Awakening to Devin's smiling face was the most precious gift. We had barely talked after our re-encounter, opting to simply enjoy the peace of holding onto each other, listening to our heartbeats and our breathing fall in sync.

"Good morning."

"Morning," he returned with that smirk he wore so incredibly well.

"What is it?" I laughed.

"Nothing. I just half-expected you not to be here when I woke up," his smile faded momentarily as I nodded in agreement.

"So what are we doing today? I already called in to work," the man placed a hand on his head and rolled over onto his back,"I have a terrible fever today. Hot as Hell."

"I don't know," my chuckle was the only acknowledgment of his dramatic performance, "I guess a good place to start is to see if you're the only who can see me or not."

"I hadn't thought about that yet. How are you feeling though?" his expression became solemn.

I flipped onto my side, arm propping up my head as I grinned deviously, vision trailing down his naked body, "Fantastic."

He scoffed, "I'm serious."

My wings, which had fallen awkwardly off the side of the mattress to rest on the floor, twitched as if to truly test my state. They actually felt a bit sore, along with the rest of me. I wasn't sure if it was to do with the trip, the sex, or the odd and stiff posture I had kept during the night. It could have been all or none, so I decided to move about and get my bearings.

Carefully rotating so that I faced the bed's opposite side again without whacking my boyfriend with these unearthly appendages, I placed my feet on the floor and stood.

In Hell, I really didn't have to worry about such things because the world was open and roomy pretty much everywhere, filled with creatures who were either large or had similar features. After a few steps, I turned to the man still lying down and staring.

"What a wonderful sight," his gaze mimicked how I had checked him out earlier, drawing my attention to my own nudity.

Cocking my head to the side, I swiftly commanded my energy to conceal my form once more with its demonic flesh and then walked over to the closet to retrieve a fresh pair of jeans, "Get dressed," I chucked the clothes playfully over the man's groin.

"Gahhh, fine!" he grabbed the pants and groaned as he rose from the bed, deliberately wavering in his step to brush our bodies together.

My core tightened with the small touch. How easily intoxicated he made me... A vision flashed across my mind of shoving him against the wall, arms pinned above his head as I stole a deep kiss, then softly sucked on his neck before throwing him back on the bed for round two. Shaking my head to dismiss the thought, I opted to put on a pair of slacks myself.

They were a bit awkward at first to get around me, due to beastly feet and these damned claws, but it seemed to amuse Devin, so I didn't get frustrated. I watched him slip on a band shirt while wondering if I should do the same. It appeared that his brain had the same idea. Pulling out a blank tee, he handed it over and shrugged.

"I can always tear a hole in the back," he suggested.

I stood gawking at the shirt for a few moments, thoughtfully thumbing them with my nails. Feeling their points scraping, however, I decided to not bother. I wasn't accustomed to walking around topless, mostly to do with an upbringing of constantly hiding wounds and scars, but after being used to doing so for the past...

"Devin?"

"Yeah?"

"How long has it been?"

Obviously, judging on his appearance and the apartment, I could tell it had not been an incredible length of time since we had been separated. Nonetheless, it dawned on me that I didn't know how long it had been. He seemed confused initially, sauntering closer to me with a worried expression to take my hands comfortingly.

"Only months, but it feels like ages," he let go and caressed my cheek, "Let's get you some food."

Once we were in the kitchen, Devin retrieving a can of chili from the cabinet, his paranoid actions caught up to me. I realized how he'd kept looking over at me every few seconds and even making excuses to graze his arm against me. It was like he was subtly checking to make sure I was real without wanting me to know he was.

Admittedly, my focus wasn't entirely on him as he began heating our typical cheap meal up. Instead, my eyes had been scanning my old home. He had left everything exactly how I had had it.

Mind flooding with memories of the all the time I had spent idly watching the TV or scrolling mindlessly through random websites and social media with nobody except a handful of people I had never met and rarely talked to. Everything in life back then had been so pointless. It had been meaningless and pathetic..I had been meaningless and pathetic.

"Are you okay?" the man snuck up to my side, sliding a hand around my waist and pecking my neck.

My gaze returned to him and immediately those solemn visions shattered, shifting to the days after we met, "I'm good. I just missed you is all."

He gave a tight squeeze, his head resting atop my shoulder, causing my wings to instinctively flutter, opening to surround him. I felt his cheek muscles move against mine as he grinned with the protective motion.

"Aren't you two just so cute," a new voice sounded from the couch, startling us from our relaxed pose.

It belonged to Emma, the observation clearly not meant to be pleasant. I had almost forgotten about the gothic ghost girl, though I was certain I had never heard such contempt in her tone. Much like when we hugged, my feathers extended to their full length, curling their darkness in a barrier between my lover and the intruders as I rotated to face them.

"What do you want?" I growled.

"You both keep asking that and yet, my answer has never changed," she crossed her arms.

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with this," I glared with snarled lips, "But you need to let it go. How can you be so selfish?"

"Hah!" the girl forced a scornful laugh, "That's a riot coming from you, Mark."

"You're right. I was selfish. I let innocent people get hurt," my head tilted, letting my horns point my threat, "I however, unlike you, learned from my mistake. I did what I could to fix it and not let it happen again. You're petty and childish. Grow up."

The teen mimicked the motion, throwing hands on hips, "Little hard to do when I was killed before given the chance."

Her petulance was perturbing. I had changed in more ways than maturity and my new mindset urged me to fend the ghosts off with more aggressive measures. Whether he was able to sense this or not, Devin chimed in, attempting a subtler maneuver.

"I don't know why you keep trying. We've made it clear we're not going to help you in any way ever. So why do you keep coming back?"

"He's right," surprisingly enough Damian had inched up to join the conversation, whispering to his girlfriend, "It's just a waste of time. Let's go somewhere else."

Emma didn't move from her position, her eyes locked on me. After a moment, the boy next to her put his hand gently on her shoulder, but she simply jerked away, "You're such an idiot, Damian! These jerks don't deserve to be happy! To just forget about us and move on!"

An expression which I'd never expected of the older partner lit his face then. He appeared crushed by her words. What had happened to the reserved fight-ready person I was used to? How had I missed that it was only the girl who pressed their quest so thirstily?

Perhaps it was due to my most recent afterlife experiences, but it was entirely clear now. My annoyance seemed to dissipate at this realization and I spoke once again with a softer tone.

"Emma," my wings flitted shut to ease the tension of my stance, "I won't pretend to understand your pain, but you know I've had my share of it. I never thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel until I finally found it. I know you can find yours too."

Although sincere, this offered hope tasted both hypocritical and forced. I didn't anticipate her to outright accept my kind gesture. A smartass retort or even silence, but the utter despite which showed in her sudden lunge toward me was also unexpected.

Her friends seemed more surprised than me. While Todd and Chris hesitated before hollering in delight, Damian stood shocked trying to decipher the situation. I threw my hands up, taking hold of her wrists to push her back from where she had jumped, but the despairing ghost apparently held a good manner of power of her own.

Barring my teeth as I finally threw her away, I gave a single warning, "You don't want to fight me."

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" she scoffed, once more rushing forward only to be stopped by the gentle presence of a baseball bat swinging in front of us.

We settled our vision on the trench-coat clad boy who had stepped in between us, holding his weapon out to the side. At first I thought he meant for the battle to cease as he stared at me momentarily with no malice in his eyes.

"If you insist on fighting," he said softly, "I will fight for you, Ems."

As I paused, considering their back story to which I was ignorant, I hoped she would heed his dislike for the battle. It would be incredibly easy to simply give a haughty order not to bother; she would lose no face. Yet she did nothing. I wondered if the boy realized how this simple inaction proved what she truly valued. If he did, he still cared for her enough to continue the struggle.

Skipping forward, swinging his bat full force, Damian's face straightened, showing no signs of emotion. I spun to the side, my wings pulling close to allow a smoother, quicker movement.

The boy fell into the strength of his own blow and in the seconds it took him to recover, I had already approached his back and drew my own weapon, holding the tip of its blade in the middle of his spine. All I needed was to sink the sword into his body and he would be finished.

However, he didn't yield regardless of his defeated position. He twisted beneath me, my mind barely registering his expression as I rammed the blade through his core.

I hadn't been entirely certain on its effect, but it felt just like each of the times in Hell when I had injured or destroyed another in the same manner. Initially like piercing flesh before falling inside an empty hull, the victim collapsing to the blow.

"Damian?!" Emma's cry revealed her ignorance of their own limitations as she ignored any danger to rush to her friend's side.

His hand reached for her cheek, but was too weak to finish the motion. The girl grabbed it as it fell, placing his palm on her face and holding it there as he tried to choke out a final statement. This too, failed.

"What did you do?" she screamed, turning tearful eyes upon me, "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM?!?"

"Ems..." Damian managed, his hand becoming dead weight and falling from her grasp.

Gazing helplessly at him, her lower lip quivered, trying to fight through speechlessness. Not an instant longer, the boy's entire body became limp. His leader and lover sobbed his name repeatedly in broken whispers. His ethereal form slowly began fading, beginning with tiny flakes much as my own had done.

The sight struck me as possible triggering to Devin, who had remained behind in the kitchen throughout the ordeal. His own expression betrayed the kind smile he gave to me in order to hide this fact. Inhaling sharply, I traipsed close to him once more as the girl sat, staring longingly at her empty hands.

WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?

Her question echoed in my mind. I had killed him? destroyed him? I didn't honestly know what became of him after this second death. As a human, I probably would have regretted not holding back when it had been obvious to me he didn't actually want to fight. However, I knew there had been no intent other than to protect myself and my boyfriend so there was also no remorse.

"MARK, YOU FUCKING MONSTER! I HATE YOU!" Emma's aim was once again on me.

She shot to her feet again and was screaming through falling tears as she stomped in my direction. Only an idiot wouldn't see that she was suffering, but it would also take an idiot not to understand she was dangerous. Whatever fate awaited Damian at the end of my blade, she would soon meet as well.

Her attacks were ill-placed, her brain not thinking amidst its sorrow. It only made killing her, if that was the right word, that much simpler. Between two flailing punches, I landed my sword directly into her chest, not hesitating before ramming it through to the other side of her body. I then watched her, as she had watched Damian, slowly fall to the ground and break away into pieces until there was nothing except the memory of her.

"It's okay," I turned full attention onto Devin as I took his hands in mine. His peace and safety were my only concerns, "Are you okay?"

While he shook his head awkwardly, never verbally answering, I twisted my neck to see the last surviving ghosts. Todd and Chris, now not only stunned but clearly terrified, began backpedaling under the weight of my demonic focus. After a few shaky paces, the boys spun around and tore from the scene, vanishing as they had done so many times before. However this time, I was certain they wouldn't return.