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 5
The days and weeks flew by, Allen's birthday soon approaching, and the pair of friends and their kitten merely rolled with the punches, that being Allen helping Lavi three times a week with algebra and Lavi cooking whatever Allen dreamed up that day.
On the Wednesday before Allen's birthday (his birthday would have fallen on Friday the 13th in 2007 when this was originally published) on his way home from class, he decided to stop by a couple stores downtown in hopes of finding something that the teen would be interested in. Allen hadn't really dropped any hints as to wanting anything at all and the redhead really had no clue what else Allen really liked other than taking pictures.
'Maybe a scrapbook or photo album?' he mused as he walked up and down some isles in a camera shop. 'Nah, too boring…something flashier, maybe?' You could almost see the light bulb turn on over Lavi's head at something clicked.
Quickly pulling out his cell phone, he called Mana, yes Mana, not Allen. It would totally give his new found brilliant idea away if he called the silver haired teen.
"Hey, Mana, it's Lavi!" he chirped as he leaned over a clear display case near the front of the store. "I was wondering if you knew what type of lenses Allen has for his camera."
"Last I knew he only had the one that came with it and a small zoom lens. I don't pay much attention to his camera. Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking about getting him a new one for his birthday. I don't know what else to get him unless you have any suggestions."
"Lavi, please don't. Those things are so expensive!"
"It's fine, really. He's been an awesome friend, and I know he'll put it to good use."
Uncomfortable with the idea, mainly because of the price and the two only having known each other for a short time, Mana let it go. "I know he'd love it, just don't spend too much money on him; I mean, you already buy half of his food!"
Lavi chuckled. "As long as I know he'll take care of it, I have no problem with price. Who knows, maybe one day you'll thank me when he becomes a famous photographer."
"Maybe," Mana replied, excusing himself to get back to work.
'I hope he's not in the house,' Lavi thought as he walked towards his door. 'I don't think I could distract him and try to hide the bag at the same time.'
Thankfully, however, Allen was out cold, sitting upright on the couch, wrapped in his blanket with the TV on. As quietly as he could, he shut the front door and tiptoed down the hall to his room where he tucked the present away on the shelf in his closet. Lavi thought it the best place in the back since he had to stretch himself a bit just to see up there himself, so he was sure Allen wouldn't be able to see up there at all without something to stand on. Just as a precaution, however, he slid the closet door shut.
With the gift out of mind, he edged back down the hall, noting that Allen was now fully laid down, his head nearly hanging off the side of the couch, mumbling something with his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Lavi merely smiled at the sight before sneaking into the kitchen.
'He must've been out for a while today,' Lavi thought, seeing as there was nothing laid out for dinner by Allen. So he pulled this and that out of cabinets and the fridge and began to cook as quietly as he could. 'I wonder if he's feeling any better?'
Allen hadn't slept so well the night before, tossing and turning and generally thrashing about in bed with a fever, much to Lavi's dismay. And seeing as he had shared the bed with Lavi, the redhead also got minimal sleep, and so decided that birthday gift shopping was more important that his classes, since he could just go shopping then come home and nap…At least that was the idea.
Once everything was thrown together in the beginnings of a delicious meal of homemade chicken pot pie, Lavi headed back to the living room and got to his knees beside the couch, placing a gentle hand on Allen's forehead.
The teen flinched slightly as the cold hand touched him, though he didn't wake. In fact, the hand felt nice against his burning hot flesh, and so he nuzzled into.
'Yep, still got a fever,' Lavi frowned, lifting his hand away, to which Allen instantly starting pouting and moving about. 'Guess I should've left my hand there longer…' No sooner than his other hand, colder to the touch than the previous one since it just left Allen's warm forehead, touched the other's skin, Allen stopped moving and relaxed into the cold. Slowly trailing his hand down to one of Allen's cheeks, the boy turned his head into it, trapping it between the couch and his cheek. From there he ghosted his thumb over Allen's nose to the teen's lips, gently caressing the slightly parted flesh. The silver haired teen began to mumble again for a moment. Amused, Lavi ran his thumb over his lips again, from one side to the other rather than straight down to chin like before. And again Allen mumbled.
Something in the back of Lavi's mind was yelling at him with all its might, but he wasn't paying attention to it; he was focused on the innocent and flushed face of Allen Walker. As his mind yelled at him to stop, though he still didn't hear it, he leaned down and pressed his lips to Allen's in a soft, chaste kiss.
No sooner than he parted their lips, he had realized what his mind had been yelling at him, and quickly stood and stormed to the kitchen, completely flustered. 'What was I thinking?'
Allen, who groaned at the loss of the cold hand, rolled over to face the back of the couch, pulling the blanket up under his chin.
Lavi had seated himself at the table, eyes wide as his mind spun from what had just happened. He had never chased after a friend before; he was always the one pursued by older men that he barely knew, not much older mind you, just a couple years older. He had never gotten this worked up about anyone before either, other than his ex that stomped on his heart and emotions.
'Allen's younger and looks so innocent and vulnerable, from a relationship point of view. I doubt he's ever dated anyone, let alone kissed anyone. And I know from his inexperience that he most likely wouldn't be the dominant type…'
As he sat mulling over these thoughts of Allen and past relationships, one silver haired teen appeared in the kitchen archway, leaning against the frame with a hand over his stomach, cheeks brightly flushed, eyes barely open, and his breath coming in pained pants from his parted lips.
"Allen! Why aren't you resting some more?" Lavi yelped at noticing his condition, jumping from his chair as Allen's head dipped like he had fallen asleep standing before he up-righted himself and fell forward into Lavi. "You're still burning up!"
Leaning harder still into Lavi's chest with his forehead, he swallowed hard, trying to wet his dry dehydrated mouth. "The medicine's not working."
Lavi wasn't going to have this. Allen wasn't going to stand there and suffer; he was going back to bed this instant and taking more medicine, even if he had to go to the store to get something else. He couldn't stand seeing the teen in this state.
Scooping the now shivering Allen into his arms, Lavi whisked him down the hall to the bedroom, where he promptly tucked him in. He then quickly retrieved a bowl with cold water and a washcloth, returning to Allen's side.
During his short trip through the apartment to get these things, Allen had kicked the blankets off.
"I know you think you're burning to death, but you're body's as cold as ice," he admonished the teen as he dipped the cloth into the water, wringing it out and folding it to place on the boy's forehead. "You need to stay under the covers and relax. Does your dad know you're here?"
Allen nodded slightly, reveling in the cool water on his skin, a few droplets escaping the cloth and rolling slowly down his temples.
"Does he know you're ill?"
To this, Allen shook his head lazily, his eyes drooping shut as Lavi pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
"Mana, sorry to bug you again, but Allen's been running a fever since last night and it's not gone down."
"Has he taken anything for it? He's stubborn when it comes to taking medicine."
"Really? I've not had any trouble with him. I gave him some fever reducer this morning and before I left in the afternoon. But I'm pretty sure he's thrown it all up."
To this, the silver haired teen smiled somewhat sheepishly while holding up three fingers from beneath the blanket.
"Scratch that; I'm positive now that he's thrown it up. I'll give him some toast and more meds in a bit and hope he can keep them down. I just wanted to let you know what's going on."
"Thank you for that. I won't be home until late tonight, so do you mind watching over him until I get home?"
"I don't mind keeping him all night so that you can rest! I don't have class tomorrow, so it's no problem for me."
"I really appreciate it, Lavi, but if it gets to where you can' handle it, either bring him home tonight or take him to the emergency room or something. I don't want you to stress out over him."
"We'll be fine," Lavi soothed as he sat on the edge of the bed, smiling down at Allen.
"Well, thanks again, Lavi."
After their goodbyes, Lavi stretched and placed his phone on the nightstand, his hand coming to rest on Allen's warm cheek shortly after. "You gonna make it?"
The teen smiled weakly, placing his own cold hand on Lavi's. He and Lavi stayed like that until Allen fell asleep a few minutes later, Lavi gently removing his hand and placing the teen's back under the blanket before returning to the kitchen.
'Considering the fact that's he's already thrown up as much as he has today, I don't think he can handle this until tomorrow,' Lavi mused as he looked down at the steaming and delicious pan of food now resting on the stovetop. He made himself a bowl of the pot pie before placing the rest in the fridge for the following day.
While he ate, he couldn't help but realize how touchy he had been with Allen so far today, though Allen showed no sign of protest. But it bothered him slightly that he had come to find himself drawn to the younger teen.
With a sigh and a full bell pat, Lavi placed his bowl in the sink and made a slice of toast for Allen, returning to his bedroom a few minutes later with a cooled down piece of toast and some medication.
As he entered his room, he couldn't help but stare longingly at Allen, who was now curled up on his side with the rag hanging half way on his forehead and halfway on the pillow.
'There's no point in really fighting it. I know I'm attracted to him, even if he is younger. But I just don't know how he'll react. He's the only real friend I have…'
He didn't want to wake the youth, but he knew that if he could get the toast and meds in him quickly and then if he went right back to sleep, he'd have a better chance of him not throwing it back up. So he reluctantly set the medicine on the nightstand and began to rock Allen awake.
"Sit up and eat this," he whispered so as not to startle the waking teen, seating himself again on the bed, watching as Allen struggled to obey. "Just take small bites though; I don't want you getting sick again."
Placing the washcloth in the bowl of water, Allen took the toast and nibbled on it while Lavi went to get him something to wash it down with.
Upon his return, Lavi shook a couple pills from the bottle, pressing them into Allen's hand and taking the uneaten half of the toast, handing him a glass of milk to help him swallow the pills. "Drink slowly," Lavi warned as the cup met his lips.
Allen did as he was told before handing the glass back to Lavi who instructed him to finish the toast and try and get back to sleep.
Lavi shifted to stand, but stopped as an ice cold hand wrapped around his arm.
"Come to bed with me, please?" Allen pleaded, his head lulling to the side.
"Yeah, sure," Lavi smiled, ruffling the silver hair. "But I have to dump this first," he said, lifting the glass of unfinished milk.
Lavi made quick work of dumping the milk and returning to the bedroom, where he changed into a pair of PJ bottoms, and crawled in bed. No sooner than the blanket was over him, Allen had curled up against his side, the redhead wincing slightly against his hot forehead and the icy coldness of the rest of his exposed body. But he quickly adjusted to the temperature difference and began to nod off while he ran a hand repeatedly through Allen's hair.
No sooner than he had drifted off, Allen shifted again, coming to rest his head on Lavi's chest while and arm wrapped around him.
With a gentle kiss to the teen's forehead, wrapping his own arm around Allen, he whispered, "Sleep well, Allen."