So I actually made this last year in August and kind of just have been working on it since then... There's a good amount of chapters and it's not finished yet, but I wanted to get a really good head start on writing it before I start uploading it... A bit of a warning though, I tend to use harsh language because it's part of my identity, and also Lavi is made out to be kind of a troublesome guy (totally on accident)... Bear with me though, I'm working on it!

Also any advice would be really cool :)

Mutual Weirdness

Chapter 1

"Link."

Howard Link, a man of about twenty years with golden hair that reached passed his shoulder blades, turned to look back at the owner of the prepubescent boy's voice.

"Link… We're not normal." Allen Walker, aged fifteen, had his head on the table desk, staring out into Link's library collection of assorted books containing old and new descent. Link put down the book he'd currently been reading to give Allen a confused look.

"What's wrong?"

"Lavi and I were talking…." Allen sighed. Oh Great. Link hated it when Allen would go and talk to Lavi. He understood that they were best friends and all, but seriously the red head had nothing good to say. It constantly seemed as though he had some sort of grudge against Link.

"What'd he say this time?"

"Well I was telling him about our relationship and all… Because he was asking me about it, you know?"

Link swallowed. These kinds of topics had been rising up more and more since he and Allen had started going out, and Lavi always had something to say. "Just spit it out. What did he bad mouth about me?"

"No, no! It wasn't like that!" Allen jumped from his chair and waved his arms, a flustered look coming to his younger face. "It's just… well you know… You and I have been dating for like… a little more than four months, right?"

"Yes…" He could already see where this was going, since similar conversations had been had before, and he already knew that this was going to be incredibly unpleasant.

"W-well… even though we say we're going out… we don't really do anything…" Allen blushed and looked down at his feet. "Lavi says normal couples are supposed to kiss… and stuff… Or you know, like… be close…" At this point Allen was shuffling his feet and trying to avoid looking at Link. "I come over here all the time and we study or hang out, but it's not really any different from being close friends, you know?"

Link chewed his cheek and got up from his arm chair so he could be somewhat eye level to the younger high school student. "Walker, you know my reasons for that at the moment…"

Allen heaved a sigh and leaned back against the table his head had been previously occupying. "I know, I know! The whole legal thing…. But we don't even call each other by our first names! Or we could hug… or something…"

Link felt the heat rising to his face, knowing he probably looked something equal to Allen in the blush department as of this moment. He could never keep his bearings in these topics… "Well I suppose we could do stuff like that…"

"So do it!" Allen stalked up to Link and stood before him, a red face and an uncertain expression plastering his features.

"I-if you say so… Allen…" He felt his breath hitch in his throat at the utterance of his date's first name, not used to anything of the romantic sort; though this didn't count much for romantic..

It seemed to have a similar effect on Allen, for the younger boy's face tightened up and both room occupants stood there stiff for a moment. Allen let out a frustrated groan and sank to the floor. "Oh my god.. we suck at this, Link…"

Link took in a deep breath to make up for the one that got caught earlier, also making his way down to the floor and resting on one knee. "Who cares what Lavi says?" He held out his hand to place on top of Allen's head, but decided against it and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "He's a good friend to you and all, but he lives a completely different life style than the two of us."

Allen looked up and brought the composure back to his expression. "He says a lot of things though…"

Link knew he was going to regret asking this, but he braved it anyway and replied, "Like, what?"

"Like how it's weird that you're a twenty year old virgin dating a sophomore three quarters your age…"

The older individual felt the stab to his pride like a million needles. He really hated that obnoxious red headed nuisance at times… This of course would have been one of those moments. "Do you… think it's weird…?" Thinking back on it, he still wasn't sure how he had built the courage to ask Allen out. Talking to the younger boy made him tongue tied and feel silly about himself, but nonetheless he had always been drawn to Allen due to his maturity and mysterious personality.

Allen glanced off to the side, appearing as though thinking something over before turning back and flashing Link a smile. "Yeah, it's pretty weird."

Link felt his heart sink for a moment before his date continued.

"But I think weird is good. I think life's goal is to find someone who's on an equal level of weirdness and to share their weird qualities with each other and live their lives out as corresponding weirdos." Allen reached out to Link's hand, catching his attention, before pulling it back and scratching his cheek instead. The blonde internally chastised himself for not meeting Allen half way and taking this opportunity to hold the younger's hand.

They really were bad at this… But Link wasn't willing to let go of Allen and give up just yet. When Allen had agreed to go out with them (let it be known they were both standing a yard away from each other and afterwards only greeted each other with awkward smiles for about a week) it had made him happier than anything in the world, a feeling he wasn't really quite used to. Allen was probably the only person he'd ever really felt interested in, but for now he wanted to keep things simple and slow, learning from all of the Junior Bookman's mistakes.

He stood up and walked over to his closet, an idea formulating within the confines of his mind. "Hey Walker, you should put your coat on."

"Huh?" Allen got up on unsteady legs and balanced himself out before shooting Link with a puzzled look. "What do I need my coat for?"

"I'm gonna walk you home."

Allen opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it and started fidgeting with his under shirt collar. "A-aren't you just going to drive me as usual?"

"It's not that far," Link kept his same straight faced attitude, but inside he was starting to feel a bit squeamish. "What, like a mile? That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"B-but it's cold out! And you have to walk all the way back, right? And it's almost nine…"

"Walker." Link stepped up to his date and put a hand on his shoulder, making both males visibly tense up. "Let's go break some rules, ok?"

Allen was still wearing the same confused expression, but complied nonetheless and slipped into his tan trench coat which Link had fetched for him. The blonde put his own black coat on and, upon rethinking, grabbed his scarf for Allen and started to put it on him.

"Link this is yours…"

"I know…"

"Do you have another one?"

"No, but I'll be able to handle it, don't worry about me."

"But Link-"

"Shh." He finished applying the scarf and patted Allen's chest. "You're the one who said we should do more, right? Well it's my responsibility as the older one to come up with these things and make sure they go down without you getting sick or hurt. I don't want you to catch cold, so just take the scarf, ok?"

Allen's face blared red and Link was sure he was mirroring the action, yet he didn't reflect on it for he had to go back and get some gloves.

"Your left hand gets really sensitive around this time of year, right?" Of course he was referring to Allen's strangely deformed left arm, which the younger always seemed to have a self conscious problem with. He didn't really see anything wrong with it; for him it was a part of Allen, and anything having to do with Allen was simply, dare he think it, beautiful.

He retrieved the gloves and brought them back to his younger partner, fitting them onto each hand with care until Allen pulled his left one back sharply.

"You don't have to go through the trouble…"

"Does it hurt?" Link asked, afraid he might have offended Allen.

"N-no… You just… don't have to touch it if you don't want to…" Allen looked away and grimaced. "I know it's weird so…"

"What was it you were saying about weirdos coming together and sharing mutual weirdness or something like that?" The blonde gently grabbed the sophomore's left hand once more and proceeded to apply the second glove securely. "There's nothing wrong with it. I don't have a problem with it, so really this isn't a big deal to me." He kept up his usual façade even though his innards were starting to bubble up in embarrassment. It was hard for him to compliment people or point their good qualities out loud… It just wasn't something he was used to, but with Allen he felt it necessary to make sure the white headed boy knew he wasn't just some insignificant speck.

They walked outside and almost instantly they were stopped beyond the door by the view that awaited them. It was passed nine at this point on a late November evening which brought the sky to a dim indigo-red shade. Surrounding Link's apartment lay almost three inches of snow on the ground, settling quietly down upon all the cars, roads, and rooftops. The air was brittle and almost no sound could be heard anywhere except the light whistling of gentle wind whispering over the town. They both stood completely silent for a moment, taking in the frigid wonderland that had accumulated over the past few hours that they had been inside.

"It's so pretty…" Allen mumbled, his breath showing up in front of him for a brief second before evaporating into thin air.

"Yeah…" Link whispered back.

Allen tugged lightly on his own coat edge and faced Link, "It's pretty cold out here… Maybe we should drive anyways…?"

The blonde buttoned up the last of his own coat before inquiring, "Are you cold, Walker?"

"N-no! I want to walk… but for you…"

"I'm plenty warm enough, and driving in these conditions would be more dangerous anyways. If it's cold for you, I can give up my coat as well-"

"Don't do that!" Allen interrupted and waved his arms like he had before. "It's not cold at all for me, I was just thinking about you and…"

"W-well don't worry about me…"

They both stayed quiet and stared at each other for a minute, neither being able to tell if the other was blushing or just turning red from the frosty cold.

"We should go. I wouldn't want your uncle to get mad because I brought you home late." Link made for the stairs that reached to the ground below and looked back to his partner. "You coming?"

"Cross doesn't know we're dating…"

"Probably better we keep it that way for a while…"

"Yeah…"

Allen followed after and they both descended the steps with purposeful distance between them. It didn't last for too long though, for once at the bottom, Link waited for Allen to come down and took his left hand to cup it in his right. Allen almost jerked his hand back again, but appeared to be trying to get used to Link's most recent affection for it.

"Link you shouldn't."

"Do you want to hold hands or not?"

Allen puffed his cheeks and glanced away. "I do…"

"Then I should." His heart started ramming in his chest, though his face wouldn't give that away. He really wanted to take care of Allen and prove to the younger student that he was willing to give up some of his more strict qualities if it meant keeping him by his side. He could almost feel Allen's accelerated pulse through the glove and they ended up standing around for a minute before actually setting off.

Their feet made little crunching noises in the perfect snowy sheet, imprints of their shoes the only trace being left behind. Every now and then a car could be heard, though outside of that quiet breezes and feet crunching were the only breaks in silence. Link felt the hand that wasn't holding Allen's begin to get cold and put it into his pocket, seeking temporary relief until the cold seeped into his coat. He looked over at Allen, watching as the younger's face started to redden more as the temperature slowly began to noticeably drop. He stopped them both for a minute to adjust Allen's hood so the scarf went around it and no snow could come to be on top of the boy's head or get into his coat.

"Let me know if you're cold, ok?"

"I'm not cold though…"

"Let me know if you are." Link chided sternly. No way in hell he'd let Lavi pin on him that in his first attempt to romance Allen he'd gotten the boy sick. "I'm serious, Walker."

"ok, ok! I promise. If I'm cold, I'll tell you."

"Good."

They continued on for another ten minutes or so before Allen interrupted the frozen quiet. "Hey Link?"

"Hm?"

"I um… I really like…" He broke off and mumbled something into the scarf.

"Walker I didn't catch that…"

"I really like… H-holding hands… with you…"

Link felt his heart skip a beat and he almost froze up completely on the spot. At this point he was sure the red painting his face was from nervousness and not just from the surrounding air. "O-oh…"

"Oh?"

"I-I mean…" Come on, Howard Link. You're the oldest here, you're supposed to have it together! "I um… I really… enjoy it as well… W-with you I mean… Hand holding…"

He felt Allen get closer and hook his arm around his. They were a bit more cozy now, their foot steps looking like that of some weird four legged creature's which had been captured by the snow.

He didn't want to admit it right now, but the feeling of Allen being so close to him almost made him want to move away. Not out of dislike, he just didn't know if he was taking it too fast or… For once he was asking himself what Lavi would do, then instantly shook his head of he unpleasant answers that filled it. He decided to accept the arm holding, since Allen was the one who instigated it, and therefore probably didn't have a problem with it. It felt kind of good… The warmth coming off Allen's body and through his coat was making its way into his own, upping the heat for both individuals.

"Link?"

"Yes, Walker?"

"Does it matter…? That we're weird?"

Link gave his younger partner's arm a reassuring squeeze. "No. As long as we care about each other, than what other people think doesn't really matter."

"You care about me…?"

Both males halted in their tracks as Link locked up and focused Allen in a disbelieving stare. "O-of course I do!"

"But I must seem so immature to you…" Allen looked down to his feet and hung his head. "I'm so young compared to you… Don't you ever see me as a little kid or something like that…?"

The older blonde grabbed both of Allen's shoulders and looked him dead on. "I've never thought of you as a kid! Age has nothing to do with maturity, Walker. That Lavi friend of yours is three years older than you and he doesn't have a single toe worth of the maturity you have." He took in a breath, feeling the frigid air hit his lungs and sting a little. "But your maturity isn't what matters to me…"

He felt Allen's hand wrap tighter around his. The boy was looking him straight in the eyes at this point and he almost felt a bit intimidated by those silver-violet irises. "Link.."

"W-what…?"

"I-I'll tell you when we get to my house…"

Link nodded and the two continued their trek.

The snow started to pick up as they went on, their views limited to only a few feet in front of their faces. Link started to worry about the walk back home, knowing that his coat was already starting to give out and without any gloves his hands would freeze. Maybe once he got Allen safely inside he could ask for his scarf and gloves back… It would still be troublesome. With only the light from occasional streetlights as his guide and the snow picking up in intensity every few minutes he really was quite dreading the long journey back to his warm apartment.

It was worth it in the end though. He'd gotten to hold hands with Allen, and they had spoken more closely during this walk than during most of their privacy moments in his house. Usually they interacted as two mildly associated acquaintances. Keeping their distance, constricting their conversations only to business or matters of importance, every now and then indulging on a topic of gossip. But it was hardly foundations for a relationship… He could understand Allen's frustration at his own incredibly old fashioned way of doing things. To him though, he didn't want to touch Allen yet. Well… He did, but he wanted to wait until the proper moment. He didn't want to dirty Allen or his purity by kissing him or getting in his space too much… Those things could wait until Allen decided when they should occur, and once he became legal. As their relationship stood, it was simply against the law for a twenty year old to date a fifteen year old. Link wasn't normally one to break the law, but he wanted to have an opportunity to catch Allen before someone else did, and so far he was winning. That didn't mean he was going to take his rebellion to any extremes though… Under aged was still under aged, and even this simple act of him holding Allen's hand as a couple was strictly speaking illegal. But he had to do something to appease the lack of affection he was giving to his partner… Allen was still a teenager, and teenagers aren't necessarily known for their control over their hormones. Not that Allen was some kind of porn crazed delinquent, but he most likely still had desires and urges, of which he probably shared with that abomination of a friend of his, Lavi Bookman Junior.

If there was ever an opposite to Howard Link, he felt that Lavi Bookman fit the bill pretty perfectly. Link always felt that if someone disliked you, you shouldn't associate with them. The Junior Bookman, however, took someone's dislike of him as a challenge and would force himself upon people until they were either driven to hang out with him or pushed to insanity. Link felt that relationships should hold some sort of meaning and not be tempered with unless both sides agree, in which Lavi had a habit of sleeping around and not being able to last more than two weeks with the same partner. In Link's opinion he was a bad influence on Allen and filled his head with doubts about their dating relationship, of which Link thought it was really none of that accursed red head's business and he should just butt out. Whether he liked it or not though, he was Allen's friend, which meant that for Allen's sake he'd put up with him and try to be civil in his presence.

It had taken them about forty minutes through the cold and increasingly persistent snow, but finally they had made it back to Allen's uncle's house. There was no truck in the drive way, which meant the other accursed red head in Link's life was out as he usually was, probably taking to spending the night at some woman's house or passed out drunk in some bar.

The two walked up to the door, still holding hands until Allen had to reach into his pocket to pull the keys out. He fiddled with the knob for a few seconds before a click could be heard and the door swung inwards. The younger male stepped inside his home and stomped his feet on the matt, then walked further in and let the door close behind him.

Link stood awkwardly outside, not sure if Allen was coming back to say goodbye or not. If not, he'd be disappointed, but there wasn't really much he could do. He stood for about a full minute rubbing his arms and breathing in the frigid air until he decided Allen wasn't coming back and he'd go home without a farewell. Just then he heard the door open behind him, and a coatless Allen threw him a puzzled glance.

"Aren't you going to come in?"

Link blinked for second before replying, "Y-You… Want me to come in?"

"Yeah.."

"Inside your house…?"

"You've been here before…"

"But never this late…"

Allen leaned against the door frame and huffed, his air crystalizing before fading out of visibility. "Why don't you just stay the night then?"

Link's mouth dropped open and kept it like that until he noticed the face he was probably pulling and promptly shut it. "I can't do something like that! It's improper…"

"Why is it improper?" Allen was now wearing a face of impatience. "Just come in, you can sleep on the couch."

"What if Cross comes home? I really don't want to risk anything…"

"I'll just tell him you're my friend from school. He's seen Lavi spend the night here before, so really it's no big deal." Allen let out another huff and rubbed his arms. "If you don't come in I'm gonna stand here and catch a cold just to spite you."

"You wouldn't dare." The blonde growled. He was getting cold himself; more and more the warm of Allen's house was looking quite appealing.

"Get in here, stupid." The white haired teen pulled his partner through the frame and shut the door behind them, taking time afterwards to remove Link's snow-covered coat and put it in a small closet.

Link wasn't really sure what to do in this situation… Here he was, over at Allen's place at almost ten o clock at night, invited to spend the night… He rubbed the back of his neck and took in the Walker/Marion residence.

He'd been here twice before, but Cross had only been there one of the times. This one chance meeting had set up a quota for Link to try and avoid Cross every time he visited. The man was an unpleasant drunk with a fierce temper and an abusive hold over Allen. He could recall a few times where Allen had come to school last year with big bruises on his arms or legs, one time even a split lip that he had had to stitch up and care for so it wouldn't be infected. The one time he and Cross had been in the same building ended in disaster, Cross too plastered to probably even remember who Link was, Link so angry he didn't care that Cross was Allen's uncle, all he wanted to do was murder him.

"You can make yourself comfortable." Allen called from the kitchen. Link heard a few dishes and such being moved around, but didn't think to investigate it further. The younger must had turned the heat on, for a pleasant difference in temperature was soon beginning to settle. He removed his boots and wandered over to the living room to take note of the needlessly large fireplace.

"Hey, is this safe to use?"

"What?"

"This fireplace." Link pointed to said location as Allen poked his head out.

"Yeah it works just fine! We had it running like two nights ago. Knock yourself out."

Allen dodged back into the kitchen as Link attempted to locate some firewood. The state the house was in was one of utter disarray, clothes and objects strewn across the floor or table tops, the walls were dusty and unkept, and an impressive collection of whine bottles made home where ever it was Cross felt like dropping them when he was done. He knew it wasn't Allen leaving all these messes, for he had seen the boy's room and it was actually quite tidy. Allen had told him the first time he came over that he used to actually attempt to clean up every now and then, but Cross was so persistent in his right to weigh down his nephew that the dirtiness increased ten fold. Allen had eventually just given up and now only cleaned around holidays or when he his other Uncle was coming to town, which only happened once every few years.

He found what he was looking for though, under a pile of tent covers (Why they were even inside the house, he had no idea. Cross hated the outdoors). A dry pile of good wood, though a bit too cob-webby for his taste. He wasn't a big fan of spiders and when they came around he usually had to call Allen in to take care of it. One time he had managed to trap one under a glass cup, then drove the mile or so to Allen's house just to pick him up and bring him over to deal with the nasty arachnid. It wasn't something he was proud of, this irrational fear of spiders, mostly because it was exactly as it was named. Irrational. Link was a man of logic and wasn't usually afraid of anything, or so he liked to think, but spiders got to him for some reason. Something about a creature with eight legs just seemed…. Barbaric.

He carefully lifted the first one and to his relief there were no bugs of concern hiding away. So far. Luckily Allen wasn't far off so if he needed help he could holler without too much trouble. He grabbed some kindling and aligned two large logs among them in a sort of tent-like fashion to make room for the oxygen to move through the fire to give it life. He located what appeared to be unimportant pieces of newspaper, things like comics, sports, etc., and tore them to his favorable size so that they would start up the flames he lit long enough to catch, then eventually the main logs. He closed the chain metal screen and got up to go see what Allen was working on.

The kitchen was one of the other very few places in this house that stayed in order. Mostly because it was Allen's territory. The kid could eat more in one sitting than Link would be able to down in a week, which gave rise to why Allen already had a job simply to raise money to feed himself despite the state not being allowed to give out jobs until people were sixteen or older. It made it difficult for the two to see each other sometimes, what with Allen also having friends of his own, which Link thought was important for him to have. He deeply cared about Allen. And if he could spend every waking minute with him he would, but he would never want to smother the younger student or drive away his social life so he kept his distance. Plus he wasn't very popular with Allen's group… He shook his head and tried not to think about it.

Allen turned around as soon as he heard Link enter and gave the older blonde a winning grin.

"You like hot chocolate, right? That's a dumb question… you like all things sweet." The boy laughed to himself and brought over a hot mug, placing it in Link's hands. "Sorry we don't have any marshmallows… I haven't been able to go out and luxury shop for a while…"

"Don't worry about it." Link waved his hand in dismissal. "Thanks… for uh…. Letting me come in and all…"

"Like I'm gonna let you walk home in that." Allen looked to the window and Link followed suit, noticing how the snow was now rushing down, no longer lightly drifting as it had earlier. The older looked back to Allen, making a mental note on how the younger boy seemed a lot more comfy around him right now. They were kind of a tight wired pair, neither making any moves without the other's consent, but also both were too worried to bring anything up with the other. That was until tonight when Allen voiced his opinions clearly and Link took evasive action.

Allen moved to the couch and beckoned Link to come with him, moving some materials of questionable origin out of the way before plunking down. Link stood for a minute, thinking over whether he should sit on the cushion next to Allen or put one in between them in case he was getting too invasive. Allen cocked his head to one side and gave him a perplexed look.

"You can sit down you know…"

"I-I know… But where…?"

"On the couch, dummy."

"I-I know that… but… where…?"

Allen knitted his eyebrows together and patted the cushion beside him. "How about here?"

Link's eyes widened and he made sure to check twice before actually situating himself so close to Allen. The couch was comfy enough, though a bit dirty in Link's opinion. He mentally got over it though, knowing that this was where he was going to sleep tonight anyways.

A thought brought him back to reality though, remembering something Allen had said back when they were trudging through the snow.

"Oi… Walker…"

"Hmm?"

"You said you'd… tell me something. When we got to your house…"

"Oh.."

"Do you still want to or…?"

He watched Allen nervously glance around the room before bringing that silver-violet gaze back to him. "I um… Can I ask you something…? Without you getting mad..?"

Link swallowed hard and did his best not to avert his eyes from Allen's. "Sure… I won't get mad…"

"Promise…?"

What on earth could this possibly be..? "P-promise…"

The younger male looked down to his feet as they shuffled nervously on the stain covered carpet below. He practically wrapped himself around his hot chocolate before mumbling something incoherent.

"Walker… I can't hear you…"

"I was wondering… If maybe I could… hug you… or something…" Allen's face was a bright pink shade, and seeing how they weren't getting frost bitten anymore it could only be from frazzled nerves.

Link wasn't in much of a better state though. He could feel his heart hammering against his rib cage as though it wanted to break free. This was a lot better than expected though… He was afraid Allen was going to tell him some dire secret that would change the basis of their relationship… But a hug? He could do a hug. Maybe…

"I-if you want to… B-but you don't have to push yourself! I mean, I really wouldn't mind but… Um… God damn…" He greeted his face with the palm of his hand and let out a frustrated groan. "I'm an idiot around you. You know that?"

Allen laughed out loud, sending pleasant chills down Link's spine. He looked up to see Allen doubled over, cackling away as though he'd been told the greatest joke of all time. Another shot to his pride made him grimace at his date and try to defend himself."

"Hey you… It wasn't even that funny…"

"No no…" Allen continued to giggle, holding his stomach and wiping a tear from his eye. "It was cute, haha, I've never seen you so… hahaha!"

Now Link was blushing and rubbing the back of his neck as he did when things got too awkward for him to handle. "I'm not… cute…"

Allen finally settled down and stopped laughing, assuming a more proper position of sitting upright with his fists balled up on his knees. "I…. think you are…"

Now they were both quiet. This seemed to happen to them a lot… Link couldn't handle this… He was twenty years old, had been dating Allen for four and a half months, and still got caught up in his own tongue just trying to talk to this kid who was five years younger than him. One would think a college student at the top of his class would be able to hold his own better… Apparently not.

He felt Allen's hand on his own, and turned to see his date looking up at him expectantly. Damn…. Allen was gorgeous… There was no other way to put it. Even for a boy he had the feminine waist and a rounded face… It was like looking at perfection. Even with the gnarly scar over his left cheek and the deformed arm… Those factors in themselves became perfection.

He put his arm around Allen's waist, feeling the warmth emanating from the younger's body. Allen placed both arms around Link's neck and he felt the boy's nose rub up on his neck. He stiffened for a moment, wondering if maybe this really was taking things too far, but gave up on such thoughts and placed his other arm around the back of Allen's shoulders. He inhaled, taking in the scent of Allen's hair and could hear his partner doing the same. The only noise he could hear over the crackling of the fire was Allen's breathing blowing gently against his ear. The breaths were smooth and even, unlike the erratic pattern he was trying to keep under control. It was just a hug, simple as that. But to him it was something much more… He wanted to be the only one to see Allen like this. He knew Allen gave his friend Lavi hugs all the time, though this one seemed more meaningful and deliberate. Allen released a seemingly satisfactory sigh, his nose whistling slightly and giving Link a minor chill.

If Link had his way he'd hold Allen like this until morning, when that dreaded Cross character returned and would undoubtedly ruin everything. Allen, however, decided after about five minutes he was done and took to leaning his head on Link's shoulder instead. They both retrieved their hot chocolate cups, which had been set down prior to their most recent display of affection, but Allen was the only one taking sips. Link's mouth felt dry and cottony… His entire body felt exhausted almost at just how nervous he was with that head on his shoulder… He tried to play it cool, act like it didn't mean anything… Unfortunately even the slightest touch from Allen set him on edge and after that more than friendly hug all his systems were spazzing out of control, making it more than a good deal of effort just to sit still and accept the closeness of his current situation. He even went so far as to put his arm around Allen's shoulder and give his arm a light rub… That is until Allen smiled at him and his mind sputtered blanks for the next ten minutes.

"Hey Link…"

"Hm?"

"I'm kind of tired…"

"Are you going to bed?"

"Yeah but…" Allen intertwined his left hand onto Link's, apparently becoming more comfortable with the older male touching the twisted appendage. "I was… wondering if maybe I could sleep down here… with you.."

"Absolutely not." Link deadpanned. There was no hesitation in his voice as he declared his dismissal. There was no way he and Allen could sleep in the same room, let alone on the same piece of furniture. That would be too much for him, and if it wasn't improper enough as it was with Allen suddenly wanting to be more touchy (which really, it was his own fault for leading his partner on, but still…), then sleeping in the same bubble of each other was out of the question.

Allen sighed and pouted. "You know we were doing so well…"

"Wait till you're sixteen." Honestly Link probably wouldn't even be ready by that time…

"But that's not until the end of December!"

"It's not that far away, I'm sure you can wait."

"So you're saying that once I turn sixteen, you and I can sleep on the same surface together?" The white haired teen raised an eye brow.

"I said no such thing…" Link coughed.

"But you said-!"

"I said nothing." The long haired blonde put himself into a position where he could look Allen in the face a bit better. "Don't you think you're speeding things up a bit fast?"

"Only because you've been lacking out on me for the past four months!" Allen retorted. His faced looked a bit angry now, and the grip he'd had on Link's hand had vanished. "We're not Amish, Link… We're allowed to do more than just talk to each other you know…"

"Is this what you've been thinking or what Lavi's been telling you?" The older of the two locked eyes with his younger partner. "I want you to do things because you want to, not because you're living up to the expectations of that Bookman."

Allen took a hurt expression and hung his head. "But Lavi says-"

"Lavi's not us." He reached up and ran a hand down the side of Allen's head, petting the snow white hair. "We can do things are own way, Allen. It's not up to him what he decide we want to do. Ok? I'll stay with you regardless."

Allen's face slowly turned up, a shocked expression occupying his features.

Link removed his hand from the boy and took a quick look behind him before coming back to Allen. "what?"

"You called me Allen…"

Link froze up and felt his heart stop within his chest. He had said 'Allen', hadn't he? He didn't notice when he'd been talking but… "S-so I did…"

Allen grinned and clapped his hands. "You called me Allen! And you didn't freeze up or throw up afterwards!"

"Shut it , you."

"Do it again."

Link felt his face flush and averted his partner's eyes with every fiber in his being. "D-do what again…?"

"Call me Allen."

"I…" He looked back for a second, seeing that expectant face and suddenly feeling his stomach fill with butterflies. "I can't…"

"But.." The pout returned and Allen touched Link's hand again, warmth pooling around where his palms made contact. "But you did it… You really did it… Why can't you do it again?"

"I didn't know I was doing it when I said it…" He was tripping over his words and trying to avert himself from yanking his hand from Allen's. There was a queasy feeling in his gut and could feel himself paling. He sucked at this… He sucked so bad… "I'm… I'm sorry…"

Allen frowned, making the older feel guilty and useless. "It's ok. I don't think I can call you… Well anything other than Link at the moment either…" The teen glanced up to his date inquisitively. "Does anyone call you by your first name?"

Link turned away and thought about it, knitting his eyebrows together until he replied with, "No… No one really… Everyone calls me Link."

"Or Two Spot." Allen giggled.
Link bristled and growled lowly, "Don't you dare. That name is ridiculous and was made by that confounded red headed imbecile to mock me."

"You really don't like Lavi do you?"

"I get that he's your friend." Link heaved a breathy sigh and put a hand to his temple. "And I think you need him, he's not a bad person…. But as an individual I think he is irresponsible, disrespecting, and most of all I hate how he fills you with these ideas that your relationship with me needs to be just like the ones he has with all those now heart broken girls walking among your campus." He looked back to Allen, straight faced as he usually was and uttered, "He's a menace."

"Yeah I won't blame you for that one," Allen gave a nervous chuckle. "but he really does look out for me, and if it wasn't for him I would have never had the courage to start dating you."

"I was the one who asked you out…"

"But I was the one who said yes."

Allen brought his forehead forward against Link's, making the blonde mentally hyperventilate and visibly flush. Too close.. Too close… Too close… Too close…

"'Night, Link."

With that the fifteen year old got up and cocked a grin in Link's direction before walking upstairs. The college student sat there for a moment, still feeling Allen's touch fading from his forehead. He rubbed lightly at the spot, feeling dizzy with all the commotion the evening had bestowed upon him. It was a good step though. Allen was going to be turning sixteen next month, and with that he was going to be expecting Link to step it up a little to where they actually became a bit more open in their relationship. The blonde felt a lump in his throat. Honestly he just liked being with Allen… He'd never had any dates before so things more… physical… had a tendency to set him on edge… He mentally wacked himself. Don't do anything you don't want to. Walker will make moves on his own as soon as he stops listening to that Junior idiot. Unfortunately he wasn't sure when Allen would start doing such things… Allen had known Lavi for a good year longer than he'd known Link, which made the two more close knit than he and his own date.

He sunk down to the couch and curled up, looking into the dying embers of the fire he had built. Sometimes his relationship with Allen proved to be incredibly stressful and nerve racking… But he was too proud to let the sophomore go. Allen was the only person he'd ever been romantically interested in, and probably the only person he'd be interested in for a long while to come. Allen had a darkness about him that Link felt he could relate to and possibly understand. Allen's personality still wasn't entirely honest with him, but he hoped that over time the boy would open up more and share things with him about his past that maybe Lavi didn't even know about.

He grit his teeth. That obscene red head… He was the cause of all of Allen's doubts. He hated Link, and Link hated him right back. The Junior Bookman would probably do anything to drive Link out of Allen's circle of friends, and if it wasn't for Allen's self right to judge his own characters the bloody one eye would have done just that.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, regardless of the knowledge that he wasn't going to be getting a good sleep this night. The discomfort of knowing Allen was upstairs at this moment laying down to rest… He shifted himself awkwardly. The thought of Allen coming down in the morning with mussed up hair and pajamas… Link, cut it out, this isn't helping.

At last he felt himself drifting off, whether from exhaustion of walking around in the snow earlier or the heat coming off of the dwindling fire he wasn't sure. He wanted Allen. He'd already decided that. And no amount of troublesome red heads or other people's ideals were going to hold him back.

Like, no like? It's not an incredibly popular pairing, but it's my favorite and I have a lot of feels for these two. Also I'm a fluff hound if you didn't see, so if fluff without hardcore porn drives you absolutely mad this may not be the best story for you XD