Angel Rose

Chapter 15

"Welcome back, boss. What took you so long?" Bickslow spoke to the man standing behind me. One guess. Even with the distance between us, I could smell the cloud of perfume cloaking him. He could have at least showered the worst of it off. Being gone an extra two days gave him plenty of time for a quick rinse. Don't get jealous, Angel. It's not like you have any claim over him.

"Alright," I pushed myself away from the table and stood, "I'm going home for some lunch. I promised Lily I'd make him some kiwi salad for watching the egg. Ever, let me know when you want to go on a job again. Maybe next time we won't be watching over nobles."

"I will, Angel. And thanks for the invite. I'll stop by later."

"Bye guys." With that, I left the guild hall.

"Angel! It's hatching!" Pantherlily shouted. I dropped the knife on the counter and rushed to my bedroom to see the first piece of the egg fall away. I'm so glad I was here for this. I waited patiently for the little exceed to escape its egg, cooing when its pale green eyes landed on me.

"Hi there, little one. Welcome to the world. Are you hungry?" The small, lavender furred exceed sprouted her wings long enough to fly to me and drop into my lap, nuzzling against my stomach.

"She's strong. Maybe strong enough to transform like I do when she's older."

"You think so?" The little exceed began to purr as I scratched behind her ears.

"What will you name her?"

"I think... Tigerlily should be her name. Tiger for short."

"Tigerlily!" She shouted. I chuckled, collecting her in my arms as I stood up.

"Come on, Lily. I'm almost finished with the kiwi salad. After we eat, we'll go to the guild hall and introduce Tiger to everyone."

"Angel, we didn't expect you back so soon. Is everything alright?" Lucy asked as I walked into the guild hall.

"Angel's exceed hatched." Pantherlily said as he flew over my head to Gajeel.

"Lily!"

"Tigerlily!" I blushed slightly when Gajeel raised his studded eyebrow at me.

"I thought it suited her. Don't look at me with that tone, Gajeel. Do you want to meet her or not?"

"Meet who? Did you make a new friend?" Mirajane asked, popping up beside me.

"Jesus, Mira! Don't do that! I've got a kitten here for Mavis' sake." I readjusted Tigerlily in my arms, turning her so she could see everyone that began to crowd around us. "Everybody, this is Tigerlily."

"Can't believe you ripped off my cat's name." Gajeel muttered.

"She's basically his cousin now. I think it's cute." Lucy defended me.

"I agree. And she's so cute." Levy spoke up. I caught Gajeel side eyeing Levy and smirked at him.

"Lily thinks when she's older she might be able to transform like him. Oh, and she likes kiwis, too."

"Can I hold her?" Erza asked out of the blue, holding her arms out.

"Tigerlily!" Tiger sprouted her wings and flew over to Erza's outstretched arms, snuggling into her armor-plated chest.

"She's pretty happy about her name." Wendy commented.

"She certainly is. Angel, we need to have a conversation. You never told Lucy and I how your dance with Laxus went." Evergreen said as she joined us. I knew before I looked at her, that Mira's eyes were locked on me like a lioness to her prey. Oh, fuck me.

"Uh... I think I hear Natsu and Gray fighting. I'm gonna go join them. Bye!" I made to run, only to nearly be clotheslined by Gajeel. How the hell did he get behind me?

"You dance with bolt-face? I thought it was a girls' only job." He demanded.

"Mira, can we get some privacy? Everyone's eavesdropping." I whispered, casting my eyes over our nosy guildmates.

"Of course. Follow me."

"Erza, treat Tigerlily as reverently as you would strawberry cake." I called as my nosey brother and friends herded me behind Mira.

"You have my word!"

"That sounds so romantic." Lucy and levy swooned.

"I didn't know he had it in him." Evergreen commented.

"It would have been if not for what he said before I walked off. And I quote: 'Every man in here is watching you like a Vulcan. At least you being seen with me keeps them at bay.' I had to walk away before I made another spectacle of myself."

"And what was your rush to leave when Laxus got back?" Evergreen demanded.

"Oh, come on. You were right beside him. You mean to tell me you couldn't smell the cloud of perfume he was walking around in? I could smell it across the guild hall. That close I'm sure she was gonna barf." Gajeel gruffly pointed out. Four sharp sets of eyes turned on me so quickly that I felt nearly cut by them.

"Don't look at me like that, damn it. That perfume was noxious."

"And it had nothing to do with knowing he'd gone to another woman after finally showing interest in you? You did say you've had a crush on him since you first saw him."

"You promised never to speak of that, Heartfilia." I made to jump at Lucy when Mira in her Sitri form caught me and pushed me down.

"Sit."

"And start talking. You like Bolt-face?" Gajeel snapped.

"Well thanks to Lucy's big mouth I can't deny it. Yeah, I like him. But that doesn't mean he can talk to me the way he did."

"No, it doesn't. I've got half a mind to go kick his ass for it, too. But smelling that scent on him probably hurt." I refused to answer, and that was apparently answer enough since Gajeel punched the wall.

"Gajeel, calm down. We're here for Angel, not you." Levy admonished.

"He hurt my little sister."

"Gajeel, he doesn't know that. And you're not gonna fight him about it, either. I don't want him to know. None of you better tell him, either. It's my business."

"But, Angel-"

"No, Ever. If one of you tells him he'll get all weird. The last thing I want is for him to feel obligate to deal with my feelings."

"I don't like this. I hate secrets." Lucy commented.

"Lucy, Ever, Levy, Mira, Gajeel, this doesn't leave this room. Mavis forbid Master or Natsu find out. They'll shout I from the rooftops."

"Does this mean I can't set you two up? My Langel ship is deal before it even hits the water." Mira had tears in her eyes when I looked at her.

"Oh no, you're not gonna change my mind with tears. I mean it, Mira. No one tells him or anyone else. No one outside this room can know."