BMC Hunger Games AU (COMPLETE)

Day 9

A/N: This chapter is gonna be super long sorry! I haven't seen Hunger Games but I know what it is and I wanna see it but don't have time to see a movie marathon :/ Anyway, I know that the end is kinda not Hunger Games-y but just go with it. Enjoy the last chapter! 

TW: Small tw for mentions of not wanting to live but it's not suicidal

"D- Doeth that mean one of uth ith gonna have to kill the other?" Rich nervously spoke. "I-" As much as Michael wanted to say no, he knew the answer and neither of them easily settled on it. "I guess so? I am not going to kill you," Michael confirmed, stubbornly. His feet planted into the ground and his arms crossed. He stood taller than Rich declaring his decision.

"We- We could try to thurvive a bit longer. I'm not killing you either! Maybe, I'll change your mind?" Rich offered. Not only would killing Michael hurt Michael, clearly, but it also hurts Rich. "Let'th jutht... If one of uth ith gonna die, I want it to be me!" the shorter boy mentioned, metaphorically standing just as tall as Michael. "We'll think of a plan tho both of uth are thafe,"

Michael didn't respond. He stared blankly, a little bit angled toward the ground "Michael?" Rich tapped Michael, trying to get his attention, "M- Michael?" Michael snapped out of it abruptly, "What?" he shook his head, waking up from the trance of thought. "I wath jutht thaying... ya know maybe there'th a way to get out of thith... where both of uth can live?"

Michael continued to stay silent, "I don't know if I want to live, if I can't live with my friends. Jeremy and Christine are both... gone... and everyone! Gone! That's not a world I want to live in!" Michael sat down against a tree, "Michael... thingth are gonna be alright, I'm here for you, okay?" Rich wrapped his arm around Michael.

He let the boy in the hoodie lean into his shoulder. "It's not a world I want to live in," he managed to squeak out, crying. "I know..." he caressed his shoulder comfortingly, "Shh, I know, I know," Michael's thoughts of Jeremy rolled into his head, one memory after the next. He wanted to pretend Jeremy's voice and soul still thrived on, alive, but he knew. Jeremy was gone. "Jeremy- he died for me, Rich... He died for me!" 

(Time skip)

"What if one of uth dieth before we figure out a loophole? I can't lothe you too, Michael," Rich feared, hopelessly. "Then, we better have a confession time before that happens!" Michael suggested, Rich thought it was a joke but, it wasn't. "I'll start: I used to have a huge crush on you before Jeremy!"

"Oh..." Rich blushed, he clearly liked Michael but after what happened with Jeremy and Jake, how could he move on so fast? "Ha, thame!" he plays it off like a joke, even though he actually was mad in love with him before he got with Jeremy. "Wait what?" Michael asked hoping he was serious. "Hm?" Rich tried to avoid the question. "Uh, nevermind..." Michael shrugged it off.

Rich wanted to be with Michael and Michael really liked Rich but before either of them could think about each other they thought of Jeremy and Jake and hated the thought of moving on. "S- So should we-" Michael started before an announcement came through the domed arena. "Get on with it! Kill each other!" a woman said who sounded like the organizer of it.

"We have to figure out a loophole tho we can both live, I'm not leaving without you, I won't kill you! I can't let thomeone elthe die, Michael!" Rich panicked. "Hey, it's okay, don't worry about me, I want you to live," Michael put his arm around him, letting Rich lean on him. "Michael..." he softly cried. "Rich, for you, I am more than willing to die,"

"I need you alive!" Rich cried into him. "I don't care if I live, I jutht want you to be alive with me. You're the clothetht friend I've got," Rich's crying ceased gradually. "It's okay..." Michael continued to hug him, wrapping him in comfort. "It's gonna be alright," Michael felt an idea come to Rich. "What if..." he begins, "Neither of uth want to kill each other and neither of uth want to live without each other... so what if we jutht... both die?"

But just then, a completely opposite idea came to Michael, "Or we could both live? There's gonna be a way." he sweetly said and held Rich's hand. "Ith there?" Before Michael could answer the organizer on the speaker threatened: "If you can't kill each other, we'll send someone to do it for you!" and just like that two warning shots were fired. Both Rich and Michael turned around to see a man who volunteered to get the game on.

"You guys really want one of us to die? For a GAME?" Michael yelled. "YES!" the organizer's voice came over the speaker again. "THEN SHOOT ME!" Michael challenged. "I dare you." Michael looked the man dead in the eye. Rich panicked, "Michael, what are you doing?" but Michael disregarded his comment. "Okay... who wants me to shoot him?" The man yelled, as the cameras would pick up the audio.

The event every year is always live-streamed to the people who weren't picked. The organizer decides to make things interesting and says: "Oh! I'll put up a poll for the people watching at home! Vote yes or vote no!" She clapped as if she was watching a TV show, not real life people about to die. "GOD, VOTE NO!" Rich yells. "SAY YES!" The man fires back. After three minutes of voting time, a projection on the dome showed the answer:

YES

The sound of a gunshot and the blink of the light from the gun terrified Rich. He became dizzy and a numbness swept through him. "Michael, pleathe! Michael!" Rich dashed over to Michael, laying on the floor with the blurry color red all around him, mostly on his stomach/chest. Rich's vision morphed in his shocked state. Many of the people watching had logged off, for they had their winner.

As everyone left, including the organizer, the masked man approached Rich. Rich quickly grabbed a bow and arrow, struggling to set it up to avenge Michael. The man in the mask had the body of that guy who has never been an uncle and is totally incapable of doing so. Rich's breathing, heartbeat, and mind all raced at the sam time. Everyone he loved was gone... he finally got the bow and arrow aligned and almost shot at the man.

"WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!" Michael sat up and defended the masked man. Rich broke down in panic and overwhelming sense. "Michael! Who- what?" he attempted to make sense of everything. The man unmasked himself as... "Mr. Reyeth? You were in on thith?"

Mr. Reyes took a little bow as his and Michael's performance convinced everyone Michael died. "The gun... what?" Rich confusedly gestured to the gun which clearly shot something. "Blanks, bro." Mr. Reyes attempted to say "bro" and make it sound okay. Rich placed his hand on Michael's chest with the blood on it. "It's fake," he whispered. Rich's eyes watered with tears of happiness. "I thought I wath gonna lothe you," And with that, Rich fell into Michael's hug. "I love you..." Michael told him. "Michael... Michael, I love you, too,"

So no, no one actually had a super happy ending. Rich still lost the Jack Kelley to his Crutchie Morris and Michael only got to be Jeremy's boyfriend for a day or so but the two had each other. With Mr. Reyes losing all the drama kids, the theatre program had to shut down and Christine's little sister had to be put in an adoption home. Jeremy's dad had a very rough time as his wife left him and now Jeremy was gone. Rich was going to have a hard time opening up to Michael if he ever needed help again about the abuse or his depression. Michael's moms were both very happy and supportive with Mr. Heere. Jenna's fans were devastated but moved on within a month.

Eight months later, Mr. Heere and Michael's moms have become best friends and Mr. Reyes found a way to get students interested in Shakespeare. He recreated "A Midsummer Nights' Dream" into "A Midsummer Nightmare" to get the drama club on its feet again. Christine's little sister got adopted by a loving family which she quickly warmed up to. Finally, after four months of being without their best friends and boyfriends, Rich and Michael needed each other more than ever. Rich and Michael are now a very happy couple. Rich's depression has gotten better and Michael's anxiety attacks have reduced now that he has Rich. They can now speak the words "I love you" to each other every day.

Every single day.

A/N: Yes, the ending was based on the ending of Nerve but I didn't want to say that at the beginning because that would spoil the ending. Hope y'all enjoyed the final chapter of the story! ❤️ Maybe, I'll see you in my other fanfics? Enjoy your day! Bye!