Gajeel threw the tiny ball across the room, the bell jingling loudly as it hit the hardwood and rolled down the hall. Even noisier was the near-stampede that was Pantherlily as he excitedly chased after the ball. Gajeel chuckled as he disappeared out of sight. He heard a thumping sound, then the bell, which jingled all the way back into the living room as Lily carried it proudly. He hopped onto the couch, dropped the ball in Gajeel's lap, then waited patiently.

This had been the game for the past hour. Gajeel didn't really know how else to kill time.

Everyone was coming to his apartment to hang out that night. Usually they'd all go to Natsu's place, or Erza's. But since the drastic decline in his health, they thought it would be more considerate and easier on Gajeel to just come to him. Levy had busied herself cleaning up the brownie batter in the kitchen from the night before, and then when that was done, she began baking cookies. Lots of cookies. Probably over four dozen, easy. Natsu, Gray, and Erza all ate a ton of food, and what they didn't eat would likely be taken home with them. So Levy was prepared, armed with bags of chocolate chips and flour.

Someone knocked on the door, but before either of them could answer, Lucy popped inside carrying a box of soda. "Hi!"

"Hey, Lu!" Levy called.

Gajeel just waved.

Soon enough, the whole group was piled into Gajeel's living room. The couch was crammed and several people sat on the floor. While Lucy, Levy, and Erza were in the kitchen making dessert for later, everyone else was having a bit of a heated video game tournament. Natsu had brought over his xbox, and as soon as everyone arrived, he started a mass tournament for a multiplayer combat game he'd brought. Natsu was a self-proclaimed master of this game, and he was determined to destroy everyone at least once.

Gajeel never really had time to play video games. He'd never been good at them, and growing up he didn't have access to them in the foster homes he'd been placed in. The most they had in terms of games was board games, which he hated. He played enough Monopoly as a child to never want to play it again. When he lived with Juvia, she wanted to play it every day after school. And he did, because she was the only friend he'd ever had, and the only person in the house that wasn't mean to him. And it made her happy, which was all that mattered.

Juvia was the only good part of his childhood. More foster parents than he could count, kids picking on him, getting in fights, finally being adopted by a gang leader—that's all he had to show for his childhood. But Juvia had been his friend since he was eight, and even after she was adopted out of the system, she still wrote to him. And then they ended up in the same college. She'd been there for him in some of his darker moments, and she was the only person who never judged him as a child. The only person.

"Yes!" Cana screamed, snapping Gajeel from his thoughts. "How does it feel to lose at your own game, Natsu?"

He scowled. "Shut up!"

She grinned mischievously. "Kicking your butt has been the highlight of my day. Man, I could really go for a beer right now."

Erza shot her a look. "Cana."

"What?" She turned around and smirked at Gajeel. "This loser needs to know how special he is. I don't not drink for just anyone."

With an exasperated sigh, Erza shook her head and turned back to the conversation she'd been having with Juvia and Levy. They'd all agreed not to bring alcohol to be supportive of Gajeel, who couldn't have it anymore. Even Cana was refraining from drinking—but she didn't like it.

"Okay, the pizza's here!" Mira rounded the corner with five pizza boxes in hand, which Laxus took immediately and set on the counter. "Everyone hungry?"

Natsu groaned. "Starving… Kicking Gray's ass always makes me hungry."

Gray responded by slapping him across the back of his head en route to the kitchen. Everyone filed into the kitchen, all grabbing plates and soda from the counter. Gajeel was about to stand when Levy kissed his forehead and offered to bring his food. He could get it himself, but she was so desperate to help him in any way. So he nodded and let her bring a plate back to him.

Dinner was loud as always, though thankfully there were no random food fights this time. Natsu and Gray were arguing over who actually won in the last round of their video game, Laxus and Freed were having a much calmer conversation with Jellal, Cana was complaining about the lack of beer, and all the ladies were laughing over one of Juvia's stories—apparently she had a dream that she and Gray had thirty-three babies, and when she woke up, she cried because it wasn't real. Meanwhile, when Gajeel wasn't sneaking pieces of pepperoni to Pantherlily, he was just listening.

This group was the most mismatched, insane group of freaks he'd ever known, and they were the best friends he could ask for. But damn they were noisy. They could be so annoying at times, but then in all the moments when it was too quiet, he secretly missed their interactions.

Levy gathered plates when everyone was done, Lucy going to help her clean up, and Erza grinned as a sudden idea struck her. "Would anyone like to play truth or dare?"

Everyone in the room responded with a quick and firm "no."

"Why not?"

"Erza, sweetie, do you remember what happened at the Christmas party two years ago?" Lucy said.

She blinked. "No?"

Cana snorted. "Of course you wouldn't! You were drunk off your ass!"

Her face nearly went pale. "I-I was?"

"You were," said Jellal. She whipped her head around to look at him. "You don't remember me finding you storming through the building without any clothes?"

Erza almost looked green. "I didn't…"

"I would've taken pictures, but Juvia said it wasn't appropriate," Cana said.

Lucy shuddered visibly. "You made us play truth or dare…"

The redhead swallowed thickly, wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights scanned the faces around the room. "Was it bad?"

"I'll tell you about it when we get home." Jellal kissed her forehead. "Everyone is still a bit bitter about it."

Gajeel quirked a brow. "What happened?"

Mira looked at him, then her mouth fell open. "Oh, that's right! You weren't there for that! We didn't hang out then…"

Cana jumped on retelling the story of the drunk dictator, Erza Scarlet, and her horrible game of truth or dare. Gajeel was laughing so hard. Levy had been at that party, and she was horrified. Poor Erza couldn't remember a thing, and no one had told her about it up until now—she was mortified, her face nearly as red as her hair. Apparently when she became a bit too inebriated, she became a tyrant.

"Am I always like this when I drink?" she whispered to Jellal.

He laughed. "No, only when you drink too much. But for some reason you listen to me."

"Aren't you lucky…" Juvia grumbled.

Lucy and Levy reappeared, both with cake and cookies, which were passed around. Lucy twisted her ponytail and looked at Natsu. "You know, this reminds me of the time you got drunk and tried to set the couch on fire."

Laxus and Freed balked, and Gray nearly spit out his drink he was laughing so hard. "What the hell, man?"

"I did not!" Natsu said. "I was trying to light a candle."

Lucy glared at him. "No, you started by trying to light a candle. Then, you gave up and stumbled over to the couch, said something about not having a candle for warmth so you'd make a bonfire instead." Natsu looked away sheepishly. "And then you set it on fire."

Levy laughed. "Is that what the black corner on the cushion is from?"

"Oh yeah. That's all Natsu."

Video games long forgotten, everyone began trading stories of their more embarrassing moments. Drunken mishaps, tripping into swimming pools, horrible plays for drama club—no secret was left untold. Gajeel learned more about them than he ever thought he would. He learned about Cana's embarrassing encounter with a nun, Natsu's many incidents involving fire, and the time Gray sleepwalked butt naked into Mira's apartment and right into the shower—where Laxus was bathing. Juvia dished this story out, as both men refused to speak of it. They couldn't make eye contact for the rest of the evening.

He heard all about the time Juvia thought she made it rain by crying, the awkward phase of Erza's childhood where she tried out for the school play (hoping to get the role of the princess but was given the prince's role instead), the time Lucy got a black eye from running into a door, and the time Levy was mistaken as a little boy. And, much to everyone's amusement, Freed finally opened up about the time he tried to score a date with Laxus by asking Mira to set him up.

And then Juvia insisted on telling stories about Gajeel from their foster care days… Not the best time in his life, and unfortunately she remembered all of his most embarrassing moments, and she was eager to share them.

"Wait, so you actually tried to eat iron?"

Gajeel sighed. Damn Juvia couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Yes," he said, finally.

Natsu had tears in his eyes.

"Did you… What happened?"

Juvia grinned. "He broke his tooth. And then he was really upset about it for a week because he had a huge chip in his front tooth."

Everyone laughed.

"It was a big deal, damn it!" he snapped. "And it's not like the other kids didn't make fun of me enough! Then I had a chipped tooth!"

Levy laughed sadly and rubbed his back.

Juvia's expression softened. "Yeah, you had a hard time after that."

He could see her getting emotional. It wasn't often she cried, but he could see the emotion coming in the way she swallowed, or how she blinked rapidly. Gray squeezed her hand, and the room became quieter.

"Juvia knows we're not talking about it, but…" She bit her lip and smiled sadly at Gajeel. "We all love you. Never forget that. You made Juvia's childhood happy."

Gajeel blinked and nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah. And this group wouldn't be the same without you," Lucy added softly.

He'd expected Natsu, maybe even Gray, to laugh or roll their eyes. But no one did. Everyone looked completely serious. It was too emotional, and Gajeel swallowed thickly and nodded. "Don't go gettin' all soft on me, blondie." Then softer, he added, "You guys are really the best."

The mood heavy and somber, everyone fell silent. When Gajeel first started hanging out with them, they didn't really know each other very well. And truthfully, he thought they were all insane. But now, he couldn't imagine life without them. They were all his closest friends—more than that, they were his family. And they felt the same way about him.

"Okay," Cana said suddenly, grabbing a controller. "I think we should all change the subject now!"

"Totally agree!" Mira said.

"Alright freaks, who wants to take on all of this?" Cana waved a controller around as she motioned to herself.

Natsu scowled. "Ew. No one wants any of that."

She stuck her tongue out at him and tossed Gray a controller.

They pushed past darker topics and resumed the game. Natsu and Gray were competitive even in video games, and just as noisy. It was kind of hilarious that Cana was so good at this game. She was terrible at most video games, but she kicked ass with this one. Natsu, Gray, and Laxus got their butts handed to them and Cana fist pumped, her character on screen applauding as she was announced that round's winner.

It was also mutually decided that Erza was not allowed to play that game. She got a bit too competitive, and Jellal gently suggested that it was probably best if she observed rather than destroy Gajeel's TV. They didn't need a repeat of the Christmas Party. Which, admittedly, wouldn't be that horrible. It was the most fun Gajeel had in a long time. But for now, watching them try to kill each other in a video game and listening to the horrible embarrassing stories of their pasts would be more than enough.

Live every moment like it's your last.

Gajeel would say he was doing a pretty good job. If this was it, he would be okay with that.


A/N: Hello again! Sorry this is such a short chapter! I didn't want this one to be too long, and it felt like it had reached its natural conclusion :) So, there are some references to the anime in this chapter, hopefully you were all able to pick them out. Like Juvia's 33 babies...

This chapter was so much fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you again on Monday! Leave me a review to let me know what you think! Take care :)