Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I love you too"

Martin sinks the knife into Jon's heart, right as the fire from below creeps up to him, encompassing both of them in flames. It is all over now. The ceiling above them opens up, and long spindly arms reach through and grab the two lovers, pulling them through the rift. 

----

Martin woke up in the middle of a road, still holding Jon in his arms. 

'We did it!' He thought, 'We made it somewhere else!' 

Martin was too focused on holding down Jon's still bleeding stab wound to notice the car that was heading their way. He looked up, but could only freeze- like a deer in the headlights. The car came to a quick stop in front of them, and the driver got out. 

"It's like you appeared out of nowhere! You're lucky I saw you on time. Good Lord are you two okay?? I- I'll call an ambulance. Don't go anywhere!" The driver exclaimed, before getting out his phone and calling for help. 

"Thank you!" Martin replied. 

The driver looked down at the two men and realized that one of them was not responsive, and looked to have a massive wound in his chest that the other man was trying to compress. He knelt down and checked the pulse of the bleeding man. 

"He's still alive. If you keep pressure on the wound, he should make it, at least until the ambulance arrives. What the hell happened to you two?"

Martin was relieved to hear that Jon would live. He then remembered that he is, in fact, in a new world. A world where stabbing your boyfriend to save your reality from eldritch fear gods, probably isn’t a normal occurrence. Would this stranger even believe him if he told him what happened? Most likely not. He decided to make something up- besides, he'd probably have to explain this to the doctors too, so figured he might as well have a story in place now. 

"We uh, escaped an attack from an ex of his. His ex boyfriend was very abusive, and didn't particularly like me, and he uh... He got angry."

He was rather proud of his ability to lie on the spot. 

"I understand. I had an abusive relationship before too." 

Martin was relieved that the driver believed him. The driver didn’t press him for any more details, which he was very grateful for. 

The ambulance arrived, and the driver helped load Jon onto the stretcher.

---

Martin received treatment for his burns, which luckily weren't that bad. The doctors told him to rest a little longer, but as soon as he felt like moving again, he immediately asked to go see Jon. 

---

Jon had just woke up, and was surprised at a number of things. The first thing being the fact that he was alive. He figured that him being alive would have to mean that they are no longer in their reality. Which leads him to the second thing- the reality that he ended up in is very much like his own. He half expected to end up in some sci-fi world where the normal laws of physics don't apply. But by the looks of the hospital room he's in, he's probably in England, or whatever England's equivalent is in this reality. The next thing he is surprised about is the fact that he no longer Knows things. He actually doesn't feel the eye's power at all anymore. This means that this reality either is yet to be touched by the fears, or the fears don't have a large enough hold on this world to affect it much. Either way, this is slightly reassuring to Jon. Finally, Jon is surprised by pain.  As an avatar, he didn't feel much pain. Not in the way humans do. But now he is flooded with a sharp pain in his chest, along with an aching sensation throughout his body. He touches the place where he was stabbed and feels that wound has been stitched closed. The fact that he survived the stab wound and is now in the care of a hospital means that someone must have saved him, which means that he isn't alone here, which means MARTIN. 

'Martin must be here too!' He thinks.

He looks around, but Martin is not in the hospital room with him. Jon starts to panic a bit. 'Where is Martin? Did he die? Does he hate me? Why isn't he in the room with me? Did he go to another reality?'  

Jon's mind races with thoughts of every possible scenario. Then suddenly, the door opens. In comes Martin, who from Jon's drugged-up-on-pain-meds perspective, appears to be glowing. Jon, upon seeing this, assumed that this must be some sort of afterlife.

"Jon you're awake!!" Martin exclaimed as he ran over and hugged Jon. 

"Am I dead?" Jon asked, tears streaming down his face. 

"No Jon, we did it. We must have gone through the portal." Martin planted a gentle kiss atop Jon's head after saying this. 

Jon looked up at Martin, who at this point was fully sobbing, and smiled. He supposed he might not be dead after all, and that maybe, just maybe, they were going to be okay. 

---

While in the hospital, the police stopped by. Martin suspected this would happen, and went ahead and informed Jon of his story he had told the driver. 

“So your ex stabbed you in the chest… because you were seeing someone else, right?” The officer asked.

“Yes. That is correct.” Jon lied.

“What is your ex’s name? We need to know so we can put out a search for him.”

“He uh… he’s from America. No one here will know him.” Martin added.

“Well maybe someone might have seen something. What does he look like?”

“Uh tall, average build… and uh brown hair. He had a knife on him so that might also help.” Jon said. He went with the most generic description he could think of.

“Okay. We’ll be on the lookout for him. For now, just take it easy.” The officer said.

“Will do!”

The officer left the room, and Jon and Martin took a huge sigh of relief. 

“I hope that’s the last we hear from the police.” Martin said. 

“I don’t know, maybe they’ll find my nondescript brunette with a knife.”

“How would they contact us anyway? It’s not like we have a phone. Or a place to live even!” 

“We don’t, do we?”

---

They had checked out of the hospital 2 weeks later. They learned that they were in Northern England, in a reality very similar to their own. Martin had started working a part time job at a local library, so they could pay for a hotel to stay in while they figured out their situation. They had still not really discussed much of what happened that day, and instead focused on Jon's recovery. 

The day after Jon left the hospital was the first time Jon and Martin had gotten a full night's sleep- and the first time in a while that they were able to sleep in a good bed. 

---

"Good morning," Jon said. 

"Morning," Martin said as he groggily walked out of their bedroom, "smells nice."

Jon had been cooking all morning. 

"Oh, thank you. I figured I'd uh, cook you breakfast. It's the least I can do really after everything you've done for me these past few weeks." Jon said. 

"Jon you don't have to make it up to me. I don't expect anything in return from you, okay? You just being here and being alive is enough for me. OH MY GOD JON DID YOU MAKE HEART PANCAKES?!"

"Thank you Martin. And yes, I uh thought heart pancakes would be a nice symbolic token of my gratitude. Glad to see you like them."

Martin fixes himself a plate and the two of them sat down and began eating in silence. 

"As much as I love this domesticity, I feel like we should address the elephant in the room." Jon said, breaking their silent bliss. 

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"We uh let them out- the fears- didn't we?" 

"I suppose so. But I don't think they're here, and if they are, things are different here! At least it's not an apocalypse."

"Even if they aren't here, we've doomed so many other realities. Realities like our own, or like this one! We didn't stop anything, we just set them loose."

"Jon stop! We saved our reality, and if it comes to that here, we'll save this one. We've been given a second chance, Jon. Please just enjoy that we can still be alive together without making everything about you and your crippling Messiah complex." 

"I'm sorry. I should've just listened to you and went with the plan. I mean, we set the fears loose on the goddamn multiverse anyway."

"Yeah. You should've. Jon I understand how guilty you feel about the whole situation, I promise you that I do. But you weren't alone. Hell, you weren't even in control of most of your actions that led to the apocalypse. This wasn't your fault. You were just as much a victim here as the rest of us. I knew you wanted to martyr yourself at the end there, and I went behind your back as well. But you have to know, Jon, that I cannot live without you. I love you so much, Jon. I mean, I've loved you since before Jane Prentiss attacked the Institute. There was no way I would live in a world without you. We finally got to be happy together, and I was willing to fight for us, no matter what. Even if our only option was to die together. Where you go, I go. That's the deal."

"I.... I love you too Martin. I promise no more trying to Martyr myself."

Jon and Martin embraced, and just sat like that, in each other's arms for a while. 

"Let's make the best of our time together in this new world. Maybe you could pick up a new hobby that doesn't involve being manipulated by eldritch entities?"

Jon laughed at this. 

"I always wanted to try knitting. I was a little inspired by those grandma jumpers you always wore at work."

"They are not grandma jumpers!! If anyone dresses like a grandma here, it's you, Jon!" 

Jon glances down at his long skirt and wooly cardigan. 

"I wear clothes for comfort, not appearance. It just happens to be that the most comfortable clothes look like something a grandma would wear."

They both chuckle at that and go back to eating their breakfast.

Chapter Text

About a month and a half had passed, and Jon and Martin had moved into a place of their own. They decided to live in Scotland, so they could be around the good cows that Martin loved so much. Daisy's safehouse didn't exist in this reality, but they moved into a little 1 bed 1 bath cabin in a small farming town. After scouring the internet for several weeks, they had learned that the Magnus Institute didn't exist in this universe, and as far as they could tell, neither did Jonah, or any of their friends/coworkers from the Archive. 

Jon and Martin got jobs working at a bookstore together. Each day after work, they visited the cows. Martin would talk to the cows, as if they listened. They also began going to therapy, which was something they both had been in great need of. Things were finally beginning to fall into place, and they finally felt like they could settle down after everything they had been through.

---

It was a Saturday, and Jon and Martin were off work. They decided to spend their day inside, watching some of Martin's favorite movies. Martin was braiding Jon's hair while Jon commented on how ridiculous the Dead Poets Society was and whether or not this was ironically or un-ironically Martin's favorite movie.

Jon rather liked the feeling of Martin playing his hair, which was something he found interesting, for he normally didn't like being touched much. 

"It feels good. You braiding my hair, that is." Jon stated. 

"Oh yeah? I can braid your hair more often if you'd like! You have really soft hair." 

Jon turned around to face Martin and ran his fingers through his lover's hair. 

"Soft." He said quietly to himself. 

Martin laughed a bit at this. 

"What was that for?" He replied. 

"Oh. I just wanted to see if your hair was soft too. It is, if you were wondering. I uh… I like to touch things a lot, to get a feel of the textures. Some textures bother me, but I like your hair texture. It's nice." 

"Why thank you." 

Jon moved his hands from Martin's hair to his face, and felt his slight stubble along his jaw. He made a slightly confused expression, but kept feeling along the sides of Martin's face. Once he was content, he moved his fingers over the top of Martin's lips. They'd only kissed on the mouth once before, and that was when Martin had stabbed him. Since being in this reality, they shared small touches and warm embraces, but Martin could tell Jon was still recovering from that day, and never tried much more than that. Martin was getting redder by the second, as Jon learned in and kissed him on the lips. Martin kissed back, and this time, it was special. Their first kiss was quick, and was their last 'I love you' before they both should've died. This was different. This was a physical expression of a love that can thwart the plans of eldritch gods; An outward display of their deep, cosmic bond; And a ‘fuck you’ to fate, which wanted them dead. Martin melted into this kiss, and savored it, as if he would die again immediately after. 

And then they stopped. 

"Wow. That was... Something." Jon said.

"Uh yeah! You never told me you could kiss like that!?"

"Is there actually a standard for being able to kiss well?"

"I'm not sure, but I think you're definitely the best kisser I've ever met." Martin replied. 

"Hm... You know I normally don't like kissing, but that wasn't bad at all. Do you think we could do that again?" 

"What? Kiss?? Yes! Of course we can, what do you think I'm going to say no to kissing my smoking hot boyfriend???" 

"Smoking hot?" Jon laughed at the thought that Martin thought he was that attractive. 

"Uh yeah!?? Have you seen yourself?" 

"I suppose not the way you have."

They kissed again, this one a bit longer than the last. 

"I think I like kissing you." Jon stated. 

"You do?"

"I think so. We might have to try it a few more times, just to make sure." Jon winked as he said this. 

That statement made Martin's heart flutter. He cupped Jon's face and they began making out. It started with just kisses on the mouth, but then it moved to peppering kisses along Jon's jawline and neck. Jon greatly enjoyed this, but had gotten a bit carried away in the moment to realize the direction things seemed to be going in. When he did, he immediately pushed himself off of Martin, who seemed startled by the suddenness.

"Martin, we should stop." 

Martin sat in front of him, trying to catch his breath.

"Alright then. Are you okay?" Martin asked. 

"Yes, I just, I think we might need to discuss boundaries. Just uh, promise me that you're not going to leave me, okay?"

"Leave you? Why would I ever leave you?? Jon, I love you no matter what."

"You might change your mind about that. But uh, I don't... I don't want to have sex with you Martin. Not that I don't love you, because I do- more than anything else, OR that I don't think you're attractive, because that is also not true- I think you are very good looking, I just don't really see the appeal to sex. It's perfectly fine that you do, but it isn't for me."

"Jon I'm not gonna leave you because you don't like sex. We don't have to have sex. Not now, or ever if that's what you prefer. I'm not dating you to have sex with you. And I certainly didn't pine for my boss for years, walk through the literal apocalypse with you while you killed monsters that were also kind of people, kill you, and also sort of myself just so we could be together no matter what, just to leave you because you're asexual. I love you so much Jon, and I want to be with you, sex or no sex."

Jon sighed a breath of relief and wrapped his arms around Martin. 

"Thank you. I love you so much Martin, and I was just so worried I would lose you if I brought it up, so I didn't, and I probably should have before we started making out, so uh I apologize for that." 

"Hey that's okay. And you don't need to stress over telling me anything. You've literally committed murder, and I still want to be with you." 

"Fair enough."

They sat in silence for a minute before Martin added, "Is there anything else I need to know, or any other boundaries you have?"

"Hmm... Well, I am fine with cuddling, kissing, and making out, but nothing below the belt. Oh and some days I can't deal with being touched at all, but I'll let you know when that happens. I uh, I guess I haven't mentioned this before but I am autistic. I have quite a bit of sensory processing issues. This probably wasn't as apparent during the apocalypse, because I was also sort of a god, and a lot of things hadn't bothered me anymore, but now that I am once again a human, It's like I have to start all over with coping skills. So uh, as far as that goes, just be patient with me."

"Is that why you like to touch my hair? And all the books at the shop?" 

"Yes. It's also why I wear those headphones at work. Even in this quiet town, things can get a bit too loud." 

"Huh. I guess I never noticed that until now. And take all the time you need to get adjusted with being human again, I’m sure that’s gotta be difficult, going from being an invincible antichrist to being a normal guy. And I don’t imagine being autistic makes that any easier. I am here for you, so if you need me for anything, just let me know, okay?” Martin said, 

“Oh and as far as boundaries go for me, just uh, try not to bring much attention to my chest, especially my scars. I may not have much of a Chest chest anymore, but it still makes me a bit dysphoric sometimes, so it's better if you just pretend it's not there."

"Noted. Thank you, by the way, for being so accepting of all this. I know I'm not the easiest to deal with in general, let alone date I'm sure, so thanks for sticking with me."

"No problem. I'm absolutely in love with you, so it's going to take a lot more than that to run me off."

---

After living in Scotland for about 3 months, Martin had gotten to know some of the neighbors rather well. Bella was a farmer who took care of the good cows, and she and Martin hit it off well. Bella and her Wife had a poetry club, which was where Martin met most of the people who he considered something along the lines of 'friends.' Martin was a regular attendee of the poetry club. He hadn't really written much poetry after what had happened with Peter Lukas and the Lonely. He hadn't felt himself enough to write any. But now, things were better. He often wrote about his experiences from his reality, but whenever he shared with the others in the poetry group, they assumed he meant it metaphorically. He didn't dare state otherwise, for he rather liked these new acquaintances of his, and didn't want to run them off with his outlandish sounding traumas. 

Martin would talk about Jon a lot in the poetry club, as one does when they have someone in their life that they really care about. Most of the members of the poetry group had seen Jon around town, but he doesn't really get out much, or talk to people, so naturally, they were curious about Martin's mysterious boyfriend, and had decided they wanted to meet him. 

---

The weekly poetry club session had ended, and Martin gathered his things and headed towards the door, when someone grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey Martin, before you leave today, I wanted to ask if you and your boyfriend would like to come with us to a nightclub in the city?" Bella asked. 

"Hmm.. Idk Bella, I'd have to ask Jon. He's a little picky about places like that. Text me the address just in case!"

"Well I hope to see you there then!" 

Martin waved goodbye to Bella and headed home. 

Jon was sitting out on their front porch, smoking a cigarette. When Martin arrived, he greeted him with a hug and a quick kiss to the cheek.

"How was poetry club?" He asked. 

"It was alright. Didn't get much farther in my own work, but Jamie suggested a couple poets I might want to check out. I'll see if we have any of their work at the shop tomorrow." 

"Sounds good then."

"Oh by the way Jon, Bella invited us to go with her and the others to a nightclub. It's a bit of a ways away, but I'm down to go if you are."

"A nightclub, huh? I haven't actually been to one before."

Martin looked at him in disbelief. 

"Never been to a nightclub?!?! What did you even do in your college years?"

"I'm a little offended that you would even think that I went clubbing in college! I made the best of my educational opportunities in college, and when I wasn't studying or doing schoolwork, I was reading."

Martin raised one eyebrow. 

"Okay that's not entirely true. I often would watch whatever late night paranormal bullshit I could find on TV. Although now I know that the paranormal is all too real."

"What did you watch ghost hunters or something?? I can not believe this! You were an absolute skeptic before Jane Prentiss. You didn't believe any statements even if there was undeniable proof!"

"I literally dated a ghost hunter, Martin! I guess you could say I was just a bit in denial about the paranormal? I loved all things paranormal, under the guise that it's all fictional and everything is edited for television. I never actually believed any of that. Well you know, not until it started happening to me."

They both laughed.

"I suppose I'll give the nightclub a try. I'm overdue for some socializing anyway." Jon added. 

"Awesome! I'll text Bella that we're on our way!"

---

They arrived at the nightclub, and immediately Jon realized that it was LOUD. He'd brought his noise cancelling headphones in case something like this would happen, but it still took him by surprise. Bella greeted them at the door. 

“Hi Bella! Oh, uh, this is Jon.”

"Damn Martin, you were not lying! He is awfully braw! I thought he’d be taller, but I mean he is just as good looking as you said.” Bella said, playfully.

Jon looked over at Martin who says, "I uh, I talk about you quite a bit at poetry club, and maybe mention how hot you are from time to time."

Jon smiled and squeezed Martin's hand and they walked toward the others, who were over at the bar. Bella left the two of them and went back to her wife, who was out on the dance floor.

"Martin you came!" Jamie runs over and gives Martin a hug. 

Martin was not expecting Jamie to get so physical with him, and was visibly uncomfortable.

A taller man walked up behind her and peeled her off of Martin. 

"Sorry about that, Jamie is a wee bit hammered. Jon, right? I've heard a lot about you from Martin here. I'm Charles by the way!" 

He and Jon shook hands. 

Jon was already feeling rather uncomfortable. He's never felt the most safe around intoxicated people anyway, thanks to his Mother, who wasn't very present in his childhood for that exact reason. (That reason being intoxication.) His Grandmother hammered into him after his Mother died that alcohol is bad, and he has avoided it since. 

The music was already starting to get to him, so he put on his headphones. It helped some, but not enough, but Martin seemed to be chatting away with the others, so he didn't mention any feelings of discomfort. He wanted Martin to have fun with his friends without him ruining his night with his sensory issues.

Jon took a seat at the bar and soaked in the scenery of the nightclub. He realized that he was a bit under-dressed. He had on an oversized jumper, a long skirt, and a pair of sandals. This clashed with the more dressy attire of the others there. He looked over at Martin, who sure enough had on a button up, and looked rather nice. 'When did he even put that on?' He thinks. 

The lights seemed to change color and speed according to what song was playing, and Jon did not like how inconsistent it was. The whole atmosphere was just throwing him off his game. 'Come on Jon,' he thinks, 'You survived the apocalypse AND a knife to chest, you can survive this.' 

Martin had been so caught up in conversation, that he didn't even notice that Jon wasn't next to him. He excused himself from the conversation, and went to find Jon. 

"Hey you!" Martin said upon finally finding his other half. 

"Hello Martin." Jon forced a smile. He couldn't ruin this for Martin. 

"I was wondering where you went off to!" 

Jon shrugged. 

The song changed to Dancing Queen by ABBA, which isn't your run-of-the-mill club song, but it absolutely filled Martin with joy that was playing at all, and he sang it at the top of his lungs. 

"OOOO SEE THAT GIRL, WATCH THAT SCENE…DIGGING THE DANCING QUEEN!!~ Come on Jon, come dance with me!!" 

Martin reached his hand out to Jon, who took it. He couldn't refuse the goofy expression on Martin's face, no matter how uncomfortable he was. Martin took him out into the crowd of people and started to move half-heartedly to the music. Jon just stood there, watching him. 

"How the hell do you even dance to this song anyway?" Jon said. He could barely hear himself over the rumble of the crowd.

"You just move! Let your body feel the music. It doesn't have to be good, most everyone here is pissed, Jon. They aren't gonna judge you. Just make up something, you know?"

Jon swayed a little, leaving all the real dancing to Martin. If it weren't for all the people and noise, Jon rather liked watching Martin dance around to his favorite songs. He was making an absolute fool of himself, sure, but Jon found it rather adorable. 

And then, the song changed. 

It was one of those loud electro-pop songs you normally hear in club scenes. Jamie ran out to the dance floor and started to dance with Martin. He seemed to be having fun with her, so Jon decided to let them be. He went to go find a corner to cling to. The music was so loud it gave him a headache, even through his headphones, and the lights changed so fast, it was like a strobe. Jon was feeling worse very quickly as he made his way to the corner, but as he did, he bumped into Charles from earlier. The force of that bumped Jon's headphones right off his head. The sudden increase in volume felt like a physical attack to Jon and he collapsed to the floor. 

"Oh shit, are you okay?" Charles asked. 

Jon was at this point curled into a fetal position and gently rocking back and forth. This was a coping mechanism for Jon, however, it outwardly did not appear as such.

"Ey mate, did you hear me? I asked if you were okay? Are you having a stroke or something??" Charles asked again. 

Jon was getting more and more uncomfortable, and he began to cry. 

"Hey, hey don't cry" Charles put a hand on Jon's shoulder, in which Jon moved out of his touch, just as soon as it reached him. 

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Jon cried out, but it definitely came off as more aggressive than he intended.

"Chill out mate I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Just leave me alone." Jon said. 

Martin had heard Jon yell, and ran over to where he was. When he got there he saw Jon crying and telling Charles to go away. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew Charles wasn’t making the situation any better.  

"Fuck off man, you can tell he's having a bad time, do you think pestering him is gonna make it any better?" Martin said, rather aggressively. 

Charles opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it, and walked away. 

"Jon I'm so sorry I shouldn't have left you, are you okay?"

Jon shook his head.

"Okay, uh... What do you need? Do you wanna just go home?"

Jon nodded in agreement. 

"Home it is then. Can you walk?" 

Jon took Martin's hand and slowly stood up. He clung onto Martin's arm as they walked out of the nightclub together, and didn't let go until they had safely made it to the car. 

---

They had arrived home and Martin grabbed Jon a weighted blanket to wrap up in. 

"I'll put on some tea. We can talk about this later, once you're feeling better."

Martin said, already heating up the kettle. 

Jon sat there, trying to do deep breathing exercises to calm down. It didn't seem to help. So instead he started picking at his fingers. It probably wasn't the healthiest thing to do, but it distracted his mind for long enough before Martin came back with tea. 

"Here you go, love." Martin handed him a mug that had a cartoon Highland Cow on it. 

"Thank you Martin." Jon took a sip of the tea. It was a bit sweeter than he'd usually like it, but he drinks it anyway. 

Martin began braiding Jon's hair, which had become kind of their routine for when Jon was overwhelmed. This put Jon at ease some. Something about the feeling of someone playing with your hair just gives off a calming vibe. 

Eventually Jon was feeling good enough to talk about what had happened. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was overwhelmed. I didn't want to ruin your night." Jon said. 

"Ruin my night? Honestly it wasn't that fun. I've had much better experiences at nightclubs. Besides you're more important to me than some dumb social gathering."

"I guess so."

"So what happened? You looked like hell when I got there."

"Ah, well that was what I like to call a shutdown. It's a thing that happens to me when I get really overstimulated. It was just,, so loud in there- both the people and the music. And the lights kept changing, and it was just too much for me. I tried to hold it together for you, but then I bumped into Charles and it knocked off my headphones, and that just pushed me over the edge and I shut down."

"Dear Lord. I'm so sorry Jon, if I had known that could happen I wouldn't have asked you to go. We could've just stayed home and played scrabble or something. God I feel like an asshole."

"No, I'm sorry. I should've told you about my shutdowns and what sorts of things cause them. It’s not your fault that you didn’t know. Besides, now we both know that this can happen, and can factor that into decisions going forward.”

"Yes, I suppose so. Are your shutdowns... Are they an autism thing? I'm sorry if that sounds rude."

"No, that's not rude at all. And yes, they are an autism thing."

Martin finished braiding Jon's hair, and wrapped a hairband around the end. 

"So what can I do to help if that happens again?" Martin asked. 

"Hmm... Well definitely if it's things like crowds, noise, or lights- get me away from there if that is possible. I appreciated you getting me my weighted blanket, that definitely helps in these situations. Just having you there with me helps too. Sometimes I just need an anchor- like in the apocalypse. You keep me level headed."

"Aww! To be honest with you, you're my anchor too, Jon. I honestly would've given into the lonely AT LEAST twice if it wasn't for you."

"Well I'm certainly glad you did not."

"So am I. Oh and as far as your shutdowns go, I can keep a weighted blanket in the car, if you'd like!"

"That'd be nice. Thank you," Jon tightened his grip on Martin's hands, as he said, "I love you so much Martin." 

"I love you too Jon."

They kissed for a good minute or so before Martin got up to fix them dinner. They had breakfast for dinner that night, because they were both far too tired to cook a proper meal. 

Chapter Text

It had been a month or so since the nightclub incident, which was completely out of both of their minds by then. Jon and Martin had finished their shift at the bookstore, and closed the shop for the day. It was a small town that they lived in, so private owned shops and restaurants usually closed before sunset. On their way home from work, they stopped by the field to visit the good cows, who by then were used to their presence. 

Martin was sitting in the grass, making a chain of dandelions to put on his favorite cow, which he had named Sasha. 

"How's the flower crown coming along?" Jon asked. 

"It's going well I think. I just need a few more dandelions. Do you mind fetching me some?"

Jon nodded and left to pick some flowers for his boyfriend. He plucked the best looking dandelions he could find and brought them back. 

"Thank you, love," Martin said while weaving them into his chain, "Tadaa!  How do you like it?" 

Martin held up his finished flower crown.

"It's very lovely."

Martin smiled and placed the flower crown on top of Sasha, who didn't seem to care one way or another. 

"Isn't she beautiful?" Martin asked. 

"I suppose she is. But not quite as beautiful as you.”

Martin blushed. 

Jon opened his satchel, and took out a flower crown that he had made and placed it atop Martin's head. 

"There you go! Now you look just like Sasha!"

They both laughed, and shared a quick kiss before Jon got down on one knee. He pulled out a little black box and opened it up. Inside was an ornate golden ring, with light blue patterns engraved in it. It looked like some magic relic from an ancient elven civilization, which was exactly why Jon had bought it. He and Martin were both suckers for a good fantasy story.

Martin's jaw dropped as soon as Jon took out the ring box. 

"Now I know I'm not the best with words, or really talking about my feelings in general, but I uh, I wanted to say that these past few years we've spent together, as a couple and as coworkers, I've grown a lot as a person. And maybe it was the trauma- which that definitely played a role- but I'd like to think that it was you. You opened my eyes, and helped me to realize that there are things worth fighting for. I know I've mentioned this before, but Martin, you are my anchor. When I was lost in the buried, it wasn't my rib that got me out of there, but you. You noticed my connection to the tapes and you saved Daisy and I. Hell, even before then, when I woke up from my coma, I decided to live because I wanted to choose you. You were there through the apocalypse as we walked through each and every fear domain, and you were there at the end, when we saved our reality. And despite all that we've gone through, I still struggle with mundane things, like nightclubs and eating something different at a restaurant, yet you still stay with me as my anchor. You told me that you couldn't live in a world without me, and I understand now more than ever what you meant. Because I cannot see myself living in a world without you. And we are in a new world now, one that we've learned to navigate, and while it isn't our old world, I've come to accept it as my home. Because anywhere that I am with you is where I belong. Martin, you are my home. Which is why I would like to ask you, Martin K, which for some reason doesn't stand for anything, Blackwood, will you marry me?"

Martin, who was in tears at the point  cried out, "YES! YES!! ABSOLUTELY, YES!!!" 

He tackled Jon in a hug and they fell over, still in each other's arms.

"Would you like to put the ring on yet?" Jon asked. 

"Duh!!"

He slid the ring onto Martin's finger as the other man admired the details of it. Jon just stared at his fiance, soaking in every detail. 

"What are you looking at?" Martin asked. 

"Your face. I'm trying to count how many freckles you have." 

"It's quite a bit. You might have to come closer, so you can get a better count."

Jon grinned and leaned in. They kissed, this time a long, passionate kiss. That kiss turned into more and more kisses, until they decided they should probably stop making out in the middle of a field of cows. And so they walked home, hand in hand. 

The End.

---

Wake up, say good morning to

That sleepy person lying next to you

If there's no one there then there's no one there

But at least the war is over

It's us, yes, we're back again

Here to see you through 'til the day's end

And if the night comes and the night will come

Well at least the war is over

Lift your head and look out the window

Stay that way for the rest of the day and watch the time go

Listen, the birds sing, listen, the bells ring

All the living are dead and the dead are all living

The war is over and we are beginning….

-In Our Bedroom After the War by Stars