Maid For Me

Chapter 9: Time

            "I'm heating up some pasta," Bo informed. "Would you like some?"

"Sure," Jason replied, catching eye of Simon lowering his head to bury his face practically in his plate of pasta.

"Coming right up." Bo placed his shared plate in front of Sean and handed his boyfriend two forks.

"You have the makings of a great butler," Jason praised while sitting down where Bo previously did.

"Don't even think about it," Sean warned from where he sat facing Jason. "Bo is mine."

"When did my cousin become so possessive?"

"When he found his Mr. Right." Sean grinned.

"Wow. You're referring to yourself in third person."

"That's because I speak the truth. Right, Bo?"

"Right." Bo beamed and handed Jason his plate of pasta along with a fork.

"Thank you." Jason accepted.

Bo settled himself down beside Sean and swirled some pasta into his mouth. "Mm..."

"Mm...indeed," Sean agreed.

"Do you two need some privacy with your pasta?" Jason teased.

Having his young master sitting beside him felt terribly awkward, and Simon wanted to escape. He shoved as much food into his mouth as possible in hopes of finishing faster. As a result, the lad ended up choking on a random strand and ended up coughing. Jason immediately reached over to gently stroke Simon's back in attempts to ease his suffering.

"Oh, no..." Bo shot up from his seat once again and ran to grab the pitcher of water. Quickly filling Simon's cup, he pushed it towards his friend. "Drink!"

Jason fetched the cup and aimed it up to Simon's lips. "Here."

Hesitating, the younger man had no choice but to accept. He leaned forward and slowly swallowed the liquid with his boss's assistance. Exhaling a shaky breath, the lad sheepishly bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you."

"Be careful when you eat," Bo instructed. "This is the second time you choked tonight."

"I'm sorry," Simon apologized with saddened eyes. "I just..."

Seeing his friend's current expression, Bo's gaze softened whilst he returned to his chair. "It's okay."

"Are you all right?" Jason was worried.

"Yeah." Simon shifted his body away from Jason and continued to eat.

Sighing inwardly, Jason picked up the fork he dropped to tend to his maid's sudden distraught and started eating.

Simon ate the last of what was on his plate and got up to take it to the sink. "I'm done." Suddenly hit with a whiff of lightheadedness, the ceramic slipped out of his grip and dropped on to the tile floor.

The unexpected shattering caught the three off guard and startled them. They glanced over and saw Simon crouched down to clean up the mess.

"Simon, STOP!" Jason shouted, but his loudness backfired.

Simon panicked and sped up what he was doing. Without much thought, he snatched the broken pieces with his bare hand and a couple sharp edges punctured into his skin.

"Didn't I tell you to stop?" Jason had ejected out of his seat and rushed over to the slightly shocked male with red dripping from his right hand. "You're bleeding."

"I'm...sorry," Simon uttered.

"Where's the First-Aid kit?" Bo glanced around the kitchen.

"I know where it is. I'll go get it." Sean hurried out to obtain it.

Gradually opening Simon's folded fingers, Jason removed the shards and helped the injured lad to his feet. Turning on the faucet, he let the water rinse the blood from Simon's hand to see how deep his cuts were. "Thank goodness, it's not too severe. We don't have to take you to the hospital for stitches." Ripping out a couple paper towels, he lightly dabbed at the wetness to dry Simon's palm.

Bo herded them both to the table to be seated when Sean brought in the box. Jason tended to Simon's hand with upmost care; applying ointment and bandaging it up.

Why are you so nice to me, when you don't love me? Don't be so kind to me. My heart is blooming like the cherry blossoms in spring and it's overwhelming. It's too much for me to handle. It hurts. So...please... A tear dripped from Simon's eyes as he lowered his head to conceal the emotional turmoil which was chewing at his sanity.

"It hurts that much, huh?" Jason wiped off the droplet from Simon's cheek.

Averting his viewpoint up to meet Jason's, Simon plastered on a tiny smile and got up. "I'm such a klutz. I should finish cleaning that up. Sorry about the plate. You could add its cost to what I still owe you."

"YOU," Bo demanded with his palms on his hips, "leave the kitchen at once."

"What about the...?"

"Sean ge and I will clean up in here," he interrupted.

"But..."

"No buts!"

"I would listen to Bo, if I were you," Sean suggested. "He's scary."

"You bet I'm scary." A grin spread across his face with a sparkle in his eyes, earning a disbelieving look from Simon.

"Jason, could you escort my boyfriend's stubborn friend to his room?" Sean requested.

"Of course." Jason stood up and grasped Simon's uninjured hand. "Come on."

Allowing the older man to lead him upstairs, Simon's eyes were glued to their interlocked hands. Jason's hand was warm and his grip was secure; Simon felt safe in the other's hold.

Jason pushed Simon to sit down on the mattress. "Stay here," he ordered before he disappeared out the door. Re-entering the room shortly holding a pair of yellow plastic gloves, he slid one on Simon's bandaged hand. "Wear this."

"How am I going to brush my teeth with this on?" Simon protested.

"I don't care. Figure it out yourself. I don't want you to spread your germs everywhere."

"Oh." Simon frowned.

Sighing, Jason unwillingly admitted, "I don't want you to get your wounds wet. They might get infected. Do you understand?"

"Why?"

Jason lifted a curious brow. "What do you mean...why?"

"Why do you even care? You don't love me."

"I'm not sure if I love you or not, and I don't want to give you any empty promises by saying I do. All I know is that I like you and I care about you deeply. It pains me to see you get hurt. What's worse? You're hurt because of me and I hate that." Jason cupped Simon's face and leaned forward to press a kiss on the lad's lips. "Right now, you own half of my heart, but you deserve more than that. Give me a little time to sort things out. I want to love you with all my heart...and nothing less. All right?"

Simon nodded without saying a word.

"Go get some rest. You must be exhausted."

"You...should go finish your pasta," Simon reminded. "It's not good to waste food."

"All right." Jason chuckled and ruffled his maid's already disheveled hair.