Eggshells

Ari didn’t want to date anymore. He’d sworn all of it off after a while. The bad experiences that left him feeling like he’d never find love. Or be in any kind of relationship. It didn’t help that he’d grown up in a small town where he’d often been told to pray away the Gay. That his feelings were a sin he had to get rid of. Comments made by people who never once practiced what they preached. People who’d let their actions speak for them. People who sinned every day in some way. He’d stopped listening to them after a while. Their opinions didn’t change the fact he was going to live his life happily either way. 

He’d had nothing but bad experiences every time he went on a date. Or hooked up with someone. Things just never worked out. For some reason. He’d obsessively gone over everything for weeks afterward. He’d realized it wasn’t him. Whoever he’d seen, date or otherwise, had been leading him on. They’d ghost him after meeting up with him. For whatever they were meeting up for. They’d treated it as a one day stand. He no longer had an interest in any relationship or otherwise with anyone in the small town he was living in. It wasn’t like anything long term would come of the date anyway. 

The last few dates he’d gone on ended badly in some way. He’d realized a pattern during each date. People weren’t interested in anything more than one night stands before ghosting. Or saying they enjoyed the night but wanted to do things in the future he wasn’t comfortable doing. People who’d kept insisting after he’d set boundaries. People who couldn’t handle rejection. Along with everything in between it seemed. He’d lost interest in anything romantic. Everyone he met were fake in some way. People who’d let their actions speak for them. He began doing the same.

He swore off relationships in all aspects after the last date that ended badly. The guy he’d seen wasn’t anything he’d claimed to be. It wasn’t worth it to him anymore to even try. He couldn’t handle any more of everything he’d been experiencing. He wasn’t interested in anyone in the area. He couldn’t trust any of them. The opportunity to move brought a welcome change into his life. An opportunity to leave the area he’d experienced everything negative. 

Cam changed everything. He’d been through similar situations Ari had. He’d given up as well. Cam had swiped left when he saw Ari’s profile. Ari hadn’t been interested at first. Until he decided to give Cam a change. He’d seen something in Cam he hadn’t seen in anyone else. It was also the first date since his move to Ft. Lauderdale. It’d been six months since the move. He’d kept to himself when he wasn’t working as a Marketer. Cam changed him for the better. Cam said the same about Ari. They’d fallen madly in love in what felt like the blink of an eye.

Both realized they were meant for each other. Their similar backgrounds, romantic and otherwise, led them down a road of realizing they were each others person. Ari realized Cam was everything he’d been hoping for. He felt every love emotion possible. Cam had felt the same. Neither cared if they got married. They were going to be partners for life either way. Life was going to happen either way. They were in it together for the rest of their lives. That’s how they’d begun sharing their love story. It was Ari that shared how it was serendipity that they’d met how and when they had.