Melted: A MaxTul AU story

Ninety-three: First and Last Loves

Author's note: Only one more chapter to go after this! I promise!

And this one is the longest chapter yet. Grab a snack and get some water.

**

Tul took a sip of his juice, trying to get himself out of the daze he was in. He felt completely confused by what he was experiencing at the moment and even what he was supposed to be feeling at the moment. He was watching his current fiancé and the woman he had assumed would be his fiancé talk animatedly to each other across the table from him.

Max and Pimchanok, or Baifern as Max called her, made various attempts to involve him in their conversation, but words wouldn't leave his mouth. Several times, Max lightly placed a hand of comfort on his leg under the table, checking in with him through his gesture and his eyes on whether he was okay. However, Tul didn't really engage. He appreciated Max's attempts and smiled sincerely at him, but he just needed a moment to figure all of this out. It wasn't until he heard his stepmother's name and a shift in Max's voice that he really started hearing what they were saying.

They had finished ordering, with Tul not remember what he had asked for at all. The waiter was completely out of ear shot, and Max leaned in a bit to say, "So, you're telling me that you got a message from Metinee Pakorn asking you to come back?"

Suddenly, Tul was able to focus again.

Pimchanok Baifern Luevisadpaibul sat back. The happy look she had upon seeing two of her favorite people faded as she thought of the message she had received and the follow-up package. She hadn't planned on talking this through so soon after her return to Thailand, but she hadn't planned on seeing Max and Tul so soon either.

She glanced worriedly at Tul. He had been so quiet. He hadn't spoken much on the walk over to the restaurant, seeming stunned, though she couldn't tell if he were more surprised that she was back or more surprised that she knew Max. She had to admit that she had been surprised, too, when she saw the news that he and Max were engaged. Tul now looked as intense as he had looked dazed before. She wasn't sure she liked that any better. His stepmother had always been bad for him.

She took a sip of her juice and began.

"At first, Metinee sent messages to me or sent people with message every 3-4 weeks or so, making sure that I knew she was having me watched and making comments about what she could do to my father's clinic. But after a year or so, she stopped contacting me, probably once she realized that I really had no intentions of coming back even when I finally made enough money to do so. "

Tul interjected, "So she knew all along where you were?" He looked pained. Max took his hand, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I wouldn't say all along," she said thoughtfully. "In the beginning, yes. She kept tabs on me, but it's not like we were corresponding. She didn't contact me at all when you . . . went away." She had paused not because she thought Tul would be embarrassed about being in rehab but because she still felt sorry to him that he had sunk so deep because of her.

She continued, "Metinee only sent one message to me when you came back, telling me that I shouldn't try to come back if I cared about your recovery—that it would probably not be good for you to see me then. I ignored it because I had no intentions of coming back anyway. I was settling into my new life there, and I wanted you to settle in to yours, too. She hasn't contacted me in years. I don't think she has kept up on any real news about me. As you can tell, I go by Baifern now in both my work and personal life. Pimnachok is used only on my marriage license and on the birth certificate of the twins."

Tul looked at her shocked. He realized he wasn't jealous or sad at all. He just felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He finally noticed that Max was holding his hand and that Max looked worried when Max said to him soothingly, "He's a very nice man, Tul. I met him the last time I was in Australia." Max glanced at Baifern, smiling with the memory. "Remember? I introduced you to Wier. He was so happy that he met someone who spoke Thai and could make him real spicy Thai food. I was happy to see you happy because the first time I met you . . ." He stopped realizing when that must have been.