Chapter 2

Laxus finished mopping the hardwood floors and washing dishes. He set out carrots and potatoes in front of a bot with boiling water. The lid bounced with the boiling water, making clanking noises on the pot, annoying Laxus. He glared at it. It blissfully made the sound, from a light clank to a heavy, loud slam on the pot, as if something had exploded.

The lid was too big.

He opened up the pot to reveal the yellow boiling water and vegetable oil, and added many small blocks of beef. Laxus placed the lid back on the pot and proceeded to dice the carrots. The lid began shaking again.

Just get over it, Laxus, it's not always going to be quiet. Especially with his new roommate.

Gajeel, though, has been pretty quiet. His first two nights at the apartment went well. There was no commotion, no real problems. He slept on the couch during the day and in his room at night. He has no job and absolutely nothing to do. Laxus didn't question, still. He was able to pay for as much he and Gajeel needed, really.

He worked at a bar down the street from the apartment building. From Mondays through Fridays, from 3 in the morning to 11 at night. the bar was always packed, no matter what time or what day. On weekends, he shows up with Bixlow, and he brings his lover, Lisanna, to mock his co workers as they drink and shout, later spending the night at Laxus' apartment because they're too drunk to go anywhere else. Every Saturday at 8 at night. Today was Saturday.

Gajeel woke up to the smell of beef, and looked up to see Laxus sitting on the counter beside the stove, resting his head on the cabinets behind him. He sighed and looked at his roommate, resting on the couch in a rather sloppy fashion. his right leg lay off the couch along with his head, which hung upside down. There was dry drool across his face. "What the hell are you looking at?" he groaned. Laxus smirked.

"You're the one looking at me." He said before getting off the counter and walking towards Gajeel. He lifted him up by the neck and wiped the dry drool off of his face, "You're such a mess, I swear."

He pouted when Laxus wiped his face off, "Must you baby me?"

"Hey. I'm not living with a dirty roommate."

"...says you," Gajeel said under his breath, not too quiet, however.

"What was that, kid?"

"What?" He retorted. Gajeel realized what he'd just said. He was not supposed to say that. At all. Laxus forced him to stand up, making Gajeel jump back. He blushed and stood in place while Laxus glared down at him, "Repeat that."

"I didn't say anything."

"...Gajeel, I swear to god, if you go through my room again I am going to kick you out in the streets."

That was a risk he refused to take. Relieved to see that Laxus had left the room, he threw himself back onto the couch. He held in the burst of laughter at the thought that Laxus had kept magazines of Bixlow's girlfriend's sister, tucked under his bed-at least they were. It was weird, still; those three siblings went to his school once. the youngest is in a relationship with that Bixlow guy, and the oldest is a model for bathing suits. He wondered where he other one was.

His thoughts were cut off when Laxus snapped his fingers in his face. "Eat before I leave, already."

"You're leaving?" Gajeel asked, standing up once again. He headed for the kitchen where Laxus had already set his food. Stew, with a side of corn and broccoli. This look like one hell of a meal-why was he babying him!? It became clear that he'd fucked up his first impression the other day, and now Laxus believed that he couldn't take care of himself. His father would have agreed, but Gajeel and his father always thought the opposite, mostly just to spite each other. "You...I could have done this myself."

"Trust me, I'm not letting you make a mess without cleaning it up, I know that's what will happen." Laxus sat down in front of him on the small, white table in the kitchen. Gajeel sighed, not wanting to argue, and sat.

They proceeded to eat in awkward silence. Gajeel wanted to speak, but he expected a "don't speak with your mouth full" or some mom shit like that. Still, he wanted to say something. Soon, Laxus looked up at him, expecting him to speak. He raised an eyebrow, initiating him to "go on."

"Uh...where are you going?"

"Ah…" Laxus kept his eyes locked on Gajeel's, relieved that he finally spoke and broke the silence, "Just that bar down the street...with Bixlow and some...others. Why? Did you want to go?"

"...no." Gajeel looked away, blushing. Why the hell did he say no? I think it's best if he stayed at home. "I want to-I think I need a...alone...time."

Laxus kept his eyebrow raised. Gajeel was clearly unsure of himself. He smiled, "Alright, you enjoy yourself here then," He stood up and took his plate to the sink, "When you're done with that, put that in the sink and wash it off." With that, Laxus grabbed his jacket and went for his keys.

"Gajeel."

"Huh?" Gajeel jumped up and looked at him. His face was still red. Laxus couldn't hold the grin.

"As- just...If you ever want to go out somewhere, just tell me, I know you're new and all," he sighed, scratching his head, "Just tell me."

Laxus left Gajeel speechless. He was so….INTIMIDATING...that's what he wanted to call it. Gajeel didn't know what to say at this point. He was being so nice, which was a new feeling, since his father wasn't exactly as nice as Laxus was being. So far Laxus washed his clothes, bought him food, made him food, and wiped drool from his face.

What an asshole.

Laxus open the door to the apartment only to hear a loud, gurgling sound. The stench wafted all around the room from the bathroom. It was clear what was going on.

"Holy shit," Laxus opened the door to find Gajeel, hanging his head in the toilet and holding his neck lightly with one hand. The other hand was trembling beside him. Laxus lifted his thick long locks and moved them away from his face. After a bit, He'd finished.

"What the hell was that?" Laxus asked, assuming it might have been the food. He moved Gajeel against the bathroom wall and leaned his face off with a towel. As he stood up to get one, he noticed an empty pill bottle sitting in the sink. He picked it up; there was no label, it was torn off. It wasn't his, he wasn't taking any pills. Was Gajeel?

"Gajeel."

He didn't answer. He turned away.

"Gajeel, what is this?"

…

Laxus knelt down beside him, resting his back on the cold, tile wall. He moved Gajeel's hair from his face, and showed him the empty medicine bottle, "What is this, Gajeel?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Gajeel-"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

Convinced that Gajeel was definitely not going to talk, he sighed, standing up and throwing away the bottle. Gajeel curled up into a ball, still leaning against the wall, waiting for Laxus to come back. Was he going to call the police? He figured he shouldn't have done that on the third night, but…

Laxus came back and pulled Gajeel out of the bathroom and into his room. "You can't just do shit like that, okay?" Gajeel only nodded, falling on the bed and turning off the small lamp beside his bed. This room was depressing. Laxus considered doing stuff with it, but then he let Gajeel move in. Did he regret letting him move in? Not really...the kid does drugs. At least, it looks like he does drugs. Laxus walked back into the bathroom to clean up the mess Gajeel made, and found a small pill beside the toilet. It was green and orange, and small enough to swallow with ease. What the fuck was this guy doing with this? What is this?

It's an antidepressant. And Gajeel had to have taken almost half the pills for him to start throwing up, he knew that. But the whole bottle? Impossible. Either these aren't his, or he's done this before.

Laxus leaned on the sink and sighed, "Unbelievable…"

He didn't want to hate Gajeel. He didn't want to be mad at him, but he was. How dare he come into his home with a shitty problem like this? How dare he do drugs in his home? Though, is he depressed? Does he feel like the medicine doesn't work? He's twenty one, he should know better than...no, that's not true. Laxus threw the pill down the sink drain and left the bathroom for air freshener.

The first thing Laxus did was make sure Gajeel was okay. It was Sunday, and his friends got a really back hangover from last night, of course. Gajeel fluttered his eyes open and wiped them, only to encounter Laxus' face, along with the smell of food from the kitchen. Laxus asked again if he was alright. "Yeah," he managed to get out before sitting up.

"Good," Laxus said, standing, "I'm going out and you're coming with, my friends are sick and I need your help."

This wasn't a question, it was more a demand, but Gajeel didn't retort, instead he nodded. Honestly, he really needed to get out of the house…and he didn't want to be alone again. He got out of bed and sleepily fixed the sheets.

It was cloudy again. Laxus bought his umbrella just in case it would rain. Gajeel stood right behind Laxus, and Laxus looked back to make sure he was there. Gajeel still looked emotionless, and Laxus felt so much concern, even though this was only his fourth day knowing him. After three blocks, they'd reached the street of Bixlow's residence. The houses were all lined up together, and outside each one were wilted gardens, many of them looked as though their owner's had given up on sunlight completely, and stripped their garden bare. They approached the house and Laxus knocked on the door.

"I heard someone needs an unlicensed fucking doctor."

"Shut the fuck up!" Someone, undoubtedly Buxlow, yelled from behind the door. Laxus laughed.

Bixlow opened the door. His hair drooped and he was holding his stomach. "I feel like shit, how are ya?"

"It smells worse in here then at my place," Laxus muttered, "So, why am I here?"

"BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE SHIT YOU ASSHOLE...I need attention."

"D'aww, baby needs attention?" Laxus teased, "Gajeel, go ahead and sit down, just be careful. You can take your shoes off."

Gajeel took his offer, more of a demand, and sat, removing his sneakers. Laxus and Bixlow headed upstairs for Lisanna. They could hear her groaning from the living room. She rested in a queen sized bed, on the left right side by the wall. Bixlow slept on the left side. The sheets were messy and the scent of stomach acid tainted the air in the room. Laxus immediately covered his nose and opened the window. "Your puke smells like fucking ass," Laxus said through his hand covering his mouth. He refuse to breathe that in, "I'm not cleaning up puke again."

"What do you mean again?" Bixlow walked towards the window, beside Laxus, "You threw up?"

Laxus sighed, "No, Gajeel did. He...Well, it looks like he' been taking antidepressants and he took a lot of the bottle. He was throwing up when I got back home last night."

"Oi, oi, what's that kid doing with antidepressants?"

"You said he went to school with you guys, right?"

"Yeah," Bixlow responded as he climbed into bed and sat beside Lisanna, resting a hand on her head, "So did Lisy."

"It's Lisanna…" She uttered out through her teeth.

"You remember nose kid, right?"

"...THAT kid?" Laxus remembered that kid. He was a delinquent; bat at school, bad at manners, bad at giving a fuck for anything, really. "I heard rumors about him dropping out of high school right after I'd left...that kid is Gajeel?"

"Well he's not that hard to forget," Bixlow laughed, "Every feature on his face is the same as it was before he left-but now there are piercings all over it. Talk about style..."

"He has NO style. Why'd the kid drop out anyway?"

"I don't know why...It was sudden then, and he didn't tell me when I asked a few days ago, when we met up at...that burger place? He didn't really say much about it, but he said he wanted to go back to school."

Laxus frowned, "You didn't believe him, did you?" He asked.

"Hell no! Somehow...I could tell that something was up. He didn't look very happy when we met."

"Which could explain the pills." Laxus interrupted, "but why would he drop out of school? He wasn't home schooled?"

"He must've been, but he didn't tell me," Bixlow said before climbing out of the bed.

"Family issues?"

"I-I've never seen his dad before, now that I think about it."

"Hang on." Laxus left the room and headed downstairs to Gajeel. "Gajeel, you're Nose kid?"

Gajeel jumped upon hearing the name, "...what do you know about that?"

"I was a senior the year before you left, but we never met...Gajeel, you dropped out of high school?"

"I don't want to talk about that," Gajeel said, annoyed.

"Well I do." Laxus sat next to Gajeel on the couch. Gajeel looked away from him, at everything else in the living room. The walls were a bright green color, with photos of Bixlow and Lisanna hanging around. In front of them, a glass coffee table with more photos of Bixlow and Lisanna, along with an empty mug, which appeared to have held tea. The television was in front of them, which was large and covered up a lot of the wall. Laxus had a TV like that, but he rarely watched it, as far as Gajeel knew. Above him was a white ceiling fan with dust sitting on top of the blades. It clearly hadn't been turned on in a while, what with the cold air.

The place was kept quite tidy, what with coats and hats falling out of the closet and sneakers lying around the floor. Still, Laxus' place was much cleaner. In fact, Since he'd gotten there, Laxus hadn't left a single spot around the house. He must like to keep things organized. Gajeel didn't realize that he was drifting in his own thoughts until Laxus snapped his fingers in his face. "Hey, Gajeel!"

"I-I said I don't want to fucking talk about it!"Gajeel stood up and ran upstairs, soon chased by Laxus, and ended up locking himself in a small bathroom. He sat in the tub and closed the shower curtains. They were moldless and the tub was spotless and dry. The green floor tiles were covered by a greener rug. There was a theme going on. That makes for two clean houses that he's ever been in in his whole life, and he had no idea how to take these situations in. Especially this one.

"Gajeel! Open the door!"

"Argh, SHUT UP some of us have HEADACHES."

"Bixlow…"

"Sorry."

"I'm not coming out," Gajeel groaned.

"Gajeel-"

"I SAID I'M NOT FUCKING COMING OUT"

"Agh holy shit GUYS-"

"FUCK OFF!" Gajeel screamed as he held his head, curling up into a ball. He didn't like this, he didn't want to be yelled at, not like this, not again. He took deep, hoarse breaths, until Laxus managed to pick the lock and get in. He pulled the curtains open and Gajeel sprung up, trying to escape, only to end up being cornered. Laxus grabbed Gajeel's arms and held him against the wall. Gajeel blushed, slipping off the tiles on the wall and eventually sitting back down, in a new corner of the tub. He stayed still, eyes staring at Laxus, lips quivering.

"Stop."

The house was silent. Soon there were muffle, soft voiced from the other room, likely Bixlow and Lisanna. Soft giggling and sweet talking, groaning as their stomach aches took over the blissful moment of peace. Laxus and Gajeel were still frozen in place.

"Please."

Laxus let go. Gajeel relaxed back onto the wall as Laxus stood up, sitting on the edge of the tub and sighing. He held his head, looking up at Gajeel from time to time as he fixed his legs to sit in the ball position once again. They were silent for quite some time. They could hear the giggles coming from the bedroom again. Cheesy flirting and light touching, along with moans due to their stomach still affected by the alcohol. Later, Bixlow walked in, his t-shirt now off. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," Laxus responded gruffly, still keeping his eyes on Gajeel. Bixlow sat beside Laxus and put his feet in front of Gajeels. He rested his bare feet lightly on top of Gajeel's, which were still wearing socks, until Gajeel put his feet on top of Bixlow's. He smiled, switching from top to bottom over and over until Gajeel kicked his leg.

"Ow! Hey that's not fair, kid!"

"I'm still twenty one…!"

"Well maybe on your birthday you turn back to twelve."

"I ain't gonna be twelve again, asshole."

"HARSH words, Gajeel, must you use such vulgar language?"

Laxus couldn't help but smile as Bixlow pulled Gajeel up, groaning as it affected his stomach. They smiled at each other while Bixlow pulled Gajeel out of the bathroom, followed by Laxus, into the bedroom to greet Lisanna.