Welcome back everybody! First of all...

OMG 100+ FOLLOWERS? EEEEEEEE W IM SO HAPPY AND THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING THIS STORY! GGAHHH

Second of all...

YES. In the last chapter, I left Gajeel SHOELESS. No, it wasn't by mistake, there are some things to come. Anywho, let's respond to some faithful reviewers!

FFLuvr - thank you for loving this chapter! i look forward to typing up some more soon v u v

I was debating on whether to have a Levy POV or a new character POV to show up, but since I havent had any requests yet for a new character, I'll just continue along with the Gajevy part of this story! XD

Levy POV – chapter Seventeen

Why she had asked him to come with her, she had no idea. And what surprised her even more was when he accepted her offer. She had thought he would decline going to the library with her saying it was a stupid idea ; one in which involved him going to a place to 'waste time'. But instead, here he was, walking along with her…barefoot. Now, Levy really had to hold it in her not to say any foot fetish jokes to him, but it was just too easy! He was currently wearing a large grey hoodie, with a large black panther's face growling on the front of it. Cartoonish claw marks are drawn on the back of the hoodie, along with the bold custom letters spelling out, METAL.Levy would have pined Gajeel to be someone who liked Hard Metal, her own favorite being of classical and a few top 40 hits. His pants looked like jeans he had worn a long time, them being bleached white in some areas, and other places were ripped. And once again, her eyes found themselves on his feet. His feet were actually quite thin for a man, and his toes were slender as well. Suddenly, Levy heard a growl from his direction. She looked up to see it was Gajeel glaring at her, not even bothering to hide it. Levy blinked a couple of times, wondering what was the matter with the brute.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Gajeel shot back quite quickly, but after a few moments Levy realized she had been caught checking him out.

"I was just thinking is all. Don't be so self-conscious." She looked away from him, continuing to watch where she was walking. They were still in the middle of walking through the park as they spoke to one another, their destination the library. Gajeel scoffed, rolling his eyes at her statement.

"Me? Self-conscious? I'm fucking Gajeel Redfox, who doesn't give a damn what people think of me." He stuffed his hands in the pockets roughly, also looking forward instead of at Levy. For some reason, Levy couldn't believe him. If he didn't care, why would he ask if she hated him? To add to her misbelief, Levy could have sworn Gajeel murmured under his breath the sentence: With you looking at me, how couldn't I? But Levy kept her mouth shut, not wanting to anger him. She would occasionally shoot glances down at his feet, still unable to comprehend the fact he didn't have shoes. The bookworm didn't think the library would allow him to enter without the proper footwear, and was curious to see how things would turn out. As they continued to walk, she was surprised to see so many vendors out today, most of them selling small tourist trinkets, hats, necklaces etc. She supposed since this was a poorer neighborhood – even though a lot of money was put into the library – people had to make a living someway. And what better way to earn some dough than to sell to stupid tourists?

Finally the pair had crossed the park, and had managed to get across the busy street to get to the grand library stairs. The library certainly looked new, as two huge silver lions were placed on both sides, and in huge etched in letters in marble read: MAGNOLIA LIBRARY. It was probably the main city library now, since the city's name was also Magnolia. Levy and Gajeel remained in silence until they opened the glass doors, in which Gajeel kindly opened for Levy. She slightly blushed at the gesture, but didn't think too much of it since Gajeel obviously didn't either. There were three stories filled with books, but only 2 of them opened to the public. The third was off limits, as it held records, personal literature and very old books. Levy watched as Gajeel looked around, his eyes wide. Levy simply smirked, pleased with herself that she could see Gajeel be impressed by the grand place of learning. That is, until…

"This is it? It's really… just books?" Gajeel tsked, annoyed. Perhaps even doubting his coming here…? Levy frowned, and shook her head.

"What! N-no! The library is mainly for books but…but there's cd's and audio books a-and computers to do research on." Levy defended the library, but it also felt like she was defending herself. Gajeel smirked looking at her, his own cheeks only revealing the slightest of blushes. For what reason, she didn't know. But she felt like she didn't want to…

"Research? Hmm… what about research about how to remove hicke –"

"Sir, where are your shoes?" Suddenly, both of their attention turned to see a female librarian, and from the looks of it, the head librarian. Though it was pretty obvious the woman was the head, being it that her pin on her chest loudly said HEAD LIBRARIAN. She didn't look happy to see Gajeel and Levy, more so Gajeel for obvious reasons, and walked towards the pair with quiet but speedy paces. "You sir need to wear a pair of shoes right now. Go home, get a pair, and come back if you'd like." Her voice was just a whisper, but even Levy could hear her add the words 'or stay home.' Gajeel growled and took a step forward, his cold red eyes that could tear you apart stared deeply into the woman's eyes.

"Now listen here lady, there is no way in hell am I leaving after walking all this way fucking bare – " But the woman stayed strong, her face turning redder every second. Levy had enough of this, and quickly thought of an idea, one Gajeel probably wouldn't like very much.

"Gajeel, stop yelling! This is a library for pete's sake." Levy hissed at him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. She than looked at the librarian and took a deep breath, hoping her next tone would be calmer. "Ma'am I'm sorry. Give me 5 minutes and I'll be back to put some…foot wear … on him. " She didn't want to call them shoes, oh no no, they weren't shoes to her. Gajeel gave Levy a look, but she merely shrugged, telling him to stay here for a few minutes while she exited the library, her embarrassment going through the roof.

Her plan would work, yes it would. Would it be something Gajeel would agree with? Hell no. Would they laugh about it later in life? Levy found it pretty funny now and well…Gajeel? She'd give him 5 or 10 years until he found it hilarious. Levy stopped by one of the vendors, the ones she had seen before she had entered the grand library. The woman who was selling looked very nice, her intentions set on making Levy buy a piece of jewelry. But Levy's focus was clear, and she had her eyes on the prize. Huge, and she meant HUGE, soft slippers, their colours in bright red, white, and blue. The front part of the flippers each had a miniature American flag sticking out of them, and on the side they read America. Levy laughed loudly, but only gained stares from passbyers. She coughed, trying to regain her composure. Oh well, these would have to do.

"Excuse me, ma'am? How much are these…slippers?" Levy spoke in a quiet voice, her politeness shining through brightly. But the woman merely continued shouting, encouraging others to shop at her small cart of gifts and goodies. "M-ma'am? …Hello? Um…" Levy thought maybe she was too quiet, so she tried to raise her voice even louder. But still, the women continued to ignore her. Levy was getting irritated. She had Gajeel counting on her, and a scary librarian who was probably going to expel her from ever coming back!

"YO LADY! HOW MUCH FOR THE SLIPPERS!" Levy yelled as loud as she could, shutting her eyes tight and squeezing the pair of slippers in her hand.

"Oh uh, 15. 30." The women replied as if Levy hadn't just been screaming bloody Mary but still, finally a response. Levy sighed in relief, and grabbed the closes 20 bucks she had in her dress pocket. When she had received the change, the woman put the shoes in a small plastic bag and handed it to Levy. Honestly, what must that woman be thinking? Was probably what the vendor lady was saying quietly to herself. All Levy could do was suck it up and run back across the street back to Gajeel.

All it took was one look for Gajeel to say, "Oh FUCK no."

"Gajeel, wear them." Levy lowered her voice ,trying her best to sound threatening. But she utterly failed.

"I am so not wearing these lil fuckers. What… What is WRONG with you?"

"Pfft, what! What's wrong with you! Who runs out of their house with NO SHOES."

"It's your fault for running away from me! If you had waited like I asked, I would have had some god damn shoes!"

"Ha! You asked me to stop? More like yelled and demanded."

"You were running away. How ELSE am I supposed to make you hear me?"

"WHO MADE ME RUN AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Though the pair of them were whispering, it was more like 'yelling' whispering. The librarian had left them alone now seeing that Levy had brought the slippers for Gajeel to wear, assuming that he would wear them. Levy sighed, rubbing her temples. "C'mon, just for a little bit. What happened to, Oooh, I'm Gajeel, I don't care how someone seems me or looks at me." Levy tried her best to mimic his voice, making sure to sound extra stupid when doing so. She guessed it had worked, since Gajeel now was opening his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"God DAMMIT." This time he yelled, receiving several shushes from all around, including Levy. Finally, Levy could enjoy her time at the most amazing library in town. Her eyes sparkled and her hands clasped together, looking around at the mountain of books that surrounded her. She decided to check the second floor first, where she discovered this was where all the fiction books were held. Gajeel was forced to follow, not used to being in such a place. As she walked down a narrow book aisle, her slim fingers traced the spine of several books as she walked past them, their leather covers sending chills down her body. She smiled when suddenly she saw an interesting spine cover on a peculiar book. With expert skill, she tilted the book out of its position and slid it out of its place, glancing at its cover. It's title, "The Last Dragon." She quietly giggled as she opened up the book, her face always smiling.

"Why so…giggity?" She had almost forgotten Gajeel was still there next to her as she had gotten lost in memories and text.

"Oh! This book… it's a favorite of mine actually. My mother used to read it to me when I was younger." Levy spoke gently, flipping through the pages slowly before closing it. She was about to put it back in its place before Gajeel snatched it out of her hand. She flinched but didn't say anything since she noticed how suddenly Gajeel became interested in the book. He too flipped through some pages as Levy continued to read book titles.

"Hey, what does inamorato mean?" Gajeel asked suddenly, his gaze still looking at the text. Automatically Levy knew what it meant, and without any reason to hold back the information she spoke it with straightforwardness.

"It means female lover."

Riiiippp. Levy's eyes went wide as she heard that familiar sound. There was Gajeel, his hand in a turn page position now holding a piece of ripped page. She looked up to see his face to see he was just as surprised as her. "W-what did you do Gajeel! Put it back, put it back!" Gajeel simply nodded, he himself getting frustrated and rapidly saying Okay Okay, which eventually flowed into I can't, I can't! Levy grasped the page, placed it into the book tightly and quickly shoved the book back into its slot in the aisle. "Ahh, what were you thinking!"

Gajeel facepalmed himself, shaking his head. Then he looked up at Levy, his pierced eyebrows furrowed. His eyes, were so conflicted. She felt like maybe he would hear her heartbeat soon if he kept staring at her like that. Then finally he looked away, shaking his head.

"Well sorry! I didn't think a children's book would have such fucking vocabulary! It took me by surprise and while I was turning the page…" He groaned, but Levy wasn't sure if he was frustrated with himself or with her. She was about to tell him it wasn't a children's book, it was just that she was ahead when it came to literature when she was young, but by then he was already storming off ; His slipper's flag swaying frantically every time he , Levy began to realize that he was… maybe… actually sorry. Maybe he was a decent guy after all, not some tough guy who liked to push everyone around. But still, Levy knew better. She shouldn't like someone like him. She couldn't. He's wasn't good for her. He was mean, he was loud, and he had just ripped her favorite book! But then why… why did her heart beat so fast when he looked at her? When he spoke softly to her? When he apologized? When he was there..? Levy thought maybe it was fear… or maybe she was just being nervous. But deep down, she knew. Levy McGarden had maybe developed the smallest, tiniest slimmer…...of feelings for Gajeel Redfox. But like HELL was she going to admit it!

Yayy... Levy POV. I did not have time to go over for grammar issues, but i hope it's not a big deal!

Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in the middle...? PLEASE REVIEW IT! I'm open to POV suggestions and also remebering my special ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CHAPTER 16. I AM LOOKING FOR TWO OC'S. ALL INFO IS AT BOTTOM OF CHAPTER 16! THANKK YOOUUU.