Chapter 13

The sound of waves lapping at the shore and the feel of the sun on her back was peaceful and relaxing, and they really helped Levy get into the feel of the book she was reading. This chapter, in particular, was about a couple on the beach. The man had just saved the woman from a group of ruffians, and now he was reciting a poem to her to woo her. Levy was so enraptured in the book she didn't notice a shadow fall over her until a voice spoke up. "Oi, oi you actually like this sappy stuff?" Gajeel's teasing voice filled her ears. Levy looked up and behind her to find that Gajeel had knelt down behind her and had been reading over her shoulder. He gave her a crooked grin as an blush spread across her face at being discovered reading something so horribly sappy and enjoying it.

"Er, u-um well, the plot i-is good if you can look past all the gushy stuff." Levy blushed as she looked away from him. "B-besides, it was the only book I could find in that beach house."

"Gihi, you're adorable when you blush, shrimp." Gajeel kissed her temple before he stood up. Levy looked at him again. It was... odd, seeing him in swim trunks... his chest and abs bare to the world. She'd had to force herself to look away when she'd first seen him like this in the beach house. There was no denying that her boyfriend was a highly attractive specimen of a man. But she really wished he would put his shirt back on, if only to stop these strange sensations she was feeling... and to stop the other women on the beach from ogling him like a piece of meat. She'd spotted more than a few women practically drooling over him, and it was making her mad and she really didn't understand why. "Oi, did you hear me?" Gajeel's question made her blink up at him. He just grinned, knowing where her eyes had been while he was talking. "I know I'm some nice eye candy, shrimp, but my eyes are up here." he couldn't help but tease the poor embarrassed woman to death. He chuckled as she blushed beet red and looked away, and he decided to give her a break. "Anyways, are ya not going to swim today, Lev? The water feels great, and it would be a shame for you to have worn the bikini I got you without getting it wet."

"It looks refreshing and I would love to." Levy frowned, still looking away from him. "But this beach is known for rip tides. My parents... that's how they died."

"I'm sorry, Lev, I didn't know." Gajeel's voice was soft and Levy felt bad for even bringing it didn't want to make him feel bad.

"It's okay. It happened when I was fairly young, so I've come to terms with it. I want to go swimming, I really do. I'm just... it still scares me." Levy mumbled, looking down at her lap. Gajeel let out a small hum as he sat down in the sand in front of her. He gently took her chin in his hand and gave a small smile to her. "You trust me, don't you?"

"With my life." She nodded without hesitation. She did. She knew she could trust him with anything, especially her own life.

"Tell you what, I'll go with you, and we won't go past your shoulders." he offered, giving her a charming grin. Levy hesitated. Rip tides were unpredictable, dangerous, and frightening. But surely it would be fine if she didn't go too deep, especially if Gajeel was there. She nodded hesitantly and accepted his offered hand, watching as he grinned in victory and stood, helping her to her feet.

Levy hesitated at the water's edge. Gajeel was already a foot into the water, but he was turned to face her and he held her hand gently yet firmly in was patient with her, letting her go at her pace, and he grinned when she stepped into the ocean for the first time since that night so long ago when her parents had died. Sure, she'd been swimming since then, but it was always in a pool or a lake. Not the ocean. There was something different about how it felt, and Levy smiled blissfully as she found herself surrounded by the gentle waves and the salty breeze. As she found herself waist deep in the water, she looked up at Gajeel with a bright smile.

"See? Not so bad, huh?"Gajeel chuckled, immensely pleased with himself for getting Levy into the water. He hadn't seen her smile this much in a good while. It was obvious she was enjoying the water, even if she was holding onto his hands for dear life.

"No, it's wonderful. I'd forgotten how nice swimming in the ocean can be." Levy giggled as Gajeel lifted her by the waist as a wave came, letting her ride the wave without fear of being pulled under. She tensed at first when she couldn't feel the sand beneath her feet, but after two or three waves she was smiling again, trusting Gajeel's ability to keep her afloat completely. He slowly eased up on his grip, moving his hands to hold her hands, and pretty soon she was jumping with the waves while just holding one of his hands, smiling and laughing the whole time. He just stood there with a lopsided grin on his face, just watching her enjoy herself. She was beautiful this way, full of joy and childish amusement, laughing and smiling as she played in the water wearing the adorable pink bikini he'd bought her that morning. Kami, she was gorgeous and he was so lucky to have her by his side.

His one light in his world of darkness. His Levy.

"They're so cute together." Lucy giggled as she watched Gajeel and Levy swimming together in the ocean. Juvia smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Boss has the same eyes Juvia has when she looks at her Gray-sama." Juvia commented with dreamy sigh. "Juvia thinks Mr. Boss has finally found his true love. So romantic." Lucy just laughed and shook her head. Juvia was such a romantic. But she had a point. Gajeel had his eyes glued to Levy, and he was wearing an expression she'd never seen before on the usually cold, ruthless man.

Perhaps Juvia was right. To an extent, at least. Perhaps...Gajeel finally found someone to love. Lucy could only hope it all worked out in the end.

Gajeel chuckled to himself as he carried an exhausted Levy back to the beach house on his back. Everyone else was already inside and likely turned in for the night. Levy had insisted on a moonlit stroll along the beach, because it was 'romantic' and Gajeel happily obliged her as long as it meant he could keep seeing that smile on her , they'd ended up walking farther than they'd expected, mostly because they spent the entire time talking about everything under the sun, er, moon. Levy gave out about halfway through the return trip, which led to Gajeel carrying her on his back. He was quite aware that she was drifting off to sleep, but he didn't mind. He knew she was happy, and had had a blast today. That made him grin.

"Smell... good..." Levy mumbled sleepily. He glanced back at her and her eyes were closed. She probably didn't even know she'd said anything, she was so out of it.

"What do I smell like, shrimp?" he chuckled softly, not really expecting a response.

"Like sandalwood and... copper." she mumbled around a yawn. He saw her eyes open slightly and she gave a sleepy smile. So she was more awake than he thought. "I like it." She admitted sleepily. Gajeel just smirked.

"Good to know, gihi." he chuckled as he carried her up the steps to the beach house. He spotted Natsu on the roof with a pair of night-vision binoculars and a walkie talkie in hand. He'd apparently been watching their walk to make sure they were both safe. He would have radioed Gray if he saw anything suspicious happening. Gajeel was proud of how loyal his family was to him and his father, and he was definitely impressed with how often they went above and beyond.

"Hey Gajeel..." another yawn came from the small woman on his back. They were inside now, and he was carrying her up the stairs to their room. He glanced back to find her eyes closed again. "How can you tell... if you're in love?" her question made him pause in his steps, stopping right outside their bedroom door.

"Why ask me this, Lev? I'm not that great with feelings, you know." Gajeel shook his head lightly before reaching to open the bedroom door.

"All I have to go off of... is books." Levy said around a yawn. "And Lucy and Juvia give me these extravagant answers that sound so... childish." She lifted her chin off his shoulder and opened her eyes to look at him sleepily. "I figured... you would at least have a more," yawn, "realistic view of it."

"Hmm."Gajeel hummed as he carried the young woman over to the bed. He gently put her down onto the bed before joining her, sitting next to her as she rubbed at her eyes sleepily. "I'm not the best person to ask, Lev. Not like I've ever been in love, either."

"Just tell me what you think it would be like." Levy yawned again.

"Well." Gajeel scratched his head as he thought. "Probably something like never wanting to leave that person's side, wanting to make sure that person is safe and happy always, and feeling empty without them by your side. I guess." He shrugged, a light blush coming to his face as he realized that's exactly how he felt about Levy. He turned to tell her such, and found her completely passed out on the bed, soft snores coming from her sleeping form. She likely hadn't even heard what he'd said and, even if she did, she probably wouldn't remember it. She was fairly exhausted, after all.

Gajeel gave a heavy sigh as he arranged her to be comfortable in bed and then joined her before turning out the lights. He finally realized he was in love with his little shrimp, and she up and falls asleep before he can tell her. Just his luck. Perhaps he should find a more, er, romantic way to tell her, anyways. Yea, that's what he would do. He would surprise her, and tell her how he felt. He just hoped she felt the same, though based on her line of questioning she likely did.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

Another chapter hurray! Thanks for waiting patiently! I'm sad, I only got 2 reviews on the last chapter. Please, please, please give me more reviews! They make me update faster! (Wink, wink) Also sorry for not going very into detail about Levy's parents. Death is hard for me to write about. Sorry.

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Thanks for reading, like always!

-Everythingnerd12