THE STORY SO FAR: The album recording was a success and Fairy Tail stretches its wings to take flight. But wait—! There's a problem! Levy seems to be re-living her days of insecurity thanks to a brunette from Sabertooth. Needless to say, the whole gang was worried, Gajeel most especially. So, he, then, calls the guys to the studio for a little chit-chat. But knowing Gajeel, will this possibly work?
NOTE: Most of the songs in this fanfic might be just poems I whipped up. But if I do use real songs, I will make sure to give credit accordingly so please do not sue me!
WRITER'S BLOCK: I only realized this now, but on the previous chapter, Gajeel was riding a motorcycle! O.o Huzzah for someone who gets motion sick! I guess he doesn't get as motion sick as Natsu…
WARNING: Get ready for a long chapter—because I said so… *laughing maniacally*
-CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR-
Where Gajeel takes a hand.
Lucy was the first to arrive; maybe because she was the closest to the studio. When she got there, Gajeel was sitting on the couch, his arms crossed and his legs comfortably laid on top of the center table. He looks pissed, she thought, entering the room silently. Then again, he always looks pissed. Come to think of it, she hasn't really seen him smiling normally.
Lucy closed the door behind her and held her breath as if not wanting to breathe the same air as the brunette bassist. She stayed there with her back on the door for quite some time before she finally couldn't hold her tongue back.
"So, uh… What's this about?" she asked acidly. She had always been terribly cold towards him. For some reason, he irked her.
"Let's wait until the other two get here," he replied as coldly as she did; or has he always talked like that?
"Hey, it's near midnight," Lucy said, her voice getting louder and her temper rising, "I'm tired and I'm sleepy so I'd really love an explanation as to why you called me up when I should be sleeping."
Gajeel looked at her with eyes filled with annoyance. Then, he clicked his tongue and looked away saying, "It's about your friend."
"What?" the girl replied almost immediately. Then, realizing he was talking about Levy, Lucy continued, "Why? What about her?"
"She's acting up again," he simply said. By the sound of it, he was talking as if she knew what he was saying; tough luck, though, she thought, because I have no idea.
When Lucy didn't reply and only looked at Gajeel with one eyebrow raised, he continued, "Her inferiority complex is getting the best of her—and I don't like it."
"What do you mean?" she demanded, "Is this about her sudden makeover?"
"Bingo…" he said in a low and gruff voice, his lips pursed. "I'm betting it's something that that Rogue Cheney said."
"You think Levy likes Rogue Cheney?"
"No," he snapped, "I'm saying that he said something to loosen a few of her nuts."
"And..?"
"I don't like it."
"Why are you so worried about Levy? Do you like her?" the blond said hotly.
"Shut up and just work with me. I know you're worried about her," he replied, annoyed.
"So it's me you like and not Levy—?"
"Don't flatter yourself, kid," Gajeel immediately grimaced, "You'd be the last person on earth that I'd like romantically."
"How dare you—?"
"She's important to all of us," Gajeel impressed, stopping Lucy in her rampage, "So if you want to at least help her then do this with me. If not, then I can always find a replacement."
Lucy swallowed hard. He's got a point. She wanted to know what was wrong with Levy. She wanted to console her and assure her that whatever was happening was just going to pass; and to think that she was waiting for Levy to move while Gajeel was here, already doing it ahead of her.
Gray's words rang in the blonde's head: He's not a bad person. He's not. She knew that. Gajeel just had difficulty in being expressive but he wasn't bad at all. So why should she be so against him? Was it prejudice? Or was it because she didn't like him for Levy? She pursed her lips.
"So?" she finally gave in, sitting in front of him, "What's the plan?"
Levy could do nothing but scratch the back of her head as she took off the heavy wig. She could feel itchy lumps on her nape and had the urge to scratch them. Who knew she was allergic to a combination of dust and sweat? That's the price of beauty, she merely noted. The poor girl had to put up with two kilos of extra weight on her head for about eight hours now at school. Although people had complimented her new look, she wondered why she found it uncomfortable. Even though she was getting a lot of attention, and the boys who never knew she existed started talking to her, she couldn't help but try to shy away from all of them. It didn't feel right. It wasn't what she expected it to be.
Or maybe it was just going to need a little "getting used to"?
By the end of the day, the girl found herself walking up to the music room on the fourth floor where she felt most at ease. It had become her home at school; a shrine where she could be herself.
She sighed as she let herself in the dark room. As she closed the door behind her, she slid down on to the floor, tired. Levy hadn't seen Lucy at all that day. She skipped class and wasn't picking up her phone. Is she mad at me, after all?
Oooh~~
The girl looked up, almost nervously, to her right. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice there were people there with her, staying at the darker side of the room where the light from the sunset couldn't reach. They sang harmonically to the tune of 'Just the Way You Are' and, surprised, Levy stood up to turn on the lights.
"Oh, my!" she cried, seeing Natsu, Gray and Gajeel lined up and singing. All three of them were looking at her while at the corner, Lucy strummed her acoustic guitar.
From the center, Natsu stepped forward and sang the first verse while Gajeel and Gray hummed in the background:
Oh, her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair
Fits her perfectly without her trying
She's so beautiful
And I tell her everyday
In a witty manner, Gray stole front-and-center from Natsu and sang while gesturing to Levy. The girl couldn't help but chuckle.
Yeah, I know, I know
When I compliment her, she won't believe me
It's so, it's so
Sad to see that she don't see what I see
But every time she asks me, 'Do I look okay?'
I say…
The three of them lined up together at the center again to sing the chorus. Natsu was doing a little dance, too, and made Gajeel roll his eyes in a 'what-an-idiot' manner.
When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Coz you're amazing
Just the way you are
"And when you smile~~," Natsu sang confidently, holding out a hand to Levy. Gajeel and Gray echoed his singing, "The whole world stops and stares for a while…"
"'Coz girl, you're amazing~~," Gray sang, magically taking a rose from thin air, "Just the way you are..."
Gray and Natsu approached Levy, each taking a hand from her and leading her to a chair which seemed to be purposely put there. The blue-haired girl was about to look for Gajeel, as he suddenly disappeared, but then Lucy took the center stage with her guitar and screamed:
Who said?
Levy couldn't help but laugh at this: Lucy was singing pop! Truly, it was an amazing sight; but the blond sounded great, nevertheless, and Levy now realized that she may have skipped class just trying to learn how to sing that.
Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me
"Who says…?" she smiled to her friend, cocking her head to the side. Levy didn't even notice that Natsu was already hitting on the beatbox while Gray had plugged his devil-red electric guitar on an amplifier and was backing Lucy up. He strummed it hard on a chord and Lucy breathed in deeply to sing a different song this time.
Who says, who says you're not perfect?
Who says you're not worth it?
Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'?
Trust me, that's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty?
Who says you're not beautiful?
"You're insecure, don't know what for."
Levy's head immediately snapped to Natsu's direction and giggled. Just who made this mash-up?
"You're turning heads when you walk through the door," he continued.
Natsu sang the rest of the verse before Gray joined him to sing the chorus, both still playing their respective instruments.
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell
You don't know, oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful
Although thoroughly enjoyed by what they were doing, Levy still couldn't help but let her eyes wander around the room, searching for the bassist who was missing-in-action. When she couldn't find him, she just let herself get drowned by Fairy Tail singing only for her.
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know, oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful
Oh oh
"That's what makes you beautiful," Gray sang, winking at her. Levy blushed at this. Gray actually winked at her. She didn't like him romantically or anything but being a fan of Fairy Tail since their debut, any girl would melt at his flirtatious moves.
The brunette guitarist gestured to his left, as if telling Levy to look over there. And when she did, she almost cried: Gajeel had an acoustic guitar strapped around him and he was sitting calmly on a chair in front of hers. Natsu and Gray stopped playing their instruments as Gajeel played the strings on the guitar, the tune almost summoning all the tears out of Levy's eyes.
You look so beautiful today
When you're sitting there it's hard for me to look away
So I try to find the words that I could say
I know distance doesn't matter but you feel so far away
And I can't lie
Every time I leave my heart turns gray
And I wanna come back home to see your face tonight
Cause I just can't take it
Another day without you with me
Is like a blade that cuts right through me
But I can wait
I can wait forever
When you call my heart stops beating
When you're gone it won't stop bleeding
But I can wait
I can wait forever
I can wait forever
I can wait forever...
"Gajeel-kun…" she mumbled, just looking at him in disbelief, confusion and happiness.
"When I see your face~~," Natsu sang; Gray and Gajeel echoed.
"Who says?" Lucy sang softly after him, joining him and Gray toward the center where Gajeel was.
"There's not a thing that I would change…" the leader sang and the other three echoed.
"'Coz girl, you're amazing," Lucy emphasized.
"Just the way you are…" Gajeel ended and locked gazes with Levy.
The girl could only stare at him apologetically, as his stares were reprimanding. Despite this, she was happy to have him looking at her like that; because it meant that he was worried for her… that he cared. For a moment, she had forgotten the two kilos of hair she had left on the floor. She had forgotten the rash which was not burning on her nape. She forgot the really cute guy from the volleyball team who actually bought her a box of apple juice for lunch. She was about to forget her name, even, and wanted to stay in that moment forever.
"So?" Lucy said after what seemed like a really long time. Levy was dragged back to the present and realized she was staring at the wall now. Gajeel had moved to return the musical instruments back to their respective shelves along with Natsu and Gray.
"S-'So' what?" Levy asked her. The blond pulled her into a tight bear hug. "What do you mean?"
"Are you okay now?" she clarified.
"B-But I am okay," Levy answered her.
"And this… façade?" Lucy asked.
The blue-haired pianist fought back a laugh as she remembered what they had just done. She was now thinking that she should have recorded their performance and put it on YouTube. But then it dawned on her that they might have wanted to tell her something that bothered them not only as choir-mates, but as friends who cared.
"Yeah, Levy," Natsu said, joining them. He sat on a chair in front of her, with its backrest in front of him. "Are you still going to look like that—?"
"What Natsu wanted to say, was," Gray interrupted to avoid misunderstanding, "Are you still going to try to be somebody else?"
Levy giggled, "I guess this worried you all a lot, didn't it?"
"It did!" Lucy chirped.
"But Gajeel was worried most of all," Natsu teased in a sorry tone, looking at Gajeel who just sat at the corner. The bassist only grimaced at him and looked away, drinking from the water bottle in his hand.
"He was," Gray agreed in a more mature way. "In fact, he was the one who arranged the mash-up we just sang."
"Really?" exclaimed Levy, surprised. "I didn't know he listens to Selena Gomez!"
"Oh, he does!" Natsu confirmed. "He listens to Taylor Swift, too!"
"And Christina Aguilera," Gray added.
"And SNSD…" Salamander pouted.
"Shut up! I do not listen to SNSD!" Gajeel denied hotly, stomping his feet as he stood up.
"Hey, you can talk!" Natsu joked.
"Whatever…" he mumbled and started to head out, "I should just tie you on Erza's car later on."
"Wait, Gajeel-san!" Levy said, catching up to him in one breath.
"What?"
"Th-Thank you," she said courageously, trying hard to stop her voice from shaking.
Gajeel looked at her for one moment before ruffling her hair, "Just don't believe anything that Cheney says… He's a liar…"
"But…" she started, "But thanks to that… I finally proved something I've been trying to deny all along…"
"What?"
"You…" she said boldly, "You like me, too…"
"What?!" Lucy exclaimed from behind her, "I do not like where this is going! Gajeel-san, get your claws off of Levy—!"
"Come, Natsu," Gray said to his pink-haired companion and grabbed Lucy's right arm, "I think there's a nice place just outside the campus that sells udon. Do you want to try it?"
"Well, I normally wouldn't like to go with you but just this once I will," Natsu replied, taking Lucy's left arm. The two lads dragged her and let themselves out, leaving Levy and Gajeel inside the room.
Once alone, Levy spoke again, "I… like you… Gajeel-kun…"
Gajeel clicked his tongue and smirked as if it was normal for Levy to say those words, "So you move from saying 'san' to 'kun', huh? You're scary…"
"I know I've said this before but… I really like you…"
"Don't…" Gajeel emphasized, serious now. "Your friend is right, wherever you're going with this, it's not good."
"I know…" Levy said, "Crazy, right? But I think… Somewhere inside you, you like me, too."
"Where is all that boldness coming from, huh?" Gajeel laughed jokingly. Levy laughed, too.
"But just think," she started, "Why else would you arrange a song and sing it for me with the others? It's not like you were forced to do this, right? I don't think anyone can force you to do this."
Gajeel said nothing.
"I know it's strange to hear this from someone like me, but… Do you want to give it a shot?" she asked shyly, but hopefully.
"Give what a shot?"
"… Us…"
"Oh…" he grunted, unable to utter a proper reply.
When he didn't speak, Levy only took a deep breath. She was sure now that somewhere in him, he liked her. And not just like her; like her. And he couldn't express it; just like he had difficulty expressing every other gentle emotion in the world. This didn't bother her though. It was good enough for her to know that he cared. That is always a good place to start.
"So—"
"Where do I start?" he suddenly said.
"Huh?"
"If…" he started and looked away, outside the window, "If I wanted to give it a shot… Where… Where would I start?"
"…" Levy was shocked at his words and couldn't utter one herself. Was this Gajeel? And was he really trying to do what she thinks he's trying to do?
"Well?" he said, somewhat bashfully, "I don't have all day!"
"We can start with this," Levy said gently and held out her hand to him. Gajeel only looked at it and then looked at her. "Come on, take it…"
He grunted but then took it anyway.
Levy smiled. Tomorrow, she would have to put her two-kilogram wig away. She would have to hide the new B-cups she had just bought. She would have to look for ointment on her burning rash, and she would have to be ignored by the people who adored her because she changed. But it's alright; because all that didn't matter anymore. Because right now, she was in her moment—and she wouldn't need to change just to enjoy the moments to come, would she?
No, I don't think I would, she smiled happily.
WRITER'S BLOCK: It's summer and yet I still seem to be very busy. Why is that?!
NOTE: The songs used for this chapter are the following: (1) Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars, (2) Who Says by Selena Gomez, (3) Perfect by Pink, (4) What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, and (5) I Can Wait Forever by Simple Plan.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
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