Since we didn't have many appointments, we got a lot of time off. We spent that time leaving the city on day trips. We'd go into the mountains, down to the ocean, the lakes and the meadows. I really liked these trips.

"Look at me," Dion said, his phone's camera pointed at me.

I smiled at him from behind my sunglasses as he took my picture.

"Beautiful," he said and came over to me to show me. I looked huge on the average-sized bench. I was taking up most of it as if it was a one-person seat. "Look how cute your smile is."

I looked happy though. I didn't look awkward, despite having my arms loosely folded across my stomach. He had somehow managed to capture me in a way I had never seen myself. And I was just smiling at him.

He dumped down on the limited free space on the bench and tapped away on his phone, making the picture of me his background. "Perfect. Now I'll always see your happy little face."

I snorted and put my arm around him. He held his phone up again and took a selfie of us together. He did a silly face and I was just looking at him, smiling. I leaned in and kissed his cheek and he took another picture. I like that the most because Dion smiled very genuinely in it.

"Send me that one. I want it," I said and dug out my phone.

"Alright, hold on."

It ticked in and I opened it, looking down at it. He looked so beautiful in it. He had little dimples in his cheeks and his cheekbones almost jumped out. The shine from the lake in front of us hit his face and made him resemble a god more than faun/nymph mix.

I made it my background. It was too nice of a picture to not have it right front and centre.

"Hey, we should print some of these and hang them at home," I said.

"I'd love that. Our walls are so bare."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm not the best decorator."

"Hey, you came up with this nice idea. I'm thinking we'll hang different pictures in different sized frames, like in a cluster. I remember seeing that in a magazine once, and I've always wanted that."

"We should take more pictures with our friends too," I said.

"Yes! This is going to be so nice. I have some pictures from our last dinner at Nikon and Xander's." He flipped through the images and found some where we were sitting around the table. One with Xander and Strawberry smiling and holding up their wineglasses. One of Nikon with his arm around Xander and Xander smiling very brightly. Nikon was smirking at the camera. And then there were images from our trip to Mykonos. One of me and Oliver stood out to me, where we had our arms over each other's shoulders, standing on the beach on shorts. We looked so happy.

"I want a happiness wall," I murmured.

"Pardon?" Dion looked up from his phone.

"A happiness wall. These are all such happy memories. So it's a happiness wall."

"You're the absolute cutest person in the world." He stretched and kissed my cheek. "A happiness wall. It'll be perfect."

"Wanna go look for frames now?" I rose to my feet and held my hand out.

"Gods, yes. Let's go!"

"A little higher," Dion said and squinted a bit. I raised the frame a little higher and he nodded approvingly. I marked where we wanted it and hammered in a nail, hanging the picture on the wall. I took a step back to admire our handywork.

The Happiness wall hung between the TV and the dining room table. The lamp cast beautiful floral shadows all over it. When we sat in the sofa or by the dinner table, we could admire it. Look up at all the fond memories we had already gotten, and we could easily build this wall even bigger.

It made the whole room look so much more homely. Dion had made this apartment a proper home and I loved him for that. The fact that this whole place had had such a shine-up ever since he had moved in, really did wonders for my mental health. I looked forward to come home now, as opposed to before where I dreaded it. I dreaded being alone and being alone in such a cold place. I didn't know how to make it homely and I couldn't find the motivation to try either.

Dion had done so much for me and our little home and I loved him so much for it.

"Let's celebrate," I said and went to the fridge, picking out a couple of beers. "Nothing better than a cold beer after having worked hard."

"Oh yes, I definitely deserve this after all the work I did," Dion laughed and took the bottle from me.

We dumped down on the sofa and I took a healthy sip. I loved beer. And I loved my home and my boyfriend. I was lucky to be here with him right now. And despite all the shit we had gone through in the last months, we were still here. We were making our home into a home, together.

We attended another demonstration, though I didn't exactly feel good about it. I knew we needed to do something for Nikon, but I wasn't so sure I thought this was the best approach to do that anymore. We could do other things! Other things that didn't make me fear for Dion's safety.

I kept him close at all time. I was not letting go of his hand. I wasn't losing him in the crowd.

It was a peaceful demonstration though. The police were there and had let their presence be known to be there to protect the halfs from possible people against their fight for their rights. Banners with motivational sentiments about how halfs were people too brought colour to the crowd.

Something still felt wrong. Music was playing and people were happy. The sun was shining, and it didn't look like there'd be any trouble, but I had this feeling of unease dripping down my spine and making my stomach hurt. The hairs on the back of my neck kept rising. Something was wrong.

"Dion, I think we should leave."

He looked up at me, squinting a little. "Let's finish the parade. When we get to the townhall we'll leave okay? I don't need to hear the speeches anyway."

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from begging him. I really wanted to leave. To go home where we were safe and where I could keep him out of harm's way. Where we could watch films and eat pizza and keep Dion safe.

But we pressed on. The crowd was still calm, and everyone seemed happy to be there. As if it was a celebration. But that was only till an explosion went off further up ahead. I grabbed Dion and brought him close.

"We need to get out of here," I said, and Dion agreed immediately. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me. People were screaming and the crowd had turned as a massive wave, pushing us in the opposite direction of where we were going. Away from the townhall and back into the narrower main street. Someone came crashing through, a minotaur, making me lose my grip on Dion. The crowd all but swallowed him up.

"Dion!" I screamed and tried to get past people pushing and shoving. I couldn't see him anywhere and I got more and more anxious. My heart was about to pop out of my chest and my pulse was hammering in my ears. I couldn't really hear anything but people screaming. My screams joined in with the loud wave of noise. Gunshots went off and it just made everything worse. I kept yelling Dion's name, but he was nowhere to be found. He was gone.

And I finally got it. Death. What if he was dead? I knew I'd find him in hades, but what if he was hurt and his death had been painful? Would he ever be the same? Would he change?

We'd never sit on our little sofa again, watching dumb action movies and eat pizza. We'd never go home. Our home was no longer available, and we'd have to change everything. Everything would change and I couldn't deal with that right now.

I had to find him. He couldn't be dead. None of the shots had hit him. He was alright. He was alright. He was alright.

I finally made it out of a larger cluster and into a spot where there weren't as many people. Further up the road I saw him. He was turning back and forth, obviously searching.

"Dion!" I roared and ran towards him. He turned and smiled at me. I ran as fast as I could but then another shot went off.

Dark red colour spread on his white t-shirt, covering the print of some band name. That was one of his favourite t-shirts.

His smile slid off and he staggered. I roared and caught him right before he hit the ground.

"Dion, no, please," I begged and put my hand on his chest, trying to stop the red from spreading.

His mouth opened and blood flooded out.

"Dion, I'm sorry, please don't leave. Please. I don't wanna leave our life, please. I don't want you to leave."

Everything died within me as Dion stopped breathing. I held him close, smoothing his hair down. He didn't even get to say anything. Blood kept getting in the way. The only thing that came out was gurgles and he looked so scared.

Sounds around me died down but I didn't care. I kept holding on to my boyfriend. I hadn't protected him. I was a failure.

"Arlo," a soft voice said, and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up, tears streaming down my cheeks. Hades and my father towered above me. Hades looked regal in his all-black suit, his long raven hair gathered in a braid. My father stood beside him, dressed almost the same, but wearing a white tie.

"You've done so well, Arlo," Hades said and knelt down beside me. "It's time to go home now."

I nodded. I knew it was time to go home, but that also meant leaving the life I had loved behind. And I mourned that life. I mourned the mornings where Dion would wake me up with kisses in our bed. And I mourned our dreams. We'd never get to live in Mykonos. We'd never have a quiet life with a little family of our own.

"You will get a new assignment," Hades said softly.

Everything had stopped around us. No one moved and everything was silent. It seemed only fitting as the best person in the world had just left it.

"This is your soul to protect in the underworld. Do you understand?"

I nodded and looked down at Dion again. He still looked so frightened.

"Come, son. Let's go home," my dad said and cupped my cheek with the palm of his hand.

I nodded again and slowly rose to my feet. My hands phased through Dion's mortal body. I lifted his soul right out of its confinements. I could still feel the weight and warmth of him, but his soul didn't look exactly like his mortal body. His soul was blue and there was a beautiful shine around it. It was also transparent, so I could see my arms through his body. I knew he had a beautiful soul.