WRONG MAIL

Gift Fic for levymcgarden17

Gajeel stepped through the doorway, looking forward to taking off his workboots after the long day at the shop. He tossed his mail onto the small kitchen table. He'd sort through it in a little bit.

The A/C unit in the window sputtered to life. Then stopped. And turned back on. The maintenance guys had told him they'd get to it. Sure. He roughly sat down in the only chair around the table. He had forgotten his lunch again, now remembering where he had left it; the paper sack stared him in the face.

Munching on the sandwich he should have eaten during the day, he saw the stack of mail was thicker than usual. Looking through the clear slots, most were bills of his. But a few were addressed to someone else.

"McGarden? Again?" He squinted. That blue haired girl who lived in the apartment directly below his. How many times did he have to go downstairs to switch out their mail, as she received some of his as well?

Not that he hated it, per se. He didn't mind getting to see her, she wasn't bad to look at at all. Pretty cute for a shorty. But he always felt as though she was waiting on him for something, as much as they saw each other during the week.

Sighing, he put his boots back, palmed the white envelopes, and stalked out into the hallway. When he came up to her door, he knocked and waited. What was she going to be wearing this time? Last time it was workout clothing. The time before that was a dress.

The door opened and Gajeel wasn't prepared for it. His mouth dropped open when he saw the pink two-piece swimsuit. She held a beach towel and a pair of sunglasses. She grinned while Gajeel gathered himself.

"Yes?" she said calmly.

"Um, Levy, hi," Gajeel stumbled. He huffed and looked down, remembering the mail. He was angry with himself for looking like a fool, with his reddening face. He couldn't stop staring at her curves.

"I keep getting your mail. This needs to stop, dammit," he said with force to cover his weakness. He shoved the mail at her and when she took it, stuffed his hands in his pockets.

She scanned through them. "I'm sorry you end up with my mail. I don't know how to stop it. I've told them my apartment is B2, not C2."

Gajeel couldn't hear her for his own thoughts. He looked her up and down. He asked flatly, "Why are you in a swimsuit?"

Levy smiled. "A pool party."

"This complex doesn't have a pool." He looked at her like she was crazy.

She waved a hand. "I know, my friend lives across the road. She's got a large pool in her backyard. They're grilling out."

They stood staring at each other in awkward silence. He took a deep breath. It always felt like this time in their weekly mail-swapping meetings that it got weird. Like she was waiting on something.

"So you got any mail of mine?" he asked slowly.

She shook her head. "Not this time."

"Well if you do, you don't have to wait for me to bring you yours." He slowly turned to leave.

"Ok, I will." She gave him another smile, a bit her bottom lip. "Do, do you want to come with us? To the pool party?"

He was not expecting an invitation. Nor was he dressed for it. "It sounds like fun, but I don't want to ruin it for you."

She giggled and shifted in place. "You wouldn't ruin it. Can you swim? You do have swim trunks right?"

He knew he owned one, but a place in his mind wondered where he even kept it. "Uh, yea, I'd have to find it."

Levy beamed and put the sunglasses on and lifted them up on her head. "Good! We'll wait for you!"

He stared at her as a smile slowly crept its way in on his face. Good things can come from finding the wrong mail.