Day six: Reconciliation

Levy didn't bother looking up when she heard the door of the apartment open and close. Gajeel had left hours ago after a long fight, and even though she'd cried her heart out afterwards, even though she had been unable to fall asleep because of the huge weight on her stomach, she had no intention of backing down.

She heard his step, and she knew he stopped in the door's opening. Her back was turned to him, and she had a book open in her lap, but she could tell he was staring at her. She wondered if he also knew she couldn't decipher any of the words in front of her. Maybe he did. He knew her pretty well after all.

But neither of them were used to fights. They didn't… They didn't fight. Gajeel teased her, Levy pretended to get annoyed, but they didn't fight. It wasn't them. They had friends who fought all the time, just because they liked to make-up, but… But not them. If Levy was upset, Gajeel would do everything to bring a smile back to her lips, no matter what it was, and if she knew he wasn't doing great, she stopped at nothing to make it feel better.

That was what they did. They took care of each other.

So right now, in the room's heavy atmosphere, neither of them knew what to do.

"Levy?"

She closed her eyes tight when she heard his voice. He didn't sound okay, and it took everything she had not to go throw herself in his arms. She hated this. He sounded lost and confused. He also never said her name — but it was probably better that he had. She wouldn't have reacted happily to a 'shrimp'.

She turned around slowly, and for a second, they stared into each other's eyes. It was obvious that the argument had both made them sick. Gajeel looked particularly horrible, but he seemed crushed with relief when she looked at him, like he had feared she would refuse to do even that.

It was close enough from the truth. He had been terrified she wouldn't be there when he would come back.

His voice wasn't much more than a whisper when he opened his mouth again.

"…I didn't mean to scare you."

Levy's eyes softened immediately.

It was true that angry Gajeel was terrifying. She wasn't used to seeing that anger directed at her. In fact, she never had. Even on that night, years ago, he hadn't been mad. He'd been… amused. It was probably worse, actually. Tonight, he had been mad. Furious, even. And that had been scary, sure, but not one second had she really feared for herself. She hadn't thought he would hit her or hurt her in any way.

"I'm fine. I… I didn't want to hurt you."

Levy had a way with words; something Gajeel didn't have, and something she knew could really, really damage him. She was always careful with what she said, but in anger she couldn't control everything that came out of her mouth. She knew how afraid he was not to be good enough for her, that one day she would realize it and walk away, and…

"What are we even doingtogether if that's what you think of me?"

Gajeel nodded.

"I know. Neither did I."

She felt a surge of anger waking up again as he finally crossed the space between them, standing behind the couch on which she was sitting. His hand cupped her face, and she saw one of his pointed teeth poke out as a weak grin made its way on his face when he saw the expression on her face.

"I wasn't hurt. I was angry."

He nodded again.

"Yeah. But I didn't mean to do that either."

She sighed, turning her head to rest it against his palm. He'd only been gone for a couple of hours and she had missed his touch and his heat so much. He wasn't completely wrong. She had been hurt — anger was just her way of expressing it.

"Come here?" she offered, tapping the couch next to her.

He complied eagerly, and let out a small groan of relief when she climbed on his lap, letting him wrap his arms around her as he held her tight. For a moment, they remained silent, but Levy didn't think they could leave it like that.

"I'm a fighter, you know, Gajeel," she said softly.

"I know." His voice was dull.

"Sometimes, I'm going to get hurt."

He gritted his teeth. "I know."

"I try my best not to," she added with a smile. "I don't exactly enjoy it."

That managed to make him grin. "Yeah, ya'd better not be doing it on purpose."

"But it's part of my life," she added more seriously. "Just like it is for you. I don't enjoy seeing you coming home half-dead, and I do wish you'd be more careful. But I'd never ask you to stop fighting."

He let out a long sigh. Yeah, but she was just so small and fragile and she meant everything to him. It would kill him if… If…

Still, he answered what she needed to hear. "I know."

She sighed, resting her head against his chest. "I promise I'll try, but I'm not going to just stop working at the guild." …not just because you don't like it.

Part of her was sorry about this. She didn't want him to worry, she didn't want him to be hurt, and she knew he would if something happened to her. That was, something worse than the broken wrist she'd come back home with this morning. However, she just didn't want to give that up. The guild, and the quests, were a part of her life. A big one; one she really enjoyed. And she really needed him to be okay with that.

She looked up at him expectantly. She didn't want another fight, but she needed something from him.

"Okay," he said, tightening his grip around her.

He was terrified as he said that. He didn't want anything to happen to her, ever. He didn't know how he'd deal with it, but then, she did all the time. Maybe he needed to take a page of her book.

"If you get hurt, I'll murder everyone involved though," he mumbled in her hair.

She laughed lightly, and he was finally able to relax when he heard the sound.

"You can't do that," she protested, knowing he was probably joking… Probably.

"Guess you'll have to stay around to watch me," he grinned.

She heard the message loud and clear. 'Stay around' was his way of telling her not to get killed. She had absolutely no intention of that happening either.

"I will."

And with him there, she was finally able to fall asleep.

Last day tomorrow! I hope this was an enjoyable read :) Reviews are greatly appreciated!