YOU AIN'T HOMELESS, BUT YOU'RE HEARTLESS!

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Angel couldn't believe what she was seeing. Lydia and Joseph Abrams, her mother and father, were standing before her. She was rooted to the spot, unable to move despite every nerve in her body screaming for her to run.

"It's a miracle..." Joseph murmured, stepping forward. He looked as if he were about to cry. "Our prodigal son, reunited with us once more..."

Angel shook her head, desperately trying to maintain her composure. "That's- what the fuck..." She had no idea what to say. This couldn't be happening. "How- what are you doing here? Why are you- Why are you here?"

Lydia moved closer. "A true saint from the Lord found us," she said. "A disciple named Nero Shein discovered our wrongful accusations... he knew what we were trying to do, Angel! He understood us, and freed us from prison!"

Angel didn't know which was worse - the fact that the very officer that she had spoken with mere moments ago was the one that had brought her parents to her, or that they were still speaking of what happened as if they were in the right, as if they weren't the cause of everything bad that had happened in her life.

"And..." Angel's voice shook slightly as she clenched her hands into fists. "And what... what exactly are you doing here?"

Her gaze didn't leave them for a second, afraid that if she looked away, they would pounce, dragging her back into a family that she now knew was loveless, criticizing everything about her, from the music she listened to to the way she dressed, grabbing her and holding her down with hands that were meant to nurture and guide-

"The almighty Lord gave us another chance," Joseph said. "He knew that we were doing what was right in His eyes, and He has given us another chance at being a family again. This must be His way of showing us how a change has blossomed in your heart - you must be steering from your sinful ways!"

"Like what?" Angel snapped, forcing herself to muster up as much courage as she could. "Wearing clothing that makes me happy? I don't see that being banned in the Ten Commandments, but you know what is banned?" She took a step forward. "Fucking murder, that's what."

Lydia's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do the Commandments not also say to honor your father and mother?" she asked, tilting her head. Angel knew that look, and the icy hand gripping at her insides tightened. She couldn't get shouted at, not again, not now, when she was only running on the front she had put up for everyone else. "You know why we did what we did. I would've thought that you could be a little more grateful for what your father and I tried to do for you."

"For me?" Angel exclaimed. "Every bad thing that's ever happened to me is because of you! Do you have any idea of the trauma you put on me, your child?!"

"If you would have allowed us to complete our plan, you wouldn't have any of that," Joseph told her. "You would have been purified of the Devil's temptations. That Satanic music, those awful clothes, that wretched attitude-"

"It isn't a sin to express myself the way I want to!" Angel's breathing was growing shallow. They were so convinced that they were right that it was pointless to fight them, but she had to. "It isn't a fucking sin to do something I enjoy!"

"Deuteronomy 22:5," Lydia spoke up. "'A man must not wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this'! It is a sin! As our son, we feel-"

"I don't want to be your son!" Angel shouted, her nails digging so deeply into her palms that her hands trembled, stinging with pain that she could barely feel. "At first, I wanted to be your daughter, but now, after I've lived a life without you where I can be myself, I don't want to be your child at all!"

"Angel, what's going on?"

She practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of Erebus's voice behind her, and spun to face him. He was standing in the doorframe, watching the scene with mild concern. "Are you okay?"

"I-" Angel couldn't get the words out to explain to him what was happening. She wanted him to run, to leave as quickly as he could so he didn't have to experience the same things that she had at the hands of her parents, but was unable to speak.

"Angel, who is this man?" Lydia asked, stepping back.

"I feel the presence of Satan within him..." Joseph muttered, taking his wife's hand. "Where did he come from? How long have you known him?"

Angel blinked. "The fuck you mean, you feel Satan in him?! That doesn't make any-"

All of a sudden, Lydia gasped loudly. "Is he a homosexual?!"

"What?!" Angel yelped. "No! What does that matter, anyway?! Wait, actually-" She turned around, facing Erebus once more. "Are you gay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed, I'm under a lot of pressure-"

Erebus only looked more confused. "I'm- I've never really thought about that sort of thing - who's Satan?"

"Angel, step away from this man at once," Joseph snapped. "He is beyond return."

"Why? Because he might be gay?!" Angel exclaimed, spinning to face him. "So what if he is? If I like men, does that make me beyond return in your eyes?"

Every inch of her body, every drop of blood in her was screaming at whatever God would listen that this was the case.

"He is evil, I can feel it!" Joseph said, wringing his hands in distress. "The Devil works within him!"

"Angel, you have never expressed attraction to men in the past," Lydia told her. "If this is something you have said just to disrespect us-"

"That's 'cause you'd disown me if I told you I did!" Angel shouted. "Fuck it, yeah! I like men just as much as I like women! Either way, that'd make me a homosexual, so label me as beyond return, then!"

"You're just confused and angry, my child," Lydia told her. "If you would just-"

"I'm not fuckin' confused!" Angel snapped. "Want me to prove it?!"

"No, Angel, you cannot-"

Before Lydia could finish, Angel spun around, placing a hand on Erebus's waist and pulling him closer. As she rose up onto her toes, she disregarded every ounce of sense and restraint in her body to replace it all with the desire to piss off her parents, and kissed him on the cheek.

He didn't pull back.

Somehow, that was more important than anything else that had happened that day. The nightmare, the argument, Angel's parents - the magnitude of all of those situations melted away into nothing when it fully sunk into Angel that he didn't pull away. It scared her, the thought of it, but at the same time, it filled her with such an indescribable warmth, that beautiful feeling that only Erebus gave her which seemed to seep into her very bones. She was deaf to her parents' screams of horror and their prayers of 'Lord forgive him for he does not know what he is doing'. All she knew was that this split-second meant something to her, and it was terrifyingly perfect.

At least, until Erebus did end up pulling away, looking mildly startled and incredibly flustered. Then reality settled back in on Angel, and her barely suppressed terror filled her again.

"The Good Lord will remember that," Joseph said. "Such behavior is an abomination to His will!"

"So is murder," Angel countered. "It's right there in the fucking commandments, and you're worried about me doing something that makes me happy?!"

Behind her, Erebus looked even more stunned. "Happy?"

"He knows that what we have tried to do was for Him," Lydia said. "If He did not know this, why would He have used His disciple to bring us from jail? He knows that you are sinful, and that you must be purified! He is determined for you to enter Heaven, so please, Angel! Let us take you there!"

Angel took a step back as Lydia advanced forward, unable to hold back her fear any longer. "N-No, fuck off!" she shouted. "Leave me alone, just let me be fucking happy!"

"It isn't too late to find true happiness in Heaven!" Lydia exclaimed. Her hand closed around Angel's wrist before she was able to pull away, unyielding and firm as she dragged her away from Erebus. The touch was too familiar to her, and more hands came to join it, grabbing and pushing and holding her down until she was unable to breathe, overwhelmed with panic, certain that she was going to die-

"Let her go."

Lydia spun around with a frightened yelp, obeying the command immediately as she faced the one who had given it - Tom, standing in the doorway with Clara. The moment she relinquished her hold on Angel, she stumbled back, clutching both arms against her chest as she turned, dashing out of the room before anyone could say a word. Erebus could hear a stifled sob escape her as she ran.

"Brother," Joseph said, raising a hand as he stepped closer to Tom. "Please understand, we-"

"Enough," Tom snapped. "You've hurt your child enough. It's time for you to leave."

Lydia moved forward, determined eyes flicking back and forth between the two. "Everything we've done, all of this - it's all been for Angel. We need him to see the plan that the Lord has given us, as his parents."

"You are no more Angel's parents than we are," Clara said sternly. "The only difference between us is that we treat her like we are. Now get out of our house before we call the police."

"But-"

Joseph placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "The time is not now," he murmured. "We will return, and we will sort this all out. Everything will go the way that the Lord intended it."

With a heavy sigh, Lydia backed down as well. The two moved past Clara and Tom, walking out the door, and Clara shut it behind them - almost immediately, the atmosphere felt so much calmer.

"Are you okay, dear?" Clara asked, walking over to Erebus, who was still trying to process everything that had just happened.

"I don't- I think so," Erebus muttered, looking down at her. "Clara, who were those people? Are- Are they going to hurt Angel?"

Tom shook his head. "Not as long as we can help it," he said firmly. "Right now, we need to help calm her down. I'm sure she's very upset after seeing her parents again."

"Those were her parents?" This made so much sense to Erebus, but he still didn't understand what they were talking about. "I- Can I help? Is there anything I can do?"

"That is very kind of you, sweetheart," Clara told him with a gentle smile. "But I'm afraid there's not much you can do. You don't know the full story, you see, but once we've finished calming Angel down, we can tell you everything you want to know, as long as she's okay with you knowing it. Then you can go in and speak with her."

Erebus nodded in understanding, a hint of guilt entering his thoughts as she said this. The two turned to walk off, leaving him alone to try and figure out what yet he didn't understand. Why Angel had been so terrified when her mother had touched her, or why her parents had seemed to hate him specifically were both prominent in his mind, but those he would be able to understand soon.

Reaching up, he allowed his fingers to brush against the place where Angel had kissed him. Later, he would convince himself that it hadn't meant anything, that he knew why Angel had done it, and that she wasn't thinking anything of it. For now, however, he allowed the warmth that the gentle touch of her lips had given him to fill him up, savoring it, for he was certain that he wouldn't be able to feel it again.