Under My Protection

Chapter 8

**Trigger warning for brief mention of physical and mental parental abuse** The mention is brief, but please don't read if it makes you uncomfortable.

Throwing off the covers, wiping the sleep from his eyes, Rain put his feet to the floor and smiled, thinking over the past few months. Peaceful months. Quiet months spent with Phayu. Morning breakfasts. Afternoons in the garden, reading books, or talking. Discussions about their families, their pasts. He talked about his friendship with Sky. His past bodyguards.

He listened to Phayu talk about how he became a bodyguard. His past experiences. What brought him to Rain. Listened about his family. His brother. His childhood, which had been filled with love and friends. Filled with experiences out in the world that Rain had never been allowed to have. Family picnics. Shopping at the markets. Eating at food stalls. Movies in movie theaters. Vacations at the beach. Hiking in the mountains.

But in Phayu, Rain had finally found someone who knew all his feelings, his wishes for the future, even his past. Rain had shared his childhood, happy years before things changed as he grew. Shared the ugly words his father had directed at him over the years. Even found the courage to tell him about the times his father had hit him, which had resulted in his tears and Phayu pulling him into his chest, almost painfully tight. He shared about his father's hope, or insistence, that Rain take over the business, which horrified Rain. Rain feared this above everything else. The idea of controlling others, and the violence that his father dismissed with such carelessness, becoming the entirety of his future filled Rain with a deep despair. Part of him had resigned itself to this future. But another part, a deeper part of himself, imagined fighting his father or disappearing into the world, to places his father could not find him.

Sitting on the side of his bed, Rain heard a knock at the door, surprised because Phayu did not typically knock in the morning, usually waiting for Rain to wake on his own. He slowly approached the door, equally excited to begin his day with Phayu and nervous about why someone was knocking.

Opening the door, Rain was met with the expressionless face of Channarong. Rain's stomach dropped, his brain swirling with the knowledge that he was most likely being summoned to appear before his father.

Channarong bowed slightly, looking at Rain with a mildly disgusted expression, "Master Rain, your father has requested your presence. I will wait here while you make yourself presentable. You have ten minutes."

Rain nodded and shut the door, eyeing Phayu's still face from beyond Channrong's shoulder.

Attempting to shut off his brain and hurry to get ready, Rain rushed to brush his teeth and throw on his clothes, knowing there was not enough time for a shower. He wet his hair, combing it to calm the stray hairs popping out around his head. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the sink edges and practiced calming his face. Rain knew that showing no response to his father was best, but it had been months since he'd faced him. Months of slowly allowing his brows to relax, his cheeks to soften, his smile to emerge. But, that needed to be tucked away, put back behind his wall, the one he had to somehow resurrect from the ashes. Rebuild the wall, albeit briefly, that Phayu had set fire to.

He paused at the door, focusing on his breathing. Trying, and failing, to keep his brain from conjuring all the reasons for this meeting. Had he done something wrong? Something he wasn't aware of? Or had he been doing everything right and he was being released from his exile? Had his father discovered his relationship with Phayu? Was he being sent abroad for school as a result? Rain felt the bile rise from his stomach, praying it was anything but that. He could stomach any punishment, any demand, as long as it meant he was not separated from Phayu.

Reminding himself to breathe and appear indifferent, Rain opened the door to see Channarong speaking quietly to Phayu, before both heads turned towards him. He focused on Channarong's dispassionate eyes, fighting his urge to look at Phayu, worried he would break down if their eyes met.

He followed behind Channarong through the halls and towards his parents wing of the house with Phayu trailing closely behind him. He could feel Phayu's gaze weighing heavily across the back of his neck and he knew that Phayu's mind was afire with the same worries as his.

Entering his father's study, Rain willed himself to continue breathing and not vomit on the carpet or turn to bury himself in Phayu's arms. Instead, he forced his muscles into a bow and his mouth to create one word, "Father."

"Sit down Rain," his father gestured to the chair across from his desk. The chair was hard and straight-backed, designed to allow his fathers visitors no degree of comfort when meeting with him. Rain quickly followed instructions, weaving his fingers tightly into one another to reduce his fidgeting and stop the urge to gnaw on his cuticles.

"So, I've been receiving reports regarding your behavior for the past few months since we last talked," his father started, his eyes digging deeply into Rain's own. So, he had done something wrong. But, what? He tried to course quickly through his activities but could only settle on the fear he and Phayu had been discovered. He tore his eyes from his fathers, looking down at his fingers which were turning white from the tightness of his clasp.

"Your tutor has reported good effort and progress in your studies." Wait. What? Maybe he wasn't in trouble after all. Was that praise from his father? Well, as close to praise as he'd ever received.

"Bun Ma reports you have been respectful and have been keeping neater living quarters. Channarong has reported no disturbances or unsanctioned outings." His father turned his eyes towards where Phayu stood against the wall to Rain's left.

"Phayu has reported that you have been attentive to your studies, well-mannered towards him and the staff, and have done nothing unsanctioned." Rain stiffened at the reminder that Phayu had been providing his father reports on his studies and his behavior. He quickly released his flinch, knowing that Phayu had noticed it and worrying his father would. Rain reminded himself that most of those reports were lies anyway. Based on the start to this meeting, Phayu had been reporting mostly falsehoods about how their days were spent. If his father really knew, this meeting would not have started out with loose compliments.

Rain wondered if this was the moment. The moment he'd been hoping for. When he'd be released from the prison of this house and be allowed out into the world again. His brain drifted to thoughts of him out with Phayu, away from the intrusive eyes of the house staff. However, his thoughts were abruptly stopped when his father continued.

"As a result of these positive reports, I've decided to allow you an exciting new opportunity. An opportunity to restore your damaged reputation and finally provide a positive contribution to your family"

Rain's brief moments of hope, crashed down into a pile of alarm. Opportunity? That did not sound like anything Rain would want. Anything that was truly for him. It sounded like something Rain would be doing to appease his father, whether Rain wanted to or not.

"I have been meeting with numerous associates over the last month. Associates with daughters around your age. I have decided it is time for you to develop a relationship with a daughter from an esteemed family. A relationship that would lead to a marriage with strategic advantages for our family."

Rain's body began to tremble, shaking from the horror flashing between his ears. His brain briefly left its bearings anchoring him to the discussion, floating to a place where he did not exist. This room, his father, this moment did not exist. Shaken from his detachment when his father loudly clapped his hands at him, Rain looked back up at his father despite wanting to turn and look at Phayu. What must Phayu be thinking, feeling? He imagined he'd see Phayu's face as expressionless as Channarong's. But Rain would be able to see the small tension to his cheeks, the tightness in his lips, the rigidity to his shoulders. Rain wished he could move to face Phayu and assure him he would not date someone else, would never marry someone else. But, he remained frozen, facing his father.

"I've picked two girls for you to meet but I've decided to let you pick between them. Your first date is tomorrow evening. And Rain?"

Rain nodded slightly, acknowledging his father.

"Don't disappoint me."

Notes:

I think next week we will meet the girls. We will hear Phayu's thoughts. And some smut is not far off. I'm getting closer to the moment I think it will feel write to add it.