"I didn't think even demons could get sick."

I rubbed away the sweat that permeated the demon lord's forehead as he laid in bed, the covers tucked in under his chin. He tried to chuckle, but it came out as a garbled cough. "Sorry for getting you sick," I pouted, pushing his black hair back so that I could look into his eyes as I sat next to him. 

"No," He croaked out, his skin hot to the touch. Wow, demons really weren't immune to that kind of thing. "Don't feel bad," Maddox wheezed as his eyes turned orange, looking at me as his lips contorted into a droopy grin. God, he looked so stupid but I found it so endearing. Looking at him made me have severe heart palpitations and I didn't know why. 

"This wouldn't have happened if I didn't make you come into the rain with me..." I trailed off, gripping his hand under the cover. I had found out that he was sick when Availa came to me and told me that Maddox needed me in his wing. Needless to say, I found a puking demon who was shivering yet running hot with a fever. It was a gruesome sight, but I found that I stayed nonetheless. 

"I wouldn't have gone," Maddox wheezed, his deep voice taking on an unusually deep tone as he panted. "If I really didn't want to," That was true. He was so much stronger than me. He wouldn't have let himself get dragged by a mere human who he could flick against the wall in an instant. "...if you say so," I continued to wipe my cold hand on his forehead, listening to him sigh as the puppy laid next to him, curled up by his side. 

No one had any idea what time it was, but I was going to stay here as long as he needed me. I just felt compelled to make sure that this big, bad wolf of Hell was going to live it through this ailment of his. 

"You look so cute with your little hat on," I teased, watching him try to glare at me for playing with his little nightcap hat on. I was going to stay right by his side, no matter what, because he deserved that much from me. It was oddly disturbing that I was sitting here like this, so calm and so in tune with the peace that he was giving me.

"Can I get some Hot Cheetos?" He sounded so much like a little kid, it was unreal. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, knowing that his guilty pleasure snack would only make him feel even worse since it was spicy.

"No." He pouted and I chuckled, watching him reach a hand out to me, wiggling the digits around. "Hold my hand," He whispered and I slowly took his hand into mine, watching tan and slightly tan fingers bind themselves together, my heat warming him. I wanted to clutch my heart because the injury in my chest was acting up again. Was it really okay for my heart to be beating so fast like this? I felt nervous and sweaty, which was abnormal considering that I was Troy Morelli.

I didn't get nervous.

"I can feel myself getting better," Maddox coughed out and I rolled my eyes. "Stop sleeptalking," I muttered, not admitting that his words made this injury worse. My chest felt tight and every time I looked at him, my stomach churned but it wasn't that type of feeling where you ate something and you wanted to throw up. It was that type of feeling where you felt satisfied and you felt anxious because you were hopelessly waiting for something to happen. 

There was a knock on the door and it ascended forward, exposing the figure of an unusually calm right-hand woman. "Hello, Nya," I said carefully, not wanting her to go ham on my ass because quite frankly, I was having a good time. She most likely came to check on her lord, maybe even tell me to get the hell out because I wasn't needed. Either way, it was up to Maddox because he was very adamant that I stayed.

"Troy," Nya walked up to me, a full frown on concern morphing her face for once, which took me back because she was actually talking to me without annoyance and anger in her voice. "Yes?" I replied a bit warily, unsure if she was going to cuss me out or something along those lines. I was just waiting for it. "Please take care of him." 

She looked so hopeless and so worried as she darted her eyes from his sickly figure to me, a frown on her lips. Damn, she was acting like the dude was gonna take his last breath any minute and crumble into ashes. He just had a cold and the demon doctor told me that he would be fine in two days. Nonetheless, I kept my sarcasm to a minimum and decided to soothe her worries, though knowing that it would come back to bite my ass up. "You got it."

I felt a squeeze on my hand and I looked down to see Maddox grinning up at me, those black pupils blazed and shot in those gold eyes, and something about it made me hitch a breath for a second. For a moment there, it felt like I was sucked into a black hole within time and that was all that I saw and that was all that I was doing: looking into those eyes. 

Something was happening to me and I didn't know what it was. It had to be the fact that I was a world far away from home and I was feeling very homesick. Well, that thought couldn't be true because everything and everyone that I considered to be home were already here. "Thank you," That was all Nya had to say because she knew she was intruding on some moment because none of us were paying her any attention.

We were solely focused on each other.

That concept was scary because it was unknown to somebody like me. "What's on your mind, Troy?" Maddox tilted his head, looking like a soft puppy, a rasp to his tone as he tried to clear his throat. "You've been quiet, which is unlike you," I chuckled quietly, unconsciously rubbing the back of his hand. "I'm just thinking about a lot of things, what I've learned since I've been here and what I know," I didn't know how I felt about certain issues, but one thing was for sure. 

I hadn't left yet, and I doubted that I would.

It fell silent between us once again because we were just content with the flow. We were relishing in the fact that we had a few moments before the storm came to hit us. "Do you think that life would be different if none of this ever happened?" I questioned and he immediately nodded, a look of guilt morphing his features. "One could say that it was a chain of events. I laid to bed with Synthella and I got banished to Hell and your world started to follow suit," I looked at him with a hint of annoyance, knowing that it wasn't something of his control.

"If you sit there and blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault, I'm going to bite you." I grumbled, reaching up to flick him on the forehead, not too hard though. He still needed to think. "Sure, you thought a pretty lady was into you but she took advantage of you, Maddox. Instead of looking at it in that sordid manner of yours, try to remember that you didn't ask for any of this. Try to remember how much you fought to make Tion see the reality of the situation. Try to remember it all," I was very adamant in what I said. 

"Please understand that us people back on Earth may not know why this has happened, but we know that being alive is a blessing," I recalled his words from the other day and he nodded grimly, letting out a breath of frustration.

"These people have already lost their will to live." I could feel his hand shaking as if he was having trouble keeping his emotions intact. "Exactly, and you kept them from that. You kept me from that." I rubbed his hand and Maddox sighed, his eyes flickering through shades of colors, looking entirely exhausted. For some reason, I hated seeing him so defeated and defenseless because the man that I knew always had that effortless smug air around him. 

Now, he looked at me as if I was his saving grace. 

It was funny how the tables had turned and how every single thing had up and changed within 180 degrees. It was funny because my first day down here, I did not expect any of this to happen, but I was glad that it did.

"Oh shit," I sputtered, feeling the hair on my body stand straight up. "Maddox, if you know what the hell is good for you," The man's eyes widened comically, feeling the bed dip as an intruder crawled across. "W-what is it?" He didn't dare move as I climbed over him, eyes on the hairy creature that was six feet away from him.

"It's a tarantula, it seems."

All of a sudden, Maddox let out the most unceremonious scream that I had ever heard in my life. I started to guffaw hysterically as his hand lit up with blue flames, incinerating the creature on the spot, ashes darkening the sheets. Tears filled my eyes as I struggled to breathe, watching him flail around to make sure that the tarantula didn't somehow mutate and make babies. "Oh my god," I wheezed in laughter, wiping my eyes.

The demon lord all but looked at me with a glare and that pushed me over the edge once again. "I can't believe that a powerful person like you is scared of spiders," Maddox ignored me with a scowl, looking around to make sure that it was dead. "Laugh all you want now, Troy," He playfully threatened and I reached up to push the hair out of his face, feeling the temperature of his forehead.

"I'll laugh all I want to because you won't do a thing about it," I winked and a dark grin coursed his lips as his eyes blackened, giving me a hint that what he was thinking was not suitable for my ears. I didn't know what it was, but I was feeling that I was comfortable enough to the point where I would just let him do what he wanted, given that I put up a fight. I was starting to crave, starting to burn, starting to itch for more.

There was this burning desire building with my core and it throbbed with every need. Of course, it had been a while, but this wasn't something that I could easily satiate. No, it required a lot more, and I intended to get that.

"You're the most beautiful human that I've come across, both in looks and in your soul," My eyes widened almost comically, my cheeks reddening without my control as Maddox looked up at me goofily, the atmosphere of the room changing drastically. "I-what?" I sputtered, not expecting such sleeptalk to come out now. I had no idea what to say because I was just not prepared to hear something like that.

But it wasn't unwelcomed.

There was a small silhouette of fire that decorated our hands, not burning our skin, as he caressed my palm, those eyes gleaming deeply into my own. I couldn't help but smile. "I'd have to say," I cleared my throat, all nervousness back full feat as my cheeks stayed stained. "You're not too bad yourself, demon lord."

The things that I had heard about him had changed with every moment that I had spent with him, every single revelation that I had come across. I didn't hate him anymore, that was a fact. Deep down inside, I could feel myself falling but it was alright. Everything was going to be okay because I knew that there was someone to catch me when I finally reached the bottom and if the situation was reversed, I'd be there to catch him.

"Now look who's sleep talking?" Maddox's voice was deep and hoarse and I chuckled, finding that I was wishing that this moment would last for a lifetime. There was a soft smile playing at his lips, the gleam of his white teeth peeking through as he stared at me endlessly. I took the moment to encase his features into my mind because everything about him was perfect.

Fuck, what in the fucking hell was I thinking? Troy Morelli didn't have sappy thoughts like this. He did not ever have a singular thought about any person or any entity like this. To be very frank, it was throwing me off.

All of a sudden, a knock sounded on the door and it wasn't one of those regular demon knocks that echoed throughout the room, therefore, I knew it belonged to humans. "Come in!" I called out, seeing the knob turn as it opened to reveal Jade and Avery. "Hey, what's up?" I was fully aware of what I was doing, whose hand I was holding, how odd it had to look, but I didn't really care. "We just came to see if you needed anything," Jade said and I called bullshit. They did not walk over to this wing just to see if I 'needed anything.' 

I guessed that they wanted to talk to me and judging by the tap on my palm and the yawn that left his mouth, Maddox agreed. "Go ahead," He nodded to me. "Just make sure you come back to me," He whispered and the injury in my chest started to throb. I wondered if the demon doctor could take a look at my chest and tell me if I was dying.

I reluctantly let go of Maddox's hand, missing the heat as I stood up. He turned over and decided on a nap and I walked out to go to the sitting area with Jade and Avery. "Sorry, we disturbed you. We just missed seeing you," Avery stated, rubbing the back of his neck and I nodded, knowing that I missed them too. "Do you think that when everything somehow goes back to normal," Jade began, pointing out that our parents were here. "Do you think that we will still be friends?" She questioned, looking so uncertain and I snorted.

"Just because we lose our reason why we became friends doesn't mean that it becomes the reason we stop being friends, Jade," I reassured, knowing that I couldn't find two dipshits suitable for being my best friends. She seemed content with that answer and she meshed into the cushion of the couch, allowing us to reminisce on memories.

"Can you imagine being ugly?" Avery stammered out of the blue and we all rolled our eyes, looking at him. I raised a brow at the sudden question, an instant response on my tongue. "I wouldn't know." We all chuckled in reply, each of us thinking about life and where we were going to go from here. We had lost our set goals for the suture.

There was still much that was unanswered, but it was no point as we would never get a clear and precise in time. We would never be able to truly understand the deep history and the deep impact of what Maddox had gone through since the moment he stepped foot into Hell. 

"Hey, Avery?" I spoke up, listening to the wind swirl around outside as Maddox Jr. chewed on his tail. "Yeah?" He replied, fixating his eyes on me. "It's something that I've always wondered," I turned to look at him, narrowing my eyes. "But why you rather start a chain of duplicates than be killed?" I asked, understanding that one would rather have clones than be killed because of logic, but he had to know what these clones would be used for. 

Avery stared at me, those grey eyes mulling over as he thought of what to say. "...at first, I did want to die. I didn't like the concept of using my own DNA to make people that would be used against of me and take all of my memories and use them against the people I loved," When he put it that way, it almost sounded so evil and demonic. "But I learned that it wasn't like what I assumed. Zero actually told me that these clones would be very helpful in determining what powers they can hold against a greater evil." He explained and it quietly dawned on me.

Maddox made duplicates of every human that came so he could make an army and give them powers in hopes that they would triumph in this war.

He was a lot more clever than I thought and the idea just made me smile to myself. This man had so much going on in his mind and I was going to be the first person that he let in. Every time that I looked at him and I talked to him, had a conversation about him got to know him just a little bit more, I always questioned why Synthella didn't think that he was enough for her.

Because he was.

"Don't you think that it's time to be happy now?" Avery suddenly asked and I stared at him, unsure of how to answer that question. "Sure, we possibly could," I paused, trying to come up with a way to solve Maddox's problems with this Tion person, Synthella, and everything else behind it so that he wasn't stuck in a corner. I was trying to come up with a way to connect Earth to Hell so that those humans were not stuck in a dark loop forever. Maddox had this extensively large burden that he carried on his shoulders, and I couldn't help that I wanted to alleviate it for him.

"But I don't think I could if Maddox isn't."