[MythicDusk]

It took him a second to wake up. The bed was cold around him. His dreams felt muggy and distant. He swore he could hear the shower running. That's why the bed was cold. They always took so long in the shower. He let himself smile at the thought, his heavy heart lifting from his spine as he threw an arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight.

His own sigh is what broke the silence of reality. When silence fell back over he realised there was no sound of shower. The bed had been so cold all night. That there was the remnants of a lonely night by himself. He felt another sob crawl its way up his sore throat. Of course. They weren't there anymore.

They didn't love him anymore.

[MythicDusk]

Virt had been worried about Hiraeth all night. It was only natural that he turned up on his friend's doorstep with a pan full of lasagna and a crate of beers. Hopefully Hiraeth wouldn't ask questions like 'how did you get alcohol when you're underage' and 'why are you eating that entire pan of lasagna'.

Silly questions really.

When Hiraeth opened the door, Virtus realised how much he wanted him to ask those questions.

It had been roughly 24 hours but Hiraeth looked like he had been through hell and back. He looked worn down, dead behind the eyes. He looked like he had seen a lifetime of horrors and more.

Well, the person that he had been dating for 14 years had just broken up with him.

Virtus supposed it was pretty fair that he looked like death warmed up.

"Hey man, Jones said you shouldn't be alone. I agree with him wholeheartedly. Don't ask about the beer. Lasagna for breakfast?"

[MythicDusk]

Hiraeth qiped at his reddened eyes with the back of his arm. "I'm not gonna let you drink this early you know." He grumbled. Virtus always seemed to forget he was actually of drinking age. It was a nice gesture anyway. He stepped to aside, letting Virtus step through the door.

He needed a shower. To get dressed. To actually even attempt to be vaguely human today. In all honesty, all he wanted to do was just lay in bed and cry himself back to sleep. To just curl up and ignore the world. To try and sleep off some of the weight on his soul.

[MythicDusk]

Virtus stepped in, throwing a glance to the other man with a frown. He had never heard Hiraeth sound this soul-deep sad. "Hey man, I know it hurts." He paused in what he was saying, knitting his brows together, chewing on his bottom lip before he spoke again.

"I know it hurts. It must hurt. Must feel like something got torn outta ya. But you've got to keep your chin up, yeah?"

He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about the other man as he carefully placed down the beer and lasagna. Maybe the alcohol was a bad idea.

[MythicDusk]

Hiraeth grit his teeth at Virtus' words. They were caring, loving even. Careful and gentle. Words to soothe his soul and help him in those first few steps.

Right now he wasn't even ready to take those steps. He wasn't even ready to stand up.

The person he loved, the person he wanted to marry, had just broken up with him.

Oh gods, and the ring was still in his coat pocket.

He let out a slow sigh. He didn't want to get mad at Virtus. He was just meaning well. He had never had something like what they had. Like what he had, he supposed.

"It's not that easy, Virt." He stated simply, carefully lowering himself down on their- his couch. Everything was his now. They didn't want any of it.

[MythicDusk]

Virt winced at Hiraeth's immediate reaction. He just wanted to help. He didn't know how, but he knew he wanted to do it.

"So explain it to me, man. Talk to me."

He threw himself down on the couch besides Hiraeth, crossing one leg over the other, his eyebrows raised and a frown pulling at his lips.

"I wanna help. Any way I can, I wanna help." Hiraeth had been one of the first people he had told about his new identity. Who he had told about how he wanted to live, about who he wanted to be. Hiraeth supported him through it all. He didn't want to leave his friend in pain like this, not when there was something he could do about it.

[MythicDusk]

Hiraeth felt anger bubble up in him. He wanted to scream, to let out all of the dire hurt in his chest. To scream until the boulders on his shoulders shattered. He felt his lips pull back from his teeth as tears began to push through his already reddened and sore eyes.

"You can't help, Virt. You can't help anything. They don't love me. That's all it is."

He sucked in a breath between his teeth, tilting his head back, his fingers knotted together as he let his shoulders shake with sobs. "There's nothing to help. I'm just. I'm just gonna be sad, man."

[MythicDusk]

That was the angriest he had ever seen him, Virtus realised. Maybe him being here wasn't the best idea. Maybe he was making it worse. But he also knew how long they had been together. He knew that the entirety of Hiraeth's life revolved around them. They were intertwined, roots and stems tied together, and now Hiraeth was left alone.

Virtus reached over and gently placed a hand on Hiraeth's back.

Half of the friend group had already said they never wanted to see Hiraeth again.

"You can be sad for as long as you like, man. You can cry as much as you need to, be as numb as you want to be. Just make sure to come back out of it yeah?"

He gave what he thought may be a comforting smile, his lips quirking awkwardly. Virtus had never been much good at this whole comforting thing. "I'll be here for as long as you want me to be here, man."