Curtains Close; Take a bow. I think we fooled all of them now.

Danny's POV

The room was shadowed by the lamp in the corner opposite me. Outside I could see the trees shaking behind the moon light, and the smell of Rain's perfume hung deadly in the air. Hanley was letting out tiny whimpers under the sound of Oli's hushes. My feet rubbed against the carpet in denial, and I starred at the wall in front of me blankly, tracing the images that were painted on it by objects behind me blocking the light.

She laid there, glass in her hand, watching me. She didn't speak. She just watched my blank expression and waited. She occasionally took tiny sips from the glass, but never took her eyes from me.

I could hear Anthony walking down the hallway towards us, his feet pattering against the cold dark wood floor. He stepped inside the room, and stayed in silence. Rain gave him a harsh look, and he moved on to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass whiskey and then leading himself back to the bedroom. I watched him, admiring his gentle, slow strides.

"It's not something you should feel guilty about." Rain said, sitting up from her reclined position to face me. "Love is an unconscious thing. You don't get to choose. It just happens."

I sighed. "Thanks. It's not that though. I just don't think me and him are going to work out now. Without the drugs and the parties. It will be different." I lifted myself up from the floor and put my hand into my pocket, retrieving my packet of Marlboro cigarettes and my lighter from my pocket.

Opening the door out onto the front steps, a gentle chilly breeze followed, causing me to lift my jacket across my torso for more coverage. I slipped the cigerette out of the packet and held it between my two fingers. I fiddled with it for a bit, before lighting it and taking a deep toke from it.

"They are bad for you." She whispered, slipping out from behind the glass door.

"Like I care..." I whispered, in vain.

Rain sat down on the steps and starred out onto the empty grass in front of us. She tapped the ground, beckoning for me to sit also. I held tightly onto the banister and lowered myself onto the concrete, white paint peeling of into my hand as I did so.

Rain didn't look at me now. She looked ahead of us. Out onto the grass. "Look how empty it looks." She whispered.

"Empty?" I said, starring at it too now. "Not empty. Just solitude. Spacious."

"You know, when Hanley grows up a little more, he's going to ride his bike around here. And build swings and play football. And he's going to wreck that grass as he does it."

"He's going to wreck it for the better though..." I added. I realized what she was trying to put forward to me. It was a beautiful way of putting it.

"It looks lonely now, but later on..." She paused and brought her eyes back to me. "Later on, it's going to look loved again. It's going to look like it is being put to good use. You know?"

I nodded, and bought the cigarette to my lips, filling my lungs with smoke. I held it for a few seconds and thought. Anthony was my lover. He had come all this way for me. He really loved me for me. Not for all the parties. And without him, what would I be? I would be so empty...

"Thanks, Rain." I whispered, getting up and leaving her out on the steps in the dark. I opened the glass door, and peered inside the quiet room. Stepping inside, I laid my packet of cigerettes and lighter on the table near the door. I continued to walk to my bedroom, hands shaking and heart throbbing. I knew what I had to say to Anthony. I placed my hand on the icy cold door knob and felt it wobble underneath my shaky palms.

"Daniel?"

Notes