The featured song is called The Silent Winter of Our Hearts by Nights Amore.

***

Goth laid in a crumpled heap of white and red cloth, panting as he tried to catch his breath; his eye light darted toward the aimless crowd shuffling around below him, then shifted down his arm and to the ground as a heavy feeling washed over him.

"I have to go home... Palette's waiting for me," he mumbled, grudgingly staggering to his feet; he had traveled pretty far, so it was bound to be a long walk.

Scaling a building and hovering over rooftops to avoid crowds, he quickly found his way back into territory that was more familiar than the area he had been exploring. He could just barely make out the red canopy that made up the apex of a local playground from his position on the grocery store roof. Floating down and checking that the coast was clear before jogging across the empty street, he surveyed the plastic and metal structures; they didn't seem nearly as colorful as he remembered them being in his youth.

He could still remember the day as if it were yesterday; he had been sitting by himself on the swings, digging his slippered feet into the mulch as he watched the other kids play since. He had considered leaving when a voice called out next to him; he jumped at the sound, nearly falling off the swing if not for his grip on the chains. Regaining his balance, he looked up to find a skeleton monster; one who would eventually become his best friend and more smiling down at him. The monster asked what he was doing by himself, Goth replied he wasn't doing anything. After giving introductions, Palette asked if he wanted to help in building a sandcastle; his acceptance was the start of the happiest days of his life.

Goth walked past the sandbox, holding the remnants of a lonely tower of sand with the imprint of a foot caving in one side. A noise to the right drew his attention to the other side of the playground; what appeared to be a woman and a child were traveling across the mulch, the winds of an oncoming storm blowing their hair around and obscuring their faces. The skeleton stood still, quietly letting the pair go by before he continued on his way. 

He couldn't linger here; Palette was waiting for him.

A few blocks down, he passed by the movie theater; it didn't get much business these days, but the building used to be a bustling epicenter of social activity a few years ago. He remembered how Palette would always invite him out to see movies, letting him pick what they were going to watch; 'surprise me' the young monster always said. Goth always had a thing for horror movies, but he tried to avoid picking them after he found out they terrified his crush; he always settled for comedies or action adventures they could both enjoy instead. 

He mustered a faint smile, recalling the one time he had inadvertently picked a romance film; he had thought it was a comedy, but quickly found out how very wrong he was. He had been so flustered throughout the movie... even more so when Palette confessed their feeling to him on the sidewalk outside afterward. It was also the place where they shared their first kiss, innocent and sweet like their budding relationship.

Holding the warm feeling within his soul, he softly cleared his throat to rid himself of the itching sensation and left; Palette was waiting for him.

Tracing his way quickly but carefully through the maze of familiar alleyways that spat him out across from the park, he dashed across the street and through the worn gates. The once lush greenery surrounding him now looked sickly and brittle; it hadn't seen care in a long time and looked as if it would crumble at the slightest touch. Keeping to the stone pathway, he came upon the fountain where Palette had proposed to him years ago. Goth brushed his fingers along the weathered stone slabs lining the lip of the fountain, peering into the mildew-coated basin as he relived the sheer joy he felt as his boyfriend got down on one knee and proposed; when they slipped that beautiful gold band onto his hand and the blissful kiss that came afterward. 

A rumble of thunder broke him from his thoughts. Running his thumb across the metal bands on his left ring finger and taking a deep breath to ward off the growing fatigue, he tore his eye light away from the landmark and kept walking; Palette was waiting for him.

Exiting out of the other end of the park and trudging down the sidewalk, a crowd was waiting around the corner; he had to go through them if he wanted to get home before the rain started. Taking a steadying breath, he stepped off the curb and into the congregation, making sure to avoid making any noise or jostling someone. As the fire escape leading up to his home came into view through the bodies, an elderly man bumped into him from behind. He gasped at the foreign touch, slapping his hand over his mouth immediately and looking up with wide sockets... but the man and the others around him completely ignored Goth and kept moving. 

He was never ignored, especially when he made a noise... it only served to prove what he already knew but didn't want to believe. Quelling the aching feeling in his soul, he quickly left the crowd behind and scrambled up the ladder since he wasn't sure he could trust his magic to float him up anymore; Palette was waiting for him.

Partway up the ladder, Goth had to pause as his vision wavered and the itch from before clawed its way up his throat; clinging to the rungs for dear life, he clenched his sockets to ward off the dizziness as he hacked into his arm. Blinking away the stars dancing through his vision, he waited until his sight cleared and carefully finished his ascent. 

Pausing once more to catch his breath once he reached the top, he glanced around the place he and Palette called home; a wooden shed, likely belonging to a rooftop gardener at some point in the past, took up a large portion of the rooftop toward the back. Four lightning rods took up each corner of the roof, reaching into the sky in hopes of catching any errant bolts. Two large dirt plots holding a variety of fruits and vegetables were nestled in rows on each side of the ladder; they looked like they needed to be watered, but the overcast sky would likely take care of them in his place within the next few minutes.

Crossing the strip between the crops and opening the wooden door of the shed, he murmured a breathy, "I'm home..." His eye light traced over the mattress that he and Palette had painstakingly hauled up the fire escape and shoved into a corner to a makeshift kitchen area consisting of an old table with a pair of mismatched chairs, a few wooden boxes of supplies, a bucket, a camping stove.

Shutting the door as a peal of thunder rolled outside, he crossed over to the table and laid his hand upon a solitary jar of dust; a beige scarf was lovingly wrapped around the base, and a dirty white hat with a black bill and gold trim laid beside it. Purposefully ignoring the bite mark marring his radius and the marrow coating his sleeves, Goth swallowed down his melancholy and croaked, "I'm sorry, Palette, but it looks like I won't be able to keep my promise anymore."

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Word Count: 1,283