They Both Die at the End: Fanfic

Mr. Torrez Wakes Up

Given the prompt 'Mateo's dad wakes up and gets the note.'

Thank you to @Karamel_2005 for the idea. The song above is Your Song by Elton John. Mateo says that his dad used to sing it to his mother on page 339 before singing it for Rufus.

Fun fact: someone made Rufus' Instagram account and it's very realistic. Check it out at @RufusonPluto

M r . T o r r e z
November fifth, 2017
3:52 a.m.

"Daddy, sing me you and Mommy's song again!" a young Mateo whispered, pulling his toy story blanket up to his neck. His chin was twitching with fear, his eyes glued to his opened closet door.

"Mateo, I'm going to sing it with so much love that it chases away the monsters for good, okay?" Mr. Torrez sat on the bed and ruffled Mateo's hair, clearing his throat and staring straight ahead into the dark closet. "It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside..."

Four minutes later, Mateo had sagged against the pillows and his soft snores were the only thing disturbing the silence. Mr. Torrez smiled warmly at his son and stood up, turning off the lamp next to Mateo's bed. He paused at the doorway and whispered into the dark room, "goodnight Mateo."

He walked into the kitchen and placed his mug of now-cold hot chocolate into the microwave for thirty seconds. Leaning against the counter, his eyes roamed to the living room couch and he imagined himself holding a guitar. His wife was sitting next to him, gazing adoringly at her husband. "And you can tell everybody, this is your song..."

Beep, beep. Beep, beep.

The beep of the microwave tore him from from his bittersweet memory. He sighed and opened the microwave, taking the mug out. His wife may have been his biggest source of happiness, but now it was Mateo. Mateo was his life, his love, his everything.

Beep, beep. Beep, beep.

He looked at the microwave in confusion. Why was it still beeping? He had shut off the timer.

He reached for the handle, but before he could touch it his surroundings disappeared and then he was floating. Floating in surreal darkness, his limbs numb. Why couldn't he feel his arms, or legs, or anything? Where did everything go?

Beep, beep. Beep, beep.

And where was that obnoxious beeping coming from?

"Hello?" he called out.

"Two months... Howie Maldonado... car accident... fans still distraught..."

A quiet female voice broke through the beeping, cutting in and out. A second later, a new voice replaced hers.

"Get me some water and saltines. Call in the doctor. Turn off the television. Mr. Torrez, can you hear me?"

He could feel his eyelashes against his cheeks now. Why couldn't he open his eyes?

The beeping sped up, and suddenly he realized what it was: a heart monitor.

A door slammed, and he felt something cool pressed against his forehead. He finally peeled his eyes open. A bright white ceiling came into sight.

"Just lie still, Mr. Torrez. You've been out for quite some time."

He tried to turn his head to get a look at the woman, but a sharp pain shot down his spine. He winced and closed his eyes again. Only one thing was bothering him.