As Berry spoke, Stuart realised how foolish and ungrateful he had been. He was one of those people who chewed and swallowed without tasting the food. As long as it looked edible and had an appealing aroma he was fine with eating it. In the past, Marie had told him once that he could make the best chef in the world feel like he wasn't good enough, he had brushed that aside as her exaggeration but look at him now.
He did this to the world's best chef, not once or twice but three times in a row! Anyone would feel offended by that and he could now understand why Berry threw away all the food.
He placed his hands on either side of Berry's shoulder and turned him around to face him. Berry had his head lowered and his eyes were fixed to the floor while his fingers kept twitching. Stuart could tell how nervous he was so he tried to be as gentle as possible. "Look at me Berry", he called softly and Berry raised his head a bit but didn't dare look at Stuart's face.
"Your food isn't bad or anything like that, it's just that… I have a bad habit of not tasting food while I eat so please understand that the problem is from me. Besides, you have received praises from other people, the whole world, my opinion shouldn't matter".
"Your opinion is all I need Stuart", Berry said after mustering the courage to look up at Stuart. He saw the surprise on Stuart's face and the emotions swirling in his eyes and he realised that he had said something he should not have said.
Stuart chuckled, "You speak as though you became a chef just for me".
Berry shrugged, "You never know". He mumbled. Stuart's light laughter sounded again which made Berry pursed his lips feeling like he was not taken seriously, "Forget it!"
"Wait!" Stuart shouted after Berry when the man stood up and began to walk away. He pulled him back by the arm but the force he applied was too much which means that when he pulled Berry, they both fell into the freezing pool with a large splash.
"Ahhh!" Berry yelled at the top of his lungs and quickly wrapped his hands and legs around Stuart to keep him from drowning. He did not know how to swim and didn't like it either.
Stuart, who had just found a human octopus in his pool, laughed at the horrified scream that came out of Berry. He could not see Berry's face since he had it buried in his neck but he could very well picture his expression.
Without wasting time, he swam back to the edge of the pool with Berry still clinging to him. "Get off!" Said Stuart when he noticed that Berry was still clinging to him even after they got to dry land. Instead of doing as asked, Berry tightened his hands around Stuart's neck and his legs around Stuart's waist. His stubbornness was evident from his action so Stuart tried to shake him off but he soon realised that this octopus was stronger than he thought.
"Come down Berry", Stuart gave up and sighed tiredly. Berry moved a little, leaning back just enough to see Stuart's face that bore a mixture of tiredness and playfulness. That was all he needed, as long as Stuart wasn't angry, he wasn't giving up.
This may be his only chance to act like this with Stuart and now that he had this opportunity, he would be foolish to let it pass by.
"No! I am too tired to stand on my own so you have to carry me!" Stuart would have facepalmed if his hands weren't wrapped around Berry's back though he was yet to realize it.
"I will drop you in the water if you don't come down!" Stuart said seriously though his voice carried a hint of lightheartedness. He knew that Berry was being stubborn for fun and he found himself indulging him. He couldn't help it. It had been too long since he was in an atmosphere like this one.
" Stuart Garnett, you are such a bully! How can you threaten me like that?" Berry gasped, pursing his lips and feigning anger which Stuart found very cute especially when he puffed his cheeks just to show how upset he was.
"I will bully you even more if you don't come down this minute", Stuart said and Berry gasped drastically while holding one of his hands to his chest. He suddenly leaned forward, his head falling on Stuart's shoulder and bit him on his neck. "You naughty man!"
Stuart yelled while grabbing a fistful of Berry's hair to pull him back but the man was as stubborn as a child if not worse.
When he realised that their banter would get them nowhere, he gave up and carried Berry all the way to his room. Berry comfortably nestled his head in Stuart's neck, the tip of his nose running up and down the skin of his neck and whispered, "Careful not to drop me. I'm fragile".
Stuart scoffed but said nothing until they reached his room. He practically had to beg Berry to come down and change out of his wet clothes and put on some new ones.
After a long and satisfying while of enjoying the tender care of Stuart, Berry reluctantly agreed to come down. He was tempted to climb back up when his feet touched the ground but Stuart was quick to react and stepped back immediately.
He pursed his lips and started to undo the button of his clothes right in front of Stuart who was gaping and trying his best to avert his eyes. Stuart's expression made him grin and he stepped closer to him only to be stopped by Stuart's outstretched hand, creating a distance of an arm's length between them.
Berry's breath caught and the light in his eyes disappeared when that hand was placed between them. He felt like he had just been pushed far away again after coming so close.
Stuart felt that he had to make things clear to Berry first so that things like this would not happen next time. He was having fun and so was Berry but he didn't want Berry to think that he had a chance at him or anything of that sort.
Without minding that Berry still had his wet clothes on, he led him to sit on the bed and he sat down beside him. "I need you to understand that we can only be friends. I will treat you as a friend and I expect you to do the same. I'm sorry but if you can't do that, I'm afraid that I would not want to see you again".