You're The Reason My Heart Beats Faster

Freshman Year

The weekend before Rain is due to start his freshman year at the University, Phayu uses his leave time to off Thursday and Friday so that he can take Rain to meet his parents in Korat.

Phayu's mother has been asking for weeks, but it was the first chance that Phayu had been able to take off of work because of a big project they'd had over the last couple months. Although talented Phayu is still basically the new kid in the office so he feels he needs to work harder to prove himself.

Phayu would have taken his bike if he'd been going alone but with Rain he decided to take the Land Rover. It was a good thing he did because Rain's mother sent several presents for Phayu's parents and Phayu knew his mother would probably do the same for when they returned to Bangkok.

Rain can't help but to admire P'Phayu's parents house. P'Phayu had told him that he had helped renovate the house in Bangkok during his junior year, but this one he had designed completely himself from ground up. Rain knew the senior was proud of his work and looking at the house Rain could see why. It was beautifully designed.

P'Phayu's parents were waiting out front when they arrived. Rain was a little nervous, what if they decided he wasn't good enough for their son? He took a deep breath to still his nerves. The hardest part would be over soon.

Sensing his anxiety, P'Phayu offered Rain his hand, which Rain took gladly only letting go long enough to give P'Phayu's parents a polite wai, then grabbing it again. P'Phayu gives his hand a gentle squeeze for encouragement.

"Oh, you are adorable." P'Phayu's mother said smiling. "I can see why Phayu loves you. I insist you call me ma." Rain blushed at this and nodded.

"Are you sure you want to put up with my son? If he gets on your nerves too badly tell me and I will  chastise him for you. Call me pa." His father said, making Rain smile.

Rain couldn't help but to like P'Phayu's parents they were a lot like P'Phayu and P'Saifah. Teases, the lot of them. He was sorry to leave on Sunday but he needed to rest that night so he would be ready to start school the next day. Ma and Pa make him promise to call them often, to not study too hard, and to let them know if P'Phayu or P'Saifah were misbehaving or being mean to him.

The next day Rain finds the facility easily enough because P'Phayu had drawn him a map of the campus when Rain had admitted he was scared of getting lost. Rain spots Sky in the distance and jogs a little to catch up.

"Hi again," Rain says happily. "Ready to start?"

"Hi, Rain. As ready as I will ever be, but a little nervous." Sky admits.

"Same to be honest. At least we can be nervous together right?" Rain has decided he likes Sky and is going to be his friend. During their first class they meet Sig, Por, and Ple. Rain automatically adds them to his friend group in his mind and talks them all into having lunch together.

He's not surprised when his phone rings during lunch. P'Phayu had said he would call to see how things were going. "Hi, P'Phayu."

How is your first day so far?

"Great, you remember Sky from the stationary store, he's having lunch with me, plus there are Sig, Por, and Ple."

Nice, I am happy you are making friends. Keep up the good work, sweet boy. I will see you tonight.

"Oh great I will pick up something for dinner on my way home, later P'Phayu."

Rain only notices how quiet the table has gotten when he hangs up. Only Sky seems unaffected, continuing to eat his lunch. The other three are staring at him.

"P'Phayu? The P'Phayu?" Asks Ple excitedly.

"Um, well yes probably, he went to school here." Rain says.

"How do you know him?" Por asks wide eyed.

"He's my boyfriend." Rain says hoping that this wasn't going to cause any issues. The group looked at him with admiration though.

"Oh my god, Rain is dating the god of the architectural faculty." Sig says excitedly.

Ple giggled, "Wait until my brother hears about this. P'Som has had a crush on P'Phayu for years. I think P'Phayu has only ever thought of him as a junior though."

Some of the students from the other tables overhears their conversation and Rain becomes a minor celebrity around campus. This grows to include Sky, Sig, Por, and Ple when P'Phayu stops by to drop some paperwork off for the student council and joins the group for lunch later that week.

There is a little jealousy from a few of their seniors but most of the people in Rain's class just thinks it's cool that they are classmates with P'Phayu's boyfriend.

Rain is sort of glad when things settle down though. He has enough to deal with just getting used to being at the university and learning the basics of architecture. He wonders at P'Phayu being a campus celebrity for all 5 years that he was at the university. It must have been exhausting.

Rain is glad to have P'Phayu's rules for studying more than ever, he even shares his study methods with his friends, leaving out any mention of punishments knowing others might misunderstand. They find the timed study technique extremely useful.

Between classes, assignments, therapy, and projects. Rain finds himself busy all ready and this is only first year. He doesn't want to imagine what the next four years will look like.

Friday night are still no study date nights and Rain looks forward to having these no matter how busy they get. Sometimes they go out to dinner, sometimes they just stay home enjoying each other's company. Rain is happy either way as long as P'Phayu is with him.

Rain still sometimes has panic attacks but it helps when P'Phayu is there with him to play the 3-3-3-1 game. P'Phayu had added the one himself because it made Rain smile.

"Name three things you see" P'Phayu would say and Rain would. Followed by name three things you hear and name three things you feel.

Once Rain had answered all three questions, P'Phayu would add, "Name one thing you love good boy."

There was always only one answer to this, "You, always you."

After Rain has a major panic attack because of anxiety over a presentation near the end of his freshman year, P'Phayu comes up with the idea of doing mock presentations and recruits P'Saifah and P'Pai to help.

Rain decides to invite his friends as well. It's a good idea and they should benefit from it too.

Rain introduces the two groups, but he can't help but to frown a little at the way P'Pai looks at Sky. Rain likes P'Pai a lot, but also knows he is a major player. Rain doesn't want P'Pai to play with his friend's emotions. Sky acts tough but Rain has sometimes felt that he has emotional walls hiding a vulnerable side.

Once the group finishes with their mock presentations, P'Phayu shares tips with them of some of the things he did while making presentations. After that they all stand around chatting for a while. P'Pai heads straight to where Sky and Rain are talking.

"Hello, P'Pai." Rain says, "thank you for helping us out today."

"It's nothing, glad to help you and your friends." He looks pointedly at Sky for this last part. Rain rolls his eyes. P'Pai was definitely interested in Sky.

"Nong Sky, maybe I could have your phone number, in case you want help with anything else." P'Pai says.

"Oh, I think I have all the help I need." Sky tells him coolly walking off to talk to Sig and Por. P'Pai grins after him.

"Rain your friend is so cute." P'Pai says.

Rain sighs. If he thought P'Pai was serious he would even support him, but P'Pai is never serious about a relationship, even P'Phayu says so.

That night P'Phayu asks Rain if he wants to go on a trip during the school break. Of course Rain does.

"Finish the semester with good grades, which I know you will good boy, and I will take you anywhere you like, even if it's half way across the world.

Rain thinks his parents would probably prefer him to stay in country for now but he begins to imagine them either going to the mountains or the sea and tries to decide which he would like best.