compare scars

forty one

The two men stand in the doorway of the apartment, of their apartment. Both of them are smiling, looking at the blank house.

They've just bought their first apartment together and neither of them can contain their excitement.

"Just look at this." Dan grins, walking inside. The walls are a basic cream color, and the floors are a dark hardwood. Besides the moving boxes there's nothing inside of the house.

"There's so many possibilities." He smiles just imagining all the ways they can truly make it their own.

"We can hang some of your pictures here and put a sofa underneath." Kyle grins watching as Dan continues walking around the three bedroom apartment.

Dan then walks up to him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Everything feels so perfect, like life can't get any better.

He softly pulls away and hands Kyle a paint brush. He takes one and gets the can of paint.

"Let's get to work." He smiles.

After opening the paint and getting it all set up, the two set to covering the living room in a light grey color.

All the windows are open, the sounds of the street below fill the quiet as the two concentrate.

After a while of painting Kyle takes a break. He silently watches Dan, watching as he carefully goes around the corners. He's such a perfectionist it makes him laugh.

Every once in a while Dan's wedding band catches in the light. It seems to glow when the sun hits it right.

He thinks back to the night they finally decided to get married. They were in their own words "two old men" but by that it means they were thirty seven and thirty nine.

Kyle cried like a baby, but so did Dan.

The whole thing meant so much to the two, and everyone watching that no one was immune from tears. Dan invited his first class who were now almost grown adults. It meant so much to him that they came. For a small time they truly were some of his best friends.

As they stood on the alter both silently wished they hadn't spent so much time fucking around. If the two hadn't then they could have done it earlier.

But to be honest neither man regrets the timing. They're glad that they got the time they needed to grow up. For Dan that means learning to deal with the depression, and how to cope. He's so much healthier and happier now that's he's sober.

Kyle hates thinking back. He can't stand his actions, but he's glad that they happened. Most importantly he's glad for Dan's forgiveness. Those years brought our a side of him that he would've never knew existed. An ugly, terrible side of himself. But because of that he's grown, learned how to cope with life.

—

Dan sits on the sofa next to Sofia as they watch sponge bob reruns. He softly puts his arm around her as he kisses her cheek. She giggles, looking up at her Dad.

Kyle is in the kitchen with her brother Evan as the two attempt making pizzas.

"Daddy more pepperonis." He laughs, emptying the rest onto the pizza.

It makes Dan listening to the two.

Two years after getting married the couple became foster parents. The problem was that they absolutely fell in love with the set of twins they looked after. And after a year of getting everything in order they adopted them, officially making them parents.

Immediately Kyle quit his teaching job and stayed home with the two children while Dan worked as the museum director at the local art museum.

Dan looks to Kyle, watching as the man returns his gaze. Both smile, and return their attention back to their children.

Neither man is perfect, and neither is their lives. But together, life feels perfect.

The glass is half full.

—
Wow that's it!

I literally cannot believe that this story is finished. I've been writing this pup for nearly a year and a half now so that's actually insane.

Thank you all for reading this. Thank you for still reading this even though I stopped updating for like eight years.

This story was written in the worst part of my life, when I was the lowest I've ever been. Looking back at some parts it makes me kind of sad, but that's alright.

My intention for this story was to show that not everything is solved by simple love. That depression can't be cured by a kiss or a hug. I wanted to make something a bit more realistic that maybe someone could relate to. So I really hope that maybe I accomplished something with this.

Again, thank you all for reading!!!