TW: Car accident, Death

It was half past seven in the evening. The autumn sky was tinted pink as the sun set. The city was as busy and as noisy as ever. Alex was lounging around in the apartment he shared with his boyfriend, Will. Headphones sitting round his neck. Trying to get in contact with Will, who was supposed to have been home half an hour ago.

Anyone else wouldn't worry too much if someone was late home. But Will's timing was usually impeccable. He was never late, never early, always exactly on time. Be it for a meeting, work, a date, whatever. He was very good at planning out his day.

And on the odd occasion that he would be home a little bit later than usual, he'd inform Alex first, a quick text, just to say he was working late or whatever it was. But this time, Alex hadn't heard anything. And that was worrying.

"Will, I know you're probably just busy or whatever, but this is so unlike you. Please at least text me! I'm getting worried." Alex said into his phone as it clicked onto voicemail for the fifteenth time. "Come on Will, this is getting silly.." He muttered to himself as he checked his messages again.

This cycle continued for another ten minutes. Before he eventually ended up pacing back and forth across the living room. Phone in his hand, muttering to himself, eyes darting in the general direction of the front door at every tiny sound. But Will never came home.

Another twenty minutes passed before the silence was broken. Alex's phone started ringing, one of the tracks he had recorded with his band mates playing loud across the room as he all but ran over to the table where he'd left his phone. Seeing Will's name on the screen, his heart seemed to skip a beat, he quickly answered the call and held his phone up to his ear.

"Will?" He said breathlessly, waiting to hear his boyfriends lovely deep voice coming from the other end.

"No, no this isn't Will. Though I am calling to tell you about him." Said a different, but still familiar voice. "And I'm afraid this isn't for idle chatter either."

"Trott? Wait, are you at work? Are you at the hospital? Why do you have Will's phone? What's happened?" Alex said quickly, confused and scared.

"I'm not gonna sugar coat this for you, mate. There's been an accident." Trott said, rather bluntly, his usually bouncy tone was completely gone and he almost sounded sinister. Alex's breath caught in his throat. "Will was driving home and some idiot swerved into the wrong lane and smashed into him.."

"Oh god.." Alex murmured. "Oh god oh god.. Please-Please tell me he's ok. Please." Alex said shakily, voice quiet as he ran through the apartment looking for his shoes and keys.

"He's alive. But.. Alex I think you should come down here."

"Way ahead of you." Alex said as he closed the front door behind him. Quickly locking it and heading for the stairs, the lift was too slow, and they were only on the second floor anyway, the stairs were quicker. "I'll be there in like, ten minutes. It's not far." He said as he speed-walked down the stairs, jumping the last three at the bottom of each set. He ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket as he reached the front door of the building. Heaving it open and dashing down the street. Adrenaline pumping through his veins as he ran faster than he'd ever ran before in his life.

He barely thought twice when he almost ran into someone else he knew. Turning a corner and almost running headlong into Xephos. The scientist had tried to stop Alex but hadn't been able too. He seemed to know that something was wrong though, and when Alex broke free and continued his mad dash down the street, Xephos had followed.

No more than ten minutes later, Alex was running through the car-park outside the hospital, quickly approaching the front entrance, Xephos still tailing him a little way behind.

He didn't slow down until he crossed the threshold into the building, stopping abruptly and looking around in search of where to go next. He'd been down here so many times and for so many reasons over the years that he should have known where to go, but his mind was set on one thing and one thing only, and that was Will.

After a few seconds, Trott appeared in the corridor, he saw Alex instantly and hurried over to him.

"Where's Will?" Alex said breathlessly, heart pounding in his chest as he tried to catch his breath.

"Come with me." Trott said quickly, glancing at Xephos as the older man came into view, but soon guiding Alex across the reception area and towards Will's room.

Alex felt as if the world around him had stopped as he pressed his hands against the glass window, looking at Will, the man he loved, laying in the bed, completely still aside from the gentle rise and fall of his chest, his eyes closed, machines and wires of all sorts surrounding him. Alex couldn't quite believe it. There was no way that this could be real..

"Can I-- Can I go in--P-Please?" Alex stuttered, looking across at Trott, who was stood beside him. The brown-haired man nodded and pushed the door open for the musician. Who slipped into the room and walked around the bed, not taking his eyes off of Will. He heard the door close behind him. And as he glanced up to the window, he saw Xephos talking to Trott just outside the room. The scientist looked almost as worried as Alex felt. Though that was understandable, he knew that Xephos and Will had a lot of history and had known one another for a very long time.

Alex settled himself down into the chair beside the bed. His movements slow and shaky, the adrenaline rush coming to an end. He still couldn't tear his gaze from Will's face. He'd almost look peaceful, if it weren't for the wires and the cut along his cheekbone.

Alex folded his arms on the bed, leaning against them. "Please be ok." He whispered. "I love you so much Will, please don't leave me.. Not yet.. Not like this.." He gently took Will's hand in his, careful not to knock the blood-pressure sensor from his finger or the IV line from his wrist. "Please, Will." He muttered, tears forming in his eyes as he rested his head against his arms. "Please, I love you, I love you s-so much.. I -- I don't know what I'd do without you.. Will.. Please.." He let his eyes drift closed as exhaustion from the mad dash down here began to set in. He hoped and prayed that when he woke, Will would be sitting there smiling at him, running his long fingers through his dark ebony hair and telling him that everything was ok.. "..Please.. Please.."

===============================================

"Mr Parvis, you need to wake up."

"Alex, Alex wake up."

"..What..?"

"Alex, you need to get up."

"W-What? Woah! X-Xeph? What--" Alex stuttered as he was shaken awake and dragged to his feet. Pulled backwards and held still at the side of the room by strong arms, wrapped around him. Xephos wasn't tall, not really, even Alex stood a few inches taller than him and he wasn't that tall, but he was strong. And Alex didn't have the strength to fight back, not when he saw why he'd been woken so suddenly.

Doctors and nurses surrounded Will, talking quickly, frantically. Alex couldn't make sense of what was happening, medical jargon coming from the people around him might as well have been in another language, he couldn't focus on anything, eyes darting across at everything in front of him. There was a single, flat note sounding across the room, audible even over all the voices.

"No, no no no.." He muttered, his breath coming short. His surroundings slowly starting to make sense. He turned sharply, finding that he couldn't watch, burying his face in Xephos' shoulder and clinging to the scientists striped shirt. Xephos paid no mind, merely held Alex tighter.

Seconds passed like hours, ticking away at a horrendously slow pace. The frantic voices seemed to become nothing more than an awful din. That flat note hadn't stopped.

One of the doctors said something above the others. And the group fell silent. One of them checked their watch, and recited the time and date as someone else jotted it down.

"Oh no.." Xephos whispered.

"..No.." Alex mumbled as he turned his head slightly. It hit him like a bullet, and the world seemed to slow down to a crawl. Ice lodged in his heart and spreading through his veins, making him feel cold, and numb. He could hear someone calling his name, but they sounded as if they were millions of miles away. Xephos almost dragged Alex around the doctors and out the door, sitting him down on the bench just outside.

"Alex, Alex look at me, Alex." Xephos said, his voice firm, but shaking very slightly. His composure starting to waver as he squeezed Alex's shoulders. "Alex, please."

"This.. This isn't real.. It can't be.." Alex stuttered, his voice little more than a whisper, clutching at Xephos' shirt. Not quite able to hold his diamond gaze. "I love him he.. He can't.." He muttered. There were no tears, no sobs, no tremors, just wide, empty eyes and heavy breathes.

"I'm sorry, Alex." Xephos said softly. "I'm so sorry.." He pulled Alex close and held him tight. Alex didn't resist, he just let Xephos hold him.

Will was dead. The man he loved. Gone. Just like that. But Alex didn't cry. He wanted to cry. He felt as if he should cry. But he couldn't. He didn't know why. But the tears wouldn't come. So he just sat there, silently, in Xephos' embrace. Waiting for everything to set in and for his thoughts to become less scrambled.

It wasn't until he lay in bed that night that he came out of his trance and the world crumbled around him. Shattering into a million tiny pieces as the ice in his heart cracked and was replaced with grief and longing. He cried until his throat was raw, until there were no more tears, until he slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep.

It was all over. The dream he'd been living, the perfect life he'd hoped for, been looking forward too. Gone. Taken away from him before it had even begun..

William Strife was dead. Everything was over..

Credit to Fire_Cat on Ao3