Not only am I in a writing mood, but I feel like posting all these stories so that I don't lose them since they're saved on FFN and the stupid site has a knack for deleting documents if you don't pay attention to them for 90 days xD 90 days can go by surprisingly fast...

It all started when Marian Cross disappeared.

This Marian Cross person, was quite an unusual man. He didn't know much of respect, yet he had so many connections around the world it was ridiculous. Perhaps he threatened them, or perhaps he bribed them with money he didn't have. Anyways, this Marian Cross person happened to be the guardian of a seventeen year old boy named Allen Walker. He had the responsibility to raise him right ever since his friend, who happened to be Allen's father, died of a vicious disease; however, Cross was not a very responsible person. He would travel from place to place with Allen under his wing, so it was impossible for them to actually stay one place for long. You would wonder how Allen even managed to stay in school. Then, one day, they finally decided to settle down in a nice place in London. Allen asked multiple times when they were leaving, but Cross never told him that they were...

...and then the bloody bastard disappeared.

This left Allen to watch the house and the dog all by himself. It was a little after his fifteenth birthday that it happened and Cross had been missing for two years. He did manage to send a few letters to him, just to show that he was still alive of course. In just a few more months, Allen would be eighteen so it wouldn't exactly be abnormal that he lived by himself. He's had to make countless saves, whether he was explaining that his guardian was spending time with a friend, or out on a business trip, the excuses were constant. He never could catch a break. For some reason Children Services was all on Cross' ass. It made Allen wonder what he could've possibly done before he met him. Or maybe Cross was running from them too and not only the debt collectors. Still, it was starting to become quite tedious making up all these different excuses.

It was then that Children Services appeared on his doorstep one day with hungry eyes and the news of 'Cross is in jail.' Allen just gave them a stunned expression. Cross had never got caught doing anything wrong, so what exactly did he even do? He asked about what Cross did, but Allen never got an answer from them. What he did get was that Cross was all the way across the country in prison. Which meant that Allen wouldn't be able to visit him...and that kinda sucked because he just felt so curious as to what Cross could be caught doing. He probably tried picking up a prostitute or something...that's illegal, right? The seventeen year old wondered. If only he could've gotten caught after I turned eighteen! This wouldn't be happening then...damn it, Master, just what did you do?

That was the day that Allen knew he'd regret not chasing after the bastard.

You see, Allen only had a few other relatives that he was close to, but, they were all connected to a guy named Neah Walker. Neah Walker happened to be the brother of Allen's father, even though Allen never saw him when he was younger. Wait, yes he did...he saw him twice. Once on the day he came to visit Mana at Christmas and once at the funeral whenever Mana was buried. He never made contact with Neah, but they both knew each other existed. After the funeral was over, Neah confronted Allen and told him straight to his face that he was not Neah's problem. Mind you, Allen was only ten years old when he heard those words. He was confused about what he had done. He never thought it to be his fault that Mana died since it was of a disease, so why was Neah mad at him? Allen's heart had already been shattered by his father's death so it was impossible for him to cry any more tears. He just accepted that Neah would never be his uncle and moved on.

...and then Cross disappeared.

Allen found himself blaming Cross for all of this as he stepped off the airplane and looked around the airport. If Cross hadn't disappeared, then he wouldn't have to fly to America to see his non-supportive uncle. Couldn't they have at least gave him to a random family? Allen would rather live with a complete stranger than Neah. Then again, in a way, Neah was a complete stranger to him. He looked down at the paper and sighed, crumpling it up. He had Neah's address just in case the man didn't show up, but how the hell was Allen supposed to get there? Perhaps they have cabs here...Allen thought as he wheeled his too-big-to-even-exist suitcase. He didn't know how Cross managed to get a hold of something so big; but it was nice that Cross even cared, even if he didn't show it. Wait, don't you need money for cabs? Allen wondered. The only money I have is for emergencies...

Well, it was a good thing Allen was used to walking.

When Allen first arrived at the airport, it was around one in the afternoon. When Allen finally made it to Neah's house after getting lost about five times, it was seven o' clock in the evening. Allen had been walking around for six hours, and even though it might sound like he was tired, Allen was actually quite fueled. Fueled by anger that is. Neah should've at least picked him up from the airport. Did his uncle hope he'd get hit by a car or something? Most likely. Allen finally found the house and leaned his suitcase on it's feet before knocking—not banging, definitely not banging—loudly on the front door. He was so itched to use the doorbell that said 'please don't ring this', but he kept reminding himself that if Neah was going to be nice to him, he'd have to be nice back. Allen would treat him like Neah treated him. Allen huffed and knocked even louder again before crossing his arms.

When the man answered the door, Allen resisted the urge to scoff at his untidy black hair and disheveled clothes. They weren't disheveled as if he'd been running around, more like he'd just been sitting around all day. By the looks of the living room behind the man, Allen saw that his house was quite—putting it nicely—trashed. Neah gave him a puzzled look and narrowed his eyes at Allen. He rubbed his eyes and narrowed them again. "Do I know you?" Neah asked and Allen couldn't even resist glaring at him. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Perhaps you didn't get the emails, or the calls..." Allen started, picking up his suitcase and pushing his way into the house. "...or perhaps you didn't even care to answer them, but I am your new..." Allen paused, setting his suitcase down and taking the time to scowl at all the mess around him. "...room mate. Yes, that sounds a bit better than what those people called it." Allen muttered bitterly.

"Excuse me, but I still don't know who you are." Neah replied, scowling at the younger boy. Allen turned his eyes away from the mess and looked his uncle straight in the eye.

"Allen Walker ring a bell to you?" He asked with a growl. Neah deadpanned and stared at Allen for a long time.

"Um, yes, but who are you?" Neah asked again. Allen seethed at him. What, is this guy an idiot or something?

"I am Allen." He snapped.

"What? Then why are you here?" Neah asked accusingly.

"Oh trust me, I don't want to be here as much as you want me to." Allen spat. "I'm here because I have to be. Remember that."

"What about Cross?" He questioned.

"Is this an interrogation now? Perhaps you would know that if you answered your phone." Allen muttered and picked up his suitcase handle and gave Neah an expectant look, which he returned. Allen rolled his eyes. "He's in jail."

"J-jail?!" Neah asked incredulously.

"Yes, in jail." Allen confirmed. "Unfortunately enough, you are the only other relative I have." Neah sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He's going to be a handful to take care of...he thought bitterly. How is he Mana's son anyways? He's not polite or kind at all...Neah thought bitterly.

"Well, I don't exactly have a nice room to stay in—"

"That much was obvious." Allen interrupted.

"...but I do have a guest bedroom that I usually used for storage..." He continued.

"Lovely." Allen quipped. "So where is this guest bedroom?"

Neah led him to the room and almost felt bad for Allen...almost. Allen gave the room a look of horror and shook his head. He shoo'd Neah away and the man was happy to comply, leaving Allen in the pigsty that was labeled as a room. He looked around at the huge mess. Now, where could I possibly put all this stuff? Allen wondered and looked over at the closet. He walked over and smirked when he found boxes. Bingo. I'll just go through and label all of this. He thought and started going through the mess. He didn't know how much time had passed when he was finally able to discover that there was a bed under all this mess. He was beyond hungry, but he felt determined to finish cleaning. It was around ten o' clock when he was almost done. There were four large boxes now sitting against the wall, labeled with their items. He paused when he came upon a photograph and pulled it away to look at it.

There were a lot of people in the picture. Allen could only recognize Neah and Mana from the picture. The rest must have been his family. Of course Allen wasn't in the picture, and Mana looked healthy. This was probably before he fell sick...Allen thought. But...then...where am I? He wondered, not seeing himself anywhere in the background. Allen sighed, knowing that he probably wasn't even born then. I wonder if it was a mistake...me being born...why didn't Mana want to abort me? Didn't Cross say he's aborted children before me? Allen thought glumly and put the photograph away in a box he'd label as 'memorable'. Once the floor was finally free of all the items, he swept it with a vacuum he found in the closet and sorted everything out before crawling into bed. He didn't even unpack his suitcase before he fell asleep.

For once, Allen woke up a lot earlier than he would've expected. Usually, Allen woke up at seven in the morning, but today, he woke up two hours earlier. He wondered if it could've been because of the nightmare he had. It was quite a terrifying one, not that he could remember what it was. Allen woke up and expected to be back in his room at home. He looked around the unfamiliar bedroom and sighed, remembering all that happened yesterday. He paced around the room for quite awhile until he decided that Neah wouldn't be awake and snuck into the living room, instantly scowling.

For now, he ignored his hunger pains and started cleaning up the living room. He was not going to be living in a pigsty. It only took two hours to clean the living room and the kitchen and Allen felt a bit terrified to go into the bathrooms. It was inevitable though. He'd have to go in there someday. So, Allen mustered up his courage and quickly opened the door. Surprisingly enough, the bathroom was a lot cleaner than he expected. Shrugging, Allen left the bathroom and warily made his way into the basement. He gawked at the huge room. It looked more like a hangout area than a basement. There was a flatscreen placed in front of three couches and three different game systems in the cupboard under it. There was an entire stack of games and in the other cupboards were controllers. A little more to the left there was a large piano that reminded him of the one Mana used to play with him. Shaking his head, Allen walked back upstairs and started on the dishes.

Once he was done cleaning up every single little thing, like vacuuming everywhere, cleaning off counters, and dusting the furniture, it was around eight o' clock when he finally finished tidying up. He frowned when he remembered how Mana and sometimes even Cross would praise him for doing such things. The boy shook his head. He was seventeen now, he didn't need to be treated like he was fourteen. Cleaning the house he was living in was his responsibility. His stomach growled and he walked over to the fridge.

Of course there wasn't anything to eat.

Sighing, Allen thought that maybe he'd just wait until Neah was hungry to see what they'd be having. Of course, Neah would have to wake up then. That could take forever. Searching around, Allen spotted a notepad and walked over to it. He found a pen nearby and wrote a little note. He still had some leftover money from when he gambled a few nights ago. Or as Allen referred to it: emergency money. This counted as an emergency. So, Allen walked outside and looked around. He opened the garage and, to his horror, it was a bigger mess than the living room and kitchen put together. He barely managed to step through it. He found a bike with a basket on it in the back and the front. Once he made it out of the garage a loud bark was heard and was shoved to the ground by a large golden dog. Allen stared at the dog with disbelief.

"Tim?" He questioned. The dog barked in acknowledgment. He told the children services to take him to Cross...yes, he was in jail, but he was pretty sure that they said something about a kennel there (weird, right?). Allen slowly reached for the collar and pulled a small note out of it. It was a note from Cross, apologizing. Apologizing was not something Cross did...he looked up and saw a girl standing in front of him with an awkward smile. Timcanpy crawled off of him and Allen immediately stood up. "Good morning..." He greeted.

"Hi. Um, Mr. Cross told us to deliver this dog to you so..." She mumbled, hoping that Allen would get the message that Cross said he'd get.

How the hell did he manage to do it that quickly? Cross' talents were quite unreasonable at times...

"Oh, okay. Thank you." He thanked a bit uncertainly.

"You're welcome...so...what are you doing in Mr. Walker's garage?" She questionably. Allen pursed his lips.

"We're going to be living together for awhile." Allen explained.

This girl obviously didn't know that Cross used to be his guardian...and if he was in a completely different country, how did this girl know to deliver Timcanpy to him? Oh yeah...Cross did say he had 'connections'. Allen thought to himself. "Oh..." She said quietly. "Well, um...I'm gonna go now..." She said and started walking away.

"Thanks again!" Allen chirped and let Timcanpy in the house. He smiled down at the dog lovingly. He missed him so much, even if it had only been a day...maybe not even that...it still bugged him though, how Cross was able to send Timcanpy and a note with him...then again, the handwriting was different from what Allen was used to. He just suspected that Cross was just drunk but-Allen slapped his forehead. God, all this jet lag was getting to his head. It was impossible for Cross to be drunk if he was in bloody jail. Then again, Cross had his ways...Allen shook his head, his mind was going far off topic. "Tim, be a good boy while I'm gone. I'm going to go get you some food." Allen said and ruffled the dog's fur. Timcanpy barked approvingly. "Stay quiet now, Neah's sleeping." He shushed. The dog whined and trotted over to the couch before hopping up and laying down. "Good boy." Allen praised and left the house. He closed the garage and propped himself on the bike before riding off.

Luckily, Neah lived near a dollar general. Allen hopped off the bike (it wasn't really his, he found it in the garage) and laid it against the back wall, hoping no one would take it. It didn't take long for Allen to gather up everything he needed. After a half hour of shopping, Allen took the cart outside and piled the bags up in th baskets. I swear if something falls out...Allen threatened and rode off. I really hope the eggs don't shatter...he thought and rode as gently as he could back to the house. It was around nine o' clock when Allen finally made it back to the house. He took extra caution around he roads and sidewalks so it took a little bit longer than usual to get back.

Not that he would know that since he didn't live here.

Still, the ride seemed like it would be short. Once he entered the house (which was, thank god, unlocked. He didn't remember if he locked the door since he was used to doing it with his own house so much), he walked straight to the kitchen and screamed when someone grabbed him, immediately punching the person in the gut. "Mother of fuck."

He just punched Neah in the gut.

...and kind of enjoyed it...

"Uh...oops...don't grab me like that!" Allen hissed.

"You're telling me! Don't just walk in! I thought I was getting robbed! You scared the living shit out of me!" He growled.

"Um, I live here now?"

"...fuck." Neah cursed again. Allen scoffed. "Okay, but that doesn't mean you bring a damn dog in my house! He was lounging on the furniture!"

"He wasn't hurting anyone." Allen reasoned.

"He was dirtying my couch."

"Timcanpy is not a dirty dog." Neah blinked at Allen's words.

"Wait, that's Timcanpy?" The elder questioned and Allen rolled his eyes, unpacking the groceries. "...how did you get those...you didn't steal my wallet, did you?"

"If I knew where it was, then I probably would've." Allen mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Allen muttered. "I had some emergency money leftover." He explained, keeping the eggs out and looking around the kitchen for some damned pans.

"And where did you acquire such...emergency money?"

"...does it really matter?"

"Yes, because you might be a criminal." Allen let out a loud laugh at Neah's assumption. He was a bit right, but seriously...

"You do realize who I was left in care of, right?" He asked rhetorically and heard Neah grumble.

"Exactly. I don't feel comfortable knowing that-"

"Knowing what? That I have to do illegal things to get money because none of my real family ever wanted anything to do with me?" Allen asked accusingly. Neah went silent. He didn't speak for the next ten minutes.

"...the pans are beside the stove..." He informed and Allen blinked before searching the cupboards and making a cute 'aha!' sound. The two of them were completely silent and neither of them said a word to each other as Allen fried up an entire dozen of eggs. He didn't mean to cook that many but Neah just wouldn't go away and he figured if he kept his back to him then Neah would leave him alone.

That didn't work out as he planned to...

"How was it?...living with Cross, I mean." Neah explained quickly, not wanting Allen to explain about god knows what...

"Why does it matter? It's not like you care...god, I really hope you're going to eat these because I made way too many." Allen grumbled and fixed himself a plate (he took more than half of the dozen) and walked passed Neah coldly to his new room. Neah sighed and looked at the batch of freshly cooked eggs.

Communicating with Allen was going to be a lot harder than he thought.