Levy was a sucker for horror stories, especially monster stories. The gorier the story grew, the more she got into it, and the more her imagination took on a life of its own. She loved them as much as she loved her other stories, and gobbled them up just as greedily, much to Gajeel's annoyance. He couldn't get a scare out her anymore, and gave up trying to scare her with the stories he came up with. She in turn, would tease him about losing his title of the "scare master" to books.

That was until Juvia's sleepover, and Levy was currently cursing her rotten luck. Juvia had insisted on a sleepover for sometime now, and finally she and the others were available to join in. This night had started innocently enough, with a barbecue dinner and plenty of laughter over beer and chatter. Natsu and Gray had started a friendly game of pool downstairs. Gajeel joined them once dinner had ended and the girls had settled down with wine to catch up.

That changed when the power flickered, and thunder could be heard rumbling through the house, signaling the approaching storm. Before long the power had snapped off, and stayed off, ending the party downstairs. Just as they were about to disperse and head back home, a torrent of rain began to pour over them, flooding the streets after only few minutes. Though they were unprepared for a slumber party, Juvia was overjoyed (and a little relieved) when they decided to stay the night and wait out the storm. Sleeping arrangements were made, candles were lit and ideas for entertaining themselves were tossed around. When scary stories were brought up, Gajeel couldn't hold back a groan, knowing that Levy's interest would be piqued and her eyes would glitter. While most scary stories didn't bother him, he could safely say that Levy would be a hard one to scare.

So the group huddled together in the dark living room, wine glasses in hand and blankets wrapped around shoulders securely. Levy was the first to begin, grinning as sadistically as she could while regaling the others with tales of monsters, though the effect was almost useless as Gajeel wouldn't' stop smirking the entire time. He couldn't help it, even when she was trying to be scary she was too adorable, making him want to wrap her up in his arms and hug her tightly. When his turn came, he didn't hold back on his most gruesome stories, watching gleefully as the others clung to each other. Levy, on the other hand, did exactly as he expected and cheered at the end.

'Fuuuck,' he thought as the flashlight was passed to Lucy. 'At this rate she'll never get scared. Does anything phase her?' He was about to have his answer as Lucy smirked a bit, then rose and wandered about the room, blowing out all the candles before plopping herself back on her pillow.

"Alright, I've got a good one," she chuckled, and there was a pressure on his arm; Levy was leaning closer to him, and he wondered if she was aware of it. Lucy must've seen it though, for the story she told was unlike the ones shared so far in the night, and even he felt chills crawl up his spine. He was about to wrap an arm around her shoulder as she pressed herself even closer when the flashlight flickered off, and she jumped. Surrounded in pitch black, there was nothing but the sound of Lucy's voice, continuing on as she reached the climax of the story. He could feel her fingers grip his jeans, and he could her breath begin to pick up speed; she was definitely scared.

A scream broke out into the room, making them all jump as Lucy flipped the flashlight on again, waving it around like a madman. Levy couldn't hold back a cry of fear, and nearly dove into Gajeel's side. She was in utter hell; Lucy had picked her least favorite type of horror stories, and had knowingly used her fear to the story's advantage. And now her imagination was running overtime, she'd be surprised if she could sleep later on.

Sure enough, she had a far more difficult time trying to relax as she tossed and turned on the couch. The storm had continued to rage on, and the power had remained cut off, leaving them all in perpetual darkness. She hated it, and the candle she had lit wasn't helping with the flickering shadows. Her imagination was still running wild, causing her to jump whenever the wind whistled or made the windows rattle harshly. The thunder had ended long ago, thankfully, but the rain still drove itself into the roof.

She jumped when a large shadow loomed over her, and she pulled the blanket over her head, nearly shivering in fear.

"Oi, scoot over."

She sighed in relief when she recognized Gajeel's voice, then did a double take as she realized what he said. Scoot over? There was no room on the couch, how was he going to fit?

He tugged the blanket away, revealing a very confused Levy, and motioned for her to sit up. When she did, he slid in behind her, wrapped his arms around her and tugged her up till she was sitting in his lap before laying them back down. Stunned but not uncomfortable, she couldn't help but snuggle into his chest, especially when he tucked the blanket around them. She could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady, comforting her.

"I didn't think you were terrified of ghosts, short stuff," she heard him rumble, a laugh in his low voice. She puffed her cheeks up indignantly, and poked his ribs.

"Normally not, but I don't like the dark," she admitted, turning her head to stare at the dwindling candle. Juvia didn't have many left, and she didn't really want to light another one if she woke to darkness. But with Gajeel cuddling with her, facing the dark was a manageable feat on a night like this. Even if he was embarrassed by the fact that she used him like a security blanket whenever he spent the night.

"So, I guess I should add the darkness element to my stories then?" He teased, and she whipped her head up, her eyes glistening suddenly. He was caught off guard by the pleading in her expression, and mentally berated himself for the bad joke. "Sorry, I guess not."

She settled back down, pouting at the concept of Gajeel using her weakness against her as a joke. Sure, he was desperate to get under her skin at times, but nothing as cruel as that. She was considering kicking him off the couch when she felt his lips brush her hair, landing on her scalp softly.

"Really am sorry," he murmured, and she felt her body sag as she relaxed on him, forgiving him with a little kiss on his chest before nestling in. Her eyes drooped lower as his hands began to caress her back, drawing little circles over her shoulder blades and dragging down her spine, lulling her to sleep.

"Gajeel?" She mumbled, burrowing her nose a little deeper when he rumbled, tucking her head under his jaw. "Thank you."