The Struggles Of Waiting ✔

TWENTY-ONE

2078

 Isaac pushed past him with a grunt and his arms filled with cardboard boxes. "Do I dump this one with the rest?" he asked, face red from the effort.

"Yeah," Alexander answered, leaning against the arm of the couch he was attempting to push into the house. Jaden stood on the other side of it with his hands on his hips. "Oh, stop looking at me like that, this thing is heavy."

They were moving everything into the new home Alexander had bought for him and Jaden and whatever family they were planning on having in the future. A three bedroom place on the outskirts of the city so they were in the middle of what each person was used to. It wasn't too far from Alex's work and Jaden now worked from home and had done since his accident. It was a few hours away from Jaden's home, but it was the best they could do.

It wasn't as extravagant as some of the homes people would expect rich CEO's to own, but it was on the fancier side. The rooms were huge and would soon be well decorated with plants and paintings. Their furniture was high quality and expensive and far heavier than it should be. Alexander regretted buying his couch years ago.

Jaden rolled his eyes at him. "It's not too much further," he said. "We can just leave it in the living room."

"Thank god," Alex groaned. They heaved the heavy couch up and dragged it into what would be the living room as Amelia and Lucy came through with the bed frames. They'd have to build it at some point but it could wait a few days. The mattress was comfortable enough and he wasn't going to bother with the bedframe after a long day of carrying things.

For hours they'd been dragging furniture and boxes into their new house from the trucks Jaden had hired. Their house would be a strange mixture of Alexander's expensive furniture and Jaden's belongings from his home in the small farming town. If that didn't explain their backgrounds, Alex wasn't sure what did.

"One truck is empty, the other one nearly is," Amelia said as she walked out of the bedroom. She'd gotten used to Alex's constant presence after their Ceremony, but she'd never completely forgiven him for his lies. He couldn't blame her. There were days where he couldn't believe that Jaden had forgiven him. Maybe it was because they were soulmates and they loved each other, but he wasn't going to question it.

Jaden let out a groan and flopped down on the couch. "That's too much stuff. Why do we own so much stuff?" he asked.

"We sold most of it," Alex replied. "It's not that much."

"We sold most of the weird stuff you had in your apartment, you cliche rich bastard," Jaden said with a grin.

Alexander rolled his eyes and smiled back. "I can feel the love radiating off you," he said in a drawl voice. "Don't judge my weird stuff. I'm rich, I just bought stuff because it was suggested to me." He had to admit, his giant apartment in the big city was flashy and filled with things he didn't even have a use for. He'd sold it all because their new house didn't need it. They were going to be practical for the most part.

Amelia scoffed at his words and he waited for her to say something rude, but the words never came. Lucy elbowed her soulmate and pushed her from the room and back to the trucks waiting outside.

Isaac followed them out not long after with barely a glance at Alex and Jaden. He looked as tired as they felt. "We should help," Alex said to Jaden, who was still lounging around on the couch.

"I don't want to," Jaden groaned. "My arms hurt."

Alexander let out a chuckle. "It's our stuff. We can't leave them to carry it around everywhere," he replied and grabbed Jaden's arm. He pulled the other man up and dragged him from the room.

It took them another hour to get the rest of Alex and Jaden's belongings from the trucks. When they were finally done, the five of them collapsed on the couches they'd brought in. Isaac talked on the phone to his soulmate, trying to negotiate when a good time was to get home.

Jaden leaned against Alex, his head resting on his shoulder and his breaths coming out in a slow and steady rhythm. They'd probably go to bed early that night. His limbs aches and Jaden was practically asleep already.

"Well, that was a handful," Isaac said when he put his phone in his pocket.

"Chelsea or the moving?" Amelia asked.

Isaac shrugged. "Why not both?" he replied.

"Hey, you guys offered to help out," Alex said with a chuckle. "Thank you for that, by the way. This would have taken us twice as long if you weren't here."

"Doesn't stop it from being tiring," Isaac said. He was sat on the floor against the wall, but as he spoke he leaned to the side and lay down on the cool floorboards.

"Just be grateful you're done," Jaden mumbled from against Alex's shoulder. "We still have to unpack and rearrange everything."

Amelia let out an incredulous laugh. "Yeah, good luck with that. I'm not helping you," she said. "You're organisation skills annoy me so much." A chorus of laughter echoed around the room.

Alex smiled at the people sitting in his new room. It had taken them so long to get there, with Jaden's injuries and recovery, their Ceremony and all of Alex's business at work. But there they were, sitting in the living room of the house they owned together. At the same time, it was so strange. Five years ago he never thought he would have been there.

Five years ago he was still wallowing in his own sadness, convinced that he would be the first person to live forever, to not have a soulmate. He'd been stupid, he could see that now, but at the time it was a reasonable thought. Some people had to wait longer than others, he just had to wait longer than most.

It was all worth it in the end, even though the pair of them had to suffer through Jaden's recovery. They were stronger for it. They knew how to deal with each other when they were at their worst. Jaden might be better now, but Alex was still slowly recovering. He would always grieve his lost family and friends, always regret that they weren't able to meet his soulmate. But he would eventually learn to live with it. He hoped that wherever they were in the afterlife, they could see him, see how happy he was.

It would take them some time to settle in, but Alex had been thinking that when the time was right he would bring up the prospect of children to Jaden. He'd always wanted kids at some point in his life, but he'd once thought them as impossible as having a soulmate. He wasn't too sure on Jaden's thoughts on children, but it was worth a shot. Surely the universe wouldn't give him someone who didn't want the same things as him.

Jaden stretched his arms out and moved away from Alex's shoulder. "I need food," he said and his stomach grumbled in response.

"It's not like we can cook in this place," Isaac replied.

Alex sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'll order us a pizza," he said. Jaden had a bad habit of ordering pizza whenever he was too lazy to cook. The other man smiled at him sweetly and Alex shook his head.

The wave of happiness that came over him just from looking at Jaden's face was indescribable. He'd never expected to feel like that, not since he'd first stopped ageing. It had only gotten stronger since their Ceremony. He never thought he could love someone as much as he loved Jaden.

And now he had friends too. He wasn't as close with them as he had been with Philip and Sarah, but he wouldn't have to watch these ones die like all the rest. It was better that way. He would see a couple of them die, but when he did, he would be old too. He had his whole life to get to know both his friends and his soulmate better, and then he would pass on to eternity with Jaden.