Days went by, and every sunset took with it another bit of the hope Scott had been clinging to so desperately.  He had had Avi’s car towed to his garage, just telling his parents that it had broken down. He had texted Esther that Avi had flown to Ireland to meet with a potential backer for the bar and also to get a taste for the local beer and maybe find something special for Draconem.  He'd made sure to throw in that he was worried about international calling fees so she wouldn't hear from him unless it was an emergency.

Thankfully she’d bought it… at least for the time being.  

All in all, it was a mess covering for Avi, but at least it kept his mind busy.   When left to his own devices, his mind ran rampant with theories and too many what ifs.  What if Mitch had actually chosen his world and his family over him? What if Avi had chosen his absolute dream world and a beautiful girl over his home and family and friends?

What if he had lost the only man he’d ever loved and ever would love as well as his best friend all at the same time? Could two of the most important people in his life really abandon him that easily? Was he really that insignificant to them?

Well, that led to a lot of half-baked ice cream and Netflix binge watching.

He tried to steer his thoughts back to other options. What if something had happened and now Mitch just couldn’t get back to him.  What if Avi had somehow gotten trapped there?

But was that option any better? If they were trapped, then the chances of seeing either ever again were slim. What would he do? What would he tell Avi’s family? What would he do with his business?

What would he do with a baby friggin dragon!?

What was he going to do when Sarah got bigger? HOW big was she going to get? Hiding a little tiny dragon is one thing, a full sized fire breathing dinosaur is another. He’d seen Jurassic Park…

“Saaaarrrraaaahhhhhhhhh.” He’d lost track of the little animal… creature… thing.  She had been like a shadow, always a step or two behind him or draped across his shoulders or mostly cuddled in his lap like a lap cat, but currently she was nowhere to be found … and that worried him.

When he finally found her in the laundry room and saw the pile of clothes she was laying on, he nearly broke down. They were Mitch’s paint covered clothes that he’d left behind after their last day together.

He had cried so many tears in the past few days that he wondered how there could be any more left inside of him.  No matter how many ‘other fish in the sea’ articles he read or ‘it gets better’ Tumblr posts he came across, he couldn’t ever imagine belonging to anyone else.

Mitch was his one.  

He’d found him, he’d loved him and he’d lost him.

As he fell to his knees, he wished his heart was made of stone instead of this fragile tortured thing inside of him.  Maybe then it wouldn’t hurt so badly. How many more days would he spend in isolation? How many more days would he visit the clearing… hoping against hope that his love would come back to him?  How many more days could he survive like this?

How do people with broken hearts move on?

There was no moving on from this.  There was no ‘time heals everything’ proverb that would make it better.  Mitch had been wrong when he said humans could love more than once.  There was nothing left for him. His heart was done and now that it had lost its purpose, he wasn’t sure what there was to wake up for. Pain? Suffering?  

A nose nudged at his arm as Sarah propped up on his legs to rub her face over his chin stubble. She understood him; she knew that heartache, and somehow her wordless comfort still made a difference.  

One day at a time.  It was all they could do.  One more sunset…   one more piece of hope…

~_~_~

“What’s prom?”

“It’s a dance… a party. It’s stupid, but my mom wants pictures and things, so I kind of have to go.”

“Alright. I hope you have fun.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “I won’t, not without you.  You would look so yummy in a tux.”

“What’s a tux?”

He smirked and pulled the fae boy against him. “A tudexo. Don’t worry, I’ll come show you after the dance.”

Mitch smiled as Scott took his hands.

“You have the tiniest hands, I swear.”

"I do not have tiny hands, you are just abnormally large.”

Scott threw his head back as he laughed and held up his hand to which Mitch placed his palm against palm.  

“I love you.” The blonde interlaced their fingers.

“You are getting sappy again.”

“I’m never teaching you new words if you keep using them against me.”.

“You like when I’m against you.”

He laughed at the clever boy and buried his face in his neck, the cold of his skin still somehow warming him. “You are verrry right.”

“Will I get a picture?”

Scott grinned against his skin, placing a chaste kiss on the side of his neck. “I will get one just for you, I promise.”

~*~

“So what do you think?”

He felt his heart flutter at the sight, his love’s hair perfectly done, eyes bright with moonlight, the lines of his tuxedo giving him a regal air.  Though the fae boy was a prince himself, he had a strong urge to bow at his feet in reverence. He managed to stay upright, but his head bowed just a bit.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Did I do something?” Scott hurried over and lifted his chin with his finger.

“No. You are perfect, I suddenly felt a bit unworthy of your beauty..  That's all.”

Scott seemed a bit stunned and laughed a bit. “You… unworthy of my beauty.” He grinned and stepped closer to the pointy-eared man. “Well… now you know how I feel every time I look at you.” His voice had dropped to just above a whisper, and it caused flecks of brown to appear in the glittering golden eyes.

“Did you have fun with your date?”

Scott rolled his eyes and stepped back. “She was annoying. Apparently when I told her I was gay she thought I was joking or that it was a passing hobby. Idiot.  But I hung out with some friends, and we had fun.”

“Did your mother get her pictures?”

He grinned and moved closer again. “Yes, we did the whole 1000 pictures thing. When they get developed, I’ll bring you one.”

“It will be nice to have an image of you that I haven’t painted.”

Scott pulled back to look at him. “You said it was too dangerous to keep a photo. If you had wanted, I could have given you one ages ago.”

“I know I said that, and it is true, but I miss you when we’re apart. I think a picture would help ease some of that ache.”

“I wish it was even possible to take a picture of you.” Scott pouted.

Mitch grinned. “My magic knows it is dangerous.”

“Yeah well I’d still like a picture of my boyfriend instead of the glittery blue smurf haze I always get when I try to take one.”

The dark haired boy pressed a kiss to his lips as he giggled.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He smiled and took a step back, his back straightening and his chin lifting. He offered a hand to his amused boyfriend. “My Prince, may I have this dance?”

Mitch laughed, the corner of his eyes crinkling in happiness.  “There is no music.”

Scott reached into his pocket to locate his phone and after pressing a few buttons music began to fill the night air.  “You were saying?”

Mitch took his hand and let himself be wrapped up in his love’s arms.

“I want to stay like this forever.”

Mitch let his head rest on that broad chest, eyes closing as he let himself just enjoy the heartbeat of the man he loved.  “Me too.”

~_~_~

They had been traveling for days and sometimes through the night. Whenever the human among them would begin to fatigue, they’d lend him a bit of magic just to keep him going. It was dangerous to rest now that they’d gotten so far from the light lands. The three fae had each had their sword bathed in the blood of many enemies, and they all knew it was only going to get worse.

Still they moved forward. When things were quiet, and his mind began to shift back to the missing part of him, the memories always left him with more tears and even more pain. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Was Scott really his? Was he merely acting on feelings his magic had created for him?  

How could that light, that love that had always been so obvious in his eyes, be false? How could he let himself believe that Scott didn’t honestly and truly love him?

He looked over at Oryn and Avi huddled together.  He could hear them discussing the events of the day and the enemies that lay in wake along the road ahead. That bright wonder he'd seen in the human's eyes when he'd spotted the full sized dragons just beyond Illyria's borders hadn't yet dimmed, even with the perils and daunting pace. He could see it brighten every time he looked at the lavender haired fae always at his side.

He wanted to warn her, his dearest companion, that loving a human was more dangerous than any creature they could ever face, but he recognized that look in her eyes. He could see the fondness growing between the duo. How could he tell her that loving Avriel was wrong when he himself felt that everything about he and Scott was right and perfect and pure.

But how could he not and watch her suffer the same fate as he and Scott?

He glanced up at the trees, knowing Orion was up there with Sora on watch duty. The young dragon could see far better than any of their eyes could and his early warnings had saved their lives on more than one occasion. Besides, he was far too small for battle yet, and the trees offered him solitude to mourn and grieve the loss of Sarah. He hoped for both of their sakes that the seperation would be temporary. 

He wanted to continue on, to move forward… but they had all been pushing themselves to their limits. They needed at least a little while to rest, even if it meant more time away from the other half of him.

“Avriel?” He got to his feet and crossed the space over to the other two. “Do you have a phone?”

“Yeah, but it's not much good over here. It’s also dead, but Oryn figured out how to charge it. Hang on.”

He watched him rummage through his pack until he produced the device and offered it to Oryn.

“Does it... “  He felt his throat nearly close on his words. He felt overly vulnerable for asking, but he needed to nonetheless. “Do you… have a picture of Scott… on it?”

The human stared at him, a small smile softening his features. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. I’ll find one.”

He sat next to the human and after the device had been charged Avi showed he and Oryn a few pictures until he came across one of Scott laughing and handed it over to the quiet man. “Here.”

Mitch wasn’t sure if it helped or just made the ache even more poignant. That beautiful face… He longed to touch him again... to see him, kiss him...  hold him.

“Do you suppose that magic could help it communicate? Avriel mentioned that it was used to speak with Scott.” Oryn regarded Avi with a tilted head.

Mitch knew it was pointless, but he was willing to try…

And they did…   and they failed.

~_~_~

The disappointment from their failed experiment was just beginning to set in when they heard the warning whistle from above.

Avi hadn’t even had time to react when the fae were up and on their feet, Orion dropping from the branches above to join them.

The human had proved rather slow with a sword, so Oryn had given him a dagger to keep close in case of emergency. That was the weapon he reached for as the solid black figures broke through the brush. It was hard to see them in the dark of night, and he didn’t have the advantage of fae sight to help him decipher darkness from enemy. He slowly moved back, slinking behind the tree as the battle commenced. His eyes immediately searched out Oryn, always worried about her safety first, but she was not the kind of woman who needed help from anyone, especially him.

She was gorgeous, brilliant, innocent yet deadly. She was a beacon in the dark for all of them, warmhearted and light and he was falling more and more every passing moment even when he knew he would never have her.

He kept his eyes on her, worry increasing as the fight seemed go on longer than the others they had pushed through.  Although he couldn’t make out the true forms of the black masses surrounding them, he could tell that they had multiplied as the view of the constant moving fae and their weapons were becoming obstructed.

He held his breath...  fingers digging into the hilt of his dagger. After minutes of heavy fear, he could see the light creatures, and though the three had been separated across the clearing, they were still alive. He watched Mitchell run up the side of a giant rock and propel himself off and into the chaos from a different angle. He’d been so impressed and amazed that he'd neglected to hear the disturbance behind him until the last second. He whirled around, waving his dagger into the black, but still he could see nothing but emptiness. He backed away slowly, knowing that behind him lay more of the creatures and even more danger, but forward was certain death.

He slashed out again, earning a bone-chilling screech in response, but when he did it again as Oryn had taught him his mind was filled with smoky black, and his vision clouded over to nothing. He let out a gasp of pain and surprise and fell to his knees, the dagger lost to the mossy ground as he brought his hands to his head.  He loosed a scream that rang through his ears as a million horrors ripped through him. Every dark fear and every horrible nightmare became his reality all at one time.  

The last thing his mind was able to register before oblivion was the sound of that beautiful woman screaming his name.

Then he was lost to shadow…