Title Song: "Apologize" by OneRepublic

Shorter chapter, but enough to rip out your heart again.

Alastor rarely slept. Even in life, he would never sleep more than what was necessary for survival. Now that he was dead, it wasn't required. When he did sleep, it was only for a few hours, when the horrors of his subconscious would interrupt.

This night, however, he'd felt so at peace that he'd managed to doze off into a dreamless state. Until the red morning light came streaming in through the window.

His eyes fluttered open and were met with a most pleasant sight. His beloved wife, snoring into his chest. Their legs were entangled, her arm and wing draped over his body. His own arm encircled her middle, holding her close, his other hand cradling her head. Alastor buried his nose into her luscious hair, inhaling that lavender-peachy scent he'd missed so much. From his throat came a low groan, the deer equivalent of a purr.

It seemed the Princess's hotel had brought the Radio Demon to Heaven after all. Forget puffy clouds, sunshine, rainbows and fluffy angel wings. This was all the paradise he needed.

To think this used to make Alastor nervous. That once upon a time, he would've avoided Tina's bed at all costs. Until that fateful stormy night twenty years ago when he'd vowed to stay with her. He would've been perfectly satisfied sitting in the easy chair, but Tina had said that was creepy, and so insisted that he lie with her in bed.

He had lain there for hours, eyes wide open, unable to stop thinking about the woman snoozing less than a foot away. He had only ever shared a bed with his mother. To share a bed with a woman, with his own wife, had so many intimate implications. Although Tina had said it was just to sleep, his imagination would run wild. What should happen if their feet were to touch? Or her hand were to brush against his leg? Or someplace even more private!

A small whimper had brought him out of these terrifying thoughts. He had turned to see her writhing in her sleep and clawing at her pillow. Another nightmare, no doubt. Not wanting to have to deal with another demon fit, he had dared to put a hand on her shoulder and sing his mother's macabre lullaby. That had calmed her down instantly. And he had found himself staring at her the rest of the night.

With each night they spent together, Alastor had inched his way closer to his wife. Eventually, it had come to a point where he simply could not sleep without her in his arms. It was for this reason that he hadn't properly slept in ten years.

But now, everything was right again. She was here, allowing him to hold her, to comfort her, to shelter her.

Alastor could listen to the finest music, cook the most exquisite meals, slaughter all the sinners in Hell. But none of that was as blissful as the simple act of holding the woman he loved. No, the woman he worshipped. Even more so than the Loa. He would lay down his life for Tina, stop murdering if she so wished it. Perhaps, if he'd met her up top, he would've been a better man. Well, the upside to them both being damned was that it had brought their wandering souls, born decades apart, together in an eternal bond.

He wasn't going to make the mistake of letting her go again. He would be an even better husband to her this time. Whatever it took, just so he could wake up every morning like this, to the one source of heavenly light in his dark, hellish afterlife.

The hell phone on Tina's nightstand went off. Alastor snapped his fingers, levitating the lamp to crush the blasted device into pieces. He would fix it later. He simply wanted to prolong this moment as much as possible.

But Tina was already stirring. She moaned as the lids raised heavily from her eyes.

Alastor gave the gentlest smile and whispered, "Bonjour, mon amour."

Tina's eyes popped fully open. "What?"

"Sleep well?" He kissed the top of her head. "I certainly did."

She glanced around and blushed once she realized the compromising position they were in. "Fuck."

"Not at all, dear." Alastor chuckled. "We're fully clothed, see?"

Sure enough, Tina was still in her nightgown and he was in a set of red silk two-piece pajamas.

"You know I'd never take advantage of you like that," he whispered, threading his fingers through her hair.

She folded her wing back and pushed against his chest. But he only gripped her tighter as if she were a teddy bear.

"Al," Tina said steadily. "Let go."

Alastor sighed. "I suppose we do need to get up to make breakfast."

As soon as he relaxed his hold on her, she scrambled to her knees. "Good God, why are ya in my bed?!"

"Don't you remember?" He propped himself up on his elbow, smirking in amusement. "There was a storm last night, you had a fit, I came to calm you down, you asked me to stay."

"I asked you to…?" Tina put a hand to her head and turned away, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Shit, I'm such an idiot!"

"Why are you so shocked?" He sat up and crawled over to her. "We've gone to bed together thousands of times, long before we became romantic."

He snaked his arms around her from behind, causing her to stiffen.

"Didn't you get lonely waking up to an empty bed?" He settled his cheek atop her head. "Didn't you miss falling asleep at my side?"

Tina slid her hands beneath his arms and swept them aside. Alastor raised a questioning eyebrow as she launched herself off the bed, away from him. He reached out for her, but she was a step too far.

"I'm sorry, Al." She shook her head, keeping her back to him. "Ya can't be here."

The Radio Demon's smile dropped into a tiny, thin line. He stared at her, trying to process the situation.

"I know I've never been a proper expert in affairs of the heart," he said flatly, "but you seem to be sending me mixed signals, my dear."

"Look." Tina sighed, clamping her hands together. "Thank ya for bein' there for me last night. But I can't…we can't do this. Not anymore."

He forced his smile back, showing all his teeth. His eyes narrowed into a glare.

"I see." Alastor swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose to his feet. "So you'll have nothing to do with me except for when it's convenient for you. Is that it?"

Tina spun to face him. "That's not fair."

"No, I'll tell you what's not fair." He crossed his arms, his eyes and teeth glowing dangerously. "I came in here knowing you were in distress, I comforted you, you allowed me into your bed, and now you're telling me to get out like it meant nothing?!"

"I know, I know! I just…" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "We can't keep kiddin' ourselves, Al. We broke up. How can ya just go on and act like nothin' happened between us?"

Alastor huffed. "I could ask you the same thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I can take your cruel words," he said, leaning over her, "your kicks, your slaps, your punches. I almost enjoy them, in fact."

He stepped forward. "But for you to stand there and act like we did not just share an intimate moment…"

He backed her into the vanity. Tina gripped its edge, but did not take her gaze off him. The corners of his mouth were twitching.

"It irks me, Tina." His voice glitched in and out. "Truly irks me."

She scowled. "And it irks me for you to stand there and act like we haven't been separated for ten years! That nothing's changed!"

His hands slammed down onto the vanity, trapping her on both sides. "At least I'm not pretending our marriage never happened in the first place! Calling me your ex, having your underlings address you as 'Miss.' Don't think I haven't noticed you're not wearing your rings!"

Tina brought her hands to her chest, running a finger over where her wedding and engagement rings used to sit. Her eyes were focused on the bedside table, which contained her destroyed phone and amethyst brooch. She wanted to ask about the former, but decided to wait until after the situation was defused.

Alastor's smile twisted into a crooked line. "It breaks my heart, Tina, to see how little I matter to you."

"If it breaks your heart so much," Tina said, planting her arms at her sides, "why don't ya just give up?"

"Because it breaks my heart more to spend another moment away from you!"

She looked up in time to see his smile disappear entirely. His scowl melted away into a sad, longing stare.

"You're more than just my wife, Tina." His voice crackled like a short-circuiting radio. "You're my everything. My joy, my sorrow, my passion, my fury. The only thing that kept me from going completely insane the last ten years was my naïve hope that you would one day come back to me."

He leaned in. For a moment, she thought he was going to try kissing her again. Then he stopped an inch from her face.

"But you never did," he whispered. "So I had to find another way. I didn't expect you to welcome me back with open arms, but I'd rather have you here, hating me, than not have you in my afterlife at all."

He winced, drawing himself back. "Perhaps I was hasty in thinking one night of intimacy would resolve all our problems."

Tina looked down at her feet. "What if they can't be resolved? What if too much has happened for us to really move on?"

Alastor opened his eyes and took her left hand. "I'm at least willing to try. Since you put on my ring," he said, stroking the empty space on her ring finger, "my only thought has been to give you the happiness you deserve. I didn't need to love you for that."

He paused, glancing at his own wedding ring. "All the same, you gave my afterlife a new meaning. I never expected to enjoy your company so much. Or take pleasure in holding you in my arms. Or desire your presence every hour of every day."

He locked eyes with her. "All I want, Tina, is for us to be like we were last night. For you to depend on me again."

Alastor stroked her cheek. "To be…mine again."

Tina touched his hand, but did not remove it. "Things really were easier when we were just friends, weren't they?"

"What are we now, then?"

She paused, then lowered his hand. "I don't know."

It wasn't the answer Alastor wanted. Nevertheless, he pressed his forehead to hers.

"When you do know," he whispered, "I'll be waiting."

Then he evaporated into the shadows, but not before leaving a quick peck on her cheek. Tina was too stunned to say anything.

She looked over at the nightstand. Her phone had been repaired, but that wasn't her concern at the moment. She approached the nightstand and picked up her amethyst brooch. She pressed a button on the side, opening it up like a locket.

Inside the hollow opening were two rings. One a red band, the other holding a blood-red diamond engraved with a radio symbol. She took out the wedding ring. Alastor had added an inscription to it on their sixth anniversary, a little over a year since they'd decided to become romantic. Tina turned the ring around as she read the phrase: "Chaque jour je t'aime davantage, aujourd'hui plus qu'hier et bien moins que demain."

The long sentence was able to fit thanks to Alastor's magic. It was quoted from the French poet Rosemonde Gérard, translating to: "Each day I love you more, today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow."

Tina held the wedding ring to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Has anyone seen Tina?" Charlie asked at breakfast that morning.

"She wasn't in the kitchen," Rosemary said. "We had to start cooking without her."

"Must be resting," Hildegard said. "There was storm last night."

"Oh?" Charlie said. "Did the thunder keep her up?"

Proxy snorted from the far end of the table. "That's an understatement."

"Mrs. Tina's always been sensitive when it comes to storms," Niffty explained. "Al, how was she when you left her room?"

There was a crack as Alastor's knife pierced through his plate. Vaggie dropped her own silverware.

"You were in Tina's room?!"

"Ooh, hoo!" Angel clapped his lower hands excitedly. "I've never been so happy to lose a bet!"

"It's not what you think!" Alastor exclaimed, hovering his fingers over his plate to put it back together.

Vaggie narrowed her eyes. "If you hurt her or did anything non-consensual—"

"What kind of demon do you take me for?!" Alastor grunted. "Tina was upset, I was the only one who could calm her down. She was still shaken up, so I stayed the night." He glared sideways at Angel. "To sleep! You think I'm so low as to take advantage of a woman in hysterics?"

"Then why isn't she here?" Vaggie demanded.

"How should I know?!" The Radio Demon threw up his arms. "I can't read the damn woman's mind!"

"Whatever." Proxy poked at her scrambled eggs. "If you two are gonna fight, can ya not do it at six a.m.? Not all of us are doing the morning shift."

"Y-You were p-pretty loud," Carrie Canary stammered.

"Well I'm sorry my marital affairs are such a hindrance to everyone!" Alastor crossed his arms. "Perhaps you nosey twits should save yourselves the torment and convince your boss to stop being such a hard-nosed, unrelenting, pertinacious, fu—bleep—ing bearcat!"

"Holy crap!" Angel burst out laughing. "Did you just fucking bleep yourself?"

"Can't you just leave her alone, Al?" Vaggie said. "Whatever you did to make her mad, she's clearly not over it."

"Me?!" Alastor stood up, knocking over his chair. "Why do you assume everything's my fault?!"

Vaggie also stood. "Because you're a murderer!"

"So is Tina!"

"And a psychopath!"

"Who happens to love his wife, thank you very much!"

"Yet won't leave her alone when she tells you to! It's no wonder she fucking left you!"

"Hey, hey!" Charlie pulled her girlfriend down. "Let's not play the blame game here. We don't know what happened between them."

"Damn right you don't!" Alastor picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. "I won't deny my sins, unlike you self-righteous deluders." He glared specifically at Vaggie. "But let me make it clear that when it comes to Tina, I did nothing wrong!"

He threw down his napkin and stomped around the table. Husk was about to take a sip of his bottle when Alastor snatched him by the shoulder and dragged him out of his seat.

"Hey! What the fuck, Al?"

The Radio Demon didn't say anything until they were at the bar. He planted Husk behind the counter and slammed down a wad of cash.

"The hardest liquor you've got," Alastor demanded. "And make it a quadruple."

Husk sighed and got out a glass. "She hurt ya that bad, huh?"

Alastor slumped down on a stool and put his head in his hands. "I had her, Husker. She was in my arms, all night long. But you know what she said the moment she awoke?"

He brought down a fist. "She told me to get out! She asked me to stay, then she told me to get out!"

"Uh-huh," Husk said, pouring the drink.

"She throws her arms around me one minute, and then kicks me out of bed the next! And Vagatha accuses me of being at fault here?!"

"That's dames for ya."

Husk handed Alastor the glass. He downed it in one gulp and slammed it down.

"Another."

Husk immediately started on the next drink. Alastor plopped his head onto the counter.

"What am I doing wrong, Husker?"

The cat raised an eyebrow as he set down the glass. "Ya really want my advice?"

Alastor lifted his gaze enough to show his scowl. "Would I have asked you if I didn't?"

Husk rolled his eyes. "Okay, here it is. Stop trying so fucking hard."

Alastor looked at him questioningly. "You expect me to not try to win my wife back?"

"I'm saying she's got a lotta issues to work out." Husk got another glass for himself. "And your constant romantic attempts ain't helping. Women need their space."

"I've given her space! Ten years of it! I'm tired of waiting!" Alastor picked up his glass, sipping it slowly this time. "I simply don't understand it. Gifts like peach cobbler and lilies always used to bring a smile to her face. And she never had a problem with us cuddling before. And she never found any shame in confiding in me. Now she won't even talk to me unless it's to insult me, even if I'm complimenting her."

"That's just it, Al," Husk said, downing his own drink. "You're treating her like the woman she was ten years ago. A lot's changed since then."

Alastor huffed. "I haven't."

"Yeah ya have." Husk pointed to the glass in the Radio Demon's hand. "Ya didn't have that little problem ten years ago."

"What problem?" Alastor swiped the liquor bottle.

Husk watched as his friend filled the glass all the way to its rim. The cat demon supposed he was the last person to judge this sort of behavior, so said nothing further on the matter.

"Okay, put it this way." Husk clapped his paws together. "Before all this shit started, were you trying to make Tina fall in love with you?"

"Of course not!" Alastor waved his hand with a laugh. "We had a platonic agreement, remember?"

"Yet you two fell in love anyway."

The Radio Demon giggled as he sipped his drink. "Y-Yes. Funny how that worked out, didn't it?"

"Exactly. It came naturally for you two. Which is why ya can't force Tina to wanna get back together with ya now. If ya stop acting like such a creep—"

"Creep, creep, creep," Alastor sang, walking his fingers around the rim of his glass. "Don't hear a peep."

"Al? Ya still with me?"

Alastor chuckled. "You're with me, but Tina's not."

He reached for the bottle. His glass wasn't even half empty yet. Husk's paw got there first.

"Husker," Alastor said slowly. "Please hand that over."

"Uh-uh." Husk held the bottle behind his back. "I'm in deep shit already coming to work drunk every morning. If I break the two-drink-an-hour policy your wife put in place—"

Alastor banged his hands on the table, his head tilted and his eyes turned into radio dials. "Pour me another drink, Husker."

Husk had no choice but to obey. He winced as he topped off Alastor's glass. Alastor finished it in one gulp and held it out to the cat.

"Another." The Radio Demon hiccupped.

Husk sighed, stooping down to get a new bottle.