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Hey, Readers! It's really rainy outside and I can't concentrate on homework with all this wind and thunder. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Also, I just realized that I accidently made Gajeel more of a Danny Desai kind of guy (From Twisted)...That would make Levy Jo (cuz ya know, Jo and Danny forevs). Anyhoo, here's Chapter 27, ENJOOOOY!

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Levy P.O.V

Tomorrow was the first day back from vacation. Within those two weeks, things have changed drastically between me and my friends.  I had temporarily moved in with my boyfriend after having an extreme fight with my . Erza was having a scandolous relationship with her World History teacher. And poor, innocent Lucy developing cancer. Sometimes I wondered if God, or Buddha, or whoever the hell was up there watching over us, loved seeing our emotions get rattled up and laughing at the ways we pulled our hairs out of our heads. It must've been completely bittersweet.

I had just finished taking a nice, long shower. I had just put on Gajeel's stepmom's dorm shirt and wore spandex underneath it. It wasn't the the type of thing I'd usually wear, but his stepmom was freaking five foot eleven! I was barely five foot three, so all her clothes would fall way past my knees. I rubbed a white fluffy towel on my head to dry off the water from my hair. I wrapped the towel around my shoulders and walked out of the steamy bathroom. I walked over to Gajeel's room and announced, "Hey, the shower's..." I stopped speaking when I saw Gajeel sitting on his bed looking at the window. I sighed. He must've had a lot on his mind. He was practically the most hated man at school, and something told me that he wanted our winter break to last just a little bit longer. I walked over to his side and jumped on top of his bed, poking him with my toe to get his attention. When he noticed me, he gave a sad-looking smile. "You finished taking a shower?"

I nodded. "I was going to tell you, but your mind was on something else. Care to share?"

He looked at me and then adjusted himself so that his back was against the wall. His foot was playing around with mine as he began to speak. "I have to see them again...The people who hate me...Those who treat like what I am...a criminal."

"They just don't know the whole story," I told him.

"They wouldn't believe the whole story," he said. He looks at me with cold yet sincere eyes. "I'm also afraid of what will happen to you."

"To me?" I joked. "Obviously you don't know how tough of a girl I am, Gajeel!"

He chuckled softly. "I know you're a tough girl, Pipsqueak. It's just...these people used to be your best friends. You've known them a lot longer than you've known me. I'm afriad that you'll regret choosing me over them."

Then I laughed at his comment. "You're right about one thing: I have known most of these people for a long time, most of them since kindergarden. But it wasn't until you came did I see who they really were inside. They were all wearing masks that I was just too blind to see past...until I met you."  His eyes widened in shock, and his face quickly turned red. He quickly hid behind his hand and muttered, "Who the hell gives you the right to say those kind of things."

I giggled at his embarrased reaction. I continued to graze my foot against his, and then a sudden thought came to mind. "We don't really know that much about each other...We should play the asking game?"

Gajeel laughed. "What are you, four?"

"It's a useful game!" I pouted, folding my arms together and looked the other way. I happened to love that game! It was a very useful way of getting to know others. I could feel Gajeel staring at me. He sighed. "What's your favorite color?"

I smiled. I looked at him and said, "White. Everything goes with white. What's your favorite food?"

"Fried chicken and ramen. What's your favorite drink?"

"A strawberry smoothie. What type of music do you like?"

"Jazz and blues." At that moment, I was laughing. Of all things, I didn't expect him to like jazz and blues! I almost died from laughter. Gajeel was also laughing as well. "What's so funny?"

"You? Jazz and blues? No, that's too perfect."

"Fine, my turn. Where are you most ticklish?"

"My stoma...Wait!" But it was too late. He had already grabbed my ankle and pulled me closer to him. He began to viciously tickle my stomach, making me laugh hysterically. I tried to push him away, but I was weak from laughing too hard. He pushed me down to the bed and continued to tickle me with no mercy. "P-Please," I laughed "s-stop i-it."

"Now are you glad we played that game?" I shook my head, continuing to beg for him to stop. Finally, he did.  I took a few deep breathes to calm down. I looked up to see Gajeel smiling with pure enjoyment. I loved that smile. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered, "I know you're scared about tomorrow...But all you have to remember is that although there are people who don't understand you, there are people who do. There's Natsu, Erza, Lucy...and me. All you have to remember is that if you're ever in trouble, or just need someone to talk to, you can talk to us, okay?"

Gajeel smiled. He lowered his head and gave me a sweet and gently kiss on my forehead. "I don't deserve you."

"You kind of don't get to decide that," I smiled "you're stuck with me no matter what."

The next morning, it was school. Gajeel parked his motorcycle three blocks from the school so that we could have a little alone time to ourselves. He gently held my hand with one of his hands and held an umbrella with the other. We walked in silence, but it was okay. Sometimes, we just didn't need words to communicate. "Look," Gajeel spoke first "I know this is gonna be a rough first day for me, but what about for you? I mean, both your parents work here, and one of them is my teacher. Are you gonna be able to face them?"

Boy, did that hit me hard. I had actually forgotten that my parents worked at the school. My dad even taught Gajeel for pete's sake. Just a while ago my mom had called me so many things that you wouldn't even call your best friend! That broke me more than anything. Without even noticing it, I was squeezing Gajeel's hand hard. He suddenly stopped walking and stood in front of me and put his hand on my head. I looked up to see him smiling. "Promise me you won't fight with your mom or dad today."

I sighed and nodded. We continued up the road and finally arrived at school. Gajeel froze a little but still held on to my hand. I could tell by his shaking hand that he was still nervous. "Are you okay"

"Yeah...I just need you to do something," Gajeel said.

"What?"

"I want you to tell me you love me...Just so I can make sure you're not going to regret all this." I smiled at his passve side. I got on my toes and pulled him down to my height by his collar. I planted a kiss on Gajeel's lips, right in front of the gate. I could feel Gajeel wrap his arms around my back, having no intention of letting me go. When he pulled away, he whispered, "Or that. You can do that." 

"I thought you would like that," I giggled back. With a lot more confidence, we walked over to my locker holding hands, ignoring the hurtful stares from the other students. Whispers fled from their mouths and flew throughout the campus. I took quick glances everywhere and saw Jet. He was laughing his butt off at one of the tables with a bunch of his friends from his soccer and track team. When his eyes met mine, I could tell that they fell with a little dismay. 

When we reached my locker, I opened it to find an overflowing amount of notes that fell from my locker. I crouched down to pick one up from the ground. I unfolded it and read it outloud:

"'Like boyfriend like girlfriend! Maybe the two of you will rot in jail together.' Boy, isn't that original." One by one, I threw out every nasty note that was made for me. The more I threw out, the more worried angry Gajeel looked. "This is what I was talking about, Pipsqueak. Everyone is now gonna harrass you and it's because of me."

"Don't worry," I reassured him, "I'll be fine."  With that final say, the first bell rang. Gajeel had to go to P.E, and I had Physics. Gajeel was just about to turn around to class, but I quickly stopped him. I searched through my bag and found what I was looking for. I had woken up bright and early to make Gajeel his first homemade lunch, but I wasn't really confident with my cooking. I presented him the lunchbox and said, "H-Here! I worked h-hard on it!"

Gajeel looked astonished. He freely took the lunchbox and said, "Thanks, Pipsqueak. This won't kill me, will it?"

"N-No!" I yelled. He smiled and patted me on the head. Whenever he did that, my brain would begin to sitr in the same direction. He gave me a nudge on the cheek and left me at the hallway. I never noticed how amazing he looked from behind. His hair was so long and so black I just wanted to touch it. I sighed, and began to class. Good luck, Gajeel. 

I sat at my desk for Physics. I got my books out and the assignments I had completed at the last minute. As the rest of my classmates began to walk in, I could hear my name pop up in whispers. "Hey, isn't Levy friends with Gajeel?"

"Haven't you heard? They're dating now!"

"What! You're lying!"

"Did you not see that passionate kiss she gave him at the front gate!"

"What? Why the hell would she date a man like him? He freaking murdered his own mother!"

"Maybe she's into criminals?" I began to get more and more irritated. I squeezed my pencil with a tight grip through anger. Stop talking about him like that, I wanted to scream at them. To try and zone them out, I took out a book Lucy had lent me. I opened the first page to The Outsiders, when suddenly, the room went into dead silence. I looked up and saw why.

Jet had just arrived.

I flinched a little with nervousness. Besides the simply walking past him, I haven't actually made any contact with him, not that I wanted to. As I continued to read, I could hear him sit at the desk next to mine. I adjusted myself towards the left, trying my best to avoid him as much as possible. "Are you still hanging out with that freak?"

I ignored him. 

"Oi, are you listening to me?"

"Yes," I muttered. "And his name's Gajeel."

Jet scoffed. "You think I care what his name is?"  I rolled my eyes and tried desperately to ignore him. Sadly, he wasn't done talking. "So, are you guys, like, a thing?" I slammed my book on my desk and turned over to look at him. "Who I am with is no longer any of your concern!"

Everyone began to quite down, listening to our argument. Jet smirked and tsked. "You see, Bookworm? He's changing you. The Levy I know would've never snapped at me like that."

I stood from my seat. "You obviously don't know me!"

"I know you a lot more than you think," he snickered. "Obviously you're only dating Gajeel to fulfill your fictional character fetishes." I stared at him with complete shock. A fetish? Was he being serious! I couldn't believe that I was actually friends with this jerk for years! I stomped over to his side and gave him a giant slap to the face. Everyone gasped. Jet's face didn't waver at all. I was breathing heavily, trying to calm down. "I don't ever, ever, want you talking to me or Gajeel ever again."

At that exact moment, the second bell rang. The teacher came buzzing in, announcing to open our textbooks to page four hundred seventy three. I sat back down at my seat, still fumed at what I just did.  Whispers began to erupt once again, and all eyes were on me. I sighed.

I hope you're having better luck than I am, Gajeel, I prayed in my mind.

Gajeel P.O.V

I hoped Levy's day was going better than mine. Because so far, it's been living hell. I've done what Levy's asked me to do and opened up to others, but that only lead to a disgusted look on their faces. I even tried opening up to the teachers, but they tried their best to avoid me as well. It was lunchtime now, and I had no idea where to sit. It was like being the new kid all over again.

I sat over by the fountain and just unfolded Levy's lunch. It felt weird not having her around, since she's been staying at my place for more than a week now. And because we didn't have the same lunches on Mondays, it made things feel more...lonely. I unfolded the cloth and opened the lunch box, and to my amazement, she had made ramen and fried chicken; my favorite foods. It smelled absolutely dilicioius. Just when I was about to take a bite, I see a pair pairs of chopsticks take some noodles and a hand grab my chicken. I looked up to see Natsu with the chopsticks and Erza eating my chicken. "Oh, this is delicious!" Natsu exclaimed.

"I didn't even know Levy could cook!" Erza exclaimed as well.

I froze with shock. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"Well, the guys wanted to go see the girls' soccer game-"

"And I literally have no friends. I saw you eating alone and I thought I could join you," Erza said.

"But does taht include eating my food?!" I exclaimed.

"Hey, women gotta eat too," she snickered, taking another bite of fried chicken. I groaned as I took a bite of chicken at last. Natsu, who had decided to leave my food alone, asked, "So, you and Levy gonna start your little tutoring situation? Exams are in a month."

"We decided to do it at my place. Less people, if you know what I mean."

"Are people still hating on you?" Erza asked. "They should at least treat you fairly!" I shrugged and took a bite of my ramen.  I didn't really expect things to change between the school and me. Then, a sudden spark went off in my head. I looked over at Natsu and asked, "Have you gotten...'ya know, a text?"

Natsu face got serious as he shook his head. "I've checked my phone every five minutes. Lucy's starting to get a little suspicous."

"Wait, what text?" Erza asked.

"Oh, Gajeel signed me up for a twenty four month subscription to this porn site called 'Breasts and Buts and Crotches, Oh My!' and I'm just waiting to get my first text to I can unsubscribe. He's a sick dude," Natsu lied.

Erza's eyes widened. Her face turned as read as a cherry. "You...How the hell is Levy living with you?"

"H-Hey!" I yelled at my male friend. "Don't go making up sick rumors!"

Natsu laughed hysterically. As payback, I lightly pressed my finger on Natsu's forehead, sending him backwards into the fountain. A giant splash was formed, along with a giant yelp from Natsu. Erza and I laughed, giving each other a high-five. Natsu spit water like a water fountain, absolutely soaken wet. "Was that really necessary?" He growled.

"Oh, most definetely," Erza breathed, still having the giggles.

"That was the highlight of my day," I laughed. 

After lunch, as I was walking, I was nervous about my last class. A.P Ancient History, the class that Levy's  father taught me. To be honest, he was the only teacher that actually treated me fairly. He called on me when I raised my hand, helped me with homework. and even allowed me to come after class for extra help. But now tht his daughter has rebelled and was living with me, that might change a little. I quickly walked into the class, sitting at my seat. I could already feel someone staring at me, and for once, it wasn't my classmates. I looked up to see Mr. McGarden glancing at me from the corner of his eye. I rubbed my head with frustration. Can this class be over already, I begged.

Throughout the rest of the class, I didn't participate at all to avoid contact with Levy's father. It looked as if  he wanted me to speak, but I didn't risk it. When the bell rang, I wanted to get the hell out of there. But sadly, Mr. McGarden used his power of authority and commanded, "Gajeel Redfox, could you please stay after class for a minute?" I froze and cursed to myself. I sat at my desk and nervously waited for the rest of the class to leave. My phone suddenly vibrated, and I found that it was a text from Levy. It read:

Hey :) I'm about 2 go 2 da hospital to visit Lucy. U gonna com?

I replied with:

I gotta stay after class. I'll see you @ the apartment l8tr?

Yea! Dont forget ur textbooks for tutoring! Love you

I put my phone away when Mr. McGarden closed the door behind the last student. He walked over to me, and to my surprise, he didn't look angry. It had just hit me how much he resembled Levy. He had short wavy blue hair kind of like Levy, he definetely had her hazel eyes, and her lips. He continued to stare at me with a blank expression. "You probably know why you're here?"

"Y-Yes sir," I gulped. He walked over to my desk, leaning on it with one hand. He looked at me and asked, "Is she doing okay? Is she eating well?"

I nodded. He gave me a stern look and asked, "You're not taking advantage of my daughter, are you?"

I blushed and fuiously shook my head. "I would never take advantage of Levy, sir!" To my surprise, Mr. McGarden snickered at my nervousness. He waved his hands and said, "Calm down, boy. I'm not here to lecture you."

"Y-You're not?" I asked.

"No, I just wanted to check up on my daughter. But of course, she's not speaking to her mother, so that would make me have to choose sides."

"If you don't mind me asking," I said, "why aren't you lecturing me?" He smirked at me and took out a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it up and blew out puffs of smoke from his mouth. He offered me one, but I declined.  "My wife Josephine and Levy are completely different. Josephine is pure black and white. She either believes in one thing or another, but never both. Levy, since I've raised her most of my life, has been filled with curiosity since she could speak...I guess that's how you can tell that they're not related."

My eyes widened. "You mean they aren't really mother and daughter?"

He shook his head. "Levy's real mother...She was purely amazing. Ambitious, adventurous, and filled with so, so much imagination. I met her in Versailles during a meeting with some fellow historian. The moment we met, it was the first time I was having feelings for someone other than Josephine." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Mrs. McGarden, the strict, cold-eyed woman who taught advanced classes and looked almost identical to Levy, wasn't her actual mother. That meant that Mr. McGarden had an affair. "How...How did Mrs. McGarden react?"

He sighed. "She was absolutely furious. I'm surprised she didn't knife me to death. She was even more furious when she found her baby on the doorstep nine months later."

"So she was a basket baby?"

He nodded. "She was so tiny and covered in blankets. There was one specific blanket that I've kept hidden from her that has her mother's initials. My wife wanted me to burn it, but I just kept it hidden away." Suddenly, there was a buzzing noise that wasn't coming from my phone. Mr. McGarden  checked his phone and sighed. "Speak of the devil, the wife wants me. You can go now." I silently got up and was about to leave the door, but before I could, Mr. McGarden said one more thing. "Don't tell Levy about this...She doesn't look like it, but she has very fragile emotions. Finding this out could kill her."

When I got home, I immeditely fell on the couch and sighed. I had just been told a giant secret about my girlfriend. I guess that was why Mrs. McGarden was so harsh on Levy.  But damn, I didn't know how many secrets I could take. This is too much for a seventeen year old. 

An hour later, Levy came in soaking wet. She shook her head, water flying everywhere. I sat up and asked, "What happened?"

"Well, the weatherman said sunny for the rest of the day, and obviously he lied," she sighed. I laughed and walked over to her, running my fingers through her wet hair. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to me. "Gajeel, are you okay?"

"Yeah...I just missed you."

"Something tells me that your day wasn't as great as mine," She sighed.

Guilt began to fill up within me. "Yeah, it was pretty bad." I sat back dodwn on the couch, and Levy sat right beside me. Levy sneezed a few times, making me worried. "You should go get dried up. You'll catch a cold."

She shook her head. "Obviously you don't know that I have a strong immune system," she winked. She continued to keep on sneezing and sneezing.  I looked around and found one of my black  hoodie on the couch. I grabbed it and threw it on top of Levy. "Wear it," was all I said. She obeyed and put it on despite the fact that it was three times her size. She leaned her head against my shoulder. "Lucy's beginning to lose hair," Levy told me. "She's wearing hats all the time and won't let Natsu see her. It's really sad."

"Poor Lucy," I exhaled.

"Erza and I are trying to get the hospital to let her go back to school. If she doesn't come back soon, then she'll have to repeat the year...I don't want that to happen to Lucy." I smiled and rubbed my hand on her head. Levy got up and began to stretch her body. She inhaled and exhaled with great relief and exclaimed, "I'm glad the day is over!"

"It has been pretty exhausting," I groaned, "and I'm pretty hungry."

"I could go make us something if you want," Levy said. But before she could leave, I grabbedher by the wrist and brought her towards me. Her face was now inches from me, just the way I liked it. "Who said I was hungry for food?"

Her face went pink. "Ga...jeel.." She brought her lips forward and planted them on mine. When I kissed her back, it turned into something slow and passionate. Levy climbed on top of me and wrapped her legs around me while her lips were still in contact. I ran my hand on her back under her shirt, making her shiver. 

Just as things were getting good, there was a rapid knock on the door. I groaned, but Levy simply whispered, "Don't answer it," Levy moaned, continuing to kiss me. I kissed her back, trying to get back into the rhythm, when there was another rapid knock.  Levy groaned this time, letting her head fall to my shoulder. "I guess you better answer it," she pouted, rolling off my body. 

"Who the hell could that?" I growled, stomping my way to the door. I opened it to be facing face to face with a tall blue-haired man. For a second, I thought it was Mr. McGarden, but then I realized that it wasn't. He looked much younger than him and didn't have his young and caring eyes. They were cold. Very cold. "C-Can I help you?" I stuttered.

"Yes, you can. I believe that my sister has been living here," he growled.

I froze. "S-Sister?"

"Lucas!" Levy suddenly cried from behind me. I turned around to see both a surprise and frightened look on her face. I had no idea that Levy had an older brother, especially with the look he had on his face. He suddenly barged in and took Levy by the hand. "I never thought that you would be this much of an idiot!" He yelled.

"L-Let me go!" Levy cried.

"Not a chance!" Lucas yelled.

"H-Hey!" I yelled. "Leave her alone!"

"Get out of my way, criminal!" He pushed me away, making me fall hard to the floor. He began to drag Levy out of the apartment. Levy, who was in the verge of tears, cried out,  "Gajeel!"

Then, the door slammed shut.

I was alone in my apartment. I got up and rubbed my aching head. How...How did he even know where I lived, I thought to myself. Levy couldn't have told him, and neither her dad, so that meant...

Her mom.

"That bitch," I cursed. I could've cursed at her a million times, but that still wouldn't change anything. My Pipsqueak was gone; out of my reach. 

I was alone yet again.