Uh, Hello fellow kids! It's been a long time but I guess here's a new chapter? When I started this I think I was Allen's age in the story and now I'm even older than Link so a lot has happened between now and then including myself getting involved in a four year relationship and getting a full-time job as a preschool manager... I didn't realize how much of my anxieties came through in my writing until rereading this three some odd years later, ahaha. A few years ago the laptop I'd had with eight or so finished chapters in it crashed entirely and I was so pissed it was hard to come back and rewrite all that. I feel like I can come back to this piece now though, and hopefully I can actually get it finished at some point? Maybe...

Chapter 18
Link blinked bleary-eyed into the now-light room as he woke from the first truly restful sleep he'd had in ages. Cold rays of sunlight slipped through his curtains as he struggled to regain his sense with reality. What time was it…? He looked over at the clock on his night-stand to see that it was almost noon. Noon-!? He jolted, but was held back by a presence weighing down most of one half of his body. He rubbed his eyes, still not being able to see at full capacity due to his glasses being out of reach. Allen…
The teen was snuggled on his chest, snoring lightly and seemingly content in his sleep. They… They fell asleep together… Link attempted not to panic as he tried to fully grasp the situation. He remembered a lot of emotions last night, he remembered Lavi fulfilling his prophecy as a menace and… Oh. He felt nauseous. Allen told him… Told him…

"Link..?"
Allen opened his eyes up slowly to the blond, a sleepy blush covering his cheeks. Oh no… Link wanted to be furious that he had let himself break one of his biggest rules, but Allen was… He was adorable. He mentally kicked himself for being so weak in his values.
"We… We fell asleep…" Link stammered. What did he say? Weren't they supposed to be careful? Allen still wasn't even sixteen yet and he had… What hadn't they done at this point? Butterflies wriggled aggressively in his belly but he swallowed hard to push them back.

Allen pushed himself up, hair falling in a disheveled mess around his childish features. He rubbed his eyes before an expression mirroring Link's anxiety took over his face. "I-I'm sorry-!" The teen scooted back a bit, seeming timid in his movements. "I-I don't… I know you wanted to wait, I didn't mean-!"

Link got up slowly, struggling to remain calm. "It's… fine. I think." His heart was making great attempts to ram through his chest. "When did we-?" He stopped. Now he remembered…

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"Say it again."
Allen was nuzzled into the blonde's shoulder; Link could feel his warm breath on his skin against the winter's chill.

He swallowed. He was terrible at this… But he wasn't going to let that damned red-headed son-of-a-bitch get away with what he did to Allen. He knew what his partner wanted to hear. When he had screamed it, it felt natural and right… But now that the blood in his ears was silent as the snow around him it felt all the louder when he spoke. He took a deep breath.

"I love you."
He felt Allen sigh. "I love you too." The younger's voice was soft and raspy, most likely sore from all the night's stresses. "I love you, Link."
Link's chest tightened. He felt a million things at once… First he felt terrified, then unsure of himself; but ultimately he felt a relaxing ease take over his body upon hearing these words. Had anyone… ever said anything like this to him…? He tried to call upon memories of his mother, yet they were far away and distant. Leverrier had never shared such words with him, and his father… He pushed the nasty thoughts away and let himself revel in the buttery warmth of Allen's love. The knots in his stomach started becoming undone and replaced with an intense lightness in his chest. He was… Happy. So, so happy. He was scared, scared for what being connected with someone so deeply would mean for him, and for Allen. Scared for what their relationship would entail under the pressure of society and of the domineering entities in Link's life.
"It's cold." Link spoke softly, unused to how naturally the tone slipped from his voice. "We should go inside."

Allen nodded slowly and let the blonde help him up, both a little shaky from emotion. Upon entering back into the apartment's heat the white haired boy grabbed Link's hand. "I don't…" He touched lightly at the bruise on his neck. "I don't feel safe right now… Can I…?" Allen brought his eyes up to meet Link's and the silver haze within them held limitless uncertainty. "Can I, just this once, have you sleep by me? I never thought someone I was close to would really do something like this to me," he touched the hicky again, "well, not that I haven't had my expectations disappointed before, but I didn't think that Lavi…"
Link swallowed hard. Every part of his being wanted to refuse. Allen was too young, he was too old, they hadn't been together that long… Though right now he also felt unsafe for Allen's state of mind, and the thought of sleeping with a wall between them made him even more anxious. He didn't want to leave Allen alone right now, not after all this…
"It's ok for tonight." Allen's face lit up with what Link assumed was joy. "Just… just for tonight though… For now, anyways…"
Allen wordlessly followed Link into the bedroom, collapsing in a heap next to the blonde. They stared face-to-face, crimson eyes meeting cool silver. Link traced his fingers along the side of Allen's face, lingering on the scar and absorbing its velvety texture. He didn't deserve such soft feelings, he didn't deserve the attention of Allen Walker, God let alone his love. Though every fiber in his mind screamed that he was treading on waters too pure for him, his heart was fluttering in quiet happiness. Howard Link was happy.

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"Oh no…" Link looked at his phone, seeing an endless list of missed calls from Cross and Neah. "I didn't tell your uncle I'd brought to back to my apartment…"

Allen's eyes widened, mouth slightly agape in fear. "Shit-!" Link raised an eyebrow at Allen. "S-Sorry… But that probably means they're-!"
A loud series of knocks chaotically wracked Link's door and he had only a few guesses as to which fists could be responsible. He and Allen both leaped out of bed, dashing for the door. The blond man opened without thinking and was met with a look of absolute worry from Neah and an unreadable one from none other than Cross Marian. Crap… The man knew where he lived now…

"Allen!" Neah pushed passed Link and jumped into his home without permission to throw his arms around the teen. "I was so worried about you! I didn't hear from you all night, and I thought maybe someone kidnapped you!"
"I'm OK, Uncle Neah." Allen gently tried to push his hysterical uncle off, but no avail. "I just got really tired and it was late, so I thought I'd just head here instead of waking you up."

"My apologies, I should have called." Link rubbed the back of his neck, chastising himself for being so stupid. He made eye contact with Cross, though noticed the man's attention was elsewhere. He slowly turned to match his gaze to where it fell upon the dark splotch on Allen's neck. Cold dread the likes he'd never felt before griped his heart with icy fingers. He whipped back around to realize he was now in a dead-lock stare with Cross's single eye. He broke to look back at Allen who had now given up the hug-fight against his Uncle and caught on to what Cross was looking at.
"Allen, what's wrong?" Neah stepped back, before looking down and choking on his spit. He threw Link an uncharacteristic look of sheer hatred, the likes of which Link would not have ever fathomed he'd be capable of. "What did you do." The singer's voice had lowered to a growl which somehow sounded more natural for him, yet still horrified Link to his core.
"He fucked our nephew." Cross drawled plainly.

Link was dead. His tongue took the long flight south and the twenty-year-old man was left standing stock-still, unable to move or speak. The next time I see that red-headed asshole, I'm going to kill him. If I live that long myself…
"I-I-IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Allen waved his hands desperately, shrugging as if it would make the mark disappear in the slightest. "I-I promise, it wasn't Link! He would never…!"

Neah broke his death-glare with Link and shot Allen a look of worry. "Allen, you cheated?" His tone had now taken that of a mother disappointed in her child.
"What?" Allen was flushed an exasperated. "No! Why would you-!?" He heaved a huge groan and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Look, this is really complicated, and it's hard to explain…" The two uncles looked on with intense interest. "Look," Allen's voice was shaking with frustration, "can you sit down, maybe? I… I'll try to explain, ok?"
Link stood wordlessly as his partner's guardians removed their shoes and entered his home, no one bothering to ask him if he was alright with it. To his dismay he shared one more glance with Cross, this time the man giving him a dead-pan thumbs up. He wanted to vomit.
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"I KNEW I COULDN'T TRUST THAT BOOKMAN CREEP!"

Neah was red in the face as he pounded Link's coffee table with a fist. Allen could see Link twitch at the motion and guessed the blonde was none too happy that his table was being handled with such aggression. It probably didn't help that most of the items in his apartment were probably purchased by the people he worked for, and suddenly Allen felt a little guilty that his family was inside his boyfriend's home mucking everything up.

"Never liked him." Cross grumbled.

"You don't like anyone." Allen retorted.

Cross seemed to consider this for a moment before pointing a thumb in Link's direction. "He's kind of alright. He's got some fuckin' balls."

The white haired teen was shocked beyond belief that his drunken bastard of an uncle was somehow somewhat approving of Link. Apparently the only way to earn the man's respect was to challenge him outright and beat him into a pulp. Pushing his amazement aside Allen turned back to Neah who looked like he was about to go out and have a frantic episode.

"So… that's what happened. I guess… Honestly I don't really remember much in between the chocolates and waking up here, but Lavi confirmed himself when I asked him about it." Allen felt like sinking into the couch out of sight. This was embarrassing beyond belief that it had happened to him, even worse that he had to go over everything with the two people he'd have preferred to keep it from the most. He had made a point of leaving out the facts involving him and Link kissing as well as confessing rather adult feelings, not deeming it important enough to the situation to share. "Now that you're all informed could we maybe stop talking about it? I'd rather just kind of… try to get over it or something."

He could tell that Neah wanted to say something, but the man quickly changed expression and sighed instead. "True enough! This topic is quickly becoming exhausting, don't you think, Cross?" He attempted to nudge the large man but was swatted away instead.

"We're fixing your alcohol tolerance." Cross pointed directly at Allen who rolled his eyes in turn. "This shit wouldn't happen to you if you weren't such a goddamn pansy."

"Ok!" Link clapped his hands together, Allen seeing him physically restraining himself from blowing up and booting every one out. "I think we've explained ourselves quite thoroughly. Plus, we wouldn't all want to get sick of each other before sharing the holidays, yes?" Link eyeballed the two older men, Neah immediately catching on and standing up whilst Cross huffed indignantly.

"Correct you are, Boyfriend! We must save all our tolerance for group events when they will be most needed! Come, Cross! I feel the need for a couple drinks after all the stress and worry of wondering where my beloved nephew was being held hostage, even more so knowing that without a proper bodyguard he's constantly at risk of being assaulted in one way or another. Did I say a couple, how about a lot?"
A spark of interest gleamed in Cross's eye as he silently rose to follow the wild-haired man out. "First fucking thing you've said that's made sense your entire visit here. You're buying though, fancy-man."
Allen saw a look of relief smooth over Link's features as the man seemed to relax a little bit. As his uncles headed out he felt Neah gently lay a hand on his shoulder. "If you wanna talk later we can." The man gave Allen a soft smile before following Cross who had was already descending the steps to the big red truck parked outside. "Oi, you're not gonna wait for me!?"
The boy released a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding and turned back over to Link who had visibly deflated. He felt uncomfortable and nervous, knowing that dealing with his life had to be difficult for the man.
"Sorry…"
Link blinked, seemingly confused. "What for? I meant to call, things last night just got…" He visibly blushed.

Allen felt jitters. "Y-yeah…" He self-consciously gripped his left arm. "I hope I wasn't too forward; I know I asked a lot of stuff you're not usually ok with…"

The blond stood from his chair and placed his hand on the younger's head. "It's ok, really. I can always say no, and when I'm not alright with it I usually do."

Allen stepped forward and purposefully wrapped his arms around the older's back. He inhaled deeply, drinking in the scent he felt he would never get enough of. He felt the soft sore spot on his neck where his presumable friend had taken advantage of his normally polite demeanor. He wasn't one to become angry with others, not truly anyways. But right now he felt intense anger at Lavi for abusing his trust and single handedly trying to ruin what he had with Link. If the stupid red-head had wanted him so bad he could have had him long ago, before he had given up those feelings and realized he liked Link. Of course not though, Lavi only wanted what was hard to get and Allen was not going to relent what he had with Link to satisfy whatever brief delusions the one-eyed Bookman had. Up until that night he had always assumed his friend was just an aloof guy whose choices reflected someone who wanted to live a carefree lifestyle. He'd liked that a lot about Lavi before, as Allen lived in an abusive household and had to work himself to the bone just to hold what little he had together. Now he felt pissed, betrayed that someone he felt he was close to would treat him that way. Not that it hadn't happened before, he was getting used to the concept of being taken advantage of and left behind he just never would have imagined Lavi would join the ranks of disappointing figures. A little time away from his so-called friend would be good, he wasn't prepared to forgive him yet if ever, and he wanted to take this opportunity to follow Lenalee's advice of following his gut. His gut told him Link was right for him, that the man had his best interests at heart and wasn't going to hurt him for his own gain.

Around one in the afternoon, Link was preparing breakfast and coffee in the kitchen, making a spread that would befit Allen's gurgling appetite. The last thing he'd had in his stomach were those pickles and some orange juice since from what Link had told him he'd vomited whatever he ate at his supposed birthday party along with the chocolates. Allen was thankful for the dark liquid, though added a fair amount of creamer since he wasn't quite accustomed to the taste yet. He felt fuzzy and out of it, a feeling he hoped would start to dissipate once he had some food in him. He had a lot to think over. Every time things seemed to be easing up around him something more complicated would rear its ugly head and throw everything back into turmoil. The majority of the last two months had been a complete mess, though he was happy for the patience Link executed when dealing with such things. For now, he just wanted to sit and rest and hopefully avoid any social situations where someone would try to beat or corrupt him.

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Lavi's head was splitting as he groggily awoke in an unfamiliar bed. He rubbed his eye, noticing that somehow his eye-patch had been misplaced leaving his blind eye exposed which made him uncomfortable. It was the one ugly thing he possessed externally, though he supposed most of his insides were much uglier. He felt like absolute shit, his lower body completely sore and he supposed his innards were aching from the entire bottle of Jameson he and Tyki had indulged in. He carefully rolled over, suppressing a groan and regretting having taking the direction he had in his lack of clear-thoughts. Once again he had slept with Mikk, and just like last time he was feeling hungover as hell, though he didn't feel quite as sour about it as he had before.
The older man was quietly abrasive, and there was no doubt Lavi still found him pretty creepy… Though he couldn't deny that he wasn't one to come back to a date once he deemed it unsatisfactory. Maybe that meant Mikk satisfied him? He shook his head. Ugh, he didn't have the energy for these thoughts right now.

He searched for his eyepatch, wanting to find it before his beneficial friend awoke and got a good look at his discolored and rather useless eye. Perhaps his bunk eye was a good metaphor for everything he did, useless and ugly. He grasped the small bit of fabric and relocated it to where it belonged. The eyepatch wasn't necessary, in all honestly he just thought it was a stylish way to cover up his disability. Whenever girls asked him about it he would change up the story, saying he'd lost an eye to fireworks or shot it out with a BB gun like that kid from A Christmas Story. The truth was he was just born with it, a great genetic hand-me-down from his bummer dad who was too busy journaling around with his mom to ever come back and check on him. His family called it the Bookman's eye, and it seemed that using only one eye sharpened a lot of his other senses which was certainly useful. That and girls thought the eyepatch was mysterious, which he liked (though he was starting to wonder about his philanthropic adventures along with everything else)
He wandered over to the bathroom, relieving himself before checking his face in the mirror. His head-band has been misplaced, he was unsure as to where it had gone after everything came off last night. His hair was a mess and his face was a little gaunter than he was used to. When did he start looking so miserable? He swallowed. Memories of his actions came flooding back and he subconsciously buried his face in his hands. What an idiot… And to top it all off he had acted like a brat and hung up on Allen, not like Allen had actually done anything wrong. Every part of him wanted to run over to Allen's house and apologize his heart out, though he was very sure neither the white haired teen or his saintly protector wanted to see much of him right now.

"You're still here."

Lavi turned to see Tyki standing in the bathroom doorframe, the tall man in nothing but his boxers. His hair was undone and falling in long chaotic curls around his face and shoulders, his muscular arms crossed against his chest. Jesus fuck, the guy was ripped… Did he never notice last time? He was toned and chiseled like those male models he'd jerk off to in underwear magazines.

"I just woke up, haven't had the time yet to run off and leave you lonely yet." Lavi smirked, though inside he didn't really feel like smiling. Fucking Mikk was enough to have distracted him for a bit, but now he was back to reality staring his consequences square in the face.

"Well you could run off if you want." Tyki stepped aside from the door, as if inviting Lavi to dip out and leave him. "Or I could make you some breakfast."

Lavi raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem too bummed about me being a massive dick to you all the time."

"Maybe I don't think you're as much of a dick as you pretend to make yourself out to be." The Portuguese man wore a softer smile than Lavi had seen on him before. Was he… Being nice? "Your choice, Eyepatch. I'll be in the kitchen." With that Tyki left and Lavi was once again alone with his thoughts. He pondered the idea of spending more time with the person he had previously assumed wanted to lock him in a dungeon. Home meant Gramps, which meant explaining that his phone was demolished and he'd need a new one. Lenalee wanted nothing to do with him (understandably), Allen was probably never going to speak to him again and Kanda barely spoke other than to insult him, which he didn't feel like putting up with at the moment. Breakfast it is.

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Sunday passed, a week went by and Link was alone in his apartment reading a lengthy book on the Friday night before Christmas Eve. Allen had stayed over a few more nights after last weekend's catastrophe. It seemed the teen was uncomfortable being in his home as Cross was shooting inappropriate remarks and Neah wouldn't stop fussing over him. At least among the boy's uncles things had calmed a bit and he was able to hide in his room without someone trying to bust in and check on him. He understood Neah's overprotection, he himself didn't feel fully at ease leaving Allen to himself what with his partner's terrible relationship with luck. Of all the people his psyche decided to fall in favor with it chose a kid prone to unfortunate misgivings.

He placed the book on the table, his head was fuzzy and swimming with all his overthinking. Before Allen he had never felt anything like this towards another person. Link harbored feelings of love towards perhaps one other human-being, but it wasn't at all on the same level. Allen broke his confidence, made him unsure of his actions and destroyed the man's previous image he'd had of himself. He was groomed to be a proper lawyer for an esteemed family that appeared to deal in events that needed adequate lawyering. He frowned. If they needed lawyers so damn bad he'd really have his work cut out for him…

Augh, work…
As Allen had been gone the last couple days to spend time with Neah the blonde had been drowning in doubts about his thoroughly planned out life goals. Get an education, become one of the world's greatest lawyers, and then… And then what? Just work until he died he supposed, it seemed a fate befitting someone of his type. That and…

You're getting so caught up in all this. Things were simpler when you knew your debt and had to pay it. Things only got complicated when you forgot your sins and decided to act wildly.

He heaved a sigh, relieving the held-up tension in his lungs. He had no right to go against the values of the family that had given purpose back to him. He had no right to fall in love and be distracted by everything that went against the God his financers so avidly believed in. If they found out, what would happen? How long could he keep this a secret?

It doesn't matter what happens to you, idiot. But you're forgetting what they might do to her, this isn't just about you anymore. How have you been so blind?

Link shook his head. How could he have been so stupid? When it was just simple dating maybe he could have backed out at some point without getting too involved, but now…

He's as important as she is now.

"Knock, knock."

Link lifted his head that had fallen in his hands at some point and stared blankly at his door. He checked his phone. Allen usually mentioned when he was coming over, he was considerate in such matters. It was almost eleven and he couldn't imagine who'd be coming over at this hour. He held his breath as he cautiously walked toward the door, hoping with every fiber of his being that it wasn't a certain red-headed bastard. Would he…? No. Please no.

He peered through the eye-hole, prepared to pretend he wasn't home regardless of all the lights blaring out his windows. Surprise overtook him as he glanced a certain pig-tailed friend of Allen's looking anxiously at the door. What was she doing here…?

Link opened the door, unsure how to greet the shorter Chinese girl as she shivered in the cold. "Uh… Hi." He mentally kicked himself for being so awkward, though couldn't organize his frazzled thoughts for a better introduction.

"Sorry it's so late." She smiled nervously. "Allen's not over, is he?"

"No." Had she come here hoping to avoid the white haired teen?

She seemed relieved. "Good. I feel like I haven't really had a chance to chat with you ever." She shivered again. "Is it ok if I come in?"

Link fumbled numbly for the edge of the door. "U-um, yeah. He awkwardly shuffled to the side as Lenalee politely dusted her boots off outside before entering his home. The blonde chastised himself for being so insecure around Allen's friend again before quietly closing the door. He'd spoken with her quite a few times, in fact he even deemed her as one of the few people he kind of enjoyed the company of. It was weird having her over without Allen though; Allen was great social lubricant whilst Link felt like a rusty door-hinge. "Do you want any tea?"

"Tea would be awesome." The teenage girl flashed a more comfortable smile before timidly making her way to the couch. "Mind if I sit?"

"Not at all." Link felt stiff as a board as he mechanically assembled items for social tea-brewing. "Chamomile ok?"

"Yeah." She sat down gently, as if afraid she'd break it if she came down too hard. "How are you?"

Link felt a clog in his throat. "Uh, ok…" What was this? Why couldn't he just lie and say he was fine? It was as if this girl was tricking him into honesty through her sweet tone. "I'm good." He corrected.

"How's… Allen been?" Link noticed her look to the floor, a hint of worry hovering over her expression. "I haven't heard from him since he went home after the whole chocolate scenario."

Oh right. Link remembered Allen's detail that Lenalee was the one who had caught on to what their one-eyed associate was up to and had put a stop to it before things went too far. "He's alright. You know about the whole…" He stopped mid-sentence, unsure how to describe it without sounding ridiculous. She looked at him, her eyes even bigger than Allen's. "Y-you know." He pointed to his neck, feeling like he might be pulling an odd face. Then he mentally smacked himself for being an idiot.

"Oh-!" Lenalee bunched up, gripping her knees in balled fists. "I uh… I sort of came over to talk about that, if that's ok…" She looked incredibly nervous and Link felt embarrassed for not being a better house-guest.

He tried to straighten up and took a deep breath. "I'm not really sure how to talk about it." He felt his calmness coming back a bit and regained some of his normal tone. "I had a hunch something like this might have happened, Junior's not as subtle as he tries to pretend."

"You're not mad at Allen, are you?"

"Of course not!" The blond blurted before blushing. "I wouldn't blame him for something like that, I know it wasn't his fault." As if on que the teapot started whistling and he found his excuse to busy himself. He chewed the inside of his cheek, wondering why it was so hard for him to communicate casually. He could tell Allen wasn't always up for loose conversation, however the teen normally plastered on a big, fake smile and carried on like it didn't bother him any.

"I'm glad you're not angry with him." Lenalee seemed to relax a little. "I was so worried, and after not speaking with him for the last week I was scared maybe something had happened between you two." The blond was surprised to hear such genuine concern for Allen after most of the experience he'd had in his relationship with the teen involved people joking around or being skeptical of their partnership.

"I guess I should apologize." Link set out the two cups of tea on the coffee table, providing honey and sugar in case the girl preferred them. "I always try to encourage Allen to see his friends, though I suppose us being as we are might be taking time away from them."

Lenalee waved her arms, similar to how Allen tended to do when he was nervous. "It's ok, really! Most of us have dated before so I understand. Though I've certainly never had a guy look out for me the way you do for Al." She puffed on her tea before taking a tentative sip. "Though, honestly speaking I don't think I deserve a nice boy as much as Allen does, he goes through so much." A far-away look glazed over her eyes as her sight focused seemingly nowhere. "You've been friends with Allen for over a year now, yeah?

"I don't know if we were always friends…" Link sipped the sweet tea, pondering that first day he met the younger male. "In fact I think he hated me at first."

The teenaged girl laughed, a sweet sound with honesty in it unlike the shady ones Lavi would give when trying to cover something up. "I think so too, I remember when you two had to work together and you both always looked so sour in the hallways!" A few tears had come to her eyes and Link coughed, attempting to cover a chuckle. "And then after what was it, most of the school year at least, right? He starts telling me that he thinks he likes you, and the look on his face was so hopeless. He starts telling me about how he can't find out whether or not you liked him back and, no offense, but with how you are he seemed to get so frustrated and would come back with plans A lined up through Z to get your attention." She giggled through her story, though Link felt no indignation in her words as he often did with others. He was starting to wonder why he'd never made more of an effort to talk with her. "And then near the end of the school year," she continued, "he comes to me with this big, stupid grin on his face; I've never seen Allen like that before in my life! And after all his passive-aggressive attempts to find out where you were coming from he tells me you just ask him flat-out, and I think it really threw Al for a loop. Here he is, trying to find out everything he can about what you like and with you keeping to yourself he couldn't find anything and all of a sudden you just ask him out anyways? I think Allen was really happy at that time."
Link sat and listened, noting how refreshing a point of view this was compared to the one a certain red-head always portrayed. "To be fair, I never would have fathomed he'd accept my offer… We're so different in almost every way, I'm not really sure why I feel drawn to him. But I do regardless. I have a hard time with people who don't take things seriously, which is tough since most individuals in our age groups seem to goof off a lot of the time." He tried to read the girl's expression, hoping he wasn't driving her away by being too dull. "It's not that I don't get why one might be such a way, but I've never had the interest, or leisure for that matter, to do so myself, so I don't really understand it."

"Allen's a hard worker." Lenalee flexed an arm to elaborate and the blonde accidentally let a smile slip. He straightened up quickly but not fast enough. "Gotcha! I knew you had human emotions!"

Link rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm fully human. Though it appears to constantly surprise people."

There was a quiet for a moment before Lenalee took on a more serious tone. "Has Allen ever talked about… anyone else he's liked?"

The blonde was a bit taken aback. "Yes… before we started going out though, probably before we even started being decent to each other he mentioned liking someone, though never told me who it was." He caught the girl's quick glance in his direction. "I have a pretty good idea though. It's alright, from Allen it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that the person he'd liked had every opportunity back then and never took it. Though I suppose I should also be grateful since if things had gone that direction I wouldn't be so lucky."

"I think Lavi liked him too, even back then." Link felt a rigidness in his spine, though let Lenalee continue. "I've been his friend for a long time, and he's always tried to protect Al for the most part, but… He doesn't understand how to care for someone without acting like a brat. He's dated a few girls he seemed to have genuinely liked and then broke up with them because for him it was 'too serious.'" The man noticed a tinge of bitterness in her voice. "I think he stays so distant because he can't stand the notion of anyone noticing his imperfections, but Allen can see people for who they are and accept them with his whole heart. I think someone like that would intimidate Lavi and make him feel weak." She took a long sip from her tea before turning back to Link. "I like Allen for who he is, and don't want him to be anyone else, and I think you feel the same way. I'm glad he gave up liking Lavi, I think he would have broken Al's heart and just treated it like another bump in his off-road journey. Lavi's not a bad person, but Allen is the kind to accept whatever treatment's given to him as long as he can please someone. He would have done everything to make Lavi happy to no avail, but Lavi doesn't want someone who will do what he wants." She looked up, exasperated. "Honestly I don't know who could tie that guy down, God knows they'd have to have a great deal of patience and skin thicker than leather. But he would have become bored of someone trying to make him happy. He doesn't want to be happy he just wants to revel in self-loathing for who-knows-how-long." She knitted her eyebrows together before taking a deep breath and leaned back. "Sorry for venting, without Allen there's not a lot of people I can talk to seriously. Also I'd never want to say anything to him that would sway his decisions, but sometimes it's super hard being best friends with so many idiots!"

Link wasn't sure how to respond. That was… a lot to take in. He'd known Allen had liked someone else, and for the most part he'd known it was Lavi. Somehow it was different seeing it as fact though, and he wasn't sure how to digest the information.

"Sorry! I talked a lot, you're probably annoyed…" She started hunching back in her seat again.

"No it's alright." He shook his head; guilty he was making her so anxious. "To be honest I've never been able to talk about our relationship with anyone other than Allen, and to be sure I'm not at all certain how something like this works…" He fidgeted nervously with the rim of his cup. "I want to make Allen happy. I want to be someone he can rely on and come to, but we're both horrible about asking people for help when we need it." He blushed. "Not that I ever need help."

Lenalee laughed. "Of course not, I wouldn't dream of it." She had finished her tea and stood up, straightening her skirt back out. "We don't know each other super well, but if you ever need someone to talk with about Allen just let me know. Lavi's a hopeless soul and Kanda's too caught up in his own fake-aggro act to talk honestly with me." She extended a hand to Link. "Can we be friends?"

Link stared dumbly at her hand, taking way too long to find where his arm was and meet her half-way. "Y-yeah…"

"Good!" She flashed a pretty grin before bouncing towards the door. "Alright I gotta go before Brother suspects I'm doing something suspicious. We'll talk again soon, ok?"

Link stood up and made his way over to open the door for her. "That would be… appreciated." As Lenalee made her way to the steps a question that had been burning through him their entire visit escaped his mouth. "How the hell did you all get involved anyways?"

She turned back around, a look of awkward sentiment taking over. "That's uh… That's so complicated, man. I'll try to explain it one of the next times we hang out, ok?"

"Sure…"

With that the pigtailed girl left, making her way into the winter's snow in the direction of the nearest bus-stop. Link stood in his door-way for a while, trying to organize all that had just happened. Something light was in his chest, not quite the queasy experience he had with Allen but something somewhat similar…

It seemed he'd made a friend.

I started this story as a teenager living with an alcoholic parent writing timidly in her bedroom, now I'm an adult who owns her own apartment and has a full career planned out? I feel like I can do Allen and Link a lot more justice now!
I'd really like to thank all the support I've been given for this story. Some of you have come in even as of a few months ago and told me about how you were still hoping for an update (you poor things, I'm so sorry...).

Thank you for everything, I hope this tiny chapter is worthy of your dedication. Thumbs up for Lenalee, amiright?