Work Text:
Vinny dies in the dirt with the smell of red wet pennies dripping from his mouth and nose and neck, the cold shell of Evan’s body slung against his shoulder. He takes in a heavy, rattling breath, and never lets it back out.
There is no one left alive to mourn them.
Their bodies will not be found.
Vinny dies bloody, and wakes up right after.
Evan is still splayed alongside him, breathing softly, head warm where it rests against his collarbone, so Vinny lets out his last breath slowly, moving his hand from where it’s still pressed to his own neck, trying not to shift too far and wake Evan up. The field around them is empty, the smell of grass sweet in the silence.
Vinny half sighs, tips his head back into the bark of the tree, feels the crushing, aching defeat settle into place in his chest, and the next breath he lets out is a sob.
Evan stirs, coughs a little, blinks blearily up at him. “Vinny?” he murmurs, then with growing alarm, “Hey, Vin, hey, it’s okay, we’re okay, okay?”
“I’m so fucking sorry,” Vinny manages shakily, his cheeks wet, and Evan’s grabbing him by the shoulders which makes Vinny’s stomach twist with a phantom memory of HABIT grinning at him in the wet forest, knotting his plan like a noose around Vinny’s throat. Evan’s planted his knees on either side of Vinny’s thighs, still gripping his shoulders, talking in a panicked, soothing rush.
Vinny remembers the way that ice-cold knife slid so easily into Evan’s body, and he reaches out, rucks up Evan’s shirt and presses a hand right there, low on Evan’s side.
Evan sucks in a breath and stops talking. He’s holding himself very still, except his voice quivers and breaks when he says, “Vinny.”
“Fuck, Ev,” Vinny says, reaching blindly to cup the side of Evan’s face, “I hurt you really bad, man.”
Evan laughs a little, and his voice is wet. “What are you talking about, I totally beat your ass.”
Vinny runs his thumb over where Evan’s face should be bruised and bloody, where his lips should be split and swollen. Evan closes his eyes, tilting his head and swaying into the touch, and he’s so warm and so alive that Vinny meets him halfway and kisses him, clumsily.
Evan makes a sharp, surprised sound into Vinny’s mouth, rocking back onto his toes a little with the force of it, and then presses forward, practically climbing into Vinny’s lap. Vinny gathers him close, drawing his knees up and planting his feet in the dirt to support Evan’s weight, and just holds him, shoving both hands up under Evan’s T-shirt to ground himself with the smooth knobs of Evan’s spine. He mutters a thousand I’m sorry’s, presses them into pale freckled skin, and he’s crying again but Evan’s crying too, trembling silently with his arms wrapped around Vinny’s neck.
Vinny breaks away for a second to kiss the arch of Evan’s cheekbone where it’s damp and salty, presses their foreheads together sweetly. “I know it doesn’t matter now, but what I did to you—“
“I forgive you,” Evan breathes against his mouth, and Vinny tastes his smile, pulls him in tight.
“Jesus, you two,” Vinny hears, and Evan hides his grin in Vinny’s neck.
Corenthal is standing about 15 feet away looking vaguely disgruntled, rolling his eyes while Jeff bites his lip to hold in his laughter. “You can’t ever do anything without being as dramatic as possible.”
“Shuddup, dad,” Evan snarks quietly, and Vinny does laugh then, the tips of his ears burning a little. Corenthal holds out his hand, and Vinny squeezes Evan close once, then lets go, not with a small amount of regret. They disentangle, and Corenthal pulls them to their feet.
As they walk into the woods, camera discarded on the grass behind them, Evan’s fingers brush Vinny’s with every step. Vinny grabs his hand, entwines their fingers, and sees Evan start to grin again out of the corner of his eye.
Maybe this time around, he can manage to love Evan while they’re still alive.