Author's note: AnimeGuitar96 taking over! Here we go!

Chapter 4: Back on the Saddle.

Levy was in Gajeel's bathroom wearing old riding clothes Gajeel had lying around the farm. She hasn't worn clothes like these in a long time, looking at herself in the full length mirror, she felt like it had been centuries since she wore these clothes. Her old riding clothes she donated to a family with young girls who were getting into riding. To Levy, she felt like she was wearing her security blanket or a pair of heavy pajamas meant for a winter evening, eitherway it was something comfy. A knock on the bathroom door suddenly startled her out of her comfy world.

"Shrimp!" Gajeel screamed "You alive in there?"

"Y-yeah!" Levy yelped "I'll be out in a minute!" a grunt came from the otherside of the door and Levy soon stepped out of the bathroom, only to be surprised by a helmet being handed to her.

"You're going to need it." Gajeel explained. Smiling at his kind gesture, Levy gave him a quick thanks before strapping the helmet on and placing on the somewhat large riding gloves on her hands and quickly slipping on a pair of rain boots before running out to the track where Lily was finishing saddling up Metalicana.

"Ok," Lily sighed "He's saddled up and ready to run."

"Good." Gajeel grumbled "Maybe the fucking horse won't give us a hassle this time." Levy looked a bit scared at the thought of that and Pantherlily stared at Gajeel with the coldest glare he could muster up.

"Ok Shrimp." Gajeel said while patting Metalicana on the side "Time to get on." Levy walked over to the horse and realized her issue; her foot couldn't reach the stirrup. Noticing the issue, Gajeel gave out a small "Gihi", walked up behind Levy and lifted her up. At first Levy was stunned; but the moment she was on Metalicana's back, she looked at Gajeel with the most annoyed face she could muster up. Gajeel walked away to the sidelines oblivious to the fact that Lily walked over to her.

"If you have any troubles," Lily smiled "just give us a holler, we'll come help you." he gave her a wink and Levy smiled at his kind gesture. Pantherlily joined Gajeel at the sidelines and watched as Gajeel pressed the button to open the gates. Metalicana dashed out of the gate so fast, he would give Superman a run for his money. Just before they reached the halfway point of the track, Levy started to scream.

"Stop! Stop please no!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Metalicana stopped and tried his best to look at Levy with confusion and concern. Gajeel looked at Levy with confusion while Lily looked out with concern.

"Are you alright Levy?" Lily called out.

"Y-yeah." she excused "Sorry, it's been awhile. Can we try again?" Gajeel nodded.

"Start where yah are now short stack!" Gajeel called out "I don't think Metalicana will be up to having to start from the fucking top." nodding, Levy made a clicking noise with her tongue and the horse dashed away.

Metalicana went at an amazing speed, speed so fast it made him and Levy look like a black and blue blur. As the two raced around the track, Levy suddenly felt as if everyone around them dissapeared, the feeling she used to get when she was with Glitter had returned and returned through this horse. It felt like as if they were the only ones there, she ran her fingers through the stallion's silver mane. God, she missed this feeling. But just when they were going to make the second round, Levy noticed Metalicana's black coat turn into the coat of a palamino. Levy's eyes widened in horror as she noticed her surroundings change into Magnolia RaceTrack. And the horse she was now riding on was tripping over it's own foot and tumbling onto the ground.

"NO!" Levy screamed "NO! NO! NO! GLITTER!" She suddenly felt a pair of arms grab onto her and when she blinked, she was now back at Iron Dragon Farms, lying in Gajeel's arms on the dirt track. Gajeel, Lily and Metalicana were all looking at her with concern etched on their faces.

"You ok Shrimp?" Gajeel asked while removing a strand of blue hair out of her face. Her cheeks tinted red at his action.

"Y-yeah!" Levy blushed "I'm fine. W-what happened?"

"You fell off of Metalicana and started screaming." Lily explained, now seeing what Jet had warned "We got pretty concerned and rushed over." Metalicana gave a whinney and nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry I scared you guys like that." Levy sighed.

"Well, time to suck it up and give it another shot." Gajeel smirked while patting her on the back.

"You're right." Levy agreed "I should try again."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Lily muttered while looking at the sky.

"What?" Gajeel asked "Why the fuck not?!"

"Look at the sky." Lily suddenly pointed at the sky. Gajeel and Levy looked to where Lily pointed; there, ominous black clouds were heading this way.

"That doesn't look good." Levy squeaked.

"No shit." Gajeel replied. Lily took out his cellphone and checked in his weather channel app.

"Says its going to storm the whole night." Lily gulped, considering he wasn't too fond of thunder and lightning "I'm going to take Metalicana back to his stable, you guys head to the house." nodding to his plan Gajeel helped Levy up.

"Come on Small Fry." Gajeel said "I'll get some extra blankets."

"Extra blankets?" Levy asked "What for?"

"Ain't it obvious?" Gajeel asked "You're staying the night."

"W-what?! No way!"

"Shrimp, look at the sky and take Lily's words to heart, it's gonna storm the whole fucking night. You ain't going back to your lakehouse tonight." The sound of rumbling thunder could be heard in the distance and Levy couldn't help but sigh in defeat. Honestly, today wasn't what she hoped it would be.

Five minutes after they entered the house, the thunder rumbled and rain began to pour. Gajeel allowed Levy to use the shower and had her change into some old clothes that didn't fit anymore. Gajeel made a quick dinner of pasta and marinara sauce and went to the garage to prepare his generator incase of a power outage. The three sat in the living room and chatted away the night, played some board games and even watched a little TV. It had been awhile since Levy actually felt comfortable and had a moment of peace and Levy could surely say she was happy.

"Well," Lily yawned after 10:30 pm "I'm going to bed. I got to do some more repairs to the grain silo and fix Metalicana's stable door some more tomorrow. Night." he waved good night to Gajeel and Levy before retiring to his room, leaving Levy and Gajeel alone.

"Shrimp," Gajeel suddenly said "You take my room tonight. I'll take the couch."

"What?" Levy asked "No! You need your bed!"

"C'mon half-pint, you're staying here as a guest."

"Gajeel, you have to do a lot of work you need to get as much sleep as possible!" sighing, Gajeel suddenly lifted her up like a sack of potatoes and walked to his bedroom.

"I got a better idea." Gajeel muttered. He opened the door in his messy bedroom and put Levy on his King sized bed before getting under the covers on the otherside of the bed and pulling Levy under them.

"I won't have ya sleep on that fucking couch. It literally is a back killer. So, since you don't want me to sleep on it and I don't want you on it; we'll both take my bed." Right now, Levy's face probably made a new shade of red to add to the color specter "Night shorty." he clapped his hands and the lights automatically turned off.

Still in shock from today's events, it took Levy a little more time than usual to fall asleep, and not only that, it seems to Levy Gajeel was someone who liked to snore while he slept. Levy tried her best to ignore the UnGodly sounds coming from Gajeel's throat and focused on the pitter patter of the rain and the sound of thunder. Her eyes grew heavy from the sudden lul of sleep and she fell under sleep's spell at that moment.

Around one in the morning. Gajeel woke up to the sounds of tiny discomforting moans. Remembering the day before's events, Gajeel looked at the other side of his bed and found Levy, deep in sleep and seeming to have a nightmare. Beads of sweat drenched the young woman and was also drenching the shared bed. She started to toss and turn throughout this nightmare. Gajeel, unsure what to do, began to shake her.

"Shrimp," he called out "Shrimp, c'mon. Wake up!" Levy jolted upward and screamed. Levy huffed and puffed looking around the room before spotting Gajeel.

"Shrimp," Gajeel asked concerned "are you alright?" Levy suddenly let out a sob and her body shook as she began to uncontrolably sob. She put her hands on her face to cup her tears but was surprised to see Gajeel wrap his arms around her and let her cry into his chest. It was at that moment, Gajeel remembered what Jet said : "It was like she was caught in a loop or something." It hit Gajeel like a ton of bricks, her refusual to ride again, the reported screaming, her sudden breakdowns from yesterday and now the nightmare and the sobbing. Gajeel realized what was wrong with Levy right then and there; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

note: Alright, tagging out for now! Your turn SnowSis