Archive of Our Own

Carter flipped over the invitation that he had received in the mail. The front of the card read “WELCOME MT. ABRAHAM GRADUATES - 25 YEAR REUNION” on the back it had the details of when the reunion would be held. It was crazy to think that 25 years had already gone by, that the last time he had lost someone who he thought meant nothing to him had died. How did time fly by that fast? How had it already been a whopping 25 years since all the trauma had happened? 

When he thought about it, it wasn’t a distant memory. It all felt like it had happened yesterday. Sometimes he could still feel the way the train tracks rattled underneath him as Alex fought to get him out of his black SS Chevy. He could still hear Billy screaming about how he was dead, and that Alex and Clear needed to get away from him before he was decapitated from the nose down, and he could still feel the piss that clung to his pants as he told Clear and Alex to get the fuck out of there. 

How had that been 25 years ago? That really blew his mind. 

That also marked the 25th anniversary of him and Alex becoming an actual, real couple. Which was also crazy, but he guessed that it made sense. They had been through everything together, and were forced to grow up too early. Carter still felt the same way he did about his husband that he did when he finally was forced to tell the truth, and as corny as it was, he fell more in love with Alex each day. 

They had gotten married as soon as gay marriage had been legalized in all 50 states, but honestly? They considered each other husbands long before that. For Carter, there was no one else. Maybe it had been that way the whole time, like his heart knew what he wanted before his brain did. 

Somehow they had managed to evade death for 25 years, and honestly, he didn’t know how that was possible. They still were overly cautious, and were definitely considered helicopter parents to their 15 year old. Who wouldn’t be in their situation? 

“Dad! That’s so not fair! You never let me do ANYTHING!” 

Carter was snapped out of his thoughts as he tossed the RSVP card onto the coffee table and got up with a groan. Well, that was one thing that proved 25 years had gone by. His knees and back always cracked and popped as he got up. But, hey, 44 was the new 24, he had often joked when his daughter called him old whenever he’d bring up the latest trend, like Tiktok for example. 

He stretched out his back and exhaled as he headed up the steps to Billie’s room, and leaned against the doorframe to investigate what the argument was about now. 

Alex stood inside as their daughter sulked from her queen sized mattress, her arms crossed over her chest and her black hair messily thrown back into a pony tail. 

“Billie, it’s not safe for a bunch of teenagers to go joyriding on a weekend. No. ”

Alex tried to reason with her, but Carter knew it was no use. She was a determined child, and wanted to do what she wanted, nevermind what her parents said. He felt bad too, since he knew that she deserved a normal childhood, and that they were holding her back from it… Billie didn’t understand what they did, though. 

“Daddy!” 

Billie began to yell for Carter, only to cut herself off when she noticed him lurking inside her doorway. This was nothing new, as she always tried to pit them against each other. If one of them said no, she’d run to her other father to try and get her way. She was old enough, and smart enough to know that they’d back each other up. 

They had each other’s backs, especially when it came to Billie’s safety. 

“What did your dad say?” 

Was the first thing out of Carter’s mouth as he joined Alex where he stood in front of her bed, his socked feet planted in the pink faux bunny fur rug. He could tell right away she was less than happy with his answer, and even more irritated that Carter wasn’t giving in. 

“You’re both such hard-asses.”

She muttered and burrowed herself back into her mound of plushies and throw pillows. He could tell that she wasn’t the only one irritated, as Alex’s face had gone a light hue of pink. 

“Maybe so, but neither of us want to receive a call about you being splattered across the interstate because your friends lost control of the car.”

Alex tutted and rolled his head to try and crack the tension he felt in his neck, his muscled arms mirrored their daughter’s in the way his arms were crossed. Over the past 25 years, Alex had grown up a lot and gained more muscle weight than Carter could ever imagine, and even more tattoos than Carter had. 

Yeah, he was definitely falling for his husband all over again with how responsible, and attractive he was in this moment.  

Although he agreed with Alex, he knew at some point they were going to have to let her do normal teen activities, or else she’d wind up sneaking behind their backs like Carter had to do at that age. Lord knows that was part of the problem he had, if he hadn’t been out with Terry when he was supposed to be helping his mom, she never would’ve been hit by that bus. (No, but she still would’ve died, and it still wouldn’t have been Carter’s fault. Death had a sick plan afterall.) 

Carter’s eyes darted from their daughter to his husband as he contemplated what to say next. He knew Alex wouldn’t agree, but it was a one night thing and they’d have to make a serious plan to ensure her safety…

“...Okay, how ‘bout this? Your dad and I have our 25 year High School reunion in a couple of weeks, and if you promise to be safe, you can go out with your friends then. But I mean it, you have to be playing it safe.” 

Carter finally offered up a solution, which got him a quick side eye from Alex who he could tell did NOT like Carter’s peace offering, but wouldn’t interject. 

The room went silent as Billie weighed out her options, and Alex’s tense jaw slackened in just the slightest bit. 

“Fine…”

Billie finally agreed and uncrossed her arms as she sat up instead of trying to become one with her plushies. Thankfully that worked, but he knew she was still upset about not being allowed out tonight. 

“Seriously, Billie, I mean it. You have to be safe, and communicate with us or else the offer will be retracted. I have no problem sending you to your nana’s house.” 

Carter was quick to add on, and placed his hand on the small of Alex’s back to rub small circles over his t-shirt. Alex was so tense, and Carter really couldn’t blame him. 

“Fine, fine, whatever.” 

She mumbled, but was quick to switch up her tone as she played with one of the phone charms that hung from her case. 

“Since I can’t go out tonight, could Lyla at least come over? We won’t be loud, and all of my homework is done.” 

This time, Carter was leaving the answer up to Alex since he had already gotten himself into enough trouble with his peace offering. He knew Alex was upset about Carter not even talking to him about it before he had offered it to her, but it was pretty much in the moment. It’s not like he had the opportunity to talk about it. 

The gears in Alex’s head twisted and turned before he caved in. His hands tucked into his sweat pants instead of being crossed over his chest. With a small sigh, he finally caved in and agreed. 

“Okay, just try not to stay up all night.” 

“You couldn’t have waited to discuss any of that with me?” 

Alex raised an eyebrow as they lounged on their bed, propped up by the pillows he had stacked behind himself against the bedframe. He was definitely annoyed, but not angry from what Carter could tell. 

“I sorta came up with it on spot…”

Carter admitted as he shuffled around to get comfortable and tossed the remote that had somehow ended up underneath him onto the nightstand. He managed to stay in the position he sprawled out in for a few minutes before he shuffled to rest his head on Alex’s arm. His skin was warm, and his cologne still smelled the same after all these years.

Alex hummed and reached down to intertwine his fingers with Carter’s, yeah, he was a little peeved that Carter hadn’t talked to him about letting her go out on the night of their reunion, but he could also understand him playing peacemaker. 

“If we keep hovering and tightening the reins, we’re going to create a sneaky kid, like I was.” 

Carter added on and he got a huff in response, but he could tell it was a bit out of amusement. 

“I just… I can’t help it, Billie doesn’t even know half of what we experienced… she’s never seen anyone die like we have, and I’d like it to stay that way.” 

Alex didn’t have to explain himself, since Carter understood but it was good to talk about how they felt. He was right, and Carter definitely didn’t want the same thing that happened to them to happen to Billie.

Carter hummed softly in agreement and pressed a little closer to Alex as he mulled over what to say in response. It had been 25 years and what they experienced was still such a touchy subject. It probably always would be. 

“...Have you had any more premonitions?” 

Carter was careful how he approached the question, not wanting to cause any unnecessary upset. It’d been a good decade since he last asked, yet the question always lingered at the back of Carter’s mind. He had to know, though.

“I wouldn’t call them that, but I’ve had nightmares of bad shit happening to Billie. It’s like, every time I get comfortable with the idea of her growing up and exploring, I’m sucked back into our senior year. What happens if she has a premonition, or dies in someone else’s? We wouldn’t be there to stop it, or to protect her from Death.”

Alex’s hand gripped Carter’s just a little tighter as he talked, and he leaned down to press his nose into Carter’s hair. He hadn’t dyed his hair in a good year, and Alex was extremely grateful to see how white his hair had started to turn. Bits of black still existed, which made the perfect salt and peppery look. The smell of Carter’s shampoo relaxed him, and made things just a little bit easier. They lost so much as teenagers, and it took them forever to rebuild their lives. Alex didn’t want to lose that. 

Carter was relieved to know that Alex hadn’t had any more premonitions. He understood what Alex meant though about the nightmares, and the strong fear of losing their daughter to Death’s ways.

“I know, but if we coddle her too tightly we may lose her anyway.” 

Carter frowned at the thought of holding Billie so close that they ultimately ended up pushing her out of their lives. Sometimes it felt like there was no winning. It wasn’t like they had all the answers, or shared that part of their lives with anyone aside from themselves. The only other people who knew were already dead. 

“It sucks that your dads wouldn’t let you go out.” 

Lyla sympathetically said as she rolled onto her stomach with her phone in hand, half her attention on TikTok and the other on Billie. She had stayed over at the Browning-Horton household so many times that it was practically her second home at this point. She had been Billie’s best friend since the two of them started school, and their relationship never wavered even as they grew older and fell into slightly different social crowds. 

“They never do, it’s like they want me to die of boredom before my 16th birthday.” 

Billie rolled her eyes and put her pen down in her lap, taking a break from sketching in her notebook. She loved her dads to death, and respected them a great deal, but dammit she was bored and was extremely envious of her friends being able to go out and enjoy their lives. Instead, she was stuck with a strict curfew and overbearing parents who wanted her home before the streetlights came on.

She was tired of being the only one in her friend group without exciting stories to tell about weekend adventures. For once, she wanted to be able to be a teenager and experience Friday Night Skate, or hang out at the mall even if mall culture had been dying out as long as she could remember. There was only so much a teenager could do at home before they craved the outside world. 

Lyla clicked off her phone screen once a TikTok with the latest trending audio had played at least five times, and she contemplated asking about what she had heard through the grapevine (her parents.) 

“Have you ever wondered why they’re so hellbent on keeping you locked up?”

Lyla asked as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. She only vaguely knew about the students who had died on their way to France when their parents were in school, and she wondered if that played any part in Billie’s family’s strictness. 

“I’ve tried asking before, but dad wouldn’t say. He just got this look on his face, and said it was ‘nothing.’” 

Billie sighed and did air quotes around the word “nothing” as she spoke. She hated that she knew that her parents were hiding something from her, but she wouldn’t dare to ask out of respect for them. Whatever they were hiding seemed to matter a great deal. 

“I don’t want to upset them… but I know there’s something that they aren’t telling me.” 

Lyla picked up her phone again and nodded in acknowledgment. 

“Well, if they don’t want to talk, what if we do a little research of our own?” 

Billie shrugged and adjusted herself so she could watch Lyla type away on a new Safari tab. The search started in a pretty simple way, first Lyla looked up her dad’s name.

“Holy shit…” 

Billie blinked when tons of articles popped up under “Alex Browning” and even though a small part of her felt bad for going behind his back, he’d never speak about it and her curiosity was sufficiently peaked. 

The top article’s headline read:

“Alex Browning, Survivor of Flight 180 Claimed a Vision made him get off that Flight.” 

Lyla didn’t hesitate to click on the link, and the article popped up with Alex’s senior picture. He looked the same, but so different at the same time. He was younger, but still had the gap between his two front teeth, and his eyes held a certain amount of innocence compared to the darker expression he wore day in and day out. He was 25 years younger, and untouched by the horrors of the world. 

If there hadn’t been a huge memorial statue outside of their school, Billie would’ve thought that the article was a load of bullshit. She had known that her fathers were in the same graduating class as the French class that met their untimely demise, but she had absolutely no idea that at least one of them had been on that plane before it took off, let alone that he had a vision before the tragedy struck.

“Woah…” 

Lyla’s eyes had widened as they skimmed the article until a pop up demanding they pay two dollars a month blocked them from viewing more.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be looking at this, my dad clearly has his reasons…”

Billie trailed off, her brain telling her that the pop up had come at the perfect time, the universe warning her not to do anymore digging. If her dads were hellbent on avoiding this, maybe she should pretend not to know what she just briefly read about.

But, her curious mind betrayed her as she leaned even closer to the phone in Lyla’s hand. 

“What?! No way! We’ve just started.” 

Lyla shook her head and swiped back to the previous page she had opened. There were tons and tons more articles, all dating from the year 2000. Nine years before she had been born, and the same amount of time since she had been adopted by Carter and Alex.

The next article that was opened was centered around the survivors; there had originally been seven survivors who were supposed to be on Flight 180. The names were listed in alphabetical order, followed by their DOBs and DODs. 

Alex Browning - September 25, 1982 - Alive

Terry Chaney - October 10, 1982 - June 23, 2000 - Hit by bus

Billy Hitchcock - June 28th, 1982 - June 23, 2000 - Decapitated by train

Carter Horton - December 15, 1982 - Alive

Valerie Lewton - May 8, 1970 - June 23, 2000 - Burned in house fire

Clear Rivers - September 5, 1982 - December 30, 2000 - Crushed by sign

Tod Waggner - April 17, 1983 - June 21, 2000 - Strangled/Suicide

The article went on to give little details known about the survivors that only managed to survive about a month after the flight. 

Billie was completely taken aback, it truly felt like her heart had stopped in her chest and her breath was stuck in her throat. She had the sudden urge to run to her parent’s bedroom and squeeze them just to make sure they were still okay. The regret of being a teenage asshole to them weighed heavily on her shoulders.

No wonder they were so protective of her, and had a hard time letting her out of her sight.

She also felt terrible about invading their privacy like that, but it all made so much sense now. 

“Stay here, I’ll be right back!”

Billie shot up, not caring if either of her dads were going to be alarmed by her barreling into their room, she needed to hug them ASAP and to apologize for calling them hard-asses earlier. She wouldn’t confront them about the information she had learned, but she’d also find a way to bring it up at some point. 

Lyla wasn’t given a chance to reply as Billie had nearly fallen out of her bed with how fast she ran out of her room. 

Billie didn’t even manage to shut her door, instead leaving it wide open which she typically hated. She knew she should knock before she entered her dads’s room, but she had no time. 

She flung their bedroom door open and thankfully they were sitting in bed leaning against each other as they watched Friends on whatever streaming service it was currently available on. 

Both Alex and Carter jumped in surprise from their daughter’s sudden presence, and as Carter paused the TV, Alex was gearing up to ask where the fire was. He didn’t even get a sound out before their teenage daughter had thrown herself on top of them, knees landing on them without a care. 

Alex caught her and looked at Carter over Billie’s shoulder with a confused expression, but his arms wound tightly around her. 

The last time Billie had come to them like this had been when she was nine, and had a bad dream involving a dentist that turned into a clown. She had fallen asleep curled up between them that night.

“Hey, hey, what’s gotten into you?” 

Carter inquired with a soft yet worried tone, and she was quick to let go of Alex to squeeze Carter instead. Now it was Carter’s turn to wear the confused expression, which he gave to Alex over her shoulder in the same way he had done.

“Daddies, I’m so sorry about earlier, you’re not hard-asses. I love you both so much!” 

She babbled and only relaxed when Alex wrapped his strong, tattooed arms around both Carter and Billie.

Both Alex and Carter were so taken aback, and just held her until Billie finally pulled away.

“Uh, it’s okay… Are you okay?” 

Alex asked as Carter’s hand moved to the back of Billie’s head, both of them concerned over her sudden outburst. 

“Yeah! No, totally, I just felt bad for what I said earlier.” 

Alex frowned a little, just because he could tell there was more than what she was saying, but he chose to accept the apology either way. 

“Thank you for apologizing, baby.”

Carter leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her head, and leaned back into Alex once Billie had gotten up from their bed. 

“We really appreciate it, birdie.” 

Alex added onto Carter’s grateful words, and got comfortable again. He readjusted his glasses and picked up his phone from the nightstand.

“We were thinking ‘bout ordering a pizza, you and Lyla want your usual?” 

Alex asked as Billie made her way to go back to her own bedroom. She stopped at the door and turned half way to face them, while the other half of her body was in the hallway. 

“Hell yeah, thanks dad!”

Alex and Carter exchanged a shared look when their daughter left their room, and Carter gave an exasperated half chuckle.

“I wonder what that was all about…”

Alex trailed off and opened the app for the local pizza joint that the family frequented. He easily input their orders, and sat his phone down once everything was taken care of. 

“No clue, but that was pretty fuckin’ strange.”

Carter shrugged and picked up the Roku remote, intent on finishing the season of Friends they had been stuck on for the last month. Sure, they had watched it when the show was still being aired, but it was nice to do something so mundane and domestic. 

Alex hummed in agreement, and his eyes focused on the flat screen of the TV in their bedroom. Another 25 years could pass, and Alex still wouldn’t ever tire of holding his spouse throughout the evening and into the night. 

Carter shuffled around in the slightest, and brought Alex’s hand to his salt ‘n’ peppered hair, a wordless demand for Alex to play with the strands as they watched their show in peace.

They managed to finish up the episode they were on, and the following episode before Alex’s phone pinged to alert them that the pizza delivery driver had arrived.

Alex planted a quick kiss to Carter’s lips before he let go of Carter and rolled off the bed. He wiggled his feet into his slippers, and headed downstairs to tip the driver and bring the pizzas into the dining room. 

While Alex was retrieving the pizzas, Carter left his room to knock on Billie’s door, and cracked the door open to let the two teens know that their dinner had arrived. 

Carter could hear their voices, but not what they were saying, whatever what they were talking about seemed to be important by the way he could almost see Lyla throw her phone to the side.

“Be right there, Mr. BH!” 

“Coming, daddy!”

Both the girls called out to Carter as he shut the door behind himself to join his husband downstairs. Now that was fuckin’ weird . 

“Shit, do you think he’s onto us?”

Lyla breathed out after she was sure Carter had walked away and groaned when Billie just shrugged her shoulders. In Billie’s defense though, her parents could be pretty clueless to her sneaky ways at times, but other times they knew she was up to something before she even realized they had caught on. 

“Let’s just go before they suspect something’s up.”

Billie grabbed her best friend’s wrist and tugged her down the steps to join her parents in the dining room. 

When the two of them got to the dining room, Carter had sat out the appropriate amount of paper plates on top of the place mats on the table, and Alex was grabbing condiments from the fridge.

“We’ve got soda in the fridge too if you guys want some.” 

Carter nodded his head in the direction of his husband as he sat down at the table and flipped open the top of the pizza box in front of him before he grabbed two slices for himself. 

Alex grabbed the bottle of Frank’s RedHot, and the bottle of off-brand ranch, then closed the fridge door with his heel. He sat the bottles down on the table before he sat at the head of the table next to Carter. 

“So, what have you two been up to?”

Alex asked just to make conversation so they didn’t eat in silence, and he was genuinely interested in his daughter’s life. He wanted to know and to be involved like his parents were with his life, and he knew Carter wanted the same too, especially since his parents hadn’t been involved with his life at all. The only time Carter’s parents cared was when it came to football, or the night where the plane exploded and even then they didn’t emotionally show up, just physically.

“Oh! Uh, nothing really, just trying to find a movie to watch and ended up going down a rabbit hole of some actor on IMDB.”

Lyla’s answer was complete and utter bullshit, but Billie’s parents seemed to buy it, and they honestly had no reason not to believe her. 

“We’re probably going to watch the Saw franchise tonight, what have you guys been up to?” 

Billie added onto Lyla’s answer, and watched both of her father’s faces to see if there were any signs of them not buying what they were selling. From the looks on their faces though, they seemed to be extremely content with the answers they got.

Carter and Alex exchanged looks for the umpteenth time, and Carter shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing exciting, just binge watching Friends.”

These days lacked excitement for Alex and Carter, and Carter was more than happy with that. He didn’t need the same excitement he once had in his life. Shit, it felt like between him and Alex it felt like they lived two hundred lives together. He’d be happy to have a mundane life from here on out. 

“Ugh, Friends… really?”

Billie shook her head and her lips thinned out, unimpressed with her fathers’ choice of sitcoms. She had been trying to get them to branch out, but apparently they liked what they liked, and they were happy with the corniness of Friends. 

“Yes, Friends. Got a problem with that?” 

Alex raised one of his eyebrows and leaned back in his seat after he grabbed a couple slices of pizza and sat them on his plate. 

“Lame, dad, really. When are you gonna watch something fun, like Superstore or Community?” 

Carter cracked a smile at his daughter’s displeasure at their choice of sitcom, and grabbed the ranch to add to his plate. He found it endearing that she was just as much of a smart ass as Alex was, and found it even more endearing that Alex seemed to loathe it. (Although, Alex would say that was a trait Billie got from Carter.)

“Eat your dinner, birdie.” 

Alex huffed in response to his daughter, and started to eat his dinner. 

After dinner, both pairs parted ways after their quick clean up and then retired to their rooms for the night. 

Carter grabbed his tumbler, and the bottle of mood stabilizers he had been prescribed the summer after they had graduated. Turns out a lot of his aggression stemmed not only from him repressing both himself, and his sexuality, but undiagnosed bipolar disorder, type one to be exact. The mood stabilizers helped more than he had originally thought they would. Both Alex and himself were extremely grateful for that. He also had found that taking them at night was way more beneficial for him compared to day time usage, and he finally felt normal all things considered. 

He was glad that he had made appropriate steps to improve himself before they became parents, as he had feared that he’d turn into his old man one day, but instead he found that he was the exact opposite of him. He was loving, and kind to his child, and accepted her faults without making her feel bad for not being a perfect child. She cussed, didn’t always do the right thing, but she had a kind heart, and was a decent person with a lot of love to give, and that was more than enough for Carter. 

Carter was quick to take his pill so he could settle into bed without any worries, and groaned in pleasure when his bed hit the pillows just right. He’d probably fall asleep during their binge, but it was okay. Friends wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was Alex. They had the rings to prove that. 

Carter tilted his head to the side to watch Alex through the open master bathroom door as he applied his shaving cream to his face, he knew Alex liked to be clean-shaven but quite frankly, Carter enjoyed the way his scruff felt whenever they’d kiss, or when Alex would kiss down his neck and shoulders. Dammit, he was more than lucky.  

“Hey, do you think I should dye my hair for the reunion?”

Carter broke the comfortable silence, his eyes never once leaving Alex as he watched him grab his razor to shave his face before he settled in for the night. 

He couldn’t help the grin that automatically grew on his face when Alex popped his head out of the bathroom to make direct eye contact with Carter. He looked like a jacked version of Santa Claus with the way the shaving cream coated his jaws and upper lip. So fucking lucky.

Alex eyed Carter up and down, and didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he was checking him out (he hadn’t bothered to hide that in 25 years, to be honest) and Carter hated (loved) the way that Alex still managed to make him blush and feel shy despite all the time that they had been together. 

“Babe, if I ever say ‘yes’ to that question, I want you to take me out back and leave me for Death itself.” 

Alex shook his head, of course if Carter truly wanted to go down the route of dying his hair back to black, he’d help without any hesitation… but he was a huge fan of the way Carter’s hair had changed from age. It was sexy in the Kyle MacLachlan way, but even better because it was Carter . 

Despite how good Alex’s words truly made him feel, he rolled his eyes and shook his head at how serious Alex was. It really, truly, warmed his heart to no end. It’s not like he was trying to fish for compliments from his husband, but it still made him all fluttery inside. 

“As if I’d ever let that happen, you’re stuck with me, asshole.”

Carter’s words were full of complete and utter fondness, and again he felt himself falling for Alex for the one thousandth time today. So, so, so fucking lucky.  

His cheeks heated up a little more when he heard Alex’s laughter as he fully went back into the bathroom to finish the job he started. The faucet turned on just long enough for Alex to wet the blades, then it turned right back off so he could focus on the important part of the procedure. 

The sink turned on one last time for Alex to clean up the remaining cream on his face, then instead of rounding the bed to lay down on his side, he grabbed Carter by his right ankle and made himself comfortable between his thighs. The hand that had clutched his ankle drifted to Carter’s hip, and the other went to the headboard flat behind Carter’s head to cage him in. 

“No one else I’d rather be stuck with.” 

His words were just above a whisper, and his lips hovered over Carter’s, just barely brushing against them. 

25 years may have passed, but Alex still hit all of Carter’s weak spots with the same intensity he had before. Carter was so fucking weak when it came to Alex. A shiver of thrill went down his spine, and his legs pressed against Alex’s hips on instinct. He knew that he was exactly where Alex wanted him, and this is exactly where he wanted to be too. 

Carter’s arms snaked up Alex’s chest to wrap around his shoulders, and pulled him down to crash their lips together. When it came to Alex Browning-Horton, Carter was the biggest glutton on Earth. He could never get enough of him. Especially when Alex kissed, and touched him the way that he did. His touch reminded him of who he belonged to, even if he didn’t need the reminder. 

When Alex broke the kiss to kiss down Carter’s jawline to his neck, and just about to tug the collar of his shirt down to nip at his collarbone, Carter breathlessly craned his head in the direction of the door. 

“Lock the door…”

He breathed out, and bit his lip to suppress the laughter that bubbled in his chest with how fast Alex moved to lock their bedroom door.

Friends had long been forgotten about after that.

“Alright, so, your dad and I plan to leave around three, I know the school is close but we wanted to get some of the grocery shopping out of the way. You can invite Lyla over, or you guys can go out and do whatever it is you want, just make sure to update us. We have you on Life360, so we can see where you’re at, but I won’t be watching that like I’m some creeper.”

The family of three were sat in the living room, the tv played Billie’s Spotify playlist at a low volume, a mixture of Kpop and Nu-Metal thrummed behind them, as Carter started to explain the rules for tomorrow's upcoming event. Billie had strangely been the one to suggest that they started using Life360, and Alex had been quick to agree. He had been just as quick to subscribe to get live updates. If Carter was honest, he’d admit that he hadn’t even known about the app. He was perfectly content using FindMy whenever he felt anxious about his daughter’s whereabouts. They never differed, always at school or the house. Very seldom did she go over to Lyla’s. 

It was strange how cautious Billie had started acting in the past couple weeks, it was like she was always tiptoeing around their feelings, and extra worried about their safety. Carter was genuinely becoming concerned that at the age of 15 his daughter had developed attachment anxiety. If Alex or himself hadn’t gotten home at the time she thought they should, she was blowing up their phones with calls and text messages worried sick about them. It had been sweet at first, but Carter was worried .

“We’ll come back after we get the groceries all taken care of… If you’re willing to, maybe you could help us get ready? We’re rusty when it comes to this sorta thing, and I’d rather not look like a freak at Mt. Abraham again.”

Alex added onto Carter’s statement, and definitely felt a lot better about loosening the ropes for one night. Life360 definitely helped with that, but so did his daughter’s reassurance that she’d be safe, and wouldn’t be looking for trouble. She was excited, and her eyes sparkled just like Carter’s did. How could Alex say no to that?

“Pfft, don’t know about that one, but sure, I’ll help. I’m sure I can work some magic.”

Billie teased her dads and pretended to check her nail beds and flipped her hair out of her face. Deep down, her gut twisted. She figured her dad was called a freak after the articles she had found because Lyla didn’t know how to stop snooping once she started. 

Carter rolled his eyes with an entertained smile, and Alex scoffed lightheartedly. It was nice to actually be able to have a relationship with their child opposed to one where it was always parents on top, not caring about what their kid has to say, and actually being able to freely joke around. 

“Appreciate it, birdie.”

Alex reached out and ruffled her dark hair, and smirked a little when she complained and batted away his hand. 

“Dad, stoppp.” 

She complained before she sat up a little straighter, and brought her legs up to criss-cross them on the couch. 

“So, with your newfound freedom, what’re you gonna do?”

Carter was curious to hear about the plans (or lack of plans) Billie had made. The way she smiled at his inquiry made his chest hurt a little. They were still so afraid of Death, and premonitions that they had taken away her right to live and explore. She was so happy to actually be able to make plans. You’re turning into your father. No, this is different. Strict parents make sneaky kids.

“Well, since tomorrow is Friday, Lyla and I were planning on going to the skating rink, and after that I think we were going to go to Pizza! Pizza! for dinner. Then we planned on coming back here for the night.”

The two parents exchanged looks, and the guilty feeling intensified. Her plans were so normal, and to any other parents they wouldn’t see Death in those plans. She deserved that life, but Alex couldn’t help but to think about all the possibilities. Carter was worried, but they had to trust her. They only had three more years until she was legally an adult, and even if it scared them… they had to let her grow up and see the world for herself. 

“Sounds like fun, baby girl.”

Carter said with a grin, even if it made his heart seize up in his chest. He was still worried, but extremely excited for her to go out and have fun… he really really wished that he wasn’t as petrified as he was for her existence. She should be able to be a normal teenager, but she had absolutely no idea what evil lurked out there. 

Sometimes, he felt like it was selfish of them to have adopted a child while knowing Death could strike their family down at any moment, but he also couldn’t bring himself to regret their decision. He loved being a father in general, and he absolutely adored his daughter. Billie was truly his pride and treasure. 

“Maybe we should bubble wrap you before we go…”

Alex trailed off. He was mostly kidding, but a huge part of him was serious. He hated the way he was so paranoid about something happening to her. In three years, he wouldn’t have a say, and if he played it too safe and with too heavy of a hand, once she had that freedom, she would go off the deep end. 

Billie stuck her tongue out in retaliation, and blew raspberries at Alex. 

“Whatever, dad.”

“Billie, we’re leaving! We’ll be back soon!”

Carter called up the stairs while Alex waited by the front door, keys in hand. The closer they got to letting her go out on her own, the more nervous he had gotten about letting her go out. He wouldn’t go back on his word though, as it wouldn’t be fair to Billie. 

“Okayyy! I love you, drive safe!”

Billie loudly responded from her bedroom, her words slightly muffled from the shut door. 

He grinned and took a deep breath before he walked away from the base of the stairs to join his husband at the front door. Carter had the shopping list folded up and tucked into his wallet so they wouldn’t forget anything, or veer too much off course. It seemed like each shopping trip they did together, they ended up leaving with way more than they intended to. They frequently made the mistake of going down the cracker aisle and ended up being roped into any limited edition flavor of Goldfish. 

Alex held Carter’s hand as soon as they stepped out the door, and only let go when they got to his car. 25 years had gone by, yet Alex still wanted to hold Carter’s hand whenever he possibly could. Again, Carter felt like the luckiest person ever. He truly had the most loving partner, and he could genuinely call him his other half. It was like their souls were made for each other, that they were made to love one another. It sucked that Death was what finally kicked them into gear, but a part of Carter truly believed that in one way or another they would’ve found each other in this position. 

“Let’s try to be in and out today, I seriously need Billie to help me pick out what I’m going to wear.”

Carter said as he buckled his seatbelt and lolled his head to look at Alex, a small smile on his face. It wasn’t that he lacked fashion sense, but the fact that he was anxious about the reunion. He didn’t know what to expect, it’s not like they went to the previous ones. 

It seemed like every time they rolled around, the timing was super inconvenient for them as a couple. For the five year reunion, Alex had finally gone into inpatient treatment for his alcohol problem (which thankfully worked, and Alex had been sober since then… he just sort of went off the deep end, which made sense since he had gone through so much, and just wanted to numb the guilt he felt.)  The ten year reunion, they had to sit in the pediatric ward since their daughter had a bout of the flu, and she was too little for them to not take her. For the fifteen year reunion they were on their honeymoon, twentieth Carter had appendicitis, and now they finally had the opportunity to go. 

“You could wear your old letterman jacket.” 

Alex teased before he leaned over the center console to press a quick kiss to Carter’s lips, and went to pull away only to be kissed again by Carter. Like always, they struggled to keep their hands off of each other. 

“Ha ha, funny.”

Carter rolled his eyes and shook his head as Alex double checked his belt before he pulled out of their driveway. 

“I know, I’ve thought about doing stand up.”

Alex was so funny in the least funny way imaginable. He always managed to get a snicker or a full blown belly laugh out of Carter, but in general he really, really , wasn’t funny. 

“Don’t quit your day job, babe.”

Carter shook his head and watched Alex’s side profile as he drove. Yeah, Carter hated what Death had done to them, but fuck he was so god damn lucky . 

“Because you’d miss me being around once I took this show on the road.” 

Alex quipped which got a half chuckle and an eyeroll from Carter in response. 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, man.”

Carter shrugged his shoulders and squeezed Alex’s hand. 

When they got to the grocery store, Alex got out of the car first and jogged around the front of the car to open the door for Carter. 

“After you, babe.”

He held his hand out to “help” Carter out of the car with a cheeky smile. Alex’s bright blue eyes sparkled with a familiar warmth, and Carter internally swooned yet again. 

Carter unbuckled his belt and placed his hand into Alex’s and returned the smile. The way that their fingers effortlessly tangled together made the all too familiar butterflies swarm within Carter’s gut. He was so in love.

“Gee, thanks.”

Carter swung their hands until they got to one of the cart caddies, first he pulled his wallet out to hand it over to Alex then he got one of the carts out to use. 

When they got into the store, Carter did a quick glance around the building then looked at Alex. 

“Where to first?”

He asked as he drummed his thumbs against the handle of the shopping cart. 

Alex unfolded Carter’s wallet and pulled out the list. 

“We should grab the cleaning supplies first, then work our way to produce. We need more household items than food.”

Alex said after he had read over the list. They needed toilet paper, more oven cleaner, dish soap, a new plug for the bath tub, and windex. They also needed to grab floor polish, and clorox wipes. 

Carter nodded and let Alex take the lead while he pushed the cart. They started at the spot that Alex had suggested, the two of them working together. Alex loaded the cart and Carter pushed it around. (He also checked Alex out as he loaded the cart up, even though the items weren’t particularly heavy, he very much so enjoyed the way his arms would flex with each movement.) 

After they finished up collecting the household items they had needed, they grabbed the few things they needed from the produce section. Bell peppers (Only the red, yellow, and orange ones, as Alex hated the green ones.) rice, and tomato paste. Tomorrow was stuffed pepper night, and the only ingredient they had besides the seasoning was the ground beef. They also picked up a pack of mixed berries for their morning smoothies. 

“Anything else?”

Carter had asked once they neared the end of their grocery run, and Alex shook his head. They were good to go home and get ready for the high school reunion. 

“Do a spin, Mr. BH!” 

Carter sighed but complied to Lyla’s demand and did a spin like a kid showing off their parents the outfit they had pulled together. He hated that he felt embarrassed by showing off his first choice. He had a long sleeved, light purple button up on, and dark blue jeans. He didn’t love the outfit, and ended up loving it less when his daughter giggled at him. 

“Okayyy, Cameron Tucker, get it!”

Yup, that was a hard no.

Carter headed back upstairs to his bedroom to change into something else. Alex was still in there trying to pick between semi-formal or full blown formal wear. 

When Carter had returned, he turned his attention away from the opened closet and tilted his head a little. 

“What’d the girls say?”

He wondered and looked back to the closet for a split second before his eyes went back to Carter. He really loved how the purple went with Carter’s salt ‘n’ pepper hair. 

“Our loving daughter said I looked like Cam from Modern Family.”

Carter flatly replied as he unbuttoned his shirt and joined Alex in front of the closet. He rolled his eyes when Alex snorted and let the shirt fall to the floor, and picked it up with his sock covered foot. 

“I thought I knew what to wear, but now I really have no idea.”

Alex sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Part of him just wanted to throw on whatever, and call it good, but at the same time this would be the first time he’d see anyone they had gone to school with… He wanted to look good.

“This really is just high school all over again.”

Carter commented and leaned his head against Alex’s shoulder. The two of them stood aimlessly in front of the closet. The pressure to look nice was a long forgotten feeling, and the need to fit in came roaring back. 

Alex groaned, he felt so silly mulling over what to wear. He really hadn’t had this problem in oh… 25 years. Why were they doing this again? Oh, right, Carter wanted to and they hadn’t been to any of the other reunions. Besides, it’d be a crime for Carter to look so good and to have no one else appreciate it (Or the fact that he’d be on Alex’s arm. Yeah, that’s right, the freak who saw the plane explode before it happened pulled Carter Horton.)

“No wonder Billie was so stressed about her school dance.” 

Alex groaned again as they looked at their closet. They had a whole array of options, and yet neither of them knew what to wear. 

Carter pinched the bridge of his nose, it really shouldn’t be this hard to find something to wear. 

“Okay, fuck it. I’m going simple, white shirt, black pants, and that black cardigan your mom got me for Christmas.”

He finally said and stopped leaning on Alex so he could change into the outfit he had decided on. He wasn’t going to waste any more time fretting over what he was going to wear. He wanted to be comfortable on top of looking nice. That, and his daughter wouldn’t be able to compare him to Cameron fucking Tucker.

The whole time that Carter had been in the process of changing, he could feel Alex’s eyes following his every movement. Even after all these years, his gaze alone did things to Carter. He held his breath as Alex wrapped his arms around him from behind, and his lips grazed over the shell of his ear. 

“Good choice… that’s gonna look good on our floor tonight.”

He whispered to Carter as he felt up his stomach to his chest, his hand just briefly stopping at Carter’s throat to give it a gentle squeeze. Carter was positive Alex could feel the way his heartbeat spiked when he held him by the neck. Oh, the outfit was definitely a good choice. Fuck, though, was Alex trying to kill him?

As quick as the touch came, it was gone just as fast. Alex was such a dick sometimes, and he knew he was. That cocky asshole. 

“Get ready, Alex.”

Carter mumbled with red cheeks and adjusted the cardigan that had moved out of place from Alex’s touch. 

Alex ended up in his favorite grey shirt with a dark blue button up on top, and blue jeans. When he moved just right, the tattoo on his bicep peaked out and yeah, he was definitely trying to kill Carter tonight. Dammit, he looked so good. Aged like the finest wine available, and Carter wanted nothing more than to drink it up until he forgot his own name.

“Ready?”

Alex asked as if he hadn’t been all over Carter, as if he hadn’t made him weak in the knees. Carter took a moment to collect himself before he nodded. 

“Ready.”

He confirmed and let Alex drag him by his wrist from their bedroom down the steps. Billie and Lyla both were waiting for them at the base of the staircase and Lyla whistled at the sight. 

“Damn, you guys look good!” 

She complimented, which earned her an elbow to the side from Billie who then whipped her phone out to take pictures of them before they left. 

“Hey!”

Lyla half protested, half giggled at the reaction she got from Billie, and rubbed her side. 

Once Billie was satisfied with the photos she had got of her parents, she hugged both of them. 

“We won’t be far, or unreachable… call us if you need us, it doesn’t matter what you need, we’ll be there as fast as possible.”

Alex assured Billie while she was in his arms, and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Dad, go, have fun. We’ve gotta get out of here too, y’know?”

She waved him off, but felt a lot better about going out with the reassurance. Now that the time to be free was here, she was even more nervous than she let on. She was excited for herself, but also worried about her parents' safety. 

“Alright, alright… we’re going, we’re going. Be safe, have fun tonight, birdie.”

Alex squeezed her one last time before he headed to the door, waiting for Carter like he usually did while Carter fished out his wallet for the second time that day. He handed Billie a 20 dollar bill and kissed her cheek. 

“We love you, be safe. Seriously, call us if you need anything at all.”

With that, Carter joined Alex and waved to both Billie and Lyla as the exited their home. 

“Love you guys, drive safe!”

It was weird being back at Mt. Abraham High for themselves compared to going for one of Billie’s events. It was weirder to be in the same gymnasium that they had lunch in every day for four years without having to go to class afterwards. 

On the floor were balloons filled with different colored confetti, and shiny streamers hung from the ceiling where a disco light spun. There was a DJ booth set up in front of a makeshift dance floor, and to one side of it was a photobooth. To the other side were multiple fold up tables with star themed table cloths that held various dishes. Near the entrance where the attendance book was, there was a separate table set up to commemorate the classmates that had died in the explosion, and the ones they had lost after the tragedy. 

“It looks like an even shittier version of prom.”

Carter observed and held onto Alex’s hand a little tighter. He didn’t realize being here in this context would make him so nervous.

Alex hummed in agreement, he wasn’t sure what to do now that they were here. It’s not like he had the best high school career, and the people he’d want to catch up with had been dead for 25 years. Besides, he doubted people’s opinions on him had changed much. 

Carter’s eyes focused on the memorial table, and took a deep breath before he nudged Alex in that direction. 

On the poster board, each classmate and teacher they had lost had their school photo pasted with their names underneath. George and Tod were placed next to each other on the poster board. 

“Tod would’ve loved this kinda thing… he was always the one for celebrating.”

Alex felt a bit choked up seeing all the pictures on the black poster board. It had been 25 years, and it still didn’t hurt any less. He wasn’t particularly religious, but he hoped that wherever Tod and George were, they were watching both him and Carter with love. That they were proud of them both.

“Terry too… she had always been the life of the party.”

If things had been different, if Terry and Tod hadn’t died, Carter was sure that they would’ve been the ones to plan the reunions. This was totally their kind of thing. 

“I think they’d appreciate this more than either of us.” 

Alex sighed and rubbed his thumb along the back of Carter’s hand.

“Billy too, I bet he would’ve spiked the punch bowl like he did at Home Coming.” 

Carter replied as he tried to not get too emotional over the thought. Billy’s and Terry’s deaths were the hardest since both of them he really blamed himself for, even though he knew logically he couldn’t have done anything to prevent them. Death would always try to get the last laugh. 

“We’ll enjoy tonight for them, they deserve it.”

Alex decided and tried to keep himself from getting too overwhelmed by everything going on tonight.

Carter nodded his head in agreement and kept close to Alex as they tried to find a table to sit at. It was odd to see their former classmates, all of them had aged and changed, yet being here in this room it felt like nothing had really changed at all. 

“Oh my god! Carter?!” 

Carter’s head whipped around at the sound of his name being called out, and for a second he didn’t recognize the person who had all but shouted his name. When he did though, he grinned.

“Wow, hey, Jackson. It’s been awhile, huh?” 

Jackson had been on the football team with Carter, and from what he remembered he was also the kid that snuck out during lunch to join the stoners underneath the bleachers. 

“No kiddin’! You look the same, hairs a lot lighter than I remember.”

Jackson nodded as he took a drink from his plastic cup that was made to look like a mini glass. 

Carter looked from Jackson to Alex, and even though he didn’t need to introduce Alex to anyone here, he wouldn’t let him be an outsider. 

“It may have been darker if Alex hadn’t convinced me not to dye it.” 

Carter responded and lightly tugged on Alex’s hand to highlight the fact that he was holding it. 

“No shit… Browning, I hardly recognized you, you two here together?”

Jackson was genuinely surprised to see them together, considering the way they had been towards each other up until Flight 180. 

“Yeah, we are! We’ve actually been married for the past ten years.”

Carter beamed as he got to brag about the fact that he was married to Alex. Sure, in his everyday life he got to refer to Alex as his husband, but it was never to anyone who had known them before. 

Jackson’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, surprised to hear the news. 

“Who would’ve thought… Well congrats man, I’m glad it all worked out for ya both. It was good seeing you two.”

With that, the interaction was over. Which was more than okay with Carter since he really didn’t care all that much about catching up aside from bragging about his marriage to Alex. He really wished that Hitchcock could’ve been here, Carter had been such an asshole to him, but he really was the life of the party.

“I think we could’ve lived with the FOMO, babe.”

Alex said as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand. It was uncomfortable, and awkward. The conversations felt forced, and the same old cliques seemed to fall into place. The only big difference was the fact that everyone was in their mid-forties, that and he had married into the popular crowd. 

“FOMO?” 

Carter raised an eyebrow, he had heard their daughter say that multiple times, yet he still didn’t actually know what it meant. He’d try to ask her, but usually she’d just call him an old man and the subject would drop.

“Yeah, I finally got tired of being treated like an artifact by our daughter. It apparently means “Fear of missing out” and I would’ve been fine missing out on this.”

Alex said as he finally found a table that hadn’t seemed to be claimed by anyone, and pulled out a chair for Carter before he pulled one out for himself. And they say chivalry is dead.  

Carter sat down in the chair that Alex had pulled out for him and looked around the gymnasium again. It looked like almost the whole graduating class had shown up, or maybe it was everyone with their partners that made the room look so small. 

“Mmm, I guess it would’ve killed Billie to tell us that.” 

Carter waited until Alex sat down and scooted his chair in the slightest amount to be closer to Alex. It was such a shame that they weren’t having a lot of fun considering Alex looked so good . (It didn’t help that Alex had told him that his clothes would look good on the bedroom floor.) 

Alex breathed out a chuckle and shrugged his shoulders, teens were dramatic and with them being Billie’s parents… there was a lot of flair for dramaticism. 

They hadn’t even been there for an hour, and Carter was itching to go home despite his words about making this a fun night for their friends who couldn’t be there. It didn’t help that being here brought that heavy weight of hurt back to his chest. The last couple months of school had been awful, so many people had died, and the only thing that got him through graduation was Alex. 

Alex untangled his fingers from Carter’s and instead rested his hand on Carter’s thigh, his thumb brushing along the inside of the seams of his pant leg.

“Are you hungry? It looks like almost all the budget went towards the buffet table.”

Alex gestured towards the tables with the food, and honestly? Carter was far from it, but he knew that he had to eat. He didn’t want to stop on the way home, nor did he want to cook once he got home. 

“I could eat, do you want to go together, or?” 

Carter tilted his head in the slightest as he put his hand on top of Alex’s. His hand burned pleasantly over his jeans and he genuinely wouldn’t have minded if Alex’s hand stayed there the whole night.

“Nah, you stay here, don’t wanna lose our prime seating.” 

Alex shook his head while he squeezed Carter’s thigh. Alex knew what Carter liked and didn’t like, what he was allergic to or had an intolerance to. Besides, he wouldn’t be gone for long at all. No need to make Carter get up again after they had only just sat down.

Carter hummed softly and nodded his head, he leaned his body in towards Alex before he could get up, his hand snaked to rest against Alex’s nape and brought him into a kiss. He knew he wouldn’t be gone that long, but he looked good, and maybe Carter wanted to draw attention to the fact that Alex was and had been off the market.

While Alex was gone, Carter had pulled his phone out to check Life360 and to see if he had any missed messages from Billie. The only ones he had from her were the pictures she had forced them to take before they left, and an update from Billie once she got to the skating rink. 

Carter smiled and heart reacted to both sets of messages before he sent a quick “Love you!” in response to the texts. 

He was really trying not to be bothered by both the reunion and the fact that their daughter was currently out and about. He couldn’t help the worry he felt, but he wouldn’t ruin this night for either of them. All three of them deserved to have some actual fun outside of the house for once. 

Carter tucked his phone into the pocket of his cardigan when he noticed Alex coming his way with two normal sized plastic plates, and two smaller ones. It was impressive that he still was able to balance the smaller ones on his wrist from when he had worked as a waiter. 

Alex sat the plates down in front of their chairs on the table.

“Dinner is served, my love.”

He playfully said as he pulled the plastic forks from his jeans pocket before he sat down next to Carter once more. 

“Thanks, Browning.”

Carter scoffed in a similar tone. He picked up one of the plastic forks Alex had sat down. Alex really did know Carter, and it warmed his heart. He had gotten Carter pulled chicken and macaroni and cheese for the main dish, and on the smaller plate there was a red velvet cupcake with some blueberries to the side. 

“Hey! That’s Browning-Horton to you.”

Alex corrected him with a click of his tongue, the eye roll he gave was in mock annoyance. 

The longer the couple stayed at the reunion, the more comfortable they had gotten. They came across old friends and acquaintances. A couple of Alex’s old friends that hadn’t been blown up in Flight 180 apologized for ostracizing him, and for thinking he was a freak. There was a good chunk of people who were surprised that Alex and Carter had ended up getting married, and a few who were less surprised. 

Carter at some point had managed to get Alex onto the make-shift dance floor, their chests pressed together, arms wound around each other. Carter had his chin tucked over Alex’s shoulder as they danced to music from the year they graduated.

When ‘All The Small Things’ by Blink-182 started playing, the semi-slow dance that they had been doing turned more into a half jump while they tried to hold onto each other. They happily belted along to the song, and acted as if it were the first time they had heard the song as if they didn’t regularly hear it when Billie got the aux. 

The next song made them freeze. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) blasted throughout the gym, and suddenly the thoughts of their lost friends returned, specifically about Clear. Before she had died, the two of them had teased her about the song being about her. She had rolled her eyes, but the way she smiled at them told them how she truly felt. 

The two of them exchanged looks, and they both knew that they couldn’t keep pretending that they were okay being here when the people they wanted to celebrate most with were gone.

Alex outstretched his hand toward Carter to take. Once his hand was clasped in Alex’s, he led Carter out the back exit of the gym. They hadn’t made the walk from the gym to the memorial for Flight 180 in 25 years, but the walk had been so familiar. It was like they had been there a hundred times instead of a handful of times. It looked the same, the bird still big and fierce as it protected the students and teachers they had lost. 

Carter squatted in front of the statue and ran his pointer finger over the spot where he had attempted to carve Terry’s name. He could just barely feel the scratch his pocket knife made. 

“They still deserve to be up here… all of them do.” 

Carter whispered as he looked up at Alex, it broke his heart that the survivors who had ended up losing their lives only a month later after the explosion lacked any form of remembrance. They were just as deserving of it. Sure, inside there was the poster board… but eventually everyone would forget about that. The statue forced people to know and remember the names. 

“I know…” 

Alex breathed out with a solemn expression. He still carried a lot of guilt about the explosion. Out of the 44 people he could’ve saved, he only managed to save seven including himself. Then five of the people he saved had died in fucked up ways.

“Maybe we could use the fact that Billie goes to school here to get a plaque instated inside, or something…” 

Carter suggested as he slowly stood up and brought his free hand to touch the statue, and looked up at the sky. Wherever their fallen classmates were, he hoped that they were now safe and happy. All of them, even the ones lost after the initial explosion. 

“Yeah, maybe…”

Alex trailed off and swallowed the frog he felt form in his throat. It was a really good idea, but that meant actually talking to his daughter about something that still stung like a fresh wound. He wasn’t about to go over her head and pull something like that, but the five friends he had made because of the accident deserved to be remembered just as much as the ones the accident had killed.

“Are you ready to go home?”

His question was asked as if it were an afterthought, but Carter had known Alex had been ready to go since the moment they walked through the doors. 

“Take me home, Alex.” 

Carter confirmed, ready to get the hell out of dodge. 

The drive home started pretty normal, until Alex had pulled into an empty parking lot where Joann’s had been before all the stores shut down, only a couple blocks away from the school.

“What are we doing here?”

Carter’s eyebrows furrowed to show his confusion, and his heart leapt in his chest from the look Alex gave him. His eyes were half lidded, almost in a poor attempt of masking the crazed lust he felt for Carter.

“You’ve been driving me crazy all night, can’t wait to get home.”

Alex was already undoing his seatbelt, his words heavy in the air of the car. Oh fuck, the reuinion brought back a lot of memories, but the angst of the night had taken priority… But there had been multiple times that they’d pull off into abandoned parking lots to make out, or even bang out of respect to Alex’s parents.

Carter’s brain lagged for a second before he hastily unbuckled his own seatbelt, and climbed into the backseat of Alex’s car. He fiddled with his belt as Alex opened the glovebox to pull out the half empty bottle of lube, and a condom.

“Belt and pants can go, but everything else stays on.”

Alex’s words weren’t a suggestion, they were a demand. 

“I still intend to keep my promise.” 

He continued to talk as he climbed into the back with Carter, and made himself comfortable in the middle seat. His eyes were stuck on Carter like glue, and it made Carter want to squirm. He knew what promise Alex meant, the one about his clothes looking good on their bedroom floor.

He took a deep breath and clumsily kicked off his pants. He kept his boxers on and climbed into Alex’s lap, leg on both sides of Alex’s hips. He could feel how hard his husband was underneath his ass, and fuck Carter needed him so bad that he could feel himself begin to shake before he was even properly touched.

One would think that after all these years together that the sex wouldn’t be anything special, but Alex had used those years to learn how to properly tear Carter apart, only to build him back up again. 

His calloused hands planted on Carter’s ass without hesitation, as if it were second nature to him. (At this point, it definitely was.)

“Alex…” 

Carter all but whined as Alex leaned down to kiss and nip at his neck, one hand stayed on Carter’s ass while the other traced along the hem of his boxers until it was between them, just under Carter’s covered happy trail that had similar coloring to the hair on his head. Alex’s hand went up, Carter’s shirt bunched up at his wrist as his fingers brushed over his happy trail, then they circled his belly button before going up even higher to pinch at his nipple. 

Carter’s whole body twitched, and his lips parted in a silent moan. His head was already spinning with thoughts of Alex, and Alex alone. He belonged to Alex in every form. 

Alex kissed across his throat to get to the other side of his neck, and then kissed up behind his ear, gently nipped at the lobe before he pulled back to slam his lips into Carter’s. The hand that remained on Carter’s ass gave a gentle tug to start a nice rhythm of their hips grinding together. 

Carter fell forward, and his hands gripped the blue button up that covered Alex’s shoulders. Carter rocked his hips down into Alex’s, his face flushed and blue eyes shut, Alex shoved his tongue into Carter’s mouth and pulled him down harder until Carter broke the kiss with a pathetic little whimper. 

“Alex, please, you too.” 

His voice shook as he referred to Alex’s still belt buckled jeans. He was so desperate for Alex already, it wasn’t even funny. It nearly hurt how bad he needed him.

“Sit up for me, baby.” 

Alex huffed out in endearment, and helped Carter sit up more on his knees so he was just hovering over his lap instead of sitting directly on his lap. He was a pro at unbuckling his belt within seconds, he had his belt undone and lifted his own hips up to pull his jeans down from under his ass. They pooled at his ankles, and Carter was back in his lap. Their boxer covered crotches brushed up against each other again, and it still wasn’t enough.

“Fuck, just hurry up already…” 

Carter begged, his face flushed and Alex licked over his lips as his hands moved to fish himself out of his boxers, and then his hands went to Carter’s back, danced down the fabric of his black cardigan until they fell to his ass again. He tugged at the back of his boxers, and Carter was quick to lift his hips up enough to pull his boxers down around his ass.

Alex’s left hand wrapped around Carter’s length, giving it a gentle jerk as his right hand picked up the bottle of lube next to them. He gave Carter a couple more jerks before he let go of him to open the tube of lube. He squirted the substance onto his fingers and his strong arms circled Carter to access his hole. 

Carter bit his lip and held his breath as Alex pressed into him, his head all the more fuzzy, filled with Alex. He was the luckiest fucker in this world.  

As soon as Carter had started to rock his hips again, when he was practically riding Alex’s fingers, Alex swiftly grabbed the condom with his free hand and ripped it open with his teeth. Carter groaned at the sight and threw his head back, and grabbed the opened wrapper from Alex. His movements came to a halt, and with shaky hands he pulled the condom out of the wrapper and rolled it onto Alex. He was so hot and heavy in his hand, and Carter was addicted.  

Alex groaned at the feeling of his husband’s hand around him and rolled his hips up into the touch, and curled the fingers within Carter up into his prostate to make him squirm again.

“Alex… please, please, please no- no more teasing…” 

Carter was breathlessly begging again, and Alex would’ve been an evil, evil, evil man to deny him the pleasure he was so desperate for. His fingers slid out of Carter, and instead held onto Carter’s hips. Carter’s clammy hand guided Alex’s length to his hole, and quickly sunk down onto him until their thighs were flushed.

Carter leaned forward to bite Alex’s shoulder, thankful that his equally needy husband had a thing for being fully clothed, which meant the lack of marks. They were 44 years old, not college aged students who showed off the fact that they had a sex life. 

It didn’t take long for them to fall into a rhythm that drove them both crazy, their hands all over each other and their lips locked in a messy kiss. Carter’s eyes welled up with unshed tears as Alex expertly fucked into him, and soon enough he was crying out Alex’s name. 

Alex didn’t last much longer after that, and finished into the condom. Their breaths heavy as Carter lifted off Alex’s lap, and picked up the travel size of tissues that had fallen out of one of Carter’s hoodies weeks ago. He cleaned himself up before he pulled his boxers back on and picked up his jeans from the floor of the car. 

Alex pulled the condom off and tied it before he tucked himself back into his boxers. He carefully sat the condom down so he wouldn’t make a mess as he redressed his bottom half. The windows were so fogged up, and Carter’s beautiful salt ‘n’ peppered hair had sweat at the sides and at his hair line. He looked absolutely divine. 

Alex picked up the condom and leaned in between the two front seats to toss it into the old plastic grocery bag that they had been using as a trash bag. He’d stop at the dumpster before he went in for the night. There was no way in hell he’d be leaving around incriminating evidence for their daughter to stumble across.

Carter was able to pull his jeans on until he got just past his knees while he sat, then he had to awkwardly hunch his back as he stood up to pull them up the rest of the way. Then he climbed back up front into the passenger’s seat, Alex followed him by climbing over the console again and got back into the driver’s seat.

“Animal…”

Carter’s words were still shaky and raw from the act that they had committed in the back seat. 

“It’s actually pronounced ‘Alex’, babe.”

The ride home after that was uneventful, and no more stops were made until they actually got out of the car and Alex threw the plastic shopping bag away in their dumpster before they went into the house.

Billie and Lyla were lounging on the couch when they entered the house, watching Scream. By the sound of the movie, they had at least been home for half an hour based on the dialogue Carter faintly heard.

“Dad, daddy! You’re home!” 

Billie sat up and stretched before she waved to both of them. 

Relief filled Carter’s chest, and a weight he had been carrying on his shoulders all night lifted. Billie was safe, and from the way she was grinning ear to ear, she was happy too.

“How was the reunion, Mr. BH?”

Lyla made conversation, and picked up the bowl of popcorn from her lap to hold out to both Alex and Carter.

“Eh, nothing exciting. Give it 28 years and you guys will experience the same thing.”

Carter shrugged his shoulders with a small smile, he walked over to the couch and hugged Billie, and then Lyla. 

“Long, boring, we’re going to go lay down. We’ll be around if you need us. We’ll be down in a bit though to talk about our nights.”

Alex said as followed Carter’s actions before he headed towards the steps, making sure that Carter was following him.

When they got to their bedroom, Alex slammed Carter into their closed bedroom door, and started the frenzy all over again. He was fully intending on keeping his promise.

Just as Alex was drifting off to sleep wrapped around Carter, the bedroom door opened with a small creaking sound. At some point he’d have to apply WD40 to the hinges. 

“Dad, daddy? You awake?”

Billie’s voice was soft to not cause disturbance, and suddenly the sleep that was calling his name disappeared. He sat up, careful not to jostle Carter who had passed out half an hour ago. 

“I am, what’s up?” 

Alex invited her in and gestured to the foot of the bed with his hand. Billie sat down at the foot of the bed, and crossed her legs as she looked up at her father. 

“I need to talk to you about something, but I’m scared it’ll hurt your feelings or upset you…”

She trailed off, and at first Alex got flashbacks to when he came out to his own parents, but something told him this wasn’t the same situation. 

“Birdie, don’t worry about that, ‘kay? I’m a big boy, and I don’t need my daughter to protect my feelings. I’m here for you absolutely no matter what.”

Alex was touched that his daughter wanted to save his feelings, but when it came to her and her wellbeing, those were his last priority. 

“Last week when daddy gave me permission to go out, Lyla and I ended up looking up your name… I know about the flight you were supposed to be on, and that all the survivors you got off the plane died… well, besides you and daddy.”

She admitted and watched her father’s face for any sign of anger, but all that she saw was a look that she had never seen before. He looked like he was experiencing every emotion at once. 

Alex took a deep breath, and carefully shook Carter awake. Carter woke up with a small jolt and looked around the room before he relaxed and yawned. His tired blue eyes blinked as he pushed himself onto his elbows. He was surprised to see Billie, and the sudden change in the atmosphere. 

“You don’t know everything about it though, or what we went through.”

Carter’s tired mind quickly caught onto what was going on, and suddenly he was a lot more present. It made sense that Alex had woken him up for this.

Carter held Alex’s hand under the blanket as Billie settled at their feet, her ears open to what they had to say about everything. 

Alex went on to explain the premonition he had the night that the plane was supposed to take off, and how Carter got himself and his girlfriend at the time kicked off by fighting Alex. He finally told her about his two best friends that he had lost, Tod and George (and if they had still been around, they would’ve been Billie’s uncles.) 

At some point, Carter had taken over and told her about Billy Hitchcock and how Billie was named after him. He told her about finding Alex and Clear kissing on the beach, and how he felt he was responsible for Billy’s death as he had kind of gone off the deep end after that. 

They talked about everything that came post-flight 180 with her until the sun came up, and the three of them fell asleep together. 

They had somehow managed to beat Death at its own game, and managed to raise a daughter who came to understand them. Even though she was named after Billy, the both of them saw a lot of Clear in her. Maybe it was the universe’s way of showing them that the people they had lost were never truly gone, just hidden inside someone else’s love.