~Levy~
A knock on the door drew my attention away from the book I had been reading, and I didn't have to check it to know who it was. "Come in!" I shouted, smiling when Cana's voice rang throughout the house.
"I picked up the brats!" She called. Since we spent most evenings at each other's homes, we took turn picking the kids up from school. Karyn, Cana's daughter, was only two years older than Waylen, and the two of them got along really well. Maybe I'll ask if she knows what's been bothering Waylen.
"Welcome home," I smiled as Waylen entered the living room.
"Hey," he mumbled, going straight up the stairs to his bedroom. I frowned after him, sighing.
"Don't worry about Waylen," Karyn told me, "I'll go get him." She ran up the stairs, her dirty-blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders as she went.
"I know that look," Cana chuckled, sitting next to me on the sofa. "What's wrong, Blue?"
"Something has been bothering Waylen, and I can't get him to talk to me. I know that he's getting older, so he's going to stop telling everything that's going on in his life, but I'm really worried about this. He's even been trying to convince me to homeschool him."
"He's a hybrid," Cana said, rubbing my arm, "so it's going to be hard. Karyn got made fun of a lot towards the beginning of the year-until she beat the shit of those little assholes."
I rolled my eyes, laughing at how proud she sounded. "Waylen is too sweet-tempered to do that. He's so shy, and it worries me. What if he is getting picked on? What if it's something worse?"
"Have Gajeel talk to him," Cana suggested. "Maybe he can get him to talk."
"Maybe," I sighed.
"Levy, we're back," Gajeel called as he opened the door.
"Laxus!" Cana squealed, throwing her arms around her husband's neck and kissing him deeply.
"Shall we follow their lead?" Gajeel smirked, pulling me into his arms.
"Oh, shut up," I giggled, kissing him on the cheek. "How did it go?"
"Same as usual," he shrugged. "The demons went down pretty easily, so nothing to worry about."
"That's good," Cana smirked, "because you and Laxus get to make dinner tonight."
"I will. If I let him help, he'll burn the damned house down," Gajeel grumbled, shooting his friend a glare.
"Hey," Laxus snapped, "I'm not that bad."
"Yes, you are," Cana snorted.
"My own wife, turning against me," he sighed, shaking his head.
Rolling his eyes, Gajeel disappeared into the kitchen. As Cana laughed, I followed him, hoping to talk to him about Waylen.
"I can get this, Shrimp, it's no big deal," he told me as I grabbed a skillet.
"I know," I shrugged, "but I wanted to talk to you about something."
"What?"
"It's Waylen," I began.
"Is he alright?"
"He's fine. At least, I think he's fine." I sighed, frustrated. "I don't know, that's what I wanted to talk about. Something has been bothering him for a while now, and he won't talk to me about it. He keeps trying to get me to homeschool him, and he gets really dejected when I refuse. When I ask him why, he shrugs it off like it's nothing, but I know it is. I was thinking, since I can't get him to talk to meabout it, maybe he'd talk to you."
He nodded. "I'll talk to him tonight. But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. He's a kid, so it might just be puberty or something."
"How long ago was it that you were a kid?" I asked, frowning.
"Good point," he muttered. "I'll talk to him."
"Thank you," I smiled, kissing him.
We finished dinner and ate with the others, talking and laughing as we always did. I noticed that Waylen seemed more upbeat now that Karyn was with him, but he still seemed upset. It was hard to focus on anything else.
"See you tomorrow, Waylen," Karyn said, hugging him. "Have a good night."
"Yeah," he told her. Once they were gone, he mumbled something about homework and returned to his bedroom.
~Gajeel~
After the others left and Waylen returned to his room, Levy motioned for me to follow him. I could sense her distraction all night, and I had noticed, too, that there seemed to be something bothering him.
"Hey, pipsqueak," I said, knocking on his door before going inside. "Mind if I come in?"
"Sure," he said, closing a book he had been reading.
"Your mom wanted me to talk to you," I told him.
As soon as I said that, his face fell and he looked down. "I told her I was fine."
"That's what I told her, too," I nodded, "but she's worried."
"She shouldn't be."
"Then tell me what's buggin' ya, kiddo," I said, sitting beside him on the bed.
"Nothing."
"Waylen-"
"It's just a little bit of teasing, that's all," he told me. "It's nothing major. I can handle it."
"You sure?" I asked, not liking the thought of him being teased.
"I'm sure," he nodded. "Can you tell mom, please? Really, I'm alright."
Sighing, I ruffled his hair. "If you say so, pipsqueak. Now, get some sleep."
"Good night, dad," he grinned.
"Night." He's still holding back something, I thought to myself as I returned to Levy. She took the news that he was being teased about as well as I thought she would.
"Levy, wait!" I said, holding her back as she tried to rush to Waylen's room.
"I'm going to get the names of those little brats, and then I'm going to-"
"You're going to lay your sexy ass down in bed beside me, and let Waylen sleep," I informed her, pulling her firmly against my side as I laid down and threw the blanket over us. "He'll just hold back more if you go demanding more information. If he says it's not that bad, then we need to trust him.
"I can't just let him get teased!" She protested, furious.
"If you go making a big deal out of it, he'll just get teased more," I said.
She sighed. "I hate this."
"What?"
"Not being able to do anything," she said. "I spent so many years feeling helpless when I was being hunted down, so the thought of Waylen going through even a fraction of that makes me want to tear my damned hair out."
"It'll be alright, Shrimp," I promised. "He's your son, remember? So he'll be just fine."
"You're right," she sighed, kissing my jaw. "I love you, Gajeel."
"I love you, too, Shrimp," I chuckled.
