And you're always there to lend a hand
In everything I do,
That's the wonder,
The wonder of you.
And when you smile the world is brighter,
You touch my hand and I'm a king.
Your kiss to me is worth a fortune,
Your love for me is everything.

The sound of Elvis drifted through the small apartment as it was eerily silent, save for the King of Pop. The bedroom was vacant of anyone's presence and so was the kitchen. It almost seemed like the song was being sung to the apartment and it's furniture. But that would have been absurd. No, Eleanora lay curled on the couch, her slender form drowned by Apollyon's leather jacket that she wore with the sound of Elvis drifting around her.

It was New Year's Eve, and the countdown would be beginning in 9 hours.

They say that you should always start New Years with a clean slate, but Eleanora realised that the slate shouldn't be too clean. Otherwise things happen.

Letting out a shuddered breath, Eleanora pushed herself off the couch, rubbing her hands over her face as she sat drowned in the warmth of the leather jacket. Stepping into the bedroom, she made her way over to her washroom as she washed her face, blinking at her reflection in the mirror. Stepping back onto the lounge, she longingly glanced at her phone on the coffee table, but she knew that it was a futile attempt.

Just like the other 34 times she had already tried.

Sniffling, Eleanora thought of happy memories as she made her way into the kitchen, pattering her way across the threshold. Opening the fridge, she took out the ingredients as a distant memory hit her. One before she found out she was dying. One in which everything was alright.

Eleanora patterned into the kitchen, wearing an overly large sweatshirt with her pyjama bottoms as she was greeted by the sight of Apollyon Masters making breakfast in front of her stove.

"Well...who knew the Devil could cook?" Eleanora teased as she leaned against the doorway.

"Who knew that the White-haired Canadian girls were dumb?" Apollyon retorted with a smirk as Eleanora hadn't expected a response. Grunting at his response, she made her way to stand beside him as she peered at the egg scrambling in the pan. Grabbing a spoon from beside the stove, Apollyon scooped some of the egg onto it as he held it in front of her, urging her to take the bite. Opening her mouth, Eleanora chewed at the egg as she occasionally fanned her mouth due to it being hot.

"Well?" Apollyon urged like a little kid. "How is it?"

"Ugh..." She shrugged as she grabbed the spoon from his hand, not bothering to acknowledge the disappointed look on his face. "It's disgusting."

Taking another spoonful, Eleanora shoved it into her mouth as Apollyon was muttering to himself about something, so lost in thought that he didn't notice Eleanora eating away at his hard work. With a snap of his finger, he came back to reality as he grabbed something from the cabinet above him, turning his attention down at the stove, but his eyebrows knitted together in confusion at how the eggs were less than he had originally started.

Hearing a giggle from beside him, he snapped his attention in the direction as he saw Eleanora giggling as she chewed away at her bite.

"You said it was disgusting!" He accused with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't want it to go to waste." She shrugged innocently as his eyes continued to narrow in suspicion before widening as she grinned back at him.

"You lied to me!" He proclaimed as she giggled. "You little thief!"

"I lied, okay. What are you going to do about it?" She smirked with her arms crossed over her chest. Grinning wickedly, Apollyon slung Eleanora over his shoulder as she shrieked in surprise, demanding to be let down as he simply laughed. Before she could protest, he started to spin, causing Eleanora to let out a combination of a frightened scream and euphoric laugh as Apollyon simply laughed while spinning.

A smile painted Eleanora's lips at the memory as she wrapped a Klingon sheet to the sandwich in her hand, Sebastian laying on the counter top, watching her while flicking his tail lazily. Placing things into the basket, more happy memories came to Eleanora as they brightened her smile, some even eliciting a chuckle from her.

Her gloomy mood soon morphed into nostalgic bliss as the smile wouldn't leave her cheeks. Closing the lid, Eleanora turned towards her cat with a smile as she scratched him behind the ear. Soon she got to work on dinner as she glanced at the clock mounted on the wall, that read 6 p.m.

6 more hours until countdown.

Eleanora decided to make something light for dinner, but before she started, she changed the vinyl record to something more lively and happy. Swaying in tune to the song, Eleanora started on dinner, glancing at the clock every now and then before turning her gaze to the entrance foyer. She finished making dinner within the hour as she placed the lid on top of the pot. Swiping her hand over her forehead, she decided to take a shower.

Picking out her clothes, she made her way into the washroom before starting the shower. Rinsing off, Eleanora quickly got dressed and stepped out while brushing the tangles out of her hair. Trying her best to unravel the knots as she glanced at the beside clock that now read 7:45 p.m. Sighing, Eleanora tamed her hair before making her way out to the lounge.

She froze in her steps as she saw Apollyon laying on the sofa, his arms crossed over his chest as he was pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed as he listened to the vinyl record playing. Slightly surprised, Eleanora walked over to the sofa, beside which the turntable rested. Picking up the needle from the record, the apartment fell into silence as Apollyon's eyes snapped open at the lack of sound, looking up behind him before straightening his position. Eleanora came and sat down beside him as Apollyon rested his forearms on his thighs, leaning into his palm.

"I was worried." Eleanora spoke up softly, Apollyon's gaze snapping to her's in surprise. "Why didn't you attend my calls?"

Apollyon opened and closed his mouth, seemingly trying to say something, but no words coming out. Letting out a disgruntled sigh, he leaned back on the sofa as he messaged his temples. Eleanora could see that a headache was forming by the grimace that he made. He was getting them quiet frequently, she realised. Sighing in exasperation, Eleanora straddled his lap as he let out a gurgled surprised sound at the suddenness, his eyes looking at her in bewilderment. Eleanora combed her fingers through his hair, messaging his scalp as she recalled the points where headaches formed the most.

"You haven't answered my question." Eleanora stated as she focused on messaging his scalp. "Where were you?"

"Around." He breathed after a moment of silence as Eleanora shot him a dead panned look before focusing her gaze on his tresses again. "I just walked around randomly, trying to clear my head."

"Did it work?" She inquired. "Did your head clear?"

"Not entirely." He relented as his entire posture relaxed. Apollyon threw back his head, leaning it against the top of the backrest and closed his eyes. "Still have a lot going on."

Eleanora silently looked at him, feeling his hand rest on her waist, rubbing lazy circles onto her hip, as she messaged his scalp. He sometimes let out a pained grunt when she applied pressure at a particularly sore spot, but other than that it was relatively quiet. They stayed in silence as Apollyon didn't initiate a conversation and neither did Eleanora. Suddenly, she stopped her messaging, sliding her hand down from behind his ear as they slid over Apollyon's neck and shoulders before resting on his chest. She rubbed soothing circles over his beating heart as Apollyon slowly lifted his head off the sofa, looking at her with sparkling eyes as she wouldn't meet his gaze.

A small smile quirked on Eleanora's lips as she remembered the conversation they had about being snowed in, a chuckle escaping her lips as she recalled Apollyon's petulant child expression. He gazed at her in uncertainty, wondering what she found so amusing.

"What's so funny?" He inquired with a small smile at her giggles.

"I was remembering something..." She trailed, looking up at him from below her lashes. "That childish look you made when I explained to you what snowed in meant?"

"Ah!" He realised as a smile adorned his lips at the memory. "Yes, I remember." They both chuckled at the memory before they sat in a comfortable silence.

A little laughter seemed to disperse the thickest of tensions, and that was amazing.

Sighing softly, Apollyon removed his hands from her waist as he grabbed one of her arms, pushing back the sleeves to look down at the white scars that littered her porcelain skin. Initially, Eleanora used to tense whenever he did that, but now, she grew accustomed to his actions.

Tracing the lines, Apollyon intently looked down at them before he brought her arm up to his lips, kissing every single scar that littered her forearm.

"I was thinking we could go out for a picnic later." Eleanora murmured softly as his lips moved over her skin.

"Tomorrow?" He questioned against her skin.

"Today." She informed breathily. "You know...before midnight."

"What's at midnight?"

"New Year's." Eleanora informed as her eyes closed on their own accord. "It's New Year's Eve today, signifying the end of a year and the start of another one. People count down at 12 O'clock as a new day begins, marking the start of a new year. They shoot fireworks into the sky at 12. I thought we could go down by the lake and have a picnic there and watch the fireworks."

"It sounds like a wonderful idea." Apollyon murmured against her skin. "I'd like to see the fireworks." He continued lowly as his lips went up to her neck, placing butterfly kisses on her skin.

"That's what I thought." Eleanora smiled as she pulled Apollyon's head away from her neck in order to place a tender and loving kiss against his lips.

***

They both ate dinner with light hearted chatter, playing footsie under the table as they swirled their pasta around their forks and chuckled at each other. At 10:00, they both started to wear the sufficient amount of layers for the outside weather as Apollyon gathered the blankets for their little picnic, along with a camera. Being ready and set, they both made their way out the apartment and onto the street.

They chose to walk the distance, hence the early time for getting ready. Eleanora hardly rode the Davidson with Apollyon, because now she started to get motion sickness from it all, so they preferred to walk, unless it was absolutely unavoidable to take another mean of transport. The December air was chilly and the snowflakes fell around their figures.

Both of them had their scarves wound around their necks with their gloved hands in their pockets and their beanies pulled over their ears. Calling it could would an insult, it was freezing. Even with the numerous layers, you could feel a chill. They walked in relative silence as Eleanora was watching the snowfall, noticing Apollyon's movement from the corner of her eye.

She noticed that he would put his hands into his jacket pocket, looking at Eleanora uncertainly, before taking his hands out and fidgeting with them. Eleanora watched him repeat this motion a few times as it got her thinking as to what was he trying to do? Sudden realisation hit her, as she stopped in her steps and grabbed onto Apollyon's arm, halting him.

"What's the matter?" He asked in concern to the girl that stood in front of him.

Eleanora reached into his pockets as she dug out what he had been fingering all this time. His cigarette case and lighter. Opening it, she picked up a cigarette as Apollyon watched her in silence. Eleanora placed the cigarette between his lips as he adjusted it and went to grab the lighter from her hands, but she simply took off one glove as she lit the end of the stick which glowed red as Apollyon inhaled, exhaling into the air above her head as he continued to eye her warily, watching her pull on her glove again.

"There you go." She smiled at him before she started to walk.

"You're fine with this?" He asked in surprise, jogging up beside her.

"It's your life." She shrugged as she looked ahead of her. "I'm not going to make myself resent you over your actions. I don't have a right to dictate what you do and don't do. Just don't smoke-"

"-Inside the apartment." He finished, knowing where she was headed with this as she nodded. "I already smoke out on the balcony."

Eleanora nodded as she swallowed thickly. They walked in silence as Eleanora fidgeted with her fingers.

"Does it help?" She inquired finally, looking up to meet Apollyon's confused gaze. "Smoking? With...you know...stress?"

Apollyon exhaled the smoke into the air as Eleanora looked at him, her head tilted to the side. Expect for vocalising it, he simply nodded as she nodded in understanding, before walking closer to him, wrapping her arm around his back, while leaning her head against his arm. A smile quirked at Apollyon's lips around the cigarette. Freeing one hand, he wrapped it around her waist, pulling her closer to him and tickling her side teasingly as she giggled and twisted in his grip to get away from it. Apollyon chuckled as he stopped tickling her, both of them crossing the road to get to the lake park.

Walking to the edge of the lake, they both settled beneath one of the trees that surrounded it. Apollyon placed down the basket, before him and Eleanora spread out the blanket beneath. Settling down on top of the surface, Eleanora pulled the basket towards her as she took out the sandwiches, donuts, pastries, bagels, and a few other assortment of food before a thermos was taken out from inside along with a water bottle and two mugs.

Apollyon placed a kiss on her temple as they both sat together, their backs towards the forest as they stared out at the snowing sky and the frozen lake. They talked about mundane matters, laughing and teasing each other as they ate their way through the sandwiches.

"We have about 40 minutes." Apollyon stated as he looked down at his watch, a Christmas present from his loving girlfriend.

Eleanora nodded as she shuffled closer to Apollyon and beneath the blanket wrapped around their shoulders. She rested her head against his shoulder as they both stared out at the night sky. The starry sky simply added to their surrounding's scenic beauty.

"I asked Nathan-"

"-Nathan?" Apollyon inquired, interrupting her sentence. "You mean Mr. Lam?"

"Yeah, he insisted that I call him by his first name."

"Don't." Apollyon growled. "There is absolutely no need to get too frank with him. He is still our teacher."

"Okay..." She trailed in confusion before turning back to the scenery, snuggling closer to him. "Well, whatever the case. He told me to ask you why he was there. So...why was he there?"

Apollyon fiddled with a lose strand on Eleanora's jacket as he seemed deep in thought, trying to formulate how to phrase his words in order to convey what he was thinking clearly to her. Looking up at the frozen lake, he was reminded of Eleanora's hair due to the White frost. Sighing, he rested his chin on top of her head as he slowly put the pieces together.

"Well...Dr. Harold had claimed to have sent Mr. Lam over to 'help out'." Apollyon stated as Eleanora hummed. "Liam said he thought we-well I, could use the help because of all the things going on: school, the garage, you."

"And you don't like that because...?" Eleanora trailed in order to allow him to fill in the gaps.

"Because...the way he put it...made me feel like he was implying that I am incompetent to look after you myself and that I require the assistance of an elder..."

"Does he really seem like the guy to 'imply' such a thing?" Eleanora inquired softly. "Because...if you look at it...he practically considers you the only one well-informed enough to look after me. He trust you, with every little piece of information regarding my 'condition' and he has you and not me sign all the paperwork. From my observations, he has complete, genuine, and utter faith and trust in you. If I didn't know any better than I'm sure he would have filled in our name beneath my 'guardian' or 'emergency contact'."

Apollyon pondered her words in silence as whatever she had just stated, was completely right, and his assumptions seemed very out of character for the doctor. Sighing, he allowed her to continue as he listened intently.

"How about we try to look at it from his point of view." Eleanora suggested while looking up at him. "He knows that currently we have winter break, so no real stress so far. But he also knows that our school will open again in a few days, and these last few months -before our final exam- are the most crucial months that will decide our futures."

"So, as far as I can gather: Dr. Harold had no intentions of making you feel incompetent, but rather he just wants to help you. He knows that once school starts, you'll have to juggle quiet a few things and it will stress you out. Studies are very demanding in itself. You work at the garage from 4-9 after coming back home from school at around 2. You're asleep by 10, max. And during all of this, you have to somehow manage to look after me as well."

"Where do you have time for anything else? Where is the 'me time' that you need to stay sane?"

"So, Apollyon. I know that we don't exactly know Mr. Lam on a personal scale, but the fact that he has Dr. Harold's trust should account for something." Eleanora stated as she kissed his jaw. "Don't overthink it. How about we call Dr. Harold some time tomorrow about this? Now that you've cooled off and aren't a storm of anger?"

"What do you suggest we do?" Apollyon inquired after a moment of silence.

"Well...I think that, we give it a shot. A two weeks test trial to see how things work out, and if you don't like the results of it then we can tell Dr. Harold and I'm sure he'd back off. I'm not saying that Mr. Lam is with us at the apartment 24/7. He just comes during the times you aren't there to personally watch over me. Like when you're at the garage and working?"

Sighing Apollyon nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" She confirmed. "It will help us all out. We just give it a try. I know you don't want anything new at this point, but it never hurts, sometimes you even benefit from it."

Nodding, Apollyon cupped her chin in his fingers as he tilted her head back to be looking up as he placed a kiss on her lips. Breaking away he held her against his chest as they gazed up at the night sky, waiting for the fireworks to make their first appearance.

As they waited, they stared at the falling snowflakes, landing and gathering like a silent cold army. Gazing up at the grey clouds, they saw a spark shoot up into the sky, it's smoke trail camouflaging with the clouds. The spark burst into colours once high enough. Red, yellow, green, pink.

"Happy New Year, Apollyon!" Eleanora grinned at her boyfriend who was looking at her. Leaning down he captured her lips in a quick and passionate kiss before pulling away.

"Happy New Year, Eleanora!"

All sort of colours burst in the sky as the sparks glowed before dimming into nothing. Apollyon and Eleanora watched with eager smiles at the beauty of the fireworks. The bursting colours reflecting off the surface of the snow and frozen lake.

It was beautiful to say the least.

Beauty and peace...the perfect way to start a new year.