Chapter 3: Unexplained Feelings Are Troublesome

3rd POV

Currently, Gajeel waited at the train station for a certain blonde celestial mage, and for some reason, his mind decided to torture him during the long, silence. His thoughts piled through, wondering why the demon girl and his partner in crime seemed to be getting funny ideas.

Sure he guessed that it could look like he and Lucy were together; the lonely girl finding comfort she wants with having sexual relations with a man who has stayed by her side. But Lucy was not like that, everybody who had eyes could see that; she was not someone who would use another for pleasure only because they were lonely. No, she was so much more; beautiful, but kind, thoughtful-

Gajeel grumbled angrily at himself as he jerked away from where his thoughts had been trailing to. He didn't care about what they thought, maybe a little with Lily, but nobody else.

And Lucy… his inner dragon stated, but merely shook that thought away, ignoring his inner dragon like he had been lately.

The black haired man then thought back to when he had been a member of Phantom Lord; at the time he hadn't cared of what she thought of him (though really, he hadn't cared about what anyone thought of him). And even after when he joined the guild he hadn't cared less for in his eyes she was just some ditzy blonde he could only see using as a fling. But after Gajeel had spent time with her, while the guild treated Lucy as if she was worth nothing more than an annoying piece of gum stuck to their shoe, he found himself flabbergasted with what he found.

This celestial mage was so different, so much more complex than he had originally thought, and quickly after he started talking to her, Gajeel realized just how much he cared about what she thought of him. In the end he soon became conflicted between angry and worry; worry that she thought poorly of him despite the kind, sincere smiles she always flashed him, and angry that a guild that was known for treating their members like family, actually treated such an amazing person like shit.

Even thinking about it now caused the iron dragon slayer to clench his fists with barely concealed fury.

He then ripped away from his torturous thoughts, and instead watched as people walked by, a few glancing at him in fear. He rolled his eyes with a huff, his gaze completely uncaring as he continued to wait; thankfully it wasn't for too long.

"Good morning Gajeel!" a cheery voice called, and the said found himself turning to look at a familiar blonde, carrying a snowman-looking spirit in her arms. She was smiling so brightly, her eyes shut tightly as she strolled up to him. The black haired man felt a ghost of a smile hover over his lips, but he quickly pushed it away, giving her his signature grin.

Both of them were completely oblivious to the astounded looks they were receiving, many wondering how such a small, cute looking girl could ever be around a brute like him. Though it wasn't like either of them cared anyways.

"Bunnygirl, I was starting to think you weren't gonna' make it in time," Gajeel scolded teasingly, walking over to her and handing Lucy her ticket. And even though he remained playful, he will admit, he hated whenever Levy's team was late. Yet, for some reason he found himself indifferent to her tardiness, something he readily ignored like always.

"Sorry, my alarm clock didn't go off," Lucy admitted bashfully as she rubbed the back of her fair skinned neck sheepishly, "and thank you for buying my ticket."

Gajeel simply shrugged it off in return, stating that it was no big deal while the duo boarded the train, the blonde staying at the pierced man's heels the whole time.

She appeared calm, collected, like she usually always does, but truthfully, her stomach was doing summersaults at the thought of their mission. Even though she's nervous about screwing up with Gajeel around, she was mostly nervous about how the whole thing was going to play out. From the sounds of it, the necklaces were of high importance, and she would hate to lose them on accident while completing the mission, but her bad thoughts went away for she had faith in both herself and Gajeel that they could complete this mission together.

And I'm sure Gajeel wouldn't always himself to get dubbed by a couple of bandits, she thought with a rather fond smile, hugging Plue closer to her bountiful chest.

Usually when she went on a job with Natsu or her team, it was always involved fighting, and only fighting. So the thought of the job having to transport a valuable piece being more important than fighting off something, or protecting a town, shook the blonde beauty with nerves. But like mentioned before, she had faith in her and Gajeel, and she would hope to find out that the duo made a great team together.

Meanwhile, as her thoughts ran wild like a herd of gazelles, she walked by men of nearly all ages and of all appearances, who leered at her appreciatively. Many took a long time to rip their gazes from either her behind or her breasts, even when some had a significant other sitting right next to them.

Gajeel, on the other hand, had noticed. He immediately snapped his head over at them, growling at them with a malicious intent. The second he did they scurried away, or instantly look away, put off by his scary appearance mixed in with his obvious fury.

"Why the hell didn't you Bunny Kick them?" Gajeel practically snarled, suddenly feeling this unknown urge to release hell upon those men who dared to stare at Bunny.

"Sorry Gajeel, what was that," Lucy asked softly as she quickly tore from her haze, raising a question brow his way. The black haired man nearly sighed at her obliviousness.

"I've been trying to ask you if this was an okay spot, but it seems like you got yer head in the clouds." He lied steadily, finding no reason to actually tell her the truth considering the situation had already been taken care of.

"S-sorry," Lucy apologized quickly, a blush rising at her cheeks as she suddenly turned bashful.

Gajeel snorted; there wasn't much to apologize for, especially since he didn't really ask her. The blonde then realized that she hadn't answered his question, secretly touched that he would consider where she wanted to sit; knowing Gajeel did what he did and usually didn't give a flying crap about most people.

"This spot is fine," she answered back.

The duo sat down, putting their bags away and sat right next to each other, their bodies only a centimeter apart, which was rather close for a couple of people who are only friends. That fact made Gajeel think about to when he went on jobs with Levy and her team. He knew that Levy would always try to sit next to him for some strange reason (one he never really cared about), but Jet would always insist she sat next to him. With a defeated look, Levy would comply and always ended up sitting next to Jet, while Gajeel ended up sitting with Droy.

All of the sudden, a vision caught his blood red eyes, and a vicious scowl crossed his lips. While he had been submerged in his own thoughts, some douche thought that it would be fine to make his way towards Lucy, probably completely awe-struck by her amazing, busty body followed by her pretty face. He obviously hadn't seen the show Gajeel had put on only a minute ago, or else, he wouldn't have dared come near them.

Unless of course, he didn't value his life, for right now, Gajeel was considering how much trouble he would get in for strangling this man to death.

"Hello there, sweetie, may I sit here," the unidentified man asked with a charming smile, motioning to the seats across the two, his eyes brightening as he gazed at the blonde beauty.

"Oh, sure, we don't mind," Lucy answered politely, followed by a smile of her own.

Gajeel simply grunted at the two, eying the man suspiciously before he threw his crossed arms behind his head and relaxed somewhat. He still listened tensely without seeming suspicious, even closing his eyes as he waited for the unknown man to slip up so the iron dragon slayer could have an excuse for beating the man into oblivion.

"I haven't seen you around Jukina before, are you two visiting there," the man asked rather curiously.

"Yes, in fact, we are visiting," the blonde answered brightly in return, right as a great idea occurred to her. "I've heard some interesting things about the patch of woods that separate Crocus and Jukina, and well, this guy" Lucy said, pointing over to Gajeel, "and I were planning on camping out in those woods, and possibly taking a long hike from Jukina to Crocus. But we wanted to know if the rumors about the bandits were true or not. If there is, is there a safer route we can take instead?" She asked as she faked concern, even though she had qualms about lying to this man who clearly had been kind to them so far. But if the man told the duo where the safest route would be, if it even existed, then they might be able to do the job easier and faster. This also lessened the chance for the necklaces to be stolen, so in reality, it would be a win win.

"Ah, great question. There actually is no safest route, most of the bandits who live there move around a lot. If they were to stay in one place, they would've already been caught. Sorry I couldn't be more of help, I guess the only advice I can give you is after you've stayed enough in Jukina, and want to go to Crocus, jump back on this train, ride back, and then take another train to Crocus, because that is the only way you'll be able to get there," he told Lucy honestly. Lucy mentally sighed, but thanked the man for his help.

"So, are you two like a couple," the man asked, smiling at the two, though neither noticed how he grimaced slightly as if such a thought repulsed him. However Gajeel's eyes snapped open at that comment, and he managed to catch the glint in the man's eyes.

It didn't rest well with him.

"Oh no, we're not like that at all," Lucy said, shaking her hands as if she was shaking away his thoughts. The unknown man then grinned with a little more brightness then before, glad that the two weren't together, but his earlier happiness dimmed when he caught sight of the tiny bit of pink smeared across her cheeks. Chancing a quick glance Gajeel's way, he then turned his sights back onto the celestial mage, checking out her body while he stared at the black haired man from the corner of his eyes.

Gajeel's throat was vibrating, as if he was about to growl. It was clear now that there was some feelings here.

No, the unidentified man did not like this out all.

"Hmm, I thought you were… oh and I didn't seem to have caught your name," the man continued as he currently ignored the furious man across from him.

"Oh, it's Lucy."

"Nice to meet you Lucy, I'm Daniel," he answered flashing his charming smile once more, which in return, caused Lucy's blush to deepen a little more. Gajeel huffed at the scene, his eyes throwing daggers to man now known as Daniel.

This is going to be a long ride, and if that guy keeps talking to Bunnygirl, I'm going to smash his face in, Gajeel thought to himself as he lightly bit onto his fist, trying to keep in all the rage he currently felt.

To be continued…

Revised 8/26/2016

A/N: So, I'm trying to catch this story up a bit now that I have deleted all my before chapters, oh and I don't own Fairy Tail, if I did, Gajeel and Lucy would've been together, not a fan of Gajeel and Levy at all to tell you the truth.

To mariawalker112: Thank you, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

To All-american rejects: I hope you enjoy this chapter, and it brings me happiness knowing that you are excited :D