Chapter 15

Their little lunch turned into a full on escape from everyone else. It didn't take long for Gajeel to figure out that Levy wanted some alone time, too. Even their private moments weren't completely private, and they both knew this... and it was getting on their nerves. As they talked over lunch, Gajeel devised a plan to ditch the body guards that were following them discreetly, even now. But the question was, how to ditch them. He could see Gray and Natsu now. Gray was trying to blend into the crowd at the restaurant, holding up a newspaper and pretending to read. Natsu was outside, occasionally peeking in through a window as he pretended to be on his cell phone. They were good body guards; few people would be able to tell they were keeping a very close eye on him and Levy. But they stood out like a sore thumb to both of their charges.

"Oi, shrimp." Gajeel got her attention. She looked up at him, her fork full of fish halfway to her mouth. "Let's go shopping after this. There's a mall nearby. We can get ya some shoes there. Besides, I wanna get you some more swim suits." he smirked as she gave a light blush.

"A-are you sure? I don't like you spending a lot of money on me." she mumbled before sticking her fork in her mouth. She should be used to it by now, she mused. Gajeel liked to spoil her with anything she wanted. She practically had her own library at his house now. But she was always uncomfortable whenever he spoiled her like that.

"I'm more than sure." Gajeel chuckled, leaning across the table and motioning for her ear. "I got a plan to ditch the dumbasses. Play along." Levy gave a slow nod, a smile coming to her face as Gajeel sat back with a grin.

"As long as you're sure." Levy shook her head slightly and continued eating. Gajeel said he had a plan, so she would just have to go along with it. Besides, if it worked, they would finally have some real alone time for once. They finished eating and Gajeel paid the tab. Once outside, Gajeel looked at Levy expectantly, stopping her before her feet touched the sand. She gave a cute pout. "I'm fine walking barefoot, you know."

"I'm not kidding, shrimp, that sand is super hot today." Gajeel warned her, but let her go. She would learn soon enough. He followed her carefully as she stepped into the sand and started walking. It took a good fifteen seconds before it was clearly painful for her, but she marched on anyways with an adorably determined pout. Gajeel shook his head. His shrimp was so stubborn. Ten seconds later he noticed her eyes were starting to water. That was as far as he'd let it go. Without a word, he scooped her up into one arm and wiped off the hot sand from her feet with his free hand. He took a look at her feet. They were red, but luckily not burnt too much. They would feel better in a few minutes. Meanwhile his shrimp gave a soft sniffle, trying not to cry. Whether from pain or defeat, he didn't know, but that sure stopped the "I told you so" that was on the tip of his tongue. He shifted her into both of his arms and placed a soft kiss to her temple. "It's okay, Lev, just let me carry you. I'll get you some shoes in the mall."

"Okay." She mumbled, sounding utterly defeated. So it was her pride that hurt more than her feet. Gajeel shook his head with a small smile and resumed walking. She was silent all the way to the mall, still pouting. Gajeel found it utterly adorable, and he couldn't stop himself from leaning down and capturing those pouty lips in a kiss. He surprised Levy, but she recovered quickly and kissed him back. She blushed prettily for him when he nipped at her lip before pulling back. It was all he could do to pull back from the kiss, and he had to remind himself that their private moment wasn't really private. Once they ditched the guards he could kiss her as much as he wanted. That sure encouraged him to hurry to the mall.

"I'm sorry, sir, but no shirt, no shoes, no service." a mall employee stopped them at the door a few minutes later.

"Dude, I'm trying to buy her some shoes. Can't you let it slide?" Gajeel huffed. The employee didn't back down, even when a hundred was waved in his face.

"It's okay, I can wait outside until you buy me some shoes. Then I can go in. Right?" Levy glanced at the absurdly strict employee, who nodded in agreement. Gajeel grumbled, worried about leaving Levy alone. He supposed having the body guards wasn't that bad all the time. He looked around for one of them and made eye contact with Gray, who nodded, silently telling him that Levy would be guarded.

"Fine. Size six?" he raised a studded eyebrow at his girl, who nodded with a small smile. He remembered her shoe size? That was kind of weird... kind of sweet. "I'll be back." he huffed before gently setting her down in a shaded area and then hurrying into the mall. He grabbed the first pair of size six white sandals that he found, purchased them, then hurried outside. With no further complaint from the mall staff, they headed into the mall together.

Making sure the guards weren't within listening distance, Gajeel leaned over to Levy and whispered out his plan. She nodded and followed him into the most crowded part of the mall. They split up just before reaching a large cluster of people, and they headed into the fray, ducking down once they were inside. She could hear Natsu's curse at losing them, and she had to stop herself from giggling as she weaved through the crowd. It helped that she was so short, and she wondered how Gajeel was managing to elude them with as tall and obvious as he was. Somehow she managed to make it through the crowd and she hurried to the nearby exit, hiding around the corner. She let out a startled gasp as arms wrapped around her waist, and she looked behind her to find a grinning Gajeel.

"Not bad, shrimp, not bad at all." Gajeel chuckled. He'd been able to lose the dorks quite easily, having years and years of practice doing so. The trouble had been finding something Levy could do, too, and Gajeel determined that, with her short stature, it would be easiest for her to slip through a crowd and lose them that way. There was still a chance it wouldn't work, since Levy was so inexperienced with these kinds of things, but Gajeel was proud of her for successfully losing them. Levy beamed under his praise. He grinned as he waved down a taxi and opened the door for her. "C'mon, Lev, let's get out of here before they find us."

"What are you guys doing back so soon? And where are Gajeel and Levy?" Lucy questioned as two defeated body guards walked back into the beach house. Natsu groaned and flopped down on the couch.

"That Gajeel..." Gray sighed. "He ditched us, even got Levy to do it, too. Lost us in the mall, and we couldn't track them down after that."

"I think they took a taxi somewhere." Natsu groaned out. "Oh, man, we're gonna be in so much trouble with the boss."

"I wouldn't worry too much." Lucy shook her head at the boys. "This is Gajeel we're talking about. They'll be fine."

"We're lost." Levy sighed heavily as she leaned against a nearby building.

They had been walking around downtown for almost two hours now, and Gajeel had gotten them thoroughly lost. It had started off great. They got out of the taxi at an ice cream shop, gotten some ice cream, and then went to browse all the many boutiques that were downtown. Gajeel ended up buying her a new sundress and a cute red striped bikini. Then they simply walked for a while, until they realized they were no longer downtown. Backtracking got them back downtown, but in a different part than where they'd been before. And, with the small town starting to close down for the evening, there were no more taxis coming through. In fact, as the sun began to set, the town was starting to look deserted.

Gajeel grumbled to himself as he tried to get signal for his phone to work. It was bad enough his battery was dying, but now he was using what little he had left to try and make a call... only to get disconnected before he reached Natsu or Gray. Finally, the phone died. Gajeel cursed his luck.

"Alright, shrimp, let's keep walking. We'll find someone out here eventually." Gajeel sighed, putting an arm around his girl and leading her down the street. There was still light out but the sun was beginning to set. It would be dark soon enough, and Gajeel knew the night would bring out the punks, even in small towns like this. He was glad he'd thought to bring his gun today. At least he could protect Levy.

"Look." Levy pointed to a shop that was still lit, down the street. "Maybe they will let us use their phone."

"Un." Gajeel agreed, and they picked up their pace. Only to stop when a group of four men stepped out in front of them, coming out of an alley. Gajeel glared at them, moving to quickly push Levy behind himself. He eyed the punks warily. They were armed with crowbars and bats, and had their faces mostly covered by bandanas. No firearms to what he could tell. Still, he'd rather not risk Levy's safety with a fight. He was about to ask them what they wanted, when their apparent leader stepped forward, aiming his crowbar at him.

"If you know what's good for you, hand over all your money." the man demanded. Gajeel just raised an eyebrow. This guy couldn't be more than five feet tall, and Gajeel towered over him by a good amount. In fact, they were all either short or lanky. True they had numbers on their side, but Gajeel could probably exhale and knock them on their asses with the wind.

"How bout you go on yer way... if you know what's good fer you." Gajeel countered, reaching for his weapon that was hidden under his tank, secured by a snug holster. The leader saw what he was reaching for an attacked, swinging the crowbar like a bat right onto Gajeel's shoulder. Levy let out a frightened cry as she hid behind Gajeel. Gajeel just grunted and rolled his shoulder, brushing off the attack easily. He grinned down at the leader. He knew he wouldn't be able to do much damage. All it took after that was merely brandishing his gun to the men. They took off with their tails between their legs as Gajeel just laughed at them.

"Are you alright?" Levy asked when the men were finally gone. Gajeel turned to look at her and gave a reassuring grin.

"'Course I am, shrimp. Might bruise just a little but I barely felt it." He shook his head as he put his gun back in his holster. "C'mon, that shop's still open. Let's call for a ride back to the beach house."

I'm sorry it took so long to get another chapter up for you guys. School and stuff is really getting in the way. There's only a few weeks left before summer, so bare with me.

Anyways, please tell me what you think of this chapter!

Thanks for reading!

-Everythingnerd12