The first time the Dragon Club discovered their relationship, Levy thought her ears had burst a little.
It was a simple touch that gave them away, she was sure of it. She'd simply rested a hand against his shoulder as she approached their table, asking if anyone wanted drinks or any help studying. He'd glanced up at her with a quirk of a grin, which faded quickly into his usual scowl when Natsu began to holler at them.
"No way! Are you two official now?!" he grinned cheekily, and at Levy's flushing cheeks Wendy began to squeal and Romeo joined her, and Gajeel began to curse vividly at the older student opposite him. Gray somehow got involved too, and Cobra and Kinana ended up leaving amongst the chaos, stating that the noise was too much for their sensitive ears. The racket calmed down after a few moments, and eventually Levy managed to escape to her front desk again.
That evening, Natsu and the group insisted that they all ought to go out and celebrate "Gajeel's first girlfriend!" with some karaoke and snacks, and to invite Lucy along too, he;d added with a cheeky grin and wiggling eyebrows.
She did discuss it with Gajeel, to find out if he was okay with such a ridiculous party idea, but he shrugged it off, saying there wasn't much he could do if the club president made up his mind. With that, she took it as an okay to invite Lucy too, texting the blonde several winky faces along with Natsu's invitation. She got a response in all capital letters at that and the denial of anything possibly happening between the pair of them, which made the small woman laugh loudly.
The details had been arranged and formed over the next few days. They booked a small booth in an entertainment centre, so that they could go bowling and play arcade games as well as sing karaoke, and Levy agreed to bring a small cake from Erza's bakery. The party would take place on a Sunday, which was the only day Levy could afford to close The Inkwell on, as she was only open for 4 hours during the day anyway, and she could put a notice in the window in advance.
Gajeel walked her home that Saturday evening, the wind still pretty cold for mid-March, and the pair of them still wore scarves around their necks and tucked them into long, warm coats, though they stubbornly held hands too despite the wind. Levy eventually managed to sneak their clasped hands into Gajeel's giant coat pocket, which made them feel a little warmer.
As they walked through her little garden gate and approached her front door, Levy felt Gajeel come to a stop next to her.
"Gajeel?"
"Mn, one second," he let go of her hand momentarily, using both to dig through his shoulder bag for something in the dark. Tactfully, Levy quickly found the flashlight app on her phone and lit up his bag in time for him to pull out a small square box with an 'aha'.
"Here, for you Shorty," he held it out towards her simply, tucking his nose into his scarf in embarrassment as she gaped up at him.
"W-what's this for?" she stammered, taking the box gently from his larger hand. It was small, roughly the size of her palm, and quite flat.
"It's been… um. It's uh, on the 19th of February you said that we were officially going out, so uh.. It's been one month since then?" he said with a question in his voice, his eyes kept trained on his boots. "It's a.. um, one month anniversary gift."
She blushed hard at that, and tried even harder not to giggle or hide her face. He was just too adorable to handle. One month anniversary? She couldn't even remember if she'd ever celebrated such a small event in any of her past relationships. But then again, this was Gajeel's first time being in a relationship with someone, and it was likely that he felt it was significant. And honestly, it mattered to her too, if the way her heart thumped hard against her ribs as she turned the small box over in her hands.
"Gajeel… you shouldn't have," she murmured, glancing up at him through her lashes. "I didn't get you anything in return."
"Don't worry about it," he shrugged simply. "I wasn't sure if you celebrated things like monthly-milestones.. Or whatever. I just…. Wanted to get you something."
She ducked her head a little at that, biting her lip as she fought a grin. "Can I open it now?"
"Sure."
Handing her phone to Gajeel to light up her hands, she began to unwrap it. Her fingertips were a little red from the cold, but she managed to pop the little lid of the box and reveal the beautiful pair of earrings inside. They were cute red fox faces, made of simple red and white acrylic and silver backing, and had little red tails dangling from the back pieces.
"Red foxes!" she giggled, in awe of the simple and sweet design. "These are amazing Gajeel, where did you find them?"
"Secret," the tall teenager stuck his tongue out childishly as she gave his arm a light shove.
"Seriously, Gajeel, thank you so much," she used the hand that was still pulling back from his arm to grab him again, this time pulling him in for a soft kiss on the lips. She drew back with a small smile, then focused back on the earrings with a pout. "I'm really sad that I don't have anything to give to you…." her eyes widened a little, like she had an idea, then she shook her head.
"What?" he muttered, curious.
"Umm, nevermind," she grinned up at him, "maybe a different day for that thought. How about you come in for some hot chocolate instead? Maybe warm you up before you walk home?"
Gajeel smiled back, tucking that momentary pause into his mind for later, and instead leaned down to kiss his petite girlfriend. "Sure."
AN: hey guys, if you're still following this, I just want to say THANK YOU.
I don't know how much longer this fic will go, tbh. I'm hoping to get it to 20 chapters? At the very least 15. But honestly the Fairy Tail fandom has kind of lost its spark with me, even though the Gajevy burns strongly in my soul (especially thanks to certain scenes in the recent manga arc). This is the only Fairy Tail fic I'm interested in writing right now, and even then I've kind of been forcing it.
I want to keep going, I really do, but there's very little motivation, I've been relying on the reviews you've all left to keep me going. Every one of your comments made me want to continue this fic, and I promise I will. It'll be slow but I'll try!
Thank you for sticking with me. Your comments/reviews are GREATLY appreciated.
PS - speaking of milestones, happy birthday to this fic, it turned 2 in October! Wow, time flies.
