Angel: Hey all! This is a little later than I wanted it to be, and it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to either. /pouts/ But here it is, short and sweet. I tried really hard to make it longer, but nothing was coming to me. /sigh/ Oh well. Enjoy this... semi-confusing chapter! :) Hehe.

Chapter Three

Don't Say Goodbye

Angel

"All cried out

Pleading with you

I'm dying now

Don't say that we're through

I'd rather you hate me than break me

You're all I ever knew"

Don't Say Goodbye – The Veronicas

Death the Kidd could hear Soul on the other side of the door, pacing back and forth across his porch. He ignored him though, instead allowing himself to sink to the floor as his mask crumpled and broke. Burying his head in his knees, the reaper's shoulders shook as a sob forced its way out of him. He couldn't stop them as they kept coming, tears starting to stream down his face. Yet despite this he did his best to stay as quiet as he could because he didn't want to alert Soul to how much he was hurt, if the albino even stopped to listen or care that is.

He didn't know how long he was sitting there before his tears dried for the moment and he could move. Rising to a standing position, he noted how cramped his muscles were and limped up the stairs to his bedroom. He managed to get the door shut and locked before collapsing on his bed as the tremors that were a prelude to the tears started again. He shimmied under the blankets and clutched one of his pillows to his chest. Symmetry was all but forgotten for the moment as his body tried to handle its first case of heartbreak.

A low pitched keening started in the back of his throat as he quaked, staring emptily at the wall in front of him. What had he been thinking when he decided that he would tell Soul he was gay, and practically profess his love for him all in one stupid, drunken moment. Wait a minute, he'd been drunk -or at least a little tipsy-, therefore he hadn't been thinking and so he was still stuck in the same boat as being an idiot. He'd known from the start that it was never going to work out with the albino scythe, because Soul very obviously liked women -and not men- and he had Maka and Blair.

This time it was angry tears that rolled across his pale cheeks, and his anger was directed at himself. He had been so stupid to think that something like a small confession could change what he'd known was going to happen. His fingers dug into the feather pillow, nails threatening to cut into the fabric like it was nothing more than a minor hindrance. Yet another sob tore from his throat and he curled in on himself, clinging to the pillow like it was a lifeline. Stupid, stupid, stupid, so stupid! He was the son of Lord Death, yet he was nothing more than an idiotic child that didn't know when to stop himself. Wasn't he supposed to be smarter than most because he was son of a god? Apparently not, after all, he wouldn't have done something so dumb like kiss Soul if he was smarter.

He felt disgusted with himself, completely and utterly disgusted. How could he have been such an idiot? A low groan slid past his lips and he pressed his face into the pillow in a hope to muffle it, not that it was very loud in the first place. He should die, he was scum, unworthy of his title, unworthy of life. No son of Lord Death should be allowed to live if he couldn't tell when something was spiked and then go on to do idiotic things. The reaper child sat up at that. Yes... yes... unworthy of life. Well, he could very well fix that now couldn't he?

It's not like anyone would miss him too much. Sure, his father would probably miss him, as would his weapons, but other than that no one really liked him. They just put up with him because of his title, his power, his money. He slid out of bed, walking over to his personal bathroom on shaky legs. The door opening and slamming shut again reverberated through the house, causing Kidd to freeze and turn wide eyes towards his bedroom door. Female voices were floating up through the floor. Liz and Patti were home... his plan would have to wait. He couldn't do it while they were in the house, he knew that he would lose his nerve and then it would all be for naught.

He could hear Liz yelling all the way in his room, but he didn't bother to distinguish the words as he crept back into his bed and grabbed his pillow again. This time as he gripped it he could feel the threads tearing beneath his fingertips and holes forming. His fingers slipped into the holes, soft feathers tickling the top of his fingers and alerting the boy to how hard he was holding onto the pillow. Forcing himself to relinquish his hold on it, he set it down and laid down again, staring at the ceiling. Perhaps tomorrow would be better for him.

"Go home Soul! Haven't you done enough damage already?" Liz's voice cut through his brain as she screamed that line. He froze slightly, Soul was still here? Without thinking about what he was doing, he moved from bed and crept to the staircase, sitting at the top and listening in.

"I just want to talk to him," Soul replied, his voice rough and slightly emotional.

"If he wants to talk to you, he'll find you. Right now, you need to go home. I need to make sure that my meister isn't going to do anything stupid right now," Liz ground out.

Kidd lowered his eyes and looked at the floor, a lump rising in his throat. He doubted that Liz knew about the second kiss, and the conversation that they had already had. Still, it didn't surprise him that she had seen him run out of the party. He was certain that most of the guests there had seen that, on top of what had happened directly before it.

He could hear the door closing again and Patti's voice pipe up. "Can I break his neck? Like my giraffe?"

A smile flickered on the edges of his lips. Ah, that was Patti. Always to break someone's neck, and for once he was happy about it. It was good to know that they had his back, maybe he had a small reason to live for now. Yet... he would still have to be punished. He would have to do that when they were gone though, they would know the minute anything happened to him, so he would have to time it right...

"Hey, Kiddo. You alright?" someone asked from right next to him.

The young boy jumped and he looked over at Liz. His mind didn't process what he was doing before tears welled in his eyes and he latched on to her. Surely he should have been done crying by now, but the pain was back. He chest was tight, it hurt to breathe, and his heart hurt like someone was stabbing a needle into it over and over again. He could only shake his head, sobbing like a child.

The elder Thompson sister lightly smoothed down his hair, making soothing sounds. She tried to console him with words, but she knew that he just needed to get it all out at the moment. It was hard to realize that the person you liked didn't like you back, and to have it happen in such a fashion was even worse. At that point she realized that her meister was saying something, mumbling it into her chest like a mantra.

It hurts. He kissed back. Uncool. Filth. Undeserving. Unworthy.

From that she got the basic idea of what happened and anger roiled deep in her stomach. Soul had gotten to Kidd before she did, and had tried to talk to him. Obviously that hadn't ended very well or the young death god wouldn't be in this position at that moment. "Shh, it's okay," she murmured, glad that Patti wasn't there at the moment. Who knows what the girl would do with Kidd so vulnerable at the moment. She already knew that her sister was angry, and Patti would probably get even more angry if she witnessed Kidd crying.

And so with a sigh she resigned herself to comforting her meister until he either fell asleep or felt better. She was betting that he was going to fall asleep though, she'd learned that sleep was often what happened after he had a complete and total break down like this. Yet no matter how many times she looked back at the young boy, he didn't seem to be calming down. If anything he was getting more worked up, his shoulders heaving with silent sobs.

Panic briefly bloomed in her chest, her eyes widening. Just how much had this actually affected him? Last she had checked, it was only a crush that he had on the weapon... but for him to be reacting this strongly he would have had to actually love the scythe. But... he couldn't have could he? Surely it didn't progress that fast? Or maybe...

A wail cut into her ears, her gaze focusing back on the raven haired teen. He was quivering, and it was obvious that he couldn't stop himself. He was awash with feelings, and each one was stronger than the last. He wanted it to stop, he wanted to just be numb. Even the thoughts of suicide were better than reliving this pain. "L-L-Li-Liz," he managed past the sobs, "please... please m-make it sto-stop."

Liz felt her heart breaking for the turmoil he was obviously feeling, smoothing her hand over his hair. "Oh Kidd, I wish I could," she said softly, drawing him into her arms and rocking him back and forth. The reaper was still sobbing, pleading for her make the pain stop, to do anything to make it go away. Her heart bled a bit with every plead that fell from his lips, and it made her angry that all she could do was hold him and wait for it all to pass.

It felt like hours later that the reaper finally exhausted himself and passed out, going limp in the elder's arms. She stood silently, picking him up and carrying him to bed. She tucked the reaper in and lightly pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I hope this all passes soon Kidd, for your sake," she said quietly before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.