A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! This was an idea that crossed my mind while wasting away during class; I hope all of you people enjoy reading it! And, for once in my life, it's not Natsu/Lucy. Gasp!

He had always been told that he was intimidating. It was true, of course. With his large stature and his menacing crimson eyes, not to mention the countless piercings adorning his body, he was, in effect, scary.

But not all people found him to be so. One small, small girl with a large, large heart found him to be an anti-hero of sorts; certainly not borderline villain, just misunderstood.

This perplexed him. What, exactly, did she see in him? Him, as in the gruff, intimidating, iron-munching dragonslayer most commonly known as Gajeel Redfox.

But she understood. She, as in the small, cute, nose-in-a-book girl most commonly known as Levy McGarden. She thought he was, of all things, cute. Which, he protested weakly, he was most certainly not.

They hadn't started off on the best terms. If beating someone and tying them to a tree was deemed alright by her standards, then she was mistaken.

In truth, Gajeel often wondered how she brought herself to trust, let alone fall in love with, him. It was true that he had supposedly mended his ways, and that he had taken a blow (which didn't hurt him at all, dammit!) from Laxus to protect her, and that he was her partner in the S-class exams, and that they had gone on a date––between friends, Gajeel growled to himself––with the Exceeds. But to him, that was nowhere near enough repentance––no, he needed to show her that he was bad and that she should stay away from him and his intimidating self.

It hadn't surprised him in the least that she had wholeheartedly ignored his warning. In fact, she had done the opposite––she had wiggled even closer to him than before, which he most certainly did not enjoy in the slightest.

Why, exactly, was Gajeel was pondering his relationship with Levy McGarden at this precise moment? In truth, he did not know. All he knew was that, in the library––and yes, he thought savagely, he did know what a library was––with her nose buried in a romance novel, probably something Gajeel couldn't decipher in his wildest dreams (not that he'd want to, anyway), her breathing soothing and constant, and her usually tame blue hair ruffled and mussed, she was the most breathtaking thing in this world. Hell, if Salamander had appeared out of nowhere, screaming in his obnoxious voice that Metalicana was flapping his metallic wings outside, he wouldn't budge from his place in the library.

Not that his foster father was showing his face anytime soon, but still.

He liked watching her sleep. Not in a voyeuristic manner, but he loved seeing her curled up amidst a pile of books––which, he thought in hindsight, could not be comfortable––chest heaving and breaths long and drawn out.

He saw her eyelashes flitter––once, twice, thrice––before her cat-like golden eyes bore into his intimidating red ones.

She scrunched her nose up, and she asked sleepily, "Gajeel? Is that you?"

Gajeel patted her head fondly, and ordered, "Go back t' sleep, Shrimp."

Levy yawned, and wondered aloud, "What time is it?"

Gajeel shrugged. "Four, maybe five?"

Levy blinked. "And you stayed here?"

Gajeel nodded cautiously.

Levy smiled gratefully. "You're so cute, Gajeel."

And for once, on that Valentine's day, in year X791, in the Fairy Tail library, Gajeel didn't feel intimidating.

For loss of a better term, he felt… cute.