The Man He Chose

Chapter 5

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

Cooheart dropped down and crouched beside Santa when he saw Santa breaking into sobs, his shoulders shaking, his chest heaving.

"Hey, hey, sweetheart," Cooheart said, running his hand up and down Santa's back. "I'm not going to leave you. Just because Kao came back from Japan doesn't mean we're getting back together again. For all I know he's married to his fashion model girlfriend now."

"I don't know what to say," Santa said, still sobbing. "I'm so tired, Cooheart, my heart is so tired. I don't know how much longer of this I can take. Maybe I should leave for a while and take some much needed rest from all my pain and confusion."

"No, Santa, please! Please don't leave me. This is the time when I need your emotional support the most!" Cooheart pleaded with Santa.

"And do you think that I don't need emotional support myself, huh?" Santa shot back at Cooheart. "Do you know how it feels living with the fear that any time you might decide to go back to either Title or Kao?"

"I promise you, I won't leave you for anyone of them, cross my heart, hope to die," Cooheart said solemnly, gripping Santa's upper arms. "Come, let's go have dinner. I'm so hungry, what did you cook for dinner?"

Santa stood up from the floor and wiped his tears away from his face. He had to trust in Cooheart's promise. That was all he could do. And if ever Cooheart did not keep his promise,  Santa felt that only he, Santa, was to blame. He had come into this relationship with his eyes wide open. In fact, he was the one who had kept on chasing Cooheart and had never stopped until he was able to wear him down and Cooheart had reluctantly agreed to be his boyfriend.

And aside from that, Cooheart had always been open and honest with him, revealing to him his past relationships and making him aware that he was still in touch with Title's mom because she was like a second mother to him.

Those confessions did not stop Santa from pursuing Cooheart anyway. He had told himself that he was going to cross his bridge when he came to it.

"I cooked your favorite seafood dish," Santa said, walking to the kitchen.

"Ooohhh, teriyaki salmon!" Cooheart exclaimed happily, clapping his hands, a big smile on his face replacing the stricken look that he had when he first came int through the front door.

Cooheart laid out the plates and utensils on the table while Santa started to pour the squash soup into two bowls. setting them beside the plates. Then Santa transferred a teriyaki salmon fillet on Cooheart's plate and surrounded it with mixed vegetables. He did the same with his own plate.

"Guava juice or mango juice?" Cooheart asked as he opened the fridge door.

"Mango, please," Santa replied.

Over dinner they talked about everything else except Cooheart's hospital incident. Neither one of them wanted to mention Title or Kao.

"That was the best dinner I had in my whole life," Cooheart said. "Thank you for cooking it for me. Why don't you relax in the living room while I take care of clearing the table and washing the dishes."

"If you insist," Santa said, happy for the chance to rest his tired mind and body in the living room.

Cooheart noticed that Santa did not go to the living room right away. Instead he walked over to the refrigerator to take out a six pack of beer.

"Are you planning to drink all of those tonight?" Cooheart raised an eyebrow at Santa.

"C'mon, Cooheart, it's a Saturday night," Santa said.

"I was just asking," Cooheart replied, his tone sounding somewhat defensive. "I'm not stopping you from drinking to your heart's content."

Cooheart always preferred to wash pots and pans and dishes by hand even though they had a washing machine installed in their kitchen. By the time he finished washing every single pot and pan and plate and fork and drinking glasses Santa was on his last can of beer.

When Cooheart walked into the living room, Santa was looking at him through glazed eyes.

Santa stood up from the couch on unsteady feet.

"You are going to have a hangover headache in the morning," Cooheart scolded him as he watched Santa walk unsteadily towards the bedroom.

Cooheart followed him inside, taking off his shirt and pants with the intention of taking a shower. With only his briefs on, he started walking towards the bathroom.

He did not hear Santa's footsteps behind him. Before he realized what was happening, he felt Santa sweeping him off his feet and carrying him to their bed.