[ WP ] The devil once promised he would grant you any wish , free of charge , on the day Hell froze over . Today he 's back , and covered in snow .

I drank until I passed out. The next morning when I rolled out of bed and sat up, my head pounding, the first things I noticed were the snow on the ground at the foot of my bed and the smell of bacon. 
 
 I lived alone. 
 
 I grabbed the loaded ruger 380 from the lock box next to me and slowly pushed the bedroom door open the rest of the way. Down at the end of the small hallway something sizzled. 
 
 Tip toeing cautiously in the direction of the kitchen, my gun pointed at the ground I followed the trail of snow from my bedroom to the other side of the house. 
 
 Through the doorway I saw a man. Tall, wet brown hair, his broad back facing me as he fried bacon on the small stove. 
 
 `` Hello Steve.'' 
 
 I blinked in shock, the form in front of me vanishing, and I felt strong, warm hands around my waist and a wet haired head buried in my shoulder next to my ear. `` Did you miss me?'' 
 
 `` Luis.'' I breathed. 
 
 I struggled to pull away, but his touch was electric. Finally, after seconds of lustful agony, he let me go. 
 
 My hands dropped to my side and I knew the gun would be back in its rightful place next to my bed. That is just how Lucifer worked. Slowly, I turned to look into his eyes. 
 
 Memories of our time together came flooding back as brown eyes flecked with red stared deeply into mine. I had met Luis in college and from the start we could n't keep our hands off of each other. His charisma was intoxicating, his scent was unmistakable, his body against mine electric. But like all relationships built on flames ours was doomed to end. 
 
 I was an idealistic gay teenager just coming into his own, and I was also aggressively monogamous. Luis exuded an animal magnetism from every pore of his body, his deep understanding of human relationships and his lust for human contact attracted the attention of both men and women. I would n't compete with that and I told him so. 
 
 In response he peeled back the layers of humanity he had cloaked himself in and introduced me to the Christian personification of evil. I still loved him, and in that time of reflection and mental connection, I knew he loved me too. But I could n't stand it, so the decision to part company was unchanged. 
 
 Before he left my life, Luis looked into my eyes and made me a promise. `` I have searched eternity for someone like you, but you would n't be happy with me right now. The rules say I ca n't give you anything without taking your soul, and I would rather you give that to me freely. So instead I make you this wager. If hell freezes over I will come to you and grant you a wish. Whatever your heart desires will be yours for the taking at that moment and you can keep your soul.'' 
 
 He drew me close, kissed my lips, and disappeared from my life in a gush of red and orange flame that tingled as it splashed against my squat frame. 
 
 Now, twenty years later he stood in front of me unchanged. 
 
 `` Luis.'' I hugged him, breathing in his scent. `` I missed you.'' 
 
 He held each other tightly, everything outside of us dropping away. Again we connected on a fundamental, visceral level. I saw his time away from me and felt his feelings. I pulled slightly away from the embrace to look into his eyes. `` You've been watching me?'' 
 
 `` I kept you safe.'' Anger tinted his eyes. 
 
 `` Charles.'' 
 
 He let me go and moved back toward the stove, his back to me. `` He was done beating you. That night he was outright going to kill you. It was going to be bloody and it was going to be painful.'' 
 
 His voice grew husky and he turned to look at me. `` Your soul is still pure, so you would have been spared the tortures of my kingdom. But I knew him so I knew what you would face.'' His eyes clouded, `` You deserved better.'' 
 
 `` The media says he was murdered and eaten.'' 
 
 Luis nodded, `` One of ours.'' He turned the stove off and stepped toward the kitchen table, bacon sitting on a napkined plate in one hand. 
 
 `` Why are you here?'' 
 
 He stopped, one hand still on the table. He flicked his wrist and the television in the living room turned on, the announcer's voice filling the air. `` Donald Trump has been elected President...'' The reporting continued but my attention was on Luis. 
 
 He shrugged, his back still turned to me. `` Hell has frozen over.'' 
 
 I blinked and once again found myself in his arms. `` I owe you a wish.'' 
 
 -- -- 
 
 Luis still hooks up with many men and women, but afterwards he comes back home to me in hell. I am surprisingly OK with that. If you in the mortal realm find yourself living in constant fear over the coming years, you have only to ask for relief. All it will cost is your soul.
