The serene sound of ice skates gliding and then scraping across the ice was a grounding force to Levy. At one time the rink had been a second home to her; and of course she had to sing her praise of it for introducing her to Gajeel. She needed a date with the ice, and soon.

"Fizz!" A man with a build that could rival her boyfriend's strolled towards them, Levy knew him from description alone, Orga Nanagear; head coach of the Crocus Cyclones.

"Coach." Jellal tipped his chin up in greeting.

"Wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow," Orga's eyes trailed over Levy, "and who might you be? I thought Fizz's woman was a fireball?"

Levy snickered. "She is. I'm his sister, Levy."

Orga grabbed her hand, shaking it with enough enthusiasm to pass as a member of her very own fanclub. "Levy McGarden? You could be a pro!"

"I'm sorry?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Your figure skating, you could be a pro. I've heard about you, and seen tons of videos. And damn if you're not handy with a stick and puck too!"

"Jellal can have the fame, he more than makes up for the share I prefer not to have. I do it all for enjoyment and just for fun; I've no interest in going anywhere near professional status, but thank you!"

A stream of curses came from the rink behind Orga. Turning around he hollered at the group of rowdy men about a lady being present and to watch their language. Shouts of apologies bounced off the walls followed by cat calls that had Jellal rolling his eyes and glaring at certain individuals.

"Anyway, coach," Jellal started, "I'm back early because she was hoping to speak with you about something and someone. Is there somewhere a bit more private where we can discuss things?"

Orga nodded his head and motioned for the siblings to follow. Levy trailed behind Orga with Jellal close behind her; the massive man held one side of the double doors open leading into a long hallway, after passing through, the coach pointed towards a door just a few yards down and continued leading the way. Fishing a set of keys out of his pants, he unlocked the door and ushered the two inside.

The walls were decorated in banners, pictures, awards, and various other articles of memorabilia dealing with the NHL. Orga propped himself against the corner of his desk and offered the two chairs opposite his desk to Levy and Jellal.

Once seated, he crossed his arms and spoke, "Talk to me."

…

"Tiny baby socks." Gajeel was simply amazed socks could actually be sized so small.

Lily stepped up beside him, the eyebrow above his scarred eye lifted, "Remind me again why you're here?"

"Levy is gone for the weekend, she's with Cana and I'm bored." He said simply, placing the socks back in their respective drawer and moving on to the next.

"What did you ever do with yourself before getting a girlfriend?" Shagotte asked from the hallway.

Lily choked and swallowed his laughter. Turning his head slowly Gajeel glared at his best friend, his eyes daring him to say another word on the subject. Lily threw his hands up in defeat muttering something about staying out of it.

Shagotte stepped inside the room and crossed her arms glancing back between the two men, "What's going on?"

Turning towards Gajeel she stared at him fixedly; despite him being nearly twice her size and with arms that could essentially break the woman in two she still intimidated the hell out of him. She held her ground, silently demanding his answer or there would be hell to pay.

Gajeel gulped, "I uh...had other friends."

"Now I know for a fact that besides Lil you maybe have two friends from the school. Spill it Gajeel Redfox." Shagotte stuck her hip out and leaned against the baby's crib, his silence was grating on her and when it went on for too long she shot forward with a finger to his face, "Gajeel, were you a player?!"

Lily grabbed his stomach, bending over in uncontrollable laughter. Gajeel merely saw this as the perfect opportunity for an out and smiled big, "Yes! I was a hockey player! And I just remembered I have some unfinished laundry I need to attend to so I shall be off! Great talking to you guys!"

Whizzing past Shagotte, Gajeel waved to Lily, who was still trying to catch his breath, and escaped out their front door as quickly as possible.

Shagotte shook her head then turned to face her husband who quickly stood back up straight and went quiet. "I know he's hiding something, Pantherlily. So long as he is good to Levy his past doesn't matter, as curious as I am though."

"My dear, he was a celebrity; I'm sure you can only imagine."

...

Turning over the engine in his truck and shifting into reverse Gajeel backed out onto the small neighborhood road and started driving back towards his apartment in the city. If he were lucky, Levy was back by now and (crossing his fingers,) at his place. He debated taking the freeway into the city, it was by far the quickest route but today he opted for the long way- the back way.

With his window rolled down and arm propped up, Gajeel let his mind wander as he turned the volume up on the rock ballad playing on the radio and flooded the cab with the beginning of ACDC's Thunderstruck. They had often played this song prior to his team arriving on the ice for game days; it was one of the few that was always a sure fire way to get him pumped up.

He sighed, shoulders slumping as the song hit its mark and took off. He missed playing, and he missed it bad. He agreed what he had done was wrong, but there were current players who had done and known to be still doing far worse. He was tempted to give his old coach a call right then and there when a familiar mercedes pulled out in front of him.

Following the little red sports car all the way to his complex he caught himself sighing again when only a tall brunette stepped out of the car and shut her door.

"Oi! Did ya drop her off at home?" He shouted across the parking lot, taking long strides towards her car.

"Dropped who off?" Cana spoke too soon, the flash of confusion and anger across Gajeel's face had her quickly reassessing herself but the damage had been done.

As the towering man whipped around to stalk into the complex, phone in hand, Cana grabbed her's in a flash, racing to phone Levy before Gajeel could get inside.

"Hello?"

"Babyblue, I don't know what you're doing but the next time you use me as a cover up, tell me why don't ya?"

"...What do you mean?"

"I just encountered that boyfriend of yours, and whatever we were supposed to be doing, he now knows we're not."

There was a long silence on the other end of phone and Cana briefly thought the call might have dropped, but then Levy spoke.

"I'm with my brother, I'll handle it. I'm sorry Cana. He's calling me now, so I need to go."

"Good luck!"

By the time Gajeel walked into his apartment he had phoned Levy half a dozen times, he figured the drunk had got to her first. He took a deep breath to help calm himself, this was Levy- his Levy, and she wouldn't just outright lie to him. There was a reason she didn't give him the full truth and normally, he was an ask questions later kind of guy but this was Levy, and with another deep breath he dialed her again.

She answered on the first ring, "Gajeel."

"Levy." Inhale. Exhale. "Where are ya?"

"Christmas shopping?"

The questionable tone in her voice was more than obvious.

"In May? Listen, Levs, what's going on?"

There was a rustling on the other end, leaning against his counter he ran a hand through his hair as he continued listening and then someone else spoke up

"Redfox? It's me, Fernandez; Levy is with me in Crocus. I asked her to come with me and told her not to tell anyone, so there. That's why as far as you knew she was shopping in Hargeon. Be mad at me if you're looking for someone to be mad at, but not her."

…

Sitting across from the siblings Orga looked impressed, and as Jellal finished the conversation with the ex hockey player he roved his eyes over Levy. She noticed and popped an eyebrow up quizzically.

"She tamed Redfox." He hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Levy gave him a crooked smile, "You say that like it was a challenge."

"I'm sure it was, it's Redfox we're talking about! I mean, I know we just sat here and discussed plans to get him back on the ice but damn… you really, seriously tamed him." He shook his head and smiled, pointing a finger at Jellal, "He was a bigger womanizer than this guy, and even he was pretty bad!"

"Erza tamed him just fine." Levy concluded.

Orga's face drained of color as his eyes met with Levy's, "Have you met Erza? That woman could tame Satan himself."

Jellal couldn't contain his laughter, "Damn right she could. But yes, I had a difficult time believing it at first as well, my sister and Redfox I mean but, it's genuine. The guy is head over heels for her. He was willing to beat my ass because he thought I was making a move on her before they were even official. Had to come clean about the whole being siblings thing."

"Now that we have established my relationship with Gajeel Redfox, are you willing to help us? Help him?" Levy said pointedly.

"Absolutely. I never really agreed with the ban in the first place, there's been worse things done and even some that are still going on and no one bats an eye. They just had it out for him bad and took the first chance they got to stick it to him. It helps his ban isn't recorded as permanent, and I can't promise anything soon obviously seeing as this season is already finished but maybe we can do something for next season. Anyway, give me some time to work and I'll keep you in the know; you do your thing too and we'll get that guy back on the ice real soon."

Jellal nodded in agreement and satisfaction while Levy smiled, a bright and happy smile that had Orga willing to walk through fire; it was then he realized how this little lady had secured the heart of Gajeel Redfox, one of the fiercest hockey players to ever skate on the ice.

Their goodbyes were quick, Levy stating she had some major damage control to handle and Orga just reassuring her that with a quick smile and a flip of her hair Gajeel would probably be prostrating himself at her feet in no time. The coach had insisted on letting her use one of his preferred drivers to get her back to Magnolia rather than the train and after much reluctance she finally accepted the offer and was on her way back home.

…

Something didn't quite add up. While it was true she was with her brother, why hadn't she just told him that to begin with? Jellal had been covering for her saying he told her not to tell anyone and going through the motions to keep it all a secret, using the excuse she had been with Cana just didn't sit well with him. Jellal was her brother, why lie about being with him? Gajeel's head was pounding, his thoughts were relentless going from one extreme to the other. Tossing back a few Tylenol and downing a large glass of water he collapsed on his couch with his head in his hands.

Levy had texted him saying she was going straight to his house upon her return to Magnolia. Glancing at the time on his cell, he noted there was a still a good two and a half hours before the next train was due into the city and that was if they were running on time; it was times like this he wished he still had the gym equipment in his apartment. Grunting he stood from the sofa, quickly swapped his casual wear for gym attire and sauntered down to the shared gym in his building. A good workout would help relieve the tension and stress on his body and mind.

Two hours later and covered in sweat Gajeel took the elevator upstairs and tirelessly strolled through his door. His mind was on a hot shower and downing a gallon of water that he didn't even notice Levy sitting on his couch.

…

A cloud of steam erupted from the bathroom as the door opened and out walked Gajeel, a towel strung low on his hips barely covering himself while he worked another towel through his long black hair. She couldn't help but stare, she'd seen the posters and the various photo shoots that glorified his body but to actually see this work art in the flesh was a totally different story. He still hadn't noticed her, or maybe he had and was angry with her. Whatever the reason it didn't defeat the fact she really wanted to trace those water droplets falling down his torso with her tongue.

She couldn't handle this anymore, and she wasn't just referring to the status of her heart, though it clearly couldn't handle much more of the view either, if the man hadn't realized she was there by now then the sound of it going absolutely insane should no doubt alert him. She cleared her throat softly and quickly averted her eyes when his expression locked onto her.

"Levs," she heard his gasp.

Stealing a quick peek Levy noticed he dropped the second towel around his waist to make up for some additional coverage.

"How long have you been here? I wasn't expecting you for a little while longer. Shit." Running a hand through his wet hair he stumbled over his words.

"An hour or so; I knocked but you didn't answer and the door was unlocked so I let myself in, I'm sorry." Levy stammered, a hot blush searing across her face; damn was her boyfriend gorgeous.

Gajeel shook his head, water droplets flinging across the room, "Nah, it's fine. Don't apologize. How'd you get here so fast though?"

Squeezing her eyes shut Levy squeaked, "Canyoupleasegoputsomeclotheson?!"

Quickly realizing he was still standing in his living room sans clothes save a towel, he turned around and went into his bedroom. Levy was positive had the mood and situation been different he probably would have teased her, and any other time she would have been able to fully appreciate the state her boyfriend was in and possibly, against her demure nature, taken full advantage of it as well.

Reappearing a few moments later Gajeel sat next to Levy on the couch, shuffling on the cushion to face her fully. She noticed the marked space between them and hated it, loathed it; she itched to move closer, take his hands, crawl in his lap, anything at all at this point but she didn't blame him for the space, she probably deserved it.

"Let me explain," she started.

"First off, I want to know how you arrived back so quickly. Did Jellal seriously drive you all the way back only to turn around and go back to Crocus? I know he has hockey stuff going on this weekend."

Taking a deep breath and meeting his red eyes Levy spoke, "His coach sent me back with one of his drivers. I tried to decline, but it was no use so they sent me in what they claimed was his least flashy car. It was still flashy enough."

Gajeel blinked, " Coach Orga? You were at the stadium? Levy, what I don't understand is why you felt the need to lie to me about who you were with. It was your brother, I know the relationship between the two of you now so what's the big deal? And don't give the shit that he said to not tell anyone."

Levy fought back the tears threatening to escape, "I'm sorry, I should have just told you. I really had nothing to hide, except he is helping me with a bit of a surprise for you, can't you just trust me?"

Gajeel chuckled and shook his head, "Yer asking me to trust ya when ya just lied to me about bein' with yer brother?"

Levy swallowed, realizing how right he was. She should have just told him to begin with, he wouldn't have questioned the why as to being with her brother. She didn't blame him for not being fully trusting with her, she'd earned that and now she had dug herself a hole despite the whole cause being for him.

Gajeel smiled and took one of her hands lying in her lap, Levy stared down at their entwined hands; a tear escaping and running down her cheek. Suddenly she found herself enveloped in her boyfriend's strong arms and cradled against his chest. Just as quickly, she wrapped her arms around him and released her pent up tears, drenching his shirt.

"Levs. Levy, look at me." Gajeel gently pushed her away from his chest and cradled her head in his large hands, stroking her temples this his thumbs. "I trust you; with all of my being. You made a stupid mistake, but that's what life's about; makin' mistakes. I should know, I've got a wrap sheet of 'em! It's how you learn from 'em is what really counts. I trusted you before and, I trust you now. You can keep your little surprise, and fill me in when yer ready."

"I don't deserve you." Levy blubbered.

"HA! I'm the one that doesn't deserve you, darlin. Now, it's late and I would really like it if you stayed. Will you?"

Levy blushed, "I don't have anything with me to sleep in."

Gajeel nibbled at her ear as one hand wrapped around her waist and the other traced patterns on her side, "I'm sure you'd be fine with one of my shirts. And, I don't particularly plan on sleeping.." he trailed off, kissing down her neck.

Her breath hitched and she gasped as he sucked at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, "Me neither."

HELLO! Here's a new update for you! I hope you enjoy and many apologies it took so long...the next update will not take that long, promise. Anyway, leave me a review! Thanks for sticking with me!