A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this new chapter! And thank you to Lena-luvs-cats, Takei Daloui, Alaia Skyhawk, jy24, Amelia Loves Anime, and melovecats for taking the time to review!^-^
Disclaimer: I only own what I own, thanks.
Chapter 28
Time Frame — Afternoon of March 18th, 1896
—3rd Person POV—
~Allen~
Despite the bright and upbeat start off to his spring break (barring Lavi's abrupt disappearance), Allen felt things going downhill from there. It wasn't anything particularly apparent; it might've started when the other guys overtook Lenalee's swimming lessons and wouldn't allow them to disappear off alone. And along with Timothy being a dumb kid and forcing Allen to chase after him so that he wouldn't do anything stupid, it wasn't unexpected that Allen began to grow a bit irritated. But Lenalee would toss him concerned looks, so he tried to relax. Unfortunately, another issue that had been irking him was Oliver Price.
Oliver had been nice and friendly, and the others had been happy to accept his offer of hanging around his beach house and taking advantage of the fact that tourists weren't allowed on the small strip of land he (that is, his family) owned by the sea. Everything should've been perfect, and though the others reassured him it was him being paranoid, something in Allen's gut told him that there was something just not right with Oliver.
One of the first points that had tipped him off had been the beach house. Allen found it weird how there was hardly any furniture around, and though Oliver had waved it off and said they hardly used the place, Allen could clearly recall Oliver's many complaints about his mother. From what he gathered, the lady was quite overbearing and a bit ostentatious. Over his lifetime, Allen had met many woman of the like that Cross would date, and one detail he'd picked up from them was that they always obsessed over appearances. So his brain couldn't compute with the fact that a lady like that would leave this house so empty and craggily in appearance.
Of course, he tried not to think too much on it at first, because what did he care? Lenalee said he was just over thinking things, so he eventually pushed those thoughts aside.
Until Oliver himself started to act odd. Nothing that would attract attention; small, momentary flashes in which he'd get a distant look in his eyes and mumble an odd phrase; freezing up in small trances while in the middle of a conversation; at one point, he even lost his temper, which Allen had originally thought was impossible with a guy like Oliver, who always had grin and something positive to say.
"Careful!" Timothy practically growled, smacking his hand away and dragging Allen out of his thoughts.
"Huh?" Allen blinked, and shook his head. "Right, my bad…" His apathetic tone inspired yet another glare from Timothy, so Allen simply sat back and watched with boredom as the kid tried his hand at building a sand castle. He was pretty pathetic at it, but better than anything Allen had been able to come up with.
"Ugh, I got saltwater up my nose," Oliver gagged and coughed, dragging his feet through the slick, wet sand and crashing waves, before toppling on his rear beside them.
Allen snorted. "Nice going, Ollie. Next time, maybe try holding your breath." He easily dodged the wet hand aimed his way.
"Oliver!" Timothy cried with a wail. "You ruined my castle!" Unfortunately, the castle had taken the brunt of Oliver's pathetic hit.
Allen patted Timothy's head. "It's okay, brat. There wasn't actually anything to ruin—ow!" Allen rubbed the spot where he'd been flicked on the head with an annoyed grumble.
"Be nice," Lenalee admonished him with an amused smile, kneeling down between the pair. "Here Timothy, why don't I help you start over? Hand me that shovel—yes, that one; now go and refill the big bucket with water, okay? And careful, the waves are a bit rough!" she called after the small boy, before turning back and leaning around Allen to hand Oliver some sun block. "Put some of that on. You're face is starting to burn up."
"Oh, thanks Lenalee!" Oliver beamed and then chuckled. "I probably should've used this stuff earlier, but I forgot. Kind of hypocritical, since I was always going around scolding my brother for doing silly things like this."
Allen, who had been sitting back relaxing with his weight resting against his hands, glanced at Oliver from the corner of his eye, brow puckering slightly. There it was again, Oliver mumbling to himself. But Timothy had returned, lugging a bucket of sloshing saltwater, so Lenalee took no notice.
"Careful Timothy, set it down over here," Lenalee ordered.
For the rest of the evening, Allen relaxed back against one of the towels, beside Lenalee and Timothy. (Oliver eventually returned to the water.) It might've been the fact that Lenalee was sitting beside him, but Allen felt content to simply lie there, allowing the cool breeze to dry his wet clothes, absentmindedly listening to waves clashing against the sand and seagulls flying overhead.
"Allen!"
He felt a small hand grasping his shoulder and shaking it. His droopy eyes blinked open, and Allen belatedly realized he'd dozed off. Suppressing a yawn, he took Lenalee's offered hand and sat up before rising to his feet and stretching out the kinks in his muscles.
"Come on," Lenalee insisted with a warm smile, "We're heading back to the hotel before dinner, so gather your things."
"Um," Allen mumbled, using a first to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Dinner sounds good, but I'm pretty sure I didn't bring anything."
"Huh? Then whose towel were you using?" Lenalee nodded down to the wet, rumpled towel he'd been lying on, its edges buried beneath the sand.
"Hm? I don't know," he shrugged. "Nice castle though."
Lenalee beamed. "Thanks! Timothy and I—"
"Aw! Who used my towel?!" Alma demanded, jogging over, still quite drenched.
Automatically, Allen answered, "Timothy."
And that was that.
Though Lenalee still smacked him slightly upside the head. "Quit picking on him, Allen," she scolded, leaning down to pick up her bag.
Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Allen grinned and replied, "Heh, sorry Lenalee, but you know chasing after him throughout this trip has been a bit of a drag. I had to get my revenge somehow."
Instead of rebuking him further, Lenalee glanced furtively around, before leaning to give him a quick peck on the cheek. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Lenalee smiled as she said, "And I'm happy you've been looking out for him as you have. Timothy's still a little kid, and we're his family now. He could use a little attention."
Allen eventually returned her smile. "Right, okay. If you say so."
Once everyone was ready and they let Oliver know where they'd be meeting up for dinner, they begin the trek back to the hotel. It was only a ten minute walk though, so it wasn't long before they were spilling into the lobby with their lively chatter.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!"
It took the group of Exorcists a moment before they realized the hotel attendant was addressing them. Once said attendant gained their attention, he cleared his throat and asked, "By chance, does one of you go by the name of Allen Walker?"
Apprehensively, Allen stepped up and answered, "Yes, that would be me."
"Right, then these are for you," the attendant said and dumped a small stack of envelopes addressed to Allen into his hands, before sauntering off. The others appeared almost as bewildered as Allen, so he swiftly ripped one of them open, silver eyes quickly scanning its content.
"Well," the white-haired teen sighed heavily. "If anyone cares, it seems Lavi finally found his way to Cross…"
"Oh? Is that a letter from him?" Alma piped up. "What did he say?"
Allen shook his head, teeth grinding. "It's not. But I know Lavi found him, because I don't know how else Cross would've known where to mail these debts to!"
Everyone visibly cringed, and Lenalee patted him, her smile weak. Under his breath, Allen cursed Lavi. "Traitor."
A/N: It's been a long day and I'm beat, so appreciate that I actually wrote this.(x Anyway, short as usual! Next chapter, Allen will—actually, never mind. Haha, I should probably just keep it to myself. Oh well, I'm sure you can take a guess, and if not, you'll find out in the next day or two. Anyway, please don't forget to drop off a review before you go; as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!(: