Disclaimer: Hiya guys~! This'll be my first story so be gently with me~!

Scenario: Darren Shan and Steve Leopard: best friends for as long as they can remember. But even as a little boy, Darren attracted some rather unwanted attention. What if one day, an admirer decides to take the kid for himself? N/C, AU, slight incest

This is based on some old RP sessions me and my friends used to do. And now I wanna write about it ^^ So anyway- take it away Darren~!

Darren: *blushing* M-Maid doesn't own Cirque Du Freak or any of the characters...

Thank you Darren- very good for your first time~ ^^ Well, enjoy~!

Oh and heads up- the first part of this story takes place when Darren and CO. are like 6~ ^^ Heehee~

"Darren- heads up~!" the raven haired boy looked back only to be tackled by the platinum haired child. He giggled and sat on Darren, feeling triumphant and confident.

"Eh~! Steve, get off me~! You're so heavy~!" Darren thrashed his arms around, hoping for his friend to get off him. Steve merely stuck out his tongue. The other boy made a face and continued to thrash. "Someone help- I'm being crushed by a weirdo~!"

The two little ones were playing upstairs in Darren's room, waiting for Angie to get back from the grocery store and take them to the park like she's promised. The two had tried to pass time by playing with their blocks and race cars, but Steve, being impatient as he was, got bored quickly and knew there was only one solution- annoy Darren.

Darren giggled when Steve started to tickle him. "Ah- not- please- anything but-" the onyx haired boy couldn't finish his sentence as he was sent into a laughing frenzy. "Eek~!" Steve smiled and continued his tickling torture. "Someone, h-help~! Ah~! Not there~! Not my tummy~!"

"I'll stop, but only if you say 'Steve's the bestest person and Darren is a smelly head!' and you better mean it~!"

"N-never~!" Darren received more torture. "Eek~!"

"Say it!"

"No!"

"Say it!"

"N-no~!" Just as Darren was beginning to give in to his torture, the two heard the door open and Darren squealed with relief. He pushed Steve away, seeing how the other boy was caught off guard, and ran to the stairs. Steve followed in hot pursuit immediately.

"Get back here! I'm not done with you!"

"Mommy~! Help me- Steve's gonna tickle me to death!" Angie placed her groceries on the counter and looked up to see the two boys running down the stairs. She smiled and opened her arms to Darren. the boy took advantage of it and ran into her arms.

"There, you're saved."

"Yay~!"

"Aw..." Steve pouted angrily as his fun was just killed. Mrs. Shan pouted as well and reopened her arms.

"There's room for one more Steve," the platinum haired boy turned around and smiled warmly. He ran into her arms and sighed happily. He liked Darren's mom and wish he had a mom like her. But all he had was her. She was barely home and when she was, she hardly threw a glance at Steve. He was happy that Mrs. Shan offered to be his babysitter whenever his mom wasn't home. And he could play with Darren. The Shan home was his paradise. His home away from home.

"Mommy," Steve was snapped out of his daze by the squeaky voice of his friend. "Can we go to the park now?"

"I'll just put the groceries away and we'll be off."

"Yay~!" Steve smiled at Darren. He liked Darren, a lot. He didn't like girls- he thought they were icky. He remembered when he told Angie that and her reply was:

"Don't worry, you'll out grow it when you're older. And if you don't like girls, I guess you don't like me."

He giggled at that memory. Besides Darren's mom, he didn't really like girls. Annie was OK, though she would never stop crying. Of course, she was still a baby...

People said babies were cute, but Steve didn't think they were cute. He hardly ever thought of anything being cute. The only thing he could consider even remotely cute was Darren.

His friend took a while to catch on to anything/everything, he was always the last to know about everything, and he had a really girly voice. He often made fun of Darren because of that but he never really meant it. And Darren knew it too.

"Hey Steve," a warm hand grabbed the child's shoulder and caused him to once again come out of his daze. "C'mon, mommy's gonna take us now~!"

Steve smiled and giggled. "'Kay- let's go~!"

"Tag, you're it!" Alan ran from Darren, finally freed from being it. Darren stopped running and turned around. Alan ran faster and to base.

"Not fair! You guys know I suck at being it!" Darren's face flushed when he realized what he just said. Tommy, who was standing far behind him, laughed and pointed.

"You said a bad word Darren!" Tommy taunted.

"Eek~! I didn't mean to say it- I heard some people say it on TV! Please don't tell my mom~!" Darren's face was incredibly red as he thrashed around angrily.

Tommy laughed and ran away. Darren shook his head and resumed playing. "Get back here you~!"

Darren continued chasing Tommy until he saw Steve. He looked closer so he aimed for Steve instead. He ran as fast as he could and managed to tackle Steve. "Gotcha~!"

Steve looked up for a second then within a split second, he was ontop of Darren. The raven haired boy blinked then made a sour face. "You were saying?"

"No fair~! Stop being so strong~!"

"I'm not strong, but compared to you- I'm as strong as the Hulk~!"

"Meanie~!" Tommy and Alan walked over to the two and laughed. Darren's face couldn't get any redder than it was already. He squirmed a bit until Steve gave in and got off him. The platinum offered him a hand, but Darren got up on his own and pouted. He crossed his arms and turned his back to Steve, trying to seem angrier than he really was.

"C'mon Darren," Steve tried to get close to his friend but Darren wouldn't have any of that. "Please, I'll let you win...one of these days..." His response: an angry huff. "There's not arguing with you is there?"

"..."

"If you don't act happy, I'll tell your mom you said that bad word~!"

"hey Steve wanna get ice cream~!?" Darren's attitude immediately changed after that threat. The boy wasn't a complete idiot, he knew when he had to give up. He looked to Tommy and Alan and asked if they wanted ice cream as well.

"Sorry, my mommy's gonna be here to take me and Alan home anyway. But we'll definitely get some next time!" Tommy said with a bright smile on his face. Alan smiled too and waved good bye to the two boys as he and Tommy left them alone.

"...So about that ice cream?"

"Oh right, let's go~!" Darren took hold of Steve's hand and dragged him to the ice cream man. Steve got chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles on it and Darren got strawberry.

The two ate away at their ice cream cones- Steve finishing it in two minutes flat while Darren took forever to even get to the cone. By the time he got to the cone, his hand was covered in strawberry ice cream and it was all sticky. He blinked and then skipped to the nearest garbage can. He ran back to Steve and asked what he wanted to do.

"I don't know... I'm kinda sleepy for some reason..."

"We could take a nap under that tree?" Darren suggested, pointing to the tall and shady sakura tree not too far away. Steve gave a wide cheshire smile and flew to the tree. The raven haired boy smiled slightly and followed.

"Aw, I forgot to get my blanket..." Darren said the minute he got under the tree.

"I guess we don't really need it..."

"I guess..." Darren laid next to Steve, eyes growing heavy with sleep. Steve giggled. It looked like Darren was a lot sleepier than I was~! Darren rubbed his right eye with his sticky hand and yawned. Involuntarily, he snuggled closer to Steve. The platinum looked down at Darren with a questioning look but smiled softly.

"You're warm Steve..." mewled the boy as he was lulled into his peaceful nap.

Steve giggled. "That's great to know..." He yawned a bit and snuggled closer to Darren, falling asleep just as quickly as the other did.

Well I hope it was horrible~! Review please~ ^^ Tell me what you think~

Darren: WHERE'S MY BLANKIE~!?!?!?! D: