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――"TELL ME WHAT WE DID."
⎛ CHAPTER TWO. ⎠
Forth woke to the sound of the tiniest, softest, sneeze.
He stirred in the arms that held him, confused, but as his eyes slowly drew to Beam everything just... clicked.
The alcohol. The bar. The anger. Heartbreak. Beam.
"I won't leave."
The two were still outside the bar, the sky still black—how long had they been there for? A hour? Two? More?
He couldn't remember. All he could remember was Beam's promise——a promise Forth was convinced he would break. But he didn't, Forth realized with a sting of guilt as Beam had begun to create a sound. At first, Forth couldn't decipher exactly what that sound was but, as Beam squeezed the fabric of Forth's jacket tighter, and buried his face deeper into his hair, he realized what it was. A whimper. "Ai'Beam," he said, ignoring the way his heart twisted at the sound of Beam's whimpering. Gently, he shook Beam. "Wake up, na." But Beam wouldn't wake, instead, he buried his face deeper into the crook of Forth's neck——his cheeks cold. Too cold. Forth held Beam tighter, trying to think of something, anything, he could do. But, before a thought could form, Forth felt the very coldness of Beam disappear from his fingertips.
"What the fu—"
"What are you doing with Ai'Beam?!"
Forth's jaw clenched.
Phana.
. . .
"Nothing happened, na," repeated Beam for what felt to be the thousandth time of the hour.
Pha, sulking, looked away from Beam and hugged his lunch box closer to himself as he slid himself further toward the edge of the bench, distancing himself from Beam. "Owh, are you going to ignore me, Ai'Pha?" inquired Beam, his gaze briefly flicking to Kit, who busied himself with the straw of his beverage; acting as though he weren't paying the pair any mind. Rolling his eyes, Beam lifted his fork and began to pick at his fried rice and eggs, feeling nauseous. Pha, who couldn't keep from ignoring Beam for too long, looked at the untouched plate. "Are you getting sick?" he asked and, despite the flatness held within his voice, Kit could see the concern in Phana's eyes as he slowly, swiftly, moved closer toward Beam.
Kit rolled his eyes ―― Beam was always Pha's favorite.
Too stubborn to admit it the truth, Beam shook his head. "You worry too much, I am a manly man. I can take care of myself."
"Owh, so sleeping outside a bar on a cold, autumn night with that Ai'Whore is taking care of yourself?" Pha nodded, but the action was sarcastic and mocking. "My mistake."
Beam dropped his head between his shoulders and pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to dull the throbbing of his head. "Nothing happened, na."
"This is ridiculous." Kit stood from his place across the pair, drawing their attention to Kit who had been nothing but silent since their lecture. Wordlessly, he turned around, and strutted toward the cafateria exit —– Pha and Beam, too stunned by his sudden outburst, could only follow Kit's movements with their eyes. "Ai'Kitty!" called out Pha, standing, but not leaving his place beside Beam, "Where are you going?"
"Engineering to see— shit! Ai'Forth!?"
Kit jerked back, stunned.
Just outside the glass doors stood Forth, blinking back at Kit with a hand frozen mid-air that had moments ago been reaching out for the door handle. "Owh, Ai'Kit," began Forth as he slid the glass door open, hesitantly, "do you know where Ai'Beam is?" Kit's stare flickered to the hand that rested at Forth's side, a sheer white, plastic bag held in his hand. Looking at the see-through bag, Kit could make out the packaging of a thermometer, over-the-counter medication, and pre-packaged containers of soup.
"Geeze, Ai'Forth," began Kit, exhaling to calm his racing heart, "you give your friend a heart attack and don't even apologize?"
"Sorry, na." Kit nodded his acceptance of the apology. "Where's Ai'Beam?"
Kit tossed a thumb toward the medical student, not bothering to turn. "Over there, being interrogated by Ai'Pha." Forth looked to where Kit had gestured. "Ai'Forth, be straight with me," began Kit, folding his arms across his chest and straightening his stance —– if it were to intimidate Forth, his sudden regard toward Forth, it didn't work. "Did something happen between you and Ai'Beam?"
"No." Forth clicked his tongue, patting the medical students back as he made his way through the cafeteria. "Not yet."
"That's goo— wait, what do you mean 'not yet'?!"
Kit whirled to face Forth but the engineering student was nearly halfway across the cafeteria by the time Kit had fully turned.
Beam leaned his body against Pha's chest, the arm secured around his waist seeming to be the only thing that kept Beam from falling back. Pha's lips were moving, Kit could see it clearly, but he wasn't nagging. His eyes were too soft, too kind. Too loving. And, the movement of his lips was too low to be a pestering, but perhaps—
"Ai'Asshole, what are you staring at?" demanded Pha, his attention flickering to Forth who now stood only a few steps from the near-unconscious Beam. The raven-haired Med student squirmed slightly in Pha's unmoving arms, attempting to see who it was Phana had regarded with nothing more than a sneer. "Ai'Beam," said Forth, and Beam couldn't help but notice the twitching of his jaw and how, when Forth spoke, he did not bother to look at Pha, even as he cursed his name—no. Instead, his black orbs remained on Beam and Beam alone. "Can you and I talk?" Forth's eyes strayed to Pha for only a moment before he added, without a moments hesitance, "Alone."
Pha's grip tightened as he felt Beam attempt to pull away——the action not going unnoticed by Forth.
"Ai'Beam," was all Forth said. "I am not a man who says please. But I will for you, khrub."
"Ai'Forth——" he had begun, his voice low and gruff. Forth could hear it. The rejection. Which is why he had said, with urgency, the word neither Beam or Pha had heard from the Forth.
