Chapter One
AN: This story contains mature content and it is important that you read with a mature mindset. There are triggers and citrus. Please read at your own risk. I do NOT own Fairy Tail, the characters, or any book, song, or movie referenced within the story contents. I repeat THIS CONTAINS CITRUS AND TRIGGERS!_
-Rain pelted the ground as Team Shadow Gear rushed towards the guild house. Levy trailed behind Jet who was barely moving from his point of view. His breathing even and not a single sign of exhaustion showed itself; unlike Droy who dredged along behind the tiny lady, breathing heavily, sweat mixing equally with rain to coat his body in moisture. Levy's lungs burned and her muscles ached as if they were tearing. At a full four foot, seven inches and barely a hundred pounds the blunette was the tiniest member of Fairy Tail, Fiore's strongest magical guild, aside from the two youngest mages, Wendy and Romeo, and the Dragon Slayers' exceeds. Her big hazel eyes usually glued to her books were wide with fear as her team hurried to the shelter of the guild under the murderous gaze of Minerva, a dark mage.
Minerva watched her prey as the little Fairies ran through the down pour, scheming new ways to make them scream in pain and terror. Ever since the damn bookworm beat her to that damn cursed book a couple months back, Minerva has stalked and terrorized the small woman. She would steal back the Book of Zeref even if it meant brutally murdering the pathetic creature. As the blunette ran towards the only place she was safe, the villainous woman in the shadows threw a blast of magic at Levy's back. Smiling evilly, Minerva watched the girl go flying against a nearby building as her team mates slid to a stop in the road crying out her name. The trio were close enough to the guild hall for the Dragon Slayers inside to pick up on the screams due to their overdeveloped sense of hearing. In a matter of minutes the entirety of the Fairy Tail guild was in the road ready to defend their friend and Minerva was gone, leaving nothing but a faint scent and the aftermath of her attack behind.-
Levy woke up screaming in her small bedroom, eyes scanning her surroundings for an unknown assailant. Her orange walls covered in bookshelves stared back offering little comfort for her in her time of need. The usually cheerful stuffed animals looked twisted, casting terrifying shadows across the floor. A glance at her alarm clock sent a violent blast of fear through her as she quickly looked toward the door. The door was locked, but that did little to quail her fear as heavy foot steps came up the stairs. The scent of alcohol filled the air as a fist pounded on her door.
"SHUT YOUR NASTY WHORE MOUTH YOU BITCH! ONE MORE SOUND OUT OF YOU AND YOU'LL BE BLACK AND BLUE FOR A MONTH!" A gruff, slurred voice came from the other side of the door. The blunette hugged her knees to her chest and muffled her sobs as her father retreated back to the living room to drink himself back to sleep.
Derek McGarden was once Levy's hero. An ex-marine with a bachelors degree in both medicine and law and a devoted husband and father, Derek had a life any man would want. His wife, Nicolette, was a musician, artist and writer with a free spirit. She was a street performer in France when they met. A deployed marine at the time, Derek was on leave and looking for fun when he happened upon the small white haired woman playing guitar on the sidewalk outside a restaurant. The soulful melody danced through his heart and before he knew it he was captivated by the strange girl and after a fateful night in a hotel room and an emotional letter a few months later, Derek and Nicolette were married and expecting a small bundle of joy. Levy brought the couple endless days of joy and immeasurable pride as she learned to crawl, walk, and talk twice as fast as the average child. By the age of three, Levy was Derek's entire life and he was so proud of his little genius as she read her first book out loud to him while he was earning his degree in law, but that all changed on Levy's fifteenth birthday. In a rush to pick up Levy's cake in the pouring rain, Nicolette was blindsided by a speeding semi and passed away almost instantly. Derek later learned his now deceased wife was three months pregnant. Levy lost her mother and her hero in a single day as Derek spiraled deep into depression and alcohol becoming a violent, angry drunk. During the day her father was a prosecuting lawyer who put bad people behind bars, but when the sun went down and the alcohol came out he was an angry man who blamed his only daughter for the death of her mother. Nicolette's first gift to the man she loved had become his biggest burden in a single night.
Grabbing her orange backpack with the little black roses sewn decoratively on and heavy weighed down with her advanced placement text books, Levy gave her father a kiss on the cheek before leaving for school. It'd been a week since her nightmares began, bruises from the night before were expertly concealed from both her father and passers-by, but the bags under her eyes were getting darker each day. She told her concerned friends that it was lack of sleep due to studying. They believed her due to her love for books and learning. Little did she know her lies and attempts to hide her pain did not go un-noticed. A pair of deep red eyes saw every flinch and every twitch of nose made when she lied.
The little blunette two grades below Gajeel was hiding her pain again and lying to her friends about her sleepless nights. Not sure yet as to why the six foot eight senior bad boy cared so much about the shrimp of a sophomore bookworm, he watched from afar silently taking note of each lie, flinch, and tear she tried so hard to hide. Tying his raven hair back, he sat down beside his slightly creepy best friend as she obsessively watched the dark haired senior sitting near the shrimp.
Juvia Lockser was overly obsessed with the boy called Gray to the point where there were times Gajeel had to force her out of a very awkward and honestly disturbing daydream. Why the rain woman was so obsessed with the boy was a mystery to him, but he was willing to bet it was because the boy had a habit of losing his clothes. However, the creepy blunette insisted her love was pure, nurtured by the stripper's kindness and tolerance of her daydreams.
Gajeel and Juvia had been friends for years. As a child, Juvia was often bullied and often covered in bruises when she came to school. One day, Gajeel happened upon a sickening scene. The small ten year old blunette was trying to hold her own against five older boys. The boys took turns beating her and calling her names. His mind went black as he saw her bloody and bruised face streaked with tears. Twelve years old at the time, Gajeel was a scary young man. The piercings that lined his eyebrows, both sides of his nose and his chin coupled with his long black hair, unique red eyes, and towering height made the boy intimidating to other kids. Without thinking about it, Gajeel rushed into the fray to save the strange girl. Soon the five boys were bloody and unconscious, Juvia was safe, and he was in a pair of cuffs on his way to the jail house to await his father's wrath. The two had become close friends as the years passed.
Eventually, Juvia opened up about her home life when the duo were a few years older. At fifteen, Gajeel went to court a second time on Juvia's behalf after discovering the girl's stepfather, Jose, was abusing her both sexually and physically. After a year of investigating, Gajeel was found innocent in the case under the pretense of having protected of a person incapable of protecting themselves. Jose was sentenced to twenty years of prison, ten years parole, and required to register as a sex offender upon his release from the ICU, provided he wake up from the coma. Gajeel's aunt, Grandeeney, later adopted Juvia after further information came to light showing Jose as the person responsible for the girl losing her mother.
As a teen mother, Heather was abandoned by Juvia's father, Mika, and left to raise her child alone. When her daughter turned one, Heather went searching for her ex-lover only to find he had dies two months prior from severe injuries obtained during a freak car accident. On Juvia's third birthday her mother met a strange man named Jose at the store while picking up the cake for the party. They hit it off and fell deeply in love. It seemed like a fairy tale ending. Heather fell ill shortly after their marriage a year later. Her sudden death when the girl was five left her only child an orphan under Jose's custody until her eighteenth birthday.
"Gajeel?" Juvia called her friend back to reality. "You're staring awfully hard at that sophomore over there. Juvia thinks you like her."
"Tch-" Gajeel grunted and looked away from the tiny creature who had begun to haunt his every dream. Silently finishing his food, he let his mind wander, slowly becoming obsessed with the fairy like girl. What was she hiding? Why was she lying to her childhood friends? What was going on with Shrimp?
"What's wrong with Juvia's beloved friend?" The persistent rain woman questioned.
"Woman, lay off!"
"Juvia will not! Juvia loves her friend and Juvia's friend is clearly bothered. Juvia will not 'lay off' until she is sure her friend is okay!" Gajeel cursed the blunette beside him as he turned back to the smaller one across the cafeteria from him as she picked up that heavy bag of hers, a flinch of pain went un-noticed once again by her friends. The Stripper and Flame Brain were one thing, always fighting over nothing, Bunny Girl was usually too preoccupied in writing her "novel" to notice anything, and that accursed red headed demon, Erza, was staring longingly at a piece of strawberry cake. Those four were worthless most of the time, but the fat boy with the goofy hair (Droy?) and the star of the track team, Jet, were Shrimp's best friends since who knows when. The trio were damn near inseparable. Those two idiots should have noticed something was wrong.
School was letting out for the day and Levy was exhausted. Tired from lack of sleep and insatiable pain, the small girl was ready to go home. She wanted a hot bath to ease her pain. Suddenly, a white haired junior named Lyon slammed into her. Her books fell to the floor as she crumpled in pain; Lyon's calculus textbook had been jabbed into her blackening bruise that covered the left side of her ribcage. Unable to take the pain Levy's legs gave out and the ground rushed up to meet her. The girl's eyes squeezed closed in expectation of the impact that never came. Slowly, those big hazel eyes opened to find a pair of huge, muscular, pierced arms riddled with scars wrapped around her waist gently as to not hurt or frighten her. Levy lifted her head to find the school's resident bad ass cradling her body, his piercing eyes full of anger she didn't understand.
The boy lifted Levy up into his arms and threw her bag over his shoulder alongside his own. Too scared to open her mouth and anger the scary being holding her four feet off the ground, the blunette allowed him to carry her to the side of a black 1987 Chevy Silverado. Balancing the girl in one arm, the large senior opened the passenger side door with the other hand before setting her in the passenger seat. Gajeel placed his large body in the opening of the door blocking her escape and turned his crimson eyes on her. Levy swallowed, unsure of what was about to happen.
"Okay, Shrimp, I've seen you lie to your fucking idiot friends for a long time now. You're usually so damn hyper almost like an energizer bunny on fucking crack with a stack of books bigger than you, but lately you're a goddamn drag. You have fucking bags under your eyes darker then my fucking hair. Now you almost pass out in pain from a goddamn light jab to the fucking ribs? Spill. What the fuck is going on with you, Shrimp?" The small sophomore in front of Gajeel visibly flinched with every fact he pointed out.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about..." Her voice was so quiet it was almost non-existent.
"Cut the shit, Shorty. I can tell when you are lying. Just fucking spill it." Those crimson eyes were boring into her seeking the truth. "I'm going to say this only once, Shrimp, and I never fucking say it, but please tell me what's going on?"
How could she say no when the scariest man in school was begging for the truth behind the scenes of a blue haired girl half his size? Levy looked deep into the eyes of the concerned giant before her. Why was this beast of a human being so worried about a girl he's never acknowledged before? Gajeel must have seen the hesitation in her eyes because his gruff voice soon filled her ears again.
"Look lets start easy. What's your name, Shrimp?"
"L-Levy. Levy McGarden..." She all but squeaked.
"Good. Mine is Gajeel Redfox. Now, how about we go get some shakes and chat?" Levy nodded softly in acceptance to his invite. "Buckle up, Short-stack. I'll let that damn Bunny Girl know you're with me so those fucking morons don't fucking freak out when they can't find your small ass."
Gajeel left to find the girl's friends as she buckled herself into his truck. She could just barely be seen over the dash making the truck seem somewhat larger. It would have been funny if things weren't so serious. Shrimp was clearly in a terrible predicament. He only hoped he could get the truth out of her before it was too late. Things had to be bad if that tiny girl was willing to open up to a stranger instead of the friends she spent every day with.
As Gajeel approached the group of Levy's friends, the group went quiet one after the other. Bunny Girl looked surprised, Flame Brain and the Stripper had matching looks wanting to fight, Erza just stared while Jet and Droy looked like they'd piss themselves at any moment. The group was comprised of Lucy Heartfilia, a sophomore (Bunny Girl), Natsu Dragneel, a senior (Flame Brain), Gray Fulbuster, a senior (The Stripper), Erza Scarlet, a junior, Jet and Droy, both seniors (their last names escaped Gajeel's mind). Lucy seemed the easiest to approach so Gajeel headed towards the busty blonde.
"Oi! Bunny Girl, I'm taking the shrimp out for a shake and a talk."
"Bunny Girl? Shrimp? I'm sorry I don't understand anything you just said." The spacey sophomore looked up at him confused.
"Fuck. Let me spell it out for you, Bunny Girl. You came to school two fucking years go in fucking childish bunny pajamas thus I call you goddamn Bunny Girl. The Shrimp is the fucking blue haired midget you fucking hang out with. Damn." Gajeel grunted.
"How do you know our dear Levy, Gajeel?" Erza asked. Leave it to the scary red head to be the rational one in the group. Before Gajeel could answer, however, Natsu cut him off.
"Hey, Metal Head, you hurt my friend and I'll kick your ass."
"Flame Brain, I ain't gonna hurt the Shrimp. If any of you get worried or need her for any reason text or call her cell and I'll bring her to you. I just wanna talk to the tiny woman." With that, Gajeel turned around, walking back to the Shrimp tucked tight into his truck seat.