Remus was cuddling with Janus when the door burst open.

"Get away from him!" 

Roman was there, baseball hat in hand and staring at the intertwined boys.

He lunged forward, trying to hit Janus.

Janus leaned forward, reaching his claws out for the kill.

Remus screamed "Wait!"

They stared at him in surprise as he got up, and held Janus back.

"He doesn't know. He doesn't know you're not a demon."

Janus stared at him, horns curving inward and wings outstretched, his partially shaded body blending into the night.

"I know you're not a demon! It doesn't matter where you're from, you're my friend!"

Roman lunged forward in the moment of distraction, intent to save his brother from this monster.

Janus looked back at Remus regretfully, and then threw himself forward, trying to save the young boy he loved.

Janus wrapped himself like a rope around Remus, immobilizing him.

His fangs were inching towards Roman's neck, when he looked back at Remus.

Remus looked so sad, realizing his worlds were colliding and destroying each other.

"Wait. I can convince him. I know you're not a demon, and I'm his brother. He'll listen to me."

Janus partially unwrapped himself, hissing at Roman.

"Ro, this is Janus. He's my best friend. He's not a demon, and he's the best person I've ever met! He helped me every time I was sad, and he held my hand from under the bed! Please, don't fight him!"

Roman looked in disgust at the demon.

He caught his breath, and spoke. "Remus, you're under some sort of spell! He's obviously a demon, and he's going to kill you!"

"Then why hasn't he?" Remus was mad. He thought his brother was more inclusive.

"He's probably fattening you up."

Remus was done with his brother.

"You need to accept him, Roman! He's my friend, and right now, he's a better friend than you are!"

Roman got really mad. He hated being compared to others, and falling short. He was the best! He had to be!

"He's a demon, and if you can't see that, then you're not my brother!"

"He's not a demon, he's my friend! If you can't see that, you're not my brother!"

Roman's voice got dangerously low, and he struggled against the demon confining him.

"You should go."

Remus's eyes went regretful and sad, but still angry.

Roman was being stupid and pigheadded. He wouldn't want to live without Janus anyway.

He grabbed Janus's hand, and gently tugged him towards his bed.

"Jay, let's go! Let's go somewhere new, just the two of us, and we can be happy!"

Janus spoke, voice low and gravelly, somewhere between a growl and a hiss.

"You're human."

"And?"

"You belong here, with your brother. I cannot take you back to my realm, or you will be slaughtered on sight. The rest of my kind are the reason for nightmares and legends."

Remus looked at him desperately, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I don't want to live without you! Don't leave me!"

He broke down crying, and clung to the demon wrapped around his brother.

"I'm not leaving you, now or ever. You are mine, and none shall harm you or they will feel my wrath."

Remus smiled up at him.

"I'll do what it takes. I'll be a demon too, if I can stay with you. I'd do anything. I... love you."

Janus smiled, a rare occurrence that only happened around this boy.

"I don't want you to change. You're perfect the way you are, and though demons are not made to love, I love you."

Remus beamed. "You're not a demon, Jay. I know you're not. You have a kind soul, and you're the best... anything I could have asked for."

Janus smiled back at him.

"Let's go. Just the two of us. We'll find somewhere safe, and we'll stay there forever!"

Remus grabbed Janus's hand again, and Janus slowly uncoiled his body from around Roman.

Roman watched in shock as they walked towards the bed and slid under it.

I closed the book, looking out at the shocked faces in the room.

"I never saw my brother again. I like to think he's living somewhere happily, with his friend, and they don't have to deal with idiots like me."

The small faces stared up at me.

I was worried when they asked me to do a reading that the kids wouldn't understand, but the principle and librarian told me they would.

"We're leading the world into a new age, youth first!" The principle said.

"We need to set an example! The youth is the future, and we need to raise them to accept, not hate. Your book is perfect. It has a boy that falls in love with a demon! While we all know that it didn't happen, the kids are going to love it!"

I watched as they stared, and finally, a little girl smiled.

"I like your book, Mr. Sanders."

I beamed back at her.

"Please, call me Roman."

One of the boys raised his hand.

"Yes?"

He looked up, curiosity in his eyes. I braced for the usual 'but, that's a boy and a boy! They can't fall in love!'

Instead, he asked "Was Janus really a demon?"

"I'm not sure. When I saw him, that was all I could think, but I just don't know. He could've been an angel, sent to help my brother."

"Wh-"

"Raise your hand, Logan!" The teacher interjected, and a small boy in the back raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Was that a met-o-phor for him dying? Did he go to heaven?"

These kids were smart, I'll give them that.

I suppose it could've been, with the whole 'my brother disappeared so I wrote a children's book where he had a happy ending to cope with my loss' which is what people usually end up thinking.

"No. That's a genius idea, but this really happened. I was about eight or ten. Remus is my twin brother. I never saw him after that night."

A kid towards the front spoke out, ignoring the teacher trying to teach him manners.

"That's really sad, that you lost your brother like that."

I smiled at him, amused. I was like that as a kid, unwilling to bend and let teachers control my life.

"I miss him. I'm sad that I let my stupidity and narrowmindedness get in the way of meeting his friend! I could've been friends with him now, if he visited."

A girl raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"My monster under the bed doesn't like me. He calls me names, and he makes me scared to get up."

I was a bit worried, considering that she could have an actual monster.

"Have you told him things?"

She shook her head.

"You should tell him that you'd like to be friends. Maybe he'd like that too. He might just be nervous."

She nodded her head, eyes staring off into space.

Another kid raised their hand.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever seen another one of them?"

"No. I presume Janus told them what an idiot I was, and they ran away."

They smiled.

The teacher gave me the signal that I was out of time.

"Alright kids, I gotta go. Just remember, keep an open mind. I regret the way I treated Janus and Remus. I wish I could know what happened to them."

The kids cleared out, and I stayed, waiting for the next group of kids.

Someone stepped forward from the back of the library.

"Hello, are you here for the next reading?"

They didn't respond, getting closer.

They had curly brown hair with a grey streak, and green clothes.

They got closer, and when they were only a few yards away, they looked up.

I stared into their black eyes, fear overtaking me as they opened their mouth and said "Hello, Brother."

Should I do part two?