Ryan and Shane sat on Ryan's couch in silence. Both knew the conversation they were about have needed to be handled, but neither wanted to start it. So instead they sat in silence.
"Okay. I give up." Shane conceded. "I thought you could handle the-"
"Shane..."
"I really thought you could handle me running of for thirty seconds..."
"Shane."
"But it won't happen again, I swear, I'll- I'll do something..."
"Shane!"
"I won't leave your side ever again, I swear..."
"SHANE!"
"Huh?"
Ryan sighed, but smiled gently. "Jesus, I think you're deaf sometimes."
"Th-That's fair."
"Shane," Ryan's face grew serious. "I don't want you to go."
"Ryan..."
"No. I don't want you to go. Even if it means keeping him-" Ryan still refused to say his name. "-then I will, but I can't lose you."
"I don't want to go either," Shane remembered what Ricky had said, maybe this was Ryan confusing his emotions. Maybe he didn't know. "but-"
"No. If you don't want to go, then we figure out how to get rid of this guy."
"That's the thing, Ry. Even if we get rid of Ri- him-, more will just come after. My father will not let me leave."
"Who cares?"
"Me! I care! You could keep getting hurt, or killed, or taken by some bastard. I can't be the reason you die, Ryan Steven Bergara. I won't be. Especially not if..." Shane stalled.
"Especially if what?"
"Nothing."
"Do you really believe that dick?" Ryan said, anger flaring. "You think I can't distinguish my feelings from his? Come on, Shane. I know what I feel. If you really think that after all of this, those feelings just showed up?"
"I-"
"Shane. I care about you. I want you in my life. Do you hear me? I want you my life. It isn't your call to protect me. It's mine. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Good." Ryan said, leaning forward and capturing Shane's lips briefly. "Because I ain't your damsel princess. I could kick your ass any day of the week and I will kick this guy's ass."
Shane laughed. "Really? Kick my ass, would you?"
"Anytime, anywhere."
Shane grinned. "We'll see about that..." pushing Ryan back and climbing over him.
•••••
"Okay, so big news." Steven said, grinning as he held Andrew's hand. "We're dating!"
"Fucking finally." Shane said before he could catch his words. Everyone laughed. He leaned against the wall, relaxed with everyone in the room enough to let his more demonic attributes out. "Was that why you invited all of us over?"
"No." Andrew said simply.
"We also were giving you, Mark, TJ, and Ryan a sort of farewell."
"Fairwell? Are we getting sacked?" Shane pushed away from the wall.
"Aren't you four going to Lon-"
"Shhhh." TJ said frantically, putting a finger to his lips.
"Oh my god. Still?" Shane said with a sigh. "Ry has this thing. He doesn't like me to know where we're going."
"I feel like you should know more about this one." Steven said with a laugh.
"Yeah, I kind of agree." Sara said from her spot on a chair. She had been silent for a while, happily drinking whatever was in her cup. Now she smelled slightly of alcohol. "Where is Ryan anyway?"
"He said he was running late, since we filmed that UFO video today."
"Mm." Sara said, already tipping back her cup again. The others all shared slightly concerned faces.
"So Sara..." Steven said. "How have you been?"
"Fine, I guess."
"Fine?" Shane remarked.
"You guess?" TJ added.
"Imchilll." She slurred, and Shane reached over with his gangly limbs and pulled the cup away. "Gimme thatback."
"Why don't I take you home, Sara." Shane suggested, handing the cup to Mark and helping Sara stand.
"I can't."
"Why not?" Shane asked gently, holding her as she wobbled.
"They kicked me out."
"Why?" Mark questioned.
"Because they-" Sara paused. "I was getting a bit loud."
"Where are you staying then?" Andrew asked, not giving Shane a moment to ask what the hell she had meant by "too loud".
"My office."
"You can stay here, if you want." Steven offered.
"No. I wannago."
"Okay, you can't stay in your office though, Sara." Shane told her, soft but stern.
"Can I stay wif you?"
"I- uh- Sure, Sara. Crash with me tonight." Shane agreed, then turned to the others. "I'm gonna take her on, let Ry know, will you?"
"Yeah. We will." Steven agreed, and Shane began to lead Sara to the door. She wobbled quite a bit, and after Shane hid his wings and horns, he picked Sara up bridal style, and carried her down the road toward his apartment. He was thankful she wasn't heavy. Granted if she had been, he would have been concerned. He walked a ways, before his apartment came into view, he walked to it, and brought her up the steps into his house. He opened the door telekineticly, and set her on his couch. Then he went to fix her some water. He poured a cup and set it on the coffee table.
"You okay for a moment?"
"Ye."
"Ookay. I gotta take a shower." Shane said, then turned and walked to his bathroom with a change of clothes. He turned on the hot water, and slid in after locking the door. The water warmed his back, but he didn't stay in long. After maybe five minutes, after Shane had washed his hair, a terrible wailing broke the sound of the water. Shane scrambled to finish as the wailing continued, and pulled his clothes on before throwing the door open to see who was killing some poor cat. Instead, he found Sara crying loudly. It was odd, seeing her so broken. He shook himself out of his surprise and ran to her. "Hey, hey what's wrong?!"
Sara looked at him, her eyes broken. "My mom died."
"Oh."
"She died pretty soon after you and I split."
"Sara, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I'm sorry to you."
"Why?"
"After she died, I was in a bad place. I know I shouldn't have, but-"
"But what?"
"I did a bad thing."
Shane gripped Sara's shoulders. "What did you do?"
"Luciel."
"What about him?" Shane said, his stomach dropping at the name.
"He- I-"
"Sara, I need to know. What did you do?"
"I summoned him."