My First ever Fairy Tail Story, I know I won't get everything right, but thanks so much for taking the time to read. This will be a multi-chapter story and will be updated on a regular basis, and I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters, only my plot. With that finished, I hope you enjoy.

'Piece of cake ' she thought, 'I can do this. Not a problem, nope, not for me'. Maybe if she thought it a few more times she would be able to convince herself it was the truth. 'Nope, not working.' She didn't understand her problem, it's not like this was her first time. She'd gone once before, not the greatest of memories, but she had a bit of experience with the atmosphere. Her nerves were getting the better of her and she was letting them. 'Curse you nerves!', she mentally screamed, they still didn't let up.

She was sitting at her desk, her cheek laying in the hand of the arm she had propped on top of it. She was supposed to be working on a Rune translation, but she couldn't focus. Time was ticking away, and a decision needed to be made. She knew what she wanted, what she craved was the boldness to answer in the affirmative, to the one guy she desperately wanted to ask her. Would she look desperate if she said yes to the first person who asked? Would anyone ask? Would she look pathetic if she showed up alone? Would anyone even notice if she didn't arrive at all? This was getting ridiculous.

"Okay, Levy, this is not a big deal, you are a grown women. You can go with whomever you want. Heck, you can even ask someone." She said to herself, standing from her desk and pounding a fist into it. 'Yes', she thought, 'I could just ask him, myself'. Yeah, right. Now she was sitting again, hoping to just magically gain some confidence to either ask or be totally fine with going dateless.

Suddenly a knock at the door startled her from her mental onslaught of negativity, she quickly recovered and made her way over. She opened the door to an empty hallway, her brow furrowing. Curiously, she gazed around, left and right, but not a person in sight. 'Probably just Natsu playing ding, dong, ditch again', and she went to close the door.

"Levy?" A deep voice called, startling her once again. She looked in the direction of the source, towards the floor, and found Pantherlilly standing with an amused smirk on his face.

"Lily! How are you? I'm so sorry I didn't see you. Come in, come in." She was flustered now, that was embarrassing. But Lily was a good friend, he wouldn't hold her mistake against her.

"What can I do for you?" She asked once they were both seated on her couch.

"It's Gajeel."

"What about Gajeel? Is something wrong?"

She looked so concerned and Lily hated to play off her emotions, but his best friend was in need. Gajeel would be paying him back for this, for a long time. If things went wrong, even longer.

"He's been acting odd lately, I don't know what to make of it. You've known him longer than me, I thought you might have some insight."

"Odd how?" She asked. "Juvia's known him longer than me, much better than me too I'm sure, maybe this is something you should be asking her about." Not that she wanted to send him away, she just knew, as much as she would love to be an expert on all things Gajeel, they never got close enough to each other to really form more than an acquaintance like relationship.

Lily could distantly hear soft growling coming from the shadows underneath the front door. Bringing up the length of time the two mages had known each other was the wrong move. But he was a warrior of an exceed, he knew when to retreat, when to charge ahead, and when to tread carefully in stealth. The latter is what he needed now.

"I'm not really sure that she can help, Levy. You see the thing is, I think it has something to do with his Draconian side." He knew that was an incredibly broad statement but he also knew that Levy read anything she could get her hands on, including books on dragons and dragon slayers. There was the growling again, like Gajeel knew where this was headed and was regretting asking for Lily's help.

"How so, can you describe any of the mannerisms or symptoms?" He had her hooked now, she loved a challenge. He had watched her eyes go wide and the mechanisms in her brain fire up memory to pull forward anything relavent she had read on the subject.

"Well, he seems to be keeping himself holed up in our cabin, refusing to visit the guild, leaving only when we need the money to get by." Nothing he had said was a lie, would Gajeel have wanted him to reveal all of that? No. But he was getting tired of all the tiptoeing he was having to do around the slayer. A book, the perfect shade of blue or orange, even a headband could set him off now. Turning the over sized slayer into a whimpering lovesick puppy and Lily couldn't take it anymore.

With an over exaggerated sigh he added " I just don't know how to help him anymore, Levy." He was putting it on thick but he was done. He knew exactly what Gajeel needed, the question was, was Gajeel ready for it?

Gajeel was mad, he couldn't believe Lily had brought all that up. That had not been a part of the plan to simply get her over to the house where he would be casually making dinner, she would be invited to stay, Lily would remember something urgent and leave them alone where he would finally find the balls to ask Levy to the Guild's ball. Simple. Effective. Now totally ruined by a best friend exceed overstepping boundaries.

What would she think of him now? Would she think him a hermit, a slob? She definitely wouldn't see him as someone able to support her, not when he was afraid to go out, be reminded of her, and lose it. He had lost himself so many times over the past few weeks since he had caught a whiff of her. Sometimes in anger that uncontrollably swept through him like a raging fire, sometimes in sadness that hit so hard he felt like he couldn't breathe. He would wake up hours later in his bed, Lily in battle form hovering over him, pleading with him to just talk to her.

He couldn't do that though, not then and especially not now. The minute he had heard Lily list off all his most recent bad habits, he had ripped himself out of the shadows of her hallway and outside into the sun so fast he barely remembered walking back home. It had been hard enough waiting in the shadows now that he knew her scent, he was addicted to it, craved it like air. Watching her had been torture, only reminding himself that he would scare her off if he jumped out now, held him back. That and the fact that he wasn't quite sure he was ready for what that of her's truly meant. But he chose to ignore that for now.

He had to do something. His pacing was even setting himself on edge. He couldn't leave this all to Lily. If he knew his friend like he thought he did then Lily only had his best interest at heart. Which would mean he would want Levy over here as fast as he could get her to agree to come so that he could have the chance talk to her and maybe work something out. He knew his extreme mood swings and testiness had kept the poor exceed on the edge, ready for battle, even in his own home. Well tonight he planned to remedy that, even if only in a minor way. ' Dinner.' He thought, 'If Lily is coming than I need to start casually making dinner'. He headed to the kitchen, pulling the black apron off it's hook and around his waist on the way.

Levy couldn't believe her ears. That just didn't sound like the Gajeel she knew at all. He loved hard work, loved hard jobs, loved being at the guild no matter how much he seemed to complain. She may not have known a lot about him but those things she knew for sure. She just didn't understand, what would make a dragon slayer in particular suddenly avoid everything he used to love or at the very least enjoy.

"Maybe I should go see him?" She asked Lily, hoping she wasn't overstepping. Some of her friends had told her that she tended to do that in the name research. She wanted to help, from a distance if need be, but if she talked to him it could possibly be a simple fix. Or maybe not. Either way a first hand account of his symptoms could only help her to help him.

Lily seemed to visibly sag in relief before he was back to the concerned exceed once more.

"If you think that's best, I know he has a lot of respect for you, and even if he can't appreciate it now, I know he'll be thanking you for this." He said as he got up and started heading for the door, Levy grabbing her bag and following right behind him, subtly tried to hide a blush he pretended he didn't see.

He could smell her, she was close. He groaned to suppress a whimper. He was acting like a freaking puppy and he couldn't stand it. 'Pull yourself together' He mentally scolded, 'what would Metallicana think if he saw you like this?'

"Probably proud ." He muttered. Metallicana had told him what someone smelling like your favorite everything meant. Had told him he had personally never found that particular smell but would have given almost anything for the chance. Gajeel hadn't really understood or appreciated the severity of what he was saying at the time but had listened intently anyway, clinging to anything the dragon could teach him. Now he was glad he did, going into this blind would have been torture he was sure. Now to get through a meal without scaring her away, that's all he had to do tonight. If he could, ask her to the ball, if not ask her back for dinner in thanks for her help. He hoped tonight would open them both up to one another, if not he would beg for more chances to do just that. He hated looking like anything that resembled weakness, but he would gladly be weak for her.

Which didn't make sense, even to him. In everything he had been taught by his Father, not once had he mentioned the willingness to submit, and Gajeel had been at the beck and call of every one of Levy's whims without her even knowing it. Soon after he had caught her scent, him still frequenting the guild because he couldn't stand being far from her, she had dropped a folder of important looking documents about 10 ft. from where he was sitting. He had nearly knocked her over in his haste to get to her to retrieve her papers. It had been an awkward few seconds as he held out the papers to her and quickly left without the 'Thank You' he knew she wanted to give. The feelings and instincts excited and terrified him, she could easily kill him with her rejection, of that he knew for sure, which was why he wouldn't give her a chance to. 'She can't crush my heart if I don't give it to her.' It sounded dumb even in his mind.

She was nervous, excited, but nervous. She wanted to see him, help him if it was in her abilities to do so. Maybe if she helped him he would finally see her as something more than just the resident guild bookworm. With that hopeful thought she followed Lily into the cabin that he and Gajeel called home. Gajeel was standing in the kitchen cooking something that smelled absolutely delicious.

"That you Lily?" He called over his shoulder " 'Bout time you got home, cat, dinner's nearly done."

Levy had never seen him look so domestic before with his long choppy black hair thrown into a low ponytail and a black apron swung low on his hips covered in food residue he had obviously wiped off of his hands. In a word, it was adorable, so cute she could hardly stand it. He finally turned around about to say something else when he noticed her. His eyes went wide but he recovered quickly.

"What are you doing here, Shrimp? Come to taste my famous cooking? Gihee." That signature laugh of his had always made her giggle and she did, missing the genuine smile she caused him.

"Actually Lily invited me over, to look over some runes." She was not a good liar, luckily Lily had given her the believable excuse to use, even had a book of runes he could show her if Gajeel got suspicious.

"Hmm, you wanna stay for dinner?"

She tried not to act too surprised but apparently couldn't keep her initial reaction off her face because Gajeel was suddenly holding his hands up in surrender.

"Nothin' fancy, Shrimp, its just dinner."

"Sorry, I just didn't think you'd want me. To stay that is. Didn't think you'd want me to stay." Smooth, Levy, real smooth, she was mentally shaking her head at herself.

Looking at her he could tell she was having some sort of mental discussion with herself, so he took the time to look her over. She was sporting her regular outfit, shoes, and headband, still just as tiny as ever. Even her size didn't make sense when it came to his attraction of her, dragons mate to procreate and sought the strongest to do so with, and while strong, Levy was by no means the strongest female in the guild. 'Just another reason not to let her know what I've been feeling, maybe my dragon soul is defective.' His inner dragon snarled at the implication. But even deep in his own mental discussion he couldn't miss the bright blush now lining her cheeks.

"Gihee, it would be nice to share a meal with someone different for a change." So he affected her, at least a little bit. She was flustered he could see it on her face, hear it in her heartbeat and smell it in the air. He was dying he was sure of it, but surrounded by her heavenly scent, knowing she would rush to him if he collapsed, he was pretty sure he could die a happy man.

"That sounds nice Gajeel, Thank you." Oh, the way his name sounded from her lips made him want to purr, which he wasn't even sure he was capable of doing, but man, did he want to.

"Good, you can finish making the salad then." He must be a glutton for punishment, he would only be able to smell her better now, but he needed to be near her so bad it physically hurt. He pushed the salad bowl and vegetables that still needed chopping towards the opposite side of the island he was now working on in the middle of the kitchen.

She stepped towards the island, looking over what he needed her to do. He had already placed out the cutting board and knife and so she gathered her hair up high on top of her head to keep it out of her way. She heard a growl from across the island but when she looked up Gajeel was rubbing his stomach and giving her a sheepish smile. She smiled back at him and picked up the tomatoes to get started. She was halfway through finishing the tomatoes when she felt a presence behind her and stiffened. Looking to the opposite side of the island she realized Gajeel was gone, not that she needed to look up to know that. She would known his aura anywhere.

"It's okay, Shrimp. Just wanted to give you this, don't want you gettin' dirty now do we?" He was tying a red apron around her waist, but she couldn't remember him getting it around her. All her brain was focused on right now was the distinct lilt his tone had taken on the word 'dirty'. It was causing her to stumble around in her own mind, that had never happened before. She felt fuzzy headed, but didn't really have time to reflect on it. He seemed to realize something was off because he had her spun around and her chin was in his gentle grip looking into her eyes before she could take another breath.

"Are you OK? I didn't mean to scare you?" That was so sweet, she had never heard him sound so concerned. She could have melted in a puddle right then had she not taken a large gulp of air in the hopes of stabilizing herself. She suddenly had to close her eyes against the onslaught of deliciousness she was smelling, and it wasn't coming from the food.

'Nice going', he thought to himself. 'The whole entire objective of tonight was to not scare her off and now look what you've done. The poor thing is shivering and its all your fault!' his inner dragon growled at him. He whimpered aloud he couldn't help himself, he had ruined everything. But then suddenly her eyes were open and... glowing?

"Levy?" He asked cautiously, he knew he was to blame for many things going wrong tonight, but he had no idea how her eyes were glowing, he could't be blamed for that, right?

"Levy, please say something." He pleaded with her in a whisper, she wasn't moving, or blinking, she was breathing so softly even he was struggled to notice it. He grabbed her upper arms hoping to shake her out of whatever trance she was in. When he heard a soft rumble emanating from her chest, her eyes closed and she seemed relaxed by his touch. His eyebrows rose, 'okay, Metallicana never said anything about this' He went to remove his hands when a growl ripped through her throat so fast he reacted by human instinct and took a step back. He realized about 2 seconds too late that that had been the wrong move.