Wow, I'm really surprised by the instant reviews! And thanks to everyone who put this story on their alerts/favorites list. So shout out time! Shout outs go to: Kaida Amaya, Tykiforlife, Sayaka Sakura, Remnant of Life, Voiceless Yuuki-sama, wishingbell, CelestialEclissi and asdasdsdfsdf. Thank you guys so much! I know my beta America's Belarus will be surprised! Okay, so onto the story!
- O -
Flickering open his eyes, Lavi looked around himself. As he examined his surroundings, he sighed. It was almost a comfort for him to wake up in a warm place. Shifting, he sat up from the bed, and looked to his left. He saw that Allen wasn't anywhere to be found.
Panicking slightly, Lavi jumped up from the bed. He ran into the front room and spotted a sheet of paper resting on the kitchen table. Picking up the note, Lavi read:
Lavi, everything's okay, I just went to work. My shift ends at 1:00 I'll come back home for some lunch and we can talk. Food is in the fridge and the cabinets to the left and right of the fridge. A change of clothes for you is in the bathroom, and yet again; sorry if they don't fit. It's all I have. Feel free to watch some TV. I'll see you soon!
Here's my number if you need to reach me for some reason: XXX-XXX-XXXX
-Allen
Lavi exhaled out a slight sigh of relief. Looking up at the clock on the wall, he chuckled. It was 11:00. He couldn't remember the last time he slept in that late. Running his fingers through his hair, he decided to eat a late breakfast.
Settling on cereal, Lavi sat down and enjoyed his Lucky Charms. He idly chewed his marshmallows as he watched the clock tick, one second after another. Once finished with his breakfast, he had decided to change. Going into the bathroom, he saw a black tee shirt and jeans laid out for him.
Once changed into his clothes for the day, Lavi realized how fast time goes by; it was already 11:30. Thinking he should make the bed, Lavi pulled up the white sheets then the blanket followed by the red comforter. Picking up the TV remote from the dresser, Lavi turned on the TV after a few moments struggle. Once the screen had flashed on, Lavi surfed through the channels stopping on what appeared to be a comedy.
Little did Lavi know that he had been watching TV for hours, occasionally changing the channel. Hearing a clock chime Lavi glanced up to see the short hand on 1. Sighing Lavi thought he would go wait at the kitchen table for Allen. Sitting, Lavi ran his fingers through his uncombed locks of red hair.
The sound of a jiggling lock had made Lavi jolt up straight. Looking at the opening door, Lavi saw Allen walk in sighing; dropping what appeared to be bags. Allen bent over and began to unlace his shoes. Picking the bags back up, Allen made his way into the kitchen, almost jumping out of his skin when Lavi got up to help him with said bags.
"O-oh god, L-Lavi. You scared me there." Allen sighed deeply grabbing his chest emphasizing his shock.
Chuckling slightly, Lavi grabbed two of the three bags, and set them down on the table. Lavi peered into the bags, only to have Allen pick them back up, emptying the contents in the fridge and cabinets. "Here," Allen gestured a bag to Lavi.
Grabbing the bag, Lavi blushed slightly. "Deodorant… you trying to tell me something Allen?" Lavi chuckled, pulling out the antiperspirant.
"Yes, you have BO, so use that to take care of it," Allen smirked as he reached into the fridge and pulled out what looked to be the leftovers from a previous dinner.
"That hurts," Lavi tried to act hurt slapping the left side of his chest. Allen just smiled slightly at Lavi's acting.
"The truth hurts," Allen shrugged grinning. "I also got you some other stuff." Allen nodded towards the bag.
"Really?" Lavi raised his eyebrow beginning to dig through the bag Lavi just smiled. "Shaving cream, razors, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and boxers." Lavi grinned, making Allen blush.
"I-I thought you might want more than one pair so I picked you up some." Allen shifted from one foot to another, blushing.
"Thanks, now all I need is condoms and I've got everything a man would need to survive," Lavi chuckled, playfully ruffling Allen's hair. Of course, what he said didn't help Allen's growing blush.
"That you will need to get yourself," Allen laughed, trying to joke along with Lavi, yet with an apparent blush on his face it hadn't made it obvious at all.
"Aw, is Sprout blushing because of me?" Lavi teased, wiggling an eyebrow.
"S-sprout?" Allen stuttered, trying anything to change the topic.
"Yeah, as in small." Lavi grinned and patted Allen's head, only to have his hand almost eaten by Allen's darkened aura.
"Small?" Allen glared. "And my name is Allen; get that through your thick head! Stupid rabbit," Allen's voice decreased to a mere irritated mumble once he got to the second sentence.
"Stupid rabbit?" Lavi's eyebrow twitched slightly at his new nickname. "I'll tell yo-" Lavi was cut off by Allen's hand in his face shutting him up, "Just go put away your man products." Allen turned to a pot stirring the contents that Lavi had just now noticed.
Lavi mumbled something about bean sprouts before he made his way back into the bedroom. Walking in a few moments later, Lavi peered over Allen's shoulder. "We're having spaghetti?" Lavi licked his lips happily.
"Yeah, I'm sorry that it's from a night ago. I would have made some new but I've only got an hour and a half before my next job starts," Allen sighed, stepping away from the boiling pot.
"You have another job?" Lavi's eye widened by this, as he obviously surprised.
"I needed the extra money so I got another job." Allen explained, shrugging. He reached up to the cabinet beside the stove pulling out some bowls; one looked more like a bucket, size wise. Placing down the two bowls, Allen turned off the burner and grabbed some pot holders from the drawer just to the right of himself.
"Then I should try and get a job." Lavi beamed, watching Allen pour a huge serving size in the bowl-bucket, and a normal amount in the regular bowl.
"That would be great," Allen smiled, handing Lavi the smaller of the two bowls. Walking over the table, Allen grabbed his fork and began to slurp down the noodles, stopping briefly to bite the meatball and then swallow. Minutes later, Allen sat back and sighed while Lavi just stared in awe of Allen's appetite.
"You gonna be alright after eating that?" Lavi asked, honestly shocked by what he saw.
"Yeah, I've always had a big appetite; I still don't know what causes it." Allen shrugged, getting up. Getting out two glasses, Allen filled one with water then placed one in front of Lavi while he sipped at his.
"Thank you." Lavi smiled and began to eat his meal. "You're welcome." Allen nodded putting down his glass to watch Lavi.
"So, tell me. Why did those people in your gang call you 'Deak' when you say your name is Lavi? Allen asked with a confused look on his face.
Pausing from his eating Lavi sighed and grabbed a napkin from the table dabbing his face with it. "Well, in gangs a lot of people have 'nicknames' if you would, and mine is Deak." Lavi opened his mouth to continue but Allen cut him off before he could do so.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot have you stay here if you're going to go back to your gang." Allen looked at Lavi with a serious tone, sending chills down Lavi's spine.
"You saying that I have to leave my gang if I want to stay here?" Lavi raised an eyebrow at Allen, almost as if trying to intimidate him.
"If you think one second about threatening me, think again. I don't have a family or anyone to live for, so I don't care if you say you're going to kill me." Lavi sat in shock by Allen's words. One second the kid was giving him hygiene products, and the next he's telling him he practically doesn't care if he dies.
"I would never hurt you." Lavi bowed his head, resulting in his face being covered with his hair. He almost felt ashamed, mumbling so low that Allen could barely hear him.
Allen frowned at this; it had given him a melancholic sort of feeling. Getting up from the squeaky chair, Allen kneeled beside Lavi's seat. He smiled and laid his hand on Lavi's thigh, resulting in making the older teen jump slightly. Looking down, Lavi saw Allen grinning.
"I'm glad to hear that." Allen beamed at Lavi, awaiting his reaction.
"So, you want me to leave my gang…" Lavi chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. Allen just simply nodded.
Sighing, Lavi smiled. "What gang?" Lavi grinned and ruffled Allen's hair. Allen opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it almost immediately, only to open it back up again.
"Thank you, Lavi." Allen smiled, getting up from the floor and settling back down in his chair.
"So, what do you want to know?" Lavi smiled as he got back to eating his spaghetti.
"Do you have a family by any chance?" Allen tilted his head to the side. Allen froze, and yet again Lavi sighed.
"I did. They were killed in a car accident. I don't remember if I had siblings or anything." Lavi paused slightly before continuing. "I was taken in by my grandfather, Bookman. He was very stern, and I guess that's part of what caused me to break free and try drugs and alcohol. That's how I met Lenalee, at a party. At the time we were just friends. Soon Lenalee told me she was forming a gang and wanted me to join, and through that gang, I met all of my… 'Comrades' you could say?" Lavi chucked and got back to his eating. Allen watched him, curious and somewhat confused.
"I later got in a fight with another member of the gang. It was a stupid street fight, just like the one you almost got yourself into the other day." Lavi smirked, knowingly. "I was the stupid one in that fight. He had a knife with him. I lost my eye. He cut it out. You never realize how scary it is when you're looking at your eye on the black top. I thought I was dreaming at first. I blacked out shortly after that. I woke up with everyone in my gang surrounding me. Luckily, Suman knew how to take care of such an injury. But I still lost my eye regardless." Lavi sighed looking at Allen, he looked quite shocked.
"I'm sorry that happened to you." Allen gave Lavi a sympathetic look.
"Hey, it's not as bad as your past. I think I would have lost it if any of that stuff happened to me. You're a warrior in white." Lavi
chuckled standing from his chair. Grabbing his and Allen's dishes he put them in the sink letting them soak.
"T-thanks." Allen blushed slightly.
Lavi looked towards the ceiling. "Though, I do actually wonder what he did with my other eye. Maybe he ate it." He bobbed his head down and laughed. Allen had also been thrown into a fit of giggles.
Allen got up from his seat. "Oh, I had almost forgotten. I've got the day off tomorrow from both of my jobs, miraculously. So, I can take you shopping for clothes that much sooner." Allen smiled, walking towards the door.
"That'll be great, but you don't have to take me shopping." Lavi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I want to," he said, slipping on his shoes.
"Okay." Lavi sighed, sticking both of his hands in his pockets.
"I've got to be heading out for work; I'll be home by six, and seven at the latest." Allen smiled, opening the door.
"Ok, have fun!" Lavi smiled standing beside Allen at the door.
"It wouldn't be called 'work' if it was fun. It'd be called, 'fun.'" Allen sighed before waving and closing the door. Hearing the lock click shut, Lavi walked back into the kitchen to clean up the lunch dishes, despite no real experience.
After finishing the dishes and putting them away, Lavi sighed, sitting down in the bedroom. Looking at the bag Allen got him, Lavi figured he would shower and shave before Allen got home, so he did so. Having a clean shave had felt nice for Lavi. Before, he had had a prickly chin, and was forming moustache. No facial hair made him look nicer and a whole lot younger.
Waiting for Allen was the hard part; he was like a dog waiting for his owner to come home from work. Kicking his feet while he sat on Allen's bed, he watched the clock with a closed eye.
When seven rolled around, Lavi was starting to get anxious. Standing up, he stood by the front door. A couple times, he had thought about standing outside to wait for Allen. Instead, he paced back and forth across the carpet. With the sudden opening of a door, Allen slightly shrieked when he saw Lavi standing practically in front of his face.
"G-gosh Lavi, please stop scaring me like that!" Allen sighed and closed the door behind him. He locked both locks like the night before.
"Sorry. I was waiting. You said you would be home by seven, it's eight thirty." Lavi motioned towards the clock.
Allen just chuckled. "You sure were worried about me, weren't you?" Allen raised an eyebrow leaning in closer to Lavi.
"N-no that's crazy." Lavi stuttered directing his attention away from Allen. His hand gestured away from him.
Smirking slightly, Allen backed away from Lavi. "You shaved? What's the occasion? Got a hot date?" Allen teased, walking past Lavi to the kitchen.
"No, you bought it for me so I thought I might as well use it." Lavi shrugged following Allen into the kitchen.
"Good, I didn't like your unshaved self before." Allen sighed, opening his fridge, pulling out a soda.
"You're mean," Lavi pouted at Allen as he watched him pop open the can.
"I know." Allen mumbled, taking a sip of his Mountain Dew. "Want one?" Allen asked motioning towards the soda.
"Sure." Lavi nodded, as Allen handed him a can. "Thank you." Lavi smiled, popping it open and taking a drink.
"You're welcome." Allen smiled, settling down at the kitchen table.
"So, how was work?" Lavi asked, sitting across from Allen.
"Long." Allen groaned, tracing his finger around the rim of his soda can.
"For us both. I never did ask you, where do you work?" Lavi asked, taking another sip from his soda.
"My first job is at Harbor Freight. It's a yard and lawn store. My second job is at Starbucks." Allen sighed, leaning into his chair. "I want better jobs that pay better but I'm only 15 so I can't get the best jobs around." Allen smiled at Lavi, only to see the redhead's jaw drop to the ground.
"You're only fifteen?" Lavi asked in shock, as he tried to reboot his brain.
"Yeah, my white hair makes me look older." Allen glanced at the floor awkwardly.
"Wow..." Lavi trailed off thinking how this teenager had two jobs yet he didn't even have one.
"I'm gonna take a shower, then I'll be heading to bed." Allen sighed. He stood up from the table and threw away his soda can. Walking towards the bedroom door, Allen called out at the last second, "Hey, how old are you?"
"Eighteen," Lavi exclaimed, rather embarrassed by the whole situation. He could hear a faint "oh," then the sound of the shower turning on.
Sighing, Lavi got up, "He probably thinks I'm a pedophile or something now..." Lavi ran his hand through his hair before lying down on Allen's bed.
After a good ten minutes, the water shut off. Allen came out of the bathroom with only a towel and soaking wet hair. Lavi's eye worked its way over. He didn't react strangely besides for a small blush working on his face. Then, another thing had caught his eye. Allen had a whole separate towel covering his left arm.
Walking over to his closet, he pulled out a long sleeved shirt like the night before. After grabbing a pair of shorts, Allen headed back into the bathroom. Coming back out in less than two minutes, Allen sat down on his side of the bed and hit the OFF button on his alarm.
Looking over at Lavi, he smirked. "You gonna sleep in jeans?" Allen asked, pulling back the covers.
"Um, no." Lavi got up and pulled out the pants he wore yesterday night. After putting them on and taking off his shirt, he there thinking about his next move.
"Just gonna stand there like a statue?" Allen joked.
"Wait, I can still sleep with you?" Lavi asked, seemingly surprised by this.
"Yeah, why wouldn't you be able to?" Allen raised an eyebrow at Lavi and rested his head on the pillow.
"Well, I'm kind of older than you, so..." Lavi drifted off, not wanting to say anything else.
"Lavi, I honestly don't care about your age. Now, turn off the light and get to sleep." Allen smiled, settling down. His eyes blinked, almost begging.
Lavi smiled back before nodding, and he turned off the light. He hopped into bed with Allen, settling under the large blanket.
"Hmm, maybe I still have a chance with the kid." Lavi thought before feeling his eye closing and trailing off into sleep.
- O -
"Hey, Lavi. Wake up." Lavi slowly opened his eyes to find Allen propping himself up on one arm and smiling at him. "Good morning, sleepy head." Allen smiled, watching Lavi yawn and stretch out his muscles.
"What time is it?" Lavi yawned, rubbing his eyes.
"Only nine, and that still gives us plenty of time to go shopping." Allen grinned hoping up from the bed.
Lavi made a slight groaning sound before he got out of the bed himself, only to have clothes thrown at his face.
"Don't go groaning at me," Allen mumbled, digging through his closet. Lavi just sent Allen a slight glare before grabbing the clothes thrown at him, Lavi was done changing by the time Allen had entered the bathroom to change.
He stepped out minutes later in his same clothes, Black pants, white long sleeve shirt, grey vest, red ribbon around the collar of said vest and shirt, and black boots.
"Aren't you going to be hot in that?" Lavi asked, raising an eyebrow, looking how practically Allen's whole body was covered.
"No, I'm used to it by now. No different if I asked you if you would be hot in that." Allen said motioning towards Lavi who was wearing a plain black tee shirt and grey pants.
"Of course I'm hot in this Allen." Lavi winked, resulting in Allen rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, whatever. Let's get going." Allen shrugged grabbing his wallet before walking out of the bedroom. Once out of the apartment, Allen locked the door and they set off. Waving down a taxi, Allen and Lavi got in. Allen sat back and sighed, telling the driver their destination.
Lavi just sat rather confused. He had never been so far away from his old neighborhood, if you would. After a good ten minute drive Allen handed the driver his money and pulled Lavi out of the car.
Getting out, Lavi stood in awe of the shopping center. "Good god, it's huge!" Lavi stared up at the giant mall.
"Yeah, that's why I thought I would take you here. There has to be one store in here that you can get some clothes at." Allen smiled grabbing Lavi's hand, dragging him into the mall.
Cruising, Allen stopped dragging Lavi around when they stopped at a JcPenny's. Loosening his grip slightly, Allen pulled Lavi over to the adult section. Stopping at the jeans, Allen looked up at Lavi and smiled. "So, do you want skinny jeans or those baggy type jeans you had on when I met you?" Allen asked looking through the pants.
"Can I try some skinny jeans? I kind of like the way they fit." Lavi rubbed the back of his head, watching Allen search through the clothes.
"Sure, what size do you think you are?" Allen asked, picking up a pair.
"Um, a six?" Allen just chuckled at this. Taking the pants he had in hand he held them up to Lavi, judging the size.
"These should be around your size." Allen smiled. Draping the pants over his left forearm, he began to search through yet again. After finding three pairs of jeans, Allen pulled Lavi over to the shirts. "Ok, what type of shirts do you like? Screen tees, plain..." Allen trailed off, pointed through the rack.
"I like plain." Lavi looked up at Allen to see that he had already pulled out a shirt. Holding it up to Lavi's chest much like the pants Allen just smiled and nodded before beginning to look again.
Once they had a small pile of clothes Allen handed Lavi the stuff they had found and pushed him into the closest changing room. "I want you to try them all on and show me," Allen called out to Lavi after he had closed the door. Waiting outside, Allen looked up when he heard to door open.
Lavi stood there in a green long sleeve shirt and white skinny jeans. "I like it, what do you think?" Allen smiled, walking over to Lavi fixing his neckline of this shirt. Lavi blushed slightly when Allen's right hand ran across his neck while fixing his shirt. Hearing slight giggles Lavi looked behind Allen to see a small group of teenage girls watching Allen's little display.
"Um, its fine, Allen." Lavi blushed stepping out of Allen's range of reach, quickly closing the door behind him. Allen just stood somewhat confused; he shrugged it off and continued to help Lavi look for clothes.
By now, they had gone to so many stores and Lavi had three new pairs of jeans, three shirts and some new boots. On their way out, Lavi spotted a little store called Hot Topic. He stood staring; noticing, Lavi Allen went back over to the red head. "You want to check it out?" Allen smiled.
"Sure," Lavi nodded and smiled back at Allen. It was a pretty gothic and dark store.
"Hey Lavi, do you want a new chain?" Allen asked, holding up a chain that connected to the belt loops.
"You already spent enough money on my today." Lavi looked over at Allen only to have the younger boy next to him, putting the chain on him.
"There. How does that look?" Allen smiled stepping away for a brief second.
"Good." Lavi looked down at the chain, touching it slightly. "Oh, here look at this Lavi." Allen smiled grabbing what looked to be a leg band. Bending down, Allen held it against Lavi's thigh.
"I think that would look good." Allen smiled grabbing Lavi's new boot and slipping it off.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Lavi asked cautiously as he watched Allen slip on the leg band. Pulling it to his upper thigh Lavi blushed at having Allen so close. The band was black and had columns, if you would; a whole lot like scanlines.
"You like it?" Allen asked, backing away slightly. Looking down, Lavi actually smiled.
"That's actually pretty cool," Lavi grinned. Smiling, Allen nodded and got closer to Lavi's leg sliding off the band, then taking off the chain.
"I'll go pay; put your shoe back on by the time I get back." Allen smiled, standing up and walking over to the cashiers counter.
"Lavi, is that you?" Lavi looked to his left for the source of the voice, seeing a boy around his age with his hood up, purple marks under his eyes that appeared to be makeup and what looked to be gauze around his head.
"Dayshia? No way, man. It's good to see you." Lavi grinned walking over to the teen, holding out his hand getting a lingering high five.
"Man, it's good to see you. Last time I saw you were drunk and on drugs." Dayshia chuckled.
"Yeah, I made some bad decisions." Lavi rubbed the back of his neck, laughing awkwardly.
"Last time I talked to someone they said you were in a gang, that true?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well I was, I guess you could say that I've decided to leave, though I haven't talked to anyone about it yet." Lavi grinned. "I got saved by some kid he's a little bit of a pain in the ass." Lavi chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.
"You're no cake walk either." Both boys jumped when they saw Allen standing next to Lavi.
"H-hey Allen, this Dayshia." Lavi spoke, taking note of the awkward situation.
"You in Lavi's previous gang?" Allen asked without one ounce of emotion. Lavi just raised an eyebrow at this, along with Dayshia.
"No." Dayshia spoke cautious of Allen.
"Good, I might have had to kick Lavi out." Allen eyed Lavi making Lavi shiver.
"Kick him out?" Dayshia asked, looking between the two. "You live together?"
"Yeah, I took him in. Why?" Allen's mood softened towards Dayshia. Lavi could feel all his dignity washing out of him.
Dayshia snorted and raised an eyebrow at Lavi. "Well, we better get going," Lavi spoke up, pushing Allen towards the front entrance.
"Ok, nice to meet you-"
"Allen, the pleasure was all mine." Allen smiled, waving before he started to walk to the front door.
"You like the kid, don't ya?" Dayshia grinned, pulling Lavi in and whispering in his ear. Lavi blushed slightly then nodded.
"Nice, just don't go pushing the kid into anything, got it?" Dayshia smirked, before shoving Lavi towards the direction Allen was going.
Nodding, Lavi ran off and had just barely joined Allen in the taxi he had waved down. Lavi smiled, looking down at the white haired boy. "Hey Allen, thanks for everything. I mean it."
"You're welcome." Allen smiled at Lavi, giving him butterflies. "Maybe you could look for a job this week, you've got some new clothes so someone might hirer you."
"Sounds good, if it means I'll be helping you out then I will do it." Lavi grinned at Allen making him blush slightly. "Yeah, he'll be mine." Lavi thought, leaning back into the cab seat.
- O -
Hi! Sorry the upload took so long. I hope this long chapter made up for it. So, don't forget to REVIEW!