The starry night above was better than any software imitation. There were lighter patches, clusters of faint and bold light, the constellations altered according to the time of year. These were the same stars that greeted the ancients, the same ones that would be there in millions of years.

Matte charcoal black uncontrollably covered in thousands and millions of bright specks. You can see star, after star, after star, a never ending void of light that projects no means of guidance in some eyes. The complicated configurations and patterns of light which have taken years to be seen by the average naked eye.

Eleanora stood with her back against the metal railing of the balcony, tilting her head back to look up at the sky while Apollyon stood a few feet away from her, leaning over the railing as he gazed out at the view below, blowing out a puff of smoke. It was silent, but a comfortable silence for once, not an awkward one. They had gotten back from the park a few hours ago and they had dinner in the hotel room. Apollyon had gone out to smoke a cigarette when Eleanora decided to join him.

Looking up, a question popped in her mind as she remembered the last time she saw Apollyon lean across the railing while smoking. He was shaking violently at that time, and was calm at the moment.

"Apollyon?" She called out to him while fingering the pendant across her neck as he hummed in response. "Can I ask you something?"

"About?" He inquired in return, exhaling through his teeth.

"What do you dream about?" She asked, turning to look at him as she noticed him tense. "What are your nightmares about?"

Apollyon fell silent, the cigarette burning between his lips as he hadn't taken it out in order to blow out the waste gases. He silently looked out in front of him, seemingly pondering something as he took the stick in his hands, rolling it between his fingers, the silence weighing down on them.

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"Don't ask me questions when you know you are not going to like their answers." Apollyon enlightened. "You are finally happy after so long. I can't even remember the last time I saw you smile and laugh like you did tonight. Don't make yourself depressed again. I can't bear with it, I can't handle that defeated look on your face. Don't ask me to answer that question."

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out about the nightmares sooner or later?" Eleanora inquired. "They are getting worse, and don't you dare and try to lie to me."

Apollyon answered her with silence, looking out at the Quebec skyline as he didn't want to answer.

"Are the nightmares the reason we drifted apart?" She asked softly as she noticed him twitch. A lump formed in her throat as his silence confirmed her suspicions. "Are they the reason that you won't look at me?"

"Eleanora..." He trailed in a pained voice. "It's..."

"What? 'It's not like that'? Is that what you're going to say?" She asked in exasperation, the lump still growing. "You won't tell me anything, and I feel like it's all my fault. Why would you want to stay with a dying girl? I'm a freak! I was born with white hair and you should not be with me-"

"Stop!" Apollyon snapped, the look of fury on his face had her snap her mouth shut. "Don't you dare say that. Don't you dare say any of that."

He looked different from the Apollyon she knew. It wasn't the tenseness of his stance or the sharp edge to his voice. It was the silent furry burning in his eyes to hear her say such a thing. It was obvious that he did not like she had said, but it was only the truth.

"Just...come on inside, it's cold out." He sighed in defeat, his demeanour no longer angry. "I'll tell you everything inside."

"Okay." She nodded meekly before following him.

Apollyon say down cross legged on the bed as Eleanora sat on the foot if it. Both of them were silent as Eleanora wondered if she had to force it out of him.

"Yes, the nightmares are the cause of us drifting apart and yes they are the reason I distanced myself form you. Not because I'm disgusted or repulsed by you. But because...I love you."

Eleanora looked at him in confusion as he wasn't making any sense. If he actually did 'love' her than why was he distancing himself from her, if anything it should have been the opposite. Instead of drifting away, he should have pursued her, taken their relation to the next level.

"It might not make sense to you, because you don't have the nightmares." He informed as he fiddled with the leather bands around his wrist, the dog tag around his neck suspended in the air in front of him. "But...I'm terrified."

"Of what? What are you terrified of?" She asked in bewilderment, utterly confused to the fact there was something in the world that had the Devil terrified to the core.

"T-that...if I touch you, in any way....you'll crumble in my arms...that you'll bleed yourself to death in my arms...while continuously telling me that it's my fault....that I did this to you." He spoke softly, the grief tangible around him. "I'm poison, Eleanora, I kill whatever I touch - Don't try to deny it."

"You are dying because of me. Michael did this to you because of me. This all my fault. You should have gotten to live a long life, graduated from University, become a doctor, marry the man of your dreams and have kids." Apollyon choked out as he hugged his knees to his chest. "You should have gotten to live the life that you were made for. You shouldn't have died so soon. You don't deserve such a faith...not like this...not so soon."

Eleanora sat staring at him with wide eyes and her mouth slightly agape. The nightmares weren't about Michael -- as she had thought. They were about her dying in his arms, bleeding spontaneously while jabbing accusations at him. He thought that he was the cause of her death. Apollyon believed that if he touched her, then she would crumble in his arms, or bleed to death, or accuse him for her condition. The realisation wrenched the air out of her lungs as she sat staring at his slumped and defeated figure.

The Devil looked so fragile and frightened at that moment, that Eleanora knew she had to do something to get that misconception out of his mind.

Pushing him down on the bed, she startled him with her sudden attack as she loomed over him - like he used to do to her whenever they would tease each other, trapping her between his figure and the mattress beneath. Now the places were reversed. The look of perplexity would have been hilarious if it weren't for the way his eyes were rimmed red.

Without saying anything, she grabbed hold of his hand as she noticed him try and pull it out of her grasp, as she simply tightened her hold around his fingers.

"Let's make something clear, shall we?" She asked softly as she flattened his palm against her cheek, watching him suck in a breath and look at her in mortification as if though he expected her to spontaneously combust into flames. She softly guided his hand to wherever she wanted to assure him that she was not going to crumble, or start bleeding, or die by his touches. "If I am not allowed to say that you shouldn't be with me or that I am freak. Then you sure as hell aren't allowed to blame yourself for my tumour. Are we clear?"

"Eleanora..." He trailed in a thick voice, trying to break his hand out of her grasp, still very much hesitant to touch her. He opened his mouth to say something, when Eleanora leaned down and silenced him with a firm and possessive kiss.

Funny how the tides had changed.

He let out a surprised sound against her lips, halfheartedly trying to pull away from her, but eventually just melting into it. His eyes fluttered to a close, as Eleanora could feel the tension leave his body, as well as hers. She couldn't remember the last time they kissed like this, but it didn't matter because she was going to savour this one, and make him face his fears. Tonight.

With a sudden shift in air, Eleanora found herself to be laying on the bed with Apollyon's figure looming over her, kissing her as if though there was no tomorrow.

Maybe there wasn't. Maybe there was. But all that matter was that moment. Right here. Right now.

Pulling away to catch their breath, Apollyon peeled off the leather jacket from his shoulders, throwing it to the floor as he connected their lips again, his touches featherlight and hesitant. This time Eleanora was the one to pull away, looking at him with half lidded eyes, she sat up to pull off her sweater and pushed him down onto the bed. Breathing heavily, she looked down at him, his eyes bright and dazed as the haze of lust lingered in them.

Placing her hand on his cheek, she rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone as he leaned into her familiar touch.

"It's okay." She assured softly. "Everything is going to be alright. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"You don't know that." He choked as he kept on shaking his head in denial. "You don't know that."

"I might not know." She told him while placing tender kisses on his face. "But. I. Believe. That." Eleanora punctuated every word with a gentle caress to his lips, as his mouth quirked into a smile against hers. "And you should too."

Chuckling lightly, Apollyon rolled them over as he grinned down at her. A mischievous smile sported on his face.

***

The night turned into day as the stars outside stretched and elongated into fluffy white clouds against a light blue backdrop rather than the Odesian black the previous night. A ray of light streamed in through the space between the tall curtains, the light filtering from around the drapes, bathing the room in a soft glow of light, enough to see everything clearly but not to blind the sleeping inhabitants.

A knock on the door resonated through the room, as one of the people on the bed twitched at the sound. The knock sounded again, as Apollyon lifted his head off the pillow, looking towards the door, to ensure that he wasn't dreaming. He heard nothing for a second as he rested his head back, pulling Eleanora closer to him, as he was about to drift back off to sleep, but the knock sounding again had him look up.

Turning towards the side table, he clicked on his phone as he noted the time to be 8:20. Groaning in annoyance, he detangled himself from Eleanora as he pulled on a pair of sweatpants that lay on the chair. Looking over his shoulder, he admired how beautiful and peaceful Eleanora looked asleep. Her white hair draped behind her, as her porcelain skin glowed in the soft sunlight. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he started to make his way towards the door while pulling on a t-shirt over his head.

Assuming it to be the management or room service, Apollyon opened the door with bleary eyes as he was startled by a sudden weight tackling him. Adrenaline coursed through him as he expected to find himself pinned to the floor and having to defend himself, but was very much surprised to find himself squished against another's body, something which Eleanora told him was called a hug. An action that wasn't meant as threatening.

"Lucifer." The man spoke softly against his ear, instantly causing Apollyon to tense as he felt the adrenaline course through his veins and strength coursing through him as he was ready to fight off this man in front of him. "You're alive."