Exchange | Malum

Epilogue - Alternative Ending

A/N; ok so this book was updated three times today  (this is the third update so go read the first update and the double update, THEN read this one.. ) and idk the ending was shitty AF so here's an alternative ending for y'all to be happy okay??? I don't like you being sad or hating me haha.

-

"Sunshine?"

Waking up next to Calum was one of the best things in the world. "Yes?"

"If you could have one wish in the entire universe, what would it be?"

"Honestly," Michael sighed, pressing his ribcage into the mattress, "I wouldn't. I already have everything I could ever ask for."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So let's say you had to make a wish, like you didn't have a chance, like you making a wish would end an apocalypse. Then what would you wish for?"

"You're stubborn, you know that?" Michael groaned, and Calum just nodded with a sloppy grin. "I know."

They just graduated a couple of days ago. Calum cried tears of joy as he watched his boyfriend walk across the stage and vise versa. They were surprised it even happened in the first place with the amount of ditching that went on. "If I had to make a wish, it'd be to keep you forever."

"Seriously Michael, be realistic."

"I am being realistic," Michael scoffed, and Calum just shook his head.

"Okay okay," the Maori chuckled, tossing a rubber band that he found lying on the pillow into the air. "Let me make an exchange with you."

"Okay," Michael stated, feeling all of the bones inside of his body rattle.

"Ill let you keep me forever if you take me to the place that fascinates you the most."

"Deal."

-

They went to a museum. Calum was confused when Michael said he didn't have any money to actually go inside. He was also confused when the green eyed lad said he didn't want to go inside in the first place.

"Why did you bring us here if we aren't going to go in?"

"Because it's art, and art fascinates me."

"All of the art is inside."

"Nope," Michael stated cheekily, putting his tongue on the root of his mouth, "I'm staring at a masterpiece that the museum has yet to display."

"Have I told you that I love you?"

"Everyday."

"Good, because I don't want you to forget."

"Oh believe me baby boy, I'll never be able to forget about you, or how much you love me and how much I love you because it, this defines me, this is what makes me happy."

"I make you happy?"

"Yes."

"You make me happier, sunshine."

"Good."

And the two lads left with their hands entwined and their hearts upon their sleeves, because for once, for once they felt happy, and for once, they weren't going to let their depression and anxiety and fears and doubts get in the way. Nope, not this time. It's all about fixing what's wrong, shaping that into something that's right, and making it apart of who they are. It's all about finding a specific part on a map that people never point out, because they're too blinded by all of the small things. It's all about reaching through a blind and shadowing through a crystal that's like a heart, a heart made of goldandsilverandpepperedkisses and Calum is so in love with Michael, even if he didn't want to be in a relationship before he got to know the boy. And Michael is so in love with Calum, even if he's had his doubts about what they truly are and if it's anything but honesty, when it isn't. It's about finding something that makes you happy and letting it shine through a mason jar like a firefly captured on a chilly night. It's about being somebody and creating this image that only you and one other person can understand, because they know you. They know your eyes and your lips and your voice and your smile and your heartbeat like the back of their hand, and that's what love is.

It's knowing that you have to do something in order to get something else. It's loving somebody, even when they thought you were pretending the entire time. It's knowing that you're capable of holding onto something so small and dysfunctional and odd to everyone else, but the coolest thing to you. It's being realistic and subtracting expectations and figuring out where the missing pieces to a puzzle go. It's about CalumandMichael and their super shitty lives that somehow became less shitty when they found a home in one another's arms.

It's about the fight for love, and that's what an exchange is. That's what their exchange is.

-

A/N;

You're welcome.

Thoughts?

It's over. It's over. Wow. Fuck me up.