Then
"Leo," Elliot says softly into his pillow. "You're not going to leave me, right?"
The noirette looks gently at his master. His friend. "Of course not. I'll be here all night, "He says looking out the window at the silver moon.
"What if the dream comes back? What if I close my eyes and it happens again? The nightmare... the blood..." Elliot whimpers into his covers. Leo strokes his master's back softly.
"I'll be here. If the nightmare comes back, if you're plunged into darkness, if you're drowning, suffocating, falling and can't resurface I'll be here. I'll be here until the stars die out and the sun makes its way through the curtains. I'll be here forever if I have to. With you. I'll be here." the raven-haired youth whispers softly to his friend.
Feeling his valet's warm hand on his back, Elliot falls asleep. Finally in peace. He has nothing to worry about. Leo will be there. Until the stars die out and the sun comes out with new hope and music. Leo will be there forever if he has to...
Now
"Why?" the raven-haired boy whispers sadly to the wind "Why did you leave me? You made me feel alive and worthy. You brought me hope. You were everything I ever needed. All I ever wanted. You were my best and only friend. Why did you go?"
All that looks back at the young man is a stone. A cold grey stone. An angel with spread arms and wings stands like a sentinel above the stone. The angel stands guarding the precious soul underneath. The noirette sits quietly, reading and re-reading the epitaph engraved onto the stone:
Elliot Nightray,
Heir to the Great Nightray Dukedom,
His Body Under the Angel Lay, but his Soul in Heaven Will Forever Stay
1835-1852
The wind blows strong. Crimson red rose petals detach themselves from the bouquet Leo holds. He isn't "Leo" anymore. He's "Glen". Yet he can't let his old self go until he says farewell to his master. No. To his best friend.
At the gravestone he leaves the blood-red roses. He leaves a stem of statice with the roses. Something that never changes. The forever and always. He leaves his glasses. There would be no need for them anymore. His old self finally. Drops of himself left with every silver tear. Every silver tear bleeding into his final words.
"Elliot, I know I told you I'd stay by your side. Forever if I had to. But you're gone. And I'm gone," Leo whispers to the cold stone angel, as if it can hear his words," I'm not who I used to be. I can't be by your side anymore because I'm not the "Leo" you knew and had. So, good-bye Elliot and... I'm sorry too..."
He kisses the stone angel slowly and softly as he stands up. Without a backward glance he leaves his old self, his past behind. What a sad, beautiful, tragic love that had been. He walks further and further away through the early morning mist. The rose petals still blowing blood-red through the fog...
What happened to forever and always?