Yay, it's finished! And before Monday too haha. Well no one got my referance, but I'll give pikinanouart strawberry short cake for the guess lol It was a quote from Stephan King's the Dark Tower Series xD

Anywho, thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you like the next chapter!

Chapter 4:

Gajeel stood at the doorway to the infirmary for a few seconds before pushing into the room. He stood there at the entrance, but found that Levy was too concerned with her book to notice his presence. He shook his head and made overly dramatic movements to catch her attention as he leaned against the door frame.

Finally her eyes flickered up to him in surprise, and her hands lowered the book that had previously been positioned to hover a few inches away from her face. "Sheesh – do you ever stop reading?" Gajeel's deep voice mocked as he took a step further into the room, letting the infirmary door close behind him.

"Oh – hi Gajeel," Levy said quickly, quite surprised that the studded boy was visiting her – especially since their only two encounters had occurred yesterday: one friendly and mildly pleasant, while the other quite painful. "You aren't at the party?"

Gajeel leaned against the wall by the door, his muscular arms crossed over his chest, a four-pack of beer hanging from one of his hands. "Tch – the party sucks. Figured I'd bring some medicine for your injuries," he said with a rough smirk, holding up the four-pack for emphasis.

Levy smiled softly, "Thanks."

Gajeel thought for a moment about straight out saying sorry for hitting her – but couldn't get the words to form in his mouth. He was a tough-guy, dammit! He didn't say sorry. He pulled the chair beside her bed and pushed it against the wall by the door.

His husky figure plopped down, and tore a can out of the plastic. He tossed it over to Levy, who had set her book down for the time being so that she could catch it.

He pulled out a beer for himself and quickly popped it open. They both drank – though Levy took smaller sips, compared to Gajeel's inhaling gulps.

Gajeel let out a loud breath as he pulled the can from his mouth. He looked at Levy, who was inspecting the label on the beer can for something to look at, and realized how strange it was for the girl to be completely alone like this.

"So where are your two lost puppies?" he asked bluntly.

She looked at him in confusion until she realized who he was talking about, "What – Jet and Droy? They're not lost puppies…"

Gajeel shrugged and sipped at his beer.

Levy sighed and answered his question, "At home. They both offered to stay, but I told them that their families would miss them over the holidays."

"I don't think I've ever seen you without those two or Bunny-girl by your side," Gajeel commented.

Levy let out a small laugh, recognizing Lucy's nickname that made almost no sense, "Why are you comparing all of my friends to animals?"

Gajeel shrugged again, "Just turned out that way. You're more like a kitten though."

"What?"

"Yeah. Small and seemingly defenseless…but even kitten's have claws. I bet you'd be good in a fight."

Levy let out a laugh of disbelief, "I don't fight. And I hardly think, that out of all the animals in the world I'm something as boring as a kitten."

He smirked, "Too bad. You can't choose your own – or else everyone would be the cool animals."

"Well, fine," Levy observed him with analytical eyes, "You're like a black bear."

"Tch – I always thought I was more of a dragon, but bear is still cool."

"Hmm, no you're definitely a bear – and dragons are mythological. They aren't on the list to choose from."

"How do you know that they're mythological though? They might have existed once."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she let out a laugh, "If I let you be a dragon, will you change me to something besides a kitten?"

"You can change me to a dragon if you want – but you'll still be a kitten." He smirked devilishly and sipped at his beer.

She sighed and was about to counter his statement, explaining exactly why she wasn't a kitten, when the door pushed open.

Gajeel had the sense to hide his beer, just in case it was the headmaster coming to check up on Levy, but his caution wasn't needed.

"Oh," Gajeel said as he pulled his beer back up from his side where he'd been shielding it from sight of the door, "Bixlow." He gave a gruff nod of recognition and went back to sipping on his beer.

Bixlow stood in the doorway, seemingly caught off guard that Gajeel was there. Bixlow gave a nod in response and looked over to Levy.

"Hey Bixlow," she said in a small voice, clutching her beer can in her hands with a tight grip.

The large jock gave what seemed to be a forced smile, "Hey. Heard you were awake and thought I'd say sorry for…you know." Bixlow tapped his head in indication of her bandaged one.

One of Levy's pale hands went to her head and fingered the edges of the white bandages that wrapped around the top of her skull, "Oh, it's okay. I know it wasn't on purpose or anything…just really bad timing."

"Yeah, so…" Bixlow paused awkwardly, "Later then." He spun around and left the room quickly.

As the door swung slowly closed on its own, another voice could be heard out in the hall. "Psh, she deserved it anyway. It's her own fault for being so damn clumsy," a slightly tipsy sounding Evergreen spat viciously.

"Shut up, Ever," Bixlow hushed pointedly.

They two started to walk away, but the rest of the conversation could still be heard through the closing door, "Don't be such a killjoy, Bixlow. I can't wait for Laxus to come back – HE wouldn't ruin my fun."

If the jock said anything in response it was cut off by the closing of the door.

Gajeel stared at Levy with narrow eyes. While social skills was not on the list of Gajeel's character traits, the studded boy could read people and their emotions like Levy could read a book – and Gajeel swore that he saw Levy cringe at the mention of Laxus' name. He watched her for a moment as she gripped her beer can with tight hands.

"Don't listen to them – they're assholes," the boy said bluntly, bringing his can of beer to rest on his knee as he leaned forward in his seat. He fought his curiosity and the urge to ask why the mere mention of Laxus' name had made her cringe.

She looked over at Gajeel and sent him a thankful smile, but her eyes still visibly screamed of sadness and fear.

Was she afraid of Laxus? Gajeel wondered to himself.

"Sorry about that…" Levy said quietly. She looked down at her hands.

"What's her deal with you, anyway? She's a bitch to everyone, but always takes it a step further with you," Gajeel asked. If he didn't ask about Laxus, he was at least going to ask about Evergreen.

"She doesn't like me," the blue-haired girl said shakily. She raised her can to her lips and took a few long gulps.

Gajeel scowled at nothing in particular, realizing she wasn't going to give a real answer. "They're assholes," he repeated and followed her example by downing the rest of his drink.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

"And he just let her dance around him like that?" Cana asked with a raised eyebrow as she and Mira had stumbled off to find a new CD in Cana's room.

"I know! Seriously, I know he's a guy and it's hard for them to function around pretty girls, but really? Evergreen? What was my brother thinking?" Mira ranted as she walked down the corridor that held Cana and Juvia's dorm room.

Cana let out a short burst of laughter, "I wonder if they have a secret thing going on that no one knows about."

Mira sent a scathing look at her brunette friend, "Don't even kid about that. Sure, it would be a really fun rumor to start, but everyone knows how hung up on Laxus she is. Elfman and Ever just wouldn't be believable."

"True," Cana agreed, "Evergreen's completely attached to Laxus. Are they actually going out, or are they just friends who like to make out in public?"

"Ugh, I don't know." Mira pushed open Cana's door and stepped inside. Both girls winced as Cana flipped the light switch on. Mirajane continued, "I think it's sort of an open relationship thingy. It's so weird – and completely damaging for Ever, though she's such a bully that no one really cares."

Cana nodded as she pulled Juvia's CD case out from under her bed. As she flipped through it for a new CD to play she said, "The stories about those two that get around are really bizarre. A few even say that Fried and Laxus have a thing on the side."

"NO! Don't say that! Fried is NOT gay!" Mira groaned as she plopped down on Cana's bed.

Cana snickered, "Oh yeah – I forgot about your little crush on Fried."

"It's not a crush – I just think he's completely sexy. You've seen him with his shirt off! He's built like a brick house!" Mira sighed happily as she imagined Fried pulling off his soccer jersey after one of their big games.

"He's got long hair though…it's kinda weird."

Mira scowled at her, "His hair is gorgeous – only REAL men can pull off having long hair."

The two girls dissolved into giggles and Cana said between calming breaths, "Yeah I don't think he's gay either – and Laxus definitely isn't. He's hit on every girl in the school…including you."

Mira shrugged, "He's too cocky for me…and not in a good way."

Cana burst into laughter and sent a smack at Mira's leg that dangled from the bed, "Bad girl!"

"Couldn't help myself," Mirajane giggled. He held her aching stomach and tried to take deep breaths. She sighed, "I think Bixlow said that Laxus and Fried are coming back in a day or so. We'll have front row seats for Ever's drama performances."

Cana sent a smirk towards Mira, "I bet you could still get some mileage out of that mistletoe before New Years."

Mira smiled fiendishly, "Oooo, now that's an idea. I love playing match-maker. Do you have any preferences?"

"Me?" Cana asked. She tapped her chin in thought, "Surprise me…as long as it's not a freshman or your brother."

"Hmm…it's a tie between Bixlow and Alzack," Mira pushed herself off the bed, "And I've already called Fried." Mira smirked.

"Sounds good…though I'd feel bad for kissing Alzack – it's completely obvious that he's in love with Bisca. I wish the two of them would hurry up and make out already."

"Seriously," Mira agreed, "They're pretty much a couple already…just without any of the fun parts. Maybe if she comes back early, my mistletoe will be able to help the situation."

The tipsy girls broke out into laughter again. Mirajane helped Cana to her feet, who had long ago picked out a new CD. "Good thing Juvia likes to make mix-CD's. She's got at least 10 dedicated to dance music."

The two girls linked arms and wandered back out towards the party, plotting mistletoe mischief and making a list of people they'd catch with their match-making schemes.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

After a full night of dancing and partying – all of the little freshmen (who Mira had not allowed to drink any of the "special" punch) had drifted off to their dorms for a night of sleep, leaving the upperclassmen to have the lobby for themselves.

Mira saw her little sister Lisanna and her two classmates, Angel and Sherry, struggling to stay awake and act cool in front of the older Seniors and Juniors. The platinum blonde match maker, at the moment was not-so-subtly hinting to Alzack that he needed to make a move with Bisca.

At the mention of the girl who was currently home for the holidays, Alzack's cheeks reddened to a dark shade of scarlet that stood out on his tanned skin.

The group was talking loudly and drunkenly – the only few who'd retained their sobriety was Cana (who had had the same amount as everyone else, but had a high tolerance level), and Elfman, who knew how bad he was with alcohol and had refrained from drinking more than a few cups of spiked punch.

Ever had plopped herself down in Elfman's lap, for reasons unknown to anyone, earning her strange glances from Mira and an awkward look from Elfman himself, who seemed completely unsure about what to do with his hands.

Bixlow was nursing another cup of punch and laughing loudly at something Angel said, who had settled down beside him. She was smiling proudly, happy that she'd been able to catch the jock's attention and make him laugh – even though the drink in his hand was probably more to blame than her story.

Cana noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Gajeel walking quickly through the room. He had just come from the door that led to the main building and was rushing to the guy's dormitory.

"Where've you been, Gajeel?" Cana asked loudly, drawing the attention of everyone else towards the boy with studs pierced in his face that reflected the dim lights of the lobby.

He shrugged, "Nowhere." He ignored his fellow classmates and disappeared into the boy's dorm hall.

"Oh," Bixlow said with a thick voice, "I know where he was…I saw him with Levy."

Mira's head shot up, "With Levy?"

Bixlow nodded and went back to his drink.

Immediately Cana and Mirajane pulled their heads together. "This is a new development," Mira smirked wickedly.

Cana shook her head, "I don't know – he might have just felt bad for hurting her."

Mira pursed her lips, "Hmm, well it could be. I'll have to interrogate the two of them – but I can see Levy going for the mysterious bad boy. We might have to add them to our list."

Cana shook her head at the devilish smile that rose to Mirajane's lips.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

Levy smiled in the darkness of the infirmary. It had gotten late, but Gajeel only just left, turning off the lights for her as he did so.

In his own little way, the beer and company had been his way of apologizing for socking her in the stomach – and he was right. The beer had helped some to numb the pain, though it might actually add to the headache in the morning.

She sighed and eased herself beneath the covers so that she could get some sleep.

Levy wished she could just drift to sleep with the funny conversations she and Gajeel had shared fresh on her mind, but of course, Laxus once again found his way in.

She pulled her knees to her chest as she lay on her side beneath the blankets. Just his thought made her whole body go cold, despite the combined warmth of the alcohol and the fuzzy blankets.

Two years had passed and still she was tormented by it. Evergreen, who'd unintentionally saved her, had read the scene wrong, and even now hates her because of it. Levy had tried to tell someone what happened, and knew that keeping it to herself was the worst possible thing – but every time she'd open her mouth to relieve herself of the memory that haunted her dreams, his face would make her stop.

His face as it had been two years ago – angry, terrifying, and smiling like a devil – would freeze her tongue and keep her from letting it out.

Even tonight, she'd been so close to telling Gajeel – even though she hardly knew him, she wanted to answer his question. Levy wanted so badly to tell him and get the terrible secret off of her mind – even if that meant spilling her soul to a boy she'd just started to get to know.

But that chilling, smiling face stopped her once again.

Levy's eyes closed, and her mind drifted into nightmares.