They could hear the approaching footsteps and Gajeel steeled his nerves. It was kind of funny really. He wasn't scared of guns, drug dealers and international criminal rings yet he was shaking at the thought of meeting his girlfriend's parents. Suddenly the door swung open.

"Levy!" a woman squealed, grabbing the slightly taller girl and pulling her into her embrace," My baby girl!"

So this was the mom. She had silver hair which somehow made her look youthful. Her bright brown eyes were shining, matching her daughter's. She wore a bright turquoise tunic and an orange apron. She was barefoot, which made Gajeel feel a little more relaxed about his informal outfit. Maybe Levy's parents weren't as fancy as he thought.

Well, at least now, he knew where Levy got her small stature from.

"Hi mum," Levy sighed, smiling at the woman who was still making little noises of excitement.

"So where is he?" Levy's mum pulled away before turning to face Gajeel. Immediately her eyes widened as she took in the giant before her.

"Who's this?" she asked nervously as she strained her neck to look at the tall man in the eyes.

"Mum," Levy began, hugging his arm, causing him to blush," This is Gajeel, my boyfriend."

"Oh!" Levy's mum said, closing her eyes for a moment. Gajeel stood, nervous. What was with the awkward pause?

"It's a pleasure to meet you Gajeel," she finally said, giving him a warm smile.

Levy nudged Gajeel, prompting him to respond. He cleared his throat before answering.

"It's nice to meet you to, Mrs. McGarden."

"Call me Lola," the woman chuckled.

"Yes, Miss Lola." Levy had to bite her cheek as to not laugh at Gajeel's unusual mannerisms. He was clearly trying to create a good impression on her family.

Levy's mum realised that they were still standing outside and quickly ushered them into the warm house.

The house was messy, not matching the manicured front lawn Gajeel had been intimidated by. There were books everywhere, in massive piles. Nic nacs were strewn around, giving the house a sort of charmed feeling.

"I'll go get your sister," Lola said, rushing up the stairs.

"So this is your old home?" Gajeel said, smiling down at Levy.

"Yep," Levy grinned," My family's owned this house for over 30 years so I've had a lot of special moments here."

Gajeel was so tempted to kiss her, to create another "special" moment, but suddenly they heard Lola upstairs.

"Lana! I told you to get dressed!"

Mumbles.

"Eh? What do you mean you have no clean clothes?"

Mumbles.

"Just come downstairs."

Mumbles.

"Oh no! That can wait!"

Soon, Lola came back down followed by a young woman in mismatched pjs with her hair in a messy bun.

"Lana!" Levy grinned, rushing over to hug the woman," How are you?"

"Busy," the woman yawned, patting her younger sister's back," My next draft is due this weekend and I'm still not inspire-"

"Lana?" Levy said, noticing her sister's voice trailing off. Lana was staring at Gajeel, her eyes widened.

"Oh. My. GOD!" Lana yelled, rushing at Gajeel, who appeared scared, before turning back to Lola," Is this the boyfriend?"

"Yep," Lola giggled," Aint he a cutie?"

Gajeel blushed at the compliment, causing Levy to smirk.

"This is it!" Lana babbled," You two are my muses!"

"No!" Levy groaned before turning to her mum," Mum, please make her stop!"

"I can't stop the flow of creativity darling," her mum laughed.

"What's going on?" Gajeel asked, nervously eyeing Lana who was circling him.

"My sister is a … writer…" Levy sighed," Apparently we have "inspired" her."

"What does that mean?"

"Tell me," Lana interrupted, going over to Levy," What's he like in bed? Is he gentle?"

"Stop!"

"Ooh, I bet you two are kinky!"

Gajeel couldn't even speak, he was so shocked. As Levy attempted to shut her sister up, someone else decided to join in.

"Honey, what's going on?" a male voice called out.

"Levy's home!"

Suddenly a man poked his head out of a nearby room. He was tall with mousy brown hair and round glasses that were taped up. He had stubble covering his face.

"Levy!" the man cheered, holding out his arms.

"Daddy!" Levy yelled, running at him and embracing him tightly.

"How are you, bookworm?" the dad said sweetly.

"I'm good," she said," but there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Levy's dad looked over and he squeaked like a mouse.

"W-who's this?" he said timidly.

"This is my boyfriend, Gajeel."

Levy's dad collapsed.

"Daddy!"

"Linc!"

"Hold on," Gajeel said, moving to the man. He slung the man over his shoulder.

"Be careful!" Levy exclaimed.

"Relax," Gajeel replied, before turning to Lola," Where is the living room?"

"Right this way," she said, pointing behind them. They all went into the living room and Gajeel dumped the man onto the couch.

"He's so strong!" Lana stage whispered.

"Thank you, Gajeel," Lola smiled," Lincoln should wake up soon enough."

"Um… where's the kitchen?" Gajeel asked, looking awkward," I need a glass of water."

"Right through there, sweetie"

Gajeel left, following her directions. Watching him go, Levy realised someone was missing.

"By the way, mum, where's Lukas?"

"Right here," a male voice boomed. Everyone turned to see a young man with golden hair, leaning against the door frame.

"Lukas!" Levy smiled.

"Hey Levy," Lukas grinned, ruffling his sister's hair. Levy frowned.

"Hey! Don't mess it up!" Levy glared, smoothing down her curls.

"Why are you all dressed up?" Lukas chuckled, taking in his sister's fancy outfit,"Awww, did you want to look nice for your big brother coming home?"

"No, for her boyfriend," her sister interrupted.

"Little Levy has a boyfriend?" Lukas laughed, before looking around," Well, where is he?"

"Hey, Levy, do you want a dr-" Gajeel said as he came in, his voice trailing off as he saw Lukas.

"Who's this?" Lukas asked, his voice dropping slightly.

"This is my boyfriend, Gajeel."

…

As soon as they sat down for dinner and were served, the questions began.

"So Gajeel," Lola began as she took her seat," How did you meet Levy?"

"Well…"

"I'll handle this," Levy said, smiling up at him, before turning to her family," I was doing my regular shift when I saw some guy go into the kids section. Naturally, I was curious so I followed him and there was Gajeel."

"Why was he in the kids section?" Lana asked, between bites of food.

"I'm getting to that," Levy smiled before continuing," so anyway, I asked him what he was doing and he snapped at me before leaving. But he left the book behind. So later that night, I was walking home when I got held up by some guy with a knife-"

"My poor baby!" Lola gasped, whilst her father went pale," Where you okay?"

"Well," Levy grinned," just as I was considering giving up my purse, the guy got knocked out."

"Was it Gajeel?"

"Yep, we went for a drink and started chatting and we just… hit it off," Levy grabbed his hand under the table.

"But why was he in the kids section?"

"I'm dyslexic," Gajeel said quietly. Levy gave his hand a small squeeze under the table. He was still not used to having the diagnosis so for him to admit that to her family was a big step.

"Oh my."

"That doesn't explain why you were in the kids section though," Lukas pointed out," I have dyslexic friends who read books that are… age appropriate.

"Gajeel had a rough childhood," Levy explained softly," He didn't get a good education as a result."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a gym trainer."

"Hmph," Lukas snorted, looking away. Levy was quick to notice her brother's rude actions and turned to him.

"What's wrong with you Lukas?" Levy said slowly.

"Levy," Gajeel muttered, not wanting to cause a scene. He was used to this kind of judgement. Normally, he'd have smashed the guy's teeth in by now, but this was Levy's brother. Plus, he was trying to work on his "anger management issues" as the therapist had put it.

"I just expected more," Lukas smirked," I mean, come on Levy."

Levy was about to yell at her brother, but she was beaten.

"Lukas McGarden!" Lola yelled, standing up," How dare you insult our guest like that, especially someone so important to your sister! I did not raise you to be so prejudiced and rude!"

"Sorry," Lukas muttered, his face going red.

"It's fine," Gajeel grumbled. Lola calmed down before turning to Gajeel.

"I'd say dinner's finished. Linc, Lukas, you are on dishwashing duty. Lana, I need you to clear the table. Levy, I want you to go and get the table set for dessert.

"But what about?"

"I want to talk to Gajeel," Lola smiled, before turning to man," Come with me, sweetie."

Gajeel followed the short woman. Levy gave him a look of concern but he smiled at her, letting his girlfriend know he'd be fine.

"I'm so sorry for my son's behaviour Gajeel," Lola began as they entered the sitting room.

"It's fine," Gajeel said.

"It's not," she said firmly," Gajeel, you don't deserve to be talked to like that."

"I do," Gajeel muttered, forgetting where he was for a moment.

"What was that?"

"Nothing mam."

"Gajeel," Lola smiled softly," I know about your past."

Gajeel suddenly felt sick. This was his worst nightmare. There was no way the McGarden's would be okay with their daughter dating a criminal.

"How?"

"Did Levy mention what I do for a living?"

Gajeel shook his head, nervous. Was her mum with the government? After all, all of his criminal files had been deleted.

"I'm a spiritualist," she said.

"Ummm…" Gajeel looked confused.

"It means I can tell people about their futures and stuff. But I can also look at people's souls."

"Oh…"

"I know you've had a rough life Gajeel," she said softly, patting his hand," When Levy told me she was bringing her boyfriend over, I immediately went and did a reading to see what you'd be like. Obviously, it's not always accurate but…"

"Gajeel, we are so happy that Levy has someone like you in her life. She hasn't had many friends before and from what I can gather, you have given her so much."

"Please, don't listen to Lukas. He's always been overprotective of his little sister."

Gajeel nodded and Lola stood up.

"Good," she said," Now Levy, come out from behind that door."

There was a pause before the door opened.

"How did you know I was there?" Levy groaned.

"Eyes on the back of my head," she smiled," Now, let's have a nice chat over dessert."

…

Whilst enjoying Levy's brownies, the boyfriend and the family got to know each other better.

Lana was an erotic fiction writer who rarely left her room due to overwhelming deadlines and pressures from her editors. When Lana began to describe her latest works, Gajeel had laughed as Levy's face burned.

Lola was the head of the household, no doubt, and was equally proud of all her children.

Lincoln, or Linc as Lola called him, was a timid man who was rather naive. He was an archeologist who loved to travel and enjoyed telling Gajeel of his many adventures in places like the Amazon.

Lukas, grudgingly, shared the fact that he was a microbiologist who had been abroad in Antarctica for a year studying new bacteria.

The family cooed over the pictures of Levy and Gajeel in their costumes. Lincoln nearly fainted again when Gajeel described his piercings to Lana.

Soon, the time had come to leave and so they did. Gajeel and Levy were sent off with leftovers and hugs. It was Gajeel's turn to blush when Lola placed a kiss on his cheek.

Levy couldn't help but feel relieved though as they got back in the car though. The dinner was nice but it had been a little stressful. As they drove along the dark roads, Levy's eyes began to close, as she was lulled into a peaceful sleep.