AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Eric will introduce himself to Alan in this chapter as I have promised.

***WARNINGS: Language, Smoking

I actually didn't fully think about this that much before writing it so let's see how this goes.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Kuroshitsuji or any of it's characters. All credit goes to Yana Toboso.

CHAPTER 3

Alan made his way into a little run down bar at the corner of town. A prostitute was standing right outside giving Alan the eye, which of course Alan ignored as he went inside. Eric went in after him and sat at a table pretending to be a random guy casually visiting the bar for a drink or two.

Alan walked up behind the bar to the manager of the establishment, his name tag said 'Rick' he was young, about 23, 24 years old. He smiled at Alan and shook his hand. "Hey Alan." He said "How was school?"

"Oh, well…you know…"

"Right," he said, understanding how it was for Alan. "I got your dinner in the back, wait here for a minute." Alan nodded and waited while Rick went in the back.

Eric examined Alan closely. At least he ate. He wondered how Alan was able to talk the manager into making him dinner, was this an every night thing? Was the food delicious? Was the food edible and safe to eat? Did Alan have to pay for such services?

Eric knew that Alan was still attractive even with all those cuts and the incredibly oversized sweater. Some people may think otherwise but to Eric he thought Alan was beautiful. He just wished he could see Alan smile.

Alan turned and looked at Eric then immediately turned away as if he saw something he shouldn't have. Eric was about to question Alan's reaction but then remembered he didn't exactly seem like the nicest guy with his piercings and the way he was dressed. Eric stood just as Rick came out and gave Alan a brown paper bag meal. Alan thanked Rick and went up to the second story of the bar.

"Damn it Alan, quit movin' around so I can talk to ya." Eric thought as he went up after Alan.

The brunette went into a room and shut the door behind him and locked it. Eric walked up to the door of the room and put his ear against it to see if he could hear anything Alan was doing, then he realized there was a hole in the door. He crouched down so he could peek in the hole.

The sweater was laying on the floor and Alan was just taking off his tank top revealing a bony chest. Why were the parents allowing Alan, someone who has serious lung cancer, go off by himself? Did they just not care? Alan ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He then went into another room, preferably the bathroom, and Eric could hear the sound of running water and splashing. He knew Alan was washing his face. Eric decided to take his chance. He picked the lock on the door and went in, closing the door quietly behind him as not to alarm the skinny brunette. He peeked in the bathroom seeing Alan washing his face, little drops of water dripping from his features. Eric smiled to himself, admiring the way Alan looked. Sure, he had feminine features, but Eric loved every little thing about Alan.

Alan lifted his face up to look in the mirror then grabbed his tank top and used that to dry his face. While he did this, Eric was busy examining the room.

Unlike Alan's bedroom at his house, this room had no mold or mildew. The floor boards were old and some were broken off leaving huge holes in the floor. Eric could see the bar downstairs if he looked in one. The two windows were horrible cracked in many different places, the wall paper was peeling away. However, the bed was an actual bed and the mattress was decent. Eric guessed Alan stayed here instead of at his house. This really did seem like a safe place compared to Alan's house. It was a little cold though…and by a little I mean it was freezing. Eric guessed Alan had to pay for the heating of his own room.

How did Alan even earn money? There's no way he is employed.

There was a soft gasp behind Eric. He turned around and saw Alan standing there like a frightened deer in headlights, he was hugging his sweater and tank top close to him. He took a step back away from Eric.

"Wait, Alan." Eric began calmly but didn't have enough time to say anything else before Alan yelled "Get out!" in obvious fear.

"Alan, listen to me-"

"How do you know my name?" Alan interrupted rather shakily. He didn't know who Eric was. He didn't know if Eric was a rapist or if he was out to get Alan or what.

"Ehh…" Eric scratched the back of his neck "Long story?"

"Get out!" Alan threw his tank top and sweater down.

"Ok, ok. I get it, ya want me out. But I'm not a bad guy." Alan held a glare at Eric, this made Eric squirm. Alan's glare was nothing to be taken lightly. When he glared, you knew you were in trouble. Eric has seen this glare too many times to not be scared of it. However, Alan was only glaring to protect himself without resorting to violence and if he called the cops they wouldn't do anything because Alan was gay. "I'm really not." Eric said truthfully. "If I was a bad guy, your little ass would be as good as mine by now, don't ya think?"

Alan's glare softened. He picked up his tank top and put it on, he was about to put on his sweater when Eric grabbed his arm. Alan looked up at Eric, his face pouted as if demanding a reason why Eric would put his hands on him.

"This," Eric traced one of the scars with his thumb. "needs to stop. It isn't good for ya and I understand what yer going through."

Alan just looked at him through his bangs. He knew. The fuck did he know? He didn't know anything…right? Alan pulled his arm back and put his sweater on. "You don't know anything."

Eric saw what was happening. Alan was too afraid to let his walls down. Perhaps this wasn't the first time someone has tried to help Alan but he just shut them out. Eric grabbed the bag meal from the bed and handed it to Alan "Eat."

"O-ok…?" Alan didn't know who this stranger was or why he was telling him what to do, but he didn't want to piss this guy off. He sat on the bed and took a sandwich out of the bag and took a bite. Eric examined the food closely, making sure there was nothing on it that would make Alan sick. He found Alan raising an eyebrow at him as he stared at his food. Eric looked away.

"Hey, how do you make money to live here?" Eric asked. He hoped it was nothing stupid like prostitution or selling drugs.

"I sell alcohol to minors."

…God damn it Alan.

"Anything else?"

"No."

Eric knew he wasn't going to find out Alan's sin anytime soon and his concern was the vile not lasting long enough for him to find out.

Eric was just going to have to be patient.

It was the middle of the night. Eric had asked Alan if he could stay overnight with him since he had nowhere else to go. He didn't have a home in this time period. Eric slept on the floor, Alan had Rick get him some sheets to sleep on but it wasn't enough to keep him warm or keep him asleep. Eric was occasionally looking up at Alan, wondering and hoping that he was warm enough.

At one point, Eric woke and sat up, wrapping the sheets around him. It must have been around 2 in the morning. He wondered if Alan would let him sleep on the bed with him, I mean, body heat was the best source of heat.

"Hey Alan." Eric said, tiredly looking over at the bed only to see it empty with the blanket pushed aside. "Alan?" Eric looked around the room and realized the window was open.

No wonder it was so cold.

Eric got up and looked out the window, finding a thin railing leading to some metal stairs that led to the roof. Was Alan on the roof?

Eric carefully climbed out the window and made his way across the railing then up the very unsteady stairs. "Alan?"

Once he got up to the roof he saw Alan sitting on the edge of the roof, legs hanging over the side of the building with his bag opened beside him. As Eric approached behind Alan, he saw that Alan was holding a cigarette in between his pointer and middle finger.

"You know that's gonna kill ya."

Alan looked back at Eric then looked down as the street "I know."

"Guess that's why ya do it, huh?"

Alan nodded and took a puff of his cigarette, receiving a hacking cough in response.

Eric was so tempted to smack the cigarette out of Alan's hand, which he did as soon as he heard that cough.

"Rude." Alan mumbled.

"How so? I might've just saved yer life."

"Is this guy stupid? If he knows everything that has been happening to me, wouldn't he also know how much I just want to die?" Alan frowned and looked away. "I don't seem to understand you, sir."

"Huh?"

"Why do you want to save me so badly?"

Eric sat beside Alan. "One, ya don't need to be calling me 'sir'. Call me Eric," he motioned towards himself with his thumb giving Eric one of his smiles "that's mah' name."And two, I wanna save ya cuz I care about'cha."

Alan noticed the smile that Eric made. It was cute and sexy but slightly goofy in a way. He looked back down and hid his face. "Why would you want to save a fag?"

Eric shrugged "I dunno. Cuz I like dick myself? Cuz I think yer kinda cute?"

Alan immediately lifted his eyes and looked at Eric in the most surprised expression he could ever have. "Y-you're a fag too!?" he was in utter disbelief.

"I believe the term is 'homosexual'" Eric did air quotes when he said 'homosexual'. Fag could mean a bunch of stuff. The butt of a cigarette, a pile of sticks, the perfect's servants. Oh yes, fag could mean many different things. "If yer gonna call someone a name at least do it right."

"But…!" Alan hugged his legs, about to stand until Eric grabbed his arm and kept him down. "You called me cute…!" he looked down, hiding his face again. "Y-you're lying, aren't you?"

"No. I'm pretty deathly serious." Eric winked. Alan saw the wink and kept his head down.

Eric grabbed Alan's chin and forced him to look Eric in the eyes. He had a gentle and loving look in his green eyes. Alan stared at them for what seemed like the longest time. They were shinigami green, a very odd color indeed. Alan tried to compare them with his own golden brown eyes but found that Eric's were much more unique and had about 4 or 5 different shades of green in them. Eric saw Alan staring and couldn't help but give a slight smirk. Alan tried to look away but Eric held his face firmly to keep him from looking away.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

"Nope."

Alan tried to slap Eric's hands away, when he did this Eric gave Alan a quick peck on the lips causing the brunette's face to turn into one big blush. Alan stared at Eric "W-what was that-" before Alan could finish his sentence, Eric stood up and offered his hand to Alan. Alan just looked at the hand in complete and utter confusion.

"Come on." Eric said "It's cold out here. Let's go to bed." he said, trying to get Alan to just accept the fact that he had fallen for Eric.

"What? Together?"

"Yeah together. What, I can't sleep in the same bed with another man? Besides, it's freezing on the floor and I bet it was no better on the bed for ya."

Eric was right, Alan was just as freezing as Eric was, he always is. Even if it's at his own house or the room at the bar, Alan has never had a night where he was warm. Alan nodded slightly and took Eric's. The older pulled the younger to his feet and grabbed his bag then carefully made their way back to the room. Once they were inside, Alan put the sheets on the bed and laid down as Eric was closing the window. He then got into bed with Alan and put an arm around him. Alan's instincts told him that he should punch Eric and push him away, but for now, Alan decided to let his walls drop and he snuggled into Eric's warmness.

Perhaps things were going to start to look up for him.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

What do you think? Was this chapter happier?

***Reviews help a lot

I think I am going to do more of my other fanfic, "One Hell Of A Rebel" I mean, it's got good reviews and more followers so I am going to go ahead and write a second chapter for that one.