Jerome stuttered, unable to think of the right thing to say. "M-Mitch...A-Are those...?"

Mitch nodded, a slightly nervous look on his face. His wings still wide open behind him, revealing their giant wingspan. His wings seemed to glow, the moonlight reflecting off of the sleek white feathers.

Jerome again racked his mind for things to say, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He glanced over to Ian to see his reaction, but the raven-haired man was just looking back at him with an innocent look on his face. Realization came over Jerome as he thought. He already knows...!

Jerome's suspicions were confirmed as Mitch and Ian exchanged glances, a nervous look on Mitch's face. Mitch then looked at Jerome, his wings folding in a bit in response to his nervousness. He wants me to say something... Jerome thought. But that was the thing. Jerome had no idea what to say. He didn't even know how he felt.

"Mitch... Why didn't you tell me?" Jerome asked, trying his best to put a confident tone in his voice. "I'm your best friend, yet you kept something this big from me. Yet, you told Ian first, before me. Why?"

The nervous look on Mitch's face became apologetic as he wings closed behind him, Mitch looking Jerome right in the eyes. "Ian caught me, I didn't tell him. Biggums, I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I just was scared."

"Of what?"

"Of what you would think! I didn't want you to think I was a freak or anything like that! I'm going to be completely honest with you now Biggums... I'm not... human... not completely at least. I didn't want you to abandon-" Mitch was interrupted by Jerome as he threw himself into the Benja, Jerome wrapping his arms around Mitch's neck.

Taken aback, Mitch flinched a bit at the sudden embrace. He felt Jerome hug tighter, and Mitch looked to Ian, who gave him a reassuring wink (Ian mouthed 'Merome' under his breath, and Mitch shot him an angry look). Mitch was about to say something when he felt something wet on his shoulder, where Jerome's head lay.

"M-Mitch," he heard Jerome choke out, more tears dripping onto Mitch's shoulder. "I would never think that about you! You're my best friend! Wings or no wings, you'll always be Mitch, not a freak or a monster!"

Mitch thought for a moment before replying back. "So you're not mad...?"

Jerome pushed himself off of Mitch (who almost fell into the pool), a big smile on his face as he wiped his tears away. "Of course not! If anything you should be the one mad at me! I shouldn't have been such a jerk. Sorry Biggums."

"It's okay. Perfectly okay." Mitch said with a grin on his face.

They were silent for a moment, before they were both grabbed by Ian, who proceeded to pull them both into a big group hug. Jerome laughed as Mitch's wings flapped rapidly to try and pull out of the hug, and succeeded, the three of them falling into the grass. They burst out laughing as they lay in the grass, staring into the cloudy black sky, the stars twinkling brightly and piercing through the clouds.

Jerome tossed his hat onto the porch, running his fingers through his hair as he talked with his friends, cracking jokes and calling Mitch a 'human chicken' at some point. Ian started pointing out the visible constellations in the sky through the clouds (Mitch dosed off a bit during that). Mitch was laying on his side with his hoodie in his arms, his wings relaxed behind him, twitching every once in a while. They had big smiles on their faces as they talked and laughed together, just the three of them in a moment that seemed like it would never end.

"Hey Mitch," Ian said suddenly, turning his head to his friend as he sat up, picking the pieces of grass out of his hair. "You taking Jerome around for a bit?"

Jerome raised an eyebrow as a big, sly grin appeared on Mitch's face. "You know it!"

Ian yawned, standing up and walking toward the back door. "Good. Cause I am really tired, and like I've told you, all-nighters are just not my thing. You two have fun, and Mitch, please don't drop him in the pool."

"No promises." Mitch whispered to Jerome (who still had no idea what they were talking about) as Ian opened the door and stepped inside.

"I heard that!" Ian shouted before shutting the back door.

Mitch rolled his eyes before he helped up a still confused Jerome, putting his checkered hoodie in his friend's hands. "Turn around," Mitch said, his wings waving excitedly behind him. "And close your eyes."

Jerome, deciding not to question whatever Mitch was planning, turned around, throwing Mitch's hoodie onto the lawn chair Ian had been sitting in earlier. He shut his eyes as he felt Mitch wrap his arms tightly around his chest.

An instant later Jerome was lifted off the ground, air whipping in his face as his eyes shot open. His let out a surprise as he looked down, the ground moving away quickly as Mitch flapped his wings, soaring into the sky. "MITCH!!!" Jerome yelled happily as Mitch continued to fly upward. "WE'RE FLYING!!!"

"I think I owe you this one buddy!" Mitch yelled back, his voice a bit hard to hear through the wind they were soaring through. He shot through the barrier of cloud in the sky, and spread out his wings so he and Jerome were just slowly gliding through the sky. "Try touching the clouds!"

Jerome smiled and did as Mitch said, and reached out to touch one of the grayish clouds. He shivered as he felt cold run up his arm, the cloud dissipating between his fingers. Mitch smiled as he flew through the sky, purposely going at speeds that caused Jerome to scream... very loudly.

Mitch did different kinds of tricks and loops in the air (like he did for Ian, but just a bit faster since Jerome was yelling for him to) happy yells and cheers erupting from Jerome.

"Hey biggums! I have a question!" Jerome yelled over the wind as Mitch began to fly back down toward the house, "Earlier you said that you weren't human! What does that make you then?!?!?"

Mitch stopped flying as he lowered himself and Jerome onto the grass next to the pool, letting go of Jerome, who promptly feel onto the grass as he took a deep breath. "Well Jerome," Mitch said as Jerome stood back up, "I'm an angel!"

He then proceeded to shove Jerome into the freezing cold pool.

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Mitch stirred as he felt something shake him. Mitch grumbled as he shifted a bit, still refusing to open his eyes. That's when he felt a swift kick to his gut.

Mitch yelled out in pain as he shot up, jumping to his feet as his wings surrounded him, the Benja hissing in pain as he recovered. He opened his wings again to see the white space that he was beginning to become familiar with. Weiss was also standing in front of him, an innocent look on her face.

"You fudging kicked me!" Mitch said, an angry look on his face as his wings flapped angrily behind him.

Weiss whistled, refusing to make eye contact with the fuming Benja. "Well, you said not to slap you..."

"THAT. DOES. NOT. MAKE. KICKING. OKAY." Mitch said through gritted teeth.

"You never said that I couldn't!" Weiss laughed as she pulled on the end of her jade scarf, which had begun to droop a bit. "Anyways, what brings you here?"

Mitch sighed, his wings fidgeting uncomfortably behind him. "Again, I don't know. You got anything interesting?"

Weiss shook her head. "Nope! I've got a question though! Did you tell your friend about his wings?"

Mitch smiled as he nodded. "Yeah. Jerome was super cool about it. You have no idea how nice it feels to have him know!"

"I can imagine."

There was an awkward silence as the two looked at each other, trying to think of something to say. "So," Weiss said, breaking the silence, "What else is on your mind? You would have fallen back asleep if you were done."

Mitch looked at her with an awkward expression. He hated how Weiss always seemed to know what he was thinking. But there was something he wanted to say. "Weiss..." He began, looking Weiss right in her brown-green eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that Jason used to be your best friend?"

There was dead silence as Weiss's eyes widened, her taking a step back as she nervously wound her scarf around her hand. "W-What? I don't know what you-"

"Weiss, don't try to lie to me." Mitch said quietly, making the blonde in front of him freeze. "I saw your scarf on Jason's bed. You told me the first time I came here that you came back as a ghost because you were looking for someone. Was that person Jason?" Weiss nodded. "That means you were lying about when you died too, right? You really died four years ago... not ten? You were lying?"

Weiss nodded, tears rolling slowly down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry Mitch." She choked, tightly gripping the scarf around her neck. "I just needed to see him. H-he was my best friend in the whole w-world! B-but if I didn't come that day... You wouldn't be stuck with those w-wings..." Her voice trailed off as more tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Mitch was about to say more when, like the last time, he felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. He tried to fight against it, but it quickly overwhelmed him, and he fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was a crying Weiss run off before he knocked out.

Weiss... I'm so sorry...