The stupid cake. With the stupid candles and the stupid smile that it was presented to me with. I had just stood there. Seething in anger.

Stupid me.

My first friend, and I had gone and ruined it with my mood swing. Served me right. I didn't deserve anyone anyway. I didn't deserve such a nice surprise after the things I had done today.

She had stood there, cake in hand, staring at me expectantly after I froze in her doorway.

And I had to say those words. Those stupid words. I don't really remember what I said. I just know they were stupid because the next thing I know, my one and only friend looked at me with a face of thunder and I was being pushed out the door, cake shoved into my hands and the door slammed into my face.

People often don't think about my feelings. In fact, no one has ever taken my feelings into account. I was created for this job; my thoughts and feelings were never considered.

I have never had a family, I have never had a hug, I never went to school or got to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I have never aged a day since I was created.

I had never had a faithful friend before, I had never had a home cooked meal, or had a cake baked for me, to celebrate a birthday. Until today.

But I had to go and do something completely stupid and self-destructive. As usual. A drop of water dropped onto my cheek, followed by another and another.

Crying was something I did when I was alone. after I had carried the ghost of a child too young to leave its parents to the after world, or the ghost of a lover the morning they were supposed to tie themselves to another for the rest of eternity.

I mourn for lost loves and broken families every day. I carry their weight on my shoulders.

I slumped forward in my large, plush chair, pushing the plate with the cake away. I live in the underworld, the cold and dark surrounding me, eating me from the inside, drawing what is left of my energy away from my reach.

A quick succession of raps on my door and I looked up warily. Wiping my face with the palm of a hand as though I could just wipe away all my sadness I stood. No one ever knocked unless they were summoned, and I hadn't called for anyone.

I opened the door, expecting it to be a demon who for some reason was ignoring my chain of command and had come to seek me out themselves. But it was not one of my demons that stood in front of me.

One of my angels. Stood in my doorway, sheepishly rubbing her hands together as though she knew this was not somewhere she should be.

"Ellie?" I asked, shaking my head to rid myself of the hallucination of her, because surely, she could not be here.

"Hi." She whispered back, glancing behind her into a long corridor, the retreating back Dagon just visible.

"Dagon jumped you here? Why?" I asked, utterly perplexed as to why she would willingly come to me after everything I had put her through.

"I asked him to." She shrugged, her hands finding her pockets as her feet scuffed the floor.

I watched her warily. My eyes tired and my head pounding from the emotion inside of me that wanted to be set free. This was some sort of trick no doubt, to make me feel even worse than I already did.

Ellie sighed as I made no attempt to talk to her.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did. I thought it was for the best, but I didn't stop to think about what you wanted. I only thought about what I wanted you to have." She said, looking me in the eye, a small sad smile playing on her lips.

"You're sorry?" I replied, aghast. "You've not come here to be mad at me? Tell me I'm horrible and deserve to be miserable?" I choked back a sob as I rested my head on the doorframe, turning myself away from her.

"I haven't come here to do that, that would be awful!" She exclaimed, stepping forward to rub her hand up and down my arm. "I completely overreacted. You were having a dreadful day, and as your friend I should have let you in to calm down and talked it all through with you. Instead I just sent you away. I'm so sorry." Ellie said as I turned to her, eyes wide.

She thought she was at fault? I was the one who went and ruined it all!

"I'm the one who made you angry and upset and I am sorry for that Ellie. If you would like to come in, I'd like to explain myself." I replied, stepping away from the door to let her inside, suddenly self-conscious about my home. Only the demons who worked directly for me had seen this place, and even their visits had been fleeting.

I watched as she walked inside and looked around. Not sure on how exactly to host someone I pointed to the chairs in front of the fire place and we took a seat.

"I had a difficult day yesterday and I took it out on you. I was hoping to come over and have another evening like the last, but as the afternoon wore on, I realised, or at least I thought I did, that the last thing I wanted to do was spend time with someone who was just being my friend out of pity."

Ellie went to interrupt me, but I raised my hand to silence her. I had to tell her.

"I knew as soon as I told you that you were never going to see me again, and that I didn't socialise with subordinates, that I was wrong. After I did that favour for you and little Carrie Rodgers, I felt amazing. You were right, she wasn't going to die, just suffer until she was old and grey. I could help her! I felt amazing and then I got mad at myself. Because it was your idea and not mine. It had never occurred to me in all my existence that I could make an impact on someone's life for the better, and not just take it away at the end. I'm sorry for taking my anger and hurt out on you." I took a deep breath, I had just overwhelmed myself with my revelations, so I didn't know how Ellie would take it.

She smiled, taking my hands in hers, the human contact making me bristle, my posture straightening at the unfamiliar action and feeling. "I understand. No need to apologise, take it as a lesson and let's move on. You saved the cake I see..." She laughed, nodding over to the cake she had pushed in my hands before she slammed the door.

"You made it for me?" I asked, walking over to retrieve it.

"Well, you said you had never had a birthday before, and the best bit about a birthday is the cake. At least, it was for me. My mum would always spend the night before baking and decorating birthday cakes for the me and my sister, so when we woke up and came downstairs it was the first thing we saw. I thought it would be the first step in making you comfortable with the idea of your birthday. Next year I will throw you a little party and get you a present and everything!" She laughed.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "It looks great, thank you. What are these for?" I pointed to the unlit baby candles on top, knowing they weren't edible.

"They're candles. Usually the number of candles is the same as the age you will be turning on your birthday, but as I didn't know your age of have the capacity to fit thousands of candles on there I just put as many as would fit. How old are you exactly?" She asked.

I set the cake down on a side table, leaning back into my chair as I thought about her question for the first time in a long time.

"My memories are hazy once you reach a few thousand years ago. But I presume that once humans walked the earth, I was there to guide them on. I don't remember though."

Ellie looked at me, her eyes wide. "So, your like... really old then. You watched as history unfolded."

I chuckled, if she was interested in history, I could show her that. "Come with me."

I guided her to the back of my room, picking up a lit torch from the wall and touching it to a trough that lined the back wall. It sprung to life, flickering flames lighting up my collection.

"I have some of the first books, the first scrolls and the first words. There are paintings by long forgotten masters and artifacts from cities and civilisations even the history books don't know about." I looked on in pride as Ellie turned to me awestruck.

"You have a museum in your house." She whispered, turning a full three sixty to take everything in.

"I collect things to make sure I remember." I said, walking over to pick up a stone tablet on one of the shelves, written by a woman thousands of years ago in secret, as her society only taught the first-born sons the art of language. "The things on these shelves have lived with me through all my trails and tribulations. In a way, they are my family."

Ellie gently touched the tablet I was holding before stepping back.

"You have learnt what my past has been like, I think It is now only fair you do the same. I would like to hear what your old life was like. What your family was like." I asked, setting down the tablet and stepping back, knowing that innominate objects were a pale comparison to a full life lived surrounded by friends and family.

"On one condition." She replied, a cheeky smile gracing her lips.

"Name it."

"I'll only tell you all about it over a slice of cake."

A little insight into the mind of Death, he's not in good mental health is he... People who have depression are often self-destructive. It's a behaviour that is out of their control until the depression itself is addressed. Patience, understanding and love always helps <3