At the beginning of things, they were clumsy and awkward. Their teeth would clack and their tongues would move in sloppy circles. But now their bodies had each other memorized, and in this moment of forever, Chris felt like this was how they should have always been.
“Perfection doesn’t exist,” Marc panted against his mouth. “And even if it did, I wouldn’t want it. All I want…” He touched Chris’s forehead with his, locking their gazes. “It’s you.” He pecked his lips. “For years, I waited for scraps of your affection, knowing full well that you and I would never happen. But then, that night, you kissed me… It turned my whole world upside down. The idea that I’d leave you now that I finally have what I’ve wanted for so long is simply ridiculous, baby. I’m madly and hopelessly in love with you.”
A relieved gasp vaporized in Chris’s lungs. It was as if the sky opened above him and the pain stopped. A weight he hadn’t realized he was carrying on his shoulders lifted, tearing his fears away with it.
He forced Marc onto his back and straddled his lap, kissing him once again. They unraveled, for once exploring, and touching each other with nothing in the way. This time it was just them, their physical attraction, and their primal need to become one.
“Fuck… T-that’s why I’m here. Why I couldn’t wait another damn day.” Chris frowned, swallowing hard as he thumbed Marc’s bottom lip, sucking and nipping it, too. He was feeling too much and didn’t know what to do with it all. “It’s taken me more time than it should’ve and… it may be borderline obsessive and tortuous because I’m messed up like that, especially in the romantic department, but I—I love you so fucking much.”
Marc grinned that beautiful smile of his. “You’re a mess. I’m a mess. And that’s fine. We don’t need to be perfect. Broken chords can also be part of a song.”
Chris stared deep into his eyes for a moment, knowing that no matter how dark it got, he would be by his side. When he pressed their lips together in a slow, sensual kiss, the jaws of fate cracked, allowing him to escape and run towards the place where he didn’t need to hide.
Imperfect in more ways than one. With this man, he felt worthy of respect, understanding, and love.
With this man, he had finally found his home.
Epilogue: Into The Great Beyond
August4th,2023
Wacken, Germany
As Buried Alive’s music introslipped through the massive amps, the murmur on the other side of the black curtains increased.
They were backstage, getting ready to perform while their crew, the previous band’s team, and the rest of the organization’s staff were working non-stop. Instrument cases, cables, and all kinds of gear were scattered everywhere in a diligently ordered mess that only they understood. It was hectic, and still, Marc wouldn’t change this for anything in the world.
It could be the fact they were all here together. Or that it was once again W:O:A, a festival that had welcomed them at the beginning of their career when no one knew who they were. Or the sun dyeing the blue sky with soft shades of orange. Whatever it was, it’d soaked the atmosphere with magic.
Strumming the strings of his bass to test that everything was working, he scanned the area around him.
Leah was stretching, using a hand to press her foot against her ass while bracing herself on Søren’s shoulder. Dark Omen would play on the same stage an hour later, and although he wasn’t part of the crew, it was weird if they were close and didn’t pop by to say hi. They weren’t just friends; they were family, metaphorically and literally, since she’d married the Norse frontman four years before.
Marc low-key hated Søren now that she’d moved to Norway with him. The band was doing great, excluding the situation of the last few months. They’d found balance, even with Leah’s distance. She traveled to Germany whenever they had to record and for intermittent periods before tours. But not having her craziness and that mouth that ran faster than her brain around was strange. They missed her.
Still, the bassist loved them like this, as smitten as the first day. Søren had gotten himself a woman that would bend over backwards to make him happy, and she’d gotten herself a man that wouldn’t hesitate to kill and go to jail for her.
As Erik approached the couple, Marc’s smile grew. He gazed at them and continued fingerpicking, blocking everything else out of his vision. Seeing the drummer being his old self again was a blast.
When the pandemic hit, it’d been awful; musicians made most of their revenue from concerts. Not being allowed to leave your house or even your country had ruined many people’s futures before they could start.
However, none of that had been as bad as the accident Erik had suffered at the end of two thousand twenty-two. The surgery, the pain, and the prospect of maybe having to quit music forever because he’d damaged one of his hands, had sent him into a dark spiral. None of them had ever met that version of him, not even his wife. It’d been awful watching such a collected, strong, and reliable human being crumble, especially the way he’d shut down.
Thankfully, time passed, rehabilitation worked, and here he was now, ready to beat the crap out of his kit, and with a heart full of hope as he and Julia were expecting their second kid.
Turning around to avoid looking like a stalking creep, Marc’s gaze fell on the source of his happiness and all his headaches.
“Hey,” he said, taking his in-ear monitors off as he approached the corner where Chris and Theo were sitting on the floor. “What are you doing?”
“Teaching him a new chord progression,” the guitarist replied without lifting his eyes, his attention completely focused on the kid.
“Now? We’re going out in five.”
“I know, but I have nothing better to do.” Chris shrugged. “Karl’s tuning my guitar.”
Karl was the new guy they’d brought on board two years before so Uwe could focus solely on his job as road manager. That and being the guardian of the light panels they used when they played in closed-up venues. Those things were expensive and fragile as fuck.
“And how’s it going?” Marc quirked a brow, skeptical. During the last lesson, Theo had gotten super frustrated.
