From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

61. Family

"Hia" Prem wrapped both of them inside a blanket.

Boun was curled up into a foetus shape trembling slightly. Prem understood that the whole matter had something to do with Boun watching the clip.

He pressed himself against Boun's back, hugging him. He patted him slowly and whispered "Hia, I am here with you. You are not alone."

Boun turned around with teary eyes. Prem used his thumb to wipe his tears away. He placed a peck on Boun's cheeks and pressed his forehead against Boun's "Everything's fine. You are not alone."

"But you will leave." Prem heard Boun talk in a small broken voice.

"Who said that I will leave? I will never leave you." Prem spoke gently.

"No, you will leave. You will leave me and go back to someone else. You will also leave me as everyone else did." Boun wept.

"No, I won't. I will always stay by your side." Prem was trying to reassure Boun.

"You will leave when your sympathy fades away. You will and I know it."

Prem felt his heart ache to see Boun being so vulnerable.

"Hia, I promise that I will be there with you always." Prem was holding back his tears.

"Promises are easily broken, Prem."

"Hia, I swear that I will not break the promise I made to you. Your Pao will always be right next to you whenever you need." Prem kissed Boun's hands softly.

"Really?" Boun looked at Prem with expectant eyes.

"Yeah." Prem nodded.

"If you really cared about me, then why didn't you talk to me?" Boun asked.

Prem didn't speak.

"Why didn't you speak to me when we met again? I admit that I made a mistake. But if you really cared about me, then why didn't you come to speak to me? Why didn't you scold me for leaving you? Why didn't you try to patch up with me? Why didn't you yell at me for being an idiot who doesn't understand anything?" Boun's voice cracked as he spoke.

Prem felt a lump in his throat listening to Boun's questions. In any other situation, he would have argued back. But now he had no words.

"You never cared. Prem, you never did. I might have been wrong to leave without a word but you didn't do right either. You could have and should have stopped me that day if you actually cared. But you didn't. you didn't even bother to confront me."

"Do you have any idea, how happy I was when I saw you again? I was a coward who badly wanted to talk to you but was afraid to approach you. You kept distancing yourself from me. I kept trying to get you to talk to me and kept pushing me away. And when we finally got some time to spend together outside work, you left me in the mall for your ex-girlfriend." Boun was breaking down.

"Hia, she is just a friend. Like how you and Xiaoman are." Prem cupped Boun's face.

"No, she and Xiaoman are not the same. They are different. They are very different. I never loved Fu Xiaoman or any other person I slept with. But, you loved her. Sammy told me you have loved since you were ten. You have dated her for three long years. How can she be the same?" Small hiccups were interrupting Boun's speech every now and then. "You still care for her. You even told me that you slept with her and she was better than me."

"I said that because I was mad at you for not apologizing to me after leaving me behind. I really didn't sleep with her and I don't love her anymore. You are the only person I sleep with. You are the only person I care for." Prem looked straight into Boun's doe eyes that had turned red from crying.

"I don't believe you. I don't want to believe you. Everyone whom I thought would stay with me left me when I needed them the most. My mom-dad, my whole family abandoned me. I don't know why expected you, a stranger whom I had known only for a few months to actually care for me."

"Hia..."

"Don't do this Prem. Don't give me hope. You know what I am like an abandoned stray dog. A stray dog that waves its tail at anyone who shows a little bit of affection, hoping that they would take me home. But no one does. No one wants to take me home, Prem. No one. Everyone just throws some food at me or plays with me for a while and then washes their hands off feeling dirty before going on with their own lives. Nobody cares about the stray dog they left behind. No one thinks that the dog is still waiting for them to come, at the same spot they left it."

"No, Hia. You are not a street dog. You are the most adorable and lovable person I know. Who said that no one wants to take you home? I want to. I want to build a home with you. We can build it together. Let's adopt a golden retriever like you and a Khao Manee like me. Four of us will be a family." Prem hugged Boun tightly.

"Really?" Boun sniffed.

"Of course." Prem smiled when he realised that Boun had stopped crying.

"Then, will you move my place?" Boun asked.

"Huh?"

"I asked, will you move to my place. Don't families stay together?" Boun blinked innocently.

"Ah... sure why not?" Prem didn't understand how Boun suddenly went from blaming him for their fight to asking him to move in with him.

"My place is bigger and has a lot of empty space. When we adopt our kids, they can have rooms on their own."

At this point, Prem was really lost 'Kids? Which kids? Who said about adopting kids?'

"There is a pet shop near my place. Aren't we free tomorrow? We can go check it out."

Prem finally understood that the kids Boun was talking about, were the pets he mentioned. He nodded in agreement.

"What do you think we should name them?" Boun repositioned himself leaning against Prem's chest fiddling with Prem's fingers.

"Ah...that... I don't know... maybe we should wait." Prem said getting used to Boun's sudden change of attitude.

"Wait? Why?" Boun's fingers that were playing an intervening game with Prem's paused.

"I think we should wait till we meet them. Maybe when we meet them and see their unique traits we might come up with a name?" Prem suggested.

"Why didn't I think of that? Pao, I am sure that you are going to be a great Papa for our kids." Boun smiled brightly.

Prem was feeling pretty proud of himself, not because of the compliment he got, but because of the fact that he was able to make Boun smile so brightly.