Chapter Twenty-Seven
Blake strained to hear Rusty’s footsteps coming back down the hall, counting them as he approached the bedroom, biting his lip when Rusty finally opened the door.
He wanted to say something, but he had no idea what. He knew what he’d heard, but part of him couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
Rusty loomed in the doorway, framed by the light spilling in from the hall.
Blake swallowed.
Where did he even start?
“Sorry for waking you,” Rusty murmured. “I was trying not to.”
He slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. The bedside lamp provided just enough light to see his face by, but Blake couldn’t read his expression.
All the same, it was now or never. He’d let Rusty go once, and he didn’t want to do it again.
“Did you mean that,” Blake asked. “About, uh… about me not being a mistake?”
Rusty licked his lips. “You were never a mistake,” he said, looking down at his feet. “I never thought that.”
“And…” Blake swallowed.
He knew what he heard. It was terrifying to say it, but… Rusty had said it first.
Rusty moved to sit down beside him, taking Blake’s hand and holding it in his lap with both hands.
“I don’t want a divorce either,” Blake said. “If that’s… what you meant. Maybe you just don’t want the legal trouble, or-”
Rusty cut him off by kissing him. Blake’s stomach flipped, his heart suddenly racing.
This seemed like a good sign.
“I don’t want a divorce because I don’t want to lose you,” Rusty murmured as he broke the kiss, pushing Blake back onto the bed.
Blake went, letting Rusty follow him, crawl on top of him and pin him in place.
He was a big fan of the view. Especially since it included Rusty giving him the softest, shyest of smiles.
“I don’t deserve you for a second, but… I like it here. I’m happy. I feel like I can breathe for the first time… the first time since I met you, and… I’d like to keep that feeling, if, maybe… you could put up with me for a bit longer?”
Blake’s heart clenched. Rusty wanted to stay with him.
That was all he’d wanted to hear.
“I could put up with you for a lot longer,” Blake said, tears welling up in his eyes. “I…” he swallowed, taking a deep breath to try and get himself under control. “I told myself that it was okay if you were only in my life for a little while, that I’d take what I could get if that was how it was meant to be, but… it’d break my heart to watch you walk away again. Stay. Please.”
Rusty’s whole expression softened, and he reached out to brush away one of Blake’s tears with his thumb. “Shh,” he soothed. “I couldn’t leave you again. I didn’t want to the first time, and I don’t want to now, either. Maybe we got married by accident, but… I think we’re meant to be together now. I want us to be together now. If you’ll have me.”
Blake nodded, sniffing away another round of tears.
Rusty grinned down at him, leaning close to peck him on the lips. Blake’s heart felt as though it was about to give out on him, but if it did, he would have died happy.
His life would never have felt complete without Rusty. He would always have wondered what might have been.
Now, he’d get to find out for himself.
Blake pulled him down, encouraging him to rest his weight on top of him, wanting to feel that Rusty was there, solid and real and staying with him.
The bed creaked under them, protesting under the weight of two grown men.
“We need a bigger bed,” Rusty murmured. “Our own place, too.”
Blake hummed in agreement, too preoccupied with having Rusty this close to him to argue. They could have whatever Rusty wanted, as long as he stayed.
Blake would have found a way to give him the moon if he’d asked for it.
“I’ll take care of you,” Blake promised. “I know what you’re giving up for me.”
Rusty shrugged. “Dad’ll get over it. He can handle being told no just once. He’s a grownup.”
“That… seems like a generous assessment, but I haven’t met him,” Blake said.
“He’s okay. I think you’ll like him once you get to know him,” Rusty responded. “I don’t hate him. I’m just not living under his shadow anymore, and I’m not apologizing, either. Families fight. They make up. That’s life.”
Blake wet his lips. “I think I learned that lesson recently, too,” he said. “But you’re still giving up a lot, if you’re staying. Your home…”
“You’re my home,” Rusty said without missing a beat. “I like Melbourne, but I love you. You’re gonna win every time.”
A smile spread across Blake’s face, so wide it made his cheeks hurt. “I love you, too,” he murmured.
Rusty blushed darkly, which wasn’t something he did often. “Right, well… glad we’ve got that sorted.”
“Can we tear up the divorce papers now?” Blake asked.
Riley lit up like Christmas. “Oh shit yes,” he said, rolling off Blake and going to his suitcase to get them out.
Blake turned to his side to watch him, glowing with happiness. He was getting everything he wanted, and he could hardly believe it.
Rusty produced the folder full of papers Blake had returned to him, holding them out. “Did you wanna do the honors?”
Blake reached out to take them, but then hesitated. “You should,” he said. “It’s your freedom.”
Rusty opened the folder, taking out the stapled-together papers and discarding the rest, which Blake remembered were mostly travel documents, from what he’d seen.
“This isn’t freedom,” he said, holding it up for Blake to see. “This is.”
Blake watched him tear the papers in two, and then in two again, tossing them in the waste paper basket once he was done.
He paced back over to the bed, sitting down heavily on the mattress and making it bounce under him.
“Happy?” Blake asked, sitting up to lean against him, reaching out to take his hand.
“Happy,” Rusty confirmed. “So happy,” he said, breaking into laughter. “I love you. I promise I’m not bad at saying it.”
“You don’t seem to be bad at anything you put your mind to,” Blake said, kissing Rusty’s shoulder.
“Yeah, well… you’re worth being good for,” Rusty said.
Blake tugged on his hand, pulling him back down onto the bed so they could curl up together, unable to stop himself from grinning.
“I have to text my mum and let her know you said yes,” Rusty murmured.
“In the morning,” Blake said, snuggling closer to him. “Your husband needs you to cuddle him now.”
Rusty’s heart clenched, his cheeks aching from smiling so broadly.
He could really, really get used to this.