Chapter 25

Gajeel stepped back and admired his handiwork. Laxus groaned from where he was tied to a chair, bruised and bloody. Gajeel had been thorough in beating the bastard to a pulp when he had attempted to escape not even an hour ago. Now the man was far too injured to move, and there were three times as many guards around his cell now. He would not escape.

Gajeel let out a heavy sigh. Even beating the shit out of Laxus hadn't satisfied him. He wanted to kill him. Slowly. But his old man refused to let him do more damage than he already had. Even now, Metallicana was standing nearby, frowning at Gajeel's excessiveness. There was no need for them to stoop to torture, he'd told Gajeel. Laxus would get what's coming to him once they get their information.

"Boy, go rest." the order from his father didn't surprise him. He was removing Gajeel from the situation so Gajeel didn't end up killing Laxus before they interrogated him. Gajeel scowled, but obeyed, storming out of the room in a huff.

Mavis, he just wanted to see Levy right now. So that's where he went. Gray stopped him from going into their bedroom.

"Er, boss, I don't think you want Levy to see what you look like right now." Gray warned. Gajeel scowled but looked himself over. Damn, he didn't know he'd gotten blood all over him. Or that he'd punched Laxus so hard and so much that he'd bloodied his own knuckles. But this wasn't going to stop him from seeing Levy.

"I'll take care of it. You're dismissed." Gajeel's tone left no room for argument, and Gray nodded and walked away. Gajeel took a moment to calm himself before knocking on the door. "Shrimp, it's me."

"Gajeel? You're back?" Gajeel gave a small smile at the happiness in her voice. It turned into a frown when he had to hold the door closed, as she'd tried to open it to see him. "Gajeel?"

"Levy, I need a big favor." Gajeel said cautiously. "Go sit on the bed and keep your eyes closed. And please don't ask why." he added when he heard her start to voice it. She was silent for a moment.

"Okay. Give me a few seconds." she relented. He heard her walk away, and he counted down ten seconds before he opened the door and peeked inside. She had done as he asked and was sitting on the bed in a thin blue night gown. Her eyes were closed tightly. He gave a small sigh of relief and walked into the room, heading straight for the bathroom.

"You can open your eyes now, shrimp. I'm gonna take a shower." he called out as he closed and locked the bathroom door. He looked in the mirror and frowned. It was worse than he thought. Blood was even on his face. He really didn't want the shrimp to see him like that. He was glad she trusted him so much.

With what had to be the hundredth sigh of the day, Gajeel stripped on hopped in the shower to wash the blood off. Luckily it had yet to dry so it wasn't caked on and it came right off. Not even five minutes later he was out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist.

Levy was waiting, staring expectantly at the door, when he came out. But he surprised her by being dressed only in a towel. She stared at him with wide eyes and an adorable blush, but she couldn't take her eyes off his chest. Gajeel grinned as he noticed her swallow thickly when her eyes drifted just a bit too low. Mavis, she was adorable.

"Take a picture, shrimp. I won't mind." he teased with a smirk, watching as her eyes widened upon the realization that she'd been staring. She flushed and looked away from him. He just shook his head in amusement and walked past her to the dresser, pulling out some clean clothes. He noticed her looking at the bathroom as if she was debating picking up his dirty clothes for him. "Don't go in there, shrimp. Just trust me, okay?"

"But what-"

"Levy. Please." he locked eyes with her. "Sometimes it's best that you don't know. This is one of those times. Just trust me."

"I trust you... I just... I want to know what's going on." she pouted, moving to sit on the bed again. She averted her eyes with a blush as Gajeel dressed, pulling on some pants and a tank top. "I know you say its better I don't know but... I mean, I'm already in too deep, aren't I? I'm even... a mafia boss' daughter." she looked down at her lap at that. "I want to be useful. I want to know what's going on."

"You were thinking about this a lot while I was gone, weren't ya?" Gajeel asked with a small sigh. He walked over to the bed and stood in front of her, towering over her. She looked up at him with a pout and nodded. Gajeel shook his head and sat down besode her, then pulled her onto his lap.

"Look, shrimp. I just don't want to scare you. I do some scary shit, and the last thing I want is to make you afraid of me."

"Gajeel, you've killed someone in front of me. And I still love you. If that didn't scare me off, I don't think anything can." Levy pointed out. Gajeel thought on that and then chuckled at his cheeky shrimp. She was right. He froze a bit when he felt her running her hands gently over his knuckles, which were scabbed over now. He forgot about those.

"I know you do bad things. I know a lot of the things you do will scare me. But just scaring me is not going to scare me away." she told him sincerely. "Because I know you'll never hurt me and I know that these hands will always protect me. I love you, Gajeel, and I trust you completely." She kissed one of his knuckles, and Gajeel's eyes softened as he look down at her.

"I don't deserve you, Levy." he breathed, taking the hand she'd been holding and bringing it up to cup her face. He kissed her sweetly, deeply, until she was clinging tightly to his tank top and panting for breath. He loved her flushed face, loved the way she looked up at him with trusting, loving eyes. "Alright."

"Alright?" she questioned breathlessly.

"I'll tell you. Whatever you wanna know, shrimp. Just... don't think less of me." he said with yet another sigh.

"I could never." she swore. Gajeel just nodded, and waited for her questions to begin. "Why didn't you want me to see you until you showered?" He sighed again, knowing that she would question that.

"I was covered in blood, Levy. I didn't want to scare you." he admitted, watching her warily as she examined his busted knuckles.

"Was it something to do with why your knuckles are like this?" she asked quietly. He just nodded, unable to look her in the eye. Thankfully she changed the subject... sort of. "Where did you go for your last job?" she was genuinely curious. She didn't know what kind of jobs the don made him do, and she'd always wondered.

"A warehouse. We caught the rat." he answered honestly without going too much into detail. "He's being interrogated right now." he frowned as he remembered what Laxus had said in the warehouse. He'd been after Levy since before he even knew her. That thought suddenly hit a cord in him, and he found himself embracing his shrimp, holding her close against his chest.

"Gajeel? What's wrong?" Levy was surprised at the sudden embrace. She saw how distraught he suddenly was, and she sat up a little and returned the embrace.

"I almost lost you." he admitted more to himself than to her. "Before I even knew you, I almost lost you."

"I don't... understand."

"The rat. He was after you all along. He found out who you were, and he was going to turn you over to Phantom Lord for a profit." Gajeel explained quietly and he rested his forehead on her shoulder. "If you hadn't found me that night... if I hadn't gotten shot... fuck, Levy, I can't imagine my life without you." he admitted as he held her close.

The next thing Levy knew she was on her back on the bed. Gajeel leaned over her, propped up so he wouldn't crush her. She blushed at the change in position, but then she met his eyes and she damn near melted. She'd never seen him look so vulnerable...

"Levy." he swallowed thickly. "Fuck, Levy, I can't... I can't lose you. I want you by my side forever, no matter what." Levy felt her cheeks redden at the admission, and she felt her heart beginning to race. Was this... was he... "Levy, I want you to marry me. Please tell me you will." It was. Gajeel was proposing!

-End Chapter-

Oh, I'm so mean, aren't I? ;P

Review review review and I might just update soon... maybe XD

Thanks for reading!

-Everythingnerd12