The November weather had finally been taking affect, the leaves of every tree had begun to lose their color, rotting into beautiful hues of orange, yellow, red, and brown. The gentle autumn breeze was still warm, leaving a soft kiss on Allen's face. Families could be heard in one direction and then mindless chatter of other couples in another. Children could be heard laughing and a few dogs barking, playing.
Allen was wearing his usual attire of dark trousers, a white dress shirt, gray vest, red ribbon, and gloves to conceal his entire anti-akuma arm from the public. He was sitting on a park bench, smiling as Lavi approach him with two vanilla ice creams in large waffle cones. Lately they had been having a lot more time to spend with each other and every second had been making Allen happier despite the world's constant growing state of disaster. He didn't know why but just being around Lavi made Allen feel like everything would work itself out, and even if it didn't then he'd still be ok, just so long as he could keep seeing Lavi's smile every day. He was always at ease around him, not having at all to think about what was appropriate to say or having to worry about having to focus on any business for the Black Order. It was nice for just a few hours to simply relax and have ice cream like this. "Thanks, Lavi! I'll be sure to pay next time we do this," Allen said, taking one of the cones!
Lavi was wearing his usual casual attire of white pants tucked into his knee high boots, a black v-neck, scarf, eye patch, headband and a grin glued across this face. "Don't worry about it; I said it was my treat!" Lavi said with a chuckle, taking a lick of his own. He didn't bother sitting down, taking a step away from the bench and giving an encouraging smile for Allen to follow. "Come on, let's not just sit around all day! It's too pretty to just stay in one location!" He held his open hand out for Allen to take and they began walking. Lavi let go as soon as they found a mutual pace to walk to. He had always been friendly to those in the Order since he joined but Allen was the only person he had gone out of his way to spend time with. Being around Allen always seemed to make all his responsibilities as an exorcist and even a bookman seem insignificant to him. Allen was simply a person Lavi felt he didn't have to pretend to be happy or social around. It all came natural with him and the entire rest of the world seemed drowned out. Lavi could easily say Allen was his best friend. Still, once in a while Lavi had question the idea of what their friendship was evolving into. Could it really be love or were just simply very close and comfortable around each other?
Allen licked his ice cream happily, always being one to not say no to food. "Hey Lavi, thanks for asking me out here. I really needed an afternoon out of the Order," he said as vanilla smeared across the edge of his lips.
"Hey, it's nothing! I'm always happy to spend time with you, Allen!" he said nervously. As they walked the same train of thoughts circled around in his head. Maybe now was the best time to talk about this with him. After all, it's wasn't like he had actually planned for them to do anything besides get ice cream. "Hey, Allen…maybe we should sit down for a minute after all…" he said as he pointed out a small area of the park, only a few people around "…I uh…I need to tell you something." He didn't say anything else until they had both sat down, leaning up against the bark of a wide tree. The branches providing a calming shade as a leaf drifted off, sinking to the ground with grace. Lavi gave his cone a few more licks, trying to prevent any from dripping onto his hand.
"Is everything ok? You seem kind of bleak." Allen asked, concerned as he began munching on the cone.
"Well…that's the thing, Allen…I'm perfectly happy…when I'm around you." Lavi had his head slightly turned the other way, avoiding eye contact and blushing only faintly.
Allen just smiled, shoving the last bite of cone into his mouth. "Well I'm happy around you too, Lavi!" he said muffled, his mouth full. "I always have fun with you!"
Lavi just groaned before taking another lick to calm his nerves. With each passing second his grip on his cone grew tighter and tighter, the waffle beginning to crack. "N-no, that's not what I meant. Allen…when I'm with you I forget everything I'm supposed to do. I forget I'm an exorcist, that I'm fighting a war, that I've seen hundreds of people die...that I'm even a bookman," he body became stiff, nervous. His breathing was slightly heavier, his heart pounding. "Allen…when I'm with you I don't ever have to think about what to do or say or how to act. I just…do whatever comes to mind and what feels right. I don't pretend I feel companionship with you and I…I…" Lavi's voice trailed off.
Allen just stared at his read haired friend, not believing what he was hearing. This whole time he had thought about it but never believed it could be true, that Lavi could really have such a mutual feeling towards him. They were just friends and that's how friends were supposed to act around each other so why did Allen think there was more to all this now. "What…was that last bit, Lavi?" he asked, his voice slightly hushed.
Lavi bit his lip, melted ice cream dripped down along his fingers and onto the leaves and dirt they were sitting in. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I think I really like you, Allen."
Allen's eyes widened in surprise as his face became red with embarrassment. So many thoughts raced around in his head. He didn't know exactly where to begin. Still, watching Lavi sit beside him like this wasn't helping. Grunting, Allen very slowly inched his hand to Lavi's free one on the ground and took hold of his. The white haired boy kept his gaze steady, looking at the ground around his feet. "We'd…have to hide it from the rest of the Order, Bookman, and everyone else, ya know?"
"Well yeah, but I…wait-what?! A-Allen, are you saying…" Lavi's gaze snapped back at Allen, excitement and shock in his voice.
"…yeah, Lavi. I…I really like you too!" Allen tilted his head ever slightly, meeting Lavi's gaze in sharp yet shy eye contact. He tightened his fingers around Lavi's palm, biting his own lip. His heart was racing and limps shaking. It was the truth.
The people that were around had began to glance and stare at the two of them but Allen and Lavi were too deep in their own world to even notice.
Lavi groaned, his face in full blush knowing what this meant. "Allen…" pulling his own hand away from Allen's, Lavi reached his shoulder and pulled him closer, the white haired boy resting his head down on Lavi's shoulder. "…I don't care. I want to do this; I want to be with you!" He spoke softly so that other's could hear him. Confidence was beginning to build back up in his voice again. "We'll make this work, Allen, one way or another!" He saw that the other was silent, worry still surfacing. Lavi just smiled, finally notice his ice cream had practically melted completely. "Hey, Allen," With a giggle and without hesitation, the minute his now proclaimed lover look up he shoved his ice cream into Allen's face with a playful smile, laughing.
"La-Lavi," Allen half coughed and half laughed as he pushed Lavi away, wiping the mess off his face, dirtying his gloves. Trying to conceal joy behind a scowl, he tackled Lavi to the ground, embracing him in a hug. "I'm going to get you back for this later," he chuckled. The two of them went back and worth, rolling around in the leaves under the tree, laughing and smiling until once again they had completely forgotten about the world around them, their troubles, and anything except for each other.
"I know, Allen, I know," with that he planted a simple kiss on the tip of Allen's nose and they both blushed. Today had been wonderful.