Ae and Pete got into the car and drove out of the parking lot. Ae started to drive through the streets, moving towards their favorite place. Pete looked out of the window watching the trees sprinting away.
Since, Ae learnt driving, he used to take Pete for drive. They would drive through the rural areas that had roads passing through fields, giving the beautiful view of the greenery. With the mountains that stood at a little distance and the clean air blowing from the field. There would be soft music playing inside the car and Pete would enjoy the ride. It was one of the thing that they did when they would be spending time together.
But ever since Yim was born, their trips were reduced as the girl would drag them into variety of other activities. There was a time when she dragged both the boys to her room and tried her make up skills. Everyone had a hard time controlling their laugh as they looked at the painted faces of Ae and Pete. But for them, as long as Yim was happy, they would do anything. But Deli had scolded her little daughter after that incident stopping her from doing anything like that again. So the painting time would be spent in Pete's gallery where the girl would sit with her color pencils rather than the make-up accessories.
Ae rolled the windows down as they approached the familiar lane. He drove through the road with a slow speed and they both enjoyed the view. It had been long since they came over here and they were having a nice time in the peaceful silence.
"It's so peaceful being here. I miss this." Pete said admiring the beauty. "Me too." Ae replied while his gaze landed on Pete. Again the same feeling of something tingling inside the chest was back. He tried to rub his chest in a manner to sooth it. Pete turned his head and worry crossed his face as he saw Ae rubbing his chest. "Are you not feeling well?" Pete asked with concern.
The feeling got more intense as Ae heard the sweet voice. He diverted his gaze to the other side and answered, "No, I think I am just hungry. Let's grab something to eat." Ae lied and speeded up. There was a small restaurant nearby and Ae parked his car in front of it. They both got out of the car and walked inside.
They took a corner seat that offered a good view of the outside. They spoke about few things as they waited for their order to arrive. Ae was stealing glances at Pete whenever the other would be busy admiring the place.
It had been a while and their orders arrived. They soon digged in as they both were hungry since they haven't eaten anything after breakfast. Ae looked at Pete and a small smile crept on his face when he saw the sauce smudged around the lips. He raised his hand and slightly moved forward towards Pete's face.
Pete looked at Ae while the other's fingers rested on his face, carefully rubbing the sauce. Pete felt butterflies in his stomach at the touch. He looked at Ae whose gaze was now fixed on his lips. Everything around them seemed to freeze as the two starred into each other's eyes. Their hearts beating a fast pace and there was this warm feeling spreading all over the chest.
Their sweet moment was broken when one of the customers dashed against their table while walking. He apologized to the two for the mistake and walked out. Ae rubbed his neck while Pete looked away shyly as he felt the tingles all over his body. This feeling was foreign to him and it has never been there before when they were together.
They both tried to calm down their racing hearts as they continued to eat their food. After a while Ae decided to break the silence. "Pete, remember the time when I was trying to teach you to drive?" Ae asked. "How can I forget it? I lifted my hands from the steering wheel when the high speeding truck approached us. After that I didn't wanted to continue." Pete replied while pouting. Ae smiled and spoke, "But you learnt to drive finally." "Yes, but I don't like to drive. I like to sit and watch the passing view." Pete stated.
Flashback
It was one of the weekends when Ae and Pete went out for drive. Ae wanted Pete to learn driving so he insisted Pete to acquire the driver seat. After explaining all the basic stuff, Ae asked Pete to start driving slowly. They were in some remote area where hardly any vehicle would pass. Ae had planned this so that Pete wouldn't have any difficulty while driving. Everything was running smooth till a speeding truck approached their car. Pete was scared and removed his hands from steering wheel and shut his eyes. Ae was quick enough and grabbed the steering wheel and took control. He pulled the hand break making the car stop in place.
Pete opened his eyes and looked around. His heart was beating messily as they almost escaped death. After that incident Pete was scared to drive but Ae was persistent and finally Pete had to learn driving.
End of flashback
After they were both done eating, they paid for the stuff and got out of the restaurant. It was getting cloudy and cold wind was blowing. Pete shivered as he felt the cold. They both walked towards the car that was parked nearby.
They almost reached the car when Pete stumbled and was about to fall down. Ae was fast and grabbed him by his waist helping him steady up. Pete grabbed Ae's shoulder while he tried to balance himself. They were now facing each other with little gap between them. Their faces just inches away from one another.
Ae's gaze trailed from Pete's eyes to his nose and then his lips. They were red and plushy and inviting. For the first time, he felt like touching those lips, trying to taste them. The unknown feeling was building inside him and then the same tingling feeling in the chest was back. He felt his breathe getting heavy and leaned closer to Pete.
Pete too was feeling the same. Ae was so closed to him that his heart was pounding loudly inside his chest. He could see Ae's gaze that had landed on his lips. He stood still when Ae was inching closer to him. He closed his eyes sinking into the movement.
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Beep! Beep! Beep!
The sound of horn was blaring loudly pulling both the boys out of their trance. Ae let go Pete's waist and Pete removed his hand from Ae's shoulder. A bit embarrassed, they both got into the car without looking at each other.
The journey back home was silent with only the sound of music coming from the music player. They arrived at Pitchaya mansion and Ae parked his car. They both got out and walked towards the house. Little Yim was in the hall sitting on sofa with Patchara. Seeing her uncle Ae, she jumped from the place and ran towards him extending her hands.
Ae picked her up and carried her inside. "Pete, where's Ohm? Don't tell me that today also he asked Ae to drop you back home!" Patchara spoke. "Mae, Ohm had to leave so Ae came to drop me." Pete replied trying to hide the other details. "Awww, how sad that every time you two have to spend some time together something or the else comes up!" Patchara spoke with bit of worry.
"It's fine Mae. Ae was there with me." Pete replied. Ae remained silent as he heard the conversation. "I'll send you both some snacks and drinks." Patchara said and left as Yim followed her asking her to give her favorite cookies. Pete walked into the living room and Ae followed him.
After spending some time with Pete, Ae got ready to leave. "Ummm... I'll get going. I will message you after reaching home." Ae spoke. "Okay! Drive safely." Pete replied. He walked Ae to the door and stood there watching him while he drove away.
Intouch's house
Ae returned home and hurried to his bedroom. As soon as he entered, he shut the door and lay on his bed. He was confused and wanted to sort out his feelings. He didn't knew what to do so he called Ping for advice. He was thinking of calling Pond but changed his mind since this friend of him was really very nosy.
Ae's POV
I have this feeling that I am not able to understand. It was never there before whenever we were together. But ever since por declared that Ohm was going to marry Pete, I didn't know what I was feeling. I had this mix emotions that certainly needed to be taken care of before I end up doing something really stupid.
I thought of calling Pond but he'll be asking for details so I should better call Ping. I fished out my cellphone and dialed Ping's number and waited for him to answer. After four rings, he finally answered the call. "Ae buddy! What's up?" Ping asked in a cheerful voice.
"Hey..... Errr.. . I needed your help." I replied. "Okay, tell me what you want help with." Ping spoke. "Umm... Okay, there's this friend of mine, Say X, who is friends with this particular guy, say Y, for long and now Y is getting married. But X is feeling sad. He wants to see Y happy but he is disappointed since Y is getting married, even though it is to X's elder brother. He asked me for help so I thought of asking you." I tried to explain. God!!! I really suck at this!!
"Okay! Tell me what X feels about Y?" Ping demanded. "He likes to spend time with Y. They do lot of stuff together. It hurts him when the other person cries but he becomes happy when he sees him smiling." I spoke.
Ping was silent for a while and then answered, "You like him!! You have fallen for him." I froze in place as I heard him. How come he knew that I was asking about me and not someone else? But still, I'll try to cover up, "it's not me! It's that friend of mine."
"Ae, I am not dumb. First thing, you are really bad at this stuff so nobody would come to you for advice on it. And secondly, we all knew that you have feelings for Pete!" Ping cleared.
Huh?! They knew that I had feelings for him? "How come everyone knew but not me?" I asked confused. "There you are finally admitting the truth. Okay, as I said, you are really dumb at this stuff. We have seen you protecting Pete all time. And when he graduated you were missing him so much that you ended up spending your every weekend with him. Even a kid would tell that you were head over heels for him. Surprisingly, it took you really long to sort out your own feelings." Ping spoke.
So, that means, I love Pete and I didn't even knew it all this time. Now I understand the turmoil inside me when por announced Ohm's marriage. "Tell me the whole story now!" Ping demanded. I hurried to explain him everything right from the marriage announcement till today.
"Do you know how Pete feels about you?" Ping asked making me dumbstruck. I haven't considered his feelings!! I need to know if he feels the same for me or is it just me. I cannot do anything without knowing whether Pete has feelings for me or not. "I don't know Ping!" I replied sincerely.
"Then let's find out!" Ping suggested. I could hear the mischievous tone that implied that he had something playing in his mind. I agreed to him and he assured me that he will take care of everything. I disconnected the call and smiled like an idiot as I was finally able to recognize my feelings for Pete.