~Levy~

"Levy!" Lucy shouted, drawing my attention away from the large novel in my hands.

"Hey, Lu-chan!" I smiled, waving. "Are you not meeting up with Natsu today?"

"I am this afternoon," Lucy sighed, sitting next to me on the soft grass. "He and Happy went somewhere with Erza, claiming to have some kind of special training with her."

"Special training?" I murmured, curious as to what they could be doing.

"Yeah, it's weird. I tried asking him what it was, but that's all Natsu told me last night. He jumped out my window before I could press him for more information."

"Natsu certainly does spend a lot of time at your house, doesn't he?" I chuckled, grinning at her.

"He never leaves!" She cried, falling onto her back with an exasperated sigh. "He always barges in without asking, and stays until he feels like going to bed. Sometimes, he just doesn't leave, and hogs my bed!" She complained.

"Sounds like he likes it at your house," I winked.

Lucy blushed, "well, it's annoying."

"Sure," I grinned.

"It—it is!" She insisted.

"What's annoying?" Natsu asked, walking towards us.

"Nothing," Lucy snapped, hiding her blush from him.

I couldn't help but giggle. If Lucy and Natsu would have taken a second to think about it, they would have realized how much they liked each other. Too bad they're both kind of dense when it comes to that sort of thing.

"Hey, Shrimp, you ready to go?" Gajeel's rough voice immediately grabbed my attention.

"Um, yeah," I nodded, standing.

"See you later," Lucy winked, walking away with Natsu and Happy.

"Bye!" I waved, following Gajeel as blush burned on my cheeks.

"Are you alright, Levy?" Lily asked. He frowned at me, and I knew he was referring to my flushed face.

"Yeah," I nodded, "it's just a little warm outside, that's all."

"It's the middle of summer," Gajeel said, "what do you expect?"

"Lily asked, so I was just answering him," I snapped. "I know it's the middle of summer. If anyone here doesn't know that, it's you. How can you wear pants and boots in this heat?"

"It doesn't bother me," he shrugged.

"Well, the heat isn't bothering me, either," I informed him. We walked in silence for several minutes, both of us refusing to break it. Why'd he get all huffy? I wasn't complaining.

"We're here," Gajeel said, finally breaking the silence as he stopped outside the gates of Fairy Hills. "We'll wait here while you pack."

"Okay." I rushed into the building and quickly went to my room. After unlocking the door, I stepped inside the room which had been mine since I was a little kid and had first arrived at Fairy Tail. It smelled of paper and ink—probably due to the maze of bookcases that decorated my entire room. I made my way to my bedroom and grabbed the small backpack I liked to use when I went on overnight jobs. It was light, but held a lot, so it wasn't a bother to carry around for long periods of time.

I grabbed a spare dress and headband, a flashlight, a pack of matches, three bottles of water, and a small knife, and shoved them all inside my backpack. I wasn't sure if we would be sleeping outside, so I grabbed two blankets and added them to the bag as well. When I was satisfied with my supplies, I grabbed the novel I had been reading off my nightstand, and rushed to meet Gajeel and Lily where I had left them a few minutes before.

"Took long enough," Gajeel grunted, heading towards the outskirts of Magnolia.

"Unlike you, I like to be prepared," I frowned, noticing that he hadn't even packed food for the trip.

"I don't need all that stuff," he shrugged.

"He's just too lazy to pack," Lily sighed, causing me to giggle.

"Damn cat," Gajeel grumbled under his breath.

"So, what exactly are we going to be doing? You just told me we were going on a job, and didn't really explain."

"We're going to some ancient library ruins to find an old artifact for the client. In the description, it said he wanted us to find it and bring it back to him. I guess he's a collector or something, and the ruins are too dangerous for him to go himself to look for it. I think there are some kind of beasts that live in the area, so no one can get close to it," Gajeel explained.

"What's the artifact?" I asked.

"Some kind of sword. According to the flier, the blade is small and curved, and shines a brilliant blue when you use it. The hilt is silver, and decorated with ancient symbols and jewels," Lily said.

"It sounds beautiful," I said, excitedly. The thought of getting to explore nearly undisturbed ancient ruins made me want to get there that much sooner—and the fact that they were library ruins made me even more excited.

"Sounds boring as hell to me," Gajeel muttered.

"You should learn to appreciate history," I told him, looking into his red eyes. "Imagine the things we could learn while there! Not many people get an opportunity like this."

"Yeah yeah," he said, "stop naggin' me already."

"I'm not nagging you," I huffed, "I'm just saying—"

"Shh," he cut me off, holding up his hand. We had reached the edge of the forest that I'm guessing we would have to go through to reach the ancient library. Gajeel was staring into the trees intently, as if he had seen something.

"What is it?" I whispered, looking at him.

"Nothing," he shrugged, giving me a sly smirk, "I just wanted you to shut up. Gihi."

"You jerk!" I snapped, swinging my backpack and hitting him in the back of the head with it. "And I thought there was something wrong!" Furious, I stormed into the forest, putting several feet between us as I marched forward. Stupid Gajeel! If he didn't want to listen, he should have just ignored me! He can be so rude!

~Gajeel~

"What the hell was that for?" I growled, rubbing the back of my head. Levy had assaulted me with her damned backpack, and I had one hell of a lump.

"You deserved that," Lily said.

"Traitorous cat," I fumed, going after Levy. She had practically ran into the forest, and was so far ahead that I couldn't even see her anymore.

"You really shouldn't have done that," Lily continued. "Levy finds this sort of thing really interesting, so you probably insulted her a lot by mocking her like that."

"Fine, I'll apologize when we catch up to her, alright?" I snapped.

Lily sighed, shaking his head. "Let's just find Levy."

"That damned Shrimp ran off and doesn't even know where we're going!" I said, stomping through the trees as I followed her scent.

"AHH!" Levy's yell had me running through the trees, instantly forgetting that I was mad at her for hitting me.

"Levy!" I shouted, finally finding her. "What's wrong?" I asked, putting myself between her and whatever the threat was.

"Oh, I—I tripped over a tree root," she said, sounding embarrassed. "Sorry to have worried you."

"Tch. I wasn't," I said, silently relieved that that's all it had been.

"Levy, your knee," Lily said, pointing to her left knee.

"Ouch," Levy gasped, noticing the scrapes covering her skin, and the droplets of blood that had begun making their way down her leg.

"Sit down," I instructed, taking the backpack from her. "Do you have a first aid kit in this thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'll get it."

I shook my head when she reached for it, sitting on the ground in front of her. "I got it." I dug through the black-hole-of-a-bag, finally finding the small square box with the all too familiar red plus sign on the front of it.

Ignoring her gasp of protest, I propped her left leg over my knee. As gently as I could—and trying not to think about how soft the skin on her leg was—I wiped the blood from her wound and applied an antibacterial ointment to it. She winced slightly from the ointment, but didn't make a sound. I stuck a large bandage over her knee before patting her on the head. "All done," I grinned.

"Th-thanks," she muttered, moving her leg away from me as fast as she could. I noticed her face looked slightly flushed again, so I leaned closer to her. "W-what is it?" She asked, leaning away.

"You sure you're feelin' alright?"

"Can we just get going?" She snapped, clearing her throat and getting to her feet. "I'm eager to get there—even if you think it will be boring."

"Ah, don't hold a grudge over something stupid like that," I sighed.

"You may think it's stupid, but I find a lot of pleasure in learning new things."

"I find pleasure in a lot of things, but ancient ruins isn't one of them," I grumbled.

Lily snorted softly beside me, rolling his eyes. "I bet I can guess what one of those things are," he smirked, sending a pointed glance in Levy's direction.

"Are you two coming?" Levy asked. I silently thanked Mavis that Levy hadn't heard my big-mouthed cat's smart-ass comment.

"I don't know why you're in such a rush," I said, walking in front of her, "you don't even know where this village is."

"If you don't hurry up, I'll just have to wander around alone until I find it," she informed me, stubbornly.

"Is that so?" One thing I'll give the Shrimp—she's not afraid of anything.

~Levy~

Gajeel, Lily, and I walked for several hours, stopping occasionally to get a drink of water and take a rest. When the sun began to sink below the trees, I pulled my flashlight from my bag, and clutched it tightly. I hated the dark, and I had a feeling not much moonlight would be able to reach through the ceiling of leaves above us.

As much as I wanted to stop and make camp, I forced myself to stay silent. I walked as close to Gajeel as I could possibly get without touching him, feeling security in his closeness.

"Hey," Gajeel suddenly said, causing me to jump.

"What?" I asked.

"Let's rest here for the night. I'm tired of walking, and you look pale."

"That sounds good to me," I nodded, thankful. "Should we make a fire?" I asked when he just laid down on the ground, tucking his hands behind his head comfortably. Lily curled up beside him, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Why should we? It'd be a waste of time since it's already warm outside," he yawned.

"R-right," I nodded, laying down several feet away from him. It would definitely be weird if I went to sleep right next to him—even though I really want to. I kept my flashlight on and wrapped myself tightly in one of the blankets I had packed, telling myself we would only be there a few hours.

"Aren't you going to turn that off?" Gajeel asked, looking at me. "It'll just attract insects."

"Oh, yeah," I said, reluctantly switching it off. With the flashlight turned off, and no light from the moon, we were now in total darkness. I couldn't even see my hand when I held it up directly in front of my face.

Don't worry, Levy! Gajeel and Lily are only a few feet away, so it's not like anything will sneak up on us. Suddenly, something warm touched my arm. I shrieked, striking at whatever had touched me with my flashlight.

"Ow!" Gajeel yowled.

I gasped, hurriedly turning on the flashlight. Gajeel cupped his left cheek in his hand, glaring at me. "Why the hell'd you do that?!" He growled.

"I-I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "You startled me."

"So you attacked me?!"

"I didn't know it was you," I mumbled, embarrassed. I had let my fear of the dark get the better of me, and now Gajeel probably thought I was a foolish coward.

"If you're afraid of the dark, why didn't you say something?" He asked, calming down.

"I'm n-not," I lied.

"I could feel your fear from all the way over there," he sighed, not buying it.

"W-well, I didn't want to make a big deal out of something so stupid," I shrugged.

"If you're afraid of something, it's not stupid," he told me, gently placing one of his large hands on the top of my head. "You need to speak up if you don't like something. Most of the time you're bossing me around, and you never let anyone give you any crap. So how-come when it's something you want, you never say anything for fear of inconveniencing someone?"

"I—"

"Forget it," he said, interrupting me. "Let's just get some sleep. Leave that thing on if you want to."

I nodded, laying down. I heard Gajeel mumble something, but before I could ask what he had said, Lily approached me. "Would it be alright if I shared your blanket?" He asked.

"Sure," I smiled, more than happy to allow him to snuggle next to me under the blanket.

"Gajeel asked me to lay with you, you know," Lily chuckled, quietly.

I blushed, glancing over at Gajeel. "You'll have to thank him for me," I whispered, closing my eyes. Now that I had some form of light, and the comfort of Lily's warm body next to mine, I wasn't so nervous. As I began to relax, sleep came more quickly, wrapping its wonderful arms around me and carrying me off to relaxing bliss.

~Gajeel~

After Levy had turned her flashlight off, I could practically feel how afraid she was from where I was laying. With a sigh, I made my way over to her, walking slowly because of the darkness. I gently touched her on the arm, trying to get her attention. With a shriek, she turned and hit me with something hard—right on my cheek.

"Ow!" I yowled, cupping my face in my hand. A painful throbbing instantly made its way throughout my entire head.

She gasped and turned on her flashlight. She hit me with a flashlight?! "Why the hell'd you do that?!" I growled.

"I-I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, looking concerned as she stared at my sore face. "You startled me."

"So you attacked me?!"

"I didn't know it was you," She mumbled, obviously embarrassed. She cast her hazel eyes down towards the ground, refusing to look at me.

"If you're afraid of the dark, why didn't you say something?" I asked, calming down. It was impossible to stay mad at her when she made a face like that.

"I'm n-not," she said. I almost chuckled, knowing immediately that she was lying.

"I could feel your fear from all the way over there," I sighed.

"W-well, I didn't want to make a big deal out of something so stupid," she said, shrugging.

"If you're afraid of something, it's not stupid," I told her. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and placed a hand on her head, slightly ruffling her blue hair. "You need to speak up if you don't like something. Most of the time you're bossing me around, and you never let anyone give you any crap. So how-come when it's something you want, you never say anything for fear of inconveniencing someone?"

"I—"

"Forget it," I said, interrupting her. "Let's just get some sleep. Leave that thing on if you want to." She nodded as I got up, and wrapped herself back up in her blanket.

"Good night, Shrimp," I mumbled as I rejoined Lily several feet away.

"Hey," I whispered, shaking him awake.

"What?" He asked, groggily.

"Go lay next to Levy," I said. Although she had put on a brave face, I knew her fears wouldn't go away just because she had the flashlight on. Especially since she had put so much distance between us. It's not like I'm that damned scary. Why's she laying so far away?

"Why don't you—"

"Just go," I snapped, shoving him in Levy's direction. I rolled to my side, turning my back to them as Lily asked to sleep next to Levy. I heard them whisper something after she had agreed, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. In just a few short minutes, Levy's breathing deepened. I sighed, knowing she had fallen asleep, and closed my eyes to join her.