Title: Fault

Pairing:Elliot x Reo

Raiting: T (just to be safe ^^)

Warnings:spoilers to chapter 58! If you didn't read that chapter – you may not understand what's happening in this fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts and it's characters. Everything belongs to Jun Mochizuki-sama.

Author note: Ch58 really made me excited. It was awesome chapter, one of my favorites. Maybe, the most favorite one. And it gave me so many ideas *_*

Anyway...

I'm really sorry. English isn't my first language, and even if I asked my friend to edit it - feel free to tell me if you find any mistakes.

Thank you, Miranda, for beta-reading this for me!*nods*

Everything was his fault.

From the very beginning – everything was his fault.

Reo gasped, trying to hold on his tears. He couldn't cry. He hadn't the right to cry. Because he was the reason of his one and only friend being in pain.

He looked at Elliot who was just sitting there, leaning his back against the wall and staring into space.

Reo could feel his pain. It was very obvious. What could Elliot think right now? Could he even think at that moment? Reo wasn't sure. He tried to image himself in Elliot's place: what would he feel? Being the one who killed his own siblings and mother? Being betrayed by a person whom he trusted the most.

Yes. Yes, that was right. Reo betrayed Elliot. Reo didn't let Elliot have an honorable death while trying to protect his friend and a child. No, Reo dragged him back to life, Reo forced him into a contract, Reo unwillingly made Elliot kill his precious people.

"I'm glad that you realized it yourself," whispered a voice in his head. "That definitely was your fault, and you must remember it…"

"Just shut up!" Reo grasped his head and yelled mentally at the white shadow which started to appear, shielding his view. "Shut up… why now… go away…"

"I won't," the shadow of Glen Baskerville said softly. "You can't deny us forever, and now is a perfect timing to remind to you who you are."

Reo gritted his teeth. As if he could forget it. As if he could ever forget about those memories, about those shadows of the past.

As if he ever wanted it.

Elliot shrugged and started mumbling something, so Reo decided to listen to him and not to Glen.

"That's wrong! That's wrong!" the pain in Elliot's voice was unbearable. "That's… wrong…"

"Elliot…" Reo wanted to move, wanted to come closer to his friend, to try comfort him… to do anything! But his body refused to move, and the only option left for him was watching at his friend's sufferings.

"I… hadn't got another choice…" Reo whispered to himself, not even noticing tears on his own cheeks.

I didn't want to lose him.

"That's your fault," Glen said. "You are really selfish, aren't you?"

Yes. It was his fault. But what else he could do? Reo remembered everything like if it happened yesterday.

He and Elliot went to the chasm in their search of lost children, and they found them. The children were dead. And only one little girl was still alive. Reo rushed to her, leaving Elliot behind. And then… Humpty Dumpty appeared.

Of course, Elliot thought that the Chain was going to attack Reo and the girl.

Of course, Elliot was trying to protect them.

And Humpty pierced Elliot with his tongue. Because Humpty Dumpty also thought that Elliot was going to kill Reo.

Everything went red after that. Reo remembered himself shouting to the Chain to stop. And Elliot's body dropped to the ground. He wanted to protect him, so the raven-haired boy stepped between Elliot and the Chain. And then…

And then those shadows appeared, talking to him, telling him that it was his fault.

But Glen's shadow told him how to bring Elliot back to live.

And Reo did it. Reo gave Elliot Humpty Dumpty's blood; he forced his friend to make an illegal contract.

When Elliot asked him whether he was all right, Reo cried.

Understanding that that would just bring Elliot more suffering and pain, understanding that if Elliot ever knows about it – he will curse him, Reo did it. He did it for his own selfish sake.

Because Reo was already too addicted to Elliot.

Because Reo couldn't let him go.

"Are you happy now?" Glen asked him.

"Shut up!" Reo yelled at him, sobbing. He hated himself. He hated himself so much. But thinking about letting Elliot die back there made him want to die himself.

"I am… an illegal contractor?" Elliot whispered and Reo trembled.

"I am… a Headhunter?" Elliot stared at his own hands.

And then a bloody stain started to appear on his chest.

Reo's eyes widened in terror.

"Oh… no, please, NO!" he somehow managed to stand up and rushed to Elliot's side, hugging him by his shoulders.

"No… no… no…" he continued whispering, while hugging his friend tighter and stroking his hair. "Please, don't die… you can't die here… please, Elliot!"

"Do you want us to seal his wound again?" Glen asked coldly. "Do you really want forcing him to continue to live like that? Do you want to make him suffer any more?"

Reo bit his lower lip and tightened his grip on his friend's body. What Glen was saying was true. It would be better for Elliot to die now, right? It would be better to stop his sufferings now, right? So why… was he hesitating so much? Why was he so afraid? It would be better for Elliot…

But I can't live without him.

Glen's shadow sighed.

"So that's your decision then?"

"Yes…"

Reo smiled bitterly, then leaned closer and whispered in Elliot's ear.

"I'm so sorry, Elliot… I'm so selfish. But I just can't… can't let you go… So, please, forgive me… Please…"

He felt how Elliot slowly lost his conscious. He felt how the blood stopped flowing from the re-opened wound. He carefully laid Elliot down on the floor and looked at his face.

"Why… I can't do it?"

"Maybe because you love him…" Glen said, and Reo noticed a bitter sadness in his voice. As suddenly as it appeared the shadow started to vanish.

"Wait! What do you…"

But it wasn't here anymore. Reo sighed and placed himself on the floor, hugging Elliot and putting his head on his chest. It was so nice to just lay here and listen to Elliot's heartbeat.

When Elliot wakes up – he will hate Reo for sure. He will curse him to death for what he made him do. But again – Reo couldn't let him die.

Maybe, he really was in love with him.