BONUS EPILOGUE: KEEP SMILING

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Aaron's POV:

     It's been two years since that awful day. For once, I really do wish I didn't remember anything. I wish I forgot it all. I know that I'd be so much happier, knowing what I know now.

     Aphmau is dead, and it's so hard to cope. I still grieve her death, and I visit her tombstone everyday, even though there's no body there. I just wish I could've seen her, one last time. I would absolutely take her place if I had gotten the chance.

     But at least I got an old friend back. If Aphmau didn't bring back Blaze, I don't know if I'd still be standing here today. Blaze understands my grief like no other, and he's been helping me to fight this depression of mine. He visits me every day, and we talk. He's been a great help, and I appreciate him taking the time to visit me, even if I mostly stay cooped up in my house.

     I'm glad he got another chance, though. His death was so horrible, and my fault, too. Sometimes I wonder why he'd want to visit me after that, but I don't think about it much. He's been seeing Dottie a lot more often, and he sometimes brings her along to our visits. It's nice to finally see the guy in a romantic relationship.

     But...sometimes, it makes me envy him. He got a second chance, yet after everything me and Aph have, or had, been through, she didn't make it. And it was all my fault..

     "KnOcK kNoCk!!" I heard a muffled voice come from the door, with the sounds of knocking.

     "I'll be right there!" I shouted. I got up from my seat at the kitchen table and slowly made my way to the door. I opened it sluggishly, and Blaze met me on the other side.

     "Hey Aaron! Wanna go bowling today?" He asked me.

     "No thanks, I'm not really up to it." I sighed.

     "Oh, well that's okay. You wanna just talk in here?" Blaze asked me.

     "Sure." I said. "One of these days, I should really give you a key to my place." I joked.

     "Yeah, I see you waaay too often to not have one." Blaze laughed. He walked through the door and made himself at home, plopping himself on the couch while I fetched us a snack to eat.

     "So how'd you sleep last night? No nightmares?" Blaze asked.

     "Not really. I didn't dream of anything." I replied.

     "That's good! At least we're getting somewhere, right?" Blaze smiled.

     "I guess.." I said.

     "What's wrong?" Blaze questioned.

     "Nothing..." I tried to get him off my back.

     "...Have you visited Aphmau today?" Blaze asked me.

     "..No, I haven't." I admitted. "I thought trying to see her less and less would make me feel better, but it's not working." I said.

     "It's okay, we gotta move slow. I know it's been a while since it all happened, but with all that trauma, we gotta take some baby steps, okay?" Blaze said. "Why don't we go visit her now? Put on your jacket, it's chilly out." Blaze instructed.

     I willingly put on my jacket and slipped on my shoes, waiting for Blaze to say he's ready.

     "You ready to go?" I asked, kind of impatiently.

     "Yeah, I'm ready! Let's go." Blaze walked with me out the door, and we started walking to the graveyard. It wasn't too far from the neighborhood, just about a five minute walk. Me and Blaze didn't talk the whole walk to the cemetery. That was fine, though. I didn't feel like talking. Finally, after a short walk, we made it to the entrance of the cemetery. In a weird way, I was kind of excited to be back here.

     While Blaze took his time walking to Aphmau's grave, I slightly sped-walked to it. When the grave was in view, I jogged to it, and Blaze caught up with me. When I got to the grave, I read the words written in the stone, as I've done dozens of times.

                     /——————---------———--——\       /-——-/                                                                 \———\  /-/                         Aphmau Shalashaka                            \-\/.             Born: Oct. 16, 1989. Died: Jul. 27, 2022            .\      |.                                                                                                          | |                 Loving Friend, Wonderful Daughter,                 | |                  And Caring Fiancé, to Aaron Lycan.                  | |.                                                                                                          ||.                                                                                                          | |                    Though you were gone too soon,                   ||.                             You shan't be forgotten.                            ||                                                                                                           ||.                                                                                                          ||.                                                                                                          ||___________________________________________ |

     I can't remember how much I cried during the burial. Even though we all knew there was nothing in that coffin, I couldn't bare to watch it go down into the trench. I wish I could've seen her one last time, even if the only way of seeing her face was seeing her in that coffin.

     "Hey, you okay?" Blaze touched my shoulder. "I was calling you and you didn't answer."

     "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I was just, reading the stone." I answered.

     "But you have that thing memorized! Heck, you were the one who wrote that on it!" Blaze said confused.

     "...Hey, Blaze? I've always wanted to ask you this, ever since you came back. Do you...feel guilty, for coming back?" I asked Blaze. His expression changed drastically, and he frowned with sadness on his face.

     "Yeah, I do. A lot, actually." Blaze continued talking. "I know that if Aphmau didn't choose to save me, she'd be here, with you right now. This would've been my grave. I don't know why she chose me, but I made a promise to her before I left the white abyss, and left her there to take my place."

     "You made a promise?" I asked him.

     "Yeah. It was, to take care of you, when she was gone. I don't plan on breaking that promise, and know that even if I didn't make that promise, I would've done this for you anyways, because I care about you as a good friend of mine. You deserve to be just as happy as I am, and I won't stop helping you until that day comes. I don't know how long it'll take, but I won't stop until you smile, with genuine love." Blaze said, with tears in his eyes. "I'm really sorry I had to take your love away. I didn't even think Aph would do that. But I won't let you go down without a fight! I promise I'll help you get through this, I-" I didn't let Blaze finish, and I gave him a tight hug.

     "Thanks, Blaze...Listen, I don't want you to feel guilty in any way. I may miss Aphmau, but I know she did what she did for a reason, and I believe that reason was because she wanted to see every one of her friends happy, and that includes you. It's not your fault she's gone. Just know that, please?" I said to him. Blaze started tearing up more, and tears started falling down his cheeks.

     "Thank you, Aaron." Blaze hugged me back, and we stayed at Aphmau's grave for a while, talking and reminiscing about her.

     "Well, it's getting pretty late. Should we head out?" Blaze asked.

     "Yeah, sure. You go on ahead, I'll catch up. I just want to do something really quick." Blaze nodded his head and went on without me. I pulled out a ring from my pocket I had been holding onto this whole time. It was Aphmau's proposal ring. I knelt down to the ground, and dug a little hole in the center of her grave. I planted the ring inside, and covered it back up with the dirt.

     "Aphmau, I don't know where you are, or if you can hear me, but I love you." I smiled, looking up aimlessly in the sky. "I'll see you tomorrow." I walked away from the grave, catching up with Blaze, leaving the ring, and my past behind. Things are going to be tough in the future, without Aph, but I'll work hard to smile again, for her.