Sorry for the lack of updates. School hurt me last quarter more than my CTS did. For the time this wasn't updated, I'll have you know that my heart was elsewhere, and therefore I did not force myself to write something that would become inferior to the rest of this story. Now, I've captured my muse and return.

Thanks for your continued support: Nusku, SincerelyRainbow, BlueFox of the Moon, NellaXIval, KinKitsune01, whisperypath, ravenangel23, Fayzee, Darkspider, kenpachi-sama, SakuraKissy, Chiaki Saruwatari, Tsumi no Curse, sweetpotato1992, whatthehellwasithinkin, Aion Laven Walker, OyaSUMi-heart, ritachi, beautiful000enigma, Crazy Little Feline, GoGothGirl, saxon-jesus, ChocohalicsAnonymous, MonElisa, InfinityOnTheRun, and everyone else for your favorites and alerts.

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When Allen awoke, it was gray and still. He was comfortably warm, lying on something soft with a light weight on his shoulder. Pillow, bed, blankets. The words came to him as his mind began to register consciousness. Allen was no longer in that dark place where it was raining and there was so much blood. He was in the present, in the now, in the current year 2008. Silver eyes focused on the calendar on the bedside table: 2008. He blinked owlishly at the number. It looked so strange on paper, probably because he had always thought he would never see the year 1900, let alone 2000. Allen's head began to hurt thinking about it.

There was a faint hiss coming from a room adjacent to the one he was in. It sounded like a shower head, so Allen deduced that Lavi was bathing. Rolling over on his side, Allen rubbed at his temples, looking at the calendar again. 2008. Beside the paper block there was a small, rectangular contraption. A red number glared back at him. 5:32. He closed his eyes with a sigh, listening to the water fall in the bathroom. A few moments later it switched off and Allen rubbed his eyes, imagining Lavi stepping out of the tub, drying his hair on a towel, maybe looking at himself in the mirror. Such average things to do when one went through the ordinary motions. Allen recalled with painful clarity the times he had watched Rabi go through the same routine. Something that had seemed so banal then now seemed like something so damned important. Allen had to wonder if it was because Lavi looked so much—too much—like Rabi. He stopped that train of thought before it left the station, not wanting to venture down that horrible, guilt ridden track again.

Lavi stepped out of the bathroom, the door creaking a bit on its hinges. Even though Allen's eyes were closed, he could feel the steam and smell the fresh scent of soap and shampoo. It smelled nothing like Rabi, but it was nice in its own right. He kept still, listening to the soft footsteps on the carpet. Lavi was tiptoeing, believing Allen to be asleep most likely. He used this to his advantage, cracking his eyes slightly so he could watch the other boy without being detected.

The redhead was standing quietly at the dresser, opening the drawers silently one by one to fish articles of clothing out. He was completely bare save for a towel that was wrapped loosely around his waist. Allen let himself stare for a moment, taking in the smooth lines of Lavi's body by the golden light of the bathroom. He wasn't overly muscular, but he wasn't skinny either. Lavi was as Rabi was—had been: tall, lean, and nicely defined. The silver haired boy mentally shook his head, wishing he could stop comparing as he squashed that compulsion. He had something else to distract him from these thoughts.

Lavi's back was to him, his strong shoulders looking slightly defeated in the dim illumination, as if he were tired of carrying the burden of something too heavy for him. But that wasn't what had caught Allen's attention. It was the discoloration that ran the length of Lavi's spine. Purple, blue and swollen. Bruised as if he had been hurt badly. Recently. The pain was obvious when Lavi accidentally dropped a sock on the floor. It hurt Allen just to watch him bend over in such anguish to obtain it. But the empathy turned into a bit of anger when Allen noticed that Lavi's back wasn't the only thing that was black and blue. His wrists were too.

As if someone had held him down.

Allen continued to watch in silence, anger burning inside him as Lavi walked with a pained gait back toward the bathroom. A few moments later he emerged with loose pants and a shirt on, towel drying his hair.

"Lavi," Allen said. He watched the outlined form of Lavi jump slightly in the dark. Then he turned and looked at Allen, the bathroom light showing his face in more clarity. He looked awful, as if he'd slept badly or not at all.

"Allen?" he replied, in a voice that made Allen think that Lavi believed him to still be asleep. It was that quiet tone that people used when they thought another person was speaking in their sleep.

"Are you okay?" Allen asked, sitting up. The redhead looked a bit confused by his question, because he didn't know Allen had seen what his short sleeved t-shirt concealed.

"Yeah," Lavi said, taking a step closer, somewhat cautiously. "Are you…feeling okay?"

"Yes," Allen replied, tilting his head slightly, confused at the heavy concern.

"Are you sure?" Lavi asked. Allen was going to ask why he wouldn't be all right, but then he vaguely recalled the previous day, when he and Lavi had been at the park….where he'd seen Tiki and remembered…Allen's stomach twisted painfully, like he had eaten something bad as it came rushing back to him at full force.

"Yes," Allen said again, but after a moment too late and in a voice a bit fainter than before. He pushed away the image of Tiki's smile and the still beating heart in his hand. "Did I hurt…that guy yesterday?"

"I hope so," Lavi muttered darkly. When Allen looked at him with a somewhat shocked expression, Lavi shook his head. "You barely scratched him." Allen nodded, pulling the blanket around himself. He could still see Tiki's smug face in his mind, the blood on him, and Rabi lying nearby, not moving, his life so unfairly taken…

"Your wrists are bruised," Allen pointed out, to steer his thoughts in another direction. Lavi glanced down, moving his hands into his pockets block Allen's view. However, he could still see the purplish discoloration right above the lip of the fabric.

"Yeah, I fell," he replied.

"Fell?" Allen repeated, disbelief coloring his tone.

"I didn't see a stack of books and I fell in the dark," Lavi said. Allen knew he was lying. Rabi had been good at fooling him, but after years of knowing the boy, Allen had been able to tell when he wasn't telling the truth. He had taken a sort of pride in being able to tell when someone with a Bookman's training was lying. But Lavi was different. His face was like an open book, his motions practically shouting the truths he tried to hide.

"On both wrists?" Allen inquired. Even underneath Lavi's watchband, he could see the injuries.

"Yeah, on both wrists," Lavi said, his eyes flickering downwards with untruth.

"They're new," said Allen.

"It happened last night," Lavi replied, eyes skirting away as if he was ashamed.

"Did you fall on your back, too?" Allen asked. The redhead tried to hide his surprised look, but failed. Not asking how he knew, Lavi continued to attempt to fool Allen.

"Yeah," Lavi said.

"That's impossible," Allen answered. Falling over a stack of books wouldn't give a person those kinds of injuries. He had tripped over enough of Rabi's to know that. The bruises that covered Lavi were different. They were on par with those received from fighting akuma, being flung from a great height, or hit with a heavy object. Or abuse. "What happened?"

"I fell, like I said," Lavi replied.

"Why are you lying?" Allen asked, sincerely honest. He'd never given Lavi a reason to lie to him, had he?

"I'm not," Lavi said, his voice giving him away. Green eyes dropped in defeat when he realized that Allen was not fooled. "Sorry…it's just something stupid."

"Someone hurt you," Allen said. Lavi suddenly found the wood of the dresser to be terribly interesting.

"No," he replied, a few seconds too late to be truthful.

"Stop pretending," said Allen, for some reason feeling angry. Lavi glanced at him, appearing as upset as Allen felt.

"Look, just don't think about it," Lavi replied, an edge to his voice that made Allen back down a bit warily for a moment.

"You're hurt," Allen said, as if that explained his reasoning.

"You're hurt, too," said Lavi, walking closer to the bed. Allen didn't protest when he sat down on the edge of the mattress and pulled out the first aid kit from the cubby in the bedside table. The redheaded boy looked at him and tugged at the edge of the blanket, which Allen childishly refused to let go. "C'mon, Allen. Let me take care of you—r wounds." Allen saw that Lavi looked embarrassed at his slip. Let me take care of you he almost said and Allen's face felt warm.

"Not until you tell me about what happened," Allen said, nodding his head at Lavi's bruised hands. Lavi made a face and tugged again on the blanket.

"That's not fair. I never asked you what happened," Lavi replied and Allen fell silent. That was the one thing he didn't want to talk about. He didn't think he could ever talk about it: that night when he had lost everything. And Lavi hadn't asked, which Allen was grateful for. Because of that, Allen let Lavi slide the comforter down his shoulders without a word. He looked straight forward at the wall, doing everything in his power to not think about the hands touching him. The hands that reminded him so much of… "You're almost completely healed up."

"Really?" Allen asked, but more out of courtesy in the form of a reply than anything else. Lavi nodded, turning on the light before he gently peeled off the rest of the old bandages.

"Do you want to go take a shower?" Lavi inquired, once all the gauze and tape were gone from Allen's body.

"Yes," Allen replied, as he felt rather grungy and wanted to wash his hair.

"Okay," Lavi said, and got up to lead him into the bathroom. After pulling down a towel and washcloth from the tall cabinet on the wall, Lavi set them on the edge of the sink. "Um, there's shampoo and soap in the shower. If you need anything…just yell, I guess." Without looking at him once, Lavi left, closing the door a little bit harder than necessary behind him.

Allen leaned against the wall and looked at his miserable reflection in the mirror, touching the raised, pink marks on his flesh beneath his open dress shirt. Sighing, Allen got undressed and turned on the hot water, stepping under the spray when it was warm enough. He let the water rush over him, wincing slightly when it stung at his wounds a bit.

"You heal fast, Allen," Rabi commented. He was sitting before Allen, unwrapping the bandages around the silver haired boy's body. The top few buttons of the redhead's shirt were undone and Allen could see the edge of crimson gauze beneath the fabric. Above the collar, silver eyes traced the bruised right collarbone with guilt.

"I think it's the Innocence," Allen said, stilling Rabi's hands. They were rough and calloused, his palms wrapped in gauze to cover the healing burns and blisters. As gently as Rabi had touched him, Allen took his lover's battered hands in his and kissed the black and blue knuckles tenderly. His upper lip brushed over the cool metal of the simple ring adorning Rabi's ring finger. "Let me do it. You're still hurt."

"Hurt? These are just scratches," Rabi insisted, but Allen made him lie down on the bed again. He did so obediently, with a small frown.

"Don't make that face, Rabi," Allen said gently as he unwound the bandages from around his upper arm. "Those are more than just scratches." Tossing the gauze into the trashcan, Allen pulled his shirt back on and laid down next to Rabi. Behind him, Allen could see the dark clouds building, preparing to storm. He brought his hand to Rabi's cheek, being mindful of the bandage close to his jaw. Silver hair fell before his eyes as he shook his head. "You keep going and getting roughed up when you don't have to."

"I don't have to?" Rabi repeated, leaning into Allen's hand. The younger boy glanced up to see Rabi's eye closed as he pressed his cheek against his palm. He wore an almost tortured expression. "Allen…you could have gotten hurt."

"But I can take it, Rabi," Allen said.

"But you shouldn't have to," Rabi replied, opening his only eye. A single green orb stared at him with such intensity that Allen felt like Rabi was searching his entire soul.

"If it keeps you safe," Allen murmured, moving closer so that their bodies were touching. Rabi was warm and Allen held him, making sure he did so softly enough to not hurt him. "Then I'll do anything."

"Allen…"

"You mean so much to me, Rabi. I can't…lose you…"

"Allen…"

"You're my entire world. I love…"

"Allen…?"

Allen jumped slightly when he heard a soft knocking at the door. It was when he was brought back to reality that Allen realized he was still in the shower, standing beneath the now cold water. Leaning forward to turn up the heat, Allen heard another knock, this one louder than the first one.

"Allen, are you okay in there…?" Lavi asked, sounding worried from the other side.

"I'm fine," Allen replied, soaping up the washcloth quickly. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay, there's some clothes for you on the bed," Lavi said.

"Thank you," he answered, straining his ears to listen to the other boy's footsteps walk away. He couldn't hear him over the water, but Allen gave it a few moments and figured that Lavi had left. The hand holding the washcloth trembled as Allen attempted to shake the memory from his mind. He tried not to remember how it seemed his last few months with Rabi had consisted of seeing his lover more bruised and bloody than pain free. But Rabi had still smiled and still made love to him.

Flushing, Allen turned off the water and grabbed his towel, drying off hastily before stepping out. He didn't look at himself in the mirror, opening the door from the bathroom to step into the bedroom. The cool air caressed his damp flesh and Allen trembled, hurrying over to the edge of the bed where there was a pile of warm clothes waiting for him.

After Allen had dressed in comfortable underclothes, a pair of loose pants, and a long sleeved shirt, he hung his towel and turned off the light, walking out into the living room in search of Lavi. He kept his head up high and his eyes as strong as his posture, hoping that he would be able to overcome everything in this strange new world where it was 2008 and Rabi didn't exist.

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Lavi made eggs and toast for breakfast, but Allen couldn't finish his plate. The silver-haired boy didn't understand his lack of appetite. At first, he thought it had something to do with his Innocence that seemed to be dormant inside him. But then Allen had to wonder if it was something more: the stress from a situation where everything and everyone was so familiar and yet so different.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Lavi asked, for about the third time. Allen nodded, for the third time as he drank his orange juice. Green eyes didn't look convinced, but Lavi's attention was drawn elsewhere when Allen heard a soft vibration, almost like a hum, emit from the coat hanging over the kitchen chair. Allen watched with a small bit of interest as Lavi withdrew a small object, flipped the top open, and then looked at it, clicking away on the front of the thing as if it were very important to him. Even still, Allen noticed that his brow was slightly furrowed, as if confused or annoyed.

"What's wrong?" Allen asked, a bit awkwardly. He felt strange asking Lavi about it, something that pertained to his life. The life that was his before Allen came.

"I…have a friend, um, Lenalee," Lavi said, setting the gadget down on the table next to his clean breakfast plate. "You met her, actually. The other day. Short, black hair." Allen nodded that he remembered her, his toast tasting like ash in his throat as he thought of the girl whom she resembled. With that image came the memory of Rinali's crumbled, beaten body on the battlefield, her legs ripped to bloody shreds from the overexertion of her Innocence. In the end, the only way for the Heart to survive was through sacrifice.

"She has this gallery," Lavi continued, bringing Allen out of his dark recollections. "And, I dunno, she needs help and…"

"Can't Kanda help?" Allen asked, wondering if this Kanda was like the Kanda he knew. Judging from his short appearance the other day, he was short-tempered and rude just like the Japanese samurai. However, Allen and the Exorcist he had once known had come to a sort of truce around the time of the final battle and had worked harder than ever together, striving toward a single goal. They were actually quite good.

"He…got tied up," Lavi said. The way his voice faltered slightly alerted Allen to the lie, but he didn't press it. "A-And anyway, Lenalee needs some help moving things. So…if you're up to going out again, would you like to come with me?" Allen looked up, a bit shocked at the invitation. After the other day, he had presumed Lavi would never want to take him anywhere ever again, afraid that he would have another episode like he had in the park. But instead, he went out of his way to try to include Allen, as if trying to bring the younger boy into his world with a guiding, gentle hand.

"O-Okay," Allen replied with a nod, his cheeks feeling rather warm as a feeling he couldn't quite identify bloomed in his chest. And Lavi smiled, looking relieved, like he had been expecting much worse from the proposal. Allen shyly smiled back before dropping his eyes. It felt almost traitorous how much he liked Lavi's smile, especially with the cold weight of the ring on his finger. He couldn't forget Rabi—couldn't disgrace him in such a way. But Allen couldn't deny that feeling he experienced within himself. It was the same feeling he had felt upon first meeting Rabi.

It wasn't falling in love, no. 'Falling in love' happened over time. It didn't just occur randomly in time and space. But love did plant its seed and that seed could grow according to the will of the two involved. What they did with it was their own. How they cultivated it would affect them for the rest of their lives. And Allen couldn't help but feel as if something that had been lying dormant within him had suddenly begun to stir, moving and breathing life. Although the ring felt heavy and binding on his finger and even though Allen knew that Rabi was his one and his only and that 'falling in love' was something that was merely sung about in songs, Allen Walker couldn't help but wonder if Lavi was something more than what he seemed.

"That's great," Lavi said, beaming as brightly as the sun. It was not even slightly dimmed by the purple bruises that screamed abuse on his wrists.

And so Allen found himself sailing instead of drowning in the sea of a brave new world.

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Ha, my neighbor is totally reading Adolus Huxley's Brave New World right now.

(English nerd fighter alliance FTW Y/N?)

I hope that you enjoyed. A bit short, but I plan to move this along. My previous guess for this story was about 8 chapters, but we can see that isn't going to happen. I'll probably shoot for 15 instead. Sound nice?

Thanks guys. I'll get something up for you in a few days, after I finish playing with this nifty tablet I'm borrowing from my roommate's boyfriend. –is ADD and is shot-

Love,

Dhampir72