Bands of Iron [Gale] {The FT Love Chronicles; Book 2}

Chapter Eight

*Gajeel*

Gajeel stared at Levy's closed door, shocked. The shrimp just hit me! What the hell did I do?! She was the one calling me weak, and I get smacked for it!

He stood and pounded on Levy's door. “Hey! What the hell are you so mad about?” Silence. Growling angrily, he grabbed the doorknob, trying to open it. When he met the resistance of a lock, he returned to pounding his fist against the wood. “What don't I get? One second you're calling me weak, and the next you're hitting me and running away.” Still, there was no answer.

“That's it! Open the damned door, or I'm knocking it down!” When she still ignored him, Gajeel pulled his arm back, preparing to bust through the damned thing. She's going to talk to me—whether she likes it or not!

“You don't have to threaten me,” Levy snapped, opening the door.

“Well?” Gajeel asked, crossing his arms and staring down at her. “Why are you so mad all of a sudden?”

“You just don't understand anything.” Sighing, Levy took a seat on her sofa.

Gajeel could feel his patience wearing thin. “Then explain it to me. You were calling me weak, so I got annoyed. Then, you just hit me and ran off for no reason!”

“I wasn't calling you weak!”

“Then why would you be worried about me? You know that I can handle myself. Someone that weak wouldn't have beaten me.”

“I wasn't worried about you because I thought you were weak,” Levy mumbled, sighing again.

“What other reason would there be to worry about me?” He asked, still angry because she wasn't making any sense.

“Because I care about you, Gajeel!” Levy exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air before standing to frown at him. “Every time you fight I worry about you! It's because I don't like seeing someone I care for so much getting hurt!” When she finished speaking, she stared down at the floor, blushing.

Gajeel felt that annoying heat in his face, too, as he looked at her in silence. Damn it all! How stupid can I get?! That's exactly how I feel when I think about her fighting, so of course she would feel the same worry that I do. He growled in frustration before sighing. “Sorry for being such an idiot. I should have known that. And about last night—sorry about that, too.”

“Nn,” she said, shaking her head as she finally looked at him with those big brown eyes of hers, “I'm sorry for bringing it up. Things were just fine before, and I've just caused trouble for you by forcing you to talk about.”

He wanted to kick himself at her words. “Don't apologize.” He tsked, clearing his throat. “You shouldn't be sorry. I'm just really bad at this.”

“What is this, Gajeel?” She asked. “After I recovered, and we... well, I thought things would be a little different. If I'd known we'd just fight more, I wouldn't have said anything.”

Her sad expression pained him more than the injuries he had received from his attacker. No wonder she'd rather hang out with that stalker, Ryuu. I've been hurting her more than Himiko ever did.

“You never did answer me last night,” Levy finally said, breaking another long silence.

“Ye--” A knock at the door cut him off.

“Oh no!” Levy cried in a hushed voice. “You have to hide! You aren't supposed to be here!” She shoved him into her bedroom, slamming the door behind him. “Stay in there until I say it's alright to come out!” She commanded.