A/N- "American Horror Story" is such a great show that I couldn't pick just one set of characters to focus on for this story, so I decided to visit several different couples (one couple for each chapter) the show has presented so far and show how all their stories intertwine in the end—the Murder House eventually bound them all together, but each love (or hate) story started somewhere…

Love in the Afterlife

"One fire burns out another's burning,

One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish."

-Romeo and Juliet

one

chad and patrick

los angeles, 2007

"Really? Sneaking out?" Chad mumbled into his pillow, watching Patrick try to silently get dressed. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You struck me as the gay panic type."

"I'm not having gay panic." Patrick sighed, turning to face him. "I know this probably ruins your turning-the-straight-guy fantasy, but you're not the first." Patrick tried not to smile at Chad's stricken expression as he pulled on his white t-shirt. "I just have to be at work in twenty minutes."

Chad yawned, stretching out against the pillows, elegantly laconic in blue silk pajamas. "Remind me. What is it that you do again?"

"I'm an EMT."

"Hot." Chad raised his eyebrows in an approving sort of way. "I was close. I was going to guess personal trainer. Or candy-striper."

Patrick snorted with laughter. "This from the man who introduced himself to me as a 'fluffer.'"

"I liked seeing the fear in your eyes." Chad got to his feet, crossing to Patrick, sliding his hand from Patrick's muscled chest to his stomach and finally to the waist of his jeans, looking at his body almost as if studying it. "You probably won't believe me, but I really don't do this much."

"Feel up your one night stands?" Patrick grinned.

"Have one night stands."

"Yeah, right." Patrick snorted with disbelief.

"I'm serious."

"Aww. Are you saying I'm special?" Patrick smiled.

"There is…something about you."

"And what's that?"

"When you look at me, I know you're not buying any of my bullshit. It's just a nice change. Everybody else smiles and laughs at my jokes, and doesn't give me much more thought, but you…it was like you actually cared to find out what I was working so hard to hide."

"And what were you trying to hide?"

Chad smiled. "Patrick. We've just met."

Patrick laughed, leaning down and kissing Chad briefly. "I get off work at six. Do you want to get dinner later?"

Chad blinked, seemingly surprised. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well, yeah." Patrick put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "It's like you said…there's something here. I feel like this could go somewhere."

Chad pressed his lips together, almost like he was trying to stop himself from smiling. "Then let's get dinner." He moved his hand to Patrick's shoulder. "And just so you know…I like flowers."

Patrick nodded with a grin. "I'll pick you up at seven."

two years later

"You're being ridiculous, babe! He wasn't hitting on me." Patrick sighed, looking over at his boyfriend even while Chad determinedly stared ahead, his hands gripping the car wheel so tightly they had turned completely white as he strained to see the road through a worsening storm.

"Oh, please. Everyone hits on you." Chad rolled his eyes, switching lanes to take the exit for Patrick's house. "And you love it. I just can't believe you would do it right in front of me."

"Chad. I screwed up. Once. And I thought we moved past it. You can't hold one mistake against me for the rest of our lives."

Chad shook his head, taking the exit off the highway for Patrick's apartment. "How am I supposed to move past it if you give the fuck-me face to every single guy we encounter?"

Patrick reached out, his hand over Chad's on the wheel. "Pull over."

"No."

"Honey. Pull over."

Chad sighed heavily, finally pulling off onto a side road and putting the car into park. "There. Happy?"

"What is this really about?" Patrick asked, lowering his hand to Chad's leg and gently rubbing his knee. "Did I freak you out the other night when I was talking about kids?"

Chad rubbed his eyes, letting out a long, weary breath. "It's not the kids thing…I do want kids. I always have."

"Just not with me." Patrick said quietly.

"Just not with someone who's going to be unfaithful again." Chad corrected him. "I love you. I want to have a family with you. I think about it all the time. But I don't want to bring a baby into this situation and then be sitting at home changing diapers while you're out blowing randoms."

"Stop talking about it like it happens all the time!" Patrick hit his hand against the dashboard. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I'm not happy with only having sex once a week like you!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault that you cheat?" Chad laughed humorlessly.

"Well…" Patrick trailed off, losing his nerve.

"No, Patrick. Please continue. A little honesty would be refreshing for once."

"Fine." Patrick licked his lips nervously. "When you turn me down every time I want to have sex, it makes me feel like shit. And when some other guy does find me attractive, it feels good. I love you. I want to make love to you. But you act like I'm some kind of slobbering deviant every time I bring up our sex life. Or…lack thereof."

Chad's cheeks flushed red, clearly uncomfortable. "So what would make you happy? Every day? Twice a day? What do you want?"

"You to not sound like sleeping with your boyfriend is a death sentence." Patrick sighed. "It wasn't like this in the beginning. We were so in sync, physically, emotionally, everything."

"I don't need sex to feel connected to you," Chad said quietly.

"Well, I do." Patrick said simply.

The words hung heavily between them, the only sound the steady raindrops against the car and the squeak of the windshield wiper as it slid back and forth.

Finally Chad spoke again. "What if I do make an effort to be more…intimate with you. More often. What do I get in return?"

"Well…" Patrick thought for a moment. "I know you've always wanted to buy a cool old house you could turn into a masterpiece. I'll help you out. I'm really good with construction. You find the house, I'll fix it up, and you decorate it. It'll be amazing, and you can submit the photos to Elle Décor and become the most sought after interior designer on the West Coast, and everything will be great."

Chad smiled, reaching out and brushing Patrick's hair back off his forehead. "My little dreamer. Or, more accurately, my big, ripped dreamer."

"I believe in you."

"I know. You always have." Chad leaned across the center console, kissing Patrick—not a peck on the lips like he usually did, but a real kiss. When they broke apart a long while later, Chad kept his hand on Patrick's cheek. "Now. Let's go home. We can start looking for houses tomorrow."

Patrick smiled brightly, his teeth blindingly white. "Okay. And maybe once we have a house, we can make a family. A real family. Two kids. White picket fence."

"Honey. White picket fences are so tacky. " Chad shook his head, putting the car back into drive and checking behind them to pull out onto the road.

"I'll leave the decorating up to you then." Patrick laughed.

"And I'll leave the heavy lifting and wearing of tool belts up to you." Chad smiled. "My boyfriend the handyman. I can make you iced tea in a pitcher. Watch all the bored suburban housewives drool over you. This is going to be perfect."

"So we're really doing this? The suburban life?" Patrick took a deep breath, his hand resting on Chad's leg.

"I think we're ready. And I'm tired of the city. The gay scene in LA is so exhausting. We already found each other. Maybe it's time to move on."

"Yeah. Definitely." Patrick nodded, feeling a slight stab of worry. He really loved the city. And getting involved with Chad's work would surely cause conflict between them. But Chad wanted a house. He'd been talking about it practically since they met. Restoring something old and crumbling into a place that was beautiful and vibrant had always been Chad's dream. And maybe if he helped him achieve it, Chad would finally come back to him, finally give him the kind of love and passion Patrick still wanted to believe was possible.

This was their new beginning.

"Classic L.A. Victorian. Built in the 1920's by a Dr Charles Montgomery, thesurgeon to the stars at the time. He had the home made for his wife Norah, exactly to her specifications. This place was truly a labor of love." Their real estate agent, a rather dumpy older woman in a tweed suit, smiled indulgently at them as she showed them around.

"Oh, I like that." Chad smiled, running his hand along the chestnut walls. "Don't you like that, honey?"

"Yeah. It's nice." Patrick shrugged, trying to ignore an eerie feeling of dread that seemed to be choking him ever since he crossed over the threshold of this place.

"Real Tiffany fixtures, too." She pointed at the slightly dusty green glass light fixture over their head.

"You're kidding." Chad raised his eyebrows, staring up at the fixture. "This place has real potential."

"Well, look around. Talk it over. I'll be in the kitchen." The woman winked at them, sensing she might have a big sale as she happily scurried off and left them alone.

Chad turned to Patrick, his eyes practically sparkling with excitement. He crossed to him, hugging Patrick tightly. "I love it. I love it. I love it."

Patrick hugged him back, Chad's enthusiasm when he got on a project infectious as always. "It is pretty cool."

Chad pulled back, laughing. "My man of many words, as always. Do you really like it? Could you picture us raising a family in this place?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I could." Patrick nodded, trying to ignore the guilty feeling in his stomach that always happened when he tried to hide something from his boyfriend. There was something weird about this place, but he couldn't put it into words. And he didn't want to upset Chad—things had been going so much better between them lately, and ever since they started house-hunting, the thrill of the chase seemed to have enlivened Chad to the point that he was like a different person—happy, smiling, and all over Patrick, especially when they talked about their new project before they went to bed. Patrick didn't want to mess up any of that, so he knew it was easier to just say nothing and play along with whatever Chad wanted.

"I love you." Chad put his hand on Patrick's cheek, kissing him. "I know we'll be happy here."

"I love you too."

Chad took Patrick's hand, leading him into the kitchen and over to the nervous realtor.

"Well…what do you boys think?" She clasped her hands together.

"We'll take it." Chad said without a moment's hesitation, Patrick smiling along dutifully beside him.

"Wonderful! Let's sign some papers, and get you into your dream house."

As Patrick and Chad signed the papers, they didn't notice a dark-haired girl holding her mother's hand as they stood in the yard next door, watching Patrick and Chad through the kitchen window.

"What are they doing in our house?" Addy asked.

"It's not our house anymore, Adelaide. You know that." Constance said wearily.

Addy looked up at her mother, a small smile on her lips. "They're going to die in there."

"Hush, child." Constance almost looked like she was smothering a smile as well, taking a long drag off her cigarette and leading Addy back inside.

A/N- I love reviews! Next time, Violet and Tate…