, and he wasn't working in the same magazine as her. But he showered her with compliments and flattered her.

Was love as shallow as that?

She didn't care. It took around fifteen minutes for her to reach the building where she worked. And then she remembered the new neighbour. He looked familiar, but she wondered where she ever met such a guy before. She brushed her bangs to the side. She used to hold her bangs up with a bandana, but as she grew older, she stopped that style.

"Good morning, Levy!" She heard the two guys at reception greet her. She smiled back at them.

"Good morning, Jet, Droy! Have a pleasant day!" She said as she walked towards the elevator.

She stepped into the elevator and kept a smile on her face until the doors closed. She dropped the smile, sighing softly.

Gajeel sat passively in the lecture hall of his university, sitting near the door and away from everyone. Not that he had to sit there to be away from everyone; everyone naturally stayed away from a guy who looked like him. He looked at his pen, pressing the button of the pen consistently as he waited for the lecture to start.

"Hey, that sounds a little annoying. Could you stop it?" A pink haired guy asked him a little irritatedly from below him.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at him, and then snickered. "No." He said.

The pink haired guy stood up. "Huh? You wanna fight?" He asked.

"Natsu!" A blonde girl said, pushing him down on his seat. "Sorry, this guy's a little hot tempered. I'm Lucy, this is Natsu. Nice to meet you." Lucy said with a smile.

"Hm. Yeah." Gajeel said, looking away. Lucy frowned slightly at his lack of friendliness, when the lecturer entered the hall and started the class.

Gajeel made a point to see whether his neighbour was really Levy, and whether she was the same one he was friends with as a child.

She returns home at around nine at night, and bumps into Gajeel who returns with a bag full of food. "Ah, the new neighbour." She said with a smile. He raised an eyebrow. She smiled so widely, so…forcedly. "You're pretty big. How old are you?" She asked.

"…Nineteen." He said.

"Oh. I expected you to be around twenty-something." She said. She shivered. "Let's go inside, it's cold." She said, and he followed. They went into the lift together. "My name's Levy." She said.

He nearly would have said he knew that, but he didn't want to sound like a creep. Would she remember if he said his name? "…Gajeel Redfox."

She looked at him, and he returned her gaze. It seemed as though they stared into each other's eyes for minutes, although it was just a second or two. The elevator stopped, and Levy stepped out first. She took her purse and got her house card.

"U-Um," She stopped upon hearing his voice. She looked at him. "No, it's nothing. Sorry to trouble you." He said.

She smiled. "Okay. Have a good night," She said as she flashed her card and walked into her home. He flashed his card and stepped into his home.

Upon entering the bedroom, Levy dropped her bag to the floor, and then her coat, and then dropped herself onto her bed. She contemplated on whether she should eat or go straight to sleep. She buried her face into her pillow. Her curtains were left open, and the night light illuminated her room.

"Gajeel Redfox." She said aloud, remembering his face. Black hair, red eyes, a somewhat menacing face—he seemed familiar. She rolled to her back, facing the ceiling. "Sounds so familiar." She mumbled. She shimmied out of her pants and kicked it off her bed before pulling off her shirt, and she snuggled into the covers of her bed and drifted off to sleep.

Gajeel woke up at nine in the morning, yawning as he brushed his teeth. He had a piece of toast before grabbing the trash and opening the door of his home to head downstairs to the garbage collection area when he heard a muffled scream from Levy's home. He stopped, contemplating on whether he should react or not. He stood still, wearing a plain white shirt, sweatpants and slippers. The door of her home opened and she jumped out, her hair in a slight mess as she pulled her coat over her hastily and wore her boots in a hurry. She nearly tripped, and he nearly darted forward to catch her, although she regained her balance quickly.

"Ah." She looked at Gajeel. "Good morning, Gajeel." She beamed a forced smile again. He kept his frown hidden. "Sorry, I'm late for work. See you later!" She said as she ran towards the elevator.

He wondered if he had ever seen someone so pretty even when she's being so flustered.

Gajeel walked towards the school cafeteria to grab lunch. He couldn't doubt that it was the same Levy he met all those years ago. What a coincidence, to have her as a neighbour. And she is older than him, though he wasn't sure by how many years. It was so long ago since they first met; of course she wouldn't remember him.

"Oi, Gajeel." He heard Natsu call him. Gajeel looked at the pink haired classmate who was walking towards him. "You're Gajeel Redfox, right?" He asked. Gajeel nodded. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, I remember my dad talking about yours. Your dad's Metalicana, right?" He asked.

Gajeel froze. "You know Metalicana?" He asked.

Natsu shook his head. "Not personally. I remember Igneel talking about him once or twice." Natsu said. "From the looks of it, you don't know where Metalicana is, huh? I don't know where Igneel is too."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at Natsu. "Do you know Makarov?" Gajeel asked.

Natsu laughed. "That old geezer sent me here!" He said. "Said it was for my own good." He shrugged.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. The old man probably sent a lot of kids to this school. "By the way, Gajeel, wanna eat lunch with me?" Natsu asked with a grin.

He looked at the pink haired guy for a moment and shrugged as he followed his new friend to a place to eat.

Gajeel heard a hard thump against his door. He walked towards the door and opened it, only to find a man holding Levy in his arms. The man chuckled. "Sorry about that," He said as he rummaged in her pockets for her house card.

Levy, red in the face, saw Gajeel. "Hi, Gajeel." She slurred. She was drunk. She giggled as she hugged the man with her. He felt uneasy. "Gajeel, you should head to sleep," She giggled again. "And—"

"Hey, hey." The man stopped her. "Don't concentrate on him, concentrate on me." He said.

Levy kissed the man on his neck as she was brought into her home. The door closed softly, and Gajeel looked at the phone on the floor before him. He picked it up, and heard faint sounds of their love-making not long after.

He walked back into his home and the door closed gently. He swallowed an unpleasant lump in his throat, and realized that people change over the course of time.

But he knew he was jealous of that man who touched her so deeply. He went to sleep, trying to block out the sounds of her voice.

The doorbell rang and aroused him from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes groggily, walking towards the door sleepily and opening it. Levy stood there in a pair of sweatpants and shirt, looking slightly sheepish until she noticed his shirtless, muscled torso. She eyed him for a second until he leaned on the doorway, breaking her line of sight. She blushed, clearing her throat meekly. "U-Um, good morning," She said with a small chuckle. "I-I was just wondering if you saw my phone…? I might have dropped it somewhere outside…last night." She said.

Gajeel looked down at the petite woman, who smiled up at him sheepishly. "Doesn't your boyfriend have it?" He asked.

"Oh, that guy?" She asked, and he raised an eyebrow. "O-Oh, um, no, he doesn't." She said, averting her gaze as she scratched her cheek.

"Right," Gajeel said, realizing that it was just a guy, not her boyfriend. He felt a little relieved. "Come in, or stay outside, if you want." He said before stepping back inside his home. She decided to step inside, although she stayed at the entrance. She glanced around the living room, noticing that it was pretty much empty, although he had some rubbish piling up. It didn't seem like he cooked much by seeing the rubbish that he left on the table.

He returned not long after, handing her phone. "So you did have it," She said. "Why'd you ask me that question then?" She asked.

Gajeel opened the door for her. "Because I wanted to know who that guy was." He said.

Levy walked out of his home. "W-Well…you shouldn't pry into someone's personal life, thank you very much." She said.

He shrugged. "You were pretty loud last night." He snickered when her face turned a bright red. "It was hard to sleep." There was a pause. "Why aren't you going out with him?" He asked.

"Why should I?" She asked, and he heard a slightly bitter tone in her question. "I can get what I want without dating someone." She mumbled as she walked back inside her home.

He wished he lied to her about having her phone. And then he wondered what on earth happened in the past few years of her life.

Notes:

Yes, new story. I have to warn that this is not going be consistently updated, and it'll take time until the next chapter is posted. So I apologize in advance. And I think you have to be pretty open-minded to read this story-it is for mature readers, and will have mature themes. I also understand if you don't like this story. I'm just trying this story, it's different from what I usually write.