Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail in any way especially because I suck at writing and I don't draw at all.
Rating: T for swear words. You know Gajeel, he's not really nice so... (but please let me know if we can just put this on K+ because I'm really not sure about my rating for this one. Thank you!)
Warning: Slightly OOC. Please don't kill me for this?
Genre: Light angst (is that even possible?) and light romance.
Length: Short Oneshot
Pairing: Gajeel and Levy
Author's notes: This is my first time writing an anime fanfiction and I really, really want it to be about Fairy Tail first so mission accomplished! Though as much as I want my first to be Gruvia, I ended up finishing a GaLe fic first. I take constructive criticism but please be nice to me. This was proof-read by my awesome friend Master P. If not for her, I may still be under the spell of what we all call writer's block so thanks to her, I'm somehow free from it. For now, maybe.
CHANGE
It was the way you smile. Your oh-so-bright smile.
I never thought I'd feel this way for anyone, most especially someone so damn small, like you. No, not in a million years. Oh wait, I already did. Damn it! How did this happen? How?!
Well, it was that brightly-lit face of yours.
It's that fucking adorable face of yours. Why do you look at me like that after what I did to you? Have you forgotten how I humiliated you and your team to the whole town of Magnolia? Are you out of your fucking mind?! Why do you look at me like that when you, of all people, should be loathing me for what I did?
Something tells me it's because of that incident. It's not like I purposely saved you. I just wanted to pick a fight with that guy, Laxus. But, since then, you've changed. You fucking changed. You no longer cower when I'm around. It's not like I liked it when you did that before, but this change is something I'm not used to having shown towards me. So, why? Why change? And why do I like that you're that way towards me now?
Fuck this! I can't stop myself from waiting to see your smile. It's too innocent. Too pretty. Too "you". Something that I'll never have on my own face. Something that doesn't suit me, but it suits you. Why do I always find myself staring at you, secretly waiting for that bright smile to come up? Your smile is something I will never get tired of staring at. If I have a fucking choice, I'll gladly watch you all day and all night long.
But I don't want you to know you're affecting me this way. You're too good for me. You're too perfect for someone as bad as me. I don't deserve your smile. I don't deserve the way you look at me. I don't even deserve any of what I have now. Especially having you beside me. Just being there. I don't deserve all of this. I don't deserve a second chance. But you gave me one. This whole guild gave me one. Fuck, if there's someone who doesn't deserve any chance at all, it's me! But you all gave me one! How can I not love this guild? Fuck fairies. These people are getting to me. Really.
And you are the root of all this. And if I were given the chance to a do-over in life, I would take it. I would have gone off straight to this guild to be with you. But I don't regret what happened. I don't regret getting beaten up for what I did. I deserve it. If there's something I deserve, it is to be punished for hurting you. I'm glad Salamander did it. If there's something I regret, it was hurting you of all people. If I'd known you're this kind of person, I wouldn't do you any harm. But I did. For that reason alone, I will do everything in my power to never ever let anything happen to you ever again. It'll be my life's mission. If I have to die doing it, so be it. As long as you're safe. As long as you'll be able to smile everyday. I will. So I'm glad Master Makarov came to pick me up and brought me in. If he had not, I wouldn't have this chance to secretly watch over you. To secretly watch you smile from a distance. To be next to you whenever I'm not hiding in a corner. To protect you. That's why I don't ever regret beating the hell out of those guys from Grimoire Heart for even trying to hurt you. I won't have that. Not on my watch.
You changed my life. Your family changed everything.
So now, I have a purpose in life. And now I have a family to call my own. You changed everything. For that, I'm grateful. As long as you're here. As long as I can see you. As long as this family exists. Kurogane Gajeel, the old me, will cease to exist. And I may not shout this to the world, but I'm proud. I'm proud I'm a fucking Fairy Tail mage.