A late night, breaching on the end of fall in a land where snow was rare to fall. A rooftop like any other towered in the skyline, a shadow caressing a flat of cold stone as the clouds thundered in the distance. He had watched it come closer, watched the lightening streak ever longer across the inky blackness. He longed for the rain in a way he'd never felt before, pulling at his heart like a frozen thread of lost emotion.

The streets were quiet, save for the few late-night walkers on the walk far below. He closed his eyes, the breeze playing with the long tails of his jacket that hung low around his boots. He brushed an errant strand of hair back behind his ear slowly, feeling the texture as it feel from between his fingers. Every night it would grow back, be the way it was the night it all had happened.

He dropped his hands back to the stone, sighing deeply as the city lights reflected off the low hanging clouds. They almost glowed in the dark, a shimmering gray light towering above and as far as the eye could see. He missed these times, missed them dearly as it took everything he had to even keep what he had left together and in working order.

"We had rehearsal...Where were you?"

"We had a sound check...Where were you?"

"You were supposed to do an interview...Where were you?"

The answers were always the same as long as the sun was shining. He'd suddenly just started disappearing during daylight hours, hiding so well that no one could ever find him, but that's the way he had meant it to be. Of coarse, he still did the shows, but they were always pushed back. He was detached from the rest of the band and everyone saw it, if they weren't experiencing it full on. He was alone once more, just like he had been before.

A roll of thunder clapped right over his head, making him look up slightly again. He had been scared of the dark, scared of the storms, scared of the idea that death could have swept down on him at any moment and taken him...

"Consenting to live in this life is consenting to die in the same terms. You can't expect to walk this road without thinking that you aren't going to fail. Everyone always loses in the game of life..."

The rain began to fall lightly from the heavens, soaking his already stringy hair. The liquid splashed into his crystal eyes, brimming them in fake tears. He felt happiness in this moment, more so than he had in a long while. He stepped away from the edge, holding out his arms to the fresh water. Shrugging off his jacket, he stood in his sleeveless shirt, letting the drops lightly pelt his ivory skin, watching it bead and slowly roll off. He became entranced, watching more intently as the rain began to fall faster, harder, soaking his clothing.

A small part of him wanted to strip off everything, lay on the roof and simply feel, but his better sense warned him against such things, as everyone else was staying at the same hotel, only a few floors below. Most of them would be safely sleeping, unaware of the world, the growing storm around them, knocking at their windows softly. They would be lost in dreams of better places, warm beaches and tropical sand that he would never be able to enjoy again.

He pulled off his shirt, laying it down on his jacket before walking around in circles. It dribbled down his back, streamed off his hair and down into his face. It wouldn't have mattered what temperature it was, everything was always warm when compared to his skin. He leapt onto the ledge, yelling to the skies. If no one else would listen, would understand, he would tell the world anyway. There was only one who he wanted to be there, but he knew that would never be again.

It had been a crossroads, a situation where one door was shutting against his will, another opening, and someone standing in a window and waving goodbye. The figure he saw in that window could have been a demon in the guise of angels, but it wouldn't have mattered in the least. The last parting gift between them was one that could never be taken way, could never be given back, could never have been gotten rid of. No, the gift couldn't, but the people involved could fade into the black never to be seen again.

The younger man had been everything, his career, his life. They had been brothers in a way, and that feeling would be permanent for the rest of time, or until they decided otherwise. Half a world away, they still knew what was going on with the other, and that fact never changed.

"It's forever, no backing out, no turning back, and no more saying never. This is the time, right here, right now, and it's time to grasp what we can before it leaves us cold. Who wants this when they have a chance at living forever? Huh? Would you give up that chance?"

He remembered those emeralds, limber frame that changed before his eyes, right before his did as well. It had been a darkening experience, an awakening experience, a life changing experience. They both walked in, head long into a destiny they couldn't change, the thought of never having to worry about what was lurking.

The downpour eased up, turning into a slow dribble that eventually faded into nothing more than mists around his booted feet. He glanced longingly back to the skies, wishing for more that wouldn't come that night. Picking up his discarded clothing, he reached for the stairs of the fire escape and climbed down and back into his room.

Throwing his wet clothing into the shower, he stripped down and toweled off for bed, wandering back to close the curtains before he went into hiding. He came through the doorway, jumping suddenly as a figure moved to loom before him.

"Out enjoying the storm I see...I always knew you'd love the rain, Darren..."

"Dan?"