A world for you and me

Chapter 7

Rain hums happily as he uses a fork to scramble the eggs in the bowl. He has followed the directions from his favorite cooking show step by step. He has added a dash of soy sauce instead of salt for a touch of extra flavor and even tilts the bowl as he is scrambling the eggs to get more air into the mixture. This will make the eggs nice and fluffy according to the host of the show. 

He finds the perfectly sized pan and grabs a bit of shredded cheese out of the refrigerator. He is so happy to be making breakfast for his alpha and his family. There is already a pile of freshly cooked sausages resting nearby, a large green salad, and two different types of roti, one sweet and one savory. The family chef, Mai, had helped him with the last before she had left to run errands. Rain had assured her he would handle the rest. 

All he needs to do is to finish the eggs, he looks around, basil, he needs dried basil. He looks through the spices surrounding him but doesn't see it anywhere. Rain looks overhead and sees a shelf up high with several spices on it. "Who keeps their spices out of reach?" he wonders outloud.

Well nothing for it, he drags over a tall padded stool that Mai keeps in the kitchen for her breaks and scrambles up on top of it. He still has to lean forward and stand on his tiptoes to reach the shelf. He sees dried basil and makes a triumph sound grabbing for it. Just as he is leaning back he feels his feet slip and he cries out as he feels himself falling backwards. He braces himself for impact but instead gasps as he finds himself caught in a pair of strong arms. 

Rain blinks up at his alpha and starts to give him a smile but then hesitates. The alpha's scent is thick in the air. P'Phayu is furious. Rain stands up and backs away instinctively. 

"What did you think you were doing?" P'Phayu says with deceptive calmness. 

"I, uh, needed basil." Rain stammers out. P'Phayu points to a spice rack in the corner that Rain hadn't noticed. 

"Do you realize what could have happened if I hadn't been here," P'Phayu's voice is getting steadily louder. "How could you do something so stupid!" 

Rain feels his eyes fill with tears. "I just wanted to make a nice breakfast," he sobs. It's then that he notices the kitchen door open. Saifah and Phayu's parents are staring at the scene with surprise. How could everything go so wrong, Rain feels like the biggest failure of an omega ever. The word "stupid" ricochets through his mind. Yes he is stupid, he hadn't even noticed the spice rack. Their breakfast that Rain spent so much time planning out has been ruined and it's all Rain's fault.

Rain pushes past the family, unable to stop the tears now, he needs to get away from the way everyone is staring at him.

Phayu lets Rain go, he needs to cool down, get his emotions under control before going after Rain. His heart had stopped when he had seen Rain up on the stool and when the omega had actually fallen, Phayu hadn't even been sure he could move quickly enough to catch him. 

For some reason Phayu has already been feeling very protective of Rain recently, not even wanting to let the omega out of his sight. 

"Asshole," Saifah mutters.

Phayu stares at his brother incredulously.  "What did you say?" Saifah knows Phayu detests vulgar language. Not to mention Saifah hasn't said a cross word to Phayu since they had outgrown their childhood brotherly bickering. 

"I said you are an asshole, Yu." Saifah says, pronouncing each word carefully. "Rain has been excited about surprising you with this breakfast for weeks, asking everyone your favorite dishes and conspiring with Mai." 

Phayu feels the anger draining away from him. "But he could have been hurt." 

"He wasn't though," his mother said, "it's okay to let Rain know the danger but there are better ways to do that, you really hurt him with your words. He looked devastated."