Epilogue

Jacob signed his name with a flourish after reading through the 20-page tome that was the lease. He and Will had found a small house a few miles away from the ocean, right in between Oceanside and San Diego, and were moving in together.

For the year that they had lived in California, they had essentially been living together already – Will spent most of his time at Jacob's apartment in San Diego and they were inseparable the entire year. But they had just made it official and would be moving into their first place together.

After their landlord left and it was just Will and Jacob in the front yard of the house, Will wrapped his arms around Jacob in a hug, bringing him in close.

"I love you so much, baby. We did it! We found our house!" he said, placing his lips sweetly on Jacob's.

"I love you too. And who knows," Jacob smiled, "maybe we really will take the landlord up on their offer to sell the house later on – in a few years, we might be making enough to actually buy this place."

Will took a deep breath in. "I love it so much!"

"Wanna go down to the beach? We're only a couple miles away," Jacob grinned, opening up the driver's side door of the car.

"Hell yes. Let's go," Will said and headed to the passenger side.

They drove to the beach, parked, and walked out across the sand, finding the usual spot where they liked to sit.

"So I was thinking," Jacob said, looking over at Will.

"Yeah?" Will said, running his hand through Jacob's hair.

"Marsha at work said her cat just had kittens. And she's giving them away totally for free. They're the most adorable white, fluffy little guys," Jacob said, showing Will a photo on his phone.

"Oh my god, I love them," Will said, staring at the photo.

"So when we move in in two weeks… can I tell Marsha we'll adopt one?" Jacob said, a huge smile spreading across his face.

"Yes! Yes! You have to," Will said, so excited at the idea. "Can we name it Potato?"

Jacob laughed for a solid twenty seconds and agreed. "Sure, if you wanna name it Potato, I'm fine with that, love," he said, running his hand through Will's hair and kissing him.

"I'm so excited to live with you," Will said, his voice low and sweet. He looked into Jacob's brown eyes and held his hand.

"I am too, baby. More than you can even imagine," Jacob said. Will thought he saw Jacob's face become a little more serious.

"Actually… I've been thinking about it a lot. Us . You and me, together," he said, looking deep into Will's eyes. Will began to worry – was Jacob about to say something serious?

"You mean more to me than I could ever tell you. This past year has been by far the best in my life, and I completely owe it to you, Will," he said, gripping harder onto Will's hand. Will watched as Jacob shifted, turning in the sand to look straight at Will.

"Will… if you'd have me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Nothing would make me happier. And I want to make you happy for as long as I possibly can," Jacob said. Will felt his heart rate skyrocket as Jacob reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black box.

Jacob opened the box, his hands trembling slightly as he did. Will looked inside and saw two thin gold band rings, simple but beautiful.

"Oh my god," Will whispered, tearing up at the sight of them.

"Will you marry me?" Jacob said, the waves breaking on the sand just twenty feet behind him.

" Yes , yes, yes!" Will whispered, a couple of tears streaming down his face. He brought Jacob in close for a hug and then pressed his lips against his.

He pulled back and looked down at the rings.

"This one is yours," Jacob said, pulling out the one in front. Will picked it up, looking inside. There was something engraved on the inside.

"Yours has a key engraved on the inside, and mine has a lock," Jacob said, pulling out the other and putting it on. "I love you so much, Will." Will looked at the inside of the ring, seeing the little key engraved on the inner band. It looked just like the key Jacob had given him a year earlier, which he wore around his neck every day.

"I love you too, Jacob. So much," Will said, smiling through his tears, "And I want to be yours forever." He brought Jacob back in for another hug, even tighter this time, and felt himself melt into Jacob's warm body, the cool breeze of the beach against their bodies.