Porchay woke with a start sitting up in his bed mortified at the dream he had woken up from. He dreamt of the events of the night before only in his dream he kissed Macau. Did he want to kiss Macau? Yes. Was that a bad thing? Yes.
He had only just gotten over the whole thing with Kim and he didn't want to start anything with Macau because he didn't want to hurt their friendship. He didn't even know if Macau liked boys. He didn't know if Macau liked him like that. "But he said he likes hanging out with me," Chay pouted before flopping back onto the bed and trying to smother himself with a pillow.
He kept the pillow on his face until memories from the club came creeping up on him. He could almost feel Macau's hands on him as they swayed in time with each other on the darkened dance floor. He remembered the steady beating of Macau's heart. The sudden memory of Macau's mellow scent interrupted his weird recollection of the night before causing him to throw the pillow on his face across the room, "You must've been crazy, Chay! He's your friend for crying out," the boy scolded.
Chay spent most of the morning in bed with his mind waging war on his heart or whatever had possessed him into thinking he was falling for Macau. He was put out of his misery at around midday when his brother walked into his room completely unannounced, "What happened to you?" he asked taking in the rugged form under the pile of blankets and pillows.
"Hia," Chay whined, "I think I have a crush on someone I shouldn't like."
"What the hell?" Porsche said deflating where he stood.
Dealing with a love-sick child was not how he planned to spend his day but a love-sick Porchay seemed easier to handle than Tankhun, who was depressed because the main character in a k-drama he has seen at least ten times in the last month lost her memories. Chay would definitely also be a lot easier to handle than Pete who was livid because Vegas was spending a lot of time working and didn't really pay much attention to him and Macau hadn't been going home as often as usual. So he let out a heavy sigh and sat down next to the pile bracing himself for literally anything.
"Hia, I'm losing my mind here, and all you can say is 'what the hell?" Chay cried trying to drown himself in his bedsheets.
"Okay I'm sorry," Porsche said pulling the bedsheets off Chay, "What's happening?"
"What would you do if hypothetically..."
"You don't have a crush on a teacher right?" Porsche interrupted.
"God no! What would happen if I hypothetically liked one of the minor family brothers?" Chay said crawling into his older brother's lap.
"Well...I suggest you stay away from Vegas. I wouldn't want to have to kill Pete because he was trying to kill you," he replied chewing the inside of his cheek.
"Hia, I'm leaving the mysterious bad boy shit to you. I mean look what happened the last time I tried that," Chay pouted.
"Okay, first of all, language! And secondly...tried what?"
Chay stopped pouting and looked up at his brother with wide eyes. I did not just say that. If Porsche knew about what happened with Kim would he be mad at Chay? Would he even care? "Nothing hia."
"Porchay..."
"Oi, I'm telling you. It's nothing."
"Mm...you still haven't told me who you have a crush on." Porsche knew Chay was hiding something from him but he didn't want to pry too much into the boy's life.
"Never mind, I'm over it," he replied pouting, "I don't want P'Pete to shoot me."
Telling Porsche that he thought he liked Macau wouldn't end well anyway. Porsche seemed to really dislike Macau so it was probably for the best that he drowned in sorrow alone and not share his feelings.
*~*~*~*~*~
Macau pulled up into the driveway to find Vegas standing outside the front door, "If I didn't know this was your house I'd think you were doing something suspicious there," Macau said raising an eyebrow at his brother walking up to the door.
"Well look who finally decided to come home," Vegas mused ignoring Macau's comment.
"I've been busy getting an education brother. When are you planning on finishing your degree by the way?"
"What are you talking about? What degree?"
"Exactly," Macau replied smiling sarcastically at his brother, "Why are you standing out here looking like a burglar in your own home? You know I almost called the cops on you?"
"Pete's mad and I'm scared he'll throw something at me. Why don't you go in there and see how he's doing?" Vegs mumbled.
"What did you do now?"
"I didn't do anything. I mean maybe I've been spending more hours working than usual but that's it. I swear it on my new Bugatti."
"If you did more than work more hours than usual I get your car," without hearing what his brother had to say about his car being used as collateral, Macau ducked into the house.
Pete was sitting in the kitchen with a glass of red wine in front of him and three different knives lined up in front of him on the island, "Where's your brother?" Pete asked when Macau paused a the door set on running away.
"Outside. How are you doing today?" he asked slowly walking up to Pete.
"Well, I'm breathing. Why isn't your brother coming in?" Pete took a sip of his wine before picking up a knife, bringing the blade close to his face.
"He says you're mad. I'm not going to ask what he did but may I ask why you're mad at me?" Macau asked inching away from Pete when the man looked at him from above the blade of the knife.
"What makes you think I'm mad at you Macau?"
"Well..." the boy swallowed trying to choose his next words carefully, "Usually when you see me you ask a thousand questions about what I've been up to and then you try to feed me the most random things like papaya salad or sashimi or honey cake, and then you offer to watch a movie with me or just play video games. But you haven't done that today."
"Do I really do all that?" Pete asked putting the knife down.
"Yes and right now I need some older brother wisdom that Vegas would be useless in shedding," she said pouting.
"Why am I being insulted?" Vegas protested from the kitchen entryway.
"Well look what the cat has dragged in," Macau mumbled rolling his eyes and the sudden entry.
"Don't talk to your brother like that," Pete scolded, "As for you, go take a shower we're going out for lunch," he added glaring at Vegas who took the chance to run before he had a knife thrown at him.
"Phi."
"Hmm?"
"You're scary," Macau said smiling impishly at Pete who smiled back at him.
"So...what is it that you need help with?"
Macau dropped his head into his crossed arms and slumped onto the island. Just thinking about it made his head want to blow up and now he had to say it out loud? "Is it okay that I have feelings for one of my friends?" the mumbled into his arms.
Pete smiled ever so slightly before moving closer to where Macau was sitting, "Is this friend very important to you?"
"Yes. He's grown to become a very important part of my life, kinda like a lifeline at this point and I hate that I did that but it happened I guess," Macau pouted.
"Does this friend know you like them?"
"No, yes? I don't know. Last night...ugh this is annoying!" Macau slumped back onto the island.
"What happened last night?" Pete asked, not a lot of things could get Macau worked up so this had to be something serious.
"Okay, last night I was in his room while he was getting ready to go out right? And he asked if he was pretty and I said he wasn't...as a joke obviously. He's literally the prettiest boy I've ever seen but then he got up and was very close to my face and I swear if I was as crazy as Vegas he probably would have called his brother on me," Macau said suddenly remembering that Porsche was now the head of a mafia affiliate, "Shit, what if his brother kills me?"
Pete raised his eyebrow at the boy. Macau was literally afraid of nobody, who could the boy he was talking about be? "Macau..."
"What? Right, sorry. Anyway...so we go to the club and everything is going great until this one guy shows up and Ch...my friend decides that he doesn't want to be there anymore because this guy that showed up is a complete asshat so we leave the booth and we find our way to the dance floor."
Pete knew what he heard but he wasn't sure he heard right. The only person Macau would be afraid of at that point was Korn and if he did something dumb and Porsche got involved, Korn could very easily help cover for him. Pete silently laughed at the odd turn of events taking a sip of his wine. "I ask him to dance and he agrees but here's where things get confusing." Macau continued dragging Pete's attention back to the alleged messy situation.
"He suddenly holds my hand and we end up just holding hands for a little bit but then he eventually loops his arms around my neck and he just stays like that until we have to leave. Before walking to his room he suddenly holds my hand and stares into my eyes and then he goes, 'Thank you, for tonight. I really needed a break' and then he walks away; just like that. I mean what was that in the club, did he do that because he likes me or not? Why did he do it?" Macau turned to look at Pete with the most perplexed expression Pete had ever seen him with.
That was a lot to process and Pete was convinced he needed another glass but he sat there trying not to smile at Macau's little crush. The only person who had ever complained about not knowing if they liked someone or not was Porsche and he was in denial for the longest of times but Macau seemed to know what he was feeling so his would be easier right? "How long have you liked this boy for?" he asked filling his wine glass to the top.
"I don't know. I just liked watching him before and then he started following me around and it wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be. And then I kinda made him cry on his birthday and it felt awful. I guess that was when I realized that I would do anything to see him smile." Macau said smiling small at the thought of being able to make Chay smile forever.
"P'Pete what should I do? I mean I don't want to ruin our friendship, I mean what if he doesn't like boys, or even worse...what if he doesn't like me? Should I just move to Japan and never come back here?" he whined slumping back onto the island.
"Okay...how about we don't do anything crazy like that yes?" Pete said patting Macau's head, "Why don't you wait it out for a little bit and see what happens? If nothing happens by mid-terms tell him how you feel. The worst that could happen is that you guys aren't friends at all after that."
"I'm never telling him," Macau grunted pouting at the thought of not being friends with Chay anymore.
"Never telling who what?" Vegas asked walking into the kitchen freshly showered and ready to suffer the silent treatment or get scolded by Pete in front of his little brother.
*~*~*~*~*~
Porsche had managed to get Porchay to take a shower and had promised to buy him a new black diamond necklace if he stopped being gloomy. The boy was now skipping next to Porsche with a silver choker scattered with little black rocks on his neck. Maybe letting Chay hang around Khun wasn't such a good thing. The boy had developed a sudden obsession with shiny things. Shiny black things. Wat would happen if he suddenly decide he wanted a black car next?
Porsche still wanted to know who had managed to get his brother so into his head that he was a wreck. He also wanted to know about the mysterious bad boy that had allegedly hurt his brother but for now, he would let it be until Chay told him himself. They walked around the mall looking at other things Chay planned to get Tankhun to buy for him until the boy began complaining about being hungry. Chay led Porshe to an Italian restaurant in the middle of the mall only to find that all the tables were full. Porsche was trying to convince a pouting Porchay that the world wouldn't come to an end if he didn't eat pasta at that specific restaurant and he could eat pasta elsewhere but the boy only ignored him.
They were walking away when Porchay bumped into someone causing them to drop a small bag they were holding. The boy apologised and immediately bent down to pick up the bag he had dropped. He was however not expecting to see Vegas standing in front of him. Let alone in a shirt similar to the one Macau had talked him out of buying a couple of weeks before, "Fancy seeing you here," Porsche said to Vegas raising a playful eyebrow at him.
"Pete dragged us out for lunch. He's still had at me so I got him this to hopefully make him less mad at me." Vegas replied holding up the bag Porchay had returned to him, "Were you guys in that restaurant just now?"
"Chay wanted to eat there but they're packed today and now he's apparently not talking to me because of it," Porsche replied casting a side eye at his little brother.
"You guys could join us if you wanted?" Vegas offered looking at Chay who was still pouting, "Also I think Pete would be less mad at me with Chay, Macau and you there. So...help a brother out?"
Porchay turned around hearing the name of the boy who had him feeling like a wet towel and began walking back to the restaurant before quickly turning back around to thank Vegas and then continuing on his mission to find Pete and Macau, "I guess we're joining you guys then," Porsche sighed following after Chay.
Macau and Pete were sitting at the same table he and Chay had sat at the last time they were there. Macau was pouting and Pete was just watching the pouting boy in amusement. When Chay reached the table he wai'd at Pete greeting him enthusiastically as he always did, "Chay what are you doing here?" he asked finally taking his eyes off of Macau before the boy realised Chay was standing right there in front of them.
"P'Vegas said me and hia could join you guys for lunch. We couldn't get a table and P'Vegas said something about you being mad, I wasn't paying attention." he said shrugging, "Hi," he finally acknowledged Macau smiling sluggishly at the boy.
"Hi," Macau breathe before clearing his throat causing Pete's eyes to shoot back to the boy next to him and then to the boy who had just appeared.
Both of them were just staring at each other neither one saying anything, "Chay, please sit. You look awkward standing there," Pete said causing Macau to snort as he thought back to the time they went to get pizza together, "If you're any more obvious Porsche might actually kill you," Pete whispered to Macau as Chay made his way to the seat next to Macau.
Just as Pete finished his sentence, Porsche and Vegas walked up to the table, "Subtle," Pete advised before standing up to greet his friend.
"Hello, Macau," Porsche said taking a seat next to Pete who had moved a seat up so Vegas sat between him and Macau while Porsche sat between him and Chay.
"You look more normal than the last time I saw you," the boy remarked looking Porsche up and down.
"Macau..." Pete said clearing his throat before smiling sheepishly at Porsche.
The boy responded by greeting Porsche with a wai. And then Pete and Porsche started talking about ways to deal with Tankhun and nineteen-year-olds who acted like brats at times while Vegas just listened in and Macau and Chay just ate their food in silence. Lunch was going well until Porsche decided to ask Pete how to deal with a one-sided crush. All eyes were on him as he spoke. In an attempt to not out Chay, he made it seem like everything he was saying came from a k-drama Tankhun was watching. Vegas just snorted at the absurdity of it all before getting kicked under the table by both Pete and Macau. Porsche decided to end his rambling by asking what Pete would do if he found out someone had a thing for Vegas.
Porchay choked on his pasta causing Vegas to smirk at him. Porchay just happened to look in his direction while he tried not to die because of macaroni. Porsche rolled him eyes and rubbed circles on Chay's back to calm his coughing fit, how much more obvious could someone get? "Well, I'm not into kids so there's nothing to worry about there," Vegas answered looking Chay dead in the eye.
The boy only wrinkled his face and looked around the table trying to telepathically find out why Vegas was looking at him, "You're into older men?" Macau suddenly asked, "Hot."
"Dude if I liked your brother would I...I'd have to be a different breed of crazy to fall for anyone in this generation of Teerapanyakul men," the boy replied glaring at Vegas who raised an amused eyebrow.
"You didn't finish your sentence there Chay, 'if I liked your brother would l...' what comes after that?" Vegas crooned.
"Would I be sitting at the same table as P'Pete right now?" the boy answered looking at Vegas unblinking.
"Chay, if you want him, you can have him," Pete mused taking a sip of his water.
"Or you could have me, the better, hotter, more fun and less crazy sibling," Macau said before stuffing food into his mouth and looking over Chay's head at Porsche who was glaring at him. The boy just winked and turned to chewing his food.
"Or I could do that," Chay mumbled causing Macau to choke on this food and Porsche who happened to hear what he said to splutter.
"Of all them? Where did you get such awful taste from?"
"You're in a relationship with Kinn," Macau spat clearly offended.
"It's a step up from Kim," Chay shrugged.
"Excuse me, what?" Porsche yelled.
"No freaking way. Kim? I mean I can understand Kinn but Kim?" Vegas Laughed.
Macau put more food into his mouth to stop himself from smiling and Pete just leaned back in his seat looking between the two brothers. One looked like he was about to blow a fuse while the other looked bored out of his mind, "Guys on their mysterious bad boy shit... been there, done that. Got emotional trauma to show for it," the boy sighed dropping his fork with a clatter.
"Anyway, P'Pete can me and Macau leave? I need his help with something. Maybe find out if I really do have bad taste while we're at it." Chay said ignoring the hostility radiating off of his older brother. Pete nodded his approval trying to stifle a smile.
Chay turned to his older brother and looked him up and down before sighing deeply, "Hia, try not to kill him. I don't have money to bail you out of jail or to hold a memorial service for you when his brothers come for you."
With that Chay dragged Macau out of his seat and the two boys walked away. Porsche was trying to decide if he was shocked or angry while Pete and Vegas tried not to let their amusement show. Vegas didn't hate Porsche as much as he disliked his cousin but Porsche seemed to only tolerate Vegas because of Pete so this was definitely going to end pretty okay or very bad. Either way, Vegas would be entertained so he didn't care what happened as long as nobody put their hands on Macau.