((A/N)): Fuck. College. And that's all I have to say about that. But for real, sorry about how long this takes.

Shout out to: Louricam The Manga Freak. Their review was actually what got me writing on this again.

Awesome. Thank~

No, no, no. This could not be happening. No. No!

"Nat, I-I.."

Fucking no!

"It isn't what you think…"

Oh, yeah? So what the fuck was it? Did he win the lottery?

"I didn't want to see them, but.. You know what the fuzz do. If they can't charge you with shit, they—"

"Da!" Natalya interrupted him, pushing up from the couch and looking away. "I know, I know.."

"Well then…" His voice pulled up slightly, as if he were confused, "Why are you…?"

"Aldred…"

"Nat, you need to be test—"

She put up a thin hand, the gesture stopping him from speaking, "Just… Don't. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to see what they did to you. I don't want to…" Her eyes flicked over to his arm for a moment, finding the track marks there all but healed. "I don't want to go to them. I just want to go."

Aldred made sounds of complaint and perhaps formed words, but Natalya was far from caring. She walked away from him, ignoring the glimpse of his distraught face that she caught out of the corner of her eye. Pushing past the crumbling doorway, Natalya stepped out into the world.

A world where she would no longer be able to lean on Aldred. She and Aldred were done. He'd made it clear that he didn't care for her every single time he'd chosen smack over her, but now he'd done something so much worse. Something that betrayed every fiber of her being.

He'd gotten clean.

~Days ago~

He felt a laugh bubbling up in his chest, like warm breeze in a clearing. But just like a breeze amidst nowhere, it made no noise. Or perhaps it was drowned out by the pounding of his heart and the ringing in his ears.

His eyes danced about the alley, seeing not the dinge and dirt or horrendous rubbish in the street. Broken condoms and needles scattered about him, but Aldred's vision only held stars.

Stars… How he wished he could live amongst the stars. But he already had the brightest star of them all. A pale, luminescent beauty. If only he could call her his.

His eyes slid shut and his back slumped against the wall. He was gone, back in his dream idyll.

X

The Hispanic was kicked awake by an all too familiar boot. His diaphragm spasmed as the boot connected with his body again and the pounding in his head was not loud enough to drown out the barked orders.

"GET UP, TRASH!"

Aldred clutched his head, feeling weak, but managed to stagger to his feet. "I-I… Officer, I can…"

"SHUT IT!"

A harsh blow from the butt of the cop's gun knocked Aldred back down to the filth covered street with a cry.

"Get! Up!"

"If ya would fuckin' stop hittin' me, I would.." He grumbled with a sour look on his face.

The police officer yanked him up by his shirt and then thrust him into the wall. "What'd you say to me you fuckin' spic?!"

Oh, racial slurs. Perfect. That added to this.

Aldred gritted his teeth, looking the corrupt man dead in his eyes. "I said 'Suck my cock, you fat pig'."

And that's when he was handcuffed and tossed in the back of a caged car. He was brought to the police station and forced to sit, hand cuffed to a chair while his arresting officer attempted to fill out the paperwork to have in caged overnight. Aldred stifled a chuckle when the man gave up and walked toward him with the keys to his handcuffs.

"You're free to go," the man huffed, leaning over to unlock to portion of Aldred's cuffs, the part that connected him to the chair in the questioning area.

Smirking at the cop, Aldred stood, now that he could, and clicked his tongue, "Whadda shame. We were just getting' to know each other. I woulda bent over, but I like to be wined and dined before I let some fat pig fuck me."

But the cop didn't take the bait. His smirk matched Aldred's and he yanked him forward by his cuffs. "When I said 'free to go', I might have been exaggerating," he chuckled.

Aldred's olive face paled a few shades as he was pushed from the room and the cop murmured in his ear.

"Welcome to your own hell, Spic."

And it was.

X

Sweat coated his body, gathering and pooling on the sheets. With white knuckles, Aldred gripped the edges of the bed and yanked at the cuffs that kept him there. He snarled against the pain with gritted teeth, pulling harder and harder, but all it did was dig into his already bruised and cut wrists. His stomach rose and Aldred stopped struggling for a moment, dry heaving over the side of the bed into a bucket they'd given him.

He hated this. Fuck. He hated this so much.

"FUCKING PIGS!" He screamed, kicking out at the bed.

Aldred shouted. He swore. He yelled in Spanish. He thrashed about. But still, even with all of his efforts, there was nothing that he could do. This was happening. This was his hell. Forced withdrawal.

But even this wasn't the worst. The worst was the news given to him after his third day in isolation. He merely stared at the nurse, his eyes glassy. He didn't t even care at that point. What did it matter what killed him? He was going to die sooner rather than later. What did he care if it was the drugs or a bullet or even a virus that took him?

Aldred was silent until the nurse left, letting the news really sink in. It wasn't for a few minutes did it really hit him. No. This might kill him, but it would do so much worse, so soon. No. Fuck, fuck. No! They'd shared needles. Fuck! He'd shared needles with his star.

"Fuck… Fucking fuck!" He screamed, straining against his cuffs once more.

No. He didn't care that he had it. He cared that she might. Fuck… Fuck. You fucked up, Al. Fuck you.

~Present~

A hand caught hers and forced Natalya to whip around on the sidewalk, facing the other person. It was Aldred. His skin was still pale from the withdrawal and the purple circles under his eyes were worse than hers. Natalya's lips parted for a moment, shock filling her. No one had ever gone after her before.

Taking advantage of her shock, he squeezed her cold hand with his warm one. "Please, Nat," he mumbled. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… I don't know how this happened.."

The shock was gone. "Of course you do!" She tried to tug her hand out of his, but his grip was tight. "You're a fucking junkie, Aldred. You know how it happened!"

He ignored her shouting, leaning in and pressing his lips against hers lightly. His kiss was soft and caring. Unlike anything he'd ever given her before. Natalya paused midsentence, her eyes fluttering closed as she let him kiss her.

Pulling away slowly, his eyes closing with hers, Aldred reached out and pulled her close to press her forehead against his cheek. "I-I… I'm sorry, Nat," he whispered. "I want to help you. I will help you. But first you have to go get a test. I… Y-You have to know if you have it."

Natalya swallowed slowly, not opening her eyes. She didn't want the moment to be over. Not yet. "Da. I will. But…" Her hand lifted, letting her fingers curl up in the back of his coat. "… What did they say about yours?"

Aldred pulled back slightly, wincing. He'd known the question was coming. He wasn't surprised. He just didn't want to answer it. "They said… They said it's no longer HIV. It's AIDs now."

A noise escaped her as her eyes squeezed shut tighter and she bit her lip hard. They stood together on the sidewalk, holding one another. Natalya wept silently, her face now pressed into the crook his neck. Aldred cupped the back of her head as his other arm secured her to him.

Both their hearts were breaking. Both their hearts were pumping infected blood through their doomed bodies.