always // treebros soulmate au

chapter sixteen ~ during

tw: pain. pain. im so sorry. no author's note here cause im just waiting for the fandom to attack

they were two hours into the flight, and everything was going great. evan was cuddled up in connor's arms, staring up at his sleeping face, and grinning like an idiot while doing so.

connor stirred and then met evan's eyes with a smile. "hey, cutie," he greeted with a raspy voice.

evan giggled and placed a quick kiss on connor's nose. "h-hey."

connor nuzzled the top of evan's head. "only an hour left-"

and then there was a scream.

***

the first thing that evan did was shoot up out of connor's arms and clutch his hand.

connor sat up as well, yanking his earbuds out and stuffing them in his backpack, looking through the emergency guide. "evan, darling, stay calm -"

the sound of the speaker turning on suddenly arose.

"see? the captain's probably going to tell everyone it's fine."

"ladies and gentlemen, we have a situation. there was a gas leak, and there's a fire. we need to perform an emergency evacuation immediately. please make your way towards the exits."

connor finished looking through the guide. they were over the ocean, so it would be a water evacuation, and he found out that this was a weird plane - they had inflatable lifeboats instead of inflatable life jackets made of the seat. "okay, love, we need to get out. just stay calm. we need to move."

but evan started shaking. he was frozen in his seat. and since he was in the aisle seat, connor couldn't go anywhere if evan didn't.

connor looked around the plane. people were screaming and running and calling for other people. flight attendants had called for everyone to calm down, but no one was listening. the plane started to tilt - to the left, then the right, then the left again. it was chaos. and then the emergency exits were opened, and the sound of the rushing air filled the plane.

connor turned back to evan, who was more pale and frightened than he had ever been. connor tried not to panic himself, and created a to-do list in his head.

1: get evan calm.
2: get evan moving.
3: get off this goddamn plane before it explodes.

so connor knelt next to evan, who was unable to tear his eyes away from the chaos around him. "hey. evan. darling. look at me."

evan met connor's eyes. "s-s-so many p-people..."

"no, darling. shhh. no one else. me. just me and you. okay?"

evan swallowed hard and nodded slightly.

it took a good three minutes for his breathing to get back to normal. three minutes too many, he would soon find out.

when evan was calm enough to leave, connor immediately gathered his soulmate in his arms and quickly made his way to the nearest emergency exit. most everyone was off of the plane at this point, and flames were slowly starting to consume it.

connor could feel the heat at his back when they got to the huge door. he made the mistake of looking back, just in time to see their seats go up in flames. he immediately spun back around, and looked down at the lifeboat that was maybe 10 feet below them, where the captain was shouting something up to them.

"WHAT?" connor shouted back, while evan's face slowly materialized into fear and pain.

connor looked down. "hey, what's wrong?"

evan swallowed and whispered, "they only have room for one more person."

at first, connor was panicked. he didn't want this for either of them. he wanted a life with his soulmate. that was the whole point of coming out here, he thought. he felt the ring box burning a hole in his back pocket.

he looked behind him, where the flames were so so close, burning the plane from the inside out. he looked below him, where the captain was giving him a sad look, and the passengers looked scared out of their minds. he didn't have a lot of time, but it was enough.

"evan, i'm going to throw you onto the lifeboat."

evan immediately tore himself from connor's arms. "what?!! b-but i'm n-not going to l-let you just d-die!!!"

"evan, listen-"

"you're my e-everything, c-connor! i c-can't lose y-you. either w-we both d-die, or we b-both live."

but connor had made up his mind. tears started to stream down his cheeks. "evan, darling, i have to ask you a question. i wish it could be longer, but i have to make it quick."

evan, seeing connor cry so openly and yet so calmly, grew silent.

the emotions that evan felt as he watched connor sink to the ground on one knee were all over the place. shock, surprise, happiness, excitement - and then fear, pain, and sadness, when the realization came that no matter what his answer was, they wouldn't have a life together.

on a doomed plane that soon would become nothing but dust, a doomed boy spoke through tears, "evan hansen, i love you more than anything else. will you marry me?"

evan was choking on his tears and smiling at the same time. "y-yes. of course."

connor smiled, jumped up, and slipped the ring onto evan's finger. he felt the flames at the back of his neck, taunting him, and he pulled evan into his arms.

"remember. always," connor whispered to evan.

their last kiss was filled with more emotion than either one of them would be able to handle on their own. then connor gently threw evan onto the lifeboat, and he ran to a part of the plane where evan wouldn't have to see him die. in the end, his tears only fueled the fire, and he succumbed to the flames.

the lifeboat started moving away immediately. evan was screaming and crying and sobbing as he watched his soulmate run into the plane, which was getting smaller in the distance by the second. and then there was that moment.

you hear people who lose their soulmates to the grasp of death talk about that moment. they try to describe it to ears of curiosity, but it's so indescribable. now, evan understood why.

all evan could feel, as he watched the plane explode in the distance and the colors immediately snap back to gray, was some sort of numb pain.

he collapsed in the lifeboat, everything too heavy for him to handle. an older woman, a complete stranger, gathered evan in her arms and just held him, tears streaming down her face.

evan barely processed this while the same word kept repeating through his mind.

always.