Not a Love Story

Epilogue // Part 3

Buffalo, NY

Oliver Greene

I pulled into the garage, turning the car off and taking a breath before heading inside. I heard pots and pans banging in the kitchen.

Apricot, a small, four year old dachshund with 3 legs, and Bear, a sweet one year old pitbull, came running up to me.

"Hi guys." I greeted, bending down to pet them. They followed me into the kitchen, their tails wagging. Ben and I adopted them a few months after moving to Buffalo. I was missing the shelter and saw a flier for an adoption drive and dragged him with me. We ended up falling in love with Apricot and Bear and brought them both home.

When I entered the kitchen, I saw Ben was facing the stove, quietly swearing as something hissed in the pan in front of him. I walked over to him, placing my hand on the small of his back and kissing his cheek. "Hi." I greeted. He turned, smiling at me as he pressed a kiss to my lips.

"Hey. How was work?" he asked, pushing around the stir fry he was making in the stove.

"It was alright." I sighed, tired from a long day. Ben smiled at me, understanding in his eyes, knowing I'd had a long day.

"Dinner's almost ready." he said as I wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him and resting my chin on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna go change." I whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Ben was putting the food onto plates when I came back, wearing sweatpants and one of his Buffalo Bills sweatshirts. He smiled when he saw me, his eyes dragging down my body, stopping when he saw my sweatshirt. He let out a light laugh, shaking his head. I sat down at the island, Ben setting a plate down in front of me before sitting down next to me.

"How're the kids?" he asked, putting a fork full of food into his mouth.

I just started my residency in a pediatric hospital a couple months ago. I love working with and helping the kids. I wasn't really sure what specialty I wanted to try out, but one of my professors suggested I try out pediatrics, and I fell in love with it. Luckily, I was able to find a great residency at a children's hospital in Buffalo. Coincidentally, the coach from the Buffalo Bills was also working to get Ben to join the team. He'd grown close to a few guys on the team with him in Boston, but Collin was planning on retiring and Jake was moving out to California, as Gracie had gotten her dream job there.

Ben was able to defer joining the team for a few months while we packed up and moved from Boston to Buffalo. We were able to buy a house just outside the city in a small neighborhood, with Ben's contract with the Bills over double what he was paid with the Patriots.

He'd made a mark on the NFL, not only with his playing, which only continues to get better, but also his activism. He's worked with various LGBTQ+ organizations to support LGBTQ+ youth and promote education. It was something he loved almost as much as football, probably more if he was being honest. The Patriots wasn't the most accepting team he'd been on, especially after getting so lucky with his teammates in high school and college, so he decided to try and change that.

I smiled and took a bite of food, my thoughts wandering.

"Good. Better." I said, smiling. Ben nodded. "How was practice? Didn't you have a meeting with the Pride Center?" I asked. Ben beamed and nodded.

"I did. They're awesome, Ol. You have to go down with me when I go visit." he suggested.

"For sure." I answered, my lips quirking into a smile at Ben's excitement.

We slowly ate dinner, enjoying one another's company before migrating to the living room, cuddling together, Apricot next to Ben and Bear snuggled next to me. We mindlessly watched TV for a while, my head resting on his shoulder.