5 years later . . .
After ending another day at work, Fangurl walked home through the snowy streets to her apartment. Now that she was eighteen, she had moved out of William and Grell's apartment and gotten a place of her own. Fangurl had moved not far away from the Shinigami Dispatch Society offices where she was currently hired as an office assistant for the time being.
Pulling out the keys to the front door, Fangurl was just about to open up the door when she heard the sound of 'nyan' coming from around the side of the apartment building. Stepping over, Fangurl couldn't believe her eyes. There lying on the ground was Alan covered in a light layer of fresh fallen snow.
"Alan," Fangurl joyfully exclaimed as she hurried over to the neko. Looking closer, she saw that Alan had lost a lot of weight and that there were many wounds on his fur. "C'mon, let's get you inside," she whispered to the neko as she picked him up, dusted the snow off of his fur, and took him inside.
Laying him down on the couch, Fangurl covered Alan up with a blanket, as she watched him shiver. She began to stroke his fur gently while he slept. Fangurl watched as the neko moved around and awoke from his slumber.
Opening his eyes, Alan wasn't expecting to see Fangurl holding one of his paws in her hands and stroking his face gently. "Fangurl, is it really you?" he asked quietly, almost expecting it to be a dream.
"Yes Alan, it's really me," she replied with a smile.
Alan sat up and nudged his face against Fangurl's neck as he reached his front paws around her in an attempt to give the girl a hug. "I've missed you so much," he whispered.
"I've missed you too Alan," Fangurl said quietly as she stroked the neko's fur and listened to him begin to purr again.
He reached over and lightly licked her face. Alan had missed Fangurl more than she knew. The neko felt Fangurl run her fingers gently over some of his recently acquired wounds. "Who did this to you?" she asked quietly.
Alan shifted so that he was curled up in the fetal position on her lap. "Master Claude hurt me," he whispered. He nestled his head under Fangurl's chin as the girl continued to stroke his fur.
Fangurl looked and saw scars, scratch marks, and bruises all over the neko's body. "Why did he hurt you?" she questioned.
"For running away from him and because I never told him that I didn't miss you, and I still wanted to be with you," Alan explained quietly.
Looking up at Fangurl, the neko said "You have no idea what all he did to me."
In truth, the girl was terrified to discover what all Claude had done to Alan, but she knew it was healthy for him to vent out his emotions as a means to help him get better. "Do you want to tell me what he did to you?" Fangurl asked gently.
Alan laid his head on Fangurl's chest and curled his knees up to his own chest. "He burned me with a sharp metal stick. He beat me with leather straps and cut me with knives. He threatened to find you and hurt you, but I couldn't let him do that," the neko informed quietly as he began to whimper.
Fangurl held Alan close to her and stroked his fur. He nuzzled his face into her neck before hearing Fangurl whisper "He won't hurt me or you while we're here. You are safe Alan, and I won't let him take you away from me ever again."
Alan purred softly against Fangurl before getting up to look around her apartment. As he stood up, Fangurl noticed how big he had gotten; for Alan was now a few inches taller than her. The neko noticed a lot of pictures containing Fangurl and a guy. "Who's this?" Alan wondered.
"That's Ronald, my boyfriend," Fangurl informed.
"Boyfriend?" Alan asked with a despairing feeling growing inside his heart.
"Yeah, he works at the Dispatch with me. I work in the General Affairs Department while he's on Soul Collection," Fangurl stated. "We've been together for almost a year."
"Do you love him?" Alan questioned as he turned to Fangurl.
"Well, love is a strong word, but I do have feelings for Ronald," the girl replied.
Alan didn't want Fangurl to have feelings for Ronald; he wanted Fangurl to have feelings for him. Alan loved Fangurl a lot and would do anything to have the chance to be with her. "Is he good to you?" Alan asked quietly.
"Yes, he's very good to me," Fangurl promised.
This made Alan smile a little. At least this guy was nice to Fangurl. If he ever discovered this Ronald person was mean to Fangurl, he would more than likely claw his eyes out.
Suddenly, the two heard a rumbling noise. The girl looked and noticed it was coming from Alan's stomach. "Are you hungry?" she asked.
In truth, Alan was extremely hungry. Claude rarely fed him, so Alan was forced to find food on his own, which was almost just enough to keep him from passing out. "Yes, I'm very hungry," Alan replied.
"C'mon, let's get you something to eat," Fangurl stated as they walked into the kitchen together.
Fangurl got Alan some milk and leftover chicken from the refrigerator and set it on the table for him. The starving neko gobbled up the food, and lapped up the milk as quickly as his tongue would let him.
The girl stood next to him and gently petted his head again. Alan purred as he leaned his head against Fangurl. He was so happy to be back with her again; back with the girl who loved him, and who he loved.
When Alan was finished eating, Fangurl took him into her room and let him lie down on her bed while she went and did laundry. The neko inhaled the scent of his secret love and the smell of her on the pillow brought back memories from five years ago.
Later on that night, Fangurl lie in bed and watched TV while Alan curled up on the bed next to her and lay his head on her legs. The girl reached down on stroked his fur gently, which made the neko feel happy. Alan rolled over onto his back, which allowed Fangurl to begin to rub his stomach for him. This made Alan's body begin to tingle.
He had never felt this good before in his life. The neko began to purr loudly. "Someone's happy," Fangurl noticed with a grin. She giggled quietly as Alan licked her hand. Fangurl touched on Alan's face where a bad scar was hidden under some fur.
Upon feeling her hand there, Alan was forced to think back to receiving the scar and immediately pulled away. The girl leaned forward and pressed her lips lightly to the wound, earning a purr in return.
"Please don't ever let him take me away from you again," Alan begged quietly as he nudged his face against Fangurl's neck.
"He won't touch you again Alan, I promise," she replied.
In the middle of the night, Alan awoke from a nightmare and thought he was still back in Claude's house. Looking over, he saw Fangurl still lying underneath her blanket fast asleep. Gently getting up from the end of the bed, the neko slowly strolled over to lie down next to her, on top of the blanket and look at her.
Alan took in every notable feature he could of his owner. He laid his head gently on the girl's shoulder and purred softly. The neko had dreamed of Fangurl holding him in her arms and kissing him like he'd seen people do so many times. Alan knew what pet-owner love was, but he wanted to feel more than that kind of love. He wanted romantic love from the girl who he had had feelings for, for almost ten years. Looking up at her once again, the neko gently ran his tongue over her face and tasted the girl's skin. "I love you Fangurl," Alan whispered. "I hope one day you can love me back." He curled his tail up and laid it on the girl's side before going back to sleep himself.