Lavi cracked open one blurry eye and looked across the living room,
confused as to why he was on his couch instead of in his own bed. Once
the haze of sleep cleared up, Lavi recalled the events of the night
before. He could feel the weight of Allen’s feet in his lap and his
soft, rhythmic breathing from the other side of the couch.

At
least he was still alive, and for that, Lavi sighed in relief. He
stretched his arms over his head and leaned back to stare up at the
cracked ceiling of his apartment. He was dead tired – what little sleep
he had gotten was not enough to make up for the long day and night he
had had. Reaching over to the coffee table, he picked up his phone and
looked at the time. With a wince, he realized he had to be at work in
less than an hour.

Sparing a quick look at Allen before making
his decision, Lavi stood up, carefully moving Allen’s feet aside, and
pulled up the contacts in his phone. Finding the store’s number, he
called it and headed to the kitchen.

The phone rang once, twice,
three times before Lavi heard the grumpy old man answer. “Hey, Gramps.
Sorry to call you so late but I can’t come in today.”

Lavi winced
when a slew of curses flew his way from the other end of the phone.
“I’m sorry! I must have the flu of something! I was throwing up all
night.”

He lied easily, making sure to keep his voice just off
enough to sound like he was in too much pain to talk properly. Even if
Gramps thought he was lying, he could still get away with it if he put
on a good enough performance.

When he finally managed to get off
the phone, Lavi sighed. At least he wouldn’t have to go to work today.
And if he had to push his luck and squeeze an extra day in, he was sure
he could manage.

Allen had nearly drifted back to sleep when he felt something move under his feet. At first, he thought it must have been his imagination, but then he felt hands move his feet aside and heard the creak of springs of the couch as someone stood. He stayed still, keeping his breathing even as he heard footsteps leave the room.

Did he sleep there all night…? Allen wondered. To make sure I was ok? He heard a voice from the kitchen, and sat up slowly as he listened, pulling the blanket over his shoulders. He felt rather guilty that Lavi had called out of work for his sake… but for all he knew maybe Lavi actually was sick. It had been very cold and wet last night… And must have stayed up late, since he spotted his clothes clean and folded on the table.

letspleasuretogether

With a sigh, Lavi stood up and took the dirty dishes to the kitchen.
He padded around the apartment, picking up the discarded clothes that
Allen had been wearing. Taking a quick sniff, he realized they were
filthy – though that was quite honestly an understatement. He didn’t
know how Allen could stand staying in those clothes, though he probably
didn’t have a choice.

Going through the pockets to make sure he
wasn’t washing any valuables or important items, Lavi took the clothes
and the jacket Allen had been wearing earlier and stuffed them in his
half full laundry basket. With one last look to make sure Allen was
completely asleep, he headed downstairs to the laundry room.

While
the laundry was washing, Lavi returned to his apartment, opening and
closing the door as quietly as he could. He half expected Allen to be
awake again, but no – he was still out like a light.

Grabbing one
of his books off the end table, he sat back down on the couch with
Allen. He looked over at his sleeping figure throughout the rest of the
night as he waited to finish the laundry. He kept checking to make sure
Allen was still breathing ok, still alive. After a few hours, Lavi
realized he was worrying over nothing. With the laundry done and folded
on the coffee table, he finally managed to doze off, book discarded in
his lap as he slumped over the edge of the couch.

Allen slept deeply, the exhaustion from both the hypothermia and the weeks of sleeping on the streets enough for him to not even dream.

When he finally started to awake, the first thing he noticed was how comfortable he was. He had been sleeping outdoors on the ground or benches, so laying on the couch bundled in blankets felt amazing. It took a few minutes for him to piece what he could remember about the previous night together, and remember where he was.

He snuggled deeper into the blanket with a small smile. He had almost died… but Lavi had saved him. He was grateful, most people would have just looked the other way and left him to die… but Lavi had taken him into his home, even fed him, to keep him alive.

He wanted to thank the man… but he was too comfortable right now to want to move to look for him. He could pretend to be asleep a bit longer… After all, he couldn’t stay here long once he woke up. Both of them would return to their normal lives…