Beats of Love

Chapter 4

One week later the Slayers were moved in to the apartments at Fairy Tail headquarters. Natsu had been very enthusiastic about the entire ordeal and made sure that his apartment was right next to Lucy's. She was very excited to have new neighbors and coworkers and had helped them move in throughout the week along with Juvia. Levy and Erza however, were more reluctant.

"It's not that I don't like them," Levy said, looking up at Lucy from the book she had been reading. "I just have other things I'd rather do..." She looked away. "Uh-huh," Lucy said with a smirk. "I think you're embarrassed about how you overreacted when you first met them."

Levy flushed red and stuck her face back into her book. There was a knock at the door. "Hey, blondie, you home?" They voice called from the hallway. Lucy opened it to reveal Gajeel. "Natsu tried to cook again..," he began.

Lucy shook her head and walked out the door to help, already knowing that Natsu burned just about everything when he tried to cook, including himself.

This left Levy alone with Gajeel, whom she was still quite wary of. He stood in the doorway awkwardly, knowing that he should say something. He looked to Levy who was trying to ignore him, but kept peeking at him from over the top of her book.

"Gihi. Enjoying the view, shrimp?" He smirked when he caught her looking at him. She blushed and turned back to her book, making sure not to peek at him this time. Gajeel walked into the room and sat down across from her in a green chair. "You're not still mad that I busted your drums, are you?" He asked.

Levy answered by turning the page of her book quite violently.

He sighed. "Look, it was an accident. So unless you wanna have a glaring match every time we see each other, get over it." And with that he stood and left the room.

Levy looked after him, slightly shocked. He didn't seem like the type who would try to apologize, what with his plethora of piercings and almost constant glare. And yet, he had. Well, at least, Levy thought that was apology. But, she thought, I think that's as close as I'm getting to one. Maybe Lucy's right...

She stood up from her place on Lucy's couch and headed toward Natsu's apartment. She knocked on the slightly ajar door as she entered. "Hello?"

"Come on in, Levy," she heard Lucy call. "I'm just about done here." She walked into the kitchen to find Natsu seated on the counter-top while Lucy wrapped a bandage around his left hand. There was what looked to be the remains of charred pasta in a pot on the stove.

"You burned pasta?" Levy asked, slightly disbelieving that it was possible.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah," he chuckled. "Maybe it's time to give up on cooking."

"You can come eat with us," Lucy offered. "I just finished making some lasagna."

"You wouldn't want to do that," a voice said from the doorway. "He eats more than a starving pig."

"Lay off, Gray!" Natsu glared at his friend.

Gray walked in and took one look at the burned pot on the stove before shaking his head. "Didn't I tell you to stop cooking a long time ago? Idiot."

"Hey! It's not that bad, I didn't even need the fire extinguisher!"

"Is that why you've got Lucy playing doctor for you?"

"There!" Lucy said, interrupting before Natsu could respond. "All done. Now do you guys want some food?"

"Yes! Thanks, Luce." Natsu said, hopping down from the counter.

"You too, Gray, I've got plenty."

"Sure. Thanks." He nodded and followed Natsu to Lucy's apartment.

"You coming, Levy?" Lucy asked, noticing that her friend was lingering in the doorway.

"No thanks," she said, shaking her head. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk."

"Alright. Goodnight, then."

"Night." Levy waved and walked to the elevator.

Levy decided to stroll through the nearby park, one of her favorite places in the city. She wandered aimlessly through the park, humming one of their band's new songs to herself. She looked up at the stars, lost in thought. Suddenly, she stumbled into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't really looking where I was going...." She stopped as she noticed who she had bumped into.

Gajeel chuckled and crossed his muscular arms across his chest. "Look who's running into who now, gihi."