Work Text:
Paris, France. 6 months after the events of Final Destination(2000)
Clear, Carter, and Alex sat at a table, drinking. Any bad blood that had ever existed between them was gone, replaced by something entirely different.
"You were right, Brown," Carter said. He looked at Alex, a little bashfully. "It did skip us. It wasn't designed, but we beat it, you know? We won."
"The only thing I think we won, Carter" Clear said, "Was a chance at a full life."
They all took a drink.
"A chance that I won't ever waste." She finished, taking Alex's hand in hers. Alex looked to Carter with that same silent question he always had when they were in public.
Alex had been… careful with Carter since Carter had discovered his bisexuality. Even this far along, Carter was still new to it, to being with a guy, not to mention being with two partners at once. Before all this, the deaths, the narrowly-dodged danger, Carter had never thought about his sexuality. He didn't even learn the term bisexual until Clear talked to him about it.
It also wasn't until she explained what it meant that he realized that straight men generally don't feel a certain way when looking at the other guys in the locker room.
He had been eager to return to sports when they had all cheated death, when it was all over, but it became clear that that wouldn't happen.
Every time the ball came at him, he would throw himself out of the way, already seeing the scenarios in which that could kill him- crushed skull, broken neck, the works. He had panic attacks on the field, and his coach, realizing that these wouldn't stop, not-so-gently suggested he find another hobby.
He knew in his mind that it was all over, that somehow Clear and Alex had stopped it, but that didn't help him when his body had rewired itself to be in fight or flight at every sudden movement. To not look out for signs. Risks.
It was on the night he quit that he returned to the monument that had been erected in honor of his classmates and teachers who had died in the plane crash. He had been intent on finishing carving Terry's name into the plaque. It was stupid that he left it half-finished, and now that he had time, it was only right.
He was so focused, as he picked back up, that he didn't notice he wasn't alone until he finished the last letter of her last name and sat back, but his moment of relaxation was short-lived. He felt someone's presence behind him. He turned, and there was Alex.
His feelings for the other boy had been complex in the past. He hated him. He relied on him. They were… friends? It wasn't clear. The guy had saved him, sure, but it wasn't as if they ever hung out. He didn't know where they stood with each other.
But right then, after finishing his respects to Terry, Alex was the last person Carter wanted to see. His stupid, bland, narrow face. His pink lips, the lines of his long neck. his eyes, which always seemed too wet…
It was all too much.
They had argued- it wasn't clear about what, but they got heated, winding each other up, but instead of exchanging blows as they might have any other day, Carter pulled Alex into a kiss. After a startled pause, Alex reciprocated.
An awkward 15 minutes later, they zipped their pants back up and left separately.
Next was in Carter's new car, then on the beach, then in Alex's house, where Clear finally caught them. Instead of looking horrified to find out that her boyfriend was cheating on her with another guy, she got a strange, excited look on her face, and asked if she could join.
It continued from there. Carter's integration into their relationship was seamless. There was no one moment where it became official, but before long, they were all going out. Either all at once or two at a time, they had become an item. The dynamic was as natural as breathing. Of course they were together; why wouldn't they be, after all they'd been through?
Even so, Carter still had hold-ups in showing affection to Alex in public. It wasn't that he was ashamed, he was just… nervous. Not everyone was open-minded enough to accept that guys could be together, much less that two guys and a girl could all be together.
But now, in Paris, the city of love, when Alex looked at him with that silent question, Carter took his hand.
They finished their drinks, discussing their plans for the next day. Breakfast, then the Louvre, maybe go to one of those restaurants they read about in a travel guide. They could only do so much in one day, but they had two weeks before they had to catch their flight home. They had time.
They lived to an old age and died of natural causes.
The end.