I've taken a few liberties with who ended up where and when. But then, this is AU!
Epilogue
Billy is off to Melbourne, along with Cooper, Cam and a few other boys. The new club's draft concessions have really come in handy. He would have been one of the Storm selected if he hadn't already been drafted by the Bulldogs, who were the reason he was here at the school in the first place. It's going to be hard, being away from Billy for so long. But it's okay. He knows who he is now. He knows where he belongs.
---
He finds Luke in his room.
"Not packed yet?" he asks, surprising Luke who turns around with a start.
Seeing him, Luke stills.
"Hey, JT" Luke scratches his head with a small smile.
"Yeah, I got lazy"
He remembers all that time ago when Luke had been the only thing that kept him sane, the only thing between him and oblivion, and whatever that has happened between then and now, he knows Luke will always have a place in his heart.
"JT…" Luke begins and Johnathan doesn't want to hear it . He knows. He knows so he steps forward and hugs him. Luke stands stock still in his arms for a moment and when he finally feels Luke's arms wrap tentatively around him, does he release the breath he hasn't realised he has been holding. It used to be that this was the only place he ever felt safe.
When they finally pull away, there is a small smile on Luke's face.
"You better kick ass down there" Luke says and Johnathan smiles.
They're going to be alright. He can tell.
---
Years later.
The Dally M gala. He's done this a thousand times before but it's always the same. The way his heart speeds up every time he sees him. Johnathan smiles when he sees him, that brilliant smile of his' sends a twinge through his heart that tells him that he'd missed this even if he rarely admits it to himself and rises from the Cowboys table to come over.
"Hey, Luke"
"Hey." He wonders where Billy is and spots him on the Storm table laughing at Cooper Cronk who seems to be playing rock, paper, scissors with Brett Finch.
Johnathan follows his gaze and smiles when he sees Billy. And Billy looks up, as if he'd felt it and grins. Luke watches the two of them together and wonders how the rest of the world can't see what is so clear in his eyes.
"Gonna win today?" he asks.
Johnathan looks back at him.
"Stiff competition man"
"You've been brilliant all year. There's noway you're not taking it home"
Johnathan smiles and Luke can see what his words meant to him.
"Thanks, Luke"
He knows things are never going to be normal between them but they are friends and that's more than enough for him.
---
Billy threads his fingers through Johnathan's and feels his breath catch when Johnathan looks up and smiles. The boy with the wings etched on his back. Nothing has changed from that first day when they'd first met and he had fallen so incredibly and irrevocably in love. And he knows whatever his future holds, the way he feels about Johnathan would be the one thing that wouldn't change. This is where he belongs.
The End.
Many thanks to everyone who read :D
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