Epilogue

Amos

It was easy to see where Chase got his need for physical touch. His whole family were huggers. His mom was the hugging, emotional type that was kinda horrifying, kinda nice.

"Ohh," she cried, sliding a box onto the kitchen counter. "Look at this place!" She took it all in as if it were the Taj Mahal. "It's so cute! You two will be so happy here, I just know it."

She called it cute.

My mother had taken one look at our place and cringed.

It was a one-bedroom apartment roughly the size of a shoebox, with marked walls and scuffed flooring. But the location was great and there was a balcony. The hot water seemed a little sketchy, but it was cheap enough.

Cheap enough for two budding actors here to chase the dream.

Mrs. Soria was lovely though. As pretty as her son, and she'd welcomed me with open arms. Literally. She'd hugged me, and I'd almost died. Chase had to pull me free, but being squished with welcoming hugs was so much better than facing disapproval, so I'd take the hugs and the happy tears, even if it made me die inside.

Chase had the exact same excited look on his face that his mother wore. "This is gonna be so cool," he said. "TV on that wall, sofa here. Bed in the sex-dungeon, obviously."

"Oh my god," I hissed at him, eyeballing the back of his mom's head. "Chase."

She didn't care. She just waved her hand and kept unpacking the box of kitchen stuff. "Oh, I'm used to him, dear." Then she gave Chase the look. "You just make sure you're on your best behavior when Amos's family gets here."

He rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease. They love me."

It was true. They did. They were perplexed, to say the very least, when they'd first met him. He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed ball of energy and I was... well, I was me: the tall, dark, and quiet type. But he won them over with his charm and that damn smile. And they could see that together, we just worked.

My dad and my brother came in, awkwardly carrying the bed. "Glad we could do this for you while you stand around," my brother griped.

"More boxes in the van," Dad added.

I laughed. "Yeah, okay, okay."

I pulled Chase out with me, running down the stairs to grab more stuff out of the van. "Here," I said, loading Chase up with his duffle bag over his shoulder and two boxes in his arms. I took two boxes myself and slid the van door shut with my foot. "You need to get your clothes unpacked and ironed for tomorrow."

"I know," he said. "God, I hope it doesn't suck."

He had a shoot with his agent tomorrow. Photos and whatnot. He'd scouted a few of the top agencies and his first pick had wanted him. It was kind of a huge deal, hence the big move.

"You'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know I will be," he said. "I meant I hope they don't suck."

I snorted. His confidence and attitude hadn't waned at all.

"And your first shift at the café," he reminded me. "Day after tomorrow. I'm not ironing your clothes. Just so you know."

I held the door open for him. "I wouldn't dare ask."

I followed him up the stairs. "Hm, the view here is nice."

"Stop looking at my ass."

"It's a beautiful ass."

"There'll be no ass tonight," he said. "We have dinner with our families."

Ugh. A joined family dinner to celebrate the big move and to see us off before our folks went home. It was nice and all, and I probably shouldn't whine because they were helping us move...

But our future was starting today , and I wanted to enjoy that with Chase.

"We'll have every night after this one for you to enjoy my ass," Chase said, just as my brother came down the stairs .

"Gross."

"Shut up," I replied.

He made a face at me. "Dad! Amos told me to shut up!"

I rolled my eyes and Chase laughed. He liked my brothers. He didn't have brothers so he enjoyed our childish bickering.

Dad took the top box off my pile. "Couch is next, and you're helping."

I bit back the groan I so badly wanted to let out. "Sure thing. Chase, go help them carry the couch." He laughed and gave me a playful shove as he followed my dad down the stairs.

We had the place set up in no time. Granted, we didn't have much stuff. A new bed, a secondhand couch, and Chase's TV from home. Our moms had pooled together some kitchen utensils and stuff, but the plates, silverware, cups, and glasses were all new.

Our families had gone back to their hotels for a few hours before we were heading out to dinner, and Chase fell back onto the bed, arms spread wide.

"Baby, this is gonna be awesome. Can you believe we're doing this?"

"I just have one more thing," I said from the living room. "Something I pictured when you first talked about moving here and us living together. Just gimme one sec."

He appeared in the doorway, looking around. "What is it? Is it a sex bench?"

I scoffed. "Of course not. That's what the couch is for."

He laughed and gave the armrest of the couch a good jostle. "It's sturdy too. "

Then he saw what I was doing, what I was hanging on the wall.

"Oh my god," he said, grinning. "This is what you imagined?"

I stood back and took in the Rick and Morty poster. "Yep." It was a poster of the Rick and Morty toilet episode, which was stupid and childish. "It's the episode where the fucked-up moral of the story is not to let your dreams turn to shit, basically."

He laughed, sliding his arm around my waist. "It's perfect. It's an actual piece of art."

I kissed the side of his head and pulled him in for a hug. "Now this place is ours."

"Not yet," he said, shoving me toward the bedroom. "We need to christen the bed. And the shower, and the couch, and the kitchen counter. Then this place will be ours."

I chuckled and went willingly, pulling my shirt over my head. "Which do we christen first?"

"The bed."

"But we just made it, and we're all sweaty and gross."

"Then the shower it is," he said. "Not that it matters. We're going to christen them all. We have the rest of forever to do it everywhere." He pulled his shirt off and tossed it toward the hamper but missed.

"Pick that up. You're not leaving your shit on the floor."

He took my hand and placed it over his pec. "Feel your emotional support tiddies, take a deep breath in and go to your happy place."

I walked him into the bathroom, pushing him against the small counter, kissing down his neck. "You are insufferable."

He laughed. "You're gonna love living with me. So much suffering."

I smiled as I captured his lips with mine. Because yes, he still annoyed me. How it was possible to love someone with my whole heart and be equally annoyed by them, I'd never know. But he made me so happy I couldn't even put it into words. "Let the suffering begin."

He pulled my shirt over my head, kissing my collarbone and grinding his erection against mine. "However will you cope?" he asked breathily.

I slid my hands under the waistband of his shorts and pushed them down over his ass. "I'm sure I'll find a way."

"Forever? Will you put up with me forever?"

I spun him around so he faced the mirror and I met his eyes in the reflection. "You're my one person, Chase."

The smile he gave me was warm and just for me. "I love you, Amos."

"I love you too. I don't tell you often enough," I whispered, kissing behind his ear.

"Yes, you do. Every time you call me insufferable. The very first time you called me that, I think it was day one of the method-acting thing. You said, ‘you're insufferable,' but what I heard was, ‘I love you and you're my one person, my forever person, Chase Soria, and the more you annoy me, the more I will love you.' That's what I heard because it's basically the same thing."

I chuckled at his ridiculousness. "Well," I said, meeting his eyes in the reflection. "I guess that means I'll put up with you forever."

He grinned. "Good. Forever starts in the shower."

He started the water, talking non-stop about dinner with our parents, our work, and the local studios that were well-known in scouting circles.

Sex seemed to be forgotten as we showered because his mind was now running on a different tangent.

And that was completely okay with me.

Would I put up with his short attention span, his sometimes frustrating and infuriating childishness, and his flair for the dramatic?

Yes, I would.

Forever?

Absolutely.

The end