DEMOLITION LOVERS

Save Yourself I'll Hold Them Back

Ghoul was up before the sun came out.

Sticky with sweat, his head resting on Party Poison's back, and a hand in his underwear. He wouldn't change this for anything. And he could stay here for the rest of his life, but right now, he needed a cigarette.

They'd been going to bed really late for the past week or so, figuring out the last details of "The Plan," getting everything they needed. Apparently there had been more and more reports about dracs and Scarecrows in the area, and they feared they were looking for them. So they had to speed up and do something soon. So all the late nights and the stress were taking a toll on them, and Ghoul just needed to breathe or he'd crash. He got up from the mattress, and looked in all the pockets of every pair of jeans he found on the floor until he found a cigarette and a lighter. Then, walked out the diner, wearing only his boxers.

He noticed the sunrise far in the distance, giving the sky a violent tint that almost made Ghoul forget It was poisonous.

But that was the beauty of life, wasn't it? Finding the beauty amongst all the shit. Because despite how this horrible world insisted on breaking him, and showing him the worst of it, he'd managed to find a family, the love of his life. He loved and was loved, he was still making art and laughing and fighting.

And maybe a few years ago, he would have given up. He would have let one of his clients kill him or he'd do the job himself. Back then, he thought there was no way out, that he'd never be happy. And despite the odds, he made it.

So he has to keep fighting so Grace can do the same.

'What are you doing here?' a sleepy Party mumbled behind him. Ghoul turned around and found him, wearing a tank top and his short shorts, looking fucking beautiful. 'I thought you were taking a piss but you took a long time and I had to come and look for you.'

'I'm okay,' Ghoul said, holding out a hand to Party. 'Just went out for a smoke.'

'You got another one?' Ghoul shook his head and gave him the last of his, putting it between his lips himself. 'What are you thinking about, hot stuff?'

'Everything. How this is about to change. The sunrise. Beautiful things, life. You know.'

Party smiled at him. 'You think a lot, sometimes.'

'I know.'

'But that's one of the things I love about you.'

'You love the fact that I'm an anxious wreck?'

Party nodded. 'I love everything about you, so yeah.' He paused to press a kiss to his lips. 'Still, I don't want you to be worried all the time. That's what I'm here for. You can talk to me, and we can share your fears so it feels less.' How did he always manage to make things better? 'We're husbands, remember?'

'I do.' Ghoul took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It wasn't easy to just tell him everything going on in his mind. 'I just – I don't want to die.'

'You're not going to, okay?' Ghoul couldn't hold it any longer, and started sobbing. Party took him in his arms and comforted him. 'I'm not losing you again. And we're going to get out of this one alive.' Ghoul cried in his shoulder for the longest time, just letting it all out. 'Then, we're getting as far away from here as possible. Okay?'

'Okay.'

***

'The gang's all here!' Dr. Death welcomed them back in the hideout.

This time, they weren't the only ones, though. Everyone was there. Cherri Cola, Pony and Maddie. Car Crash, Sol Naciente and their crew. Toxic Angel, and some other people they didn't know. 'Here they are, the Fabulous Killjoys!'