As always betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears and I'm sorry, I'm apparently better at angst and this one is really short but HERE IT IS

Longing for someone sucked.

Like a lot.

Not that Gajeel would admit that he was longing to be with Her (or as Lily called it, pining) to anyone. Nooo, that would be bad. That would be admitting that yes, he did have a crush on Levy McGarden. Even if he only told one person, that person would tell someone else and that person someone different still, ad infinitum (an expression that he'd picked up from Her) and soon she'd find out and that-that he didn't want to happen, for a multitude of reasons (he'd learned that word from her too) almost all of which could be traced back to fear of rejection and self loathing (at least that was what Lily said).

So longing it had to stay.

And yeah, longing sucked but he could live with it.

He could live with trying to sneak a glance at her every time she was near him. He could live with picking out missions that were easier with a Solid Script mage so that he would have a reason to be near her. He could live with watching her work, unable to tell her how beautiful she looked. He could live with being unable to press a kiss to her hairline in relief when she did something dangerous and she lived. He could live without holding her hand when they walked. He could even live with enduring the Pups presence, all because of her. Just so he could be near Her.

He needed her in his life, so he would do whatever he could to make sure that she would stay, even if that meant never telling her how he really felt.

And as much as longing—just longing and nothing more—was necessary, he still daydreamt about no longer having to admire from afar. He daydreamt about loving her up front, he dreamt about being able to tell her and being with her as much as humanly possible. But that was all they were, daydreams. That's all they could be.

And he believed that until he died. Or didn't die. Whatever.

The Guild was lively that night. Tons of beer and sex and happiness as it usually was when they'd won a battle.

Gajeel sat in the midst of his guildmates. He and Natsu were in the middle of drinking contest when Levy grabbed his mug from him, drained the rest of it, and took his hand dragging him away from the other who loudly catcalled and warned the two to use protection.

Levy pulled Gajeel down into the Guild library (her favorite place, so also his) so that they were away from the loudness of upstairs. She lit the torches with a wave of her hand. Gajeel felt a warm feeling bubble in his chest which he had a feeling had nothing to do with the alcohol he had consumed. She took his hand in hers, how he had longed to have an excuse to do that…

"About Alverez…" she whispered softly. Oh. That. They hadn't talked about that since… well, since it had happened. Busy not dying (again) and all. "Everything you said there, you meant that. Right?"

"Of course."

Levy smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Turns out Gajeel didn't have to long for Her anymore.