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Chapter Twenty

   The next week in Seattle was a lot more smooth than Sebastien expected. The kids kept Alek occupied, and when they weren't around, Tio brought out the boyish side of him. Alek spent a lot of his downtime apartment hunting online, and his excited "Bash, look at this one!" every ten minutes was enough to make Sebastien agree to move into every place they looked at.
  Sebastien had turned Alek's bags upside down and inside out multiple times. He'd like to think he's closer to trusting him, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't look at the screen of Alek's phone every time it rang. He hated how much he felt like his exes at times like this, but he reassures himself with the fact that he's doing it because he loves Alek, not because he wants to control him.
  Sebastien was sleeping a bit better, but he still woke up almost every time Alek shifted in his sleep. He still worries about him constantly and tries to be close to him as much as he can, but Alek was visibly looking better, so he tried to simply enjoy their time together with his family.
  Alek was yet again sitting criss cross on the couch, his laptop on top of a pillow on his lap. Sebastien walked up behind him and kissed the top of his head. "Anything new?"
  Alek leaned his head back and pursed his lips, making Sebastien lean down and kiss him quickly. He rested his arms on the back of the couch behind Alek.
  "I think this is my favorite one." Alek turned the laptop slightly and clicked through pictures of a beautifully simplistic apartment.
  "Oh I really like that one. Where is it?"
  Alek straightened the laptop and exhaled, "That's the thing...it's like right in the middle of Los Angeles."
  "If it's nice enough and has good security, that should be fine, right?" Sebastien walked around the couch and sat next to Alek.
  "Yeah..I guess. We just talked about moving out of the city, not into it." Alek frowned.
  "Leks, it's alright. Unless you truly don't want to live in the middle of everything, I'm fine with it. A place that nice in the middle of L.A. has got to have good security. We can check it out and if we don't like it, we'll find someplace else." Sebastien smiled gently.
  Alek nodded and flipped through the pictures again. "What if we didn't move into an apartment?"
  "And what? Just stay at your house like a couple of squatters?" Sebastien chuckled.
  "No, I mean...what if we got a house?"
  "A house? Like a home? Like property taxes and a mortgage?"
  "That's kind of how home ownership works, yes."
  Sebastien turned to face him. "Leks, that's like...a lot. I want to move in together, but isn't that gonna be like a shit ton of money? And stress?"
  "I think you're forgetting that both my mom and my sister have business degrees. I'm sure they'll help us out with anything we don't fully understand." Alek took a breath. "I just don't want to move to a place that isn't permanent. I did that too much as a kid, bouncing between all of our houses when it was convenient for my parents. I want a place that's ours. Like actually ours. One that we own and can change however we want to."
  "You found a house that you like already, didn't you?" Sebastien smiled.
  Alek nodded slowly.
  "Let's see it, then." Sebastien nodded his head towards Alek's laptop.
  "So when are you two getting married?" Antonio asked, throwing himself into the corner of the couch, clutching a bag of chips.
  "What?" Sebastien laughed.
  "You're getting a house together. It's a slippery slope." Antonio shrugged.
  Alek chuckled. "Living together is a slippery slope towards marriage?"
  "Never heard of the close proximity trope?"
  "Matter of fact, I have. But we're already dating. Marriage is inevitable." Alek shrugged.
  "Inevitable? I'm flattered." Sebastien placed a hand on his chest, gently rolling his eyes.
  "Why are you acting like inevitable is a bad word? I mean it lovingly. I am going to marry you." Alek said matter-of-factly.
  Sebastien wasn't sure why, but the idea made his stomach clench uncomfortably. There was something that kept him from fully believing that Alek wants to spend the rest of his life with him. He's never had a boyfriend show him such unconditional love before. Sometimes he still can't believe that Alek loves him, so how is he supposed to process that Alek wants to be with him forever?
  He thinks maybe it's something he won't truly grasp until after they're married. Maybe not even until their tenth anniversary. There are still certain things Sebastien hasn't allowed himself to fully process. Alek seems to be no different because even with as much as he says I love you and shows how much he visibly cares, Sebastien is still afraid that Alek will leave him.