Chapter 8 The Age Between Us #3
"I know the risks," Evan said. "I know people will judge us. I know my father may never understand. I know people will look at the age difference before they look at anything else."
Nathaniel's face hardened.
"And I know what people will say about my money."
"They'll say you're with me because I'm young."
"They'll say I'm with you because you're wealthy."
"They'll say the pregnancy forced us together."
"They'll say whatever story makes sense to them."
Evan nodded.
"But none of those stories belong to us."
Nathaniel stared at him.
Evan placed a hand against his stomach.
"This is my body."
Nathaniel nodded.
"My life is mine."
"Yes."
"My choices are mine."
"Yes."
"And loving you is one of those choices."
Nathaniel's eyes closed briefly.
Evan could see that he was struggling.
So Evan reached for his hand.
Nathaniel opened his eyes.
"I don't need you to promise that I'll never regret anything."
Nathaniel looked at him.
"People regret things. People change. Life changes. I know that."
Evan squeezed his hand.
"I need you to stop assuming that protecting me means removing yourself from my life."
Nathaniel's voice was quiet.
"What if I can't?"
Evan's heart hurt.
"Then I'll walk away."
Nathaniel went still.
Evan forced himself to continue.
"Not because I don't love you."
Nathaniel's fingers tightened around his.
"Then why?"
"Because I can't build a life with someone who doesn't trust me to choose it."
Nathaniel looked at him for a long time.
Evan knew the words were harsh.
But they were necessary.
"I don't want to spend the rest of my life proving that I'm old enough to know what I want."
"You shouldn't have to."
"I don't want to wake up every morning wondering whether you're planning to leave because you think you're doing me a favor."
Nathaniel looked down.
"I don't want that either."
"Then don't do it."
The simplicity of the answer seemed to affect him.
Nathaniel took a slow breath.
Evan moved closer.
"I don't need to be protected from loving you."
Nathaniel looked into his eyes.
"I need to know whether you're willing to love me without deciding that I'm too young to understand what I'm choosing."
Nathaniel's expression softened.
For the first time, Evan saw something shift.
The fear wasn't gone.
But it was no longer controlling the conversation.
Nathaniel lifted Evan's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.
The gesture was so gentle that Evan's chest tightened.
"I believe you," Nathaniel said.
Evan's eyes burned.
"Then choose me."
Nathaniel looked at him.
Evan realized that was what he had been asking for all along.
Not ownership.
Not protection.
Not financial security.
Not a promise that Nathaniel would solve every problem.
A choice.
A real one.
Evan didn't want to be claimed because he was carrying Nathaniel's child.
He didn't want to be kept because Nathaniel felt responsible for him.
He didn't want to become another possession in a wealthy man's carefully controlled life.
He wanted Nathaniel to look at him and decide that Evan was worth choosing.
Nathaniel seemed to understand it at last.
His expression changed from fear to something quieter.
Something certain.
"You want me to choose you."
Evan nodded.
"Yes."
"Even knowing everything?"
"Especially knowing everything."
Nathaniel stepped closer until there was almost no space between them.
"I don't know what the future looks like."
"Neither do I."
"I don't know what we'll be like in ten years."
"Neither do I."
"I don't know whether the age difference will ever stop mattering."
"It doesn't have to stop mattering."
Nathaniel looked surprised.
Evan smiled.
"We don't have to pretend we're the same age. We aren't."
Nathaniel nodded slowly.
"We just have to respect the difference."
"Yes."
"And respect each other."
"Yes."
Nathaniel lifted a hand and gently touched Evan's cheek.
"I choose you."
Evan's breath caught.
Nathaniel's voice remained steady.
"Not because you're carrying my child. Not because I feel responsible for you. Not because I think I can give you a better life."
His thumb moved gently along Evan's cheek.
"I choose you because you're the man I want beside me."
Evan closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, Nathaniel was still there.
Still looking at him.
Still choosing him.
The fear hadn't disappeared.
Neither had the eighteen years between them.
But something had changed.
Nathaniel had finally stopped trying to decide what Evan's future should look like.
And Evan had finally heard what he needed to hear.
He wasn't asking Nathaniel to claim him.
He was asking Nathaniel to choose him.
There was a difference.
A profound one.
And as Nathaniel pulled him gently into an embrace, Evan understood that their relationship could only survive if both of them were willing to make that choice again and again.
Not because they were bound by pregnancy.
Not because they were trapped by circumstance.
Because they wanted each other.
Because they loved each other.
Because, despite the years between them and every complication waiting ahead, they were choosing to stand on the same side of the future.
Together.
· ? ·