Freedom.

It was a month after Turtle had found them on the deck and just a week past that they had been together, but it somehow felt like the most permanent thing Vince had ever found. Every day was the same thing and yet something new at the same time. He was excited to discover all these tiny little details about Eric that previously only girlfriends had been privy to and relished in the glow that hadn't left E's face in exactly forty-three days. It was kind of perfect.

Being with Eric like this gave Vince a kind of freedom he had never known before. He finally felt like there was nothing left to hide, not that he had ever really been good at that before. It was just that he had hidden this part for so long from everyone, including himself. He never could have imagined that it would feel like this; if he had, he probably wouldn't have kept it tucked away for as long as he did. It was a crazy thing, finally living the life you think that you're meant to live.

Vince wasn't the only one who had embraced the newfound freedom openly. Eric had been open with Ari about it from the first day, going to the mattress to prove not only his loyalty but also his love for Vince. While the manager in him still kicked in from time to time, he managed to make sure that the boyfriend part always prevailed. That was the part of him that showed up the Sunday night of the Oscars, when Ari had tried to set Vince up on a date with a model-turned-starlet and Eric had only seen white anger burning behind his eyes.

"I don't give a fuck what you or Hollywood thinks, Ari," Eric said before kissing Vince soundly on the red carpet at the Academy Awards, sending off a flurry of camera flashes around them.

They had that cover from Us Weekly framed in Eric's office at the agency. It accompanied the one they had shot for The Advocate and another one from Entertainment Weekly on Hollywood's "New Power Couple." However, none of those professional photos found their way to the walls at home. No, those were reserved for snapshots of Eric and Vince hanging out with the guys and a special photo of them with their moms the night they came out in Queens. Hollywood might have accepted them, but that didn't even being to compare to the acceptance granted to them by their families.

And now, forty-three days later, Vince reaches for Eric's hand while waiting to cross the street on the way to Cartier, Drama and Turtle babbling on about some new video game as they trail not too far behind. It could have been any other Thursday afternoon at any point in their lives in Los Angeles, if not for the two of them holding hands. This was their sense of normal, and that was more liberating than anything.

True freedom for Vince Chase and Eric Murphy meant living their life just like they always had.