Page 56 of After the Rain

"Wade, this is incredible. How have you been doing all this work?"

"Nights, weekends, early mornings. I couldn't sleep much anyway after..." He gestured vaguely between us. "After everything got complicated. So I came here and worked with my hands instead of thinking too much."

We moved through the house slowly, Wade pointing out details of the renovation, the plans he had for each room. The kitchen was nearly finished, with new cabinets and countertops that managed to feel both modern and period-appropriate. Upstairs, there were four bedrooms, including one that was clearly meant for a child.

"Is this Cooper's room?" I asked, standing in the doorway of a space painted in warm blues and greens.

"It will be. If..." Wade stopped, running his hand through his hair in the gesture I'd come to recognize as his tell when he was nervous. "Ezra, there's something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you weeks ago."

My heart started racing again. "Okay."

"Not here. Let me show you the backyard first."

He led me through the kitchen to a back door that opened onto a deck he'd clearly built himself. Beyond that was a yard that stretched back to a line of oak trees, with what looked like the foundation for a garden already marked out.

"I was thinking raised beds," Wade said, his voice carefully casual. "Vegetables, maybe some herbs. Cooper loves helping with that kind of thing."

"Wade." I touched his arm, making him look at me. "What's going on? Why did you bring me here?"

He was quiet for a long moment, staring out at the yard where golden light filtered through the oak leaves. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Because I needed you to see what I've been dreaming about without knowing I was dreaming it."

"What do you mean?"

Wade turned to face me fully, and I could see the fear and hope warring in his expression. "Every choice I made on this house, every detail I planned, every room I imagined—I was thinking about you. About us. About what it might feel like to build something real together."

My breath caught. "Wade..."

"I know I have no right to assume anything about what you want. I know I've been a fucking mess, pulling you close and then pushing you away, making you deal with my confusion while I figured out who I am. But Ezra, I need you to know that everything I've been scared to say out loud—it's all here in this house."

I looked around at the deck, the yard, the home he'd been secretly building, and felt something crack open in my chest. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Since the first time Cooper asked if you could come over for dinner. Since the first time I imagined what it would be like to cook for you in a kitchen that belonged to both of us." His voice cracked slightly. "Since I realized that every future I could picture had you in it."

The admission hung between us, raw and honest and terrifying in its vulnerability. Wade had brought me to this place not just to show me a house, but to show me his heart laid bare.

"Wade, I need you to be clear about what you're saying."

He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders like he was preparing for battle. "I'm saying I'm gay, Ezra. I'm saying I've been in love with you since before I knew what that meant. I'm saying I brought you to this house because some part of me was already imagining a life where we could be together, where Cooper could have the family he deserves, where I could finally stop pretending to be someone I'm not."

The words I'd been hoping for and dreading in equal measure, finally spoken without hedges or qualifications. Wade wasn't experimenting or confused anymore. He was standing in the backyard of a house he'd secretly renovated while dreaming of a future with me, telling me he loved me with a clarity that took my breath away.

"And I'm saying," he continued, his voice gaining strength, "that I don't want to hide anymore. I don't want to pretend we're just friends, don't want to keep protecting other people's comfort at the expense of our truth. I'm tired of being afraid, Ezra. I'm tired of letting fear make my choices for me."

I stared at him, this man who'd been wrestling with his identity while secretly building us a home, and felt every wall I'd constructed around my heart start to crumble.

"Do you know what they'll do to us?" I asked quietly. "To you, to Cooper, to any chance of a normal life in this town?"

"I know they'll try to destroy us. I know Sarah's parents are building a case to limit my custody, that Mrs. Garrett is trying to end your career, that half the town is watching for any excuse to confirm their worst assumptions about gay people." He stepped closer, his eyes never leaving mine. "But I also know that I can't keep living a lie just to make other people comfortable."

"Wade..."

"And I know that Cooper deserves to see his father living authentically, even if it's difficult. Especially if it's difficult." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And I know that I'd rather fight for the life I want with you than keep hiding from the life I'm supposed to want without you."

The confession hit me like lightning, illuminating every dark corner of fear and longing I'd been carrying. Wade wasn't just coming out—he was choosing me, choosing us, choosing to build something real despite every obstacle in our path.

"I love you too," I said, the words falling out of me like they'd been waiting years to be spoken. "I've been in love with you since you asked me to help Cooper with his math homework and I saw how gentle you were with him, how much you genuinely cared about his happiness."

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