Catching a Cold: A Fairy Tail FanFiction(Gale, ElfGreen, Gruvia, Nalu)

The Winter Festival

~Levy's POV~

This year's winter festival is probably the best one yet! All the guilds in Magnolia are here: Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and of course, Fairy Tail! The festival has been open since noon today, and for most of it until now I spent my time hanging out with Jet, Droy, Lucy, and Juvia. The sun has finished setting, and a wonderful twilight has fallen over Magnolia, making all the lights twinkle around the city. Now I sit on a park bench next to a food stand, drinking a deliciously warm cup of hot cocoa.

Its so cold out here, I think to myself as I drink the warm cocoa. I look around me and see Natsu and Lucy on the Ferris Wheel with Happy, Grey and Juvia walking awkwardly towards a snow cone stand (in the middle of winter!), and Evergreen with Elfman's arm around her. As I watch the happy couple Evergreen's eyes catch mine. Oh shoot, she saw me!  Evergreen turns to Elfman and smacks his arm away. He yells at her and she yells back, red in the face. She turns away and hugs her arms around her bare shoulders. Aren't any of them cold?  I think to myself as I watch them. Natsu is full of fire and his arm's around Lucy, so she's probably very warm. Grey is letting Juvia wear the scarf she made for him, so she's got to be warm, both from the scarf and the furious blush on her face. Elfman has his arm around Evergreen again, and she isn't protesting at all as she leans into his big, muscular chest. All I have on is some blue jeans, a long sleeved violet shirt, and a green vest. I obviously didn't wear enough because its starting to snow. I hold on to my hot cocoa while its still hot and shiver in hopes of getting warmer.

The sounds of the city are make me feel warm and happy,  but I realize why I'm still cold and shivering. There's no one here to warm me up. If only...

~Gajeels POV~

"Ah! I'm stuffed!" With a smile I look over at Lily, who looks like he feels the same. The Festival has so many food stands, and its all for free! This year, the townsfolk aren't just celebrating winter, but they're celebrating the guilds for all they've done for them. So what if Fairy Tail has burnt down a few buildings, its all for the greater good! Lily and I have hit every stand around town, eating things like turkey legs to fried ice cream. Our last stop was a hot cocoa stand that also sells pastries. After finishing my muffin, I look around and see the Shrimp all alone on a bench.

"Gajeel, look. It appears to be snowing," Lily says. I look up and sure enough, it is. The town cheers with joy and kids run everywhere to get some of it. I see Wendy running around the crowd so she won't get caught by Romeo. Bisca and Alzak are holding up Asuka so she can eat the snow flakes while they fall. I turn back to the bench and see Shrimp shivering. Why isn't she wearing anything warm? She's gonna freeze! Hesitantly I walk over to the bench and sit down.

I look over at her from my end of the bench. Her eyes are closed and her head is bent down over a hot cup of hot chocolate. She's breathing the steam in through her nose and breathing out through her mouth, like she's in a trance or she's meditating. Obviously the Shrimp didn't feel or hear me sit down on the bench because she hasn't stopped the steam-breathing the entire two minutes I've been sitting here. I decide to let her finish whatever the hell it is that she's doing, and turn to Lily, who's still looking up at the snow a few feet away.

"Gajeel," Lily says with a yawn. "I think I'm going to head home for the night." He looks from me to the Shrimp a few times before sarcastically adding, "I trust you won't do anything stupid."

Dumb cat!

Startled, the Shrimp yelps, a big red blush on her face.

"H-How long have y-you guys been t-there?!??!" At this point, the Shrimp is at the other end of the bench completely, with a flushed face and blue lips. She looks between Lily and I a few times before the cat answers her.

"We've only just gotten here. I've decided to turn in for the night, but if you don't mind, I'm sure Gajeel would love to spend a little more of this lovely night with you," he says with a smirk in my direction.

"O-Oh. Okay," Shrimp looks relieved, scared, sad, and happy all at the same time as she says this. She gets up from the bench to hug and say goodbye to Lily as I sit on the bench and look around. It really is lovely outside tonight. Lovely  isn't the word I would use, but it does describe my surroundings quite well.

The street is lined with bare trees wrapped in golden Christmas lights, thick snow covering them all. The lights illuminate the snow, casting a golden white glow around everyone and everything here. Everyone is rosy cheeked from the drop in temperature, and people are starting to bundle up and leave.

I feel a small thump as the Shrimp sits down next to me, much closer than before. I put my arm on the back of the bench, for comfort reasons only, and look over at her. She looks back with a blue lipped smile and leans against the back of the bench, not noticing my arm. It scares her when she feels it, of course, and she tenses up and leans forward.

"Y-You're really warm," Shrimp says as she looks into her hot cocoa. I could tell she was cold before, but with the brighter lights and a closer look, she's not looking to hot, no pun intended.

"And you're really cold," I say as I pull her into my side. I mean nothing by it, just a friendly gesture of warming her up, but she tenses up at my touch anyways.

"Something wrong, Shrimp?"

"Why do you call me that!" She gasps, exasperated. Her cheeks are so red I can't tell if it's a blush from the cold or from my arm. "And there's nothing wrong, but you could have given me some warning."

She's so small, her face is practically in my armpit. If she were to just put her arms around me, this would be much easier and comfortable, and she wouldn't be getting a face full of pit.

"You cold? You look cold. Are you comfortable? You don't look comfortable." I'm not too comfortable myself, for she's just this rock beside me, shivering.

"Maybe we should go inside or something," she says standing up, hugging her arms around her. "Maybe my place?"

I'm startled by her proposal, but stand up and put my arm around her again as my answer. She's not tense against me as we make our way to Fairy Hills.