Part 2

"No cheesy nibbles?"

Robin stared at Simon's downtrodden expression as he laid two large plates on the table in front of them and shook his head in disbelief.

"Man, I've cooked three pizzas, there's no room in the oven for cheesy nibbles," he said, slightly annoyed.

"But you always made cheesy nibbles for Eurovision," Simon protested

"Yeah, well," Robin threw a tea towel over his shoulder and marched back toward the kitchen, "I always breathed in and out like a living person during Eurovision too but it's time to break with tradition."

Simon pulled a face.

"Spoilsport," he mumbled as Kim cried out,

"Rob, hurry up! You're going to miss your favourite piece of music!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Robin called back as he hurried back from the kitchen with the third and final pizza in his hands, slipping onto the couch just in time to see the EBU introduction music sparking up on the screen in front of them.

The familiar logo graced the screen while the three friends hummed along, sounding somewhat ridiculous but not caring in the slightest. As the logo cleared and the contest began all three felt a shiver of anticipation. It wasn't as though the result was going to be a surprise, it wasn't as though they didn't know what to expect from the next few hours of European musical trash but there was something in the air; the feeling of something new. Kim was the first to put it into words.

"Did you ever think the three of us would all be sitting, watching Eurovision together?" she asked.

"Nope," Simon piped up as he lifted up a melty, cheesy slice of pizza, "number of times you slagged it off I thought we'd have to tie you down with ten tons of rope to get you to watch it."

"Yeah, well," Kim sighed, "it's grown on me since those days."

She exchanged a little smile with Simon, both remembering a night that – for Kim – had occurred some ten years previously while for Simon it had been only two; A much younger Kim, distressed at Simon's attempts to pin her down and force her to watch that year's concert with him

"But it's Gina G's year!" he'd protested, as though that had made any difference to her.

The previous year had been one Eurovision song contest that none of them had watched. Coming less than 48 hours after Kim's arrival in Gene's world and Keats's night of ultimate terror. By the time the contest rolled around Simon was unconscious, Robin traumatised and Kim was… well, evil.

"Can't you eat a little more quietly?" she asked as Simon munched his way through a second slice, "I can't hear Wogan's sarcasm over that racket!"

Simon made an offended noise of distress as Robin giggled at Kim's comment and tried to respond but a mouthful of thick crust and cheese prevented him from getting a word in before Robin spoke up.

"How come you're so into it this year?" he asked.

"No reason," Kim said a little guiltily.

"There has to be some reason," Robin said, raising an eyebrow, "the way you're biting your lip suggests either you've done something naughty or you're doing an impression of me."

Kim's guilty look grew a little before she dropped her head and admitted with a sigh,

"I may have put a small amount of money on Dana International to win."

Expecting the others to chastise her, she braced herself for a mocking lecture but much to her surprise Robin replied,

"Me too."

"And me," Simon nodded.

"What?" Kim stared at Simon, somewhat shocked, "after your encounter the other night I thought Dana International was the last person you'd want to think about!"

"One little black eye doesn't mean I'll turn down the chance to make a hefty profit," Simon informed her, "and besides, it wasn't all bad," he looked away, his face flushing, "might have stolen a chunk of her rehearsal outfit. Planted it in Bammo's locker. I'm going to tell everyone it's part of his new drag act, Bambino."

"Simon!" Robin cried, his laughter overtaking the admonishment.

"He deserves it!" Simon protested, "have you any idea how many water balloons I've been hit with in the last two years?"

"No, I totally agree with you," Robin told him, "I just…" he shrugged, "think you could have come up with a better name for his drag act, that's all."

"How about the Fenchurch Filly?" Kim volunteered.

"Or Blushing Bamboo?" Robin Suggested.

"Guys," Simon cried, "he isn't really doing a drag act, you know! We don't need to think about it this much!"

"Christ, we're only trying to help," Kim protested as Robin pulled a face and they exchanged a glance that started with guilt and ended with giggles.

"Can we just watch the contest?" Simon sighed, hoping that his friends would drop the subject. He knew he had some work to do on his scheme, but this wasn't the time to do it. Tonight was the time for sharing pizza with friends, mocking twenty five European musical acts an enjoying one of Robin's excellent home-cooked pizzas.

Silence fell as the contest got underway, with Terry Wogan and Ulrika Johnsson presenting and myriad performers preparing for the night of their lives. Amongst the chomping of the pizza and the mocking laughter that accompanied every new act Simon took the time to take in exactly how lucky he felt. That wasn't something he ever thought he'd feel. Two and a half years earlier he'd been ripped from his idyllic life and thrust into a job and a role he had no interest in pursuing. He'd lost the love of his life, he'd lost all that he'd worked towards, he lost everything he held dear, and things only went downhill from there.

But now here he was, sitting in Robin's lounge, such close friends with a man he'd once loved with all his heart. And then there was Kim, the best friend he'd missed for so long, the 'little sister' he'd lost when she's awoken from her coma and thought he would never see again. Life wasn't perfect, far from it, but it was a far cry from that first day, stepping out of a car crash and into the mid-nineties. Even more than that, it was a world away from the mid-eighties nightmare he'd spent mere days after a server had threatened to call an end to his life.

1998 Fenchurch might not have been the time or place that the three of them would have chosen to spend their days but it wasn't hell on earth either. Far from it. They had love, friendship and pizza. Really, what more could anyone want?

Simon reached out and lifted the beer in front of him.

"I want to make a toast," he told them.

"Terry Wogan doesn't deserve one," Kim told him, "not for that haircut."

"I'm not making it to him," Simon told them. With a brief glance between them, Kim and Robin lifted their drinks and waited for Simon to continue.

"So what are we drinking to?" Robin asked eventually.

Simon looked from one to the other. He felt his eyes starting to tear up unexpectedly. A year ago life had been so different. He was at death's door. Death beyond death. Robin and Kim's lives had been torn apart. It seemed as though things would never get better. And yet, there they were, hanging out together as though nothing had ever happened.

"To us," he whispered, "and an unbreakable friendship."

Kim felt her lips twitch into a smile.

"That's cheesy," she said.

"So's the pizza."

Kim rolled her eyes, but she was smiling still. The same thoughts had been going through her own mind for much of the evening.

"To an unbreakable friendship," she whispered, her heart skipping a beat as she added in a whisper, "and to absent friends."

A silent smile passed between all three. It was tinged with nostalgia and a little bit of sadness. All had left people behind on the other side; family, friends, colleagues. There were people back in the land of the living they would never see again, and others they'd seen leave their bizarre world by way of the Railway Arms and its affiliated establishments. Their existence was a strange one and they'd had so many goodbyes.

Simon's mind wandered to a dark haired, bespectacled man. It had been months since their last encounter and he wasn't sure if he would ever see him again. The friend part of the toast was a stretch even for Simon but Keats's absence was notable in any case and he couldn't stop himself from wondering where the man he couldn't quite forget was right then.

"Absent friends," he whispered, three glasses and bottles clinking in the air.

As Simon, Robin and Kim downed their drinks and wolfed down their pizzas while trying to ignore the rogue pair of turquoise trousers dashing across the screen they talked and laughed and cheered and celebrated as though it was the most natural thing in the world, yet one year ago everything had been so very different.

Despite the trials and traumas that had befallen all three in the past few years, moments like this made them feel glad to be alive. Well of a fashion.

"Here's to a great night," Robin said, raising his glass again.

Kim grinned.

"And to many successful bets for years to come," she winked.

The End

~xXx~

A/N: Four years ago today I spent the entire day writing what I thought was going to be a one-shot. It quickly grew into an entire fic, then a trilogy and then... well, it all went a little haywire. I kind of created a whole world which became very real to me And then, somehow, that world started infiltrating my real world. Many amazing things have happened as a result of creating this world and I can't help but feel somewhat emotional as I look back to the early roots of my storyline, growing from my need to give Alex a happier ending, four years ago today.

To everyone who had followed my series, those who read from the start and those who have recently picked up the thread and are catching up right now, I can't thank you enough for staying with it and for following Simon, Robin and Kim in their journey through a very unusual afterlife, as well as Alex and Gene as their time extended beyond their 2010 goodbye.

Right now I'm feeling really inspired and attached to these characters so even though I'm still on hiatus more or less I'm hoping to write a chapter or two in the next few weeks :)