Inspired: Fairy Tail/ AU (RW)
Rating: T

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Levy woke up to the sound of her alarm going off. She checked her phone to see that it was 8:30 am. Groaning, she got out of bed & got dressed for the day; putting on black dress pants, a white 3/4 sleeve dressy top, & a 4th of July themed headband. Today is 4th of July after all, so why not?

Levy walked out of her room & knocked on the closed door next to hers. "Lucy! Wake up! I got to head to work!"

A rustling could b heard from in Lucy's room. & loud thudding & tripping. Natsu must have snuck in through her window again. Levy didn't mind Natsu coming over during the day, but she knew Lucy preferred her sleep at night. It's a wonder the girls haven't been kicked out of their apartment yet because of him.

Levy shrugged it off. She popped a piece of bread into the toaster & took out her phone. Facebook notifications & text messages were on her lock-screen of her iPhone 7. They were all about the party tonight held at Cana's place. It was to be a hit! All her high school friends were gonna be there. Her whole grade was suppose to show up! She hadn't seen most of them in years.

Cana 8:12am: ur able 2 still come 2nite, right?? Lucy hasn't responded yet!! 😫

Levy had to laugh at that. Cana had invited them awhile back ago. They promised her they would be there. Sending her a quick "yes", she looked at the next text.

Juvia 7:39am: it's so crowded here, you better come in before your shift starts! The manager is in a fit right now! Don't call out! 😭😭 Also, do you think Gray-sama will be at Cana's party tonight? I wanna see him shirtless in the pool! 😍😍

She had to mentally face palm twice. Juvia was a coworker of Levy's at a clothing store in the mall. The 4th of July sale had everyone coming in today of all days, of course. No wonder it was busy. As for Gray, that was a high school crush Juvia has had forever it seemed. She can't get enough of him!

Lucy 1:52am: DO NOT WAKE ME UP IN THE MORNING!! In all our 23 years of our lives, i need sleep! It's my day off tomorrow & i want to sleep in! Natsu is over as well because we r crashing in late from hanging at the club. U shoulda joined!

Whoops! She sweat dropped. Looking at the toaster, her bread had popped up already & she quickly snatched it. She quickly put on her black flats & ran out of the apartment building. She'll worry about her other notifications later. She didn't feel like dying to an outraged roommate today!

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Arriving at the mall, it was packed. She had to park towards the back! She didn't have to clock in till 10, but since she got there at 9:25, she figured she could clock in half hour early & get some extra overtime. They were very busy after all.

Levy reported to her department, shoe department, & got right to it. Already, a customer came up to her & demanded a size 9, bright orange high heel. She took the shoe out of the customer's hand & went into the back/shoe stock room to find it in a size 9. Luckily, this particular shoe was on the 1st of 2 floors.

"Why is Levy not here yet?! I need help! We never have enough coverage!!" Levy could hear Juvia at the other end of the stock room.

"Don't worry, Juvia! I clocked in early, so I'm here to help!"

She was almost crashed into. "Thank goodness!" Juvia shouted while giving Levy a bone-crushing hug. "Help me with these! This heel needs to be a pink 6.5 & this sneaker a 10. Thanks!" While Juvia still carried 2 boxes & 3 other shoes to find, she shoved a gray high heel with rhinestone trim & a purple sneaker at Levy.

Levy got right to it finding all 3 shoes, marking the box with the orange heels in it with her work ID number, & the other two boxes with Juvia's number.

By 10 o'clock, Levy had 30 shoes found & sold to customers. By noon, another coworker for the shoe department came in & the three had it all under control. Juvia finally was able to take her lunch break at 11am & Levy could breathe. Sitting in the stock room, she pulled out her phone.

Lucy 10:57am: what time were u off again? I think the party starts at 8 tonight...

Levy 12:03pm: i get off at 6 tonight. & yes i think it's at 8 tonight. Don't worry. We have time for shopping 😋✌️

They had agreed that to shop for 4th of July themed clothes at some point before the party. Unfortunately, the only time they had off together was 2 hours before the party started... Levy looked at the last message she forgot to check this morning. Her heart started to beat loudly in her ears.

Gajeel 12:07am: I can't sleep. R u up?

Gajeel 12:08am: fuck! I didn't mean to send that.

Gajeel 12:09am: ummm... I'll just b seeing u at Cana's place ig.

Gajeel 12:10am: fuck my fat fingers. Night 🦐

Levy laughed. They had been friends for awhile. Since the last month of Senior year to be exact. He always seemed awkward over text messaging, so they hang out when they can. But since he works for a mechanic (who gets off on the weekends) & she works in retail (random days off) it was hard to meet up.

Levy 12:07pm: it's ok Tall Stalk. I'll c ya tonight at Cana's

She hit sent before a customer yelled for assistance. Hurrying along, she "gladly" helped the customer & two more find their shoes...

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Levy stared at the clock in the stock room. 5:55 pm. Juvia had been off 3 hours earlier so she was alittle bored. It had slowed done alot within the last hour. She decided to clock out now & meet Lucy at the holiday store a couple stores down. Working at a mall had its perks!

Lucy was already going through the aisles. "Lucy!" Levy called out to her.

"Oh. My. Goodness girl! We have to go all out for this! I found these cute sandals!" Lucy held up two pairs of red sandals with white & blue pompoms on top the straps.

They ended up getting matching tutus with multiple layers of red, white, & blue as well as those sandals. Lucy had gotten fuzzy scrunchies, red leggings, & a red bikini to complete her look. Levy just got blue leggings & a blue bikini since she already had the headband for her hair. Just before leaving the store, Levy saw a male version of a headband that was 4th of July themed & decided to get it for a certain someone.

They drove their own cars back to their apartment & got ready there. Since they were going to a pool party, they didn't wear makeup. Levy had an awful experience with waterproof makeup one time so they both swore off makeup in the water for life. That's another story for another time though.

They hopped into Lucy's car & drove off to Cana's neighborhood. Arriving at her house, the street was littered with hundreds of cars already. It was a huge mansion, so it hosted big parties pretty easily. Hosting parties was Cana's dad specialty, since he's a famous celebrity.

Getting out of the car & heading towards the backyard, Lucy & Levy spotted Juvia with their other friend Erza & sat down at the lounge chairs with them. Juvia had her eyes pretty obvious on Gray, who was indeed shirtless in the pool... along with swim trunkless...

Levy scanned the area. It seemed like a pretty big hit after all. Alcohol was being served & people splashed in the huge pool, which was about half the size of a football field. There were others who weren't in the pool & just standing or sitting around near it or on the grass chatting away waiting for the fireworks to start. She kept scanning the area though, zoning out of the convention her friends were having, which consisted of a rude customer at Lucy's work. Rude customers always find her at the hair salon she works at.

"Hey girlies! Glad you could make it! Having fun yet? We're about to play Chicken Fight if you guys wanna join?" Cana had greeted them, a beer in hand.

Erza eyes lit up. "Count me in!"

"Juvia! Reporting in!"

"I rather not, but knowing Natsu, he's gonna drag me in anyways." Lucy sulked.

Levy hesitated, "I don't wanna play Chicken Fight, but i'll sit on the stairs & watch y'all play if that's alright?"

Lucy screamed. She had just been attacked by Natsu, who had pounced on her back. "CHICKEN FIGHT!" he yelled while tossing Lucy into the pool.

"YOU DICK! YOU GOT MY WHOLE OUTFIT WET!" she screamed back, stomping out of the pool dripping wet. Levy just realized that neither her nor Lucy took off their tutus & leggings yet.

Levy had just taken off her tutu when her eyes got covered. "Welp, Lucy looks done already, & it ain't even 8:30 yet." Levy whipped her head around to see who had spoken, but had already known that voice.

"Gajeel!" She jumped up to give his neck a hug. Gajeel had to hunch over so they could save the embarrassment of falling over. She heard that faint chuckle of his against her neck. "Oh! I got you something at the mall today."

Levy unattached his headband from her tutu (she normally would carry a purse around but she thought it better to leave at her apartment room so it didn't get wet or forgotten about), & held it out for Gajeel. He raised an eyebrow, but put it on. His long bangs & hair now out of his face, he smirked.

They could hear the multiple people in the pool playing Chicken Fight, but they just stood there looking at each other's eyes. Levy's heart raced. She knew exactly what it meant. She had known for a few years now. But she shook the thought away. "Um, did you want to go in the pool?" she asked nervously.

"Nah, you can go ahead in. I just came straight here from the shop so..." She got the hint. Didn't clean up well. She noticed he wasn't in his work uniform, so must have changed clothes there.

Levy gave him a knowing look. "Say no more. I think I'll just dunk my legs in then & sit on the stairs." As she was turning around to head towards the pool. Gajeel had grabbed her wrist. Levy looked back at him, her eyebrow raised in questioning.

He started to stutter, "Uh, er, um, I think the fireworks are gonna begin. Since, er, dark. Spotlights for pool gonna shut off probably."

Levy just went for it. With her free hand, she grabbed his wrist that was holding her wrist, using this grip as leverage to get closer to him. & standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him. On the lips.

They were both stunned to say the least. Levy was because she didn't expect that she would have the guts to do something so drastic. Gajeel was because she just stole his moment of trying to confess to his feelings towards her. But after the initial shock wore off, they melted into the kiss.

Levy thought she was hearing the fireworks that she saw in her mind. But then realized that the fireworks had actually started & were going off for real. She stopped making out with Gajeel & looked up at the night sky. The skys were so pretty with greens & reds & blues & yellows, causing noises & lighting up.

She looked back at Gajeel, who was already looking at her. "I-I hope I didn't overstep anything. I-I-I just-"

Gajeel kissed her again to stop her before taking his chance to talk again, "Be my girlfriend, Levy."

Levy's face broke into a huge grin an even bigger grin & squeaked a, "yes!" before crashing her lips onto his lips again.

She felt like maybe the reaction was meant for a marriage proposal, but her heart waited for Gajeel for a long time now. When they broke their session again, they looked up at the fireworks show being displayed. All seemed right now & the future still held many things in store for them.

The End

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A/N
FINALLY DONE AFTER 3 YEARS OF WORKING ON THIS! Phew, just needed to say that. Ending is probably crappy, but i can fix it for next year. I like this for now. I hope u guys enjoyed this!

Happy 4th of July!

~LG45💚