I couldn't let this story end without an epilogue. I love this story way too much too not let it not end with something a bit more. So, I hope you guys are happy and enjoy
Six and a half years later...
There was a huge crowd inside of the small hotel. So many men, women and teenagers, sitting or standing. Speaking to one another with smile's on their faces. They were having happy conversations or friendly debates. They were all living their own lives and having their own conversations, not even noticing the people in front. They didn't notice the Keller-McCoy family, sitting in the front row of the small little row of black fold out chairs. Tom was sitting with Sierra in his arms, and next to them was Josie and Moose. Tom was playfully flirting with his wife while Josie and Moose were having a friendly discussion about why going peskitarian is better than going vegatarian. All the talking slowly stopped as an older woman took the stage. She walked over to the podium and tapped on the microphone with the one hand that she had, earning the audience's attention.
Tom and Sierra gave one last kiss before turning over to the stage and Josie and Moose playfully gave each other the finger. They turned to the one handed woman on the stage. "Hello everyone. Thank you all so much for coming out this afternoon." she said. The audience gave her a respectful applause. She smiled at them and nodded. "I know that you all are excited for today. We will get to the rest of the day very soon. But now is the time that you have all been waiting for. Please welcome the man of hour, Kevin Keller-McCoy."
The crowd cheered, smiles on their faces. But none of them as wide as Tom's and Moose's. They clapped loudly and called out his name. Kevin walked out from behind the forest green curtain, smiling widely. He was dressed just like he would. A red collar shirt with a black blazer. He walked over to the podium and waved over at the crowd. His eyes met his father over in front row and he smiled at him. Tom gave him a wide smile. Kevin's father was amazing. The best. Kevin shook the hand of the woman and he moved over to the podium, waving at the crowd but also signaling them to be silent. They all slowly shut up and sat down in their seats.
"Thank you all for coming." Kevin said with a smile. Moose called out his name, earning a blush from his boyfriend on the stage. "Thanks babe."
The crowd gave a few whoops and cheers. Moose blew him a kiss on stage, earning a light punch in the arm from Tom. "Love you." Moose whispered to him, giving him a wink.
Kevin smiled and looked out at the crowd. "I live in a small town up in Canada. It's called Riverdale. It's a few hours away from here. It's where I grew up and spent my life. I was raised by my father, the town's sheriff, to become the man that I am today. I love Riverdale. But there was a time in my life when I thought that I could no longer love Riverdale. And it's a time in my life that maybe a few of you heard on the news or have never heard before. But nonetheless, I'm here to tell you all that story today.
"It was during the middle of my sophomore year. And like any other high school student, I just hoping for the future. But all of that slowly started to fall. Starting with the murder of Jason Blossom, my sister Josie's best friend's twin. I knew Jason. Not well, but I knew him. He was a bit of an arrogant dick, but it was high school. I can't hold him accountable. My town spiraled out of control. Neighbor blaming neighbor for a murder with no evidence. Until there was evidence. When I found the body down my the river while on a walk with my now boyfriend Moose. After that, the hell that Riverdale seemed to be under started to rise and unleash Satan himself." Kevin said with a nod. "It started with finding the murderer, who was Jason's own father. Then finding out that my ex boyfriend was an associate in this crime. And then having a serial killer come to my town. And from what I've heard, his name was The Black Hood. I saw 'from what I've heard' because I wasn't around to see his countless murders and attacks. Because I was the second attack."
The crowd gasped and some of the murmured to one another. Kevin's smile was gone and his lips had been pressed into a thin line. He took in a deep breath, his heart was hammering and hammering and hammering. But he needed to speak. If he didn't, who else would? He was lucky to be alive. Kevin looked up at the crowd and held his hand up for silence. They all closed their mouths and looked over. Sierra was tightly gripping Tom's hand and rubbing soothing circles on his back. Tom was in the same boat of Kevin. His heart was beating. Because he saw the scenario second hand. Him and Moose. Moose had his arms folded in front of him while Josie pulled him into a side hug.
Kevin looked down at his family and smiled before continuing. "I went into the woods a lot. I would tell my dad and my friends that I was jogging at night when instead, I was making out and having guilt less sex with other guys. And the day that my dad and my friends found out. Something… changed. To me, they seemed so disgusted with me. And I asked myself all night that night, what am I doing wrong? Is it me? It is. It was in my mind that day. So when I went to school the next day, my friends tried to tell me that they wanted to stay close to me. But I thought that they were saying to stay away. So… I ran. I ran out of that school that day and started to cry my eyes out. And after seconds of crying and crying, some came to me. I thought that it was a teacher, going to help me or ask what is wrong. But when I looked up, I saw that it was the serial killer. It was The Black Hood.
"He started to beat me with a staff that he had brought with him. The pain was unbearable as he kept hitting me and hitting me and hitting me. Nothing compares to that pain. It hurt so much. Then I said something to me. Something that I will never forget. He said to me: 'The ultimate sin. No two men shall lie in bed together. Sexually. You are nothing but sin. And sinners- Sinners. Have. To. Die.' I recognized his voice as soon as he spoke. It was the father of my best friend. And as soon as he noticed that I knew it was him, he dragged me and put his hand over my mouth. I was screaming at him to let me go and that I wouldn't tell anyone. But he didn't care. He dragged him deep into the woods and keep beating me. First with that staff he brought, then with a rusty knife. And it hurt and hurt and hurt.
"I didn't come to until hours later." Kevin said to his audience as the sat on the edge of their seats. "It night and my entire body hurt. And not just from the torture that I just endured, but from the belief that my family still hated me for what I was doing in the woods. I started crawling, cuts all over my body, dislocated shoulder, broken leg and all. I was trying to reach someone, so that I could warn them who the serial killer was. So that I could tell them that they're lives were on the line. And then… in my haste to escape… I was hit by a car."
There was another gasp from the crowd. A few people were in tears, including Josie. Moose was looking up at Kevin with a sad apologetic smile. He was the one that had hit Kevin, so he had another kind of pain in his heart. Kevin looked down and met eyes with Moose. Moose blushed and gave him a nod, mouthing a slow: "I love you and I'm sorry."
Kevin chuckled, blowing him a kiss before turning to his audience. "After that, I went unconscious. And I didn't come to until almost seven months later." The crowd gasped again and they all let out a bit of a sob. Tom pulled Sierra closer to him, wiping his forming tears on her sweater. Kevin wiped his tears, seeing his family get emotional over his own ordeal. "I was trapped in a coma. Healing on the outside but my body trapped in this purgatory beach. And there I sat, on that sand, watching the waters splash. Thinking that my family hates me and my friends wanted nothing to with me. And in my head, all I was thinking was: 'Why do they hate me? Do they want me?' I sobbed and sobbed, not knowing that outside of this coma induced beach. I cried my eyes out and clawed at my eyes, not knowing that my father was praying for me to survive. Not knowing that my current boyfriend was falling deeper and deeper in love with me. Not knowing that all my friends were setting up memorials for me. Not knowing that everyone in the town were mourning me even though I wasn't dead. What happened to me was something that I could never ever forget. It's something that shaped who I was today.
"What happened to me before the attack, and what happened after the attack is probably something that would make people want to die or want to forget. I don't want to forget. If anything, I wanted to relive this terrible moment in my past. I want to turn the clock and somehow relive this attack. I want to relive the coma, relive the love and care I received from my father after I woke up. Relive how I got used to my town afterwards, relive my kidnapping by the same man that had attacked me. Relive the moments were I fell in love. So I asked myself, 'Kevin Keller-McCoy, how do I relive the past that was so painful? How I do it? And then, like the staff that beat me all those years ago, it hit me." Kevin smiled and reached under the podium. "I wanted to relive those moments and bring you all along for the ride. And that's exactly what I did. And that's exactly why you are all here.
"I am here to show you what I have been working on for the past year." Kevin went under the podium and pulled out a thick book. It's cover was a dark black and navy blue gradient from top to bottom. And on the bottom was three large drops of what everyone could guess was blood. Kevin smiled. "I'm here to show you my story. My ordeal. My coma. This is my debut novel and I'm so happy to share it with you. This is Crashing Down."
The crowd went wild and started to cheer with emotional happiness.
The book introduction ended and Kevin was now inside of Veronica's speakeasy Kevin was smiling and laughing as Archie popped a bottle of Kevin's favorite cherry champagne. Foam went everywhere the guests of the party screamed and cheered. Archie quickly poured the drink into the glasses of the happy guests. As Tom's was poured, Sierra slurped a bit off the top. Betty snatched the bottle from Archie and chuckled the small bit left. Moose and Kevin twisted their arms and sipped one another's glasses.
Josie had gone all out when throwing Kevin's book launch party. She had gotten catering from Pop's, Fangs to DJ and beautiful blue decorations to match Kevin's book cover. Kevin thanked her so much for it. He danced along with his boyfriend and his sister, smiling and smiling. He had never felt more happy. Tom smiled from afar, watching his son dance. "Tommy, are you okay?" Sierra asked.
"I'm actually perfect. It just makes me happy to see Kevin so happy." Tom replied.
Sierra nodded, taking out her phone and putting it in front of Tom. Tom looked down at the screen. It was an article. A list of the best books as of this year. And Kevin's book on the number one spot. "That's amazing!" he cried.
"Here and read this." Sierra said, pointing at the large paragraph. "It says: 'a captivating book that takes inside of one of medicines greatest mysteries and an emotional rollercoaster about unconditional love, forgiveness and care.' Your son wrote an amazing story sweetheart."
"Our son baby, our son." Tom corrected with a kiss to her temple.
Kevin had been on the dance floor, Moose holding his waist and spinning him around to the latin song playing. "I'm so proud of you sweetheart." he whispered. "I know how much it meant to you that your story was told."
"Our story baby, our story." Kevin said. "Oh! I almost forgot. I have a gift for you."
"A gift? Kevin, this is your day." Moose said, but Kevin pulled away from his arms and went over to Josie. He kissed her cheek, taking a small brown paper wrapped package from behind her. Kevin walked back over to his boyfriend and held it out to him. Moose smiled, taking the package and holding it in his hands. As he did, the music slowly turned off from behind them. The couple didn't even notice. Moose slowly pulled off the bright green string that kept the wrapping together. He pulled it away and was met with Kevin's thick novel. Moose smiled and looked up at his boyfriend. Kevin raised his hand and tapped on the cover lightly.
"Turn to the acknowledgements." Kevin said to him. Moose did as he was told and he turned to the back of the book, where all of Kevin's acknowledgements were. "Read it aloud. The third paragraph."
Moose did as he was told, turning the page to get to the third paragraph and starting to read out loud. " 'One of the most important people in my life are the people in my family. But there is one person in particular that snuck his way into my family. He's a thief that stole my heart. And if you haven't already noticed, he is the same Moose that I reference in almost every chapter. He is loving and caring and the most protective person that I have ever met. He was there for me on the day that I was attacked, every day that I was in the hospital. The day that I woke up and the day that I was kidnapped. I can't imagine a world without Moose. And hopefully one day I'll call him my husband.' " Moose froze looking up at Kevin and then back down at the book. Everyone gasped and Kevin had the most adorable smile on his face. "Are you… are you serious?"
Kevin smiled and nodded. "Yes." he said, taking something out of his pocket. It was a simple golden band with gold vines all over the band. "I got this from my mom when I visited her a few weeks ago. I wanted to use this to ask you to be mine forever. Coma or not."
Moose shook his head, a wide smile on his face. "Dammit Keller. You always have to one up me. Now your fricken proposal is your book." Moose shook his head and looked over at Fangs. Fangs ran down the DJ booth and came back with a fancy champagne glass. This one was filled with a cocktail that Moose and Kevin had made on one of their cooking dates out of champagne, lime juice and blueberries. Moose set down the book and held out the book to Kevin. He smiled at the drink. Before he could take it and take a sip, Moose poured out the drink onto the floor.
As he poured out the drink and the ice until it was only filled with a beautiful silver ring with a sapphire in the middle. Moose took it out and set the glass down. "Moose…" Kevin cried, covering his mouth.
"I had asked your dad and Sierra for permission to marry you. I was going to ask you after the party, when it was just us. I was even thinking of doing it this morning during breakfast." Moose explained, slowly getting down on one knee. "So… since we're here, I guess that I should ask. Kevin Keller-McCoy, will you do me the honor of being my husband?"
Kevin smiled, getting down on one knee himself. "Only if you Moose Mason, will you me the honor of becoming my husband."
Moose smiled, taking Kevin's hand in his. He pressed it against his cheek. "I would love nothing more." he answered.
"Then I guess that you have a fiance now then." Kevin responded. The crowd behind them started to clap for them. Moose moved forward and pulled Kevin up into his arms, twirling him around. Sierra, Josie, Betty and Veronica were all in tears of happiness, squeezing each other in happiness. Tom on the other hand just stood there, clapping happily. He had thought so many times that Kevin would die all those years ago while he was lying in the hospital bed. But now here he was, screaming of happy delight as his new fiance swung him around bridal style. Tom couldn't be prouder. Kevin looked over and saw his dad, Kevin jumped down from his fiance's hold. He walked over to him and took Tom's hand in his. Tom wiped away the forming tears in his eyes as soon as his son got close enough.
Kevin rubbed his dad's hand. "Dad, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Tom said, pulling his son closer into a tight hug. Kevin returned it. "Nothing is wrong. I'm just glad that you're alive and that you're okay."
"Dad, nothing is going to happen to me." Kevin answered.
"I know. I know." Tom responded. "I'm just… I'm just so happy for you. You are my son and I love you. So so much."
Moose walked up from behind Kevin and he smiled at Tom. "Mr. Keller-McCoy. Are you okay?" he asked.
"Moose." he said calmly yet stern. "You take care of my child. He means everything to me."
"I would never hurt him. I love him more than I love myself." Moose responded.
Tom nodded. "Good." he said, looking over at Kevin again. "I love you. I'll see you at home."
"I love you more." Kevin said, pressing a kiss against his forehead. Moose took his hand and led him back to the dance floor. Sierra came from behind and she took his arm in hers. Tom turned over to her and smiled widely. Tom kissed her and looked over at his son. He was so lucky that everything had turned out perfectly in the end. His son was okay. His was in love. His was alive. Tom pulled his wife over to the dance floor and he danced with her alongside his son. Things had been pretty crappy with their family after the coma and the attack. But things were slowly put back together, like an old puzzle. Tom was happy. Kevin was happy. Kevin moved away from Moose, pressing a kiss onto his wrist before moving to his dad. He took his arms and they danced with smiles on their faces.
Things had happened. Things had changed. But they stayed close as they could. They were family. And nothing would break them.
That was the actual end and I hope that you all enjoyed this little surprise.