His wings, those beautiful, pearly white things, more beautiful than the most intricately embroidered tapestries, and softer than the softest cotton, were torn, bloody, fading... it was like every single strand gave way, disintegrating into star like sparkles, and dust, the threads binding them together coming undone; the halo that had once hovered over his head shattered into pieces like glass, but glowing, and sharper, having scraped the side of his face while coming down, drawing more blood, and now rested on his collar bones, digging in, continuing to wound him, and make him hurt more. His lips twisted in a smile, a genuine one, fighting the pain, attempting to tell her he was okay, while blood ebbed and flowed from the side of his mouth, even his once sparkly teeth stained red.

She couldn't pry them away, the spiked chains, the shards of the halo, she couldn't keep his disintegrating wings from fading, but the more she touched him, the more she tried to make things right, her touch ruined him all the more, as if wiping a hand on an already dusty glass, leaving greasy fingerprints on it, even worse than before... Amelia Jones couldn't do anything but hold him, and cry, while he reached a hand towards her, gently cupping her cheek, still smiling.

"Javi, Javi no..." she sobbed, feeling his touch on her skin, giving her goosebumps, " please" she pleaded, holding on to that one hope that maybe Javi would be okay.

"I'll find you" he said, his voice barely a whisper, hoarse, and coughing out blood as he spoke, "you trust me, right?" he asked, and she nodded, vigorously, which made her head spin, the tears wouldn't stop running down her cheeks, she held his head in her hands, letting his body rest on her, while his wings started falling off from his back, leaving black vein like scars, cracks appearing on his back, making it look like it were a desert in drought, blood oozing out.

Her fingers dipped in that blood, caressing his back, seeing that it didn't discern him, he didn't mind her touch in his wounds, it didn't increase the pain, if anything, it made it lesser.

" I love you" she finally said the words that had been stuck in her throat for oh so long, she wished she'd have said them earlier... she'd been afraid, too afraid. She didn't want him to be in a situation like this because she loved him, but they were in this situation because she loved him, because he'd known, and that he'd never needed her to tell him that either.

His eyes twinkled, hearing that, and he stared at her for a really long minute, before finally whispering "I love you too" and with that, she watched him close his eyes, and felt the weight fall, press over her body, and she found her own eyes snapping shut, as she let out a loud scream, the teams now gushing without any restraints...

He was gone. He was actually gone.

XXX

If anyone was going to end up befriending an otherworldly being, purely by accident, of course it was going to be Amelia Jones. Twenty three years old, with nothing to show for it, swinging between jobs, because the only thing her attention could be fixated on would be the paranormal, things out of the ordinary, be it ghost stories, or poltergeists, zombie apocalypses or romance with vampires, she always found herself drawn to these otherworldly creatures... she'd never imagined she'd actually meet one. Guardian Angels were strange things, she'd decided. She'd never expected to find out that she had one, and she had most definitely not expected him to be... well, anything like he was.

For one, she hadn't expected to meet him when he fell off a tree.

"Aren't Angels supposed to... like... fly? Or something?" to say she had been puzzled would be an understatement. But it was fair on her part, because no one can expect to step out of a coffee shop, trip over a can of soda on the sidewalk, and steady themselves with the support of an electricity pole, just to hear a thundering crash behind them, and turn around to find a human like creature sprawled on the muddy snow under a huge oak tree, in a rather awkward angle, feet up in the air, with exquisite, pearly white wings bent in ways no one would preferably like, and faceplanted into the ground.

She hadn't expected herself to immediately turn around and rush to his rescue, after all, no one else around them seemed bothered with the fact, but she found herself kneeling by his side before she could think clearly, asking, rather awkwardly, "Uhh excuse me, are you okay?"

He looked at her, as if assessing who she was, then blinked rapidly a couple times, like he were warding sleep away from his eyes, and then sat up abruptly, and started flapping his wings wildly, to ward off the residual snow that was probably making him cooollllddd. She looked around, surprised to realise that no one else had noticed the two of them in the middle of the street, and she wondered if she should give him a hand, touching his wing, but decided against it, because the winged creature looked so scared as it was.

"Are you... okay?" she asked, again, and he nodded, "I'm uh... I fell" he ran a hand through his hair, nervously looking at her, and then his cheeks flushed, as he probably realised his wings were on display, "but aren't angels supposed to... like... fly? Or something?" she didn't know what had happened to this angel, she was treating him like an injured bird.

"A— angel? Wh— what?" he had pretended like he didn't know what she was talking about, as if his wings weren't still flapping wildly.

"Yeah, you've got... wings, right?" she finally said it, and while she found it a little hard to believe herself— despite her strong belief in anything paranormal— she knew they were there, she wasn't hallucinating because her foot still thrummed a bit from her rendez vous with the soda can minutes ago.

" Wings ha ha!?" he tried to scoff, but it sounded more like forced, and overly nervous laughter, "Do I not appear as a human person!?" he looked around himself, and leaned forward, and touched a nearby parked bicycle, "Look at me do a thing humans do! I am petting this car!" he got away, and picked up a stone, "I am holding this rock!"

Amelia really didn't know what to make of that, he was so desperately trying to protect his cover, and he hadn't even realised his wings were still visible to her, she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, as he said, in a fakely confident voice, "I am a new human to this town and a human, will you show me the things humans do for fun?"

"You've said the word human at least fifteen times in this conversation, my friend" she placed a hand on his shoulder, and was surprised because he felt... real? As if he were actually human, only slightly cold, she wondered how touching his wings would feel, but warded the thoughts away, and turned her eyes back to the very dishevelled angel, "it's okay... your secret is safe with me" she winked, with a big grin plastered to her face.

He eyed her skeptically, his brows wrinkling in worry, "are you, are you sure?" he asked, a little hesitantly, and she realised he had a kinda... melodious voice...

"Yeah, don't worry!" she smiled, but then looked around, "can the other people around see you?"

"Nooooo" he didn't look here and there, as if he knew the answer, "you're the only one who can see me!" he said with such enthusiasm that it made her feel a little funny, "but... why?"

"I'm your guardian angel!" he extended both hands, expressively, "you know? That person who's supposed to watch your back, and protect you from stuff?"

"Oh c'mon, I don't need a guardian angel, I'm not that clumsy!" she said, shaking her head, and now she was the one eyeing him skeptically.

"Oh yes?" his eyebrows were raised, now, "Aha, right, uhmm are we pretending you didn't just stumble onto a soda can and almost get electrocuted by that pole?"

"One time! Plus I didn't get electrocuted!"

"Who do you think fell off a tree making sure of that?" he laughed, and she gasped, "wait for reals?!?"

"I got so distracted by you stumbling before I could do anything, Iput the protection charm on you but was in such a hurry I forgot to fly out of the tree and my wing got caught—" he rubbed his wing, wincing, and she looked astounded.

"Wait, how long have you been my guardian angel?" she'd asked, suddenly.

"Uhmmm.... About one hour?" he said, calculating on his fingers, and then blushing, "Oh no! I'm not supposed to come in front of you! Pretend you never saw me!" he raised his hands, "vanish charm! WAIT, I can't do that yet—"

She had sighed, apparently the Grid had assigned her the stupidest Guardian Angel in the world, or the clumsiest...

"So, uhmmm I'm sure you know my name. Can I ask yours?"

"I..." he sighed, she continued softly, "we can be friends. I don't need to forget you... right?"

"I... guess?" he looked at her, confused, for a few moments, then he smiled, and she realised just how beautiful his smile was. Maybe it was the angelic charm, or maybe the divinity, or something, but his smile was enchanting, just the way she'd read in books... he was beautiful, and with the drama finally settling, she actually realised he was a little too handsome too, with all that heavenly perfection, as if carved by Michaelangelo himself.

He looked almost unreal.

"Alright then" he nodded, "Hi, I'm Javi, and I'm your guardian angel, bound to you till there are no more troubles in your life"

At that she remembered laughing, because with the number of troubles already clouding her life, she was sure this poor boy was now stuck with her for eternity. She hadn't realised at the time though, that he actually would end all her troubles.

"And I'm really sorry I scared you!" he smiled, sounding genuine, and then, as if he were in a hurry to leave, he waved a hand at her, and vanished in midair, right in front of Amelia's eyes, as if nothing had been there in the first place.

Amelia wasn't sure if what she'd just witnessed was actually in her mind, or not, but she chose to believe it was reality. Either way, that had been the beginning of their very strange and very disjointed relationship.

~TBC