Degete (Sequel To Lights Off) [For nevaehMP On AO3]

Epilogue,

"Vasyl!" Theodor gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life." Vasyl chuckled.

"Is everyone else safe?" Theodor asked.

"Yes. Don't worry." Vasyl assured Theodor.

"Thank god." Theodor sighed. He sat back in the seat of the jet as it began to descend from the sky. When it landed, Theodor noticed that Alika wasn't there waiting.

"Alika? Where are you?" Theodor called out. That's when Theodor heard crying nearby. It sounded like Alka....

....

Alika sat on the concrete sidewalk, staring at a puddle on the ground. The image was flooding her mind. The image of Theodor when he was falling was breaking her inside.... He was gone.

"No ... Please, Theodor.... Please." She wept. But that wouldn't change anything, and she knew it. If only she could've been there... If only she could've done something to save Theodor, but it was too late....

That's when Remo walked over to her.

"Alika?... Are you... Gonna be okay?"

"I won't go on...." Alika trembled.

"What?" Remo asked with a stammer.

"I won't... I won't perform! Not unless he's there... Theodor's there.... And he's not! He won't be...." Alika cried.

"But that... Eurovision... It's your dream!" Remo trembled.

"Remo, are you serious? The contest couldn't possibly go on without everyone here. Theodor was the only one who could get them back.... I know... I was one of them." Alika whimpered.

"Alika..." Remo tried to speak.

"Remo, you don't understand!" Alika interrupted "I... I just... Theodor was there for me the whole time... Why did it have to be this way?... Why did it have to end this way? Why did he....."

"Alika..." Remo tried to speak again.

"Remo, don't think that anything will calm me down! I can't live without him!!" Alika bawled.

"ALIKA!" Remo snapped. Alika looked at him. "I was trying to tell you that Theodor's right behind you."

Alika gasped and turned her head. Sure enough, Theodor was behind her, waiting for her to notice him. When she finally did, he smiled and blushed. Alika held her hand over her mouth.

"THEODOR!" Alika cried as she ran for him, toppling him over onto the grass under them.

"I THOUGHT I LOST YOU!" Alika bawled. Theodor hugged her tight and comforted her.

"I'm right here, Alika. I'm not going anywhere. " Theodor smiled. Tears flowed down his face as she realized how upset Alika was.

"You didn't think that I was.... Dead. Did you?" Theodor whispered.

"I saw you fall... I thought you were gone." Alika admitted.

"Oh, Alika.... I didn't mean to scare you like that." Theodor trembled. "I'm sorry.."

"No don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for.... You saved all of us!" Alika smiled. Theodor chuckled.

"Well, I couldn't have done it alone." He smiled and engulfed Alika into another hug.

"I love you, Theodor!" Alika blurted out suddenly. Theodor began to blush.

"I... I love you too!" Theodor smiled.

"I hate to interrupt the love fest, but we still have to bring everyone back." Andrew replied.

"Oh, right." Theodor laughed. Everyone made the way back to the other hotel that the others were at.

...

"Did Theodor seriously just ditch us after bringing Alika back?" Blanka snarled.

"I don't think that's what he did. He probably realized he had to save the others first... We can stay here for a bit longer, they can't." Salena responded.

"Or maybe he ditched us?" Bojan raised his voice.

"No. I know Theodor. He would never do that." Victor spoke.

"Well you clearly don't know him that well..." Zoran began to speak, but then Teya interrupted him.

"Guys! There he is!" She said as she pointed to him and the others as they ran into the room.

"There's Käärijä!" Bojan cried, pointing to the Finnish man.

"He came back for us..." Damir smiled, wiping his face with his hand

"Are you crying?" Zoran asked.

"N-no! I've just got something in my eyes." Damir snapped playfully. Everyone began to feel the sudden heat.

"Here we go." Victor smiled...

....

"There." Theodor smiled as everyone was brought back. "Now, am I missing anyone?"

"Did you have to bring her back?" Zoran laughed, pointing at Blanka. Blanka rolled her eyes. Only this time, playfully.

"Whatever." She chuckled. Then, everyone stood in silence. They realized that they had won! Darius and Matteo were gone!

"We did it! We won!" Theodor cheered.

"Yessssss let's goooo we're awesome!" Marco chanted.

"Yes, yes. We won, but Bojan.... Never leave me again!" Käärijä laughed. Bojan nodded.

"I'd never leave you." He smiled at Käärijä. Then, everyone was pulled into a group hug.

The fight was over.

...

It was now the second semi final of Eurovision 2023. Reiley had already performed, and Brunette was almost done with her performance. Theodor was next to perform.

"I'm so nervous." Theodor laughed.

"That's reasonable, but you got this! Show Europe what a rockstar you are!" Alika smiled. Theodor blushed.  Brunette had finished the last portion of her performance. Theodor was up now.

"You got this, Theo!" Alika cheered. Theodor gave her one more glance and smiled before walking onto the stage. He looked out at the crowd and smiled before performing.

"Mă Joacă pe degete
Am încredere
Da’ minte așa frumos
Mă-ntoarce pe dos
Vorbește murdar
Da’ când vrea ea doar
Minte așa-ușor
Lasă patul gol

Pe degete
Am încredere
Da’ minte așa frumos
Mă-ntoarce pe dos
Vorbește murdar
Da’ când vrea ea doar
Minte așa-ușor
Lasă patul gol"

As the last bit of the song flowed in, Theodor hit that note harder than he'd ever hit any note before. When he was finished, the audience went wild.

"Thank you Europe! Make love, not war! Long live rock and roll, and love freely!" Theodor cheered, then ran backstage. When he saw Alika getting ready for her performance.

"You killed it, Theo!" Alika smiled.

"I mean, what can I say? I'm just a natural." Theodor giggled while flipping his hair back.

"That you are." Alika smiled.

"You'll do great, Ali." Theodor smiled. Alika smiled back at him as she made her way to the Eurovision stage.

Theodor sighed and smiled. Finally, it seemed as if things would be back to normal for good. Theodor liked that. He was glad that all this with Matteo would be over, and for good.

He smiled as he heard Alika's voice. She was stunning. He began to blush as he said:

"From here on out, we love freely."