Hello! So this is the next chapter and maybe you noticed the "I" in the title, Saturday is gonna be a long day, so prepare yourselves B) I really hope you guys are liking the story 3 Today, I finished planning pretty much almost everything I want to do in this fic. It's gonna be quite lengthy, so get your patient mode on lol.

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May 9th, Saturday - I

All the stupid rules, refusing perfectly good opportunities to ogle and hard emotional denial aside, Allen fully, consciously knew that he was attracted to Kanda. Of course he did. He just always chose not to think about it. Or at the very least, when he did, he liked to pretend it was only physical. Then it wouldn't matter, simply. Allen was an adult after all – pretty much twice over. He would be damned if he couldn't be responsible and resist some stupid urges. That's why he told himself stubbornly that 'Kanda was still Kanda, no matter how attractive he was,' pretending that looks were the main problem. He simply refused to directly address what they have been through together.

Many things from the past still hurt if he thought about them too much. He used to have panic attacks before he met Lenalee in that airplane all way back when. They would make him barely be able to breathe and then, later, be very sick and exhausted. After meeting with his old friend a few times though, things have improved and it really was not worth it to go back to those worse times. He has been doing so great, ignoring some of the past hurts. Because thanks to meeting Lenalee he has managed to put some kind of a closure on them. Though admittedly— not on everything. There were things that she just wasn't aware of since she hasn't witnessed them in the past or at least didn't remember and Allen preferred to really keep it that way. He couldn't ruin her happiness and peace, now that she finally had them. She managed to take in only what's best from the past and Allen wanted to be able to do the same.

That's why, that small event on the balcony was nothing – it was honestly not even near the first time something like this happened between them and Allen was pretty good at getting over it. And it was only physical after all, so if he was forced to keep mulling it over ever since he woke up that was just because he was obviously sexually frustrated right now. But hey, he was meeting Steven today, right? Well, not that he liked the idea of sleeping with someone on the first date, at least if he wanted to be serious, but it just gave perspectives for the near future. Maybe. For his own sake, Allen hoped that it was going to be fun. Steven was definitely an okay person – he was pretty smart, handsome, cheerful, sometimes silly and most of his jokes were funny. That was enough to at least give the guy a chance. And he had short hair. Like most men around, of course, but it was still important. For very complicated reasons.

"Hey, idiot." Kanda was just getting to the kitchen, freshly dressed after his morning shower and drying his hair with a fluffy towel.

Allen swallowed, throat parched, and turned away from the sight. He focused on making his tea again. The water boiled once already, but he had to set it again. He took way too long to get a mug after the first time, somehow.

"Yeah?" he asked, letting the insult pass maybe a bit too easy, as he prepared his drink.

"What do we do about groceries?"

The fridge was almost empty and they kind of talked about shopping recently. Taking turns has become a pain, because of Allen's busy start of a new commission and Kanda's new job. So, they decided that they could maybe go shopping less often, but together – simply just to be able to carry more at once.

"Well, I can't go today. I mean I could, but we would have to leave now. Tomorrow is okay though," Allen answered truthfully after a quick consideration.

"You're busy?"

Allen turned to Kanda briefly to see him frown and then just whined internally. Well, there was really no reason not to tell him, right?

"I have a date today."

There was silence for a moment and Allen didn't dare to check the other's expression this time. It was probably a good thing, too, since after a few seconds Kanda just scoffed "I almost feel sorry for the guy."

Allen was paralyzed, but he managed an incredulous "what".

"What do you mean 'what'?" Kanda sounded confused and Allen finally turned to him fully, eyes wide and the tea forgotten on the kitchen counter.

"What the hell, arsehole!"

"What's your problem, stupid?" The other man was now getting annoyed and clearly still not catching on.

"What do you mean 'guy'?" Allen was forced to word it out to him.

"You're gay," Kanda stated matter-of-factly.

"How the fuck would you know that? I never told you." Or did he? Did he actually do something that stupid in the past and then forgot about it? To add to his shock, after a moment of plain staring, Kanda kind of just— laughed at him. Well, more like snorted, but the amusement was definitely there.

"So it was not meant to be obvious?"

He was not sure if Kanda was poking fun at him or was he serious. Admittedly, by now there was a blush on Allen's face, result of a strange mix of anger and embarrassment. What the— what was that even supposed to mean? Was he really so transparent about it?

"Kanda, I swear, if you assumed I'm gay just because I paint my nails on one fucking hand, I'm gonna fucking—"

The jerk didn't even let him finish. He just rolled his eyes and walked away to his room, leaving Allen gaping.

What. Just— what was that meant to be? Did Kanda notice that he was attracted to him, or was it something else? I couldn't have honestly been the nails. Of course there was Kanda's comment from the other day, from when they had a fist fight, but come on. It was just because of his tattoo! And even if it wasn't, that was seriously not a proof of anything. Kanda must have understood that, he couldn't imagine him making such a stupid assumption. So what was it, then?

Still distracted and confused, Allen didn't quite process when he received a message from Steven. It read simply 'I'll see you at 3, okay?', so he texted back an 'ok' and just left it be.

But what an awful mistake it was.

As three o'clock was slowly approaching, Allen realized with horror that Steven didn't specify any location. And, a few messages back, Allen thoughtlessly gave him his address. So that surely meant he was going to come pick him up, right? Fuck. He glanced at the hour on his phone, but it was definitely too late to revert this. Steven should be coming in twenty minutes.

Alen didn't have to do much to get ready. It was just a matter of changing his clothes. Sweatpants were not much of a date attire after all. He settled on some jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt though, seeing as they were just going to a bar. He wondered a bit about the weather, but what he already had plus coat should be more than enough for early May. Ready and still having a few minutes, Allen wondered if he should tell Kanda not to be an ass ahead of time, but he decided against it. The man honestly shouldn't care and Allen was not going to risk having his warning sound like a dare.

Steven came right on the hour and Allen answered the door, really wanting to have the greeting part done fast, so that they could leave while Kanda was busy in the kitchen.

"Hi," he said with a smile and then tensed a bit as Steven eyed him appreciatively. Fuck, this felt so wrong, Kanda was right there after all. Allen had a very bad feeling about all this.

"Hi," his date answered with a lazy smile eventually and, to Allen's horror, he moved closer, clearly intending to come inside. He didn't really know how to stop this disaster. "It's fine if I say hello, right? Feels wrong to just kidnap you."

"Sure," Allen laughed, his stomach twisting. It was absolutely not fine. When he followed Steve to the living room where Kanda turned out to be, he was already glaring.

"Hey there, I thought I'd say hi before taking Alex away. How do you do?" Steve greeted cheerfully.

Kanda still only glared, but the other didn't seem deterred just yet. He stretched out a hand in a friendly gesture. Kanda eyed the hand, then the whole figure. Allen was instantly reminded of the time he and Kanda first met and that couldn't have been a good sign.

His flatmate squinted slightly, raising his chin and if there was any hope, it died when he spoke up. "I don't shake hands with random idiots."

"Hey, hey. I was trying to be nice," was the incredulous answer and Allen couldn't just simply watch. He got closer, latching his arm with Steven's, tugging, and shot Kanda a warning stare.

The blue eyes just rolled in response. "You can take your nice somewhere else".

"Wow, Alex, this is not grumpy. It's plain arsehole," Allen's date commented, turning to face him.

He bristled. "Yeah. Plain fucking arsehole. Steve, can we go now? Leave him be." He tugged again, maybe with more force than necessary and didn't stop until they crossed the entrance door. "I'm terribly sorry for this," Allen said when he felt that they were out of the war zone. Letting go of the other's arm, he sent an apologetic look. Fuck, if only he paid attention to that text earlier.

"It's no problem, I guess… I mean, how can you live with him?" Steven sounded half-confused and half-impressed. "Also, this was like the first time I heard you curse."

Allen frowned, but answered quickly. "Uh, he tends to trigger it." Then he cast his eyes downwards and spoke again, patting his pockets. "Of course," he gasped in exasperation. "I left my phone charging. Can you go ahead? I'll catch you in a sec." Hoping it didn't sound too forced, he rushed back into the apartment.

The charging phone was a lie, of course.

"What the hell, arsehole!" Allen shouted for the second time on the same day, which must have been some kind of an achievement. Kanda, already sitting on the couch with his laptop, glasses on, barely spared him a glance.

"What this time," he grumbled tiredly.

"Isn't it obvious! I'm asking why did you have to be like that to him." Allen could not believe this situation.

"Like what? I was just the asshole me, no?" Kanda gave him a blank stare. "Plus he was annoying."

"Well, just like I am, right? According to you. So maybe don't fucking ruin my date if we fit each other so nicely," Allen spat, hands crossed on his chest. Kanda just glared at him and so he deliberated further. "You could have ignored him."

"He was talking to me."

"As if that ever stopped you before." To that, Kanda only pressed his lips together, eyes going right back to his laptop screen. Allen was livid. "Yeah, see? Exactly like that. Hope you have an awful evening, Kanda." With that last comment, he stormed out again, shutting the door maybe a bit too loud. He winced slightly at the sound.

"Alex?" was a tentative question that sounded somewhere behind him and Allen realized with horror that his date chose to wait right by the entrance.

"Sorry. I didn't want you to hear that," Allen admitted, unsure of what else to say. Steven seemed really concerned.

"Yeah, I can see why." He squinted calculatively. "That sounded like you two are close, to be honest."

"No way. He's just— an old friend. Kind of. Except for the friend part," Allen felt nervous, but didn't let it show and actually managed to make it sound like a joke.

Steven just laughed shortly, his eyes warm, and they left for their date.