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*~At the Midnight Hour~*

By Rexrayy

Halloween AU, with Gajevy, NaLu, and Gruvia

Necessary Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters!~

Cover Art Credits go to Rusky Boz (Rboz) - an amazing artist, please support her work

Shout out to Monster by MsKtK, an amazing fanfic, which undoubtedly was one of the inspirations for aspects of this story.

Enjoy!

Detailed Summary:

Levy and Gajeel live in completely different worlds. Levy is a college student in Hargeon Town and Gajeel works for the illegal crime organization known as Phantom Lord in Magnolia City.

Their paths would normally never cross, but a chance encounter on Halloween in 2017 changes that forever. For the next several years, Levy and Gajeel keep running into each other on Halloween Night at the Midnight Hour, in different places and under different circumstances. Gajeel thinks his luck is shit, Levy thinks she's being haunted by a Devil, and Lucy lowkey thinks Levy might be hallucinating. Because seriously, what are the odds?

But now it's 2020 and Halloween is coming up... will they run into each other again? And if they do, will they be able to part ways afterwards as easily as before?

Join us for a wild night that entangles Levy and Gajeel, Natsu and Lucy, Gray and Juvia, and Cana, Lisanna, Jet, and Droy into a twisted web of coincidences and fate.

Mostly Gajevy and NaLu, with Gruvia as well. Swearing, violence, alcohol. Fluff, but no citrus.

Thank you for reading!

When Levy was running for her life through the velvet fabric halls of hell, she wondered how this had happened. Here she was, Halloween Night of 2020, being chased by men trying to kill her and desperately searching for the only one who could save her: the Devil she'd met three years ago, but who she'd only known for a couple of days.

Levy couldn't believe her luck.

But back in 2017, before she knew of velvet halls and red-eyed Devils, running for her life was the last thing on her mind...

~Halloween 2017~

Tuesday, October 31st, 2017

-Hargeon Town-

She was racing down the sidewalk - a mosaic of reds, oranges, and yellows beneath her feet. The Autumnal leaves had fallen recently, covering the ground like snow.

Levy loved the colors of Fall, but she couldn't appreciate them right now. A smile graced her face and nervous excitement rushed through her veins. Her breath was lightly visible in the air as she panted, already exhausted from the physical exertion, but brimming with energy as she envisioned the night that lay ahead.

She picked up her pace, leaping nimbly over a root that broke through the sidewalk. Tonight was the night. Tonight was the night!

~Halloween~

And it would be her first time celebrating the glorious holiday with her new college friends!

For the first time in her life, everything was falling into place. She felt happy and safe. College was everything she'd dreamed it would be, and the people she'd grown to love brought her as much joy as reading her favorite books.

She grinned widely as she ran. Tonight would be magical, she just knew it.

She whipped around a corner, leaves swirling at her feet, backpack bouncing at her back, and dashed the remaining few feet to her new home. It was a large sapphire blue house, crafted in a beautiful traditional Arts and Crafts style, with freshly painted white trim.

She rushed up the stairs, nearly running into the closed door in her haste. Pushing it open, she saw the front hall beyond was already full of chatting girls, dressed in a large variety of costumes. Scanning the crowd, she saw a Princess Peach, a dark mage, a ketchup and mustard bottle, and was that… a banana? She blinked, shaking her head, and dashed to the stairs, taking them two at a time, skidding down the upstairs hall to halt in front of her own door and throwing it open dramatically.

A beautiful blonde sat elegantly on a neatly made pink bed, one leg crossed primly over the other, holding her phone as if she had been about to call a certain someone for the umpteenth time that night. The blonde quirked a perfect eyebrow upwards, regarding her roommate's disheveled appearance, while Levy bent over her knees heaving from the effort of the run.

"Levy? What took you so long? Where have you even been?" Lucy asked, before Levy had a chance to say anything.

"Ugh!" was all the bluenette could get out between heaves, holding a finger up.

"I…" pant "I'm so…" pant "I ran…" pant "all the way here…" pant "from the LIBRARY…" pant, Levy struggled to get her backpack off, throwing it unceremoniously onto her bed. She tugged at her scarf, trying to breathe, and shrugged off her coat, throwing both onto her bed as well. It was not nearly as neat as the pink one across the room, but Levy wasn't typically known for her interest in organization.

Lucy paused a moment before cackling in a very unladylike way.

Levy turned to her friend and pouted.

"I don't know how this happened!" She complained.

"I do! You always lose track of time when you're reading! Gah! I KNEW I should've set an alarm on your phone!" The blonde smacked her own forehead, still laughing.

Levy looked pained.

"I just can't help it! It was like two o'clock, I had so much time, I figured I'd just read a bit before tonight! Next thing I knew it's already TEN THIRTY! I came as fast as I could!"

Levy glanced at her phone, seeing that it was now 10:49 PM.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed. "When were the girls all going to leave again?!"

Lucy had stopped laughing, brushing a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Ten fifty. It's a ten minute walk, party starts at eleven."

"Fuck!" Levy cried again, and she turned to their wall mirror to see how truly disheveled she was.

"I wanted to take a shower! I guess I don't have time for that anymore! I still need to get dressed and do the makeup! But gah… I really wanted to shower…. Ya know, I think I will, super quick. I want to LOOK ghastly, not SMELL ghastly. Okay, super fast, out like a flash, fastest shower of my life! Don't worry!"

And Levy was dashing through the door to their personal bathroom, long hair flying behind her as she went.

Lucy watched skeptically and sighed, looking at her phone.

Well, there's no way Levy will be ready in time, she thought. Guess I'll just have to wait.

She glanced in the mirror herself, adjusting her headband and poking a finger at her immaculate eye makeup. Then she sat back and started scrolling through InstantaneousGram, resigning herself to the wait.

Gajeel felt the reassuring thrum of his bike beneath him as he whipped through the Hargeon streets. The trees swayed in the breeze above, and he narrowed his eyes against the glare of the setting sun. He rolled up to a red light, setting his foot down to prop up his bike and he leaned against the handlebars, shoulders hunched, watching through slitted eyes as a casual pedestrian strolled down the street.

Gajeel didn't typically pay much attention to what day it was. He cared little for the differences between a "weekday" or a "weekend day", since the distinction between the two typically didn't mean anything to him. Holidays? Pfft, who cared. The days all blurred together, roughly the same, with the only differentiation being would today be a good day? Or would today be a bad day?

This was the most relevant thing to him, and the best days were uneventful ones. He just wanted to eat a good meal and get some sleep. Was that too much to ask? In his world, yes. Yes, it was. His life was anything but normal, and on each day it could honestly go either way. One moment things could be smooth sailing, the next it could all be hell. But he was used to it, as much as he could be, and the best way he dealt with the uncertainties of his lifestyle was by pulling back into himself and not caring. Gajeel was a stone wall.

So if someone were to tell him it was Halloween, he wouldn't be fazed. It's just another day. But he'd have to be an idiot not to notice it, since everyone took the chance to dress up as ridiculously as possible and parade their silly outfits all over the streets. He snorted.

The pedestrian in front, for instance. Their head to toe black outfit wouldn't necessarily be unordinary, but the weird stick things protruding from it, propped up with a weird belt-like contraption and what appeared to be tons of duct tape… that was not ordinary. Were they constructed out of pool noodles? Were they supposed to be… legs? So, a spider? An insect? A … black octopus?

The light changed and Gajeel sped off, leaving the pedestrian in the dust. He didn't care to partake in holidays. The outfits people came up with were ridiculous and an inane waste of effort. But, he supposed, if anyone were to ask him if he liked Halloween (which no one ever would), he'd probably say that… yes. Yes, he did like it. Not for any of those silly reasons, like the decorations or the pumpkin carving, but because it was the one night of the year in which he looked like he fit in.

Gajeel was tall with long, unruly black hair, a shitload of facial piercings, and sharp red eyes. He dressed in all black and he terrified people. He loved it. It was particularly helpful in his line of work and he did everything he could to be as scary as possible without needing to lift a hand. Since Halloween welcomed the fear factor, he fit right in. He was a true Devil and he reveled in that fact.

He turned down a side street and started navigating through alleyways, getting further and further away from the town center. The buildings started to look more and more dilapidated.

He pulled to a stop outside of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse and shut his engine off, swinging easily off his bike, pulling his helmet off, and shaking out his long hair. He set his helmet on the back of the bike, unzipped his black leather jacket, and flipped open his phone to check the time. It was a burner phone, like they always were.

Gajeel didn't come to Hargeon often. In fact, he only came about once a year. Hargeon's University had been growing in popularity over the past five years, and with the influx of students and the growing population, José had seen an opportunity to expand on one of his business fronts. Thus, an operation had sprung up along the docks of the harbor, hidden in some of the old warehouses, and so far the lucrative business had been doing quite well.

But José didn't trust his henchmen, he didn't trust anyone quite honestly, so he'd send people from the city to go check up on them every now and then. Gajeel was one of those men sent. José's operations were extensive, and Gajeel didn't even try to pretend that he knew everything about them. He just did as he was told and kept his head down. That was the only way to stay alive. So when José asked him to go to Hargeon, he'd go to Hargeon. He'd probably just need to glare a bit, knock a few heads around. Maintain José's image, freshen up his threats.

In this part of town, the streets were barren and the atmosphere ghostly.

Gajeel shoved his hands in his pockets and turned towards a narrow space between two of the warehouses. Cobwebs clung to the eaves of the low overhangs on either side, and he had to slit his eyes to navigate the junk and clutter that littered the ground.

All those people out there with their fake spider webbing and cute-sy decorations… He scoffed at all those people. They wanted Halloween? They just needed to visit the darker corners of the world, the underground. These were the streets he walked every day, this was his life. He grinned in the darkness, sharp teeth shining.

Yes, he really was a Devil, living amongst the filth that the world chose to ignore. They glorified it for one night each year, but he lived it. Amongst the real spiders, the real rats, the truly festering and rotten things that hid along the edge. The mushrooms and mold, the blight creeping through the shadows, devoid of human life…

In the darkest corners of his mind, past trap doors, buried deep… Hidden behind lock and key… a possible hope dwelt that maybe, someday, he could escape this life. Maybe he could be normal, lead a life outside of the shadows. If there was ever time that a Devil could leave the underworld and walk amongst men, wouldn't it be this night? A night when the lines between worlds blurred, the dead could walk among the living, and even the most evil things came out to play…

Gajeel would deny this thought to his death. No, he did not like Halloween because of some flimsy hope that he could ever be normal, that was ridiculous. He simply enjoyed the Halloween aesthetic because it matched him so perfectly.

He was the Devil. It was a part he played well. It was more than a part, it was his life. And he relished in the strength of it. Devils were harsh and fearless. They beat the world around them into submission and they took what they wanted because they could. They could never be hurt because they had no hearts and they had no souls.

Yes, he was happy to be a Devil and he was happy to live in the shadows where he belonged, and Halloween was pretty cool because it worshipped that, but he never intended to leave his underworld. This was where he belonged, this was his home.

Nothing would ever change that, not even this night.

Levy stepped out of the shower, quickly turning the water off. She glanced again at the time and gulped.

Shit! Shitshitshit!

Her first Halloween party during her first year of school.

And she was running late! She felt horribly guilty to be doing this to Lucy, especially knowing that her friend had been looking forward to this event for weeks.

Levy's heart felt full when she thought about how incredibly lucky she was to have met Lucy on her first day of school. They'd just so happened to have every single class together, and when they had arrived at the last one, and seen that they shared this one too, they'd simultaneously pointed at each other and shouted 'YOU!'

And then they'd broken down laughing and decided to get coffee together after class. Then they'd discovered they were planning to move into the same house, and becoming roommates was the obvious answer. And since then, the two girls had been inseparable, finding out that they actually shared many interests, one of which being a passion for All Hallow's Eve.

But Levy knew it was more than that for Lucy. She'd had a growing crush on their mutual friend since the start of school and Levy knew she had been hoping to get a little closer to him tonight. She felt bad that Lucy was going to be late because of her...

Outside the bathroom, Lucy sat on her bed, still scrolling through her phone and sighed. It was 11:01 PM and the other girls in the hallway had left a while ago. They were probably already there by now.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up to find a beautiful white Catwoman in their doorway.

Lucy smiled at Lisanna, the girl who lived across the hall and who was a year older than Levy and herself. But then she frowned. Hadn't all the girls left?

"Hey there Lucy, you guys ready yet?" Lisanna asked, leaning against the door jamb, cute white cat ears adorning her naturally white hair.

Lucy stuck a thumb towards the bathroom and Lisanna peered at it curiously.

"I'm waiting on Levy, she's running late. Why are you still here?"

"Waiting on you guys of course. It's your first year and we didn't want you to walk there alone." She smiled.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Lucy cried, feeling bad that Lisanna was going to be late now too.

Lisanna simply waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, it's chill. Cana is still downstairs too, want to come have a drink with us?"

Lucy glanced again at the bathroom door, then said, "Uhm yeah sure, I'll tell Levy we'll be downstairs."

Just then a muffled response could be heard from the bathroom: "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! GO AHEAD! I'LL BE READY IN FIVE!"

Both girls laughed and Lucy hopped up to follow Lisanna out the door, the girl's white cat tail swishing as she walked.

Levy had heard Lisanna talking to Lucy and she flushed when she realized that she was now forcing three people to wait on her.

She rushed out of the bathroom in a swirl of steam, fluffy towel wrapped securely around herself, hair tied up in another. She dug through the pile of clothing at the foot of her bed, which she insisted was all clean, until she triumphantly pulled out a long, poofy white dress.

She quickly dried herself off, put on underwear, and shimmied into the dress. She glanced at herself in their mirror and gave herself a thumbs up. Perfect. It looked great.

Now, just for the make-up, the fake blood, and where were those big rubber teeth?

Levy started pawing through her possessions once more to gather what she needed, but just then her phone chimed and she glanced over at it, noticing both that it was already 11:13 PM (crap!) and that she had a text from Gray.

Gray: Where r u guys?! Ur comin rite? Bettr come quick, Natsu is pretending not to look for Lucy *rolling eyes emoji* *laughing with tears emoji*

Levy groaned. She was probably only halfway ready and she really hated making everyone wait on her. She decided she'd go downstairs and insist that they go ahead, she could catch up in her own time. She'd feel a lot less stressed that way.

She spun on her heel and headed downstairs, long white dress flowing around her as she walked.

Lucy followed the white cat into the kitchen and found Cana leaning against the granite island countertop, sipping at a shot glass.

"Woah, Cana, are you a… gypsy?" Lucy asked, admiring her friend's flashy, though honestly quite scandalous, costume. The loose pants were fine, if not riding a bit low, but the top was basically a bikini, with beads strung across her exposed stomach. Lucy's eyes practically bulged at all the cleavage.

Cana chuckled at the expression on Lucy's face and smirked back at her. Lucy blushed, having been caught staring.

"Yeah, thanks Lucy. This is my go-to costume. I always seem to get lucky in it," she winked, and Lucy felt her blush deepening.

"I like your costume too, is it… modern art?" Cana questioned, motioning to Lucy's shirt.

Lucy glanced down at the tank top she was wearing over a colored t-shirt. Two holes had been cut in the tank top over where her boobs were, allowing the color of the t-shirt underneath to be seen.

"It's from a movie! Levy and I are doing a joint costume!" Lucy said. "The bunny ears are part of it too," and she pointed at said ears on her head.

"Hmm, I see, I see," Cana said thoughtfully, before quickly transferring her attention back to the alcohol she was sipping.

"You up for a shot, Lucy?" Lisanna asked cheerfully, brandishing a bottle of vodka.

"Yeah, sure," Lucy replied, picking a shot glass up from the counter.

"What are we honoring?" asked Cana, licking her lips.

"Hmm," Lucy put a finger to her chin. "First party of the year?"

"Yeah that's right!" Lisanna cheered. "It's your first shot, for your first party, in your first year of school!"

"I'll cheers to that!" Cana said, and the girls tapped their shot glasses together. Cana threw her head back smoothly, but Lucy started gagging as the harsh liquid flooded her mouth.

Lisanna and Cana both laughed at her and Lucy found herself laughing as well, warmth blossoming in her stomach. It wasn't the first time she'd ever drank, but the alcohol mixed with the nervous energy she'd been nursing all day in anticipation for tonight and her mind instantly went to the boy with pink hair that she maybe liked a little.

"Let's do another one," she said to distract herself, and Cana raised an eyebrow at her.

"Woah, I like it Lucy! Good idea!"

Just then Levy swished into the kitchen.

"Perfect timing!" Cana cried, as Lisanna started filling their shot glasses again, pulling out a fourth one for Levy.

"Are you ready, Levy?" Lucy asked.

"Uhm, not quite, I haven't done the makeup or the fake blood yet," Levy said, feeling bad and sensing that her friend was itching to go.

"But I came down to tell you guys to go on ahead, I don't want you to wait on me, just send me the address and I'll be right along! It's only like a ten minute walk right?"

Cana nodded, but Lisanna and Lucy looked unsure.

Lucy's phone pinged and they all looked at it. Lucy unlocked it, opening a SmackChat from Natsu. Distorted music, heavy with bass, filled the kitchen and Lucy quickly lowered the volume as they all cringed.

Natsu could barely be seen, slightly grainy in the low lighting, but his hair color still popped out brightly. The girls watched as he appeared to be standing on a table in a room packed with people. He held up a red plastic cup as if he was saluting the phone, then shouted, "LUCE! TRUST FALL!"

He grinned wickedly, purposely leaning backwards, and falling off the table onto the mob of people below. The girls gasped as the camera became a flurry of blurry images, shouts of confusion and laughter coming through before the video cut out, leaving them glancing around at each other in the sudden silence of the kitchen.

"Well someone is certainly having fun," Cana laughed, and Lucy gaped at her.

"What the heck is he doing?" She asked, "Is he already drunk?!"

Cana waved her hand.

"Probably not, he's always like that at parties. Interesting though that he only sent that to you," Cana said speculatively, eyes sparkling, and Lucy blushed as Levy and Lisanna giggled.

"Seriously," Levy said, "You should just go. And, well, he's clearly dying to see you."

"Levy, not you too!" Lucy groaned, but her eyes were shining and she couldn't keep the smile from her face.

"Let's just all do one shot and then we'll head out," Cana said, licking her lips.

"You sure you're good to walk there alone?" Lisanna asked, handing Levy a shot glass.

Levy took the glass thankfully and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. I feel like I already know this area well. Like I say, just send me the address and worst case I can use GigaMaps. I'll obviously have my phone with me. I don't know how much longer I'll take and I really don't want you guys waiting on me."

Lucy looked at her friend. She felt kind of guilty leaving her to walk by herself, but she also really wanted to get there and make sure Natsu was okay. The other girls seemed to think he was fine, but she felt worried for him with how the video had cut out.

The girls raised their shot glasses for another toast.

"To a magical night!" Cana shouted, and they threw them back, this time Levy being the one to gag.

Cana laughed, telling her she'd get used to it, but Levy could only think, man, this feels like romanticizing alcoholism.

Regardless, the vodka swirled through her system, warming her up nicely, and she grinned at her friends who were gathering their things to head out.

She walked them to the door, leaning against it and waving as her three friends stumbled off into the night, turning at the sidewalk. Tonight was going to be a great night. Like Cana said, Halloween meant magic. She hurried upstairs to finish getting ready. The sooner she was done, the sooner she could rejoin her friends and the sooner she could enjoy whatever the night had in store for her.

A spark flared up as Gajeel leaned forward to light his cigarette, taking a long smooth drag and holding it a moment before letting the smoke rush out in one slow breath. He leaned his back against the building behind him, propping his foot on the wall, knee jutting forward. His business in the building behind him was done, and he was planning to enjoy this cigarette and then head out. It was probably around midnight, and he had a long drive to look forward to.

The street was dark, nightfall causing this shady part of town to be even shadier, and the streetlamps here were sparse. Their mellow light flickered softly, almost making the darkness worse by accentuating the shadows that bulged beyond their pools of dim light.

He took another drag, looking out at nothing in particular.

No one else was on the street and moments of solitude like this were greatly appreciated in his life. He could feel the tension from earlier draining away with each drag. If he was being honest, he was also looking forward to the drive back. Maybe he'd take the long route back, detouring through the countryside. There was spot he enjoyed going to, when he had the time. He'd never seen another person there and he enjoyed the idea that it was a place all to himself. He didn't have too many of those.

Biting the cigarette between his teeth he took another long pull, but suddenly a shout rang out to his right. Looking that way, there was no one in the street, but further down there was an intersection. One of the lonesome streetlamps must have been located around the corner to the right. Gajeel couldn't see the lamp itself, but he could see light flowing from that direction, and he could see three long dark shadows in that light. Three people were causing those shadows.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. The only people on these streets at this time of night were drug addicts and thugs, neither of which he was too keen to interact with.

But as he was taking another drag of the cigarette, he heard something that had him pausing. Another voice made its way to him, one that didn't fit. He scowled. He didn't like getting involved in things that weren't his business. But the voice kept talking, it's light higher qualities making it obviously feminine, and he couldn't help feeling like something was wrong with the situation down that street. A part of him wasn't okay with that.

Something had him taking one last long pull and then throwing the half-spent cigarette to the ground, crushing it into the asphalt with the toe of his boot. He was scowling at his own actions, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him and he stuffed his hands into his pockets as he prowled towards the voices. He still fully intended to stay in the shadows but he supposed a peek wouldn't hurt.

"Fuck," Levy muttered under her breath.

Well, there was no denying it. She was utterly, absolutely lost.

She looked at the shadowed buildings around her. She had definitely never been to this part of town, and she was beginning to realize why. Everything was sketchy, and each alleyway she passed looked more and more like a drug den or a place to stash a body. How had she even gotten here?

She had finished with her costume at about 11:40 PM, adding one last splash of blood and grabbing the fake teeth on her way out the door. She hadn't gotten an address yet from anyone, but she had a vague idea of where the house should be. She knew it was somewhere on Hawthorne street, the main street for many student houses on this side of town.

Going off that knowledge, she had turned confidently in the direction she believed the house to be, but she couldn't seem to find it. The more she walked the more she seemed to be going in circles and by the time she realized her phone had died she had absolutely no clue where she was.

That was when the first bit of fear settled in her stomach. If her phone hadn't died she could keep calling her friends, or at least look up directions to get back home. But with no phone and no idea where she was, she was starting to feel supremely nervous about the situation.

She stopped under a slightly flickering street lamp, the streets barren around her. She looked down at her dead phone with apprehension.

"Stupid, Levy!" she muttered to herself angrily. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"What's that, dear?" came a cold voice to her left, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She turned towards the voice, fear shooting through her, and she noticed three men walk out from the darkness.

Where the fuck did they come from? She thought, eyes narrowing. Crap, I need to get out of here.

"Were you talking to yourself?" the voice asked again, and Levy focused in on the one talking to her. He was tall, taller than her (well, most people were), and completely bald with a large nose ring. His eyes were dark in the light and she didn't like the way they looked at her. His companions were dressed in similarly nondescript clothing. One had semi-shaggy hair, and one had hair all the way to his collarbone. She blinked.

That's kind of funny, she thought, fully bald, to shaggy, to shoulder-length… fuck no, Levy, this isn't the time to be thinking about hairstyle trends.

"No," she replied, trying to stand up taller and looking back at them confidently. She wondered if her white face makeup and huge dress helped at all, or just made her look dumb.

"I wasn't talking to myself, thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way…"

She turned away from the bald one, only to practically run into the shaggy-haired one, and she realized with a gulp that they had spread out without her noticing. She backed up, but her back hit the pole of the streetlamp. They surrounded her, still about ten feet away, but close enough that she had nowhere to retreat to.

"E- excuse me," she said, her voice shaking slightly, but she cleared her throat and tried to glare as harshly as she could.

"Excuse me, let me pass."

"No," said the bald one and he smiled.

"…What?" Levy breathed, the fear growing inside her stomach.

"Here's the thing. You look like you're in a bit of a bind, cutie. Are you lost?" He asked, smile growing. His teeth were a sickly yellow.

"No, I'm not lost," Levy said, hoping she sounded confident.

What the fuck do I do? She thought. I don't know if I could get past them if I tried, but even if I could, I don't know if I'd be able to outrun them… My phone is dead too. I should've pretended I was on the phone talking to someone, but it's too late to feign a phone call and they'd probably call my bluff…

Levy was trying to reason through her options, but the fear was making it hard to focus.

"See, I'm pretty sure you are… Lost that is. And that there, that's a shame, isn't it guys?" The bald one made an exaggerated frown as if sympathetic of her situation.

"A real bummer. But see, we could help you out, if you want. Do you want that? Do you want some help? But you'd have to show us a bit of gratitude in return. What do you say, honey? Would you wanna pay the price? For some help?"

Levy's face flushed with anger. They were mocking her and she hated it. She felt helpless… She decided to fall back on the only thing she could think of, another bluff. She prayed they wouldn't see through it.

"Actually no, I would not," she said forcefully, "But the thing is I'm meeting some friends here, in just a moment. They wouldn't like what you're insinuating. I'm not sure you would want to stick around and meet them." She narrowed her eyes at him and maintained eye contact.

He seemed to hesitate for a split second but then laughed and Levy swore in her head.

"Hah! Friends she says! What a riot, dear!" He met her eyes again and leaned down towards her face. "See, I think you're bluffing!"

Another wave of fear washed over her and he must have seen it in her eyes, since he straightened up all the more confidently, rather satisfied with himself. But Levy wouldn't give up, she just couldn't. She would NOT get assaulted or raped here tonight. That was NOT going to happen.

"Oh no, I'm not!" she insisted, with more vigor. "My friends are real people, who you don't want to mess with! They will fuck you up if you so much as touch me! They'll be here any second, and if I were you I would leave me the fuck alone!"

Levy glared at him as viciously as she could, refusing to let the fear make her look away. She saw the slightest hesitation return to his eyes and she felt a little hope that this might actually work! She just needed to keep pushing!

"And what the fuck is goin' on here?"

Levy's small hope fled as quickly as it had come, along with all the blood in her face. She was caked in white face makeup, but she supposed if she wasn't she'd still look white as a sheet.

Fuck, she thought. What now?!

They all turned towards where the sound had come from, and Levy watched as the darkness itself seemed to materialize into human form, joining them in the streetlamp's pool of light. The three men instantly bristled, backing away from this fourth man, but Levy couldn't do anything but stare.

He was tall. Taller than most anyone she'd ever seen, taller than the bald man with the large nose ring, and his long raven-black hair fell around his face, which was covered in piercings. Even his eyebrows seemed to have been replaced with piercings. Did she mention that he was tall?

His hair was the longest now of the four men around her, and Levy once again caught herself imagining them in a lineup based on hair length, before she mentally slapped herself for thinking dumb things. Seriously, she was in a potentially life or death situation and she was thinking about hair?

She was frowning at herself for her own dumb thoughts when she looked back up and suddenly had her breath taken away because he was staring straight at her and she felt like a deer in headlights. Sharp crimson eyes peered into her soul and she gulped, unable to look away. He was the one who broke the eye contact, lazily sweeping his eyes back to the three men between them, and he pulled his hands from his pockets to cross them over his chest.

"So?" he asked, and no one answered.

"What the fuck is goin' on here?" He asked again. "Do ya know these creeps, Shorty?" And he turned towards her again, nodding to the three men in question.

Levy froze, all eyes on her. The three men looked uncertain about this turn of events, but the bald one especially was growing increasingly angry.

"Yeah she fucking does," he said, glaring at the newcomer.

Gajeel turned to him, a severe frown on his brow.

"Was I fucking askin' ya?"

"Uhm, no," Levy said, speaking up. "No, I don't know them."

But then an idea came to mind and she found herself saying, "But see! This is one of my friends! The rest are probably still on the way, but you should leave me alone now!"

All eyes were back on her and Levy swallowed nervously, throat going dry. The three men looked confused and pissed off, but the fourth, the newcomer, looked totally caught off guard. He was frowning at her since it was obvious to him that they were not friends. But Levy hoped he would just play along.

"What the fuck?" the bald one spat. "He literally just asked if you knew us."

Levy trembled slightly, knowing this wasn't super convincing.

"You really expect me to believe- oi!"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was lifted by the back of his shirt and thrown roughly to side, falling to the ground. He spat, lifting up to his forearms and glared back at Gajeel, who had obviously been responsible for that. Gajeel looked back coldly, and re-crossed his arms.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" He shouted, scrambling to his feet and rushing towards Gajeel, hands up, ready to fight. But the look in Gajeel's eyes had him pausing, unable to throw a punch.

"What the fuck was that, asshole?" he shouted instead, anger emanating from his being. He glanced at his friends, expecting them to back him up, but they were both watching nervously and neither seemed ready to step forward and confront Gajeel with him.

Gajeel had realized pretty quickly he'd stumbled into an unfavorable situation. As soon as he'd turned the corner and seen the small girl backed up against the streetlamp, three tall men surrounding her on all sides, he'd frowned deeply. The girl was clearly in some kind of Halloween costume, what with the face makeup and the fake blood on her dress. But despite how thickly the makeup was caked on there, he could still see the fear plain as day, both on her face and in her posture. She was trying to act tough, shouting back at the men and glaring sharply, but the odds were not in her favor. She was out of her depth and out of place.

The three men on the other hand, they looked like these alleys were their regular hunting grounds. People like that made Gajeel sick and he had growled. Before he knew it he was walking forward into the light of the streetlamp, ready to fuck them up.

So much for not getting involved.

Now, he stared back down at the bald man in front of him, expecting his height difference and fearsome appearance to do the trick. And sure enough, the man was looking less and less sure of himself by the second.

"You should just leave!" the man whined, causing Gajeel to roll his eyes.

"Just leave us alone! We were here first, so fuck off! There's three of us, you'd better hope we don't decide to attack you!"

"Gihi," Gajeel chuckled, making the man widen his eyes further in anger.

"Now yer the one bluffin'," Gajeel said darkly.

Time to finish this, he thought, and dug into his jeans.

Gajeel enjoyed the look on the bald man's face as he pulled a switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open. The man kept looking back and forth between Gajeel's face and the switchblade in his hands, involuntarily taking a step back. Gajeel adopted a nonchalant air and began to use the sharp tip of the blade to clean the dirt out from under his fingernails. Without even looking at the bald man Gajeel could feel his nervous energy. Gajeel knew he looked terrifying and he grinned, letting his sharp teeth catch the light.

"See, I don't think yer gonna attack me," Gajeel drawled.

"Ya know why?' he asked, and no one said anything.

"Because these odds aren't in yer favor, boys. They're in mine," Gajeel grinned wickedly, looking up and slowly making eye contact with all three in turn. He was pleased to see that they looked like they were about to piss their pants.

Perfect.

The other two were already backing up to leave when the bald one said, "Fine. Whatever. We were leaving anyways."

"Good," Gajeel growled, ready for this to be over.

"But don't – ," and here the man pointed at him viciously, while still backing up, "- Don't you dare think this is over! You better hope we never run into you again! We'll be ready next time! We will fucking destroy you!"

Gajeel scoffed, knowing it was all hot air.

"Lookin' forward to it," he said anyways, turning back to his nails, watching the three men retreat from the corner of his eyes.

"And you!" and here the bald man turned towards Levy and she flinched, back still pressed to the pole of the streetlamp.

"This isn't over for you either, bitch!" he said, spitting at her, and she shrunk further down, avoiding his eyes.

Then all three turned and ran, leaving Levy and Gajeel alone in that halo of light.

Levy was stunned. The tall man was still standing in front of her, cleaning out his fingernails with a fucking switchblade, and seemed to be completely ignoring her. She wondered if she should just walk away, if he would even notice. It didn't seem like he was paying any attention to her and she wasn't sure she wanted him to.

A couple silent seconds passed and she decided that was exactly what she would do. She pushed off from the lamp poll and slowly turned to her right, hoping to escape the way she had come, in the direction opposite of where those three men had gone.

"Where the fuck are ya going?"

Levy winced, feeling like a small child who had been caught trying to sneak out past curfew. She turned back to the man and made eye contact again. He had put the switchblade away and was watching her inquisitively, hands once again in his pockets.

She paused. Was it just her, or was he a lot less scary now? It was almost like he wasn't trying to be intimidating anymore, and despite the fact that he was naturally so much taller and more imposing than any of the other three men, Levy felt a lot safer than she had before.

Shut up, Levy, she told herself. He still has a fucking switchblade. You should definitely still be worried about him.

Gajeel was happy it had taken minimal effort to scare off those wannabe thugs, but he was really ready to be done with this whole affair. Unfortunately, he still had her to worry about. Wait, he shouldn't have to worry about anyone. Why should he be worried about her?

He sighed.

"So what's yer plan, Shorty? Do ya really have friends comin'?" he asked, watching her frown at first, until she remembered the nature of her bluff.

"Oh, no," she admitted, then quickly cursed herself. She shouldn't have said that.

"Look, I just need to get back, there's people waiting for me." That part, at least, was true.

"I'll just go back the way I came and-,"

"Yer lost," Gajeel stated blankly, and Levy flinched.

"No I'm not," she denied, and lifted up her phone.

"I'll just call them and-,"

"It's dead, ain't it."

He crossed his arms and she flinched again, frowning down at the ground.

Levy couldn't believe he had seen through her so easily. She was pretty miffed about that, but she was also annoyed with herself for giving everything away. If he decided to do anything bad, she didn't have any good bluffs to fall back on, and even though there was only one of him, she was definitely still outmatched. What if she had just fallen out of the frying pan and into the fire? She gulped, waiting to see what he would do.

Gajeel was annoyed. How had this girl been so dumb as to get herself into this situation? This was precisely why he tried to avoid other people's problems. But he sighed, knowing he was already in too deep and knowing also that he couldn't leave her here, or watch her walk back alone. Who knew what other creeps were crawling through these streets?

"Look, I'll walk ya back," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"You will?" Levy asked, voice hopeful as she glanced up at him. Was he serious?

"Ya, I will," he said, meeting her eyes with his own, and she saw unexpected sincerity there.

"Uhm, okay. Thanks."

Levy was not expecting that and she felt slightly shocked, but he was already striding past her and she had to jump to catch up.

"So where ya goin', Shrimp," he asked, peering down at her from the sides of his eyes as he walked.

She was already struggling to keep up, that long white dress of hers doing her no favors, and he sighed again but slowed down slightly anyways.

"I need to get to Hawthorne Street," Levy said, staring straight ahead, not pleased with the nicknames he kept calling her. Also, this monster walked way too fast, couldn't he slow down? He was seriously getting on her nerves, but he was helping her so she knew she shouldn't complain.

"Where on Hawthorne street?"

"Uhm, I'm not sure…"

"Yer not sure?" He frowned, looking over at her more.

She had puffed her cheeks out in irritation from his tone, among other things.

Cute, he thought. Then shook his head. What the fuck?

"Yeah," she said, forcefully, "I'm not sure, okay? Just help me get there, please."

The 'please' was definitely forced and Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her. She had some spunk and he kind of liked that.

They walked in silence for several more minutes. Levy wasn't able to focus on anything else other than trying to keep up and not trip over her damn dress.

Sheesh, she thought. I should have picked something shorter. This is ridiculous.

Gajeel had an easygoing air about him, but internally he was on edge. He kept one eye on her and one eye on their surroundings at all times.

Yeah, this was definitely not a safe part of town. What the hell had she been doing here? Sure, she got lost, but how was it possible to get this lost. He didn't even live here and he still knew how to get to Hawthorne Street. He scoffed, thankful that it was at least close by and he'd be able to get rid of her soon. He was certain that the head of long blue hair beside him had no idea when eyes peered out at them from the darkness, but he could feel them watching, and it made his skin crawl.

He was just glad he had intervened before something truly bad had happened. He would help her get out of here and then she should never return. This was no place for someone like her.

They'd been walking about ten minutes, and already the streets were widening and the sidewalks were cleaner. Brighter streetlamps were set more closely together, and even the occasional group of people could be seen, dressed up and ready for a night of trick-or-treating.

The sight reminded Gajeel that the girl next to him probably also had plans for Halloween. He glanced down at her again. She was still focused on holding her dress.

"What even are ya?" Gajeel asked.

"Huh?" Levy asked, looking up at him, confused.

"Fer Halloween. What's yer costume," he tried again.

"Ohh," Levy said. "It's from a movie. Mean Girls? Have you seen it?"

She glanced up at him but his face was blank. Zero recognition.

Levy laughed. "I'll take that as a 'no.' Anyways, it's a pretty fun movie. When I moved here and met Lucy, I'd never heard of it. She said I reminded her of one of the characters, Cady, and when I didn't know what it was, she insisted we watch it together. It was actually one of the first things we ever did! So anyways, with Halloween, we thought it'd be fun to do a joint costume, so I'm going as what Cady wore in the movie – a ghoulish bride – and Lucy is dressed up as Regina's costume – a bunny costume. But she was too nervous to do the whole thing, I don't blame her, so we improvised and she used one of the other outfits that Regina is known for, with a cutout top."

Gajeel blinked. She sure talked a lot. He slowed down some more, feeling safer on these cleaner streets, but remained aware of their surroundings anyway out of habit, and listened to the girl next to him go on about mean girls and a bunny or something.

"So what about you? Are you dressed for Halloween?" Levy found herself asking, looking up at the man who walked beside her. He'd been relatively quiet so far and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

He grunted, finding the question humorous. "Nah, I'm always like this."

"Really?" Levy exclaimed before she could help herself.

Gajeel found himself smiling. No one had ever asked him that before. Most people tried not to talk to him at all.

"What, my eyes don't look real to ya? These don't look real to ya?" He said, turning to brandish his teeth in a big toothy grin right in front of her face.

Levy's eyes widened. They did look exceptionally sharp. And also exceptionally real, much more lifelike than the fake rubber pair she had for her costume, which suggested that they were real. Did he file them to get them that sharp? Levy realized that she had no idea if that was something a person could do and she started pondering dentistry practices as he continued.

"Nah, I was born this way," he said, looking straight ahead.

"A Devil among men," he found himself saying smugly, then realized he'd never said that to anyone before. He glanced down to see her reaction, but she seemed to be deep in thought. Maybe she hadn't heard?

"Well," she finally said. "Your appearance is certainly out of the ordinary, and you fit in quite well on Halloween. But…" she faltered, thinking. "I don't think you're a Devil."

Gajeel frowned down at her. Wasn't it obvious?

"Aren't ya scared of me?" He asked her.

Levy realized that she wasn't and she smiled up at him.

"Not really, no," she said simply, and kept walking.

Sure, he was intimidatingly tall, covered in piercings, had blood-red eyes, had been lurking in a dark alley in the middle of the night, and carried a ridiculously large switchblade on his person…

But, most people were taller than her, she admitted the piercings looked good on him, his eyes had held real concern for her, and his presence in the alley along with his switchblade had helped to save her from a terrifying situation. He hadn't used any of these things to threaten her, in fact he had only helped her, and despite his sometimes rude and frustrating attitude (and, well, the nicknames really did piss her off), but besides that she realized that... she kind of liked him. Her eyes widened fractionally at this revelation.

Gajeel was a bit stunned. She wasn't scared of him? What the fuck? What was wrong with her?

He turned to her with a frown but her eyes suddenly lit up and she pointed excitedly.

"Oh look! Over there! That's the place!"

He realized with a start that they were already on Hawthorne Street, and the girl beside him was eagerly picking up her pace, having spotted the very house she'd been trying to get to all night.

Gajeel looked past her, seeing a large yellow house sitting atop a well-tended lawn. The whole thing was practically bouncing on its foundations, loud heavy bass emanating from inside, and he cringed at the thought of getting any closer to all that ear damage.

But the small girl beside him was surging forward excitedly, her long blue hair streaming behind.

"Look! I think that's Gray out front! Oh thank goodness, I'm so glad I made it!"

She turned back to him, starry-eyed, and exclaimed brightly, "Thank you SO much! I don't know what I would have done without you! You're such a nice guy, I really appreciate it!"

Then she was off again, dragging herself and that dumb dress towards the heaving cesspit of college students having a party ahead and wait…

Did she just call him a NICE GUY?

Gajeel was struck by lightning. The carefully constructed image he'd spent years cultivating was crumbling around him and he was suddenly angry. Not just angry, livid.

Gajeel wanted to storm forward and show her how much of a Devil he really could be, but she'd somehow gotten quite far ahead of him now, and a blonde girl with bunny ears was practically bouncing over to her.

He gritted his teeth and watched as Levy was pulled into a hug by the Bunny Girl. She was clearly among friends now, so this was his cue to leave. He folded into the shadows effortlessly, glancing back at the house one last time before turning back towards the way they had come.

The anger continued to wash through him. She didn't know anything about him or his life. She had no right to call him that. He reassured himself in knowing that he would never have to see her again, now that she was back in her world and he could go back to his.

But his mind also wandered to the many boys who had been out on that neatly cut lawn and he frowned despite himself. College boys were horny idiots, and he didn't like that she was, in fact, still surrounded by creepy guys. Any one of them could be a bad apple...

He shook his head at himself. No, this was dumb. It was no longer his problem. Shorty could take care of herself. And he scoffed when he realized the hypocrisy of worrying about her and bad apples when he was the most rotten one of all.

He reached his bike quickly, unencumbered by anyone else this time, and snapped his helmet firmly on his head. He swung onto the bike, revving the engine to life, and he sped off into the night, leaving behind nothing but streaks of light and a long forgotten cigarette stamped out in the asphalt.

He narrowed his eyes, the buildings and streetlamps dancing past. This was who he was, here in the darkness, this was where he belonged. He was a Devil. And not even she could claim otherwise.

Levy rushed up to the house, noting all the college students already smashed or still getting smashed, spread out on the lawn. The place was crawling with people, most she didn't know, but many she did, and she breathed a sigh of relief to be somewhere she felt safe again. But she kinda realized that she hadn't felt unsafe for a while…

"LEVY!" She heard a loud voice shouting her name from up by the door and she excitedly spotted a (very) tipsy Lucy, bounding over her way.

"Levy!" Lucy practically purred, enveloping her in a large hug. "You need to catch up! I've already had like six shots!"

"Woah," Levy said, pulling back from her friend a little concerned.

"Shouldn't you slow down a bit?" She frowned but Lucy only laughed.

"Oh relax! I know my limits, I'm fineeeeee," Lucy slurred.

Levy raised an eyebrow, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"They've been pretty spaced out. Plus, Natsu has had way more," Lucy blushed at the mention of Natsu, which she had brought up herself by the way, and Levy found herself chuckling, Lucy's crush all too apparent.

She suddenly remembered she hadn't yet introduced Lucy to…. What was his name? Levy wracked her brain and realized that it had never come up. How had she forgotten to ask?

"Wait! I totally forgot," she said turning, projecting her voice behind herself.

"My name is Levy! What's your-" she stopped, seeing nothing and no one.

"…-rs?"

The sidewalk behind her was completely empty, as if the large man had never existed.

"Oh," She said, slightly deflated. How had he slipped away so suddenly?

"What?" Lucy asked, peering beyond her friend into the darkness. "What is it Levy? Who are you talking to?"

"Well, it was a guy who helped me get here, but I'm realizing I never got his name."

"Hmm," Lucy squinted skeptically, both at the darkness and at the puzzled expression on Levy's face.

"I feel kind of bad, I didn't even notice him leave…"

"Well was he even there at all?" Lucy quipped, a sparkle in her eye. Levy could tell she was joking, but also not really.

"No, he was real Lucy, he helped me out. Oh god, I got terribly lost! And then my phone died! It was horrible, but this guy came out of nowhere, literally stepped out of the shadows, and offered to walk me back. It's so weird that he just vanished like that though..."

Lucy was looking increasingly skeptical.

"Did you hit your head Levy?" She asked.

"No! I swear! He was real! I saw him!"

"Well maybe he was your guardian angel," Lucy said with a wink.

She continued dramatically, "Oh if only *MY* guardian angel would fall from heaven and rescue me when I'm in danger!"

She brought the back of her hand to her forehead in exaggerated distress, and Levy slapped her arm playfully, both giggling.

"Lucy! It wasn't like that!" Levy retorted through the giggles.

"Okay, well then maybe he was a devil? I mean, it is the all-powerful and spooky All Hallow's Eve. It's past midnight, who knows what kind of ghoulish goblins and ghosts could be lurking about?!" Lucy said, this time bringing her hands up in a creeping gesture, ready to pounce on Levy, but Levy was too busy thinking to notice.

"Well, he did call himself a devil…" she said, thoughtfully.

Lucy paused, quirking a brow.

"Well," she said. "There you have it. I guess it truly is the most magical night of the year! You've got your own personal Devil, Levy! Good thing he didn't stick around to gobble you up!" Lucy brought her hands down on Levy's shoulders, miming an attack while shaking Levy out of her reverie.

"Either way, time to do SHOTS!" Lucy cried, grabbing Levy's wrist and dragging her up the winding path to the front door of the house. With each step, Levy felt the bumping bass pulse through her just a little harder, and any kind of thoughts she had regarding the man who had just walked her back were getting further and further away.

She shook her head, trying to think clearly, but it was impossible with all the bouncing bodies, dressed in all kinds of fantastical outfits.

She started to feel the excitement she had felt earlier that day come back to her. This was Halloween. The most anticipated night of the year. It was barely one in the morning, meaning the party would still be going for at least a couple more hours. Levy felt the energy in the house start to course through her veins.

Well, I did only just get here, she thought. The party I've been anticipating for weeks. My night has only just started, right?

Lucy handed her a shot glass, stylized to look like an eyeball, and yelled "Bottoms up!"

Well, here goes, Levy thought, bringing the edge of the eyeball to her lips.

But it really does feel like we're romanticizing alcohol right now...

A/N

Halloween 2018 and Halloween 2019 will both be coming out soon, and then on to the main course, 2020 ;)

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think~