The night was warm and damp. It had been this way for the entire month, though there were worse places to be, and even worse things to complain about. Nothing could be as awful as where Xavier was now. He wanted to be home, he wanted to be able to lay down and rest, wanted to just forget about everything now. The trench they had been sitting in for the past few hours started to slowly pile with bodies, a horrid sight to see. Sounds of bombs broke out in the distance, planes flying overhead of the deep pit as bullets spat from guns. Xavier looked to the side of him, there his close friend Lawrence lay beside him in pain, and Xavier screamed.
-----
3:00 AM
  Lawrence bolted up from the bed, being woken up but the sound of his lovers screams and a slamming on their apartment door. He looked down at Xavier, his head covered with a blanket while he was crying. Lawrence carefully placed his hand on the others shoulder, and then proceeded to get up and answer the door, it was the neighbor again.
“Something the matter?” He calmly asked. Though he knew what was up.
  His neighbor huffed,“This is the fifth time this week that I’ve been woken by that man’s pathetic screaming!” he hissed, “If I have to deal with this again, I’m filing a complaint against both of you, you hear me?”
  “Yeah yeah I understand mister Chares. I will somehow make sure that my lover Xavier doesn’t have horrid war flashbacks and nightmares just for you.” Lawrence retorted, “You are asking for something that is not possible to do sir.” He shooed the other away and carefully shut the door. The house was dark, never having seen any real light from the outside world. Xavier preferred it dark, too afraid to see what the outside world had looked like. Lawrence always felt like he should say something, but due to the fact that his friend was already so broken, he had decided to take it slow with him.
  He slowly made his way back to the bedroom and laid down in the bed, turning over to face the other and hugging him with his arm, “There there Xavier. You are safe, we are okay.” he quietly whisperd.
  Xavier shook when he felt the other’s arm on him. His breathing rapid, his heart pounding to the point of which it felt like it could explode, he curled up against Lawrence’s chest,”I-I had one of those dreams again I-”
  “Shh.” Lawrence kissed the others head, “You are going to be okay. You go back to sleep alright?”
9:00 AM
  Xavier shifted in the bed, light very slightly peeking through the window covers, the only source of light from the outside. He slowly rubbed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Everything was quiet, the only sounds within the house were the slight ticking noises of a clock and a couple plates being shifted in the kitchen. ‘The kitchen?’ He looked to his side, not to his surprises,   Lawrence wasn’t there. He slowly sat up and moved his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his eyes once more. He didn’t want to leave the bed, but what choice did he have? There was a small chance Lawrence would come back into the room and lay with him again.
  Xavier made his way to the kitchen, the smell of eggs and burnt toast making its way through the dim lighted entrance.“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing? Aren’t I mean to be the one cooking?” He asked sleepily.
  Lawrence rolled his eyes,“I don’t pick on you for having your war nightmares, you don’t pick on my for missing an arm. I can cook as much as I want.” The freckled man taunted back,      “Besides I only burnt the toast this time. Be proud of me.”
  Xavier laughed lightly. Sure what Lawrence said wasn’t funny, but seeing the man dart around the kitchen trying to save the toast seemed pretty funny to him. He disregarded the nightmare remark. He slowly made his way through the kitchen to the coffee machine, “Is this fresh?” He tiredly asked.
  Lawrence nodded, “The creamer is in the door, unless you just want to use regular sugar, in which case its in the cabinet.” He smiled, “Where all the other food related powders are hiding.”
  Xavier nodded and poured the warm liquid into the cup, the smell of it was so pleasing, first thing Lawrence hadn't burnt all week. He quickly pulled the sugar cubes from the cabinet and went sat down at the dining table where Lawrence had just finished setting the plates. The next few minutes were silent, neither knowing what to say to the other as the quietly ate. Then Xavier looked to the door, “I…” He paused and thought about what he was to say. “I think I want to go outside.”
  Lawrence paused, dropping his fork back on his plate, “A-are you sure? I mean you haven’t been out for...god I don’t even know how long Xavier. A-and your health, I don’t want you to freak out, out there or anything. I know you fear the outside, I would too if I knew better I-”
  Xavier raised his hand and stopped the other, “I know I just...I think its about time…” He said quietly, staring down at his plate, “Maybe in two hours? That way I can take a shower.”
  Lawrence noded, “Okay.”
12:45 PM
  Xavier had completely lost track of the time in the shower. This was a lie, he knew perfectly well he was taking far too long in the shower, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn off the hot water and get out at the right time. The thought of going outside was like a stab to his back, he didn’t want to go, but at the same time he was curious of how the world now looked. It had been at least two years since the war ended, one year since he had stopped going out to see the world, and now he was scared. ‘Maybe I could cancel the plan and just...just stay in bed.’ He thought to himself. Then he thought of Lawrence’s disappointed face. He did not like this face and he knew very well Lawrence would be disappointed if he chose not to go after all. He slowly slipped his shirt on and brushed his hair back, making a small ponytail in the back. ‘Been forever since I’ve had my hair up’ he smiled a little. He liked how it looked, he didn’t seem as tired with it up.
He quickly made his way into the bedroom, grabbing a medium sized leather book bag and placing some books inside along with a sketchbook, a couple pens, and a pencil. Along with these things he placed some tissue, just in case. Lawrence made his way into the room, “You really sure you want to go out?” he asked, looking Xavier dead in his dark brown eyes.
  Xavier thought about this question. Processing every word in it before slowly nodding his head in response, “I can’t be like this forever Lawrence…” He looked down at his feet and sighed, “I can’t always live in the past...I need to know that everything...everything has changed.” Lawrence nodded. Slowly going over and taking his lover's hand, making their way to the front door. Every step was like walking on sharp ice to Xavier. The closer they got to the door, the more he wanted to stop walking and give up. While his mind told him to go back and lay in bed, his body continued to keep walking after the other. Slowly the door was open.
  Before Lawrence could react, Xavier hid his face against his chest. He looked down and smiled, carefully petting the other’s head,”We are going to be okay.” He said softly, “We will not be hurt, there is no more war...listen, can you hear the birds sing?”
Xavier looked up to Lawrence. His face was brightly lit, his smile and eyes, Xavier had never seen him shine like this before. Seen him so warm and happy. He slowly turned around, expecting to see nothing but destruction, the sight of dead bodies all around them. Instead he was graced with a warm breeze and a very calming green land. Miles of trees and bright green grass. Miles of flowers and a bright, blue sky stained with light pluffs of white clouds around it.
  Xavier could not believe his eyes. “This...this is…”
  “Beautiful?” Lawrence laughed, keeping his lover close just in case anything happened. Xavier nodded. “For being an apartment building, they sure did find a nice place to build it. The view is amazing here.”
  Xavier lightly pushed himself away from Lawrence. Taking a few steps away from the other, slow steps in the grass. “Why didn’t you tell me the world was like this sooner?” He quietly asked,    “Not that I would have been willing to come out at all...just curious.”
  “Well I didn’t want to force you outside. Didn’t seem right. You are a scared man Xavier, you have allot of fears and you can get sick pretty easy, so I take my time with you.” He walked up and patted the others shoulder, “I love you, and I want to make sure you are comfortable with everything okay?”
Xavier slowly sat down in the grass and looked up at the sky. “No more war?”
  Lawrence stayed quiet, thinking about this question for a few moment before shaking his head, “Unfortunately, there is still war happening within the world. They don’t force people into it anymore luckily.” He took a deep breath of fresh air and sat next to the other, “You can tell me when you want to go inside okay?”
  “So we never won?” Xavier pulled his notebook from his bag,       “We only assumed we won a war?”
  “Shh, don’t think into it too much. Just listen.” Lawrence closed his eyes, “The birds singing is pretty nice...they’re so clear” He whispered quietly, “Thats music of true freedom.”
Xavier wrote down every word his lover had said. He wanted to save every second of the moment.
1:20 PM
  A breeze had slowly started to pick up as half an hour passed. This breeze wouldn’t have been such  a problem if it weren’t for the sound of thunder in the distance. Xavier flinched, dropping his pencil to the grass, “Wh-what was that?” He quickly asked.
“Looks a storms happening in the mountains. You want to head back in? Its okay if you aren’t comfortable with it and want to go inside Xavier.”
  He shook his head, “I-I like it out here...I don’t want to go just yet.” he looked about, “Its nice out still.” Xavier wanted to spend as much time as possible outside. It was a year or two’s worth of time he’d missed, and he loved it to much to just leave it now. Yes the outside would be here when he went side, it wouldn’t go anywhere, but he had that gut feeling telling him that staying outside was better than going in right now, even with a storm on its way. He lay against Lawrence, ever so slightly twitching as the thunder boomed in the distance. That thunder, where had he heard that noise before? His train of thought was cut off by the sudden feeling of water upon his face. “What was-”
  Lightning broke through the the clouds and hit the ground ahead of them, Xavier jumping up in fear and running. “Xavier wait!” Lawrence attempted to grab the others leg, his hand being just out of reach as he ran. “Dammit.” Lawrence bolted up and ran after.
  Xavier made his way across the large field, making his way into the forest it lead into. His lungs hurt, breathing heavily with every step he took. Another bolt of lightning broke out, hitting a tree some distance behind him and the tree coming down with a large crash. ‘They’re back. They came back to kill me’ his mind hissed as a fire formed behind him. ‘The war was never over was it? This is all just a dream isn’t it?’ he closed his eyes and shook his head at the thought. ‘What about Lawrence? Is he but only a dream?’ Before he could think much else, Xavier slammed into a tree. He sat up against its trunk and held his knees close to his chest, covering his ears and closing his eyes as tight as he could. ‘This isn’t real. This is all fake. Everything that is happening, you are okay. The war is over, the war isn’t happening’ he repeated to himself.
  He felt a hand press firmly onto his shoulder and flinched, looking up to see what hell had grabbed him with tear filled eyes. To his surprise, it was Lawrence. “Come on dear we have to get out of here.” He whisperd. Something seemed different, but Xavier followed instruction.
  He slowly stood up from the ground and looked around, “B-but the fire...what...wh-what happened to the fire?”
“Do not worry about it love. Come now we have to go. Lets go home okay?” his voice was soft and he smiled. That trusting smile Lawrence knew always calmed Xavier. How could he be so calm in a situation like this? Lawrence took Xavier’s hand and continued to smile, carefully leading him through the fire and out of the forest. Everything about this situation did not seem right to Xavier, but he stayed calm just as Lawrence had asked. “The war is over alright love? We are okay. You will be okay. The war is not coming back for us.” He smiled again, “The war is over and we are only beginning.” Lawrence lead Xavier to an unfamiliar place, this wasn’t their home, yet it felt so homely. They made their way through the house and into what seemed to be a bedroom, Lawrence laying down with Xavier and wrapping his arms around him, “The war is over.” He repeated, “And we are safe from it.”
 
  The sound drained out as Xavier closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

-----
  “Seven - eight - nine - ten! Ready or not here I come!” a boy yelled, running through the peaceful forest he and his friend had taken as their hiding spot from the world. A girl giggled as the boy searched for her, quickly running in response as he got closer to the spot she had hidden in. She swiftly made her way up a tree, or attempted to, for she was interrupted by a loud screech coming from the boy just a little behind her. She jumped down quickly and ran to him.
  “What is it John? What happen?” She asked frantically, stopping next to her friend who had looked like he’d just seen a ghost. “John stop being so-” She stopped, slowly turning her head and freezing up at the sight before them.

  There lay two men. One underneath a tree, the other seeming to have been burned to death.