Belonging

Chapter Seventeen

Omniscient POV
7:46 PM
Jayce's home, GA
——

When the two men arrived in front of the closed off home, Xavier was in a deep sleep in the passenger seat while Jayce was thumping his finger on the wheel humming to Her. Stella was curled up in Xavier's lap like a folded blanket——her travel bag long forgotten in the back seat.

Jayce eased down the flagstone drive way, trying his best not to disrupt the sleeping pair to his right.

When his car fully stopped in front of the grand house, he unbuckled his seat belt and shifted towards Xavier's still resting body. Jayce reached a hand out, just a light touch, to caress the taller man's cheek lovingly.

He loved seeing Xay this way; so peaceful and relaxed.

Stella suddenly hopped up and stretched across the man's lap once more, beginning to knead her little paws into his pants leg. This stirred Xavier along the way.

The hummed and turned his body towards the window, then he finally twisted upwards to let a big stretch.

"Like father, like daughter" Jayce thought with a quaint smile.

Xay let out another yawn before shifting his attention to Jayce. He gave a lazy smile, then peered out of the window to take in his surroundings. "Where are you pulling these damn houses from?"

Jayce chuckled before leaning over to kiss Xavier and sitting back to open his car door. "Come on bae. I gotta show you something real special." Xavier gave him a quizzical look before grabbing Stella in his arms and following behind him.

Jayce went into the back seat to grab the remaining bags while Xavier and Stella stood to the side still glancing up at the house.

Once the door was unlocked and pulled open, an alluring aroma dragged itself through the doorway in waves.

The house wasn't overly complicated—you're typical American home, but considering the size of the home by itself made it above average. The deep, umber double-doors opened up into a wide hallway with a light blue and gray rug sat in the walkway. Simple, but nice.

As they walked deeper into the home, Xavier took into mind how desolate it was. He took his eyes off of the passing room door, and gave his attention to the man in front of him who was currently sitting his bags in the living room.

"Do you come here often?" They stopped in front of the stairs for a moment, the younger man paused to look back.

"No, but we can." He continued up the stairs, Xay in tow.

"We?" Xavier's voice peaked a little-- playfully.

"Yea...why not? We'd live together at some point regardless, why not start now—start here." Jayce's approach was palpable and roused a chuckle out of Xavier, but he kept it at that—a joke.

"Why are you laughing?!" The younger man huffed, "I'm being serious...I can move you in here today if you want."

Xavier just huffed out another quaint breath of air to avoid the topic. He personally thought they weren't at that point in their...relationship. Jayce reached behind himself in an attempt to grab hold of the other man's hand, and Xavier accepted it whole heartedly.

He then pulled him ahead of himself and grabbed a firm hold on his waist as he led Xay up the staircase. Passing the last three steps, they walked back-to-chest into furthest room.

Jayce pulled Xavier even closer to the front of his body and pushed his face into the crook of the other man's neck. "I would give you anything in this world, Xavier." his softly ghosted over his skin with each word, making Xavier shiver.

He braced himself; breathing in the moment, his surroundings, the man snuggled into his neck and a smiled graced his face.

"I appreciate that."

Jayce just hummed into his aforementioned spot.

They stayed like that for a moment—the silence of the house and the outside world allowing a coat of serenity to take over their minds, bodies, and souls.

Then they shifted away from one another when a soft tail brushed against their calves. Jayce lifted his head and shifted his attention downwards to the lump of grayish-white fur.

The two finally pulled apart: Jayce going towards the other long forgotten bag at the front of the bedroom door, and Xavier squatting down to cradle the kitty into his arms.

Xavier sat Stella on top of the oversized king bed and slid his hoodie off.

Jayce walked in with the duffle bag and slid it into the walk-in closet stationed across from the bedroom door, and stretched outwards.

He looked over to the cat and the man coming over the little fur ball with a smile.

This is exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. A life with his favorite person on Earth and their baby. He's always wanted something to push him towards a proper future, and Jayce is so very sure that he's found it.

———

ok yall this is a very short chapter cuz i'm still tryna figure out what direction i want this to head in.

idk if im feeling the darker vibe it had in the beginning or this softer vibe im trying to force it into...

yall pick lwk and i'll try my best to deliver!!