Smokin' Hot
Summary: In years to come, her children would ask, 'how did you and Daddy meet?", and she would blush and say, "I burnt down my apartment complex."
11; Best Friends
Jet and Droy had been friends with Levy since they met in nursery school.
Or, it would be more accurate to say that Jet and Droy had become utterly infatuated with Levy since they met in nursery school. Levy had been happily playing by herself with the dollhouse and Jet and Droy had been play fighting as only young boys know how to do best.
A combination of sheer clumsiness and an untied shoelace resulted in Droy being slammed backwards into Levy's dollhouse, crushing it to smithereens.
Both Jet and Droy were at the age where girls were unequivocally gross to them. However, once Levy's big brown eyes began to water and her puffy lips began to quiver their opinion quickly changed.
From that day on, Jet and Droy became Jet, Droy and Levy. And not very much had changed between them in the twenty or so years since that fateful day.
To say that the two men had developed crushes on Levy throughout the years would have been a bit of an understatement. From that day on they both seemed determined to somehow make Levy fall passionately in love with them.
It wasn't till they hit the age of 16 that they realised it was never going to happen.
Levy loved them but only as brothers.
The realisation had been a sad one for the two friends, but they got over it quick enough, deciding that if they couldn't look after Levy as a romantic partner, than they would do it as brothers.
They would spend the next few years of their lives glaring at boys they deemed unworthy (aka every boy in the world) to keep them away from her and it worked.
Until she met David.
Much to their annoyance, they were unable to find a single fault with David. In every sense of the word, he was perfect. Reluctantly, they handed their "protecting Levy" duties over to him, trusting that he would do a good job.
Thankfully, he appeared to do a wonderful job as neither man had received any indication that Levy was unhappy with her newfound relationship.
And so, when a business opportunity cropped up for the two which involved them spending a few months on the other side of the world, they felt relatively happy with leaving Levy in David's care.
Throughout the first few months of their trip, Levy would phone them every week just to catch up and let them know that everything was ok.
For some strange reason, halfway into their third month abroad, the phone calls abruptly stopped. They tried contacting her several times but would always be put through straight to answer machine.
Now, being mature and rational men Jet and Droy tried hard not to panic.
They really did.
Unfortunately they failed.
With no means of contacting her parents or Levy herself, the two cut short their trip and booked tickets back to Fiore almost immediately.
It may have seemed like a bit of an overreaction on their part, but in their years together they had become extremely attached to Levy and doted on her wherever possible.
Fearing the worst, they boarded the plane and as soon as it landed made a beeline to Levy's apartment.
"Jet…" Droy had muttered in astonishment.
"Droy…" Jet had gasped in shock and they stared up at the blackened and charcoaled square right where Levy's apartment should have been.
"Leeeevvyyyyy" they had both wailed in anguish.
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Greg McGarden loved his garden. It was his own little sanctuary, his own plot of the world where he could reign free. It was the only place where he could sit back and relax in complete peace and quiet.
A desperate, and extremely loud, wail of anguish interrupted his musings. Loud thuds on his front door followed the wailing.
Frowning, he pushed himself up from his comfortable lawn chair and quickly made his way back into his home to find out just who it was that seemed so determined to interrupt his rare few moments of serenity.
"Mr McGardeeeeeeeen," Jet howled.
"Levvvvyyyyy? Where is she?" Droy sniffed with frantic eyes, "her apartment's gone! It's burnt down! Is she ok? Where is she? Why didn't she tell us! Wh-"
Used to the way the two men acted in regards to his eldest daughter, Greg simply rolled his eyes and step aside, allowing them to enter his home.
Although their rather obsessive behaviour had the tendency to fall onto the "you're being annoying" side of things, Greg had always been secretly glad that Levy had befriended the two. They cared for each other like they were family and he knew they would always protect each other. Which is why, although their reaction was annoying, he wasn't too surprised by it.
Greg led them into the living room and settled himself into his armchair whilst he waited for them to cease with their hysterics. It took a few minutes for them to calm down enough for Greg to get a word in edgeways.
"So boys," he said jovially, pretending to ignore their woeful looks, "how was your trip?"
Droy made a sound that Greg envisioned a strangled cat would sound like.
"How can you ask such a question when your daughter is missing!" Jet cried.
"Levy isn't missing," Greg explained calmly, half wondering if he should have made himself a cup of tea, "she's quite safe, I can assure you."
"Then where is she?"
"Why is her apartment burnt down?"
Greg chuckled lightly, "you two know better than anyone that her cooking is pretty poor."
Both men froze and their faces adopted a light green hue as they recalled the few times Levy had attempted cooking for them to see if her skills had improved.
They never did.
Droy frowned, "so…are you saying, she…she burnt down her apartment trying to cook?"
Jet laughed nervously, "don't be stupid Droy. Not even Levy's that bad at- oh God," he glanced at the knowing expression on Greg's face, "she did…didn't she?"
Greg nodded and watched in amusement as the two men groaned before sinking dejectedly into their chairs.
They were both very aware of Levy's complete lack of cooking ability, but they never would have expected that she would sink to such a degree that she would burn down her home.
"So where is she staying now? Here?"
"Oh, I bet she's staying with David."
Greg froze, he had forgotten that they didn't know about Levy's situation regarding David.
Oblivious to the now worried look on Greg's face, Jet and Droy continued speaking amongst themselves.
"Well at least she's safe,"
"I can't believe she didn't tell us though. We've been so worried!"
"She probably had a lot on her mind. Her phone was probably lost in the fire."
"Fair enough…but she could've at least sent us a message when she got settled at David's house!"
"Stupid jerk, probably distracted her."
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!"
Greg sighed. Whilst he knew they didn't hate David, he knew that they did hold some resentment towards the man.
He coughed loudly, deciding it was time to inform them of the change in circumstances, "actually, she's not with David. They aren't together anymore."
Silence echoed throughout the living room as Jet and Droy digested Greg's words.
"E-excuse me?"
"They broke up," another voice joined the mix and the three men looked up to find Rianne leaning against the door frame, "hey Jet, Droy," she nodded to them both.
"Hi Rianne."
"Hey. And what do you mean, they've broken up?"
Rianne rolled her eyes, and, not for the time, cursed Levy's decision to make the two men before her her best friends. They were so demanding at times, Rianne didn't know how Levy dealt with them. She was fairly certain that if it had been herself she would have gone insane a very long time ago.
Rianna shrugged, "they broke up. Couples do that, y'know?"
"Now Rianne," Greg tittered, "you don't need to sound so careless about it all. Your sister was very upset."
"Yeah well, it's time she got over that jerk," her eyes narrowed as she thought about David. It had taken a lot of prying, but Rianne had eventually managed to find out exactly why he had dumped her sister. To say that she was furious was an understatement.
Sensing the anger in her tone, Jet asked, "why…um..why did they break up?"
Droy nodded. Rianne was quite a calm girl, it took a lot for her to get angry.
"What did he do to her?"
Rianne smirked. There was an undercurrent of anger in both of their voices and she decided to revoke her previous thought about them being annoying.
Whilst she was incapable of running up to David and giving the jerk a piece of her mind, Jet and Droy were not.
"Daddy," she said sweetly, stepping further into the living room, "I think I saw that ginger cat playing in your flowerbed again."
Her little fib got the reaction she wanted. In a flash, Greg was up out of his seat cursing the neighbourhood cat that seemed determined to foul itself on his flowerbeds. He left the room and Rianne settled herself into his seat. Levy hadn't told her parents why she and David had broken up and she would have felt awkward telling her father.
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Levy smiled to herself as she stepped off the bus and began making her way down the now familiar street that led to her new home. Her first day back at work had been lovely and in her arms she held a stack of glittery and sticky "We Miss You" cards from her students. She had been worried that she would be in trouble for opting to take a bit more time off work than originally agreed, but her boss had been quite understanding of her plight and hadn't given her any hassle about it.
She hummed softly as she turned the corner and the Fairy Tail bar came into sight. It was funny, she mused, but her opinions on the building had changed drastically since she had first moved in just a few weeks ago.
Before the sight of it would send her spiralling into a mild depression. The idea of living above a bar had been truly upsetting. Now, the only feelings she associated with the building were ones of happiness.
She genuinely loved her new home. She had gotten over the shock of how rowdy her new neighbours were and found that on the nights when she opted not to sit downstairs in the bar, she could actually drown out the noise and fall asleep relatively fast.
Those nights were few and far between however, she had taken to trotting downstairs and slipping into a booth with her new found friends most nights.
A small blush donned her cheeks as she recalled the exact reason for her choosing to sit down at the bar most night.
The reason went by the name of Gajeel Redfox.
Her heartbeat quickened slightly as his smirking face appeared in her mind.
Her slightly unconventional friendship with Gajeel had developed at a rather alarming rate. She wasn't entirely sure where she stood with him nowadays, but she suspected it resided somewhere between "just friends" and "more than friends".
Ever since their little date just over a week ago, she had felt something shift in the dynamics of their relationship.
She blamed the alcohol entirely, deciding to ignore that she had only had a glass or two, but she on the date she had somehow managed to summon up the courage to kiss him.
Her blush reddened as she walked.
It hadn't been a very intense kiss at all. It was simply a pressing of her lips against his own, but for her, it had been a huge step.
She liked Gajeel. A lot. The admission still made her feel dizzy. It just felt so strange for her to go from never receiving any male attention in her life, to being dumped and finding someone else in the space of a few weeks.
To her relief, Gajeel hadn't mentioned her impromptu kiss again and she found herself very grateful for it.
Whilst she could admit to herself that she liked the surly fireman, she knew there was absolutely no way she was ready to admit it to him yet.
Despite her reluctance to reveal her true feelings to him, she was quite happy spending time with him. He was in the bar most nights she went downstairs and on more than one occasion they had found themselves choosing a secluded booth away from everyone else. Those few nights had been her favourite. The hours would zoom by as they sat and spoke about anything and everything.
Each time she was amazed at how easy conversation would flow between her and Gajeel.
He was something special.
She approached the door to the bar and pushed it open, wondering if Gajeel would be there later on. She now had his number safely logged into her phone book on her mobile, but she hadn't managed to work up the nerves to text him yet.
She barely had time to close the door behind her before she was suddenly ambushed.
"Leeeeevyyyyyyy!"
"Leeeeeevvvvvyyyyyyy!"
She shrieked as two pairs of arms wrapped themselves around her body and squashed her tightly to their chests. The cards she carried from her students fell unceremoniously to the floor.
"C-can't…breathe…" she huffed as the culprits continued to squeeze the life out of her. From the small gap she could see out of, she caught a glance of Makarov sitting atop the counter as usual, chuckling at her unfortunate predicament.
Thankfully it was still fairly early in the afternoon and the bar was more or less vacant, meaning she wouldn't have to explain her embarrassing predicament to many people. Though she expected Makarov would ask a few questions later on.
After a few more agonisingly long seconds they released her and took a step backwards.
"Jet! Droy!" she cried, her face crinkling into an easy grin as she caught sight of the faces of her two best friends, "you're back early! I didn't think I'd be seeing you for at least another month."
"We finished up quicker than expected," Jet explained, but was quickly cut across by a rather distraught sounding Droy.
"We came to your apartment and it was gone! You didn't think about telling us your home had burnt down? Do you understand how worried we were?"
"So worried!" Jet echoed, both men trying (and failing) to look stern.
Levy smiled sheepishly at her friends. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about informing them of her plight. With them in another country, and their contact number lost in the fire, figuring out how to contact them was nearly impossible and it hadn't even crossed her mind. She bit her lip thoughtfully, knowing that letting them know she had forgotten about them would send them into hysterics.
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, genuinely feeling sorry about worrying them, "I just lost your number in the fire and I didn't know how to go about get a hold of you!"
They stood staring at her for a few more seconds, before they sighed, "we forgive you!"
She smirked, they were so predictable.
"Good! Now help me pick up this mess you've made and then we can go back to my apartment and you can tell me about your trip?"
They nodded and bent down with Levy to help gather up the scattered pieces of paper that lay on the floor after their little greeting.
"I'm really glad to see you guys," she mumbled earnestly once they had finished picking up the paper and were making their way to Levy's apartment, "I've missed you."
With all the mess happening in her life lately, she had forgotten just how much Jet and Droy's presence in her life calmed her.
Yes, they were overly protective at times, but they were her best friends and she knew she wouldn't trade them for anyone in the world.
Blushing awkwardly, they both draped an arm around Levy's shoulders and squeezed her gently, "we missed you too."
They followed Levy quickly to her apartment.
"I gotta admit," Droy said as she stuck the key in the keyhole, "I was worried when Rianne told us where you were living."
"Yeah," Jet agreed, "is it safe? Do you feel safe? Because you're more than welcome to crash with me if you don't feel safe!"
"Or me!" Droy added quickly, not one to be outdone.
Levy shook her head and laughed as she pushed open the door and gestured for them to enter, "it's completely safe guys. I really like living here surprisingly. It's a bit noisy, but," she smiled knowingly to herself, "I like the area."
Jet and Droy frowned before checking out her apartment. They had to agree, it was very quaint and had a distinct "Levy-type" vibe to it.
"It's nice," they admitted grudgingly, throwing themselves into the seat on the couch. They spoke about their trip abroad and the adventures they'd had and for a while Levy found herself easing back into her old life.
The good old days of Jet, Droy and Levy were back again.
Except, it wasn't all that simple. She realised she still had to tell them about David, they were bound to ask sooner or later.
She swallowed thickly and turned to them. Despite everything that had gone on with Gajeel recently, she still didn't like talking about her relationship with David. A part of her wondered if that meant she wasn't completely over him yet, and she sincerely hoped that part of her was wrong.
"I guess I should let you know, David dum-, David broke up with me."
She winced as the words left her mouth.
Yup, it still hurt to say the words aloud. Not as much as it had done at first, but the stinging sensation in her heart was still there.
Jet and Droy glanced at each other nervously before Droy cleared his throat and muttered,
"Y-yeah, we, um, Rianne already told us."
Levy blinked, "oh".
"Sorry," Jet said hurriedly, "I think she thought it'd be easier for you if we were already prepared. Us overreacting would've put you in a bad mood, I think."
"Oh," Levy settled herself into the opposite armchair and nodded to herself, not sure if Rianne telling the boys about her predicament was a good thing or not.
"Do…um…do you want to talk about it?" Droy asked uncomfortably. They loved Levy dearly, but talking about things such as emotions and romance was a rare topic for the three.
Thankfully, Levy seemed to sense his hesitance for she quickly waved her hands wildly in front of her face, whilst shaking her head.
"God no! I just want to forget about it. It's done."
She surprised not only the boys with the finality of her tone, but herself also.
Jet had been about to ask her, if she was sure, but the way she spoke made him close his mouth almost immediately. He could sense that she meant it.
The days of Levy and David was over.
He glanced to his left briefly and noted Droy glancing at him, clearly the same thought on their minds.
With David out of the picture it was back to being, Jet, Droy and Levy; just how it was supposed to be!
As Levy hopped off of her seat, declaring she was going to make them all a drink, they sunk further into the comfortable cushions beside her, with large grins on both of their faces.
Everything was back to normal again.
Or…so they thought.
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Gajeel smirked as he pushed open the doors of Fairy Tail and glanced around for a familiar face. He nodded to Kinana from behind the bar as he moved further and further into the bar.
Lucy was sitting at a table with Mirajane and Lisanna, giggling about something he knew he wasn't interested in. He shot them a half hearted wave as he passed their table.
Macao and Wakaba were huddled around the bar top with Cana and he couldn't help but snort in derision as he overheard a bit of their conversation.
"So…if we can outlast you in a drinking contest, you'll cover our shifts for a week?"
"Yup!" Cana chuckled evilly, "but if I win, you both become my slaves for a week. Deal?"
"I'm…I'm not sure that's lawful…"
"Tch, wimps!"
He shook his head, passing them as they began to down their first glass of the evening. Gajeel was the first to admit that he had a fairly strong tolerance for alcohol, but going up against Cana was asking for trouble. He was certain that being drunk was the new sober for her nowadays.
He saw a few more familiar faces as he weaved through tables and people.
Erza was lecturing Natsu about something - Gray was sniggering childishly near by. Juvia was crouched behind a pillar watching Gray eagerly.
Laxus, Freed, Bixlow and Evergreen had a booth to themselves and Gajeel nodded stiffly at them. He still had a rematch with Laxus he needed to do. Apparently Laxus remembered their unfinished business as he glanced up and glared at Gajeel.
Gajeel nodded cockily towards him and began to walk towards their table, but stopped abruptly as a familiar giggle met his ears.
Without even bothering to explain to Laxus that he'd deal with him later, he changed his direction and barrelled towards the direction he'd heard Levy's distinct giggle.
He found her cooped up in a booth and to his confusion, she was not alone, nor was she seated with anyone he recognised.
He frowned as two men came into his view, both of them shamelessly ogling Levy. A possessive burst of anger travelled through his body and he stomped towards them, throwing himself into the empty seat next to Levy with ease.
"Oh!" Levy gasped as Gajeel bumped into her a little, "hello! I was wondering if you'd turn up tonight."
"Hn," he grunted, still glaring suspiciously at the two men who were regarding him with equally suspicious glares, "you gonna introduce me to Thing 1 and Thing 2?"
Levy inhaled sharply and lightly whacked Gajeel on the shoulder. She was used to Gajeel's ridiculous taunting nicknames, but she knew Jet and Droy weren't and they wouldn't take his words kindly.
"These," she said pointedly, "are my best friends. Droy," she gestured to the black haired man, "and Jet," she gestured to the one with sandy blonde hair, "I'm sure I've told you about them before?"
"Nope," Gajeel said bluntly. He vaguely remembered seeing a few pictures of them in her apartment before, but he couldn't recall actually having a conversation about them.
Levy winced, "a-are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Noting that both Jet and Droy looked like they were closer to having heart attacks, Levy quickly moved on - making a mental note to slap Gajeel at the earliest possible moment.
"Anyway!" she said hurriedly, "guys, this is Gajeel. He's my…" she trailed off slowly and inadvertedly glanced up at Gajeel who was staring at her with raised eyebrows, looking far too smug for her likings.
"Uh…he's my…well, that is to say, he…he's the one who rescued me from the fire and…well…I guess we're friends now."
Gajeel snorted, smirking at her convoluted way of spluttering out what they were to each other.
"I guess we're friends," Gajeel said slowly, still smirking as se blushed.
It was very clear to everyone seated round the booth that they were something more than friends.
Jet scowled.
Droy glared.
Neither liked where this was going.
Levy could only groan and sink lower into her seat as Gajeel happily glared back at the two men.
Apparently asking for the three men in her life to get along was too much.
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A/N: Soooo….. new chapter up, and Jet and Droy appear yay and they're jealous muahahaha Umm not much to say really, we're getting to the actual major plot of the story so…yeah.
I already have another Gajeel & Levy fic in mind that I'm starting on so watch out for that.
Also, even though I don't explicitly ship them, I for some strange reason have started a Lucy and Loki fic…hm.
Anyway,
Review please!
EDIT: Ahhhhh if you noticed I mixed up some descriptions earlier on so I just changed that *slams head on the table in embarrassment* This is why you should always proof read and not just go to sleep straight away!
Thanks for telling me guys, and sorry 'bout that .
REVIEW PLEASE :)