Sorry for the long break between this update and the last one! This chapter was really difficult to write and even now I'm not too happy with it. But it don't matter what I think, it's all about you guys! So let me know whatever you thought about this chapter okay
*cough* There are a lot more of you reading than are reviewing by the way *cough* I don't mind but I would appreciate the feedback just so I know how you doing with the story so far.
Shy PolarBear – So glad you're back and still reading! I missed you when I didn't hear from you after chapter 2 D: Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Sunlight filtered through thin curtains, creeping across the floor illuminating the bedroom inch by inch. The light cast the messy bed sheets into relief as it climbed over the mountains and dipped into the valleys caused by the body under them, finally settling on face of the sleeping man, irritating him into wakefulness.
Lavi considered getting out of bed before deciding he'd be better off with a few extra winks. It registered sleepily in his mind that once again the space next to him was empty.
Will you still be here when I wake up?
Anger swiftly followed by resignation filled Lavi as he recalled the broken promise from the night before. He lay on his back sleepily wiping his eyes, mentally reprimanding himself for getting his hopes up. Why was he getting so frustrated over something this minor?
The sunshine directly over his face only fuelled his annoyance. Cursing under his breathe Lavi grabbed the other pillow on the bed and covered his face. The warmth radiating from the pillow came as a shock. Pleasant heat soothed his pique, instinctively pulling the pillow closer as he searched out more of that welcoming peace. The musky smell that was so unique to Tyki filled his nose and he inhaled deeply.
"Do you do that every morning? Or are you just trying to make me jealous?" A sultry voice laced with amusement interrupted Lavi's pillow worship. He could almost feel the smirk in the low playful tone. Lavi would have been embarrassed, but he was too comfortable to care.
"Hmm…. go away…. You've been replaced!" To emphasise the point he clutched the pillow to his body and rolled away from the siren call that was the other man's voice. His own voice sounded thick as he called through the pillow, "This pillow's more comfortable and better looking than you!"
"Oh really?" Lavi didn't need to look to know that one eyebrow would be elegantly cocked, that perfectly formed lips were turned up at one corner in a devious smirk, and golden eyes were flashing dangerously. Carpet-muffled footsteps warned him that other was drawing nearer to the bed and a slight sinking of the mattress alerted him to the sudden close proximity.
A trail of butterfly kisses made their way across the expanse of defined shoulders. "I can think of least one thing you can't replace…"
Lavi tried to move away from those travelling lips but inadvertently exposed more of his neck to the attack. Callused fingertips drew lines of fire up from the small of Lavi's back to the hard plains of his abdomen. Lavi couldn't stop himself from turning into the touch.
"I'll be downstairs when you're done cheating on me."
The temperature plummeted as Tyki jumped off the bed and made a dash for the door, narrowly avoiding the pillow aimed for his head.
"Tease!"
The receding footsteps and laughter down the hallway informed Lavi of his lover's escape. Lavi stood and stretched, now was as good a time as any to begin the day. The combination of sunlight and Tyki's touch was more than enough to wake him up.
Lavi decided that the shorts he had worn to sleep would be suitable lounging at home attire. He opened a draw to retrieve a random sweater to cover his bare chest. The sweater was black and slightly too big for him; the large round neck showed off defined collar bones and it slipped a little bit off one of his shoulders.
Must be one of Tyki's… The thought confirmed by the familiar musk and the trace fragrance of tobacco. He pulled the sleeves up to the elbows in the hope that that would be enough to keep the sweater from slipping too far.
Ready for the day Lavi followed his lover downstairs. The hanging rope of the attic door caught his eyes. The photographs and the small chest of costumes came to mind. In one quick trip he transferred the chest from the attic to a corner of the bedroom. He had a plan for them later and hopefully the content would prove to be enough to help the couple out of their current slump.
Smirking at his own brilliance, Lavi went in search the currently oblivious man, finding him sitting at the table in the kitchen, a book propped up against the milk jug as he ate cereal. Lavi grabbed the milk jug, offsetting the book causing it to fall flat on the table with a small thud.
"Hey! I was using that!"
"How many times do I have to say it? If you leave the milk out, it'll get warm and go off."
"It was only a minute… it wasn't going to go off right this minute." Tyki retorted, somewhat sheepishly. Gold eyes followed Lavi as he returned the jug to its icy home, taking in the long muscled legs that the shorts could not quite hide and lightly bronzed skin exposed by the loose sweater. Unconsciously a pink tongue licked across suddenly dry lips; He loved to see Lavi in his clothing.
"Is that mine?" he asked, tilting his head to the side to better appreciate the view.
"Probably," Lavi shrugged the question off giving Tyki an insolent stare. He took a spoon from the rack and sat down next to the older man. Without warning he began to eat from the same bowl, knocking Tyki's spoon out of the way. It was Tyki's turn to stare.
Lavi looked up innocently, "What?"
He pulled the bowl closer and watched Tyki as he prepared a second bowl of cereal.
"We do have more than one bowl, you know." Tyki deftly switched the two bowls, taking back what was his.
"Why dirty another bowl? There's just gonna be more washing up in the end." Nonetheless, he took the bowl placed in front of him.
Tyki examined the miserable contents of his bowl, two single flakes floating in milk. Pushing the bowl away he turned his full attention to the nonchalant red head sat cross-legged on the chair. Said red head smiled weakly in-between mouthfuls, a bead of milk trailing down from the corner of his mouth.
"So what were you doing in the attic last night?" An olive hand reached out to wipe the milk the away from the other's face.
"Mm... thanks." Lavi self-consciously rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. "I was going through some of the old boxes. Did you know we actually have a window up there? I nearly died before I actually found the damn thing."
"We really need to start throwing some of that junk out. We could make another room maybe turn it into a study or a library. We could even move Road up there."
"It's not all junk!" Lavi tried to disguise the hurt he felt at hearing his precious memories being called 'junk'. "You already have a study and that creepy wardrobe of hers would never fit up there anyway."
"Stop pouting, it was only an idea. But really, the room is fit burst we do need to get rid of some of that stuff." The younger man narrowed his eyes at the suggestion and Tyki held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Sorry! What did you find that kept you up there all evening anyway?"
All of a sudden Lavi felt a lot less inclined to share the discovery of the photographs with the older man. It was a little corner of history he wanted to keep to himself for a while longer. Picking up Tyki's bowl and his own now empty one, he walked over to the sink.
"Just some stuff…" Rolling up the sleeves again to avoid getting them wet, Lavi looked over his shoulder, "So what are your plans for the day?"
Tyki stretched his arms over his head, cracking the bones of his neck and shoulders, the muscles of his back rippling under his shirt. "I have to write a bunch of angry emails to lazy authors who can't meet deadlines and Printers who couldn't tell literature from a children's book. You know I had to stay late yesterday because the printing department ran the wrong covers again!Why am I surrounded by idiots?"
"Well you don't have much to do today right? 'Coz we don't have to be at Allen's till one-ish so I thought maybe we could do something." Green eyes fixed on the towel he was drying his hands on and feeling slightly silly for holding his breath as he waited for a response.
"Yeah, that sounds nice."
"Really?" Disbelief and happiness evident in his voice. Tyki laughed at the cautiously enthusiastic response.
"Yes really. We haven't actually done anything in a while now." He stood up and walked past Lavi and through the kitchen door. "But let's just see how much I can get done first okay?"
Without knowing why he even felt so disappointed right now, Lavi remained where he stood, leaning against the sink, wondering to himself why it was always so cold when the other man left a room.
Upstairs in his make-shift study Tyki single-mindedly attacked the barrage of emails he had received unaware of the state he had left his younger lover in the kitchen, the number one issue in his mind being the circus that was the publishing industry.
In the six months he had been Head Editor, Tyki had had to completely overhaul the way in which things were run. The last Head had been completely useless, it was no wonder the man was 'let go'. A shudder ran through him as he imagined the bearing the brunt of the CEO's wrath.
For six months he lived, ate and breathed publishing. This of course had led to the long hours and time away from home. The promise of actually spending some time with Lavi had given Tyki a powerful incentive to push through his workload as fast as he possibly could.
Smiling to himself, he finished composing a particularly scathing message and turned to review the story outline he had just received from one of the company's best-selling authors. While waiting for the attachment to load, Tyki reached into his drawer to find his reading glasses. The case must have rolled to back of the drawer so he reached further in, stopping when his fingers brushed against a soft velvet-covered surface.
The golden eyed man pulled out the item and for a moment simply stared at it. It was a simple box; small and square with a domed lid. Tyki slipped a nail into the groove and delicately opened the box. The inside was lined in black silk, beautifully accenting the rich midnight blue of the outer-case.
As fingertips traced the lines of the contents of the box a memory, unbidden played in his mind's eye.
Lavi sat across from him, head held up straight holding his gaze. Behind green eyes stirred a storm of pain, sadness and anger. Golden eyes fixed on the patch of bruised purple skin of the boy's cheek. Without making an attempt to mask the crack in his voice or even hide the watery sheen to his eyes, he spoke.
"Give me a reason Tyki. Just one reason why should I go back with you? Everyone around us seems to think that this is wrong." His tone bitter as he spat the words out, challenging Tyki to respond.
Anger flared within Tyki's own chest, his heart pounded furiously. How dare he call what they had 'wrong' and since when had he ever cared what other people thought of him; If that was the case why did he even enter a relationship with someone older, a man no less. He opened his mouth to speak but was instantly cut off.
"My friends can't stand you, you know. In a whole year you couldn't get Yu to even sit in the same room as you, he even left his own home right now 'coz he hates you that much. Allen's still kind of afraid of you; and I'm pretty sure that Lenalee thinks you're just an old pervert." Lavi counted off on his fingers what each of his friends thought of the Portuguese man. His voice hardened now, remained steady and he continued cruelly.
"And it doesn't end there. It's not just you. You're family have made it quite clear that they hate me too. Lulubell's stuck up and frigid, would it kill her to crack a smile? I'll tell you now she's going to turn in a crazy old cat lady… she's already halfway there… And that blockhead of a cousin Skinn.. Homophobic I can deal with, but does he have to be all up in my face about it? He's fine with you so I guess it has to be me! He takes every chance he gets to push or shove or just do something to piss me off. But you never see it. You're family are just too damned perfect! And if I complained what would I look like? Just some silly little boy crying wolf-"
"Lavi…" The anger he had felt before quickly dissipating at these words.
"- 'coz that how they all see me isn't it? Just some little kid." Sorrowful eyes bore into Tyki's, as if pleading him to agree and leave. To cut short this needless so they could both move on.
"Lavi, I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know if you don't say anything? So much of the time you're like a closed book… So difficult to read…" The older man held his hand in his head. He felt defeated, four months he waited until the other would tolerate his presence. Four months he had spent reviewing all the sign he had missed from the other.
"What do you want me to say? You left me remember?" Immediately regretting the harshness of his words.
"It's not about what I want you to say Tyki… I felt like I did have a choice"
"Lavi, you made that decision for the both of us. How do you expect me to fix something if I didn't even know it was broken?" Looking up when he heard the rustle of clothes as Lavi shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"It wouldn't have made you look weak if you asked me for help. Maybe you're right? Maybe I'm too close to my family to see their faults; maybe they're just good at hiding it from me? But we're partners aren't we? We're supposed to be able to talk to each other?"
"I guess…" Tyki internally rejoiced at the markedly less bitter tone.
"Do you think age is an issue?"
"Not at first… it was nice, different. But when you get all 'flirty' and stuff its kinda embarrassing. Sometimes… sometimes it's like your treating me like a woman..." Lavi trailed off at the end.
"First of all it's not being 'flirty' its called being 'sensual'. There's a difference. Second I can't help the fact that yes I am more… experienced… I don't mean to flaunt that and make you feel small. I just really want to treat you in the way you deserve to be treated."
Lavi scoffed at that, "Or maybe Lenalee is right and you are just a pervert."
"Maybe. It's not like you're a school boy; you're almost twenty. And seriously six years doesn't exactly make me old does it?" Eyes flashed playfully as he crossed the space between them to slump down next to the red head.
Fingertips softly grasped Lavi by chin, turning his face so Tyki could examine the bruise more closely. Asking the question that had been on his mind since he entered the apartment. "Are you going to tell me who did this to you?"
It pained Tyki to see Lavi's smooth skin marked in this way and even more so when he felt the boy wince under his touch and pull his face away from his grip.
Lavi's hands tightened into fists at his side, visibly shaking with rage. He answered the question in a low voice, "I bumped into your brother the other day. The bastard gave me a parting gift." He barked a harsh sounds almost resembling laughter.
"Sheryl did that! I kill him!" Tyki was on his feet, a palpable dark aura radiating from his body.
Lavi stood also, but walked past the stormy figure.
"Like that's going to help anyone. Anyway save the getting angry for when you see what I've done to him."
In the kitchen Lavi gripped the edge of the sink with his back to the doorway. Tyki followed the other into the kitchen and leaned against the island counter, gaze trained on the back of the boy's head. If only a stare could penetrate the labyrinth of Lavi's mind, Tyki might have been closer to understanding what he needed to say. The silence grew more profound, only the sound of breathing filling the air.
"I'm still waiting. Either give me a reason to go home with you or leave. Yu won't be happy to see you still here when he gets back." His voice sounded weaker to Tyki, tired somehow, but he still managed to laugh genuinely, "He's been dying for a reason to kick your arse."
Tyki moved around the counter until he was directly behind Lavi. He slipped his arms around Lavi's smaller waist and placed his own larger hands over Lavi's. They stood still; close enough for Tyki to press his chest against Lavi's back. The taller man breathed in the scent of paper and ink. Lavi tried to remove his hands but was held firmly in place.
"I'll do better than that. I'll give you three reasons querido." Tyki searched the other's face through the reflection in the window opposite. Lavi looked slightly uncomfortable, eyes trying to find anything else other than the reflection to look at.
"Don't call me that…" He mumbled out of the corner of his mouth. Tyki smirked and began his list of reasons.
"One – Your friends will probably never like me, so quit holding your breath waiting for that to happen. I've traumatised Allen too much I think, and Kanda is going to be forever looking for that reason to 'kick my arse'. You and I both know that that doesn't really bother you." He placed a soft kiss below Lavi's ear to mark the first reason.
"Two - We're partners and that means that you don't get to decide on your own that we're finished. I won't let you." A shiver ran through the smaller red head's body. Tyki turned him slowly so they stood face to face. Brushing strands of red hair aside he touched his lips to Lavi's forehead. Green eyes sliding shut as welcome heat spread from the point of contact.
"And three – You know how important family is to me, but my family includes you." Two hands on either side of Lavi's face pulled his head upwards and held him place. "I'd sooner turn my back on everyone else if the only other option was losing you." He brought his own head down to join their brows.
"Forever wouldn't be enough to make up for the months we've lost. So I promise I'll spend every day I have left making up for it."
Lavi leaned his face into the hands holding him. "You better hope you got enough days left old man."
Chuckling he pulled Lavi closer one last time trying in earnest to convey the depths of his feelings in a warm embrace.
Coming back to himself, Tyki snapped the box shut and shook the memory from his mind. They'd come a long way since then and he was grateful for every day that they had shared since. This box was a reminder of all that for it wasn't too long after Lavi had made the decision to go home with him that Tyki had gone out to make this purchase.
He'd been holding on to it for approximately eight and a half years.
He slipped the box back into its hiding place at the back of the drawer and retrieved his glasses. It wouldn't do to dwell on times past when there was a task at hand.
Try as he might, Tyki couldn't get back into the flow of his work. The words on the screen did not make any sense to him as he mind kept drifting. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something important. After reading the same line of text for what must have been the fourth time he gave up, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
"Coffee?"
A mug of steaming coffee was placed in front of him. The rich, earthy smell emanating from the mug already stimulating his mind. Tyki smiled gratefully up at his younger lover as he took a sip. "Querido, you are definitely too good for me."
"Don't call me that." Lavi muttered, bending down to read the document on the screen.
"It was okay last night. Would you prefer 'wifey' instead?" He earned a sharp rap over his head for that last comment.
"Don't' be stupid and when I'm sleepy doesn't count… Is this a story outline? You should send it back, the plot doesn't make sense. It's too… sketchy and seriously unoriginal."
Tyki leaned back in his chair, scrutinising the younger man over the lip of his mug. Lavi was a big reader, and Tyki knew better than to ignore any comment he made on a draft. At times he swore that the red head who smell out a best seller. It was probably a sixth sense from working a bookshop his whole life.
"What did I tell you about lazy authors?"
Lavi smiled sweetly at the older man before moving away from the computer. Eyes followed him as he threw himself down on the small sofa behind the desk. Lavi made himself comfortable, stretching out completely and reclining against an arm. One arm tucked behind his head, the other holding up a paperback.
"You don't mind, do you?" Attention fully directed at the book in his hand, otherwise he would have seen the golden gleam when he pushed his hips up to lie more comfortably. "I'm not distract– "
Lavi was cut off as the book was plucked from his hand and his mouth was engaged in a crushing kiss. He relaxed into the kiss allowing Tyki to thoroughly explore his mouth. Tyki felt fine boned hands run up his chest and grab on to the front of his shirt. A light push against his shoulders telling him to break the kiss, "That has got to be a record." Lavi remarked, slightly breathless.
"Can you blame me?" Golden eyes were darkened with desire. Tyki sat back on his knees to take in Lavi's form stretched out before him. He leaned back in to claim the other set of lips in an open mouth kiss, leading the other's tongue in a complicated dance of twists and turns. Tyki turned his head slightly to achieve a better angle to please the other.
A tanned hand slipped under the black material of Lavi's sweater to trace intricate filigree patterns into heated skin, the other hand planted firmly in red hair. Lavi reached his arm around Tyki's shoulders, simultaneously pulling the larger man down and using him as leverage to push himself upwards. Body heat seeping through their clothes as chests pressed closer together.
Rhythm broke at the sound of a phone ringing. Groaning in irritation Tyki moved to get up but was stopped as Lavi fisted his hands into dark curls, pulling him back down, "Just ignore it."
"I can't… what if it's work…" Soft lips pressed against his throat sufficiently distracting him. "… Forget it… "The phone had stopped ringing anyway. Settling into a more comfortable position, he returned his attentions to the red headed handful beneath him.
The phone burst into life again, ringing with renewed vigour.
"Alright already!" This time the taller man successfully extricating himself from the mass of tangled limbs. He crossed the floor in two strides, leaving behind a panting Lavi on the sofa.
"Hello." Lavi watched as his lover's face went through a slideshow of emotions from annoyance to anger to panic as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line.
"Every single copy? Are you kidding?" Frantically Tyki turned back to his computer and clicked away furiously. "How can we not a have a back-up? This is ridiculous!"
"Um hmm… okay… yeah I'm just checking now…" Behind him, Lavi's expression darkened as he noticed Tyki checking his watch. He could tell what was coming. In one smooth moment he got up and silently left the room.
"I can be there in forty minutes. Stall the printers until I get there… I don't care what you do! Just think of something!"
Hanging up the phone Tyki turned back to the sofa readying his apologies, finding only an empty sofa. Checking his watch he exited the study and went to make himself more presentable. If he rushed he would be able to get to work, hand over the correct files and then get back home to change and go pick up Road – No, maybe from there it would be best to go directly to the Walker's…
Travel routes and timings circled in his mind and he narrowly avoided a head on collision with Lavi in the hallway. The red head had all but barrelled out of the bedroom and charged towards the stairs. Tyki had barely managed to register that he had changed his clothing before the other had reached the top of the stairs. He reached out a hand to grab Lavi by the arm.
"Where are you going?"
"Out," Lavi waved a hand to indicate his clothing. The pyjama shorts had been exchanged for dark knee length jogging bottoms, and a black wife beater vest under a light grey hoodie. A green and black patterned bandana held his vibrant hair away from his face. "Going for a run."
The taller man stepped back slightly at the tone, however not relinquishing his hold on Lavi's arm. The ice in Lavi's voice was unmistakeable, his eyes a blaze with an out of character frost.
"Why?" Tyki inquired further, unsure of what caused the coldness that was coming of Lavi in thick waves. No doubt it had something to do with him needing to go into work on a Saturday, but this response seemed a little extreme.
"There's nothing keeping me here. Is there?" Green eyes gleamed dangerously before he started to turn away. "I'd like my arm back now please."
The fingertips around his arm went slack and he easily pulled his arm out of the older man's hold. Tyki watched him walk away, that feeling of forgetting something hitting him again as the distance increased. It wasn't like Lavi to be so stony, his words so clipped; the air about him now was completely different to what he had been like not ten minutes earlier. What had he missed?
Lavi was now at the front door running shoes slipped on and ready to take his leave when he stopped. Without turning around he spoke, "I'll pick Road on my own."
The door slammed shut behind him adding the emotion that was lacking in his monotone. Tyki flinched at the sound as if he had been physically hit by it. What the hell was that all about? Thoroughly confused the dark haired man went into the bedroom.
Clothes had been flung angrily about the room, the proof of Lavi's rush to leave the house. Shorts and sweater thrown messily over a chair that Tyki assumed must have been knocked over by the red head rampaging around the room.
Tyki sighed, knelt down by the pile of clothes and began to quietly fold. Amongst the pile were the shirt and jeans Lavi had worn the day before. He found a hanger and left the shirt hanging on the handle of the wardrobe and returned to shake out the jeans.
A small rectangle of glossy paper fell out of the back pocket. Tyki recognised the photograph immediately. It was the photo that he had given to Road when she had asked him for a picture of the two men raising her. Up until the moment when it had gone into Road's possession it had lived its inanimate life next to the small blue box in his desk drawer.
"How did you get in here?" He looked at the photo a moment longer as if in expectation of an answer.
Eyes widened as that unshakeable feeling struck him again with the force of a runaway train. The events of the day and even the night before finally made sense to him. Lavi's defence of the 'junk' in the attic, his over long stay in said attic the previous evening and the cold anger that he was just met with a moment ago.
This photograph was the catalyst to it all.
Tyki was not blind he knew that in the last few months there had been a strain in their relationship; they had fallen into a lacklustre routine. What he didn't know was how long the other had harboured feelings of isolation. How long had he felt neglected?
He couldn't avoid going into the office now that he had already told them he was on his way so once again his personal life would have to take back seat. At any rate he couldn't go chasing after the other man now, Lavi could out run him on a regular day let alone when he was fuelled by righteous rage and resentment.
All he really knew right now was that he had failed to keep the promise he made all those years ago.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!
I'm sorry this thing keeps getting longer and longer... Review if you're also worried about Lavi in the manga!