“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 myONLY. 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.”
