And so begins the new chapter, which was hell to come up with a start for. I hate it when you have little scenes and lines planned out, but you have no idea how to connect them and make them work. Hugs for ...oh god, why do you people have such long or hard to spell names?! Hugs for shadow.salvation, Nusku, imhappinessinabotlle, DarkDragonRhapsody, tinytruefan, flicca, Sharinganj, Akwon, AnimefanAmber, Feathery Fear and Silentkiller1.

I don't own dgm. Pity me.

--

Allen had a fairly enjoyable time sitting there in the cafe, relaxing, taking a few naps and talking to Lavi. Soon enough, Lavi's shift was over, and they were walking back up the road towards his apartment.

'So Allen...' Lavi yawned, putting his hands casually behind his head, 'What do ya want to eat tonight? That is, if you're still hungry after eating out the entire kitchen.'

'I dunno...' Allen blushed slightly and shrugged, 'What is there?'

'Well let's see... Chinese, Thai, McDonalds, KFC, we could have pizza again...'

'Do you only eat take-out? That's really... I'm surprised you're not an elephant!'

'Weeeelll...' Lavi sweatdropped and chuckled, 'I never learnt to cook, and now I don't really have the time-'

'I can cook. You want me to make something?'

Lavi looked at him in surprise. The cat smiled.

'You can cook?'

'Yup, I leant to when I was younger. I'm not the best but it's still passable. So...?'

'Ok, I guess, but I don't really have much to cook.'

'I'm sure I can find something.'

--

As soon as they got in the door, Allen headed straight for the kitchen and shuffled through the cupboards, pantry and fridge. Lavi watched, unsure of what to do with himself. While he didn't cook, he sometimes bought groceries that could be eaten raw or only needed to be heated in the microwave, but often they would sit there, only seeing the light of day when he threw them out after their use-by date. However, Allen soon emerged with several packets and bags, set them on the bench and looked for some clean dishes.

'Um, I don't have anything clean...' Lavi scratched his head nervously, 'All the stuff is in the sink.'

'Do you have any detergent? Rubber gloves?'

'Yeah-'

'No problem then.' The boy smiled brightly. He moved aside some dishes and put the plug in, then turned on the hot water tap to full blast. HE then bent down to get the before-mentioned items from the cupboard under the sink.

'You don't have to do that,' Lavi grinned nervously, 'I-'

'Consider it as part of my thanks for letting me stay tonight.' Allen said in a no-nonsense manner as he pulled the gloves on. He picked up the sponge he'd found and started to scrub the first plate. Lavi chuckled to himself, and then went to find a rag to dry the plates with.

--

An hour later, Allen set their plates on the table and sat down to eat. Lavi picked up his fork and tasted the stuff. It wasn't anything special, just some meat, gravy potatoes and salad, but after living off take-out it tasted pretty good. He voiced this enthusiastically to Allen, and the catboy blushed.

'Th-thanks...' He stuttered, making Lavi smiled. He was adorable when he was embarrassed. He sighed and dug into the rest of his tea.

He really liked having Allen here, and it was sad that he was leaving tomorrow. He doubted he could persuade him to stay another night, and besides, the more Allen stayed the harder it was gonna get. Unless...

'Hey Allen, you wouldn't wanna move in, would ya?'

Instantly, Allen started choking. Lavi looked up in concern, wondering if he should help, but the boy banged himself on the chest with his fist and managed to swallow with effort.

'W-what did you say?'

'Would you like to live here? I don't really like the idea of you roaming around the streets. I've gotten kind of fond of you, you know...'

Allen blushed again and wrung his hands in indecision.

'I don't know...'

'Do you actually like sleeping out in the cold with no home, no money and no food?'

'Not really, but-'

'Then why don't you want to stay?'

'Um...' Allen sighed as his ears drooped slightly, 'Well... It's complicated. I guess...I think it's just I don't really know you that well, so I feel guilty I'm mooching off a stranger.'

'Well you're not mooching, I'm doing all this cos I want to. And we're not strangers! We're friends, right?'

'I guess...' Allen smiled uncertainly, and his ears re-perked.

'Then you're staying,' Lavi grinned happily, but then his voice went serious. 'But... You have to promise you'll cook more often.'

Allen blinked confusedly for a second, then nodded and laughed.

--

Allen woke up late the next morning in the spare room, or rather, his room, as Lavi now referred to it. After getting dressed, he went to the kitchen to find Lavi had left a note saying he'd already left for work, and he'd be back for lunch but till then there should be some cereal in the pantry and milk in the fridge.

As the boy munched on his breakfast, he looked around the kitchen, still not quite able to get his head around the fact he was living here. With a guy he'd only met... What, two days ago? It felt longer then that.

The cat sighed and wondered if maybe this was all a trick, and any second Lavi was going to come in, yell "GOTCHA!" and then kick him back outside.

'But why would he go through the trouble?' Allen wondered out loud. Comforted by this thought, he lifted up the bowl to his lips and drank the last of the milk. He got up and washed it as well as the spoon, and after they were put away, he looked around, wondering what he should do until lunch.

He found something soon enough. Not only did Lavi not know how to cook or do dishes, he didn't know how to vacuum, dust, pick up litter or papers, or do laundry either. So, being bored, Allen put on a load of clothing in the washing machine, and then went to clean the living room. It felt sort of good, knowing he was doing housework because he wanted to instead of being forced to like shortly after Mana died.

Finally, with all the rubbish picked up, he turned on the vacuum cleaner and went to work on the carpets. He was glad it wasn't a noisy kind that would have irritated his sensitive hearing. After that was done, he went to check the wash. Seeing it was finished, he put them in the dryer. As he turned it on, he heard the door open.

'I'm home, Allen!'

Feeling a spark of happiness in his chest, the catboy hurried out of the laundry and went to find Lavi in the kitchen, as well as the Japanese man from the restaurant, who was leaning against the bench sipping coffee from a paper cup.

'Hey Allen,' Lavi grinned, 'You remember Kanda?'

Allen nodded and walked forward to extend his hand. Kanda looked at it for a second, then turned his head away making a "Che" sound. Allen sweatdropped.

'Uh...'

'Don't mind that,' Lavi grinned, placing a hand on Kanda's shoulder, 'Yu's just shy around strangers.'

'You better move that hand Rabbit or you won't get it back.'

Lavi gulped nervously and cautiously removed his hand, still grinning. He turned to face Allen.

'Anyway, we're only here for half an hour before we go back. Sorry I didn't wake you this morning, but you were so cute asleep I didn't have the heart to wake you!'

Allen pouted, and Lavi chuckled and ruffled his hair, being sure not to touch his soft white ears. The redhead continued and held up a paper bag.

'Anyway, since we don't have any food left I brought you some sushi from the deli nearby. We already ate so...'

Allen nodded, took the bag, thanked him and went to sit at the table. The two older teens chatted behind him, but Allen tried not to listen. For some reason, he didn't like that Lavi had brought Kanda here. Yes, it was his house, and Kanda was his friend, but what had he come over for anyway if they'd already eaten? Why did Lavi want to be friends with someone who beat him up just for calling his name? It didn't make much sense. And why did Lavi eat first before coming here? Allen had been hoping they could eat lunch together...

'God,' Allen blinked in surprise, 'Am I jealous?'

He shook his head mentally. No, he couldn't be jealous. It's not like he and Lavi were all that close anyway. Yes, they were living in the same house, but it was more like Lavi was allowing him to stay out of sympathy!

But then, Allen heard a snippet of the two older boy's conversation.

'Shut up you stupid Rabbit I told you not to call me by my first name!'

'Aw,' Lavi giggled, 'is that anyway to talk to your lover?'

Allen dropped his chop sticks in shock and turned in his seat.

'YOU TWO ARE GOING OUT?!'

Lavi and Kanda looked at him. Kanda rolled his eyes, and Lavi laughed.

'No, not really, but our boss Komui likes to joke that we are. I find it funny, but Kanda...'

'It's stupid!' Kanda huffed angrily, 'We are plainly not going out! I'd rather die then go out with you!'

'I dunno, Yu, if you despise me so much how come we hang out?'

'That's mainly you dragging me places I don't want to go, idiot. There's a big difference.'

The two seemed to have resumed their argument or whatever they were doing, so Allen turned back and stared at the remainder of the rice, fish and seaweed. He'd lost his appetite.

'Yep. I'm definitely jealous.'

--

'So...' Lavi smiled half an hour later as he and Kanda walked back to work, 'What did ya think of Allen?'

'I didn't like him. He's too...'

'Too cute?'

'Too nice. Are you sure it's a good idea to let him stay in your apartment?'

'But a kid like him could never last on the streets! Are you saying I should just chuck him out?'

'I'm saying you should be cautious. Haven't you seen on the news, those cat people who pretend to be all nice and sweet, who charm their way into peoples homes, then steal your money and belongings?'

'Corse I have,' Lavi said defensively, 'But I'm a pretty good judge of character and I think he's ok.'

'Fine,' Kanda rolled his steely eyes, 'Don't come crying to me when you come home to find your TV gone.'

Lavi chuckled and the two walked the rest of the way in silence. The redhead knew Kanda was just worried about him, though the dark eyed boy would rather shoot himself then admit it. Still, Allen had been acting a little odd after they got to the apartment. He'd been nice and his usual self, but there had been something forced about his cheeriness.

Perhaps there was something wrong? Or maybe he'd found something weird when he'd cleaned the house. Lavi sorely hoped he boy hadn't gone into his room and discovered his doujinshi collection. After all, most boys didn't understand the beauty of gay love. Lavi himself wasn't gay, but he was bisexual...

'Hey, you think Allen's a homophobe? He seemed pretty bothered when I called you my lover.'

'The hell should I know?' Kanda glared in annoyance, 'But if he is wont he have a problem staying with you?'

'Most likely... But he doesn't seem like the prejudice type... I'll ask him what's up when I get home tonight.'

Kanda made an "I don't care" noise and walked on ahead so that Lavi had to jog to keep up. He knew the Japanese man was pissed off someone had thought they were going out, and was probably going to punish Komui for creating the joke. When Kanda got mad, it didn't matter if he worked for you. You were going down.

--

Finshed chapter up! I made it longer then the others, more then two thousand words. Also, i put a hint in there of stuff that had to do with the Earl and Noah's part in the story.

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