The ground was cold. The moisture seeping through his jeans and creeping cold up his thighs as Rhys dropped to his knees. He was surprised in this moment to find how much attention he was giving to not shivering against the cold. Considering the situation he was in, he thought there would be more important matters to focus on.

Rhys had thought countless times over the years about how he would die. Or specifically: how he would die at the hands of Alaric. Should it be standing on his own two feet? Dignity was a luxury for those left behind. Should he fight back against it? He hardly thought anything he could do would be strong enough against Lily's deal, and despite his years as a soldier: he suddenly found his sense of honour left wanting.

Execution style it was then. He would be on his knees with his chin held high and hope Alaric took pity enough to make it a quick shot to the back of the head.

Some time passed, almost too long for Rhys to be comfortable, and it was strange to feel impatient about death taking its time to meet you. The calm chill of the wind hushing its way through the grass was almost meditative. It was enough to remind Rhys of how late in the night it was as it threaten to lull him to sleep. As he opened his eyes, thankful for the kindness the light of the midnight sky was on his vision; his expression momentarily widened in shock. Alaric's face was but a few inches from his own, but he quickly regained his composure and settled into a mildly agitated expression instead. Alaric's gaze seemed to be scouring every inch of Rhys features. Taking in every strand of stubble on his chin. Every crease within the fullness of his bottom lip, and every shift of light in the dulled hazel of Rhys' eyes.

"What're you waiting for?" Rhys asked. His voice low, barely louder than a whisper. Although he was soon reminded how he really felt about the situation when Alaric stood back up to his height, and Rhys heart began to thump in fear as it flooded his veins with adrenaline once more.

"You look different." Alaric mused. The monotone of his voice belying the latent calculative tone beneath it. He almost sounded surprised, as if he expected to still see the lanky young adult that had shared his childhood with him all those years ago.

"Don't be cruel, Alaric. You're here to kill me, right?" Rhys spat, as his hands clenched into fists at his side. "Then stop fucking around, and just do it already."

Before the anger could seethe any longer he felt the cold metal of the handgun pressed beneath his jaw and tilting his head upwards. He wouldn't show fear. Not now. There's nothing to fear when you've accepted what is going to happen, and he would be damned before he allowed Alaric the satisfaction of knowing his prey was squirming beneath his dread claws.

Alaric was expressionless. Emotionless as the soft, rose-coloured, glow of his eyes looked deep into Rhys' own. He had just moved faster than Rhys could ever remember him moving, yet he still looked almost bored by the situation at hand, and his eyes seemed to be looking so much further than they were. Like they peered passed the flesh, passed the blood, passed the bone, and to whatever lies beyond the soul.

"You are not listening." Alaric said pointedly, before stepping away from the agitated Rhys who furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You said I looked different. So what? So do you. That's what happens when you grow up." Rhys snapped

"No. Before that." Alaric responded, rounding on the balls of his feet to face Rhys once more. "I said I wasn't here to kill anyone."

His words seem to hit Rhys like a roundhouse kick to the jaw as he became even more confused. A headache banded his skull as pushed himself up from the ground with a grunt, brushing the front of his jeans which now refused to come clean, and grit his teeth in annoyance.

"Then why are you here? What do you want?" Rhys asked, suddenly finding a confidence spring within him. He didn't know if it was the frustration of waiting all these years for his end to come and then having that end toy with him, or if he had a sudden change of heart and wanted to fight against this fate. But either way, he stood at the ready to fight.

"You didn't come to Lily's wedding." Alaric deflected, although raised an incredulous eyebrow at the tense form of Rhys. Where had the patient, carefree, boy who grew flowers gone? He knew the answer of course. That boy was buried beneath the rock in their childhood den. That boy died the moment Marshal did.

Still, he was somewhat surprised at how different the man that stood before him was. A broad-shouldered body built with strong muscle, a face that held a frown more often than a smile, and calloused hands that had undoubtedly taken the lives of others. This wasn't a boy. This was a man.

They stood across from each other as strangers. Familiar to one another as nothing more than memories and names. It was sad in its own way.

"I couldn't. I didn't want to-- I was afraid that me being there would bring up what had happened, and I didn't want that. It was a happy day." Rhys deflated, slumping his shoulders little. Although they tensed once again at Alaric cocking his head to the side curiously. "Did you?"

"She wanted you there, she missed you."

"Can you just answer a question, Alaric. For fuck sake."

"I was there. We spoke. It was... brief." Alaric replied, the somewhat amused smirk on his face dropping back to his expression of neutrality.

The implication of his words carried a foreboding silence with them. Rhys couldn't tell if the reunion between Alaric and Lily went well or not, but judging by his current distant personality he could hazard a guess that it was at the very least; frustratingly awkward.

Rhys let out a loud sigh and scrubbed at his eyes briefly before looking to Alaric who had unsurprisingly remained unchanged. Like he was a photograph of the landscape behind him. The clouds moved, the grass shifted, but he remained still; save for the wind lightly tugging at his clothing.

"So. I am tempted to ask again why you're here, but in order to avoid the inevitable: 'I already said I wanted to talk'" Rhys paused to give his mocking tone dramatic effect "I am instead going to ask what you want to talk about, and hope you can give me a straight answer. It's late. I honestly thought I was going to die tonight, and I probably don't need to explain why that's stressful." Rhys said in an exasperated tone as his limbs began to weight heavily and exhaustion started to take him over.

"You still might."

"Might what?"

"Die." Alaric said with a smirk.

"Fuck. Off." Rhys spat venomously. Insulted that Alaric would even attempt to crack a joke.

"You saved my life once." Alaric started with a slightly tired sigh. "Granted, you didn't know what I had done before hand, I didn't know the extent of what you had done either, I'd probably saved your life countless times before condemning it, and it all just got very messy. But, proverbial scoreboard aside, you did save my life." Alaric paused for a moment, frowning slightly as if steeling himself for his next words. "And also, as much as it hurt at the time: I did love you."

"Alaric..." Rhys began, suddenly racked with a guilt he hadn't felt in years, but was silenced with a wave of Alaric's hand.

"That doesn't matter now. What I came to say essentially is that I owe you. Despite Lily's deal, I owe you. Or at least I feel like I do. So, I've been doing an awful lot of thinking over the years, and I have some options for you and you're free to pick. No arguments or protests from me. The choice is yours, if that's alright?" Alaric finished to a wide eyed Rhys, who stood with his mouth a gape.

The whole situation was insane, and it was quite sometime of standing in silence before Rhys was brought back to the present by Alaric who said:

"Rhys? This is where you answer. I need to know you're paying attention."

"What are my options?" Rhys said quickly. Not in an attempt to be rude, but it was the only solid thought he could grab a hold of and articulate well enough before it slipped from his grasp back into the chaos stricken maelstrom that was his current train of thought.

"Very well. First option: I kill you now. No more worrying. No more looking over your shoulder for the big bad Vampire. It's done."

"Dare I ask what option two is?" He replied quietly, although he'd be lying if there wasn't the faintest glimmer of hope blossoming within his chest.

"Option two: I turn you into a Vampire. Know that I do not offer this lightly. There are those who look upon the sharing of this... Gift with great scrutiny. And to add to that: not only have I never done it before, but I am not even sure someone like you could become like me. But at some point during the process, you die. You just come back afterwards, but either way technically I would have killed you. Deal done." That one did catch Rhys a little off guard. Sending his head reeling and his ears ringing. Not once in his life had he considered immortality like the kind Alaric was now offering. But he wondered if he could truly live without the sun. They didn't have a friend who was a witch any more, so many of the downsides that Alaric can seemingly ignore would trouble Rhys. Could he drink blood? Could he watch the world go on without him?

The thought frightened him. Swallowed him up in a maw that yawned with it's distance. But at least he wouldn't die. At least not permanently. He could still explore the world. Still be with Eve. Would it really be so bad to live forever? Although then he wondered how many lived to regret that question.

"The final option... Option 3..." Alaric began, breaking Rhys from his whirlwind of thoughts and focusing his attention back forward. "We do neither. We do nothing. We either wait for whatever the force is that gives Lily her power to inact some cruel accident where I kill you. Or I wait. I don't know how long someone like you lives, or whether you'll get dreadfully ill. But if there is ever a time where there is no going back: I will come to you. If you get old and frail. Too tired to carry on: I will visit." Alaric finished with a heavy sigh, and Rhys couldn't help but notice the weight that hung on his final words.

"You seem to like that option the least..." Rhys whispered, loud enough for Alaric to hear who was now looking away from him.

"I do. I-- May I be honest with you, Rhys? Perhaps brutally so?"

"Might as well start some time." Rhys smirked

"Cute." Alaric replied, a fond smile on his face that seemed to shatter the whole ephemeral facade he had, and made him look pointedly more human. Like how Rhys remembered him before things went wrong. Then his face became solemn as he continued to speak: "But when I think of you Rhys, I see a future. Not a romantic one, do not worry. I know that ship has long sailed. But somewhere along the line I hoped that there would be a time where we would be friends again. Where we would all be... Like a family again. Maybe not exactly like how things were. But better than they are now. For all the resources at my disposal, the one thing I have ever wanted in my entire existence is us all to be... Friends. Like we were. I have never missed anything so much as you. So, yes, it is a grim thing indeed, to watch someone you love suffer all the frailties of life. The agony of illness. The despair of death. What if I can't end you, Rhys? Have you seen what happens to people who are not allowed to die? I have. I have seen a man who had fused into his chair. All because he was not able to leave his body while it rotted away. I have walked through cursed marshes where ancient wars once take place, and spoken to maddened corpses kept preserved by the silt and tree roots that hold them in place." Alaric blurted out all at once with such an indignation that it caused a pure, primal, horror to rattle Rhys straight to the bone.

"Or what if... What if I can kill you, Rhys? What if you have one bad day. Just one. Where you think you can't go on anymore, and you ask me: 'Alaric, take it from me. I don't want this anymore' and then I do, because you asked me to. What then? Whoops, your mistake?"

"Oh..."

"Yeah..."

"Shit..."

"Yeah..."

They stood in silence. Processing the electricity that seemed to fill the air with the undeniable weight of the choice looming before them. Everything seemed so small in comparison. So comparatively unimportant to what was happening right now. But as all things do, that indescribable pause on the world came to an end, when Alaric spoke once again: "So, Rhys... The choice is yours."

                                                                      The End

A/N: And there we go. The final entry to this story. What did you guys think? Did I stick the landing? What could I have done better? Or should I just give up on this writing thing entirely? What do you think Rhys will choose? What would you choose?

So... yeah. I want to give a big thank you to the like two readers of this story lol

Your support really means a lot, you have no idea.

I'm also considering posting additional tidbits. Nothing substantial mind you. Just like maybe how the supernatural races work in this world or the ideas I originally wanted to include in the story but never got round to it. Let me know if that's something you're interested in!

Anyways, until the next adventure, and as always: Thanks for reading ^-^