it's me [muke af]

epilogue / thank you

epilogue / thank you

for mel, i'm sorry i ruined your life. you give me so many ideas and help me out through every single story i manage to write. thank you for your support and memes. i fucking hate your memes. i wrote this epilogue for you, since you went "consider this: ghosts" after the one hundredth time i told you that yes, alex is dead.

for lu, i'm also sorry for ruining your life. i'm not sure if you had time to get through this story, and that's okay. i know you're busy, and i still love you. thank you for not trying to murder when i told the cat snakes about this plot. i remember writing it out way back in spring break and you tried to tell me in the nicest way possible that i'm insane. you helped me through all the times i changed the ending (which was four, if anyone is counting).

for you guys, thank you so much for reading and enjoying. i'm sorry if you all hate me. i love you quite a lot. IN CASE YOU NEVER NOTICED, I HAVE BEEN FORE-SHADOWING THE ENDING THE ENTIRE TIME. THEY PAINTED THE BABY'S ROOM A FIRE RED. LUKE FELT LIKE HE WAS ON FIRE WHEN HE WAS WITH JACK. THERE ARE SO MANY FIRE REFERENCES AND JUST SO MANY OTHER REFERENCES. FIND AMY'S AKA LANE-BOY COMMENTS, SHE PRACTICALLY GAVE IT ALL AWAY.

LET THE ENDING BEGIN

Luke opened his eyes. After ninety-two long years, he laid his eyes to rest for one last time. "Shit, am I in hell?" He looked around the room, hues of blues surrounded him.

"Sit the fuck up, that shit doesn't exist," Alex said. Her hair was the shade of purple that he last remembered. Her seventeen-year-old face had not aged a single day. Her arms were crossed over her white tee shirt, the sleeves cuffed up.

Luke sat up, he waited for the pain in his knees to surge through his body. But, it did not. He looked at his legs, clad with black skinny jeans. He hasn't worn those since Ezra's tenth birthday.

Alex could tell he was confused, she was used to it. "When you die, you go back to the body when you were happiest," she said as she picked at the nail beds of her right hand.

Luke stood next to her, waiting for her to lead him through the unfamiliar land. Everything looked normal, it was literally Earth. He recognized the houses, the plants, the people walking around. He could breathe fresh air, see bright lights.

"I'd hold your hand, but it's been almost a century and I haven't forgiven you," Alex said. She raised an eyebrow before turning around, walking towards the main street.

Luke laughed at her sassy soul as he followed behind her at a quick rate. After all this time, he forgot how fast she walked. It reminded him of all the times rushing through the mall or grocery store or any place. "Is Mike here? Nick? Jack?"

She stopped the stoplight turned red. Cars passed them, a few waving to Alex, but they stayed on the sidewalk. "Yeah. I'm surprised you even got here. That means someone actually cares about you, still. It definitely wasn't me nor Nick, that's for sure."

"I don't understand." Luke furrowed his eyebrows, the words coming out of his daughter's mouth not making sense.

Alex grabbed his hand, only so they could safely cross the street. Sure, one couldn't really die here, they were already dead. But, they would get punished for trying to die too often. Michael found that out the hard way.

She dropped her father's hand once they were across the street. "There are many different worlds. You get put into the one or ones that people want you in most. It means, when we died, we wished for you every day. I don't mean 'I' when I say 'we'."

"You're still a sass bucket."

She turned around slightly, "I hope you're not still an asshole."

He deserved that one.

They stopped in front of a large, old house. It was their house. "Jack lives here, too. I guess Dad begged for him, too. They were friends, after all." She took a step forward, Luke almost walking into her when she stopped. She turned around, "You practically destroyed that, though."

She marched up the steps, unlocking the front door and stepping inside. It was everything Luke remembered. The tall, blue walls. The crystal chandelier. Even the grumpy cat sitting in the laundry basket. "You'd never guess who I got paged to pick up!" Alex called, her voice echoing through the acoustically-beautiful walls.

Luke forgot how much he missed this house.

Nick was first to race down the steps, expecting something good like their cousin Stacy or something. He always had a thing for Stacy's mom. He stopped three steps from Luke. "Oh, it's you."

"It's me," he responded, a laugh on his lips.

Nick shrugged and took the final steps down. He held out his arms slowly and cautiously as he began to pull in his father for a hug. His eyes watched Alex as she shot glares in his direction. "I hate you, but I did miss you a lot."

Luke pulled his arms around Nick as he buried his chin in the shaggy brown hair. He squeezed him tightly, rocking him back and forth. He hadn't seen his only son in so many years.

"Your parents are both at work, they're across the street. Same with Dad's."

Luke nodded, trying not to cry as he held his only son tighter. He tried not to think of Ezra, she was now left on Earth without any parents. Fuck, he wishes she could be here, too.

Ez was the love of Luke's life as well. He never stopped thinking about Alex and Nick, but he raised Ezra flawlessly. She was Alex, she was Nick, she was herself. She was the best version of everything.

She better be taking good care of her two father's record company.

Jack was in Luke's arms next, Luke snuck in a quick peck before Alex could see. He didn't want her to kill him. He hadn't seen his husband since Jack's own death almost a decade ago.

Luke missed Jack for so long, his heart ached with pain. "I love you," he whimpered, putting his nose to Jack's chest. He was comforted by the warm feeling Jack filled him with.

Jack chuckled slightly as he wrapped his arms tighter around Luke's body. "I love you, too. Forever, and ever. Welcome home." They swayed to a beat in their heads that no one else heard. This was something they always managed to do.

Their rhythm would match up, regardless of the occasion. Yeah, they were true love. Jack's hands rested just above his tight waist band, his fingers clutching the warm skin.

Michael appeared in the doorway next, overwhelming Luke. He didn't think any of this would ever happen. Their eyes met, and Luke broke out into tears of sorrow.

The happiness was sucked out of the air as Michael's eyes watered, too. He had such a big heart, so filled with love and care. He, too, held out his arms, accepting Luke in them. "I'm so sorry, Michael. Fuck, I didn't mean for it to end like that."

"I know."

Alex rolled her eyes, but Luke was too preoccupied. He hugged him tighter, trying to remember the love he once felt for Michael.

"I'm sorry it ended so soon, you deserved a happy, long life. Not me," he cried out. His body slouched into his ex-husband's body. "I'm sorry I fell out of love with you."

"It's okay," Mike said, "I could never be angry at you." Michael gave him a friendly kiss on the forehead before letting go. He took a step back, pushing Luke back into Jack's arms.

Luke lived in quite a few worlds. He started in reality, managed to get stuck in his head, shot back to the world, then ended somewhere better. It will always get better, never forget that it was always get better.