Sweetheart

Chapter 34: Epilogue of Tears

Alastor awoke with a loud gasp. His hands clenching the sheets under him into fist. He sat up and his head whipped around to scan the room. He was alone in his room he shared with Angel, and there were dim rays of light filtering through the window. Since Hell was usually dark and dim, Alastor wasn't able to tell what time of day it was. He felt drained and tired. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him to go back to sleep, but Alastor ignored it. There were two faces he wanted to see, two faces that were more important than sleep. Alastor carefully got out of the bed, making sure he didn't fall. He summoned his radio cane so he could support himself while walking. As he made his way out into the hall, Alastor guessed the lack of activity meant it was early morning or late evening.

Alastor hobbled to the bottom of the stairs. The quiet had made him think that no one would be there, but he was wrong. All I the Hazbins except for Angel Dust stood or sat in various places around the entry room. The silence that floated in-between everyone was so thick that Alastor had almost that they were all statues. No one had noticed Alastor enter the room, they all had distant, forlorn looks. None of them were smiling, Alastor would have to fix that.

"Why, it's so quiet in here that I can hear myself think! We all know no good can come of that!" Alastor's sudden voice in the silence almost made it sound like he'd been yelling. Everyone's heads snapped up to look at where Alastor was standing, his usual smile plastered to his face.

"Dad!" Ashley Kuu shouted in glee as she vaulted over the sofa. Alastor barely had enough time to kneel down before Ashley toppled both of them over with a hug more like a football tackle. Alastor clung to the sobbing Ashley as he brought himself to an upright position, and he even had to wipe a few tears away form his own eyes.

"It's okay darling, Daddy's here." Ashely stayed stuck to him as everyone else started to gather around in utter shock. Mimzy, Rosie, Charlie, and Nifty bombarded Alastor with hugs and many, many tears.

"You fucking asshole!" Husker yelled as he pointed an accusing finger at Alastor, "What the heck were you thinking!? Dieing like that!" Husker didn't actually look as angry as he sounded, Husker looked like he might join the group hug Alastor was at the center of.

"Dieing?" Alastor tilted his confused head, "I didn't die, Husker. Whatever do you mean?"

"Al," Mimzy managed to choke out her words through her tears, "you've been unconscious for months, and just ten minutes ago B-b-" Mimzy couldn't bare to finish the rest of her sentence through the overwhelming flood of relieved tears.

"Baxter was here ten minutes ago." Vaggie struggled to keep her voice even and calm over the cries, "While he was here, your heart stopped beating. You died." The color drained from Alastor's face as Vaggie spoke. If he had died, then what about Angel?

"Where's Angel!?" Alastor's frantic voice cut through the mistiness in his eyes.

"On the roof." Cherri answered.

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Angel sat with his knees to his chest as he stared out at the city below him. He felt completely empty, except for the gnawing hole in his heart. It ached and yearned to be filled, but the only thing that could fill it was gone. Angel Dust didn't even hear the roof door open as the acid tears burned their way down his cheeks.

"Alastor," the name tore at Angel's throat, "I miss you so much. I don't know what I'm gonna do without you." Angel forced down a painful sob. Even though the pain only increased when he did so, Angel thought about Alastor's smile, his genuine smile and his genuine laugh, how his eyes glittered as they watched Ashley take her first steps, how the looked after he and Angel had shared their first kiss, dazed and pleased and happy. These memories wrenched the hole in Angel's heart wider, causing Angel to gasp in pain.