Allen let out a weak and shuddering breath as he settled into the hospital bed.
Lavi put his hand on Allen's forehead to make sure he wouldn't break out with a fever anytime soon.
All was silent except for the constant beeping of the heart monitor. It was already driving Lavi completely insane but he withstood it.
The white haired boy's chest rose and fell at a steady rate and he was asleep once more. There were bruises on his arms where he struggled to pull out the IVs. Lavi frowned and gently caressed them, running his fingertips over the internal bleeding.
"Lavi."
Lavi was so used to silence that the sudden outburst of sound made him flinch.
He looked at Allen and smiled.
"How are you feeli--."
Allen brought a finger to Lavi's lips.
"Shhh…"
Lavi almost laughed at the reversal of their roles.
"Why?"
Lavi didn't know what to say. What kind of a question was that? He gently kissed Allen's finger tip.
"Why what?"
"Why are you here?"
Lavi was stunned. Why was he here?! Was this the meds talking again? What did he mean why was he here?!
"Allen. You needed to go to the hospital to I brought you here."
"I know…but why are you here?" came the innocent reply.
Lavi laughed bitterly and shook his head.
"Because I promised to be here and protect you."
It was Allen's turned to be stunned. He'd never been…protected before. He never knew what it felt like to be completely safe. He looked at Lavi surreptitiously, searching for any signs of lying. There were none.
Lavi sat perfectly still as Allen searched his face. He smiled.
"Don't you believe me?"
Allen opened his mouth. Then closed it.
"I…I do." With those two words, Allen gave a part of himself to Lavi. He trusted
Lavi more than anyone else in the world. Maybe not to the point where he'd trust him with his life, but it was a start.
Lavi inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. He was glad he was no longer viewed as a potential threat. He would protect this child until the sun came crashing down.
"Thank…thank you." Allen said in between breaths.
"You're welcome, now get some rest."
"I'm not sleepy."
"You sure?" Lavi asked with a grin. He knew in about 20 minutes Allen would fall asleep.
"Yeah…"
The two sat in silence as bright orange lights bathed them in a brilliant light show of colors as the sun set.
"Lavi?"
"Hm?"
"Can I tell you something?"
"Sure. Anything."
Allen took a deep breath. It wasn't everyday he spilled his heart and soul but he felt it necessary.
"Lavi…I don't know what I can tell you about my past. I've been alone for as long as I can remember…but I can tell you I've never had someone be close to me so I'll apologize in advance if I don't act the way I'm supposed to."
A deep breath.
"I got into prostitution when I was 13. Up until then I lived in a foster facility. No one ever wanted to adopt me because I was so strange looking so one day, I left. I didn't even belong with all the other unwanted kids. I met a man you see, he told me that if I worked for him, I could live by myself. No one to bother me, just me and me alone. Being the kid I was…I accepted."
Lavi didn't speak. He just looked at Allen patiently.
"I didn't think I'd be selling myself to other people much less men at that. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I…I thought I could make a change in my life and become a better person."
Allen paused for a while. He wasn't comfortable bringing back memories, but he wanted to.
"If you don't want to talk about something, you don't have to." Lavi assured.
"No, No it's fine."
Another deep breath.
"For the first year or so I was confined in a room. I was handcuffed to the bed like
some dog and everyday men would come and look at me, touch me, scream at me, hurt me…then they'd leave. Just like that. I never got my freedom then, I never received any compensation and as soon as people stopped coming to my room, I was released onto the street."
A shudder.
"By then, selling my body was all I was taught to do. So I used it to what I
thought was my advantage. Eventually, I earned money for myself and moved into a hotel room where I promised to pay rent. They asked me where my parents were and the manager kept asking silly questions so I slept with him to shut him up. I honestly don't know who my parents are."
"But I have a feeling they're not with us anymore." Allen whispered.
"Anyways, I've never been to a school before but I did learn a bit when I was at the foster care center. The teachers were horrible and awful and you could tell what they did behind closed doors to the kids. But I managed to learn quite a lot."
Lavi smiled, "I can tell. You have impeccable grammar."
Allen smiled back, "Thank you."
"I know I'm a prostitute and many people look down on 'our kind' but I assure
you, there is so much more to the story than what people hear. We are people too. We can feel, we can fight, we can hurt."
"I hoped one day that I could become a model or something of the sort. I've always loved pictures. Just the fact of isolating a moment of time fascinates me."
Even though Lavi was a photographer, even HE didn't see it that way. It was just his job.
Allen smiled at nothing in particular and closed his eyes.
"I know it's probably silly, I'm definitely not model material or anything, but hey-I can dream right?"
"I think you're modeling material." Lavi commented. He was perfectly serious.
Allen laughed.
"I think you're blind."
"Only on one eye." Lavi joked.
Allen frowned, "I'm sorry…I forgot."
"Haha don't worry about it." Lavi was already used to most of the eye patch jokes people came up with.
A sigh. But not necessarily a sad one. Allen's head turned to look at Lavi.
"But one day I hope to be free of this life. I'll live in my own little apartment. I'll get coffee every morning and watch the birds take flight. And at night, I'll come home to a stray dog or something and feed it. I'll sit on my couch and cuddle up with a book and a blanket and fall asleep to the sounds of chirping crickets on my windowsill. That is all I really want…"
:'D This story is my new baby. xDD Please review if you have the time—I'M ON A ROLL :D