Jake wished he had been able to stay with his soulmates. He hated the idea of being apart from them especially after meeting for the very first time. He called Mark to pick him up and had him drop him off at his house. Walking into that house after everything that happened felt like a blow to the gut. He didn't want to go back here, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice.
"Where on earth have you been, young man?!" His mom questioned him as soon as he walked in.
"I just met my soulmates." He said and she blanched.
"What is everyone going to think? You can't love two people at once," She muttered but Jake still heard everything, "Unless one of them is platonic!"
"What? No! That's not what this is! God, why can't you even try to understand? Do I matter so little to you that you won't even try to understand?" Jake was so frustrated, he could scream.
"Hey! Don't talk to your mother like that!" His father raised his voice at him as he walked into the room.
"How is-" Jake was cut off before he could even finish his sentence.
"Don't you dare talk back. We are your parents and you will not talk back to us. That is disrespectful!" His father shouted and Jake wanted to scream.
"No! I have the right to speak!"
"Of course you do but not with that tone!"
"I am speaking to you the same way you are speaking to me! Why should you be allowed to disrespect me but I can't treat you the same way you treat me? Treat others the way you wanna be treated. You know the saying. Everyone does so why can't you treat me like that? With the respect that I deserve as a human being. I have the right to speak. You do not have the right to shut me up."
"Go to your room," His mother glared and Jake's shoulders slumped. He should have known they wouldn't listen. After all, these were the parents they made him feel unwanted simply for the names on his wrist.
Jake shut the door to his bedroom with a sigh. Not even bothering to change, he slipped under the covers and embraced oblivion.
"Honey! I'm home!" He shouted, closing the door behind him, "I still love saying that." He removed his coat and shoes and placed them in the correct places. He found Jayden at the kitchen counter, typing away on his laptop.
"How was work?" Jayden asked, turning away from his screen to press a kiss to Jake's lips. No matter how many times they did this, Jake would still never get over the feeling of Jayden's lips against his. He would never get over the feeling of Jayden pressed up against him. Would never get over the intoxicating presence that was Jayden Nicholson. His soulmate. Jayden tasted like peppermint and black coffee and Jake was addicted. Jayden smelled like home and Jake would never get enough of him.
"Fine," Jake murmured, pressing their foreheads together as he ran his hands through Jayden's hair, "Riley home yet?"
"Not yet but he should be getting home right about now," As if on cue Riley stumbled through the front door, tripped but managed to right himself.
"The door was stuck," He explained. Riley put his shoes and coat away and made his way toward his soulmates. A hug and a kiss for them both and then Riley removed his book bag and hefted it up onto the table. Riley had gone back to college a year ago to get his doctorate degree in psychology. Jake finished his master's degree in business last year while Jayden was still completing his Master's of Art in dance.
"Welcome home," Jayden smiled while pressing another kiss to Riley's lips. Jake was so unbelievably in love with both of them. They were his whole world. His reason for living.
"I love you both so much," Jake said gazing at them with all the love in the world. They smiled at him and Jake wanted to cry. They brought him so much happiness.
"We love you too," Riley smiled.
Jake woke up with tears in his eyes and wished with everything he was that that was what the future had in store for them.