A/n: For the wonderful LetsRunTheWorld who made me want to keep writing this, after many anxious sessions of me wondering if this was going on too long lol. Hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it :) Also, the separations are switches from current happenings to flashbacks. Hope that doesn't get too confusing (flashbacks are italicized and in the reader's perspective)

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"I'm so stoked you guys are here." Alex looked back at the others, the grin on his face so wide that it was hard not to want to smile with him. "So stoked."

They all sat around, talking, trying to figure out what the game had in store and how they were supposed to get home. They'd already established that Alex was a player like them, stuck like they were. They didn't know exactly how long he'd been in the game, but it did make sense that he was stuck in here since no one had been able to choose his avatar. There was something that had been bugging Spencer ever since he'd found out about Alex's predicament.

"Is there another player stuck in the game?" Spencer asked. Alex immediately looked down at his feet, face serious, jaw working. "Alex?"

Alex looked up harshly. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Martha responded, not believing him. "Have you seen another player come in here? Was there already another player?"

"Can we not talk about this?" Alex seethed.

Everyone exchanged looks, except Alex who was still very much focused on the ground again. "There was another avatar that was chosen. Just like yours. No one could pick it. Where's the other player."

Alex exploded. "I don't know! Okay? Happy? I don't know! Can we move on now?"

"You want to leave the game without everyone present? And I mean we all work best as a team. The missing pieces. The extra avatar. There's another person, stranded in this game, and we can't find them? You don't even want to look?"

His jaw worked for a second before he looked directly at Spencer. "She told me to never talk to her again."

Spencer rose an eyebrow. "She?"

Alex shrugged. "Yeah. She... She came into the game with me. She said... She said the next time she ever saw me, she'd kill me. Last life or not."

A heavy mood settled over the group and they all exchanged looks again, startled this time rather than confused as before. What had Alex done that had pissed off some girl he'd been friendly enough with before to play a video game with that now she would kill him?

"So, what?" Bethany asked after a second. "We just leave her here because you two have beef?" Honestly the girl-in-a-man's-body was sensing competition to the extremely attractive boy she'd just met and locked her eyes on. But she wasn't going to let the girl stay here forever. That was just wrong.

Sighing, Alex rubbed his face. "I don't even know where she is. How long do you guys want to be trapped in this game? We can make it without her. Come on."

"Okay when did this become almost-all-men instead of every-man?" Fridge asked, crossing his arms. "We ALL get out. Together. All of us."

There was a moment's pause until Spencer finalized it, sighing and nodding his head. "We need to find this girl. Before we make any plans, before we do anything else. We need to find her."

"And where do you suppose we start looking?" Alex asked, a half glare on his features now.

Looking at Alex seriously, Spencer squared his shoulders. "Nigel said that we were supposed to look for the missing pieces. One at the Bazaar, one nearby afterwards. We found you at the Bazaar. Is there somewhere near her you think she would have taken refuge in? She's your friend."

Alex looked to the side, his voice suddenly quiet as he said, "Was. She was my friend."

"Let's just find her," Martha pressed. "Then we can worry abut specifics later."

"Fine," Alex sighed. "Let's go. I know where to start."

-

"It's so beautiful here, at night. The fires that glow and the stars in the sky. It's warm but remote and calm and quiet and... beautiful." I whispered the words, hands behind my head, trying not to disturb the wonderful peace of the night.

Feeling eyes on me, I looked over. And there was Alex, looking back. Once our eyes locked, he turned on his side. His hand moved to the side of my head, fingers pushing hair behind my ear. I'd hated the way my hair had been up before, so I'd settle with a loose ponytail the past few days. Unfortunately, by the end of each day, it was practically falling apart at the seams. "I love that you see that. I mean, since the beginning, I've been grumpy and a total spaz and panicked... And you look around and you see the pretty stars." I smiled. "How are you not scared?"

I paused a second to roll on my side too so that we were facing each other. His hand moved from my face to my waist, pulling me closer. "Why would I be scared when I have you here to protect me?" Alex laughed. "I'm serious. Your Mr. Expert Gamer and I'm catching up fast. I mean we've been in these woods a few days and even with your hilarious weakness for flying insects-" He glared at me and I laughed. "Even then, we're still alive."

He leaned close, touching our foreheads. A soft sigh escaped his nose, his breath fanning over my lips and chin. I shivered. Oblivious to the fact that he had been the reason I'd had such a reaction, he moved the blanket I had up further, blaming it on the cold instead. "Yeah. You're right."

"No school, too," I added softly. He chuckled and I felt his breath on my skin again as they left a trail of goosebumps. "No nagging parents or hovering teachers. Nothing, man. It's all the freedoms and excitements of being an adult without the bad vibes. No bills or work or government poking hard at me to DO something. I mean, being chased by the motorcycle psychos. Definite downfall." Alex laughed again. "But other than that, I'm completely free in a beautiful jungle, safe and with my..." My eyes opened as he leaned back. "My- my best friend," I stuttered, my face suddenly very warm despite the cold.

Alex smirked. "Best friend?"

"Totally," I confirmed. "The best."

Leaning close again, his lips ghosting my ear, he whispered, "Do friends do this?" His breath fell over my neck before he left a little, hesitant kiss on my neck. I gasped, not expecting the contact. From how quick and small it was, I could tell he was surprised with himself too. He was playing confident but he was just as thrown off as I was.

Still unsure - and rather self conscious now - I looked at him through my eyelashes. "Do it again?" I asked quietly. He caught my eyes and smiled, leaning close again. This time I lay down, letting my head fall back so he had better access. He kissed my neck slowly, still a bit nervous, but much longer. He moved, tilting forward so that he could be closer. He left another kiss on my neck, closer to my face this time. Another, right below my jaw. Another on my jaw. Two more on my jaw. Back to my neck again. They were all slow, but he slowly grew less hesitant and the nervous butterflies in my stomach slowly settled. He leaned back, eyes on mine.

It seemed so long since we were in his room, guessing but distant and still unsure about how the other felt. Turns out he was incredibly self doubting and even though I'd been painfully obvious and he wasn't THAT oblivious, he'd been too scared to think that maybe I liked him back, because, 'What if I was wrong?' I'd gotten used to this face, and we both felt aged too. I was feeling more RIGHT in my body the way that it was.

Sometimes I'd realized I was forgetting what Alex's real face looked like. What his real laugh from the real world sounded like. I was used to THIS Alex. I was used to being like we were with this Alex. We'd silently agreed to never admit it, but we were dating. The problem was, it had seemed like we'd been here so long, and I'd only ever had the romance I had now with one guy. Alex. In this body. It was hard to remember a time before this life in this place as these people. The memories were so good. The time before seemed so distant. Like a dream.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked quietly, knocking me out of my stupor.

I paused a moment to consider on whether or not I wanted to admit my dilemma before I answered his question. "It seems like it was forever ago that we were in your room, turning on a game and getting ready to nerd out and have a fun time." Alex wore a small smile, a bit shaky. "I mean... do you remember the sound of my voice? MY voice? Not this character's, but mine?"

His face contorted for a second as he racked his brain and when he looked back at me, I knew we were both struggling with the same problem. "I... I don't."

"Neither do I," I whispered.

A heavy air settled over us and I scooted closer, looking for comfort. He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tightly. "Hey, it's still me. It's hard. And scary. I know. But I'm still here. We still have each other. And we WILL get out of here. Someone has to get into this game eventually, right?"

"Yeah," I whispered. Eventually. How long would we be waiting?

-

Alex finally stopped. "I don't know where else to look at this point!" he fumed. "We've looked every logical place. This jungle goes on forever."

"The game couldn't have let her get too far," Spencer reasoned. "Just like when we first came here and the hippos wouldn't let us wander off from where Nigel was supposed to pick us up. She'd run into SOMETHING eventually. When was the last time you saw her?" Spencer asked Alex.

Rubbing the back of his neck as he thought, face full of irritation and exasperation, Alex paused a moment. "Uh... We were at this transportation shed. Full of a bunch of stuff. Cars, buses, helicopters, the works. She hot wired a jeep and took off after-" He cut off, his lips pressed together. "After we got into a fight and parted ways."

Spencer let it drop, giving the boy his privacy. "Transportation shed?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I'll take you. It's how we get to the next level."

"Wait what about getting the girl?" Martha asked, putting her hand on her hip.

Spencer faced her. "We've looked everywhere. I don't think she would be the kind of player to just grow accosutomed to life in a game and be okay with living it forever. She would have tried to beat the game and go home. If she's-" he cut off, looking away from everyone else. "If she's, Uh, alright, she'll be further on."

Everyone nodded and there was a moments pause before Fridge groaned. "Well let's go. This backpack is heavy and I'm tired of being short." Alex pursed his lips and moved to the front of the group, nodding for them to follow him as he lead the way to the transportation shed.

-

"I can't wait to get back home,"  I groaned, throwing my head back. I felt eyes on me and looked over to see Alex looking at me. My eyesbrows knitted at his weird expression. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "Would it be so bad if we dragged this out a little longer?" His fingers reached over to trace my bare back as we sprawled out on the bed, my head on his chest. "Stay together like this for just a few more days? Two? Three? They've missed us for, like, what?  A month, max? They wait a few more days."

As I thought about it a second, my fingers twisted in his short chest hair, a small smile on my face. "When we go home, we'll have to adjust. I mean... won't we be making it worse if we prolong it?"

Alex sighed. "I guess. I just... I like this. Being with you like this, in this world. The real world is so hard. All the hardest work has been done for us. The years of training, the building of this house, the food, the people. We just have to hide and eat. Not having to sneak out of a house and chance parental Hell Fire rain is nice. And I feel so much older. People treat me older here. Goin back to school? Being treated like a kid again? Having to answer to parents or bosses or teachers again?" Alex sighed.

My thoughts reeled, realizing all the little things I'd gotten so used to and started to take advantage of. All the little thins I'd lose. I pursed my hips. "I'll miss waking up next to you," I whispered.

"I'll miss goingto sleep with you," Alex agreed. "Sleeping with you." I looked up, playfully glaring, and he chuckled. "I will. Both ways."

A quiet sight slipped out of my nose almost noiselessly. "Yeah. Maybe... maybe we can go home and properly grow up and then... get married." My words got quieter the more I spoke, my eyes trained on his chest and my stomach spinning and turning and twisting nervously. "Maybe. If you wanted."

He pulled me up, pressing my lips to his. "I would love to marry you," he whispered, his humb running the side of my jaw and speaking against my lips. I grinned. "I mean it too. I know I used to be so silly. I thought I knew everything and had lived life at seventeen but honestly I had no idea what I was doing. I've matured a lot in this game. We're married here. I'd like to be married for real."

Content, I cuddled back down against him, feeling warm and loved and happy. "I love you," I whispered, the words coming off my tongue with ease and falling over my body without worry. I didn't expect an answer. I didn't need it. I just wanted him to know, and I was sure of myself enough to know it was true, so I was at peace wi5out whatever happened next.

"I love you too, babygirl."

My insides seemed to soothe, warmth and happiness spreading through my body like when an electric blanket finally got warm enough or a  sunk into your bones after you'd been in deep snow all day, pushing all the chill and cold away.

Tomorrow. We could go home tomorrow. Tonight, she was in love and life was good and Alex loved her back and everything fit and worked. She dint know why people complained about marriage so much. Between the emotional love and the physical making love, this was really, really great.

-

"We made it!" Alex gushed. "I've been trying to do that FOREVER! But we MADE IT!" He pumped his fists, bouncing on his toes. Suddenly he grew still and the others looked at him. His body buzzed and churned and he felt sick. A kind of sick he'd only ever once felt before. "Mosquito," he grunted as he collapsed onto the ground.

Bethany scrambled to his side. "Alex!" The two had grown a lot actually as Alex had had to tell them as much as he could about the missing piece to the team they still had to find in order to try and think like her and tryand find her. Bethany liked a hot guy, but she loved shipping a cute couple together more and these two were painfully adorable. She didn't understand what got between two people so ridiculously in love but she was determined to fix it. She didn't know everything, but she knew enough to know these two belonged together. "You can't die Alex. She's waiting for you. She's waiting."

He was still and Bethany thought a second before snapping at Spencer to tell her how to do CPR and then following the intrusions he gave her. She repeated again and again, feeling herself grow tired and be snapped of energy in a way that she hadn't yet felt.

"Bethany wait!" Martha shouted. Beth looked up at her. "You're giving him one of your lives." Martha pointed to Bethany's arm and everyone looked at the stripe disappearing from there, draining, and refilling back on Alex's arm.

Beth set her face. "I don't care. He can't die." She continued, pumping air into his chest and giving him CPR until he gasped, eyes flying open and life revived on his arm. He looked around at his friends.

"What's up?" He choked out. The group laughed in relief and Spencer pulled Alex to his feet, Martha helping Bethany up. Spencer patted Alex on the back and Martha went to explain what Bethany had just done, but suddenly Alex was gone.

The group looked around wildly until they saw Alex on the ground, pinned by a small girl with brown hair tied in a messy bun. She wore cargo pants and a leather crop too similar to Martha's but with a touristy Hawaiian shirt over it. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? I told you to leave me alone! Why have you been looking for me?!"

Alex' hands were up to either side of his head, his eyes wide. The girl held a dagger to his throat, sitting on top of him and straddling his waist. "There are more players. We're here to finish the game. We're here to go home."

Her eyes widened for a second and Alex swear he saw pure agony on her face I the split beat of a moment. But then it was gone. She looked at the rest of the players, all poised to fight but not sure what to do about this girl they didn't know, who seemed more skilled with hand to hand combat than Alex had initially let on. Her shoulders slouched and she swung her leg off of him, shooting to her feet.

"Okay," she responded evenly. "I'll get out of your way then." She began trekking away and Alex shot to his feet.

"Wait." She didn't stop and he didn't dare touch her until she wasn't mad at him anymore. "Hold on- Rand!"  The girl froze at the nickname. Her character's name was Miranda and Alex had thought of the dorky short ending when she'd gone on and on about a book at home that she loved. They felt different than the people they were before and their names didn't fit in this life, in these bodies. He called her Rand and she's called him Pilot. It had come from an especially eventfully night alone together when they'd experiemented with nicknames. Pilot was his titans, such as Dr. or Mr. or Professor, and hearing her moan it turned him on.

Anyway.

"We came to bring you home with us," Alex finished quietly. "Please. Come home."

She stood still for a while before she looked to the side, giving him the bare minimum of her attention. "I already told you, Alex. I'm not going home."

He caught her arm as she went to walk away. "I'm not leaving her without you."

She spun around to face him, their faces millimeters apart. "Then you're jot leaving either, Seaplane." She ripped her arm out of his grasp and went to storm off again. Alex huffed, set his face, and sped up next to her, scoopin*her up and swinging her over his shoulder. "We're BOTH going home, sweetheart."

"ALEX PUT ME DOWN!" She shrieked, pounding on his back. He swallowed a groan.

He moved over t his friends. "Let's go," he grunted. "Quickly. She may be small but she hits hard." He winced again and took the lead once more as the rest of he team exchanged looks and then each shrugged or shook their head before following. Beth looked at the two, hr face anazlying, her mind reeling as she tried to figure out how to get them back together.

-

"Man I could get used to this," I sighed, stretching my small body and smiling.

Alex sighed next to me. "You haven't already?"

I sat up. "We.l yes. But I mean.... I thought about what you were saying. It's so nice here. What if we just didn't leave?"

Wearing a very serious expression, Alex sat up too. "I didn't mean to stay here forever, Rand," he told her sternly, using the nickname they both adored to hear. "We can't stay here forever."

"Why not?" I demanded, getting defensive. "You said it yourself it's amazing here."

Alex shook his head. "It's fake here. It's gotten old. We can't leave. We can't live life. We can't progress or get older or do good or go anywhere in life. What happened to getting married?"

"We are married," I pointed out, folding my arms.

He scoffed. "No, I mean- I want to be with you. As me. I don't want to be with Miranda as Seaplane. I want to go to college and have kids with you and see you in your wedding dress and stress about bills and go to work and come home to you becayse seeing you alley every day... there's a certain appreciation for someone that you gain when there's a certain amount of space. All the times one of us has to leave this stupid house and just take a walk because we're driving each other crazy. We're bored out our minds here. We're not actually living. We're existing. They're no hard times so we can't appreciate the good times. Holidays are holidays not life long extraviganzas."

My face worked. "I don't want to go home, Alex."

He moved closer to me, taking my hands. "Don't you want to actually have sex with me? Me? In MY body? Don't you want to grow up and have a family and buy a house and actually DO things with our lives? We have all these skills but no memory of learning them..."

"I like it here, Alex," I insisted. "Skip all the hard stuff. We've been given a paradise."

"But it's not REAL. This isn't me. You know that." His face suddenly contorted and he dropped my hands. "Is that it? Do you know not like me? Do you like Seaplane?"

My face contorted. "WHAT? No, Alex! I love you!"

"Then why are you so stuck on living someone else's life?" Alex demanded. "You didn't love me when I was me."

My hands flung in the air and then dropped down again. "Because I wasn't as close to you! You said it yourself, we've changed and matured a lot in this game."

"I want to get out of this game," Alex said after a second. "I want to  get out of this game with you. I want to grow old with you. Don't you want that?"

I was blinded by what awaitsed me at home and my body seized up, seeing my fear instead of the wonderful scene that Alex painted. "No. I don't."

Alex looked like I'd slapped him. "What?"

My mind reeled, stuck between desperately trying to take my words back and trying to explain them and then simply making him understand without explaining. Undecided, I said nothing and my mouth worked silently, uselessly. He stood, avoiding looking t me as his jaw worked and he turned to leave. "W-Wait! I- Oh heaven ALEX MY DAD IS ABUSIVE!" I blurted. He turned to look at me, eyes wide. My eyes watered and he sat back down again. "He's so bad, Al. It's terrible. I'd didn't- I thought it was okay. But then the other day you were talking about your family and memories and how much you missed them and I realized that I was just... relieved. I was relieved to be free of them. That's not normal, Alex. That's not healthy. I don't want to go back. I can't." My voice broke and Alex pulled me to him. I curled it o him and he rubbed my back.

"Rand... I don't want to stay here forever. We can get help, in the real world. We can get -"

I pushed away from him, shooting to my feet. Anger courses through me. Now he knew but he didn't even care. "YOU can go  home. Fine. Go back to your great family and your wonderful life. But you're going without me."

"Rand-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I screamed. "And don't come around me again, either, Vreeke the Freak." Alex winced at how I seethed the name but all I could see was red. Alex was left alone, mouth working and eyes tearing up as I stormed through the woods, mind racing  as I tried to come up with a place to crash for the night, wondering what I'd do now.

-

Alex dragged the girl through the woods, screaming and kicking and pounding on his back. The rest of the group was completely silent. As the sun set she FINALLY lost energy and went limp across his shoulder, her face hidden in his back. As it grew dark and the group approached the torch light path, Alex put her down. She groaned, holding her stomach and he palmed his shoulder, both making faces of pain. They'd stopped earlier to get some water and Alex had legit tied Rand up to a tree while he took the break. No one would make eye contact with her. Alex and Bethany had a heart to heart where Alex admitted that eh still loved her and told her why they'd gotten in a fight. Meanwhile, Martha got Rand to calm down and introduced her to everyone. Martha even got a smile out of the tied up girl when she found out that Bethany was a girl.

It was after that that Rand grew quiet, refusing to walk on her own but not fighting A,ex as he carried her.

"What now?" Rand demanded sassily.

Spencer stepped forward. "Let me think."

-

The last time Alex saw Rand, they accidentally bumped into each other at the Transportation Shed. From a distance. He was rushing in and entered just as she finished hotwiring a Jeep. She looked up at him, glared, and then hoped in the Jeep and took off down a rough road along the canyon. That's when Alex took the plane and died for the second time.

That brief meeting full of hesitation and hate was the last time he saw her before his fear of flying developed and he swore to never cross the canyon. He thought she'd travel back and forth. He didn't know where she was. If she was in the jungle, or completely out of reach on the other side of the canyon forever.

But he missed her. He missed her so much it hurt. He woke up in the mornings alone and every day felt like a year.

And he'd missed her terribly until he saw her again.

When he saw her again, he knew he couldn't let her get away. His gaze locked with hers and his insides ached and he wanted her. NEEDED her. He grew sturdy and he'd etermined to get her home with him no matter what.

He'd lost her once. He wouldn't lose her again.

-

After Spencer died and everyone started panicking, something in Rand clicked. She liked these people. She could stay here, but she wouldn't force them to. That's when she rallied everyone and got Fridge thinking.

And now they won.

The entire group stood in a line to welcome Nigel as he drove up. Alex and Rand watched as everyone shook hands with the man and each left, one by one. She turned to leave. "Goodbye, Alex."

"WAIT!" Alex cried desperately. He was so close... she turned to face him, not ready for this goodbye, but was caught off guard as he pulled her to him, kissing her hard and passionately. He held her until she melted into him. He leaned back. "I knew it," he whispered breathlessly as she touched him, her tears running fast down her face and her arms clutching his chest, fingers wrapped around the material of his shirt. "I knew you still loved me too. And heaven above, Rand, I love you with my entire being." She started crying even harder. "I know you're scared. And I know that's made you defensive, angry. I will not let him hurt you. Ever again. I promise. Come home with me. Please. Marry me. Graduate. Have kids. Move in together. I can't loose you again, baby girl. I can't. I won't. I'll stay here if I have to. I need you. I want you. I love you. Please," he begged, his face twisting with emotion.

There was a long pause where Rand looked at his face. "You promise?" She  croaked.

Alex grinned. "I swear on my soul."

Rand sighed, moving past him to Nigel. She held out her hand. "Shake before I chnage my mind," she mumbled. Nigel took her hand without a word, the game seeming to sense that she was feeling enough pain already to not say goodbye.

They shook and she was whisked away in a cloud of green. Alex stood up next, said his farewell, shook Nigel's hand, and joined Rand in a cloud of green of his  own. They both knew they'b been gone twenty years. This was going to be a long acclimation....

When Alex woke up again, he opened his eyes. In his room. Early daylight filtered through the room. He was shocked to see everything placed exactly as it was before. He shot to his feet and moved to the closest mirror. His eyes widened as he saw his face. HIS face. 

"A... Alex?" Came a quiet groan from behind him. He spun around to see -

Oh my gosh.

She was there. Laying there. In his bed. HER. He rushed to her, kneeling in front of her as she sat up. He grasped her face and kissed her. "I love you I love you I love you I love you," he mumbled on repeat.

She laughed, taking his face in her hands. Her eyes wandered his face as his wandered hers, both reacquainting with the forgotten face of the other. "Twenty years," she whispered hoarsely. Alex's face softened. Her eyes looked around. "But... we're back." Her wide eyes turned to Alex again and he nodded grinning, speechless but happy. They had a chance at normality. Real normality. She looked back at him. "I love you too," she whispered. They foreheads touched as his hands rested on her thighs. "You'll keep your promise?" This was even quieter.

"Of course," he urged. "Never again. He will never ever hurt you ever again."

She smiled. "I believe you."

-

Alex got out of the van, piling he kids out after him. He was an adult now, twenty years older. His wonderful wife, the girl everyone had been surprised to see him live a story book love with, stood by his side. They were high school sweethearts. Best friends since childhood. First love, only love, lasting forever.

He looked over and saw four kids staring at the house in shock. Their body language. Their facial expressions. He just KNEW.

"Rand," Alex called to his wife, using the old nickname to get her attention immediately. She looked over, raising an eyebrow. He jutted his chin to the group of kids.

Rand and Pilot told their oldest  to get all the kids inside and went to meet their friends from twenty years ago. Just days ago to the teenagers.

"Hi," Rand said. Everyone grinned. They were all reunited again, if only for a second. Bethany squealed, bounding on her toes, to see the couple back together, having lasted and made a family. Seeing her reaction, the whole group laughed.

Couldn't have turned out better, if you ask me.

—-

A/n: If you want the idea of them readjusting to everyday normal life as another part, let me know. Otherwise this ends here. Have a good day!