"Don't come over here, okay? I can make it; it's fine."
Luke's voice didn't sound confident. As he looked down at the ice, he feared that it might be the end of the road for him. He saw his broken reflection in the cloudy surface and tried to get down, figuring that he'd have to spread his weight out to make it across. He looked back at the approaching horde, and then at his friends.
"It's too thin. I just gotta be carefu-"
Fuck. He'd spoken too soon. He flailed his arms, managing to grab onto the remaining ice.
Luke looked up, pleading to whatever god might listen to him and let him atone for his sins. His legs were already beginning to turn a pallid blue. He thought he'd already seen the light, but he realized the glistening sapphires he'd mistaken for Death belonged to him.
"D-don't worry, man. It's gonna be o-okay." A man warily shifted across the lake towards him, his blue eyes swollen red.
Luke was brought back to reality by the voice of his best friend in the whole world, the one man he'd cared about the most in all his life. Fuck no. He couldn't do this. Luke was not going to let him get killed too. "Nick, g-go back." He shook his head and felt his eyes water up.
"Li-listen. Just trust me, man. We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it," Nick tried to reassure him, tears streaming down his face.
"Nick, no. Just shoot the damn walk-"
"-Cover me!" Nick continued towards Luke.
Luke shook his head, begging him to leave. He couldn't let him die too. He couldn't. He wasn't going to let Uncle Pete or Mary down. Nick needed to live. He'd try to get out on his own. If he couldn't make it, then that was that. He'd lived a good life, hadn't he? He'd outlived his time on this planet already. Nick still had time. He couldn't drown an icy death here too. He wasn't going to let him do this.
"No! Jus' lemme get outta this myself!" He insisted, his eyes beginning to water up.
"I ain't gonna leave you here, man! Fuckin' believe in me for once, Luke! Just this one time." Nick was bawling.
"Nick, you and I both know how this is gonna-"
His weight caused the remaining ice to shatter into a million pieces. The men went down. Together. Into the freezing lake.
The two men were flailing their limbs, trying to escape the frigid abyss they'd fallen into. The sheer cold hindered their movement, and their weight began to drag them down. To a cold, lonely death. This was the end for them, they supposed.
Nick's eyes shot open as he felt a hand latch onto his arm. He prayed with all his heart to see Luke next to him, just one last time. He could die happy if he was at his side. But he wasn't there.
It was one of them. The fucking monsters that had taken almost everybody he ever loved away from him. And now they were coming for him. He nearly surrendered, but the hope that Luke was still alive gave him the strength and the will to fight.
He needed to get to him. To see that he was okay. To see that he'd make it. To see the most wonderful person in the world. To see Luke. One. Last. Time.
He began moving furiously. He needed to. This couldn't be the end for them. It just couldn't.
He looked around, but Luke was nowhere to be seen, the murky waters clouding his vision. Suddenly, he felt himself trapped, surrounded by a dark figure. He tried to break free from whatever was constraining him, while his assailant protested. In his frenzy, Nick began to blindly kick and punch. Nothing mattered other than finding Luke. He was determined to make it. He didn't care that he could feel the weight dragging him down, or that his body was beginning to freeze up, or that his lungs were begging for air. He needed him. He needed Luke.
A desperate shout, muffled by the icy waters. But Nick'd recognize that beautiful voice no matter how many miles separated them. There he was. For a moment, he didn't even care if they were about to die. He just wanted to pull him close and shut his eyes. He wanted this to be his last memory, safe in the arms of the only man he'd ever loved. But that would be selfish. Luke didn't have to die. He'd get him out of this. That understanding gave him the impossible strength to escape.
It was a blur of adrenaline, passion, and a loss of consciousness, yet when he came to, he saw Luke next to him, supine on the remnants of the lake. He was hacking violently, his ashen skin a pale blue. Nick instantly arose, and knelt above the other man. He felt his sapphires water up as he helped Luke sit up. He struck his back in a futile attempt to get him to hack up the fluid in his lungs.
"Nick, I c-can't... breathe." Luke's voice was quiet and damaged, the words coming out as hoarse whispers between pained coughs. His eyes were focused straight at him, yet seemed distant and solemn.
Nick didn't want to accept it. No. This wasn't happening.
"Jus' hold on. It's gonna be fine. You're okay-" His voice drifted off; he couldn't continue, as he came to realize what was happening. His eyes reddened. He begged to hear that beautiful, velvety voice again, but Luke's wheezing only became more severe, his throat gasping for air. He sat there, cold and weak, his eyes pleading. Unable to speak, Nick pulled him close in an embrace, sobbing, their wet eyes meeting for the last time. It didn't matter that Luke was spitting and coughing in his face. Nick just wanted to be with him.
He nestled his head on Luke's shoulder.
"R-remember that time i-in Nashville? When we were runnin' away from the cops?"
He just wanted to remember everything. The times they hugged and laughed and got away with crazy shit. The times they felt like the kings of the world, and that nothing could ever stop them if they were together. And the times when they were piss drunk in some crappy bar and at their lowest, rambling on about how everything sucked and was going to shit and that nothing mattered anymore. Even the times when they were fucking furious and they'd say that they fucking hated each other and never wanted to see the other again. He waited for Luke to respond.
But there was no response. He remained there for what seemed like an eternity.
He wished it was.
He could feel him drift away, leaving for the next world. Yet his cold body remained in Nick's arms. He looked up at the lifeless face. What he'd give to gaze into those beautiful brown eyes again. To hear that warm laughter. To see that big, dorky smile. To feel his warm embrace. To know that he was there for him, and that he wouldn't leave him, and that anything was possible.
But that was impossible. That was certain. He knew that. He needed to help his friend out, one last time.
He had to do this.
"Give it to me."
She had sprinted out onto the ice, noticing that by some miracle, they were there, on the lake. And she understood what had to be done. She didn't have the right to do this, so she handed him the pistol.
He hesitated, but he closed his eyes and tried to forget.
Bang.
He stared at the body, paralyzed by the shock. He'd just shot him. He'd just shot his best friend. He'd just shot the man he'd loved. He'd just shot Luke.
He remained there, his face emotionless but his mind in chaos. Unthinking, he raised the gun. He knew what he would have wanted, but he couldn't go on. He couldn't believe that he was letting Luke down one last time, and that guilt killed him.
"I never got to tell him-"
He pulled the trigger.