I hope you guys like this so far! Please let me know how you guys feel! 3

Gajeel sighed deeply. "Woman you sure this is the right road?"
I rolled my eyes. "Gaj do you really think that both the mayor AND the woman we passed on our way through town to here is wrong? Just be patient the bandits will show up."
Gajeel snorted. "Gaj? So is that what you're gonna call me?"
I smiled and nodded my head enthusiacally. "Yepp! I kinda like it, don't you?"
He rolled his eyes but said no more. A few minutes passed before he complained again. "Dude come on give it time. Maybe they see you and your burly looks and are afraid to come out." I began poking at his arm muscles. He merely shrugged me off.
"Well lookie here. She's quite the cutie. Why don't you give us your stuff and the girl and carry on huh?"
A beady eyed man came up, 8 other thug types behind him. "You the bandits?"
"Hey pipsqueak you better shut you're mouth before I put something in it to occupy you!"
I looked towards Gajeel. "I'm assuming they're our guys"
Gajeel nodded. "Looks that way"
"Hey pay attention t-"
Before he could finish I had my hammer in hand and swung it, successfully hitting him in the head. Gajeel took my que and joined in. "IRON DRAGON CLUB"
We really were in perfect sync. I would swing and hit one guy while Gajeel would punch another. The leader got back up and attempted a cheap shot at Gajeel. I was quicker though and had an arrow hit him in the leg, causing him to stumble down. Gajeel looked back and kicked him in the face, the guy was KO'd. In less than a minute every bandit was down. I practically skipped around every bandit, using Dormio to put them to sleep. Gajeel looked surprised. "The hell did you do Toni?"
I laughed. "Oh I use spells to put people to sleep. It'll make giving them to the authorities much easier. Though I'll honestly say, that was easier than i thought."
Gajeel agreed. "Yeah we hardly even fought."
"Got any rope?"
"Gihihi I got something better."

Gajeel using metal to trap the bandits isn't what shocked me. Him eating it once the authorities collected the bandits was what surprised me. "Doesn't that... hurt?"
Gajeel finished hit bite of iron and spoke. "Nah, dragon slayers can eat their element. Natsu can eat fire, I can eat metal."
I made a weirded out face. "But why?"
"It makes us stronger. The more iron I eat, the stronger my attacks will be"
"Guess I'll keep iron on me for you to munch on whenever we go on jobs together"
"Gihihi you'd become my favorite fast if you did" I meant it as a joke, but he seemed to really like that idea. I kept that mental note to myself.

We decided to stay at a town for the night before we would head back to Magnolia. We could've reached it by nightfall, but I wanted a bit more alone time with Gajeel. I was sitting cross legged on the bed, sketching Gajeel munch on some iron at the end of the bed. Once finished I started closing the book. "What? Ain't gonna show me?"
I rolled my eyes but scooted over until our knees and arms were touching. I opened it and he leaned in to look at it. "You really got Talent there woman."
I rolled my eyes. "Nah not really, just good at a sketch." I fell silent for a moment, thinking. After a moment I spoke up. "Gaj?" He let out a hmm in acknowledgement. I began to blush and little. "Why is it.. whenever we touch, even like this," I pointed to our shoulders touching. "It always feels so, idk tingly? Not strong but I can't ignore it. It's why I was caught off guard in our fight. It's been 2 weeks since we left for this job and-"
I couldn't finish my statement due to the lips connecting with my own. For a second I froze, but I kissed him back. It was only about a 5 second kiss, but the kiss held a spark to it that I never felt before. Gajeel pulled away and picked up another piece of iron. "Don't worry about it ok?"
I opened and closed my mouth and few times, unsure of what to say at first. "You.. you kissed me?"
"Yeah, got a problem with it?" I blushed but shook my head no. "Then don't complain about it."
I raised my eyebrows at him, but he just shrugged it off. I bit my lip, contemplating my next move. Ahh fuck it. I jumped forward and kissed him, this time grabbing ahold of his shirt so he couldn't pull away. The metal Gajeel was previously munching on fell to the floor with a clank as he shifted so I was sitting in his lap. The kiss began to heat up fast, faster than what I intended it to. When he began to massage my hips I moaned slightly and pulled away, putting my head on his shoulder. I felt him put his lips next to my ear. "Don't start something you can't finish"

I shuddered at his voice, which was even deeper than usual. He held me still with one arm and shifted us under the covers. I didn't think about how sudden this was, about what the guild would think, not even about sleeping in my Jean shorts. All I could think about was how good he smelled before I fell asleep against his chest.

When I woke, the first thing I noticed was how close to my ear Gajeel was snoring. When I opened my eyes, I realized why. I was laying on my back and Gajeel had a firm grip on my waist as his face was nestled in my hair. I rolled out from his grip and onto the floor with a soft thud. That soft thud was enough to wake Gajeel up though. He jerked up and immediately started searching for me. Once he seen me he raised an eyebrow. "The hell you doin'?"
"Ehh nevermind that." I stood up and stretched. "Ready to head to the guild?"
Gajeel groaned. "Nah, but I know we gotta.
Once we were ready we made our way out. Nothing was said at first about the heated kiss. I finally couldn't take it. "So was the kiss nothing but physical or... or what?"
Gajeel kept quiet. I couldn't help but feel a bit dissapointed at that. "Oh don't start looking like a damn kicked puppy woman. I ain't one for being super sappy and shit."
I shot him a confused look and he sighed. "There is something about you. I ain't going into detail yet cause it's just not something I'm gonna do got it? But you are something else. You fight damn good, you're smart, and I ain't gonna lie," He paused to give me a once over, "You're damn nice to look at."
I blushed at his words. "So.. what does that mean?"
Gajeel groaned. "Look if you wanna put labels on it fine. You're my woman ok?"
I could see Gajeel was flustered, so I just smiled and nodded my head. It was clear if I kept going I'd be pushing my luck.

I stood in awe at the new guild hall. It was HUGE! When we got here I realized it was really early. We checked in with Master and got ourselves comfy at a table far away from others. Gajeel was sitting in the booth telling me more about his magic as I sat on top of table scribbled away. Suddenly the doors busted open and I felt my cheeks rise in color. It was Lucy and the rest of her team. I bit my lip and looked down at Gajeel, who didn't seem concerned, though he did stop talking.
"We've also added another member of the guild. Someone you might recognise."
Everyone looked around briefly before their eyes settled on Gajeel. Lucy gasped.
"ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?" Grey shouted.
Natsu and Grey both got in a fighting stance"GAJEEL!"
"Why'd you let him in here gramps?" I flinched at Grey's tone, but scooted slightly closer to Gajeel, just in case one of them attacked.
Juvia stepped up quickly. "Calm down! I asked him to come along with me!"
I looked over at Erza as she spoke. "I don't mind Juvia, but he's the one responsible for destroying the guild hall."
Gajeel turned away from everyone at that. I leaned forward, prepared to speak in Gajeels defence, though Master beat me to it. "Now now, remember what I've told you, yesterday's enemies can be today's friend."
"Yeah I mean if I'm ok with him being here, and Toni seems to be ok with it, then you should be to." Levy piped in softly, I nodded a thanks to her which she nodded back at.
Natsu slammed his hand down on the table we sat at. "UH UH! There ain't no way! I can't work with someone I don't trust!"

Gajeel faced him with a smirk, "What's the big deal, it's not like I'm gonna be buddy buddies with ya" . "Man that's cold!"I facepalmed at Natsu's reaction. I looked up with wide eyes when Gajeel stood up.

"The only reason I'm here is to get work. I hate this stupid guild and everyone in it. Times are tough so I had nothing else to do."
I flinched and looked down, not wanting everyone to see my pained face.
I heard Natsu speak but I didn't listen. I quietly packed my notebook up and attempted to walk out the guild when the master spoke up. "Antoinette. I had you work along side Gajeel. Tell me, what do you think."
Everyone's eyes were on me. "Well... I mean.." I glanced at Gajeel, who had his eyebrow raised at me. "I think he's someone we can use in the guild. He may be a stubborn asshole, but he's powerful. Working with him was a breeze. I told you before and I mean it even more now that I've personally worked along side him, i trust him to be a good person."
Everyone stayed silent for a moment longer before Erza spoke up. "Now I may be apprehensive about this, but I trust your opinion. Though I will be keeping an eye on him."
The master and I both agreed. I turned to look at Gajeel but sweatdropped. Him and Natsu were basically having a glare off, growls and all. Macao laughed and spoke up. "They act more like dogs than dragons."
Happy lifted up his paw, "eye sir! Better bring out the muzzles just to be safe!"
I couldn't help but giggle. Suddenly the lights shut off. I turned around frantically when I saw a stage light up, and Mira walk up. "I'd like to dedicate this song to our strongest team, and congratulate them on their safe return."
I walked over to team Natsu once I noticed Gajeel wasn't in sight. We sat together, admiring Mira's voice.
Once she finished everyone, myself included, erupted in cheer. I stood and clapped, cheering 'that was great!' To her. the lights darkened out and almost as fast lit back up, showing Gajeel in a white suit and fedora covering his face. Everyone deadpanned.
"Wrote a tune I call best friend, listen in if ya wanna hear."
Everyone began throwing things at the stage, telling him to get off.
Gajeel began to sing, quite horrible I hate to say. "sparkling and colorful, shoo-bee-doo-ba! Ya caught my eye like a shiny piece a metal" I sweatdropped. Was he talking about me?! Gajeel then threw his guitar at Natsu when he insulted him.
"DO YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME"
Gajeel jumped at Natsu while yelling shoo-bee-doo-ba. They quickly became a mess of punches and kicks.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Gajeel shouted.
"Shoo-bee-doo-ba, you loser!" Natsu shouted back. I couldn't help but laugh at the antics. The poor master was trying to keep the guild calm as everyone got more riled up. I looked over at Erza, who was staring at her piece of cake on the floor. When Elfman stepped on it, I knew things were bad. "Uhh Lucy, we should hide."
"Eye sir!" Happy chimed in. We all hid behind the bar, sighing at the antics behind us.

Lucy and Bisca sat with me in my apartment while I waited on Gajeel to come so we could spar together. "So you and Gajeel seem pretty close huh?" Lucy started on me first.
I blushed. "I mean yeah we're getting along really well.."
Bisca leaned forward. "Be honest, is there something more? You seem too flustered for it to just be a friend thing."
I sighed, trying to rub my blush away. "We kissed. A few times. He said I was his woman so I guess we're dating? I'm sure you can tell Gajeel isn't exactly a man who connects to his emotions a lot. But I'm taking it for now. I mean we've only met as allies for a few weeks now."
Lucy looked surprised. "So have you guys like.. gone on any dates?"
I laughed a little. "Nah Gajeel isn't exactly a romantic date kinda guy. Besides. We just got back this morning. Not to mention it's this morning that he told me that I'm his woman. The time we spent together traveling for our job though we were really close. He told me about his dragon, about how he ended up in Phantom Lord, and all that stuff, but to be honest.. he listens more to my travels. He says it's cause mine isn't full of dark shit."

It was Bisca's turn to look surprised. "You telling me Gajeel is the kind of guy who listens to you?"

I laughed. "I know he's rough around the edges, but like I told everyone in the guild, he really is a nice guy."
Suddenly Droy and Jet busted in with a beat up Gajeel, Levy was right behind them. "GAJEEL!"
I rushed over and he attempted to walk on his own. "Don't stress it Toni, I'm fine.." He only walked a few steps before he fell forward. I quickly caught him, but he's really big and I'm really not. Jet came up and helped me steady him. "Can you help me take him to the couch?"
Jet nodded. "Levy wanted us to follow him to make sure he didn't pass out in the street. He finally noticed us following him when we got to your building. We tried to convince him to go to a doctor, but he kept insisting we come here."
Once we laid him down I crouched down in front of him. "You fucking idiot look at you! Why didn't you go to a doctor!"
He tsked and turned away. "I'm fine, I promised you we'd meet up and train.." He winced in pain and I instantly brought my hand up to his face in comfort. "Gotta train your ass, make sure you're up to par for when we fight again.."

Lucy POV

Levy walked over to me. "What's going on? First he insists on coming here, now Toni is being super close and comforting."
I watched the scene in front of me. This isn't the same Gajeel that was in Phantom Lord. When Toni placed her hand on his cheek, Gajeel seemed content. "From what she says, they bonded like crazy during a job the master sent them on. Guess he claimed her as 'his woman' this morning."
Levy looked back at the scene in front of them. Gajeel was trying to seem tough and fine to Toni, and she's brushing it off and attempting to get him to rest. With a heavy sigh, she slid her hand from his cheek to his forehead. "Dormio..." once she leaned back and sighed again, she looked towards Levy, Jet and Droy. "So what happened?"
I looked over at them, curious myself. Jet was the first to speak. "Well after everything, we decided to confront Gajeel, let him know we weren't ok with what happened to us and Levy."
"Yeah I heard, he said he felt a bit bad since Levy really seemed so harmless."
At that Jet looked a tad guilty. "Well.. we sortof ruffed him up. We fought him."
Toni instantly looked angry and leaned forward. Before she could say or do anything Levy jumped in. "He never fought back though and they hardly even truly hurt him. It's when the Masters grandson Laxus showed up that things got bad." His grandson? I didn't know he had a grandson. I didn't interrupt Levy as she continued though. "He was really mad, saying Fairy Tail is weak now, that Gajeel shouldn't even be in the guild cause it just puts a bad name to the guild. He's a lightning mage so he started attacking Gajeel with that. Then I realized, he wasn't fighting back, not even towards jet and Droy. He.. he was letting everyone take their anger out on him.."
I covered my mouth in shock. Toni looked back at Gajeel with a sad smile. "See? He's not a total asshole.."

Toni's POV

"I'm not excited for when he wakes up. He's gonna be pretty pissed I did that to him." I stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "I've got a few herbs and stuff to help heal him once he wakes up, I know damn well he's not gonna see a doctor so I might as well do something." I turned towards Levy, Droy and Jet. "I really appreciate you making sure he was ok. I know you guys aren't the biggest fans of Gaj, but you guys still helped. Thank you"

Once they left I made a potion to help with the pain, then sat down next to Gajeel with a book while I waited on him to wake up.