. Endings .

She was done.

She was entirely done.

Furious, the Solid-Script mage slammed her book shut, her gaze murderous yet shining with tears as she hurled the book across the room. From where he was sitting beside Lucy after being dragged out of a fight with Gray, Natsu had to duck to avoid being smacked in the head, his onyx eyes wide with shock when it managed to knock into the head of the second of the three Dragon Slayers in the room. Eyes darted to her and then quickly went the other way when they realized she was practically radiating rage.

"Stupid book," Levy seethed, gathering up her possessions - excluding that horror of a book - to leave and return to her home in Fairy Hills. She was done with that thing! Who could even consider writing such a thing and then - ugh!

"Um, L-Levy?" She paused to glance back at Mira, forcing herself to smile faintly at the nervous looking bartender. "Aren't you going to…?" She waved towards the abandoned novel.

"Nope," Levy said with forced cheer. "Not going to bother." And with that, Levy McGarden left the guildhall without a second glance, her short legs carrying her out with surprising speed.

Looking pissed off, Gajeel scooped the book he'd been hit with to examine it as the rest of the guild members there began to speak to each other about what happened. He scowled when the idiot Salamander's whining hit his sensitive ears, and Pantherlily snickered from where he was seated near the Iron Dragon Slayer. He examined the abused book. "The hell?" he muttered.

It wasn't hard to see why the shrimp was upset. The book literally just cut off, as if the author hadn't finished writing it and had published it anyways. It stopped mid-sentence. Frowning, confused as to how she'd be so upset over such a thing, Gajeel skimmed the last page.

Ah, there it was.

She'd been upset because the book had cut off with reason. A character had died and the book had ended with their last thought. He grimaced. Too realistic...that happened a lot when people died, didn't it? There was always that last unfinished thought.

So, heaving a massive sigh and earning a rather sly and smug look from his Exceed, the massive man hauled himself off the bench, exiting the guildhall as silently as he could. Only Mirajane noticed his exit, and she gave a grin at the sight before reluctantly offering another barrel of alcohol to Cana.

Levy was storming along the path that led to Fairy Hills when a hand darted out and caught her by the back of the shirt shirt she'd chosen to wear that day, lifting her partially into the air. She didn't have to look up to realize who'd grabbed her. Only one person did such a thing. "Put me down, Gajeel," she protested, kicking in an attempt to get him to put her down. He dropped her and she spun on her heel to give him a sharp glare. "What?"

A studded brow rose. Damn, the bookworm was upset over this book. She usually saw him and then lit up like one of those bothersome Christmas trees. "You forgot something, shrimp." Ignoring her furious sputtering, he dropped the book into her arms.

"I don't want it," she protested, trying to shove it back at him. He stepped aside, however, smirking, and the book hit the ground with a soft thud. "Gajeel!" she cried in her frustration.

"Why are you so upset?" he finally huffed, rolling those piercing red eyes. "It's just a fucking book."

Levy stopped, actually stopped in her small rage. He wanted to know why she was upset? Grumbling, she kicked the book, something she never did. She hated it. She truly hated the book. "That book," she hissed out, irritated, "Got too close to reality for my liking."

Huh. So he'd been thinking along the same lines as his bookworm.

She launched into an explanation without prompting. "They - ugh! I hate that. I love reading. I love books. I love endings. But this ending…" She took a shaky breath. "Those are the exact words I thought when I thought-"

She cut herself off, but he didn't need any further explanations to understand.

Those are the exact words when I thought you were going to kill me.

She'd been thinking of the time he'd hurt her when she'd read those words.

Grimacing, not blaming her for the anger she felt, he picked up the book again and shoved it at her. She winced at the harshness of the matter, but said nothing when she saw the anger on his face. "Everyone thinks that way when they think they're about to die, shrimp. You're always gonna have regrets. I sure as hell do, and I'm pretty damn sure you will, too. Sometimes you just have to move on."

Well look at you giving inspiring speeches, Levy wanted to say. But she didn't. Her expression softened, and a hesitant smile appeared on her face. She knew without a doubt that he was talking about himself, too. So, without a moment's hesitation, she took a step forward and lightly placed a hand on his cheek - thank Mavis he was slouching, or she wouldn't have been able to reach! "Thank you," she said softly, a true Levy smile on her face.

Gajeel's cheeks turned a suspicious shade of pink before he ripped away, scowling at her. "Whatever, midget."

Levy only laughed.

Moving on indeed.

Didn't he realized she'd moved on a long time ago? That she-

Suddenly, she came to a realization.

"Hey. Gajeel," she said suddenly, her eyes thoughtful as she peered up at him. The Iron Dragon Slayer was staring away from her, pretending that he couldn't see her, and it made the Solid-Script mage laugh softly under her breath again.

"What."

She grinned again at his tone of voice as she bent to pick up the abandoned book, flipping it open to the one last page she'd honestly liked. She cleared her throat to capture his attention, hesitant now. Where she'd been eager to do this moments before, she wasn't so sure now. She waited until he was looking at the book, tapped a phrase that was written in it, then turned and darted away after shoving the book into his hands, her face flushing a brilliant red as she left him to read it.

Gajeel huffed, taking a moment to find the spot she'd pointed out. His red eyes scanned over the three worded phrase. And then a wide grin spread across his face despite his attempts to stop it. He tossed the book over his shoulder with a smirk, his legs already making long strides that he knew would be able to catch up with her before she could reach the building he couldn't enter. Just as planned, he caught up to her with ease, grabbing her again by the back of her shirt.

Levy squeaked, her eyes wide and face still red. "Hey! Put me-" She was cut off quite promptly when she found herself crushed against a form that was a good few feet taller than her own.

Was that-

Yes, it was.

That was another set of lips pressed against hers in a gruff manner that could only belong to Gajeel.

When he pulled back, Levy's face had become a color that rivaled the flames that idiot Salamander created, and a smug smirk was on his face, his eyes gleaming in a strange way that Levy would learn to enjoy. .

"Me, too, shrimp."

So...yeah. Fun little Gajevy one-shot. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading! :)