Liam’s breath began to ease, his eyelids growing heavy as exhaustion pulled at him. Jacob’s chest rose and fell beneath his cheek, and Liam knew with absolute clarity that he’d made the right choice. Jacob was his anchor in the storm, his safe place in the world, and he would fight through anything to reach this moment again.
***
He woke up on the couch, a blanket draped over him. His head felt heavy and his body worn, but the weight pressing down on him wasn’t so sharp anymore. He sat up slowly, the fabric sliding from his shoulders as he let his eyes adjust to the light spilling across the room.
The house was hushed except for the faint clatter from the kitchen. For a moment he just sat there, listening, the smell of something cooking threading through the air. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed this feeling—the sense of being home.
He pushed to his feet, the blanket sliding off him as he made his way toward the kitchen. Jacob was there, sleeves shoved to his forearms, standing at the stove like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. His broad shoulders moved with the same controlled precision he carried everywhere else.
Liam stopped in the doorway, watching him, something inside him locking into place. This was it, the one place he was always meant to land. The path here had been jagged and cruel, leaving people hurt in its wake, but none of it changed the truth—he was always meant to end up here with this gruff, stubborn, heartbreakingly beautiful man.
Jacob turned, catching him staring. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah.” Liam’s voice was quieter than he meant. “Smells good.”
Jacob shrugged, turning back to the stove. “You need to eat.”
He slid the pan off the burner, filled two plates with steady precision, and set them on the kitchen island. Instead of reaching for cutlery, like Liam expected, Jacob crossed the short space between them and stopped right in front of him. Without a word, he gripped Liam's hips and lifted him onto the counter as if he weighed nothing. He stepped close, fitting himself between Liam’s legs until there was nowhere else to look.
His pale blue eyes caught Liam’s—the same eyes that had undone him from the very first moment. They held him steady now, unblinking, everything he felt plain in his gaze.
“I love you,” Jacob said with no hesitation. “I’ve loved you for a long time. Even when I shouldn’t have. Even when it hurt. Now that you’re here—fully here—I’m done holding back.”
The words landed like a weight and a gift all at once. Before Liam could say a word, Jacob cupped his face and kissed him, letting the rest be said with the slide of lips and tongues.
Liam tugged him closer, the kiss deepening, growing hungrier with every passing second. Jacob broke away, his lips brushing his. “Eat first,” he murmured, voice rough. “I’ll give you whatever you want after.”
The world could have ended around them and Liam wouldn’t have noticed. All that mattered was this.
***
The air smelled faintly of rain when Liam pulled into the arrivals lane a week later. His parents’ flight had landed twenty minutes ago. He spotted them through the glass doors, his mother waving with both hands, and his father following behind with their luggage in tow.
He’d called them the morning after leaving Emma and told them everything—about the marriage, the affair, and Jacob. His mother had been furious at first, voice sharp and cracking, but by the end she was crying, asking if he was okay and if Jacob treated him well. His father hadn’t said much, just that they were coming. They needed to see with their own eyes that their son was still standing.
When they reached him, his mother cupped his face, eyes scanning him the way she always did. “You look tired,” she said softly, but her voice carried more love than concern. “How are you, sweetheart?”
“I’m okay,” he said, and for once it felt true. “It’s been… a hard week. But I promise, I’m good. He makes me happy, Mom.”
She nodded, fingers brushing his cheek. “That’s all we needed to hear.”
The drive from the airport passed in a blur of rain-streaked glass and his mother’s voice filling the car. She talked the way she always did when she was nervous—about everything and nothing, never letting the silence settle.
By the time they turned through the gates and up the long drive, his mother had peppered him with question after question about Jacob, her curiosity just a touch too eager. She was trying to sound at ease, but Liam could hear the nerves beneath it. He recognized the pattern; he did the same thing when he was anxious, his brain tripping over itself to keep moving.
Jacob opened the door before they reached it. He stood framed in the warm light of the hall, posture straight.
“You must be Jacob,” his mother said, stepping forward without hesitation.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, well-mannered but guarded.
“Oh, none of that ‘ma’am’ business,” she said, already smiling. “I’m Mary.” Her eyes swept over him once, her approval coming easy. “So you’re the one who makes my son smile again.”
Jacob’s mouth quirked, but only slightly. “Trying my best.”
Before he could retreat behind that quiet politeness, she reached out and pulled him into a hug. Jacob went rigid, caught off guard. Liam saw it—the confusion, the instinct to pull back—but then Jacob’s hand lifted, uncertain, but he let her hold him.
Something in Liam swelled at the sight. It shouldn’t have been so moving, a simple hug, but it was. He knew Jacob hadn’t grown up with this kind of warmth, this easy, unconditional love. Seeing his mother give it so freely hit deeper than he could have prepared for.
