Chapter 4

Frustration

Levy's heart broke. He wouldn't look at her. He wouldn't talk to her. He just up and left in the middle of the night without any word and now here he was, shunning her…at least, that's what it felt like. She didn't understand why she cared about him as much as she did. Why is she in the position that she is in? Why wouldn't he talk to her?

He sighed.

"Gajeel," Levy started. "What is it?" She looked at him, longing for him to say anything.

She knew there was something up with him, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. 'I knew I shouldn't have come over here! He obviously doesn't want me around.' She was distraught.

"It's not you," He finally said after some time, so low that she had to strain to hear. Relief washed over her mind. 'But, if it's not me, what could be the issue?' She thought to herself. "Levy, I can't be here right now," he says, still not looking at her.

"What's going on, Gajeel?" She asks. "Please look at me."

Levy put a hand on his thigh, to comfort him. That seemed to start a fire within him, his hands trembling, slowly losing control. Her touch felt electric. 'Oh God, Levy please stop!' He squeezed his eyes shut trying anything to keep calm. 'You damn dumb dragon, let me go!' He still struggled to leave the area.

Levy was genuinely confused. After a while, that confusion turned into sadness. He still wouldn't look at her. He never had a problem staring her down any other time. What was different? 'Am I unattractive to you?' It was when she removed her hand when he finally looked at her. Those usually ruby-red eyes, now burning by flame Levy has never seen before. Staring at her with such intensity.

Gajeel stood up and hovered over the small woman, about to snatch her up and run off. He looked into her wide honey eyes seeing no sign of fear or nervousness.

"Levy…" He said, voice low. "Y…you're not afraid of me…." His eyes still piercing her.

She shook her head, not knowing what was going to happen next.

"…You should be." Gajeel frowned. His inner dragon was winning. He barely had any control left over his body. Levy grabbed his hands. He snatched his hands away, still fighting with himself. "You should leave. You shouldn't be around me right now. It's not safe….I'm not safe," He says.

"Gajeel," Levy said as she cupped his cheek with her hand. "I know I'm safe with you…I suppose that's why I enjoy spending time with you."

Those words were pretty wild for him to hear. His inner self felt 'warm and fuzzy' when she said that. He felt…accepted. His inner dragon, on the other hand, was fueled by the words. All of those feelings wrapped up tightly –well, not tightly, by the base of it all. He'd hurt her, and there's no recovery from that.

Lucy was sitting at the table Levy had her hold. 'Some friend. She forgot all about me!' She glanced over that the bar and saw her and Gajeel standing there. 'Looks pretty intense.' Lucy giggled. She decided to ruin her friend's fun for forgetting about her. 'I'll show her who not to forget!' She thought playfully.

"Hey Lev!" Lucy came in between them. "Whatcha' doin'? Did you forget something?"

Levy's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot to order the food!"

"It's ok, Lev. You seemed like you were handling more pressing situations," Lucy grinned mischievously.

Gajeel saw an out. Thank God for Lucy or he would have claimed Levy, right then and there. He quickly blended into the shadows, creeping out before anyone could catch him. Outside, he saw Pantherlily.

"Oi! Cat! Did you find us a job?"

"I did, actually," Lily responds handing the flyer to Gajeel.

"What the fuck is this?" He said, snarling at the paper. "This says 'Translation Required' at the bottom! Did you not see this?" He barked.

Lily paid no mind to his angry friend. If they were going to have to duke it out over this, then so be it. Lily had taken a job that required Levy to come along. He already told Mira that the three of them accepted it, and that they would leave within the next few days. Getting Levy to come along would be easy. Getting Gajeel to agree with it all may take a bit of work.

"Look, Gajeel. Stressing yourself out like this can't be good for your health."

"Why would you do this?!" Gajeel was getting angrier by the second. All he wanted to do was stay away from Levy. He didn't trust himself around her. Gajeel knew the cat was smart. He was sure Lily could read his emotions, even when he didn't express them. So why would he knowingly set him up like this?

Lily understood Gajeel's anger. "You know, all of this could easily go away if you weren't so stubborn." The exceed changed into his battle form in anticipation of Gajeel attacking.

"Calm down, I ain't gonna hit ya," Gajeel said, slowly simmering down.

"Why won't you face her? I saw you at the bar. You wouldn't even look at her. I found that to be rather strange, given your usual tendencies." Lily hoped his friend would open up to him. "I might be able to help you if you talk to me."

Gajeel wasn't one for opening up to anyone. He felt he dealt with his problems the best by keeping them to himself.

"Tch. Go find another job. I ain't doing that one," Gajeel says as he walks off.

"I guess I'll have to speak with Levy," Lily says to himself.

About an hour later, Levy found herself in the Guild's library gathering a few books to take to her apartment. She couldn't get her mind off the events that transpired earlier. 'What did he mean he wasn't safe?' She pondered.

"Hey Levy." A voice said from behind.

"Lily!" Levy greeted the small exceed as she scooped him up in her arms for a hug. 'What are you doing here?"

"I actually came to speak with you." Levy saw this as a perfect opportunity to try and get a feel for what was going on with Gajeel.

"What's up, Lil?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to accompany us on a job in the next few days. I feel like Gajeel could use another person by his side right now. Here," he handed Levy the flyer. "You don't have to answer right away, you might have other matters to tend to." The black cat started walking away.

"Wait!" Levy called after him.

"Yes?"

"I'll go with you guys," Levy said quietly. "I'm worried about Gajeel."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Lily replies. "He will be alright."

"Has he, you know, been acting sort of… weird lately?"

Lily chuckled. "He's always weird. But he has been a bit distant lately. He will not speak to me about it, though."

Sucks to say, but Levy felt a little better knowing that Gajeel was being distant to everyone and not just her. That made her want to help him all the more.

"Well, you can tell him that I will be there. Just let me know when we're leaving."

"Will do," Lily says as he flew off.

Levy walked home with a lot in her hands and a lot on her mind. She picked up a few new translating books for the job. She contemplated going over Gajeel's place to start a game plan, but she decided against it. She just wanted to get those heavy books put away.

Gajeel, on the other hand, was flipping out.

"You WHAT?!" He yelled at Lily.

"I spoke with Levy and she agreed to come along with us. I felt you needed support," He explained.

"I don't need any fucking support! I told you I didn't want to do the damn job. Now look what you've done!" Gajeel rants.

"I suppose you could just tell her not to come along," Lily suggested.

"What, are you crazy?!" Gajeel couldn't just tell the girl not to show. How could he look her in her eyes and reject her? Besides, he couldn't do the job by himself. They needed a translator, and Levy was the best there is.

Lily knew Gajeel couldn't tell Levy not to show. This was all going according to plan.

"Good. So when are we leaving?" Lily asked, knowing it would anger the dragon slayer even more.

"Go to hell," Gajeel said as he stormed out.

Levy approached Fairy Hills and as she walked into the building, she ran into Lucy.

"Oh! Hey Lucy, weren't you just at the guild?"

"Yeah, but Natsu found a job for us and he wants to leave tonight," Lucy said. "I'm just packing for the trip."

"Do you need any help?" Levy asks.

"No, thank you! I'm just about done, anyway. It looks like you need more help than I do!" She laughed as she took a few books from Levy.

"Thanks."

They reach Levy's apartment and set the books down on her side table.

"So," Lucy says. "What's up with all the translation books?"

"Lily came to me in the library not too long ago and asked me to come with him and Gajeel on a job that requires translating. I'm just brushing up on a few things."

"Are you excited?" Lucy asked.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure." Levy huffed as she sat down on the couch. He didn't seem to really want her around him…or anyone for that matter. 'I hope he's ok.' Lucy sat next to her blue-haired friend. Noticing she seemed a little down, she tried to console her.

"Well, I'm sure if he didn't want you to go on the job, he would have told you not to come."

Levy wasn't so sure about that.

"It's ok. Anyway, what about you? Are you excited to go on this job with Natsu? How have things been? I feel like we haven't really gotten to talk about it much lately." Levy says.

"I'm actually pretty nervous. I've decided to tell him how I feel."

"Oh?" That piqued Levy's interest. "How are you planning to do that?"

"I figured I could just come out and say it, you know," Lucy says, stopping to think for a second. "I honestly haven't given it much thought. What do you think I should do?"

Levy wasn't a bold or spontaneous person, and that kind of bummed her out. She wished she could just do things without overthinking and analyzing them first. All the other girls had body. Levy had brains. She knew this, so her greatest asset was her brain. Sometimes she wished things were a little different. What if she had big tits? What if she was taller? She felt solace in the fact that whoever fell in love with her, would love her for who she was.

"I think you should just kiss him! Or something crazy like that."

Lucy gasped. "Levy, when did you get so bold?" She asked with a devious grin.

"Easier said than done!" Both girls burst in fits of laughter.

The girls hung out for a little bit, gossiping and catching up when they heard a voice from outside.

"Lucy!" The voice called.

The girls went to the window to see Natsu standing outside waving.

"Lucy! What's taking you so long? Let's go!"

"Looks like it's time," Levy says with a sly smile.

"Oh, hush!" Lucy replied as she playfully swatted her arm.

"Let me know how that goes. In FULL detail." Levy says, excited for her friend.

"I will!"

Levy watched as her lovelorn friend happily walked off with Natsu. 'I hope their job goes well.' She thought to herself as she decided to pack for her job. 'The job is in a town a few hours away, so we'll have to take a train.' She started planning in her head. Oh, how she wished Gajeel was there so she could plan things properly. Her mind flashed back to the dream she had. A warmth immediately washed over her body and started to pool at her core. He had her so hot and bothered. It was like she needed him. NOW.

When Gajeel stormed out, he went to the woods to train. Whenever he was frustrated, or needed to blow off steam, he would work out. He would work his body until he collapsed from exhaustion. By then he would be too tired to think. 'It's probably not a good idea to train so hard. I don't know how much rest I'll get before the job.' He thought to himself as he decided to call it a night.

'Go to her.'

Gajeel soon discovered himself headed toward Levy's apartment. He couldn't stop it. He figured he needed to tell her what time to meet him at the train station anyway. 'Might as well get it over with now.'

He knew he couldn't get inside the building the normal way, so he chose his preferred method. The window.

Levy shuddered, her body still hot, and her mind still replaying the dream over and over again in her head. She wanted to take matters into her own hands. She reached down and massaged her clit, lightly flicking her pearl making it extremely sensitive. "Oh, Gajeel." She heard herself moan as she probed her pussy with her index and middle finger. She was so wet just thinking about the things he did to her in the dream. Fuck, what she would do to him right now…

"You know, you really shouldn't leave your window open all the time," Gajeel says, standing in front of the window.

It was as if her prayers had been answered, but holy shit, was she embarrassed! He just caught her pleasuring herself! She moaned his name out loud! Did he hear her? 'This can't get any worse!' She tried to decipher his facial expression, but all she saw was his silhouette. Levy held her breath as the dark figure just stood there. It was actually pretty hot, she thought.

"Be at the train station at noon tomorrow," He said. And as quickly as he came in, he was gone.