Exams were finished and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they put down their pens. Finally, a few days closer to their winter holidays. As the papers were being collected, the students were enlightened about this years theme for prom.

'Back with the old'.

It confused a lot of people, but a few understood what they meant. Vintage. It had brought a smile to Eleanora's face as she wondered what she might find. That reminded her, she still had to get her dress. Looking around her, she noticed Apollyon to be scribbling something on a piece of paper before he folded it and put it in his pocket.

Catching her eye, he gave her a broad smile before turning back to the professor, waiting for him to dismiss them all. Once the professor told them that they could leave, everyone grabbed their belongings, and started to rush out and towards freedom.

"Mr. Masters and Ms. Clark." The teacher called over the chatter, redirecting a few student's attention towards him. "If I may have a word with both of you?"

Both Apollyon and Eleanora separated themselves from the crowd as they walked over to Mr. Lam's desk where he proceeded to take a seat in his chair, patiently waiting for everyone to get out. Once the door shut behind the last person, Mr. Lam turned towards the two teens in front of him. Nathan offered them a comforting smile to ensure them that they weren't in any trouble, and that he simply wanted to talk to them.

"How are you two doing?" Mr. Lam inquired softly.

"We're fine, sir." Apollyon answered after giving a confused look to Eleanora.

"Dr. Harold is a friend of mine, and he seems to be very concerned about your health Eleanora." Mr. Lam informed. "And yours too, Apollyon."

Before Apollyon or Eleanora could interject, Mr. Lam continued to speak. "The change is visible on the both of you, a lot of teachers are trying to figure out what happened that day at the hospital. Both of you have dropped a few pounds, and it is very concerning. Dr. Harold has specifically told you to eat as much as you can, even if he can't do anything about..."

Both Eleanora and Apollyon fell silent as they looked everywhere but at their teacher or each other. Sighing, Mr. Lam told Eleanora that she could leave but that he wanted to talk to Mr. Master's regarding his grades. She had momentarily paused in the doorway to look at Apollyon, who gave her a reassuring smile and told her to wait for him by the lockers.

Once the door closed, and they heard Eleanora's footsteps echo down the hall, Mr. Lam stood from his seat and leaned against his desk.

"How are you doing?" Mr. Lam questioned Apollyon.

"Fine, I guess." He responded with a shrug.

"You're not fine." Mr. Lam chuckled softly. "You are simply burying all that grief and depression deeper, and it's not healthy, it takes forever to get back on your feet once you let it consume it."

"Yeah?" Apollyon scoffed not meeting his eye. "Well...I'm fine."

"Well, for how long?" Mr. Lam countered. "You are bound to break at any given moment, you are simply pilling it and pilling it, there is a limit to everything."

"I'll be fine." Apollyon gritted out as he couldn't understand what was his problem.

"You won't." Mr. Lam told him sincerely. "Not after losing someone you love. You're never fine."

"How would you know!?" Apollyon burst out suddenly as Mr. Lam gave him a somber smile, looking at the wall over his head.

"I lost my girlfriend to cancer when I was 21." He chuckled humorlessly as Apollyon's words caught in his throat and he stared at his teacher in disbelief. "She wouldn't tell me why she wasn't doing so well and why she was loosing so much weight."

"She challanged me, saying that I couldn't last a day without contacting her. Having been a clueless boy, I accepted the challenge." He spoke even softer now, as a melancholy smile was on his lips. "I didn't contact her for an entire day, and the next day when I came to her house, all over joyed that I was finally going to be with her again, I was greeted by the sight of a funeral being held. Her funeral."

At that moment, Apollyon could see the age on his face. Nathan Lam was the only teacher that he actually liked, because he was continuously smiling and making everyone laugh, but now, he just seemed utterly broken and tired from everything.

"Her parents told me that she had been suffering from cancer for a year and had passed away last night. She left a note for me, it was simple and it read: 'You did it, Nate. Now can you do this everyday? I love you'" Mr. Lam informed him as he sniffled softly. "It's been 8 years...and it still hurts like yesterday. You never get over it, not over the heartache, or the constant pain. You simply drown in the sorrow, until one day, you decide to move on with life, and life continues with this hollowness in your chest. It eventually becomes a part of you."

Everything fell silent as Apollyon didn't know that Mr. Lam had been through something like this. The silence was thick and suffocating as Apollyon didn't know how to breathe or deal with everything Mr. Lam had just told him.

"So, Mr. Masters, suck up the bullshit attitude and stop telling me you're fine." He spoke with a light and charismatic smile as he wiped the stray tears that had gathered in his eyes. "Because I know that you are not."

Apollyon looked away in shame, as he didn't know what to say next. "She doesn't want to talk about it." He informed gently.

"She says that she has 'come to terms with her faith', but she...she just won't stop and give herself some rest, moving on with life as if though there wasn't a..." He trailed as he rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm just tired of holding it all together. I'm not the strong and level headed one, she is, not me. What will I do, Mr. Lam?"

"Apollyon..." Nathan sighed tiredly. "There are things we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go."

"After all these years, I finally learned how to cope with her loss." Mr. Lam informed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You decide to be fine until the end of the week. Make yourself smile because that's your job. Then do it again the next week. Do it right with a smile, or don't do it at all."

**

Apollyon sat on the wooden floor as he was alone in the apartment. Eleanora was out with Jessica, buying dresses for prom. She had insisted that he come along to buy his suit, but he told her that he would do that some other time and currently had some errands to run. So, Eleanora had left him to be, assuming that he had errands, but was in fact, sitting on the floor.

Sudden anger surged through Apollyon as he re-countered every memory, Micheal, God, falling, Eleanora. He curled his hands into fists as Micheal's words reverberated in his skull.

'Her days are already numbered.' He had said. 'After all, she is a mere mortal'

A scream tore through Apollyon as he punched the wooden flooring in front of him, the pain instantly spreading from where his knuckles came in contact with the flooring.

"Why?" His voice cracked as he rested his forehead against the wood. "Why would you do this to me, Father?"

Apollyon lay silently on the floor for a while until he felt a soft and fuzzy sensation against his arm. Looking up, he noticed Sebastian to be rubbing his head against his arm. Smiling softly at the kitten, Apollyon picked him up into his arms, noticing how the cat had grown. Wiping at the tears, he scratched the cat behind his ear as the feline purred in his arms.

"Come, let's make dinner." Apollyon spoke to the cat as he walked to the kitchen with the cat in hand.

Eleanora returned late with shopping bags in arm as she noticed the apartment to be completely silent. Curious, and concerned, she went into her bedroom and placed down the bags onto the bed as there was no sign of Apollyon anywhere. About to call out to him when she noticed the washroom door opened a crack.

Walking over there, she pushed it open as it swung open without a sound. The confined room was slightly steamy as she found Apollyon standing in front of the mirror only wearing a pair of sweatpants as he was looking at himself in the mirror. Slowly he turned around as he looked at his back. Looking at the white scars that ran from his shoulder blades to the middle of his back.

Eleanora noticed him bite his lip as he looked at the scarred skin. A humorless smile crossed his face as he shook his head, and sat down on the closed toilet lid, holding his head in his hands.

Silently, she made her way out the washroom, and closed the door behind her, once again not making a sound. Inhaling sharply she ran a hand over her face before exhaling heavily. Eleanora made her way into the kitchen, surprised to find dinner already made and in pots. Deciding to get her mind off the broken look in Apollyon's eyes, she started to plate it up for the both of them.

"Hey, baby." She greeted the little kitten that rubbed against her legs. Picking him up, she put him around her shoulders as the cat lay comfortably over her shoulders, watching her dish out the meal as she fed a bit of the meat to Sebastian. Placing the food onto the table, she waited for Apollyon to come out as it was silent once again.

Eleanora didn't want to go in and check on him again in fear that she might see the broken look again. Sighing softly, she walked to the turn table settled in the corner of the lounge as she choose a record from the shelf, placing it into place before putting the needle on top, the music starting to flow through out the little apartment.

Inhaling a deep breath, she made her way into the bedroom, greeted by the back of Apollyon's gray shirt, as he was trying to peek into one of her shoppers. Letting out a shriek she scared him as he pulled away and she grabbed the shopping bags from the bed.

"What?!" He asked in panic.

"Don't look at these!" She exclaimed with flushed cheeks.

"Why not?"

"Because my dress is a surprise!" She laughed at his confusion. "You can't see it until prom!"

"Come on!" He whined. "You can't be serious."

"I am." Eleanora laughed as she placed all the bags into the closet. Turning around she grinned at the pout Apollyon was giving her as she walked over to him, patting his chest as a solitary action. "Come on, I've put dinner on the table."

Sighing, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he look down at her. "You're so short-"

"Shut up." Eleanora retorted.

"It's cute." Apollyon laughed. "It means that I can do this."

Suddenly Apollyon lifted her off her feet and held her in the air as she shrieked in fright, telling him to put her down. Apollyon simply laughed at her frightened expression as her hands grasped at his arms, praying that he didn't drop her. Suddenly he threw her up into the air as she let out a frightened scream as she started to fall.

She screamed as she knew that she would hit the ground hard, but instead of the ground, she felt something harder digging into her back. With tears brimming in her eyes, she slowly opened them to look up at Apollyon's mischievous smile which flattened out and turned into a concerned look at the sight of her tears.

"Why are you crying?" He asked in concern as she started to hit his chest, the tears flowing down as she had been too scared to say anything.

"Eleanora." He called out to her as she struggled in his arms, trying to get out of his grasp. "Eleanora, hey."

He settled down on the bed as she tightened his grasp around her, hugging her as he rested his chin on the top of her head, waiting for her to stop struggling against him. Apollyon held her tightly to him as she sniffled and tried to get over the fright he had given her.

"Did you think I'd let you fall?" He asked her softly as he placed a kiss on the top of her head as she nodded to his question. "Oh, sweetheart."

"I'd never let you fall...I'll always be there to catch you."