After getting rejected by Seth, Alecus had a hard time trying to not let a deep depression take over him. He spent the daytime pretending everything was completely fine and when night came he'd break down in his bed. This was life for him as days that turned into weeks passed. If he was an idiot before, he was an even bigger idiot now.
A month and a half had passed since the fallout with Seth. The pain of it all never dimmed, he just learned to numb himself from it. No one suspected a thing. The only person who knew about what had happened was Melody. He ran to her, crying the day he was rejected. When he told her what happened, she was so livid she offered to strangle Seth.
Ever since then, whenever she could, she'd drag Alecus from his place to go hang out somewhere. Sometimes bars, sometimes nightclubs, and sometimes just at her house with a nice bottle of wine and a movie. He was grateful to have her as a sister, truly, but it never helped the gaping hole he felt in his chest. If anything, being rejected by Seth only solidified the fact that he would never find someone who could tolerate and love him. He knew love wasn't something that was necessary in order to be happy but sometimes waking up in the arms of someone who loves you sounded like a nice thing. Especially for someone who will live a very long life. It gets lonely after some time and Alecus has spent too many years feeling alone already. He was a fool who liked to hope.
He was lying in bed and for the first time, in a long time, he wasn't crying. He was just lying there thinking about the demon and how happy they could have been together. A knock on his door cut the daydream short. He got up and opened the door to see his sister standing there holding something in her hands.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but back when we had a fight with Artorius he found a shirt your boyfriend gave you and I tried to take it away from him but it ended up ripping. I'm guessing since you never asked about its whereabouts you didn't find out. I've been working on fixing it for a long time now and I finally managed to get it back to one piece. I know it's late but I just finished it and I thought now would be a better time than ever to come clean. I know you have plenty of clothes from your boyfriend and one shirt doesn't really matter, but here," she handed him the black turtleneck he had long forgotten about. The first piece of clothing Seth ever gave him. "I'm sorry for the damage to it."
Fighting back the wave of emotions that hit him, Alecus took in a breath, "It's totally fine, thanks for patching it up."
"No need to thank me, it's the least I could do. Speaking of your boyfriend, how are you two?" She asked in a playful tone.
Trying not to get paralyzed by the pang of sadness that spread like wildfire in his chest Alecus let out a small laugh, "It's fine, it's good," he faked a yawn, "I'm kind of tired though so I can't stay up and tell you all about it."
"Oh, alright...but you owe me!" She joked turning swiftly on her heel and making her way to her room.
Shutting the door Alecus sunk to the floor and clutched the shirt to his chest. It still smelled like Seth. Hot tears slid down his face and he struggled to catch his breath. The only true item worth remembering Seth by had been ruined.
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"God, it smells rank in here!"
The sound of cans moving with each step Vic took grew loud. She knew Seth was going through a rough patch but never thought it was this bad. After all, he's the one who rejected the Alecus.
"Ughhhh, be quiet, you're too loud..." a groggy voice came from the other side of the room. Seth was deep in a pile of blankets. This had been his life for about two weeks now. At first, he was doing fine but after some time, everything with Alecus caught up to him and he finally hit rock bottom. For a workaholic, he was taking a very long break.
"There you are," Vic moved the pile of blankets and a cloud of dust came along with it. "Ugh!" She covered her nose. "Oh god, you look and smell like a total bum! That's it get the hell up!"
"Fuck off," Seth mumbled turning to his side and facing away from her.
"I'm trying to be a good friend here. I've let you drown in your sorrow long enough, it's time to take action and get your life back on track!" She forcefully dragged him out of bed. It didn't take much to get him to mindlessly walk into the bathroom. "Take a long bath, brush your dirty teeth, and please, shave the stubble it's not a good look on you."
Once she heard the water running, she began tackling the task of cleaning the room. It seemed impossible but she had hope. She thought of it as repaying Seth back for all the times he helped her through hard times.
◉◉◉
It took the whole day for the house to look like it used to before the whole rejection. Vic was impressed with herself. When she puts her mind to something she really gets it done.
Seth, clean as soap, was lying on the couch silently lost in thought.
"I'm going to take a bath, when I come back we will talk," Vic explained heading to the bathroom. She'd skip the bath and go straight to the pep talk if she didn't stink as bad as she did. Cleaning a dirty house is not fun especially when it's dirty enough to get you dirty.
◉◉◉
After getting cleaned up, she walked back to the living room where Seth was nowhere to be seen. Letting out a sigh she made her way to his room. There he was lying on his now clean sheets lost in his own world.
Vic went to lay next to him staring up at the ceiling. "Why'd you push him away if it hurt you? I just don't get it."
Seth remained silent for a while.
"He deserves better than me," he finally settled on an answer.
To this, Vic turned to her side to look at him, "I think you're enough. I think you know you're enough. What's the real reason?"
She could see him clench his jaw.
He put his arm over his face, "I was scared."
Her face softened, this made more sense. It was something she understood. "Of what Seth?"
"That he was making a mistake. I'm a demon Vic and I chose to be one. It's not like I was created to be evil, I chose to be evil. That's way worse. He's a God through and through. He's perfect. Why would I taint him? Why ruin his perfect life? He may want me now but what if it all changes once he finds out the truth? What if I start to make him feel sick? What if, after getting a glimpse of what being a demon really means, he decides he doesn't want to be with me anymore? Why should I let him in if he's bound to leave?"
Vic could see the tears running down his face despite his arm covering it. "What if he doesn't think that way? What if he already knows what he's getting into? Seth, we live long lives, we aren't humans—you aren't human anymore. If you don't take risks then the only thing waiting for you in the future will be disappointment. Disappointment that you let fear control you. What will you do if he finds someone who is willing to love him back? Who's willing to take the risk? He will be happy and all you'll do is wish that it were you. Alecus seems like a genuine guy and you hurt his feelings. He's probably crying himself to sleep every night. The two of you are idiots and I'll be damned if I don't convince you to reach out to him."
"Impossible," Seth sniffed wiping his face with his sleeve.
She pinched him.
"Ow! What the hell?!" He rubbed his arm.
"You're crying over a guy, that means you clearly love him. Tell him," she rolled her eyes.
"I can't! It's literally impossible, he doesn't even have a phone! Can you believe it?" He let out a soft laugh, "Says he wouldn't know how to use one. That idiot."
Vic smiled at him and he returned one.
"Thanks for the talk and for cleaning my house, I didn't know it was that bad," he looked back up at the ceiling.
"I expect you to find a way to contact him, Seth, I mean it. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to get involved," she got up from the bed.
"Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do," he stretched.
"You better," she stuck her tongue out before teleporting.
"I will..." Seth said to himself in his empty room. His chest swelled with fear and a bit of hope. Picking up his phone, he sent a message to an old friend.