And the only time I can seriously get to work on this is over Winter Break (that's seriously how busy they kept us at school, not counting the computer issues that've been wrecking havoc upon, well, what they wreck havoc on o.o). Bleh, sorry this is so late, but I didn't want to put out something extremely short/rushed so…yeah. But here it is! A Christmas Present (one could say). Basically this is my attempt to continue the last chapter…not sure how well I did (never am, when there's a break between the chapters) but I hope you like it! (Also, Cross's POV at the end again…showing a scene that might be important later on. Miiiiiight…)

Note: There's no such thing as a stupid question, so I'll ask this here. What happens when you get an anon. review, the person doesn't give you their email address (or another contact info), you'd really love to reply back (because either they were unclear, or they didn't get something, and you want to set them straight so they aren't confused/you aren't confused/they don't feel like an idiot later/etc) but the thing is, the fic was a oneshot. What do you do? –would really like an answer-

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Lavi's POV

I hadn't known what to say at the time. He had just told me all of that—and then he assumed, even though he didn't know a damn hell thing about me. I couldn't tell him that I didn't know the feeling. How could I? I never even knew my parents.

Just caretaker, after caretaker. In Jiji's attempts to train me and to keep me reasonably human at the same time. I didn't know who he was doin' it for. When I asked he always hit me. Or made me do more work—

It was no wonder that I always slept in class. With those lessons at night, how else was I going to get any sleep in?

I mentally tried to shake those thoughts away as Sheryl continued to chastise Tyki—which was really, really amusing on the account that it never really happened. Ever. Almost amusing enough to laugh, but then they'd ask why I was laughing. I didn't want someone who could chew even Tyki out chewing me out as well.

'and he's Road's father.' The thought stuck firmly in my mind, 'If he can deal with her and Tyki then—'

"Brother, I do believe you're sounding like a mother hen." Tyki apparently cut Sheryl off before sighing loudly, "I told you she learns that at school."

"Y'know I don't like it when you talk about me like I'm not here." Road shouted from inside the kitchen. I heard a few pots and pans clatter to the floor as she continued her search for plastic bags.

"Well I can't see you," Tyki called back before turning to face Sheryl again, "Like I was saying—if you want her to stop then take her out of school. Which you won't do."

Sheryl looked a little miffed that he was talking back, "No. No I won't."

"Then deal with it." I wanted to laugh at the smug expression on his face, but I knew now wasn't the time to. He hardly ever wore any expression—much less one like that, and it was almost…almost comforting to see a human emotion on his face for once.

Not that lust and jealousy didn't count. They just weren't, well—

"Found it!" Road shouted from in the kitchen before, a few seconds later, the sound of glass cracking against tile could be heard. A few seconds after that, and a loud 'whump'

She had fallen. Probably from the counter. Which meant Tyki put the bags up high. Which why he would do that I didn't—

Not that it mattered. She was probably crying now. Or cursing under her breath. And suddenly I had to drag Allen to the side as Sheryl shot past us.

"Oh! Oh! Road, dear, are you okay?!" His voice—high pitched and worried—

Definitely a daughter complex.

'Creepy…' but I shook the humorous—if a bit disturbing—thought out of my head. Yeah Allen was hurt—it was why Road was in the kitchen looking for the bags to begin with. But now she was hurt too, 'It's just one thing after another isn't it?'

Apparently, from the expression on Yuu's face, he thought the same exact thing—and he was trying not to care.

Trying but failing a little bit. If not for curiosities sake.

I mean—who wouldn't be curious in this situation? A little morbid, but at least it wasn't like those traffic accidents—which I was in one—where someone died—and someone did die—and you couldn't look away.

Jiji said it was normal.

Didn't like to think human's were that desperate for entertainment, but—

"You're bleeding! You're bleeding!" Sheryl's voice—high pitched and frantic—cut off my train of thought, "Tyki! Get in here now!"

"Coming, coming," but it didn't look like Tyki wanted to come. Or go. Go. Yes. Go was the word—not come. Come was too much like—

'Bad mental images.' I blinked a few times, trying to clear the image from my head, "Jeez, seems like everyone's gettin' hurt, eh?" I tried to say, hoping that actually talking would stop my brain from going down that far.

"Tch," to my surprise it was Kanda who responded, "Yourself included?"

I grinned lazily up at him, "Well yup, I suppose I'd be on th' list too! An', Allen, an' now Road—but what's about you?"

His eye twitched, "what about me?"

"You aren't planning some freakishly crazy accident so you can be added to the list too?" For all the lightheartedness I tried to have in my voice, the question still came out way too serious.

"Hope…not." This time Allen was the one who responded, "We don't n-need another hurt person."

"Like hell I'd be that clumsy." Yuu spat back, sending a glare down at the white-haired bean sprout, "I'm not you."

Allen squeezed his nose once, before using me as a prop to help himself up, "Right. You aren't. I don't want anyone to be 'clumsy' like me—not even you."

I knew, and he knew, and Kanda probably sorta-kinda knew that he was mentioning that. With Cross—wherever the hell that guy was now—and the bedroom, and he couldn't not know about his bad timing.

"I sure as hell hope not." But he was taking the literal meaning. He didn't want to think about it. He proved that more when he turned his gaze away, towards Sheryl's constant fretting—"Where's the ice? No? The bandages? Where the hell do you keep anything in this house?!"—and wouldn't look back.

"I-I'll go see if I can help." Allen got this well enough, and staggered a moment before trying to walk in that direct.

"You sure? I mean—your nose isn't broken, is it?" he was still holding his nose, so I couldn't exactly tell if it was or not, but he wasn't bleeding. That was a plus.

"Not the worse I've been through." He smiled painfully down at me, "'sides—it's…she's…" I knew what he was going to say before it even fully left his mouth. He was just too embarrassed to really say it—just like at the Diner.

I chuckled lightly, "I get it, I get it." He seemed relieved, "Go—go, she'll probably stop cryin' when you get in there." Which you could barely hear said crying over his loud—loud banter…and Tyki trying to defend his odd organizing habits—which he really didn't organize but—

I chuckled again as Allen made his way down the hall, "I swear she must feel so loved right now."

"Annoying." Kanda muttered, turning his gaze away from their direction, back to…somewhere over my head, but not exactly at me.

"Annoying, eh?" I wondered aloud, "Maybe—for Yuu, cuz Yuu doesn't like to be doted on." I chuckled again at my own words and how, well, true they were.

"And you do?" he ignored my use of his first name, and even so much as glanced down at me, "Doesn't surprise me." Oh. He looked away again, "You are the stupid…stupid," he said one word under his breath that I couldn't quite catch, "rabbit."

"Tha's what people call me." I grinned back, "kinda stuck after the—"

"I know." He cut me off, "Tch, don't need to tell me it twice."

"And could you two," it was Tyki, he sounded a bit annoyed—in that lazy sort of way of his that only he could manage to pull off—about I'd guess the situation, "Get some towels."

"Towels?"

"Lavi, you know where they are."

Kanda shot me a dirty look, I grinned, sheepishly, "'kay." I slowly pushed myself up off the floor and straightened up, "Hall closet, hall closet," I hummed, turning quickly before making my way over to the…well, it couldn't really be called a closet. It was just…an indented wall space that just so happened to have a door. And shelves. And really, really white towels. No. wait.

I grabbed a brown one off the top shelf and turned around. To my surprise—or maybe not so much—Yuu had followed me, curious, probably, to see where I got the towel from. I shot him another grin before tossing it at him, "Go give this to 'im."

He looked like I had just asked him to commit murder.

I laughed, "Don't worry! They won't bite!"

He shot me another dirty look before swiftly turning around and stalking back towards the kitchen.

…Or at least. I hoped they wouldn't.

-----(Kanda's POV—roughly 30 minutes later)

"Yes, I'll make sure she goes to bed at a reasonable time. Now would you please get out of my house." I would've laughed, had laughing been something I did—and not been called crazy for.

'If they don't bite then they sure as hell can scream bloody murder…in the quietest damn voice I've ever heard.' I let out a silent sigh, leaning even further against the couch—more like a loveseat, but the connotation was not something I wanted to think about—which, thankfully, I was just sharing with Lavi. The beansprout was over on the other couch—love seat—couch—holding an icepack to his nose, with Road, similarly, holding an icepack, but to her ankle instead.

No. The Noah family didn't bite. They stared. And growled, in that sort of way that was ten times worse than biting.

And Lavi was completely fine with it. Leaning back, with the same lazy grin, head lolling a bit as he stared at some unseen pattern on the ceiling—

'How the hell can he concentrate in a place like this?' but then it didn't really look like he was concentrating to begin with—

He noticed I was staring at him, though, before I could even turn away, and he focused that ridiculously goofy grin on me.

"Yes—look, brother," Tyki's voice rose, slightly, from the doorway, "Do I need to have a restraining order?"

There was a horrified squeak that I could only assume was Sheryl

"Exactly." I didn't know what he did, but apparently it worked, "Now have a good night brother—I'll make sure everyone gets to school tomorrow that's," he paused, for some reason, and I knew even if he couldn't see us—or me—that he was looking in the beansprout's direction, "able and willing."

"Isn't it willing and able?"

"Same thing, brother." It was almost strange the way he used the term 'brother'. Not that I had any siblings that I—that I—

I let out a slightly louder sigh, which Lavi responded to, "You okay, Yuu-chan?"

I felt my eye twitch, "What?"

"D'ahhh, I mean Yuu—err, Kanda," he immediately corrected through a nervous laugh.

"Fine. I'm fine." I answered tersely, feeling my eyetwitch again.

"You don't look fine." That was Road. I didn't want to snap at her. For all the fact that she was Allen's girlfriend--

"Don't worry, he's always like this." Allen answered her, "now's no different."

My eyes narrowed and focused on the white haired teen, "What was that?"

"Nothing," his voice was slightly muffled but a lot clearer than I thought it would be, "you just act like you have a stick up your ass all the time."

Immediately Lavi's hands found me, and pinned me to the couch, "Oh no—we are not startin' this here." I was pretty sure he was only aiming this at me.

"Didn't want to come." Allen pointed out.

"And you forced—"

"We ran into each other, remember?" Lavi cut me off before I could say much more.

"At the bar." Road added on, "Which reminds me—hey Tyki!"

"Yesss?" he called from the front door—why he was still there when I was sure Sheryl was gone, I didn't know.

'Not that I care.'

Because I didn't. This time. Really.

"Don't ya think we should call someone? Y'know, Lulubell, or Veronica—just to let them know where we are?"

"I'm sure Sheryl will call them." He answered back.

"And the reason he'd go out of his way to call them is because?"

Tyki appeared in the entry-way, hand rubbing his forehead like he had an extremely large headache, "Because."

"Did you even tell him we went to the bar in the first place?" Tyki dropped his hand and she laughed, "Or do y'just want to be lazy?"

"As lazy as you seem to be." He shot back.

"I am—"

"Actually," the beansprout cut her off, "I think I might need to call Cross, an' then Lenalee and Komui, to make sure they got home."

…to make sure they got home?

'Didn't he see them leave?' I couldn't help but wonder. Lavi seemed to know though, 'then again, he knows everything.'

Okay. Not really, but he sure as hell knows more than most people.

"That's a good idea," Road immediately agreed, "Lenalee did sound kinda upset when I talked to her," she shot him a look, to which he returned a hesitant smile, "but as for Cross…if he wasn't home when we got there, what makes you think he'll be home now?"

"Uh," he actually seemed to think that over for a moment, "because he's like that?"

"And because he's like what he's like," Lavi butted in before he could get out another word, "what makes y'think he'd be overly worried that you went bye-bye for a while? Doesn't strike me as the overprotective type, correct me if I'm wrong."

that made him laugh, a little, "That's true," he didn't sound like he wanted it to be though, "But just in case—I mean, he could—"

"If he went and got wasted." I decided to tag on for whatever reason.

He shot me a dirty look, which, for whatever reason, disappeared a second later, "Actually, yeah, he probably is at a bar right now. I don't know if he has his cell phone with him—"

'Because you sure as hell don't have yours.'

I shut that thought up. That had nothing to do with now. Except talking about cellphones. Which had something to do with contacting people but—

"Would he pick up?" That was Lavi, with his hands still on my shoulders, and something told me that something—something was off.

"No." He almost sounded sad at that.

"Then why call?" Road leaned up against him, and he flinched, "If he's not going to pick up—"

"Never said I wanted him to."

She placed a finger against his lips, "Hush. I know. But if he won't pick up, then what makes you think he'll even check? You told me once that the reason you checked your cell phone so much was because he never did, right?"

He gave her an odd look, which probably meant, no I didn't tell you that—how the hell did you know. Omitting the 'hell' of course. Stupid beansprout.

"Exactly," apparently she read the look completely different and grinned, "You're so easy to read."

'Apparently not.' But then, what did I know?

He gave in, though, "Fine, I won't call him. But Lenalee still needs to know I'm okay an' all."

"So you didn't see them leave?" Tyki wondered, "That's unusual, don't you get off at the same time?"

Everyone shot him a look.

"Road told me your work schedule," he coughed, uncomfortably, "that and it's a popular restaurant. You're bound to—"

Road's eyes narrowed, "Okay, Tyki-baka, we get it."

He coughed again, but this time Lavi spoke, "I agree—y'get off at the same time, were you in the backroom or somethin?"

"Not exactly."

"How can you not exactly be there?" Road questioned, scooting even closer to him, furthering the uncomfortable aura that somehow filtered into every damn useable space in this—

And Tyki was staring at me, again. Or maybe Lavi—since he was right next to me—with his hands on my shoulders—and again…those words kept running through my mind.

Jealousy. Jealous. Was he? Or was I—

"I mean—I was in the backroom for a while but," the beansprout laughed, again, uneasily, "but I would've seen her regardless—all her stuff is back there, and she hadn't clocked out yet when I was back there, so…"

"So when did she leave?" Lavi somehow managed to make the question sound like part of a normal conversation, "I mean, you both have school tomorrow, so it's not like Komui would let her work later than a certain hour…"

"And again, how could you not see her? Didn't she say bye to you?"

For some reason or other that caused a pained look to cross over his face, which again, reminded me of something else. More particularly—he was dating Road now. Not Lenalee. Lenalee knew this—regardless of if he told her separately, or if the first time she officially heard it was when he told us—and if she truly had feelings for him then—

He must have screwed up.

He was an idiot.

But at least he wasn't being an idiot on purpose—or at least—he didn't know he hurt her. Or maybe he did.

No. Definitely no.

I felt Lavi's hands press harder against my shoulders and I flinched, "That is kinda unusual for Lenalee, did somethin' upset her?"

He couldn't even look us in the eye at that.

"Did you say something—" Road tried, but stopped half-sentence and pulled away slightly, "Ah."

Again he wouldn't look at her.

"Not something then." Lavi concluded, "Isn't that sad, Kan-da?" I blinked, dumbly, up at him. He was bringing me into the conversation now?

I turned my head to the side, "How should I know?"

"Oh! You know!" he said, matter-of-fact-like, with that same stupid, stupid grin, "When someone doesn't say that one thing that you really, really want them to say and you're all disappointed afterwards."

I turned back to him and just stared, "No. I don't know."

For a moment an uneasy silence stretched through the room, the unease mixing easily with tense, uncomfortable air…as we just sat, me, and Lavi on one side—Lavi with his stupid smile, and hands, pressing against my shoulders—and why is that the only thing I can concentrate on?

I couldn't find the answer.

Thankfully, I didn't have to.

Just like in the movies—the phone rang. Or in this case, Tyki's phone rang.

"Ah, I'll get that." He didn't sound too particularly thrilled about that, "Road, why don't you show them to the two guest rooms. Split it however you like."

Oh. Great. Now the reality of I'm sleeping over—or a sleep over, which, granted, I never had—hit. Like an anvil. Or some other hard object—

And Lavi was still grinning like the proverbial idiot.

"Okaaaay!" Road said through a huge smile, shoving herself up off the couch before rapidly turning, and pulling the beansprout up with her, "It's this-a-way! They're right across the hall from each other an', oh," she was already at the hallway—which I assumed was where the bedrooms where—with him in tow before she seemed to realize something, and stopped.

"What's up?" Lavi wondered, finally unpinning my shoulders from the couch to stand up.

She gave him a look, then she looked at me, "I hope you two don't mind sharing."

He blinked.

I blinked.

"That's fine, isn't it Yuu?" he turned to me, holding his hand out.

I shot him a glare, slapping his hand away as I stood up, "We share an apartment after all." I finished.

She gave us another look, "No, no I meant—share, as in, share a bed."

…'What?'

She grinned sheepishly, "One guest room has two beds, an' the other has one. I…can't exactly sleep with Allen, cuz dad would surely hear about it and I'd be scolded." She didn't sound too upset about it, though, and the beansprout actually looked relieved, "So we're taking the room with two beds. So that leaves one. Unless one of y'wants to sleep on the couch."

I opened my mouth, fully ready to be the one saying 'I'll stay right here'—but of course, the idiot rabbit cut me off.

"Don't worry 'bout it! It's just fer one night anyway," he looked over at me, "You aren't gonna curl up in a ball an' die, are ya?"

I shot him a glare, which he returned with a grin before turning back to Road, "See? We're all good."

'No we are not all good.' I silently fumed for about half a second before--

I roughly jerked my hand—or at least tried to—from the red head's grip, "I can walk on my own, thank you." I hissed out.

He just grinned, "Oh c'mon."

"I will come," I decided not to listen to the insane snickering of Road from a few steps ahead of us, "I am not incapable of walking."

"Tha's exactly why." He sounded completely serious, too, which almost threw me off guard. Almost, "It'll be easier this way, trust me."

I would've asked, 'easier to do what?' but I didn't want to know what Road—or, worse, the beansprout—and Tyki—would think to that.

Instead, I turned away, jerking my hand—this time successfully—out of his grip, "Fine." I'd ask him that later, behind closed doors. In the room that we would be sharing for one night—and it almost seemed so trivial, but…

'Does he kick in his sleep?'

Or better yet

'Do I kick in my sleep?'

"Here's your room!" Road chimed, a splitting smile on her face as she kicked open the slightly-ajar door to the room we would be sleeping in, "Make yourselves at home! We'll be across the hall in case you need anything!"

Then, just like that, we were being forced—or rather, I was—and Lavi wasn't making the process any less quick by grabbing my hand, yet again, and tugging me—in. A second later and the door slammed, loudly, behind us.

We were alone. I could hear Road laughing through the door. Saying something, about something being 'fun'—and the beansprout asking why.

My attention snapped away from the door, immediately to the redhead, when he walked over to the large bed—really, it was huge—and plopped down on one end. He gave me a steady look for about half a second, before bursting into a loud—loud—laughter, "You kill conversations—" he chuckled, "I swear."

I shot him a glare, "Well what did you expect?"

"Nothin'."

I opened my mouth—fully ready to tell him to stop laughing—that it wasn't that funny—and what about him dragging me into the conversation—it was his fault but—

But that.

"Nothing?"

He stretched his arms over his head before falling back, "Not…nothin' just, I expected it."

So he expected it, "Really." For some reason or other I couldn't get my legs to move.

"Mhm," he let out a content sigh, "This bed is so comfy!" he sat up for a moment, long enough to look at me, at least, before saying, "C'mover here!"

My eyes narrowed as he bounced slightly on the mattress, "It's bouncy! And soft! It's great!" I didn't really have a fondness for overly soft mattresses—

'But it's not like I want to sleep on the floor either.

I let out a sigh, forcing my legs to move, which, thankfully, they did. I wouldn't sit down next to him, though. Even when he patted the space beside him, "Well? Are y'just going to stand there?"

I shrugged.

"Y'can't sleep standing," he sounded like he was scolding me, "and y'aren't going to sleep on the floor—couch—or anythin' else—" I felt my mouth twitch, "and I'm not gonna sleep on the floor either—"

"Then why don't you go bother Tyki?" I didn't know why I said it, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing a bed with you—you are after all, his," then I stopped. Not because I didn't know exactly what he was to him—we had already played that game before—but it was more the expression on his face.

"Why would I bother 'im when you're here?" despite the confused look on his face, his words were more suspicious than anything, "Didn't I say it's easier this way?"

"What's easier this way?" I finally asked, thankful that he was being serious—and that Road wasn't here to take it down the gutter—and thus he most likely wouldn't think of that, which, granted, I didn't know why I was thinking about that meaning—it was almost as bad as what that girl could think up of but—

Thankfully Lavi cut off that thought before it turned into an excuse, "You honestly wanna know?" He sounded curious, but still…suspicious. Or something.

I nodded my head.

He grinned.

And suddenly he reached forward—grabbing my wrist—tugging me forward—then I felt the mattress—it really was soft, like he said—under my back—and…

He was on top of me, both wrists pinned above my head. And grinning. He was grinning—he didn't grin like…like that. Not like—not like that—

"It's a heck of a lot easier," he continued, leaning down closer, "to do this."

------(Cross's POV)----------

I was soaked. I knew I was soaked. Didn't need anyone tellin' me that—and dammit, they didn't need to stare. What they needed to stare at was that fuckin' kid over in the corner. Huddled, in a ball, shivering from the same damn rain I just ran through. Hell, I almost felt sorry for the kid.

That was the alcohol speaking.

But then. Why the hell was I drinking in the first place? I sighed, ran a hand through my sopping hair before taking another sip of the ridiculously cheap beer, "What the fuck am I even doing here?"

I ignored the jumpy waitress who turned to look at me. One tired glare sent her running off. But she was the pretty little thing. Not worth the go but—

"It's not that I think it's them." Immediately my attention zeroed in on the boy, still shaking, he was talking to himself—or to his cellphone, which I couldn't damn see—and he sounded like he was about to cry, "I let the one you asked me to let go, go." He paused for a moment, "describe him? But you know what he looks—" the boy flinched, "—fine. Black hair, long, in a ponytail. Dark eyes too—probably from Japan or at least very Asian."

'Racist.' I snickered at the thought, but the description intrigued me. The boy said 'he'—a he with long hair…

Couldn't help starin' down at a strand of my own. I probably needed a hair cut—

It was black—the hair was black—I tried to gear my mind in the right direction again. Shit. Wasn't working.

'Ah hell,' I took another sip, 'Who do I know who's Asian, got a perchance to keep his hair in a ponytail, and has dark eyes?'

Could narrow it down to five people. Then to two that weren't flings.

But why would that kid know either of them?

"Like I said—y-you know what he looks like." The boy sounded halfway between irritated and scared out of 'is wits, "and I let him go. He definitely couldn't be guilty—he doesn't know—"

Again. A pause.

The boy flinched, "she was my sister." All at that moment his voice changed. All in that split second of silence and he wasn't scared the hell out now. "Of course I know that. You—you—never mind." He quickly dropped whatever he had been going to say, rubbing his eyes with his free hand before dropping it to his side and exclaiming, slightly louder, "I need to go."

Then, abruptly, he jerked the phone away from his ear, rubbed his eyes again, shot someone—didn't know the hell who, his eyes weren't the hell focusing—a dirty look, before getting up on shaky legs.

He didn't get very far before he had to stop. Hiccupping out a sob, he half-leaned against a vacant chair a few tables away from the entrance. Unfortunately I was one or two tables away from said entrance so he was nearly quite literally in front of me.

And my brain hurt.

"Oi," and my mouth decided to ignore that fact and talk on its own. Got the kids attention well enough, "You okay, kid?"

He shot me a familiar dirty look, "I'm f-fine. Shouldn't I b-be ask-king you that?"

I looked down at the half empty—incredibly—incredibly cheap—drink in my hand before shrugging, "Eh, 'least I came 'ere an' am doing what I set out t'do. You on the other hand—" I eyed him for a moment, "—can't even get your damn footing."

"Well I'm so s-sorry."

"An' you're stutterin'."

"I can't help that." His voice sounded like he wanted to be angry at me. But. His eyes continued to tear up profusely.

"'course you can't." I agreed. Hated it when kids cried. 'specially the ones where I didn't even know who the hell they were—much less cared the damn hell enough about. Allen was one thing but—

I quickly took a swig of the alcohol.

But his image still stayed in my head. Shit.

"I-I'd like it if a co-complete—and drunk—s-stranger didn't say it like that."

"Say what?" I was more than a little aware that my voice was just a little slurred, "y'stutter if y'stutter. I was bein' serious."

He gave me a confused look, "S-Serious? Yeah r-right."

I pretty much knew then that whatever the hell I said—either it was gonna be the damned wrong thing and he was goin' to break down in tears—or it was the damn hell right thing an' he was goin' to break down in tears. So instead of saying anything I motioned to the open booth in front of me, "Sit before y'damn collapse."

Just like I thought, the tears began to build up—almost to the point of spilling over, but not entirely. Now I at least could ask what the fuck was wrong without 'im goin' all—

"Now what the," I caught myself—this was a damn kid here—"hell's wrong with you?"

The kid let out a sob, before reigning it in, "Why do you care?"

"Cuz shit happens." He flinched, "An' in case y'didn't notice, yer in a bar so you—cryin' an' sitting her with me's gonna look kinda wrong no matter which way y'fuck it."

So much for watching my language. I knew a certain someone would scold the hell outta me fer it but—

"Y-You don't really h-have the best w-way of talking to p-people." An' the kid pointed it out too, but he wasn't crying as hard. Not that I could say he was crying to begin with.

"Well y'could say I don't give a damn, cuz I don't." I decided to answer him as he wiped away whatever tears were still there, "But I guess I should dammit care—cuz of what the hell this looks like…like I said."

"Like you," he hiccupped, "said." He was somehow able to look me in the face after this, "But again…why should I tell you? Unless you're willing to tell me why you're here. Sopping wet."

"Just like you."

"Just like me." He actually agreed.

"Was out takin' a walk," I lifted the glass to my lips but didn't take a sip, "then it started t'rain, and I continued t'walk. End of story."

He didn't look like he believed me. For a moment I wanted to ask why but—

"You're Cross aren't you?"

I slammed the glass back down against the tabletop, "An' why would the little boy want to know?"

He bristled at the terminology, "I've heard of you."

I grinned, "from who?" Just to see what he said. Just to see—

"A girl,"

"A girl?" I laughed, "I know a many of sweet things."

He glared, then sighed, "I mea-nt…"

"The one you were talking to on the phone?" I guessed, and he almost froze. Almost.

"Well," he hesitated, "I don't think I should tell you that."

"And I don't think I should tell you if I'm Cross or not, even if you've heard of me." I shot back, grinning and lifting my drink to my lips once more.

"That's a mute point." He didn't waste any time coming up with a response, "Considering I'd know what you look like anyway."

"And?" I questioned, tipping my head back a bit, "I could have an evil twin brother out there."

I saw him blink, dumbly, at me through the bottom of the glass. "What?"

"Don't you think you'd be the evil twin?" And then, suddenly, he smiled. Not a big one, by any means, a shy one, by a ton, and then, he let out a soft chuckle, leaning his head against the cool tabletop, "why the heck am I talking to you?"

I set the glass down again, but continued to lean back against the worn fabric of the booth, "Beats me—why th' hell 're y'here to begin with?"

I didn't think he'd catch that I had asked almost the exact same question just a second—hour—minute—millisecond—what the crap—ago, but, unsurprisingly, he did, "Didn't I already answer that?"

"Nope." Because he didn't. Not really.

"I'm pretty sure I did." He lifted his head so that he was resting on his chin now.

"Then y're going to have t' repeat it." I lifted my glass again and sipped it again.

"Why?"

I almost choked. The fuckin' why question. Why, why, why.

Always needed to come up with a damn answer, an' I didn't think 'cuz I said so'd work for the kid. So instead, I took a sip, slammed the drink back down, and said, "Because it's th' rules of the game."

"Game?" He wondered, dazedly, his eyes—for whatever reason—focusing on my drink, "When did this turn into a game?"

"Since I said so."

"Which was?"

"When y'sat down."

He shot me an odd look, "But you never said anything."

I grinned back, "So? 'Said it in my head."

His eyes narrowed, "Right."

My grin split a little wider, "Right."

A flash of lightning illuminated the window—dazzling in comparison to the soft glowing, and now insanely flickering, lights of the bar—making our shadows stretch across the tiled flooring before, of course—

Just like in all those movies…

The power went out.

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-coughs- Yes I know I'm evil for leaving it off there (Kanda's POV, I mean). Um, but, I said I'd put some fluff in—and nothing's better than suspenseful fluff, because then it makes you think about it, and…all that, right? Right? (or Not? Don't hurt me! X.x) Over all, though, I'm really happy with this chapter. Especially the, well, suspensful parts. And Cross's POV was fun XD (mostly because I actually wrote that part out a long time ago--and, ooh, look it's raning outside...and thundering...and I'd better hurry so I don't lose internet connection/power/etc...).

As always, Questions, Comments, Loved it? Have CC? Send it via review! I'd love hearing from you!

Happy Holidays~

-Harmony283