Chapter 26

The whistle of the train sounded throughout the station, announcing its arrival to the platform. Allen woke with a start. He had been dreaming again. Fortunately however, he had woken before the bad parts began.

"Exorcist-sama" came a voice from behind a door. Rubbing his eyes Allen turned his head towards the sound. A few moments later his train compartment opened, revealing his finder and his baggage.

"Oh! I'm sorry for waking you Excorsist-sama, but we've arrived back in London and need to get off the train."

"London? We're back already?" Six hours couldn't have gone by that quickly. It felt as though Allen hadn't even slept an hour.

"Yes sir, and we need to get off before the train departs again." Allen yawned and nodded. As the two stepped onto the platform, the train's whistle rang out again. Silently, the two watched the train pull away from the station, headed towards its next destination.

It had been a whole week since Allen had left for Sweden. Apparently, an innocence shard had been detected there, and he and a finder had been ordered to retrieve it. The mission had been simple enough, and the two had just arrived in England, Innocence shard tucked safely in Allen's pocket. It was strange though. This mission had been Allen's first mission alone (excluding the finder of course) and Allen had had a hard time getting used to the idea. The news had certainly come as a shock to his friends, as he had to leave the same day he found out about his mission. It had been hard to leave Tyki behind.

Thinking about the man caused a shroud of worry to envelop the boy. Tyki hadn't even come out so wish Allen luck on his first mission alone. Something had definitely been bothering him, and Allen didn't even have the time to ask him what it was. Allen could only pray that Tyki would be better by the time he got back.

"Allen!" came a voice from in front of him, cutting of all train of thought. Squinting his eyes Allen could see Lavi and Lenalee running over to him. He hadn't even realized they had arrived back home. When did they even get on the carriage?

"Hi guys!" he greeted, trying to sound happy. "How-"

"Allen, you've got to come with us NOW" said Lenalee, cutting off Allen's sentence.

"What, why?"

"Something is wrong with Tyki." Allen heart froze.

"What happened? Was there another attack on Headquarters? Did he get hurt?"

"No everything's fine at home, but Tyki hasn't left his room since you left. No matter what we do, he just won't come out!"

"Yeah, he won't even come out to eat. If it wasn't for us brining him food everyday, Tyki would've starved." Said Lavi. "Though usually the food comes back uneaten."

"Have you told Komui about this?"

"Yeah but he just thinks Tyki's sick or something. He does have the right to privacy after all. Anyway can you just come with us? Lenalee thinks he might come out to see you."

"I have to deliver this Innocence shard, but I'll be there as soon as I can!"

"Tyki!" called Allen, knocking on the door to the exorcist's room. "I know you are in there! Come out! I want to talk to you!" There was no reply.

"Tyki!" shouted Lenalee, thanking a shot at the door. "We haven't seen you in over a week! What's going on in there?" Silence.

"Lavi did you try to pick his lock?" Allen asked.

"I tried several times but for some reason the door still won't open. Its like he jammed the lock from the other side."

"Tyki!" Lenalee shouted again. "You need to come out! Allen's back!" Not a sound came from the room.

"Guys, do you think you could leave us alone for a while?" asked Allen. "He might come out if I'm by myself. Is that ok?"

"Fine by me." Said Lavi, leaning back with his head in his hands.

"We'll be in the dining hall Allen." Said Lenalee. "Please come and get us as soon as he comes out."

"IF you can get him out that is."

"I will." Silently the couple departed, leaving Allen alone in front of Tyki's room.

"Tyki?" called Allen in a normal voice. The door was silent. Allen sighed. "Tyki, you need to come out. Lavi and Lenalee are worried about you! According to them you haven't come out in days! What is bothering you?"

After a few more minutes of effort Allen realized he was getting nowhere. He was just talking to a door.

"Tyki, could you please come out? We're all really worried about you." When there was again on reply Allen took a deep breath. "I know you have the right to privacy, but I swear if you don't come out right now I'm going to break down the door." Suddenly, there was a sound from the room. It was very faint, but Allen had definitely heard something. Honestly Allen hadn't thought the threat wasn't going to work. Why hadn't Lavi thought of this?

"I've been worried about you since I left for Sweden. It was hard for me to concentrate on tasks without thinking about you. You didn't even come out so say goodbye, and I never got to ask you what was wrong. Please talk to me."

There was a few more seconds of silence before Allen heard another noise come from the room. The door opened up to reveal his lover.

"What do you want Allen?" muttered Tyki, trying not to look at the boy. Allen looked at Tyki in shock. The man was way worse than when he had left. Tyki had huge black bags under his eyes, and skin was starting to look gray. Looking at his face Allen could even tell Tyki was starting to loose weight. He hadn't though such a change could happen to someone within a week! Allen shook himself, and concentrated on the task at hand.

"Have you ever considered the thought that we are all worried about you?" asked the boy, reaching up to cup the man's face. Tyki move away from the hand before it could touch him, and Allen let his arm drop.

"Tyki, we haven't seen you in over a week! What's going on? Why don't you tell us? We could help you!" Still, the man did not look at the boy. "Why have you been avoiding us? And why are you avoiding me?" That caught the man's attention.

"Why can't you even stand to be around us?" asked the boy, his emotions beginning to show. "We've missed you Tyki. "I've missed you." Those words seemed to hit Tyki full force, and the man caved. Suddenly, Allen felt himself enwrapped in a warm hug. The embrace surprised Allen.

"I'm sorry, Allen," said Tyki, his voice barely a whisper. "I didn't want to cause you this much trouble. I just needed some time to think about something." He looked down at the boy and gave a small smile. "And because of you, I think I've made up my mind."

"Y-you have?" Asked Allen, blushing and looking up at the Ex-Noah. Something fishy was going on here. No one could change moods that fast.

"Yes." said Tyki, leaning down to capture the boy's lips. Allen's eyes widened in surprise, caught off guard by the kiss, but then composed himself and kissed the Ex-Noah back. They stayed like that for a few moments, caught up in each other's embrace. Finally, Tyki released the boy and ruffled his damp hair. "I'll tell you what, to make up for being the jerk that I am, why don't we go on a date tomorrow?" Allen froze, blush prominent against his white hair.

"D-date?" he stuttered, not believing his ears. "Do…do you mean it?" Tyki smiled and kissed the boy on the cheek.

"Yes, I mean it." He looked down at the blushing boy and smiled. "So, what do you say? Will you go on a date with me tomorrow?"

"S-sure!" said Allen, his face brightening. "I would love to go on a date with you!" The sight of Allen's smile warmed Tyki's heart.

"All right then," he said, releasing his hold on the boy. "I will be waiting for you at the entrance to Headquarters around 7:00 pm. Be sure to wear something nice ok?" Allen nodded.

"Wait, aren't you going to tell me what you decided on?" Allen could have sworn Tyki's smile wavered in that small second, but it was so quick he could not be certain.

"It was nothing that you need to be worried about." Said Tyki, patting the boy's head before turning to go back into his room. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to take a shower. I will join you guys for dinner in a few hours." Tyki turned back to Allen and smiled. "I have some stuff to take care of."

"Ok!" said Allen, turning to leave as well. He'd get the truth out of Tyki somehow, but right now wasn't the time. Allen was just happy to see the man's face again. "I'll tell everybody to save you a seat in the cafeteria. See you at dinner!"

"All right!" said Tyki, watching the boy's figure disappear into the distance. As soon as Allen was gone Tyki dropped his mask. Now, he thought, turning to look at his room. I have a lot of stuff to take care of before tomorrow.

(A/N) Oh my gosh guys I'm so sorry! My parent's confiscated my computer yesterday so I couldn't post (I have since then learned the importance of back-ups)!

Ok, I know this isn't my best chapter, but I'll try to post a replacement by this Friday. Again, I am SO SORRY FOR BEING LATE THIS WEEK!