Gajeel sat in the classroom, watching the blur of students as they pushed past his desk. The bell had rang, and each of them were eager to escape the dullness of the classroom. He paid no attention to the ringing of the bell, lost in thought.

      Last time he had seen Levy in the disguise of Blacksteel, she'd kissed his cheek. And she had openly admitted she really liked Blacksteel. Also, there was the new development of Shadow Script being so dang cute in reality, just set on the wrong path because of an injustice to her father. And she also liked Blacksteel.

       "Why is the fake me so much more attractive than the real me?" Gajeel complained aloud, earning himself some weird looks from the lingering students. Sighing in annoyance, Gajeel pushed himself onto his feet, striding out into the hallway. He nearly collided with Levy, barely dodging in time, "Oh, hey, shrimp, what's up?"

       "Why do you call me that?" Levy dragged a hand down her face to express her annoyance at the childish nickname, puffing her cheeks out in aggravation. She decided to ignore his smirk and instead said, "So how's your report going, Mr. Wise Guy?"

     His face fell into a frown, and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Horribly. We ought to meet up somewhere and work on it."

      "Yes, it's due really soon," she rolled her eyes, clutching the book she was holding in her arms closer to her chest, "Are you free tonight?"

      "Uh... huh?"

       "We need to meet up to finish the essay," Levy repeated with a shake of her head, "Assuming you're free, of course."

      "Yeah, I am. Wanna do it at my dorm or yours?"

        "Our roommates are crazy, I was thinking outside of campus or something," she shrugged casually, and he snorted.

      "So like a restaurant or something?"

        "Yes, exactly," she smiled at the proposal, not recognizing it as sarcastic, "At six at the new place on the corner?"

       "Uh..." Gajeel scratched his cheek uncertainly, wondering if his mind was reading deeper into this than it should. A meeting at a restaurant felt more like a... date than a class project. "Y-yeah, uh, sure," he cleared his throat, "That's cool with me."

     Her face lit up, "Awesome! See you tonight!" and she skipped away, obviously in a good mood. Gajeel watched her go, lifting metal-studded eyebrows at the surprising turn of events. He held back a grin, turning away with a hand over his mouth to hide the stupid grin he felt threatening to spread over his face. Yes. He would see her tonight.

That night....

      Levy had arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, and she sat in a red booth in the back by herself. Her fingertips drummed slowly on the table in sync with the quiet music playing overhead as her eyes dazed out of the window.

      "Hey," a voice startled her from her anxious thoughts, and she turned her head to see Gajeel slide into the seat across from her. She noticed his eyes flick up and down her once, and she attempted a smile.

      "Hi," she said brightly, "Did you bring your stuff?"

       "Yeah," he set a notebook, pencil, and phone on the table's surface, flipping the notebook open to a blank page, "So what is it we need to write?"

       They worked on the essay for a short time, awkward pauses unfortunately frequent. Levy fell quiet again, resting her chin in her hand as she watched him scribble on the page with messy handwriting. She tilted her head to the side, tucking a loose strand of blue hair behind her ear to keep it from her face.

      Gajeel noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye, and it suddenly became more difficult to concentrate on what he was writing. He was glad when the waiter came to order drinks, and he could stop trying to pretend to focus.

    By the time their food arrived, the essay had been finished and forgotten as they struck up a genuine conversation, and they each found themselves doubled over with laughter more than once. The food came, and they continued to talk as they ate.

     The more they talked, the more Levy saw a different side to this man, and she found herself enjoying it. He wasn't just stiff and expressionless, he was nice, funny, and far from unlikable. It was one of the most enjoyable nights she'd had in a long time. Therefore, they were both incredibly disappointed when the waiter reminded them the restaurant was due to close soon.

       Levy was glad to see Gajeel looked just as disappointed by this as she was, but they both got up to leave. They headed outside to the parking lot, and Levy inhaled cool, night air. It was a pleasant night, and she had to smile.

      Gajeel glanced over at her, and for a moment she caught a glimpse of uncertainty in his crimson eyes. He shrugged lightly, "So, uh... thanks for giving me a hand with that essay. I needed that."

     "Oh!" she smiled warmly at him, clasping her hands behind her back as they stepped don the curb. "No problem! And thanks for paying for dinner, that was really nice of you."

        "Yeah, sure," he looked away, and Levy saw him fidget uncomfortably.

       "Hey, is everything okay?" She asked, tilting her head to the side to catch his gaze.

        The look she was giving him made up his mind instantly. He took a deep breath, taking a step closer to her. He slid a hand carefully beneath her chin to tilt her head back to look up at him, and he leaned down. He didn't give himself a second to back out as he kissed her.

       Levy froze as he gently kissed her, cradling her cheeks in his palms. Then, still half frozen in disbelief, she found her head tilting to the side to deepen the kiss as she leaned up. Wow... it felt... so good.... She found her arms around his neck, and he broke the kiss reluctantly. Their eyes met, and they both leapt apart hastily, faces lighting up like a stoplight.

      "U-uh, I..." Gajeel began, staring at her as his face burned a fiery red.

       She blushed harder, "N-no, um, it's... okay."

       "Yeah... okay...."

        "I-I mean, I d-didn't mind, not that it was j-just okay, and actually, i-it was better, it was g-good..." she blushed harder, covering her face in her hands to hide her burning cheeks.

      "N-nah, I... I, er..." he rubbed the back of his neck, shifting uncomfortably, "See you tomorrow?"

      She gave a tiny nod, unable to speak. He left hastily, cutting across the quiet street before vanishing around the corner. Levy stared after him in a daze, her heart still pounding likes he had run a marathon. He had literally just kissed her. And she could barely believe it.

      Levy touched her lips, staring after him breathlessly. Then she smiled. It was an insanely happy smile, and her pink cheeks reddened. She couldn't wait to tell Lucy and Mira.