Wish I was too dead to care
Gajeel was beginning to hate parties at his best friend's house. He stood in a corner, nursing a beer as the rest of his friends partied hard around him. Even through his grumpy mood, he could not help but smirk at the damage happening in Laxus' house. Don't want to be Dryer's fucking maid after this party, he thought to himself as he saw a blur of fire run through the house and outside the back door to fall into the pool.
"Oi, Natsu!" The tall blond male came barreling after him, "I'm sending you the damage bill if I find ONE scorch mark in my house!"
Damn. Never mind, Gajeel thought. That was totally worth watching. The stoic man felt eyes on him and feared for a moment that She had come after all. His red eyes scanned the room and landed on a pair of hard, green eyes. What the fuck does he want?
Jet waited another beat before heading over to the intimidating corner. "She's not coming, so you can relax and enjoy Mira's party."
"Tch." Gajeel made it clear that he was annoyed at the carrot top's assumption. "Not that it's any of your business, I already knew she wasn't coming." He recalled the last doctor's appointment he attended. The doctor had showed some concerns with Levy's blood pressure and put her on bed rest. "besides she can do whatever the fuck she wants. I'm not her keeper."
If indeed I cared at all
"Whatever man. "Jet turned to leave but hesitated and squared off with the man in front of him. "What's your problem man? This woman was head over heels for you. Still is too and you constantly fail her. She gave you so many chances and all you've done is waste her time and break her heart." Gajeel clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on his bottle, trying his best not to swing at the person in front of him and ruin Mira's party. "You're pathetic and you don't deserve her." Jet turned to leave but Gajeel had had enough.
"That's fucking rich," he spat out. "Considering she was lying to me from the beginning." Gajeel ignored the confused look on Jet's face, unable to stop himself from continuing, "Bogus scholarship to pay for school. Bogus story of how she had hardships growing up. Her parents are loaded. They have paid for anything she needed since she was born. So what they weren't there. They took care of her and even gave her to a family so she wasn't alone." Gajeel pushed himself off of the wall and started walking away. "I'm done with liars in my life."
"Idiot." Gajeel's crimson eyes glared into Jet's. "She has no idea who set up her scholarship. She thought she earned that on her own. In fact, she wasn't going to even go to college because she was 'not bad' student at best." Jet pulled up to meet Gajeel's eyes. "And as for the silver spoon you think she got from her parents? You're a dumbass if you don't think she wouldn't have traded all of that for actual parents. She felt like a third wheel in her own house despite all of our efforts to let her know that she was family." He could feel the doubt creep up into his mind. "She could have had any man, but she chose an idiot addict with an iron thick skull. It's sad."
Never had a voice to protest
Gajeel had enough of the reprimand. "Whatever man. She's her own person." He shoved past Jet and walked out the front door.
"Black Steel!" Gajeel slowed down at the familiar voice and let Laxus catch up. "Leaving so soon?" He merely grunted at his friend in response, not able to find words to respond. "You're not even gonna tell Mira goodbye?"
His crimson eyes scanned the party through the front door and finally spied the white haired birthday girl. "Nah, she's having a good time. Won't even notice I'm gone dude."
Laxus shrugged, knowing that it was a feeble attempt to get his friend to stay. "If you say so man." He put his hand on Gajeel's shoulder as a gesture of farewell. "Ride safe and I'll talk to you later?"
Gajeel only grunted as he shrugged off Laxus' heavy hand. "Yeah, sure thing." He got on his bike, glad to have it back on the road, and headed home with his mind filled with doubts and confusion.
When he pulled up to his father's house, there was a car that Gajeel did not recognize parked in the drive. He blew a low, long whistle as he maneuvered his bike past the sleek car into the garage. Whoever owns this must pay big money for it. He noted the international flags posted on the car as he walked up to the front door.
Still focused on the car in front of him, it surprised Gajeel to find his father at the front door, blocking his entrance. A mixture of irritation and anger swarmed Metallicana's eyes. "You have guests."
-Two hours later-
So you fed me shit to digest
"So let me get this straight…" Gajeel rubbed his face in exhaustion with both hands. Who knew Levy's life was so complicated? "You are Levy's birth parents." He pointed a finger at the middle-aged strawberry blonde couple sitting across from him at his dining room table. The woman, who could pass as an older, more matured Levy, only gave a small curt nod. No emotion. Jeez, no wonder they gave up their child. "Levy has no idea you are in town" he held up a second finger.
"And we'd like for it to stay that way," the older man was short and small statured, but the way he spoke to Gajeel told the young man that you do not want to cross him.
"Yeah, yeah," Gajeel waved his two extended fingers dismissively. "Don't tell shrimp." His eyes were squeezed shut, trying to prevent the oncoming headache, so he missed the amused glint go through the mother's eyes. "And third," his ring finger joined the other two, "You are clearing my name?"
I wish I had a reason
"Well as you learned from your father," the older woman sent a displeased look towards Metallicana, who was suddenly very interested in the details of his cuticles. "We know some very important people. And, not that it is any of your business, we thought having familial connections could be a great disadvantage. So we put Levy into the care of a woman who was down on her luck. A single mom who had a child near Olivia's age so it was in the best interest of all parties." There was a small pause as Gajeel was still trying to piece together everything. "We know Olivia doesn't see it that way but what we did was ensure that she had a normal life. Now that she is pregnant, we must protect our grandchild as well. Since you are the father, you too fall under that blanket of protection, conditionally."
Gajeel looked up and locked eyes with the spitting image of Levy. She has her mother's eyes. The thought of Levy popped into his head out of nowhere. He hated that he was instantly disarmed when he looked into those hazel eyes. "Conditionally?" Gajeel tried to stay focused.
My flaws are open season
"Yes." Levy's mother continued, "If you are to be in this child's life, no more drugs. No more drinking until you black out. Get a more reliable car than that death trap of a bike. Graduate from college. And just…" the hard stare softened, "Just be there for Olivia. She thinks we have abandoned her but we have not. Don't let her think of you the same way. She will not ask for help and she should not have to. You need to offer it."
Gajeel stayed quiet, not wanting to lash out because they were reasonable, if not invasive, requests. "I can do that." He wished he sounded more confident than he did, but at least he meant it.
"We will be checking up on Olivia every now and then," The couple stood up to leave, "And by proxy, you as well Mr. Redfox." Gajeel merely nodded not paying them any attention as his father escorted them out so he missed the double meaning of their words. Metallicana did not and nervously swallowed as they left.
-Levy POV-
For this, I gave up trying
Levy was sitting on her couch wither her small swollen feet resting on the coffee table. Bed rest was more frustrating than she could imagine. Thankfully she had her finals to distract her. Sipping on a strawberry Tabasco smoothie that was balanced precariously on her belly, she finished translating her last final.
She had just hit the 'send' button when her phone buzzed with an alert. Levy froze when she saw who it was from. Hesitating, she opened the text message with a shaky hand. When she read the short message a mixture of anger and vindication ran through her. She punched in an equally short response and threw her phone down, hold back frustrated tears. Stupid pregnancy hormones. Levy looked down at her phone as it buzzed again and opened her messages to clear the notifications.
One good turn deserves my dying
Gajeel: We need to talk
Levy: You know where I am.
Gajeel: On my way
You don't need to bother.
-author's note-
I am so sorry that it has taken so long to update this story. Life happened. Depression happened. But through therapy and the support system of my friends, I have taken up writing again. Thank you for reading or continuing to read my story, I can not tell you how much it means to know people like what I've created (the storyline, not the characters). I have finished writing this fanfic and will update weekly, unless people ask for sooner then I will probably post twice a week. Leave a review or send me a pm if you want more updates sooner!
Song credit: Bother by Stone Sour
SPECIAL SHOUTOUT:
To all of you! Seriously. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you reading this far.
