"Chapter Three"

"Feelings"

Should I wake him? Lavi wondered to himself while he watched Allen sleep. He looks so peaceful that I don't want to interrupt him. He glanced over to the white haired boy sleeping, his eyes so relaxed, his breathing steady and his head carefully rested on the pillow. I wonder if he'll let me kiss him again. The first time was way too short, it only makes sense to make it up to him in the second one. That is IF there's a second one.

Lavi hadn't been able to sleep, at least not for too long but the little time he did he was dreaming about the boy that right now was in front of him. He liked Allen not just as a person but also as a friend, he wondered if he actually felt something deep for the boy and not just simple lust. The red haired thief had never felt "true love", at least not the one where you give the other person your heart. The only side of "love" he was familiar with was the fraternal one, he definitely loved his family but only as that, family.

At his eighteen years of age of course Lavi had felt at some point a crush with a girl, but it wasn't meant to be. The girl once she heard about Lavi's feelings mocked him and laughed in his face, the girl was from the upper class, of course she couldn't be seen around dating a commoner, much less a thief. That's one of the reasons Lavi started to hate upper class people, because they didn't care about other things except themselves and how society looked at them. Lavi could care less what the people thought about him when they saw him because he knew those people simply looked down on those who are different from them.

But you're different aren't you? Lavi asked in his mind while glancing once again at the boy in front of him. Allen had somehow managed to not get infected with the poison of the privileged life, he didn't look down on people or treat them differently. Maybe it was because of the fact that most of his life was spent locked in a mansion with nobody else to be his friends but his maid and his butler, and to get to the point where Allen actually considered them as family meant that those two had a very special place in Allen's heart. It kind of made Lavi a little jealous

Lavi remembered what the white haired boy had told him about his parents, he was surprised that someone who had actually felt the pain of loosing both of his parents back when they were young just to later be imprisoned to a life of solitude and seclusion had the ability to smile so brightly, Lavi on the other hand after his parents got killed he started to hate the world, because the world had killed his parents, because the world had taken from him the people who cared about him and because the world had left him there to die.

If it hadn't been for Reever, Deesha and Marie he probably would be dead by now, they made him remember that there will always be people that care about you, you just have to go out there and find them. Lavi had felt stupid after knowing that he had wasted so much time hating that he forgot how to love, but his friends made sure he remembered and apparently a certain white haired boy did too.

How could anyone think you are cursed when you have the smile of an angel? Lavi thought when his attention shifted towards the boy's hair and eye, he was angry at the fact that someone had risked his life by placing Innocence in his body since they had no right to mark him for the rest of his life. Lavi actually liked his white hair because it made him look somewhat "unique" but in the good way, after all Allen was different from most people so it only made sense that he should also look different.

Lavi snapped out of his daydreaming when a yawn was heard and saw Allen squirm a little in the bed, making the blanket fall to the floor.

"Allen, you awake?" Lavi asked getting closer to where the boy was resting, there was no response meaning he was still dozed off.

Lavi let out a small smile, picked up the blanket and covered the white haired boy with it. Now that he was this close to him Lavi's heart started to rush, he got close to his face, close enough for him to be able to feel his warm breath come out of his mouth. Lavi was dying to kiss him, to be able to taste those lips again and this time to actually be able to enjoy it.

He was two inches away from his lips, of course his mind was telling him to stop and go back to the other side of the cell but his heart wanted this, needed this. Those lips had sent sparks down Lavi's body and that was from a two second kiss, what if this kiss was longer? There would be more pleasure involve.

One inch away from those lips, at this moment all of the thoughts of backing away, disappeared leaving only those thoughts that encouraged Lavi to claim those lips.

Half an inch, he could feel his heart rushing really fast. Only a bit more to go.

"LAVI!" A voice yelled. Lavi immediately jerked backwards in surprise, he thought Allen had been the one to yell but he remained asleep, he merely turned around and continued breathing normally. Once the adrenaline stopped Lavi tried to search for the source of the scream, he went over to the window placed at the back of the cell and was a surprised to find his three friends outside.

"LAVI!" The same voice yelled once again, the red haired immediately recognized the source as Deesha.

"I'm here, stop yelling!" Lavi yelled back, trying not to wake Allen up.

"We were worried about you" Marie said.

"I'm in jail, I couldn't contact you guys" Lavi replied.

"Yeah, we can see that" Reever noted "How did you end up in jail? Didn't you use your hammer with the boy?"

"Long story and little time" Lavi said looking back at Allen who was still sleeping.

"We don't have anywhere to go dude, c'mon tell us" Deesha said while sitting down on the floor.

"I can't" Lavi sighed "Sorry but I'll explain later, I promise"

"Fine, fine" Reever nodded "I'll hold you to that"

"How much time did they give you?"

"A day" Lavi admitted "And we have to pay some damages"

"We?" Marie asked raising an eyebrow "You don't mean…….."

"That white haired creep is there with you?!"Deesha interrupted.

"Don't call him a creep!" Lavi yelled back.

The three of his friends were shocked at Lavi's reaction, the only time Lavi had defended someone was when that someone was one he cared for and never an upper class one. Lavi was also surprised at how he had yelled at his friend but he didn't regret doing it, because they didn't know Allen they had no right to critize him.

"Anyway" Reever said trying to soften the tension "What happened to the money?"

"Well, about that" Lavi started "I need you guys to do me a little favor"

"What is it?" Marie wondered.

"I need you to ………………………"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You understand?" Lavi asked after telling them what they had to do.

"Yeah, but I don't get why do you want us to……?" Mari started

"I'll tell you when I get out" Lavi said with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Ok, we'll do it" Deesha said with his arms crossed "But you better have a hell of a good explanation"

"I always do" Lavi said.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you in a moment" Reever said looking at his two friends "I need to talk to Lavi in private. Marie I trust you won't try to listen to what I say" He finished looking at the tall man.

Marie simply blushed a little and nodded.

Marie and Deesha headed out to start their mission to free their friend while Reever stayed behind looking at Lavi, he got closer to the window so their talk could be a little more private. Lavi knew the look on his friends face, that face that he had seen so many times, the face that meant that Reever suspected something about Lavi and it probably was true.

"Tell me" Reever started "What's up with this boy?"

"What? He's a nice guy" Lavi stated.

"I'm not saying he isn't" Reever replied "It's just that you don't seem to relate to him only as a cellmate"

Lavi let out a sigh, once again Reever had caught him, no wonder he was the smartest of the group, his abilities to notice something would only fail compared to those of Marie to notice a small noise from yards away.

"I was going to wait till I got out but ok" Lavi sighed once again "The reason why I'm here it's because back when I tried to use the hammer to knock him out, he used HIS own special weapon to fight me. Things happened and I accidently……" Lavi looked away in shame "Made a building collapse"

Reever took a minute before bursting out in laughter about what the red haired had just said.

"Gods Lavi, I knew you couldn't handle your hammer all that well" Reever said trying to stop laughing "But to bring down an entire building? You have to be really really dumb"

"I almost died while it collapsed" Lavi said seriously "Or to be more precise, I would've died"

The laughter immediately stopped and Reever looked apologetically "What do you mean you almost died?"

"I used a technique that I couldn't handle, it got out of control and when the building started to collapse I was still on it"

"But how did you….?" Reever started to ask "You mean the white haired kid, saved you?"

"Yes. And he has a name you know?" Lavi said "Thanks to Allen I understand a bit more of my hammer and what it is"

"Well, I have to admit I'm happy that the whit-I mean Allen saved you and told you about your hammer" Reever said scratching his chin "But what was HIS weapon? I'm curious, was it a hammer like yours?"

"No" Lavi answered "His is a big sword and a cape"

"Cool" Reever said smiling "But Lavi…………….."

"What?"

"What do you feel for this boy?" Reever asked looking straight at the red haired.

Lavi's heart skipped a beat when he heard the question, and tried desperately to cover it up, did he feel something for Allen? Yes, but did he know what that something was? That was another thing.

Lavi sighed and turned to look at his friend "I seriously don't know" Lavi turned to see Allen still resting on the bed and smiled "I mean, I like spending time with him. But that's not all, yesterday when we were chatting I couldn't help but smile every time he did"

"What do you mean 'smile'? You rarely smile to people you don't know, I mean not to be rude or anything Lavi but you're kind of antisocial"

"I don't know what I feel Reever, there's something about him that makes me want to smile whenever he does and hug him if he's sad or kiss him when…" Lavi admitted

"Lavi, you've only met the guy for a day" Reever told them with a concerned look "Are you seriously feeling this for a boy you've just met?"

"I know it's crazy but all I know is that I've never felt like this before"

"You're lying" Reever replied "You HAVE felt this way before"

"When?!" Lavi asked.

"Remember Emma?"

Lavi stiffened considerably at the question, of course he remembered her after all the shame and offenses he suffered because of her she became something that came to Lavi's mind whenever he thought things couldn't get any worse. She had been a despicable and horrible woman, at least that's how she behaved with Lavi, but he loved her, he regretted the day he shared his feelings, the day his heart broke in pieces and the day Lavi had lost all hope to ever find true love.

But yesterday had been different, yesterday he had met Allen, a boy who made Lavi's heart rush and beat. The red haired hadn't realized that when he had been with Allen chatting the last day, the thought of Emma hadn't crossed his mind not for one second, maybe because he couldn't think of anything else besides the boy in front of him.

"Lavi, you could get hurt" Reever said with a worried look "Last time, you were a broken shell for months before you got back to your old self"

"I know" Lavi answered "But I don't care, he can hurt me as much as he'd like as long as I get to see him smile"

"God, you're so cheesy" Reever replied laughing.

"I know" Lavi replied laughing "But I can't help it"

"Well I should be going now" Reever said backing away "Have fun, with your cute crush"

Lavi sighed once when he left and turned to the cell, it was still pretty early and Allen was still sleeping on his bed, breathing quietly, Lavi sat down in front of him and decided to drift to daydreaming, when he heard Allen's voice break the silence.

"So, I'm cute, huh?" Allen asked still with his eyes closed.

Lavi jumped in surprise when he noticed Allen wasn't asleep anymore "So, how much did you hear?" the thief asked scratching the back of his head.

"Right about when he called you 'cheesy'" Allen said sitting on the bed.

Lavi felt relieved when he heard that, not that he didn't want Allen to know what he felt, at least not yet anyway.

"Hey, Allen I've been thinking about something" Lavi said getting closer "About Innocence"

The white haired boy sighed "Can't this wait until later? Innocence isn't something I like to discuss, specially when I haven't eaten breakfast"

"Allen, you have to understand, my hammer has been something that has intrigued me all my life and you have been the first one to be able to give me answers about it" Lavi got close to Allen and grabbed his hands "Please, Allen, I beg you"

"Alright, alright" Allen agreed trying to hide his blush on his face "What do you want to know?"

"Well, for starters, why are we the only ones to have Innocence in this world?" Lavi said sitting next to the white haired boy.

"I never said such thing" Allen said looking at his emerald eye "It is true that Innocence is rare but there are more people with it than just us"

"Then why haven't people heard of them?" Lavi asked.

"Because most of them are hired by the government" Allen swallowed and looked away, causing Lavi to worry about the cause.

"Government?" Lavi asked

"Yeah, you see, people with Innocence have special powers, of course the government would jump right away on the chance of having weapons in their favor" Allen now looked at the floor and struggled to keep his voice from shaking.

"So the government uses them as soldiers?" Lavi asked with even more worry on his mind.

"They don't call them soldiers exactly" Allen said "They call them 'Exorcists' and I don't know exactly what they do, all I know is that they work for the government, have secret missions and once you join your past is erased, you never existed before joining the Exorcists"

"Allen, you ok? You're acting weird since I asked about the Exorcists" Lavi asked grabbing his hand.

"I'm fine" Allen responded taking a deep breath "It's just that like I said, I don't like talking about it without having breakfast yet"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't worry Lavi"

"Fine but you know that breakfast in jail isn't really 'tasty', right?"

"I guess, but it's better than nothing"

After a few minutes, the police officer entered the cell and left two trays with a glass of water and a piece of bread each. Lavi expected something like this but he could see in Allen's face that he didn't, the white haired kid paled when he saw that that was the only thing they were going to eat for breakfast. Allen quickly devoured his piece of bread but his stomach complained that it wasn't enough after all, Allen did have somewhat of a big appetite.

"Here you go" Lavi offered his piece of bread to Allen

"No thanks, you eat it" Allen turned him down "Believe me, even if I had three pieces of bread I still wouldn't be satisfied, so it's better I you eat it"

"Fine" Lavi said eating a bit more "Can I ask the Innocence question now?"

Allen sighed "Yes"

"Ok then, yesterday you told me that to have Innocence you need a bond and that to have a bond you need a positive strong feeling like 'love', right?" Allen nodded.

"Well, I find that hard to believe, I mean there are thousands of people in love, why don't they have Innocence?"

"Because, if it is love the feeling you're using to create Innocence it has to have certain characteristics" Allen spoke.

"Like what?"

"It has to be requited, it has to be true love and it has to be lust free"

"Lust free?!" Lavi asked in surprise "That's impossible, every love has lust… the two go together"

"Not impossible" Allen said taking a seep of water "Just extremely rare"

"May I ask how do you know so much?" Lavi asked raising an eyebrow.

"Like I said, I used to read a lot"

Silence fell between the two, not an uncomfortable silence, just one that meant that they both had questions they wanted to ask, they just didn't know how to. Lavi sighed and decided to be the one to break the silence.

"Hey, Allen" Lavi asked looking away "Do you…………………….. like me?"

Allen stiffened considerably at the question and tried to relax by taking a deep breath.

"Yes, you are a good friend, Lavi"

The word friend almost killed Lavi, of course the red haired thief considered Allen as a friend but not just that, after all, you don't kiss your friend, you kiss your lover. But then again the Lavi couldn't really count the kiss from yesterday since it had been him the one that stole it.

"Just as a friend?" Lavi asked walking over to the kid.

"Well, I…………" Allen was about to speak when he was interrupted by a scream coming from the window.

"LAVI!" Desha yelled "You in there?!" Lavi frowned and went over to the window.

"No stupid, the nice cops let me out early and without paying damages" Lavi replied sarcastically "Of course I'm still here!"

"Jeez, you don't have to get so angry" Deesha said "After all the trouble we went through to get this" He showed a bag that Lavi recognized as the money bag, he ad stolen from Allen back when they had first met "It was under tons of rocks, y' know?"

"Great, you found it!" Lavi yelled happily "Now go inside and pay so we can get out of here"

"Wait, we?" Desha asked in surprise "Not sir, we got this money to free YOU, not the white haired creep"

"Desha, I'm not in the mood for your stupid games right now" Lavi said sending the football player an angry glare.

"Listen Lavi, with this money we can free you AND still have enough money to eat and drink for at least a month"

"I don't care" Lavi said "Either you pay for both of us or neither gets ou-" Lavi was interrupted by a hand dragging him inside the cell, the hand belonging to Allen.

"What are you doing?" Allen asked.

"Making sure, we both get out of here" Lavi replied.

"Listen Lavi, he's right you don't have to worry about me, Miranda and Krory are probably at the mansion right now talking to my step father to search for me"

"You don't know that, besides I don't care, that man treated you like an animal and if he finds you he's going to make sure you never escape again" Lavi replied worried.

"Maybe that's right. Maybe I was never supposed to enjoy freedom, maybe my fate is to stay locked inside a cold mansion but it's not yours. You can be free, and I'll be damned if I see you waste that opportunity"

"Nobody's fate should be spent locked inside a cage, Allen" Lavi asked touching the white haired kid's cheek with his hand.

"You don't know that" Allen said tears forming in his eyes "I've already spent half of my life in one I might as well spend the other half"

Lavi wiped away the tears in Allen's eyes and go closer to him, he still wanted those lips, he still wanted to be next to Allen no matter if it was in a cell. They were about to kiss for a second time when suddenly the door to the next door opened revealing Desha, Marie and Reever handcuffed and being led inside the cell Allen and Lavi shared.

"Get in there!" The guard yelled throwing them inside and locking them up.

"What happened?" Lavi asked looking at Desha.

"They think we stole the money we were going to use to free you, so they arrested us" Reever answered.

"They knew we were thieves Lavi, of course they'd think that" Marie answered.

"It's all your fault!" Desha snapped looking over at Allen.

"And why is that?" Allen asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because, if you hadn't followed Lavi and just went back to your big mansion instead of trying to get it back, none of this would've happened"

"Desha shut u-" Lavi started to say but was once again interrupted by Allen.

"No Lavi, let him continue" Allen said taking a step forward "So, let me get this straight. You are blaming me for trying to get back something that YOU stole from me?"

Desha didn't like the tone Allen had used, it sounded so………….mocking. Lavi and the others were surprised about Allen's behavior; he seemed so daring and uncaring of the situation. Desha went running with his fist in the air ready to give Allen the beating of his life when suddenly Allen spoke:

"Innocence invoke" And after saying those words a white cape appeared and positioned itself on Allen's back while his right arm carried a sword, he lifted the sword and pointed it in Desha's direction "You still want to fight?"

"Give it up Desha" Lavi said trying to calm down his friend "He is WAY out of your league"

Desha looked away clenching his teeth, he went over to a corner in the cell he growled and sat down on the floor.

"So you must be Allen" Reever said extending his hand, Allen put away his weapons and greeted him "I'm Reever, Lavi's friend and this is Marie" he said pointing over to the man sitting on the floor with his eyes closed "and that angry guy is Desha"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Allen Walker"

"I thought you said your last name was Millfiore" Lavi asked in surprise.

"It was, but yesterday I decided to change it" Allen looked over at the red haired thief "Walker, the one who walks and I'm basically walking away from my past right? I guess it fits" Lavi couldn't help but smile after what Allen had just said, he liked the idea of him starting anew, away from his step father, away from all the trouble of his life but not away from his friends.

Just then the door was once again shot open and the same guard came in with two people now, Allen recognized the two people as Krory and Miranda, they weren't handcuffed unlike the previous people to enter the cell.

"Allen, are you ok?!" Miranda came running to his friend "Did that guy do something to you?!"

"C'mon Miranda, you know very well Allen can take care of himself" Krory said getting close to the cell "Hello, Allen"

"What are you guys doing here? Is my tutor here?!" Allen asked worried.

"No, don't worry" Krory calmed his friend "Yesterday when we waited for you, Miranda convinced me to go to the police station and see if they had heard of you"

"This morning, we saw those crooks come in with OUR bag of money and called the police on them" Miranda said hugging Allen to the point he was turning blue "We were so worried about you"

"Miranda you're choking me" Allen said freeing himself from the arms.

"Sorry" Miranda apologized and looked at the guard that had been witnessed the whole thing "You may free him, the rest can rot to death" he sent a bone chilling glare at the rest of the guys in the cell.

The guard nodded and let Allen get out of the cell, he looked at Lavi who was smiling, Allen was free but he'd be damned if he'd let his new friend stay in there so he smiled at himself .

"What about them?" Allen said pointing at the guys in the cell.

"They'll stay in there" The guard answered.

"Why?" Allen asked.

"Well, the red haired thief hasn't payed the damage from the building and the others still have the charges of theft"

Allen grabbed the money bag and put it on the guard's hands "This should cover Lavi's and my own"

"Allen, what are you doing?!" Miranda asked concerned.

"Miranda, I'll explain later, please…………just trust me" Allen said looking at his friend "I ask the same of you Krory"

"Oh, don't worry about me Allen" The ex-butler spoke "I trust you, but I do hope you know what you're doing" Allen nodded and looked over at Miranda who was looking at the floor doubtful, she raised her head and looked at Allen taking a deep breath.

"Fine, just please think carefully, remember what that money means to us" Allen nodded and turned to the guard.

"So, this covers mine and Lavi's freedom, right?"

"Yes" The guard frowned "But there is still the fact of the theft charges"

"But if I remember correctly, you don't have any proof of this charges, now do you?" Lavi and his friends raised an eyebrow in surprise of someone who was actually giving a damn of what could happen to them.

"Yes, we have you and some townspeople saying they saw you chasing him" The guard pointed at Lavi.

"Exactly, chasing not stealing" Allen smiled "It wasn't really chasing him but more like exercising"

"Exercising?" The guard repeated in disbelief.

"Yes, you need to stay in shape, you know?" He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"B-but……" The guard was shocked of a boy who was defending someone that had stolen from him, even if he couldn't prove it.

"But nothing, now lets see you open that cell" Allen said pointing over at the door.

The guard grumbled and opened the door to the cell, Lavi's friends stepped out carefully as if they couldn't believe this was happening. Lavi lost self control and rushed to hug Allen making a very red blush in Allen's cheeks and a very nervous tone in his voice.

"Thank you" Lavi whispered

"Y-Your welcome" Allen said hiding his blush.

Once everyone got out of the police station, Lavi's heart was rushing from having Allen so close to him and he still wanted to taste those lips once again, his self control was fading little by little specially when they decided to get ice cream to celebrate their freedom. Lavi was blushing uncontrollably when he saw how Allen was licking the top of it.

Allen, God you're killing me, you're so kind and handsome, I think I am truly falling for you.

Lavi and his gang started to get along with Krory and Miranda, the latter two still wanted an explanation about why Allen had done what he had done, but they trusted him. Allen had saved their lives with his Innocence so all they could reward him was the most loyal friendship they could offer.

I know they aren't exactly the best there are but at least when he's with them Allen can't seem to stop smiling specially with that red haired boy, what was his name? Lavi? No matter, as long as he doesn't hurt Allen I won't hurt him.

Reever had known Lavi for a very long time and he knew something clicked inside Lavi whenever Allen was around. At first he was worried it would end with Lavi hurt, after all his friend hadn't been the luckiest guy in the love department.

Allen, please just don't hurt him, please That was the thought that ran through his mind every time he saw Allen smile at Lavi.

At the end of the day, Lavi sent his friends off to their hideout while the red haired thief accompanied Allen and his friends to the hotel. Krory signaled Miranda to let them get ahead a little so they could get some time in private, at first the woman had been a bit reluctant but then she remembered the smile on Allen's face whenever Lavi was around and agreed.

Once Lavi noticed they were practically alone he grabbed Allen's hand and asked, blushing:

"Do you like me?"

"Yes, you are a wonderful friend" Allen replied looking away.

"That's not what I mean, I mean if you like as more than a friend?" Lavi asked loosing patience and grabbing Allen's face making sure there was eye contact.

"I don't get you" Allen started to say when he was interrupted.

Lavi lost it and kissed Allen, this time making sure it showed the affection he felt for Allen transferred into the kiss, Lavi passed his tongue around the white haired boys lip, asking for an entrance. Allen hesitated a bit, since he was worried about his performance but truth being told, he did feel something far from friendship for the thief, he liked him andhe never wanted to leave his side. He had never felt this for anyone and once the kiss deepened waves of pleasure started to run down his spine.

"Lavi" Allen spoke once they parted for air.

"No questions, listen Allen. I like you A LOT and this kiss showed me that so do you, so please stop thinking about it and just give into it" Lavi said kissing Allen's neck. Allen simply nodded and they kissed once again. This time Allen was a bit shyer about it and tried really hard to don't let Lavi down.

Once they stopped kissing Lavi noticed it was getting late, so he smiled at Allen and spoke.

"It's getting late, I'll see you tomorrow" Lavi said kissing him once again "I'll come visit you first thing in the morning"

"But- Lavi," Allen was interrupted by another kiss.

"Shhh, don't say anything. I'll see you tomorrow, I promise" Lavi said placing one last kiss on Allen's lips and started to walk away.

Once Lavi was far away, Allen turned to his hotel and murmured to himself.

"I hope so" Allen said passing his finger through his lips "I surely hope so"