Reflections [Complete]

Chapter 21

Arthit's POV

I stared at him for a very long time as he drifted off to sleep in my arms. His breathing having finally calmed as he began snuggling further into me to escape the chill from the cool breeze of the night. I would have moved to make him for comfortable or atleast place a blanket over him but I was afraid of waking him up. I was afraid this moment right here would come to an end.

It had taken so much for me to finally find the courage buried deep within to face the evil in his life. The night I saw Kong walk away from me I had finally reached my breaking point. Up until that moment I had been so caught up in the consequences that I hadn't allowed my emotions to focus on the source of the pain. Worrying so much about how it altered our futures that I hadn't allowed for a single moment to grieve. Wanting so badly to find a way to forget, a way to completely eradicate the event, searching desperately for some way for a future version of Kong to exist that wouldn't be affected by his past that I hadn't done the one thing I should have.

To accept it had happened. To shed a tear for the young boy that had lost his innocence and was left to deal with the consequences all alone without anyone to turn to for support. The bright, vibrant life full of potential and brilliance suddenly crashing to a halt without anyone stopping for a moment to care. So I simply sat in my car and cried. For the 18 year old Kong. And the seven years he has spent since then fearing to the live the life he should have.

And through the several tears spilled during the endless hours it became increasingly clear that it didn't matter what the Kong of tomorrow looked like, I desperately wanted to be beside him. That no matter how much I tried I wouldn't ever stop caring for him. That the tight grip he had around my heart would never lessen. And neither did I want it to. The warm glow I felt within me every single time I was the cause of the rare smile on his face spread to the point that he has become a singular point of all my emotions. So much of what I feel is connected to him.

And right now as I held him close against my chest my most primal instinct was to protect him. To keep him safe. To not let even a hint of sadness or despair come knocking on his door. But how does one protect the person you love from their past? Or let it affect their future? Our future?

It was a lesson we had yet to learn. And I am hoping Kong allows me the opportunity to walk with him as we figure how to take the next steps forward. Hoping one day he can trust me enough to share his pain and know that with me he will find only solace. And he will always be safe.

As expected the Kong of the following morning had returned to his usual self. The quiet reserve. The well concealed expressions. The distance he maintained both physically and emotionally by a thick impenetrable wall pushing the rest of the world away from himself was firmly in place again. And yet something had changed between us. Imperceptible to anyone looking in from the outside.

Somehow after baring his heart to me, even a little, just for an evening, there was a hint of transformation in him. A slight confidence when he spoke to me. He showed his annoyance when I irritated him. He chuckled when he found something funny. He called me, even if it was the middle of a workday when something excited him. And more significantly he actually complained about things. At times even that were insignificant. Like a difficult class, or a plant that died, or how he cut his finger trying to cook. And every small act of his caused my heart to grow in size, reaching the point that I felt I would burst with uncontained joy when he actually asked me to teach him how to drive.

They were such tiny details. Completely irrelevant to anyone else's life. But for Kong they were giant leaps. And I wanted to show him that I would be right there next to him. That he could trust me, no matter what direction his life took him.