Being Sick Sucks. Period.

Gajeel sat at his usual place at the bar, indifferent to the rowdy background noise as he mentally struggled to make a list of reasons why she wasn't at the guild today. Or the day before. Maybe she was having one of those days, where a break from the wild atmosphere of Fairy Tail was needed. Or she wanted a quiet place to read her books and decipher some ancient language. Gajeel considered the slim chance that she could've gone on a solo job, and he quickly scanned the room to make sure her two cheerleaders were present. It wasn't like her to run off on her own, and even if she had left alone, Gajeel was sure that her followers would be worrying their hair out, but by the light mood that they were currently displaying, he started to doubt that she had even left town.

The worst case scenarios started to play out vividly in his head and Gajeel stiffened in his seat. What if she had gotten into some sort of trouble and had no way of contacting anyone for help? Or had somehow managed to hurt herself, knowing how clumsy she could get. Her room did border between slightly unsafe and outright hazardous with unstable towers of books that could topple over with the slightest touch and the mess of scattered hard covers on the floor with sharp, pointy edges that no book should have. Or some intoxicated idiot could have-

"Stop worrying," Lily interrupted his thoughts. "She's probably fine."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Gajeel denied, giving his cat an annoyed look.

"You mean you're not thinking about why a certain blue-haired bookworm hasn't shown up yet?" Lily raised an inquiring eyebrow.

Gajeel mentally cursed his cat for being able to read him so easily. "What makes you think I was thinkin' about that?"

"For starters, you look like a paranoid mom," Lily stated.

"I don't-"

Lily cut him off with a wave of his paw. "And you keep looking at the door every minute as if you're waiting for someone."

Gajeel glared at his cat for noticing something that he wasn't even aware that he had been doing.

Unable to come up with a witty comeback, Gajeel just grunted, "Shaddup."

As if she was listening to the conversation the whole time, Mirajane sauntered over with a smile on her face, absentmindedly polishing an already squeaky clean glass. "Don't worry about Levy, she told me she wasn't feeling well yesterday."

Gajeel's ears almost perked up at that but he hid the relief before anyone could notice. "I wasn't worried."

"Maybe you should go check on her," Lily suggested while exchanging the briefest look with Mira, as if they both knew something Gajeel didn't.

Gajeel frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're wor-"

"I ain't worried!" Gajeel nearly yelled, causing curious faces to turn towards the trio at the bar.

"I think it's a good idea," Mirajane added. The barmaid reached under the counter top and set a white plastic bag on the table. "I made some soup, why don't you bring it to her and see if she's doing alright?"

Gajeel scowled. "I ain't some delivery boy."

Mira sighed and said in a defeated tone, "Fine…I guess I'll have Jet and Droy do it."

Gajeel's scowl grew darker as he snatched the bag from where it sat in front of the barmaid who smiled innocently. He stood up from his seat and without a word, turned to leave.

As Gajeel set one foot out the door, he heard Mira giggle and say, "It's so cute how he's so concerned for her."

Gajeel forced his legs to keep moving forward and ignored the sound of agreement coming from his cat as he stepped outside.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Levy groaned in discomfort as she laid in bed, cocooned in a heap of blankets and pillows. She was curled up in a little ball, arms wrapped around her stomach which felt like sharp knives were picking on her insides.

Levy had tried everything to relieve the pain. She had never felt stomach pains this bad, she could barely get herself up for a shower this morning. Not even sitting in the warmth of her bed and rereading one of her favorite novels had helped take her mind off the aching. Finally, she had given up and ended up sulking in her own misery.

Yesterday had been the exact same as well. Mira had offered to take care of her for the day but Levy politely declined, she didn't want anyone else to suffer along with her.

The loud slamming of her window momentarily distracted Levy and she sat up with a shriek. Her panic quickly faded into confusion as she watched Gajeel struggle to fit his large body through her window.

"What are you doing here?" She exclaimed. Levy was suddenly aware of how she hadn't bothered to comb through her hair this morning, resulting in the current bird nest on top of her head and the fact that she was wearing an oversized, old t-shirt as some sort of night gown. Levy now had newfound sympathy for what Lucy must feel like on a daily basis with everyone barging in.

Gajeel noticed her appearance as he finally managed to fit through her window. "You look like a mess."

"Thanks for the comforting words that every girl wants to be greeted with," Levy said sarcastically. "Now, you haven't answered my question."

"The barmaid made you soup," he replied.

"Oh, well that was nice of her." Levy's face contorted back into a look of discomfort as she felt the knives in her stomach once again.

She watched as he nonchalantly walked over to her kitchen and untied the bag to reveal a plastic container with brown liquid inside. He popped the lid off, setting free the white tendrils of steam.

"Where're the spoons?" he grumbled.

"Top left drawer."

Gajeel rummaged until he had a silver spoon in hand and he dropped it in the broth. He walked over to the side of her bed, dragging a chair behind him in one hand and carrying the broth in the other.

He placed the container on her nightstand and plopped on the chair beside her. Gajeel eyed the over flowing trash can of chocolate candy wrappers that eventually ended up scattered over her bed and he raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not feeling well," she carefully answered. Levy still had her arms clamped firmly around her stomach and made no move to eat her soup.

Gajeel sighed and reached for the container and gently placed it on her lap. "Eat it while it's warm."

Levy started to protest but when she caught the serious look on his face, she swallowed her words. Reluctantly, she brought a spoonful of the brown broth to her lips and took a sip. The soup made a warm path through her body and pooled in her stomach, slightly soothing the pain.

"Thank you," she eventually said after several mouthfuls. "For bringing me the soup."

Gajeel grunted something unintelligible and Levy took it as a "You're welcome." Levy glanced out of the corner of her eye, looking at how he slouched in the chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You don't have to stay here," she said softly.

"Got nothin' better to do," he grunted and Levy took it as him saying no which she felt strangely pleased to hear.

She silently drank the rest of her soup and set the container back on her nightstand. Levy's mind went blank as she tried to think of what to say now.

"Oi, you got any water?"

"Yeah, the glasses are over there." Levy pointed across the room. "You can fill it in the bathroom."

Gajeel grabbed a glass and headed to the bathroom, opening the door. He stepped in on the tile floors and froze. The smell was faint but it was definitely there. He sniffed the air again to confirm. This is definitely the scent of blood, he thought to himself. Anger suddenly consumed his mind and common sense as he turned to look at Levy with an alarmed face.

She returned his look with a look of utter confusion. "What-?"

"Who?" He demanded, anger thick in his voice. "Who made you bleed?"

The empty glass Gajeel had clutched in his hand cracked and broke into shards under pressure as his hands turned into fists at his sides.

Levy sat silent on the bed, still confused about the sudden change of mood. It took her a few seconds to realize what had caused Gajeel to become so furious all of sudden.

Stupid dragon slayer senses. Levy internally groaned at the conversation they were about to have.

"It's nothi-" she started to say but Gajeel cut her off again.

"Where are you hurt?"

"I'm n-"

"Stay here, I'll go get the kid to heal you."

"Gajeel, stop," she said firmly. "It's not something Wendy can heal."

Gajeel looked at the bluenette in confusion. "What?"

Levy's face turned the color of Erza's hair in embarrassment. "I'm not hurt."

"Then why do you keep holding your stomach as if-"

"Because it's cramping!" Levy had no idea that there was a deeper red than Erza's hair but the current blush on her face proved that there was.

"I smelled blood in the bathroom," Gajeel stated, still confused about the way Levy was acting.

"Please don't make me explain." Gajeel watched her red face and her eyes that avoided looking at him.

He thought to himself, stomach cramps, all the chocolate wrappers, blood, not something the kid can heal…

Oh.

Gajeel's face matched the same color as Levy's as the realization dawned on him but soon the embarrassment turned into annoyance. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"It's embarrassing," she muttered as her eyes glued to her hands.

Gajeel snorted. "I was about ready to kill someone, don't ever scare me like that again."

His tone turned serious on the last few words and his red eyes fixed on hers.

"Sorry…" Levy sheepishly mumbled.

"Don't worry about it, Shorty." Gajeel chuckled. He walked back to the side of her bed and threw a blanket up to her shoulders. "Go to sleep."

Levy laid back down on her heap of pillows and watched his back retreat to the open window to jump out. The knives in her stomach were long forgotten and she succumbed to the warmth of her blankets, letting her eyelids drop until all she saw was darkness.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"How is she?" Lily asked upon Gajeel's arrival at the guild.

"Fine."

"Where are you going?" Lily asked as he saw Gajeel turn to leave once he had his duffel slung over his shoulder.

"I gotta go get somethin'," was all the iron dragon slayer said as the doors shut behind him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Levy woke a few hours later, feeling loads better than she had before. Mira's cooking really did wonders. Levy shifted until her feet were hanging off the edge of the bed, she needed to freshen up and get the bad taste out of her mouth.

When the bluenette stood up, she caught a silver color out of the corner of her eye. Laying on her nightstand was a square box made entirely out of iron. Carefully, Levy lifted the cover and smiled at the neatly arranged assortment of chocolates inside.

Because deep down Gajeel is a huge worry-wart, especially when it comes to Levy. I start school in three days so updating will probably take longer than usual, not that I really have a schedule for updates but I'm afraid I won't be posting as often because school sucks. Reviews are welcome!