Risk It All For You (Thoma x Ayato)

Chapter 8: It was a mistake

Days had passed since the festival. Time seemed to go by faster, many things had happened between that time yet Ayato can barely remember it all. Everything got pushed back and all he could think about was his time with Thoma. Eventually the halfway point came along, he was going to host another party to celebrate the progress made thus far.

"Ayato are you ready?" Ayaka asked.

"Yes I'll be out in a moment" Ayato responded.

He finished up and took a look at himself in the mirror. The big day is coming closer every day he thought, he'll have to choose. After a small pep talk with himself he left to the party. Everyone arrived around the same time, this party was much more celebratory than the previous so everyone was much more cheerful. As always Ayato gave a small speech.

"Good evening everyone, I'm proud to announce we are halfway there everyone, only so much time is left before I choose one of you lovely ladies to be my wife" Ayato announced.

He had gotten much more used to speaking but he still had an uncertainty to is words.

"There's not much else to say other than just have a fun time everyone!" Ayato exclaimed. 

Everyone cheered and like that the party officially begun. Unlike the previous party, alcohol was present and so Beidou made it her mission to get everyone involved.

"C'mon we're here to have fun, it's ok to let loose just for tonight" Beidou said

"Well you do have a point, normally I don't get too involved with alcohol but tonight is special" Ayato responded.

He took the glass from Beidou and begun to down in. Everyone was having a great time and cheering. While Ayato hung around the women, Ayaka and Thoma were having a small conversation of their own.

"Thoma I hope you don't mind but I'm gonna go off with Kokomi, if anyone asks we'll be in that room over there" Ayaka said.

"Sure no problem, have fun" Thoma replied.

Thoma was now alone. Thoma has also been feeling strange ever since the festival, he had been so confused every since the beginning, but now he was alone with his thoughts again, able to think of what to do next.

"Alright alright, I know we're having such a fun time but I gotta go to the bathroom, I'll be right back" Ayato said.

He was now starting to feel drunk, he stumbled his around and made it to the bathroom. While he was gone, Beidou found Thoma alone.

"Hey uh Thoma, what are you doing here alone, why don't you have a little fun and take a sip" Beidou said.

"Ah no thank you, I'm not a big fan of drinking" Thoma said politely.

"C'mon, you're from Mondstadt and you don't like to drink?" Beidou asked.

"Yeah it's a little funny" Thoma replied.

"Just have a little, you gotta let loose and have a little fun" Beidou said.

Thoma thought about it for a moment before you took the drink from Beidou.

"Well I guess there isn't much harm" Thoma said.

Before he knew it, Thoma was being encouraged to chug down several bottles. The crowd built around shouting chug chug chug, and so he did. He got wasted pretty easily and was now very unstable. He barely understood his environment before someone grabbed onto him and led him away.

Ayato finally made his way out of the bathroom, he had gotten into a conversation with his own reflection. He made his way back to where he was before only to realize the group had dispersed. He walked around eventually finding Kujou Sara.

"Hey guys what's going on?" Ayato asked.

"Oh there you are, you missed it just now, Thoma was out here chugging down all these bottles here" Kujou Sara replied.

Ayato looked over to the counter were there were several empty bottles.

"That sounds crazy, speaking of Thoma, do you know where he went I wanna say hi" Ayato said.

"Oh yea he went over there I think" She responded pointing down a hallway.

"Thank you, have a great time" Ayato replied.

He made his way down the hall looking through all the rooms.

"Whoopsies, I really gotta stop running into you guys like this" Ayato said.

He had once again walked in on Ayaka and Kokomi together. This time he wasn't as embarrassed so he just simply shut the door and continued on. Eventually he made his way to the last door and opened it.

"Oh Thoma I know you're in this one, what ar-" 

Ayato stopped mid sentence once he saw the scene before him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the room was Thoma making out with one of the candidates. He stood there in shock until eventually the candidate noticed him there. As she did, Ayato left.

"Huh what's going on? Why is the door open? When was there a door? Who are you?" Thoma questioned. 

He was far too drunk to realize what was happening. Ayato went back to the room with Ayaka and Kokomi.

"Ayaka, tell everyone the party is over, I'm heading right now" Ayato explained.

He didn't give Ayaka a chance to question him at all. He made his way home as quickly as possible.

"What happened to him?" Kokomi asked.

"I have no idea, but I guess the party is over. Let's go tell everyone" Ayaka responded.

She left the room and found where everyone was.

"Excuse me everybody, I'm sorry to say this but the party has been cancelled for the rest of the night" Ayaka announced, "Ayato had to leave early so this is the end for tonight, please make your way home and once again I'm sorry."

People were visibly upset but all began to leave. As the guests began to leave, Thoma stumbled his way over to Ayaka.

"Thoma? What happened to you? Your clothes are all messed up and you can barely stand" Ayaka said.

"I like dogs" Thoma responded.

"He's very clearly drunk" Kokomi said.

Ayaka lifted Thoma onto a chair and sat him back.

"Thoma can you understand me? Do you know what happened to Ayato?" She questioned.

He was too wasted to answer anything anyone said. One of the last guests to leave was the candidate Thoma was with. Before she left she walked over to him and whispered in his ear, then she gave him a little wink and wave goodbye. She seemed to be very drunk as well, but from that interaction Ayaka was able to piece things together.

"Oh dear, we need to get home" Ayaka said, "I'm so sorry Kokomi"

"No worries, I understand, have a nice night" Kokomi replied.

Ayaka lifted Thoma and guided him home. 

"Thoma I hope what I think didn't happen, I need to find Ayato and get the full story" Ayaka said.

It was useless talking to Thoma though, nothing he said made sense. Meanwhile, Ayato was already at the estate, he collapsed onto the floor. He was drunk but was still sober enough to understand his surrounding. He stood there for a moment on his knees with a blank stare. Tears began to form, but they didn't form for the reason he would have expected. For some reason he couldn't care for the fact that one of his candidates was having an affair, he was more focused on the part that it was Thoma.

Ayato continued to cry to himself, eventually the crying tired him out and he fell asleep. He hoped that he would wake up to realize it had been a dream. Well for him, more like a nightmare.