The Other Side of Paradise
Chapter 30: Domestic Bliss
Killer x gn!reader word count: 5k a/n: i can't believe we made it. after a year and some change, this fic is finally finished. i honestly wasn't sure i was going to for a while. the writers block punched me real hard and with life going nuts, it was hard. but we made it. this ended completely different from the beginning and i think that's where i was stumped. i no longer had an outline and didn't write one up. i found a method for myself finally to help myself organize things better. (i physically write the outlines chapter then use those notes when i type it up) thank you for those who've stuck around so long i appreciate you more than you know. thanks for not giving up on me ;a; and those of you who are new, i appreciate you too. also sorry this one's so long. i didn't want to break it up. just figured we'd finish off with something juicy. (smutilogue will eventually hit, i just have to think of how i want to do it) i do have something in the works so stay tuned for that. sorry for yapping - onto the last chapter! taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first
Despite having so much to talk about between the two of you…nothing was said on the way to the phone store. Neither of you spoke a word, not knowing what to say or where to begin. Years had been lost all because of a batshit person who would stop at nothing for money. Neither of you knew how to start making up for it - there was just too much.
Emotions were high, that much you could tell. It was as if the two of you could explode at any moment. Both of you are ready to burst into tears of disbelief at any moment. Once the two of you slept, you were sure a lot of that tension would dissolve. It was mostly both of you feeling like this was a dream. Once you slept on it and realized everything was real, everything would settle down.
Even on the way back from the phone store, neither of you said much. You were just enjoying each other’s company. That, and you were working on setting your new phone up.
Killer takes you to your penthouse. Part of you kind of wanted to see his place and where they were living, but you knew that the penthouse was best right now since you were still in recovery. You’ve had enough overwhelming surprises today. Familiarity was something you wanted right now. You didn’t want to deal with new surroundings.
Now that the two of you were at each other’s sides again, there was plenty of time to go and visit. Or maybe…the two of you would move in together again. You shook those thoughts away. That was way too far in the future. You didn’t even know where the two of you stood right now. Maybe he had emotionally moved on? You used to be so sure but you didn’t know anymore. You didn’t want him to feel obligated.
Your downward spiral of thinking was stopped as you arrived at your destination. Killer helped you out of the truck and into the building, into your penthouse. You slowly make your way to the dining table where you continue to mess with your phone while Killer slowly looks around your apartment, taking in his surroundings.
The moment you had your phone transferred over and everything was settled, it was going off. You immediately silenced it and flipped it over, letting the messages flood in. You knew it would be a while before it settled down, so you weren’t going to even bother trying to look at anything right now.
Your eyes fall on Killer who is slowly making his way around the penthouse, taking in everything. All the decorations and knick knacks the four of you have collected. It looked like a perfect blend of the four of you - it also helped that you all had relatively the same taste as well.
At that moment, a question popped into your head.
“How did you know it was me?”
You were referring to that time in the conference room. Where he cornered you and demanded you to take off your mask. Where he had said your name. If he was so convinced that you were dead, why did he say your name?
You didn’t even need to elaborate either because Killer knew exactly what you were talking about. He shook his head, making his way over to you.
“When I first met you in your getup, there was an air around you that was familiar - way too fuckin’ familiar. The way you carried yourself, the cadence of your speech - all of it sounded like you. At first, I thought this was the universe’s way to be cruel. To send someone that was exactly like you just to torture me.” He sighed, sitting at the table next to you.
“Even though I had been convinced you were…well…you know…” He couldn’t even bring himself to speak it into existence. “Everything screamed it was you and one day I had just had it, I needed this person to confirm that it wasn’t you and it was all in my head. That I was just still in grief.” He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair.
“You had spit that ‘who is that’ gesture so fuckin’ fast without even hesitating that it was confirmation enough for me that I was just absolutely losing it.”
You couldn’t help but feel more guilty. You could’ve ended everything right there. You could’ve had him back in your life with everyone else, but…what about everything else? Doflamingo would still be in charge, probably killing all of you and replacing you. Just replace all of you or move onto the next thing to keep his place.
This way, he’s going away for a long time, Corazon is free, Law is safe, and everyone is reunited. As painful as it was, this was the best outcome. By sheer fucking luck and almost losing your life as well.
Now, it was Killer’s turn to ask a question.
“How come you’re on stage now?” Ah, you knew this one was coming. Before you were adamant not to go on stage. You were too frightened at the thought of being in front of people talking let alone singing. Kid had asked you for years and you always said no.
You shift uncomfortably. It was your turn to sigh. “Well, when you’re blind with anger and revenge, you can do anything,” you mumbled. “I wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine. To make it even bigger than you were to prove that we didn’t need you…”
You folded your arms and avoided eye contact with him for a moment. “Besides, seeing you suck faces with that woman sparked a rage in me that lasted for a really long time.”
Killer immediately groaned, covering his face and sinking into his chair. “Don’t remind meeee,” he grumbled, utterly embarrassed. He started to mumble apologies but you stopped him.
“Kili, you thought I was dead. Of course I don’t hold that against you now. I would rather you move on if I actually did die. Find love again…besides…I don’t really want to think about it or I will get upset again. So let’s treat it like our first kiss and just completely forget about it.”
“I’d honestly rather remember our cringy first kiss than that woman.”
The two of you laughed, agreeing to never speak of it again. There were several factors as to why it happened. You were willing to overlook it. The man thought you were fucking dead. He was grieving. Though, if you did die, you would want him to move on. You wouldn’t mind if he found love again. You knew he’d always love you the most, but you wouldn’t keep that from him. However, you also knew that he would probably never settle again. Maybe sleep around here and there but ultimately wouldn’t be able to get over you.
Mostly because that’s exactly what had happened.
After a moment of silence, Killer spoke up, “I know I can’t make you fall in love again. But would you let me try?”
You blinked, confused. “What do you mean?” Then it hit you. This was the ‘what are we’ conversation. You chuckled, shaking your head.
“Killer, no matter how much I…how angry I got. I never stopped loving you. You were the only one for me. It was you or nothing.” You smiled, grabbing his hand and kissing his hand.
“Really?” Tears pricked his eyes and you shook your head again. “Don’t go and drain those big blue eyes, now.”
After that, the two of you fell into just…conversation. You caught each other up on what happened within the last two years. You caught him up on all of your friends' accomplishments, pulling up pictures and showing them to him. He told you about different celebrities he met and pulled those up as well.
You kept talking, knowing you should sleep. A small feeling was still scratching the back of your brain. One that said this all wasn’t real and that you were going to lose this. Lose him. You were afraid to sleep, you didn’t want this to be some sleep psychosis. Or maybe it’s one of those last moments before you die; your brain making up some kind of utopia. Perfect life before you died. Maybe it was lights out after this.
However, you couldn’t fight it, falling asleep right there at the table mid conversation.
--
The next morning you woke up in your bed. You were groggy, trying to figure out where you were and what happened. You felt incredibly stiff but that didn’t matter once your brain caught up with you. Before you could freak out and see if Killer was still with you, you felt arms tighten around you. Question answered.
You look over seeing Killer looking at you with one of the most tender gazes you’ve ever seen. It was exactly how he looked at you before. Your heart started racing and your stomach immediately filled with butterflies. It was like you were falling in love all over again.
“I figured you might freak out if I wasn’t with you when you woke up. And…it’s been a while since I’ve been able to sleep with you, I wanted to revel in it. I missed the noises you make in your sleep.” Your face went white hot.
He must’ve carried you to bed. You feel flustered like you were a teenager all over again. You were also relieved that it wasn’t some last of life psychosis or a dream. Everything was real and Killer was with you again.
Then it hit you. You felt really rested despite what you had gone through. This was probably the best sleep you’ve had since he left. Probably because he was back where he was supposed to be. Everything was falling back into its place as it should be; as it had been. Your body was finally able to relax after all these years.
Sure, you were still sore and achey. You did almost die after all, but you felt replenished and like you could take on the world.
You felt his arms tighten around you, pulling you out of your thoughts and you giggled. You open your mouth to say something when your stomach rumbles so loud both of you hear it loud and clear.
“You wash up and I’ll make breakfast,” he said, kissing your forehead and hopping out of bed.
You lay there for a moment more, watching him leave the room. You were still in disbelief. You couldn’t believe this was real and actually happened. You were absolutely over the moon. You covered yourself with the blanket, giggling and kicking your feet. You felt so light…so happy. Though, one thing still nagged at you. You still needed to talk to your cousin.
You knew he was avoiding you. Hell, he might still be asleep right now, but you knew he was avoiding you. Probably trying to figure out what the hell to do. Probably didn’t even believe you were you. Going from losing all of your family to suddenly having your last family member back could take a toll on anyone.
Before you could let yourself spiral, you climbed out of bed and headed to wash up.
--
Once you were out of the shower, the smell of delicious food wafted into the bathroom the moment you opened the door. Your stomach growled again, your mouth salivated. You haven’t had Killer’s food in so long and you were so excited.
You practically skipped into the kitchen, seeing that he was cooking your favorite breakfast. You sauntered over, wrapping your arms around his waist from behind and hugging him tightly. You still couldn’t believe he was here. Your Killer. Your love.
You let him go and grab a couple of plates before heading to the table to set the silverware and such up.
He brought the food to the table, the two of you chatting as you started eating.
About halfway through, the doorbell rang. Your heart stopped and you looked at Killer. Was that Kid? Was he finally ready to come and see you? After a moment, you stood up, heading to the door.
Opening it, you find your manager, Corazon. There is a ping of disappointment but you are also relieved to see that he is well.
“Expecting someone else?” he teased. Of course he noticed the split second of disappointment. Nothing went unnoticed by him. He noticed everything even if he pretended not to. He was much sharper than he led on.
You let him in, Killer getting up to make Corazon a plate after asking if he’d like some. Your manager said yes without hesitation. You had no idea how long he was at the police station figuring things out - he was probably famished. Even if he hadn’t been at the police station, you knew he could be just like you; working hard and forgetting to eat.
All three of you settled back down to eat. After a few minutes of idle chatter, Corazon finally brings up why he’s here: to let you know what’s going on.
“So, Doffy is going to be in prison for a long time. He’ll still have a trial and such. I’m going to have to testify. You definitely will too. It’s probably going to be a whole thing, but we’ll take care of it. I’m going to be taking over DQE: effective today.” You congratulated him. He had always wanted his own label and now he was going to have one. Though, you could only imagine how much work was ahead of him.
“Which means you’re going to need a new manager. Doflamingo fucked up a lot of shit and I have a lot of cleaning up to do. I have a long road ahead of me and I’m afraid I won’t be able to be around as much.” He frowned.
You smiled and shook your head. “It’s fine. I can-”
“No.” The firm answer came from Corazon and Killer. You pursed your lips together and deflated. You don’t know why you even tried.
“Fine,” you grumbled, folding your arms across your chest. You thought about it for a moment. “How about Emma? She’s been with us for a while now, helping with lives and such. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being a manager.”
Corazon blinked, thinking about it before nodding. “If it’s something she wants to do. I’ll still be around obviously and she can always ask me anything if she needs help. I won’t leave you guys completely stranded.”
“I ran our group just fine before you came along, we got this. You just focus on DQE and we’ll take care of our side.”
Your former manager sighs and nods, he could stop you from being manager, but he couldn’t stop you from helping; not when his plate was full. “Okay, okay. Fair enough. Now, they’ve also taken in Law’s manager Vertigo, so they have a new manager as well. Clione. He’s also been working with them for a while next to Vertigo but he had no knowledge of the whole ‘Vertigo killing Law at any moment’. That he claims, so I’ll keep an eye on him but all my research thus far is proving that Law is safe with him.”
You were sure Law wanted to do what you had tried to do; manage his own band. He was probably turned down in the same manner as well.
Corazon continues, “Diamante was also taken into custody as he was right next to Doffy the entire time he was here. So, Killer, you guys will also need a new manager.”
Killer thought for a moment. “I’m sure one of our other friends would love to do it.” He looked at you and you nodded. Most of your friends worked in showbiz in one way or another.
“I’m sure Gig would love to. Or literally anyone else. We all have lost time to make up for after all.” You shrugged. “Again, we’ll figure it out in time.”
Corazon nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “Whomever you decide on, send them to me so we can get contracts drawn up and talk shit through, yeah?” Killer nodded.
Before any other discussion could be had, the doorbell goes off again. This time it has to be Kid. Who else would it be? All your friends had keys. The entire friend group. So, it had to be him.
Killer and Corazon look at each other for a moment before standing up and excusing themselves. They headed towards the balcony with their food. They decided they’d give you space and finish their breakfast out there.
You tell them it’s okay and they don’t need to leave but Corazon pipes up, “I need to talk to Killer anyway.” He looks at him pointedly and Killer shudders. They disappear outside.
A small sigh escapes you, there goes backup.
You make your way to the door and open it up.
Kid jumped as it opened, his eyes going wide as he just stared at you. He was in disbelief. Tears welled up in his eyes and suddenly, he looked like he did back when your mom passed. That middle schooler who was trying to keep his shit together but ultimately falling apart.
“It really is you,” he said softly, his voice strained. He didn’t even sound like himself. He wasn’t loud and boisterous like usual. He sounded the complete opposite, full of emotion.
He pulled you into a tight hug and you lost it. Tears fell from your eyes as well. You couldn’t believe this was your little cousin - all grown up. He might’ve towered you but he was still your little cousin and always would be.
It was just like when you embraced Killer. With the way his body was shaking, you could tell he was crying pretty hard too. He was quiet about it, however. And you were crying too, so you weren’t going to give him any shit.
After a few moments, you pulled away from each other. You reached up, taking his head in your hands and wiping his tears. “Look at you, all grown up.” Your voice was soft.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes and sniffling. “Oh shut up,” he mumbled, a grin spreading across his face.
The two of you were quiet for a moment, not sure what to say next. The two of you were never deep, not one to be tacky with sentiments.
It wouldn’t last too long though.
“Y/N!!!” Two voices yelled, pushing their way inside and tackling you into a hug. Heat and Wire. You laughed, hugging them back.
“We thought you were gone,” Heat cried dramatically.
More sentiments were shared, Kid yelled at them. Just like that - everything was back to normal.
--
“What do you mean the tour was cancelled?”
Both your band and Kid’s band were currently in Corazon’s new office. He didn’t want to take over Doflamingo’s office because of all the bad energy in there. He was planning on renovating it into something else, but he did give himself a large office now.
You and your band no longer wore masks around the building anymore since you didn’t have to conceal your identities any longer. You were still debating whether or not to keep them for concerts. The four of you were kind of attached to the idea, enjoying being able to go out without them and not be recognized.
You thought, since there had been so many reporters at your hospital, that your real identity was revealed, but it wasn’t. They had just known you were rushed to the hospital and could tell which room you were because Bubblegum and Dive were outside of it. So, you all were still safe.
“Just as I said, y/n. The tour was cancelled. Refunds were issued.”
“Why was it cancelled?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe cause you almost died?”
You went quiet, pouting slightly.
“The tour was half ass put together anyway - a cash grab. From what I’m looking at, a lot of the venues he had chosen were not going to be good for what was planned. Too small of venues and too many tickets sold. And we’re lucky most of the fans were understanding. Since the whole debacle was livestreamed and now it’s been clipped and reposted all over the internet, everyone knows what happened. They know you almost died and everything else. A lot of them were expecting this.” Corazon shook his head.
“My plan is to give you guys some rest. I know you have a lot of time to make up for. I know that you all have been worked to the bone. The tour dates Doffy had were also way too close together. You would’ve had no downtime, so we need to replan all of that too.”
“Are we still touring together?” Kid piped up.
Corazon looked at him and nodded. “Yes. Your two groups will tour together. Probably six months from now.”
“SIX MONTHS?” All of you exclaimed.
“Yes. I want to give you all plenty of time to rest and catch up. I also need time to weed out the bad eggs from Doffy’s group and clean up a lot of other shit he left behind. Then we will gather back up in six months and start the tour.”
You collapsed in your seat, letting out a long sigh. Six months? What the fuck were you going to do?
“I know it seems like a long time, but it’s what you need. Both groups. All of you have been going nonstop. All of you have been through a lot. Don’t worry, y/n. Your friends that helped with the tour - their efforts will not be in vain. We will keep everything they have thus far. Everything will be relatively the same, just pushed back or on pause. You guys can come back and work on it in a nonrushed way. But for now, I need time on my end to sort some shit out before I start with a tour with two of the biggest groups. I even put Law’s group on hold too. Some of the smaller bands will still be doing shows here and there, but they’re easier to manage and none of them are doing massive tours, so they don’t require too much attention.”
You nodded, mulling it over. “Okay…okay. I guess that makes sense. I can only imagine how much of a mess you’re cleaning up. I suppose it’s good the tour never started when this all went down or it would be a massive letdown.”
After that, all of you were dismissed. You all agreed to head back to the penthouse to talk about things further.
--
“So…what are we gonna do?” Bubblegum asked, plopping down on the couch once you all arrived at the apartment.
“What if we go visit our hometown?” Dive piped up.
Hop had a mischievous smile on her face. “You know what I wanna see?” Everyone turned and looked at her.
“I wanna see this gravesite of y/n.”
The four boys’ faces turned bright red with embarrassment. “I-It was probably torn down,” Heat said, averting his gaze.
“No, no. I wanna see it too,” you said with a shiteating grin as you sat on the arm of the couch. Killer stood next to you, his arm around your shoulder. He always makes physical contact with you when he can.
“I suppose we can go check things out. It would be interesting to see how our tiny town changed.” You knew he was hoping that seeing their old town and getting a wave of nostalgia, you all would forget about the gravesite. But you wouldn’t, you didn’t say that though.
“Where are we going to stay though?” Dive frowned deeply. “Y/n sold their house, and the house we had been staying in before we left was a rental. The hotels there kinda suck ass too and no one has an airbnb.”
Killer squirmed slightly. “Yeah…about that. It won’t be an issue.” You looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.
“When we were there and had seen your house for sale, I bought it. I couldn’t stand the thought of someone else owning our home. It was my last token of you.” Your eyes widened as you stared at him, tears welling in your eyes.
“You did what?” Your voice was shaking, full of emotion.
“Yeah. Even if he didn’t end up buying it - I would’ve. It shoulda went to me anyway. I don’t know why it immediately went up for sale. Probably also that slimy fuck’s doing,” Kid said with a shake of his head and a hard scoff. “That shit stays in the family. It’s not for anyone else.”
You looked at him, the tears falling. “You guyssss.”
“Since we’re confessing to old shit,” Hop started, looking at Bubblegum and Dive.
“We might’ve kept everything you told us to throw away.” Your head whipped to them next.
“What?” You were reeling right now.
“There were so many memories with everything and you were mostly just mad. We didn’t want you to end up regretting it, so we figured we’d keep it until you were more level headed about it. We’ve been renting a few storage sheds this whole time and kept everything there. Kinda forgot about it until now.”
You were in disbelief. All the things you had thrown out in a rage - it was all still close to you. You didn’t lose anything. All those memories that you had with Killer, Kid, Heat, and Wire. You still had them.
You started crying harder. You had no idea what you did to deserve such good people.
“We kept the house empty too, so we can move everything back into the house,” Killer said, rubbing your back, letting you get it all out. “Then you guys don’t have to pay for those storage sheds anymore.” Hop nodded and grinned.
“Once we get everything all moved in, we can have a party with everyone over. Just like old times!” Heat grinned widely, bouncing in his seat at the thought.
“We can also invite Law’s crew as well,” Hop said with a grin. “They’re all on forced vacation now as well, I’m sure they’ll be bored.” She snorted.
You nodded, sniffling and wiping your eyes as you recovered from your sobbing episode. You were glad your friends never dwelled and switched topics and tones quickly, so you didn’t have time to really be overwhelmed with things.
“I think that’s a good idea,” you said, taking a deep breath. “Celebrate our reunion and new friends. We can make sure there’s plenty of places to sleep. I’m sure it’ll be a multiday rager.” You chuckled, shaking your head.
“Also my parents moved and left me their house, so we can use that one too,” Killer said.
You widened your eyes. “Your parents moved?”
Killer nodded. “Since everyone else moved, they wanted to have a change of scenery too. Went and moved somewhere on the coast, left me the house. We can set it up and make it a guest house.”
“Ooh! We can tear down the fence and make one massive backyard!” Dive’s face lit up with excitement. “It’ll make going from house to house easier!” And since your friend group was growing with Law’s friends, it was good to have more room.
Killer nodded again. “Good idea. This way there is plenty of room for people to do whatever the hell they want too.”
Talks of how the party was going to play out kept going as you watched everyone fall into discussion. You and your friends were always incredibly serious about parties. Lots of planning always went into it. Especially now since everyone had their own lives, but you were sure everyone would make time for this - even if it was just for a day.
It was probably going to be like old times. The houses will be open to all. You would probably have to make keys for everyone since you guys won’t be living in the houses all year round, but if everyone has keys, they can crash anytime.
Things were falling into place and going back to normal. Everything felt right again. Everything was better. Who knew what the future held. Maybe one day you’d converge the two bands. Maybe some solo albums would drop. More features. More tours. The possibilities were endless now. Even more so with Killer back at your side.
“What are you thinking about, my little tangerine?” Killer said softly, turning your face gently to face him.
You laughed softly at the old nickname he used for you in high school. “Just the future.”
“Well, I hope I’m a part of that future,” he teased. “And I’m hoping for sun in the afternoon.” He winked.
You rolled your eyes. “Of course you are, dingus. We’ve spent enough time apart and now you’re stuck with me forever.”
Killer grinned. “I don’t have a problem with that.”
The two of you fell quiet, the conversations around you fading into the background. He leaned down, kissing you softly and you returned the kiss. It felt like color was returned to your world. True love - what a beautiful shitstorm.
“C’MON Y/N. NO ONE WANTS TO SEE ALLAT!” Kid’s voice ripped through and the two of you parted, laughing.
“Then don’t look!” You stuck your tongue out at him before pulling Killer back in for another kiss, flipping Kid off in the process as he cried out in protest, everyone else laughing.
Oh yeah. Everything was going to be juuuuust fine.
