Tay and New

Love like the Flowing Sea

Something heavy landed on Tay's stomach jolting him from his sleep. He sat upright blearily and looked for the object that interrupted his peaceful slumber. He found himself staring eye-to-eye with a black and white cat who was looking back at him with an unimpressed look.

"Mimi is  shy" Tay looked at the source of the familiar voice. New was sitting at a beanie on the far right of the bed. He was looking intensely at Tay making the latter conscious. He pooled the blanket closer to himself and diverted his gaze to the cat who  settled herself comfortably on his lap.

"I think she's planning to kill me" he mumbled under his breath.

"Why are you here?" New asked pointedly. He has been watching the older man sleep for two hours like a creep but it was still not enough. He missed Tay a lot. The moment he saw his best friend at the other side of their door, he almost leapt out of happiness. If only the Tay did not rush to the toilet, New  would have hugged him until his loneliness from not seeing him for the past three days could be compensated.

Tay looked at New accusingly, "You stopped talking to me after our argument that night. You did not answer my calls and messages. I even went to your house but you weren't there, or were you?" Tay aimed to hurt so he was disappointed when he sounded more like a sulking child.

New joined Tay in bed. He sat side by side with the older man but made sure to keep a significant distance as he leaned back on the headboard.

"I was confused" New stated frankly "It wasn't the first time that I got jealous of the other people you spent time with but, even when others have said it before, it has never occurred to me until after  you confessed that maybe it was because I was in love with you...and not in a best friend kind of way"

Tay looked at New in a quick motion that he swore a ligament in his neck got torn off.

"WHAT?" Tay exclaimed so loudly that Mimi spared a glance at both her human and at the strange man before settling back on the said strange man's lap like an expert traitor.

New met Tay's gaze "I was stupid. I have no reasonable explanation for why I ran away other than I got scared" New swung his legs to the edge of the bed, his back now facing Tay who was still shocked by the younger's straightforward way of revealing his feelings.

"Maybe I love you Tay" New whispered. A few seconds ago, he was still feeling brazen after spending two hours of looking at Tay's sleeping form and contemplating what his next move should be but when the words he's been keeping for the past days left him so did his confidence.

"It's unfair that I'm putting you through this again especially when you have taken so many steps to reach me. At this point it should be my turn to meet you halfway. But I can't"

Tay scooted closer to New and rested his head on the other's back in a reassuring gesture, "I get it already. Stop with those poetic words because they don't suit you"

"It's just that I've been nothing but a burden to you these days" New stubbornly added to his personal list of faults.

"Well, Stop. Running. Away." Tay punctuated every word by bumping his head on New's back "Having you beside me will be a big help"  He truly missed the brat.

"To be loved by you is the best present that I have ever received and I want to treasure that. I don't know what the future will hold for us New, but I promise that I will always be here with you wherever the tides of time take us." Tay choked back his tears. He has perpetually readied himself for the pain of rejection that he was unprepared for the ecstasy that New's words brought.

"Love, let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls" New quoted a passage in the book he saw on Tay's shelf. Tay nodded smiling.

"And if you're worried about us being boyfriends then stop that thought because I will never force you into a relationship when you're not ready. It's just a label after all" Tay hugged New from behind "For now, let's focus on our feelings"

New leaned back into Tay's embrace, "I love you Tay. I really love you."

Tay laughed "I love you too New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun"

Mimi hissed as her claws dug deeper into the blanket. Insolent fool! How dare he try to mate with my human.

(I just love listening to how Tay pronounce New's full name in the videos I've seen. I repeat those parts countless of times.)