~*~ Wright Anything Agency
Date: December 25, 2027 Time: 6:00 pm
Red

"Now if you'll excuse me I'll be going back to the party." Aquila left us alone… Me and Clay alone.

I relaxed knowing that it was just us two. We immediately started taking about the past and the funny moments that happened in our lives until I mentioned Aquila...

I was shifting awkwardly in my position, and Clay was the one to break the silence. "He's a pretty lively guy isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is…" It was still pretty awkward seeing Clay right here in front of me due to the fact he was dead plus the topic of our current conversation.

"If you're not going talk then I will…" I looked at him. He was serious, and I grew nervous. "Just go for him!" He was laughing now.

"W-what are you talking about?" I had a small guess at what he was talking about.

"He clearly likes you, and you like him too!" His face was back to being serious. "And don't say you don't. Because you certainly do."

"Why would you say that?"

"I'm your best friend for crying out loud! I would notice things like this about you!" Yeah he would… that's why he's my best friend.

But I was hurt with what he said. "A best friend…"

"Too be honest, Apollo. I never took our relationship seriously… nothing really changed except for more privileges…" He was smirking and I blushed, but he was right nothing really changed. Neither of us expected anything once we were in a relationship, but we certainly didn't expect this.

"Is it time already?" (What?) "It seems like my time has run out. I don't want to cause any problems to missy here." (Wait…) "I guess, it's goodbye Apollo."

"Hold it! You can't be leaving me… Again…" I knew I was pleading him to do the impossible.

"You know I can't, but it's not like you'll always be alone."

"What are you talking about?"

"The agency of course! You said it yourself that that's the makeshift family you have always wanted." I did… didn't I… "Oh and one more thing." He was smiling at me. "Go and apologize to Aquila. He really cares for you."

"I know… but—" I was cut off.

"No buts! Just give him a chance will ya? Well I should go now. Bye… Apollo." I was silent… I didn't want him to leave… I was unprepared with him leaving so suddenly before, and now… I leaned against the wall and dropped down sitting against it. (Clay's finally gone...) Tears were starting to roll down my face, and as I wiped them away, more just kept falling. Clay's spirit left Maya, and she saw me crying.

"Are you okay?" I nodded not bothering to look up. "I'll go get someone." I didn't want her to get someone because I knew who she was going to get, but I couldn't do anything. I heard her go in and the door closed behind her. Then I heard the door open again. I knew it was him. He sat next to me and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"Did it go bad?" He asked, worry evident in his voice. I shook my head. "So it went well?" I nodded. "Look… I'm sorry for lashing out on you the other day… I just didn't understand what you were going through so… I'm sorry." He was apologizing? I should've been the one to apologize. Not the other way around. "Are these tears?" (He's crying?) "I don't know why I'm crying."

I looked up at him and saw his eyes were pale, paler than before. Was it my fault that he was unhappy? For the past couple days he was hiding behind his smile, but I didn't know why then. Now, I do. I have been the cause of it. I have been the cause of his sadness the entire time. It was killing me on the inside to see him like this. In all the times I've seen him like this, I've never felt this strongly for him before. "Aquila…"

He wiped his tears and looked at me. I pulled him into a tight embrace. He tensed up. "Aquila! I'm so sorry! If only I had noticed earlier! If only I knew I was the reason for you being sad. I'm just really sorry…" I pulled back to see his shocked face. I smiled to the side. "But now…" I looked at him with a serious face hiding my nervousness. "I want to be the reason behind your smile." I saw the gleam in his eyes shining through I was filled with hope.

He looked down and away. "Why now?"

(What?) "Because… ever since I met you, you were attractive." He was surprised again. Well he was… and… "You kept coming by the office, so I ended up liking your personality. It was cool that you even introduced me to your sister." I smiled at him, and he got embarrassed.

"When you disappeared without leaving us a note. We were all sad. We had gotten used to you being there especially me." His face saddened. I put my hand on his hand to comfort him. He was surprised, and I smiled again.

"During Professor Courte's trial, I thought I saw you at the academy. I was happy thinking we could meet again. Every chance I got, I was looking out to see if it really was you around the school. And so when I talked to Myriam and confirmed that it was you. I couldn't be happier." I was now softly smiling.

"After finding out you had been cutting yourself." I gave him a stern look and he looked nervous, "and finally finding you at the cemetery, you confessed to me, and then I went brain dead. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't even breathe correctly. All that was in my head was, 'He likes me!'" He hid his face probably still embarrassed at the confession.

"The next morning wasn't even better. I woke up late, I tied on my tie about a dozen times before I got it right, and my hair wouldn't stay up, but it got better the moment I saw you in the office." He tried to hide his face even more. I smiled at him.

I held his chin and made him look at me. I was serious now. "Look, I'm sorry I was so cold and neglected you guys. But you were the only one who reached out to me. That morning when I got mad at you, I couldn't come to terms with myself about my feelings for you so I took it out on you instead, and again in this very hallway, I still didn't understand my feelings for you until recently." He had a sad look. I knew I was acting irrational back then, and I wanted to make up for it. I wanted to make up for everything I put him through.

"I had a dream… it was about you and Clay… You were with me by my side while Clay had walked away. At first I was angry because Clay wasn't the one who stayed, but the more I dreamt of the same dream. I fully recognized the meaning of the dream." I was smiling at him, and he grew red with blush.

"You know what else? When you told me where Clay had kept the bracelet… that's when I finally saw how much you cared for me. Despite the things I said and how I said them, you still stood by me and understood me even when I didn't understand myself. I can never compete with that, so I'm just hoping for you to be able to forgive me."

Right when I finished talking, he hugged me. I was surprised, but then I hugged back. "Of course I forgive you."

I smiled and pulled out of the hug. I placed my forehead onto his and stared deeply into his emerald eyes. "Can I?" He nodded, and I went in for the kiss. It was only a brief kiss, but it never felt so right.

I put my forehead back into his. "I think it's time to go back. They're probably worried about us."

"But look at us… we look like wrecks." I blinked and pulled back just enough to see his full face. His face was stained with tear streaks.

I laughed. "Let's go wash up before we go back in. We can't have them knowing men cry." I lifted him up and we went to the restrooms down the hall. We tidy ourselves up before going back into the office. I suppose they were worried.

"So did you guys make up?" Trucy was the first one to talk.

"Yup, we did. We cleared out every misunderstanding we had." I was glad that we did.

"So are you guys together now?" Pearl asked us. We were both surprised by the unexpected question.

He looked up at me. "Are we?"

He probably wanted my confirmation. I guess he still wasn't too sure. I said that I wanted to be the reason he was happy, and I wasn't going to take back my words. I interlocked our hands together. "Yeah, we are." He was surprised, but my smile made him embarrassed.

Pearl sighed in relief. "Sorry about that it's just that she's sensitive with the subject about relationships." Maya explained.

"It's fine, isn't it?" I looked down at Aquila. I wanted to make sure he was as confident in this as I am.

"Y-yeah, it's fine." It wasn't fine. My bracelet reacted to him, but why? I saw he was still feeling underneath his wrist band. It has something to do with that I knew it.

The Christmas party was back on track and the Christmas mood was there until the end. Everyone said their goodbyes. Athena left with Juniper, Robin, and Hugh while Maya and Pearl left with Mr. Wright and Trucy. Leaving us two alone.

We were on our way to my apartment, and I just had to talk to him. It was also bothering me that he wasn't talking about it too. I asked him again. "Are you sure it was fine?"

He knew we were going to be talking about this sooner or later. "It is, it really is…" He wasn't lying this time. "But… I just don't know…"

"You're feeling your scars, I hope you're not—" I was pressing for answers but I was cut off.

"I'm not! It's just the reason why I did…" There we go. "I-I started when I was ridiculed and mocked upon from my family members… but I stopped ever since I met you… You were the hope in my life; you are the happiness of it too. But I'm scared…" I interlocked our hands again, trying to comfort him in any way possible. "I'm scared that what if, because of me, you get killed! I'm just really scared, Apollo! Mother and Eva are gone because of me, but what about you?" So this was what went on his mind.

I hugged him. I couldn't bear to see him like this. "I'm not going anywhere! I sure am not going to let you get hurt either! Nothing will hurt us as long as we're together! I promise you that!"

"You promise?" He muffled against my chest.

I made him face me. "Yes, I promise." I took this chance to kiss him. I took him by the hand, and we started walking to my apartment again.

~*~ Apollo's Apartment
Date: December 25, 2027, Time: 9:00 pm
Green

We got to Apollo's apartment at around nine o'clock. "You know you're staying over tonight." I was about to protest, but he shushed me. "It's too late for you to go home, I don't want anything to happen to you." (Now how could I say no to that?)

He brought me to his bedroom, and we sat on his bed. "I'm going to take a shower, and you should too." (How can I?) I glared at him, he laughs. "I think I have some smaller clothes that fit you." He went out of the bedroom, and I couldn't help but think about today.

Today was an eventful day. All I thought what was going to happen was have the Christmas party, have Maya channel Clay, and have Apollo and Clay spend some time together. Well it did go as planned but there were some unexpected events.

First that was unexpected, Clay had told me Apollo also liked me, but I didn't believe him, or rather didn't want to believe him. Next to be unexpected, Maya came to get me because she found Apollo crying. The first thing I thought was what if what I did was a bad thing, and when I asked him, it went well. Then I noticed, he was crying because Clay was really gone.

I just sat next to him, and that's when I had the chance to apologize. Then all of a sudden, I started crying myself. I didn't understand at first, but it was probably because I couldn't do anything to help Apollo. All I did was cause him problems. Then he hugs me and apologizes to me for being everything he caused me… then he confessed to me, and I quote, 'I want to be the reason behind your smile.' It took him long enough, but I thought, 'why now.'

Apparently I said it out loud, and he explained why from the first time he met me. It sounded very much like my story of how I met him, and when I started to fall him. At certain parts I couldn't help but be sad, embarrassed, or happy. And when he kissed me, I felt heat rising to my face. I covered my face at the memory. It's not like I didn't like it but it felt like a dream… him of all people to initiate the kiss. My heart fluttered at the memory.

"What are you thinking about?" Apollo was leaning against the doorway with nothing on except a towel around his waist. His usually gelled hair was down and his bangs hung reaching his nose. He looked gorgeous. I quickly discarded the thought.

"You are wearing something beneath the towel right?"

He just smirked. "You want to check?"

(Ugh... this guy...) "I'm going home!" I stood up from the bed.

He laughs. "I'm joking! I'm wearing boxers"

He was about to show me his boxers. "Don't show me!" I covered my face.

He laughed again. "Okay, okay I won't tease you."

"Just let me take my shower!" I fumed.

He smiled. "I'll leave the clothes by the door."

I went inside of his bathroom and inspected it. It was like any other bathroom, no surprises there. Then I looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed my eyes were vibrant emerald. I guess talking to Apollo really was what I needed. I took off my clothes and folded them into a pile then I hopped into the shower. I've I was done with the shower, I wiped myself dry and found clothes, a set of pajamas and a pair of boxers, by the door. I put them on and found they were a tad big on me. I went out of the bathroom with my folded clothes in hand. I saw him, already wearing pajama pants, putting on a tank top. (Thank goodness I didn't come any earlier.)

Apparently he heard what I was thinking. "You should really work on that habit of yours."

(What?) "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah and this isn't the first time either." He was smiling, and I grew red with embarrassment. He pulled me into a hug.

There was one thing I forgot to notice. "Are your wounds fully healed?"

He thought about it. "Almost, but it's no big deal."

"I was really scared…" I leaned more into him.

"I know." He kissed my forehead. "Let's just go to sleep… today's been a heck of a day." I had to agree. There was never a moment, today, I was expecting. "And we still have lots to talk about."

I looked at him. "…Where am I going to sleep?"

"You can't be serious…" He gave me the look. "You're sleeping with me… where else were you going to sleep at?"

I blushed, this was our first night together, and we were going to be sleeping together. I nodded. He saw my apparent blush and smiled. "Merry Christmas." He kissed my forehead again and pulled me into bed. At first we lied in bed, but I didn't feel totally comfortable so I leaned closer to Apollo. He also leaned closer and wrapped his arms around me, protectively holding me.

The moment I met him, I fell in love with him. The longer I stayed with him, the deeper I fell. The distance away from him was unbearable, so I came back, but he knew as a consequence. I got scared for him, he didn't take it well. As things got more complicated, he became distant, and I became sad. Everything was resolved within one week and now I'm sleeping next to him. It all still seems too good to be true, but I believe in his promise, 'Nothing will hurt us as long as we're together.'

~*~
A/N: AND it's the end! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this. Now that since the story has come to a close, will you finally review? lol jkjk only if you want to. ;D I'll see ya'll around.