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Pete might do his best to avoid Kao but when he receives a notification about Kao’s new post that evening, he can’t help but check it out. Maybe it’s because of their chance meeting at school that day. Maybe he never really stopped caring. He prefers not to think about it too deeply.
Either way, he checks it out. And then he frowns. And then he goes and digs deeper, he reads up on what’s actually being said about Kao and Non and the thing that apparently happened between them - and he doesn’t like it. At all.
Kao, a sexual predator? His Kao? The primmest but also - Pete must admit - the kindest person he’s ever met? Bullshit!
Leaning back in his chair Pete turns around to look at the box with all the Kao-related things that he planned on throwing out - and he never actually did for some odd reason. Right on top, added as the last, there lies the little polar bear, a once cherished gift. It’s staring at Pete, accusingly it seems.
Pete makes a face and rolls his eyes, pushing away from his desk. “Fine! Fine! Stop giving me the Evil Eye! I’m going!”
And he goes.
xXx
When Pete arrives at Kao’s house, the bear in hand, he finds Non there, again! He seriously can’t believe this! The guy’s anxiously pacing back and forth along the sidewalk, apparently waiting for something or someone. Pete feels the urge to start the car again and mow that brat down.
He doesn’t, though. What he almost does is drive away. Almost. Almost but not really. Which is a fortunate thing.
Because when Kao comes out, the conversation between him and Non - which already starts less than friendly - quickly devolves into a very heated argument. Non’s waving his hands and shouting something that Pete, still sitting in his car, can’t hear well. It’s very obvious, though, that Non’s agitated and becoming more and more so by the second. And Kao… for once, Kao’s standing his ground and not backing down.
It won’t end well, that’s what Pete’s gut is telling him. He’s met and fought with many guys like Non during his wild years, he can sense their intentions from a mile away. He knows when a situation is about to escalate - like now, for example, because Non seems pushed to his limits.
Frowning, Pete sets the bear down and opens the car door slowly. Kao and Non are further down the street. They still haven’t noticed him but he can hear them clearly now since they are not keeping their voices down.
“… you do this to me!” Non yells, eyes blazing, and gets right into Kao’s face.
Staring up at him in disbelief, Kao shouts back, “Do what? Tell the truth? You should try it for once! And you should be glad that I haven’t told everything! That I didn’t tell you tried to–”
That’s as far as Kao gets because Non finally snaps. He grabs Kao by his upper arms and shakes him. It’s so sudden and so unexpected for Kao who’s not used to being in fights that he doesn’t even start to defend himself. Screaming, “Shut up! Shut up!” in a cracked voice, Non yanks Kao forward and then pushes him back, making Kao trip and fall. He hits the ground hard, landing on his back.
That’s when Pete starts running. Before Non can do anything else, Pete tackles him and together they drop and roll, getting bruises and scrapes all over. Pete is furious. Seeing Kao treated like that…
He’s going to kill the bastard. He’s really going to do it.
“Pete!”
Kao’s voice.
“Pete, please, don’t!”
Straddling Non, Pete freezes. He’s gripping that fucker’s throat with one hand, the other he has raised, ready to pummel Non black and blue. But Kao’s plea stops him. Kao’s words penetrate the fog that’s filling his mind and they make him… stop.
He’s breathing harshly, still seeing red, when Kao scrambles up to them and wraps his arms around Pete, dragging him up and away from Non, repeating over and over again, “Stop, he’s not worth it. Pete, let him go. He’s not worth it…”
And Pete lets himself be pulled away; if he fought, he could break Kao’s hold, he knows, but he lets Kao do this because for a moment there, he really felt like killing Non, his rage was so strong. And when that sinks in, it scares him a little.
Meanwhile, Non scrambles up to his feet and with a half-furious, half-panicked, “You’ll pay for that!” he turns and runs, quickly disappearing down the dark road. Pete has no idea if that half-assed threat was meant for him or for Kao. But he can deal with it. And if that little shit comes anywhere near Kao again…
Kao’s hold eases off a little and he whispers haltingly, “You… okay?”
Still angry, still hyped on adrenaline, Pete tears himself away from Kao, and whirling around, he snaps, “What did he want?” It sounds harsh, he knows, way too harsh, but he can’t help himself. He’s worried.
Kao rubs his chest, trying to get his breathing back under control after having the wind knocked out of him. “He didn’t like… what I posted online tonight,” he replies, pausing shortly in the middle to draw in a wheezy breath.
Pete glares a moment longer, then his whole face softens. Slowly, he reaches out to run his fingers through Kao’s hair to the back of Kao’s head, feeling the bump there. Kao winces. It makes Pete’s anger flare again - Kao hit the ground pretty hard, missing a fence post by mere inches - but he pushes it down.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Leaning into Pete’s touch a little, Kao replies, “I’m fine.”
A typical Kao response, Pete sighs inwardly.
“I don’t mean just this,” Pete says as he smooths down Kao’s hair, carefully avoiding the tender spot on the back of his head. “I heard you two… talking.”
Kao looks away. “What did you hear?”
Pete clears his throat awkwardly. “What exactly happened between you two that night? It wasn’t just a hug, was it?” He needs to know but at the same time, he dreads Kao’s answer a little.
“Pete…” Kao lets his voice trail off.
But Pete doesn’t let it go. He can’t. “Did he… hurt you?”
Kao sighs. “He tried to,” he admits finally. “I told him no and he dragged me to bed with him. I was trying to fight him off when his dad came in.”
Pete lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Until now he didn’t realize just how much he feared that Non really hurt Kao like that. Just the mere thought sends shivers down his spine.
“Why didn’t you say it? In your post, I mean,” Pete says.
Kao shakes his head. “I don’t want to turn myself into a victim. And I don’t want to vilify him. I don’t want to ruin Non’s life. I just want the truth to come out.”
With a sigh, Pete lets go of Kao’s shoulders. Only Kao, he thinks. Sometimes, just sometimes, Pete wishes that Kao were just a little bit meaner. But it looks like it’ll have to be him, kicking that spoiled brat’s virtual ass. Him and the bear.
Then Kao touches his face, turning it into the light from the streetlamp. “Your face,” he says softly.
Pete winces and touches his cheek. His scrapes and bruises are starting to hurt.
Kao stares at him for a moment and then, as if coming to some decision, he offers hesitantly, “Won’t you come in? I can take a look at that. If you let me.”
Some remnants of Pete’s hurt, those reminders of a broken trust, want him to say, “No, thanks but no.” But a much bigger part wants him to stay. Because Kao’s touch feels so good and he misses it like crazy. He craves it like crazy. And if he wants to save their relationship, this is it, this is his chance. There might not be another.
But… does he still want to save it?
Staring into Kao’s eyes, so full of desperate hope and longing, he realizes with a startling clarity that the answer is a resounding yes. He still wants this. So badly.
“Alright,” Pete agrees and when Kao smiles at him, Pete feels as if his world, all askew and wrong these past few weeks, suddenly righted itself.