Finding Tine Teepakorn

Chapter 30: Follow the sparks, I'll drive

"I told you I'd wait for you."

Sarawat's POV

"Go home, Tine." I repeated.

"It's not home, without you."

"Tine just please stop. I am too tired for this—"

"I am hungry, I don't want to eat alone."

Like an instinct, I turned around to face him, looking at him carefully. He looked so much more tired than he did a few hours ago. Was he literally just standing here by himself?.

"You skipped dinner?"

"May be"

I sighed, pulling the store door loudly to lock it. "Lets just go before I change my mind."

Without saying anything else, we sat down in the car together. I drove through the empty streets with just the street lights falling on us. Weirdly, it reminded me of the time in college when Tine banged his head near the bus stop. We were happy then. We were very happy back then. And may be that's where things started to go wrong for us. Now, I wasn't sure if there was a way we could make things right.

"Where do you want to eat?" I asked.

"I don't know. Wherever you want to eat."

I stared at Tine. "I thought you wanted to eat."

"Yes, I do."

"So shouldn't you know where you want to eat?"

"Ah. No. That's not how it works." Tine shook his head. I just thought we could go eat at any place on the way."

I sighed, loudly. "Tine, its almost 4 in the morning. You really thought we could just go eat anywhere we want?"

"Yeah, well, clearly, I did not think it through." He turned around, looking at the backseat. "What are all those boxes for?"

"Just go home Tine. Where should I drop you?"

"Anywhere you'll eat with me. May be some of those all-night cafes are still open?"

"Cafes don't serve food, Tine."

Tine took out his phone and started. tapping something. Different phone, seems new.

"There is a restaurant about half an hour from here, which will open at 5am. We could drive there and wait may be?"

Sarawat sighed, louder this time, making a split-second call and taking a U-turn on the road. "Fuck this. I am too tired to drive this long."

"Wait — Where are we going—"

"Shut up Tine."

5 minutes later, I had parked my car outside my building and unlocked the doors.

"We are- we are at your house, Sarawat."

"Good, at least you know where I live even though you refused to come to my apartment, ever"

"I—I did it to pro—"

"Protect me? Yes, I have heard it a million times and I am bored now, Tine." I turned to Tine. "Just so we are clear, I only drove you here because this is the closest place I could think of to give you food in the middle of the god damn night so you would finally leave me alone."

"Right..." Tine smiled

Happy, huh? He's happy, huh?

I pointed at the back seat. "And since I am being a very nice host, feeding you food when I should have thrown you out of my store, why don't you at least help me move these boxes up to my apartment?"