The story started with a prologue from Oliver's POV and we are ending with Victor's! I think it's quite fitting considering Vic is one of the main characters in the second book too, so you can look at this epilogue as a little teaser for the second book! ^.^

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VICTOR's POV

To say I was annoyed was an understatement. I got it. Oliver was over me. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the situation, but whatever. The conversation we had, more like a monologue on Ollie's part with me whining like a bitch, actually helped me a lot. It was surprising, but when he said he forgave me, it was as if a huge load lifted off my mind. I was overwhelmed with feelings of freedom and joy so big it was unbelievable. It was still too embarrassing to even remember the scene I made all those weeks ago. Crying like a little pussy was not something I did, ever. But the fact it helped me get a better relationship with him and, what was more important, with Matty, was worth it. Moreover, I was able to forget about it most of the time by simply thinking about other things. Today, though, I had it on mind every second that went by, and I was ready to jump the nearest bridge.

"Why the hell do I have to be there?!" I asked for the millionth time, staring at the freshly cleaned suit in front of me. I was supposed to put it on and leave in half an hour, but with things as they were, locking myself in the house seemed like a better idea.

"Because of the press, your good friend and your son's bright smile. Did I forget something?" Alison was sitting in my kitchen, munching on a chicken salad, trying her hardest not to ruin her make-up and dirty her dress.

She was ready as ever, looking gorgeous with her hair tied in a long thick braid, few unruly strands elegantly sticking out of it here and there. The braid itself was decorated with white flowers, a flowery headdress sitting on top of her head. Her dress was in a lighter shade of yellow, with sleeves and the upper layer of a skirt made out of lace. With the way she looked, the most beautiful models and celebrities out there would look dull in front of her. I could tell that much. Still, it was like looking at a nice piece of furniture or a new model of a car. Beautiful but nothing more. Sometimes, I was angry at myself for not being attracted to her. That way, I could have a great family without any worries.

"Shut up and stop eating. There's going to be enough food for everyone. You're going to offend them if you don't eat there," I grumbled, grabbing the suit and walking towards the bathroom to change. If nothing else, disappointing Matthias was the last thing I wanted, so there was no other option than to go. He was expecting me.

"Don't worry, I'm having a salad for a reason. Any other day, I would have a full-fledged lunch and some dessert afterward!" she yelled after me, chuckling when all I did was grunt some more and close the door to the bathroom.

I was slowly getting used to living in my new house. I moved in a week after my fateful meeting with Oliver, and thanks to our plan on how to satisfy the hunger of the press, it passed off without any problem.

It was surprising, but the sleazy bastards who called themselves journalists were so easily satisfied it was almost laughable. All they needed was to see us all together in the street, playing a happy family, and few interviews with both me and Oliver and Joshua as well, and their constant following and stalking eased up by several levels. There were, of course, few who were still hungry for more, but it was nothing compared to the hordes at the beginning.

With that being said, Matty was slowly becoming one of the most popular kids in the country, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. His outfits sold out in every shop almost immediately, and you could see people discussing how 'cute and promising' he was as a kid of two successful businessmen. I was hoping everything would fade away after some time and people would calm down, but it was like a lottery. You just never knew what was going to happen. People were weird that way.

"We are leaving in five minutes! Are you ready, you big cry baby?" Alison yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts. I should have never told her about the conversation we had with Oliver. I would never hear the end of it for the rest of my life.

Fastening my tie and adjusting the handkerchief in my pocket to make it look presentable, I looked into the mirror and sighed. The tie and handkerchief were of the same color as Ali's dress so we would fit together, the rest in the traditional black and white. I could look worse. But there was always space for improvement. Running my hand through my hair to make it look more natural and wild – which, by Alison's words, suited me more, I switched the lights off and stepped out. If someone told me I would be attending Oliver's wedding as a guest a few months ago, I would laugh at their stupidity. Now, it was happening. He would be a married man in a few hours.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's go, or I'm going to change my mind." Saying that I grabbed my car keys and a wallet and went right for the main door. I wanted the day to be over as soon as possible.

***

When we arrived, the number of reporters outside the hall where the ceremony was to take place was ridiculous. It was probably worse than when the scandal broke out.

"Great, just what I need right now." I parked the car at the nearest parking lot reserved for the wedding guests, and we got out. Joining hands with Alison so we would look like the perfect couple, we started our way towards the hall.

"Smile, Victor. You look ready to kill," she whispered, brightly smiling at the closest people we met. The other guests were slowly gathering too, and seeing them look our way didn't make me feel any better.

"I feel like killing too." With that being said, I put on the best smile I could muster up and kept on nodding at people even though I hardly knew anyone.

Entering the hall, we were automatically sent to the back where the engaged couple and their families were. Again, to say I was annoyed was an understatement. I couldn't care less for Owen's family, and Oliver's family wasn't too happy to have me there. The only person who mattered right that moment was Matthias. Oliver tried to make friends with me, and he probably thought it was going well, but that was hardly the truth. He could keep saying whatever he wanted to, but I still had some feelings for him. It might be true it wasn't love, but it didn't matter. I still liked him. My heartbeat still fastened whenever he smiled at me. But after the conversation we had, I did realize it wasn't enough to make a relationship work. What I said that night was true. Oliver meant stability. Having a relationship with him, being a family, was what I thought would be the best to make me happy. It was what seemed right.

Entering the backroom, I looked around, my eyes meeting with Kyle's. My fake smile whithered right that moment. I knew he would be there. He is Oliver's brother, after all. But seeing him so suddenly was quite a shock. Since our reconciliation with Oliver a few weeks back, there hadn't been an opportunity for us to meet. And I was sure he wasn't too keen on changing it any more than me. Now, seeing him looking at me with such hatred, it was crystal clear. I was one hundred percent sure there was no way we would ever make it work between us. Not a chance.

Turning my eyes somewhere else, not wanting to provoke him, I noticed Matthias sitting by the table in the corner of the room, drinking what seemed like an orange juice. That was a face I was looking forward to seeing the most.

"I'm going over to say hi to Matt. Wanna go too or are you going to bother someone else?" I asked Ali, checking where she was looking. And, just as I thought, she already had her eyes on someone else – Oliver himself. He was standing with his parents and Joshua, discussing something, and looking great in his black and white tuxedo. I knew I should go to greet Ollie with his soon-to-be-husband first, but I couldn't bring myself to go over there.

"Actually, I think I'm going to say hi to the cute couple over there. Say hi to Matty for me." She kissed me on a cheek and went straight to her victims.

Rubbing on my cheek, I went over to Matt. I could tell the moment he noticed me. His eyes grew wider and he smiled so brightly his whole face lit up.

"Dad!" he yelled, almost spilling the juice on himself when he jumped down the chair and run towards me.

He was wearing a kid's suit, looking like a real gentleman. Crouching down, I waited for him to get to me so I could hug the hell out of him. We hadn't seen each other in five days, and it already felt like an eternity.

"Come here, little man." I chuckled when he jumped in my arms and hugged me around the neck with all his strength.

When we dealt with the press, and I moved into my new house, we agreed that Matty could stay over whenever he wanted to. My house wasn't that far from his kindergarten, and with both of us having cars, there was no problem driving him back and forth whenever there was a problem.

Having him over was pretty amazing. I was used to being alone or with Nelson all the time, so having this little guy in my house, depending on me, was a totally new experience. An experience I would never exchange for anything. The first time he stayed over was only for one night because neither I nor Oliver was sure how it would turn out. But it was fantastic. We spent the night watching kid's movies and playing with toys he brought, and when the morning came, and I was supposed to drive him back home, I couldn't believe it was already over. If someone told me I would be able to play with a kid and do stupid faces and noises, I would laugh at their astounding imagination. It was a completely different story now.

"How have you been? What's new?" I asked when we let go of each other, going back towards the table he sat at. After the wedding, the newlyweds were going on honeymoon, so I was going to have Matt over for a week and couldn't wait. We had already planned to go to the cinema to see some new animated movie he wanted to see, and after that, we were going to spend the night eating junk food. I had Oliver's approval if it was only for one night. I still had a lot to learn, and child-friendly foods were one of the things I lacked. I even started to learn how to cook and prepare some simple meals so we wouldn't be eating takeout all the time.

Matthias sighed, suddenly looking all dramatic.

"Terrible! Grandma took me shopping for clothes the day before yesterday, and we didn't come back until afternoon. I already had this prepared, but she wanted to buy something different. I don't know why! This looks good, everyone says so!" he patted his chest to point to his suit, and I couldn't help but laugh. He sure looked good in it. It might have been too traditional for Oliver's mother, but it was definitely the best choice.

"You look great." I ruffled his hair, ready to talk some more about what he had to experience while shopping when someone gently squeezed my shoulder. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. I still did raise my eyes, but I knew it was Oliver even before that. No one in this room would touch me in this way. Alison would smack me, Nelson, if he was already here, would do the same, and none of the others would dare to touch me.

"Hi," I said, my voice wavering a little at the end. Knowing he was about to be married to another man was just too much at the moment.

"Hi, Vic, sorry to disturb your time together, but I need Matt to come with us. He is supposed to bring our rings, and the ceremony is about to begin." He smiled, looking at me with this weird expression of awe and gratefulness. I had to suppress the urge to sigh. If he kept on looking at me this way, I was never going to let go of him completely.

"Sure, we'll talk later, big boy." I winked at him, letting him of my knees. He pouted for a second but winked back and run towards Oliver's parents.

We were left alone for a bit, and if it wouldn't make me even more embarrassed than I already was for my crying episode, I would run away. Why would he even invite me? I was his ex. You didn't invite your exes to your wedding, for Christ's sake!

"Thank you for coming," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. I nodded at him, not trusting my voice to come out of my mouth, and he smiled, leaving me there, looking at him in wonder.

***

The ceremony was nice. They said they yeses, kissed and were pronounced to be a married couple now. There was a banquet later on, where only family and close friends were invited. I with Alison and Nelson were among them, but we didn't stay long. After agreeing on time when I would be picking up Matt, three days from now in the morning, I wished them a good life, complimented the ceremony, said goodbyes with Matt, and excused myself for the rest of the night.

After that, there was no other place for me to end at than a good old bar. I needed some reward after going through such misery as watching Oliver get married, and drinking my sorrows away seemed like the best idea of the day. Alison refused to take a part in my intoxication, so it was Nelson and me again, sitting in a bar, drinking a beer. We decided it would be the best idea not to go to a gay bar as I wanted to avoid any scandal before my big day, so we ended up in a regular bar that catered to all kinds of customers. No one said a guy who wanted to get it on with another guy wouldn't show up there, but the possibility was way lower than if we went in a bar catering to a specific clientele.

"You know, I'm surprised it went without any trouble. I know you said you talked it out with him, but still," Nelson took a swing of his beer, looking at me with a serious expression I hadn't seen on him in ages. Right, he probably wanted to use this opportunity and have this heart to heart conversation between friends, but I had to disappoint him. We could talk seriously any other time, but today, I needed to let out some steam.

"Nels, come on, let's have some fun, and we can talk serious tomorrow. I need to stop thinking for a minute." I grinned, gulping down the rest of my beer and ordering a new one together with a glass of something stronger. The glint in his eyes told me just what a great friend he was, and I could count on having a carefree night without any reminder of the wedding.

When I woke up the next morning, my mind was a mess. I couldn't remember what happened and how I got back home, but it didn't matter. The most important thing was I was at home and not in some cheap hotel or someone else's room. Groaning, I rolled over to my side, feeling a weirdly familiar pain and, at the same time, a completely foreign one. I frowned, opening my eyes and slowly sitting up, hissing at the pain I felt at a place that shouldn't hurt at all.

It reminded me of that unfortunate time I fell and my ass hurt like hell, but this pain was different. It was deep within me, burning and stabbing at my insides, and I knew I fucked up. I couldn't remember a thing, but the pain in my lower parts told me enough. I was going to kill Nelson. He probably left me all alone, and I managed to fuck up and make the biggest mistake of my life.

Looking around, checking if the fucker who dared to do something like that to me was still around, there was nothing. The only proof of something happening was the pain in my ass and a messy side of my bed, empty and cold, showing it had been quite some time since the other person left.

And I was left wondering.

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So, what do you think about the ending? Was it satisfactory?

Did you enjoy the book as a whole?

Is there something you would like to know more about? Some scenes that were not clear or explained to more detail? (not talking about smut here - I know there was not enough of that! ^v^)