For you, i will

chapter XV

the morning after the accident followed the hardest night shane had ever endured. he had spent the night alone, no ryan by his side, but rather he by ryan's side. when the sun had finally shone through the curtains intensely enough that shane submitted to be awakened, he realized where he was. it was a sudden realization that made the reality of the accident hit his heart again, pulsing through him with a feeling of sharp pain.
he finally lifted himself from the chair he had fallen asleep in and went to stand by ryan's bed. the same systemic beeping let him know he was still okay. he wrapped his hand around ryan's and squeezed, holding back his tears.
•••
the rest of shane's day had been spent by ryan's bed, except for the brief hour when he had ventured into the hospital cafeteria in search of lunch.
now it was night, and he sat back in the chair by ryan's bed, absentmindedly playing with the ring he had gotten for him.
would he have proposed by now or would they be still asleep? what time would it be in nassau?
what would their life have been like if they just hadn't stopped for coffee?
shane grasped the ring tightly in his fist, suddenly over come with a feeling of guilt.
if only he had made ryan come inside with him.
if he had gotten the drinks sooner.
if he hadn't—

the figure of a man emerged by the door, interrupting his thoughts. he stood tall and leaned against the door's frame, every ounce of his silhouette dripping with cocky identity. without seeing it, shane could feel his smirk.

"you're like a loyal little puppy" lucifer said, walking from the dark corner so that only the lower part of his face was revealed. "you know he's probably not going to make it."

"shut up." shane said.

"are you okay?" lucifer took on a more kind tone, hearing the distress in shane's tone.

"did you come all this way just to make me feel worse?" shane looked up at lucifer.

"no...i thought you might want to make a deal with the devil", lucifer said, a fire lighting in his eyes.

for a moment shane was silent. he didn't know if lucifer was kidding or not, but the idea lit a spark in him.

"and what if i was? would you stop me?"

"don't be absurd shane, you know that's ridiculous. when someone makes a deal with the devil, they suffer a fate—"

"worse than death." shane finished lucifer's sentence for him. shane knew that in exchange for ryan's soul, his own would be left on earth, floating around endlessly for something to fill the emptiness. it was awful.
it was almost too easy to choose.

"yeah, i'll do it." shane said, looking straight into lucifer's eyes, which were glowing a velvety red.

"you idiot." lucifer said, extending his hand out towards shane. "you'd really do it, huh? sell your soul to the devil for the life of some human."

"he's not just some human." shane said firmly, his voice louder than usual. he stood up from his chair and smoothed out his pants. "he's everything to me."

lucifer smirked as shane reached towards his hand. a small fire was burning on his palm, and shane could feel the heat of it as his hand hovered close to lucifer's.
a deal with the devil.
who would have thought.
as shane went to hold lucifer's hand, finalizing the deal, he felt the warmth of the fire die down. lucifer had pulled his hand away, now looking down at his fingertips.
"i really do need a manicure."

"what are you doing lucifer?", shane said, anger in his voice.

"you're really in love shaney, i didn't believe it until now."

"what"

"i was testing you."

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?" shane screamed at lucifer, who just smirked and took a step back.

"calm down and i just might explain." lucifer said, so shane sat back down in his chair.

"all ryan needs is you by his side. your love for him will heal him, but it'll drain you. when a creature as strong yet depraved as a demon learns to love something so strongly as you do that little human, anyone would know that the love that exists between you two is enough to bring a soul back from the edges of life, easily fighting off the feeble cold hands of death."

shane said nothing, yet his mind was filled with words.

after some time in the silence, lucifer began to head toward the door.

"invite me to the wedding", he looked back at shane, this time smiling rather than smirking.

when lucifer was gone, shane went over to ryan's side and held his hand. he placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"i'm right here."