One morning, Dirk wakes up to loud noises from outside Roxy's house. He opens his window, glancing down to see about 50 angry people holding signs like "God hates fags" and "no gays in church" and similar slogans.

Dirk Strider groans, hitting his forehead. He runs to the living room where Roxy is seated on a couch with headphones in so loud he could hear the music from the other end of the room.

He goes up to her and pulls one of them out. "What's going on outside?" he asks.

"I would assume," she says snatching the headphone back, "something to do with your boyfriend." She looks at him in such a way that he can tell the people have been here a while and she is sick of them. The Strider groans and walks back to his shared bedroom and looks out the window. It seems that the people are increasing in numbers every second.

He walks over to where Jake is laying. "I'll be back soon, love," he murmurs, then throws on shoes and dashes outside.

The crowd jeers him the moment he steps foot outside Roxy's home. He attempts to push through, but someone punches him and he ends up with a bloody nose. "You pick on an innocent man," he yells, "a better man than all of you combined. And you dare to insult him?" No one says anything to Dirk in particular, just begins to cheer hatred louder.

The Strider cuts across the neighbor's lawn, then continues to the police station.

When he enters, the first thing he notices is the television portraying the mob outside Roxy's house. Dirk marches up to the desk, slamming his palms down. "I'd like to file a complaint," he says through clenched teeth.

"What is it." The man behind the desk is distracted by the riot.

"That's my residence they're picketing. They are not protesting peacefully, and they're disrupting the peace."

The man turns towards Dirk now, smirking. "What do ya want me to do? I can't get nobody who would calm them lot down."

Angrily, Dirk retaliates "It is your job to-" He stops as the man stands.

"My job is to deal with people who break laws. Ain't nobody," he gestures towards the screen, "messing with that."

Dirk turns and storms out, running all the way back to Roxy's.

When he got back, the crowd had grown to double the size it had been before. To avoid the angry rioters, he went around to the back of the house and entered through there. Upon entering the back door into the kitchen he sees that Jake is awake and sitting at the table.

Jake looks up when he hears the door open and comes over, hugging the other. The blonde man hugs the other before pulling away slightly.

"Have they done anything?" he asks looking around then back at Jake. He shakes his head.

"Other than upsetting Roxy, no," the green eyed man says. The other nods and goes out to see Roxy sitting on the couch with a dark expression on her face and her arms crossed, still listening to music loudly. He sighs and walks out of the room and back to their bedroom.

Outside the crowd seems to be getting more and more restless. Dirk sits on the bed half watching, half zoning out. Soon enough, the faint smell of smoke tints the air. Nothing else registers in the blondes brain as he makes his way to the window, only to see large torches being thrown against the house. Quickly as possible, he ran down the stairs to find that the cloud of smoke was getting thicker. Roxy had gotten up from the couch and was running to the nearest exit while simultaneously pulling out her phone to call 911. Jake sat at the table, staring at the smoke, not moving.

Running over to him, Dirk grabbed his hand and began pulling him gently. "Jake, we have to go," he says gently. Jake continues to sit, nonresponsive.

"They are doing this," he says finally, "because of me." His eyes glisten with unshed tears. "They are burning down a house," he is cut off by a sob.

"Come on," Dirk says. "We can talk about this later." He gently pulls on the other's arm again, urging him to come.

"No," he yanks his arm away. "Let me stay here. They will kill me if I leave and I will die if I stay, I would prefer them not to kill me."

"They are killing you either w-" he begins to cough as the cloud of smoke thickens. Tears stream from the other's eyes as he continues to stare straight ahead into the thickening smoke. Dirk goes over and wets two washcloths, using one to cover his mouth and the other to cover Jake's. Jake throws the cloth to the ground.

"Jake," the other pleads, "please!"

"No," he says softly, "no. They want me dead, they will get me dead."

"This is stupid!" Dirk shouts, grabbing the other and standing him up. "I am not about to let you die in a fire because you think that you 'deserve to die'" He begins to drag Jake behind him to the door. Smacking his arm away he goes back to the table.

"Let me die," he says. "If it is what they want so much, let them have it." He begins to cough and looks faint. The cloud has thickened to the point of near darkness.

"I will not let you die because I don't care what they want!" Dirk is on the verge of hysteria as he tries to get the other to follow.

"No," he say through coughs. "No," he says again weakly. Dirk goes over to him and again attempts to bring him along only to be pushed away once more. "No," he keeps repeating weakly through coughing fits. His eyes droop to only halfway open and he weakens.

"Jake, I can't just-" His voice cracks, alarming the other man. "I love you, Jake."

"I-" he coughs again, "I love you too, Dirk." He dissolves into a coughing and then falls back. Dirk, who is also coughing quite a bit, goes over to his side. Gather the younger man into his arms, he holds him close to his chest. The greens eyes that used to shine so brightly had dulled considerably but a smile creased his face. "Thank you," he whispered.

"No," Dirk says through the tears and the coughs. The light fades from the beautiful green eyes and his entire body falls limp in the others arms. Dirk presses a kiss gently on Jake's forehead, his entire body shaking from his sobs. "No," he whispers, hugging the other's body closer to his.

Throat and eyes burning, he doesn't leave his place on the floor even as he hears the sirens come closer and close. Even as he hears the shouts of the firemen outside of the house. Everything feels like its moving in slow motion as the firemen run into the house and pull Dirk and Jake's body out. Paramedics attend to Dirk who only watches as they put the body of his partner into a body bag. Everything else seems to fade as his body is zipped out of view in the black bag.

"I'm so sorry," his strangled voice says quietly as the bag passes. The bag now filled with the once lively, now limp, body of the most amazing man he has ever met. A light, comforting hand is placed onto his shoulder. A soothing voice, familiar, speaks to him. He watches as the vehicle carrying the bag drives away. He watches as the rioters are arrested or run or have turned a sickly shade of white and puke. None of it seems real.

Sobs rack his entire body. Nothing else seems like it should be happening. His boyfriend had wanted to die because of these people. These cruel, heartless people. He had wanted to appease them, wanted them to see that he would die. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes but he couldn't get the image of the life draining from his body. The almost elegant transition from living to dead. They had done this to him.

The only thoughts that echoed in his brains were those. They had done this to him. They had made him suffer enough to make him want to do this. They were the cause. Screaming he punches the wall. The wall of his room, he had no memory of coming back here. The fire left little damage on the house, a fuzzy memory says. No damage other than a gaping hole right in the center of what used to be a heart. A dent forms in the wall, a hole only a fraction of the depth as the one in his being, and his knuckles ache from the impact. That doesn't stop him from doing it again. He punches the wall, over and over, until finally all of his anger is depleted.

Falling back onto the bed he stared up at the ceiling. He was done crying. Crying would no longer do any good. All he wanted to do was make them feel like they had made him feel. No. He can't do that. He wouldn't approve. Roxy walked in carrying a tray of food.

"You have to eat," she says gently, setting the food beside his bed and glancing at the wall.

"I have no appetite," he say in a monotone voice, no emotion behind any of his words. She sighs.

"It will get easier with time," she says before walking out. It's not a promise, a promise is a guarantee and Dirk knew that this feeling wasn't going to go away anytime soon, if ever.

Soon after, the broken Strider drifts off to sleep.

Jake stand in front of him, yet everytime he advances, the other moves back. He wears a bright smile and his green eyes sparkle.

"Hello Dirk," he says politely, his voice monotone. Absent of all happiness present on his face.

"Jake," his voice cracks. The other shows no sign of noticing, nor any signs of recognition beyond his name. For the first time since they met, Dirk sees him the way that he saw him when they first met. Perfect and beautiful. Completely beyond his reach.

A/N: Thanks again to all of those who read and reviewed, I really hope you liked the story, it was fun to write.