Boss with Benefits

Chapter 5 - Renewed Dreams

Author's note:

Heya! Before you read on, I want to give you a small warning that this chapter discusses the topic of sexual assault. It's not too much but I still think it warrants a warning as it may potentially be triggering for some.

If at any point you need to take a break from it, please do <3 Be safe while reading!

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Humans lie.

That is their nature, whether it is for the greater goods or not. Lies have given life to many tragedies, had driven even the most resilient souls to tears, but in the same breath, they had also brought happiness for many, shielded away from the truth that hurts like salt on a fresh wound, like acid down your throat, the acid of painful reality that sizzles in the teeth-gritting agony as it burns every vein in your body like a roaring wildfire. Burns everything in its away. Burns everything you have left in you. Burns every hopes and dreams inside your heart as if it's a photo of a person that's no longer in your life, as if it's an old book you once read together with a loved one you've lost with the memories too painful to hold onto.

For Vincent, that lie was the happily-ever-after he was sold.

Ever since the discovery of him being an omega, meeting his future fated mate was all his parents could gush about, daydreaming about the day his eyes locked with that "one special person" of his life, the ever so highly sought after love at first sight which was the beginning of so many beautiful love stories, so many happy endings that put even the most tear-jerking romance movies to shame, the endings warmer than the spring sunshine on your skin, more stunning than the most beautiful bouquet of roses that he would see his father giving his mother on days as random as a Tuesday afternoon, and the endings that would promise only blooming love that just kept growing more strongly as time passed.

So why did that ending never arrive for Vincent?

So why was it that, every time there was a tender hand guiding his own down a rose-tinted path lined with sweet whispers as soft as how each petal graced his skin, guiding his body close to their chest to exchange all the dreams they would love to include Vincent in, before giving him a good spin disguised as a lover dance that would result in one final push, landing him down the cruel ocean as chilling as the realization that it was all a lie?

It all started with his first love, with that one boy from middle school that would pass by him at his locker, making his head turn his way every time his presence was near. If "just know it" was his signal, it was definitely the tiny butterfly in his chest that would float gently as his eyes followed that boy until he was out of his sight.

"This must be it," that was what Vincent told himself until that boy looked away apologetically, mumbling how their feelings did not align with one another.

It hurt, but it was just his first crush so there was still hope, right? That was when his second crush turned first boyfriend came into his ongoing storybook that had only just begun. From the first look they shared in their Math class during their second year of high school, Vincent found it again, that same skip of the heart whenever he caught him staring at him, that same thrilling excitement for what was in store for their future, the thrill that was doubled when that cute boy with a winsome smile shared the same feelings.

"This has to be it," Vincent's heart smiled fondly until one day, that smile got turned upside down just like his world when one day, their breakup came like thunder striking the tree you had run under for shelter. A bitter breakup that neither of them saw coming, one so sudden it was as violent like a tsunami, both of them would love to label it as that, not willing to admit that they had been too in denial to notice the strong waves signaling the fading of the initial feelings that joined them in the first place.