It had been a while since you had last seen your best friend, Natsu Dragneel. You were wondering where he had been- normally he showed up at the guild hall with Lucy around 8 in the morning, so when it became 12 in the afternoon you were starting to get a little bit worried. You were supposed to go on a job together with Gray and Erza, so you had been expecting he'd arrive early. But that proved to not be the case, apparently.

You sat down at the edge of a table by the bar, listening to the rowdy noises going on around you.

Hmm, you thought. I wonder where he could be...

It wasn't long before someone approached you from behind, you could tell by their heavy footsteps. It was a familiar sound, one you were guessing belong to-

"Hey there," a gruff and sort of snarky sounding voice said at you. You turned to see Gajeel Redfox in all of his...glory. It nearly sent a shiver down your spine. You weren't used to having people like him approach you, since you were a little bit weaker than Natsu and most people didn't like to get on Natsu's bad side by challenging you.

"Umm...hello," you said softly, a little bit of shyness leaking out in your voice. It made you want to curse, you didn't want to appear weak in front of anyone. A low chuckle from him sent yet another chill down your spine. You turned around, looking for someone, anyone that might be able to save you from this encounter. But for some strange reason, there was no one. The guild hall was suddenly completely empty except for you two.

Strange...when did that happen? You couldn't spare much time to think about it because suddenly a large hand was clamping down on your shoulder, dragging you out of your worried thoughts.

"U-Um, what are you doing?" You squeaked, trembling slightly in fear. He only laughed.

"I like you, (y/n). I like you a lot. What do you say we...go out, some time?" In all honesty that was not the answer you were expecting. You had been thinking something along the lines of "I'm going to kill you and leave your body somewhere where no one will ever find it." You supposed you owed that to your paranoia, something that continually got in the way of your social encounters. Natsu, Erza, and Gray were the only ones who really didn't trigger your anxiety. That was because they had always been nice to you- whereas, Gajeel on the other hand, had not always been so nice. He was one of the ones who seemed to get enjoyment out of teasing you. So why was he suddenly acting nice and asking you on a date?

"So, do I have an answer?" His voice once more brought you out of your thoughts and you looked up into his bright red eyes.

"I...um...well...I-I thought you liked Levy," you stammered, looking up at him nervously. He burst out laughing.

"The shrimp? No, no. She's just a friend. It's you that I really want." This caused a bright red blush to form on your cheeks. Despite not really having feelings for anyone, it still gave you butterflies in your stomach to know that someone was interested in you.

"Well...I'm sorry, Gajeel, it's just that...I like..I like someone else," you lied. Almost instantly the man's entire demeanor changed from nonchalant and friendly to cold and hostile. His bright red eyes narrow in your direction, and once more you feel anxious in his presence.

"I see...it's the flame-head, right? I mean, that's who you're always hanging around. It makes sense I suppose." You didn't know how to answer this question. If you said yes, that could mean that Gajeel would tell Natsu about it and you'd have another mess on your hands if he decided he liked you too. If you said no, Gajeel might question you until you gave out a false name. So which was the better option? Eventually, you decided on the first one.

"Yeah, I like Natsu," You said softly. "Listen, Gajeel, I'm really sorry. I just...maybe we could still be friends? Like you and Levy?" He stared at you coldly, and that gives you reason to believe that the answer is a no.

Without saying anything, he got up and started to leave the room.

"Have fun with him," he growled, stepping out of the guild hall and slamming the door behind him. You sigh.

Well, that could have been worse, You thought to yourself. You got up, looking around the empty guild hall.

If Natsu and the others aren't going to show up, I might as well go home for the day. And so you did.

The next morning, Natsu still was no where to be found. And this time, neither was Gajeel. As you stepped into the rowdy guild (thankfully not being the only one there this time), your eyes were searching for your teammates. Lucy was there,smiling, so you assumed she must know Natsu's whereabouts, which calmed your nerves. A slight smile graced your lips. Perhaps he had just gotten over-excited and gone on the job on his own. That was something he used to do rather frequently before Lucy came to the guild, so you supposed that it was what he was doing now.

"Hey, (y/n)!" Lucy suddenly called at you, coming up and putting a hand on your shoulder. You turn and smile nonchalantly at her.

"Yes?" You asked, wondering what she was going to say or ask.

"Have you seen Natsu around lately? I haven't seen him in a couple of days, and he didn't tell me if he was going to be going out on a job by himself or not like he usually does." Cue the end of your smile. Instantly the happy aura around you drained and was replaced by one of fear and worry.

"I...I don't know," You answered slowly. Lucy's smile faded as well, replacing itself with one of obvious anxiety.

"This is unlike him...he never leaves without telling us..." You sighed gently.

"Perhaps we should go looking for him? We could get Laxus to smell his scent...or Gajeel...but I don't know where they are either." Lucy shrugged.

"That's as good an idea as any," she said. "We'll start in a little while, alright? I'm going to go get Erza and Gray and see if they can help us." You nodded, watching Lucy as she disappeared into the crowd of the guild. By this point, you were more than a little worried that something bad had happened to your friend. It made you want to cry- if something had happened to Natsu, what would you do? He had been your best friend for years now, and had always been there for you.

"Hey," a gruff voice said from behind you. You turned to see Gajeel, your stomach dropping.

"Yes?" You asked, looking at him cautiously, in case he was going to be hostile like the previous night. He looked at you with a bit of amusement in his eyes.

"I know where Natsu is," he said. "I can show you if you like. He's been training really hard, working on a new fire spell. He hasn't been able to come back here for a while, since, well...it's pretty destructive." Your eyes lit up at his words.

"Show me! Please, Gajeel!" You begged. He chuckled and took hold of your arm, pulling you out of the guild hall.

"It's right this way," he told you. You nod and walk with him, not minding the slight physical contact. You were thinking that perhaps you and Gajeel, despite how things had turned out the previous night, could be the best of friends. He was nice enough to Levy, and they were friends, so why couldn't you be friends? A smile adorned your face as you headed down the road. He grinned and led you into the forested area of Magnolia.

You looked around, and as you got further into the forest you began to notice burn marks on the trees. It appeared that Natsu had been here after all, and Gajeel was not lying. But what made you curious was that there were also strange formations of metal- this made you nervous. What if..what if Gajeel had done something to Natsu? Your breathing began to speed up and adrenaline began to pump in your veins.

I have to get out of here...but how? All of a sudden a sudden blow to the back of your neck caused you to stumble and fall to the ground right before darkness overtook you. The last thing you saw was Gajeel's smirking face, looking down at you in amusement.

"Goodnight, love," he purred.

*End of Part One*

(A/N: This is a first. I haven't done Yandere before. Part two should come soon.)