After being released from the hospital, and putting on the orange tank top and beige shorts someone had brought for me, I was ushered back to the guildhall by everyone. Apparently, Master Makarov had been planning a party since Jet told him I had awoken. I was glad to be leaving the hospital, though it was still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I had been asleep for six weeks.
I wonder where Gajeel is? I hadn't seen him since he and Lily left earlier that day. I sighed, disappointed that he hadn't come back. From what the others said, Gajeel has been with me since I was admitted into the hospital. So, why isn't he here now that I'm awake? I was afraid it had something to do with my kissing him before.
I shook those thoughts from my head. I can't think about that right now. If I start worrying about if avoiding me is his way of rejecting me, then I'll never get up the courage to tell him how I feel!
"Levy, are you feeling alright?" Lucy asked, hooking her arm around mine as we walked to Fairy Tail.
"Yeah," I smiled, "just thinking. I'm still a little in shock that I was asleep for so long. It must have been hard on everyone."
"You're awake and well now, so that's all that matters," Erza said.
"She's right. We're all happy that you're finally coming home from the hospital," Wendy added.
When we entered the guildhall, I was met with cheers, congratulations, and cries of relief. I must have really worried everyone. I was asleep for six weeks, so they must have begun to think the worst.
"Levy, my dear girl, welcome home," Master Makarov smiled, getting everyone to quiet down.
"Thank you, Master," I blushed.
"Now that the guest of honor is here, let's welcome her home!" He announced, holding up a mug full of beer.
"Welcome home!" Everyone shouted, holding up their own drinks. The party went on for several hours before I finally excused myself. All of the commotion had me feeling a little weak, but I didn't want anyone to notice and worry. Instead, I told everyone that I needed some rest, and convinced them to let me leave early. There was a lot of protest, considering it was my party, but they let me go. Once outside, I took a deep breath of the fresh night air. It was cool and crisp, filling my lungs with icy clarity.
Neither Gajeel nor Lily had come to the guildhall for the celebration, so I couldn't help but feel a little put-out. He was the person I had wanted to see the most, yet he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he really is avoiding me. I sighed, meandering slowly in the direction of Fairy Hills. Instead of going there, however, my feet seemed to have another destination in mind. I soon found myself sitting under the cherry blossom tree in Magnolia. I knew it should have held only bad memories for me since it was the very tree Gajeel had hung me from as a message to Fairy Tail during the war with Phantom Lord, but I couldn't think of it in that way. The tree was too beautiful to hate. And any thought of Gajeel is a good one.
"I must be crazy," I sighed to myself. I had fallen in love the man who had tried to kill me the first time we met, and who had shown nothing but disinterest towards me since he joined Fairy Tail. He was a brute most of the time, and hated for anyone to get close to him, but I think that only made me fall in love with him more. He showed me how caring he could truly be by protecting me even when it put his own life at risk. "Where are you, Gajeel?"
"Shrimp?"
"Gajeel!" I squeaked, surprised. I hadn't noticed Gajeel standing directly in front of where I sat on the ground.
"What're you doing down there?" He asked, frowning curiously at me.
"N-nothing," I said, getting quickly to my feet, "I was only resting a bit. The guild threw a party, and I just now managed to free myself."
"I don't blame ya," he chuckled.
"So, you-you really don't have that magic inside you anymore?" I asked, guilt weighing on me as I looked at him.
"Nope," he grinned, "Porlyusica tried to kill me in the process, but she managed to figure out how to remove it. Turns out all she had to do was destroy that book. After that, she healed whatever it was that the magic left behind in my body. I ended up falling asleep on the guildhall floor for two hours, but I've been fine ever since."
"I'm so glad," I smiled, meeting his red eyes. After a moment, I broke eye contact and looked at the ground, sighing, "I'm sorry I wasn't any help to you. I'm the one who put that magic inside of you, but I wasn't even there to help remove it."
"Because you were lying in a hospital bed, fighting for your life after I tried to kill you," he said, regret thick in his voice.
"Gajeel--"
"Come with me," he interrupted, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the outskirts of Magnolia.
"Where are we going?" I asked, a bit startled.
"You'll see," he said.
Instead of struggling against him, I sighed and fell into step beside him. After a minute or so, I recognized the direction we were headed. "This is the way to your house," I noted.
He said nothing as we continued walking. When we reached his house, he led me inside. I sat beside him on the small sofa, waiting for him to say something.
"So," I said, looking expectantly at him. "Why did you bring me all the way here?"
"I figured those guys would go overboard, and that you might want to have somewhere to go to just relax a little. You just woke up, and had to take in a lot of stuff, so I thought you wouldn't be in much of a partying mood all of a sudden."
"You brought me here to let me relax?" I asked, frowning slightly.
"No," he said, returning my frown. "Are you hungry?"
"What?" He's acting really strange.
~Gajeel~
What the hell am I doing? Instead of just telling her and getting it out of the way, I had asked Levy if she was hungry. Way to go, dumb ass.
"What?" She quirked an eyebrow, giving me a strange look.
"I assumed they hadn't fed you at the guild," I mumbled, going to the kitchen. She followed me, and I could feel the strange look she was still giving me from behind.
"No, they didn't," she replied. "I guess I am kind of hungry."
"Good. I made spaghetti," I said. Actually, Lily made it.
"Sounds great," she smiled, accepting the plate I fixed for her. She sat across from me at the table and began eating. After a few bites, she stopped, frowning at me. "Aren't you going to eat?" She asked.
I shook my head. "I ate earlier."
She looked at her plate, still frowning. "If you aren't going to, I'll wait--"
"Eat," I told her, pointing to the plate. Grumbling under her breath, she continued eating. I grinned, noticing the complaints died quickly as she finished her food.
"That was great," she smiled as I took her dished and put them in the sink. "Thank you."
"Sure thing, Shrimp," I chuckled, patting her on the head.
"Where's Lily?" She asked, looking around.
"He went to tell everyone that you were here so they didn't get worried," I told her.
"Oh. Well, um, it's getting pretty late," she said, standing up. "I should probably be getting home."
"Right, yeah," I nodded, walking her to the front door. "Want me to walk you home?"
She stepped outside, turning to smile at me. "No," she shook her head, "it's a short walk, so I think I'll be fine."
"If you say so," I shrugged. We stood there in silence a moment before I looked at her and smiled. "It's good to have ya back, Shrimp."
"Thanks," she chuckled. "See you later."
"Yeah." I shut the door as she turned to leave. "What the hell?!" I growled, wanting to punch myself. I don't know why I hadn't just told her. "She was standing right there! I should have--" A knock at my door cut me off. Is Lily home already?
I swung it open, still furious with myself. "Shrimp?" I questioned, startled. Her face was scarlet red, and she looked as though she wanted to run away.
"I love you!" She shouted, looking horrified as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Before I could answer, she continued, her face incredibly growing redder. "I-I have ever since the S-Class exams, and maybe even before that. You're stubborn and make fun of me all the time, but you're also incredibly caring and have always been there when I get into trouble." Her hazel eyes filled with tears as she met my gaze. "That's why I kissed you before. When that magic was controlling you, and feeding me lies about you hating me, I told myself it wasn't true. Even if you don't return my feelings, I don't believe you hate me. You wouldn't have gone so far to protect me back then if you did."
She stepped closer to me, never breaking eye contact. "I love you, Gajeel," she smiled, a stray tear running down her face. "I know it isn't fair to say all of this so suddenly, but I just wanted you to know."
"Ah, hell," I growled, scratching the back of my head as I looked away from her. I was still shocked by her confession, and could feel an uncomfortable heat creeping into my face.
"S-sorry," she mumbled, turning to leave, "I'll just--"
I grabbed her arm, pulling her back around. "Just wait a damned minute," I barked, "I ain't even said anything yet!"
"Sorry," she said again, looking as though she was going to start crying.
Damn it, Gajeel, you idiot! Say something! She beat you to it, so there shouldn't be any holding back now. "Me too," I answered, finally.
Her eyes widened, and she looked up at me. "What did you say?"
"I love you, too!" I snapped, frustrated that it was so hard to say. I began to panic when tears started making their way down her cheeks. Shit! Why's she crying?! She had a look on her face that was a little disbelieving, so I wasn't sure what to do. Without thinking, I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers, hoping that would convince her I wasn't lying.
I still had no idea what I was doing. For all I knew, kissing her would just make things worse. I didn't stop myself, though. I had wanted to kiss her for a long time, so instead of pulling away when her muscles tightened, I put my hands on her back and held her closer.
~Levy~
I stood there, shocked, when Gajeel bent down and kissed me right on the mouth. His lips were a lot softer than I imagined they'd be. Sure, I had kissed him before, but I was dying then and not paying much attention to how it felt. As many times as I had dreamed about kissing Gajeel, none of them were even close to what it actually felt like. This was incredible.
I couldn't convince my body to relax, even as he wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me closer. Gajeel is kissing me. He said he loves me! I thought maybe I was still asleep, merely dreaming up all of this. No, this is real. More tears wet my face as I thought about it. After worrying for so long about being rejected, Gajeel had actually returned my feelings.
Hesitantly, Gajeel pulled away, his eyes widening when he saw my tears. He released me, thinking he had done something wrong. I grabbed the collar of his shirt with both hands and pulled him back down, crushing my lips against his. The kiss was salty from my tears, and tasted a little of spaghetti sauce, but I didn't care. I loved this man more than anyone else in the world.
When he kissed me back, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself even closer to him. I wanted the moment to last forever, but all too soon we broke apart to breathe. I grinned as we caught our breath, chuckling lightly when he wiped the tears from my face.
We looked at each other for a long time, neither of us saying anything. I was filled with so much happiness that I was afraid if I tried to speak I'd burst. Something in Gajeel's expression changed as he looked at me, and I could feel the heat of a blush turning my cheeks scarlet under his gaze. Suddenly, he kissed me again. This time, however, it was different. Unlike the gentle, hesitant kiss he had given me before, there was something more fierce behind this one.
My entire body seemed to pulse with an electricity that only intensified the longer our lips were together. I leaned into him, tangling my fingers in his soft black hair. In response, he put his hands on my hips, pulling me as close to him as he could.
Seemingly working of their own free will, my hands yanked on Gajeel's shirt. Obligingly, he took it off, making some sort of pained noise as I ran my hands along his muscular torso. I heard the front door slam behind me before we began moving away from it. I was so absorbed in the hot electricity flowing between us that I barely noticed myself being lifted onto something soft, or Gajeel laying his body over top of mine.
As if seeking permission, his tongue brushed my bottom lip, to which I eagerly accepted. I continued my exploration of his chest with my hands, earning another groan from him. I felt as light as air as Gajeel's hands moved under my shirt, cupping the small of my back gently. Having no time to feel bashful, I pulled away from him, tugging the shirt over my head and throwing it to the floor. My shorts followed soon after, along with his pants.
Breathing heavily, Gajeel pulled away slightly, looking at me with those red eyes I loved so much. "This is a bad idea," he suddenly said, realizing what we were doing. Like me, I think he had been too caught up in the moment to realize we were both half-naked and laying on his bed.
When he tried to move away, I put my hands on his face, forcing him to look at me. "Do you love me?" I asked.
He looked taken aback, but nodded. "Yeah, Shrimp, I love you."
"I love you too," I smiled, "so what makes this a bad idea?" Not giving him the opportunity to think about it, I pressed my lips against his. I focused my thoughts on how much I loved him, and tried to send them all to him through my kiss. I wasn't sure if it worked, but he relaxed once more, kissing me hard.
"I love you, Levy," he murmured against my lips as he removed the rest of our clothing.
"I love you too, Gajeel."
THE END
Thank you so much for reading "Love Me Not"! Although I had to re-write this last chapter, I am very happy with how it turned out. I had a lot of fun writing this this book, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it! <3 Again, THANK YOU FOR READING!! Your support means so much to me, and I can't thank you enough for giving me that support. <3