A/N - Okay, guess what. A new story! What? So soon, you ask? Well it's simple, really. I don't have a life. c: Anyways, this story was a request (Wasn't PM'd to me, but it doesn't matter. :P) courtesy of crownclown25. This person gave me two plots to choose from, but you know. I'm bad at decisions. So I went with the first one. c: So you go ahead and thank crownclown25 if you like the story~!

DISCLAIMER - All content and rights go to their respectful owners. I only own and take credit for the story.

~What Hurts the Most~

(Chapter 1)

Thunder boomed, lightning cracked, wind howled, rain poured, trees practically flew out of the ground. Oh yes, this was one of the worst storms the Order had ever faced. Thankfully the building's structure was sturdy enough to endure the harshest of conditions. Even so, over the flashes of lightning, and loud cracks of thunder, everyone was asleep. Everyone was home, minus Allen who was currently on assignment in Italy. Or so everyone thought.

'It hurts... So much... Make it stop, please...'

The 16 year old boy with snow white hair (That was actually stained red with his own blood) limped through the empty hallways.

'My room is so far away... Please don't get lost...'

It seemed like years until he had reached his destination. His door swung open, and then shut as he kicked it with a booted foot and yelped in pain, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. He collapsed on his bed, breathing heavily. His left arm was paralyzed, his right ankle and five fingers twisted, and the side of his neck sliced just deep enough to make him bleed badly, but not enough to kill him or have something touched that shouldn't have been. His entire body ached. He was severely bruised all over his chest and torso. Was he imagining a broken rib? He didn't care. He just wanted to sleep. He was tired and achy. Surely he would feel better with some rest. He didn't need to go to the infirmary. Despite his 'positive' thinking, he couldn't even close his eyes. All he could do was take in quick, yet heavy breaths that seemed to hurt him more and more each second and stare at the blurry wall. Crimson stained bangs pooled around his blank eyes, the once spiky back sticking to the dried blood that was mainly focused around the gash on his neck.

(The next morning, after the storm had finally died down after three days)

Lavi sat up and yawned, then stretched, looking outside his window.

'Ah! The storm finally died down and I can go outside!'

His usual lopsided grin grew onto his features and he pulled on a clean uniform for the day. Allen had been gone for almost a month now, and he was starting to miss the boy. "Man, Allen needs to hurry back. I'm gettin' bored!" Lenalee happened to walk past him and she giggled. "Aww don't get so down, Lavi! He'll be back before you know it! Wanna help me straighten up his room a bit so he'll feel welcome when he comes... Back.. Lavi why is there so much blood on the floor!?" Lavi looked down to see a large puddle of the thick substance under his feet. "Ew, this is gross!" His eyes followed the little 'trail' and saw the blood stopped outside of Allen's door. Lenalee and Lavi looked at each other wide-eyed before bursting into the room, finding Allen strangely slumped against the wall. His hands were limp at his sides, twisted right leg stretched out, his unscathed leg bended up at the knee, and his head leaning against the wall in a way that made the hair that wasn't sticking to his skin fall back out of his eyes. He was covered in what the two guessed was his own blood and Lenalee let out a loud shriek. "ALLEN!" Allen winced at the loud cry and smiled weakly. "Don't... Be so... Loud.. Lena..lee.." The emerald-haired girl, and the emerald-eyed boy ran to his side. "A-Allen, what happened to you!?" "Level.. 4's... I got th-them though..." Lenalee immediately ran out of the room for help, and Lavi stayed by his friend's side. "Lenalee's gonna get help, Allen..! How long have you been like this!?" "Got here... Last night..." He frowned. His friend, who was only a room away, had come home, during a bad monsoon, and he hadn't even noticed. He felt so guilty.. Allen had endured his injuries all night, probably lying awake, and Lavi had been asleep as if nothing mattered and there wasn't a care in the world. It was the next moment that Lenalee and the head Nurse had run in with a few assistants. "Quickly, put him on a stretcher and transport him to the infirm-"

"I'm fine... I don't want... to go.."

"Nonsense, Walker! You need medical attent-"

"I can take care of him." Everyone looked at Lavi in shock. (Yes, even Allen, except his current face of shock looked more like misery)

"Lavi! You can't take care of Allen..! You aren't even trained in advanced medicine!"

"I want Lavi.. To do it.." Allen coughed a bit, which caused him to wince and scrunch up his face. Lenalee and the nurses looked at the pair before hesitantly leaving. A few moments went by in silence, (Except of course Allen's raspy breathing) before Lavi gently wrapped his arms around his friend, picking him up as carefully as possible and set him on the bed. (Which was thoroughly soaked with it's owner's blood.)

'Poor Allen... He has so much weight on his shoulders... He doesn't deserve this..'

"I'll be right back, just uh.. Relax as best as you can.."

"Don't have to try.. Very hard.." Lavi smiled lightly before running out of the room. When he returned, his arms were filled with various medical supplies. He set them down on the empty night table that stood by the bed. "Okay, I have to take off your pants, Allen.." Lavi felt a bit uncomfortable with the thought, but knew it had to be done. He tried his best to carefully slide the pants off the smaller body in front of him, noticing his boots were already gone. Allen was now left in his underwear. The first thing the red-head noticed was the swelling in the right ankle. He immediately noted it wasn't broken. Just twisted. He was happy that he was training to become a Bookman, as his sharp vision allowed him to notice small things with just a glance.

'Okay.. I remember reading in one of those books the other day.. Uh.. Gotta.. Set it! Right? Please be right!'

His hands were lightly placed around the ankle. Left hand on the foot itself, and right hand on his leg, just above the ankle. "Allen, I gotta set your ankle, okay? On the count of three. 1.." In one swift movement, the ankle was in place and Allen let out a sharp cry.

"O-Ow! What happened... To 2 and 3..?!" Lavi just smirked. "2, 3." The next thing he did was set a small bag of ice over his friend's ankle.

'Keep the ice on for 20 minutes, then 20 more minutes off.'

A single emerald eye ran up the battered body, and stopped to rest at the twisted fingers. (Keep in mind there were no such things as pain-killers yet) Only minutes afterwards, the fingers were also back in their place. Meanwhile, in Allen's mind, everything was throbbing. He was limp and panting, and trying his hardest not to let any tears form in his eyes. At least he was able to do that much. Lavi figured Allen wasn't feling too comfortable with so much blood over him. Or maybe he was too numb from pain? Either way, he looked down at the gash around his neck and frowned. "Allen, I'm never going to be able to get all this blood off ya with just a wet rag. You need to take a bath..."

"That's.. Fine." And again, his body was gently held within strong arms and before he realized it, lowered into a porcelain tub of warm water that made him burn so much, he felt as if he would burst into flames, yet the clearer liquid's embrace was gladly accepted and wanted. His eyes were clamped shut once more and his jaws locked together as he felt a wet rag wiping the still drying blood at the gash. "That hurts.. Lavi." "Well it's gonna hurt worse if I leave it like this, idiot. What the hell were you even thinking? Takin' on more than one level 4 by yourself? Why didn't you run and call headquarters for backup?"

"Didn't wanna be... A burden." He was delivered a slap to his bruised face by the same rag that was trying to clean him moments ago. "Allen, you really are stupid. We're in the middle of a war. And your excuse is you don't want to be a 'burden'? What if you didn't make it back? What if you passed out somewhere where nobody could find you and you bled to death? Aside from the fact that right now, we need all the exorcists we can get our hands on, you're part of the family. Did you even stop and think for a moment what would happen to us if we lost you..?" Silence. "Forget it. You'll never see it that way. You're thick-headed." He smiled a bit, but it didn't seem very happy. It looked like he was only doing it for the sake of doing it. "I'm sorry, Lavi."

"...Shut up."

Finally, Allen was no longer covered in blood. His hair was once again as white as snow, the gash around his neck remained just an opened wound, and his ankle and fingers were just swollen. He looked a lot better when Lavi looked closer. Wait. Was he thinking Allen was... Attractive? No way!

'He's just a friend that needs me right now. After he's all better, we'll go back to the way it's always been.'

He was unaware he outwardly sighed as he wrapped cotton bandages around the wound. Not to mention, Allen felt better as the pain dulled. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just thinkin' about stuff. How're you feeling?" "Much better. Thank you.." "Don't mention it! We gotta stick together, right?" A soft 'snip' was heard as the bandage was cut and the open wound was ready to begin it's healing process. "Hey Allen?"

"Yeah?"

"I noticed you haven't moved your left hand at all since you got back. Don't tell me..."

"Oh, no, it's fine.. Just a little numb I guess. I just have to rest for a while and it'll be okay again!" The door burst open, and Lou Fa came running in, (She had finally managed to make it to the science division at headquarters after only a year of knowing Allen) only to be stopped dead in her tracks by her own red face, and her eyes locked on Allen's shirtless form. (He was also still only in boxers, but clean ones now) "W-Walker-kun! I-I came to see if you were okay...!" Her voice almost cracked. Almost. "I'm fine, L-Lou Fa..! But can you get out..!?" She quickly covered her eyes. "I'm so sorry!" And then she was gone. Lavi sweat dropped and slowly turned his head back to Allen who was blushing and looking out the window. (He was embarrassed that Lou Fa had seen him half naked.) "So that.. Happened. Whatever the hell that was. Can you move..?" His blush faded and he nodded, standing very shakily only to fall back on the bed due to his ankle. (It still hurt!) "My ankle still kinda hurts.. But I'm okay. I just want to rest for a bit before heading to the cafeteria. You go ahead, okay?"

"I don't want to leave you here alone-"

"I'll be okay, really!" A chaste sigh was his response as the nineteen-year-old stood and left the room.

'Does Lavi... Hate me now?'

(In the cafeteria with Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda)

"I patched him all up!" Lavi beamed as if proud of himself, (Surprising, right?) and Lenalee only nodded. "How's he doing?" Kanda, Lenalee, and Allen's 'savior' all sat down after ordering their breakfast. "He says he's fine. Luckily he only had a twisted ankle and fingers, and lots of bruising. He also had a gash on his neck, but it wasn't too bad."

"Che. Idiot should have died."

"Oi! Yuu-chan! Don't be so mean!"

"Kanda! That isn't something to joke around about!" The Japanese man just muttered something that sounded similar to 'Wasn't joking...', but it was ignored and the three ate the remainder of their meal in silence. It was only afterwards that Lavi broke this silence and Kanda had left. "I almost forgot! He also said his left hand was numb. Should he go see Hevlaska to get his Innocence checked?"

"I think he should.. It's better to be safe than sorry!" He nodded in agreement.

It was only moments later that the entire Order practically shook with what resounded through the halls. "MANAAAA!"

I know what you're thinking.

'SoKawaii325! Whyyyyy!?' DDD:

It's simple. TO KEEP YOU INTERESTED AND WANTING TO READ MORE. *Psychotic evil laughter*

Lavi: *Sweat drop* You okay there..?

Me: OMG LAVI I LOVE YOU. *Glomps*

Lavi: OI!

So like. Review. It'll make me happy. c: