Chain

Dylan was quiet for a long time after Charlie brought him the old master. So, so quiet. He barely said anything. It threw Charlie off guard. He normally had something to say. But now all he did was pass the souls she brought him. He didn't say anything else. Not even hello. It was troubling, to say the least. And the worst part of it was that she was so aware of him now.

Charlie let out a sigh. Is this how he felt during my six month long silence? she asked herself, looking over at him sadly. Did I put him through this kind of hell?

She sat down in the seat next to him. "Rei... Er, I mean, Dylan? Are you- are you okay?" She sighed. "Who am I kidding? Obviously you're not alright. Still, I wish you'd at least talk to me about it," she mumbled, more talking to herself than him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, surprising her. She looked up at him, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I'm really sorry."

"W-why?" Charlie stuttered.

He looked at her, meeting her eyes. "For making you deal with me like this. It sucks, right?"

Charlie gaped at him a moment, shocked. "You're worried about how this hurts me? Are you an idiot? Dylan! I'm worried about you! It makes me nervous, how quiet you've been! I care about you Dylan. I don't know how, or why, or when it happened. I'm like you in that department. But it happened, and I care. I can't stand seeing you so upset. I just want you to be okay. I miss your voice."

Dylan chuckled. It held more than a hint of the sadness he was feeling, but it was a chuckle, and it set Charlie's worried heart at ease, if only a little bit. "We're a strange pair, aren't we Charlie? I mean, I'm this insane man who collects souls and forces them to kill people so I can collect even more souls, and you are one of those soul collectors, and yet we care about each other."

Charlie giggled a little bit. "Yeah, we're a strange pair. Without a doubt."

Dylan sighed, letting his head droop so that he was staring at his palms. His posture showed just how much sadness and pain he was actually feeling. "It's just.... He raised me, Charlie. I mean, for all intents and purposes, that man was my father. And sure, there were times he gave me hell, but in my own twisted way I loved him. Is that so wrong?"

Charlie looked at his dejected posture and felt a pull in her heart. She slipped off her seat so that she was kneeling in front of him and put her hands on either side of his face. She lifted so that he was looking at her instead of his palms. "No, Dylan, no. It's not wrong. It's normal. The old master did raise you and, like you said, he was your father, for all intents and purposes. Everywhere there are kids whose parents drag them through hell and back, and most of those kids love them, despite it all. So who's to say that you can't love the man who was, in the end, the closest thing you had to a father for the majority of your life? The sadness, the hurt you feel right now, it's normal. Didn't you feel similar when you lost your real parents?"

He looked at her, wide-eyed. And then his face crumpled and he tried to turn away. "Dylan, cry if you want to. You just lost someone important to you. It's okay to cry."

"It's just..." Dylan began to protest, his voice hoarse with the tears he was suppressing. "The old man he... He didn't like tears."

Charlie gave a small, sad chuckle, then slid her hands around his face softly until they rested at the nape of his neck. She took her butt off her heals so she was closer to him and then pulled his head into her shoulder. "Then I'll hide them for you. Just cry, Dylan. Don't worry about who will see, and just cry. You'll feel better if you do."

He didn't at first, he just breathed against her neck. And then his body began to shake, and a sob escaped his lips. And then he cried. He cried like a child, for all he was a twenty year old man. It was messy, all snot and tears and choked sobs. His hot tears soaked into Charlie's shirt, though she didn't mind. She got off her knees and sat on the arm of his chair, still hugging his head to her shoulder. "There," she whispered. "There. You needed this, right?" She rocked him gently back and forth.

Charlie didn't know how long it took for his sobs to calm, and then stop altogether, but eventually they did. The tears became silent, and then they, too, stopped. He rested there on her shoulder a moment, before finally pulling away. He turned away from her, embarrassed, but Charlie reached out with one hand and gently turned him back to face her. She wiped the last of his tears away with her thumb and gave him a tissue to clean his nose. "Better?"

He searched her eyes with his. They were red and puffy and contained not a trace of the coldness they once held. He rubbed his eyes with the heal of his palm. "Actually, yeah."

Charlie smiled gently. "I told you. Sometimes you just need to cry. Even a man can cry sometimes. Don't let anyone tell you different. And Dylan, you don't have to hide your tears from me. Ever."

"Ever?"

She chuckled a bit. "Ever. Promise me."

He furrowed his brows, looking at the strange girl the email had brought him. Somehow, he didn't want to ever let her go. " I promise."