When I walked into Santo Pietro, I knew I was late. It had been a long day at work, but I’d been waiting for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant all day. It was already fully dinnertime inside—the lights were low, the booths were all full, and Marta, the owner, was flitting around, saying hello to everyone.

“Mason!” she called out when she saw me walk inside, her thick Italian accent making my name sound so much better. She gave me a kiss on either cheek. “Welcome, welcome. Kade is waiting here, at your usual seat.”

“Perfect,” I said. “You look great, Marta, I’ve missed you. Kade and I need to come here more.”

Kade had started bringing me to this restaurant shortly after we began dating, and I had loved it ever since. Marta had owned it for the last thirty years, and she was one of the most wonderful people I knew.

“We miss you two boys,” Marta said, smiling. “My favorite customers.”

“Hey!” A woman from a nearby table said, smiling up at Marta. “That’s what you tell us every time, too!”

Marta laughed. “Many favorites!” she said.

“It’s so good to see you,” I said, waving as I walked over toward Kade. He was sitting in a booth along the back wall of the restaurant, and he stood to kiss me before I slid in on the other side.

“I don’t know what Marta’s doing,” I said. “It’s like she’s aging in reverse.”

“I know. Clearly she’s found the fountain of youth, and I need to ask her about it.”

“Oh, stop, you’re gorgeous, and you know it,” I told him, winking.

“Guess what, Mason?” Kade asked, briefly looking at his watch.

“Hmm?”

“It’s seven ten. You know what that means?”

I watched him. “Umm… that I’m about to eat dinner?”

“Well, yes. But I meant… you were ten minutes late, and you didn’t even notice. You’re making progress, Mason!”

“Oh, Jesus,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I know I’m supposed to be less anxious, but don’t praise me for being late. It can’t possibly be a good thing.”

He laughed. “Fair enough. But you’ve come a long way, baby.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” I said. “How was your client today?”

“She was good,” Kade said, nodding. “She’s still struggling a lot with asking friends out for lunch, but she successfully met a stranger for coffee yesterday.”

“God, I know how hard that can be,” I said.

Kade had been seeing four clients regularly this month, and for the first time in a long time, he seemed happy with his confidence coaching business. After the new year, I had helped Kade with some online advertising and marketing for his services, but the interest was slow at first.

But then Kade had an idea. Instead of just written testimonials on his website, he wanted to have video testimonials. He thought it would seem more personal, and I agreed in full.

What I hadn’t expected was that he wanted me to be interviewed in one of the videos. I would do anything for him, though, and so I had agreed—talking for five minutes in a video about the specific ways that Kade Thompson Confidence Coaching had changed my life. I was honest and forthcoming, to the best of my ability, and I expected some handfuls of people would see the video on his site.

But then a web forum for social anxiety had posted the video, and it had gone small-scale viral. It wasn’t on national news or anything that crazy, but the video received over ten thousand views from the anxiety website.

And then the calls had started rolling in. Kade had more and more bites for his services every day, and now he was at a place where he was picking and choosing his clients. Today marked the second month in a row where he had a steady stream of clients, and so we were out at the restaurant in celebration.

A celebration that I hoped would involve lots of pasta.

“How was work today, love?” Kade asked as we browsed the menu.

“I… told Adrian that I would host the next art opening,” I said. “I’m nervous as all hell. I’m not going to lie. But I think this is the next step. Hosting an event that isn’t in the safe space of my apartment… dealing with lots of potentially intimidating new people.”

“You actually told him you’d do it?” Kade asked.

I nodded. “I know. I should probably go cancel it, right?”

“You know you won’t,” Kade said, reaching over and grabbing my hand. “I’m so proud, Mason. God, you’re going to be more socially comfortable than me, very soon.”

We ordered our food, and after a half hour of pasta and wine, we ended the dinner with our favorite: a chocolate hazelnut mousse layered with a delicate cake.

“Y’know, I’m so glad that you’ve been doing well with clients lately,” I said, licking the spoon of delicious mousse.

“Proud of me?” Kade asked.

“Well… that, and also, it’s an excuse for us to eat this dessert,” I said.

“Very good point,” he replied. He put down his spoon, looking up at me, his expression changing a little. “Although… I am celebrating one other thing tonight, too. It’s kind of a surprise, actually.”

My eyes went wide. “Kade, baby, you know I hate surprises.”

“I know you do. And that’s why I’m not going to make you wait for long,” he said. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a key, showing it to me. “It’s not what you think it is—don’t worry, I didn’t go out and buy us an extravagant house or anything. But… I rented a small, modest office space for Kade Thompson Confidence Coaching.”

My jaw dropped. “Someplace to meet clients that isn’t a bar?” I asked.

He nodded. “Exactly. I love the bar, don’t get me wrong, and I know it matches my brand. But I want to step this up to another level. And if I hire a second coach to work with me this year, I’ll need a dedicated space.”

“I’m so proud of you!” I said, sliding out of the booth and over to his side to hug him. “Mmm, I like it over here,” I said.

“I like you next to me, too,” he said. “Stay here.”

“Oh, God, we can’t be one of those couples who sit on the same side—everyone is going to make fun of us—”

Kade kissed the side of my face. “Yeah. Maybe. And why do you give a shit what anyone thinks?”

“Valid point. I need to remember that still.”

Kade slipped his arm around my shoulders, squeezing me close. “I love you, Mason,” he said.

“I love you so much,” I said. “Can I… admit something to you?”

He nodded. “Please.”

“Even though I hate surprises… and this would be something we would have to plan extensively… I was a little bit disappointed that it wasn’t a key to a new place for us.”

Kade’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious, Mason?”

I bit my bottom lip. “I know it’s… a little bit soon. And maybe something we should talk about after our one-year anniversary. But yes, God, yes. I would love to live with you.”

“I can’t believe it,” Kade whispered, his expression astonished. “I thought… I always thought that you wouldn’t be able to deal with my way of living. I thought you liked it when you had control of your own apartment.”

“I do, in a way,” I said. “And we would definitely have to have a talk about dust. It is possible to dust surfaces, my love.”

Kade laughed, releasing some tension, and I couldn’t help but smile, too.

“But… you already visit my place so much. I love being around you. I’m always sad when you leave. Why wouldn’t I want to live with you?”

“I never thought I would say this, but… I feel the same way. I need you all the time, Mason.”

“So… we can start talking about it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“And I can start researching apartments obsessively and making Excel spreadsheets and pro-con lists?”

Kade laughed. “Yes.”

“And you actually would live with someone as insane as I am?” I asked.

“There’s nothing I want more, honestly,” Kade said. “I love my neurotic, wonderful, smart, sweet fucking boyfriend. And I don’t care how fearful the idea of commitment sounds—you are more important to me than that fear. And so I’m not going to let it win, Mason.”

I let out a quiet squee before leaning in again to kiss him, tasting wine and chocolate on his mouth.

For a former commitment-phobe and a recovering anxious mess, this was a bigger step than I could have ever imagined. I felt a fire start inside me, a slow-burning feeling like I was on the right path.

A path that would lead me to living with the man I loved. That would lead us to more things—maybe marriage, one day, if Kade would have me.

But really, the most important thing that I saw was a future with Kade. No matter what shape it took, and no matter how many neurotic habits we each had. We fit together perfectly, against all odds.

And we fit because we had both helped each other, in the only ways we knew how. No matter how messy it sometimes got.

Kade was a part of my family. He was a part of me. And I knew he would be for the rest of my life.