Spinning Tops - OhmKao

Chapter 11 ~ partial disclosure ~

Nate got up the following morning and after showering and eating breakfast he told Thana he had to go out for a while. Thana shrugged his shoulders and decided to go and practice, he had no idea that Nate was going to the library to try to find out what had happened in that circus 16 years before.

Nate didn't know if he was barking up the wrong tree but it wouldn't hurt to have a look. He climbed into his car and sped off to the city pulling up outside the main library. Once inside he made his way to the archive department and asked the staff if he could see all the newspaper microfilm from sixteen years ago.

The lady asked him to wait a while until she gathered all the film she could find for that time period and then took him to a machine and showed him how to operate it. Nate wasn't sure what he expected to find but he hoped there would be something.

It was such a boring process and he hadn't realized how time consuming it would be looking through page after page after page of old news articles. He was beginning to think he wouldn't find anything then all of a sudden he noticed a tiny picture of what looked like a circus tent. 

He enlarged the article to see it better, then he began to read. It wrote about a trapeze artist KhemKhaeng Sibyasakun who had died after a massive heart attack as he was performing his double act with his wife Nathalia. The article went on to say how the couple had plummeted to the ground in front of horrified circus goers and that the wife's piercing screams could be heard as a result of her severe injuries. 

Nate read on and and the article mentioned the couple's son, Thana, 12, who had seen everything and had stayed by his mothers side and held her hand, talking to her until an ambulance arrived and had given her something for the pain.

Nate felt sick to his stomach, he wanted to rush back to the circus and pull Thana into his arms just to hold him. The article said that as soon as they had more news on Mrs Sibyasakun they would inform the readers.

Nate asked the librarian for a print out of the article and while she did that he kept looking for any updates, the only one he could find was a couple of weeks later when it said that Mrs Sibyasakun had been moved to a more comfortable location to recuperate but after that there was nothing. It didn't say what had happened to Thana or who was taking care of him while his mother was in hospital?

Nate couldn't even imagine how a 12 year old would cope seeing his parents fall like that, the father dying instantly and the mother screaming in agony. He'd had to hold it together for his mum and be the strong one and then he'd had to endure as his mother had recovered.

No wonder he was so serious all the time, Nate thought to himself, he was going to make sure that Thana never had to go through anything like that ever again. Little did he know that Thana was still suffering and that the responsibility he had on his shoulders and the pain of feeling alone had never ended.

___

Thana had done a little weight training in the gym and a little trapeze work by himself, just swinging and executing half turns. It was almost 4.30 in the afternoon and he wondered where Nate was? He was a little bit concerned but Nate was a grown man, it wasn't his business.

He gathered his towel and water bottle and started walking back to the Mobile home. When he got there he let himself in and got some clean clothes before heading to the shower. While he showered he thought about Nate, it wasn't like Nate to just disappear for the day like this.

He had only been here a few weeks but Nate had been somewhere close by all the time, then he wondered, was he ... missing him? Thana climbed out of the shower and got dried and dressed in a vest and shorts before padding to the kitchen to look what he could make for dinner.

It was at that moment that he heard Nate's car pull up outside. Thana was still looking in the fridge when Nate pulled open the door and stepped in holding a bag up,

"I bought dinner" he said smiling.

"excellent, I was just looking to see what I could make for us but then again I wasn't sure if you would want anything, you didn't call or anything?"

"yes, I'm sorry about that, my battery died" Nate said

"it's not that important, I was just getting a little ..."

"worried? were you worrying about me Thana?" Nate teased him.

"hungry, I was getting a little hungry and I didn't know whether or not to make extra for you!" Thana lied.

"well, I'm here now, I missed you" Nate said tapping Thana on the end of his nose.

"you do realize you're treating me like your wife right now" Thana observed.

"yeah, it's nice isn't it, coming home to find someone waiting for you" Nate smiled.

"I wouldn't know" Thana commented.

Nate had to find out who had taken care of Thana while his mum was getting better? He didn't really want to but he decided to talk to Franco tomorrow.

"come on, let's eat then I'll get a shower" Nate said.

Thana was itching to know where Nate had been all day but he had no intention of asking, firstly it was nothing to do with him and secondly, Nate would tease him about it so he just got plates from the cupboard, cutlery from the drawer and they sat down and ate.

Later while Nate was showering, Thana washed the dishes and put everything away. He decided to get an early night so he went to climb into bed. It wasn't long before Nate joined him in the bedroom and climbed in bed beside him.

"shall we watch a movie for a change?" Nate asked.

"I don't feel like getting up again Nate"

"you don't need to" and Nate pressed a button and a TV appeared from a built in cupboard on the wall, Thana had no idea it was there. When Thana didn't show any interest in choosing, Nate chose an action movie and fluffed up his pillows behind him, then without warning he pulled Thana into his arms and settled back to watch.

"Nate, what are you doing?" Thana asked.

"shhhhh just watch the movie Thana" he replied.

Thana knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with Nate so he just laid back and tried to watch the movie, unfortunately all he could focus on the warm, firm chest beneath his cheek. After a while Nate began stroking Thana's hair as he watched TV, he smelled so good.

Nate looked down and realized that Thana was fast asleep, he had fallen asleep in his arms with his head across his chest. Nate turned off the TV and dimmed the light, he didn't want to wake Thana or move and spoil the moment so he slowly leaned forward and kissed the top of Thana's head then laid his head back and closed his eyes.

"goodnight baby" he whispered before falling asleep.

***

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