Important! Before anyone asks, yes this is the right chapter. If you get confused, don't worry, keep reading, everything will be clear at the end. :)

Epilogue

Nineteen-year old Nathan Clark rolled his eyes at his childish boyfriend, who was currently trying to impress him by juggling three oranges from the produce section. "Put those down," he said wearily. "Aren't you older than me?"

"Is it working?" Ghislain(whom Nathan had started calling Lain for short) Kaiser asked excitedly. "Is it? Are you impressed?"

"Very." Nathan pushed a strand of his wavy blond hair behind his ear and squinted at a tray of apples behind his glasses. "Lain, help me pick out the apples."

Lain bit his lip in concentration. The oranges still kept their cycle in the air. "I don't get it," he said. "They're just apples. Pick the reddest one." He moved his hand too fast and one of the oranges fell. Lain dropped to his knees and successfully caught it; however, the two other oranges hit his head before rolling forward and neatly falling into his arms.

Nathan didn't look up from the apples. "If security comes, I don't know you," he said flippantly, putting three apples into a provided plastic bag and putting it in the cart. The blond proceeded to push the cart along, heading for the vegetables.

From the floor, Lain took a few seconds to admire the Canadian's behind as Nathan walked away. Then he seemed to realize that Nathan was walking away and oh shit the manager's coming! and he quickly scrambled to hit feet and stumbled after Nathan. "We're getting oranges," he announced as he grabbed a plastic bag and dropping the three oranges into it.

"Mhm," Nathan replied, sounding occupied. "Is this all we need?" he asked, finishing putting a bag of spinach into the cart.

"I think so," Lain answered, scratching his silver hair. His tone indicated that he didn't really know. "Man, I'm starting to think that we should have really made a shopping list."

The couple made their way to the register. Since they had less than fifteen items, they were able to check out at one of the express counters. "Hey, Lain," Nathan said as the cashier began ringing their items up.

Lain looked from the package of gum he was inspecting.

In Nathan's hand was a package of yellow marshmallow Peeps.

Lain gasped.

His boyfriend smiled. "Want some?" he inquired innocently.

"Nate!" Lain exclaimed, grabbing the bright package out of Nathan's grasp. "No! Bad Nate. You know these monstrosities are banned from being eaten." He pouted, tossing the Peeps back on the shelf. "You're such an asshole sometimes." He thought of his pet bird back at their apartment and assured himself, Don't worry, Gillbird, we won't be eating anything that looks like you.

"Love you too." Nathan snorted. He glanced at the woman at the cashier and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, he gets so excited when we go grocery shopping."

"There are just so many things to pick from!" Lain piped up sarcastically. "Nate, can I buy some gum?"

"Of course, dear."

"Thank you, honey."

"No problem, sweetie."

They finished checking out with minimal stares from others. "Honestly," Nathan began with a small sigh when they were outside. "Can't you act your age at least five days a week?" He gave Lain an accusatory look as they reached their car.

Lain grinned wolfishly. "But you wouldn't love me as much," he said, stealing a kiss on the blond's cheek on his way to the driver's side. "Admit it." He fished around in his pockets for the car keys before getting in. "And besides, it just goes to show that they've never seen you when you're drunk."

"Lain!" Nathan complained. He buckled his seatbelt and sunk down in his seat, pouting behind the bag of groceries. "That was a one-time thing."

"You never know." Lain wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Leaning over, he turned the Canadian's face and kissed him chastely. "I might be planning to spike your drink tonight."

Nathan flushed a pretty pink.

Lain chuckled victoriously, settling back into his seat. As he slid the key into the ignition, he babbled mindlessly about his plan to 'get Nathan drunk.' It was in the middle of his fourth time turning the key that he realized the car wasn't turning on.

His lover noticed as well. Nathan furrowed his eyebrows cutely like he did whenever he was worried. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. The car just needs a little," he punched the dashboard suddenly, making Nathan squeak, "encouragement." He twisted the key again. The car sputtered, then died.

"Nothing wrong, eh?" Nathan said.

"Correction: It's not working," Lain announced.

"Thank you for that, Captain Obvious."

"No problem, Lieutenant Sarcasm."

"Haha. You're funny."

"I do try."

Nathan looked out the window at the store. "Do you think we can call someone?" he wondered out loud.

Lain rested his head on the steering wheel. "Who can we call?" he said. "My brother's in California, and yours is at work."

There was silence for a few minutes. Nathan relaxed in his seat after a while. "Well, this reminds me of when we met," he mused. He turned his head to look at Lain. "Doesn't it? Broken car and everything."

"Except that was your car, and this is mine," Lain said, nodding in agreement. Another bout of silence washed over them. Lain frowned. "...Now I feel old."

Nathan stared up at the gray ceiling of the car. "Wow, how long ago was that?" he said. "Five years? Six?"

Lain shook his head. "No, it was four. You were sixteen, and I was seventeen. I took you to that dance, remember?" he asked. "And then I dragged you to the middle of the room and forced you to dance with me."

"Oh, I remember. You weren't a very good dancer back then," Nathan said observantly.

"Shut up, you bloody git," he said, doing a horrible rendition of a British accent. He mock-scowled.

"I'm Canadian," Nathan quipped with a small punch to Lain's side. "You hoser," he decided to add for effect, trying hard to bite back his grin.

Lain had enough courtesy to move the groceries to the backseat before practically leaping over to Nathan's side of the car. Nathan moved at the last minute, and instead of hugging the blond's torso, Lain ended up hugging his lap instead.

"Well, this is a compromising position," Nathan said pointedly, and Lain hit his knee and muttered, "Shut up."

Then, the albino said, "I kind of like it here, actually."

Which earned him a small slap on the head and a reprimand of, "Stop being a pervert. Get up."

"I like it here," Lain complained. His fingers brushed deliberately over Nathan's knees; he knew the Canadian was terribly ticklish at that spot.

Soon, the two was a giggling mess, Nathan's hand fisting the back of Lain's shirt as he tried to pull his boyfriend off, and Lain refusing and staying put. However, they were interrupted when there was a small tap at the window. Nathan gasped, moving his hand to Lain's hair instead and yanking him up.

"Ow," Lain groaned. He settled back into his own seat, rubbing his head tenderly. "Fuck, Nate, save that kind of thing for when we're in bed."

"Lain!" Nathan hissed. "There's someone outside!"

"I got it, I got it." Lain waved him off. Opening the car door and stepping out, he tried not to look too cross at being interrupted. "Can we help you?" he asked in his most polite voice.

The man who stood in front of him looked to be about in his late thirties. His hair was short, spiky, and a light shade of blond. His eyes were an aged green, giving him the appearance of someone who looked tired, yet he was smiling. He had a bit of facial hair going on, particularly his eyebrows...

"I apologize for interrupting," he said smoothly. Lain wondered if he was British; he sounded like it. "But when I saw you two, I was reminded of some friends that I had when I was in high school."

That's not creepy at all, Lain thought.

"Lain? Who is it?" Nathan gave up trying to see from inside the car and got out. "Oh, were we disturbing you?" he gushed once he saw the older man. "We're so sorry-"

"No, you two were just being teenagers." The man smiled.

"I'm twenty," Lain muttered childishly under his breath.

"Are you having trouble?" The man's rich British accent had a tint of worry. "I have some extra gas back at my apartment. You two can come with me, if you'd like."

Nathan looked to Lain, frowning and trying to shake his head subtly. If there was one thing he hated, it was imposing on people. "I think we're fine," he said quietly. "But thank you for the offer."

"It's no problem, if that's what you're worried about." The man gave a chuckle. "My name's Arthur, by the way. There's no reason to distrust me now, right?"

"I-I don't distrust you," Nathan began, and was cut off by Lain.

"Don't worry, Nate, I'll protect you, so go get the groceries already," his boyfriend assured with a small grin. He wrapped an arm around the smaller man's shoulder. "Lead the way, Arthur."

Arthur shook his head to himself with an amused smile. He hid it by turning towards the direction of his car. "Right this way."

. . .

"Alfred?" Arthur called into the seemingly empty apartment. "Come in, you two." He gestured for the hesitant couple standing in the doorway before turning and walking deeper into the living room. "Alfred?" he called again.

"I'm here, Arthur." Alfred appeared from the connecting kitchen. He pushed his sliding glasses back up his nose. "Do I hear voices? Did you invite someone over?" His blue eyes, which once were lively and weren't as bright anymore, glazed over the couple on the couch and widened, startled. "Is that-"

Arthur smiled, though it was small and sad. "Come and say hi, all right?" he coaxed gently. Taking Alfred's hand, he brought him to the front of the other room. "This is Nathan and Lain." He nudged him forward slightly. "I need to retrieve something, so make nice."

There was a beat of silence.

"Mattie?" the American whispered. His voice was barely audible.

Yet Nathan looked up and glanced at Alfred. "Hm?" he inquired. Alfred swore he saw familiarity flash through those violet eyes. Unfortunately, Nathan seemed not to notice. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Alfred's gaze moved over to the man next to Nathan. He was pale, with gleaming red eyes, and platinum hair, an arm slung across Nathan's shoulders languidly. What is this? Alfred thought hazily, but found himself moving towards Nathan.

Again, something flickered across the Canadian's eyes and he rose, almost instinctively. "You," he began breathily, but then Alfred encased him in a tight hug.

Lain looked up, confusion etched across his face. "Nate?" he asked.

"I don't know why," Nathan said softly, pulling back a little to look at Alfred, "but when I saw you, I felt this pain... I don't understand..."

Alfred stroked his hair comfortingly, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. He buried his face into the crook of Nathan's neck and murmured, "Matthew, I love you, my brother, I love you, I love you."

"I have the gas," Arthur spoke up, having returned.

"Let's go, then," Lain said quickly, unsure of how to react to his boyfriend hugging someone else and being called a different name. He put a hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Birdie?"

Nathan sniffed once and stepped back from Alfred's arms. He ducked his head slightly. "Right. Sorry, Lain." He looked to Arthur. "Are we ready to go, Mr. Kirkland?"

"Call me Arthur," Arthur said with a laugh. "Please, I don't need to sound any older than I already am." He glanced at Alfred before telling Lain and Nathan, "Will you two wait in the car? I seem to have misplaced my keys."

"Sure thing," Lain said, and left the apartment with Nathan to go to the car.

"Where did you find them?" Alfred asked the moment he and the Briton were alone.

"At the grocery store. I figured it would cheer you up a little." He smiled, bittersweet. "And I was hoping it would convince you to finally get rid of these." Crossing the room, he retrieved two pages from a newspaper that had been printed twenty years ago.

Alfred took the pages and ran a finger over the black and white pictures gently. Teen Suicide Leaves Family Distressed, read one headline. Teen Murder Sets City on Edge, read the other. On each respective page, there were two pictures: One of Matthew Williams, and the other of Gilbert Beilschmidt.

"I guess it's about time, anyway," Alfred said, mostly to himself. He locked eyes with Arthur. "Thank you, Iggy... It did help."

Arthur smiled, relieved, enveloping the taller man for a hug. "You just needed a little convincing," he murmured against the fabric of the blond's shirt, "of the fact that miracles do happen."

. . .

"Are you okay?" Ghislain asked his boyfriend when they got home to their own apartment. Arthur had dropped them back off at the grocery store, and with the container of gas Arthur had given them, they were able to drive back home. Since their meeting with Alfred, though, Nathan had been distant.

The blond nodded as he kicked off his shoes. "Of course I'm okay," he said. He smiled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Lain collapsed on the couch and beckoned the other over. Nathan walked towards him and, with some minimal cajoling, laid down as well. With his relatively small size, he was able to curl up on Lain's chest nicely.

"It was just so weird," Nathan said after a while. Tracing random patterns on Lain's chest with his finger, he continued, "I mean, I felt like I met him already, even though I know I haven't."

Lain said nothing, only kissing the top of Nathan's head.

"It's like how I'm terrified of sleeping alone," Nathan explained. "And do you remember how you used to have those nightmares about me dying? It was that kind of pain that I felt. As if he was very close to me in a past life, or something." Then he shook his head. "Forget about it, you probably think I'm insane."

"I don't," Lain reassured. "Because you're not the only one who feels like that at times."

"Ghislain?" Nathan whispered. "Do you think..."

Lain somehow knew how he was going to finish that question. He hushed the Canadian, pulling him close, as if afraid to lose him. "Let's not think about that, and focus instead on what we have now, okay?"

Nathan found his hand and squeezed it. "Okay, Gil." He swallowed and tried to beat back the sudden wave of sadness that was threatening to wash over him. The name flowed easily, naturally from his lips. As if he'd been born to speak it. "I love you."

If Lain noticed the slip, he didn't say anything and basked in the comfortable atmosphere. "Love you too, Mattie," he murmured.

And if someone were watching the scene, they'd notice that for a brief moment, the forms of Ghislain and Nathan flickered into Gilbert and Matthew.

A/N: For those who are confused: Basically, this takes place multiple years after Matthew's death. Somewhere along that line, Gilbert passed away too(thus the newspaper article). They were reincarnated into Nathan and Ghislain. They looked so much like Gilbert and Matthew used to that when Arthur saw them, he couldn't resist.

Thank you to those who reviewed, favorited, and alerted! It encouraged me to keep going with this story~

Also, just a small lesson on meanings of names: Ghislain is a German name, and it means oath. I thought it would suit Gilbert, since he said "I'll always love you," and it was, in a way, an oath that he made to Matthew. As for his last name, I just searched for some surnames and found Kaiser to be somewhat fitting.

Nathan is a popular Canadian name. It means God-given, and I picked it because it pertains to how much Gilbert loved him. Again, his last name was picked randomly.

That's about it. With this story completed, I'll hopefully be able to focus more on Parenthood(goodness knows how long I've been neglecting that), and maybe even some oneshots. We'll see~

'til next time! :)