#gajevia

Levy watched, wide-eyed, as the two made their way to one of the tables by the window, the masculine-looking one pulling the feminine's chair for them and making them laugh. (A very cute and very beautiful laugh, she could listen to it for hours.) They seemed to comfortable with each other, that way she could never enjoy skinship. Her wrist felt strangely itchy.

Mirajane noticed the way she was staring and gently nudged her.

"Go take their order" the white-haired lady whispered to her, a knowing smile playing on the corner of her lips. "They're regulars. Don't be shy."

Easer said than done, Levy wanted to tell her, but only smiled and nodded before going around the counter, writing pad and pen tucked in her apron. She walked over to the table.

"Hello, my name is Levy." She smiled, doing her best not to embarrass herself in front of them. "What would you like to order today?"

The woman (god, Levy desperately hoped she wasn't misgendering anyone) smiled at her. She had long, straight hair dyed a shade or two darker than Levy's own wild curls and east asian features, matched with ungodly high cheekbones and the rosiest lips she'd ever seen. Her blue sundress shifted lightly when she leaned back into her seat, their eyes meeting.

"I would like a vanilla latte, no caffeine." Her voice had a light accent and sounded like a siren's song. "And... a straight black coffee."

Her partner let out a snort at the word straight, which made Levy's attention turn to him. He (please, she hoped those were the proper pronouns) was tall and muscular, with a long black hair tied into a ponytail and an array of small piercings. His features were a bit strange, but she found him unusually attractive. And handsome. Very handsome.

(God, please, kill her before she made a fool out of herself.)

"Add a bottle of water" he said, the low rumble in his voice sending shivers down her spine. "And someone of those homemade chocolate chip cookies."

Levy smiled gently and scribbled down their order, assuring them it would be done in a moment. She was off before she could embarrass herself any further, almost running behind the register.

Mirajane appeared awfully amused at the blush that spread over her face. She peered into the writing pad and called into the kitchen at the back to check the very last batch of cookies for the day, then got a small bottle from the nearby cooler.

"It wasn't that bad" she mused. "I didn't see you fall."

"I hope no one saw me blush" Levy murmured, then focused on the latte she was supposed to be brewing.

"Is it just today, or you always act weird around beautiful people?" Mira asked, setting down the tray next to her.

Levy groaned softly, remembering how she had promptly embarrassed herself in front of her boss when they met one month ago. She looked at her wrist, covered by a simple cloth band. She could always tell her about the itching, but... No. Mira was awfully romantic (half the books around the shelves were cheesy but cute romance novels), she would go out of her way and suggest something... or pity her. Levy didn't know which was worse. People always pitied her. She hated it.

She pitied herself well enough, thank you.

A small commotion pulled her attention from the mug in her hands and Levy watched as a customer apologized over and over for the drink they had accidentally spilled. Lisanna, another barista - and Mirajane's younger sister - reassured them everything was alright while wiping away the mess on the floor. Such nice customers might have been rare in most places, but not here. Mira's small coffee shop was the only one around campus that served actually good drinks and had nice staff, not to mention free Wi-Fi and all sorts of books to read about.

Besides, no one wanted to get on Mira's bad side.

Levy smiled at the heart she had drawn and set the mug down on the tray. The heart was, of course, because it was cute. Not any other special reason. She thanked Elfman, their baker - and Mira's younger brother - for the cookies and picked the tray, then walked towards her customers' table, making sure to circle the slippery part of the floor where the drink had been spilled.

The two were talking in hushed voices when she approached, so Levy did her best to tune out the conversation on order to give them some sort of privacy. The blue-haired lady was going rapidly, excitement in her voice, while her partner listened with a light frown on his face. They both stopped once she appeared on their table and set down their order.

"Thank you" the lady said with her sweet voice and smiled at her while the man grabbed one of the cookies and bit into it. Levy felt something flutter in her chest. "Did you make this heart? It's beautiful."

Levy nodded, relishing the praise of her coffee-making skills. She could feel her heart going faster and desperately hoped she wouldn't blush too much.

"Is there anything else I can get you, miss... um..." She gripped the tray to her chest.

"Juvia." The blue-haired lady's smile only widened. "And that here is Gajeel, but he's too busy stuffing his face with cookies to notice us."

"Miss Juvia." A pretty name for a pretty girl, she thought, feeling warmth fill her up. Levy smiled back at her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Alright. Just... um..."

"I got it." She laughed lightly, her face lighting up from the inside. "We don't need anything right now, but I'll be sure to call you later. Just in case. I would love to talk some more with someone as sweet as you."

Levy nodded. Her ears were beginning to burn, but she found it hard to look away from her smile. She bowed her head lightly to them, then turned around in her heel. A happy grin bloomed over her face, pulling at the edges of her lips.

Did she... flirt with me?

Distracted as she was, she ended up knocking her hip into one of the tables and almost losing her balance. From behind the register, Mira let out a soft sigh. Levy smiled bashfully at her, gripping the tray to her chest. At least she didn't fall or break anything... well, this time.

She didn't notice where exactly this table was until it was too late.

Then she took a step back, slipped, and fell down on the hard floor.

The trail clattered on the floor next to her. Pain shoot up her leg and Levy clutched it tightly, crying out. It... it hurt so much... The back of her head was throbbing and when she tried tilting it backwards, she sobbed. It hurt so much... Tears of pain filled her eyes.

Someone gasped in the background. The sound of few pair of feet coming towards her followed. A warm hand touched her forehead and Levy tried leaning into the comforting caress. At first she thought it would have been Mira, but her hands were smaller and softer. This hand was large and calloused, yet still gentle. Finger gently touched the back of her head and she cried out in pain.

“Fuck… she hit her head.” The voice was male and rough. It was familiar, but she couldn’t figure out. “Pretty bad… There’s blood…”

There was a small sob in the background. Levy struggled to open her eyes, but even then her vision was blurred, spots dancing in her eyes. There was a large blurb of color right in front of her with the vague features of someone’s face – she saw brown and black and small shiny dots. Further in the back two other spots, one white and one blue, were standing close, whispering something.

“H-h-hurts” Levy gasped out. Tears trickled down her cheeks. The person wiped them away.

“It’s going to be alright” they told her, carefully picking her and setting her on one of the tables. Something soft was placed under her head and Levy winced. “Call an ambulance.”

People were standing up and talking and moving and all the sound made her head throb. The person who’d helped her growled and after a while, the sounds disappeared.

“What are you standing there for?!” he yelled angrily, making Levy flinch. Anger scared her. “Go and call the fucking ambulance! Right fucking now!”

Someone’s steps moved away, almost running. Seconds later another person appeared in her blurry vision. Blue. Blue hair. Pretty. Cool, gentle hands touched her face. The rough voice from before cursed something. Fingers touched her injured ankle and Levy cried out loudly.

“It’s all going to be alright.” The hands wiped her tears. “It’s all going to be alright…”

For a second her vision cleared a bit. Levy recognized the pretty blue-haired lady from before. Juvia, her name was Juvia. Her face was contorted in a sad expression, worry in her deep eyes. It felt wrong. She should be smiling and laughing. Not worrying.

“You’ll be alright” she whispered gently, trying to smile. Levy felt so bad for upsetting her. “Your boss closed and called for doctors… You’ll be alright, I promise you…”

“I… I will…?” Talking was hard. She felt so tired. She wanted to sleep.

“Yes, yes, you will be.” Juvia took her hands gently and laced their fingers tightly. Juvia. Such a pretty name. “Just stay with us.”

“Keep talking to her, Juvia” the male voice – his name was Gajeel – said, moving the soft thing under her head a bit. “Keep her conscious.”

Levy struggled to stay awake. She knew she shouldn’t close her eyes, no matter how tired she was. Juvia gently caressed her hands and wrists. If she wasn’t crying in pain, it would have been so nice… But it worked well enough to distract her from the worse.

“My… wrist… itching…” Something told her she probably shouldn’t have said that, but the small itch was beginning to burn. She wanted it to go away, to stop. “Please…”

Cool fingers gently removed the band she had on her wrist and the burning sensation disappeared. Levy felt her caress the sensitive skin there.

She heard her gasp and grip her hand tightly, saying something to Gajeel frantically but her mind refused to register the words.

The last thing Levy remembered before everything turned black was the sound of siren in the distance and lips gently pressing to her temple.