To The Moon, For You. [BL | TIWSON/POR]

9. Warmth

Jorn walked beside Por and guided him back to his apartment. Bangkok was strangely quiet at night. The streets were empty, the food carts had gone home and the only thing left were the bags of garbage teeming the sidewalks in a neat row. Por could hear the squeaking of rats ravaging through the garbage for their late-night snack. They scared Por as he clung to Jorn. Jorn laughed and pushed him to the front so he could be behind him. This is how Jorn protected him from the rats. But what if they attacked from the front Por asked. Jorn shrugged his shoulders and told him that they won't. His aura was enough to protect him from them. Por looked at the watch. 2 a.m. It's late. On the Moon, he would be asleep by 10 p.m. He lets out a yawn. Jorn noticed how tired Por was and told him that they were almost home. They took a left turn and arrived at Jorn's apartment. They climbed up five flights of stairs and Jorn took out his key and opened the door. 

"Why did you let me stay here?"

"Well...."

"Be honest."

"I need the money."

"Why?"

"Well..."

"Tell me."

"My family business just failed. I need the money to pay for the school fees. Go shower."

Por realised that Jorn would not answer any more of his questions took his clothes and went into the bathroom. It was then that the loneliness kicked in. He missed his bathroom on the Moon. He missed his bed. He missed everything that was familiar to him and most of all he missed Nat. But yet, he was starting to realise that the Earth wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. There were nice people on Earth he thought to himself. He looked at the watch and begin toggling with the buttons. He wasn't sure what he pressed but then the screen showed 5% data collected. So, another 95% more before he can go home. Just another 95% more. He took a deep breath and stepped into the water. The water was cooling and it calmed him down. When he was done the lethargy hit him and he was ready to go to bed. He walked out of the bathroom to realise that Jorn was already asleep. He contemplated whether to wake him up for a shower but decided against it. He lifted the covers from the empty side of the bed tucked himself in and went to bed. When he was asleep, he dreamed of himself struggling. He was being captured by people in spacesuits. They were his people. Why would they capture him? He was screaming, struggling and kicking but it was no use. Their grip tightens against him. One on each arm. Two others floated behind for backup in case he attempted to flee. Just as he was losing all hopes of running away, he saw a figure floating cautiously. He crept up to the backups and zapped them with some sort of laser. They started falling like withered leaves. One of the space people holding his arm dashed towards him while the other started calling for more backup. The mysterious figure and the space person started fighting each other and the fight came closer and closer to Por.

"Tiwson."

That mysterious figure was Tiwson. Por tried to wriggle himself free but the person gripped him even harder. At that moment, the backups came and one of them knocked Tiwson out with a single blow. Tiwson started falling like withered leaves. Por screamed.

"Por? Por?"

Por woke up startled. He saw Jorn looking at him an expression of worry painted across his face.

"Are you ok?"

"Just a bad dream."

Jorn got him a cup of water and Por drank thirstily. Por tucked his knees and curled himself up into a ball. Jorn sat beside him. Tears started streaming down Por's face. Por wiped the tears from his face.

"Why are you crying?"

"I just feel so sad."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure what I'm doing here. I'm not sure what I feel about anything anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I would hate being here. But I don't think I do. People are nice here, I feel warm."

"Is home not warm?"

"Not really. But home is still home, right? I am not sure if I am homesick or just confused. Cause I thought I would hate it here and I don't."

"Do you need a hug?"

Por nodded and Jorn hugged him tightly. Por placed his head lightly on his shoulder and started crying even more.

"You don't need to understand everything now. The answers will come."

They hugged for a long while. Jorn then asked if Por would like to go back to sleep. Por tired from all the crying laid down and Jorn tucked him in. Jorn watched as Por closed his eyes before falling asleep himself.