Author's notes: I can't wait for january 6th ^.^ new manga chapter, new manga chapter! hehehe ok enough of that, hope you guys will like this chapter. same rating as usual i still don't own Fairy Tail and all that you know :3

enjoy

From the other side

# 6 Fortress

The blinding light was the first thing Levy noticed when she woke up. Even before she opened her eyes, she knew that it was already late, probably near noon. Then came the pounding in her head and an awful taste in her dry mouth and with those, she knew that she was hungover. It wasn't a foreign concept for her, after all, Fairy Tail was known for their grand parties, especially since the fall of Faust.

The bluenette blinked a couple of time while groaning as she adjusted her sight to the light, her head too heavy, for the moment, to move. She rubbed her hands in her face to help chase the sleep away, cursing herself for over drinking. She was usually a pretty good drinker and if she was hungover, it meant she had lost control. She could try to remember what exactly happened for her to end up like this but it was something that required caffeine and she really didn't feel like getting up yet.

Taking a huge breath made her notice that something else wasn't quite right. There was a scent in the room that she couldn't quite identify and she didn't remember her ceiling being like that. The fairy turned the head to her left and confirmed that she wasn't in her room. It was obviously a bedroom, since she was laying in a bed, but it was very small and neat with barely enough space for a single bed and a wardrobe.

Shifting her body to lay on her left side, Levy observed the bed she was in. The pillow and covers were the main source of the scent. It wasn't smelling badly, quite the contrary, it was something... masculine mixed with laundry soap. Which meant that she was most probably in a guy's room.

Oh boy. That wasn't a good thing, right? The blue-haired woman sat up straight as she looked around to see if anything could help her indicate where she was. She instinctively touched her chest and her thighs before lifting her skirt to check on her panties: they seemed intact and she let out a sigh of relief. Only her boots had been removed, resting beside the bed.

Levy passed both hands in her hair to try to smooth them a little, they were probably like a bird nest, before removing the covers and sitting on the edge of the bed to put her boots on. Something that was hidden under the blankets until now caught her attention, she grabbed it and held it in front of her. It was a long and red piece of cloth made of silk...

Her eyes widened when she came to the realization that it was Gazille's tie.

She was in Gazille's room.

In his bed.

Holy crap!

Jumping on her feet as if the bed had tried to bite her, the bluenette almost crashed into the wardrobe in her panicked state. Her heart raced against her ribs as she turned around and gave a good look at the room. Gazille's room, her mind corrected. Her face was on fire just thinking about that detail: it was extremely wrong to wake up in a guy's bed if that hadn't been on purpose but it was even worse if you knew the guy and had spent the last days telling yourself that you would never ever end up in his bed...

How the hell did that happen?

" Don't panic, Levy, " she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. " Maybe it isn't what it looks like. Maybe nothing happened. "

The young woman pressed her fingers on her temple, trying to concentrate on the previous night. She had to think for a moment, her memory too blurred to make out anything useful. Fortunately, when she was calm enough, the images became clearer and she started to remember.

There was the job for that old librarian that got her stuck inside that goddamn library where she swore she would never ever go again. That was were she had met Gazille and they had gone to the pub together. There was something about a drinking game, she had wiped the floor with his ass, she recalled with a smug smirk, then they had left. He had asked her where she lived... And then, what? She had said something to him, that she was sure because she remembered getting closer to him and putting her arms around his neck-

" Oh, shit! " Levy slapped both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide open. She knew what had happened after that! She had kissed Gazille! No, not kissed, french kissed! They had made out in the street like horny teenagers! How embarrassing! She thought she had blushed like crazy when she had known in who's bed she had slept but it was nothing compared to the raging fire in her face, right now. She was pretty sure that the color of her face could compete with fire trucks.

It took her a moment to get over the shock made by this revelation. With her hands still over her mouth and eyes wider than saucers, she just stared at the bed as if it could give her another version, as if she would suddenly discover the proof that nothing of this was true, that it had just been an hallucination made by Inner Mirajane to try to piss her off and/or make her admit that she liked Gazille.

But Levy knew that Inner Mirajane had nothing to do in this because she knew that she hadn't imagined any of the memories she had of her previous night. She had let her emotions get the better of her reason, thanks to the alcohol, and had surrendered to her desires. She really had kissed the writer, maybe even stripped him if she considered the tie she had slept with... and she had loved every seconds of it.

Which was terrible!

Levy groaned and dropped her head, pushing a long sigh. She had to accept the facts: yesterday, she had crossed the line.

After recovering as much as she could, the young woman tiptoed as quietly as possible out of the room which led her in the tiny kitchen. At her left was the door to the bathroom, the front door in front of her, facing the bedroom, and at her right, a little counter top with three cabinets, one stove, one little sink and a fridge. Facing those, the breakfast bar was splitting the kitchen area from the living room, also quite small. In spite of the size of the room, most of the walls were covered with shelves full of books and musical tapes. Against the furthest wall, the writer's desk was standing with the typewriter on top of it, the rest of the space filled with papers, inks, pens and notebooks. And finally, against the wall opposite the bedroom's was a small torn and beaten up brown love seat. The afro-haired man was currently sleeping on this couch, crouched almost in a ball since it was way too small for a tall man like him.

Levy stood beside the breakfast bar, observing Gazille's sleeping form, in silence. The man looked so peaceful and innocent and that thought made her snort slightly since she knew how much trouble he could be, in reality. That big mouth of his who had a way with words even when sometime, it would be best for him to keep it shut. She couldn't really hate him for that, tho, she knew that he was also generous, brave, honest, loyal and incredibly nice.

The bluenette sighed, the happy thoughts being replaced by sadness as she thought of what she had done. Gazille was cultivated, polite and gentle and it was no wonder she had been drawn to him since the beginning. His presence had turned her life upside down in a surprisingly good way and she hadn't been able to stop herself from getting addicted. She had found herself wanting to spend more and more time with him, searching for excuses to see him again, like when she had repaired his motorcycle. She had only been half surprised when she had accepted to go the the ball with him, at the time, not entirely realizing what was growing between them. However, that changed when she did her first mistake: kissing him.

If she had been smarter, she would have seen the signs of her weakness, followed her protocol and stepped back before it was too late, by cutting all bonds with the writer while she still could. But she had been already attracted to him and like an idiot, she had thought that she could compromise by being his friend. That way, she would still have him close without getting herself too involved.

How stupid.

Both Mirajane and the mini version living in her head had been right since the beginning, they had seen what she had pretended to not see, stated the facts she had denied with conviction and in spite of all her efforts, she hadn't been able to prevent herself from falling for him. Last night, she had done the mistake to get herself drunk, lowering her defenses in the process, and ended up admitting her feelings to herself and to the man she wanted.

How foolish.

Mirajane would probably tell her that it was okay, this time. That Gazille was a good man and he would never betray or abandon her. However, it would be useless to try to convince her: Levy could stand having her bones broken a thousand times and being insulted by others on a daily basis but that kind of pain, she never wanted to experience it ever again. At whatever the cost.

With sorrow in her heart, the blue-haired fairy turned on her heels and left the apartment, vowing to cut all ties with the afro-haired man who had pierced the fortress around her heart.

When he woke up, it was already late, the sunlight invaded his living room by the small window over his desk. He wasn't sure what exactly woke him up first, the light or the stiff pain in his neck, back and legs. Or maybe it had something to do with the faint sound of a closing door he might have heard.

With difficulties, Gazille raised himself into a sitting position, wincing and groaning at the various cracking sounds he heard with every movements. He stretched to complete the joints-cracking concerto before looking around. It took him a few seconds to remember why he had slept on his couch.

Oh, right, it had something to do with a drunk Levy. His lips formed a smile at the memory, no wonder he slept so well.

He approached the bedroom quietly, to not wake her if she was still sleeping. He sneaked a look by the open door but was dissapointed to see that she wasn't there. With the size of his apartment, it was easy to conclude that she had left. He sighed, he would have loved to see her off, at least, just to be sure that she was alright.

Meh, who was he kidding? He couldn't help but think about what had happened, the night before, and he wanted to know if she did remember anything of it. If she had meant the words and the kisses or if it had been the alcohol's work.

He wasn't an idiot. It was obviously silly to take seriously the words of someone drunk but maybe it had been more than just that. Maybe, as he's been wishing for the past days, she had feelings for him, too. He was glad to be alone, right now, because he would be embarrassed to explain his burning cheeks. Grown men shouldn't blush like schoolgirls, really. He still had some kind of pride.

He would go see her, he decided as he entered the bathroom to take a shower. If she didn't remember anything, he wouldn't push it but if she did, well... He hoped that he wouldn't come back home alone.

Levy had made her way back home without realizing it, feeling tired in spite of having slept until noon. Her throat was thigh, her eyes weren't focused and there was pressure on her chest that made her feel nauseous, which she knew wasn't only thanks to being hungover. She was kinda hungry but the idea of putting something in her stomach made her wince. She had too much on her mind, anyway.

She passed in front of Juvia who was packing for a job, the taller woman greeted her in her cool voice before frowning:

" What's wrong with you? You look like crap. "

" Nothing, " answered the small fairy, her tone making it clear that she didn't want to talk about it. She grabbed a box of crackers before crashing on the couch, intending on spending the rest of the day and night right here. Her roommate, used to her friend's cranky behavior, shrugged before putting her bag on her shoulder:

" Well, Juvia is off to work. See you in two days. "

Levy barely lifted two fingers to wave her off, too busy fixing the wall in front of her. It was a good thing that her friend was leaving the house, right now, she wished nothing more than to be alone. She didn't like having people around when she felt like utter shit, their pitying looks and words of sympathy would piss her off in no time. She didn't need anyone to hold her hand neither, she was strong enough to deal with her problems herself.

She could easily predict that getting over that event would be hard. Maybe she should get some booze to help.

Gazille didn't even stop for his morning coffee before he decided to search for Levy. He was much more interested to know how she was doing. Beside, he really didn't feel like being subjected to Bob's questioning so soon. He knew he wouldn't be able to escape it but at least, he would try to get some answers about the situation beforehand.

Since he had no idea where she lived, the writer made his way to the guild, figuring that she would probably be there or, if not, someone would help him locate her. In spite of having slept on the worst piece of furniture he owned, he felt like a new man and he was pretty sure that nothing could ruin his day, even in the case that his relationship with the bluenette stayed on friendly terms. Simply seeing her was enough to make his day.

Heavens heard him, five minutes later, when he approached the park where his beloved motorcycle had made a dent in the fountain. Not too far from him, the silhouette of a small blue-haired fairy was walking toward him, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her jacket and her eyes stuck on the ground. He could barely hold himself from running to meet her, settling for calling her name instead when she got close enough. She stopped suddenly at his call, apparently she hadn't seen him coming.

He smiled warmly as he greeted her, not noticing the dark aura around her at first.

" Hi, Levy. How are you doing? "

She didn't raise her head much but her eyes found his through her bangs, her mouth into a thin line. If he had to use a word to describe her expression, annoyed would probably be the best one. Or, as she would say: pissed off.

" Whatcha doin' here? "

Gazille was slightly surprised by her cold tone but he supposed that she might still be a little bit drunk. She had had a lot, after all.

" Well, I wanted to see you- "

" What for? " She cut him short, frowning and giving him a mean look.

" To see how you were doing, " he slowly said while raising an eyebrow at her harsh behavior. " After what happened, yesterday... "

That hadn't been the right thing to say, apparently, because the moment she had heard the word yesterday, she stiffened like a statue, her head shot up and she fixed him with a murderous glare, as if he had killed her whole family or something.

" YOU wanna know how I'm doin'? Well, it's none of your fucking business, Four Eyes! And about yesterday, you know what happened? Huh? I'll tell you: I had the shittiest night OF MY LIFE! I WISH IT NEVER HAPPENED AT ALL! "

He was stunned by the venom of her words, his mouth dry and his mind blank. He could only speak in a astonished voice:

" W-What's wrong? "

She snorted in disbelief before speaking with disgust in her voice:

" What's wrong? Everything about you is wrong. You're a loser who's only good at getting himself in shit, acting all high and mighty and proper and all that crap! You're so annoying with your fancy speech and your know-it-all attitude, as if you could really know anything about me! Well, you don't know shit about me, got it? And starting now, all I want from you is that you leave me the fuck alone! "

He simply watched her turn the head to the side aggressively, her hands balled into fists and her eyes throwing daggers. There was probably not much time that passed before he spoke but it seemed like an eternity to him. When he answered her, he was surprised to hear his voice so neutral:

" Is that so? "

She kept glaring at a random flower in silence. He nodded before turning around:

" As you wish. I won't bother you ever again, Miss Levy. "

It wasn't until he was safely back home that the blow struck him hard in the guts. How ironic that it was when she didn't use her fists against him that she ended up hurting him the most.