Feathers and Blood (boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty

Phobos

Okay, fine, I'll tell you, my love. I'll tell you everything, even the things you don't want to know.

You were born in Mexico, in the state of Jalisco. You and you mother immigrated to the United States after you were among the lucky few to be granted a citizenship. Your father was born in the United States, so your life looked like it would be an easy one, but he died of an unfortunate heart attack when you were five.

You moved from Anaheim, California, to San Francisco less than a year later, closer to where your aunt lived. You did well in school as far as academics, but you were never very popular. You tended to be very sarcastic and had a very low tolerance for idiots. You were once suspended for punching a kid in the face after he asked you how you had crossed the border.

Don't worry, I wasn't stalking you. You told me all of this later.

I always thought San Francisco was beautiful. I was only going to stay there for a few days in one of it' high schools, you know, to stir trouble. Oh, don't look at me like that - I'm a demon. But I didn't stay there for only a few days, because I met you.

I noticed you because some kid approached you in the cafeteria during lunch - you were sitting all by yourself - and he poured milk on you. I thought you were either going to cry or get angry, but you just calmly stood up and walked away to go get cleaned up. Everyone thought you had just given up, but I was paying attention. You had pickpocketed him!

Apparently he was your ex-boyfriend, and he was mad at you for dumping him. You thought he was a pretentious jerk.

Anyway, I started talking to you after that day. You were known for being kind of... prickly, but I didn't mind. I thought you were really cute, and I hadn't been in a relationship since the sixties, so I thought about asking you out. Nothing serious, at least not yet.

But we actually started hanging out for real. You didn't know what I was, of course, but we became actual friends, and against my better wishes, I started developing real feelings for you, and suddenly I didn't want to mess around with you. I didn't want to hurt you. And then the day came.

I had been letting my aura run wild everywhere I went, striking fear into everyone, but when we started hanging out, I let that drop so people would hate you for being with me. So there were these tough guys who came up to us now that they weren't inexplicably afraid of me. I had apparently insulted the girlfriend of one of them, and now they were going to beat me up. They had no chance, of course, but you stood up in front of them and told them they'd have to beat you up first. Some of them were nearly twice your size.

That was the day I fell in love with you.

Morpheus came into town a few weeks later, just around the time you invited me to your house for the first time. It was perfect, because now I could force him to act as my roommate (I had told you I had emancipated from my parents). So the both of us went to your house, where I met your mother for the first time. She didn't mind that you were gay at all, but I think she could tell that I at least had a crush on you, so she automatically didn't like me. She was cool, though.

The three of us - you, Morpheus, and I - started bonding closer together, but you and I were annoyingly still just friends. I didn't want to ruin our friendship, so I never said anything, but one day you came up to me blurting about how Morpheus told you I was besotted with you and how you liked me too... I could have killed him.

But I didn't, because now you and I were officially dating!

And that's how the best year of my life commenced. I'd been with many humans before, but I'd never really had the chance to go through the whole "boyfriend" thing before. You introduced me to some of the most amazing human inventions, such as Marvel movies and punk rock and Hot Topic and the Lefty Store.

I didn't even want to think about what would happen when you noticed I wasn't aging, or what would happen if I ever forgot to hide my tail from you. I was practically living in your house at this point, even though I was never allowed to be alone with you (thanks to your mother - she thought I was completely ruining you). At that moment, though, it felt like you and I would never end.

Until you met Lyssios.

He introduced himself as "an old family friend", that asshole. I think you could sense his true evil, because you hated him automatically and begged me to make him leave. What could I do though, without causing a big scene?

Morpheus was called away on important business. It was the worst timing, and he offered to stay, but I told him we could handle it. After all, in my eyes, you were invincible. But Lyssios started dropping hints about us being demons, such as talking about my "Satanic father". I told him to shut up, but now you were asking questions. I was so afraid of telling you. I loved you so much at that point, it hurt. If you found out I was a demon... your family was Catholic! You would hate me.

So one day, I took Lyssios aside and told him to scram. I didn't say it nicely either. I straight out threatened to kill him, and I did wound him, if it was only mortally.

He left, and like an idiot, I thought it was over. I enjoyed a bit over twenty four hours with you, with your mother going on about how she was overjoyed my friend was gone and how I needed to reevaluate my life. I like to think that she had warmed up to me by this point.

But the next day, you didn't show up at school. You weren't at home either. I'd never seen your mother lose her cool. I promised her I would find you, but quite honestly, my love, I wish I hadn't.

Lyssios had taken you. Yes I know, he has a habit of doing that. He had... well, he had done horrible things to you. There were cuts and bruises all over you; there was not an inch of you that was spared. He had left a note, telling me he had told you everything. He had also told me that he hadn't killed you.

You had killed yourself.

I had never felt so much pain or so much guilt. I barely managed to make it back to Timor, where I ordered Deimos to take over Lyssios' countries in the Middle East. He had just begun to make an effort to take them back when I made my decision to Resurrect you.

I know, I know. I told you he had started the war by invading the Middle East. Yes, I had done it first, but I will always maintain that Lyssios launched the war. Even if he hadn't killed you himself, it was his fault.

So there you have it. All I know of you, all I'm ashamed of. Well, that's not all I know of you. Your favorite color is green. Your favorite televised event is the FIFA World Cup. You have an unhealthy obsession with Guardians of the Galaxy. You think Coke is better than Pepsi. You've always wanted to go to Spain.

And once upon a time, you were in love with me.

AN: I know this chapter is short, but it's a special one, as it's a storytelling from Phobos' point of view. Tell me what you think! :)