He knew exactly what they all thought of him, all the rumors they told and all the insults they whispered when he wasn't supposed to be listening. He could feel their stares whenever he passed, noticing all the frightened glances from his fellow classmates, hell, even the eighth graders were scared, he was taller than most of them, anyway.
"What kind of sixth grader has a nose piercing?"
"Why are his arms so scarred?"
"He's such a freak."
"I heard he beat someone up earlier!"
"I bet he's killed somebody…"
The last one always made him flinch a little bit, bringing up old memories he didn't dare to speak of in fear of another panic attack.
The speakers crackled as a voice began to speak, announcing a new request for a student as everyone in the hallway turned, openly staring at the dark haired boy as he turned another corner.
"Gajeel Redfox please report to the principal's office."
"Is Levy okay!?" Lucy asked breathlessly, running up to the door of the nurse's office with Jet close behind.
Droy nodded, nervously glancing back at the door while Lucy and Jet caught their breath. "The nurse said she'll be fine, she has a few scratches and some small bruises, she might have a bad headache later, but she's just really shaken up right now…"
The three slowly entered the room, instantly spotting Levy while she sat up on the small bed that was temporarily hers, drinking from her cup of water that was barely as tall as a finger while she placed a round, burgendy colored pain killer in her mouth. There didn't seem to be much physical damage, though many band-aids covered her pale skin, momentarily distracting from her bent -and maybe a little scratched- orange glasses, which helped to cover her red and slightly swollen eyes.
"Hey, Levy, how're you doing?" Lucy asked, noticing the little jump Levy did at the sudden voice.
Everyone knew Levy was strong, maybe not physically, but mentally, she could face anything. For as long as anyone could remember, Levy was constantly bullied, whether it be for her way above average intelligence or below average height, it always happened, and not once had it fazed her. She always found a way to annoy the bully into giving up, usually a witty comeback to prove the offender wrong was used, or just ignoring them in general, but it always worked, and Levy came out without a scratch.
But not this time.
None of the bullies ever physically harmed Levy, having their own personal boundaries that they never dared to cross, no matter how frustrated they were. So, when word got out that Levy had been beat up, saying that people were surprised was an understatement.
"Don't worry, I'm fine…" Levy responded in an almost whisper, finishing off her water before pulling her knees up to her chest, hiding her chin behind them.
Jet frowned at her actions, walking up and whispering something that made Levy's eyes widen slightly before she slowly lowered her knees, just barely enough to expose the large bruise on the bottom of her jaw.
Lucy and Droy quickly made their way to the bed, asking frantically if anything hurt while Jet went to get an ice pack.
The speakers released a light static before the school secretary's voice came on, requesting for a student to visit the principal.
Realization dawned on all of them when Levy flinched at the name, hiding her entire face behind her knees after she took the ice pack, holding it to the underside of her chin.
"Dammit, where is that jerk?!" Natsu mumbled as he ran around the school, searching for a certain red eyed male.
It had been a little over a week since Levy was beaten up, her bully had finally returned from his suspension and all Natsu wanted to do was confront the fellow sixth grader to ask the reason for what he did.
Natsu began to sprint as he saw the familiar face of Gajeel Redfox at the other end of the hall. Natsu noticed a new piercing on the boys face as he neared, this one going through his right eyebrow.
"Hey, scumbag," Natsu called as he got closer, earning the taller boy's attention. "why the hell did you do that to Levy!?"
Gajeel thought for a second, the confused look on his face being replaced with what Natsu knew was a forced smirk. "You mean the four eyed pipsqueak? I was just givin' her what she deserves!"
Natsu growled, glaring at his classmate as he noticed the faltering smirk. "She deserved it?! She's never even met you, how could she deserve getting beat-"
"I didn't want to do it, okay?!" Gajeel yelled, cutting off Natsu with a glare of his own. "This group of assholes in the eighth grade forced me to do it…"
Natsu stared, dumbfounded at Gajeel's words, there was no way he was forced. "Like hell you were forced, you don't have to do what those idiots say!"
"Well, you kinda do when they threaten to tell a big secret!" Gajeel yelled back, suddenly extremely uncomfortable with their conversation. "And don't ask what it is, because I can't tell ya, it could really screw some stuff up for me…"
Natsu scoffed, crossing his arms and playing with the ends of his scarf, a new habit he couldn't seem to break. "I don't care what your secret is, just think of a better excuse before you apologize to Levy." He said sternly, quickly turning on his heels before stomping away.
"A simple sorry isn't gonna cut it…" Jet spoke slowly, his voice low and threatening as he stood in front of Levy, shielding her from Gajeel in case he tried to hurt her again.
"What else am I supposed to say? I've never had to do something like this before…" Gajeel said uncomfortably, guilt keeping him from looking anywhere but the ground.
Jet rolled his eyes, stepping further in front of Levy as he spoke. "First of all, I highly doubt you've never done this before." Jet paused, waiting for some sort of reaction only to see a small flinch. "And you're supposed to give some sort of reason for what you did…"
Gajeel thought for a moment, eyes frantically scanning the hall for something to say as he began to play with the straps on his book bag. "This weird bunch of eighth graders made me do it, they threatened me with some stuff I can't talk about…"
"Whaddya want now?" Gajeel asked the group of eighth graders, feeling extremely annoyed with the fact that all of them were taller.
The tallest boy -probably the leader of the group- smirked, looking around at the rest of his gang. "You know that little smart ass in your homeroom, the short one with the blue hair and stupid glasses?" He asked, waiting for Gajeel to nod before continuing. "We need you to teach her a lesson, we'd do it ourselves, but I'd rather someone else take the blame for me, you know?"
Gajeel scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as the older boys glared. "I'm not gonna beat up that shrimp just because you want me to, unlike the rumors say, I have a heart." He said before turning around, adjusting the textbook in his hand before he began to walk away.
"Alright, I guess I'll just have to tell everyone about that secret you've been trying to hide for so long…"
Gajeel froze, not daring to show any fear in case the eighth grader was bluffing. "I don't know what you're talking about." He lied, grip tightening around his book.
The older boy laughed, easily seeing through Gajeel's attempt to play dumb. "What kind of a shit lie is that? I know everything about your past, kid," He smirked, walking forward so he could see Gajeel's face when he leaned over. "the real reason you were put up for adoption, how you got those scars on your arm, and worst of all, the fact that it was your parents who ki-"
"Fine, I'll do it!" Gajeel yelled before the leader could finish his statement, nearly throwing his textbook to the ground to drown out that last word.
"If you want any sort of forgiveness then you'll need to give me a real reason." Levy demanded, surprising both Jet and Gajeel.
Gajeel sighed, thinking for a moment as he looked between Jet and Levy. "Fine, but speedy needs to leave first, not to where he can't see us, just far enough that he can't hear." He said, pointing behind him with his thumb.
Even though Levy agreed, Jet hesitated before leaving, sending Gajeel an only slightly intimidating glare as he passed.
"The leader of that stupid group, I think his name was Jose, said he was gonna tell everyone some bad things from my past." Gajeel said while looking over his shoulder, making sure Jet was out of earshot before he continued. "I'm really not supposed to say much, and even this little bit is testing it, but remember when we were about six, and that old house burned down with that family inside it?
"Well, it was my parents who did that, and the scars on my arms are from them trying to keep me quiet…" He spoke barely loud enough for Levy to hear, nervously tracing his scars while keeping his gaze on the ground.
He'd only told the story a few times, mostly to the police when it had happened, and once to his adoptive father, Metalicana, and even that took nearly three years to fully get out.
Gajeel hadn't spoken to his parents since the day he was taken away, some people said they had been relocated to at least five different prisons, and some said they were given the death sentence, either way Gajeel didn't care. He'd suffered years of constant abuse from those people, he wasn't upset at all when they were arrested, if anything, he was finally happy, never having to worry about either of them again.
Levy thought for a moment, repeating his words in her mind as she looked over to Jet. "Well, I don't forgive what you did yet, but I accept your apology, so maybe I'll be able to forgive one day…" She smiled gently when he finally looked up, not exactly making eye contact, but coming quite close to it.
Gajeel mumbled his thanks as the two parted ways, him heading to his fourth detention that week, and Levy walking over to Jet, quickly explaining that she was okay, and that a real apology had been given and accepted.
This is honestly my first time writing Gajeel and I'm really worried I screwed him up so please if you have any tips I would love to know them!
Anyway, I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, and the hotel should have wifi but I'm not sure how good it is, so I planned ahead and will have the next chapter saved here and queued on tumblr, so it'll be up on Tuesday or Wednesday, just kinda depends on how busy I am.
As always, thank you for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated!