It was a quiet evening. The crickets were chirping their soft songs in the darkness of the night. The wind sighed with the cloudless night. The stars were visible above, very few cloud obscuring the faint view of them. The dim streetlights were all we had to pave our way home. Besides the hum of the nocturnal animals or insects, all was silent. Lights inside of houses had long since been turned off, their inhabitants away, sleeping soundly in their beds.

But we were out, running amok and making a ruckus, cracking jokes at every turn. My quiet demeanor dissipated around him, his brash and loud nature causing me to let loose, be a little louder.

Shiro and I, nothing could stand between us and our happiness.

It didn't matter anymore, how things had gotten to be the way they were. All that mattered was that we were together, and together we would be.

My whole life, my personality, my facial expressions, all changed because of this guy. I used to be a fucking prude, and then I find myself smiling when I'm eating candy simply because it was something he liked to do.

His laugh, unlike mine, would cut through walls, leak through little vents and carry through backyards like a joyous, rambunctious, and truly pure disease. No one could listen to Shiro's laugh and not at least smile along.

Mine would stutter out, albeit still louder than it used to be. But Shiro would tell me how much he adored it, and it gave me the confidence to let it out more.

I did just that as Shiro told me another horribly terrible joke, my laughter catching in a similar way to his, and I notice a grin creeping onto his own pale face, his golden irises crinkling at the edge.

Things were, admittedly, wobbly. Shiro was having a few family problems (a very recent fight with his similarly skinned father), and it was practically his whole reason for taking me out today. He needed to get away.

It's not like I could ever say no to him.

We continued our walk down the quiet street, sometimes stopping for a sickeningly sweet kiss. We were on our way back from downtown, a stupid sci-fi movie that Shiro had been dying to see anyways at the theater.

Despite our happy mood and smiles, I sensed something was off. I wasn't sure if it was Shiro or if it was the atmosphere around them, but he was just about to mention it after Shiro finished a poorly delivered pun, when he started speaking again.

"Hey Uryu?" he asked, in an actually serious tone.

I wrote it off as what I was sensing and answered, "Yeah?" shoving my hands into my hoodie, one that Shiro himself coerced me into buying.

He looked at me with his mouth open, ready to say something, but the right words not seeming to come to him. He glanced away nervously, scratching the shorter hairs on the back of his neck. "I, uh," he started out smartly, "I have a question?" He scrunched his face up, the words still not seeming right to him.

I gave him a little smile of encouragement, nodded what a "Yes?"

I swallowed audibly and I wondered deeply what he could possibly be so nervous about.

"D-do you-" he squeezed his eyes shut and blurted, "Do you want to have sex with me?"

I stopped and looked at him with wide eyes. I'd been expecting this question for quite a while, but right now?

"R-right now?" I asked verbally, chewing on my bottom lip.

Shiro sucked his lip again mumbling, "Well not on the street, but at your house or something, yeah..."

I wanted to, hell I'd wanted to ever since I'd first laid eyes on him, but with what's going on with his family? If I didn't know better, I'd say he's just doing it to run away from his problems.

And as much as I want to help him, this isn't going to be one of the ways I cave into him.

"I... Shiro, you know I'd say yes to you on literally any other day but..." I looked down at my shoes. It's not like I wanted to say no to him. This sucked. "Not tonight, I'm sorry."

Shiro looked at me with eyes wide, concern filling his gold irises. "Are you okay rabbit? Is something wrong? Oh jeez, I'm going too fast aren't I?"

I quickly shook my head, dispelling that particular thought. "No, baby, of course not. It's just," I sighed, scratching behind my ear. "With the thing with your dad, I don't think, you know, tonight is um..."

I turned to Shiro to see an almost... offended look etching his features. Oh, fuck this is not what I wanted. Before I could stutter out a reply, Shiro breathed, "You're not gonna sleep with me because of my dad?"

I bit my lip so hard I felt a metallic taste and I shook my head, opening my mouth to defend myself and- "That's a shitty excuse Uryu. You could just tell me you didn't want to have sex with me."

I felt frustration bubbling up in me. He's always quick to come to wild conclusions. It can be charming at times, but this clearly isn't one of those times. "Shiro, you're misreading me. Can I-"

"No, you're misreading me!" He nearly shouted, his snowy eyebrows pulled closer to his lids. "You don't have to make up some excuse because you're not ready to have sex! Just fucking tell me!"

I growled, a scowl making its way onto my face. "Shiro, I don't think you want to have sex because you want to, I think you just want a distraction." I wasn't giving in yet. Maybe I could get past his thick skull.

This time Shiro really did look genuinely offended and any thought of getting through to him seemed unreachable. "So what if I do? Is that really such a bad thing? To distract myself?"

I rubbed my temples, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. "It's a problem if that's all you can honestly think of me as." I looked up at him, staring into his eyes with a hard gaze. "A distraction from the problems you should be facing. An excuse," I threw back at him. It was probably a step too far, but I wasn't taking this.

Shiro appeared conflicted between assuring me otherwise and arguing back because both were strong in his nature. I raised an eyebrow and that apparently made him pick his side as he snarled, "Don't you act like you're the victim here, Uryu. This is the last thing I need right now."

I glowered at him with a deathly look. "And this is the last thing I need right now. My family is just as bad as yours, if not worse. You're not the victim either."

Now it was Shiro's turn to rub his temples, a habit he probably picked up from Uryu. "I don't understand if you're on my side or not."

I sighed minutely. "Ultimately? Yours. I want what's best for you. And I don't think fraternizing with your boyfriend is the best thing right now. But if you really want to keep fighting me on this, you know I'm going to continue to argue."

Shiro, still staring at the pitch black pavement, lets out a similar sigh, but his much more drawn out and louder. "Are you sure?" he asked simply.

I nodded slowly. "Another time. I promise." I held out my pinky, a tradition for us that seemed older than the stars at this point. But just as important.

Shiro looks up at my extended appendage, a soft expression crossing his face. He intertwines his own pastel pinky that sported a blooming bruise from god knows where with his albino skin with mine. And everything seemed a little more at peace.

Any panicking or angry demons in the tangled vines of my head were silenced, the balance brought forth again.

We continued on our walk in silence, the air filled with the said and unsaid words and hanging thoughts.

I felt bad. Maybe it was because Shiro always guilt trips me with that face, but I really did feel bad. He wanted release, but I knew this wasn't going to be the way it could be resolved or the way he could get release.

"Are you mad at me?" I blurted before I realized what I was doing. Shiro gave me a pointed look but shook his head.

"No, I don't think I could ever be truly mad at you."

The words were simple and the cheesiest shit I've ever heard, but it meant so much and for the first time that night I felt my eyes well up with tears. I nodded and put on a determined look, willing myself not to cry.

To Shiro, it must have looked like the funniest shit ever because he took one look at me and burst out laughing. I frowned, which in turn made Shiro laugh even more, his eyes crinkling up again.

I was about to retort when the deafening noise of a gunshot rang out. Shiro ducked down onto his stomach on instinct, grabbing my forearm to follow. The faint noises of yelling and curses could be heard from the dark apartment complex on the other side of the street.

We were just passing it and were even standing in front of it during our spat, and I wondered if all that yelling had been going on at the same time we were arguing. Shiro hissed at me to cross the street with him, crawling on his belly at first and then darting to the side of a small strip mall.

I followed suit, although stumbling when another gunshot rang out from the shady complex. Another string of curses as I slammed my back onto the brick wall to stay as out of sight as possible. My heart was thumping out of my chest, the blood rushing in my ears. Shiro looked just as panicked, his eyes as wide as a deer's in headlights.

He put on a facade of calamity, presumably for my own sake. He looked at me with deep, cool eyes and said in a hushed tone, "It's probably just a domestic dispute, but let's not wait to find out." He grabbed my arm and lead me towards the neighborhood behind the strip mall.

Another shot, much closer this time, rang in our ears. We heard voices, loud, angry voices that were approaching us. My mind was spinning with fear. I could see black curling around my vision as I panted next to Shiro.

Shiro jogged up the hill behind a house, still gripping my arm to keep me close until we heard a loud shout and another shot right behind us. I knew I shouldn't have, but I spun around to see. I couldn't even make out the figure, maybe besides a tuft of hair, but I heard Shiro fall beside me. I turned back around just in time to see Shiro's eyes roll into the back of his head. He lay on the grass, some stranger's yard, his hand over his diaphragm.

I felt the world fall from under my feet. Shiro coughed and screamed in pain, and all I could do is fall to my knees, leaning wildly over Shiro to help in any way. His hand covered a dark spot just under his chest. I knew he had been shot and I heard that maniac yelling behind me but all I could hear was a faint ringing.

I heard Shiro breathing heavily, but he was still laughing. I couldn't possibly imagine what the hell he was laughing about but I pulled my face close to his, fat tears running down my face. He smiled a tried to kiss my face, exhaling, "Love...all..." before he collapsed.

I held him in my arms, searching frantically for a sign of consciousness, but the rational side of me knew: all that blood loss, there was no possible way.

Sobs racked my body. I couldn't breathe and the whole world was spinning around me. I yelled at Shiro, shook him and told him to wake up but nothing. I couldn't feel his breath or his heartbeat and I just screamed and screamed.

All I can remember afterward was the freshly cut grass falling through my fingers, from a stranger's yard.