Hi there.
Well, Chapter 14 is here. I had a lot of trouble with this one, actually. I had about 1000 words written, then decided I didn't like it and started over completely. Then I decided I didn't like that and went back to what I originally had and tweaked it a bit and...yeah.
Also, I'm just going to say this right now: I have midterms coming up very soon ( I even have two in one day! Ugh!) so the next chapter or two might be late. I sincerely apologize for that, you guys! I'll do my best to get them out on schedule, but I can't make any promises. This makes me a very sad panda, but it's what happens when you're a student. School is obviously overrated.
Once again: thank you to all of my lovely reviewers. This story has broken 200 reviews; can you believe it? I appreciate all of your kind words and support. They're what keep me going when I'm feeling frustrated with dialogue or the flow of a certain chapter, so thanks for all of your help!
Disclaimer: I do not own D Gray-man.
"Beansprout! Hey, wake up, neighbor!"
Allen grunted and batted away the hand that was trying to shake him awake. He began to snuggle back into his blankets, but then his eyes snapped open and he abruptly sat up.
"What the hell?" he shouted.
Lavi was sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling brightly at him. "Hey kid! Thought you should get up. I have a super awesome plan for an adventure today!"
Allen stared at him. "What are you doing in my room?" he finally asked.
"Waking you up, duh!" Lavi said, flicking Allen's forehead. "Come on, get dressed!"
"Lavi," Allen said patiently. "You can't just break into my house and be in my bedroom when I wake up. That is very, very creepy."
"Creepy?" Lavi repeated, offended. "Dude, I am so not creepy. I am quirky and loveable and you should be grateful to be woken up by the awesomeness that is me. Besides, I didn't break in. I have a key."
"Which you stole from my drawer without my knowledge."
Lavi huffed and crossed his arms. "You know you're excited to see me."
Allen raised a skeptical eyebrow and opened his mouth to retort but Lavi was having none of it. He seized Allen by the wrist and hauled him out from beneath his warm covers.
"Lavi!" Allen hissed. He stood there awkwardly in nothing but his boxers, fidgeting under the taller boy's gaze. "I'm not really wearing anything, you know."
"I can see that," Lavi replied, smirking. "Now come on, put some clothes on. We're going on a bike ride!"
"A bike ride?" Allen said dumbly.
"Of course!" Lavi said. "It's a really nice day, and there's this cool bike path that runs behind the school I've always wanted to check out."
"Yeah," Allen said, moving toward his closet to dig for something to wear. "I'm not really into physical activity."
"Don't I know it," Lavi chuckled. "Remember that time we went to the athletic center?"
"Let's not speak of that," Allen said quickly. He pulled out a pair of jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, and a navy blue sweatshirt, then rummaged through his dresser for a pair of clean boxers and some fresh socks. When he turned back around Lavi was still there, just sort of staring at him.
"Um," Allen said.
"What's up?" Lavi asked.
"I need to change now," Allen pointed out, holding up his armload of clothes for emphasis.
"Okay, cool!" Lavi said happily. "Hurry it up, dude." And then he continued to stand there.
"Um," Allen said again. "Could you maybe, you know, leave?"
"Hey, we're all guys here," Lavi pointed out. "Don't have to be shy around me, beansprout."
"It's Allen," he said tiredly. "And I'd prefer it if you gave me some privacy."
"Fine, fine," Lavi said, holding up his hands in a show of surrender. "But don't be slow, okay? Or I will come back in here, whether you're dressed or not, and drag you downstairs. Got it?"
"Sure."
Lavi eyed him critically for a moment and then gave a short nod and backed out of the room. "Be quick about it, dude. I want to get on with my uber sweet plan!" He gave Allen a lopsided grin and closed the door behind him.
Allen let out a long sigh and collapsed back onto his bed. Acting normally around Lavi took a lot out of him, especially when Lavi was doing things like this. When he'd first seen the exuberant redhead perched on the side of his bed a million different thoughts began racing through his head. Most of them were…less than virtuous.
Allen groaned and threw his arm over his eyes. This was the first "adventure" the two of them would have since Allen began to realize the extent of his feelings for Lavi. He wasn't really sure how he should act. Normally, he figured, as normally as he had been acting for the past week. Lavi clearly hadn't noticed any sort of change in Allen, or if he had, he hadn't said anything about it. Allen wasn't sure if he was relieved by this or not.
After that day in the library, Lavi had been over to Allen's house during every free moment he had, saying he needed to "make up for lost time." They hung out, watched TV, played video games, and just talked about whatever. Allen would watch Lavi's handsome face as he chatted animatedly about his thesis or what some dumb guy in his History of Ancient Turkey class had said during a class discussion and silently berate himself for avoiding his friend for so long. Life without Lavi, Allen found, was dull and unbearable.
Allen lay on his bed contemplating this for a moment longer when his bedroom door burst open and Lavi bounded in.
"Dude!" Lavi said, when he saw Allen had done absolutely nothing but lie back down. "What the hell?"
"Uh," Allen said guiltily. "Oops?"
"Oops?" Lavi repeated incredulously. "You kicked me out so you could go back to sleep, didn't you? You sneaky little bastard." He paused, regarding Allen with his head cocked to the side. "I guess I'll just have to help you."
"Help me?" Allen said suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you're obviously incapable of dressing yourself," Lavi said, advancing on Allen with an ominous smirk. "But don't worry, buddy. I'll lend you a hand."
"No!" Allen shouted, holding up his hands. "N-no, I can do it myself. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm doing it now. So just…get out, okay? I'll be down in a minute."
"I don't know…" Lavi said slowly, raising an eyebrow. Allen rushed forward and pushed Lavi out of the room before the taller boy even knew what was happening. He slammed the door and locked it behind him, and then dressed as quickly as he could. He could hear Lavi out in the hallway the entire time, laughing his ass off.
When Allen was finally dressed, the two of them ventured out into the crisp early November air and pulled Allen's bike out of his garage. Lavi had already dragged his bike up from where he'd been storing it in his basement and had it parked in the alley between his garage and Allen's.
"I haven't ridden this thing at all this year," Allen admitted.
"Me neither, and that's a damn shame. We should have done this earlier."
Allen hummed in agreement. "Oh, shoot, I almost forgot my helmet. Hang on a second." He turned to go back into his garage to find it when he felt Lavi's hand on his shoulder. He froze.
"Your helmet?" Lavi said in disbelief. "You actually wear a helmet? How old are you, seven?"
"Hey, safety first!" Allen retorted. But instead of its usual sarcasm, his tone held more than a hint of nervousness. The hand on his shoulder tightened and for a brief moment Allen thought he might collapse. But then he realized he was acting like an idiot.
"You okay?" Lavi asked with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Allen said, trying to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lavi said, sliding his hand over Allen's shoulder and pulling him into a headlock.
"To get my helmet?" Allen choked out.
"No way in hell I'm being seen with you when you're wearing a dorky helmet," Lavi said, wheeling around and depositing Allen next to his bike.
"But Mana said to always wear a helmet. What if I crash and hit my head?" Allen demanded.
"You won't crash," Lavi said dismissively.
"But what if I do?"
"You won't."
Allen sighed and clambered onto his bike. He never could argue with Lavi. Even before Allen had started to like him as "more than a friend," he could never win against Lavi. The white-haired boy was a little surprised that this didn't really bother him.
"All right!" Lavi whooped, swinging a leg over his own bike. "Super Bike Adventure Time—Go!" Then he pushed off, pedaling furiously down the street.
Allen just chuckled and followed him.
The bike ride was pleasant and peaceful. The path they followed ran around the back of the campus, through the marsh on the other side of Second Street, and alongside the river that flowed through the town. While the majority of the leaves had already fallen from the trees, the ones that remained were bright and beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange. Lavi talked the entire time, of course, but Allen just let the smooth, warm sound of his voice wash over him as he concentrated on pedaling and breathing. It was actually rather hard work for the exercise-impaired boy, so when they reached the end of the path in a park downtown Lavi took pity on him and offered to buy him breakfast.
"What is this place?" Allen asked as they locked their bikes up at the metal rack next to the restaurant. "I've never heard of it before."
"It's just a little bakery place," Lavi replied. "They have the absolute best breakfast in town. I like to come here a lot."
"Do you bring your dates here?" Allen blurted before he could stop himself.
"Nope!" Lavi said cheerfully. "You're actually the first person I've ever brought here. Don't you feel special?"
"Sure," Allen said, brushing past him quickly to keep him from seeing his pleased blush.
"They're usually not very busy on Saturdays," Lavi said, holding the door open for Allen to walk through. "So it should be pretty quiet."
"That'll be nice," Allen said. He stepped into the interior of the restaurant and promptly began drooling. Along the left hand wall was a low counter that held a cash register, but that wasn't what Allen was interested in. Next to the register was a tall glass case filled with cakes, pies, cookies, and all different sorts of pastries. There were even some desserts that Allen couldn't name. He turned to Lavi, eyes shining. "This was a very good idea."
Lavi laughed delightedly. "Glad you like it. They don't have a hostess, so we just seat ourselves. I like to sit in this booth in the—"
"Allen!" a high-pitched voice shrieked. Allen barely had time to exchange a confused glance with Lavi before he was tackled to the ground. Spiky blue hair obscured his vision and he gasped for air as he attempted to dislodge the sudden weight on his chest.
"Rhode?" he wheezed.
"Oh Allen, I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing here?" The excited girl babbled.
"You know her?" Lavi asked, more confused than before.
"Well, she's—ah—Rhode," Allen puffed. "You are crushing me."
"I'm sorry!" she said brightly, clearly not sorry at all. "I just got so excited when I saw you. It's been so long!"
"Rhode? What are you doing?" another familiar voice inquired smoothly.
"Tyki, Tyki, look who I found!" she said excitedly. "This is the boy I keep telling you about, Allen Walker!"
"This is your boyfriend?" Tyki said incredulously, looking from where Allen was pinned to the floor to where Lavi was standing open-mouthed in shock. When he made eye contact with the one-eyed boy he smirked. "Tough luck, Lavi."
"Shut up," Lavi hissed.
"I'm confused," Allen interjected from his place beneath Rhode. "And really, Rhode, could you please get off of me? I'm having difficulty breathing down here."
"All right," she said, disappointed. She crawled off of him and Lavi was immediately at his side, helping him to his feet.
"You're dating her, Allen?" Lavi said lowly.
"No, I'm not," Allen said, waving his hands. "Rhode and I went to high school together. She was a freshman when I was a senior. She's a bit, um… enamored of me."
Lavi's tight, serious expression relaxed and he snickered. "Damn, Allen, you're a real lady-killer. Who'da thought?"
"Shut up, stupid Lavi," Allen muttered.
"What a heartwarming display," Tyki said, still smirking. Allen and Lavi both looked at him, having briefly forgotten he was there. Lavi's eye narrowed but Allen took a cautious step forward.
"How do you know Rhode?" Allen asked him curiously.
"He's my uncle!" Rhode chirped, grabbing Tyki's hand. "I came to visit him and he said he'd buy me cake."
"This place does have the best dessert in town," Tyki said, shrugging.
"Tyki, how do you know Allen?" Rhode wanted to know.
"We have a mutual friend," Tyki said, gesturing to Lavi.
"You're not my friend," Lavi snapped.
"Oh, Tyki!" Rhode interrupted, eyes lighting up. "Is this that boy you like?"
Lavi blanched as Tyki nodded, smiling wickedly. "This is Lavi Bookman."
Rhode considered him a moment, her head cocked slightly to the right. "He's pretty cute," she finally decided. "But not as cute as Allen!" Then she launched herself forward, threw her arms around Allen's neck, and proceeded to cuddle him like a kitten.
"Um," Allen said awkwardly.
"Hey, I know what we can do!" Rhode said excitedly. "Why don't we all sit together? It'll be like a double date!"
"There's no way in hell—" Lavi began heatedly, but Rhode completely ignored him.
"Come on, Allen! This way, this way!" She dragged him toward the back of the restaurant where she and Tyki had been sitting when they'd seen Allen and Lavi come in, still clinging to his neck.
Allen twisted around to give Lavi a pleading look and saw Tyki offer the redhead his arm with a mocking grin. Lavi just glared at him and hurried after Allen. Tyki followed at a more sedate pace, chuckling.
"You can sit next to me!" Rhode declared, shoving Allen onto one side of the booth and sliding in after him. Lavi stood next to the table uncertainly, reluctant to sit next to Tyki. Tyki slid into the booth so that he was sitting across from Allen, then turned to look at Lavi and patted the place on the bench next to him. Lavi gritted his teeth and sat down, sitting as close to the edge as he could.
"Now, isn't this pleasant?" Tyki said, amused.
"We can share a menu," Rhode said, shoving the piece of purple laminated paper in Allen's face. "It looks like they have a lot of great stuff here. What are you going to get?"
"I don't know," Allen said faintly. He looked anxiously at Lavi and found the taller boy staring at him with a peculiar look on his face. Allen couldn't quite place it, so he cocked his head in question. Lavi just shook his head minutely and then looked suspiciously at Tyki, who was slowly inching closer to him on the bench.
"What?" Tyki asked innocently. "I thought perhaps you'd like to see my menu."
"Uh huh," Lavi said skeptically.
"Aww, they're so cute together," Rhode simpered. "Don't you think so, Allen?"
"Um," Allen said, yet again. Lavi shook his head, horrified.
Tyki grinned and leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. "Well, boy," he said, grinning like a serial killer. "What do you think? You have the strangest look on your face. Don't tell me you're jealous?"
Lavi stopped his terrified spluttering to look closely at Allen. That peculiar look was back on his face, but it was a bit softer somehow.
"Jealous?" Rhode said obliviously. "Why would Allen be jealous of you? He doesn't like boys."
"Of course not," Tyki said. "How silly of me."
Allen sat motionless in his seat, embarrassed beyond all reason. He was struggling to come up with something to say when the waitress bustled over.
"I'm sorry about the wait," she said. "What can I get you four to drink?"
"I'll have coffee," Tyki said carelessly. "Make it black."
"Hot chocolate!" Rhode demanded. "With whipped cream!"
"What are you getting, Allen?" Lavi asked quietly.
"Oh! Um…I don't know… hang on a second…" Allen stammered, quickly scanning the menu.
"Get him a hot chocolate too!" Rhode said to the waitress. "You'll like it, I promise!" she added, turning to smile widely at Allen.
"Um, okay. Sure," Allen mumbled.
"I'll just have a water," Lavi said, giving the waitress a small smile. Allen was surprised. The waitress was a rather good-looking girl around Lavi's age who'd been surreptitiously watching the redhead out of the corner of her eye the entire time she'd been taking their order. Normally, Lavi would give her his signature charming grin and flirt a bit (if only to maybe get a discount on their food). But today he wasn't even trying.
Must be annoyed about Tyki, Allen decided, watching as Lavi leaned as far away as possible from the older boy.
"So Allen, do you go to college at Black Order U?" Rhode asked.
"Yes, I do," Allen said politely.
"I'm so glad! You left town before I could find out where you were going. I asked your godfather, but I think he was drunk at the time and he slammed the door in my face. What a meanie," she said, sulking.
"He'll do that," Allen replied.
"But now that I know where you are, I can come see you any time I want! Tyki will drive me, won't you Tyki?"
"Of course," Tyki said. "What are favorite uncles for?"
"Yay!" Rhode cheered. Then she latched onto Allen's arm and leaned her chin on his shoulder as she studied the menu.
Allen looked over at Lavi again, but his friend was immersed in the menu he'd stolen from Tyki. Allen sighed and looked at the one he shared with Rhode. All he wanted to do was leave, but if he tried to escape without eating with her, Rhode was likely to throw a tantrum. He'd been on the receiving end of her fits on multiple occasions (the worst was when Allen refused to ask her to the Prom like she wanted him to) and knew it was best to just tough it out. Still, he felt uncomfortable and guilty that Lavi had to deal with Tyki. He was also disappointed that his morning of having Lavi all to himself had been brought to such an abrupt end.
He was lamenting this frustrating turn of events and trying to decide between the stuffed French toast and the Belgian waffle when Lavi gave a shout, knocked into the table, and went sprawling to the floor.
"What the hell," he hissed, glaring at Tyki.
Tyki just smiled his wicked smile. "What?"
"Lavi, are you okay?" Allen asked, worried.
"Yeah, what are you doing on the ground?" Rhode asked, leaning over him.
"You need to keep your damn hands to yourself," Lavi growled at Tyki.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Tyki said, innocently folding his hands on the table.
"Oh, I get it," Rhode said. "Aww, isn't that cute Allen? He's embarrassed!"
"I'm not embarrassed," Lavi snapped, picking himself up off of the floor and dusting off his pants. "I'm pissed off. Come on Allen. Let's just get out of here. I can't take this anymore."
"But what about Allen's hot chocolate?" Rhode turned to Allen, her eyes wide and imploring. "We were gonna spend some time together. I never get to see you!"
"Well, Rhode, Lavi and I were, um, oh dear…" Allen trailed off as tears began to well up in the girl's eyes. He sighed. "Lavi, you can go home. I'll just stay here for a bit."
"Yay!" Rhode cheered again, her tears miraculously vanishing as she began to squeeze the life out of Allen again in yet another enthusiastic hug.
Lavi stared at Allen with a faintly betrayed expression. He frowned, began to turn, and then stopped and stared at Allen again.
"By all means, Lavi, don't feel compelled to remain on my account," Tyki said, smirking. "Allen here can entertain me quite well, I think."
"Oh, hell no," Lavi said, immediately sitting back down. "I'm not leaving my little buddy all alone with you and your crazy niece person. Besides," he said haughtily, picking up the menu again. "I'm still hungry."
"Of course," Tyki said, giving Allen a look. Its meaning eluded him, and when Allen frowned in question Tyki shook his head. "So oblivious, the both of you. Still, all the more fun for me, hmm?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lavi demanded. "You should just shut up if all you're going to do is spout random bullshit."
"He's not very nice, Tyki," Rhode said, glaring at Lavi. "Are you sure you like him?"
"Maybe not so much anymore," Tyki said, winking at Allen. Lavi sputtered at this, and Rhode started whining about how Allen was hers and how Tyki always stole all of the boys she liked. Allen just sat in silence, cursing his terrible luck and wondering how this meal could get any more awkward.
"Have you decided?" the waitress asked, appearing so suddenly that Allen jumped. She handed out their drinks and pulled a notepad out of her apron.
"Cake!" Rhode cried. "Chocolate, though, and not that yucky carrot cake I saw in the case over there."
"All right," the waitress said, scribbling down her order. "Who's next?"
"I'll just stick to the coffee, thank you," Tyki said.
"Are you sure? We have a great selection of—"
"I'm sure," Tyki cut in, smiling with all of his teeth.
"Oh…okay…" the waitress said. She looked at him a little fearfully.
"Could you please tell me, in your personal opinion, what's better—the stuffed French toast or the Belgian waffle?" Allen asked politely.
"Oh!" the waitress said, brightening. "I like the French toast the best. Especially with the strawberry filling. It's delicious!"
"I'll take that, then," Allen said, handing her his menu with a grin.
"All right, great! And what'll you have?" she said, turning toward Lavi with a smile.
"I'll have that too," Lavi replied, smiling back. But it lacked its usual warmth and brightness and seemed more perfunctory than anything. Allen winced. That was not the kind of smile he liked to see on Lavi's face.
"Awesome! I'll be back with your orders as soon as they're ready!"
The minute she left, Rhode began pestering Allen to try his hot chocolate.
"I'm letting it cool down a bit," he said, blowing on it a little. "I don't want to burn my tongue."
"Like you did that one time at last year's homecoming football game?" Rhode said, laughing.
"That's not funny!" Allen exclaimed. "Everything tasted like rubber for a week after that!"
"That's exactly why it's funny," Rhode countered.
"You don't really strike me as the type to go to football games, Allen," Lavi said with a hint of amusement.
"I'm not, trust me," Allen assured him.
"I made him go with me," Rhode said. "It was our first date!"
Lavi choked on his water.
"It wasn't a date," Allen said quickly.
"That's what you keep saying," Rhode sighed. "But we both know it was."
"How charming," Tyki said, grinning at his niece.
Kill me, Allen thought wearily.
"So, how did you two meet?" Rhode asked, glancing quickly between Lavi and Tyki. "Was it romantic? Where did you have your first date?"
"We're not dating," Lavi ground out. "We've never had a date in our lives and I can guarantee you our meeting wasn't romantic."
"Can you?" Tyki wondered. "I always thought you said you don't remember that night."
"Well, I don't," Lavi sniffed. "I was drunk. Like, way drunk. That's the only reason I even talked to you."
"Indeed," Tyki said, leaning toward him.
"Tyki, are you sure you like this guy?" Rhode asked, glowering at Lavi. "He's so mean to you! Do I need to teach him a lesson?" Her fingers curled around the butter knife that lay to the left of her hot chocolate and she narrowed her eyes threateningly.
"No!" Allen shouted in alarm. "No, no, Rhode, there's no need for that. Lavi will behave himself, won't you Lavi?" He threw the redhead a pleading look.
"Dude, quit freaking out," Lavi said, raising an eyebrow. "What's she gonna do to me with a butter knife?"
Allen just looked at him pityingly and Tyki covered his mouth to hide his grin.
"What?" Lavi asked.
"There are a lot of things she can do to you with that butter knife, Lavi," Allen said hollowly.
"Huh?"
"I stabbed Allen with a plastic spork once," Rhode said cheerfully.
"You did what now?" Lavi demanded, shocked.
"He deserved it!" Rhode insisted. "He was being a meanie."
"But it was my cookie," Allen mumbled, grimacing at the memory.
"And I wanted it," Rhode said simply. "You really should have just given it to me."
"A plastic spork, though? How much damage could that possibly do?" But Lavi sounded less skeptical now and more genuinely curious.
"I had to get stitches," Allen recalled, rubbing a spot on his left cheek.
"She stabbed you in the face?" Lavi gasped, appalled.
"I was aiming for his eye," Rhode said, frowning. "But he moved."
Lavi just gaped at Allen, who gave him a wan smile.
"How delightful," Tyki said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I'd say that's pretty much the complete opposite of delightful," Lavi retorted. "What kind of sick—"
Rhode raised the butter knife threateningly and Lavi fell silent with a gulp.
"I think I like you better when you're not talking," she said sweetly.
Allen just about cried for joy when their food finally came. The French toast was good, if a little sweet. Lavi didn't eat much of his and spent the entirety of the meal in sulky silence. Rhode devoured her cake in a way that made Allen feel slightly queasy. Tyki just spent the rest of the time staring intently at Allen and occasionally smirking at Lavi, who glowered back at him. When they were finished and the waitress came to clear their plates, she handed them all their checks.
"I didn't know if you wanted them all together so I just separated them out. I hope you don't mind," she said happily.
"That's just fine, thanks," Allen said. The waitress gave Lavi one last glance and departed.
"Well, shall we?" Tyki asked his niece.
"Aww," she said dejectedly, climbing slowly out of the booth. "But I wanted to spend the day with Allen."
"Homework," Allen blurted out. "I have a lot of homework to do, so I can't. Sorry Rhode."
"You're always so studious," Rhode said, sticking out her tongue. "You never have time to play with me."
"Your uncle will play with you," Allen assured her.
"Did you not come here to visit me, Rhode? You're making me feel very left out and unwanted," Tyki said with false sadness.
"Of course, Tyki!" she trilled, grabbing the older man's hand as he slid out of the booth after Lavi. Allen clambered out last, scrutinizing his bill as he walked next to Lavi.
"Six dollars," he hummed. "Not bad for breakfast."
"Give me that," Lavi said, snatching the paper from his hand.
"Hey! What was that for?" Allen demanded.
"I told you I'd buy you breakfast, didn't I?" Lavi said, digging his wallet out of his pocket. "Let me pay for this."
"Oh," Allen said, blushing a bit. "Thanks."
"Sure," Lavi said, grinning at him. It was a true grin this time, not the empty smile he'd given the waitress and Allen was relieved to see it. And more than a bit pleased, to be truthful. He liked the thought that Lavi's real, bright smile could be reserved for him alone.
"What's that?" Allen asked, pointing at some numbers that were scrawled in purple ink on the bottom of Lavi's receipt.
"The waitress's phone number," Lavi snorted.
"Does this happen often?" Allen wondered.
"What, waitresses writing their numbers on my bill?" Lavi asked. When Allen nodded, the redhead gave a confident smirk. "Of course. I mean, it's me we're talking about here."
"Ah," Allen said drily. "Of course. How could I have forgotten?"
"I'm disappointed in you, beansprout," Lavi teased.
"It's Allen," he corrected.
"Sure, sure." Lavi walked to the register to pay for their food.
"Beansprout?" Rhode repeated, popping up at Allen's shoulder. "Why does he call you that?"
"No reason!" Allen said innocently.
"Is it because you're short?" Rhode guessed.
"Eh?" Allen's face fell.
Rhode laughed. "Aww, you know you're short Allen. But that's okay! It's part of what makes you so cute!"
"Oh, well that's nice," Allen said sardonically.
"Let's go, neighbor! We're outta here," Lavi called, heading for the front door.
"Goodbye Rhode," Allen said, smiling kindly at her. "It was…interesting to see you again."
"I'll see you again soon, Allen!" Rhode said, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing until he began squirming uncomfortably. Then she scampered off.
Allen sighed in relief and made to follow his one-eyed friend when he felt a strong hand clamp onto his shoulder. He whirled around and found himself face to face with Tyki.
"Hi there," Allen said weakly.
"I'd like to give you a little warning, boy," Tyki said amiably.
"Is this the part where you threaten me not to break Rhode's heart or you'll kill me or some such thing?" Allen guessed.
"Certainly not," Tyki said, glancing over at the aforementioned girl. She was kicking the side of a crane-machine game that was filled with stuffed animals, on her way to making a serious dent in its metal side. "Rhode can take care of herself."
"Then what are you warning me about?" Allen asked nervously.
"Lavi," Tyki said, smiling widely. "You'd best move a bit faster than your current snail's pace, don't you think?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do," Tyki replied. "I'm not a fool, boy. Luckily for you, Lavi is, so he hasn't figured it out yet. But unfortunately for all of us, the boy has the attention span of a gnat. If you don't tell him soon, he'll move on. Just like he always does. Of course," Tyki said, leaning over him with a smirk, "that might be good for me, yes?"
"You think he'd move on to you?" Allen said, confused. "I think he's made it quite clear that—"
"Of course not," Tyki interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. "But if he loses interest in you, that's my cue to swoop in and pick up the pieces of your broken heart, is it not?"
"Huh?" Allen said intelligently.
"Come now, you can't be that dense," Tyki said, wicked grin in place once again.
"I thought you liked Lavi, though," Allen said, staring blankly at him. "You can't possibly be interested in me."
"I am…amenable," Tyki said slyly. He reached out and brushed his thumb across Allen's cheek. Allen just gaped like an idiot, rooted to the spot in shock. "But. I am aware that your heart is set on everyone's favorite redhead, so I'll give it some time. It's all on your shoulders, boy. Time is running out, and I can only remain patient for so long."
"My heart isn't…set…" Allen protested weakly.
Tyki gave him a distinctly predatory smile. "At this rate I believe I am guaranteed to get what I want. Hooray for me."
"What is taking you so long, Allen?" Lavi demanded, walking back into the restaurant and brandishing his bike lock at him. He stopped short when he saw Tyki grinning like a hyena and Allen staring at the floor in a clearly confused stupor. "Okay, what the hell did you say to him?"
"Nothing," Allen and Tyki said at the same time. Tyki's grin grew even wider and Allen wheeled around and grabbed a very surprised Lavi by the hand.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Allen said, for once being the one to drag Lavi somewhere.
"Sure thing," Lavi said, throwing one last suspicious glance over his shoulder at Tyki. The older boy waved cheerily as they rushed out of the restaurant.
Allen all but ran to the bike rack, fiddling with his lock with shaking fingers.
"You okay?" Lavi asked in concern. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"No. He just wanted to talk to me about Rhode, that's all," Allen lied.
"Oh," Lavi said. "Okay."
"Let's just go home," Allen said, hopping onto his bike seat. "Dealing with Rhode is stressful and very tiring. I think I need a nap."
"What the hell is up with her?" Lavi demanded as they began pedaling their way back to their neighborhood. "She seriously stabbed you with a spork?"
"Yeah," Allen confirmed. "She's kind of…violent."
"Also crazy," Lavi added. "Don't forget crazy. I can't believe she's related to Tyki. Oh wait, yes I can."
"That is a rather unhappy coincidence," Allen agreed.
"I can't believe you dated her," Lavi said, shaking his head.
"I didn't date her! I just hung out with her because she'd throw a tantrum if I didn't."
"Really?" Lavi said, looking at him interest.
"Yes. Once I told her I couldn't go to the movies with her because I had a big project to do over the weekend and she tried to slam my fingers in a car door."
"Tried to?"
"I got them out of the way in time," Allen said, cringing. "She wasn't too happy about that."
"Jeez, kid," Lavi said, shaking his head. "I feel bad for you. You had, like, the most messed up childhood ever."
"Agreed," Allen said softly.
They spent the rest of the ride back in contemplative silence, broken only by the merry chirping of birds in the trees around them and the occasional swish swish of Lavi's green windbreaker as he moved. Allen didn't know what Lavi was thinking about, but he had that look on his face he often got when he was pondering something important. Allen himself mulled over what Tyki had said to him. He carefully ignored the part where Tyki was apparently interested in him now and focused only on what he'd said about Lavi. Was it true? Could he really trust Tyki Mikk of all people to be truthful about, well, anything? Was he running out of time before Lavi lost interest in him? Did Lavi even have any interest in him to begin with?
Allen shook his head wearily. His life was supposed to get simpler when he moved away from his Godfather's house, not exponentially harder.
When they finally got back to their neighborhood, Lavi parked his bike next to Allen's garage.
"Do you mind if I keep my bike in your garage?" he asked. "I don't want to have to drag it back down to the basement and there's no room in my garage with both my car and Lena's in there."
"Oh, sure," Allen said. Lavi flashed him another brilliant smile that had Allen melting a bit on the inside and wheeled his bike in through the open side door.
After their bikes were safely stowed, Lavi turned to Allen and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"What's up?" Allen asked.
"Well, I was just wondering," Lavi started, and Allen felt like the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. "If you're not busy or anything—"
"Okay!" Allen said enthusiastically.
"Dude, you don't even know what I'm asking yet," Lavi said, smiling goofily and ruffling the shorter boy's hair. "It's nice to know you're so excited to hang with me, though. I mean, I am pretty awesome, so I can see why you would be."
"Just get to the point, Lavi," Allen said drolly, but on the inside he was burning with embarrassment at his blatant eagerness and curiosity for what Lavi was going to ask.
"Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?" Lavi inquired. "I mean, I know you have your Godfather and stuff, but he doesn't really seem like the sort to give thanks for anything so I didn't know if you were going to visit him or not."
"I haven't really thought about it," Allen replied cautiously. "But probably not. Thanksgiving at Cross' was usually Chinese takeout."
"Sad!" Lavi said, his face sympathetic. "Dude, like I said, worst childhood ever! Okay, so, that settles it. You're coming with me to my gramps' house. He always makes this really huge turkey and there's mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and I think yams, but I don't eat those."
"You want me to come to your Thanksgiving celebration with your grandfather?" Allen asked, touched. "I would appreciate that very much, Lavi."
"Great! You can invite Cross too, if you want," the redhead said uncertainly.
"I think I'd rather not, actually," Allen said, grimacing.
"Just what I wanted to hear," Lavi said. He threw an arm around Allen's shoulders and drew him close. "It'll be so much better if you're there. Plus, you'll get to meet Gramps! I've told him all about you, and he's super curious to see what you're actually like."
"You told him about me?" Allen asked, surprised.
"Sure did!" Lavi said. "He always wants to know about the really important stuff going on in my life. And right now I think it's safe to say that you're the most important thing, for sure."
"Me?" Allen said faintly.
"Yep," Lavi said softly, rubbing his shoulder a bit as he dragged him toward the door to his house. "Now come on. Let's go watch cheesy movies on the sci-fi channel and laugh at the bad acting and terrible special effects!"
"I can't think of anything I'd rather do," Allen said, grinning as he followed the redhead into the house.
Hmmm. How did this chapter get so long? Oh well. I like it, I think. So, review? You know you want to!