Disclaimer: FANfiction. I'm just a fan.

Hope the cliffhanger from last chapter wasn't too horribly done.

There was definitely something wrong. Knowing Allen for three months already, Lavi had never seen Allen cry or show much sadness. If something bothered Allen, he would detach himself from the situation completely. Lavi had witnessed this a few times; usually Lavi would tell him it wasn't good to bottle up his feelings and Allen would eventually snap out of it.

Lavi hated to admit that despite all their time together, he hardly knew Allen. Lavi remembered all the times someone had asked him about Allen and he couldn't answer.

"What's Allen's favorite color?"

"Eh… I don't know."

"I thought you guys were best friends!"

"I never asked him for his favorite color that's weird."

"It's the first thing you ask a friend!"

At first Lavi thought Lenalee was just being overdramatic but as time went on anyone who was curious about Allen went straight to Lavi. This included a few admirers and people who thought Allen was strange.

"Do you know if Allen likes anyone?"

"Where's he from?"

"What school did he used to go to?"

"Why does he wear gloves all the time?"

And so on…

Many of these questions had once been his own. Lavi shook his head; he had to focus on what was going on.

"Allen, are you… crying?"

"…No."

"Sounds like it."

"Okay maybe."

"Allen, are you okay?"

"No. I need your help."

"What do you need?"

"Can you come pick me up?"

"Sure… Where are you?"

Allen told him the address as Lavi grabbed his keys and snuck to the front door only to be stopped on his way downstairs by Bookman.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Bookman. I need to help a friend."

"Lavi, you know I don't want you getting involved with those kinds of things."

"No it's not like that. It's Allen."

"I see…"

"Can I go?"

"Alright, but be careful."

Lavi made his way out the door and left. The address he was going to was in the run down and dangerous part of town. There was no time to wonder why Allen would be in such a place where only criminals and drug addicts were known to roam. Bookman knew exactly what Lavi was getting into. Maybe he should have stopped Lavi but he knew it would only make things worse.

"Don't take another child away from me."

Lavi was almost to the place they decided to meet up. Soon he was in front of a small diner. Lavi parked and walked into the diner casually. At such a late hour Allen was the only one there besides a few staff that seemed to be idly minding their own business in the backroom. Lavi sat next to Allen and hugged the poor boy.

Allen looked paler than usual. It was easy to tell he had been crying and he was shivering slightly. What happened to you?

"Allen-"

"Can you just stay like this a bit longer?"

"Okay…"

They sat like that for a while. Lavi hugged Allen tighter; he hated seeing Allen sad. Allen eventually managed to recompose himself. He looked up at Lavi wondering what he should say. Lavi waited for Allen to say something about the situation but they appeared to be getting nowhere.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"It's so late and I made you come all the way here."

"I don't mind as long as it's for you."

"Don't say those kinds of things."

"Why not?"

"It's weird."

Lavi laughed at Allen. Lavi noticed Allen didn't like receiving compliments and when he did he didn't take them well.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"I guess."

"What happened?"

"I was… playing cards with a friend and…"

"Yeah?"

"There was a fight and there was guns and we got separated and I don't know what happened to her and she might be hurt or worse and-"

"Stop. It's okay, Allen. I want you to calm down and think. Do you have her number?"

"No."

"You have no way of contacting her?"

"Not really…"

"Where were you playing cards?"

"…Do I have to say?"

"Yes you do."

"I was at a pub playing cards."

"Why? Out of all places to be playing cards you-"

"I needed to make money!"

"So you play cards in the most dangerous part of town with some girl who's your 'friend' but you can't contact her in any way?"

Lavi could tell he had hurt Allen. He pulled Allen closer to him and started apologizing. The staff had heard some yelling and had walked in on the two boys who looked a bit too close to be friends with the way Lavi was holding Allen. Lavi looked up as two girls and a guy in uniform were staring at him. One of the girls was secretly fangirling.

"Sorry, my friend's just going through something right now. If you want us to leave-" The fangirling waitress looked a bit disappointed as Lavi called Allen his friend.

"No, it's okay! It's not like we have anything to do so…"

Awkward silence…

The staff returned to the back room.

"I'm really sorry, Allen."

"It's okay…"

"No it's not. Tell me where you were playing cards."

After a bit of coercing, Lavi got Allen to tell him where the pub was and they exited the diner. Allen asked where they were going but Lavi wouldn't answer and soon they reached the pub. Allen didn't want to go in so Lavi said he could stay in the car. Allen ended up going with Lavi, not wanting him to go alone.

Allen usually came here alone to get money for Cross' debts. Cross had always made him do chores to get money however, Cross' chores were horrible to endure so eventually Allen had found a better way to earn money: poker.

The inside of this place was deserted and in shambles. It was a small place where Allen could come and not be shut out from because of his age. In fact, the men here welcomed him. They always thought it's be easy to beat a kid. Allen was different. The bartender recognized Allen and smiled at him.

"Did you forget something, R-"

"I-I wanted to know what happened to my friend."

"Oh her? She got out okay. It seemed she was more concerned about you than herself. She went home and told me to give you this if you came back."

The bartender handed Allen a note. Allen looked at it for a while before putting it in his pocket. Lavi glanced at the paper; it was a number. Lavi felt weird for some reason. There was something else written on the paper but Lavi didn't get the chance to see. Allen seemed to be in a much better mood. They said goodbye and gave thanks to the bartender.

Back in Lavi's car, Allen was a bit strange. Lavi kept looking at Allen out of the corner of his eyes. Why was it so hard for them to talk sometimes?

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Allen looked nervous. "Actually… I was wondering if I could stay at your house overnight. I kinda told Cross I was staying at a friend's house and I don't want to show up at this hour and have to explain what happened. Besides, we don't have school tomorrow so I don't need anything." Allen gave him a pleading look.

"Well… I guess it'd be okay with Bookman."

Allen leaned over the seat and hugged Lavi. "Thanks, Lavi!"

At Lavi's house, they walked in as quietly as they could but that wasn't enough to go undetected. The old panda had been waiting for them.

"I see you brought Allen back here."

"Bookman, I had to."

"You do realize I'll have to tell Cross tomorrow."

"Bookman please-"

"Say what you will, but I have to notify Cross. He is Allen's legal guardian and it can't be avoided. Do you understand?"

The two teens reluctantly nodded. Bookman told them to go to sleep and went to his own bedroom. Lavi led Allen to his bedroom which was a bit messy but Allen didn't seem to mind that much. Lavi gave Allen some of his clothes, a long sleeved shirt and some shorts.

A part of Lavi was nervous about sharing a bed with Allen. He didn't know why it was just weird for some reason. Lavi liked to sleep in just his boxers. Hopefully, Allen wouldn't think he was a perv or anything. The two got under the covers and awkwardly lied. It was uncomfortable.

"So… that girl, is she your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Well it doesn't seem like you would cry over just some girl."

"She's not just some girl."

"So you like her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

"It's a legit question."

"Lavi, I don't like girls. I thought you knew that."

"…oh."

"…"

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

"Perhaps."

The two boys laughed. Lavi really was clueless, not that Allen minded. Lavi was always so nice to him. Allen had never had any close friends before. He didn't get close to people because he knew he would leave. Allen felt like he wasn't leaving any time soon and he was happy for once. There was one thing he wanted more than anything; he wanted to tell Lavi everything. He wanted Lavi to know about his past and the bad things he had done over the years.

Allen realized he like Lavi.

Of course they were friends and he enjoyed the red-head's company but he found himself wanting to be around Lavi a lot more. He couldn't stop thinking about Lavi. Lavi was the first person that came to mind when he needed help. This could be problematic.

Allen shook his head and tried not to think about those things.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Lavi got closer to Allen and hugged him. Lavi realized maybe he hugged Allen too much for it to be normal but he didn't care. Allen's face got warm and he couldn't help the thoughts of liking Lavi. It wasn't his fault the idiot rabbit was so affectionate. Allen fell asleep quickly; his last thoughts were of the older boy holding him.

It was enough to stop the nightmares.

The next morning, Bookman walked in on a rather compromising position. Without saying a word, he walked out of the room and forced himself to pretend nothing happened. A few hours later, they finally woke up and went downstairs to eat. There was a note on the fridge from Bookman; he had gone out and would be back in the afternoon. Cross was coming over for dinner. Not the best news to start the morning with…

Lavi ate some cereal and let Allen help himself to whatever he wanted in the fridge, which may not have been the best choice since Allen was now consuming enough food to last them a week. Lavi wasn't sure what to do now. He was pretty sure Bookman didn't want them going out in case something happened. Lavi decided the best thing to do was watch TV. Allen washed his clothes.

Allen was still wearing Lavi's clothes while his clothes were drying. Lavi couldn't help but think Allen looked adorable. Lavi stopped himself from thinking any further about that. Allen was his friend and surely, he wouldn't like Lavi that way. Sure, he found out Allen was gay, but what were the chances that Allen would like him?

The day went by quickly. Bookman came back and made the two teens help him prepare dinner after Allen finally changed into his usual clothes. Lavi seemed to be a pro at making food. Allen wasn't really sure what to do. He usually didn't help make food; he just ate it. Lavi laughed at Allen's cluelessness. They made sure to make enough food for fifteen people even though only five people were going to be eating. Mahoja would be staying home to take care of the house. Allen complained that they were exaggerating how much he ate but didn't tell them not to make so much food. After all, why complain about free food?

Hopefully this dinner would go well.

Considering last night's events, it probably wouldn't.

Hello~

This next chapter was a weird one to write for me. What do I know about romance besides what I've learned from movies? Not much.

How long till our dynamic duo gets together? Who knows? Not me... Tune in next week for a possibly hectic dinner. I promise there'll be no surprise guests that kill the mood.