Ember felt a hard stare on her back, the weight of the gaze causing her hackles to rise. She looked up from the stretched cheeks of her nosy brother to see Gajeel staring hard at her. His face was expressionless, but Ember could read the confusion in his ruby eyes. The confusion... and something else. Ember huffed out a sigh. She was doing a lot of that tonight, sighing, that is. It was starting to annoy her, but sometimes there was nothing else one could do. She threw Gray at Lucy, and while he didn't fall on her sobbing like Natsu, he whined to her about Ember's rough treatment. Any other time, as Juvia came over to comfort him, Ember's heart would have soared at seeing her sullen brother surrounded by such close friends. But she just couldn't make herself feel that emotion.

"Gajeel, let's go home," she said abruptly, cutting off what anyone else was saying. "I'm tiered, and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"You're going home with him?!" Gray shouted, pushing Juvia away to come stand by Ember.

She just gave him a cold, level stare. "Yes, he is coming him with me," she said shortly. "We're going on a job tomorrow."

"What?!" This time, the shout came from Natsu and Happy. The Fire-Mouth added, "Gajeel get's to go on an S-Class job with you?! No Fair!"

"Of course his does, Natsu," Erza said, setting her fork down on her now-empty plate. "Why else would Master have called her home? If you hadn't made such a mess on your last job, we would've been the ones to accompany her."

Over Natsu and Gray's now arguing voices, Lucy asked, "What do ya mean, Erza?" From her lap, Happy nodded.

"For some reason, Ember needs a Dragon-Slayer to help her out on this mission. With her usual choice," Erza hesitated, nervously glancing at Ember, "...held up... She needs someone else. As she knows Natsu, he would've been her natural first choice. As his team, we would've gone with him."

"See, Flame-Brain, it's all your fault she's getting so chummy with Gajeel!"

"It's not my fault! Stuff just gets in my way!"

Gajeel felt a small tug on his hair and tore his eyes away from his fighting Guildmates to look up at Ember. She was now fully dressed, shoving the ends of her pants into her boots. She told him they should get going now, while the others were distracted. Gajeel ate the last bite of his mug before standing up and following Ember out into the cool night. He thought about asking why they were going to her house, but didn't want to disturb the comfortable silence between the two.

Finally, they arrived at the Men's Dorms of Fairy Tail. Gajeel raised a metal-studded eyebrow, but still said nothing as Ember strutted into the building. She quickly went up the stairs to the third floor, walking down most of the hall before stopping at a door. As she unlocked it, she glanced up at Gajeel. She must've noticed his confused expression, because she finally spoke.

"Between Gray and Laxus," she said casually, opening the door and walking inside, "There was no way in hell I was getting a room at Fairy Hills." Gajeel watched as she shrugged one slender shoulder. "Besides, when we first joined, there was no way Gray and I could afford the rent by ourselves."

Gajeel followed the Shadow Mage inside before saying, "I can see why you would share a room with Gray." He avoided her gaze as he took off his shoes. "But I don't see what Laxus has to do with this."

Ember was shocked at his question, and thus took a while to answer it. She gaped up at the Dragon-Slayer, her arms crossed in front of her and gripping the ends of the shirt she was in the process of removing. Slowly, Ember lowered her arms before she answered his unspoken question, albeit in a roundabout way.

"You noticed how the members of the Guild who are similar in age tend to be friends?" Confused Gajeel gave her a slight nod. "Well, Laxus was the closest to me. So we became friends. You could say he's my best friend. So is it that unusual that I occasionally share a room with him?"

"Does that include his bed?" Gajeel inhaled sharply, the question coming out before he could stop it. He bit his lip, but didn't take it back. Instead, he just stared hard at Ember.

Bitterness. That was the other emotion Ember had seen in Gajeel all night, what colored his tone as he spoke. Bitterness and perhaps... just the smallest bit... of jealousy. Ember just blinked, but decided to be as frank with him as the Dragon-Slayer was with her. "Yes." Gajeel's expression darkened drastically. Ember didn't know why she added next what she did. He had no right to know her private business. But something in her desperately wanted to clear up any misconception he had about her. "But only once in the way you are thinking of."

Yes. One simple word, that's all it was. And yet it hit Gajeel's chest like a ten-ton hammer. He didn't know what he had been expecting. For her to deny it, maybe. But he should've kept his damn mouth shut. Speculating did not hurt so much as knowing. And, dammit, knowing should not hurt this much! So she slept with Laxus! So what! Gajeel's hands curled into fists at his sides, the blood pounded in his ears so hard he almost missed the words she spoke next.

"But only once in the way you are thinking of." Huh? Once? Gajeel's confusion must've shown on his face, for she continued, "I only had sex with Laxus once."

"Once? Why?" Gajeel stared at Ember, noting the way her cheeks started to burn a delightful red. As he spoke, his voice sounded raw to his ears. "...When?"

Ember quickly turned away from Gajeel, her cheeks burning on her face. Why was she talking about this with him?! She never even told Gray or Freed or Lyon! Why was she telling Gajeel? It didn't matter, as the conversation had started and neither one of them was going to stop it. Ember rapidly walked towards her room, pulling off her clothing as she went. She decided to only answer his last question.

"One night during my last job, when he passed through on his own." Ember rummaged around in her drawers, looking for a pair of her pajamas. Finally, she found an old shirt of Gray's she had stolen years ago and pulled it out. She walked behind her changing screen to finish removing her clothing. "Before we could figure out what it meant, he had to leave, and I had to finish Acnologia off. And then... well, you know what happened."

Gajeel sank down her bed, letting the words she had spoke flow through his mind. "H-how," Gajeel paused and licked his lips, "How long ago?"

"A year."

The air whooshed out of his lungs. A year. For some reason, relief welled up in his chest. He glanced up as she walked out from behind the screen, a large blue tee-shirt with a white Fairy Tail sign on the front falling to the tops of her thighs. She hesitated at the edge of the screen, nervously toying with the edge. Gajeel continued to stare at her, watching as she shifted from foot to foot.

"Does this... upset you?" Ember asked suddenly, unable to take the silence no longer.

She let out a small, quiet sigh of relief when Gajeel looked away from her. He stood up, her mattress slowly rising up from the indent he had made. "Why should I be?" he asked, starting to walk past her and out into the living room.

For some reason, Ember was unable to stop herself from grabbing his arm. "Gajeel," she whispered, tugging lightly on his firm bicep so that he turned to look down at her.

Gajeel loved the way her small hand felt on his arm, dammit. The way she lightly rubbed his skin with her thumb, looking up at him with those wide, dark eyes. Gajeel couldn't help himself from lowering his gaze to her full lips. Almost as if she were aware of the thoughts Gajeel was desperately trying not to think, the tip of her pink tongue peaked out and ran across her bottom lip. Gajeel breathed in deeply through his nose, finding his body leaning down of it's own accord. He managed to gain control at the last second, so that his lips only brushed the side of her mouth. Ember let out a small surprised gasp, the noise bringing a small smirk to his lips.

For some reason, all thoughts of Laxus were abruptly pushed from the Dragon-Slayer's mind. Well, not exactly. He thought of Laxus, but not as a rival, but as a hurdle to be jumped. Ember obviously had feelings still for that lightning-bastard, but she reacted so quickly and easily to Gajeel. That meant he had a chance. And he was not going to let it go.

"I'm not mad, if that's what you're asking," Gajeel whispered gruffly, the soft puffs of air the words made tickling Embers cheek. Ember felt her eyes widen even more as he reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, his fingers rough against her cheek. "If anything, I'm all fired up."

Ember felt her heart skip a beat as she stared up at his confident smirk. Damn cocky Dragon-Slayers.


A/N: ~Sexual tension~! Yes! Finally, we're getting somewhere! Woo! The next chapter, my all-time-favorite Dragon-Slayer makes his entrance into the story, so look forward to that, lovelies! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

~Shini