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Lance

I don't know why I was crying. It was stupid, really. Just me overreacting as usual. But I wasn't going to just lie to myself and say that what Keith had said hadn't hurt. "Just stay on your side of the bed," he'd said, face unfeeling.

And, with those words that he'd said, I realized that everything that I thought was true about him was fabricated. I don't know why I thought that maybe, somewhere deep down in his heart, he cared about me. But, of course, he didn't. Of course, he could never care about me, love me, whatever it was that was between us.

Because he was a devil and I was an angel. And I could love him all I wanted but he'd never really love me back. He wasn't able to. So I was resigned to just loving him from afar.

I was sitting on the pillows by the balcony, a bottle of wine beside me on the floor. I was already drunk, but I liked the taste of it and I already felt sad. My wings were out and wrapped around my shoulders, but I still felt cold and alone. 

Mother used to tell me about the different types of love. She'd tell me that we, as angels, loved everything. But that it was categorized. 8 types of love: Erotic, Affectionate, Familiar, Playful, Obsessive, Enduring, Self, and Selfless.

I don't know which loves I felt for Keith, but I knew that it was something more than the angelic love. I wanted to hold him, protect him, forgive him and accept him. I didn't care that he was a devil.

Rubbing my eyes, I asked myself how I'd gotten into this mess. It'd all started back in that tiny town on the East Coast. I'd been sent up there to find Keith and had been walking on the sidewalk when I noticed a figure about to step out into the road. They hadn't seemed to notice the car racing towards them.

Acting on impulse, I'd lunged forward and caught their collar, yanking them back before they were hit. They'd whirled, eyes wide with annoyance and surprise.

"Do you have a death wish? There's a crosswalk for a reason," I'd said, then realized that he was the exact devil I was looking for. I knew from his eyes. They were unlike anything I'd ever seen- dark and full of knowledge. Immediately, I'd reached out for his aura, feeling the silky blackness slide over my skin. It was nearly suffocating but I was so excited to have found him that I didn't care.

Now, I reached out to Keith's aura again. Under the layers of sleep and frustration, I felt the same smoothness that had been there so many weeks before. Was it just me, though, or was it lighter, somehow? 

Maybe it was just his prolonged stay in the Midworld. 

Sniffling, I looked out at the city of Kyoto, wondering if tomorrow would be our last day together. Would Keith just be pulled down into the depths of the Earth when we finished the final task? Would I have to bring him down there myself? That was impossible- only mortals and devils could enter the Underworld.

And then what? I'd return to the Upperworld with Mom and Matt and Adam. Somehow, that didn't seem like it was enough. Did I actually belong anywhere?

The tears started again. Maybe not.

I was trying to be as quiet as I could, but Keith was, unfortunately, a light sleeper. I heard him shift in the blankets in the bed and I hastily wiped my tears, sniffing loudly to try and clear my sinuses.

"Halohead?" Keith grumbled. I didn't turn. 

"Yeah? I'm good, don't worry. Go back to bed."

Keith grunted. I waited for a few seconds, hopeful that he'd listen to me, but after a moment, I heard the sheets being thrown back and Keith padding across the carpet towards me. He sat next to me on a pillow, rubbing his eyes.

"What's up?" he asked, eyes heavily-lidded from exhaustion.

I laughed nervously, shaking my head. "I told you, I'm fine." 

"Angels aren't supposed to lie."

"Devils aren't supposed to care."

"Well, I do. So spill."

"It doesn't matter."

"You matter."

"There's nothing you can do about it."

"I don't care."

I sighed, knowing that this was a battle I was going to lose. I turned to face Keith, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them. "Do you hate me?" I whispered, my tears starting up again.

Keith looked alarmed at my tears, a little unsure of what to do. "Do I hate you?" he repeated.

I nodded, wiping my nose on my shirt sleeve. His eyes were trained on me, dark and piercing. 

"No."

"Then why'd you get so pissed? Did I do something wrong?" I reached for the wine bottle, aiming for another swig of it, but Keith pulled it away, placing it behind him and moving to sit in front of me. 

"No, Halohead. Never."

I offered him a watery smile, unconvinced. His silhouette stood out against the lights of the city behind him, creating an auratic glow that made him look like he was glowing. It made him look like an angel. 

Keith sighed, looking behind my shoulders at my wings. "I'm just confused. With myself."

I tilted my head to the side, taken aback. "Confused with yourself? You're always so sure, though."

Keith shrugged. "It's hard to put it in words. My heart feels like it's being pulled in so many different directions."

I mustered the will to laugh a little, a choked sound that just sounded sad, as I said, "But you don't have a heart."

Keith smiled back at me but shook his head. He reached forward and took my hand, pulling it towards him and placing it on his bare chest, where his heart would have been. His skin was warm on my cold palms and he kept his hand on my wrist. 

I raised myself up to kneel in front of Keith, sliding my other hand to rest on the side of his neck, my thumb resting on the soft divot in the middle of his collarbone. Keith inhaled shakily and looked at me with imploring eyes. 

"What are you confused about?" I whispered, moving my hands up to cup his cheeks. His eyes were locked with mine but there was something innocent and afraid behind them, a rare vulnerability that I'd never seen before. 

Keith pressed his cheek into my palm, his eyes closing. The light behind him shadowed his features, but at this close, I could see every single detail of his face. "I've never felt like this," he murmured, "and it scares me."

I swooned a little inside. 

"What do you feel?" I felt my heart begin to beat faster. The hotel room was silent and all I could hear was our breathing. 

Keith hesitated, eyes falling from my eyes to my lips and back. 

"I feel like kissing you." 

Keith tilted his head up and I leaned down, brushing my lips against his slowly. It felt magnetic. I held still for a few seconds, lips millimeters above his, our noses touching and our eyes holding each other. 

But then, Keith's lashes fluttered shut and I couldn't help it. Gently, I lowered my lips again and kissed him. Everything melted away in that moment. Mom and Mister, Matt and Adam and the Twins, the Plan, the room, the world. It was cosmic.

Keith's lips were chapped but they tasted like... like I don't know what, but it was intoxicating. Slowly, he moved his hands to my waist, reaching under my shirt and pressing his fingers over my hips. I shivered at his touch, aware how hard it was for him, this contact, but he wasn't holding back so neither was I. 

Keith softly caught my bottom lip between his teeth, which was surprisingly hot, and I pressed closer to him, sliding my hands up through his silky hair. Damn, Mullet. 

I felt Keith pull away, so I opened my eyes, nervous, but he instead moved down to place soft kisses on my neck. I swallowed, letting a shaky breath escape my lungs as he picked the slope where my neck met my shoulder, slightly above my collarbone, and delicately bit the skin.

I didn't know how it was happening or why on Earth he kissed me back, but I wasn't about to stop him. Keith's skin was soft and warm and his hands held me gently, fingers slowly sliding up my stomach to reach my ribs. 

As Keith worked on what I could only assume was a hickie, I ran my hands through his hair, trying my best not to move. My wings quivered slightly behind me but I didn't have the focus to retract them. 

When Keith finished his work, he leaned back, eyes moving from my neck to my eyes. I leaned forward and rested our foreheads together, closing my eyes. "I love you." Keith jumped slightly, alarmed, and I watched him try to search for something to say, but before he could, I interrupted. "I know, I know. You don't have to say it back. And you kind of already knew since I'm, y'know, obligated to love everything, but I just wanted you to know."

Keith nodded slowly. "Okay."

I smiled. "Okay."

Keith blushed, looking down. "Can you... kiss me again?"

I laughed softly and shook my head in wonder. I swear that's one thing I never expected to hear. "Yeah, Mullet," I whispered before tilting up his chin and kissing the devil softly. He was gorgeous and I'd never felt more complete before in my whole life. 

But, in the back of my head, I couldn't push the thoughts out of my head. Keith was a devil so this couldn't possibly mean to him what it meant to me. So as I kissed Keith with my heart beating so fast I thought I'd die and my hands in his hair, I knew that this wouldn't last forever.