Chapter Fourteen: I Want to Hold Your Hand

A/N: Okay I didn't want to put this one up until I got a lot of reviews and I did. So therefore you earned this chapter faithful reviewers!

Eh, and to dani's random fox… I know I do mix up your and you're… I'm a major perfectionist when it comes to proofreading but I proofread the first chapter so many times and replaced it about twenty times no joke, until I thought it was perfect and I bet I can look back at it now and fix something about it… so I just told myself to let the mistakes go… hahahahah. Anyway, the your and you're thing is from spending too much time on myspace. Haha. Illiteracy seems to be a habit of all users of that site and I got sucked into it… I feel so ashamed. Lol. Anyway, I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors. I try my best not to make them but I'm only human!

After Sasume's small mishap at the party her parents decided that summer school wasn't such a good idea after all if she was going to meet unruly adolescents that would get her drunk. Sasume didn't complain at all because she hated that stupid class she was taking with Mrs. Takimiya. Sasume smirked because she being dropped from the class meant L was dropped from it too. She wish she could have seen the look on that fat woman's chubby face when she went down the roll sheet and discovered L wasn't there. She would probably go home and stuff her face so she could eat her feelings. Sasume laughed a bit until the memory of what her mother had said about her little accident at the party.

"If it hadn't been for your nice boyfriend saving you," her mother had said.

"Yeah if it hadn't been for him," Sasume murmured as she scrubbed her car with a sponge. L was sitting on the roof watching her. She could feel his stare on her back as she hosed the car down. "I could use some help drying it Ryuzaki-kun." She didn't bother to turn around because she knew he heard her. A few moments later L had come out the front door with a couple of towels. He threw her a towel and started to dry the front end of her car.

"Sasume-san what are we going to do today?" L asked as he finished up his job and waited for her to finish drying the back end.

"We're going to do what all teenagers do during the summer," Sasume declared as she threw the towel into a box with some other car washing supplies.

"And what would that be," L asked, "You forget I'm not a teenager."

Sasume gave him a little scowl and then smiled, "Well you were a teenager once! What did you do for fun during the summer?"

"I do what I always do but I have Watari bring me shaved ice," L told her his routine.

Sasume grimaced slightly at Watari's name but let it fade as she spoke, "Well real teenagers go out to the beach! That's why I washed my car Ryuzaki-kun."

"You washed your car so it can get dirty again," he asked as he nibbled on his thumb.

"No! I washed it so I can look fly when I drive to the beach with my friends," she declared with a huge grin.

"Why would you ever want to look like a fly Sasume-san? You are always wearing those huge sunglasses… those make you look like a fly too," L stated as he tossed his towel into her box of car washing junk.

Sasume glowered at him. During L's stay he had made her lose the confidence to wear her skinny jeans, tube tops, heels, her wedge heels, her charm bracelet, her toe ring, and now her sunglasses. It seemed that the only thing he didn't mind her wearing was a cute summer dress and a ribbon in her hair or some flower. He also had mentioned that feet looked best bare to him.

She rolled her eyes and said, "To look fly means to look good, L."

L shrugged and said, "Whatever you say Sasume-san. I do not understand your generation's language."

She frowned a bit because L really wasn't that much older than her but he always made it sound like she was some child and he was some mature guy.

L detected her slight hostility and said, "I'll go pack for the beach I guess then."

The minute L opened the door he found Mrs. Kawashima there. "Oh L! You will finally get a tan at the beach although your skin is very nice pale and we will get you some nice swim trunks and suntan lotion and a beach towel with spider-man. Boys like spider-man right?"

"I prefer a beach towel with perhaps an ice cream cone on it?" L said with his half smile.

"Oh that's right L, you love sweets. We will get you a beach towel with candies and ice creams on it! Also you need some sunglasses. Perhaps some like Sasume's?"

"I prefer not to look like a fly like Sasume-san does when she wears them," L said simply.

"Oh yes, you are right about that. We will buy Sasume some new sunglasses too in that case. Flip flops! That's what you need L! Flip flops! You may hurt your poor little feet if you go barefoot at the beach! And I will get you a surfboard! Do you surf L?"

"No I prefer not to become a statistic to the surfer getting eaten by a shark value," L stated smartly.

"Oh of course not!"

Her mother went on with things like this for a very long time until Sasume spoke up, "Mother! If you keep going on like this we won't be going to the beach and it will be very disappointing to Ryuzaki-kun. He's never been to the beach before."

"Is that so," asked her mother with enthusiasm, "We will buy a camera so you can scrapbook this little rendezvous later!"

Sasume rolled her eyes. Her mother never behaved this way. But ever since L came her mother had been nothing but cheery and attentive to him. Sasume couldn't help feeling a little jealous because her mother had never been nice to her like that. The only time she could remember her mother being nice to her like that is the day her friends ditched her and she had to eat lunch by herself. Her mother had taken her to the mall and bought her anything and everything she wanted. That year of school she wore nothing but expensive outfits and made new friends with other girls that wore expensive outfits. Kids were shallow but that was in junior high.

"It'd be great if you guys could move from the doorway so I could get inside the house and pack my things," Sasume muttered to the two.

"You're so rude Sasume," her mother announced, "Who taught you these bad manners."

"I wonder," she mumbled still waiting for them to move.

L attempted to back out of the doorway but he tripped over Sasume. He regained his balance but Sasume fell with a small thud. "Sasume you clumsy girl," her mother cried, "You are lucky that L is willing to look past your faults, for you have many, and marry you."

Sasume growled from the floor exasperatedly. "Here Sasume-san let me help you up," L offered her a hand. She unenthusiastically took it and brushed herself off.

She finally made her way through the doorway and went to her room to pack. She opened the window to her room and watched as L and her mother took off in her mother's car to go to the mall. "You only take L to the mall," Sasume said sadly as she turned to sit back down on her bed.

"Oh papa," she exclaimed as she gave a small bow, "I didn't know you were there."

He had his regular cranky look on his face that Sasume had referred to as his default face but there was a twinkle of kindness in his eyes. "I don't much like your mother treating you like a step child," he said with a frown, "I will take you to the mall as well… in Tokyo. We'll stay a night or two just me and you. L and your mother can play patty cake here. Then you can go to the beach on Saturday with brand new things."

Sasume was speechless. Her father never offered to do anything like that for her. "What about work daddy and where will we stay," she asked thinking he forgot he had a job to attend to.

"I already asked for the time off and they gave it to me. I also made hotel reservations at the Toriumi," he said with a small smile, "Now pack your things and we'll get going; the sooner the better."

"Dad you're so awesome! The best," Sasume cried gleefully as she jumped on her dad and gave him a bear hug.

He hugged her back affectionately and said, "Well it's not right for your mother to treat you like this and I know I don't spend very much time with you…"

"Oh daddy it's okay," said Sasume giving him a kiss on the cheek, "I know you are a busy man."

XXX

Mrs. Kawashima and L had arrived home finally at ten at night. "Well L let's get your things ready for the morning since it is too late to go to the beach at this hour," she said as she carried all his stuff for him, "Sasume is just going to have to wait to go the beach. You have to be prepared to go to the beach and that is one thing that Sasume never bothers to do is to prepare…"

"Do you need help with those," L asked referring to the bags.

"Oh no you sweet son-in-law of mine," Mrs. Kawashima said fumbling for her keys, "I will carry it all for you."

"Okay," said L quietly as she finally managed to get the door open.

As the two stepped into the house L noticed that it was irregularly quiet in the house and there weren't any lights on. "No one's home," he said to Mrs. Kawashima.

"I wonder where they went off to," she said as she set down L's things in the hallway and closed the door. She found a small note taped to the fridge in the kitchen.

The note read:

Wife,

Because you refuse to treat Sasume like she is your daughter and treat L like a prince I have taken the liberty in taking her to Tokyo for a couple days. We'll be back by Friday night. Do not worry about us.

Your Husband

Mr. Kawashima never was big on writing letters. "I know exactly what he's trying to tell me," Mrs. Kawashima said with a serious look.

"You do," asked L also noticing that she treated him better than Sasume.

"He wants us to go to Tokyo with him and go shopping," her mother proclaimed with fervor.

"I don't think that's what he meant," L murmured with a look of shock. Did Mrs. Kawashima honestly think that Mr. Kawashima had told them to join them?

"It's called reading in between the lines," she declared with a smile, "Something you'll have to learn with Sasume because that girl never says what she really wants."

"Oh," said L dumbly. He didn't believe there was really such a thing called 'reading between the lines'. "I think I prefer to stay home. I don't like traveling too much…"

"Well L, going to Tokyo is a wonderful experience," her mother said persistently.

He was beginning to wonder if Mr. Kawashima ever took her to go shopping in Tokyo and that was why she was being so unrelenting on the matter. Still, he knew that if they went to Tokyo Mrs. Kawashima would make the effort to stay in the same room with her husband and daughter. L deducted that there was a 99.9 percent chance that this would enrage Sasume and cancel their beach trip. "I want to go to the zoo here," L said with false enthusiasm, "I've always wanted to go there."

"The zoo it is," cried Mrs. Kawashima as she scurried away to make plans.

L sighed and walked up to his room. Things would be pretty boring without Sasume for a few days. It's not like he had anyone else to spend time with. Mrs. Kawashima would spend time with him all day if he allowed her to but L didn't consider that fun necessarily.

XXX

Mr. Kawashima and his very happy daughter Sasume returned home with many shopping bags in hand. Mrs. Kawashima stood in the hallway tapping her foot as father and daughter shared a joke. "About time you guys got home," she said sternly.

Mr. Kawashima, always being the head of the house took this one, "We got back Friday night just like I said in the note I left you. I know you read it."

"Yes and how do you know that," Mrs. Kawashima asked raising a sophisticatedly arched eyebrow.

"You called the hotel ten time everyday to see what we were doing," Sasume said laughing.

"That's right! If I hadn't had done that I couldn't be sure you guys were alright," she said casting a worried glance.

"Oh wife you worry too much," Mr. Kawashima said as he began to walk to Sasume's room to unload his armful of shopping bags.

"L was so bored," she said sadly, "That poor boy just sat there in his room eating some chocolates he found in your videogame box."

"What?" Sasume practically screamed.

"I said he ate your chocolates. Don't tell me you weren't going to share them," she hollered, "Are you going deaf girl?"

Sasume sped off to her room with lightning speed as she bolted past her father, nearly knocking him off the stairs. "That's gratitude for you," he mumbled as Mrs. Kawashima gave him a glare.

She flung her door open to see her video game box on her bed empty. Her first thought was to go in through the bathroom but when she tried the handle the door was locked. She ran to his room and found his bathroom door locked as well. "L," she cried banging on the door, "What are you doing in there!"

"If you're wondering where your chocolates are I've hidden them from you," he said calmly, "And I only ate six chocolates from my bag of candy. I just wanted to stay a full year… like you stayed…"

A strange feeling washed over her as she slumped to the floor and kept talking to him. "L why would you do something like that? You should go back home and catch Kira."

L stuck his thumb into his mouth and bit extremely hard. It began to bleed and he held it over the sink so it wouldn't drip onto the floor. He rummaged through some drawers until he found a band-aid. He peeled the film over the band-aid carefully and placed it on his wounded thumb.

"Did you hear what I asked you L," whispered Sasume from the other side of the door.

"Yes I heard you Sasume-san," L whispered back as he sat down in his normal way by the door, "I heard every word."

"Well then answer my question," Sasume whispered her demand.

"I just wanted to spend some more time with you to answer a question of mine," L said vaguely.

"A question? What question," Sasume asked nearly pawing at the door.

"Don't worry Sasume-san… It's not of importance to you… Just bare with me," L murmured to her through the door nearly pawing at it himself.

"Okay L… You'll tell me what it is one day won't you?" She sounded so desperate but she couldn't help it. Her body shuddered from her desperate emotions.

"Maybe," L said quietly, "Please leave me now."

She nodded at him as if he could see and got up and left to her room. He pictured in his head that she had nodded as he unlocked her side of the bathroom and came out from his side of the bathroom.

He crawled into his bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Why do I want to stay," L asked himself, "Because you need an answer…" He said nothing more to himself. His mind was the worst place for him to hang out in right now so he tried to clear his thoughts.

XXX

Sasume sat on the edge of her bed and decided to go out onto her roof. She didn't really care if L saw her out there because he wasn't really saying much to her anyway. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so mad at him," she thought suddenly, "I can't really blame him for wanting to stay a whole year… Still… Why would he want to…? Staying here shouldn't be what he wants. He should want to go home so he can capture Kira finally…" Sasume frowned deeply. There was just no answer to any of her questions and she was tired of feeling this crummy over it.

"I feel like I'm nowhere," Sasume murmured as she gazed out into the night. She couldn't help herself from peering into L's window to see what he was doing. She was hoping that he wouldn't see her and think she was some sort of stalker or something. It was her own house after all and didn't she have a right to look in the window if she wanted to?

Sasume peered into the window feeling like Harriet the spy. Her eyes met with another pair, causing her to nearly fall back and roll right off of the roof but a hand caught her. The hand let her go once she was steady.

"Voyeurism is a crime Sasume-san," L said with a blank expression.

"Well who says I was spying on you? Maybe I was just taking a stroll," Sasume tried to lie.

"You were taking a stroll on the roof?" L asked with an amused look. "No I think you were being a peeping tom!"

"Now listen here Ryuzaki-kun," Sasume started but L cut her off.

"It's not a big deal Sasume-san," he spoke softly and then added in his blunt manner; "I've spied on you too."

"You have," Sasume said in a surprised voice. "You pervert," she accused in a murmur.

"Now, now Sasume-san," L said shaking his head and making the tsk tsk sound, "You were just doing the same thing. Talk about calling the kettle black, eh, Ms. Teapot?"

She blushed furiously and could summon up no words to say in her defense.

"It's past your bed time Sasume-san," L laughed with his half smile.

"But it's summer," she protested with a grin.

L shrugged and looked up at the sky. "Nice full moon, hmm?" He placed his hands on the windowsill as if it gave him a better view.

Sasume turned to look at the sky, her hand somewhat grazing L's. "Sorry Ryuzaki-kun," she said as she placed her hand elsewhere.

Ryuzaki placed his hand over hers to let the good feeling come back. She looked slightly startled and turned to face him. "I want to hold your hand. I've never held hands with anyone before," he said with his usual bluntness. His blank expression held such loneliness in it and Sasume knew that feeling too well. She gave him a strange smile but she understood. Many moments of silence passed as the two held awkward hands together.

"Ryuzaki-kun… I never thanked you for saving me at that party," Sasume said full of remorse, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"I'm glad I got to you on time… I'm not sure what I'd have done if I had let something bad like that happen to you Sasume-san," L said giving her hand a squeeze and caressing it with his thumb.

"Well I should be going to bed now Ryuzaki-kun," Sasume whispered, her warm breath tickling L's face; teasing it.

He let her hand go reluctantly and pulled himself away slightly. "Goodnight Sasume-san," he said as he closed the window.

"Goodnight Lawliet-kun," she breathed even though he could no longer hear her, "Dream of me…"

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this one! REVIEW LIKE MADDDD!!! Aww, L wanted to hold hands! He's a little weirdo isn't he?!

Real L: I am not weird just because I wanted to hold hands.

L: No you're weird because you refuse to admit your feelings.

Sasume: What feelings? Who has feeling for whom?!

Midouri: Sasume-san you are a bit dense I fear.

Sasume: Excuse me last time I checked density deals with Chemistry and the Periodic table of Elements and such, NOT people!

Real L: She's cute isn't she?

Midouri: Author is right… you should admit your feelings.

Real L: AUTHOR DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!! AUTHOR COULD BE KIRA! (glares)

L: Lawliet, don't make me hurt you.

Real L: See! That proves it she knows my real name! She has the Shinigami eyes! And she gave me a death threat. Author's percentage of being Kira went up to twenty!

L: I know your real name and threatened to hurt you because I am AUTHOOOORRRRRR!

Sasume: L is so cute when he gets mad…

Midouri: You have feeling admitting problems as well…

Sasume: Shut up Midouri. You're one lonely candy store owning weirdo chick!

Midouri: That wasn't very nice Sasume-san. If it weren't for me you would have never met L.

Sasume: Psh, who cares?

Real L: Sasume-san, I can't believe you just said. (goes to gnaw off his thumb angrily)

Sasume: (gives chase) L noooooo! I was lying to shut Midouri uppppp! I swearrrr.

Author L and Midouri: (sweat drop) HOPELESS!