VII

There was one final lesson that Alex had to learn, Kyle knew, watching the elder man sleep. He'd been fighting ever since meeting this kindred soul in the hopes of creating a masterpiece, something that would be remembered in the minds of men even when he the teacher, the creator, was long gone. Kyle reached over to touch Alex's face, admiring the man who had been his companion, his lover for this short while. Even if he didn't know the blonde's name, Kyle felt fulfilled in a way that only artists and musicians could understand. As the sun rose behind the curtains, Kyle watched Alex stir and knew without knowing today would be the day. Maybe not now, an hour from now, or even this afternoon, but today was the day.

So as Alex woke, Kyle rolled atop him for one, final ride – something a still-slightly asleep Alex greatly appreciated – and simply lay there after both had reached climax.

He didn't fight when he was pushed off, allowing for Alex to go about his morning routine. Kyle didn't argue when he was shoved under the warm spray. Didn't bother to resist when he was given new clothes (and his scarf) to dress in. Kyle didn't say a word until they were on the street, about to go their separate ways for the final time.

Then he called to Alex, "Do you remember what you promised me?"

Alex turned slightly to slash a glance at him, said nothing. Then he disappeared just as a slight dusting of snow began to fall. Kyle only smiled.

The young urchin wiled away the hours picking up cans and bottles, taking them to exchange them for coin. It would be an early present, but Kyle knew Alex would appreciate it anyway. With his gift tucked against his chest, Kyle all but ran back to the apartment. He knew he couldn't get in, but he could wedge his gift beneath the door far enough that thieves couldn't get at it.

That done, Kyle skipped down to his alleyway, pulled his coat and scarf tighter around him and settled in to wait.

Darkness began to fall and with it the temperature, but Kyle didn't move. He'd settled down with his back to the alley and most of him visible on the sidewalk, eyes upturned to the heavens he couldn't see.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

Kyle's lips moved but he was no longer concentrating on sound, simply singing what he couldn't hear-

That saved a wretch like me

- because he couldn't hear. His toes and fingers had gone numb hours before and somewhere in his subconscious he knew-

I once was lost, but now am found

- he was shivering. People walked by, not hearing him, not seeing him, but it was too late anyway. The lesson had begun without the student's audience and –

Was blind, but now I see

- would be finished the same way. Kyle felt warmth, just the beginnings of warmth in his extremities and closed his already closed eyes.

Amazing Grace – sweet the – that saved a– like me. – once was lost – now am -. Was blind, - now I –

Alex simply stared at the clock, watching all the extra minutes tick by. He'd been forced to stay late because some bastard had called out, leaving a mountain of work to be done. And, for someone reason, Alex had been volunteered to finish the damn ingrate's work for him while he, more than likely, was outbanging some biddy.

So, whether the bastard's work-pile was finished or not (which a good portion of it wasn't) Alex was leaving, because there was a niggling feeling in his gut about something. The clock ticked out a staccato rhythm, and rang exactly at midnight, the hour of the angels. Alex was out of his desk and out into the street in record time, pausing only to pull on his heavy coat against the freezing bit of the cold.

As he walked, he became aware of a crowd around his and Kyle's alley, and figured some pissant had gotten the shit beat out of him. He'd been about to continue on when he heard a woman whisper to her friend.

"Poor child. He was so young too, shouldn't have been on the streets."

Enticed by his own curiosity, Alex stepped through the ever-growing crowd, aware many were calling for an ambulance, though a hearse would have been more appropriate. Alex froze for a split second before moving to kneel before his angel. If it weren't for the blue lips and the ice on the ashen lashes, Kyle could have simply been sleeping.

But Alex knew.

Do you remember what you promised me?

It sounded so much like a farewell. It had been, Alex realized, for the heavens had called his angel back home. Alex understood, profoundly understood, the lessons he had been given in the past months.

His angel had taught him how to be a predator. He had taught him how to be a lover even if the sentiment was false. He had taught Alex how to turn off his brain and just, simply, feel.

His angel had created his masterpiece.

Alex unwound Kyle's royal purple scarf with a reverence no one in the crowd would understand. They simply saw a cruel man stealing a scarf from a dead boy, not a student accepting a mantle from his teacher, accepting that he was no longer an apprentice, but now a master himself.

Alex was gone by the time ambulance had come to take his angel's empty shell away. Alex simply stood before his window, clad only in that royal purple scarf as a soft piano played in the distant background, the serenity broken by a thunder roll ofdrums and strings that only made the piano appreciated just as much as the crashing cymbals.

Against the music came a voice, low as if to whisper a promise to the unforgiving dark of the world outside the window. In counter of the music, Alex sang one last dirge to his fallen master, a way to tell his angel that he remembered.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

Do you remember what you promised me?

That saved a wretch like me

To listen to music again.

I once was lost, but now am found

To name my firstborn after you.

Was blind

To never, ever, forget you.

But now, I see.

*Amazing Grace – hymn – byJohn Newton