Trust Your Instincts

-68- Epilogue

A/N So this is it guys! My final instalment ;-;

I really wanna thank you all for sticking with me through this and I hope you enjoy my last chapter! :D

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~5 Years Later~

Jack was laughing hysterically as his kart crossed the finish line on the large screen TV in front of them, the 1st place graphic flashing at the top half of the split screen. His laughter was so violent that it was almost drowning out his opponent's incoherent screams of disbelief and irritation.

Almost.

"Jack!" the other yelled, scrambling with his controller in a useless attempt to cross the finish line before the rest of the racers overtook him. "How could you!? I was first!" A few more cuss words flooded from his mouth before he also crossed the finish line, being awarded 9th place, much to Jack's amusement.

The way the man's voice cracked halfway through his sentence only forced Jack to laugh even more, clutching his stomach as joyful tears pricked his eyes.

"I'm sorry! I didn't choose the blue shell, the game just gave it to me!" he reasoned, but the sincerity of his words was almost nonexistent as he continued to struggle for breath through his fits of laughter. He watched as the other's eye twitched in frustration.

He was seconds away from the finish line when Jack's blue shell came down on him, causing him to tumble eight places in the ranks, and probably costing him the victory of the whole tournament.

Jack began to chant 'Waluigi' through his bouts of laughter, if only to further the other's annoyance, and he seemed to be succeeding, as the other huffed extravagantly, looking to be on the verge of exasperated tears. Mario Kart really did bring out the worst in people. They had spoke of playing Uno afterwards, but Jack didn't want to die today, so he decided that it'd be best to give that a miss, for now at least.

A surge of guilt shot through Jack's body as he looked at his broken opponent on his left hand side, his eyes staring at the screen despondently. Jack didn't hesitate to sling one arm over his shoulder, using the other hand to ruffle his blue hair in an attempt to cheer him up for the loss that Jack had orchestrated.

"Come on, Ethan! It was just a game. Plus, you were totally the better player, I just got lucky is all." Jack tried to assure him, watching as his frown transformed into a shy smirk.

"Don't worry Jack, I'm not really upset with you." Ethan promised, playfully shrugging off Jack's arm and patting his head.

Jack allowed himself to laugh again, though he had to control himself because his stomach really was starting to hurt now. Ethan chuckled alongside him this time, nudging their shoulders together and faking a pout at the fact that Jack was still finding amusement in his misfortune.

They were pulled from their own world by a call from the open door, summoning the two of them.

"Are you two gonna help here or are you just gonna keep playing games all day while we do the hard work?" Mark questioned irritably, trudging through the doorway with Ken, each of them holding up an end of an all too familiar brown fabric couch.

Ethan and Jack stood from the hardwood floor where they were seated, and made their way to take some of the weight off of Mark and Ken's shoulders. Ethan shot Mark an apologetic glance, to which he received a smile.

"Sorry babe," Jack started, "but we were just making sure that the Wi-Fi in our new home was working." he beamed, before turning to Ethan. "Right Ethan?"

Ethan smiled shyly once again, managing to mumble out a 'right'.

They placed the sofa in the position of the room that Mark and Jack wanted it to go, before taking a short break to look around the room.