Okay so for whatever reason, I really wanted to write this one-shot... like really, I have no idea. And yes, before you ask, I'm procrastinating again.

And yes, there's hints of BixLu (duh...), but it's predominantly GaLe/Gajevy (whatever you want to call it).

With that, I hope you enjoy it!

Gajeel wasn't a people person, and it was precisely why he was studying to become a veterinarian at college.

People were loud, obnoxious, rude, and for the most part, just plain annoying. And it was pretty hypocritical for him to think some of those things about people, considering Gajeel himself was obnoxious and rude.

Incredibly rude, actually.

But he just really didn't like people all that much. They talked too much, and Gajeel liked his peace. He liked to sit in his room in silence, occasionally laugh at people as they walked past his window or room doing something stupid, and most of all, actually study. Because the more he studied, the higher the chances of him actually getting out of the damn place on time rather than having to repeat a semester because he failed a unit.

There was no way he was going to be spending another six months in that hellhole.

If it wasn't bad enough, he just happened to share a dorm with quite possibly the loudest, most obnoxious, rudest, and most annoying son of a bitch on the entire campus.

Bickslow.

Gajeel got stuck with Bickslow as a roommate and there wasn't a day that went by where Gajeel wasn't plotting the guy's murder and how to cover it up without getting kicked out of the school and sent to jail. He wasn't going to let that happen.

Gajeel's relationship with Bickslow was a little weird. The two had known each other since high school, and quite often, they'd end up in detention together – or even suspended a few times – because of all the pranks and fights they got into. Well, Bickslow was more into pranks, and Gajeel was more into fights (especially when there was a guy who called himself Salamander itching to go), but the two always found ways to help each other out. Whether it be Gajeel causing a distraction for Bickslow to pull off his elaborate plan, or Bickslow… well, Bickslow honestly didn't help with the fights too much. He usually just stood in the crowd taking money from all of the annoying freshmen for the bets that always ended up getting placed.

So despite hating the guy, Bickslow was actually Gajeel's best friend. But it was a mutual hatred. Sort of.

Whatever, anyway. They were good enough friends to insult each other on a daily basis without getting hurt.

But more than anything, Gajeel hated the fact he had to sleep in the same fucking room as the guy. Every night.

Well, assuming Bickslow didn't pass out at some frat or sorority party, or actually ended up getting laid, which was actually quite often. Or so he said. Gajeel really didn't care about the guy's sex life, especially when he already knew too much about it as it was. Bickslow just really didn't have any shame when it came to those kind of things. Hell, Gajeel had walked in on him getting lucky more than once in all the years they'd known each other, and unlike a normal person who would be screaming at the intruder to get out, Bickslow just told him he was welcome to join in.

The guy was weird, but he was Gajeel's friend.

Somewhat unfortunately.

So as Gajeel sat down on his bed on a Friday night, his laptop sitting on his lap as he slaved away on it, frantically trying to finish his paper that was due by midnight that night, his roommate from hell walked in, obviously a little intoxicated.

"Hey buddy," Bickslow slurred, walking over to Gajeel's bed and slumping down next to him. "What ya doin'?"

"What does it look like?" Gajeel grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the man and shuffling over on his all too small bed. The guy was way too close for comfort.

"Looks like you're wasting time."

And at the sound of Bickslow's raucous laughter, Gajeel slammed his laptop shut and rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers in small circles. The guy wasn't going to leave him alone, and with him there, Gajeel knew he wasn't going to get any work done. He'd learned that the hard way many years before.

"Look, Bicks," Gajeel said, a hand going out to shove the man away as he leant on his shoulder. The guy was even more annoying when he was drinking, and hell, Bickslow could hold his liquor surprisingly well so by that time of night, he wasn't even close to being drunk. A little tipsy at most. "I've got a paper to finish, so if you don't get the fuck out in the next five minutes, I'm going to send you through the goddamn wall."

"Okay, okay… fine," Bickslow sighed, running his hands through his hair as he got up and walked over to the floor length mirror on the back of the door. "Sorority party. You need to come."

"Why? Did you not just hear a thing I said?"

"Because, and yes, I did."

"Because Bunny is going to be there?" Gajeel asked, a smirk pulling at his lips as he watched Bickslow's shoulders slump, turning as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Maybe." He muttered.

"Gi-hi. You're still trying to get with her?" Hell, the guy had been trying since the start of the year. Either the girl was completely oblivious to when people were flirting with her, she knew that Bickslow was a complete jackass and had been told to stay away from him (which was entirely possible, because the more girls – and guys, for that matter, in some cases – gossiped, the less Bickslow got laid), or she just really had no interest in Bickslow, which was also entirely possible, as much as Bickslow disagreed with that statement.

That, or she was messing with him to see how far Bickslow would actually go. It was the longest the guy had been pining after anyone in all the years Gajeel had known him. It was both disturbing and entertaining to see Bickslow get frustrated from not being able to get the one thing he wanted.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Bickslow unfolded his arms and pointed towards the smirking man. "Don't give me that look, you mother fucker. She'll cave. Eventually." Then, when his tongue-lolling grin returned, he said, "Everyone eventually comes around."

"Not her, apparently." Gajeel chuckled.

Bickslow sighed. "Oh, shut up," he mumbled. "Look, Bookworm is going to be there too. I know how much you like that one."

"I do not."

"Do so."

"Do s—not." Damn it. That was close.

"Did I mention Natsu's there as well? He's already drunk." Grinning, Bickslow moved closer to the bed, picking up the laptop that was sitting at the foot of it and opening it up. "Come on, I know you want to see him make a fool of himself."

"It's tempting… it really is," Gajeel sighed as he watched Bickslow skim through his essay, an eyebrow raised as he did so. "But that still doesn't explain why you need me to go…" And when a smirk pulled at his lips again, he said quietly, "Unless you need another reason to go and talk to Bunny-girl…?"

Bickslow glanced towards Gajeel, his lids lowered as he slammed the laptop shut again and placed it on Gajeel's desk. Avoiding the subject, he mumbled, "Why are you working on that paper again? I know for a fact you finished that a week ago and already submitted it."

"How the hell do you know that?" And it was actually true. Gajeel had finished the essay before, and he knew he was going to get a pretty good grade on it, so really, him working on it that night was just because he had nothing else to do. A pretty sad life, really, but he enjoyed his solitude so he didn't care.

"I know everything."

Gajeel snorted. "Yeah, sure," he said. "You didn't answer my question though."

And all they did was stare at each other for a moment; Gajeel with a smirk because he already knew the answer to the question Bickslow had avoided, and Bickslow with narrowed eyes because he knew Gajeel knew the answer. He just wanted to hear him say it.

So then, finally, when Bickslow was beginning to get agitated from the lack of alcohol being consumed on a Friday night, he went and leant back against the desk with folded arms. "Fine," he sighed. "I need you to come with me so I have a reason to go and talk to her, alright?" Because whenever he went up to the blonde he'd had a thing for all year, she almost always walked away. She knew why Bickslow would always come and try and talk to her, and she did find it fun, but Bickslow wasn't going to give up.

Never.

"What do I get out of it?" Gajeel asked.

"I don't fucking know. Laid, maybe?"

Shrugging, Gajeel got up from the bed and went over to his desk chair and pulled the studded leather jacket from the back of it. "Eh, whatever. Nothing better to do anyway." And it was true. He really didn't have anything better to do and it was a Friday night. At least if he went to the goddamn party, he'd be somewhat entertained. Though, whether his entertainment would come from watching Natsu make a fool of himself as he usually did when he got drunk, or from watching Bickslow get shot down again, Gajeel did not know.

The thumping bass from the music could be heard as they walked down the street. Drunken people everywhere, stumbling and tripping over others and shouting profanities or slurring their declarations of love in their stupors. When the sorority house in question came into view, Bickslow suddenly brightened, his tongue lolling from his mouth as he picked up his pace and began jogging towards the house.

So with a quiet sigh, Gajeel chased after him, and as soon as they'd made it through the open door of the pink and white sorority house and into the crowded hall, Gajeel came to regret his decision to be Bickslow's wingman instantly.

So many people. Disgusting, sweaty people, grinding against each other or screaming and shouting along with the music. Hell, there was one couple actually having sex in the small bathroom just behind the staircase; with the door open, mind you.

Drunk people, high people, underage people, mature age students, who, honestly, were probably the most intoxicated of them all, and then there were the sober ones.

Himself included.

Gajeel hated people. He wasn't a people person.

Bickslow suddenly emerged from the sea of humans with two red cups in his hand and handed one to Gajeel as he lifted his own to his lips. "Thanks." Gajeel mumbled as he followed the man through the bodies again.

He stopped for a moment as he saw Natsu dancing on a pool table in one room, laughing maniacally as he held a bundle of lit matches just in front of his tongue. The guy had a strange obsession with fire and Gajeel honestly couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with the guy. Either he'd burned off every single nerve-ending in his body and could no longer feel the pain, or he was just plain stupid.

Probably both, actually.

But shaking his head at the drunken idiots watching the bigger idiot, he took a sip from his cup and went to go and find Bickslow once again. Luckily, he was able to spot the blue Mohawk above the heads if he looked up slightly, and soon was heading towards the man as he made his way up the stairs.

Rounding past the slightly less crowded upstairs hallway and small common room, Gajeel managed to catch up to Bickslow just before he got to the two women sitting on a chaise lounge quietly, one sipping away at her drink slowly and the other with her nose in a book.

"Hey, Cosplayer." Bickslow greeted, his tongue lolling from his mouth as he stood in front of the two.

The blonde looked up with a slight smile, nodding towards her friend on the other side of the room as they left. "Hi, Bickslow." Then, as Gajeel came to stand beside Bickslow, raising his cup slightly with a slight nod of his head – his version of a greeting when he didn't feel like talking – she said, "Oh, you must be Gajeel! Levy talks about you."

Levy's face went bright red suddenly, making a squeak of embarrassment when Lucy elbowed her in the side, pulling her from her book. "Oh, hi, Gajeel…" She mumbled.

"Hey, Shrimp."

"So!" Bickslow said suddenly, drawing the awkwardness in the air away as he sat down on the lounge next to Lucy, to which she rolled her eyes. "How's the term paper going, ladies?"

"You mean the one that was due last week?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow as she pushed Bickslow's arm off her shoulder.

"Yeah, that one."

Levy looked up as she closed her text book and sat forward on the lounge. "Did you even do it?"

"Nope." He replied with his wide grin and loud laughter.

Gajeel sighed with a slight shake of his head before he looked back down to Levy. Hey, if he was going to be stuck there, he was going to talk to the one person who was actually a decent person and was not completely intoxicated or under the influence of anything. "Oi, Shrimp," he said, his voice his usual monotonous and arduous tone. When she looked up to him, leaving Bickslow and Lucy to argue about the term paper and how stupid he was, Gajeel continued, "What are you reading, anyway?"

"O-oh… just one of the readings for my course…" She mumbled, looking back down to her book with a slight blush.

"Right…"

And then, after another few moments of an awkward silence between the two, Gajeel glanced back to Bickslow and Lucy, only to see that Lucy was actually smiling at the guy and his arm had gone back over her shoulders. What the hell?

Levy, on the other hand… well, Levy just didn't know what to say, lest she say something stupid. She'd liked Gajeel since she'd accidentally walked in to one of his lectures on the first day of the year but she'd never been able to actually do anything with those feelings. After all, he was Gajeel. He was menacing and it was a known fact he wasn't exactly the nicest person to be around, and he didn't know how to have a conversation to save his life. Plus, her best friend had a thing for his best friend and yeah, it was kind of hard not to bump into them both around campus. Almost every day, actually.

Bickslow looked between Gajeel and Levy as Lucy did and he let his tongue roll from his mouth as he placed his empty cup on the table just in front of the lounge. "So, Cosplayer," he drawled, "How about we go laugh at that friend of yours who was busy trying to set his tongue on fire and leave these two alone?"

Lucy rolled her eyes as she stood up from the lounge with Bickslow, his arm still over her shoulders. "I keep telling you that I'm not a cosplayer." She said, their voices merging with the music and the rest of the shouting and yelling as they disappeared into the crowd and down the stairs. Gajeel could only just make out Bickslow arguing that she was in fact a cosplayer, but he already knew the story behind that name so he stopped listening.

"So…" Levy murmured, blushing again when she realised they were left alone in the room. Damn it, Lucy. You and your stupid crush.

Downing the rest of his beer and placing the empty cup on the table with the rest of the empty cups and bottles that were piling up, Gajeel sat down next to Levy heavily. "So…" he echoed, letting the barbell of his tongue piercing hit his teeth as he thought of something to break the incredibly awkward silence.

He wasn't good with people, and it was part of the reason he didn't like them. But, he was even worse when it came to girls. He had no idea how to talk to girls.

At all.

You'd think he would have learned a few things having been friends with Bickslow for so long, but no, he wasn't. He was just as pathetic as he was the day he'd met the idiot.

But then, he found something to talk about. Something they actually had a sort of mutual interest in, and that was their friends. "So does Bunny actually like Bicks or what?" He asked, turning to face the bluenette who fiddling with the corners of her book.

"I think he might have annoyed her into liking him," She said, giggling quietly as she looked up to face Gajeel. "Lu's just been messing with him though."

"Sounds about right," Gajeel chuckled as he looked down to his hands. Trust Bickslow to get a girl to like him just by annoying the hell out of her. He was persistent when he wanted to be, he'd give him that. "I still can't believe that moron started taking that literature in history class just to talk to her."

"I know right? He hasn't even done a single one of the assignments all semester."

"Tch. Gotta give him credit for trying though."

"Yeah…" She agreed.

Then, after another few moments of awkward silence once their short conversation about their friends had ended, Gajeel sighed and stood up, looking down to Levy as she raised her eyebrow in question.

"Look, you don't seem like the kind of person who enjoys these kind of things, so-" He said, only to be cut off as Levy jumped to her feet, dropping the book to the lounge as her face instantly became a dark shade of pink.

"Do you want to go out?" She asked quickly, her words becoming a slurred mess. Hell, she'd only had a few drinks. She still had her inhibitions. Well, most of them.

When Gajeel only stared back at her, his mouth hanging open slightly and his brow furrowed in confusion, she gasped, having realised what she actually said. "O-oh, no. I didn't mean… I meant…" Damn it, Levy! She cursed herself. You know how to speak in six different languages but now you forget how to use your words? Goddamn it. Stupid Gajeel.

Gajeel was stunned, quite literally. He didn't know whether she was asking him out – on a date – or if she was just asking if he wanted to get out of the damn place. He had no idea.

Damn it, people are confusing.

Looking back up, ignoring the heat in her cheeks and her heart jumping around in her chest and her stomach feeling like it had a million goddamn butterflies in it, she took a steadying breath and met his deep red eyes that were gazing into hers. "I just meant… did you want to get out of here and go do something… if you don't want to stay, I mean…"

Shit. He was still confused. He wasn't good with people and honestly, he liked Levy too damn much to screw it up.

So doing the thing he knew best, he smirked. "I hear the diner on campus has great food."

"Y-yeah!" She smiled. "Let's go there. That sounds good, I mean… I'm not particularly a fan of these parties, anyway…"

And so as they made their way down the stairs, Gajeel smirking still while he kept glancing down to the smiling and blushing bluenette beside him, he caught Bickslow giving him a thumbs up from where he stood in the room off to the side of the hall – next to Lucy, no less, while she yelled at Natsu.

So as much as Gajeel hated people, just because they were mostly loud, obnoxious, rude, and plain annoying, he was looking forward to spending some time with the bluenette beside him. Levy was probably the only person that he could straight up and say that he didn't hate.

Hell, he liked her too damn much to hate her.