"Thank you." Teorus says, finishing the rest of the stew I made. "That was amazing."

I take the dishes and take them over to the sink. "I'm glad you liked it so much."

Teorus leans back in his chair. "I don't think I'd mind staying on earth forever, if it meant I could eat food like this."

"Huh?" I clank the dishes together when I go to place them down in the sink, as I hear those words.

"I wish I could eat your food every day, Abbey!" He looks at me, flashing me the sweetest smile I've ever seen him wear.

I feel my heart racing and I nervously chuckle. "Well…maybe I'll give you some before you go back to the heavens." I half-jokingly say.

"What's wrong?" Teorus appears beside me, peering at my face.

I jump. "W-wh-what do you mean?"

"You're blushing."

"I am not! Besides you shouldn't say stuff like that so lightly."

And when did his smooth words start getting to me?! Crap this is bad….

"What? I was just saying what I was thinking." He smiles innocently.

"Well, whatever, so…" I turn around to face him but I stop mid-sentence when I see Teorus looking at me with a serious expression.

"I've never felt this way before." He says, gazing deeply into my eyes.

"T-Teorus?" I take a step back, becoming nervous.

"Why?... Why does this hurt so much?" He takes a step closer to me, his eyes full of feeling, his tone sending shivers down my back.

I remain silent as I try to make sense as to why he's suddenly acting this way, and I notice Teorus' face moving closer and closer to mine. I try to move but Teorus then grabs me in an iron grip, his eyes locking with mine.

What the hell is happening? What's wrong with him…

I manage to find my voice and raise my hands in front of me to act like a shield. "Teorus, wait." I say firmly.

As if he doesn't hear me, his face is so closer, were touching nose to nose, his breath, that smells like stew, against my face, and his lips moving closer. My eyes widen and I hold my breath. However, the next thing I know Teorus' face lands right between my neck and shoulder and his body goes limp.

"T-Teorus?" I shout. I struggle to sit him up right but I see his complexion is paler than usual and his expression gives off a painful one. "H-hey, are you okay?"

"Ah…it hurts…" He croaks.

With me as his crutch, I support him and make our way over to my couch where I lay him down. "Are you okay?" I ask, worriedly. "Where does it hurt?"

He holds his stomach, as his face twists in pain.

I would assume it had been a stomach ache due to the fact with how much he ate, however he explained to me gods can eat and eat and never be full, so what could it be?

"Okay…um, everything will be fine." I look around my apartment, not sure why, but I then decide to take out my cellphone.

Who The hell do I call about this?

With myself scatter brained for the moment, Teorus grabs my wrist.

"Wait!" He shouts. "Okay…. I'm okay."

"You're clearly not." I snap back at him.

He shakes his head. "This must be… because of… the mark."

"The mark?" I whisper.

I feel his grip loosen as he falls in a unconscious state.

"Teorus?!" I scream, as I notice his breathing is quick, and he begins to sweat from his forehead. I place my hand against his head and feel my skin burn from the touch. "Shit, shit, shit!"

I feel myself in a panic, unsure what to do with an unconscious god laying on my couch. I don't want to leave Teorus, but I don't know how to contact Leon or the others.

"What happened?!" A familiar little girl voice yells.

I turn around to see Vega and I feel that much better. "Oh, thank god, Vega!" I breath. "Teorus, I-I don't know, he said…he said the mark hurts a-and he collapsed."

"Calm down, Lady Abbey." With a soothing tone she walks over to me. "Leon told me to come and check on Teorus."

I sit down on the floor next to the couch that Teorus is laying on. I ruffle my hand through my hair. "He said it was the mark, but it could have been the food I made…"

Vega shakes her head. "I don't think so. You see, gods can't get sick. It probably has something to do with his mark, like Lord Teorus said."

"O-okay, so what do we do?"

As if Vega looks like she's ready to cry she shakes her head. "I don't know. But… for now I'll head back to the mansion and report back to Lord Leon and the others."

"Okay, please hurry." I look at her then back to Teorus. "I'll do what I can here for him."

Vega leaves in a hurry and I pull myself together. I take Teorus to my bedroom, carefully laying him down and under the covers. In a nearby closet I pull out some blankets and lay them over Teorus. Next, I grab a glass of water and a wet cloth, placing the glass on the corner table beside the couch, I take the wet cloth and dab the beads of sweat off his face.

But no matter what I do his still looks like he's in pain.

"Don't…" Teorus murmurs in his sleep.

I lean in closer to try and hear him. "What?"

In a whimper he says. "Don't leave me…"

As he struggles with his fever dream, he talks in his sleep, repeating the same things deliriously. I can only sit there and watch.

"Dad… wait."

A feel a pang in my chest that was hard enough to make me want to cry. "Oh…. Teorus."

He's dreaming about when he was a kid…

I can't help but feel sympathy for him, wishing there was something more I could do. As I watch him being haunted of his memories, it reminds me of the times I would have those types of dreams as well.

"Don't go…please don't leave me alone… please." Teorus continues to say, but then he reaches an arm out into the air.

I immediately grab his desperate hand. "You're not alone…" I tell him.

And with that, I notice his face relaxes, and falls into a deeper sleep, his fever dream finally ending. His grip on my hand is shaky, but its tight, but I can feel the pain he felt, I can feel it so much it hurts. It's a familiar feeling.

Both my hands clasp his, and I rest my forehead against our hands. I take a calming breath and begin to sing a soft lullaby that I recall my mother use to sing to me.

As I sing, my thoughts think of him.

He acts like the love he gets from others satisfies him…

But… it seems what he really needs is to feel whole is someone he can love from the bottom of his heart.

I finish the song and whisper. "Please get better soon."

I spend the rest of the night looking after Teorus.

The Next Morning…

I open my eyes, with the bright sunlight leaking through crack between the curtains. I feel something warm around me, I figure it was just a blanket, but I come to realize that I was in my bed, confused, I turn over and come face to face with a cheerful Teorus.

"Morning, Abbey!" Teorus smiles, with a fresh-face and bare chest.

"WHOA!" I shout, sitting my self up and pushing myself to the edge of my bed. "Why are you…or why am I, sleeping next to you?! And why are you shirtless!" I shout some more, pointing at his perfect body.

Teorus pouts. "Geez, did you forget what happened last night?"

"What? What do you mean last night?!" I say in a panic. Trying to recall step by step of what did happen.

All that my mind could conjure up was that Teorus fell ill, I sang him a lullaby, I watched over him till late last night as he had a fever dream, and I held his hand. So, what happened after that?

Teorus cocks his head to the side. "What? You don't remember?"

I shake my head, feeling my cheeks burn.

Teorus chuckles. "Well then, how about I jog your memory."

"N-n-n-no, that's—"

Teorus sits up, as more of his naked body becomes visible.

AH! Nakedness!

"D-don't worry about it, just put some clothes on!" I push my hands out in front of my to keep Teorus away and I shut my eyes.

However, I feel Teorus grab my hand.

My eyes shoot open.

"You held my hand, like this, until morning." He tells me.

I look at him, my facing burning. "Y-yeah, so what?"

He smiles so innocently. "You took care of me all night long. And when I woke up you were asleep next to the bed."

I breathe a sigh. "O-of course." I crookedly smile.

"I tried to get you into bed, but it was pretty hard. You refused to let go of my hand. Do you really love me that much?" He laughs happily.

I stare at his refreshed face. He doesn't recall his dreams from last…or does he, but doesn't want to tell me?

"Er…s-sorry, for falling asleep like that." I scratch the back of head, feeling utter embarrassment. "Um, do you feel better?"

"Yup! I feel great. Thanks for nursing me back to health, Abbey." He says.

I notice the color back in his cheeks and the focus back in his eyes, and its clear that he's back to his normal self.

"So…what happened to you yesterday?" I ask.

Teorus looks away for a moment as he ponders my question. "Hmm… I don't know, but it was probably this things fault." He says, pointing to the mark on his back.

"Hey, it looks like it's faded even more." I say, happy for him.

Teorus wears a serious expression. "I knew it. It did have something to do with this mark."

"And once your mark disappears fully, your sin will be absolved, and you'll return to the heavens, right?"

"Yup!" He nods.

"But, why would you get sick?"

"I'm not sure, but it could be because my powers as a god are gradually returning as the mark fades."

That doesn't exactly say why he would be sick and be in so much pain…

I look at Teorus nervously.

"I'm not in pain anymore, I'm okay." He wears a positive grin as he gets dressed.

However, I can't help but be worried for him. Or is it something else that my mind can't seem to figure out.

"Geeez, don't look so worried. I'm okay, really. It's not bad, getting sick every once in a while."

"Huh?" I snap out of my daze and give him a troubled looked.

"Because it means I get to have you work had to take care of me."

"Well, I was worried okay? What else was I to do?!" I spring off my bed and flail my arms around to explain.

"Haha, sorry." He looks at me sweetly. "You know, up until now, I've always slept alone. It feels kind of weird to wake up with someone else there."

`"Seriously? You've always slept alone?" I say in shock.

Teorus looks as shocked as I when I asked. "Is it really that surprising?"

"Well, no offense, but, from what I've heard of you always hanging out with woman in the heavens and being here on earth drawing crowds of women to yourself."

"Umm… I like being with girls but I guess I've never stayed with a girl until morning. I've never met anyone I wanted to spend that much time with."

"Huh…. who would of thought." I say, surprised by this.

Then he chuckles. "You're the first person I've ever woken up next to."

"Right back at you." I blurt out and immediately cover my mouth.

I'm his first and he's my first…

It's like I'm the only one he's ever given this much heart too.

I can't help but feel warm and touched by that. But it soon vanishes when Huedhaut's words run through my mind…

"You and Teo absolutely cannot develop a romantic relationship. But… even if you did happen to fall for Teorus, I'm pretty sure he'd be okay."

All I've been doing is thinking and thinking, not realizing that it's been my heart that's been getting worked up. But, why? I just took care of him like any one else would in that situation.

"What are you so quiet about all of a sudden?"

Teorus snaps me out of my thoughts. "N-nothing!"

"Are you tired from staying up all night?"

I shake my head lightly. "Nah, I'm good."

"Really?" This time its Teorus who looks worried. "Okay then…but. Don't force yourself to stay up if you are.

I pat him on the shoulder to reassure him. "Thanks, you're sweet. But I'm more concerned about you."

"It looks like I'm all better thaaanks to you. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome." I bow my head to him.

"Hey, Abbey, do you have any wishes?"

I look at him dumbfounded. "That's kind of random, isn't it?"

He takes my hands in his. "I want to thank you for the stew you made yesterday and taking care of me."

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I did it because I wanted to." I shrug and give him a simple smile.

"But I want to do this. Come on now, don't hold back. I'd grant any wish for you, Abbey. As long as you give me your love." He smiles at me warmly.

I feel my hands clench into fists, as I can't help but know that seeking out affection this way to Teorus will never really satisfy him.

"As long as you give me your love..."

The words echo endlessly, and I feel like I'm going to be sick.

I can't... Is all I managed to think in response to those sickening echoes.

With an unsteady breath I decide to go ahead and talk to Teorus with what I've been thinking. "Are you…offering to grant my wish because you want me to love you?"

"Huh?" Teorus tilts his head.

I take my hands away from his and take a step back. "To be frank, Teorus. Do you really want to continue on like this? Being lavished with affection by all kinds of people you barely know. I don't think it'll make you feel…. whole, Teorus." I carefully watch his expression as he listens to me. "The truth is that you want to love someone, isn't it?"

What the hell am I going on about? As if I know anything about love… All I know is that I can't love him...

However, it's too late for me to say anything else, as I await for Teorus to respond.

"What are you talking about?" Teorus asks calmly. "I love everybody all the time."

I feel myself starting to get irritated as he doesn't understand what I'm getting at.

"I mean, when you helped me with those jobs, I—"

"That's not what I mean." I snap, shaking my head side to side, hands still clenched. "Maybe I'm over stepping my boundaries, and I may not know what I'm talking about, but this has been bugging me and I need to say something. I think you want a person who can give you a 'special' love." I sigh. "And I think you want to love a person that way in return."

"A special love?" He repeats.

"You want to be loved, but somewhere in your heart, it seems like you're scared to love another person. I think you're probably scared of being rejected by a person you truly love. But…it's okay to be scared. It's okay, Teorus."

I can relate, Teorus...I'm scared to... Those words remain in my thoughts as I can't bring myself to say it.

Teorus's childlike, bubbly demeanor vanishes the second those words leave my lips and the expression on his face becomes serious and intimidating. He remains silent.

"B-but, I know you'll find someone who will love you from the bottom of their heart…and will allow you to find true happiness."

Ugh…someone gag me with a spoon…that sounded so cornier than I wanted to.

But to be serious…I know its true. I may not know a lot about love but how Teorus sees it…it's not right. I just know he needs to find someone. That person could never be me though, for I am a human...and love isn't possible for someone like me.

I clear my throat. "So, Teorus, if you still want to grant my wish. My wish is for you to meet that special someone."

I fidget with my hands as we both stand in an awkward silence, and Teorus faces twists into an expression as if I hurt him deeply. But in a split second that changes into a frightening one I've never seen him wear. And the next thing I know, with no warning or sign, my view is turned upside down, as he pins me down on the bed.

"Teorus?" I try to stay calm. "What are you doing?" I gulp.

His mouth curls into a wicked smile, that makes me sick. "You sure understand an awful lot about me." His eyes are cold and empty as he stares down at me.

"Teorus…" I say his name more firmly this time. "Get off me. Now." I order him.

He ignores me. "If you're confident enough to say all that, become my 'special' person. Give me what I really want." He says, his facing leaning in closer to mine.

My eyes widen as at this point I'm somewhat struggling to escape from him. But I find that I am no match against a god, and I find myself having a hard time breathing, my limbs are going numb, and my vision blurs, changing the reality in front of me into something I've lived through in the past.