A/N: Woo…more Albel and Fayt. XD I'm soooo glad I finally stuck myself with the promise of updating every 2 days….it forces me to actually finish a story for a change….woo-hoo! And remember kids, check back ever 2 days. XD but the story is almost done….yay! I'm going to chapter 23 on this…I think. Anyway, yeah…as soon as I finish this one, I'll try to end Sex, Lies and Alibis and Too Late to Love you…I hate having stories just dangling for a long time without me working on them. Soo….finish the ones I'm working on and pray to karma that I don't get any new ideas. XD

Disclaimer: I own…N-O-T-H-I-N-G. XD

"I'm bored," Albel announced.

Fayt rolled his eyes. "Oh no, not this again. Last time the afternoon was boring, the evening turned into too much excitement to handle."

"I'll be careful," Albel growled. "Anyway, I won't be bored for long. Maybe we can watch a movie."

Fayt pointed to a bookcase. "Right there. All the DVD's you'll ever need."

"Right." Albel began pawing through the collection. "Let's see…. 'A Bone to Pick'. Looks interesting. Supposed to be a comedy." He flipped the cover over and read the description. "'A family of werewolves is set on devouring their human neighbors.' Jesus Christ, what kind of comedy is this?"

"Don't watch it if you don't want to," Fayt sighed.

"Okay…'Bambi Gets Run Over' what the hell?" Albel frowned. "uh… 'Blood Rayne', 'Blood Sport', 'Broken Fingers', 'Death Comes Softly', 'Frankenstein', 'Haunted', 'Hung', 'On All Hollow's Eve'."

"Albel, we're already in a haunted house. The last thing we need to watch is a horror movie," Fayt said irritably.

"But that's all there is!' Albel protested, continuing to read the names of movie titles. "' The Scratching'….'The Teen Rape Movie'…er, not exactly horror, but still nothing we want to watch either."

"What's that doing in our collection? My parents would never watch anything like that."

"Let me look at it," Albel muttered. "Jesus fucking Christ!" Albel yelped and dropped the case like he had been stung.

"What's wrong?" Fayt asked worriedly.

"Damn you! Damn you to hell and take this fucking shit with you!" Albel snarled, stomping on the offending movie.

"Albel, what the hell are you doing?" Fayt demanded.

Albel stopped and looked guiltily down at the smashed DVD. "It was the footage of me getting rape," he said softly. "I didn't even know there was footage. I've been trying so hard to get past that ordeal and now they have to bring it back to haunt me! I might have overreacted a little, but I couldn't help it."

"It's okay," Fayt said soothingly. "I'll help you get rid of it."

Albel sighed as Fayt threw the ruined case out the window. "Now, what do we watch?"

Fayt shrugged. "Since all our decent movies got replaced with horror, we can always try the T.V."

"Okay, let's do that." Albel settled onto the couch and picked up the remote. Fayt sat beside him.

Albel put his arm around Fayt's shoulder and Fayt glanced at it. "Those fingers better not wander," he warned.

"Of course not. They're staying right here." He cheerfully pinched Fayt between the shoulder blades.

Fayt winced, but soon forgot the pain, happily snuggling up to Albel. An old black and white romance was showing. Fayt was beginning to get sleepy. Albel calmly ate a handful of Skittles.

Suddenly an ear-shattering wail issued from the television. At the same time, a door in the house slammed shut. Fayt yelped and grabbed onto Albel.

"Let go of me," Albel hissed.

"But I'm scared," Fayt protested.

"Fayt, get your hands out of my lap or I won't be responsible for the consequences." Albel spoke in an oddly strangled voice.

Fayt looked down and quickly yanked his hand back. "Shit! I'm so sorry, Albel. Did I hurt you?"

Albel sighed. "No, but now you owe me twice for getting my hopes up."

"Albel, I already told you I'm not having sex with you!" Fayt said indignantly.

Albel grinned. "That doesn't mean we can't do other things."

"I'm willing to hug you and that's it," Fayt said stiffly.

Albel raised an eyebrow. "I though you loved me. Even friends can hug each other."

Fayt sniffed. "I'd like for you to recall that before I said I loved you, I wouldn't hug you even as a friend."

"That's right. Oh well, I suppose I'll take what I can get."

"I have no problem curling up beside you," Fayt quickly added. "And I'll hold your hand. That's something lovers do, right?"

"I guess that's good enough." Albel sighed heavily and leaned into the couch.

Fayt relented. "And on special occasions…" He hesitated. "I could let you kiss me."

Albel sat back up. "Oh ho ho, that's much better! Now we're getting somewhere."

"I said special occasions only!" Fayt snapped.

"What qualifies as a special occasion?"

"A holiday, your birthday, my birthday…"

Albel looked wounded. "You mean I have to wait that long to kiss you?"

"Take it easy, Albel. It's my first time with a man. I want to go slow, like the first time I dated anyone. I just held her hand for a week and walked her home before her parents would let me hug her."

"That's because you were only in sixth grade," Albel protested. "Our parents aren't here to keep our hands off each other."

"Albel, you've dated guys before," Fayt said gently. "This is my first time. I want to learn slowly."

"I suppose you're right," Albel admitted. He took Fayt's hand and kissed it softly. "Am I allowed at least this until you're ready?"

Fayt turned pink and smiled. "Yes, kiss my hand to your heart's delight."

Albel released Fayt's hand and pressed a button on the remote. "'Mrs. Doubtfire'!" he exclaimed. "Now, I know there's no horror in this one." He glared at the ceiling, daring ghosts to come down and corrupt the movie.

Fayt grinned. "Sounds good to me. Would you like to get us some popcorn?"

Albel cheerfully went into the kitchen and got out a bowl for popcorn. He waited three minutes for the popcorn to finish and then poured it into the bowl and brought it into the other room. The sun was beginning to set, darkening the other room.

"I'm back," Albel announced. "Popcorn's right here."

Fayt merely grunted and reached for a handful.

Albel let himself momentarily forget about the house, the ghosts, and even Fayt. It was his way of dealing with worry. He let himself be absorbed by the movie until he was almost surprised when the credits rolled.

Albel stretched his cramped muscles. "Okay, Fayt. Movie's over. We'll probably have dinner in an hour." Fayt didn't answer and Albel glanced over to make sure Fayt was still there. He could make out the boy's outline in the shadows and was reassured.

"He probably fell asleep during the movie," Albel mused. He grinned and tossed the remaining popcorn at Fayt. "Hey, wake up! The movie's over."

Fayt still didn't move, even after Albel knocked the empty popcorn bowl to the floor with a loud thump. Albel frowned and poked at Fayt's shoulder. Albel instantly withdrew his hand. Fayt's skin felt hard and cold.

Albel jumped up and turned on the lights, flooding the room with brightness so he could see Fayt's stiff body. Fayt's eyes were open and fixed on the T.V. screen, but were unseeing. His skin was tinged bluish gray and he was frozen in the same position he had been sitting in for awhile.

"Holy shit," Albel whispered. "He's like a statue."

Albel sat down on the couch and carefully eased Fayt onto his lap. Luckily, Fayt weighed no more than usual. Albel was silent and he wrapped a blanket around Fayt's body to protect himself from the cold as he cradled the boy against his chest.

Albel laid Fayt on his back across his knees. Albel looked up at the ceiling. "I had just gotten to know you and they had to take you away from me." Albel fought valiantly to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Damn it," Albel growled, kicking a nearby cushion. "How could they do this to me? Ruthless bastards."

Albel's temper cooled. "No, it's my fault. I let this happen. I was supposed to protect you and look what a mess of it I made."

Albel was so upset with himself that he failed to hear a small, nearly inaudible crackling. He was taken completely off guard when two delicate fingers touched his skin directly below his eyes. "Albel, have you been crying?" a small voice asked.

"No," Albel growled automatically. He caught himself and stared down in wonder at Fayt, who was calmly gazing back at Albel.

"It's okay if you cry. I cried before you were dead," Fayt murmured.

"Jesus Christ, you're alive!" Albel said joyfully, hugging Fayt tightly. "You can't keep doing this to me, giving me heart attacks all the time. I thought I lost you."

"You're emotionally attached," Fayt said softly. "They're taking advantage of it."

"I've always been emotionally attached to you."

"Yes, but now they know. They wanted you to think I was dead and be so distraught that you would commit suicide, and then I would see you were dead and do the same."

"I hate to break it to you, Fayt, but I wouldn't kill myself over your death. Not that you're not important to me, but I've been through a lot and I haven't died yet. But this day still ranks up with my top three worst days."

Fayt wrapped his arms around Albel's neck. "I'm glad. I'd hate to see you die."

Albel smiled. "But you owe me big now. One of these days you'll have to pay up."

Fayt smiled back. "I'll think about it tonight."