Chapter 2; Everything and Nothing

He had known it was Levy from half way across the beach. From the second he saw her hair to when he stood over her small stature in that steel gray bikini she had gotten as a joke before the magic games, saying that it was like wearing a piece of him. Even though he had known it was her, he was a little shocked at how much she had changed, the little that it was, made everything about her seem different. Her hair was longer now, putting to shame the blue waves in the ocean and making him want to run his hands through it all the more (a secret desire of his that he never thought of accomplishing until now). She had filled out more as well, she was a bit taller- an inch or two at best, though it didn't matter since he had grown taller too- her frame was as sleek and sexy as the day he walked away from her. Her shoulders sagged as he admired her, making her bikini show off how much bust she'd obtained while they were apart (not to mention her amazing waist).

He saw how she was looking into the distant waves, touching the Fairy Tail symbol that she, like Gajeel, had kept. He couldn't help but see how she was looking into the distance, and think, that was the same look that Lily had told Gajeel about. During training and on the road Gajeel would look into the distance and think about old memories, mostly Levy; not that he would admit it though. Levy started all of a sudden, sitting up and shaking her head with a determined and happy look on her face, and with that she opened her book and started reading.

Gajeel figured that was the best time to approach her, knowing her that was her second time reading the book she held, whatever it was called, but as he started towards her a strange thing happened; he got this fluttery feeling in his stomach. He slowed to a stop and felt his stomach again, wondering what was wrong with him. Had he gotten a bad piece of iron? Had the fish he cooked the other night been spoiled in some way? The thought hit him like the lightning he had once took from Laxus, there was a name for it, according to his chats with Mira, he thought it was called 'butterflies' or something of the like. He was stunned that he, Gajeel, had actually gotten butterflies just thinking about talking to Levy again.

For a moment he considered putting it off to go and get a cool drink and calm his own nerves but decided against it in case, as much as he burned just thinking about it, she had a guy with her.

However, in stark contrast to his before hand nervousness, Gajeel Redfox was now completely dumbfounded. He was expecting her to be happy or witty when he had approached her, but no. She had burst out crying mere seconds after he even spoke to her and frankly, it was scaring the shit out of him.

"Ah, jeez. W-wuz it somethin' I said? Wuz it calling you 'Shrimp'?" she only cried harder, her shoulders now visibly shaking and he wasn't holding up too well himself. He had hoped to train as much as he could and come back to protect and be with her but at this point she was going to cry to death and it was his entire fault. He moistened his lips and tried a different tactic.

"Uh, look, if you just don't want to see me then I can just-" he didn't get a chance to finish the sentence. At that moment Levy jumped up out of the chair, dropping her book and spilling what was left of her Cola, and threw her arms around Gajeel's neck. She stood on tiptoes squeezing tight and crying into his T-Shirt like she thought he might disappear if she didn't hold him tight enough. At first he was too shocked to do anything other then blush like a schoolgirl, not to mention how distracted he was by her blueberry shampoo, but after a second his mind kicked back into gear and he put his arms around her waist. He did so gently at first, but when he realized she was still clinging to him he smiled gently into Levy's hair and shut his eyes, holding her tightly to his body, tuning out everything but the unsteady rhythm of her breathing and the beat of her heart. They probably stayed like that for ten minutes or so but for Gajeel it lasted an eternity, an eternity that didn't last nearly long enough. Levy was the first to separate herself, pushing away with a sniff, wiping her eyes with one hand and resting the other on Gajeel's chest. He noticed to his personal satisfaction that she was blushing hot red as she did so. He smiled and cocked his head her.

"What's the matter, Shorty? You miss me or something?" the words came out sarcastic with an obvious edge of humor to them, but if she had looked into his eyes just then she would have seen just how hopeful he was that she had missed him just a fraction of how much he had missed her. She smiled slightly and shook her head no. Gajeel felt his heart drop and the butterflies that had been in his stomach dropped with it into an endless abyss. He loosened his grip on her a bit but stopped when she spoke.

"No, no that's not it at all," she said between hiccups. She didn't say anything for a while and Gajeel finally spoke up.

"Well, for God's sake, what is it then?" she laughed and hiccuped again making him wonder, as cute as she was when she got worked up, what had he done to make her this upset. Then she looked up at Gajeel meeting his eyes for the first time since she had started crying, making him realize that he had forgotten how beautiful her eyes were…After a small sobbing laugh, she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair repeatedly, relishing how it felt and how bad he was blushing.

"You cut your hair!" she stated, smiling through her tears. He blinked several times before throwing his head back and laughing at how much nothing had changed.

*Hey! I can't say how sorry I am for not updating in so long but school has taken it's toll on me. More chapters will be coming out more frequently! Thank you to everyone who read my story! I hope I don't let you down!