holy

vii

eddy never listened to instructions, and he sure as hell wasn't going to listen to brett. although, he did feel a soft pang in his chest when the angel demanded he stay away.

he kneeled down in front of brett, who was shaking in fear rather than from being cold. eddy placed two fingers on the side of brett's neck, feeling guilty when brett flinched away. maybe he shouldn't have been so aggressive before.

the angel's pulse was fast, but weak. his heart wasn't keeping up and his skin was way too hot.

"are you okay?" eddy asked, surprising bith himself and brett with the soft tone of his voice.

"do i look okay?" brett spat out, glaring at eddy. the demon inside of eddy wanted to get angry at him for that, but the guilt in his stomach overpowered his instinctual need to be in control.

"i'm sorry." the words escaped his mouth.

eddy had never said that to anyone before. sorry.

he meant it though—he felt solely responsible for the fact that brett had only gotten sicker in the past eight hours, and a strange ache tugged at his heart.

the apology was nearly enough for brett. he knew how unforgiving demons were. most went their entire immortal lives without saying that phrase, so for eddy to say it to him held a lot more weight than one might think.

eddy's hand moved along brett's forehead, pushing his hair out of his face and checking his temperature. he was burning up.

eddy took in brett's small frame, curled into the corner of the wall, broken glass from fallen picture frames surrounding him, wearing eddy's tattered hoodie that had been ripped apart at the back.

"what did i say about wings in the house?" eddy teased, his voice still as soft as a cloud.

"i couldn't stop, i'm sorry, your hoodie..." brett trailed off, ashamed.

"it's okay. c'mon, let's get you a new one," eddy said, scooping brett up into his arms so he wouldn't have to step on the shards of glass.

he carried brett to the couch and set him down gently. he reached around brett and ripped the remained of the hoodie apart so that he wouldn't have to struggle with getting it over the angel's wings.

admittedly, brett felt extremely exposed without a shirt on in front of eddy. but it was also a relief—he was still sweating profusely and appreciated the cool air hitting his bare skin.

eddy left the room quickly, not giving himself the chance to stare at brett's bare torso. he returned with a plain black t-shirt and black sweatpants that'd definitely be too big for brett.

"you know," brett grumbled as he tucked his wings away and pulled the shirt over his head, "i wouldn't have to steal your clothes if you had just let me go home." to be truthful, brett didn't mind wearing eddy's clothes, although he'd never admit that to himself. what he really hated was wearing black—it was too harsh, scary, and not at all what he was used to.

"you'd be dead by now if i did." eddy turned around, giving brett the chance to change out of the jeans he had been wearing for the past two days.

brett flinched at eddy's sudden change in mood. eddy was telling the truth, brett would have been much worse off alone, but he didn't sound as friendly as he did when brett first woke up.

"why would that matter to you? you kill people all the time." brett was getting into dangerous territory now.

"it's different, they deserve it," eddy explained, gritting his teeth.

"like that bartender?" brett pushed.

eddy could hear his heart pounding in his ears. brett had a point—the bartender didn't deserve to die, and eddy knew that. he just couldn't stop himself. he didn't want to stop himself.

"i wouldn't expect an angel to understand," eddy spat out, staring straight at brett.

breet gulped at the sight of eddy's eyes flickering from black to red. he dropped the conversation, not wanting a repeat of the events of that morning.

"sorry," brett muttered as he ducked his head and busied himself with picking up feathers off the couch.

•

they ate dinner in silence, sitting on opposite sides of the couch. brett had gotten cold again, and was now piled under the two blankets, hugging his knees to his chest.

finally, eddy turned on the tv and flipped to a random channel that was showing a particularly graphic horror movie.

he didn't even blink at the depictions of murder, the gushing blood on the screen, or the sounds of screaming and cursing.

brett, on the other hand, sat on the couch, eyes wide in shock, grimacing in disgust. he didn't understand how humans could stand to watch such terror, much less enjoy it.

that being said, he couldn't pull his eyes from the tv, frozen in the type of fear where you couldn't move.

he watched someone get brutally stabbed, unrealistic amounts of blood spewing everywhere, and let out a small yelp, grabbing onto the thing closest to him.

that thing happened to be eddy's large hand.

"don't touch me." eddy ripped his hand away, skin crawling at the cool, soft touch of an angel, one that smelled like cotton candy and made that strange feeling brew in eddy's stomach again.

"sorry," brett winced, "d-do you think you could change the channel?"

eddy threw the remote towards him and stood up. he felt too warm and fuzzy and he needed to get away from brett.

"you do it. i'm going to bed—goodnight." and with that, he walked away.

brett turned off the tv and laid down, snuggling into the soft blankets. he didn't know it, but he had come to associate the demon smell that was ingrained into the fabric with a strange sense of comfort. that was probably why he was able to fall sleep so fast.

he slept so soundly that he didn't hear the noise of eddy's footsteps as he creeped into the living room and made himself comfortable on the lounge chair, soon falling asleep himself.