A/N: Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me.

Rated M...well, a light M. Okay, maybe not with Gajeel's potty mouth and his sexual advances toward blue-haired women.

Anyway, on with it!

Small

Levy McGarden sat at the end of the bar with a book in her hands, red-framed glasses resting gently at the bridge of her small nose. Her eyes traveled over the familiar words plastered up on the stark white pages. She must have read the same paragraph about a dozen times now, and it was getting increasingly difficult to concentrate with how rowdy the entire guild hall was becoming, not to mention Cana's noisy drinking at her side.

The woman in question elbowed her shoulder, her dark brows wiggling in suggestion that had Levy knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"So, how's your boyfriend, Levy?" Cana drawled, smirking at the blue-haired girl. It was early in the afternoon, and she was already on her second barrel of alcohol. The Fairy Tail drunk, most people called her. It didn't look like it bothered Cana at all, though. In fact, she seemed to take great pride in the title, doubling her efforts to become the biggest in Magnolia.

Levy blushed, her hazel eyes doing a quick scan of the room for her two Shadow Gear partners. "Keep it down, Cana."

"Oh, what? Everyone already knows you and Gajeel are an item now. No need to hide it anymore," the brunette stated before downing a couple more gulps of her booze.

"Yeah, but I don't want to have Jet and Droy be reminded of that," Levy reasoned, frowning. "They're already depressed about it, I don't want them to end up hating me, as well."

"Sour pusses," Cana teased.

It was no secret to Fairy Tail that both Jet and Droy harbored intense crushes on Levy, and it was also no secret that Levy didn't reciprocate their feelings. Even so, they had managed a good and solid friendship between the three of them. But with the recent news of Levy and Gajeel getting together, both of her partners became MIA. She didn't want to worry about the future of her Shadow Gear team, but it was getting really difficult when she hadn't even seen or heard from the two of them in almost a week.

Levy knew that their pride was hurt, and that she was being avoided. The least she could do was give them the time they needed to work their own feelings out. "They just..." Levy trailed, "need time to get used to it, I guess."

"Sour pusses," Cana repeated. "I think it's cute though. The big, tough dragon slayer and the cute little bookworm."

Cute little bookworm...

Levy sighed.

"Where is your dark and sexy man anyway?"

Levy whipped her head to face her. "Cana, are you drunk?"

"Not nearly enough," Cana replied in dismay, eyeing the barrel sitting at her feet. "I think Mirajane and Elfman are diluting the booze with water again."

Levy's eyes were reluctantly drawn to the black scantily clad bikini top that Cana wore, immediately noticing the impressive cleavage that the older woman was blessed with. It was her own sick glutton for punishment that made her take note of her own chest, modestly covered and tucked away.

Levy frowned, going back to her book with a sadness that hadn't been there moments before. She was never one to be making a mental list of her shortcomings, but they were hard to ignore when they became so blatantly obvious whenever she stood next to Cana, Lucy, or any of the other women in the guild. And it certainly didn't help when they all wore revealing clothing, not like it was any of their fault, though. They had a right to wear whatever they wanted, no matter how much it stabbed her pride.

Levy didn't want to admit it, but she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable in their presence, especially since she was in a relationship with, to which Cana rightly pointed out, a man. She wasn't naive. She knew Gajeel was a man. A man with certain wants that she wasn't sure she would be able to fulfill. His eye would surely wander, right? There were a lot of attractive women in Fairy Tail, and Levy wasn't one of them. People didn't call her 'beautiful' or 'sexy'. They called her 'cute', 'adorable', and 'pretty'. They were the names you gave little girls, and it hurt.

What exactly does Gajeel see in me, anyway?

"Hey, shrimp," the object of her thoughts greeted her as he walked by.

That did it.

Levy slammed her book closed and dropped it on the bar table, her face redding with anger. How many times did she have to tell him not to call her that? She knew Gajeel was a bit thick in the head, but surly he must know how that name made her feel? Okay, she was small, she got the stupid joke, now could they all just ignore that fact and move on with their lives? It wasn't that hard, was it?

She slipped off the stool and glared at her boyfriend, the fury in her building at their obvious height difference. "Just...shut up, you stupid jerk!"

Conversations surrounding the two stopped, silence following after her angry outburst. All attention turned to the both of them.

Gajeel's red eyes widen, confused.

Embarrassed, Levy spun around and stomped out of the guild hall.

"What the fuck?" He glanced at Cana, who shrugged her shoulders. She looked just as perplexed as he did.

\

/

\

It was late in the afternoon before Levy decided to return to her apartment at Fairy Hills. She was thankful that she didn't run into any of her guild mates during her angry stomp around town. She knew the way she reacted was uncalled for, but she didn't feel like apologizing just yet, not when her own insecurities were still so fresh in her mind; not when Gajeel was still so thick-headed and oblivious to her feelings.

She didn't expect her newly found boyfriend to be standing in the middle of her apartment when she opened the door. His back was facing her as he stared at the walls and walls of books she acquired during her years of traveling on missions with Jet and Droy.

She knew he heard her enter despite not giving her the acknowledgement that told her he did. His hearing ability was uncanny and unrivaled from everyone in the guild, perhaps the entire world, with the exception being Natsu and the other dragon slayers, of course. And then there was his dragon sensitive nose; he probably smelled her coming from a mile away.

"How did you get in my apartment?" Levy asked as she closed the door. She couldn't remember ever telling Gajeel which room was hers, and this was the first time he had been inside her home.

"You have a lot of books," he commented absentmindedly.

"Gajeel," she warned.

"Easy," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I walked in."

"The door was locked," Levy glared. "How did you get in?"

He turned toward her, smirking. He looked so devilishly attractive, she thought, and it was a real shame his ego was as big as his hair was dark. "You forget that I'm the master of iron, baby." He held up his right hand, his index finger molding into the shape of her apartment key.

"Just...go away, Gajeel." She really wasn't in the mood for any company, especially his.

"What the hell is your problem, shrimp?"

Anger coursed through Levy's blood, her teeth clenching. There it was again, that damn nickname he seemed to grow so fond of. "I'm not a damn shrimp, so stop...fucking...calling me that."

Gajeel was shocked. He stared, mouth open, at her. Levy didn't swear, not unless she was beyond the level of angry. The dragon slayer crossed his arms and frowned. "What's this really about?"

It was about a lot of things, she realized, and when she looked back at Gajeel, she was painfully reminded of that. He easily towered over her, iron studs adorned along his arms and face, giving him the rugged look that Levy was so strangely attracted to. Ropes of muscle stretched under his tanned skin from years of training and fighting as a powerful mage, as the iron dragon slayer. In her eyes, he was the epitome of strength.

And Levy...well, she was, as Cana put it so delicately, a bookworm. She didn't have the desire to get stronger, didn't like fighting. And no matter how many times Gajeel told her, she knew she wouldn't get any bigger than she was now.

He would surely get bored of me.

"I don't think we should be together anymore, Gajeel." The words left her mouth before she could take them back. Even though she didn't want to say it, they held a small amount of truth to them. They were complete opposites; night and day, black and white. She loved reading, while his passion was fighting. It was going to happen sooner or later, right? Might as well end it before her heart got too involved with him.

But the overwhelming tightness in her chest and the burning sting in her eyes told her that it was already too late for that.

"The fuck we shouldn't," came his harsh reply.

"Please, Gajeel." She was adamant with her choice. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"Levy." A chill ran down the length of her spine at the sound of her name. He rarely addressed her by her first name, and it called to her attention immediately. "No."

"No?" Levy blinked once. She was confused. She believed he would get angry, she believed that he would break a few chairs during a rant and leave in a fit of rage. It was expected, right? Never did she think that he would outright refuse it.

"Give me one reason why."

Levy shook her head, and sighed. "I don't know. I just...can't help but feel inadequate when you make it so obvious about what I am...or how small I am." In a vulgar attempt to make him understand her emotional plight, Levy roughly cupped her chest with her hands.

The light seemed to come on in Gajeel's head. "Is that what this is about?" he asked with a sharp grimace. "You think I give two tits about how big your chest is?"

Levy glared at his accidental pun. As soon as Gajeel realized what he said, he laughed.

"This isn't funny," Levy warned.

"Of course it is!" he exclaimed. "Everything about this is fucking hilarious. I can't believe you're upset over something so dumb."

"It's not dumb!" Levy argued. "And it's not just that, either. We're really different, Gajeel, and it wouldn't work between us."

"You've got to be kidding me," he said. "For all the smart you have in that blue head of yours, I'm surprised at how stupid you're sounding right now."

"You would get bored of me." It hurt her to say it, but she believed it. "I am not what you want."

"Cut it out with all this insecure bullshit. You don't know crap about what I want." Gajeel snapped, obviously offended that she would purpose such a thing about him. "I didn't fall in love with you just so I could get a private show of your whining."

"You kn-..." Levy stopped, the gears in her head turning at his unexpected confession. She raised her eyes to Gajeel's face, the words still ringing in her ears. "What did you say?"

"What?" Gajeel queered.

Levy blinked. "You love me?"

He mulled over what he just said, his lips tightening into a prominent frown. "Fuck. Shit, damn."

"Gajeel?"

The man let out a huge sigh, feeling his walls fall against her open face. She always had a way slipping past his defenses, and what amused him the most was that her biggest insecurity is what primarily drew him to her in the first place. "I don't know how you did it, but you did," he confessed. "And it annoys the shit out of me."

Levy smiled, the well of tears in her eyes gathering for a completely different reason.

"You're small, I get that," he stated. "But you forget that's what I like about you, and you also forget that you don't have to be strong, because I'll be that for you. You get it? You're the brains, and I'm the brawn, and I'm not the first to say that both of those qualities make a pretty decent team. We find, you solve, and I conquer. I'm the one that protects you, because I'm pretty convinced that those two dumbasses that follow you around like lost little puppies don't have what it takes to do that."

"Gajeel..." Levy was moved by his speech. That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to her, and the fact that it was him saying this made it all the more memorable to her.

Gajeel grinned. "And besides, I'm more of a leg man anyway," he confessed, drawing himself closer to her. "And the way you taunt me in those short dresses drives me crazy."

His tone was laced with a seductiveness that had Levy's face burning. She glanced down at the simple yellow dress she wore, noticing that it stopped right at mid thigh and the smooth toned expanse of her legs following after. He was right, she mused, it was a bit revealing and she did have pretty fantastic legs, and the fact that he liked them had her confidence soaring.

Gajeel reached for her head, slipping the yellow bandana from her unruly blue locks. It was casually flicked to the floor. He commanded her attention with a simple demand of her name.

Hazel met red, and she saw him close in for a kiss.

"You're stuck with me, you know," she warned just before their lips touched.

Gajeel grinned. "Gihihi, you're stuck with me, shrimp," he countered.

She once viewed that nickname as a sort of insult to her height, a joke by the cruel fate that she had to be small, but she was surprised to find herself smiling at it. It was his word of endearment, and she finally realized that. "Was this our first fight?"

"It sure as hell won't be the last," Gajeel quipped.

She laughed, taking the locks of dark hair that managed to fall over his shoulders into her hands. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it when I said I wanted to break up."

"I know."

His mouth slanted over hers, crushing her body against his in a mark of dominance that had Levy responding with just as much enthusiasm. She gently tugged at his hair, twirling the bands of black around her fingers. She didn't want to be outdone, but she was having trouble keeping up as her brain stumbled and tripped over his skilled tongue. He pulled and sucked at her mouth, bringing her bottom lip in between his teeth that made Levy believe her insides were combusting.

They hadn't been a couple for long. Eight days to be exact, and this was the first time they had gotten this close, this far, this fast. Levy's head was reeling at the onslaught of emotions that crashed and burned from inside herself, and it had her feeling strangely alive.

His hands, hard and firm, gripped at her thighs, hoisting her up and crushing her against the wall of books behind them. She was faintly aware that several of them fell from their spots on the shelf, but she was too wrapped up with the sexy man against her to really care.

Levy breathed, reluctantly pulling away from his mouth. She tried to gain her bearings, along with her breath, but Gajeel wasn't having any of that. Instead, he instructed for her to wrap her legs around him before he made work back on her mouth.

Levy sighed against his lips.

Gajeel was right.

They definitely made a great team.

TBC