May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight

"Thanks for letting me come over," I said as I walked through Kellin's front door.

"No problem, dude," he replied casually. Yesterday at school he had invited me and Ronnie over to hang out this afternoon. It seemed like after Jaime died and I comforted him in his room, he started opening up to me more. And by that I just mean he didn't give me the cold shoulder at school anymore. But inviting me over to his house must show some kind of trust, right? Even if I was already kind of secretly living here, but he didn't have to know that.

"Is Ronnie here?" I asked as we walked down the small hallway to the kitchen and living room area.

"No, he bailed. It's just you and me," he said. I noted a hint of annoyance in his voice, but at least he wasn't kicking me out. He must want to hang out with me a little bit, if not just so he wouldn't be alone. We were about to keep walking towards the stairs when his mother stopped us. Both of his parents were standing in the kitchen behind the counter.

"Oh, Kellin, your friend's here. Who's this?" she asked.

"This is Vic. I met him a few weeks ago at school," Kellin introduced me. I smiled at his parents and they both returned the gesture.

"Well hello Vic, it's so nice to meet you. I made both of you some snacks to eat. You can come sit down if you'd like," his mother offered. I saw a plate sitting on the counter in front of her with different assorted snack foods on it.

"We can just take them up to my room," Kellin said. His parents exchanged a glance before looking back at the two of us.

"Alright, but let me make one thing clear. You will keep the doors open at all times and your hands stay to yourselves. I won't have anything inappropriate going on in this house, got it?" his mother said sternly. My eyes went wide and I looked at Kellin, whose face had turned bright red.

"Um, Mom no - w-we're not - no," he stuttered.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Just take your snacks. And be careful not to spill anything! I jut had these carpets cleaned," she said as she handed her son the plate. We both scurried off towards the stairs. When we reached his room he set the plate down on his dresser and sighed.

"I'm sorry about her. She's so embarrassing," he said as he ran a pale hand through his hair.

"No, it's fine," I reassured him. We both stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before I asked a question that had been burning in my mind for the past few minutes.

"So, are you gay?"

I immediately regretted letting the words pass between my lips. Kellin glanced up at me nervously before narrowing his gaze and trying to put on a stern face.

"Yeah, you got a problem with it?" he accused.

"No, no! I just - I was just asking," I stumbled over my words. Kellin eyed me up and it was easy to see how vulnerable he was behind his tough demeanor.

"You better not be lying because I don't have time for judgmental assholes, so if you're one of them you can just leave," Kellin said through gritted teeth.

"No I promise, I'm completely fine with it. I'm not exactly completely straight either, so it would be kind of douchey of me to judge you for it," I said with an awkward smile. Kellin's eyes widened.

"Wait, you're not straight?" he questioned. I shrugged.

"I mean, I've never really done anything with anyone before so I don't want to label myself, but I don't think I'm straight. I've only kissed one person and it was a guy, so . . . " I trailed off. I wouldn't tell him that the one guy I kissed was Jaime just before I killed him. Kellin's shoulders, which had been tensed up since we got into his room, noticeably relaxed and he let out a relieved huff although I don't think he wanted me to notice.

We stood there awkwardly for a few more seconds before Kellin cleared his throat.

"Let's play video games," he suggested. I nodded and went to sit on one of the beanbag chairs sitting on the floor while he turned the TV and Xbox on. I was kind of nervous since I had never played a video game before, but hopefully I wouldn't suck too much.

-------------------

"Dude, you suck! Are you even trying?" Kellin exclaimed. He was right, I did suck. We were playing some game called Call of Duty where you're at war or something and you have to kill your opponents. Kellin and I were on opposing teams, and every time we crossed paths I would be dead in an instant.

"I am too trying! I've never played this game before!" I defended myself. He laughed and shook his head as he shot me again. The game ended and Kellin's team had won. Surprise surprise.

"I'm bored. I want to go somewhere," Kellin said randomly and turned off the game. I frowned and watched as he walked over to his door where his hoodie was hanging up. he quickly put it on then walked past me to the other side of the room.

"Come on, let's go," he said as he reached his window.

"Go where?" I asked and reluctantly stood up from my spot on the bean bag chair.

"Don't ask questions, just come on," he snapped. I rolled my eyes. I didn't appreciate his bitchy tone.

"You know, since I'm the guest I feel like I should have a say in this," I said as I walked over to him. Now it was Kellin's turn to roll his eyes.

"And since I'm the one who actually lives here, I feel like you shouldn't," he retorted. He turned his back to me and pushed the window open. He easily pulled out the screen over the window, as it wasn't sitting there properly beforehand. It realized that this probably wasn't his first time doing this.

"Mr. Quinn, do your parents know that you've been sneaking out your window?" I asked with humor lacing my voice. I didn't have a problem with it. I am a demon after all; sin is kind of in the job description. I just didn't know what exactly this kid could get away with.

"Nope. And I'd like to keep it that way, so don't make a scene. Now follow me," he replied. There was a large tree just outside his window, and he swiftly crawled out the small space and onto the roof where he was able to grab a hold of one of the branches and attach himself to the tree. It was kind of entrancing watching him as he maneuvered his slender body through all the branches. He was definitely athletic. When he was a few feet down he looked up at me still standing in his room.

"Are you coming or are you just gonna stand there all afternoon?"

I quickly snapped out of whatever daze I had been in and followed suit outside and down the tree. His house was gigantic, and although it was two stories, the high ceilings made it the height of a three-story building. Kellin reached the bottom first, having to jump down about seven feet because of the lack of branches near the ground. He landed on his feet with a thud and looked up at me. I was still about halfway down the tree. I had never climbed anything before, so I was a little out of my element.

"Hurry up, Vic!" Kellin called impatiently. I sighed and rolled my eyes, trying to increase the speed of my descent. When I got to the last few branches I prepared myself to jump, but at the last second, my foot caught on a branch and I found myself falling down face first. I was so stunned that I didn't make any sounds other than a terrified yelp just before I hit the ground. Luckily though, I had something under me to break my fall. Or someone.

"Oh God - fuck, Vic!" Kellin groaned after I landed on top of him. The wind was knocked from both of our lungs, and we both panted desperately as we tried to regain our breath. My head was laying on his chest and I could feel the fast pumping of his heart that beat through his body. I grunted in pain and rolled off of him, bringing my right leg up to my chest. Pain was flooding through it enough to know that it wasn't broken but I would have a hell of a time trying to walk on it. Kellin sat up and stared down at me.

"Are you alright?" he asked. I took a deep breath and nodded, hoping to be able to walk it off.

"Come on, you klutz," he said as he stood. I half expected him to walk off and not wait for me to catch up, but to my surprise he extended a hand to help me up. I gratefully took it and let him help me to my feet.

"I'm not going to have to carry you am I?" he asked. I chuckled, still out of breath.

"No but you might have to slow the pace a little bit," I replied. He just smirked.

"I can manage that. Let's go before my parents notice we're missing," he said.

He led me out of his large backyard and into a private wooded area. The October leaves were starting to change colors; reds and oranges and yellows painted all around us. I couldn't help but admire our surroundings. I had never seen anything like this! I decided that fall was definitely my favorite season, even though I had never seen any of the others. Everything was just so beautiful, and the weather was chilly, but not extremely cold. I wasn't used to the cold, and I found that I quite liked it.

After about ten minutes of walking - or limping on my part - we finally arrived at a cliff that probably made about a 100 foot drop. It was overlooking a bigger part of the forest that seemed to be a sea of reds and golds beneath us.

"We're here," Kellin announced. He walked closer to the ledge and sat down on it, motioning for me to join him. I slowly made my way over to the cliff and sat down, careful not to fall.

"Wow. This place is beautiful," I said breathlessly.

"Yeah it is," he replied. We sat in silence for a while, just taking in the sights around us. I finally decided to make small talk just so that Kellin wouldn't get bored of my company. I didn't know why I felt the need to impress him. I was just going to end up killing him anyway, but I guess it just fueled my fascination with him.

"So you seem to be pretty popular at school," I said.

"Yeah, I guess. It was mostly Jaime though. That kid could start up a conversation with anyone and find at least one thing in common," he said with a sad smile. I suddenly felt bad. I hadn't meant to bring Jaime up, and my guilt was at an all time high. I still couldn't get over the fact that I had killed someone, and I couldn't figure out why. I pushed the thoughts back from my mind and glanced at Kellin, who seemed lost deep in thought. Before I looked away a gleam of gold on his neck caught my eye.

"What's around your neck?" I asked. Kellin looked down to see what I was talking about.

"Oh, this?" He pulled out a tiny chain from where it rested under the neckline of his shirt. A small cross dangled from it, and Kellin just admired it. "My parents got it for me when I was little. I always wear it. I kind of forget I have it on sometimes."

"So are you, like, religious?" I asked cautiously. He shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah. I've just always been fascinated with it. I mean, I know that I'm kind of a shit person sometimes, but it's comforting, I guess," he replied.

"Even though you're gay and some people in your religion aren't accepting?" I asked. I hoped that I wasn't crossing some kind of line with him by bringing that up.

"I kind of just figure that God made me who I am for a reason, you know?"

I nodded and nothing more was said on the topic. Of course since I was a demon and lived in Hell I knew that God was out there, but I didn't really know much about Him. That knowledge was for the higher level demons. On another note, I was surprised that Kellin was being so open with me. Just a while ago I thought that I had been annoying him by simply being in his presence. I sighed in contentment and stared off into the distance.

"How did you know about this place?" I asked.

"One day a few years ago I was really upset and ran out of the house. I just kept running until I got here. It's kind of a safe place for me. If I ever have a really shitty day I come out here and just think. It calms me down a lot," he answered. Wow. I was surprised that he even let me come out here. It must be really important to him.

"Thank you for showing it to me," I said quietly. He shrugged.

"I don't usually let people come out here," he said.

"Then why did you bring me?" I asked curiously. Kellin was silent for a few moments before he answered.

"I don't know. I just wanted you to see it."

I accepted his answer and we continued to stare off into the distance for what seemed like hours.