Oh this was awkward~

If you had asked Gajeel, how he felt about the bluenette that frequented his work place, he would claim to not know what you were talking about. To be honest, he couldn't wrap his head around it either. He barely paid attention to people, and at work, it was more about the food and drinks that the people he was serving. He kept to himself so much that even his play-cousin, Natsu, had no idea he worked there. Not that he was ashamed. It was a hard job and took some time to master, and Gajeel needed something for himself. Something different away from the stereotypical jobs that people assumed he did.

So he worked at Starbucks. He made drinks, bettered his customer service skills, was able to speak his mother's tongue, and enjoyed the peace in the moments of chaos.

But she made him crazy in a way. Like he didn't even know what was going on. It was like his brain saw that bluenette and would take over. He would already be busy and sometimes manage to avoid her, but then if he did have to talk to her, he could barely say a word. He was always relieved when the ticket came in and saw her name with a mobile order. That meant as minimal interaction as possible. Everyone knew she never stayed inside, so that meant Gajeel could force himself to stay focus and only get a second to glance at her before continuing the task at hand.

Truthfully, he didn't mean to give her a size up from her order. The first time was an accident. He had way too much extra from her drink and just poured into another cup. This was another mobile order of hers, and when she came to pick it up, she had paused for a moment to examine the drink. To be fair, her expression was well…cute. The size-up order came from his lips without much thought, and the employees seemed to listen for some unknown reason.

But here he was now. Staring at that bluenette up close and personal. Natsu invited him to hang out with his friends for a birthday, and Gajeel needed some relief after a long double-shift especially the first half with nagging from two particular women. He had no idea Natsu knew the girl otherwise he would have come up with some lame excuse. He didn't know what to say. Sure, he noticed his coworkers speaking to her earlier, but he wasn't prepared to deal with Levy head-on that same day.

The two just starred at each other.

Feeling the tension in the air, Lucy got up and grabbed Natsu by the arm. "Come on, let's see where the others are."

Levy groaned mentally. Lucy, what if he's a psychopath?! Levy shook her head. Calm down, Lucy knows him. She wouldn't leave me if he wasn't a decent guy. Levy spoke first. "Hello, my name's Levy." She smiled sweetly on the outside, but was screaming on the inside.

Gajeel cleared his throat and shook her hand. "Uh hi,…Gajeel…happy birthday." He couldn't look her in the eye.

"Thanks…"

Gajeel sighed. Get it together! Say something you idiot! "Uh-,"

"Okay, look I'm so sorry if this is awkward. I have no idea who you are, and it is so weird seeing you here. I mean like, when I go to Starbucks and see you, I'm like 'oh cool cute scary piercing guy is here.' I had no idea you were friends with Natsu and Lucy like ah! I hope we can get to know each other and be friends!" Levy was always good with words. She loved reading, blogs, interviews, language—anything with words! But that had to be the most thrown together, pile of throw up of English she has ever put together. She blushed and covered her face.

She wanted to evaporate. She smelled her food in front of her. The waitress must have come, but Levy didn't want to move at all.

She then heard an exchange between the waitress and her new acquaintance. They were going back n forth in Spanish, and she could hear the teasing tone in the waitress' voice.

"Oh my gosh Levy, I didn't know you were Gajeel's girlfriend."

God, please. It's my birthday. Levy moved her hands and smiled shyly. "What? No, we literally just met today. He's a friend of friend. I promise!"

The woman looked deviously at Gajeel. 'Wife her.' She mouthed at the man. Their exchanged went on. Levy could only pick up a little of what was going on, but she watched at Gajeel's face grew more and more red. He seemed to be shrinking as the woman kept going on.

"Oh I'm just teasing! I'll leave you two alone now. Tell your friend to come in and get her food." The waitress then left.

Levy couldn't even move her attention to Lucy. The two were both blushing so hard for their own reasons. Levy had to keep the conversation going. This was already a lot going on to begin with. "So um…you go here a lot?"

Gajeel perked up immediately. Well at least she's talking to me. "Uh yeah…she's like an aunt to me. Our families go to the same church." He chuckled. "She would drag me to confessional when I was teen in exchange of not telling my parents."

Levy laughed. "Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. She must love the piercings."

Gajeel chuckled. "Gihi, look shrimp, I've done worse things to confess than these." He seemed to beam with pride. They both laughed a little. "Uh, I just wanted to say…" he paused and cussed internally. "Sorry, I ain't good with words n shit. I had no idea I'd actually meet you, so I hope you aren't freaked out or anything. You're cute n shit, and I bet you're smart since you go to that big fancy school." He coughed awkwardly. "I uh…yeah. I wouldn't mind being friends either."

Levy beamed. "Oh Gajeel, that's great! I can tell you mean well. Plus, we're friends with the same people. We'll definitely get to hang out more." Gajeel smiled a little and nodded.

Natsu and Lucy came back with the rest of their friends. They approached the two who seemed to have gotten a little more comfortable with each other. As they got close, Gajeel and Levy both turned red and blurted out simultaneously, "Wait, you think I'm cute?"

So that's that. I hope you like it. Just some initial interactions. I didn't want them to hook up or confess anything major. Slow and steady and all that good stuff. Thanks for reading! Review if you want!