Levy's eyes narrowed as she tried to focus on her book, failing miserably every time they snapped back to where Gajeel and the new girl were sitting when her annoying laugh would resonate throughout the guild hall. Levy huffed air through her nose, again trying to concentrate on the words in front of her.
"Karin sure seems to be getting used to the guild quickly," Mirajane suddenly said from behind the bar, startling Levy and making her jump. Mirajane was cleaning a mug as usual, arching an eyebrow at Levy's sudden fright.
"Oh, y-yes, of course," Levy said, turning to face her, adding, "Maybe a little too quickly if you ask me," under her breath.
"Come again?" Mirajane asked.
"N-Nothing!" Levy exclaimed. "Nothing at all!"
Mira furrowed her brow as she peered down at Levy's quickly reddening face. "Is something the matter, Levy?" Mira inquired as she set down the mug she was cleaning.
Levy looked at the two from the corner of her eye. She pressed her lips together at Karin running her hand over Gajeel's bicep. "Wow! They're so big! You must work out, Gajeel!"
"Yeah, I guess I do," Gajeel said, an odd look passing across his face. She's awfully informal with him.
"Not in particular," Levy answered Mira through gritted teeth.
Karin was new to Fairy Tail, so Levy wasn't about to be mean to the girl. But she had gotten oddly attached to Gajeel since the first day she started at the guild and it was driving Levy up the wall. She constantly flirted with him, running her hands over his muscles, sitting as close as she possibly could to him, twirling her hair around her finger. She even went as far as to ask him to go with her on some missions, but, much to Levy's relief, he had refused.
Levy wasn't going to deny that she was jealous because she liked Gajeel, so of course having some girl throw herself all over him was going to make her feel bitter. But Levy couldn't help but feel distressed because there was no way she could compete with Karin. The woman was gorgeous. She had big, sparkling blue eyes and silky looking orange hair, a curvaceous body and huge breasts. And to make matters worse, Karin was at least a head taller than her. Levy looked nothing like her, why would Gajeel even give her a second glance with a woman like that on his arm?
But that wasn't the worst part. At least Gajeel would talk to her before, but now she couldn't even get close to him. Every time she tried to talk to him, Karin would suddenly be there to bump Levy out of the way. She hadn't been able to talk to him for more than a week and it was upsetting her terrible. And Gajeel was too dense to realize that the woman was flirting with him. Levy really enjoyed her talks with Gajeel, she just really got along with him well. Hearing him laugh or watching him smile would make her day.
Levy sighed, trying to focus on her book yet again.
"Whatcha reading, shrimp?" a rough voice said close behind her, making her heart skip a beat. Gajeel set his forearm on her head, trying to look at what she was reading.
"N-N-Nothing you'd be interested in," she squeaked. His musky male scent flooded her nostrils, making her gulp nervously. He smells so good… she thought to herself.
"Eh, you're probably right, but it's always fun watching you tell me about it in your enthusiastic way," he said with a chuckle.
Levy couldn't help but smile a little bit. She was happy to have him near her for at least a moment. Karin must have been primping herself in the bathroom, Levy guessed, since she wasn't glued to Gajeel's side.
"So, what're you reading?" he asked again, keeping his arm placed on her head and leaning his head over her shoulder. "I'll try to act interested, I promise."
Levy giggled and lifted her book so he could see. "It's about Tomas Magiam, he was the very first person to use solid-script magic ever. Do you remember what that is?"
"'Course I do," he replied, glancing at her from the corner of his eye," that's the magic that you use."
"Right!" Levy said with a smile. "What's really interesting is he didn't even know he could do it until—"
"Gajeeeel!" a voice called from behind the two. Gajeel was pulled away forcefully and Karin wrapped her arms tight around his bicep. "I just remembered the funniest thing that happened the other day!"
"Sorry, I'm a little—" Gajeel began to say, but by the time he turned his head back, the chair Levy had been sitting in was empty.
A couple days past, but Levy didn't even try to talk to Gajeel. She kept as far away as she could when the both of them were in the guild. Levy would keep her nose in a book, trying her best not to pay attention to Karin still latched onto Gajeel's arm. He was still completely oblivious to her advances, though, he just thought he was talking to a fellow guild member. But it was still distressing Levy greatly. She missed talking to him every day, and whenever she tried to get close, Karin would suddenly appear. So she finally just stopped trying altogether.
"Oh, Gajeel, you're so cool," she heard Karin purr, running her hands up and down his arm.
"Um, okay?" Gajeel replied. Levy just rolled her eyes and spun around in her barstool, fixing her sight on the words in front of her with a deep breath in and out. Her brow furrowed as her eyes slowly became unfocused, slipping further into thought. She didn't just miss talking to him, she missed his laugh, she missed his smile, she missed him.
"…—imp?"
"Shrimp!" Levy nearly jumped ten feet in the air when she realized Gajeel was sitting right next to her at the bar. "Goddamn! Are you okay?"
"I-I'm…" Levy panted, "just… fine…" Her heart beat a mile a minute as she tried to look at her book again.
"Okay, so," Gajeel began, sitting on the stool next to her, "what're you reading?"
"Nothing you'd be interested in…" Levy said, spinning around on the barstool to face the other direction.
Gajeel furrowed his brow as he strode to the other side of her. "Come on, I promise I'll act interested."
Levy looked away, turning again and setting her elbows on the countertop. "I-I really don't think you'd be interested…"
He frowned, leaning over the bar to get a look at her, but the further he tried to look, the further she pushed her face into the book she was reading. Frustrated, Gajeel stood and wrenched the book from her hands, throwing it over his shoulder.
"Gajeel!" she cried. Just then, Gajeel leaned down close to her face, setting his hands on either side of her barstool.
"Alright, Levy," Gajeel growled. "Wanna tell me what the fuck is wrong with you lately?"
Levy's face reddened as she stared down at her hands. "Nothing is wro—"
"We both know that isn't true!" he snarled low, making Levy shiver. "Can't you just tell me what's going on?"
Levy looked away, her eyes scrunching closed as she tried not to cry. "Well it's not exactly easy watching some woman cling onto the guy I really like!" Still looking down, Levy's eyes snapped open when she realized what came out of her mouth. Gajeel's own red eyes overtook his pupils at her statement.
"W-What?" Gajeel said roughly. Levy moved Gajeel's hand from the barstool, hopping off and running out of the guild. Gajeel, when he came to his senses, growled low and ran after her.
"Gajeeeeel! I found a mission that's perf—" Karin tittered with a job flyer in her hand, but Gajeel just sped right past her, not even looking back.
Levy turned the corner towards Fairy Hills and headed for the steps as fast as she could. She heard Gajeel call after her, causing Levy to run faster. But she knew there was no way she could outrun Gajeel Redfox. Before she even got to the steps Gajeel caught her by the arm and swung her around, catching her other arm. He panted hard, Levy not being able to tell if his face was red from running or because he was blushing. He took a step forward, towering over her small frame.
He gazed at her for a few moments before he whispered gruffly, "You… You like me?"
Levy looked down at her feet. There was no going back now, Levy couldn't lie about this. But she couldn't bring herself to say it again either. "I… I should get home…" she whispered. She tried to pull herself free, but Gajeel wasn't about to let go.
"Levy," the way he said her name in such a low, sensual tone made a shiver run up her spine. He pulled her closer to him, but she still kept her eyes on the ground. Gajeel sighed, letting go of her arms and taking her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. He searched her face, his crimson eyes exploring every inch of her small face before he murmured, "Do you like me…?"
Levy worried her lip between her teeth, looking anywhere but his eyes. After a few moments, she nodded once. Gajeel chortled once, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Really?"
She nodded twice.
Gajeel smiled and gazed into her big eyes, his thumb rubbing lazily under her eye. But a second later the smile disappeared, he suddenly became serious. Dipping his head towards hers, he slowly pressed his lips against her own. They separated a minute later, only until Gajeel greedily claimed her lips once again a moment later. He slanted his lips against hers, moving his hand to the back of her head and pressing himself further into her. He moved his mouth with hers, running his tongue over her bottom lip, eliciting cute little whimpers from her. She clutched at his shirt as he pressed his tongue to hers. His nose rubbed hard against her own and finally the two separated, Gajeel setting his forehead to Levy's as he wrapped both arms around her waist. Levy laid her head against his chest, him leaning his cheek against her hair, letting out a content sigh. "I like you, too…"
The next day, it was Karin who didn't approach Gajeel. Not with Levy in his lap, contently resting his chin on her shoulder as he watched her read about a princess and a dragon. And this time he didn't even have to pretend to be interested.