Breaking the Fall

Note: Ok, I know I'm putting this up here real fast, and the first part didn't have so much as one lousy kiss...but please review? My one faithful reviewer (also my editor) was wonderful! And I thank her a million times over...but I know there are others out there! *pant* (And thank you very much, again, for reviewing, Elisabeth, it's very encouraging. ^_^)

Part Two: When Angels Spend the Night

David mentally kicked himself. Great first line. Now the man thought he was insane. ‘Are you an angel?’ Just brilliant. "I didn’t mean that...I mean...I just...it’s...you..." The man just stood there, completely silent, and looking vaguely perplexed at his confusion. He flushed. "Um...are you...are you here to sing...? Or something?"

The man blinked, his wide, reflective eyes looking suddenly startled and David almost corrected his speech, but the other spoke first. "Sing?" David felt his heart jump. He’d heard that voice before... The words came so quiet, breathless and hesitant, like some forbidden secret, and his pale cheeks pinked a perfect rosy hue.

"I meant...are you...you’re not here to-"

"Do you want me to sing?" He sounded nervous, but oh so willing to please, as if his wishes were all that mattered in the world. David felt his body heat and respond in various unwanted ways to that thought. He quickly stumbled his denial.

"N-no! Well...I mean...only if...that’s what you’re here for...are-..." He shut his eyes tight and placed fingers at the bridge of his nose, trying to somehow organize his thoughts. He felt the man’s eyes on him the entire time. When he looked up, clear, glimmering pools of silver met his gaze silently. "Why are you here?"

At first, he thought the man might not answer, and wondered if he should call off the question. It looked to cause him so much sudden worry, as if the proper answer continually eluded him. Finally, David opened his mouth to explain it didn’t matter, but the other spoke first.

"I couldn’t let you do it." It sounded so sincere, and yet so terrified. David stared, his mouth all of a sudden very dry as he got out hoarsely.

"Do what?"

The man in his doorway blinked, eyeing him curiously. Then he answered, as plainly as if everyone should know. "End your life."

A million things hit his mind at once. How did he know? Who was he? Where did he come from? And most of all...why did he care? David furrowed his brow in confusion and finally asked quietly, needing to know more than anything else, "Who are you?"

The man smiled, and everything lightened. His very features seemed to come aglow with life and hope, illuminated in a shower of unreal beauty. He looked...heavenly. "My name is Luke. I am very pleased to meet you, David."

Luke. David’s gaze traveled over him again, quizzical this time as he took in every feature. It never occurred to him to ask how he knew his name, where he lived, or most importantly, what he did in the privacy of his locked bathroom. Somehow, it didn’t really matter. Maybe he’d ask later. Finally, when the man shivered, he came back to reality and spoke out.

"Do you...have somewhere to go?" It sounded ridiculous, but in a way, he almost hoped he didn’t. Selfish, yes, maybe even greedy, to want the man near him, with him, despite the fact that he knew nothing about him. But he didn’t want the man to leave, and when the he gave a tiny shake of his head, straight silver flickering about his face as he did so, David felt a leap of spirit.

"No."

The next question came out before he had time to stop it. "Do you want to come inside?" He almost cursed how blunt and perverted that sounded. Surely the man thought him insane now. Why would such a fair figure even consider walking so freely into the home of a complete-

"Yes."

Stranger? David blinked, but held his door open by instinct, and his eyes felt glued as the slender, surprisingly exposed figure took entrance to his house. His first thought, on closing the door behind him, was how freezing the man must be. A near blizzard built outside now, and yet this man looked hardly dressed for a windy day. In fact, he looked very strangely dressed, even if not for the snow.

White robes. They almost looked like clouds as they hung off his shoulders, floating down the entirety of his body, gathering lightly at his waist then flowing down to an elegant wisp just above bare, exposed ankles, and small, uncovered feet. David shook his head rapidly. Surely he was a caroler then? Maybe dressed as an angel? He saw no wings attached, but somehow, he could imagine them so easily, especially when the man turned to face him. He didn’t need wings to look like he fell from the gates of heaven itself.

"Do you always keep your dwelling so cold?" The question came almost worrisome, and David flushed over his foolishness. Of course the man was cold, he’d been out in sub-freezing weather dressed in near nothing. Not to mention barefoot.

"Oh...n-no. I’m sorry. It’s just..." He quickly moved to find his thermostat. "I usually...don’t have company...so-"


"So it does not matter whether you suffer in cold? Only that other’s do not?" He asked it so innocently, and David made sure to keep his eyes on the buttons, not daring to meet a surely confused gaze. Somehow, the other’s worry made him feel guilty...in ways he never had before.
"I...that’s not what I meant."

"Yes it is." David turned his gaze at that, finished with raising the temperature and almost surprised at the man’s insistence. "Why do you hate yourself so much?"

"I don’t hate myself." He argued it glumly, but with little resolve, and his guest looked soundly unconvinced. Finally, he shook his head. "Besides, it shouldn’t matter to you. You don’t know me. I’m a very confused and useless man who can’t even take care of myself, let alone those I care about. You shouldn’t fret over it." A frown kept to his features at the other’s silence, and in the end, he simply shook his head in defeat. "Are you still cold?"

Luke gave a small sigh, frustrated at the other’s continued denial of self-worth, and even more so at his inability to remedy it. He felt a shiver run his spine, but he shook his head. "No."

David gave one look to lightly trembling blue lips and beautiful, but almost unhealthily pale skin, and shook his head. "I guess now’s the perfect time to see if I remember how to make a fire..." The angel blinked once, twice, watched the man move off to his small, unlit fireplace, and felt a tiny blush creep to his cheeks once again. In a small, unwilled movement, his lips twitched up, and he covered a gentle flickering smile with his hand. Maybe he had a chance after all.

As the man worked with the fire, he felt that somehow he needed to keep up a speech, even if it was a monologue, he couldn’t bear the pressure of hanging silence. He didn’t know the man in the room with him, had no idea where he came from, but somehow, he wanted him to feel comfortable.

"So...if you don’t sing...what’s with the clothes? You must be freezing out there in weather like that. You shouldn’t dress like that if you don’t want to catch cold...or something far worse. It can’t be healthy...not that I really know much about medicine, but-"

"I do sing."

David glanced up at the quiet reply, and his brief distraction caused the tiny flame he’d started to falter and puff out. At his discovery of this and the frustrated expression it brought about, the smaller man gave a tiny chuckle, and it sounded terribly similar to what David might term as a ‘giggle’, though that hardly seemed a fitting term for a man’s laugh. It sounded like bells, and struck a memory again. He knew he heard that somewhere... He pushed the thought away though to speak.

"But just outside..." He frowned slightly in confusion, letting his sentence drift and Luke shook his head lightly.

"I said I’d sing for you." He lowered his head slightly and glanced away shyly. "...and I would...but you didn’t want me to." He lifted his gaze slowly to the other as a fire began forming and David gave an incomprehensive look.

"You didn’t look much like you wanted to..." The man by the fire said the words softly, utterly confused at his situation, and he only watched as the smaller man moved by instinct towards the warmth set forth. As he stood back, his frown only deepened. Watching the delicate figure settle, with almost divine grace, by the fire, white robes splaying like a Christmas gown about him, the unreal nature of this very real encounter struck him.

While not thirty minutes ago he planned on taking his life, he now stood in his rapidly warming house, by a bright fire, gazing at surely the most beautiful creature he’d laid eyes on in his life. He knew nothing of the man, and yet welcomed him in his house; he’d never once seen him in his life, and yet Luke acted as if he’d known him for eternity.

He sighed lightly, suddenly realizing how tired he was. It almost surprised him. He hadn’t felt tired (or hungry, or much of anything else), for so long, the feeling seemed almost foreign.

"You should rest."

His gaze snapped over at the comment, caught completely off guard by the quiet, almost whispered voice. Despite its soft tone though, it came with vivid clarity and assurance. It puzzled him how the man seemed to pull his state of mind and needs from seemingly from mid-air and with no given cause.

As if to answer some silent question, silver eyes lifted to meet his blue calmly. "Your body is tired. Your eyes show it."

David’s brow furrowed slightly in puzzlement. "What about you? Are you...sure...you have no where to go? I mean...not to kick you out or anything but...I don’t really..."

Luke only curled his knees to his chest, his robes looking more and more like a dress by the second and his silvery eyes reflecting the red of dancing flames. "If you wish me gone-"

"I can take you home if you want...I mean...if you tell me where you live and-"

The angel gave a tiny, almost sad laugh, and it held no humor as his eyes lifted forlornly. "You don’t understand...if you wish for me to leave." He stood and his white dress swirled neatly about his ankles. "...I will." He gave a faint, lost smile. "But I will only stand in the snow till morning."

David gave a startled, wide eyed expression of surprise. "But surely...I...you’re not...I’ve never seen you before...you must have come from somewhere..."

Luke lowered his head, platinum locks hiding his face. "I am no longer welcome in my home. God has forsaken me....as I have forsaken him."

David, for the most part, couldn’t make sense of that, disbelieving that the innocent young man before him could do anything so evil to be banished from home and ‘forsake’ God. He understood however, that the man obviously, for reasons unknown, didn’t want to return home and, for the time being, he was too tired to object. Sighing, he brought a hand across his forehead with a frown and finally nodded.

"Alright...I guess...you can...um...have the guest bedroom. But...I...I’m finding out where you live tomorrow, ok?"

Luke made no reply, but followed after the other’s lead silently, footsteps inaudible across the floor, and movements a silent cloud behind him. David got the distinct impression he was floating, not even touching the floor as he moved, perfectly still and soundless.

They stopped at the door of the aforementioned room, and Luke suppressed a shiver as he entered. The room felt...empty. Not just the empty of no one there, or even of there being nothing in it, but a giant, overwhelming empty of...everything, like the room held deep, long hidden secrets. He stepped inside briskly though, and ignored the sensation as he whispered carefully.

"Thank you."

David only gave a mumbled nod. "Yeah...you’re...welcome. Just...goodnight I guess." As the man settled, leaned back on his elbows and legs out in front of him, his robes again splayed out like a dress about him, and David felt his body tighten, undeniably affected by the sight. Unwanted, unholy images crowded him. Thoughts of pushing the boy back on those sheets, pressing up at those teasing robes and taking him-

He quickly shook his head, cheeks heating brightly in shame even as he turned away. "Goodnight." He definitely needed to make sure he got rid of the man by morning or his sanity would surely start slipping farther than it already had. He shook his head roughly at thoughts of what might happen then. No, he needed his sanity. Now more than ever. As he passed his closed bathroom door, the pills never crossed his mind.

Luke watched the man leave, and even after the sounds of him completely left, his expression stuck, hanging in his mind like a constant reminder of his crime. He gave a tiny shiver, strings of unknown sensation tingling his senses like the tease of a million things he knew nothing of. He could still feel the man’s eyes on him, raking over him, taking him in like some...feast. He shut his eyes tightly and curled into the cold sheets. What if he had made a mistake?

Sleep was foreign to him; as a divine being, he had never required it. Long-forgotten memories of his humanity and the built-in instincts of his human form aided him, however, and he soon began to drift off, his eyes weighted and he breathing slowed. Just when he was on the brink of complete slumber, a strange light rose him. At first he ignored it, thought it possibly some strange figment or memory of heaven, but it only grew, soon illuminating the entire room and his eyes shot open.

A transparent face, warm but grief-stricken, met his gaze the instant they opened, and his startling silver widened dramatically. He gripped his sheets in surprise and the name fell from his lips in a stunned whisper. "Anadiel!"

Her comforting, soft features gave a small, sad smile as her inhuman, illuminated hand reached out, only to fade as it passed through his mortal skin. This only heightened her evident sorrow and her eyes suddenly looked pleading, as if to ask for some silent reason for such a crime. He lowered his eyes, ashamed now at her grief, but he made no attempt at excuses, only answering plainly.

"He was going to die, Anadiel...he was going to kill himself." He lifted his eyes, begging with just a single glance for her understanding, her forgiveness. "I couldn’t let him! You know I couldn’t let him...I...I had to do something...I couldn’t just stand there and watch." He shook his head lightly. "I’d give all the light of heaven’s gates and beyond for his happiness...and he doesn’t even know me."

Her lip caught, face left in an unmistakable mirror of worry. He traveled his eyes over her expression, as if seeking for answers only from in her face, and somehow, he found them. Though he knew the answer, he had to ask, and hated himself even as he did so.
"If I repented...even right now...they wouldn’t let me back...would they?"

He swore he saw tears in her eyes as she brushed out her hand again, casting a silent glow over him, and he shut his eyes, letting it take over though he knew exactly it’s purpose. Though she couldn’t speak, he saw her lips mouth it, so perfectly and so sadly as the light consumed him.

‘I am sorry, Luke.’

His body tensed, suddenly rigid as the light reached it’s peak, and he opened his mouth, but no sound came as he felt the distinct impression of something being ripped, torn from his very soul itself. The next instant, all light faded, only his ragged, chopped breath and tears mingled with the renewed signs of mortal life. Car lights across the window, late night chatter and snow crunching on the streets.

He let his tear-weighted lashes fall shut as he curled into the sheets once again, a perfect, consuming emptiness taking him over. He’d never felt so alone.

—————o—————

David tossed, a foreign sensation tickling at the edge of his barely conscious mind. Warm and smooth, soft like petals, scented like spring and teasing him further and further from his dream state with its enticing smell, texture and companionship. His sleepy, calm, blue eyes opened slowly, reminiscent of a quieted sea after a storm as he woke. His brow furrowed ever so slightly, trying to settle what the shimmering, luminescent presence came from. Before even thinking on it, he reached out with a small, dazed frown, lacing his fingers lazily through the curiously soft strands. The next instant, his entire form tensed with sudden realization and he shot up in bed.

"Oh hell." Foggy, sleepy silver eyes blinked up to him and his panic only rose. "I didn’t...get drunk last night...did I?"

Morning light shone down, illuminating the delicate figure in a shimmering halo of gold as he shifted on the covers, confused silvery vision giving a puzzled expression. "No. I was lonely...and the other room felt cold."

David gave a displeased look, feeling his nearly clothesless body reacting in ways he didn’t even want to think about. Waking up to a beautiful man curled neatly against his side wasn’t exactly what he’d planned for the morning. "I don’t make a habit of sleeping with people because I’m lonely." He felt his cheeks heating shamefully in the morning light and Luke gave a tiny perplexed expression.

"It brings you shame to do so?"

The other frowned. "Well waking up near naked to a man I met only yesterday can kind of have that affect on me, yes." He answered more snappishly than planned. The smaller looked unfazed and sat up; David noted (with some relief), the smaller man still wore clothes.

"Your nakedness shames you?"

David flushed all the brighter, but his frown only deepened as he stumbled, frustrated, over his words. "In front of someone I don’t know, yes!"

"Would it lessen your shame if I joined you?" The smaller man questioned quietly, slipping back to the edge of the bed neatly, and David felt his mouth gape for a few seconds, momentarily stunned. When delicately slender fingers moved to the neat gold sash of his robes, however, his speech came sudden and stuttered.

"Wha-...n-no! No, I mean..."

Luke paused, eyeing him curiously, fingers still on his sash and silver gaze inquisitive as he took in the other’s reaction. David felt his throat go dry and swallowed, lips suddenly parched as his eyes traveled over the innocent form before him. The morning glow lighted the loose, white robes like a snowy gown, it’s free-flowing folds refusing to give any show of what lay beneath, leaving only imagination to guess and David could only stare with forlorn hope at the offering.

His gaze lifted, slowly, till he reached honest, unmasked silver, leaving everything out on the plate for his taking. His tongue flickered out almost against his will, wetting his already starving appetite and doing nothing to quell it. Slowly, he shifted across the bed, moving with calm, but forced movements. He stood from the edge meaningfully, letting his eyes rake over the lightly trembling form beneath him, their bodies chest to chest as he finally met with suddenly wide silver.

"Sing for me."

Luke shuddered, the quiet, steady command sending a shiver of emotion through him, lighting his senses and awakening parts of him he never knew he had. His eyes fluttered and his lips parted. His first words came shaky, hesitant, and barely held a tune in their whispered quality.

"Pray...for kingdom come..." His breath shook, and the man’s firm grip lifted his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "For his will be done..." He willed his words steady and increased his volume slightly. "Even when you don’t feel a thing..." He shut his eyes. "Seek..." A gentle, gracing touch traced just over his cheek and his breath caught. "...seek..." It dipped lower, "...the throne of grace..." Traveled his chin line, "...time to see..." Finished on the delicate curve of his neck. He swallowed. "...and taste..." Hot breath ghosted over the shell of his ear and his heart raced. "...the sweetness..." Fingers curled at the nape of his neck, lacing through silky locks and tugging his quivering lips ever closer. "...the king of peace..."

"You have a lovely singing voice...Luke." David whispered it lowly and the heated words hung, brushing over the smaller man’s lips and sending a spark of hot sensation directly to his core, only hinting of the many sinful pleasures to come.

"Pray...like breathing..." Again the words nearly lost their tune, so quiet and shaky he barely got them out. Then lips met his, and everything faded away. The unfamiliar feeling sent a stem of heat through him, like setting fire to his skin and simply letting it blaze. "David..." His voice wavered, unsure, and hands gripped at his waist, tugging him fully forward to the man in front of him. A spark of panic hit and his body trembled.

David felt control slipping, his hands tightly gripped in the smooth, satiny white cloth at the smaller man’s waist, and the tiny, chopped breaths from the figure beneath him only spurred his actions. It made no sense, he didn’t do this, not like this. But it felt so damn good, intoxicating almost. Was it his fault the man had climbed his bed in the middle of the night? No. It did rouse suspicion though, and when the smaller body began trembling, as if suddenly terrified, it frustrated him to no end. The man had to be a whore, but he was acting like a Christian saint, a bloody virgin! What kind of sane virgin willingly accepted strange company...and then climbed in bed with their host?! He remembered the other’s words from the beginning. Lonely? Pah.

He growled, catching a trembling lip between his teeth and sucking it into his mouth greedily. He received a needy moan in response, but it did nothing to lessen the man’s apparent terror. Luke literally shook in his hold and he almost cursed. "What’s the matter with you?" He hissed it lowly, and Luke’s eyes shot open, wide and only more startled.

"W-what are you doing to me?"

David snorted. "If you wanted to play the innocent act...you shouldn’t have climbed into bed with me."

Luke stared, wide eyed. "I...but I told you, I was-"

"Lonely?" The other man finished for him and the smaller felt a stem of fear at the sudden coldness in the tone. "Yeah." David scoffed and shook his head. "Let’s solve that problem, shall we?" Silver eyes widened abruptly, suddenly terrified as a tight hold tossed him easily onto the bed. Before he could object, the larger man lay atop him, pinning him back to the sheets, and his heart raced in panic. "Who paid for you, hm? Did Nick pay for you? Trying to prove some sick point of his? I bet it’ll really burst his bubble to find out that his little trick saved my life."

"N-no...Nick is...cruel...I’d never-"

"So you do know him?" A hand slid up his leg and Luke caught his lip, shutting his eyes and shaking his head with a choppy whimper.

"N-no...I-...oh...s-stop...I don’t want-"

"Too late."

The smaller figure trembled like a leaf, shaking uncontrollably as the hand continued its way up, lifting the protective white cloth with it and gathering it up to his knee, his thighs. Slender fingers gripped at the sheets and he rolled slightly, trying in anyway he could to retreat from the touch. "No! P-please stop...I didn’t...this is sin!"

For a moment, the man paused, breath ragged and heart racing as his gaze traveled over the tiny, panicked form beneath him. Luke’s chest rose and fell rapidly, his peachy cheeks now a heavy shade of pink and his shaky breath coming in tiny gasps, but what sent David to pause was none of this, his eyes. Instead of glimmering with the silver innocence they held not so long ago, they now wavered, wide in panic, and instead of reflecting a calm, hopeful peace, they reflected his lust, frustration, and anger. It sent a stab of guilt to his heart and he knew, against all sense, that this man was no whore, and meant no evil to him. He backed off.

"Sin." He snorted, leaning back and freeing the smaller man from his pin. Looking over the flushed figure before him, spread out on his bed, long, slender legs pale and exposed with the white cloth of his robes gathered almost to his hips, dangerously close to showing something very private, it took almost more will than he could manage not to forget every one of his reservations and simply have his way, but when he met those silver eyes again, his heart leapt, and he knew he’d never do a thing. The gratitude, the fading fear and overwhelmingly the...love? It startled him to see it, confused him, and he quickly looked away.

"Like you would know anything of the word..." He shook his head and lifted his eyes to the confused innocence once again. "You really are an angel." Quickly, before he changed his mind, he slipped off the bed, searched for pants, a shirt, anything. The whole while, as he raided his closet, he felt the man’s eyes on him, clear, contemplative. Then that soft, breathy voice spoke again, and it startled him with the calm tone.

"Not anymore...for I’ve sinned beyond the ability to repent. God’s gate’s no longer open to me. I’ll never return."

Clear blue snapped back in disbelief, and yet, gazing upon the glimmering white figure, still spread on his bed, golden streams of light recreating his so recently lost halo, David could do nothing but wonder. It was so easy to see it; a fallen angel. So, instead of questioning the man’s sanity, he spoke quietly.

"What sin? God should rejoice at having you in his sights..."

The angel quickly shook his head, lowering his gaze, but his light blush didn’t escape David’s notice. "No...Lucifer will rejoice in my fall...and shall upon the instant of my death curse my eternity to the flames of hell’s fire. As I have sinned, so I shall pay."

David frowned, suddenly more than worried at the man’s obvious grief. Slipping on pants, he grabbed a shirt and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "I still don’t understand...what was your great sin?" Before even considering it, his hand reached out, almost by instinct, brushing back at a shielding strand of silver and silver snapped up instantly on contact. David thought he might drown in their depths, the sadness, longing, and guilt there so great, he felt helpless to quell it.

"I fell in love with a human."

To be continued in Part Three: Lessons on Mistletoe...

A/N: I don't know the song in here (the one Luke sings), but I didn't make it up and I don't claim rights to it. I picked it for it's lyrics...no idea what the tune is. ^^; (If you know the song and it doesn't fit...tell me?)