AN: TADAAA! Here you go my lovely readers! It's finally here! Sorry it took so long. School, homework, laziness, etc. all got in the way of this chapter's completion. But it's here! And it's extra long too! You're welcome x) Hope you enjoy!

Gajeel awoke that morning to hear Pantherlily in the kitchen, already making breakfast. Gajeel groaned as he dragged himself out of bed. He was exhausted! Who knew that anyone could be so tired from learning of all things. Oh well, Gajeel wasn't going to give up that easily. He was determined not to disappoint Levy who was trying so hard to teach him to read. Gajeel walked into the kitchen, sat down, and started eating. He wasn't really sure what he was eating… but Pantherlily made it so it was probably safe. Plus, it tasted really good.

"Well, good morning to you too Gajeel." The small cat said as he grabbed another plate of food. Seriously. The dragon slayer just ate whatever was in front of him, not even wondering what it was or where it came from.

Gajeel grunted. "This is stupid."

"What is?" Lily asked, knowing Gajeel didn't mean that the breakfast was stupid. He always talked with Gajeel in the mornings and at night when no one else was around. For some reason, Gajeel told the cat everything he was thinking at those times of day. Lily told Gajeel about his life as well. There was a certain strange bond between the eksheed and dragon slayers. For whatever reason, Gajeel and Lily found great companionship with each other, just as Natsu did with Happy and Wendy did with Charle. In any case, Gajeel was about to tell Lily whatever it was that was bothering him, and Lily could tell.

"Me. Trying to learn how to read of all things. This is stupid. I-"Gajeel cut off and sighed. "I really don't think I can do this without disappointing her." Gajeel frowned. He was just thinking how he wasn't going to give up. How he wasn't going to let her down. But he was going to let her down, wasn't he?

As if reading his thoughts, Pantherlily spoke up. "Wouldn't giving up be letting her down even more so?"

Gajeel sighed again. "I know."

Pantherlily looked at his partner. "You can do this Gajeel. You've done far more difficult things than this before."

Gajeel started to think. He had done harder things. It was hard for him to swallow his pride and earn the forgiveness of the Fairy Tail mages. It was even harder for him to feel like he could ever earn her forgiveness. But he had done all that, hadn't he? She had forgiven him… at least to some extent. Otherwise she wouldn't be helping him now. Gajeel scoffed. "Stupid fairies."

"What do you mean?" Lily looked at his confusing friend.

"After all I've done to them; they treat me like their nakama. They fight over everything, and yet when something as stupid as "Gajeel can't read" comes up… they don't even blink twice. They just treat it like another day in the guild. You know, yesterday I was dreading walking through those doors because I knew what everyone would say. And none of them said a word. They didn't even give me a second glance. I just…" Gajeel sighed and hung his head. "I just don't understand. They don't make any sense to me." Especially her.

Pantherlily smiled. "I understand what you mean. The people in your life previously would have reacted differently to your illiteracy, but in Fairy Tail, they understand that it seriously bothers you and so they support you instead of mocking you. They care about you Gajeel."

"Why? Why should they care?" Gajeel put his head on the table. This conversation was giving him a headache.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Lily asked.

"Please."

"Fairy Tail mages need each other. That's what makes them strong. And you need them Gajeel, whether you want to admit it or not. And that's why you fit right it."

Gajeel just left his head on the table, thinking. Actually, he didn't know what to think. So he just sat there, waiting for Pantherlily to tell him what to think.

Pantherlily hopped up onto Gajeel's shoulder. "Come on, Gajeel. We should head to the guild now. Levy's waiting on us."

XXXXxxxx

Levy was indeed waiting for Gajeel to show up. She was sitting at the guild with her pile of books put into her bag (mostly… some were stacked up on the table) watching the door, just waiting for Gajeel to show up.

"Levy!" Lucy shouted as she ran to say hi to her best friend.

"Oh," Levy turned away from the door. "Hey, Lu-chan."

"Waiting for Gajeel?" Lucy asked with a knowing smile.

"Uhm… yeah. I guess he slept in or something." Levy looked down at her hands folded in her lap. "I mean, he wouldn't forget right?"

"Right." Lucy assured her. "And even if he did, Pantherlily would make sure he came."

Levy smiled. "You're right."

"Anyway," Lucy started. "I have something important to talk to you about, so you should sleep over at my place tonight okay?"

"Yay! Sleep over!" Levy squealed. "That sounds so fun Lu-chan!"

The two girls giggled and discussed their plans for later that night, and were completely oblivious to the dark figure standing behind them. "Hey." Gajeel rumbled.

Levy jumped, turned, and smiled. "Gajeel! You're here!"

"Tch. Obviously." Gajeel stood there with his arms crossed.

I wonder what's got him in such a mood. More than usual anyway… Levy thought. "Ready to go?" She tilted her head with a cheery smile.

Gajeel grunted and picked up her bag and the pile of books on the table.

"Ok! Let's go!" And with that, Levy marched out of the guild with Gajeel and her books trailing behind her.

They walked to the library in a comfortable silence, with Gajeel carrying Levy's things and Levy walking closely beside him. They arrived at the library and found a table in the back to set down all of Levy's books. As Levy arranged all her books and whatever else was in that bag of books, Gajeel looked around. More like listened because all that there was to see was books. Books, books, and shelves of books.

I bet Shrimp loves this place. Well duh. It was a library. What did he expect? Gajeel's ears twitched as he thought he heard something. He tried to hear what it was, in fact, he tried to hear anything. It was really quiet in here. Actually, it bothered Gajeel. He was used to the obnoxiously loud and annoying guild, so every little noise in here was putting him on edge. Gajeel sighed to himself. Today was going to be a long day.

"Hi Levy-chan! Who's your friend?" A male voice came from behind where Gajeel was sitting.

Correction. Today was going to be a very long day. The man didn't even get three words into his sentence before Gajeel decided he didn't like the man.

Levy turned around in her seat to look at who had called her name. "Oh, hi Hector! This is Gajeel." Levy looked back at Gajeel with a grin.

Hector? What kind of stupid name is that…? Gajeel just grunted as a way of greeting.

"Well hi there Gajeel! As Levy said, I'm Hector! I work here at the library so I know Levy pretty well, but I've never seen you around before. What brings you here?" Hector wouldn't get that obnoxious smile off of his face the whole time he was talking. It irritated Gajeel. Oh, but that wasn't the only thing that bothered Gajeel. No, there were two other things that bothered Gajeel even more than the stupid grin. The second was how he just phrased that last sentence. So he knows Levy pretty well, does he? And he's never seen Gajeel around before, huh? Well, to Gajeel, that seemed like a threat along the lines of "Hey, what is this delinquent doing here when this is the only time I get to spend with Levy?" But hey, maybe Gajeel was reading into it too much.

On the other hand, there was still that one thing that enforced Gajeel's negative instinct. Hector's smell. Gajeel didn't like the man's smell at all. He reeked of desire. The man liked Levy. No, he wanted Levy. And for some reason, Gajeel took offense at that.

Levy saw Gajeel stiffen in his seat, but just assumed it was because of Hector's question. They were here so she could teach Gajeel to read and all… so she was pretty sure he wouldn't want to go advertising it to people he just met. "We're doing research for the Master." Levy said with a cock-eyed smile.

Now that surprised Gajeel. He wasn't sure what he expected her to say, he didn't really expect her to say anything at all, but he certainly didn't expect that.

"Oh, do you need any help? I could find some books for you or something." Hector jumped at the chance to do anything for Levy. He was like puppy, and it disgusted Gajeel. He couldn't help but send a slight glare in Hector's general direction.

Stupid librarian… Gajeel sulked. Trying to be helpful…

"No thanks Hector, I brought my own books!" Levy grinned and gestured to the mountain of books on the table. "We actually came here because it's much quieter than the guild."

Ha! Take that Hector! She doesn't need your help! Gajeel smirked to himself.

"Oh," Hector's face fell slightly. "Well, let me know if you need anything!" Hector then, intelligently, took his leave with a slight wave and a dirty look directed at Gajeel.

Gajeel returned Hector's look with a full-forced glare. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Gajeel turned his attention back to Levy. "Uhm, thanks."

Levy looked at him and smiled. She knew Gajeel was already self conscious about this whole thing, so anything she could do to make him feel at ease, she would try to do. "Alright! Let's get started! Today we'll practice the whole alphabet!"

Gajeel didn't look that excited, but he said nothing, so she started showing him each of the letters again. When it was Gajeel's turn, he took the pencil in his hand and got halfway through the alphabet before the inevitable happened. His pencil broke. Again. Of course. This was getting really old…

"DAMN IT!" Gajeel growled in a voice that boomed through the library.

"Shhhh! Gajeel this is a library!" Levy hissed in a half whisper, half shout. "You can't just shout out like that!"

Gajeel blinked at her, not seeming to understand the concept that libraries were supposed to be quiet. "Oh, sorry…" He mumbled.

Levy relaxed a little bit then. She smiled at him again. Jeez, how much could this girl smile? Not that Gajeel minded her smile… not like annoying librarian's… Levy started digging through her bag then, mumbling something about how silly for her to forget… something…

"Ah-HA!" Levy exclaimed as she pulled a metal-looking pen out of her bag. "Here!" she shoved it into Gajeel's hand. "You shouldn't be able to break the pen as easily!"

Gajeel grinned his signature grin. "Great idea shrimp!" He used his other hand to ruffle her hair. "I knew you were the smart one!"

Levy smiled and turned her attention back to the papers in front of them. "Alright, now finish writing the alphabet and then we'll try learning it a different way!"

Gajeel nodded and finished copying the alphabet, and hey! No broken pen!

"Ok!" Levy clapped her hands together. "Now we'll see if you can remember them all!"

Gajeel winced slightly. All of them? There were a lot… But he could do this!

Levy got out note cards that had all of the letters on them. She showed them to him one at a time so he could tell her what letter it was and what sounds it made. Things were going just fine until Gajeel got to the letter Q.

"Uhm… O?" Gajeel guessed.

Levy shook her head. "Try again."

Gajeel furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at the flashcard. It looked like an O… Maybe if he stared at long enough and hard enough, he would remember. Gajeel was lost in concentration when he heard Levy squeal his named.

"Gajeel!"

"What?" Gajeel looked at her dumbfounded, until he felt something wet run down his lower lip. So he licked it, and his face scrunched up. Ew! What is that awful taste? Is that… Ink? Gajeel looked down at them pen in his hand. Scratch that. Half of a pen. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice he had eaten it.

Levy shrieked as ink started to drip from the remaining half of the pen. "Gajeel! Don't let it get on the books!" She tried to shove his hand away from the table, but it was no use.

"Wha-? OH SHIT!" Gajeel panicked and popped the other half of the pen in his mouth. But ink tasted disgusting so he couldn't help but make a face.

Levy tried to shush him for yelling, but couldn't stop laughing. "G-Gajeel!" She stifled more laughter. "N-no yelling! L-lib-brary!" But she couldn't keep herself from laughing anymore. She burst out into a fit of giggles.

"H-hey!" Gajeel stood up abruptly, knocking the table over. Which of course made Levy laugh harder. "Whadya laughing at Shrimp!" Gajeel growled.

Levy choked on more laughter. "Y-your face! I c-can't help it!"

"Oi! Ink tastes bad ok?" Gajeel shouted.

Levy was laughing so hard she fell out of her chair and landed on the floor with a thud.

"H-hey! Stop laughing Shrimp!"

Suddenly, a man cleared his throat behind them and they both froze. Levy stopped laughing and Gajeel turned around to see Hector glaring at them… well, more like just Gajeel.

"I'm sorry, Levy, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're disturbing the other patrons… I know you're not usually like this so I would let it slide but…" Hector left his sentence hanging as he looked straight at Gajeel.

Oh this piece of shit is going DOWN!

Levy suddenly became very flustered and her cheeks turned bright red. "Oh, oh I'm so sorry! D-don't worry! We'll be out of your way. Sorry! So sorry…" Levy fumbled to pick up all her books and papers as Gajeel growled at Hector. He seriously would have punched the man right then, if Levy hadn't started to hand him piles and piles of loose books.

Levy grabbed Gajeel's arm and started to drag him towards the door, with Hector following as if to make sure they left. Gajeel did NOT appreciate being escorted out of a library of all things, so he growled and sent a glare behind him.

"Hey Levy?" Hector stopped Levy before she could leave. Levy turned to look at him, her face still pink from embarrassment at being asked to leave the library.

"Uhm, yeah?" Levy asked him.

"Before you leave, can I talk to you for a second? Without," Hector glanced up at Gajeel, who growled in return.

"S-sure." Levy said looking briefly at Gajeel to assure him it was ok.

Hector took Levy aside and started to talk to her, but with Gajeel's heightened hearing he could hear every word.

"Levy," Hector began. "Why are you hanging out with him? I mean, you know who he is don't you? You know the kind of stuff he's done. He used to be in a dark guild for goodness' sake! You of all people shouldn't be hanging out with a monster like-"

SMACK! Even without Gajeel's super hearing, everyone in the library could hear the slap that landed on the librarians face.

"How DARE you say who I can or can't hang out with! You have no right! You, you…" Levy clenched her fists and was shaking with anger. "You JERK!" Levy turned on her heel and stormed out of the library with Gajeel right behind her, only stopping long enough to send an evil smirk back at the befuddled Hector.

As the library door slammed behind them though, Gajeel couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. Not about Hector, no, he got what was coming to him. But as Gajeel looked down at the fuming bookworm beside him, he actually felt slightly responsible for getting Levy kicked out of the library. Levy, the most obsessively book loving nerd in the whole world, just got kicked out of a fucking library. Because of him.

Great, Gajeel. Just great…

AN: It's done! It's finally done and I'm actually happy with how it turned out! So I hope the rest of you love it as much as I do… Otherwise this could be awkward… Thank you to all of my awesome readers and reviewers, ESPECIALLY those who make suggestions and give criticisms and encouragement. I LOVE YOU ALL! Especially my best friend, JoeiMarie, who makes me get off my lazy but to write! Again, thank you all for putting up with my rambling author's notes. Pretty please review! Hopefully the next chapter will come soon! It all depends on my homework… Anyway, I need some food! Xeylah, out! ;)