Chapter1: Misunderstood

Gajeel slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at the all too familiar ceiling of his bedroom. Though he had gotten plenty of sleep the dragon slayer was still exhausted for some reason. He yawned widely as he slowly sat up in his bed, his eyes half shut. Gajeel rubbed his head before running his fingers through his unruly morning hair.

'What the hell did I do last night?' His covers were half on the bed and half off. 'Must have been a rough night.' That was when he felt his mattress move slightly. Gajeel knew it wasn't him, he was sitting perfectly still on the mattress. The dragon's eyes looked down as he saw the sheets moving as well.

That was when he heard a faint moan which quickly grabbed his attention. He turned his head to see that something, or someone, was in his bed with him. Gajeel's eyes widened when he caught sight of Levy lying next to him in his bed sound asleep. The script mage laid there in his bed covering her nearly naked body with his sheet, shifting again as she brought her knees up closer to her body.

'Ok seriously...what the hell happened last night?!'

It was early in the day as Levy McGarden rushed to around to get ready to go to the guild for a bit. She was stopped in the hallway by Juvia who had just heard that Gajeel just returned from a long job, but was feeling a bit under the weather. The script mage saw an opportunity to get even more acquainted with the iron dragon, so she decided to stop by his place on her way home later to check in on him and maybe bring him some soup.

Much to everyone's surprise, she and the dragon slayer have been hanging around one another a lot more lately which made her happy. Juvia was one of the few people, if any, that appreciated Levy getting to know her former Phantom Lord partner. It made the water mage happy to see them together. Although Gajeel was still a bit misunderstood by the rest of the guild, Levy saw past all his flaws and saw something that the others couldn't see. She enjoyed spending time with the iron dragon, much to some people's surprise...and disappointment.

"Thank you for telling me about Gajeel, Juvia!" the bluenette said as she hugged her friend.

The water mage smiled and hugged Levy back, "Juvia is so glad to see Gajeel-kun has a friend like you. Tell Gajeel-kun that Juvia hopes he feels better."

The bluenette nodded as she left Juvia's room and made her way downstairs, passing by several of the other girls on her way to the guild. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Erza asked as she passed by Levy.

"I uhh...I was going to go to the guild for a bit and then thought I would go and see how Gajeel was doing" the bluenette said as she slipped on her shoes.

The requip mage narrowed her eyes at her friend, folding her arms across her chest, "I don't know why you want to hang around someone like Gajeel. You know what kind of person he is...what he did to our guild" she said, warning her friend of the dragon slayer.

Levy clinched her fist and bit her lip. "Gajeel isn't such a bad person once you get to know him. He's actually pretty nice" the script mage said, sliding her tote bag over her head as it hung next to her side. Levy hated it when the others tried to warn her about Gajeel. She forgave the dragon for what he did to her and her teammates...why couldn't everyone else do the same?

"I know exactly what kind of person he is NOW!" Levy said as she turned quickly on her heels and ran out of the dorms. 'Why can't they just get over it and give Gajeel a chance! He's not the same person he used to be!' The script mage hated to be mad at her friends but she was getting tired of them saying such things about the iron dragon. But for now she tried to block out what Erza had said as she made her way towards the guild.

At the guild, Levy sat at her usual table with Jet and Droy, quietly reading a book while conversing with her friends whenever she felt the need. Usually she could sit and read through anything, even though her boisterous guild members as they got rowdy, but today was different. The script mage was a bit distracted by what Erza had said earlier, making it a bit difficult for bluenette to enjoy her book. Levy let out a sigh as she looked up at the clock, not realizing just how late it had gotten.

"Oh darn!" she said, slamming her book shut and shoving it into her bag along with her other books.

"Hey, what's the matter Levy?" Jet asked, raising his eyebrow at the script mages sudden actions.

"Were you supposed to do something today?" Droy asked. "If you were going to the library it's a bit late for that. It will be closing pretty soon."

"Hmm? Oh no, I was going to go and check on Gajeel. I heard he wasn't feeling well after getting back from his job. I thought maybe I would bring him something to eat" the bluenette said, standing up from her seat.

Jet and Droy naturally didn't like what they heard as their eyes narrowed towards Levy. "Why are you even wasting your time with that guy? He's nothing but trouble!" Jet said, standing up quickly, slamming his hands down on the table.

"Have you forgotten what he did to us, Levy?" Droy asked, crossing his arms. "He's a monster...he doesn't belong here in Fairy Tail!"

Levy knew her teammates would react this way; it seemed they still had a problem with the dragon slayer. The script mage didn't like how close minded the two were about him, not even giving Gajeel a chance to redeem himself. Levy also knew that they would say horrible things about him.

"No, I haven't forgotten what he did to us...but I have forgiven Gajeel for what he did, and you two should do the same! He's a part of Fairy Tail now and nothing you say or do will change that. You're just going to have to accept that and get over it!" Levy said as she grabbed her bag and began to walk away, but her arm was grabbed by one of her teammates trying to hold her back.

"We can't just let you go like this!" the two Shadow Gear members said.

Levy clinched her fists again and bit her lip, only this time she wasn't going to stand for it any longer. "I've had enough of you two saying trying to tell me what to do!" she said, snatching her arm away from the two boys. By now several of their guild mates around them have stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the commotion. "You two aren't the boss of me! I can do whatever I want, see whoever I want, and talk to whoever I want!" With that the script mage stomped off but not before turning back to her teammates. "I expect an apology from the two of you later!" she said and stormed out of the guild, leaving her teammates as well as a few other guild members shocked and speechless.

Once outside of the guild, Levy found herself leaning against a post as her eyes began to water up. "...Why?" she muttered as the tears began flowing from her eyes. "Why do they have to say such things about him?" Levy was always taught to forgive people for things that they do, and so she did and in the process got to know Gajeel a little better.

The script mage continued crying until she heard the doors open up. Afraid that it might be Jet and Droy coming to look for her, Levy ran off as fast as he could from the guild. Her teammates were the last people that she wanted to see right now.

What was supposed to be a nice, calm day turned into one of frustration and heartache for the script mage. She ran through the streets of Magnolia crying, making her way back to fairy Hills when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She couldn't go back to the dorms now, especially if she was crying. If Erza saw her like this the red head might think that it was Gajeel that made her cry and then there would be no end to it.

There was no place else for Levy to go now...except to see Gajeel, but how could she let him see her like this. To make matters worse, Levy looked up to the darkening sky as she felt some drops of water fall onto her skin. She held out her hand and watched as rain drops began falling from the sky. "Why?! Why is this happening to me today?!" the bluenette cried out. Levy ran under the awning of a nearby building just as the rain began pouring down around her. She knew perfectly well that she couldn't stand here all day waiting for the rain to let up and she was already getting cold from the rain that was on her.

Levy wiped her eyes and looked in the direction of Gajeel's place. "...I have no choice now" she muttered. It was now or never as Levy ran out from her temporary shelter, running as fast as she could towards Gajeel's apartment.