Levy awoke in a cold sweat, shaking. Thunder clapped loudly outside, and she jumped in fright. The room around her was pitch black, and she stiffened. Was she afraid of the dark? No. Was she afraid of what could be in the dark? Oh yeah.  Plus the nightmare.

     Lightning flashed and she yelped, ducking beneath the covers of her handkerchief bed. She was shaking furiously, and she glanced around, peeping her head back up from beneath the blankets.

     Even through the thick dark, she could see Gajeel's back to her as he slept in the nearby bed. She hesitated. Should she test the promise he'd made the day before? If she woke him up because she was scared, he'd probably be annoyed. But if he woke up the next morning and she was too tired to do anything, he'd also be annoyed.

     Levy slid to the floor, turning into her human form. Hesitating only until thunder crashed loudly above, Levy rested her hand on his shoulder, giving him a small shake.

     He stirred slightly, his left eye opening slightly, "There a problem, shrimp?" he muttered, but he didn't sound very irritated.

     Levy stared at him, her heart suddenly beating very fast. A strand of his black hair had fallen across his face, one of his crimson eyes closed as he gave her a sleepy look.

     Levy just stared at him, a blush heating her face. When had he gotten so...cute? Butterflies filled her stomach as he sat up, brushing hair back from his eyes. Then she gave herself a shake, "S-sorry for waking you up, b-but I h-had a nightmare, and..." she glanced away, embarrassed, "...I'm scared."

     "You woke me up cause you were scared," he frowned at her.

     Levy winced, "S-sorry-"

     "Whadda you want me to do?" Gajeel continued to frown, "I can't magically remove your nightmares if that's what you want."

     "I-I know, but..." Levy glanced away, "I-I just don't wanna go back to sleep."

     Gajeel leaned over to the night stand a and turned on the lamp, "Then what d'you wanna do, shrimp?"

     She stared at him in surprise, "Who are you and what did you do with Gajeel?"

     He smirked, ruffling her hair, then slid out of bed, moving off to the side of the room beside the stove, oven, and the cabinets. "You want somethin' to do? Then make breakfast," he told her, and she shot him a questioning look.

     "It's three o'clock in the morning," she blinked, "Besides, I don't know how to cook."

      "So?" Gajeel began to pull things out of the cabinets, "I can teach you." he reached beneath the counter, pulling out bowls and measuring cups.

     "I-It's three in the morning," Levy repeated weakly.

      "We can eat early," he shrugged, waving it off, "Unless you wanna go back to sleep?"

     Thunder clapped overhead and she yelped, jumping. Then she shook her head furiously, "N-no, this is good."

   "So whadda you wanna make? This stupid place's only got a few ingredients up here. Sugar, eggs, flour, few other things. We're pretty much limited to cake." Gajeel checked the cabinet above the counter, "Hey, blueberries. They look pretty fresh too." he smirked down at her, "I know you love blueberry cake."

     Her eyes lit up, "Are you serious?"

      He smirked, patting her head. He knew fully well she had forgotten about her nightmare, "So you wanna get started?"

      "Oh, yes," Levy nodded excitedly, smiling

      Gajeel pulled out a bowl, "Get a cake pan, would you? They're probably somewhere over there. And a measuring cup." He picked up a bag of sugar, checking to make sure they had enough. 

     Levy set them on the counter, sneaking a blueberry from the carton Gajeel held in his hand while he was examining the sugar bag in his other hand.

      "Hey," he smirked as she giggled, "Don't steal those yet."

      She smiled, "Aw, but they're so good! Just one more? Please?" she leaned hopefully on his arm.

     "Nope. You gotta wait," he turned away, popping one into his mouth with a smirk to antagonize her.

     "Gajeel, that no fair!" she protested, "You can't do that!"

      He slipped the carton onto the highest shelf she couldn't reach, "You can get another one after we're done, not before."

     "Promise?" Levy prompted.

     "Sure, squirt," he ruffled her hair, surprised at how soft it felt beneath his rough hand. She giggled despite her annoyance, then reluctantly consented.

     Gajeel measured out the sugar and the milk, pouring them together into the bowl, and gave Levy the measuring cup as he began to dig through the cabinets, "Where the heck is a spoon?"

     "How much flour?" Levy asked, picking up the bag.

    "Two cups. They have all of this stuff in here, you'd think they'd have a spoon." Gajeel grumbled in annoyance as he rumaged through the cabinets.

     "You can't have everything in life," Levy shrugged.

     "Yeah, but you'd think a spoon would be a possibility."

     Levy smiled, adding the last ingredient into the bowl, "Now can we add the blueberries?" she asked hopefully.

     "I didn't know you were so obsessed with blueberries," Gajeel pulled the carton down from the shelf, popping it open. Then he smirked, giving her a handful of them and watching in amusement as her amber eyes lit up.

     "Yay!" She twirled around happily as Gajeel dumped the rest into the bowl and stirred it up with a wooden spoon he had finally found, poured it into a cake pan, and shoved it into the oven.

     After they had made the icing, they both dropped down into the bed.

      "Whew, I'm worn out!" Levy declared, sinking back into the pillows, "I could sleep for eternity!"

     "You do that," Gajeel smirked, "more cake for me." He made a move as if to get up, but Levy tackled him to the bed.

      "No! I want some too!"

     They continued to wrestle around like maniacs, playing around with each other for the first time in years. When the oven dinged a few minutes later, Gajeel got up to get it, then smirked back at Levy, "You good, shrimp?"

      Levy, laughing so hard still that she doubled over, fell back off the bed.

     Gajeel smirked, then headed over to the oven, pulling out the pans with his bare hand. He frowned when it didn't feel hot to the touch. Then he gave himself a shake. Hopefully he'd get answers about his magic in the morning.

     "Hey shrimp?" he glanced back at her, then realized she was urled up around his pillow, hugging it tightly. And she was asleep, her eyes closed and her breathing calm and slow.

     Gajeel smiled slightly at her, "You're really pathetic, y'know that?" he said as he saw her shivering from the cold. He rolled his eyes, then pulled the covers up over her shoulders, tucking them tightly around her. "'Night, shrimp."

      "Mm..." Levy curled up tighter, "Night... Gajeel."

         Author's note:

I wanted this chapter to be cute, but the story picks up again in the next chapter, promise! I hope you like the story so far, and please vote and comment. I love to hear from you!  Thanks for reading!        —gajevyx99