YOUNG, DUMB, AND RICH (Complete ✅)

IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR

"Do you think things would have been different if you did?"

"Yes," Tay answered quickly. "I went to that bar that night to regain some power over my life. Everything was spiraling out of control." He looked dispirited the more he spoke. "I was to be engaged to a stranger. That night, I thought I was in a safe space. Something I made for myself. If I had seen the man I was trying to escape from making a beeline for me in my safe space, I would have run the opposite way."

New bit his lips. He was unsure of how to approach the topic. It was still a sensitive subject between them. "If you had, I wouldn't have met the Tay I met that night. This is why I did not want to apologize for what I did? It helped me see you." He folded their hands together. "Tay, I am sorry."

Tay shut his eyes with a small sigh. They were glassy when he opened them. A smile lit up his face. Almost as if he had waited so long to hear it. A terrible feeling flooded New's guts. He should have apologized from the start seeing how much the apology meant to the man. It highlighted just how tremendously lacking he must be in Tay's eyes.

"Sorry I lied to you. I should have come clean after you brought down your walls. I dragged the ruse longer than necessary because honestly," He cleared his throat to strengthen his shaky voice. "I was terrified, Tay." He admitted. "I was afraid that you would run away from the real me.

"I was going to confess. I swear I was, but whenever I felt ready to come clean, you said something unkind about me. You did not like the real me and that made me reluctant to confess. The truth would have put an abrupt end to our night. I did not want it to. Tawan—," It was hard to see Tay's face with tears filmed over his eyes.

"Damn stupid tears," He rubbed his eyes. "Fuck, this is stupid. I just—I'm sorry about lying. You thought you found something special. And it turned out to be just me. I am sorry."

Tay shook his head. Stroked a thumb over New's knuckles. "Thank you for the apology. But you're wrong about so many things. I was angry and I had every right to be. I trusted you. I had never met anyone like you. I—liked you, New. And when I realized it was all a joke to you, that you may not have felt anything I did, it hurt.

"I have been wronged by people I loved and trusted all my life. It had been one manipulation after the other. I threw you into that category and didn't give us the chance to make this work."

He pulled their joint hands to his chest. His heart throbbed against New's hand. "I am stubborn, maybe too stubborn." His eyes were sincere. Clear. He looked like Tay from that night. "I have been pushing you to apologize but I never apologized for all the things I said about you on that night. They were disrespectful to you and us. I shouldn't have."

New did not realize how much he needed to hear that until Tay said it out loud. He lied but his husband was not entirely free from blame. He had already cried in front of Tay one too many times. He did not want to do it again. Nonetheless, he finally felt understood. Heard. Like his feelings amounted to something.

"Fuck, it felt good to hear that." He tried to keep his voice calm and failed terribly. "I don't want to be a cry baby but—damn," a hick. "I promise I'm not this much of a crier." He attempted a joke. A stubborn lone tear ran down the ridge of his nose. "Tay—," He croaked. Buried his face in Tay's chest. The man pulled him closer. A gentle hand smoothed his back.

"It's okay to cry," he mumbled into New's hair. "You've been trying from the start. I was just set in my ways. I was hell-bent on protecting myself and mistreated you in the process."