Chapter 6

"Hold up. This is a restricted area until further notice." a police officer stopped Levy from going any closer to her apartment complex.

"What's going on, officer? I live in that building. Did something happen?" Levy asked with wide eyes. She knew, of course, what had happened. But Gajeel stressed to her the importance of playing the part of the innocent doctor who's home got hit while she was out to lunch on her day off. The last thing she wanted and needed right now was to be taken in for questioning. If she did well, they would just take a statement and see to it that she has some place to stay.

"There's been a fire. The whole building has been evacuated." the officer informed her, which she gasped at.

"Is everyone okay? How bad was it?" she asked him sincerely. The picture she'd been shown didn't show if there was any damage to any other apartments.

"Not to worry, there weren't any injuries. What floor do you live on, miss?"

"I live on the ground floor. Unit 12."She informed him. His eyes widened slightly and he scratched his head.

"Er, well, I've got some bad news for you, then. Please, come with me. We need to get a statement from you. Your unit was where it all started."

An hour later Levy was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The police got her statement and then told her how bad the damage was. They hinted at possible gang involvement but assured her that they were likely just trying to scare people. She was asked if there was anyone she could stay with while the damage was being repaired, and then she was released to go make arrangements. Not ten minutes after she called him, did Gajeel appear, driving up to her on a motorcycle.

"C'mon, shrimp. Let's go get you some clothes and stuff. You're gonna stay with me for a while."

"You don't live in that big mansion with your father?" Levy questioned as she followed Gajeel into a very normal looking, albeit fairly large, house on the outskirts of town.

"Anyone asks, I do live there." Gajeel chuckled. "This is a safe house I've sort of taken over. Gives me some privacy and some space away from my old man." He led her through the house and up the stairs to a guest bedroom, putting down the shopping bags he carried on the bed. They were full of clothes that he'd bought for her, despite her protests. She'd insisted she could pay for her own clothes, but he put his foot down and bought them for her. "Make yourself at home, shrimp. Bathroom is through that door. Come downstairs if ya get hungry, Virgo will make ya something."

"W-where are you going?" Levy asked, because it seemed like he was leaving her alone in this house.

"Don't worry, shrimp. Just got some business to deal with. I'll be back in time to pick you up for our date tonight, gihi." he grinned as Levy blushed. She'd almost forgotten about that. "Wear that dress I bought ya. I'll be back around 8." He gave her a light pat on the head before he turned and left. She went to the window and watched him get into a black SUV that had pulled up sometime after they'd arrived. When the door opened she noticed some other men in the vehicle. It wasn't hard to spot the weapons they all carried without trying to hide. Levy decided it was best she didn't know and best she didn't think about it...

About an hour later, Levy had finished unpacking her clothes into the dresser. It had been one hell of a day. She'd met the most powerful man in Magnolia, been propositioned to date Gajeel, had to deal with the stress of lying to police, and now she was left alone in a strange house while her self proclaimed protector and potential boyfriend was off doing Mavis knows what, probably something that would terrify her if she ever found out about. She was exhausted still from her 20 hour shift the day before, and now she was about to keel over. It wasn't even 6 yet, so she decided to take a nap. She laid down on the bed, and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

"Oi... shrimp, wake up." Gentle shaking and a surprisingly soft voice brought Levy out of a deep sleep. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she was gently pulled up into a sitting position. A yawn escaped her lips and she heard a familiar 'Gihi' chuckle. "Shrimp, yer pretty cute when you're tired." Gajeel chuckled as she blinked up at him sleepily.

"Gajeel...? Wha-" Another yawn. "What time is it?" Levy asked quietly.

"It's almost 7 in the morning, shrimp."

"Huh? I slept that long?" that woke her up for sure. She glanced out the window and saw that the sun was just starting to rise. Then she remembered... Gajeel wanted to take her on a date last night. She must have slept through it. "I'm sorry..." she deflated, feeling bad because she knew he'd made a reservation somewhere.

"Don't worry bout it. You needed the sleep." Gajeel gave a half smile as he gently pet her on the head. "Besides, I ended up being late last night, anyways. We've got plenty of time to go on that date, shrimp, so don't worry about it."

"Hey... did you really mean it? When you said you wanted to ask me out from the start?" Levy couldn't stop herself. She needed to know. Did he really take an interest in her then? And was that why he wanted to protect her?

"I don't lie, shrimp." he gave her a smirk. "That night you patched me up, I had to stop myself from asking you out. It was for yer own good, cause someone as pure as you doesn't belong in the criminal world. I just took it as a loss, cause I wanted you to keep your normal life as much as possible. Though I guess I didn't do a good job at that, seeing as where you are now."

"Why do you want to protect me so much? W-what would it have mattered to you if I was killed after you left?" Levy didn't understand. She could understand him being attracted to her and wanting to ask her out, but that didn't explain where this protectiveness came from.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Gajeel sighed. "The moment I saw you I knew you were a good person. I just... don't see people like you in the world anymore. Maybe that's why. I want to safeguard you from the cruelty of this world; I want to keep that purity you've got intact." He admitted. Then he grinned and took her chin in his hand, making her look up at him. "And then I've got this dilemma, where I just want to corrupt you. Maybe it's just the dom in me, but I want to possess you, all of you, and open your eyes to things you never imagined. I want to protect you and corrupt you all at once, and I honestly can't explain why I feel this way. Just know... I'm not gonna hurt ya, and I'm not gonna let anyone else hurt ya. But you gotta trust me." Levy could only nod to this, a pretty blush on her cheeks at his blatant honesty. She learned quite a lot about him with that bit of information, and she wasn't so certain how she felt about some of it. She had an... odd sensation in her nether regions upon learning he was a dom. She wasn't certain if that was something he wanted her to know or not, but it brought about confusing feelings in her.

"Gihi, it's pretty fun to make ya blush, shrimp. I'll have ta do it more often." Gajeel suddenly grinned, which only made her blush harder. He let go of her chin and stood up from her bed with a smirk. "That's enough talking for now. Go get dressed. I'm takin ya out for breakfast."

Another chapter up, yay. I find it's getting a little difficult keeping them in character. Is anyone noticing any out of character moments I might have missed? Please let me know if you see any. Also, please review! I love getting feedback, positive and negative. Just be polite, k?

Thanks for reading, like always!

-Everythingnerd12