The next morning, Halt woke up early, and put that instant coffee he bought to use before running three miles in the forest surrounding Araluen. The ground was solid; there were no drops of dew sitting on the leaves; it looked like it hadn't rained at all. The storm must've just missed them, because the sky was clear, and the sun was just rising by the time Halt finished his run.

And what's better than a nice cup of coffee in the morning? ..Two nice cups of coffee in the morning! After running, he threw down the hood of his green hoodie, which had camouflaged him in the woods, and walked to find the Starbucks that Will had mentioned.

Right as he started to think about his target, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Being reminded of his promise to himself yesterday only hurt, and the more he tried to tell himself that a promise was a promise, and he had to do it, the more he really didn't want to do it. But he couldn't not think about Will for long, because when he walked out of the Starbucks, guess who was leaning against the wall outside?

He looked up from his cup, and saw Halt and smiled a little. "Hey, I guess you took my advice," he said.

Halt just stared, confused, and afraid to speak to him. "Do you remember me?" his target asked. "We met during my shift at Tesco the other day." Will fidgeted one hand in his pocket. His other hand held a cup of coffee much like Halt's.

Halt nodded, and stared down into his cup. "I remember," he answered, making sure his mouth was drawn into a thin line, if not a frown. He took a big drink.

His target lifted his cup up, and playfully said to him, "Cheers", then drank. They were now engaged in conversation, and there was no turning back for Halt; so he took the unmarked spot on the wall next to him.

But for a time they were silent to each other. Will didn't seem to have anywhere else to be, and the only thing Halt had on his list was to kill Will, but he didn't have his gun on him. He probably wouldn't have done it anyway. There was nothing he could do at the moment but stand there, and beg for a chance to get away. He didn't like interacting with the people that he was getting paid to kill. It was like having tea with the grim reaper before he reaps your soul.

"Did you go for a run before coming here?" Will asked him, out of the blue.

He must've noticed the beads of sweat on Halt's forehead. "Yes."

"How long?"

"Three miles."

Will's mouth formed an 'O', and he whistled to show how impressed he was. "That's good… I've always wanted to be able to get up and work out, early in the morning, but the most difficult part of that, really, is getting up. Did you go out into the woods?"

"Yes."

"Your hoodie kept you camouflaged, didn't it?"

"You ask too many questions."

Will almost laughed. Maybe if his heart were in a different place, he would've. "I get that a lot." Then he corrected himself, "Used to."

"And now?" Halt couldn't stop himself from asking.

Will's smile faded, and floated so far away that Halt forgot he had ever been smiling. "And now I don't get as many chances to." The curly haired brunette took another drink of his coffee, with such an attitude that Halt was almost convinced it was alcohol.

There was a short period of silence, before Will said, "Can I ask another?"

"You just did."

Will rolled his eyes. "Another another. What's your name?"

Halt was very reluctant to answer with his real name. "Ferris," he said. "And you?"

"Nice to meet you, Ferris. I'm Will. ..How long are you staying here?"

That was a good question. That was a really good question. "I don't know," he said. "As long as it takes." He took a sip out of his coffee and threw the cup away in a trash bin nearby, at the end of the wall.

"Are you leaving?" Will asked him.

Halt turned his head and looked at him directly for the first time that day. It was ironic that the first time that Halt got the courage to face him, Will was staring at the ground. "If it's okay with you..." he began, and Halt waited on the edge of his seat for the answer. Will's voice was getting quieter, and he seemed to be sinking deeper and deeper into something the more he spoke. "I know I'm a stranger, but stay here a little longer with me," he pleaded. "Please."

Halt nodded. The desperation in the boy's voice was unmistakable. He felt his muscles relax, rather than tense up, as his heart shook in his chest. "I will," he whispered back. Will's eyes lit up, but there was still no trace of anything but darkness in them. It made Halt want to never leave.

By some cruel coincidence, or joke made by a God with a good taste in dark humor, Will was wearing a grey, long sleeved shirt with white angel wings on the front. Halt had noticed this before, but he didn't quite catch the irony until now.

The sun was coming up higher on the horizon, and the town was yawning and stretching its arms as the sound of cars whooshing by became more and more frequent, and the drowsy feeling in the air was lifting.

"Are you working today?" Halt asked. Might be useful information.

"No," Will told him. "Sunday is my day off."

"I see."

"I'm always complaining for a day off from being bored, bossed around, and berated, but when I get one I never know what to do with myself. Is that weird?" he asked. He took a long sip, as Halt talked:

"Not really," he said. "Jobs like yours aren't meant to be fun. They're meant to make you money. You need a hobby outside of work, to keep you happy and busy when you aren't sad and busy."

"I used to have something like that."

Halt thought he was going to continue, but when he didn't, he was forced to think about those words he said. He looked for the second time at Will's face, when he was throwing away his coffee cup in the same trash that Halt had tossed his. When he returned to his spot, he stared not at the ground but at the sky.

The sun was coming up, in a swirl of beautiful pink and blue. The colors weren't separate, like what you would see sometimes in a sunset. The pink and the blue were holding hands, and shaking hands, and embracing, and getting tangled up in each other across the sky. It was beautiful, like a child had been born and the sky wanted the whole town to know.

And yet, a chill still blew past them, and tickled the skin on both of their faces. "I used to have something that I could think about," Will said, "at any time, and I would smile and tell myself to keep going. What do you do when you lose that? How do you go on after that? When you have no one to blame, you start blaming yourself, even though people told me it was just an accident… What do you blame it on? Fate? Fate can't be this cruel, can it…? It's supposed to leave you with something, even just the tiniest sliver of hope that makes you feel like you're alive instead of just trapped in your own, never-ending nightmare… I still go home, and expect to see her. Just hoping, praying, that this past month has been nothing but a nightmare." He paused. "Has it done that to you?"

Halt let out a breath through his nose. If he opened his mouth before he knew what he was going to say, he didn't know what would come out. "I think it's hard," he said, "to be left with anything… when you never had anything to begin with."

Will rested the back of his head against the wall, and nodded. "I guess so," he agreed.

Maybe a second or two of silence passed before Halt spoke up again: "Fate can be tricky. Sometimes it's hard to think that everything will turn out okay, and that everything happens for a reason; sometimes it's impossible. What I think… I think sometimes, horrible things happen. Horrible things happen, and there's no reason for it; they just do. You couldn't help it, and you can't fix it. They're not meant to teach you anything, and they're not meant to help you later on. They're not meant for anything; they just happen, and there's nothing you can do but throw up your hands, and say, "oh, well, this is terrible"… and hope better things will make up for it later."

"Has that worked out for you in the past?"

He paused. Then he answered, "I'm still waiting for the better things."

Will nodded again. "Me too."

He shoved both hands into his pockets, and rested his chin on his chest. "You can go now. I hope I wasn't keeping you from anything."

"No, you weren't." Halt stood off the wall, and without turning to him, asked, "Where are you going next?"

"Home. Why?"

"I'll walk you there." Halt started to head in the direction from whence Will had come. He didn't stop, even when Will didn't follow him, and instead stared like he'd dreamt up those words.

"What?"

Halt snapped, "Being alone after a conversation like that is dangerous for you, okay? Just be quiet and stop asking so many questions." He paused, for just a moment, and for just long enough for Will to catch up. They didn't talk, as Will led the way back to his house, because the silence, and the rare, slim smile on Will's face said enough.