Falling

Request by: maddy midnight

Genre: Romance

Rated: T

Lenalee crossed her fingers behind her back before stepping into the library, hoping that she wasn't going to see what she expected to.

Yet there he was, Lavi, sound asleep on the desk, open books scattered around him. She sighed heavily, walking over to him as silently as she could.

She sat down across from him, resting her chin on the table and studying his face. He seemed calm the way he breathed in and out so steadily, but the faint bags under his eyes told the truth. Lenalee frowned, wishing that he'd stop pulling these all-nighters, especially after such a long and hard mission.

Oh, that's right. They had just returned from a mission. No wonder he was locking himself up in the library again.

She reached forward hesitantly, brushing her hand through his thick read hair and readjusting his lopsided headband. He turned his head a bit and his eye flickered open slowly, peering over at her dozily.

He yawned, sitting up and stretching his arms. "Lenalee, what're you doing here so late at night?"

"It's morning, Lavi! And I could ask you the same question!" She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and shooting him a stern look.

He blinked, taken aback by her harsh tone. "Hm? What's up, Lenalee? You look frustrated about something."

She rolled her eyes, biting her lip, aggravated. "Of course I'm frustrated! I'm frustrated with you!"

"Me?" he asked, his voice shaking a bit under restrained laughter, as if he couldn't believe that she could ever actually be angry with him. "What'd I do?"

She reached across the table, snatching one of the books and waving it in his face. "This, Lavi! You stayed up all night reading again!"

His eye widened, but he quickly regained himself, shaking his head. "That's not true. I was just reading to get myself to sleep. I didn't plan on falling asleep in the library, but I was just trying to relax." He quickly scooped up his books, snatching one from Lenalee's hand, and carried the stack over to the bookshelves. Lenalee let out another exasperated sigh, noisily shoving her chair back and standing up, striding across the room to follow him.

Lavi leaned down, shoving the books back into their places. Lenalee stood above him, her arms still crossed. "Don't kid yourself, Lavi. You're not convincing either of us. I know why you fell asleep in here – it's the same after every mission. You keep coming in here to study up on the akuma and Noah!"

Lavi shot her an annoyed glance as he stood up and headed over to another shelf. "Well, what's so wrong with that? I'm a bookman, aren't I? I should be studying!"

Lenalee's eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head. "No, Lavi! You're not going to find anything new! We already know all we can about the Noah for now, and wearing yourself out like this isn't going to do you any good!"

He turned around, glanced at her worried expression, and frowned. "Stop looking at me like that, Lenalee. It's not a big deal. All I'm doing is reading." He turned and headed across the room to another shelf.

Lenalee dashed after him, pulling him to a halt by grabbing his hand. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Lavi. If you're overtired all the time, what good will you be in battle? You might catch a cold, or you might-"

"Lenalee, are you going to let me put back this book or not?"

She threw her hands in the air, thoroughly exasperated now. "Fine, go put away your precious books! Sorry for being concerned!"

Lavi pushed a ladder across the shelves, speaking as he went. "It's not that. I just want you to try and understand, all right? I'm not doing this to hurt myself. I'm doing it to help all of us. Besides, you're worrying way too much. If I were sick, I'd stay home instead of going on a mission?"

"Stay home and read?" she shot back sarcastically as he began to climb the ladder. He shot her a dirty look over his shoulder.

Lenalee had to restrain a laugh herself as he looked at her like that. There was just something about Lavi that always made her want to smile and laugh, no matter what the circumstance. It must have been his cheery demeanor rubbing off on her. Sometimes, it was downright impossible to resist a smile. Today she had to hold strong, though. She needed to be serious so he'd take what she was telling him to account. Otherwise he'd hurt himself, and after all he had done for her, she knew she couldn't let that happen.

She took the other ladder and pushed it so it was next to his, climbing until she was eye-to-eye with him. She decided to ignore the fact that she had to take an entire step higher than him to do this.

Lenalee kept her expression straight. "You're not listening to me."

"Of course I am. If I weren't, we wouldn't be talking."

"You're not taking in what I'm telling you."

"I am, but you're overreacting."

Lenalee leaned against the ladder, glaring over at him. "Lavi, read all you want, but get some sleep, will you? I'm sick of this."

"Quit repeating yourself, Lenalee," he snapped, suddenly annoyed himself. "You don't have much of a right to be telling me what to do when you should be in the infirmary yourself right now."

"The Matron said I could go," she reminded him. "I was only there for one night."

He cringed, turning away as he began returning the books to their places. "I don't think that's long enough. You got pretty hurt yesterday."

"Not really. I've been through worse, haven't I?"

Lavi's mouth curved into a frown. "That doesn't matter. One's just as bad as another. You're hurt either way."

Lenalee turned away, feeling her cheeks flushing a bit. "Lavi, this isn't about me, it's about-"

"Of course it is!" he snapped, finally glancing back over at her. "I've been looking up all this stuff on akuma and Noah, trying to find some clue, because I hate seeing you hurt!"

Lenalee opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She just stared at Lavi, not knowing what to do or say next. Without thinking, she leaned forward and planted her lips onto his, softly kissing him.

Lavi, as taken off guard as you probably are right now, fell backwards off of his ladder, bringing down about half the bookcase with him. Lenalee gasped, scurrying down the ladder to where he was lying on the floor, gripping his head.

She knelt next to him, placing one of her hands on his forehead. "Lavi! Are you all right? I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking-"

"I'm fine," he responded, smirking up at her. "I'm perfect."

Lenalee, still on edge, took a moment to calm down, but his smile helped, as it always did. Soon, she was smiling back at him. "You sure?"

"Positive."

Now was her chance. "So, do you promise not to stay up all night reading again?"

Lavi's smirk broadened and he rolled over, pulling Lenalee with him, so that she was underneath him and he was kissing her again.

"Sure, I won't stay up all night reading, but I can't promise that I won't pull another all-nighter!"

Author's notes: Sorry it took so long to update! I really hope you liked it and that it was paced all right. Please review and let me know what you think!