I'm back
Gajeel's alarm chirped at 8 am Saturday morning. He turned it off and sat up. He traded shifts with Natsu, so he took an extra hour to sleep, but he preferred to wake up fairly early. It gave him more time to get shit done. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and climbed out of bed. He pulled on running clothes and made himself some toast as he laced up his running shoes. If he had kept his early shift, Gajeel would've gone for a run later in the day, but since he had the opportunity now he figured he might as well take advantage of the coolness of the morning. He finished his toast and swallowed a quick cup of water before stepping out the front door.
The morning still felt fresh. It was still early in September, so it would get hot later on, but for now, there was a breeze and a subtle foggy feeling to the air. It felt light and refreshing- perfect for a run.
As he ran, Gajeel's mind wandered back to last night's party. Fairy Tail never ceased to surprise him. They were absolutely nuts in the best sort of way. Then, of course, there was Levy who had definitely said that Jet and Droy were jealous of him. It didn't make him mad that the two felt that way. If they were jealous that meant there was something for them to be jealous of, particularly something between him and Levy. Gajeel would be lying to himself if he said he didn't have a thing for Levy. It was strange, sure, and it definitely snuck up on him, but he wasn't going to pretend his feelings for her didn't exist. Thinking about it only made Gajeel smile to himself as he continued on running. Although as happy as it made Gajeel that Jet and Droy were jealous of him, it was really pissing him off that those two numbskulls still hated him. Now, Gajeel still hated himself for what he did, but he's a better person now than he was before. Levy's two best friends were the only ones in Fairy Tail that refused to even entertain the possibility that Gajeel was a decent guy.
Gajeel rounded back to his house and warmed down before jumping in the shower. When he was done rinsing off, he pulled on his yellow referee shirt and black shorts. He grabbed his cleats and a water and walked over to his truck. He hesitated when he got to the door before turning and walking to the field instead. It wasn't that far, and it was a nice day. Might as well save the gas money, right?
Gajeel arrived at the soccer fields about fifteen minutes before noon to get ready for the start of the game. He checked in with the coaches as the teams of girls warmed up. Gajeel scanned the field of girls in soccer jerseys and tried to remember which team Wendy was on. The teams were red and purple, the A level teams, so Wendy was definitely here somewhere. Wendy may be small, but she's got a lot of power inside her. She went to the clinics and training sessions Gajeel and Natsu ran almost religiously and it was clear that she had some serious potential as an athlete. Beyond that she was absolutely adorable, so she quickly became Gajeel and Natsu's favorite. She often asked to train with them when they had free time, and she was locked down to attend FTA in a few years. As his eyes scanned the field he heard a small voice call his name from behind. He turned to see little Wendy Marvell waving at him with her hair in pigtails and a red soccer jersey hanging loosely around her torso.
"Hey, kid," Gajeel said, turning to face Wendy.
"Hi!" Wendy chirped back. "I didn't think I'd see you today, I thought it was supposed to be Natsu."
"We switched shifts. Is that a problem?"
"No, it's great! Atsu lives around the corner from me so I see him pretty often, but I don't get to see you as much."
"Well let me know if you wanna swing by to run some drills or anything, or I could come to you. Salamander doesn't have as strong a defense as I do, and you should be working on everything you can if you wanna play in the big leagues one day. Hey, I saw you at Juvia's yesterday. Going to high school parties already?"
Wendy blushed a little. "Yeah, I guess. Everyone at Fairy Tail is just so nice! They're my friends, and Juvia invited me. It was fun!"
"Yeah, just make sure you're staying out of trouble, you hear?" Gajeel didn't want her drinking or getting into fights or anything like that. Wendy was a good kid, and she had great potential. Gajeel didn't want to see her throw that away.
Wendy looked up at Gajeel and smiled before nodding.
"That's a good girl. Now go on and warm up, you don't want to get hurt or nothing."
Wendy turned and ran back to her team, waving at Gajeel over her shoulder one more time. Gajeel smiled to himself. He liked Wendy and it made him happy that she looked up to him.
Levy breathed in the crisp air as she walked, the light breeze dance through the hem of her favorite orange sundress. It was warm, but the air held hints of colder weather to come. She looked around at the sun glowing through the leaves and branches of the trees surrounding the path. She could hear some commotion nearby and guessed that it was probably a rec sports game, probably soccer given the time of year. She glanced down the grassy slope next to where she was walking and confirmed that there was, in fact, a soccer game in progress on the field at the bottom. She went to look away, but then something caught her eye. Well, actually it was two somethings. At first, she spotted Wendy's dark blue pigtails trailing behind her as she dribbled the ball down the field, but as Wendy passed by the referee Levy noticed a certain someone else and stopped in her tracks. It was Gajeel. He was watching over a girl's soccer match. Levy moved a little ways down the slope and sat in the grass. Part of her was surprised to see Gajeel there, but mostly it just seemed to fit. She watched him bouncing around the field, keeping an eye on the ball and all the players half his size while not getting in the way. He was very light on his feet, which made Levy smile to herself. She sat and watched the last ten minutes of the game and even found herself cheering along with the parents.
When the girls started to clear the field and the parents began folding up their chairs Gajeel conferred briefly with the ref that showed up for the next game before turning to walk home. As he started up the hill to the sidewalk he spotted a familiar head of blue hair. He smiled to himself as he approached Levy. She sat laid out on the dress in a very attractive orange dress with white ribbon along the top. It was a classic Levy look: sweet and playful with a bit of spunk to it.
"I didn't know you worked as a referee," Levy said.
Gajeel sat down next to her. "Are you surprised or somethin'?"
Levy thought for a moment. "No."
"Interesting."
Levy was confused. "Why's that so interesting?"
"Most people assume I work in some garage or something. Most people can't imagine me working with kids."
"You know, there was a while where I wouldn't think so either. But you've been surprising me so much lately I'd probably believe anything you told me."
Gajeel looked down at Levy for a moment. She looked back up at him, smiling as the breeze ruffled through their hair. Gajeel wanted badly to lean down and kiss her, and Levy wanted badly for him to. After a while, Gajeel spoke.
"You wanna get out of here? You can come round my place if you want. We could watch a movie or work on homework or something."
"I'd like that," Levy said.
"Hope you don't mind walking," Gajeel said.
"Not at all," She said, laughing.
The two stood and walked off towards Gajeel's house