Chapter 26

As fast as he could, he made his way to the door, grabbing a hat on the way to place over his head. He opened the door, running outside. He stopped half way. Her eyes were bandaged, but she felt something. She felt that vibe...that special bond. It wasn't just a familiar vibe…it was there. It wasn't Tom. It was Bill. Nylai let go of her hand, going to Maya to help her with the rest of her bags. They were finally alone.

He took her by the hand, slipping his arm around her waist. She went completely numb, in complete darkness. Her breath came out in short gasps, an affect Bill had always had on her. She let out her hands, feeling around, picturing the structure of Bill's face. Her fingers lightly traced his face, causing his nerves to tremble, an affect Akira always had on him. He looked down at her, and pain struck him in the heart. He was well aware that he wouldn't be with her forever, no matter how much he wanted to. There was no hope.

In our hearts, love keeps sweet-talking to despair
And goes on

Sleepwalking past hope
All is lost in this war
All we can do is to wail and weep to the saddest song
Sleepwalking past hope

The air passed through them, as if it was also trying to separate them. They clung on to each other, nothing being able to get them to let go. She took in that sweet scent she had learned to love, the pieces of hair that tickled her face. This may have been the first time she was in COMPLETE darkness, but never did she think she had seen an angel so clearly. She was in the presence of god himself, or at least that's what it felt like for her. She felt safe, protected, as if Andy himself was the one holding her when she was a little girl.....

'Told you...he'll be there when you need him.'

She looked upward; nothing but darkness. She pulled in closer, even though they were already as close as they could possibly get. He put his head down a bit, breathing into her ear. "Why can't we make this darkness feel like home?"

"Darkness is all I have now........."

"That's not true. You have me." 'Liar' he said to himself. He was lying. Even she was well aware of it. "Not for long........."

................................................

They stared almost wide-eyed at the hotel. The front entrance was full of reporters and photographers, fans crying their eyes out, people who were just here to see what was going on...and Georg and Gustav stuck inside, refusing to come out and answer any questions. "Are you fuckin serious?" the blonde mumbled under his breath.

"How do we get inside?"

"Back door...there's always a back door in a hotel." He took her by the hand and walked around to the back side. He was right; there's always a back door. They walked through the door, stopping to pick something off the floor; some type of pin or something? Only Bill would have something like that on any of his clothes......

"Whoa...hallo..." He looked up and saw Georg; obviously aware of Anna's uhhhh......looks.

"What? You still not brave enough to get out of the hotel?" snapped the blonde.

"Kid, all I said was hello."

"Shouldn't you be out lookin' for Bill or something?"

"Shouldn't you be doing the same thing?" The boy opened to respond, but didn't say anything. "Oh shut up 'Dreas. If you MUST know, we just got back."

"And?"

"Nothing. So how about you go out and look for Billy boy and while I take a break and entertain your little friend here?"

"Back off, you little....."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Chill out blondie! He's just playing around. Besides, you really think I'm gonna leave ya without getting my prize?" He lashed his head away from Georg and to Anna; her hands on her hips, a dangerous smirk on her face. She eyed him up and down; it was so obvious his teenage hormones were raging inside him. Her brown waves over her shoulders, her hazel eyes with a look so determined to get what she wanted. She hadn't acted so willing since she was in high school.

"Hey uhhhh Georg buddy.......I'll catch ya later. Me and my friend here got some.....business to take care of........"

.................................................

She pulled her t-shirt over her head and smoothed it out. Suspicious, she turned to look at Tom sitting in the front seat of his car, looking away the second she turned to look at him. "I thought I told you NOT to look at me while I get dressed."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to see me! That's why!"

"I don't see your point. It's not like there's any part of you I haven't seen."

"It's called 'privacy'."

.

"Privacy? Honey if you wanted privacy then you wouldn't have let me......"

"Alright!" she interrupted. "How about you make yourself useful and start the car. You gotta go back to lookin' for your brother."

"Baby, I ain't goin' nowhere unless you're there with me........"

..............................................

He brushed her hair away from her face, just watching her chest rise and fall as she slept so soundly on the couch. He caught a glance at the window; the car was gone, and there was no one that could get in the way of him and his beloved.

I look outside the window and don't see anything

We caught the rest of our lives in here

We broke the key and holed up into ourselves

Now it's so perfect

The best thing about this deal was that Bill finally had his time, and this time, it was AWAY from the spotlight. He was away from it all, he had isolated himself. He shuddered a bit......whoa. That was a weird feeling. Like it wasn't him feeling it, but someone else. It was then he thought about Tom.

[Flashback]

He put his ear against the door; no one was home yet. It was unusual for him to not come home with Tom, but he ran off straight home after what had happened in school. Tom wouldn't notice. He never noticed if there was a girl to distract him. Bill looked at his eleven year old face in the mirror, a few bruises starting to appear on his forehead, his nose bleeding, his hair completely out of place, his shirt ripped. This happened often....and he was sick of it. He had always been different...him and Tom. But for some apparent reason, kids seemed to like making fun of him; Tom always got away with it.

So maybe he liked to style his hair. So maybe he liked to wear makeup. So maybe he liked to paint his nails. So maybe he dressed different. So maybe he acted a bit different than most people. He knew he was special, different in his own unique way. But when ever he stepped out that door, there was always someone to say other wise. Call him a fag, gay bastard, or a girl. Any nickname that they could think of. Names didn't bother him much; he had learned to ignore that. But sometimes, they took things a bit too far.

He opened the cabinet and reached for the cover-up. No way in hell would he let Tom see he had gotten beaten up again. It stung whenever he lightly tapped his forehead, causing his teeth to grind a bit every time he touched it. He took his shirt off and used it to clean the blood leaking from his nose.

Slam! He jumped and turned as the bathroom door suddenly opened, Tom walking through it. His shirt was torn too, purple surrounding his eye. "Tom...what happened?"

"You really think some kid's gonna beat up my little brother and get away with it? There's nothing that goes on that I don't know about. "

"Tomi....but....you know you don't have to....it's...."

"Shut up. I'm the older one. It's my job to protect you from getting hurt .But looks like that ain't workin' out too well."

"You did nothing wrong."

"Yeah I did. I wasn't there to prevent that from happening," he said, his finger pointing to the blue t-shirt full of blood. "I need to work on that." Bill was left speechless......ok so maybe this happened a lot. But this time Tom wasn't even around; must have been that damn twin thing that some people find cool. It wasn't rare that Tom would defend him. Sure it got him annoyed as fuck when he couldn't defend himself, but it was nice to know there was someone that always had is back.

"...I thought you were with Anjelika....."

"What? You think I wouldn't find out? I told you lil' bro, I always got your back!"

"But...Anjelika......"

"Bill. Listen. It's not like I was just gonna walk away knowing they did something to you. AGAIN."

"But............"

"I'm never gonna leave you all alone for some girl....don't forget that. I promise you that."

"Right....and me too......" He moved over for Tom to wet the end of a towel with cold water, pressing it against his going purple eye. "And Tom?"

"What?"

"....Ich liebe dich....."

"Ich liebe dich zu kleiner bruder."

Bill rustled through one of his bags, pulling out his old notebook....a notebook full of songs he and Tom wrote when they were little...even before they formed Devilish. He flipped through the pages, random notes written all over it, old pictures of him and his brother that no one had ever seen before. Despite all the rotten shit they had gone through their life, each picture in that notebook had them smiling widely and they looked happier than they could ever be. Once again, the tears fall out of his eyes. Luckily she wasn't awake to witness his loose of control.

How could he betray his brother that way? Never would Tom leave him for some girl, no matter who it was. He looked over at the couch, his heart breaking even more than it already was. He knew she was worth it, but his conscience kept telling him that he had betrayed the one person who had always stuck by him, and who he knew would always be there. "Tom......."

Bill wiped the tears from his eyes, noticing Akira beginning to move around on the couch. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, her skin white. "It's so dark!! I can't see anything!!" she shouted.

"Akira......."

"Bill! I can't see you! Why can't I see you? WHY?!?!?!?!"