Levy slammed the door to her apartment so hard the small pile of books leaning against the wall tumbled to the ground. With a swift kick at the toppled pile and small huff Levy trudged through her stacks of books, not caring when they fell behind her. Levy threw herself onto her large bed, sobs escaped her as she curled up, trying to seek solace from the plush down comforter. The little clock on her wall chimed three times. Levy's cries subsided slowly, leaving only tired, puffy, red, eyes in their wake. Noticing she was still in her gown Levy begrudgingly left the warmth of her bed and started to change into PJs. Before she fully undressed the small woman stalked to her window and threw the drapes shut, hopefully thwarting any attempt a certain dragon slayer may make to check up on her. The solid script mage lay in bed, pondering everything that had happened that night. Now that she had calmed significantly and her head cleared a bit Levy realized she was starting to regret her quick judgment of the dragon slayer. She was normally so careful when it came to showing her feelings and controlling her temper, Levy prided herself on being intellectual and logical not irrational and emotional, but whenever she was around Gajeel something changed within her and her feelings seemed to get out of check and wreak havoc. She considered all of her choices, but quickly comprehended there was only one option that would be effective in rectifying the situation she had hopelessly thrown herself into. Levy blushed and quickly became angry thinking of her last possible resort. Embarrassment flooded over her cheeks. Why do I have to apologize? Because you are the idiot who freaked out when he kissed you. Damn it. This sucks; I should just crawl under a rock and hope he forgets all about me. Yeah right. You know Jet and Droy would never let that happen. Gah! This is going to be mortifying. You know apologizing is the only thing you can possibly do to save your sorry butt right? Stupid Levy! Just go to bed. Tomorrow, I will worry about it tomorrow. I can go over to Lucy's and ask her, and then I will suck it up and apologize.
Levy barely slept. She woke every hour consumed with anxiety. When she finally conceded to the wakeful state she looked at the clock. 7:00 am. With a small huff the petite woman got out of bed and quickly got ready for the day. Levy decided on a pair of tight black jeans, white tank top, olive green cardigan and black hair ribbon she wore the night before. The small mage left Fairy Hills and walked through the town of Magnolia, noticing it was almost completely silent. There were a few people doing some early morning shopping, but most of the city still slept, trying to recover from the nights activities. Levy stopped in the small café her and Lucy has visited a few days earlier, to pick up two small teas and some bagels. She figured if she was going to drop by so early she might as well bring something to brighten the celestial mages morning. The bluenette made her way down the winding streets to Lucy's house. As Levy reached Lucy's front door she knocked loudly while calling out for the blonde wizard. She was greeted with silence.
"Hmm, no answer. Maybe she is still asleep." Levy mused to herself. "Hey Luce, I am coming in!" Levy balanced the two drinks in her hand as she reached for the door knob with the other. The door popped open and Levy turned backing into it trying to balance both drinks and the sack of bagels. With her foot she closed the door with a slight kick. The small mage walked over to the wooden dining table in the middle of the room and set her items down, noticing articles of clothing strewn clumsily around the room. Levy looked around the small apartment confused. It looked as if a storm had blown threw. "Lucy?" Levy called quietly. Something stirred on the bed. Levy rotated to get a better look at the large lump of blankets that had moved. Levy took another step closer and saw a tuft of pink hair pop out from under the covers. She let out a small gasp.
"Hmm? Oh hey Levy. Oh, bagels. Nice." Natsu withdrew the blankets and got out of the bed to grab a bagel, but quickly noticed he wasn't wearing any clothes and hastily jumped back under the covers to conceal himself and the naked mage that slept soundly next to him.
"Oh Mavis! I am so sorry. I – I didn't – that is – I'll just leave! Sorry." Levy sputtered in shock at what she had just seen. The solid script mage ran to the door apologizing profusely for the intrusion. Levy slammed the door behind her not believing her eyes. What the hell? I totally forgot they had gone back to Lucy's last night. I was so wrapped up in my own drama it didn't even occur to me what they could've been up to. Well, I will definitely be talking to Lucy about that later. Levy made her way back through the streets of Magnolia, trying to figure out what she should do next. "Damn it. I left my tea at Lucy's." Levy muttered to herself. Better go get another. Levy made her way back to the small café and ordered another small tea, despite the confused look she got from the barista. The small mage sat at a table and slowly sipped her drink. This is nice. Stop procrastinating. You know what you need to do, now suck it up and go apologize. He probably isn't even awake yet. I mean it is pretty early still. Levy McGarden, go to Gajeel's house right now and say you're sorry! Fine.
Levy downed the rest of her drink and made her way to the edge of Magnolia. There was a small warn pathway that led into the woods. The fall air swirled around the young woman and rustled the last few leaves that remained in the trees. Levy moseyed anxiously up the long pathway. She wound through the trees for a while when she finally came upon a small brick cottage. Levy's breath hitched in her throat as she saw the small house, her confidence was waning. She took a few cautious steps closer to the door, when she heard something thumping around inside. Levy, trying not to be seen just yet, ran to hide underneath one of the open windows that were on the front of the house.
"Damn it Lily! What else could I have done?" Gajeel's voice echoed angrily from the open window. Levy, turned slightly and cautiously pushed herself up to get a glimpse inside the small home. Gajeel stood in the center of a quaint living room; he was directly in front of Panther Lily who was sitting comfortably in the middle of a large black leather sofa. Gajeel wore nothing but a pair of black pajama pants, his hair was thrown in a messy ponytail and the scowl on his face had intensified.
"Oh I don't know. Maybe you could have told her how you feel?" The black cat replied half-heartedly as he munched on a ripe kiwi.
"Don't you think I would've done that if I could've?" Gajeel spat back, venom filled his words.
"Well, you could have. So why didn't you?" Lily questioned matter-of-factly.
"Oh shut up!" The iron dragon slayer roared. "I couldn't okay…? I just couldn't bring myself to tell her I love her. I know she has feelings for me and – I know she knows I like her, but…" Gajeel trailed off, trying to clarify his feelings about the solid script mage to the small black cat in front of him. "I was just too scared to tell her. I don't deserve to love her. And she shouldn't love me, not after what I did to her!" Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest guilt and anger bubbling inside of him. Levy sank back against the wall of the house. He loves me? And he still feels guilty about what he did? Levy tilted her head back to lean against the bricks and closed her eyes, trying to wrap her head around the words she just heard the iron dragon slayer say. Gajeel heard a rustling from outside the window and stiffened. He carefully turned and walked over to the window. Panther Lily stared back at Gajeel, confused by his sudden change in demeanor. Trying not to make a sound Gajeel poked his head out, looking around for any sign of movement. He peered downward and saw a small head of blue hair leaning against his home. Her eyes were closed, and her face was beet red. Gajeel was mortified and despite his best efforts to pull himself together he couldn't help but worry about what Levy may have heard him say. With a small burst of courage Gajeel opened his mouth to greet the small woman lurking around his home.
"What'cha doing out there short stuff?" Gajeel asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Levy shrieked startled by the large man that loomed over her. Levy tried to compose herself and think of a good reason for her being there. Why did I come here again? You idiot, you were going to apologize. So do it already and get the hell outta here!
"I'm sorry!" Levy practically screamed while jumping up to run away.
"Oh no you don't!" Gajeel reached out the window and grabbed Levy's hand, not letting her flee. "You and I need to talk. How 'bout you come inside and I'll make breakfast." Levy stopped pulling and slowly nodded her head in agreement.
