Disclaimer: I own nothing HAHA.
Allen started violently as her cell phone rang. The bright ringtone roused her from the daze she was in – a daydream perhaps, with mythical knights and idealistic romance, and a cold prince who she could reform – and she started searching for the phone, before finally finding it behind a pillow on her bed.
She picked the vibrating phone up. "Hello?"
"Yo, Allen!" Lavi's irrepressibly cheerful voice came out from the phone. He sounded excited; it made her wonder if he had devised yet another new and mysterious scheme. It was probably something with which he could trick others… that wasn't too bad, as long as he didn't play the trick in question on her.
"Nice to hear from you, Lavi, but –" I'm busy, my friend, with dreaming happy dreams right now!
"Aww, there's no need to be so formal with me!" Lavi chirped happily, unable to sense Allen's slight unwillingness to talk to him.
"Right. Why are you calling me, then?"
"Uh. Well, I have something to ask you." Allen noted the subtle change in Lavi's tone. She was curious now, and pushed all thoughts concerning blue-haired males to the back of her mind.
"About?"
"Well, you see, it's like that. I… uh…" Lavi's now-soft voice trailed away into a hoarse whisper that Allen couldn't quite catch. It sounded like 'canned supper for right' to her. What that meant, she really didn't know, but it sounded promising enough. Maybe Lavi was planning to buy cans of preserved food for her. Preserved food wasn't exactly delicious, but she was hungry a lot of the time, and having canned food nearby would undeniably help to resolve her hunger issues.
"Pardon?"
"Let's have dinner together tonight." Lavi finally got the words out of his mouth without stumbling over a single syllabus, not that he was usually in the habit of doing so, of course.
"Oh. Sure. Where?" Dinner sounds good. I'm already hungry right now.
"Just… wear something nice. I'll tell you where later." Lavi hung up with that.
Allen scratched her white hair and shrugged. She tossed the phone back onto the bed and began to daydream again, about long-haired princes with ice king looks and icy manners to boot. Her thoughts were of the fantasy kind, where shadows and humans walked side by side, both equally real. In her light daydreams she was a pretty princess who met a foul-mouthed, unsociable prince one day. And of course, they fell in love, as such dream royalty are apt to do. Slowly, gradually, the prince grew warmer and less icy as his love for the princess grew. Slowly, the princess learnt to share her burdens with those around her. Slowly, both…
Dingdong.
Ohh no, Lavi's here! Panicking, Allen glanced at the sky. Outside, the world was clad in a myriad of pastel colours, with dim shadows and trailing whispers of darkness weaved into the soft light. She rushed to stand up and dusted off her jeans.
"Give me a minute, Lavi!" Allen called out as she ran to her wardrobe to change.
Lavi had said to wear something nice. What would be nice without being too dressy? Allen combed her rather scanty wardrobe. Jeans would do. And maybe a more dressy shirt? It wouldn't do to have Lavi thinking that she was going all out to attract him, she told herself for the umpteenth time, because she didn't feel even a shard of romantic attraction towards him.
She was surprised when she opened the door. There Lavi stood, in all his tuxedo-ed glory. Allen ogled him, her grey-blue eyes taking in his broad chest, and the lean figure that held well against the folds of the tight-fitting tuxedo. I never knew that he had such a good figure. Lavi stared back at Allen. He felt a flicker of hope in his chest when he felt her eyeing him. That same flicker soon disappeared, though, when he realised that she wasn't exactly dressed to complement his attire.
"Uh, Allen? I told you to wear something nice…" Lavi's voice trailed off again, as his lone eye took in the frilly top and the battered jeans below. "This isn't exactly what I meant by nice."
"Oh. Does it really matter, though? You know I'm not comfortable wearing all those dressy stuff. Way too girly for me."
Lavi glanced at his watch. "I guess its fine. We're running late, anyway, so let's just hurry." He pulled her hand and headed out of the hall.
Lavi could feel that tiny pulse through his fingers, as he rushed her out of the hall, into a waiting taxi. Her skin was smooth under his large hand, and surprisingly soft. Her pulse though, was absolutely normal, as far as he could tell; it didn't speed up at his touch; neither were her pale hands clammy. It was not a good sign. He sighed and willed himself to remain optimistic. There was always hope, though he didn't really think so.
They reached the hotel in time. Lavi had made a reservation earlier that morning, and he meant to surprise Allen. When the girl saw the lavish decorations, she gaped.
Lavi drew her chair out for her, and Allen sat down, feeling strangely countrified in the posh setting. She wasn't accustomed to it at all, and ended up fidgeting in her uncomfortably large chair. Lavi sat down opposite her, and suddenly she found a huge bouquet of pink roses being brandished, or so it seemed to her eyes, in her face. She stared stupidly at Lavi, waiting for an explanation, her mind buzzing with a thousand thoughts, with the blue-haired back view of a certain Kanda lurking in the virtual corners.
Lavi was feeling somewhat uncomfortable by then, too. The flowers were still in his hand, and Allen had not made any move to take them. He blinked.
"Allen, I really, really, really like you." Lavi continued holding the flowers out, "I've liked you ever since I saw you that day, sitting on the ledge of the parapet at the roof. That's why I got you to join me and my friends. I did it so that I could get to know you better. I know I'm not the best guy around, but I really do like you. I love you, even. So, will you be my girlfriend?"
Allen watched Lavi's mouth opening, closing and forming various shapes. She felt like she was watching a fish in water, with bubbles of unintelligent conversation filling up the aquatic spaces with the hints of empty promises. She vaguely heard some words like "like", "guy" and "girlfriend". From these she was able to piece up a puzzle even through the mist that was clogging her brain. She felt stupid. But what she did know was that Lavi was trying to get her to go out with him. But I don't like him! Her brain and feelings were protesting.
Allen was still for such a long time that Lavi got worried. Her eyes hadn't moved away from the spot over his shoulder that she had been staring at for the past few minutes.
"Allen?" Lavi tapped her on the shoulder. "Allen? You okay?"
Allen jolted awake, coming out of her reverie. The last aqueous bubbles flitted away from her thoughts as the fish she had conjured up morphed into Lavi's eager, waiting face.
She looked at Lavi with the glistening dews of regret in her blue-grey eyes. "I'm sorry, Lavi. I can't. It's just that I… I don't have any feelings for you."
The flowers fell onto the floor, giving a soft thud as it hit the carpeted ground. Lavi looked up in eloquent silence, hurt hanging palpable in the air, strung dismally among the harmony of soft notes coming from the cello being played.
"I'm sorry." Allen whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm really sorry."
Lavi looked up, near to tears himself. "It's okay. I won't force you. I understand."
Lavi stood up and left, throwing some notes onto the table as payment. Allen, though, remained seated, tears falling now, until a waiter ushered her out. He assured her as he saw her out, "The gentleman you were with has already footed the bill, miss."
A/N: Ohhh well. I'm beginning to dislike this fic more and more, i'm sorry to say. i don't know why :/ I'm so glad it's friday - it's been a long week. The first week of school saw me taking two tests, and i flunked my math test badly. Great way to start school. But yeahh actually school isn't all that bad, but crap, i'm dead tired. So yeahh. I have no idea what i'm typing.
Heh anyway, thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter! (:
And of course, thanks for reading! Reviews are much appreciated, and constructive criticism is welcome haha :D