Kiss of Life - {TLKOE, Quint x Dirk story}

"Kiss of Life" - Epilogue

Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long for the epilogue to come out, I literally have no excuse other than I was procrastinating and had no ideas. But I finished it, and now you have it :) Thank you so much for all the reads and votes, I greatly  appreciate it! Okay, enough chitchat, enjoy the fanfic!

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It's been a few days since what the team dubbed, The Water Incident. And it was a slow few days, no one really said much except for the occasional good mornings and goodnights. Everyone decided it was best to take things easy for a while.

However, Quint just couldn't seem to get down from what happened. The image of Dirk soaked and unconscious was burned into his brain. What if's bounced around in his head. "What if I didn't get to him in time?", was the one Quint thought about the most often.

Nightmares, if there was one thing Quint hated about life it was nightmares. They mess with his head, they confuse him. It doesn't help that they're usually filled with nonsense and things that are hard to understand. Plus, nightmares are scary.

For the past week Quint would wake up in not even a cold sweat but a hot one. Like a fever, but he wasn't sick, he was paranoid. Paranoid that some force, some entity, would come and finish what the monsters that caught Dirk in the water started.

And it petrified him, because his friends wouldn't understand, not really. He knows that his friends know he sees things different than you or me. He knows there's something that people would consider "wrong" with him. No, he's just different. He views things differently.

But, he knows, to the masses he'll be considered "wrong".

Of course, even Quint has a breaking point. And he hit that marker when a nightmare just felt too real, too straight forward, too "obviously not a dream"... But it WAS just a dream. But not to Quint, it seemed so real, was it really a dream? He woke up in a hot sweat, and he wanted to grip his arms and curl into a ball and just breathe and go back to bed. But he was just so paranoid, just too worried that something had actually happened that he just… he HAD to be sure.

So he rose out of bed, feet landing on the well worn wood floor of the treehouse. He slid on his slippers and started tiredly hobbling to Dirk's "room", it wasn't his own bedroom really. Dirk slept in the living room, but the group just called in Dirk's room when they all went to bed.

So Quint quietly made his way to the living room, the logical part of him knew that Dirk would be there, sound asleep. But there was a part of Quint he didn't like to bring up with his friends, that thought Dirk would be gone. That something really had happened.

What Quint didn't expect was to see Dirk awake, so good, great, he's here. But why is he awake?

"I heard you… I hear you most nights. Not saying to like, put you on the spot or anything.", Dirk was sitting up on the couch, sipping a bottle of water, his voice groggy, but aware of things around him.

"I just wanted… I don't know what I wanted. To make sure you were still there I guess…", Quint just stood near the armrest of the couch, slowly going to sit beside Dirk.

"Yeah, I figured. Um, do you wanna talk about it?", Dirk said, scooting over on the couch to give Quint more room.

"Sure…", Quint responded, fumbling with his hands as he sat next to Dirk. "I was worried that… something had happened to you, in the night. I thought…", Quint could already feel tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

Dirk just watched Quint, slowly resting a hand on the smaller boy's back and pulling him closer. Quint used his wrists to wipe the tears from his eyes continuing to speak.

"Ugh, it's not even about the nightmares! That day, I thought I was going to lose you. And thinking about that worried me so bad, I just- I don't know what we would do without you Dirk… I don't know what I would do without you.", Quint said, looking up at Dirk when he finished.

Dirk gently ran a thumb over Quint's cheek, wiping any stray tears.

"Y'know Quint, back before… Like everything, I used to think there wouldn't be a world where I would be friends with you. And, even though the means of us becoming friends all started was mostly because of the apocalypse… I'm actually really glad it happened. Because, after all we've been through, I don't know what I would do without you either.", Dirk held one of Quint's hands, his voice filled with mirth.

The two sat like that for a while, taking in each other's presences.

"Dirk…?"
"Yes, Quint?"

"I have to tell you something, something I realized the day of 'The Water Incident'...", Quint said, gently squeezing Dirk's hands.

"What is it?", Dirk asked, edging closer to Quint.

"I- … I love you, Dirk.", Quint said quietly, breaking eye contact. His face felt hot and flushed, and he squeezed Dirk's hands tighter, interlocking their fingers.

Dirk was silent for a moment, before he bent down and kissed Quint on the cheek.

"I love you too.", Dirk said smiling, before bringing them both to lying down on the couch and he held Quint close.

Quint beamed, wrapping his arms around Dirk. Bringing himself closer to him. Snuggling closer, feeling warm, safe, and content. Because he knew Dirk wasn't going to go anywhere, not without Quint by his side.

The End✧*。