Okay, yes, Picon's mask has a cross, not a skull, but...oh well, too late now.

Oh my god, chapters 15 - 20 have been for this couple (Grace was supposed to be the main character of ch. 20 lol), and I'm so glad they get a...temporary happy ending?

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"Whew, we're finally safe...I think," Benjamin sighed in relief, leaning against the rock wall. Him and Pico had found a natural cove shaped under a hill. The rain had started again, but it was very light, and the cove stayed dry inside. Benjamin gave Picon a warm hug, glad his boyfriend was safe. Picon didn't return the hug. Instead, he stepped back, looking away with a nervous smile.

"Hey, hey, I get you're relieved and all that, but...uh...I'm not much of a hugger," he laughed nervously.

Benjamin gave him a confused look. He was assuming the worst in the back of his mind. "What are you talking about, Toughie?" he asked.

Picon furrowed his brows, then smiled in understanding. "Toughie? What, is that my new nickname?" he teased.

Benjamin also started chuckling nervously. "Baby, if this is some kind of joke..."

Picon looked surprised for a moment. His nervous smile turned into one of pity. Oh no. Benjamin recognized that look.

"Uh...I'm really sorry, Benjamin, but...I can't reciprocate your feelings," said Picon still refusing to meet Benjamin's eyes. Benjamin looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you saying you want to breakup with me?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm, but he felt like screaming.

"What the hell? We weren't even dating before!" Picon blushed, stepping back. Benjamin's eyes widened in shock and terror as the realization sunk in.

"Did that kid...mess up your memory?" he said quietly.

"What kid?"

"Okay," Benjamin let out a sigh, "how much do you remember? What were just doing?"

Picon was very confused with the whole conversation. He decided to roll with it and answered, "Uh...we were just at an abandoned mansion, hiding from the rain, and your parents and all...but there were some creepy-ass thieves in there chasing us, like, they wanted to break our friendship or something? So...we ran out here."

This confirmed Benjamin's theory. "Who am I...to you?" The words felt unnatural on his lips, a strange sense of deja vu.

"I know you want something more, but I'd prefer if we just...stayed friends," said Picon.

At this point, both the artists wanted to shrivel up and die. It was getting way too awkward for Picon, and Benjamin felt hurt to no end.

"How could you forget? About everything we've done together!" Benjamin shouted. "How could you forget about ME?!"

"Look, I- what are you-"

"We're through. We're done." Benjamin turned around and started walking to the end of the cove.

"Hey, Benjamin, it's still raining-"

"DON'T ever say that name EVER again," Benjamin snapped, making Picon jump. "And the rain has stopped."

Benjamin was sure he would always remember his last words to Picon from then on, as he walked away from the cove without a second glance. Picon stayed silent. He knew his friend needed to let off some steam, though he didn't know why.

Meanwhile, Benjamin was wondering what in the world he was going to do next. The one person he loved and trusted was gone from his life. He had call things off, and it wasn't even Picon's fault. He knew that, yet he still...Benjamin diverted his attention back to the present. "What's done is done," he thought, trying to stay strong.

*  *  *

Days passed. Picon aimlessly wandered the streets, repeatedly glancing at the gray sky for signs of rain. For now, the air was clear, though still cold. Picon couldn't stop thinking about his friend. Why had he gotten so angry? Picon only loved Benjamin as a friend, and he should have accepted that. No need to react so drastically. Picon shook his head at the thought. It was Benjamin's fault, not his. He hadn't done anything wrong. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced he hadn't said anything wrong. He couldn't have lied and said he loved Benjamin back. Still, he really missed his friend. He hoped he was safe, sheltered from the unpredictable rain, and most importantly, the Fairests.

Picon passed one more block, trying to find another abandoned building to settle for the night, even though it was still afternoon. It was hard to tell when the clouds blocked the sun. On his search, Picon spotted a suspicious figure leaning against a wall, staring specifically at him. He was wrapped head to toe with black clothed ribbons, leaving only space around his eyes, which were covered by goggles, the lenses tinted blood red. What Picon could see of his skin was colorless. Picon felt like this guy meant trouble, so he approached the man.

With everyone distracted from BF's disappearance, Hank finally had some alone-time to himself. The first thing he did was take a long stroll around the city, finding the man-made buildings amusing compared to the great ancient cities he had explored before. Though of course, something had to interrupt his peaceful moment, and that was a significant amount of dark energy concentrated on one regular human with curly orange hair, a green hoodie, and a mask with a skull on it. The dark energy obviously did not belong to him - it must have been placed by another dark entity. Hank would report this to the B.H.BF.D.M.G. later and they would go investigate, but for now he had to extricate the darkness from this man.

As he expected, the young teenager walked towards him, questioning his presence. Hank opened his mouth to speak, but only groaned in pain. He had been too reckless on the group's last run and injured himself more than usual. His new metal jaw was a lot more tough and bigger than what he was used to, so it hurt to speak. Oh, how easy this would be if Hank could explain the situation to the boy. But life wasn't that simple, clearly.

In a flash, Hank pulled his knife and had it ready to attack, and Picon was just as quick, tumbling backwards and positioning himself for a fight, revealing his own pocket knife.

"So that's how you wanna play, huh?" Picon grinned, sliding his thumb across the knife's edge, forming a bright red cut. He had retrieved it from the train station earlier. He had missed the dangerous thrill.

"Oh, he's one of these," Hank groaned in his mind. Obviously, this human wasn't going to make things easy for him. What Hank wanted to do was give the human a small cut with his knife so he could extract the dark magic poison from his blood. Okay, Hank did see why the human would be so paranoid in this type of situation. If only he could speak! Hank had never felt so grateful for his jaw in his life, which he currently couldn't use. All he could do was make a precise cut and hope he didn't injure the human too much. On the other hand, Picon was confident he would win the..."fight".

Too bad for him, in less than two seconds, Hank had grabbed Picon's hand, pocketing his own knife and tossing Picon's to the side.

"Damn..." Picon growled under his breath, challenging Hank with his eyes. Hank only sighed, which sounded more like a grunt, and brought out his knife again.

"Don't mind me, I'm just gonna stab your wound," Hank thought, driving the tip of his blade deep inside Picon's bleeding cut. Picon let out a silent scream, not wanting to give the creepy man the satisfaction. Hank could feel the dark magic neutrons sticking to his knife like a magnet. After a good thirty seconds, he brought his knife, along with the dark magic poison, out of Picon's skin and watched as the dullness of the human's eyes were overcome with light before they closed and the human fell unconcious to the floor. "How weak," Hank tsked while scaling the walls like they were nothing, deciding to continue his stroll on the rooftops.

Picon woke to a droplet of rain on his nose. He groggily got up from the hard, cement floor. He was with his boyfriend in the abandoned mansion before they were attacked, he recalled...what happened after that? Picon remembered falling unconcious, feeling alone...and then waking up in an empty street...still alone. "Benjamin?" he wondered in his mind, looking frantically in every direction. The only thing that caught his eye was a white limousine, with a pink-skinned demon servant sitting in the driver's seat, sticking his arm out the window. Picon narrowed his eyes. A vehicle belonging to the Fairests. Was Benjamin in there? It was clear the car was waiting for someone. And then Picon saw them - Benjamin and another girl with lush, pink hair, dressed like it was a warm summer night rather than a cold winter afternoon. "Why are you going in the car?" he almost screamed, tugging his hair. "It's not safe!"

Without thinking, he ran towards the limousine, shouting, "STOP!"

*  *  *

"And that's the story," Picon finished.

"Wow! I'm glad that weird ninja guy didn't hurt you," Benjamin laughed.

"He actually helped me," Picon thought aloud. "Oh wait...I left my knife there!"

Benjamin kept on laughing. "Oh no, how are you going to protect me now?" he joked.

"Laugh all you want now, but you'll be missing it later," Picon huffed, smiling. He hugged his beloved boyfriend closer, glad to finally be reunited.