Fates Between Us

Chapter 6 - Ashes

"What's left to do with these broken pieces on the floor?

I'm losing my voice calling on you"...

***

"And do you, Tul Pakorn, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." Tul said, his eyes glowing with joy, staring into the eyes of the man he loved.

"And now, I pronounce you husband and husband," the wedding officiant stated, and Tul pulled Max into a deep and tender kiss, the first kiss of their married life. They smiled on each other's lips and parted reluctantly, gazing into each other's eyes, knowing they were going to love each other until 'death do us part'.

Tul had bought Max a ring since forever ago, and then had been eating himself up overthinking whether Max would like the ring or not, daydreaming his proposal to him, how to do it, when to do it, where to do it.

Until one day, he had come back home to see Max getting down on one knee, surrounded by roses and candles, holding a beautiful ring in his hands. Max had beaten him to proposing.

That was when the realization had hit Tul: There was no place better than the home they shared, and no time better than each moment they spent together.

The feeling of Max clasping his hands pulled him out of his memories. They started walking down the aisle together, showing off their sustainable love to all the guests at the wedding. Pink lilies had spread their fragrant scent all over the wedding hall, adding a sense of sweetness to the wonderful ceremony.

Even though they had to go back to work after their magical honeymoon, the blissful feeling still echoed throughout their daily lives, lighting up their days. It felt like they truly got their happily ever after.

In the next three months, Max had been trying to take a break from going on missions all the time, taking over most of the paperwork at the office and only occasional on-field missions. Tul, however, had a busy schedule since the new semester had just started. But even being a university professor didn't stop him from managing his time in a way that allowed him to spend an acceptable amount of hours with his loving husband, although not even all the time in the universe seemed enough for the two of them.

"Max? Max?" Tul shouted from across the house, but Max seemed not to hear him. He walked upstairs as he kept calling.

"Here. I'm in the bedroom." He finally heard Max's voice when he got to the bedroom door, seeing Max half naked and hunched over while looking for something in the closet.

"What are you doing, babe?" Tul asked.

"I'm looking for something to wear tonight. But I can't quite find what I have in mind." Tul could hear Max's muffled reply through the clothes.

"Tonight?" Tul suddenly remembered. "Holy shit, it's tonight!"

"Don't tell me you forgot," Max turned around and answered him with his head finally out of the closet, resting his hands on his hips, looking quite disappointed. He had every right to be though: Max had been excited about this event for so long, ranting about it non-stop.

The event he was preparing for was a big welcome-back party for one of the highest deputy chiefs in their department. So, as usual, the officers at Max's workplace were holding a big party, and almost everyone was invited. Even though Max had been to a lot of those parties before, this one had a special meaning to him: it was the first time he could show off his husband to his co-workers, and Tul knew exactly how excited he was about it.