I don't even have an excuse. I'm just a terrible person. They weren't even testing for that! It says right here, Nyss is a terrible person. I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. And after I said I would update more too. Damn, I'm a shitty person. Anyways here's a new chapter. Meet some new peeps and whatever. The chapter itself isn't spectacular. I just really needed to give you guys some content. Frickle frack, I am so sorry. Anyways, here you go. Oh, and just so everyone is aware, I am no longer having this story edited before it's posted so there will probs be a few more errors than before. So, sorry for that too.

"This isn't working, Lev," Lucy groaned from where she was lying on the couch.

She and Levy had just finished up their closing chores downstairs and were utterly exhausted. The Garden had seen more than two hundred customers today. It shouldn't have been possible for the tiny store to get so many patrons in a day. Considering the location and size of the place, it just wasn't right that she was getting so many customers.

"I know," Levy said. "You know, all these customers wouldn't even be a bad thing if I had another hand around here."

Lucy threw her arm over her face and nodded.

"Yeah, four people for seven days of the week is just not enough."

Levy sighed, "I'm sorry, Luce. I thought that the four of use would be."

Lucy waved her arm weakly in Levy's direction.

"So did I. So did Jet and Droy. And four probably would have been enough if we'd gotten the volume of customers we had expected."

"Yeah," Levy mumbled and the pair lapsed into silence.

After ten or so minutes of quiet, Lucy rolled off the couch and onto her feet. She walked over to Levy and put her hands on her hips.

"So," she said, rolling back on her heals. "What do you want to do?"

"I guess the only thing we can do," Levy replied. She looked up at her friend. "I'll have to put out an ad, but what are we going until some one answers it? I''d take just about anybody if the could..." she trailed off.

"What?" Lucy cocked her head to the side. "Do you have someone in mind?"

"It's a long shot," Levy muttered.

"What's a long shot?"

"He might already have a job."

"Who?"

Levy shot up before shouting, "Are you nuts!" Lucy jumped and took a step back but Levy wasn't done yet, she started pacing and biting her cheek. "Why would you even consider hiring that jerk. He has zero social skills. He'd just scare customers away."

"I really hate it when you do that," Lucy grumbled, taking a seat on the couch again and waiting for Levy to finish.

"Natsu said he could be nice though," Levy continued as though Lucy wasn't there.

She walked into her bedroom and began to rummage through her laundry hamper. After a few minutes of searching she found the pants she was looking for and dug into one of her pockets, pulling out a rumpled business card. The card looked like it used to be fore some kind of construction company but all the original information had been scribbled out and Gajeel had written his own name and number on the back of the card. She walked back into the living room with the card and sat down, wondering if she should bother.

"Have you come back to the real word?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm?" Levy looked at her friend. "Oh. Yes, I'm back, sorry," she muttered.

She turned her attention back to the card. Should she bother? She was pretty desperate. He might have a job already. Grabbing her phone of the coffee table she started dialing.

"Are you going to tell me what you're doing?" Lucy asked

"Honestly, I think I'm about to either save or doom us." she said, and then she pressed the call button.

Sweat dripped down Gajeel's nose as he pummeled a punching bag that had clearly been through the mill a few times. The thing had patches everywhere and large, jagged looking stitches in some places. Mostly, it was held together with duct-tape. He paused to wipe the sweat away and began to beat the bag all over again.

On the other side of the bag, holding it steady for Gajeel, was a red haired woman, who watched Gajeel with a critical eye.

"Don't swing so wide, Redfox," Erza Scarlet chided. "You're leaving plenty of space for your opponent to land a good kick."

"If he tried, I'd grab the fucker's leg and drop the son of a bitch," Gajeel replied between punches. "But that doesn't really matter right now as there is no opponent and I'm just working out. If I wanted to train right know I'd be beating the shit out of you."

Erza grinned, "You could certainly try, I suppose.

"You sure are confident, Red," Gajeel grumbled.

"And with good reason," Erza replied. "Number one in my division four years in a row. I could beat you into the ground any day."

Gajeel laughed, "Yeah? You think you're all that being number one in that padded ring, with extra cushion in your gloves to make the punches hurt less?" He sneered at her. "Oh, yeah, you're real accomplished."

Erza's face began to colour and a very irritated look dominated her expression. It was a look Gajeel had gotten very used to seeing.

"Did I touch a nerve, Red?"

"Gajeel, I swear to-" Erza began but was interrupted by someone passing them by.

"Holy shit, could you two please talk about something else," It was Gray Fullbuster, Natsu's roommate and long time friend. "Literally anything else."

Gray was looking as sweaty as Gajeel. He had a water bottle in one hand and a towel in the other. He swung the towel over his shoulder and gave the pair an unimpressed glare.

"Seriously," he said. "If I have to listen to you two bitch about the same damn thing one more time I'm going to have to kill you both."

"You can try," They said in unison. Then, they turned to glare at each other.

"Wow, you guys are fucking losers," Gray smirked, and started walking away. "And for the love of god, talk about something new," he called over his shoulder as he left.

"Is there anything else in your life that I care about even remotely?" Gajeel peered over the edge of the bag.

"If you aren't gonna hit the bag then I'm going to go do something worth while," she snapped.

Gajeel laughed but went back to his work out. For a few minutes Gajeel focused on the sounds of his breathing and the smacking noise of his fists on the old nylon.

Erza spoke to him again but he was so focused that he missed what she said the first time.

"Gajeel," she called, louder than before.

Gajeel blinked and focused on Erza again.

"What?"

"I asked how the job hunt was going?"

Gajeel made a face and began to hit the bag harder.

"That bad," she reckoned. "You should really get on that. If you don't find one soon, Master will find one for you, and I doubt you'll enjoy that."

"I'm working on it," he huffed. "Why don't you just mind your own damn business for once."

"No need to get all defensive," she countered. "I'm genuinely concerned for you." Gajeel could see her smirking at him on the other side of the bag and he ground his teeth together. "Just ask poor Nab what the Master cooked up for him after he went too long unemployed."

"I'm not the most employable looking guy in the word if you hadn't noticed."

"That's hardly an excuse."

"You know what, Red?" he growled, taking a step back from the bag. "Fuck you!" With that he jumped up and twisted his body, kicking the bag with both feet before falling onto the mats with a thud. He had kicked the bag so hard that it sent Erza stumbling back, causing her to lose her footing and fall on her ass. Gajeel laughed at her and sat up.

Erza glared at him with murder in her eyes. "How about you and I find out who the better fighter is once and for all?" she hissed.

Gajeel grinned at her and got to his feet.

"Bring it," he sneered, he waved her over.

Erza stood and took a step towards him.

Just then his cell rang and he held his hand up for her to wait. Erza glowered, but stopped her advance. Checking his phone, he realized that he didn't know the number that was calling him.

Pushing the answer button he held the phone to his ear. "Gajeel Redfox speaking," he said formally.

"Hello Gajeel," a familiar voice sounded on the other end of the line. "It's Levy McGarden calling. From the bookstore. You, uh, you fixed my window last week. "

"Yeah, I remember," he replied. "Is something up? It didn't fall out did it?"

"No, no," she said. "I was actually wondering if," she hesitated. "I was wondering if you were still looking for a job?"

Now that was not what he had expected from her.

"A job?" he asked cautiously. He could see Erza out of the corner of his eye. She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a quizzical look, her anger forgotten, if only temporarily.

"Yes," she said. Her tone sounded just as guarded as his own. "I may be getting more traffic in the store than I originally planned, and I just don't have enough staff here."

She paused to give Gajeel a chance to interject but he remained silent so she continued. "I could post a job offer but I'd be drowning until I was able to find someone. I remembered you mentioning that you were looking for a job and I kind of need someone now, so I thought I'd give you a call."

"Yeah, I'm still looking for a job but I'm not gonna work for you for two weeks while you look for someone more... bookish," he asserted.

"Of course not," Levy snapped. "I wouldn't waste your time like that. Besides, the fact that you're not bookish isn't important. It's a retail job. Natsu insists that you aren't a total brat all of the time and like I said, I'm desperate. So tell me you can at least pretend to be civil and you've got a job."

Damn, I really get her going, Gajeel thought. With only a few short words from him, she'd gone from polite and timid to incredibly irritated. He was truly gifted in the art of infuriating women. He couldn't help but grin.

"When do you need me to start?" he asked.

There was a sigh on the other end and Gajeel couldn't tell if she was relieved or just trying to calm down.

"Tomorrow, if you can."

"See you tomorrow then."

Gajeel dropped his keys in the bowl and threw his gym bag into the laundry closet. He paused and took a cautious look around his apartment. There was no sign of his roommate anywhere. He could see no one in the living room or kitchen, which wasn't unusual. She didn't spend a lot of time at home, but she'd surprised him too many times before. Being caught off guard was one of the things that he hated most.

He looked at the shoe rack but gave up trying to tell if a pair was missing. The woman had so many shoes.

"It's not like you need that many shoes," he grumbled.

"Juvia disagrees," a voice said.

Gajeel jumped and looked up to see that his roommate, was in fact home and had joined him in the entryway.

"Why do you do that?!" Gajeel shouted.

Juvia Lockster shrugged, her wavy blue hair bounced against the shoulders of her always pristine business coat.

"Juvia is just a quiet person."

"Quiet?" Gajeel growled, walking past her. "You remember that time Fullbuster and I were sparing last month? I remember the words, 'If you hurt him Juvia will fucking kill you,' screamed at me."

She blushed furiously at the mention of Gray and muttered something unintelligible before slipping off to her room. Gajeel sighed in relief and pulled off his jacket. It looked like he would have a few minutes of peace.

He flopped down on the couch and pulled his hair out of its ponytail. Shaking his hair loose he sighed and sunk further into the couch. He knew he should shower but he was to tired to do anything at the moment. He dozed for maybe an hour when his phone rang. With a groan he fished it out of his pocket and answered without looking to see who it was.

"Yeah?" he mumbled groggily.

"Sorry," Makarov said. "Did I wake you?"

Gajeel sat up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's fine, Gramps. What's up?"

"Erza tells me you have found a job."

"Erza needs to mind her own damn business," Gajeel grumbled.

"So did you?" Makarov asked. "Get a job, I mean."

"Yeah, looks like."

"Good, I was worried I'd have to find something to keep you busy."

"Yeah, well, now you don't."

"So, where did you get hired?"

Gajeel laughed, "You'll never guess, old man."

Levy yawned as she poured herself a cup of coffee and made her way downstairs. The Garden would open up at nine-thirty, which was only an hour from now. Lucy would show up at nine and, theoretically, so would Gajeel. She shuddered at the thought. Levy had been shocked that he'd agreed to come work for her. She'd been so sure he'd turn her down. Apparently, he was just that desperate. Did he not make good money fighting?

"What have I done?" she moaned, rubbing her face.

Maybe she could keep him in the back all day, sorting through the new and used books. No, that wouldn't leave him with enough work. Besides, she'd hired him because she needed another staff member on hand to help with the massive influx of customers. She sighed again and set her coffee down on a display table.

"Well, no point in complaining now," she said, putting her hands on her hips and scanning the store.

She gave a sigh, there was hardly anything to do and she had an hour until they opened. She got to work, getting the till ready and tidying where she could. Then she sat in one of the comfy chairs and picked up a book to read while she finished her tea.

There was a click and Levy looked up to see Lucy letting herself in. She left the door open as she walked up to the coat rack and hung up her jacket.

"Hey," she said, she had a Starbucks coffee in her hand and a small scowl on her face. "Did he show?"

Levy shook her head.

"Not yet, but you're a few minutes early."

"I know you're the boss, Lev but hiring the guy who broke into your home?" She shook her head.

"I thought it was kind of weird to." A voice said from behind Lucy, who yelped and almost dropped her coffee.

Levy blinked in surprise. It was Gajeel. She couldn't fathom how a man as big as Gajeel could be so incredibly quiet.

Lucy was red faced with embarrassment. She spun around to meet Gajeel and tried to get in his face but was too short, which made Levy even more conscious of just how tall he was.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Lucy snapped.

Gajeel raised a brow and crossed his arms, leaning against the door frame.

"Not a morning person, Blondie?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"Blondie?" she asked, her tone was stiff and angry.

Gajeel looked unfazed.

"Anyways!" Levy said, shooting up from her chair and pulling Lucy away from Gajeel. "We open in just a few minutes so Lucy would you please go clock in and get ready? Gajeel, I need you to come upstairs with me for a minute and you can sign some stuff for me and I'll get you all registered as an employee, sound good?"

Lucy mumbled something incoherent and walked over to the desk to clock in. Gajeel nodded and followed Levy upstairs.

"So... Do you have any retail experience at all?" Levy asked once they were in her kitchen. She had all of the necessary paper work sitting on the table already.

"Did a stint at a fast food joint when I was a kid," Gajeel replied, taking a seat and reading over the paperwork, signing and initialing as needed.

"Nothing else?" Levy coaxed.

Gajeel looked up from his papers. "I know how to use a cash register and thank people for their business. It ain't rocket science."

Levy huffed.

"Maybe not but it doesn't mean it's easy. I am really putting things on the line here hiring you and I need to know that you aren't going to..."

"You're scared I'm going to scare away the customers," Gajeel interrupted.

Levy felt heat rise to her face and she crossed her arms.

"It's a valid concern," she mumbled.

"Yeah, I don't exactly scream customer friendly but when I've got a job I do it and I do it right." Gajeel stood and handed Levy the papers. He looked at the clock. "We're open so you can either rip those up and send me on my way, or we can go downstairs and get working."

Levy looked at the papers, then at the clock and finally, she turned her gaze back to Gajeel. He stared back with genuine determination. Levy squared her shoulders and stuck her hand out, which he accepted. His hands were cool and calloused and he had a tight grip and Levy felt reassured somehow.

"Alright, welcome aboard, Gajeel."

I hate this chapter, honestly. If you wanna let me know what you thought of it, as always, reviews are super appreciated. Thank you all so much for putting up with me and, again, I am sooooo incredibly sorry.