AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OK OK OK OK OK SO IT HAS BEEN 3 YEARS SINCE MY LAST UPDATE AND DJYUIFFTEJIUENFKJFN I AM LITERALLY THE WORST I'M SO SORRY. T-T To those who have stuck around this long: I appreciate you more than I can ever put into words. Thank you so much for everything you do--every support message, every chapter like/comment, every little word of encouragement or kindness. I love you, Fairies. Thank you. And happy reading. <3

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I took a deep breath, trying to talk myself out of it even as my knuckles knocked gently against Levy's apartment door. She looked startled when she answered it, but I didn't give her time to collect herself and possibly slam the door in my face before I pushed passed her and stood awkwardly in her living room.

"I was getting ready to head out to do some shopping," Levy said, looking almost just as awkward as I felt. Indeed, she had her shoes on already, and her car keys were in her hand.

"I'll be quick then," I said, trying to figure out how to voice all of the thoughts in my head aloud. "I meant what I said last night."

"Gajeel—"

"Hear me out," I interrupted. "I know it's stupid, but I do mean it. So, let me prove it to ya. Go out with me t'morrow night. I'll convince Mira ta give ya the night off, an' Rogue an' Sting already agreed to watch the lass while we're out. Just dinner. Tha's all I'm askin' for."

She was quiet a moment, frowning down at her hands as she thought. Finally, she looked up at me and nodded. "Okay."

"Really?" I asked, a bit dumbfounded that she had actually agreed.

"If we leave around 6, that will give me time to get Kaia's dinner fixed before we go," she said.

I chuckled. Even when planning a date, her first thought was of Kaia. Tha's what I like about her, though. "Sting was already plannin' on orderin' pizza. So don' worry so much."

She smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear in embarrassment. "I can't help it. I always worry."

Before I could stop myself, I patted the top of her head. "I know."

She touched her head briefly before opening the door and clearing her throat awkwardly. "I should get going if I want to make it home before Kaia gets out of school," she mumbled.

"Yeah, right," I nodded, practically fleeing from the apartment and returning to my own room.

Although I had still managed to act like an idiot in front of her, she had still agreed to go out with me, so that was a step in the right direction. All that was left was waiting things out until the date and not making even more of a fool of myself in front of her. It's not too late for her to cancel.

So, in pure, romantic fashion, I avoided her the rest of the day, not wanting to ruin things for the next night by saying something stupid again. And, honestly, Levy had seemed like she wanted a little space to get over the awkwardness of the last couple of days.

~Levy~

"I can't believe I agreed to this," I groaned, staring at myself in my bedroom mirror.

"You need a night out, Lev," Lucy chuckled. She was sitting on my bed helping me pick out an outfit for my date with Gajeel later that night, but she wasn't being very helpful—so far she had said no to everything I had pulled out of my closet to show her.

"I can't go on a night out if I have nothing decent to wear," I grumbled, pulling another shirt from the closet that she grimaced and shook her head at.

"You have too many mom clothes," Lucy sighed, getting up to help me look through the closet.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I am a mom, Lucy," I snorted, dodging the elbow she jabbed at me.

"But you're also a young, sexy woman, so you need something to show that," Lucy said, matter-of-factly.

"I'm not trying to seduce anyone," I told her, rolling my eyes.

"But you need to dress like you are. This is a date, Levy. How long has it been since you've gone on a date? Like, a real date?"

"Five years?"

She groaned. "No wonder you don't have any date clothes."

"Guys our age aren't usually into a girl our age that has a child as old as Kaia," I muttered, frowning at my closet.

Lucy smiled at me sympathetically. "That's totally their loss, you know. Anyone would be lucky to have you and Kaia in their lives, so a guy who can't love you both isn't worth your time anyways."

"Which is why I don't date."

"Which is why you didn't date. Now you've got a hot-as-hell Scottish singer who's practically begging you to date him—one who is already head over heels for your daughter, and who your daughter is just as head over heels for." She paused, smirking at me. "And I'm guessing like daughter like mother, right?"

I sighed. "I like him a lot," I admitted.

She smiled. "I know. And I also know why you're so hesitant to start something with someone who has no guarantee of being there forever, but you can't live your life only thinking about thirty years from now. Right now you've got a really good guy right in front you asking for a chance, so you shouldn't be nervous about giving him one. If things don't work out, you can always stay friends. I'm sure Kaia would be happy with Gajeel—and the rest of Stoorworm—in her life in any way, be that right next door or a phone call away."

"Why are you so smart?" I chuckled, pulling Lucy into a tight hug.

She laughed, hugging me back. "I've had the smartest best friend for almost ten years, so I guess some of those brains rubbed off on me."

That had me laughing too as she flipped her long hair dramatically over her shoulder.

"Alright, Lu, since you're so smart, help me find something to wear."

An hour later, we had succeeded in finding something buried in the far recesses of my closet. It was a slim-fitted violet dress that I had nearly forgotten about, and I was afraid I wouldn't even fit into it. But, Lucy was vigilant in convincing me to at least try it on. After a bit of help with the back zipper, it was on and Lucy was clapping and announcing that was it: it was the outfit.

So, she had fixed my hair in curls that fell around my shoulders, held out of my face with a black headband, and added some light make-up to finish things off before hugging me one last time and wishing me luck as she left to go downstairs and check on Kaia who was with Rogue and Sting.

Once alone, my nerves started building. I didn't know why I was so nervous. I'd known Gajeel for a few months already, so it wasn't like we wouldn't have anything to talk about. Then again, the things we usually talked about were his band or Kaia, things we probably wouldn't talk about much on a date meant to get to know each other better. That's what I was most afraid of. Outside of being a mom, I didn't do much, so I probably wasn't a very interesting person.

What things could Gajeel and I possibly have in common? He's a touring singer in an amazing band from a totally different country, and I'm a mom who works two jobs. I sighed. There was no way we'd have enough in common to ever last. Gajeel would get bored of me for sure. He was used to an exciting life, and mine was far from that. I worked and took care of Kaia—that was it. He'll definitely get bored.

I jumped when there was a knock on my door, and part of me thought about just hiding in my bedroom and pretending I wasn't home. I knew standing Gajeel up wasn't realistically an option, though. They were staying in the same place, so I'd run into him eventually, and that would just make things terrible between us. So, I took a deep breath, put on my shoes, and answered the door.

"Wow," Gajeel said, not even trying to hide his roaming gaze as he took in my appearance.

I felt heat creep up my neck and into my face at the obvious appreciation in his face, and I cleared my throat. "Thanks."

His eyes snapped up, and he looked embarrassed. "Ya look good, Lev," he said, smiling at me. "I was no' expectin' ya ta dress up. I feel underdressed now," he chuckled, looking down at his own jeans and dark grey shirt.

"You always look great though," I admitted, trying to avoid his gaze as he stared at me.

After a long moment of silence, he asked, "ready ta go?"

I nodded, following him downstairs and to his car. I was quiet as he drove, not sure of what to say—and he was just as silent, probably in the same boat.

"So," I said after a few minutes, unable to stand the awkward air filling the car, "where are we going? You asked me to go out with you, but you never told me where that would be."

"Dinner," he answered. "I thought dinner'd be nice. We can jus' talk an' relax."

I nodded, smiling, "yeah, dinner will be perfect."

"Good," he said, the mood in the car much lighter.

"Kaia loves her guitar, by the way," I said, just to keep from returning to the silence from before. "She has been playing it for the last two days nonstop. I've barely been able to bribe her into doing her homework and go to bed at a reasonable hour."

"She's goin' ta be in a band one day, ya jus' watch," he chuckled, looking quite pleased at the news of his gift being so well-received.

"I still can't believe you bought her a guitar," I sighed. "They're so expensive—you really didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," he smiled, glancing at me as he drove. "I started her off, but you'll get ta buy the rest o' her guitars as she keeps learnin'."

"You just had to start her off with a costly hobby," I snorted, mirroring his smile.

He laughed at that, and my stomach fluttered at the sound. I scolded myself for being so affected by every little thing Gajeel did, but that didn't stop it from still happening.

We were getting out of the car not long after that. Gajeel led the way inside a popular little restaurant I'd been to a few times before. It was a pretty casual pizza place, so I felt a bit overdressed as we were shown to a table.

"Ya look fine, don' stress," Gajeel told me as if he could read my mind. My doubt must have shown on my face, because he offered me a wide grin. "You'll make everyone else jealous tha' they aren't the ones you're on a date with."

I lightly punched him as we took our seats, knowing the makeup covering my face was doing little to hide the blush burning my cheeks. "You're ridiculous," I muttered, making him chuckle.

"So you've told me."

"What should we eat?" I asked, grabbing a menu to focus his attention on something other than my red face.

"I'll eat anathing, so order whatever you'd like," he told me.

"You're not helpful," I snorted. "What sounds good?"

"Pepperoni."

"Ok. Mushrooms and peppers?" When he gave a nod in agreement, I waved over the waiter and gave our order.

Noticing him smiling at me, I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Ya know, the guy usually orders on a first date."

I shrugged. "I'm used to just getting things done."

His smile widened. "I know."

"So," I said, shifting in my seat and glancing down at the table, "I should probably confess that I haven't been on a real date in...a while. I'm not really sure what we're supposed to do here."

"Jus' tell me abo' yourself," Gajeel said.

"Right, yeah."

And we talked. Despite how nervous I'd been, it was so easy to talk to Gajeel. He listened as I talked, asking me questions about movies or books I mentioned or commenting on things he enjoyed, too. Before I realized it, we'd finished our pizza and were being more than a little encouraged by staff to leave so they could close for the night.

"Tha' was no' so bad, right?" Gajeel asked as we got back into the car and headed home.

I shook my head, smiling. "No, not so bad."

"Any chance I can get a second date?"

I looked at him, a bit startled. "Aren't you supposed to call me tomorrow and ask me out again?" I teased.

"Most dates do na live in the same building," he snorted. "And ya never gave me your number."

I burst into laughter at that. "I didn't, did I?" Of course we were doing things in the wrong order. That seemed to define our relationship so far.

"It ain't tha' funny," he grumbled, though he was still smiling.

Calming my laughter, I grinned over at him. "I'd love to go on a second date, Gajeel."

His smile grew. "Good. When's you're next day off? Let's take the lass on a picnic."

"Kaia would love that," I agreed. "Saturday?"

"Perfect."

"I'm sure she'll want to pack the picnic basket," I told him, "so be warned. It may only have cookies."

"It's a good thing I like cookies, then."

When he finally parked the car, I sighed, hesitating even as Gajeel got out and rounded the car to open my door as well. Coming home meant retuning to reality—that Gajeel wouldn't be there forever. That I still felt a pain in my heart because I missed Freed, despite Gajeel making me so happy. And he made me happy. Despite telling myself to go slow and not let things get too serious, Gajeel made me so happy.

"What?" He asked, noticing my shift in mood.

"I had a lot of fun tonight."

He frowned slightly. "An why's tha' makin' ya look so down?"

"Is it stupid that I feel guilty for letting myself have this much fun with you?" I asked, getting out of the car to stand in front of him. "Part of me thinks I shouldn't be this happy."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I'm afraid that I'm so used to putting Kaia first I've forgotten how to let myself want something—how to let myself be selfishly happy about something."

He took my hand gently, chuckling. "Then let me remind ya."

Imet his crimson eyes. They were so warm, and I knew that he really meant it. "I'dlike that."