Spending his childhood shuffling among foster families and living on the streets, the concept of "home" had always felt far off and unattainable to Cade.With Hamm, he'd understood that it meant a safe place, but in the home he'd since made for himself, it had always felt like something was missing, and he'd never known what that was until this very minute, until he held Tristan in his arms, feeling the warmth and steady heartbeat against his chest.
At that moment, he understood that home wasn't necessarily a place, but a feeling, a comfort. Even a person.
Tristan was his home, and now that he knew it, he was never going to let it go.
Chapter 23: Promises
Tristan
Cade squeezed Tristan tightly and vowed,"I told you, Tris. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always stay. As long as you want me."
The quiet words wrapped around Tristan's heart like a promise, and he forgot how to breathe. He peered up at Cade as hope bubbled in his chest.
"Does that mean... you've decided? About us?"
Cade's face scrunched up the tiniest bit, his gaze wary, probing. "This life, my job, you're sure you're okay with it?"
Tristan's voice scraped past the emotion lodged in his throat. "Yes, I don't care. I just want to be with you."
The guarded expression dissolved, leaving only the hard, decisive set of Cade's jaw. "Okay then. If you're sure it's what you want, then I'll try."
Joy swelled in Tristan's heart till it overflowed and permeated every cell in his body. "I am," he answered, his words soft but certain.
"Listen, Tris, I need to tell you I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For letting you go to the house. It's my fault that the Handler found you. I should have made you stay with Annabeth."
Tristan was shaking his head, irritated, before Cade even finished his apology. "First of all, there's no 'letting' me and 'made' me. If we're going to be together, we're partners and equals. We make decisions together. And second, it was my fault. I insisted, and I gave you the puppy dog eyes."
Cade's face morphed into a scowl. "You little shit... "
Chuckling, Tristan said, "You shouldn't have admitted what a sucker you are for them."
Squinting, Cade accused, "You are a demon."
"Get used to it."
The words caused a flicker of something, maybe anticipation, in Cade's eyes, and Tristan couldn't help but grin.
He was about to suggest they head to bed when Cade got serious again. "I was worried about Natalie... that she wouldn't like me and you'd change your mind. But when I told her what I do, she seemed okay with it."
Wanting to allay those fears, Tristan assured him, "Yeah. She told me she likes you." The wobbly smile he got in return melted his heart.
"I like her too."
"She said you told her about us," Tristan asked, curious about what was said.
"Well, not everything, obviously, but I told her there was something between us. I couldn't lie to her. She's kind of scary when she's mad. Like you."
"Like our mom," Tristan added, chuckling. "She'd like you too."
"I doubt that," was the emphatic reply.
"She would. She'd love you because I do."
Cade squirmed, obviously uncomfortable, and Tristan briefly felt the urge to deflect, to change the subject. But then he decided his stupid boyfriend would just have to get used to him saying those words, because he would be saying them a lot.
