A Modern AU

Rated: T

Though Gajeel had only known Levy for a handful of months, it felt like they've been together for years. Which, he had never even seen coming. They were complete and total opposites meaning that they shouldn't work as well as they did. For one he was a foot taller than her, didn't know a damn thing about making someone happy and was extremely rough around the edges. Where he was all hard lines and jagged pieces, Levy was soft and sweet by nature. She never picked fights and preferred to have her nose shoved as far into the spine of a book as possible. She was educated, well loved and overall a kind-hearted person.

Gajeel was immediately smitten by her but didn't expect the same. She loved that he didn't pressure her to reciprocate his feelings, even though she did. Levy thought it was adorable how he paid attention to every little detail that made her happy yet was almost childlike in his inability to believe that she could ever love someone like him. Sure, he didn't have a squeaky-clean past, but that made him more amazing to Levy; he had worked hard to pull himself from the mud which he was covered in.

"Quit daydreaming about your boyfriend," Levy's roommate and good friend giggled with a gentle nudge to her shoulder from across the small table they had occupied, "We came here to get some work done, remember?"

"Sorry Lulu," she said rather sheepishly. She hoped the light amount of foundation she applied this morning was doing its job and hiding her blush. It was a little unnerving that Lucy had picked out the train of her thoughts so easily.

"So, any new developments between you two yet?" Lucy sighed, placing her right elbow on the table, and plopping her head in her right hand and giving Levy her undivided attention, "You've been doing nothing but sighing lately." Levy wasn't ready for this conversation. She would NEVER be ready for this kind of conversation.

"W-what about you and Natsu?" Levy quickly challenged, dropping her eyes to the large black leather studded bag she had dragged onto her lap. She had bought the bag because it had reminded her of Gajeel, she frowned as she realized. She dug around a bit before swinging her eyes back up to her blonde companion, her light blue compact mirror in hand along with a silver tube of lipstick.

"I-I-I" Lulu was stuttering hard, levy noted with an internal smile. That could only mean that her guess was correct; her best friend had a crush on Gajeel's cousin. Cute. "We weren't talking about me!" Lucy finally managed to blurt out, her face a soft shade of pink. Levy raised an eyebrow as she popped open her compact mirror and uncapped her bright red lipstick.

"mmm," Levy hummed as she applied a thin, even, and precise layer of lipstick over top of the fading color of her lips. She'd grown bolder in her wardrobe and makeup choices after undergraduate year in college. She could attribute the change in part to her roommate. "I thought we were sticking our noses where they don't belong," Levy joked. She was rewarded by a huff from Lucy.

"Fine, you win."

"Don't I usually?"

"Don't you ever get tired of being so smart AND evasive Levy?" Lucy countered good naturedly.

"Don't YOU ever get tired of being hypocritical and beautiful?" Levy replied with a pop of her lips and the click of her compact shutting. She sent Lucy a bright smile as she shoved her two items back into the large bag and gently pushed her blue rimmed cat-eye glasses back up the bridge of her nose, "You and I both already know the answers to both of those questions so let's call it a truce, hm?" Lucy giggled a bit before sitting up abruptly and checking the dainty golden watch on her wrist.

"Oh man, it's almost time for me to meet up with Natsu," Lucy chirped, a goofy smile spreading along her pale pink lips, "he wanted to hear my dissertation before I submit it and present it."

"You mean he wanted to hear it first?" Levy asked relatively surprised.

"Well, yes. Not like he actually understands it all…but it's sweet all the same." She could agree with Lucy's statement. It was rather endearing. Levy watched as the blonde swiftly and efficiently packed up her laptop, books, pens, pencils, textbooks, and a well-worn notebook. It always surprised them both how much stuff they could fit on a single table.

"Have fun with Natsu," Levy sung, before continuing more seriously, "We still on to re-dye my hair on Saturday?" Lucy sent her a look that screamed "duh!" as she slipped out of the combination coffee house bookstore that the girls regularly frequented. Levy was left alone to her thoughts; Her and Lucy had been friends for going on almost seven years, meeting freshman year in college. It felt like a blink of an eye to Levy. It was about time she got back to work on her own dissertation.

A tug on Levy's ponytail is what brought the blunette back to reality. She didn't like being interrupted like that.

"Bookworm." The gruff greeting was accompanied by a white cup that was held in the space between her and her laptop. Levy reached up and took the cup, bringing it directly to her lips and taking a sip. She needed a moment to get her heart out of her throat.

"Thank you Gajeel," Levy finally managed to push out, the London fog he had given her had cleared her head a little and allowed her heart to settle. All he did was grunt before taking the seat that Lucy had occupied earlier.

"I figured you would be here." Gajeel continued, which caused Levy to look up at him. His eyes were bouncing around the table at all the supplies she had spread out, "You got much longer?"

"I'm done," the blunette responded almost instantly, closing her laptop, and taking a better look at the man across the table from her. His long black hair was pulled into a low messy bun at the nape of his neck. He had a streak of grease across the left side of his face which made his many facial piercings seem even more prominent. His white tank was streaked with grease and dirt; She couldn't see his pants but assumed he was wearing his favorite black joggers and running shoes. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 9:30," Gajeel responded, fighting back a yawn. Levy couldn't help herself any longer, that smear on his face was bothering her. She leaned across the table, placing one hand on the right side of his face to hold him steady and then gently wiped clean the left side of his face. She started to use the palm of her hand but located a clean napkin under a group of her pens.

"You just getting off work?" Levy asked, as she sat back down. She couldn't help but smile at the lovesick expression on his face, it never lasted as long as she wanted it too. He quickly schooled his face and cleared his throat, refusing to meet her eyes once again. She took that as her cue to start packing her stuff. "How was it?"

"Not bad. Busy. Mainly oil changes and a few tire changes, rotations, just the boring stuff." The mechanic replied as he stood up, taking the large bag from the table before Levy could even think about lifting it. She thought the bag suited him but knew better than to say that out loud. It was still hard suppressing a giggle as she stood up and brushed crumbs off her skirt. She noted that she was correct about what he was wearing on his bottom half. She also noticed that he took careful care to look over what she was wearing, it made her nervous.

"Well at least it k-kept you p-preoccupied," Levy stuttered as she pulled her baby blue long sleeved half shirt down a little and readjusted her high-waisted white box-pleated skirt with blue and red flowers. The Retro red stretchy belt that kept her skirt up was still snuggly in place so she pretended to tap her red flats more firmly onto her feet before shyly looking up at Gajeel. He just smirked.

"Yeah. Sure." He mumbled while heading towards the exit, "You hungry? Cause I sure am."

"What about your class?" Levy questioned, speed walking to keep up with his longer strides.

Levy knew that he was taking classes at the local community college but had no idea for what. The first couple of weeks it had been easy to distract her from what he was doing by asking her how her dissertation was going. Her and Bunny girl counting down the days till they both got their doctorates. The more Gajeel deflected the more Levy questioned; it was making him nervous cause when his girl wanted an answer to something, she usually found a way to get it. He just didn't want her to know he was working on a present for her graduation.

The idea had snuck up on him in the middle of the night. It woke him up from a dead sleep and forced him to grab a piece of paper and a worn-down pencil that was on his nightstand and sketch it out. Levy had been complaining about the reliability of her wooden bookshelves, practically lamenting the fact that they needed to be replaced soon. So, he decided he was going to build her custom bookshelves. He had always had dreams about learning how to do metal work and decided this was the push that he needed to learn so he signed up and begin taking classes. Getting his certification to be able to do it on his own. That alone was hard for him, for he'd never been that great at school. He wasn't stupid by any means, but school never came as easily as it seemed to come to his bookworm. He was the oldest in his classes, an ancient twenty-seven to the rest of their measly nineteen and occasional twenty. Gajeel quickly got the hang of working with his hands and the equipment, realizing that it was like his work on cars. His newfound confidence made him a class favorite, bringing those that were struggling flocking to his side. They asked tentative questions at first and seemed genuinely surprised when he responded shortly and demonstrated. Levy would be proud of him for "playing nice" as she liked to joke.

The race was on for Gajeel to finish the second bookshelf he had designed for Levy, her Doctorate presentation and overall review happening in a week. She, and Bunny girl, would learn the outcome to the years of hard work they had put in, hopefully by being able to grasp the PhD they'd both been breaking their backs for. It had been a solid two weeks since, Gajeel had stayed the night with Levy at her apartment, the only thing keeping him from spiraling into depression was the knowledge that she was also missing him (if his hot-headed cousin was to be believed).

With a sigh, Gajeel turned off his blowtorch and placed it down carefully, yanked off his heat protective gloves and lifted the face protection mask off his face. It was a little past midnight and he had work in the morning, but he was so close he could taste it. His vision coming to fruition, the sooner he finished the sooner he could get back to cuddling with Levy after work. He wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but levy was the perfect size to cuddle with, she fit perfectly on his lap.

Grunting his resolve, Gajeel tightened the hair tie that held his hair on the top of his head, redonned his protective gear and flicked the blow torch back on. He just had to finish assembling the rough frame and get the glass plating in. He also had to remember to go back and wield the flowers he made to the first one. The excitement of showing off his handiwork to the person he admired helped steady his hand as he began wielding.

"Why did you make these bookshelves from STEEL?" Natsu groaned as he readjusted his grip on his end of the bookshelf, he was helping his cousin maneuver into the girls' townhouse while they were out celebrating the success of all their hard work. "You couldn't have picked a LIGHTER metal?"

"You wouldn't be struggling so much if you focused more on working with your legs rather than working your mouth so much," Gajeel practically growled back, "Now shut up and let's hurry up."

"I don't know why I decided to help you,"

"Because if you didn't, I would have ruined any chance you had with Bunny girl,"

"That's a cheap shot," Natsu grumbled dejectedly, carefully placing his end of the bookshelf on the floor right next to the first one they had carried up earlier. After a little more shuffling and rearranging, the shelves found their new home on either side of Levy's queen-sized bed. It was a tight fit but that was the last remaining bit of space left in her room with the rest of her wooden shelves. They both stepped back and admired their moving job and Gajeel's work. "Lucy's going to be jealous," Natsu sighed while leaving. He had his own surprise for Lucy to bring up and organize. The compliment from Natsu made a corner of Gajeel's mouth turn up.

"Why do you seem so nervous?" Levy asked him quietly. He had clammed up the minute she and Lucy had returned to the townhouse. What if she didn't like it? What if it wasn't what she pictured for her new bookshelves? The amount of what if's made his head want to explode. Gajeel had never been so uncertain of anything in his life. His next thought was cut short by Levy's smaller hand slipping into one of his and giving it a small squeeze.

"Not nervous," Gajeel grunted around the tight sensation in his throat. She was too cute, "Just excited to show you something."

"Does this something have anything to do with why you've been avoiding me these past two weeks?" Levy joked. Gajeel just rolled his eyes and tugged her up the stairs and down the hall that led to her room. His heart pounding harder the closer they got to her bedroom door. He stopped and stepped to the side, allowing her to go first. He didn't let go of her hand as they walked through the doorway.

"Congratulations on your Doctorate, Levy." Gajeel said softly and gestured rather shyly at the bookshelves he had made. He didn't want to stare at her expression but found he couldn't make himself look away. He watched the way her mouth opened in surprise, he smiled when her hand slipped from his and she went and inspected both bookshelves. He watched as she approached the one on the left side of her bed, closest to the window, gently running her fingers over the smooth shiny silver metal arch of the bookshelf as high as she could reach. Levy gently running her fingers over the flowers he had made and wielded to the shelf, glinting gold, and copper in the lamp light. He watched as she made her way over to the other bookshelf, the other half of the pair he had designed with himself in mind. She touched the shiny silver metal again, dipping her fingers into the hammered-out indentions and smiling widely.

"So this is what you've been doing and why you were taking classes," Levy said in awe before turning and throwing herself onto him. She squeezed him fiercely, her cheek practically smashed into his sternum. "They're wonderful and exactly what I wanted Gajeel, thank you." He couldn't help but squeeze her back, the anxiety he felt being replaced with pride.

"Welcome, shrimp."

"Now bend down I have a secret to tell you," Levy hummed, looking up at her giant of a man. He raised an eyebrow but leaned closer to her face. He should have been taken by surprise when she quickly captured his face, pulled him down closer to her and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. Rather than surprise he felt like this moment was what he had been waiting for since she waltzed into his life. She pulled back and smiled widely at him, "I need to replace all my bookshelves, and would love for you to design me a few more."

"Yeah, leave it to me."

The next time Gajeel came over and made himself comfortable on Levy's bed, he noted she had already moved a few books to the bookshelves he had constructed for her. He usually didn't pay that much attention to the titles of her books since she had so many, but these caught his attention.

Levy had purchased books on metal work and arranged them artfully on the shelf that he had designed to represent himself.

Authors Note:

I really had no intention of posting this till next week but it was cute and made my heart all warm and fuzzy. The goal is to update every Monday and Friday :) lets see if I keep up with it. I hope you enjoy this warm Gale short. This would be a fun AU to mess around with honestly!