I did say I had other things to do today other than shoo off Laxus and wonder why Gajeel is being weird around me. And on the top of my priority list was checking in on my beloved team still in the hospital. Hopefully, they'll get out soon. I missed seeing their faces in the guild hall. And I missed hanging around them. Usually, when Jet and Droy were around me, Laxus would leave me alone. It's like having my own personal bodyguards and repellent all in one.

When I walked into their room, I expected to see them both passed out cold. From what I understand, their pain medication could make them sleep like babies. However, today would prove different. Both of them were bright-eyed and bushytailed, sitting up in their beds, arguing over hypotheticals. More often than not, those hypotheticals would be about me, but not today. Today, they happened to be arguing over their nurse.

"No way," Droy groaned, "She wouldn't go for you."

"And she'd go for you?" Jet scoffed, "Look, Droy, you're like a brother to me, but I already called dibs."

"When did you call dibs?" Droy squeaked, "I don't remember any dib calling."

"I see you two are healing nicely," I giggled. It's like nothing's changed.

"Hey, Levy," Jet waved to me, "Could you settle an argument?"

"Sure," I sat between them, "What's up?"

"Which one of us do you think has a better shot with our nurse?" Jet asked, "Droy or me?"

"Honestly," I teased, "I don't think either one of you have a shot with her. You're her patients. Not date material. And I think she's married."

"Aww…" Looks like I broke both their hearts at the same time. Not my intentions, but someone had to break it to them.

"Your broken hearts aside," I asked, "How are you guys feeling?"

"Better," Droy reported, "The doctor says we should be out of here by the end of the week."

"Good," I sighed out, "I need to get back to work. It's hard, sitting around the guild hall, doing nothing. Master Makarov's limited me to local jobs and even then, I can't go without the rest of the team."

"Seriously?" Jet gave me a look, "You're telling us that it's difficult for you to be sitting around, doing nothing?"

"Yeah," I slumped over, "I guess you're right."

"Hey…" Droy wondered, "You alright, Lev? You seem off."

"I've been better," I admitted, "I'm sure it's just me going stir crazy."

"And that's all it is?" Jet picked up on it, too, "Because you got that 'Laxus just hit on me' face going on."

"What else is new?" I was still trying to wrap my head around what happened with Laxus this morning. Dare I tell Jet and Droy? They're still recovering from their curiosities at Phantom Lord. But at the same time, I needed to vent. That's what my boys were for, "But…I was attacked this morning."

"By who?" Jet snapped, jolting up.

"Who are we taking out, Levy?" Droy followed suit, just as fired up as Jet was.

"Who was it?" Jet asked, "Who hurt you?"

"I'm fine," I settled them, "Relax or you'll end up popping your stitches."

"What happened, Levy?" Droy worried, both he and Jet relaxing again.

"Well," I explained, "It's kind of a long story. The guy that captured me at Phantom Lord…"

"Yeah…"

"We've heard of him."

"He was at the guild hall this morning," I went on, "Turns out, he was working for Master Makarov. And I sort of went off on him. I had just woken up and at first, I thought I was seeing things. But he was there. After I tore him a new one, Master Makarov stopped me and told me to apologize. So I did. Well…I had to find him first. Unfortunately, Laxus found me instead."

"Lucky you," Droy shared in my disgust.

"It gets better," I agreed, "He started asking me what I was doing and if I wanted to do something with him tonight. You know…Typical Laxus. Any other day, I could've just moved on with my day, but Laxus couldn't handle my flat out rejection. Apparently, I was being too nice about it and that led to him not being able to take the hint. But that guy, the one that was undercover for Master Makarov…Gajeel…He defended me. Laxus tried to zap me, but Gajeel got in the way. His arm turned to metal and Laxus turned tail and ran the other direction. It's strange…He's unofficially part of the guild and saved me. He might be a huge jerk, but he saved me. From someone in the guild."

"I know it's not uncommon for us to fight each other," Jet pointed out.

"Yeah," Droy nodded, "How many times a week do you figure Gray and Natsu go at it?"

"And how many times has Erza had to step in and stop it?"

"And how much of the guild hall do you think hasn't been damaged by those three?"

"But still…" Jet stared down at his feet, "That's not ok. He had no right to go after you like that, Levy. Not because you said no. Not because you turned him down. Not because he figures he can get whatever he wants."

"That's kind of what Gajeel said," I smiled a little, "Only a little more colorfully. He didn't care about the power Laxus had or the fact that he was Master Makarov's grandson."

"Maybe he's not so big of a jerk," Droy figured.

"I don't know about that," I got up, "Your medications must be getting to you."

"Think about it, Lev," Jet followed Droy's train of thought, "If he was as big of a jerk as you say he is, do you really think he would've protected you from Laxus?"

"I should go," I shook it off, "You two should get some rest, ok? And I promise that as soon as you're out of the hospital, we can go off on another adventure."

"Sounds like a plan."

"See you later, Levy!"

I hated when those two made sense. But if Gajeel wasn't really as big of a jerk as I thought he was, then why did he act like it? I didn't know what to think about him, but more importantly, I needed to get my head right again. There was one place in all of Magnolia that could do just that for me. And I needed to find my solace. Lucky for me, it was just down the street from the hospital.

Ding…

Mmm…Something about the smell of leather binding and old parchment puts me in my happy place. I loved nothing more than poking around my favorite used bookstore. It's usually quiet, peaceful, somewhere I could hear a pin drop. And I loved every inch of it. Normally, I'd find a corner of it, hole up for a while, and maybe if I'm lucky, I'd take a couple home with me. But I'd need to cut myself off at some point. I'm pretty sure I had books on my shelf that I've never read. Oh, well. I needed something to hold me over until Lucy finishes another chapter of her book.

"Hello, Levy," the shopkeeper greeted me with a smile and a cup of tea in her hand.

"Hello," I rested my face in my hands and my elbows on the counter, "So?"

"So…" she beamed, "Is there anything in particular you're looking for or have you just come to browse again?"

"You wouldn't happen to have anything new in," I crossed my fingers, "Would you?"

"We do have a few new releases," she directed me toward the display, "I haven't gotten around to reading them myself, but I'm sure they're good. I've heard nothing but good things about them."

"That sounds like fun," I checked the blurb on the back of a couple. They seemed mostly like autobiographies and as much as I loved hearing about people's life stories, I don't think these were for me.

"But I know you better than that," the shopkeeper pulled me aside, "I've also gotten in something special."

"Oh?" I perked up, my heart about to jump out of my chest.

"How would you like a new grimoire?" she offered, "It's the grimoire of a wizard from the mid-nineteenth century."

"Yes, please," I nodded vigorously. I could hardly contain myself. That's why I keep coming back here.

"It's in the back corner," she directed me, "Second floor. On the left."

"Thank you!" I sprinted up the stairs and curled up in the back corner. Sure enough, there it was. The worn, green leather binding gave it away. There's no way this wasn't that wizard's grimoire.

I don't know what kind of magic was in this particular bookstore. Was it something in the walls? In the books themselves? Was it the sights? The smells? I don't know what it was, but honestly, I don't think I want to know. That would only ruin the magic that put me in such a state of pure bliss. And I loved it more than anything. After the morning I had, I needed that kind of bliss.

But then…I felt something strange. Something was off. Out of nowhere, I had the feeling I was being watched. No. If it was Laxus, I refuse to allow him to ruin this place for me. This was like a temple to me. My one, sacred place in all the world. I am not letting Laxus Dreyar, of all people, ruin it for me! Carefully, I got up from my nest on the floor, peeking through to the other side of the bookshelf. Sweet relief washed over me when I realized my stalker wasn't exactly Laxus. Not necessarily someone better, but it wasn't Laxus. And that's all that mattered.

"Gajeel?" I called out to him. Only for him to duck down to a lower shelf. I parted the books in the way and caught his steely gaze from the other side, "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Gajeel got defensive, "Am I not allowed to go to a bookstore?"

"I'm not going to stop you," I slid to the other side, "In fact, I'd encourage it. I'm just curious as to what you're doing here. You don't strike me as the type to read."

"Now, you're calling me stupid?!"

"No," I settled him, "I just don't see this being an interest of yours. Usually, I can spot another bookworm from a mile away."

"I can read all I want!" he pouted.

"Fine," I went back to my corner, not in the mood to fight with him, and opened the grimoire back up, "If you say so."

After he came down from his tantrum, Gajeel took a seat next to me, glancing over my shoulder, "What are you reading?"

"An old grimoire," I showed him, "It's filled with ancient magic. If the wizard who wrote it never wrote it down, it'd likely be lost through time. But lucky me, it's in my lap."

"Yeah," he scoffed, "Lucky you."

"If you're here to judge," I glared, "The front door is downstairs."

"No," Gajeel stopped, "Not judging. Sorry. Kneejerk."

"You got half of that right," I grumbled, immediately going back to swooning over the magic in my lap, "I do love an old grimoire, though. They're so wonderful. The binding, the pages, the contents…I need more of them in my life."

"You know, shrimp," he chuckled to himself, "You're so weird."

"Better weird than boring!" I chimed, going back to my grimoire. Because there's no way I'm walking out of here without it, "And…You do know I have a name, right?"

"Easier to remember shrimp than Levy," Gajeel shrugged.

"Yet you just did."

"So," he quickly changed the subject, "What's this grimoire all about?"

"It's a bunch of spells that improve your cooking," I told him, "You'd be amazed at what a little magic can do in the kitchen."

"So," Gajeel thought it over for a minute or two, "It's a cookbook?"

"No," I rolled my eyes, "It's not a cookbook. It's a grimoire. The spells in it just happen to be for cooking."

"Excuse me," he threw his hands up, "Because from where I'm sitting, it's a magic cookbook."

"I'd love to try it," I admitted, letting his backhanded comments roll off my back.

"I'd love to try the result." Huh…Not what I was expecting to hear so quickly.

"Ok…" I allowed, trying to wrap my head around this, "When would you want to try the result?"

"I don't know," Gajeel started to turn red, "Are you busy tonight?"

"No," I shook my head, "So…tonight? My place?"

"Sure," he nodded, getting up from the floor, "I…Guess I'll see you tonight then?"

"Looks like it," I smiled, "I'll see you tonight."

Gajeel took off and I got up from the floor, too. Things were starting to go numb and I needed to move around anyway. But then, realization struck. Did…Did I just do what I think I did? Because if I didn't know any better, I'd think I just…set up a…date with…No. He's just coming over. To my house. To test the result of my new grimoire. No. This totally isn't a date. I do not have a date with Gajeel tonight. I'm overthinking it.