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 7
Being a bit of a hypocrite, seeing as he wasn't going to be getting any rest anytime soon, Lavi's mind raced at the conversation he and Allen had just shared. He now knew that Allen, his cute, smart, younger male neighbor had a crush on him. And despite the fact that Lavi had just revealed how he also felt about their current situation, he couldn't yet bring himself to do anything to prove to Allen just how much he really meant to him.
'I'll just talk to Allen tomorrow afternoon if he's feeling better and we'll see where things go from there. It's just kinda maddening having this happen the day before his birthday though. What if he doesn't really believe me and thinks I'm just saying things to make him feel better, so he doesn't run from his feelings?' the redhead mused, mulling over thought after thought, consequence after consequence until his mind became totally exhausted, not wanting to think another thought.
But he still couldn't sleep. 'May as well do something productive then,' he sighed as he uncovered himself, running a hand through his hair in an ill attempt to calm his bed-head while he stood staring down at the silver haired beauty who was currently sprawled out over his half of the bed with his blanket kicked to the floor.
He finally turned and grabbed for a T-shirt in his closet, pulling it over his head as he snuck from his room, gently closing the bedroom door behind him.
'I guess I could make him a cake,' Lavi mused, glaring down at Miya, who was now lacing her body nimbly between his ankles as he walked down the hall to the kitchen. 'I don't even know if he likes chocolate or vanilla more…'
He began pulled open a cabinet and grabbed a box of each type of cake mix he had, eyeing the packages. "Marble it is," he mused out loud as he set the boxes down, setting to work pulling out mixing bowls, spoons, and other various utensils and ingredients, remembering to pre-heat the oven.
Some ten minutes later, the cake batters were being poured in a cake pan and gently pushed and pulled in various directions to give it a swirling effect before being placed in the oven. He then set to work washing everything he had just used before he began pulling out more ingredients and utensils to make homemade butter cream icing.
"Perfect," Lavi smiled as he licked a bit of the fresh icing off his finger. "Now what color should I make it?"
He eyed his four color choices: red, yellow, blue, and green.
With an unnecessary shrug, he scooped about half the icing into another bowl, placing several drops of blue food coloring in the bowl with the most icing and a few drops of yellow in the other, mixing them both thoroughly before covering them with plastic wrap and setting them in the fridge.
With another 15 minutes or so until the cake would be ready to be pulled from the oven, he washed the newly dirtied dishes and then sat down at the table, his chin in the palm of one hand while the fingers on his other hand drummed idly on the table's surface. Sadly, he ended up doing nothing but sitting like that until the cake timer went off.
The cake now cooling innocently on the counter, Lavi opted for watching some TV until Allen woke up and so found himself curled up under his plush blanket on the couch, remote in hand, a few moments later. For about 10 minutes he channel surfed before deciding there was nothing on worth watching, so he clicked it off and huddled down comfortably into his couch and managed to nod off.
When he finally came to with a stretch and a yawn, he stood, tossing the blanket on the back of the couch, and decided to check up on Allen, stopping when he noticed a shiny object on the table just off to the side of the hallway, by the door.
A pain like he had never felt before washed over him as he picked up the key and held in tightly in his hand to his chest. Had he lost his friend?
He managed to drag his feet down the hall to his room, his eyes watering up as the pain tightened his chest at the sight of an empty bed.
"Allen…"
"What?" came a voice from the bathroom before a head with silver, damp, and neatly brushed hair poked out from behind the door with a toothbrush hanging from his mouth.
Startled, Lavi spun around, eyes wide, and accidently stepping on the ever present foot tickler know as Miya's tail, who wailed in protest and ran away to hide. "I thought you had left…"
"Well, I did for a little bit so I could get some clean clothes," Allen said after rinsing his mouth.
"No, no," Lavi sighed, a smile tugging his lips. "I thought you had left for good."
"Why would I leave?"
"Well, there was that whole conversation last night and when I woke up just now, your key was just sitting there on the table and you're weren't in the bed…"
Allen clicked off the bathroom light and smiled sweetly as he stood in front of the redhead. "Lavi, I always put the key there so I knew where it is."
Today, for whatever reason, was the first day that he could recall ever seeing the key sit there, but he let it go. He believed Allen. "You hungry?"
Allen grimaced. "I don't think my stomach is quite ready for food."
"You…ready to talk then?" Lavi asked, suddenly not able to look into Allen's eyes, but thinking that he just witnessed the teen turn a couple shades paler at these words.
"Sure."
For the sake of convenience, they opted for sitting on the bed, each sitting on their respective side of the bed, backs to each other; Allen studying his fingers as they locked and his thumbs rubbing together and Lavi staring at a spot of paint on his closet door. Neither really wanted to start the awkward conversation.
Allen finally broke through the tense atmosphere.
"Do you care that I feel this way?" he asked softly, now staring out Lavi's bedroom window as his hands tightened on each other as he waited for the response.
"Allen," Lavi chuckled, making the other occupant stiffen and tense considerably. "You're not the only guy who's ever felt this way about another guy. I've had a boyfriend here and there."
"But have you ever felt the way I have before with any of them?" he asked, his knuckles white and his throat constricting from nervousness.
"Well, how exactly do you feel?"
Lavi turned slightly to look at Allen, who lowered his head, his hands relaxing a bit as he thought of how to voice his emotions.
"I…I get excited when I'm near you; I want to hug you and be as close to you as I can all the time. I can't stand being away from you at all. You're all I think about, and if I had other friends you'd be all I talk about with them. I used to be afraid of people before; I didn't want to get hurt when I finally did find someone I really cared for. It's like everyone that I let even remotely close found some flaw or habit that they hated me for and would start talking to me less and less…"
Lavi was almost certain that Allen was crying.
"Am I the first person you've felt these things for?"
"Yes."
Lavi knew that feeling; Allen was already in love.
"I've felt that way once before, but in the end he just wanted to use those feelings to his advantage, so I got rid of him even though it hurt me so much…"
A silence fell, save for an occasional sniff from the teen, before Allen finally called Lavi's name. "Do you, he sighed, raking a hand through his silver locks in frustration before turning and sitting fully on the bed, now facing Lavi, who was still turned enough to face him. "Do you feel the same for me?"
Lavi studied the confused and vulnerable teen's face and eyes before he finally answered. "Not exactly the same, but I do like you a lot," he said as he turned more to face Allen better.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Allen pounced the distance of the mattress and wrapped his arms tightly around Lavi's neck, tears spilling freely from his eyes as he buried his face in the redhead's chest. He needed someone to make these feelings make sense, to put his mind at ease.
Lavi, caught off guard from the sudden attack, finally embraced Allen tightly, whispering in his ear in an attempt to soothe him. "Your feelings are nothing to be afraid of."
"But it's not normal either!" he sobbed.
"Normal is whatever you deem to be normal. Normal to society is a stereotype," he reassured as he placed his hands on the tear stained cheeks before him. "Look at me."
Allen sniffed loudly and bit his bottom lip, not wanting to look at Lavi.
Lavi smiled softly, slowly snaking one hand under Allen's chin and the other to his neck. "Allen, look at me," he breathed against the other's cheek, his tongue lapping a few tears away from Allen's face.
The teen still wouldn't look, he only winced against the odd feeling of heat and moisture on his face, his bottom lip released from its confines as he quickly inhaled from the sensation.
"If you'd just look at me, I wouldn't be doing that," he whispered in Allen's ear before he lapped up another tear and backed away, finally meeting Allen's unsure gaze.
"I'm looking," he breathed, licking his bottom lip before tucking it between his teeth again.
"Then watch," Lavi replied as he moved Allen's face closer to his own, the teen's mouth falling open and his eyes widened as the distance between them vanished.
As their lips met in an awkward manner, Lavi wasn't at all surprised that Allen wasn't trying to kiss back. He was sure it was all a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and inexperience that he didn't even attempt.
Lavi began to back away, shocked as Allen moved forward to keep the distance between them minimal, his arms tightening around Lavi's shoulders and neck.
As surprised olive locked with pleading gray, Allen breathed against Lavi's lips, "Teach me."
"Just do as I do," he whispered, his lips brushing against Allen's with each word before he claimed those pale, soft lips in another kiss. Allen tried to mimic Lavi's actions, but stiffened when he felt a tongue on his lower lip. "Open your mouth," Lavi murmured before slipping his tongue inside the obedient teen's mouth, startling Allen at the sensation.
Again Allen was scared a nervous, his own tongue seemingly trying to avoid Lavi's, the feeling of them rubbing together completely foreign to Allen.
The redhead backed away a moment later, smiling lopsidedly as he rested their foreheads together. "You have to play too; it's not a one sided thing."
The teen nodded, trying his best to keep eye contact. "It just feels so weird…"
"You'll learn to like it," he said as he dipped down again, taking advantage of Allen's already parted lips.
Allen, reassured in his attempts, quickly caught on and the pair was soon fervently kissing, the younger moaning into Lavi's mouth as all these new sensations washed over him, filling him to the brim. He hadn't even noticed that his hands had found their way under Lavi's shirt to his taught stomach.
Once the kissing and roaming hands became too much for Lavi to handle, he abruptly pulled away from Allen altogether, both of their faces flushed.
"What's wrong?" Allen inquired, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, as he wiped saliva away from his kiss swollen lips.
"You learned how to kiss way to well," Lavi panted slightly, "but I can't teach you anything else until tomorrow."
"Why not?" Allen nearly pouted, already wanting to feel those lips against his again.
"Because it would be called rape," Lavi grinned wickedly as he chastely kissed Allen.
At this, Allen's entire face flushed a bright red as his mind wrapped around what those words implied.
"But," Lavi purred in his ear, one of his hands running through the teen's hair, "I can take care of this for you," he continued as he trailed a finger on his free hand over the bulge in Allen's pants.
"N-n-no! That's okay!" he stammered, totally embarrassed now. "I'll take care of it myself!"
"Well then," Lavi said as he leaned in for another quick kiss, "while you take care of that, I've got something to finish as well."
The redhead stood and headed to the kitchen while the flustered teen make a quick route to the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind himself.