A/N: I expect to be busy this week, which is why I decided to write another chapter, just in case! Anyway, thank you to Lena-luvs-cats, Takei Daloui, EnticingNocturne, and jy24 for sticking with this story and reviewing!^-^

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope!

Chapter 24

Time Frame — Afternoon of March 12th, 1896

—3rd Person POV—

~Allen~

The next month passed in relative peace. And despite everything, Allen and Lenalee continued to pretend that they maintained a platonic friendship, fear of her brother's wrath keeping them from voicing any truths. Some of the others suspected, but they never voiced aloud any of their suspicions, and with Valentine's Day and her birthday occurring so soon after, the couple didn't dare venture out on another date, considering Komui monopolized all of Lenalee's time. As for Allen, he mostly distracted himself with schoolwork and his job, only just keeping up with the debts General Cross kept mailing him.

"Hello, Allen!" Oliver beamed once Allen made his way towards his table, pad and pen in hand.

Allen nodded with a warm smile. "Hey, Oliver." After almost two months of being his waiter, the older teen had finally broken through Allen's polite barrier, and convinced him that it would be alright to be less formal with him. Allen had only agreed once Oliver reassured him it wouldn't get him in any trouble with his boss. "What can I get for you tonight?"

"Hm, give me a second," Oliver mumbled, flipping through the menu. Allen refrained from rolling his eyes. By now, they guy had to have had it memorized. "You got any plans for Spring Break?" the bronze-eyed boy chimed distractedly, still scouring the menu.

Figuring it'd be a while, Allen lowered the pad and pen and answered, "Huh, I'm not really sure. Honestly, I hadn't given it much thought. I'll probably just work."

Oliver shook his head and tsk'ed disapprovingly. "You have got to lighten up, Allen. Anyway, I'll take…"

Allen noted down his order, and work continued on as usual. Finally, once his shift was over and he'd arrived back at his dorm room, he walked into an unusual sight, though it was quite reminiscent to when he'd entered on his first day. Timothy was flinging clothes and objects around, apparently indecisive as to what to store in the suitcase. Fortunately, this time around, the suitcase belonged to Timothy and not Allen.

"Err, and where are you headed off to?" Allen asked dryly, gingerly stepping over the flung objects and over onto his side of the bedroom. When he didn't receive an immediate answer, he shrugged and began to change out of his work clothes.

"Oh, hey Allen!" Timothy finally greeted him, and then tossed him a perplexed look. "What do you mean, 'where am I headed off to'? We're all going to the beach of course!"

Allen blinked, and then continued to pull on his pajamas. "Um, isn't it still too cold for that? And who's 'we'?"

"Duh! That's why we're going down south!" Timothy scoffed, as if he found Allen's ignorance particularly irritating. Allen held back a retort, and Timothy continued, "And it's all the Exorcists! General Klaud takes us every year! Didn't anybody tell you?" he demanded, and Allen almost pointed out that Timothy himself hadn't said anything about it, but the hyperactive brat continued, "Wow, Allen! You better hurry and pack up a suitcase! We've got to wake up early so we can catch the train!"

Allen shrugged it off. "I have work, I can't go." The excuse was feeble. He could probably call up his boss now, and the man would be happy to let him go with the other Exorcists, but Allen was falling desperately behind on paying those debts, and he couldn't afford to take a week off.

"Nuh uh!" Timothy shook his head stubbornly, pausing from trying to pack his suitcase. "That's no excuse! This trip is man-da-to-ry!"

Allen paused. "… Is it?"

"Uh huh!" Timothy nodded furiously, though Allen wasn't completely prepared to believe him.

Allen frowned and pointed out, "What about the ones with families? Shouldn't they be allowed to go visit them if they'd like, rather than going on some mandatory field trip during break?"

Timothy scoffed. "Yeah right! Daisya's family is down in Turkey, and Mei-Ling's grandpa is way down over in China! By the time the train got there, Spring Break would be almost over!"

Unfortunately for Allen, Timothy had a point, and though the blue-haired brat squirmed beneath his gaze, he remained stubborn in his declaration, probably knowing Allen couldn't possibly contact Klaud at this late hour to ask if it really was mandatory, and by tomorrow, it would be too late, and for all Allen knew, Timothy wasn't lying. In the end, Allen rationalized that if he carefully gambled away his paycheck, he might be able to double it, maybe even triple it.

Allen huffed, "Alright, fine, whatever."

Timothy jumped up with a cheer and was quick to dive into the closet and dig out Allen's suitcase. Together, they stayed up and packed, and Allen was forced to help Timothy—seriously, the kid couldn't decide whether to bring his wooden train set or his army of little soldiers! Allen had ended up lecturing him that no, he could in fact not forgo all his clothes for his toys, and Timothy's excuse was that he was already wearing one set of clothes and that was all he needed!

Allen rubbed his face trying to keep his headache at bay, relieved that Timothy had finally zonked out. In the end, he was forced to stay up till midnight finishing up both their suitcases, and thankfully, they were finally ready to go for tomorrow. Allen gratefully slumped down onto his bed, knowing it would be hell in the morning—mostly, because he'd be forced to wake Timothy up.

"Come on, Timothy, we're going to be late!" Allen snapped, dragging the sleepy boy along, and forced to hold onto both suitcases. "I can't believe I agreed to this—that ungrateful, little—"

"Allen!" Lenalee's familiar voice called, and fortunately, the crowds at the train station were quite thin at this time in the morning, so Allen was easily able to spot them. He hurried over to them, hauling Timothy along, and finally reached them as Lenalee continued, "We were worried you two wouldn't make it!"

"Yeah! What was the holdup, shortstack?" Lavi demanded, thankfully taking the suitcases from him and handing them off to an assistant to be put away.

Allen blew out a loud sigh. "Sorry about that guys. Timothy here refused to even get out bed," he explained, gesturing to the seven-year-old who had curled up at his feet, somehow still maintaining his sleepy state after being dragged across town.

"He stayed up late packing his suitcase, didn't he?" Mei-Ling grinned, and fortunately, took the boy off of Allen's hands and tugged him onto the train.

"You okay there, Al?" Lenalee asked, patting his shoulder, though she seemed slightly amused.

If they weren't surrounded by the others, Allen would've leaned against her. In the end, he opted for shaking his head and following her onto the train. "Timothy can be such a pain. Let's just get this trip over with."

A/N: I've had the urge to go to the beach as of late, but if I can't, I can just make my characters do so. xD Haha, let me know what you think!(: