I wrote this while I had no internet just to explain why I'm putting all the chapters up now.


They loved playing old Connie Francis cassette tapes on an old boom box Dante had managed to snag at a garage sale for fifty cents.

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas was booming throughout the apartment as the petite boy twirled and danced. Dante jumped in, blue eyes lit up, going perfectly with his flawless grin. He laced their fingers together and spunher around and around until the world was nothing but a blur, until the colors all mashed together. They'd spin around until their limbs tangled and they fell back onto the carpet, laughing—at this point Dante would lean over and whisper a compliment that made Nero's heart jump.

Because he still made a point to do that, every single day they were breathing.

"You're beautiful. Every. Single. Day."

This, they would deem as a good day, days that shun light into their other wise bleak living.