Feigned Marriage

chapter 6

Prapai's POV

I pause at the sound of sky's voice and lean back against phayu's bedroom door, my eyes falling closed. Who am I kidding? I came here because I knew this is where I'd find him, and not because I wanted to speak to my brother.

"I'm worried I won't be able to change his mind," sky says. "With just a few days left, my anxiety is off the charts. If James doesn't show up on his wedding day, I'll be the one getting married."

"Would that really be so bad?" phayu replies.
My heart races as I wait for sky's answer, but all that follows is silence. I brace myself and straighten my spine before knocking on phayu's door. The door opens, and my brother eyes widen when he sees me standing here.

I can count the amount of times I have been here on one hand. Being forced to live so close together meant that my siblings and I are very protective of our privacy, and normally I would never breach our unspoken rule of respecting each other's private space when we aren't in communal areas.

Today, however, is an exception. I'm not here for phayu. I'm here for sky.
I look past my brother into hazel eyes that carry a hint of agony.

"Sky, can I speak to you for a moment?"
He hesitates, but then he nods and rises from his seated position on my brother's bed. He walks up to me. Even when he looks this distraught, he's beautiful.

"Follow me."
He falls into step with me as I lead him to my house. "Where are we going?" he asks, his voice soft.

"My place."
It's strange to think that sky might soon be living there with me. Neither of us wants this, but with each passing day it's becoming more and more clear to me that this is inevitable.

Sky is quiet as he follows me down the long hallway that connects phayu's house to the main house. Perhaps it would have been better to take him to the main living room, but I'm not certain our conversation would be private there.

I lead him to my home, suddenly seeing it through fresh eyes. James designed and decorated most of this throughout the years, both of us expecting to live here together someday. I wonder what sky thinks of it. Does he like the monochrome theme james went with? I can't imagine what it must be like to even entertain the thought of having to live your brothers life.

"Can I offer you a drink?" I ask as he sits down on my white leather sofa, the same one he and I fell asleep on just a few weeks ago.

Sky shakes his head and looks up at me questioningly. "I'm okay," he says. "What is it you want to talk about?"

I sit down next to him and turn to face him. "You know exactly what I need to talk to you about, sky. We can neither avoid nor ignore this for much longer."

He looks down, trying his best to hide his distress from me. "P'pai," he whispers, his voice breaking.

I can't stand seeing that torment in his demeanor. I hate knowing that I played a role in the pain he's feeling, and it kills me to know that from here on out, I will only break his heart more.

"I'll speak to him," he promises, but I shake my head and grab his hand.

"You know that won't make a difference. Don't you think I've tried?"
His eyes drop to our joined hands and he pulls his hand out of mine, cradling it as though he can't bear my touch.

"We have to try again," he tells me. Sky lifts his face to look at me, and his expression guts me. He looks so hopeless, so heartbroken. Does the thought of marrying me hurt that much?

"Cupcake," I whisper. "We are out of time and out of options. I know this isn't what you want, and never in a million years did I expect we would find ourselves in this situation... But here we are.Neither one of us can walk away from this, so aren't we better off facing this together?"