He was a stranger. A message went out on my local Discord gay chat for my city – “Emergency: Friend of mine is being abused by his boyfriend, needs placement”. I clicked. A group of friends were going to move Evan out while his boyfriend was at work. But Evan didn’t have a place to go. His family lived on the other side of the country and didn’t have a room for him. So I offered my spare room, if he was ok with a dog.
Evan liked dogs.
So less than 24 hours later, Evan was moved in with all his boxes, suitcases, and trashbags. He never left. I told him he could leave at will. We looked at his budget and new places. But it just didn’t end up working out that way – I was enjoying his company at the dinner table, he liked having a hiking buddy and a dog watching the place at night. His therapist said a safe stable place was good for his healing.
Eventually I started charging Evan rent. He paid. Even after he stopped dating around, and went from sleeping in his own room to sleeping in mine.
Two years later, I got a promotion which would send me to a new city. Evan made the decision to come with me in about thirty seconds. Now we don’t have to live with the fear of seeing his ex around the city and can begin to really live – as a couple. I will keep him safe for the rest of his life and cherish him with all the love I can.
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