[FBL] Friendship. To Benefits. To Love.

Chapter 48

"You okay, bro?" Arm asks.

New spent the night at Off's and Gun's place, but he needed Arm right now, or he was going to lose it. That's why the first thing he did in the morning when he woke up, was that he got dressed and stormed to his best friend's place. Alice was out with Fate and it was just Arm and him at the moment.

Arm, of course didn't ask questions. The first thing he did was that he dragged New to the couch and enveloped him in a tight hug while New told him what happened the night before. He was quiet, listening while cuddling close to New and sliding a soothing hand through his hair. They spent most of the morning like that.

Later, they went on the balcony. Arm was looking at him with sad and curious eyes. New didn't know what to say. He shrugged. "I'm not sure. This wasn't what I was expecting of last night."

Arm nodded and then his expression turned into something wild. "I'm glad that son of bitch got what he wanted. If Tay hadn't broken his nose, I would have." He growled.

New snorts. "It's not exactly ideal, Arm." He says. "I have to go back to him today. What Tay did made things much more complicated than they should be."

"You're not thinking of going back to live with him, are you?" Arm snaps. New is unresponsive for a moment. "New! Look at this!" He grabs his hand and pulls up his sleeves to show the bruises Luke left the night before.

"Arm..."

"No way in hell." He shakes his head and releases his hand so it drops at his side.

New sighs. "What he did was wrong. But we still have to talk about it." Arm snorts. "Hey, I can't just break it off without even talking about it. We're supposed to live together. I've been with him for the past year and a half." New snaps. "I can't just throw it away because Tay reappeared in my life after so much time has passed." He shakes his head. "I can't let him fuck it all up again." He whispers. "I can't let myself do the same to him."

Arm puts a hand on his back. "Look at me." New does. "You and Luke would've broken up anyway." New wants to protest, but Arm shakes his head. "You know that's the truth. You're not in love with him and I think that's the only way you would really commit to someone. That's why I'm sure you'd break up eventually, sooner or later." Arm shrugs. 

"Tay, on the other hand surprised the hell out of all of us, coming back like that, but" He smiles softly. "I don't think you should lose your head over it. What he did last night was splendid, the fucker deserved to have his nose broken," He jokes. "But you should probably try and forget what happened. Who knows when you're gonna see him again."

New whimpers. "That's the problem. I can't forget about it. I'm sure I lost my boyfriend and my job too because of him last night. He managed to break everything I've been building for myself in years in ten minutes." He says. "And the worst thing is that I'm not even thinking about those things. All I'm thinking about is that Tay's back and Tay is here and I just..." He shakes his head.

"'S okay, buddy." Arm hugs him. "You're gonna be fine, Newwiee. Why don't you get ready for work and go to see your boss?" He suggests. "Go and apologize. Try to keep your job, babe."

New nods. "I guess that's a good idea."

He showers and takes Arm's clothes, so he doesn't have to go home for his own and face Luke. He needs to take care of his job, first. Damn Tay Tawan. No matter how far he goes or how much deep he tries to bury him, he always manages to come back to him. He doesn't know what to do with that.

"Hello, New." Mrs. Perez greets him as he enters her office. She doesn't look mad or disappointed, like New thought she would.

"Hello." He says.

She gestures for him to have a seat and he does. "How can I help you?"

New gulps. "I wanted to apologize for what happened last night. I didn't feel well an dI know I left without goodbye or an explanation, but..."

"New," She interrupts. New feels like he's dying while he's waiting for her to speak again. Her expression suddenly changes and when she flashes him a smile, he thinks he's about to faint. "Are you feeling better today?" He nods. "There's no need to explain anything. You know, I spent a good part of my morning thinking about firing you." She says and New slumps further into his seat. "However, Mr. Tawan came in this morning and begged me not to do it." New eyes widen and his expression sharpens.

"What?"

She laughs. "He told me that you staying here is the key for us to sign the contract with him."

"Mrs. Perez..."

"No, New." She shook her head. "I thought the worst things at first, but he explained everything."

New's eyes burned into hers. "He told me it was his fault, the way you reacted. Also, that you were a very important part of his life and that he made you a promise that he was going to keep."

All kind of emotions flooded his body. "That was still a bit unclear and then," She smiled again. "He told me a short version of everything that happened in the past." She finishes softly.

New gulps. Tay came and told his boss about them? Why the hell would he do that? He shakes his head. "Mrs. Perez, I don't know how much Tay... Mr. Tawan has told you, but I want you to keep me here because of your own reasons and not because of his pity."

The woman looks at him incredulously. "New Thitipoom. You are one of the best employees I've had and I would have kept you either way if you explained yourself. You are worth more than you think." She points out.

"Thank you." New says honestly.

"You're welcome any time." She smiles. "You can take the day off, but come back tomorrow, because I still need you to take care of some stuff, all right?"

New nods. "Anyway," She gets up from her seat. "I'm going to take an early lunch break, so I'll be leaving you now." She smiles and New returns it.

"Have a good day, boss. Thank you one more time." He says.

"You, too. And," She stops when she's about to reach her door. "Mr. Tawan is quite the catch, New." He snorts. This is so ridiculous. "If I was you, I'd let him keep that promise." She winks and gets out.

New leans against her desk and tries to count how many times Tay and his actions left him speechless. He has no idea. He sighs and leaves the office. He'll deal with Tay when the time is right. Right now, he's got a boyfriend to deal with.