After the wedding, there was an air of change and the Kings started their futures.

Chuck had decided to migrate his gym to New York, and Jonas and Hugh followed him. It was a blessing for Hugh, because there was a good music school in the area. He started to walk his path down music production while Jonas trained.

Jaiden had wanted to travel and saved enough money for a motorcycle and took off to travel the states.

Sam and Emilia were extremely close and couldn't be separated. They got engaged shortly after Jonas and Hugh's wedding. She started studying to become a pediatrician at her father's hospital. Sam followed her footsteps in the medical field and started training as an EMT. It was their own small way of helping those in need.

Rodgers went to the local college to study secondary education. He worked closely with the administration of Hawkings because he knew he wanted to go back. It was his home away from home, and swore to continue protecting Hawkings in his own way.

Millan was always putting out metaphoric fires in high school, and decided that fighting real fires was a fitting career choice for him. So he started training for his career as a firefighter. It was a good transition for him.

Eli still had another year left in high school. He wanted to just get his GED and go to college with the rest, but Jonas begged him to stay in Hawkings and just enjoy his senior year. He wanted to fight it, but Travis helped him stay when he declared that he was going to the local college with Rodgers. Eli moved into the small apartment that had Jonas worked hard to purchase. He thought he would have to live there alone because Jonas had moved to New York, but Travis spent the night once with him and never left.

Eli missed his brother, but he admitted that it was a good decision to remain. His last year of Hawkings was immensely different from St. Vincent's. He truly enjoyed his time and had the luxury to just be himself. He wasn't a King, but the new Kings relied on him to help them become good leaders.

When the school year was coming to an end, he found himself sitting at a table staring at the college acceptance letters, specifically one from Cambridge. It was a dream come true, but it was also terrifying. He looked at Travis who was beaming at him, but Eli's face crumpled. "I don't have to go."

"Eli, you have to go. You want to be the next Alex Richards, so you have to." Travis said with a shake of his head.

"But, I'll be without you..."

Travis climbed into his lap and kissed him softly on the lips. "You're acting like we are breaking up. You're going to college, and I will be video calling you everyday. We will travel to meet each other on our breaks. We will make this work because I am not going anywhere."

Eli spent the night holding Travis close to his chest. He knew he should go, and he knew that he would, but saying goodbye was the hardest.

Leaving the man he loved was damn near impossible.

Three years after Eli graduated from Hawkings, he was sitting in a bar with a few friends from his classes at Harvard. He was holding a beer was watching the TV intently.

He opened and closed his hand a couple of times, silently cursing the cold. His hands always tended to be a little stiff in this weather because of the old fractures. It didn't fully hinder him from playing the piano, thanks to the rigorous physical therapy Jonas forced him to do. However, old wounds flared up sometimes.

One of his friends nudged him. "Are you seriously watching the fights again? We thought you wanted to come here for a break. The fights can't be that relaxing"

Eli gave him a wry smile. "It's a good card."

His friends laughed a little. It was hard for them to believe at first that he liked watching the UFC.

He was one of the top law students who was talented at the piano. He was even asked to play with the school's orchestra as a guest a couple of times. He seemed to enjoy the quiet and never really forced confrontation unless it was a mock trial or debate in class. He was either studying or playing music, but he never missed a fight night.

However, he was quieter than usual this night, and only gave short answers. One of his friend's brought another classmate that Eli hadn't met yet, and Eli felt something off about him. Eli knew that his name started with an 'M', but didn't care to remember it. Maybe it was Mike.

His name didn't matter, especially because this Mike kept staring at Eli the entire night. Eli was not tolerating it, so he was purposely ignoring him.

Mike batted his eyes towards Eli. "I didn't think you would be into fighting."

Eli held in an irritated sigh. "I know how to appreciate a good fight when I see one."

As if on queue he saw one of the fighters land a solid strike that made his opponent stagger. Eli let out an appreciative cheer alongside the many others in the bar. It really was a good card tonight, especially because Jonas was scheduled to be on later. He continued to ignore Mike and watched the TV. He would only turn his attention to his phone when his large group chat started to blow up. He would contribute to the chat but the same stoic look remained on his face.

His friends tried to explain to Mike that Eli was like this most of the time, and if a fight was on he would primarily focus on that. But while trying to justify Eli's cold behavior, Eli received a phone call. He looked at the screen and broke into a smile, leaving everyone at the table speechless.

"Angel." He answered softly, like he was sighing with relief. He got up from the table and moved towards the foyer of the bar to be away from the noise.

Travis giggled on the other line. "Sounds like you are having a rough day."

"It's the same old thing. One too many papers to write and finals are taking over my life." He said but then he realized it sounded like Travis was in a car. "You're not watching the fights?"

"I will be. Just running a little later than I expected. I'll be in time for Jo, though." Travis explained.

Eli clicked his tongue. "Were you working late again?"

"There's no rest for a phyciatrist, especially an adorable one like me." Travis joked.

Eli laughed and ran his hand through his hair. "Anyone I should be fighting off?"

"I feel like I should be the one fighting people off. You just don't notice anything because your oblivious to the world around you." Travis snorted.

Eli chuckled. "I just know my priorities"

"You're at your usual bar over there?" Travis asked.

"Yeah. It's cheaper to watch the fights here than pay per view."

Travis hummed a little. "You're next break is coming up soon, right?"

"Yeah. Just have two papers and a test to turn in by Wednesday and then I'm free."

"I have some time off too. I can come over there to visit." Travis said quietly.

Eli leaned against the wall and grinned. "That would be amazing."

But his smile faded to a frown as he saw Mike approaching him. He sighed. "Travis, let me call you back real quick. I need to handle something annoying."

"Ok. Just don't do anything Hugh would do." Travis said with a laugh.

Eli snorted. "It's tempting. Love you."

"Love you too, Eli."

Eli hung up the phone and faced Mike. Mike was smiling and then placed a hand on Eli's arm, making Eli flinch and pull back. He still didn't like to be touched.

Mike frowned a little but forced the smile back. "You were gone for a little. I wanted to check in."

"I'm fine. You can go back." Eli said stiffly as he stepped further away. The softness in his voice was completely gone.

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere else."

Eli's brow creased. "No. I'm going to watch the fights after I call my boyfriend back."

Mike shrugged. "We can go to my place. I'll get the fights."

"I have a boyfriend and I'm not interested." His eyes narrowed.

Mike shrugged. "I heard it's a long distance thing. I know how those types of relationships end. Besides, your boyfriend doesn't have to know."

Eli's harden face turned to a threatening glare. "Did you not hear the 'not interested' part."

Mike didn't look fazed and continued pushing. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"I'll make this simple for you, Mike. No. As in 'no fucking way'. It's never going to happen. Continue pressing this, and you'll learn what 'no' means when I break your fucking nose."

Mike's face became sour. "It's not Mike, it's Matt."

"I don't care." Eli scoffed. At least he knew it started with an M.

"Listen, Eli. I like you. I have for a while, but never had the chance to talk to you until now. I don't think we should waste this opportunity because of some dumb fight on TV or some boyfriend you have back home. Live a little." Mike/Matt said.

"If you knew anything about me, that bullshit would have never left your mouth. Don't fucking talk to me." Eli shoved him to the side and tried to leave the foyer, but his arm was held back by the asshole.

"Eli, come on." He urged.

Eli shuddered as he felt the hand on his arm. He turned and twisted a little to break out of the grasp, it something Jonas taught him. In return, he grabbed Matt's collar and glowered. "I fucking said no."

Matt smirked. "Playing hard to get?"

"There is nothing worse than someone too arrogant to accept that he is being rejected." A beautiful but alarmingly angry voice bubbled from behind them. "Perhaps it's narcissistic personality disorder. I do have a contact who you can talk to if that's the case. But in my professional opinion, I think you're just an asshole."

Matt turned and rounded on the person who interfered. "Mind your own fucking business you motherfu-."

Eli felt his rage boil over and slammed his fist into the bastard's face.

Matt fell to the ground and Eli stepped over him, rushing to the newly arrived Travis.

Eli had to pause to admire him. His small build was trembling with anger and his beautiful face was scowling. He was pissed, but Eli found it adorable. His golden hair was damp from the light rain from outside and it caused his hair to curl a little more than usual.

Eli wrapped his arms around him and pressed his head against Travis' forehead. "You're here."

"I thought I said not to handle things like Hugh would... how's your fist?" Travis said with a little pout.

"Everything is perfect now." Eli said and pulled back to soak in the person in front of him. He still knew how to take Eli's breath away.

He bent a little and gave Travis a light kiss. "You're really here."

Travis nodded and beamed. "Surprise!"