Chapter 3

Laxus stood at the door, staring at a package that had been sitting at the hallway for some time. It was addressed to here, but he didn't order it. That's right, of course, he has a roommate. He lifted the box and walked inside his apartment, only to see Gajeel sleeping on the couch beside an empty pizza box and in front of a loud TV. He cringed at the mess, along with the pizza box and sauce all over the floor. Laxus held his hand to his head sighing as he put down the box and turned off the TV. "It's too late at night for this."

"No, wait."

Laxus turned around to see the figure on the floor had changed positions. Gajeel was squirming, speaking in his sleep, "Fu...fucking st-stop that's...mine…"

Unbelievable.

He lifted him up and carried him off to his bedroom, resting him on the bed and tossing the blanket over him. Laxus has done this numerously. Gajeel had been here for one week. He still has no job, no sense in tidiness and still can't wash his own clothes. Why the hell was Laxus not bothered by this? Then again he really didn't want Gajeel to be paying for all this stuff and for educa-...no. He's not here for school.

He had to have ran away.

But from what? What caused him to leave school? Why isn't he talking to anyone about this?...He shouldn't pressure him. He really shouldn't bother him about it, but somehow, Laxus knew that this was hurting Gajeel, somehow. Still, this was not the time to ask him personal questions, it's only been one week with him. It's Thursday morning, it is almost 1 in the morning. It has been one week. This is not the time.

He moaned.

"Wait."

Laxus' face flushed red. He slowly turned around to see Gajeel latch on to one of the pillows on his bed. "Don't...go." He quietly walked over to Gajeel and reached a hand out to his cheek. He caressed it, easing whatever pain and irritation Gajeel was going through, ever so softly, gently so that he would not wake up. Laxus' blush faded as he watched Gajeel relax and stop talking, sleeping soundly, lightly snoring. With that, he turned out the light.

He contemplated getting him more medicine. He felt that it could help Gajeel, and help him a lot, but Laxus just...couldn't trust him. He could stash it away and give Gajeel the necessary amount at a time. Still, he had a keen nose; he could find the bottle easily. What the hell was he going to do at this point? Just remember, it has only been one week, you barely know him, you barely know him.

He wanted to know him

Gajeel woke up four hours later. It was 5 am and he was exhausted, but he didn't go back to sleep. He reached up and touched his cheek. It felt tingly. Gajeel sat up and kept his hand on his face. He looked to his left and spotted a box on the floor. On it, a note that read:

"Found this outside the apartment. I think it could be yours. If not tell me.

-Laxus"

He was in here. That could explain the weird feeling on his face, did he touch him? And if so, why was it lingering? It also explains why he was in his room; Gajeel didn't remember falling asleep in here. He let go of his cheek and sleepily lifted up the box, quietly tearing the tape off and opening the box. They were CDs. His CDs. There were almost one hundred CDs from many different bands. Completely awake, he went through the box, wondering where they'd all come from. Each one had his name written on the side of the case, as he knew he wouldn't sell them, but since he moved out, he didn't think he would see them again.

He thought his dad threw them out.

Gajeel relaxed back in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He really thought his dad threw them away. The only person that could have sent the CDs to Gajeel would be him. It stressed him out, so much. He hated him. He hated his father.

He hated the painful, stressful memories he gave him. He hated the verbal abuse, he hated being teased, to be treated like a defenseless child. Then again, sometimes he did feel defenseless. He wished he had his medicine. At this point, there was no going back to sleep. He quietly walked to Laxus' room, closing the door behind him.

The curtains were shut, making the room much darker, save for the small light coming from a small opening in the curtains. Laxus' room had a lot more stuff in it. There were white shelves on the ceiling with few novels and DVDs. The lamp sat on a small desk, with a laptop and a headset. Laxus slept under the covers in his much larger bed. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there, but…

"Why are you in here?"

He jumped. He had no idea Laxus was awake. Did he wake him up? Likely. He wanted to leave, but that would be too awkward. What was he supposed to do at this point. He wanted to say something. He just wanted to speak to him. Laxus sat up and began to stretch, noticing Gajeel backing up. "I...Uh-"

"Don't worry about it…" Laxus said, wiping his eyes, "What was in the box?"

"Old CDs."

"Yours?"

Gajeel nodded, looking at the one he forgot to put back in the box. Laxus wiped his eyes once more before getting out of bed. "Need something?"

No, he didn't. he nodded anyway, hating himself after.

"What's up?"

Laxus stood over him, so tall, he could push him down and crush him at any moment. Gajeel didn't really know what to say to him at this point. He didn't want anything. He looked down at his CD, blushing.

"W-Why are you...d-doing this?" He stuttered quietly.

"Doing what?"

Gajeel looked back up at Laxus, "Why are you being so... nice?" he asked.

Laxus sat back down after a short pause, "Well...why shouldn't I be?"

"Its...I thought- It's only been a week since you've... really known me, right?"

"C'mere."

"...What?"

"Come over here."

Slowly and nervously, Gajeel put the CD down on the desk beside the bed and stood closer to Laxus, who invited him to sit. He denied to sit, and Laxus pulled him over to the bed, making him.

"What...what the hell are you doing!?" Gajeel yelled, his face now red.

"Just stay quiet."

His lip quivered as he was pulled further into the bed. Laxus held him down gently, looking over him. They gazed into each other's eyes. Laxus' eyes looked relaxed, like he knew what he was doing. He probably did, then again, he probably didn't. He moved, letting Gajeel breathe again, he wasn't sure why he held his breath, but it was as if he were being suffocated by confusion. "What the hell...was that."

"I'm not sure," Laxus said as he pulled the blanket over himself.

"You're not...what do you mean you're not sure!?" Gajeel jumped out of the bed, "You pulled me up onto the bed...for what!?"

"I dunno."

"I...ugh." He fell back onto the bed, spreading out his arms, his right arm falling lightly onto Laxus's head. Laxus chuckled, pushing his arm away, "Just go back to sleep or something."

"Well I'll try, but what with all the touching, I think you've startled me into permanently staying awake."

"Whatever, just go to sleep," Laxus laughed again.

"...I'm not GAY." Gajeel blushed.

"Neither am I."

It was warmer, much warmer, but still cloudy. Not to mention the thunder, and the winds, It would rain soon.

Today marks the second week of Gajeel's being here, and he'd finally been given chores. It was probably the worst day to go shopping, but he had to. Thankfully he wasn't using his own money; Laxus handed him 1000 jewel, and a list.

He didn't like going outside in such weather, but he did.

His long hair kept meeting with his face until he decided to put it in a ponytail, which didn't do too much justice. He walked to the marked with hair in his face for the next ten minutes. He has yet to see bare sunlight. At least some good things are happening. He has his CDs, and Laxus offered to make a shelf for them, so there's that. That's it. Shelves. Since he figured it would be raining for the next few days, he figured he should appreciate the little things.

The market was full of people, so many people gathering food for the incoming storm, as if it hadn't been raining for the past two weeks, probably longer. He hated people, he needed space. He can't be in crowds. He can stand in packed concerts, sure, he can be pulled into a conga line at parties, whatever. Gajeel just can't stand crowds otherwise. He felt like he would be knocked over, and trampled until he were dead. Was he claustrophobic? Maybe, but he wouldn't call it that. He just hated people. And there was a variety of people there, too. Large and small.

A large woman looked like she didn't care about the way she dressed. In fact, she wore a crop top and shorts. Now, Gajeel never really cared about the clothes on overweight people, but her clothes clearly did not fit. When she bent over, one could see the darkness within the crack of her rear. Her top revealed so much stomach, and only covered the breasts so much. One could see more bra than shirt. It was a miracle for Gajeel that the bra was there. Her children must be sad.

Gajeel turned around only to spot another, much skinnier mother with a screaming child. Her make up was overly profound and, honestly, made her look older than she might have been. She clearly wore concealer that was darker than the tone of her skin, and under it, were obvious lumps that could just be zits. She'd gotten a lip job which brought them to a bizarre size, and they were coated with layers of an ugly colored lipstick. her clipped eyelashes were larger than her actual eyes and her nose looked as face as her breasts, along with her buttocks which made her look like an hourglass. Her hair was pink and in a messy bun.

Her child was a boy that wanted apples, which she denied by yelling at him and calling him a brat, forcefully shaking her breasts as she bent down and up from his height. As she passed Gajeel, he noticed her wink, as she strutted towards the produce section, picking up everything but apples, possibly to spite the child. He shuddered. Gajeel wanted nothing to do with that.

Moving on, as he grabbed his cart, he bumped into a man. He looked strange. This one looked younger. Not that young he actually looked middle aged, at least, 40, maybe even 50, now that he thought about it. He had a weird look, and a weirder beard. His skin was dark and his hair was black and graying. He had a rather mysterious look on his face. He glared at Gajeel as he blushed in absolute embarrassment, "Ah- uh...sorry," Gajeel said, rushing to grab his cart and darting to a different aisle. The man scoffed, moving on to his shopping.

Gajeel felt like screaming. He had the eggs, milk, bread, and chips. He re-read the list, and spotted a note at the bottom. "There should be extra money, so buy something for yourself." He groaned as he shoved the note back into his pocket.

The soda was ice cold, much like the winds, which had picked up since he'd left the store. It got much colder as it got later. Gajeel sighed as he took a sip of his soda, carrying the bags of groceries and heading for home. His hair blew behind him, thankfully, but Gajeel still fought through the winds to get home. He just wanted to go inside, and kick Laxus' ass for...for what? For being generous? No, that's unreasonable, but he still didn't like it. More, he wasn't used to it. He'll kick his ass for making him go outside in winds like this.

Spotting a trash can, Gajeel stopped to throw away the now empty soda bottle when he turned his head back around, to the side, and saw a man. In fact, the same man from the store, across the street from him. He didn't stop walking, but he walked slowly. Gajeel shuddered and moved on, walking faster.

Finally home, Gajeel carefully placed the bags on the counter and leaped on the couch, relieved to return to the apartment. Laxus was in the bathroom taking a shower. There was a small amount of steam coming through the top of the bathroom door. How hot could it possibly be in there? He heard something. Gajeel heard a soft groan, and a bang coming from the bathroom. He wanted to know what was going on in there.

Actually, no, he didn't.

The shower went off, and steam emitted from the room as the door swung open and Laxus walked out, dressed in nothing but sweatpants, and socks. Laxus saw Gajeel sitting on the couch and watching the blaring TV. He grabbed the remote and turned it down, annoying him.

"What was that?" Gajeel asked.

"I could hear that from the bathroom." Laxus responded, sitting beside him, so close that he'd nearly crushed him between himself and the edge of the couch.

"F-fuck off!" Gajeel yelled, pushing him off and making him laugh.

"Relax, Gajeel!" Laxus laughed, soon grabbing his legs and pulling him off the couch. Gajeel kicked as he was pulled to the floor, and jumped up at Laxus, only to be grabbed and pushed against the wall. He struggled as he was held at the waist against the wall, kicking his laughing opponent. "Don't fucking laugh at me!" He screamed as he continued pushing Laxus away.

Laxus finally let go and Gajeel dropped to the floor, gasping for air, completely tired out. It was late, and it was Saturday. Laxus had to go soon.

"I'm gonna get dressed, kid."

"I am still 21."

"Act like it, then," Laxus chuckled. He closed the door to his bedroom. Gajeel looked up. He was in the kitchen, beside the fridge. On the ceiling was a white fan turned off, and very dusty, as if it hadn't been turned on in quite some time. Gajeel was drowsy. He did not want to go to sleep on the cold kitchen floor. He'd gotten up and sleepily walked towards the bedroom doors. Laxus walked out of his room, dressed, and looked at Gajeel.

"Oi, Gajeel."

"Ah?" Gajeel responded, wiping his eyes.

"Eat something before ya' go to bed."

"...okay." He'd forgotten to eat. How could that have happened?