Chapter 15- Why're you mad?
Levy's POV
After about five minutes of looking at books, Gajeel got bored. He was carrying my ever growing stack of books as I pulled them off the shelfs and thrust them in his direction, and was having trouble keeping the mountain balanced.
"How many books do you need, shrimp?" he moaned as I handed him another to put on top of the pile.
"We're only here for two weeks so I have to make the most of the opportunity. You should just go if you're that bored, I can use my magic to carry them." I answered crossly, flinging another book a little harder than necessary and knocking all the books to the floor with a bang.
"That's your fault." Gajeel muttered, folding his arms in defiance.
We both just stared at the mess of pages for a moment, then somehow our eyes met.
And held.
We just stared at each other, and I forgot where we were and what we were supposed to be doing. I forgot how to breathe. I was going to snap at him but somehow I couldn't do it; my brain was empty except for one particular dragon slayer.
Then I blinked.
"I win."
"What?"
"You blinked, so I win."
My heart dropped down into the bottom of my stomach like a stone- why I wasn't sure.
"Oh." was my only reply, before I turned and started to walk away.
"Stupid Gajeel."
Gajeel's POV
As I watched Levy go, I was filled with total confusion. Was she angry that I beat her? The only reason I invented a competition was to ease the tension building between us- I didn't think it would upset her. Forgetting all the books that lay messily on the floor, I quickly started after her.
"Hey, Levy..." I tried, but she had vanished.
It only took a minute for me to find the bluenette: she was stood gazing at a shelf with glassy eyes, clearly not taking in what she saw. I stopped for a moment, watching.
"Stupid Gajeel... Stupid..." she muttered under her breath.
"Why're you mad?" I asked, causing her to start.
I walked over to her in a few slouchy strides, looking at her the whole time.
"I'm not." she replied, crossing her small arms across the chest after giving her eyes a quick wipe.
"Then why did you storm of?" I asked. She opened her mouth to reply.
No sound came out.
Instead, the faintest of blushes tinged her cheeks; a rosy pink glow. It grew bolder until her whole face was red.
Then she ducked her head, using her hair to curtain her face so I couldn't see what she was thinking, couldn't see how she was feeling. And something made me lean down- something made me want our heads closer together.
When I breathed out, she looked up in surprise. Our noses were almost touching.
Almost, but not quite.
"Gajeel..." she murmered, her eyes widening slightly.
"There's a spider on your forehead!"