Shine Bright, My Red Rose (Lavi X Reader) Part 5

05: Sympathy
You wake up, and Lavi is sitting beside you, watching you intently. The fire that was burning so fiercely yesterday was no longer there. You sit up and stretch, and the red head hands you a pastry, which you take and eat quickly. You stand up, and so does he; Muffin circles around you. You had a crumb on the corner of your lip, but you didn't notice. As you turned to start walking, Lavi holds your chin and wipes of the crumb with his thumb, "Silly goose." He says laughter in his voice. You slap his face and run ahead, blushing madly, screaming, "Pervert!"
After 10 minutes of your running, you arrived at the port town. Lavi was not too far behind, and once he caught up to you, you turned around and point your index finger at his chest, "One, don't ever do that again, and two don't say a word about my past to anyone." Lavi looked at you, sighed and nodded before pointing a finger at your chest, "You shouldn't run off on your own like that. Remember our mission is gets more dangerous, the closer we get to Germany." You gulped, remembering the mission ahead of you. Lavi reassuringly put his hand on your shoulder, but immediately withdrew it, "Sorry. I'll go ahead and find Bookman. Meet us in the middle of the village at 1. Do not get into any trouble." He then left you alone.
You walked around the town, humming that lullaby you could never stop thinking of. There were lyrics to it, but you didn't like singing them out loud in public. You scanned the village for patches of grass, where daisies would grow. Finding one, you picked a daisy and kept walking. You loved flowers, your favourite being bright red roses, despite the fact that you weren’t too fond of the colour red. The beginning of the lullaby you hummed, as you put the daisy in your hair, involved a red rose. You checked your watch. You still had 2 hours of exploring the city and decided to start by doing a little window shopping.
You looked through the glass, observing ridiculously high-priced articles of clothing. None of them really caught your eye. You passed the jewellers, and looked at all the silver and gold bracelets, and the multi coloured precious stones. You really looked at the rubies and emeralds and your mind went to Lavi for a minute… then you shook your head and moved on. You passed a dress shop, and saw one you kind of liked. It was very… open, you could say, but it was very simple and light. As you observed the merchandise, people often whispered at you while pointing and avoided you. It's not like you cared; the less people who get near you, the better. That way, you won't be in danger, should one of them be an Akuma.
It was a quarter to one, and you decided to walk towards the town's centre. On your way, you passed a curly haired man, who was smoking a cigarette. He was casually dressed, with a little stubble on his chin and thick glasses, so you couldn't see his eyes. you made a mental note to avoid this strange character as you went the long way to get to the centre of the town.
You were there, five minutes early, and you spotted a small yet old man, with dark circles around his eyes. Behind him stood Lavi who introduced, "This is the Old Panda, Bookman." He grinned and Bookman jumped up and kicked him in the face. You giggled at this and said, "Nice to meet you, Mister Bookman. I'm [First Name]." The old man nodded, "I know who you are. My young apprentice wouldn't stop talking about you. And no need to call me Mister. Just Bookman is fine."
You, Lavi and Bookman were staying at an inn not far from the water. You were in a separate room from the two men, who shared their room. You had offered to share a room with Lavi so that the old man could be alone, but after Bookman declined once, you didn't dare argue again. You were secretly glad to be away from Lavi as you unpacked a few items from your bag. The daisy you had in your hair had fallen out in the streets, but you didn't mind. Muffin was on your head as you took out some spare clothes and toiletries. After setting everything up to your satisfaction, you left your room and knocked on your comrades' room.
Lavi opened for you and smiled, "Missed me?" You ignored him and asked Bookman, "May I go out for a bit?" The experienced man looked at you, "You do not need to ask me for permission for everything. Go ahead, although I suggest you take this idiot with you. You never know, something might come up." You nodded gratefully and left, Lavi following you. "Why're you coming with me?" Lavi smirked, "The old panda said so." You sighed, "Doesn't mean I agree." But you accepted his company anyways. You did a lot more window shopping while he looked around for anyone suspicious and checked out every passing young woman.
After a while you sat down on a patch of grass by the sea, admiring its vastness. Lavi sat down beside you and said, "Did you see that blonde over there? She had really nice-," You smacked his face before he could finish, "Pervert." There were people watching us two, giggling and pointing. You realize you must've look like some lovey-dovey couple or something, and scooted away from him. He chuckled at you, "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you all right? I'm not that guy." You were still weary of him, "You're just like him." Lavi sighed, bit his lip for a moment, and then opened his mouth and began talking. Little did you know it, but his words actually moved you, like nothing else has before.
Lavi's POV:
I decided to tell her something, which maybe I shouldn't have, but I did anyways. I think that's called being an idiot.
Anyways, [First Name] was being really cruel, almost as if she didn't notice my feelings. Although, when she smacked me, I had a feeling it was out of jealousy… Ahem, putting that aside, I explained to her the worst part of being a Bookman.
"I can't have friends, you know. As a Bookman, I'm not allowed to grow attached to anyone. I can't do anything, but sit there and watch. It's all part of the job. The way you and Allen get along… it makes me really jealous. You know, when you first met me and kept your distance, I thought you knew that and tried to make my job easier. But yesterday, when we were traveling… you giggled for the first time ever. I still can't decide what you are doing to me. Your cruelty to me makes things easier and yet…" I trailed off, unable to finish, "And yet it makes things harder too."
[First Name]'s POV:
Your eyes widened. The words which he spoke hitting you deeply. You put a hand on your chest, where your heart was. You looked at him, feeling stupid and dense for not noticing earlier. You thought you were strong; you didn't care what people thought of you, and kept smiling, moving away from your past. But Lavi couldn't move away like you could. He had to go through every day without growing attached to someone. You didn't know what to do, and you felt horrible. So in the end, you did something you’ve always felt like doing, you hugged him tenderly.
He wasn't expecting it, but he hugged you back. You then looked at him, singing oh so softly,
"Red Rose, how beautiful you are,
Gallantly bloom forever more.
Pale rose, may you never wither,
I will commit myself to you,
If the sky, should shower down on you,
I will be your shelter through the pain,"
You sang the first verse (and a little of the second verse) of your lullaby, with Lavi in your arms, and you whispered in his ear, "I promise, to make up for my horrible behavior, I will do anything I can for you." Lavi then chuckled and winked, "Anything, huh?" You pushed him away, "Anything within reason!" You were blushing and then you said, "I-It's not at a-all because I like y-you or anything. I just d-don't want to be in y-your debt." You stuttered a little, your eyes glaring at him. He laughed, "Sure that works." And you walked back together, quietly, in the dark light of the night.