Crushes Fade, Love Stays

Reunion of Friends

"Oh, Zon! Hi! You're here early," Tutor greeted after seeing him enter the bar. He checked his watch. "Weren't you told to come for 7pm? It's only 5:30pm."

Zon awkwardly strode over knowing he was far too early with no suitable excuse. He'd come straight over after finishing his shift at the cat cafe. As he'd been panicking about the gathering all day, he knew if he went home there was a chance he might chicken out of coming.

"Thought I'd see if there was anything I could help with," replied Zon. "After all, you didn't skimp on my payment for the other night. I was surprised checking my account."

"I felt bad. You fell and hurt yourself while helping out so I paid a little extra. Aren't I a generous friend?"

"Says the one who was more worried about property damage than my well being," said Zon with an eye roll.

"Ssshh! You two are being loud," said Fighter softly as he appeared from behind the bar. "Did you forget someone is sleeping?"

Tutor raised his hand to his mouth. "Ah, I forgot! Zon, we can go talk in the kitchen," he said quietly. He pointed over to a booth where legs were hanging over the side before putting his finger to his lips. "Come on."

Once in the kitchen Zon asked, "Who's sleeping out there?" He found it unusual for Fighter and Tutor to be so considerate to someone taking a nap. Especially in their workplace.

"Saifah had a 5AM start so he's getting some rest before tonight," replied Tutor. "He came here straight from work. Saying if he went home he would sleep and miss it."

Zon frowned. "Why did he agree to tonight if he knew he would be exhausted?"

Tutor laughed, "He didn't want to, but Junior, Tanthai and Day all whined until he agreed. You know Saifah's a pushover, and it's not like he doesn't want to see everyone."

No, I didn't know that actually, thought Zon in response. "Wasn't that a bit selfish of them? Pressuring him to agree to tonight?"

"Have you forgotten what they are like already Zon?" asked Tutor with a raised brow as he leaned against the counter. "How many things did they eventually force you to do despite your resistance back in university? Tonight is a rare chance to get everyone together while they're available, so of course they were pushy."

Zon's brows furrowed at the memories. "True, Junior and Tanthai can be relentless when they choose to be."

"Anyway, there's not much for you to help with at the moment, but if you want, you can go make a playlist for tonight," suggested Tutor. "The laptop is already plugged into the system so be careful not to press play and wake our sleeping prince."

"Okay, I'll do that then," replied Zon happily. "It's over by the speakers in the corner right?"

Tutor nodded with a smile and patted Zon's shoulder before leaving to help Fighter. Zon had originally wanted to prod Tutor for more information on Saifah, but he didn't feel comfortable doing so when said person was sleeping nearby. Though at least he'd been given the perfect job. He could easily spend the next hour and a half compiling a playlist or two.

Quietly walking across to where the music system was, Zon's chest tightened in apprehension as he neared the booth Saifah was sleeping in. Zon didn't even realise he was holding his breath until he had to gasp for air. Why was he so nervous? He shook his head hoping to shake some sense into himself before stopping beside the legs hanging over the side of the bench.

The downside of being a giant, thought Zon as he looked down at Saifah's sleeping figure. He looked like a passed out drunk lying in such an uncomfortable way with his jacket barely covering him. It only took a glance at his sleeping face for Zon to know he must be exhausted. The sight tugged at Zon's heart. He wanted to drag him home and put him to bed so he could rest properly.