Well I'm back. Woot. Sorry for taking so long with this update, hopefully the next one won't take quite so much time. I had some issues with this chapter so ya, it took forever. Also other things but whatever. Anyways, enjoy.


Levy yawned loudly and rubbed sleep from her eyes before returning her attention to the phone book in front of her. After she had ordered Gajeel and Natsu out of her shop she had to wander off to find a broom for the glass as well as something to cover the window they had shattered.

Once finished, she'd made some tea to calm her nerves and just sat around, worrying that they might come back. She knew it was unlikely that either of them would return to the store. She'd made it very clear they weren't welcome and they had clearly gotten the message, or at least, Gajeel had. That still left Natsu though, who had been very adamant about paying for her window.

"Just forget about it, Lev," she scolded herself.

Worrying about it now was pointless. They'd had all day to come back and they hadn't. Besides, there was still the matter of finding someone to fix the window for her. She looked at her back door and sighed. It was just a little window so it wouldn't cost much to replace but still, it was a major hassle, and the money that went into the window could have been added to her mortgage fund or something equally important. At least she had been working alone today. If Lucy had come in and seen the window she would have lost her mind. Levy shuddered to think what Jet or Droy's reaction would be.

Lost in thought, she almost didn't hear the little bell indicating that a customer had entered The Garden. Blinking rapidly to clear her head she turned her attention to the front door where a small man with snowy white hair had entered. He looked as though he had just stepped off a cruise ship with khaki shorts and floral pattern button up. Glancing around the store, he tugged thoughtfully at his moustache.

"Hello," Levy said cheerily, closing the phone book and giving the man her undivided attention. "How are you today?"

"I'm doing just fine, my dear, thank you," he answered.

His eyes continued to roam over the shelves until his eyes fell on the back door. He sighed and frowned at the sight of it.

"Something happen to your window, dear?" he asked, looking at her.

Levy glanced at the door briefly and returned her attention to the old man before replying, "It was just a minor disturbance last night. Everything turned out fine."

"Except for the window."

"Except for the window."

The man hummed and walked to the door to examine the damage.

"You really don't need to feel concerned sir. I'm looking for someone to come repair it as we speak," Levy said, patting her phone book.

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary," the man replied, walking over to the desk. He really was incredibly short. "I take it you are the owner?"

Confused, Levy could only nod, "I am."

The old man smiled warmly and extended his hand. "Makarov Dreyar," he said.

Levy accepted his hand. "Levy McGarden."

"I really should apologize. I can tell I'm causing you some confusion."

"Umm, a little bit actually, yes."

"Well as I said my name is Makarov and I own a gym here in town. I believe that it was a couple of my fighters who caused all that commotion last night. One of my boys said you were understandably upset with them."

"Oh," Levy began to feel flustered just thinking about the two of them, "well, yes, I was pretty angry last night but like I said, I'm fine now."

"I'm glad to hear it, but I didn't come here just to see if you were alright. I myself was quite upset to hear about last night's events. I couldn't believe those two had just taken off like that."

"I didn't exactly want them to stick around." Levy interjected. "I understand that they were in a difficult situation which is why I never bothered involving the police but they did do some property damage and scared me half to death."

"Exactly!" proclaimed Makarov, throwing his hands into the air. "Yes, they should have let you be initially so you could collect yourself but the fact that I had to drag them down here to get them to clean up the mess they are responsible for is absolutely unacceptable."

"Wait..." Levy felt heat rising in her chest and colouring her face. "Did you say you brought them here?"

Makarov smiled and nodded, gesturing towards the large window. Levy slowly turned her head and sure enough the two men who had broken in last night where standing on the sidewalk. They were having some sort of argument with Natsu waving his arms around and pointing towards The Garden. Gajeel looked ready to kill the shorter man but kept himself more contained, if only marginally.

"Oh no," Levy squeaked, reaching up to clutch her hair. "Why would you bring them here?!" She covered her mouth with her hands, mortified. Had she really just spoken to a customer like that? Although he couldn't really be called a customer at this point, since he wasn't here to buy anything. "I don't mean to be rude but I really don't want the men who broke into my store just casually hanging around."

"And they won't be," Makarov reassured her. "They're just going to fix what they broke, then they'll be on their way. You won't ever see them again."

"I really appreciate the thought but -"

"Nonsense," Makarov interjected, waving his hand in the air. "They did the damage, they can clean it up. Miss McGarden, I brought them here to teach them a lesson and to help you. Regardless of their reasons they can't break into peoples homes or businesses—and you'd think a couple of men in their mid twenties would have learned that my now—but no, old master Makarov has to drag their sorry asses down here—" he stopped himself there. "Anyways, they'll fix your window and then be out of your hair for good, alright?"

Levy hesitated and the old man crossed his arms, "It's the only way to get rid of me, dear, I assure you."

"Alright, alright!" Levy practically shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "Send them in, I'm closing in fifteen minutes anyways."

Makarov beamed at her. "Wonderful," he shook her hand again and turned towards the door. "I'll send them right in.


Levy watched out the window as Makarov exchanged a few words with Gajeel and Natsu before the two of them began trudging their way in; Gajeel picking up what appeared to be a tool kit off the ground at his feet before following Natsu. Whatever Makarov had said to them had apparently put them both in a much more somber mood. Natsu looked like a kicked dog, which was a look she was already getting used to whereas Gajeel looked like a thunderstorm caught up inside a mans body.

The bell rang as the two men headed in. Natsu stood awkwardly in the doorway while Gajeel stood impatiently behind him. The moment lasted for maybe three seconds before Gajeel got impatient and shoved Natsu further inside. He followed behind and shut the door.

"The old man's still outside, dumbass," Gajeel growled.

"Whatever, you didn't have to push me," Natsu sulked.

"What are you? Nine years old?"

"Shut the fuck up, ass wipe."

"What did you just call me?"

Levy interjected before Natsu could reply.

"Enough!" she snapped. Both men turned their gazes on her. "You can't swear in here," she said firmly. "What if a customer had walked in?"

Natsu looked away before mumbling an apology. Gajeel only glared.

"Now, you two are here to fix the window right?" She waved towards the back door. "Please do so. I'm sure you know where to go."

Natsu nodded and walked over to the door but Gajeel didn't move.

"Yes?" Levy asked, growing impatient with the sullen man.

"Can you put my coat behind the desk or something? It's fu-" He paused. "It's hot in here."

Levy tried not to smile. He had actually made an effort to follow one of her rules. Nodding, Levy held out her hand and Gajeel shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her. Then he grabbed his kit and followed Natsu. Levy watched Natsu peel off the cardboard Levy had taped over the hole while Gajeel found a garbage can and checked around the door for any glass Levy might have missed. Taking a look at the old grandfather clock Levy had set up in the corner she realized that it was about time she closed up shop.

"Thank goodness for quiet Sundays," she muttered as she locked her front door and flipped her sign over. She also closed the curtains so the sun wouldn't shine through in the morning and make the place so unbearably hot.

"Hey, Miss McGarden!" Natsu called. Levy turned around as Natsu walked up to her.

"Levy is fine," she said with a smile. He was a bubbly guy and she was finding it hard not to like him. "What's up?"

"Well we got the measurements for the window, so I'm gonna go pick it up—but you've still got some glass and stuff stuck in the window, so if it's alright with you Gajeel would like to stay here. Get it cleaned up."

Levy nodded, "That's fine by me."

"Alright then, mind letting me out?"

Again, Levy nodded her consent and unlocked the door for Natsu.

"Thanks. Gaj, I'll be back in a bit."

"Yep," he waved absently as he dug glass from the window frame.

After Natsu had gone Levy wandered over to Gajeel to check on his progress. It looked like he had gotten all the glass and was rummaging around his tool kit. She hung back a few feet, unsure how or even if she should approach him.

"You need something?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Um, no, just, uh, just wondering why," she couldn't figure out what to say to him. "Why didn't you go to get the window too?"

He grinned, "You mean why didn't I go get the window instead?"

"No!" snapped Levy. "That's not what I meant at all!" She paused when Gajeel gave her a sceptical look. "It's just that you seem be a bit more level-headed than Natsu, I guess."

"Yeah, normally I would've probably would have gone to get whatever it was we needed—but I came here on my bike, so getting a window from point A to point B wasn't really gonna happen. Also, Natsu used to work at the hardware store I sent him to, so he might be able to get a discount."

She put here hands on her hips and smirked at him, "Oh, so now you're going to be cheap about helping me?"

Gajeel smirked right back at her and replied, "Savvy. We're gonna be savvy about helping you."

"Mhmm," Levy said, unconvinced. Changing the subject she asked, "How are you going to get the window back in? Don't you have to fit it in the groves?"

Gajeel nodded and some of his long hair slipped free of its elastic. "Yeah, what we have to do is take this little border off here and then we can just slide the pane in. The we glue the border back on and it's done." He tapped on the frame as he spoke. "I just need a flat-headed screwdriver to pry the border off."

"Okay," Levy said, she bent down and looked through the tool kit until she found the screwdriver. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he said, reaching out for it.

As he extended his arm she noted once again that his arm was peppered in scars. There was one particular cluster that caught her attention. The scar tissue was mangled and a little bit discoloured. Scars left behind by needles, lots of them. Gajeel noticed her staring and withdrew his arm.

"Yeah, those are what you think they are but you ain't got nothing to worry about. I'm clean. Makarov wouldn't send a junkie in to fix up your window."

Levy blushed, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, biting the inside of her cheek. "I didn't mean to stare."

Gajeel shrugged, "It's all good. It's kinda hard to miss I guess. Besides, like I said, I'm clean, ain't got nothing to hide."

Levy nodded but let the subject go. Although he said he had nothing to hide it was clear by his tone that he'd rather not discuss it.

"Um, anyways, here's that screwdriver," she said, handing it to him.

Gajeel accepted the tool and got to work, carefully prying the border away from the door. Once he was done, he set it aside and tidied up before taking a seat on one of the plush armchairs Levy had furnished the store with.

"Now we just gotta wait for Nat-" Gajeel's ringing phone cut him off and he pulled the cell from his pocket.

"Huh, what'a y'know," he looked up a Levy, "What's that saying, speak of the devil and he shall appear?"

"I don't think that's quite the same thing."

Gajeel shrugged and answered the phone.

"You're on speaker so don't say anything too stupid," he said upon answering.

"I'll do my best." Natsu grumbled from the other end of the line.

Gajeel let out a laugh. It sounded kind of weird to Levy, but it seemed to suit him just fine.

"So what's up, Natsu?" Levy asked.

There was some shuffling on Natsu's end before he replied, "Well, I've got good news, bad news, and worse news."

Gajeel rolled his eyes a bit.

"Saw that coming a mile away. Let's hear it."

"First of all, fuck you," Natsu huffed.

"What's wrong, Natsu?" Levy asked, shooting Gajeel a look to get him to knock it off.

"Hear that Gajeel? That's how you respond to your obviously distressed friend."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind for next time. Right now though, tell me what's up?"

"Yeah, okay. So the good news is I got the window. The bad news is that I broke it and the worse news is that I don't have the cash for a second one."

Gajeel groaned and flopped backwards, his head thumping the back of the chair, "Guess I'm going to the hardware store."

"Yeah, well, sorry Levy," Natsu mumbled.

"It's fine, Natsu. We'll be over in a minute."

"We?" Gajeel said, sitting up.

Levy nodded, "Might as well. It's not like I've got anything to do here."

"You do remember me saying I came here on a bike, right?"

"Was it a pedal bike?"

Gajeel snorted, "Of course not, don't go insulting me, Shorty."

She raised a brow at him and opened the door. "Then lead the way."


Okay, so that ones done. I'd love it if you guys continued to review. I love me some feedback! So important news. NANOWHRIMO is coming up in November which for those of you who don't know what that is its basically this big writing competition of sorts. Anyways, I'll be participating in that hopefully, so I may not post at all in November. IF that is the case I apologize in advance but we'll see what happens.