Something New

Chapter 18

Joss texted Beam just as promised, and they had agreed to go out for dinner the following weekend. Beam was still conflicted, but he agreed to it anyway and was going to see it through. The next evening, Beam got cornered by an angry Kit, who grabbed his arm and dragged him into an empty exam room. Beam flinched and while pulling his arm free said, "Jeez Kitty, put the claws away. What is wrong with you? That really hurt."

Kit let go of his arm, but didn't look the least bit sorry, he glared and Beam and said, "Good." Beam was looking at him like he was crazy when Kit yelled, "When the fuck were you going to tell me that you were going on a date with P'Tharn's friend? Why do I have to hear from P'Type about my best friend's dating life?" He actually looked kind of hurt and that made Beam feel bad.

Beam sighed at his friend's dramatics and said, "Kit, why would I intentionally keep it from you? I accepted to go on a date with him just yesterday. We grabbed lunch after we went and looked at a house he was interested in and he asked me." Kit's eyes looked ready to pop out of his head any minute. He disbelievingly said, "So, wait a minute, not only did you agree to go on a date with him, but you also had lunch together? AND YOU FUCKING WENT PROPERTY HUNTING?" He finished in an alarmingly high tone.

Beam flinched at that. He should have expected this reaction. He was cursing himself for blabbing and knew that he was not going to hear the end of it till he told his friend everything that happened. So, he breathed a resigned sigh and relayed everything to Kit. After listening to his story with several interruptions, Kit looked at Beam seriously and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Beam sighed and said, "I honestly don't know anymore Kit, he is funny, successful and good looking, he checks all my boxes, so I figured why not take a chance, like you always tell me to." Kit didn't know what to say to that, though he knew that Beam was jumping into something with unresolved feelings. So, he just nodded and said, "Alright. That's all I needed to know." To lighten the mood, he started asking, "So, when's the date? Where are you going? What are you going to wear..." Beam let his friend drown him in questions but couldn't be glad that he had him on his side?

The next evening, Beam had just gotten out of his evening shower when he heard a dog barking at his back door. He rushed out to see Racer there. So, he hurriedly opened the door and let him in. He immediately got on his knees to pet the enthusiastic dog and said, "Oh Racey, I missed you boy. What are you doing here?" Just then he heard someone clear their throat and he looked up.

There stood Forth with a fond smile on his face, looking way too sexy in his plain black tee. Beam stood up and thought to himself that it was not fair for someone to look that good. He felt that the universe was playing a cruel joke on him again. Meanwhile, Forth's heart was doing cartwheels and it took everything in him to not grab the gorgeous man in front of him and kiss the life out of those plump lips.

Forth licked his lips and nervously said, "So, are you going to let me in?" It was like the spell was broken as soon as he spoke, because Beam just huffed and wordlessly walked into the living room. Forth figured that was his invitation and followed Beam into the house. After a few moments of silence, Beam turned to him and asked, "So, what's your deal? I haven't heard from you in almost two weeks. Shouldn't you at least text before showing up at my door?"

Forth gave him a flirty grin and said, "Well, I wanted to see you." Like that made perfect sense. Beam just glared at him. The smile dropped off his face and he said, "You're right, I should have." And he moved closer to Beam and the latter still looked unamused. Forth took a deep breath and explained, "To be honest, I felt stupid and embarrassed of the way I acted that day. I should have just listened to you. You needed me and I acted like a jerk. I had a bad day at work, where a guy walked out on me without any notice and it was a whole mess. Not that that's an excuse for the way I acted." He quickly clarified.

Forth continued, with a sincere look on his face, "The fact is that I was frustrated with someone at work and I took it out on you and that is not fair and I'm so sorry." He moved even closer to Beam and held his hand. He said softly, "I want to be there for you Beam. And I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I might not always understand but I will empathize." He looked deep into Beam's eyes and said, "Can you trust me to do that?"

Beam's eyes looked a little teary, but he didn't say anything. So, he continued, "Can we please not let something stupid like this tear us apart? This is such a small thing." He cupped Beam's face and whispered, "I know we are stronger than this. Do you think so?" Beam still remained mute. Forth brought Beam's face close to his where they could feel each other's breath on their faces and eyes filled with sincerity, he said, "I love you, Beam Baramee Vongviphan!" And just as he was about to kiss him, Beam pushed him away gently. Forth's face dropped, Beam said, "I don't know what to say to you." Forth was getting scared, he said, "Umm, it's not that difficult."

Beam then moved further away and looked away from him when he said, "Look Forth, I met someone else. I didn't go looking for it; I didn't start it, it just happened. Forth felt his heart break into a million pieces and he almost couldn't breathe, but he gathered all his strength and remained standing, In a broken voice, he said, "Let me guess, it's that guy right, P'Tharn's friend? Is it because he's also a doctor?" Beam still couldn't meet his eyes but said, "Not just that. We happen to have a lot in common."

Forth couldn't believe this turn of events and his heart hurt. He was trying his damndest to not fall apart in front of Beam, but it was getting increasingly difficult. So, he cleared his throat and called to Racer who was still at Beam's feet, "Race, come on, let's go. We don't belong here anymore." Beam flinched at those words and walking a little closer to Forth, he said, "Forth, I did not mean to hurt you." Forth gathered all the strength in him and put on an unconvincing brave face and said, "Please, don't worry about me. It's not like we were serious right?"

Beam felt a physical tightening in his chest, when he heard those words come out of Forth and his eyes brimmed with unshed tears but Forth already had his back turned to him, so he just whispered "right..." before letting the tears fall freely. Forth nodded his head. Facing the other side, Forth's eyes were also stinging and when it got to be too much, he rushed out of there like a bat out of hell, with Racer in tow. Leaving Beam silently sobbing.

Beam felt terrible for doing that, but in the days leading up to this, he had realized that with Forth, he had crossed all his lines and lowered all his walls. He let his heart lead and his emotions get the better of him. He had decided that never again would he make those same mistakes again. He knew that he wouldn't be able to handle this kind of pain ever again.

A/N - yikes! 💀