Chapter Ten #2
Fate had spoken, and now, it was speaking again. The past was disappearing, and the future was all that existed. He wouldn’t return to the scene of the crime.
He would push forward into his new future.
When Corbin broke the kiss, he stared into his husband’s eyes and that love was there. That would always be a memory.
They had this.
Yeah, so much for gentle lovemaking. Corbin needed to fill himself up with as much of this man as he could.
He believed him when he said this was the end.
“Will you always think about me?” Will asked, knowing what he craved more than anything.
He needed to know that what they’d had then was more than most people found.
It had been a miracle.
As his hands wandered, Corbin fought to not feel that pleasure, but it was wrapping around him like iron tendrils.
“Forever, Will,” he admitted, the pleasure in his voice thick as his control was slipping away.
He needed this moment, and Corbin was going to take it. God save his soul, but he couldn’t fight much longer.
“Then take me, My Only, and don’t hold back,” Will said.
That was all Corbin had to hear.
He greedily wanted this moment, even knowing it would likely cause him immeasurable pain.
“I love you, Will,” he whispered, before he found his mouth with his and locked his deceased husband to his body.
Will fell into the kiss.
Their hands moved, and their bodies connected as they both shared that last moment.
It was precious.
It was poignant.
As the kiss deepened, Corbin thought about all the moments they’d lost.
Being parents.
Growing old together.
They had been the things he’d looked forward to for so long before he lost Will, and for years after he was gone.
Will broke the kiss.
“You will have those things, Corbin. I was never meant to be your forever. You were meant to be mine. I know that hurts to hear that, but it’s the truth. Your path was meant to fork off, and you were meant to love again.”
He didn’t want to hear that.
“Stop.”
Will couldn’t.
He wouldn’t.
Someone had to get through to this man, and he had to be the one. He was going to have to find a way to get Corbin to understand.
He needed help.
Will had to do something drastic.
“I can’t stop. He’s right in front of you. Everything you feel is valid, and real.”
That wasn’t ever going to happen.
He knew who Will was talking about, but there was one big problem there.
His partner, the man who made him uncomfortable now, wasn’t gay.
And he was.
“Can we not do this?” Corbin asked. “If this is my last moment with you, then I’d rather not have this conversation. I’d rather have some time with you before I have to set you free.”
Will stared into his eyes.
“Corbin.”
Only, the rage was there, and it exploded in his body as Corbin couldn’t do this.
He really couldn’t.
The war had been long, and all he wanted was peace. Holding on was making him fall apart.
“PLEASE!” he raged. “For the love of God! Cut me a goddamn break!”
The mood shifted, and their clothing appeared again. Will changed the scenery, and instead of being in their bedroom, he took them to a special place.
Puerto Rico.
Where they got married.
As the space around them wavered, he sat down on the sand, and not far from them was a very familiar scene.
It was their wedding moment.
“Please don’t make me watch this,” Corbin said, sitting beside Will on the sand. Not far from where they were, Ethan, Gene, Corbin, Will, and Greyson were there, and the wedding had begun.
Will glanced over.
“I need you to remember this. Trust me, Corbin. I have a reason for doing this.”
The man sighed, and instead of fighting it, he just stared at the memory playing out before him. It was beautiful, and it was horrible at the same time.
Because he knew it wouldn’t last.
For a brief second, he focused on himself, and listened. Corbin took in that memory.
At the altar, Will held out his hand, and Corbin put his in it. That’s when he began.
“The second I saw you in the courthouse, it was love at first sight,” he admitted. “I watched you with Ethan and Gene, and I couldn't take my eyes off of you. That moment is when I knew that I needed to meet you. Something inside of me told me the truth. You were always meant to be mine.”
Corbin listened from where he sat beside Will, and he saw the emotion that both he and Will had experienced back then.
The truth was that no one had ever looked at him like that before, and no one ever would again.
He knew it.
It didn’t matter if someone else was out there for him. There was this moment.
“All of my life, I’ve been looking for my other half. As a gay man, most of the time, it’s behind closed doors, pretending to be too busy for love, so that we can hide from people who will hate us.”
That was sad, but true.
Corbin wished he hid him better. Corbin wished he’d protected Will more.
That was on him.
“Finally, though, I’m strong enough to come out, and the reason is because I found the most amazing man in the world.
I’m willing to let my shame and family go, so I can start a new journey with you, Corbin.
You’re my family now, and the one we’ll create is an amazing blessing.
You not only filled my soul and heart with love, but you’ve filled my circle with good people. ”
Corbin wiped his eyes as he stood by Will, and as he sat by him. That emotion was there for past Corby and future Corby.
He felt so much more now than then.
Little had he known how much he’d have to adjust to in his future when he lost Will.
It put holes in him.
“With this new family, I know we’ll be loved, protected, and we’ll flourish because we found each other.
Through the good times, and the bad times, Corbin, we’ll navigate them because we have each other.
Not only are you my lover, my best friend, and my family, but now, you’ll be my ONLY.
Until the day I take my last breath, you’ll be the one I love. ”
Corbin let those words wash over him.
“That right there is it, Corbin,” Will whispered as they sat not far away. You’ll be the only one I love, but you can love others. You’re surviving without me. You’re allowed.”
He didn’t want to hear it.
So, instead, he focused on the ceremony—like he didn’t already know how it ended.
“I wasn’t whole until you, and now, we can go forth and create that world with love, joy, and one day, children. You’re all I need, and all I want, Corby, and I can’t imagine a day without out you.”
Corbin wiped some tears from Will’s cheek with his thumb, and future Corbin sat in silence. Each movement made was heartbreaking for him.
That tenderness.
What wouldn’t he give to be able to go back and save the man he loved.
“You never have to imagine it,” he whispered. “I’ll always be here for you.”
That made Corbin want to scream in rage because that had been a lie.
He.
Left.
Him.
“I love you, Corbin Price, and today, I dedicate my life to you. I’m going to be the husband you want, need, and dreamed of, because you’re those things to me. I take you, and only you, until death do us part.”
He said the words, and then took one of the rings off of his right hand, and held it out.
Corbin touched the chain hanging around his neck. On it were a twin pair of wedding rings that he still wore. It was the one thing of Will’s that he had left of him.
Their vows.
“With this unbreakable circle and vow, I take you as my husband. Forever.”
Corbin slipped his finger into the ring, and it was done. Will had chosen, and now, it was Corbin’s turn.
The officiant glanced over.
“Mr. Price?”
Sitting Corbin wanted to rush the two men, warn them, and tell them to escape what was to come. He wanted to stop them from making a huge mistake.
Why?
So Corbin wouldn’t suffer a million deaths over the years that would follow losing his man.
Instead, he sat there, and prayed he’d be set free from all of this.
Finally.
Standing not far away, Corbin moved closer to Will, and took his face between his warm palms. Staring into his eyes, he made his vows to his only love, and his soon-to-be husband.
He shared his heart.
“Meeting you was the best moment of my whole life,” he admitted. “When I saw you, and you were flirting, I didn’t know how to handle that. I was scared because for the first time in my life, someone saw me.”
Sitting Corbin sobbed.
How could he not?
He’d lost this.
He’d lost himself, too.
“Our first date was when I knew. I wanted to marry you then, but I’m glad I waited. What got me through what happened to me, Will, was getting to you. When I had to fight for my life, it was because of you. I had to get back to you.”
Tears slipped down Will’s cheeks, and dead Will placed his hand on sitting Corbin’s shoulder.
To offer him peace, maybe?
To connect them?
But Corbin wasn’t having it. He pulled his arm away, as if that touch burned him.
The wedding continued, unaware that they had an audience.
“Getting to you started my journey back to me, and I’ve been doing it for us. I want to heal, and become whole so I can be a husband and father, one day. I want to be strong again, and be able to be the man you deserve.”
Will was honest.
“You already are.”
Corbin had never had this kind of love before Will, and at that time, he believed he’d fight to keep it, but he knew the struggle it would be.
He knew the burden.
“Because of you, William Barker, I’m whole for the first time in my life.
Because of you, I’ve got a future that is so incredibly perfect it hurts to know it’s real.
You’re my everything, and over the next fifty years, we’re going to have one hell of an adventure.
I’m blessed to have this journey with you, and there’s no one else I would want it with.
I swear on my life. You’re the one I’ll love forever. ”
Those words echoed through Corbin’s whole body.
“See? I promised. I took a vow before God and our family. I can’t break it. It’s my burden to carry.”
Jesus.
This man was so stubborn.