Thanks to yori neko for reviewing and for anyone that has subscribed :)!

This chapter is a little longer since I wanted to get as much in as I could.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Temperance

She'd stopped laughing when he had taken off his shirt and ran with another to the bathroom. Lucy stared at his muscular back. It had scars all over it. One in particular drew her attention. It was on his left shoulder blade. When the wound was made it must have been with a carving knife or something serrated. The way the tissue had scared over made it look like it must of hurt quite a bit. She wanted to ask how he'd gotten such a scar but thought it'd be a personal matter he wouldn't want to share.

Looking down she sighed and thought of how much more she wanted to see his muscular shirtless self. Look at his battle scars and ask him where he had gotten each of them. The reaction was instant. She had now turned a bright red color and was denying what she had just thought. The shower had come on a couple of minutes before. She had to resist the strong urge of popping in just to see him shirtless again.

Lucy actually slapped herself this time. "Idiot! What are you thinking?"

She rubbed her face where she'd slapped. It was redder than the rest of her face. Lucy sighed again.

Gajeel walked out of the bathroom. He just stood there hair wet, dripping onto his recently changed shirt.

Lucy looked down holding herself back from blushing and denying any feelings she might start to feel. She shouldn't, better said she couldn't, be having any feelings she thought to herself. He was nakama and was trying to help her through her depression.

-o-

He looked at the blonde sitting by the window. She had a red mark on her face. He wondered what had happened in the few minutes he showered for her to acquire that.

"What happened to your face?" he asked her.

Lucy looked up at him and he could see she was still blushing. The mark of a hand still more visible to the eye.

"Nothing…" she answered looking down again.

Gajeel sighed. He went to sit next to her but there was not enough space. Slouching down in front of her, he placed his hand under her chin and slowly lifted her face up. She seemed to blush even more at this which confused him to no end.

"That mark isn't there for nothing. I wont push you to tell me though." He removed his hand from her face.

"You should go calm it down with some cold water. We'll be going to get dinner soon."

He watched as she did what he'd recommended and followed her to the bathroom. He leaned against the door frame as she washed her face with cold water.

"So where would you like to eat? Do you know of any places around here?"

Lucy had grabbed a towel and was patting her face dry, all signs of the slap mark gone. She shook her head.

"I only came to the city a couple of times with father when I was younger but that was for business lunches and so on."

She now looked at him leaning on the door way. Lucy seemed pretty observant of him today. He could feel her eyes on him which made him tense up a bit.

"Well then should we go see what we can find?" he asked her trying not to make it obvious.

The blonde smiled at him and gave a small nod. He now knew why she was so popular with the guys in the guild. That smile was like the sun at dawn. Bright yet soothing to watch at the same time. He shook his head trying to snap out of it. Gajeel hadn't heard Lucy's answer. He figured she had agreed.

They both walked down to the lobby of the hotel and made their way onto the street. Gajeel had asked the clerk at the desk the way to the restaurant area and was inform there were several in the capital. He had gotten one of them from him at least which was not too far from the hotel.

On their way they found a small cafe, nothing fancy, and decided that would be their dinner spot for the day. Both of the mages had fun dinning with each other. This was the first time Gajeel had gone to eat dinner with a girl other than Juvia, and she was like a sister to him.

-o-

Night had fallen and they had made their way back to the hotel after dinner and sightseeing a bit, Lucy's idea. She had made herself so tired that she went ahead to the room without him while he made his way to the bar for drinks. After a few whiskeys Gajeel decided to call it a night and made his way back.

He wasn't exactly drunk neither was he sober. Entering the room he stumbled on something that was on the floor, possibly boots. He cursed under his breath as he couldn't see a thing and felt his way to the bathroom. Flicking the light on, he got ready for bed changing into a plain black tank top and shorts. He didn't turn any lights on as to no wake Lucy up on his way to the bed.

Laying down on the vacant bed, the events of the day felt a bit foreign to him. He'd never done this things for any one before. It is true to though that he had had a good time while with her on this mission so far. Gajeel closed his eyes with these thoughts in his head trying to find sleep.

He suddenly heard sobbing coming from Lucy's bed. Turning around he saw her crying in her sleep. 'She must be having a nightmare,' he thought. Sitting up on his bed, which was adjacent to hers, he went to place his hand on her head but had to stop midway.

"Natsu..."

The blonde still whimpered the name of the one that had hurt her the most. Gajeel's hand balled up into a fist as he tried to contain himself. He remembered that beautiful smile she'd given him earlier. All traces of it now gone with her nightmare. He couldn't shake it off. Gajeel was angry at Natsu more than he'd ever been before.

That night he made the promise to somehow help her forget about that person and to keep on living her life.

Next chapter will possibly be out in the next week or two.

Sorry x.x getting a bit busy with other things now too!

I will not forsake this story though I promise!