Disclaimers: I don't own D. Gray-man. I'm just using the characters for my entertainment! Enjoy!

Notes: This fic is AU. Lavi has both eyes and Allen has no scar and a normal arm. I also made up birthdays for them even though they official ones, as it was appropriate to the story. :D

Chapter 3

He checked his phone again and sighed as he placed it back in his pocket. 'He should've been back 10 minutes ago!' he thought somewhat angrily as Lavi leaned against his door, watching the birds fly by. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glanced to the door three feet from his own and leaned on his left foot to support him as he placed his right against the door a bit huffily.

As much as Lavi hated being woken up when it was still dark outside, he was always up when his alarm sounded and on time or early to any event or class. So it really was starting to get to him when he couldn't do something on time when he planned it.

Finally, three minutes after his last time check, he heard the door handle moving next to him and shifted his full weight to both his feet as he turned and glowered down slightly at the four inch shorter teen.

"I'm sorry," Allen instantly winced as he noticed Lavi's face. "I had a hard time finding any seasonal clothes that fit me. Over half my clothes are still boxed and stuffed in my closet."

"And you call that 'fitting'?" he inquired as he eyed the almost too tight shirt the younger one was wearing.

"It's a little snug," the silver haired teen admitted as he slung an olive green messenger bag over his shoulder, the little pins and iron on patches not going unnoticed to Lavi.

'It suits him,' Lavi mentally agreed with himself as he took to folding his arms behind his head and turning to walk, Allen falling in step awkwardly beside him, seeing as the walkway could barely handle two people walking side by side. Once they reached the end of their floor, they headed down the stairs rather than taking the rickety elevator, Allen tripping on several steps but managing to rebalance himself almost as if second nature. 'And he's a little clumsy…'

With his frustration mostly gone and his hands now tucked in his pants pockets, he deemed it appropriate to strike up a conversation.

"So what kind of landscapes do you like to take pictures of?"

Apparently drawn from his thoughts, Allen blinked rapidly a couple times and turned to face Lavi, making sure that he had in fact spoken to him. "Sorry, what was that?"

Lavi repeated the question, to which Allen replied, "Mainly clouds when they aren't normal, like at dusk when they're different colors and right after a storm is breaking up. Some of the places that I've lived had mountains, so I'd photograph them during different times and seasons. But my favorite's got to be water. It was rare that we lived anywhere near a lake or the ocean, so I've only got a generic feel for them."

The redhead made a noncommittal noise as he thought, returning his hands to the back of head. He remembered that the park nearby had a pond, but it was usually covered in moss or infested with mosquitoes, so that was a no go. And the closest lake was a few hours' drive away.

"Maybe we could take a weekend sometime and go to the lake north of here. It's a little out there, but I remember it being peaceful during the summer when I camped there."

"That would be amazing! And maybe I could go fishing again! I haven't done that in ages!"

Lavi chuckled a bit. "I've only been a few times and failed miserably. All except the one time I never caught anything."

"What did you catch that one time then?" Allen inquired as they turned a corner and began to cross the street.

"Dunno. I turned my head for two seconds and my fishing pole was being dragged into the water by whatever had the hook."

It was Allen's turn to truly laugh as he envisioned this.

From then on the pair talked about all kinds of random things and crazy ideas until they reached the grocery store. And both seemed to realize that they were already growing a strong bond; the distance they walked apart even seemed smaller as they stood side by side just inside the store.

"This place is huge compared to any super market I've been in!" the silver haired teen breather in awe as they walked further into the store.

"Meh, we've got an even bigger one uptown," Lavi mused as he started eyeing the signs hanging above each isle. "What even sounds good for diner? I couldn't really decide on anything…"

"No clue. I'm kinda picky…" he said as he scrunched his nose slightly.

"Me too, so I guess we'll just eye shop and whatever sounds good will go in the basket!" Lavi grinned as he leaned against the push bar on his recently acquired shopping cart.

"Sounds like a plan," Allen agreed as they began pacing up and down the various isles.

"Some type of pasta maybe?" the olive eyed male offered as they passed several types of noodles in boxes.

"Nah, I'm not really in the mood for noodles." Again he crinkled his nose.

"Pizza? Wait…no. That's not a good dinner unless you're on the go."

Allen suddenly stopped and Lavi had to quickly react so as to not hit the teen standing less than a foot in front of the cart.

"Breaded chicken breast in orange sauce!"

"Chicken in what?"

Allen then turned to Lavi with a stupid grin on his face. "My mom used to make it when she was still alive, but that was when I was really young." He then proceeded to ramble off the ingredients to Lavi, who was still trying to take everything the other was saying into his mind. "But I could never cook it. I'm terrible at cooking even with the simplest directions, unless of course it's microwavable."

It then dawned on the redhead as he ran the ingredients over again in his head. "You just like it because it's sweet!"

"Maybe," Allen shrugged innocently. "So, will you make it? Please?"

"Oh, I don't know," Lavi replied passively, even as he tossed a few of the ingredients from that isle into the cart. "I'll have to have your expert supervision to make sure I'm doing everything right since I've never made it before."

"This is going to be so great!" Allen cried out while doing a semi-fist pump as they wandered down some more isles, collecting the other various ingredients and random snack foods for when Allen came over to thaw out at his neighbor's home.

"What about dessert?"

"Peaches and cream pie!"

"Again with the fruit?" Lavi smiled as he noted that Allen apparently liked the flavor of certain fruits. "First the orange and lemon for the chicken and now peaches?"

"I much prefer the taste of fruit to vegetables," he grimaced, tossing a few cans of peaches into the cart.

They shuffled around the last of the store and emerged with too many bags for Lavi's liking, seeing as they had walked there and each had at least three bags on each arm.

"I'm glad our apartment building isn't too far away from the store," the younger male commented, the bags digging relentlessly into his arms from their weight.

Lavi just smiled ruefully as they walked. "You think you should be complaining? Just think what I'd feel like if I had gone by myself!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't have gotten as many things," Allen pointed out, nodding to himself before completely disappearing from Lavi's view.

"Well I could just let you starve to death at my place or let you freeze at… Allen?"

Confused as to where his newly forming friend had vanished to, Lavi turned to see the teen stumbling to keep his balance yet again, though this time he nearly tripped over a box and into a streetlamp in the middle of the sidewalk.

Backtracking a few steps to where Allen was now leaning over said box, he glanced inside and instantly began walking away.

"You poor thing!" Allen cried out as he sat the bag aside and reached inside the box, pulling out a tiny calico kitten, snuggling it to his cheek and then cradling it to his chest.

"Forget it."

"But Lavi…" the silver haired teen pouted adorably, looking almost as innocent as the kitten in his hands.

"I don't care if you keep it, but it's not coming to my place!" he said, his back still turned on Allen and the fleabag.

"But my dad's allergic and it's obviously going to rain today!"

"I said no!"

And that should have been the end of that, but Lavi had lost, and horribly. Not only did he now have an adorable female calico kitten to worry about, but also all of the grocery bags, minus a light bag or two that Allen was still able to carry while holding the kitten to his chest.

"Now I'm going to have to make another trip to the store…" he growled as realization hit him that he would now have something other than himself to feed and clean up after.

"I'll go!" Allen grinned as they reached the top step of their floor. "If you keep her at your place, I'll take care of buying everything she needs."

Lavi could deal with that, he supposed anyway. Even so, he still had to housebreak her.

Once they reached Lavi's apartment door, the redhead all but let the bags roll off his arms and onto the walkway, his arms instantly feeling ten times lighter. And no sooner than he had his door open, Allen had shimmied past him with the new kitten, grinning all the way inside.

Of course, Lavi didn't expect the overly excited teen in his abode to help him carry in things, but rather than weigh himself down again, he settled for carrying a few bags at a time to his kitchen, placing them on the table.

"I hate you," he then mumbled monotonously, as he plopped into one of his chairs, to Allen, or the kitten; whichever, if either, was paying attention.

"How can you say she's not cute?" Allen grinned as he offered the kitten to Lavi.

Eyeing first the kitten, then the beautiful light gray eyes above it, he gingerly took her to his chest with a sigh. Although he didn't really want this new responsibility, he still let a small smile play across his lips as he rubbed a single finger gently over her head. However, the smile only lasted briefly as her claws met his flesh in a kitty hug from the loving he was giving her.

"Allen," the redhead finally spoke to the teen rummaging through the bags for a snack, setting the kitten gently on the titled floor. "Write down what I need to do to get dinner cooking while you go get her some supplies."

The silver haired teen began glancing around the room for a piece of paper, his mouth currently crammed full of a package of fruit snacks.

Lavi merely shook his head, almost laughing out loud at the sight, as he stood and grabbed a notebook and pencil from a drawer next to the stove. "Here, sweet tooth."

Allen grinned around his mouthful of sweets as he took the notebook and sat at the kitchen table, scribbling the recipe down as he chewed the sticky and gooey snack.

While the teen was occupying himself doing this, Lavi set to work putting the foodstuffs away, having to watch his step as the kitten kept sneaking under his feet and rubbing against his legs.

"Do you want me to take her with me while you cook?" Allen finally asked, standing and facing Lavi.

"Nah, she needs to get used to her new surroundings. She can't get into too much trouble in a short space of time, I'm sure."

Allen squatted down and began stroking her head. "Do you need anything else while I'm out?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, just in case…" the silver haired teen said as he suddenly stood, scaring the poor creature he had been petting, and began to scribble something else on the paper. "Call me if you think of anything."

And with that, the neighbor boy grabbed his olive green messenger bag, tossed it on his shoulder, and headed out the door.

"Just what am I going to do with you?" Lavi then inquired to the kitten, who was slowly and cautiously heading for the living room with her tail straight up in the air, pausing and looking around wildly if her ears picked up even the faintest of noises before continuing on her little adventure.

After everything was put away and the bags disposed of or stored, he ventured to the table and picked up the notebook, reading what Allen had written, or rather trying to decipher what he had written. It was almost like he had his own written language…

About ten minutes had passed since the first chicken breast hit the skillet and Allen had returned, standing just inside the door way with a bag full of canned cat food and a food/water dish. "I'm back! How's it coming along?" he asked as he set the bag aside and toed off his shoes before slinking to the kitchen.

"Not too bad," Lavi replied as he focused on mixing the orange sauce before putting it on a burner.

With the way the kitchen was designed, what with the stove being against a wall on one side and the counter on the other bearing Lavi's various cooking utensils and ingredients that was readily accessible, Allen had few options in the way of seeing this culinary creation coming to life. And so, his main option came in the form of placing his hands on Lavi's shoulders and hoisting himself up a few extra inches on his tiptoes to see his favorite meal being cooked.

Not at all expecting anything like this to happen, Lavi nearly lost his balance, teetering backwards slightly as the pressure had been applied to his shoulders before regaining himself, leaning back forward towards the stove. 'He's as curious as that kitten.'

"So…?" Lavi intoned, turning his head just enough to see into one of those odd colored, beautiful eyes, their cheeks nearly touching. "How does it look?"

"Amazing!" Allen smiled as he watched Lavi flip the chicken.

"You wanna start on that pie?"

"I told you, I'm no good at cooking. But I can write down what you need to do…"

"Yeah, I don't think so Mr. Chicken Scratch writer," the redhead laughed as he stirred the orange sauce. "You can walk me through it."

Allen smiled sheepishly, gently planting himself back on the ground before turning and heading toward the living room. "Yell for me when you're ready."

"Alright," Lavi called idly as he tended the meal.

For several minutes, all you could hear throughout the apartment was the sound of sizzling chicken and the pitter-pat of Allen hunting the space for the kitten.

"Hey, Lavi?" Allen called in this ridiculously adorable and sickly sweet tone, like a child getting ready to sweet talk its mother.

"Yea?"

"Do you mind if I watch TV?"

"Go ahead," he chuckled as he started on the second batch of chicken breast.

And then for a while, until dinner was nearly done, Lavi listened and Allen watch TV, the silver haired youth now curled up in Lavi's blanket, beginning to nod off into a comfortable nap…

"Allen!"

Or so he thought he'd get to nap…

"Yea?" he called back, stifling a yawn.

"I'm ready to start the pie."

In a drowsy, lazy manner, he unwrapped himself from the haven of the blanket, setting the kitten down on the floor before venturing back to the kitchen, breathing in deeply the smell of the delicious orange sauce.

Some ten minutes later, Allen had walked Lavi through the recipe and watched as the pie entered the belly of the oven.

"And now if you would," Lavi began as he started turning off the burners and turning to get plates and silverware out for them, "go get your dad."

Pulling himself away from the warm oven, Allen sped out the door and to his home, returning only moments later, seating himself at the table. "He said he'd be over in about five minutes."

"Let's hope he's not like you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Allen feigned ignorance, pouting slightly though he was well aware of what Lavi was referring to: him being late that morning for their store rendezvous.

And yes, sadly Mana was as bad as his son at timing.

"It smells wonderful in here!" Mana smiled as he was escorted inside by his son some ten minutes later, sitting at the table and eyeing the food before him. "Allen talked you into making this, didn't he?"

Lavi laughed as he poured them some drinks, seating himself beside Allen. "How'd ya know?"

For a good 15-20 minutes, they talked and laughed, Mana thanking Lavi profusely for inviting them over and for watching over his son all day, saying that it was now time for him to go to bed and was entirely too full to even think about dessert.

"So now what?" Lavi inquired as he hit ignore on his phone for the fifth time in an hour and set the dishes in the sink.

"Pie!" Allen grinned as he fetched it from the fridge and set it on the counter, soon after opening a can of food for the kitten. "And should you be ignoring all those calls?"

"Just some of the people I go to school with wanting me to come party."

"If you want to go, I'll go home!" Allen said as he took his piece of pie from Lavi.

"I'm tired of partying with the same people all the time. I'd like to stay sober tonight and enjoy your company."

He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he seen the faintest of blushes across Allen's cheeks as they left the lighted kitchen to the dark living room, sitting on the couch and finding something to watch.

"This is amazing too," the younger one manage between bites of his dessert. "You weren't kidding when you said you could make sweets!"

"I can teach you sometime," Lavi offered offhandedly, enjoying this dessert entirely too much himself.

"Really?"

"Sure, it's not that hard."

Hesitating for the briefest of moments, having set him empty plate aside, Allen scooted closer to Lavi before wrapping his arms around him. Almost instantly, Lavi's cheeks, if not his whole face, erupted into a blush at the second unexpected contact from Allen tonight.

"No one's ever offered to teach me to cook before!" he admitted before releasing Lavi from his brief embrace, blushing himself as he focused back to the TV.

"So, um…" Lavi offered a few awkward silence moments later, "What are you going to name her?"

"I don't know yet. I'm sure I'll think of something by tomorrow though."

Why was it suddenly so difficult to strike up a conversation?

"What time do you need to go to bed, or rather, when do you want me to go home?"

"I won't go to bed for another couple hours, so you can stick around till then if you want. I have classes tomorrow, so I better not hear a no purpose alarm clock going off at o' dark thirty!" he said with a playful glare.

"I'm going to be so bored tomorrow then!" Allen pouted. "Since you're going to class and dad starts work tomorrow, I won't have anything to do other than unpack in that igloo I have to call home!"

As a tuft of soft and slightly tickly fur slid over his foot, Lavi stood, startling Allen, and walked down the hall toward his room, returning moments later.

"What's that for?" Allen asked as a key dangled in front of his eyes on a piece of thread.

"It's the spare key to my place."

"And you're showing it to me because…?"

With a rather irritated sigh at the supposed genius' ignorance, Lavi grasped one of the silver haired teen's slightly cold hands and placed the key in it. "I'm trusting you, okay?"

"I'm confused."

With a snort and shake of the head, a smirk tugging his lips as he settled back on the couch, he said, "I'm giving it to you so when you get bored tomorrow, you can thaw out over here and watch TV. And," he cut off, pointing to the fluff ball now resting its adorable head on Allen's foot, "so you can clean up any messes she makes. She is yours after all."

"Are you sure, Lavi?" the teen asked as he looked from the key in his palm to the redhead, their eyes locking in a searching gaze.

"Yes, I'm sure. I know I can trust you, Allen," he smiled at him, to which he received a rather shy smile.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, just watch TV already," the redhead grinned as he ruffled Allen's silky hair.

And so the pair spent the next few hours watching various TV shows and snippets of movies until Allen began to nod off repeatedly, deeming it time for bed.

Lavi shuffled to the door behind Allen and opened it, watching as Allen's hand lingered on his own door.

"It means a lot to me that you can trust me this much, Lavi," he said as he looked from his gently swaying keys in the door to the redhead, his eyes seeming hesitant in meeting those olive colored ones watching his every move. "Goodnight."

"Night," Lavi smiled before Allen disappeared into his apartment and he back into his own.

Please leave some feedback as to how you're liking or not liking the revamp so far!