by Jerry Cole
The end came crashing down between them, pushing them both over the edge at the same moment. They came together, pushed as close as they could be right then, two bodies close together.
Both of them heaved for breath, needing to be close. As Vance pulled away, Kenton pulled him down to lay down with him. They were so warm and comfortable, cuddling close to each other.
Vance was happy, the worries of only a few minutes ago starting to push their way out of his mind. It would all turn out. Somehow, he knew that from somewhere deep inside his soul. Kenton and he deserved happiness and they would have a chance to find it. Kenton was that chance for Vance. The man wanted nothing more than to be happy with this man that he held in his arms as they faded off to sleep.
It was heaven, something perfect right there in the darkening light of the room that they were lying in. There would be time to figure stuff out later. There would be questions, but he was sure that Kenton and he could figure them out. They could figure them out together.
Epilogue
Kenton’s hands were shaking as he walked out of the courtroom. More and more information had come to light over the course of the case and multiple trials. His old manager had been breaking into his house and threatening him in various guises since he had won the lottery. He was the one that had been trying to rob him and had even gathered up a few friends to help him with the process.
That was who had tortured and threatened him. He still had old friends and family that might track him down and try to bleed him dry, but he was safe from someone going through the kind of work his manager had done to track him down. He was safe for now.
And Vance was safe too. The man was waiting for him outside of the room.
They threw themselves into each other’s arms, embracing hard and practically making out in the hallway.
“You two get a room,” Brandon called out, teasing them.
Vance rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll get a room.”
“It’s not like I didn’t have to live with seeing you and Vanessa doing this.”
“We haven’t eaten each other’s faces in public in years.” Brandon countered.
“I don’t want to hear about you eating my sister’s face.” Vance snorted, half in laughter and half in embarrassment.
“Right, right. Forgive me.” Brandon put his hands up and backed up. “At least all of this is over, right?”
“Yeah, he’s going to prison. It’s going to be alright now.” Kenton grinned.
“Good. That means you’re going to be fine.” Vance grinned. “We should do something to celebrate.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. How about I cook you a nice dinner?”
“You know I love your cooking.”
“What do you want?”
“Oh, can you make that key lime pie you do so good?” Kenton grinned like a fool. He was completely in love with Vance. The man belonged with him and there was nothing in the world that was worth giving that up for. He felt safe and happy when Vance was holding him close and tight. There had been something magical about those arms in the months they had struggled through the trial of the thief.
Kenton hadn’t been required to be there every day, but he had shown up to every hearing anyway. He knew that it was the right thing to do to make sure that he saw every single bit of the justice that was being meted out on his behalf.
The man had gotten fifteen years in prison. He would be eligible for release in less than a decade, but maybe the man would have forgotten about Kenton by that point.
Now he was planning on moving; leaving the house that his ex-manager had found and moving in with Vance. Vance’s name would be on the bills and Kenton was setting up a trust that would pay the bills for them. It kept his name off of the address and possibly made him a little harder to find.
It wouldn’t make it impossible, but it seemed a reasonable amount of security for his life. He couldn’t spend his whole life running and changing his entire life every time there was trouble in it. He sighed and reached for Vance’s hand as they pulled apart.
“You two look happy.” Brandon was grinning at them.
“Yeah, we’re happy. We can finally put all of this behind us.”
Kenton nodded. “Yeah, we can.”
“It’ll be nice.” Vance was grinning happily as he squeezed Kenton’s hand.
“Yeah, we’re going to get dinner. Want to come with, Brandon?”
“And interrupt you two love birds?” Brandon shook his head, laughing softly. “Count me out of that one.”
“We’re not that bad, are we?” Vance asked.
“You guys kind of are, but cute together. I just don’t want to get in your way.” Brandon laughed and walked out of the courthouse. He had been there for emotional support and now that the trial was over, he was leaving Kenton in Vance’s capable hands.
And there were no better hands for Kenton to be in.
The two walked out of the courthouse and climbed into Vance’s car. Kenton hadn’t been sure if he would be able to drive after the verdict, so Vance had voluntarily done the driving. “Where do you want lunch?”
“How about the house? No restaurant can keep up with you.” Kenton teased him.
“You want me to cook again?”
“Only if you want to.”
“I’m kind of tired of my cooking, we should go out. Maybe we can just pick up take out?”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Kenton grinned. “I’ll be happy to be safe at home.”
“So, you’re considering it home now?”
“Yeah, it’s a nice place. I enjoy it.” Kenton knew where this was going. He didn’t care to stop it. He wanted it to happen. They had been together for months at this point, letting themselves become something more than they had been before.
“Do you think that maybe we should consider making this official?”
“Making what official?”
Vance blushed. “I mean, like, us.”
Kenton smiled softly and turned to look out the window. “You really want that?”
“We’ve been together like what? Almost eight months now?”
“Yeah.”
“So, I was thinking that we might start talking about, you know, the next step.”
“What step is that?”
“I mean, I know it’s early.” Vance was starting to stammer.
“You want to get married.”
“We don’t have to do that right now.” Vance was starting to backpedal. He did not have the kind of confidence that the answer Kenton was going to give was going to be the one that he wanted.
Kenton had no idea why Vance would think that. “I would love to.”
“Oh, ok.” Vance seemed to relax all at once.
“You ok?”
“My palms are sweating. My heart is pounding. I don’t know what to feel right now.”
“Well, I’m happy.” Kenton smiled and reached over to put his hand on top of Vance’s hand as it rested on the wheel. “Do you need to pull over?”
“I probably shouldn’t be driving with my hands shaking like this.”
“Yeah, I’ll drive. It’s fine. I’m feeling pretty good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Would you stop asking if I’m sure? I’m sure about you. I want to spend my life with you. And I think we should get married. Why do you doubt me so much?”
“It’s not you that I have doubts about.”
Kenton frowned. “Would it help if I keep saying it?”
“I guess so.”
“Then I’ll say it every single day.”
Vance pulled over to the side of the road and Kenton waited for him to put the vehicle into park so he could pull Vance in for a kiss.