Chapter 7: Confessions

"So~oo." Lucy swung her bare feet as she sat at the edge of her bed. Gajeel had said he wanted to talk, but he had yet to say anything. Instead, he sat at her writing desk and glared at the wall.

Lucy could imagine what he wanted to talk to her about. She had been short with him ever since he had carried her home and allowed her to sleep in his bed. She hadn't meant to be, but the stress of losing her friend was too much. Lucy knew that Levy had a thing for Gajeel. It would be wrong of her to go after the man she cared so deeply for.

That matter aside, Lucy didn't even know what it was that she felt for Gajeel. Sure, she found him physically attractive but was there something more? She liked to think that she was interested in more than the physical features of a man.

"Is this about last night? I'm sorry I ran off like that." She figured she would have to be the one to start the conversation. Gajeel was obviously having a hard time doing so.

"You're sorry?" His pierced brows raised up into his midnight hairline, and Lucy found herself wondering how much it had hurt to shove the metal pieces into his own skin. "That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, not really."

Lucy tilted her head to the side, causing her wet locks to slide across her mostly bare shoulder. She didn't understand. If he didn't want to talk to her about the way she had acted towards him, then what did he want to talk to her about.

Her chocolate eyes widened as a light pink tinge spread across her features. Could it be that he wanted to talk about THAT night? She didn't want to talk about the night she had spent in his bed while practically naked. She didn't want to discuss the way his silky black sheets had felt against her bare skin, or how she couldn't get the smell of him out of her mind.

"You alright, Bunny?" The old nickname still irked her, but she chose not to comment on it right then.

"I-I'm fine." She wasn't fine. The coals she had attempted to bury that first night were still hot within her. Her mind was running wild with the possibilities of her in Gajeel's bed.

"Right. Well anyways. I just wanted to say..Ah fuck!" he stood up abruptly. Lucy could tell that he was frustrated. She stood up and took a step towards him with the intent of comforting him in some way.

Instead, she found herself wrapped in his arms as he devoured her mouth in a passionate kiss. It was beyond anything she had ever imagined. The smell that she couldn't get out of her head filled the air around her. The piercings on his arms scraped lightly across her skin, causing goose bumps to rise up. Her breasts were pressed against Gajeel's chest as he squeezed her tightly.

He pulled away from her and allowed her to breathe. She was light headed from the length of the kiss, and unsteady on her feet. She touched her fingers lightly to her lips and stared at Gajeel with stars behind her eyes. The only thing she could think of right then was how soft and plump his lips were against hers.

"G-Gajeel?" She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the man in question. She couldn't deny that it had been an incredible moment, but she still wasn't willing to hurt Levy. Things had gone too far. "You should leave."

"I ain't leavin'" His reply startled her. He wasn't going to leave? Well she hadn't thought about what she would do if he refused. She wasn't strong enough to go against a Slayer on her own. She could call Virgo or Loke to help her, but she didn't want to cause any lasting issues. Makarov didn't like it when guild members fought amongst themselves either. "I came here to tell you that I'm not interested in the Shrimp like that. I'm interested in you."

Had Gajeel just confessed to her? Lucy's face turned beet red. There was no way he had actually just said that.

"Did you hear me?" He waved a hand in front of her face to catch her attention. "I said I fuckin' like ya. You could at least respond." He crossed his arms in annoyance and huffed indignantly.

Lucy giggled. It was just too cute to watch such a bad ass like Gajeel throw a fit like that. He glared at her in return.

"I'm sorry. Um..ok." She stopped giggling and took a deep breath. Once she was a bit more under control, Lucy stepped backwards and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Even if you don't feel that way about Levy, there are still her feelings to consider. I mean, even if I wanted to be with you I couldn't hurt her like that."

"If?" Gajeel's crimson gazed pierced Lucy. "Don't pretend like you aren't interested in me. I can smell your arousal.

"What? Gross. Don't say things like that." She clenched her legs together with her hands firmly on her knees. She would prefer if he would keep such findings to himself.

"Gihi" She glared at him as fiercely as she could manage. "I'll talk to the Shrimp. I'm sure she'll understand."

"I don't think you understand how women work. She liked you. A lot. She isn't just going to be ok with this…whatever 'this' is."

"So then what do you propose, huh?" Gajeel was getting sassy with her. She was excited to see this new side of him. She would admit that she hadn't really given the Slayer much thought before her escapade with Natsu. Sure, he was a part of Fairy Tail and one of her nakama, but she didn't really go on jobs with him or interact with him very often. He was always with Levy.

"I-I don't know." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she considered the situation. "What happens if she is somehow ok with it?"

"What?" He obviously didn't understand what she was getting at.

"I mean..between us."

"Well then you will be my mate." He said it so matter-of-factly that Lucy didn't doubt for a moment that he was completely serious.

"Mate?! I don't know if I'm ready for all that." In fact, she knew damn well that she wasn't ready for that.

"Girlfriend," Gajeel shrugged. "Whatever." Lucy sighed a breath of relief. Dragon Slayers were certainly hard to deal with. She didn't know if she was ready for what she was about to get herself into.

"Speaking of."

"Huh?" Gajeel raised his head to the air and sniffed heavily towards the window.

"Levy's here."

"Oh crap! Crap! Get in the closet!" She leapt to her feet and tried to drag Gajeel into the closet. Unfortunately, he didn't budge at all. Instead, his heavy boots thudded across the floor. Lucy continued to tug and pull at him as he turned the door knob to her apartment, but it was no use. The door swung open to reveal a tear stained Levy Mcgarden.

Levy had insisted on going alone to talk to Lucy. Lily had offered to go along with her, but she was adamant that it was something she needed to do on her own. Although the black Exceed warned her that Gajeel was likely there with the Celestial Mage now, Levy insisted on making the trek to her friend's home. She needed to settle things now. She wanted Lucy to know that she didn't have to hold her feelings inside any longer. Levy would still be there for her no matter how much it hurt.

"Gajeel? Um, hi." Levy's hazel eyes were filled with tears as she looked past the Slayer to find Lucy clinging to his arm.

"Levy! It isn't what you think!" Levy watched Lucy detach herself and wave her arms around wildly. It hurt her to think that Lucy would hide something like this from her. They were supposed to be best friends. Maybe she wasn't there for her enough. Maybe she didn't tell her because she was afraid that she would be upset.

Well she was upset, but it wasn't anything that would permanently damage the two girls' relationship. Levy loved Lucy, and looked up to her more than anyone else.

"Don't worry about it!" Levy put on her brightest smile for her blond friend. She would be strong for her. "Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to lunch tomorrow since we didn't get a chance to this afternoon? Jet has been wanting to take me out for a while and I thought we could make it a double date." Those words were physically painful for the Script Mage to utter, but she somehow managed.

"Sorry, Shrimp. We've already got plans. Another time." Levy was surprised at the harsh words coming from Gajeel. Then again, she was glad that Lucy would now know she wasn't angry with her, and Levy wouldn't have to sit through lunch while watching the pair.

She nodded her head, causing waves of blue hair to obscure her vision momentarily. "Great! Well just let me know when you're free." She flashed another bright smile before forcing herself to walk down the stairs at a normal pace. She could hear Lucy call to her, and Gajeel shush her in his rough voice.

It was all she could do not to break down. She really did care about Gajeel. It all made sense now. Gajeel had never been into her. He felt bad for what he had done to her, and Levy had taken it as affection. Her own emotions had been misguided. Before Gajeel came along she hadn't even thought about romance. It was still a difficult thing for her to do, but she knew that Gajeel wasn't the only fish in the see. Just right now he seemed to be the brightest and most alluring one.

Lucy huffed as she tossed clothes randomly into her travel bag. Not only had Gajeel insisted that she wasn't going to run after Levy to explain things, but then he had dropped the bombshell that they were going on a job together.

His reasoning was that it would give Levy a chance to get used to the idea of them being together. Lucy took this as Gajeel's way of asking her out, and mentally rolled her eyes. However, she did agree that perhaps it would be best to leave for a couple of days. The wound was still raw to Levy.

It was good to know that they were still friends, but Lucy felt terrible for hurting her friend. She wasn't even sure about the depth of Gajeel's feelings for her, or the depth of her own for him. She just wanted to make sure that her friend was going to be alright.

"Don't you need to go home and pack?" Hurting her friend had caused her mood to sour.

"Nope."

"So what? You're just going naked?" He obviously wasn't, considering he was wearing clothes. She was just upset. Gajeel took it well and simply grinned at her in response.

"Let's go, Bunny." Lucy's bag sailed through the air and nailed him in the face. "Oi! What the hell was that for?!" She had finally gotten a reaction out of him.

"If we're dating then you can't call me that anymore! I have a name."

"I know. I happen to like Bunny better." He rubbed the lump on his head and bent to pick up her bag, which he proceeded to sling over his shoulder. He didn't seem to mind that it was pink.

"Well too bad. I don't like it." Lucy stomped her foot and followed him out the door. She would be damned if at least one thing didn't go her way today.

"Oi, Bunny. We're there." Gajeel chuckled as the little blond mage drooling on her own arm mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep. It had been amusing to watch her for the duration of the train ride.

At first she had been angry and snapped at him over every little thing. As the ride wore on, her anger abated into contemplation. She sat staring out the window for a while. This allowed Gajeel to rest in peace. After a while longer, Lucy had fallen asleep with her head propped up on her arm. Gajeel intended to tease her about the drooling later.

"Get up." He kicked her leg lightly, causing her to jump up and hit her head on the luggage rack overhead. He stood up and grabbed their bags from the compartment. Lily had met them at the train station with Gajeel's luggage. Lucy had demanded to know how long he had been planning this, but he merely shrugged. She didn't need to know the specifics.

He lead her off the train by elbowing people out of the way and clearing a path for her. He grinned as he ehard her apologizing for his behavior to those he had displaced. He really did love that she was so sweet and caring. To him, she was the perfect match. She was everything that he wasn't; everything that he needed.

It was too soon to tell her this, but he would make her understand.

Once they were off the train, Gajeel set forth at a brisk pace.

"Hey! Wait up!" Lucy was struggling to keep up with him, and he lessened his pace slightly. He didn't want her to think he was some kind of pussy whipped weirdo, but he didn't want her to think he was a complete dick either.

They walked in silence for a few minutes until Gajeel stopped dead in his tracks. He had just remembered something. Lucy ran into his back with a thud.

"Oi, Bunny? What'd ya do with those flowers I got you?" He turned around to see her reaction. She was a stuttering mess. He grinned at her and patted her head. "I'm just teasin'." It did bother him a little that she had been so careless with them. He wasn't prone to acts of kindness very often.

He continued walking while thinking on the matter.

"So what are we doing here, Gajeel?" Her voice soothed the disgruntled dragon within him, and he couldn't help but want to hear her voice more often. Sure, sometimes she talked a lot, but it didn't bother him.

"A job."

"Ugh." He could tell that he had annoyed her by the way she stomped her little foot at him. He chuckled darkly at her temper tantrum.

"Yeah, Gajeel. What ARE you doing here?" Gajeel stopped dead, and hardly noticed Lucy peeking out from behind him. Before them stood Saber Tooth's Sting and Rogue. They didn't seem to be overly hostile, but they weren't happy either.

They hadn't like losing the GMG to Fairy Tail. The relations between the two guilds were much better now that Minerva was gone and Sting was Master, but there was still that Dragon Slayer rivalry between them.

"None of your business." He knew he shouldn't talk to them like that when he was in their territory, but the little snot pissed him off. Especially Rios all pretending to be some bad ass by changing his name to Rogue. He would never get over that.

"I think it is our business, Gajeel-kun." Rogue glared at Gajeel from behind his bangs. Gajeel wondered if the kid thought that was actually intimidating. Maybe the girls liked it. Chicks were into some weird shit these days.

"Um, sorry." Lucy emerged from behind Gajeel and confronted the Twin Slayers. "We're just here for a job…of some sort. We don't want to cause any trouble."

"Oh, Lucy!" Sting and Rogue seemed to notice her for the first time. Gajeel found this interesting considering he could smell that girl from miles away. Perhaps she was the reason he hadn't noticed the other Slayers approaching.

Gajeel yanked Lucy away from Sting, who was flirting wildly with her.

"Back off." He growled at the younger man. He wasn't going to let some kid put his hands all over Lucy like that.

"Whatever." Sting glared at Gajeel before turning his attention back to Lucy. "If you are going to be here for a while then you should come stay at the guild. We have extra rooms, and a pool." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. "It'll save you money too."

Lucy's eyes lit up as he said that and she clasped her hands together to implore Gajeel to allow them. "Oh, can we?" She had no idea what it did to her breasts. Or maybe she did. Either way, there was no way he could refuse her.

"Whatever." He grunted and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't like the idea of another man competing for her attention, but he was confident in himself. No one was about to take her away from him.

Lucy jumped up and punched the air. "Yay!" His eyes were drawn to her breasts once more as they jiggled temptingly. He caught Sting staring as well and growled at him.

"Come on! I wanna go swimming!" Lucy grabbed him by the arm and drug him down the road after Sting and Rogue. He didn't even have the heart to tell her that they were supposed to report to their employer in less than an hour.


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