Gajevy: Crossing Your Path
Gajeel heard a crash outside his small apartment. Grumbling, the raven haired giant grabbed an umbrella and flicked the porch light on. Cracking the door, he squinted in the downpour, trying to find the source of the racket.
A head of tousled blue hair peeked out from behind his truck, and with further observation, he realized it was his classmate, Levy McGarden. He never got a good look at her face, her nose was always pressed into a book.
"Levy?" he yelled over the rain.
"Oh! I'm so-sorry Gajeel! I didn't mean to bother you!" she stuttered.
"Come on in, you look a bit cold," he beckoned.
She ran to his doorway, stumbling blindly since her hair was in her eyes.
"Why are you out in the rain?" Gajeel asked once she was inside, wrapped in a towel.
"I-um," she fidgeted in her seat. "it's kind of personal," her creamy eyes cast downward.
"S'okay," he brushed it off. "I'll go get some spare clothes for you, you can go take a shower, the bathroom's the second door on the right," he said.
The petite girl mumbled a thank you before scurrying off to the bathroom. Gajeel waited until the door was closed before he traveled to the end of the hall. From his dresser he grabbed a loose t-shirt and a pair of baggy sweatpants. Traveling back down the hallway, he knocked on the bathroom door.
"Shorty, I'm gonna open the door and slip these clothes inside," he said, twisting the knob and quickly slipping the clothes through the crack.
"Thank you!" he heard her call back.
Ten minutes later, she wandered back into his living room, adorned in his clothes. Gajeel was a massive 6'5" while Levy stood at 5'3" so his clothing was swallowing her. He chuckled a deep chuckle.
"What's so funny?" she asked dejectedly.
"I can barely see you shrimp!" he grinned.
Levy puffed out her cheeks before grinning, "Not my fault you're huge!"
"I'm big in other areas, too!" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
She rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch.
"Need some tea?" Gajeel offered.
She nodded her head and shuffled into the tiny kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later with two mugs of piping hot tea. Handing one of them to her, he sat down at the opposite end of the couch.
"Thank you," Levy said, sipping her tea, "it tastes great."
"No problem." he replied nonchalantly, "Wait, what happened to your face?" There was a small cut above her left eyebrow, and a small bruise forming on her jaw that he didn't notice before.
She hastily tried to cover it up, but it was no use. Her captivating eyes started to gleam as if she was about to cr-oh.
"Oh jeez. Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" Gajeel started to panic, he had never made a girl cry before.
"N-no," she sniffled, "it's just a touchy subject," she assured him.
He let out a sigh of relief, before saying, "It's okay, I know we've never talked before. Please don't cry, I'm not a softie," he pointed out.
She chuckled, tears freely falling now, "I know, Gajeel. I hear a lot about you from my friends."
"Oh really?" he asked, raising a pierced eyebrow, "What have you heard?"
"Well Lucy, Erza, and Juvia know your two friends Gray and Natsu. They say you're like a lone wolf, plus you're in my English class, and you're dubbed as the cool kid," she shook her head at the ridiculousness of her friends.
He nodded his head, having heard it before, "I am pretty cool after all." he winked. She rolled her eyes before he continued, "Do you need a place to stay for the weekend? Seems like wherever you came from, you're not eager to get back," he observed.
She nodded her head, brown eyes looking into his scarlet ones. "It's just..not going well at home right now," she sighed.
Gajeel didn't know what to do. Should he hug her and tell her it'll get better? Oh jeez, her eyes were becoming overly bright again. So he grabbed her tiny hand in his huge one, and sat there as she collected herself. She looked down at his masculine and rough hand covering hers before she drew another shaky breath.
"Would it help if I told you something about me first?" he offered. He had never told anybody what his story was. Suddenly, a cat brushed up against Levy's leg, causing her to jump into Gajeel's lap.
Gajeel stiffened up, Levy was now straddling him, nearly at eye level. She blushed hard, turning a shade of red that matched Gajeel's wine-hued eyes. She opened her mouth, trying to utter an apology, but words were not in her favor right now. Gajeel just tried ignoring the compromising position they were in, and delicately lifted her off of his lap.
Once she found her voice and stopped blushing, she fidgeted before saying, "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! I understand if you don't want me to stay with you anymore but I'm really sorry! I'll just go!" she said hurriedly.
He chuckled before prying her wrists from her face, "No need shrimp. It's cool, it was just Pantherlily," he pointed at the black and white cat rubbing his face against a recliner. "Anyways, do you want me to go first? I know we all have baggage."
She nodded meekly.
Gajeel took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts before finally speaking, "When I was five, my parents both died in a car accident. I was put into the foster care system, switching from family to family. When I turned nine, my foster father taunted me for being so small. He basically used me as his punching bag." Gajeel paused, looking at Levy's face, her expression was unreadable as she waited for him to continue. "Anyways, that's when I started striving to become strong," he flexed his biceps teasingly. "Then when I hit my growth spurt at twelve, I got small jobs around my neighborhood. Mostly just yard work and manual labor, the stuff I was good at. Over four years I had saved up a few thousand dollars, and moved here to Magnolia. Now, I work here every night but Fridays, hence why I'm here now. I left the foster program and that's about it," he finished, sighing.
Levy looked at him, blinking owlishly. "I-I'm sorry!" she started to bawl.
"Oh god!" Gajeel moaned, "Levy please stop crying! I'm okay!" he insisted.
"It's just so sad!" she cried.
"It's okay, Levy," he groaned. The last thing he wanted was for her to pity him.
"Jeez, I'm a mess, sorry," she laughed, wiping away her tears. "I never knew, I just thought you were uneducated and mysterious." She admitted.
He shrugged it off, "Yeah, I get that a lot. Don't worry shrimp, my past is the past, and it'll stay there," he reassured the small girl. "Want some more tea?" he asked, peering over her mug which was now empty. She nodded her head. "Don't think you're off the hook yet," he grinned, reminding her of what she was about to confess. As Gajeel stood and walked towards the kitchen, Levy could only gape at the giant. His arms were riddled with muscles, black hair streaming down his back, he wore a black tank top and some sweats, bottom line is he looked hot. Levy then took on a crimson shade at her observation, staring at the frayed fabric of the couch.
Gajeel returned with a mug, but Levy was too lost in thought to notice his presence. He looked the bluenette up and down. She looked adorable in his t shirt and sweatpants, and her rosy cheeks just added to her cuteness. Damn, Gajeel thought. This woman would be the death of him. Snapping out of his reverie, he addressed the small girl.
"Earth to Levy," he said, poking her porcelain cheek.
"Oh! Gajeel, when did you get here?" she asked, startled.
"Just now," he told her, "it's your turn."
"Oh, um right." She mumbled, "what do you want to know?" her borrowed shirt was now balled up in her tiny hands.
"Why were you out in the middle of a storm? And why don't you wanna go back?" Gajeel replied, clearly prepared to find answers.
"Oh, right," she smiled nervously and ran a hand through her azure hair before speaking. "You know how I'm dating Jake?" she asked the classmate in front of her.
He nodded his head in response, "What about him?"
She took a deep breath, and opened her mouth before closing it again. Levy couldn't seem to form a sentence. After a long pause, she spoke almost inaudibly. "Well, we broke up," she bit her lip, clearly holding back vital information.
"That blows shorty, but what does that have to do with anything?" he looked into her chocolate eyes with his crimson ones, "You can tell me you know."
"I know Gajeel, I just don't know how," she shook her head.
"Just tell me what's bothering you," he suggested.
"My relationship with Jake didn't end well. I ended it, I went to his house and told him we should see other people, then turned to leave. But before I could, he grabbed me and slammed the door behind him. His eyes were so.." she trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut to get rid of the memory. Suddenly, Levy felt a large expanse of skin on top of her forearm, and peeked to see Gajeel's hand covering her.
"No rush, shrimp. Just tell me when you're ready," he reassured her.
"Jake's eyes were so full of anger, I thought I would die. He dragged me back into his apartment, and hit me," her hand ran unconsciously across her jaw where a purple bruise was forming. "He threw a plate, which I dodged at the most part, but a shard hit me in the head, hence the cut. I found a lamp and hit him over the head, then ran outside. But I didn't know there was a storm, so I got caught in the rain," she choked out. She stuck her head in her hands and cried quietly.
Gajeel wrapped a strong arm around her thin shoulders, pulling her into his chest. He rocked the crying girl back and forth until she stopped crying.
"Oh Levy, you have to stop getting into trouble," he chuckled while trying to lighten the dismal mood that matched the weather.
She wiped tears from her eyes for the third time that day, "Thank you Gajeel. I just hope Jake doesn't wake up any time soon and try to find me," she shivered subconsciously.
"He won't. He doesn't know who I am or where I live, I bet he doesn't even think you'd be here. Plus, if he does arrive somehow, I'll kick his ass for you," Gajeel grinned.
She cuddled into his warm chest, and before he knew it she had fallen asleep on him. He chuckled a deep chuckle before laying down, too. Pulling a blanket over the sleeping girl, he too drifted off into an uninterrupted slumber.
