[Note from the Author: Hey everyone! It's me again. I'm sorry for missing my updating day! I got grounded once again Dx I feel like a loser (u.u) The newest chapter of Little Lavi is currently in it's beta'ing stage, and chapter fifteen of So Close, Yet So Far is about half way done. So if you're waiting for those, you won't have to wait much longer.

Moving on, thanks for the reviews and story alerts while I was away! It makes me feel all giddy inside when I get a new review ^^ Here is another oneshot for you amazing readers. Hope you enjoy!

No, I still don't own D. Gray-Man, and I never will. EVER.

Happy Readings!

~animeobsessed001]

100 Theme Challenge

Theme 2 – Complicated

"Ugh!" I grumbled, hitting my head on the table in front of me. I was starting to get really upset. I have been sitting in this same chair for over two hours racking my brain. I shook my head in disbelief. I am Allen Walker, an Exorcist of the Black Order. I can fight Akuma with my eyes closed (That's not an exaggeration, I really can, it's happened before), I can turn my left arm into a sword, I can even survive after having a Noah destroy my Innocence and crush my heart with his bare hand, but I cannot for the life of me put together a simple two hundred piece puzzle. "Why must you be so complicated?" I mumbled, glowering at the hardly finished puzzle.

"Yo, Allen!" a familiar voice called. I looked up to see my best friend Lavi walking over to me. Perfect! He can help me with this! I thought excitedly as a grin spread across my face.

"Lavi! Thank God you're here. I need your help," I said.

"Really? With what?" Lavi asked, raising an eyebrow.

I gestured to the puzzle before me. "This. I've been working on it since lunch, and now I'm stuck. Will you help me?"

Lavi beamed. "Sure thing, Shortstack," he said.

"My name is Allen," I murmured, making Lavi chuckle lightly as he took a seat across from me. The library was nice and quiet today and it was only the two of us in here. For some unknown reason, the thought made my heart speed up.

Lavi looked over the puzzle for a few seconds before he looked up at me. "Are you sure you've been working on this since lunch? It looks like you just started it."

I remained silent and tried to figure out where to put the piece I was currently holding in my hand. "Are you going to help me or not?" I asked.

"Yup!" After a couple more seconds of examining my progress so far, Lavi looked back at me. "Allen, have you ever put a puzzle together before?" he asked.

"Yes I have. I used to help Mana with his puzzles in the circus," I replied.

"Well, you do know it's easiest to put a puzzle together when you do the outside of it first and then fill it in, right?"

I looked up from the scattered pieces on the desk and stared at him blankly. "It is? Really?"

"Yup. Before we do that though, where'd you put the box?"

"Right here," I said as I picked up the box I'd discarded when I first began my project.

"Good. Now here's what you wanna do," Lavi said as he separated the top of the box from the bottom and placed it on the table. "Put all the pieces with a straight edge in this box, and all the others in this one. Sound simple enough?"

"Mhm." With that, we began sorting all the pieces into the two boxes. It was pretty easy, and it helped that I had some company now. As we continued to sort the pieces, I secretly glanced up at Lavi's face. Ever since the time Road had taken over his mind in the Ark, I couldn't help but steal glances of Lavi every now and then. His vibrant red hair was held up with his signature green headband, holding it out of his face. The black eye patch that he always wore piqued my curiosity, but I'd never been able to muster up the courage to ask him what lay beneath it, and I probably never will. His single emerald eye was narrowed in concentration at the task set before him.

I stared deeply into his eye, checking for any signs of life. I remembered all too well when I had to fight Lavi. I remembered the way he had told me that he was never my comrade, the way he had attacked me without holding back, but most of all, the way his eye was so dark and deprived of emotion. Even though that happened awhile ago, I couldn't help but check, assuring myself that this was indeed Lavi, not some imposter.

Lavi noticed my staring and cleared his throat, snapping me out of my daze. "Are you going to help me with this or are you going to make me do it myself?" he asked, slightly amused.

"Sorry, I was distracted," I said.

"I can see that." A few moments of silence passed before Lavi spoke again. "Wanna share what's on your mind?" he asked.

"Not exactly," I replied truthfully.

"Why not? You know that you can trust me, right?" he asked.

"How can I be so sure?" I asked him without thinking. I immediately regretted my response and the small flicker of hurt in his eye made me feel even worse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!" I said quickly.

"Don't lie to me, Allen. You did mean it," Lavi said quietly.

"No, really, I didn't. What I meant was . . ." I trailed off, not knowing where to go from there.

Lavi gave me a small smile. "That's alright. Really, it is. I'm a Bookman; it'd probably be wisest if you didn't trust me anyway."

"Don't talk like that," I whispered, balling my hands into fists on the table.

"Why? I'm only speaking the truth."

"The truth scares me," I confessed. Lavi raised an eyebrow questioningly and I continued, "Every day I think back to our fight on the Ark. I think about what I learned about you, the fact that you're not really Lavi, but just someone who acts like him out of convenience for your job. I am scared that one of these days you and Bookman are going to pack up and walk away without looking back. I fear that day, because I know that it's coming soon." As I said the words, I realized that they were true. I really was afraid that Lavi could leave me at any moment.

Lavi stared at me, emotionless. Suddenly, he reached his hand out to my cheek and brushed a tear away with his thumb. I didn't know I was crying.

"Allen, what you learned on the Ark was true. I am a Bookman and I'm only acting like the Lavi you know." I flinched at his words, but he went on, "Only, I'm not too sure if I can keep it up."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Lavi gave me another small smile and stroked my cheek. "I can't keep this charade up much longer, and you're the one who helped me understand that."

Tears flowed out of my eyes freely now and I looked away from him. "So you really are leaving and it's my fault?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually."

I looked back up at him, confused at his words. Before I could say anything, Lavi had stood up, leaned across the table and pressed his lips to mine. I felt my eyes widen at the contact. His soft lips were so warm, they felt . . . good.

Almost instantly, Lavi pulled away and looked at me in the eyes. "I can't keep acting like a Bookman. I can't do it. I can no longer be a bystander in this war when the one I've fallen for is on the front lines."

"F-fallen for?" I stuttered.

"Yes. I've fallen for you, Allen. I don't know how or when it happened, but it did. I like you, Allen. Because of that, I can't keep pretending to be a Bookman. I can't keep these feelings and try to not act on them. It's impossible." His expression was so soft and his eye was filled with love. "Even if you reject me, I'll never be able to go back to being who I was. It's too late, I can never turn back. I'm not Bookman Junior anymore, I'm Lavi now."

I stared at Lavi with wide eyes. Not only had he just confessed to me, but he said that he was giving up his position as a future Bookman. "B-but, Lavi, I thought it was your dream to be Bookman?" I asked quietly.

"It was. Back when I thought that was the only future I had. I guess it was stupid of me to make such a decision when I was just a kid, not knowing what the future held for me. I didn't know that I would have a new dream."

"A new dream?"

"To be yours," he replied softly. When I didn't respond, he chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Looks like it's one sided. I knew it." He slipped his green headband over his eyes and sighed.

I knew that Lavi had just laid his heart on the line for me. I was so stunned, I couldn't move. How do I respond to something like that? I mean, I know that I treasure Lavi, but do I like him in that sort of way?

Suddenly, the puzzle seemed like a piece of cake.

[Note from the Author: Hiya! And that my friends, was the end of oneshot number two out of one hundred. I hope you all liked it even though I ended it so horribly.

If you love me, please review! =D Please?

Off to work on other stories! *strikes heroic pose*

Until Next Time!

~animeobsessed001]