Aon watched Peat as they stayed inside the lobby of the hotel. All the evidence of Ben's wrong doings had been sent to the police and the authorities would do what's best for every party involved.
Peat listened as Fort told Peat what happened when he was on the run. Everything fell into plan, just like what Peat had predicted when they talked about it before. Fort was against it before and thinking of coming back when he heard news about Peat break down, and he didn't know if Peat was faking it. Peat didn't say about his own aftermath after they decided to 'break-up'.
They only discussed about Fort's situation.
Fort was silent when they met the first time after more than a year. Fort was still clingy, touchy as usual but didn't chatter like he usually did. Peat was the quieter type, so it was quite remarkable to him. Fort's rage was evident when Peat told him what happened after he went to Ben's place.
"What really happened that time?" Fort was furious and Peat understood him perfectly. But he didn't have answers to them. The next thing he knew when he woke up was he was admitted in the hospital.
"I passed out, I can't do anything about it,"
"But you told me he used your camera to take pictures? Do you think that he took pictures with his camera too?" Peat shrugged.
"Even if he took pictures, how could we retrieve it? I don't have the energy to face him at all," Fort bit his lower lip when Peat's voice changed. He hated it the most when Peat was in any inconvenience. That was why when he was in hiding, he was unable to keep calm especially when tabloids kept reporting about Peat. He couldn't leave Peat again for the second time even if Peat would beg for him for it. He had had enough living in the unknown hoping that Peat would be safe and sound as he knew Peat was not. Things happened to Peat and the older one was trying his best to hide it, trying to play it down so that it wouldn't show on the camera or even P Aon.
"I'm going to strangle Ben myself,"
"He's the one who'd been behind all this," Peat sighed. He looked at Fort, and Fort silently nodded. "How could I've been so blind that I can't recognise him?!"
"Phi, both of us didn't know him. Yes, he might be the one who's been texting me all this time, but I haven't seen his face either," Peat growled. At this point of time, he was furious with Ben. it was clever of him to not reveal his face when he communicated with Fort even when Fort had done multiple service for him. "I just knew that the woman that I slept with is his aunt,"
"Do you know the lady well?"
"No, she came to me when I was drunk after the music festival in south,"
Peat linked both his brows and watched Fort. It was quite some time if it's that music festival that he thought of. He remembered it because Fort seek him that night as it was late, reeked of alcohol and red from intoxication. They kissed, Peat's face would burn when he thought of the kiss subconsciously especially when he was missing Fort badly.
He didn't think much about what Fort's about to do to him that night, he was still thinking about it sporadically. He loved Fort's kisses and there was a line drawn between them that night – a line separated them from what they were which was more than friends but not as lovers. He was tempted to let Fort in, but his intoxicated state would make the aftermath worse than what they had at that time.
Fort would not be able to remember if they crossed the lovers' line that night and Peat would hate himself if he allowed him to. Peat wouldn't want to forgive himself because what if Fort didn't mean it? What if Fort was too drunk to recognise that Peat was not his lover? What if he didn't intend to actually fuck him? What if Fort was just too drunk that he would fuck anything that moves?
"That was very unfortunate," Peat commented, realising his ears were red by flashbacks that occurred in his head right now. He too noticed he was holding his breath, but decided it was the adrenaline rush that he felt whenever he saw Fort was in front of him again. The boy materialised before him, and he got to touch and hold him again.
"I know." Fort took hold of Peat's eyes again, "I remember, phi. I remember everything about that night,"
"What do you mean?"
"The night that...uhh..supposed I assaulted you..." Fort shook his head. "I was an asshole,"
"You apologised to me,"
"So, you do know which night that I meant," Peat felt like choking. He chewed on his lips as he stared at Fort who was gazing back at him.
"That was when you did sleep with the lady,"
"I regretted it ever since," Fort buried his face in his palms and he took a deep breath. "It was a one bad decision that I made in my life, the one decision that shoved me out of your life..."
"You're back now,"
"But with a price." Fort held Peat's wrist and rubbed the old scars on Peat's fair skin with his thumb. He leaned down and kissed the scars. Peat could feel his heart bloom and the tears coming onto his eyes. "I remembered how you looked that night when I overpowered you, because it's not that way with the lady," Fort swallowed, as his face reddened. "She enjoyed it and promised me what she promised,"
"Oh Fort,"
"And I felt dirty, I felt overwhelmed by what I did afterwards," Fort clenched his jaw. "So I left the room after the afterparty, the lady's card inside my pants and I just wanted to go home, no, to our room in that hotel that night,"
Peat recalled Fort came back laughing silly. He recalled how resentful he was knowing Fort was having a good time even without him around.
"My home is you, phi. That was when I came back and kissed you and I didn't want to be with anyone else at that time, and I just wanted you to be mine, and..." Fort shook his head, again feeling mad at himself. "...the alcohol took over me, I know I shouldn't blame the booze but..." Fort rubbed the scars on Peat's face. "I don't want you to hate me, but I wanted so badly that time to just...have you," Peat looked down on his wrist, not having any energy to look at Fort in the eye. It was too much. "I just want to have all of you,"
"You do, Fort." Peat's voice broke. "You have all of me,"
"I felt so dirty after the one-night stand, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't mean to hurt you, phi, I really do. I was confused and I'm afraid you would hate me so much that you don't want to have anything with me anymore,"
"Fort, oh Fort..." how could Fort say it like that? How could he think that way when the first thing in Peat's mind was Fort to be safe? The intimacy that they're sharing was beyond physical.
"And the next morning someone called me and told me what I'd done, blackmailed me so that I would be his,"
"Ben,"
"Yes,"
"All this time...you didn't know who Ben was," Peat didn't need to see Fort nodding to know the answer.
"I know only to give my pictures to the number they gave me, I've talked to him multiple times and I was stupid to be led on like that,"
"The media is here." Aon's voice woke Peat up from his reminiscence. Peat looked up and saw Aon's panicked face.
Who gave the lead?
Peat looked at his own watch. It was just past 2 AM, and they just came back from the police station. He was exhausted and only thinking of his bed right now – apart from Fort who was in his hotel room.
He peeked through a small window and saw cars, coming at the same time and Peat recognised some of it. It was as expected, Aon told him before that he needed to be careful if he wanted to go out right now because there were rumours in the social media about Fort homecoming. People were asking around and evidence were being sought.
The main target would be Peat as soon as news broke out that Fort's in town. The journey to the police station was not easy also after Fort's stealthy trip to his house. Maybe there was someone around who caught Fort sneaking in his house. Who knows? Fort's disappearance was quite a news back then.
He swallowed bitterly.
He just wanted to have some rest here at Fort's hotel lobby before the police called him again for another interview. The police officer told him it would be quite some time to take a look at all the digital evidence that Fort had collected when he's gone. Fort even went to the extent of hiring a cyber security specialist to find who was the one being dealing with him.
Peat could feel his breathing became denser, and he tried to calm himself down by singing nursery rhymes. He took out his phone, calculating if he needed to call Fort to be wary as media already sniffed him out.
The phone in his hand rang, but it was not Fort. It was Ben.
He looked up and saw Ben was standing in front of him in the same lobby room.
The audacity.
Peat turned back and saw Aon's confused face.
Oh wait.
Fort's upstairs. Ben cannot know that he's up there!
"You...!" Ben roared. His handsome face turned sour when he saw Peat, and at that time Peat wanted to disappear instantly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Looking for someone," Ben smirked, his mood changed abruptly just like how he was with Peat. "I thought I would find someone else,"
"Who would you find?"
"Don't play dumb, phi," Ben rolled his eyes. "I've been patient with you,"
"I should be the one who said that,"
"Where is he?"
"Who?" Ben laughed sinisterly before he glared at Peat.
"Don't fucking circling around, phi, tell me and we're good,"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Peat shrugged, his eyes caught the sight of some people from the media team approaching the lobby. Peat didn't have much time before he needs to distract Ben away from the hotel. But he knew Fort was not stupid, he would avoid being here as soon as he heard commotions like this.
Ben folded his arms in front of his chest, visibly upset and irritated.
"Then why are you here?"
"I can be wherever that I like," Ben sneered.
"You're playing with time, I hate it,"
"I'm not, why should I?" Ben huffed but remained calm. Peat's knees were shaking, but he couldn't let it be known that he's baffled at what he should do now. Calling Fort at this time to warn him would be counterproductive. It was evident that Ben was here to face Fort, as he knew damn well that Fort avoided him like a plague. The only way that he could summon Fort was by being with Peat, he tried subconsciously to force Peat to cry for Fort back home.
"Call him down here, and we're done,"
"You're babbling. There's no one here that should see you, and you should go back home," Peat tried to read the situation around. It looked like Ben was alone with the media crews, it might be he was just guessing that someone important was here just because Peat was. Ben scowled at him, might be he was determining whether to trust Peat.
Peat glanced at Aon and Aon stepped forward in front of him.
"Ben," His manager spoke. "Peat's not here for you. You can go home now," still the good guy being the peace negotiator. Peat turned on his heels and went backward to the elevator of the hotel. He's not going to Fort's room, he's just going to distract Ben so that they wouldn't have more of ugly commotion in front of the media members. He's not going to taint his own reputation and it would be good for Ben if he wanted to stay in the industry for longer time.
But would he?
Why was he still thinking of what's going to happen to someone when obviously the other party didn't care for him one bit, instead he was harming him.
He quickened his pace to a small corridor that extended to the hotel kitchen; he'd read the hotel fire escape plan bolted to the wall. It was this small corridor and then he would meet a small room on his left then he would meet a fire door. Supposedly no one would be there because it was at the back door and it would be...argh, it would be wise to hide here.
Peat opened the door and saw some of the media members waiting leisurely.
He closed the door back, cursing himself because he'd been a fool.
He pulled out his phone, but figured that he would do more harm to Fort if he called him right now to tell him not to come out. He decided to just leg it and run to the main parking where he parked his car. The chilling early morning weather didn't help his body to cool down. His whole body was sweating, as if he had been under the sun.
He opened the door again, and one of them made eye contact with him.
"Khun Peat!" he called out and held up a microphone. Peat bit his lower lip, expecting and scheming his answers if they asked sensitive questions – both about Ben and Fort and never about his development as an actor. It had always been that way for years.
He forced a smile and stepped out but felt a very strong hand pulled him in forcefully.
The door was closed again behind him. Peat looked up when he was dragged to the small room and pushed to the wall.
The towering guy was Ben. His heart plummeted to the bottom of his stomach.
He whisked a bit, just to find space but Ben trapped him in between the walls and his long limbs.
Flashbacks of how they've been doing shooting, how Ben was hurting him and how tortured his soul was when he supposedly exuding love and care for his character came back. Peat forced himself to stare back at his new leading man and felt hopeless.
"You're going to hell at this rate," Peat spat. He put both hands on Ben's chest, noticing how broad it was since the last time they acted together. Ben grabbed Peat's wrist harshly when Peat tried to push him away. "Go away! Let me go!"
"Oh, no, not this time," Ben hissed. Peat struggled to release himself but easily Ben swung his arm around and Peat gasped when suddenly both his arms were behind his back as Ben put his head in a chokehold. Peat almost wheezed by the momentum of it.
He knew he was in trouble, really in deep shit right when Ben locked both his hands in his huge palms. Peat tried his best to wiggle but he'd been in his weakest state lately. Depression and low blood level and vitamin deficiency had been consuming him that he had not being able to stay awake most of the time.
"Help...!!" Peat had no other way than bringing attention but Ben was quicker. He put a hand on Peat's mouth as Peat struggled violently. Ben was much bigger – and quicker and younger – and Peat knew he was no match to the opposing man. He was a practicing muay thai, but apparently the knowledge and the practice didn't help him one bit.
Ben pushed Peat even harder when the older man struggled. All of a sudden Peat's face was against the wall, the cold hard wall gritted against his flawless face. Peat felt like his shoulders would pop anytime soon with the force Ben exerted on him.
"You're not going anywhere,"
"You're bastard...!" Peat wanted to scream for help again but Ben put a hand on his mouth again preventing it. Peat could feel the chokehold became tighter and he's breathing really heavily right now.
"You're feisty, just like how I learned when I acted with you," Ben mocked, a chuckle escaped. "Oh, what do I do with you? It's obvious that nothing fazed me anymore, phi," Peat whimpered when Ben buried his face on the nape of his neck. "I could see how Fort would helplessly fall in love with you, look at this fair skin..."
Ben's teeth grazed on the nape of his neck. Peat screamed into Ben's palm.
"It would be such a shame to leave this unattended," Ben took off his hand from Peat's face but the grip on both his wrists behind him tightened. Ben pushed Peat harder that he could feel his face scratched on the rough wall. Peat could hear Ben adjusted his position. He took this chance to try to knee Ben in the groin but Ben was faster. "Oh my God, you tried, really?"
"Stop harassing me!" Peat turned around and swung his fist but missed. Ben caught him again and pushed him to the floor. Peat's head hit the cement floor and he could feel his world spinning. He wanted to throw up, again Ben was on top of him.
Flashbacks of how they were coming back.
"It reminds me of how when you're under me," Ben teased as he pulled both Peat's wrists above his head. Peat shook his head. Why was he so unfortunate with his partner? Why would they think he was too weak to fight?
"I told the police about you," Peat hissed.
"Oh really?" Ben sneered. "What can they do about it?"
"You're not getting away. They knew how you harassed me, you drugged me and now you're physically abusing me!"
"Oh, really?" Ben chuckled, Peat had never heard laugh worse than that. "So, as long as I'm going to jail I'm able to do anything I wanted to do to you," Ben shrugged, making Peat more panicked than before. How could this man in front of him still able to laugh after his threat? "I'm still going to jail, right? Might as well making my trip to the jail worth it,"
"You're psycho!" Peat screamed but halted when Ben's hand struck his face. Peat's vision blurred. He accidentally bit his tongue with the hit and he could taste the metal. Peat whimpered, the dizziness didn't help with his struggle.
He could feel Ben's hand on the top of his trousers. He tried to move his legs but Ben struck his face again.
"As long as I can have you and break you, I don't mind going anywhere..." Ben whispered in his ear, his hand swiftly unbuckled Peat's belt.
"No..." Peat coughed. "Stop, no," his head was spinning.
How could he end up like this? What sin did he do that he deserved to be degraded this way?
He worked restlessly, he never complained and stayed on track diligently. He cared for his staff greatly, and the only sin that he committed to make Ben hated him this much was because he was close to Fort.
"Why do you want Fort?"
"He's the love of my life,"
"Then why would you do this to me?" Peat wanted to break down. "I don't deserve this at all. Why would you hit me when I'm the one who Fort loves, don't you think by hitting me he would hate you?"
Ben stopped scrambling with his trousers.
"Do you think that you could force him to like you when you made me this way?" Peat sobbed. "If you hurt me, don't you think Fort would hate you because you hurt the one that he loves the most?"
"But I hated you,"
"I don't force Fort to love me. He loves me voluntarily, like I do to him,"
"Stop talking. You're messing with me,"
"You hated me because Fort loves me. Do you think by violating me you'll be able to have his heart? He will loath you for the rest of his life!"
"Stop it!" Ben slapped Peat again, and this time Peat stayed silent. "I don't care what you think. I don't care what anyone thinks, no one gets in my way of having Fort, not even you!"
"That's when you're wrong!" Peat took an angle to shift before he kneed Ben in the groin. He saw the opportunity when Ben's determination wavered just then. His attack this time worked because Ben took off his hold of his wrists. Peat stood up almost immediately and almost fall back again because of the dizziness. Peat's trousers was on the floor, and he was only in his boxer. He didn't care. He just...he must get away.
The door opened from the outside and came Fort rushing in.
"Phi!" he was shocked when he saw the state Peat was in. "Shit, what happened to you...!"
It only took a second for Peat to recover from his dizziness when suddenly Ben came from behind and pushed Fort away. Fort fell down on the floor, Peat could hear himself screamed murder. Ben turned, eyes grew big when he saw Peat was still standing up. He only noticed that he threw the man that he's in love with, Fort.
Peat bared his teeth at Ben as Fort whimpered on the floor.
"How dare you!" Peat swung a punch on Ben's unsuspecting face. Ben held his nose, Peat knew his fist made a solid contact on it that he could feel the bone broke. "You can mess with me, but not Fort!"
"FUCK!" Ben bellowed, he didn't wait a second to counter back the attack but Peat was quicker this time. He dodged Ben's fist then proceeded to hit Ben from behind. Ben shouted in anger.
"Phi?" Fort whimpered and stood up, quite unable to register what happened. It seemed like Peat had the upper hand but he could be wrong.
Peat turned in a second and that was when Ben hit him again with a kick to his stomach. Peat huffed, it blew the air out of him. Ben grabbed Peat's collar harshly. He's ready to kill Peat with his own bare hands.
"Stop!" Fort pulled Ben with enormous effort. Ben let go of Peat's collar when he saw Fort standing behind him. "What do you think you're doing?!" Fort pulled Peat to stand behind him. "Do you want to die?"
"You...!" Ben rushed forward, wanting to hit Fort in the face but Fort was too quick for him. Ben was taller but Fort was bulkier than him.
"Come and fight me like a man," Fort challenged. His face evident of fury. "You took a part of my life away,"
"You made a wrong decision," Ben threw a punch again and it almost hit Fort but missed. Fort realised Ben was more focused on attacking the one that's behind him, Peat. Fort turned so that Peat was behind him again and he threw a kick that hit Ben's groin.
"That's what happen when you messed with my phi,"
"Bastard!" Ben spat, bending down to mend his pain away. It was the second time his private part was attacked tonight and it would be quite some time to recover. Fort snatched Ben's shirt, his rage prominent.
"I'm sorry I've been too lenient for you, if it's up to me I'm going to kill you because what you did to Phi Peat,"
"He's a fucking maniac!" Ben retaliated. "How could you be with him all this time?" Ben cackled. "He's something in the head, Fort, can't you see?"
"He might be, but he's mine, and I don't care," Fort wanted to gift him a punch again but Ben grabbed his wrist.
"Didn't you see how he seduce you to let you fall in love with him and then he abandons you?" Ben smirked, Fort could see the blood flowing down at the corner of his lips. He looked like a maniac himself. "Can't you see the pattern?"
"Fort, let's just go leave this fucker behind. I think the police's here," Peat's voice startled him. True enough, the door opened again and the uniformed people and some with regular clothes came crashing in.