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Chapter 23
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Refuge (MxM) Chapter 24
They got back to the hotel at almost one in the morning and when Lian opened the door to their room, Lyle and Keane were wrapped in each other's arms. Lian quickly snapped a picture and then he realized that he would have to sleep beside Callum. He spotted the couch and decided to sleep there instead. Lian carefully grabbed a change of clothes from their room. There was only one bathroom that was situated in the room. The door to the bathroom opened and revealed a half-naked Callum with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Lian flushed red and stuck his gaze to the wall."Uhm, Lian, may I pass through?" Callum asked in a teasing tone."Y-yeah," he stuttered and moved to the side for Callum to pass through.Once Callum walked passed him, he bolted inside the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He could hear Callum chuckling from the other side of the door as he tried to relax himself.Definitely a cold shower. Lian thought to himself.HE took off his clothes and stepped into a
Refuge (MxM) Chapter 25
After breakfast, Lian and Callum found themselves back in the pond, their feet dancing underneath the water's surface. it was the only place left in the city that felt truly safe for Lian. "I'm sorry," Lian said after a few minutes of silence.Callum was confused as to what he was apologizing for. He looked over at Lian and saw the embarrassment on his face."What are you apologizing for?" he asked."I couldn't even kiss you," Lian croaked out. "It's just a kiss yet I can't keep them out. The multiple amounts of therapy sessions I took feel useless now," he scoffed."Lian, look at me," Callum demanded but Lian kept his gaze away.Callum sighed and grabbed Lian's chin with his thumb and forefinger, forcing Lian to look at him. Lian kept his gaze low, too scared to see the disappointment on Callum's face."Can I kiss you?" Callum asked.Lian was shocked to hear that Callum still wanted to kiss him after what happened last night. Lian feared that he'd disappoint Callum again if he doesn
Refuge (MxM) Chapter 26
Keane and Callum headed out to grab some groceries since Keane was insisting on cooking dinner for everyone. The brothers were left alone in the hotel and Lyle was not so discretely waiting for Lian to come out of the room. When Lian opened the door to go to the bathroom, Lyle was already standing in front of the door with a sheepish smile."Hey, can we talk?" Lyle asked."Yes, but will you let me pee first?" Lian asked with his legs squeezed together.Lyle nodded and Lian ran to the bathroom to relieve himself. When he was done, Lyle was already sitting on the couch waiting for him. Lian sighed and sat down beside his brother. He really does not want to talk about it but he knows the more he hides it, the more he'll just get frustrated earlier. "Are you mad about me and Keane's relationship?" Lyel nervously asked.Lian was baffled. It was not the question he was expecting from his brother and he definitely was not expecting his brother to be so nervous about asking. "What? No! I do
Refuge (MxM) Chapter 27
Callum woke up to an empty bed. He told himself that maybe Lian just went to the bathroom but he had an odd feeling that he couldn't pinpoint what was causing it. As he sat up from the bed, Lyle knocked and opened the door with a concerned look. He looked around Callum's room and his face fell even more."Lian's missing."Two words. It took two words for the three to start scrambling and packing their bags. Lyle somehow knew something like this would happen so he tucked a tracker in Lian's suitcase, which he took with him. All they know is that Lian's on air right now but they didn't know which flight so they took the risk and boarded a flight home. None of the three could even utter a word. Too scared to say the wrong thing that would send all of them into a panic. They all have the same thoughts in their heads but they all wish it weren't true. That he wouldn't go back there, he just got out of rehab. Lian wouldn't do that to himself. Not when everything was starting to get better
Refuge (MxM) Chapter 28
Callum woke up with an empty space beside him. Panic and fear shot up inside his body, throwing himself off of the bed like bread popping out of a toaster. He was about to run out the door to look for Lian when he heard whimpers coming from the bathroom. He pushed the door open and saw Lian in the tub, shivering. Callum cursed under his breath and grabbed a towel before attempting to pull Lian out of the tub."Lian, you're going to get yourself sick. You need to get out of the tub," Callum said.Lian weakly pushed his hand away, his body still shivering. "Just a few more minutes, please," Lian quietly begged. "Why?""You know why," Lian muttered under his breath.Callum sighed and pulled Lian out of the tub despite his weak protests. He quickly covered him up with the towel before ushering him to the bed. Callum made sure that Lain was thoroughly wrapped up with the blankets before grabbing a hair dryer. Lian had his eyes closed as Callum dried his hair, the air coming from the drye
Refuge (MxM) Chapter 29
A few weeks passed and it seemed that everything had gone back to normal. Lian made an effort to tell Lyle or Callum whenever he felt like sticking a needle in his arm. In everyone's eyes, Lian was getting better again but Lian saw otherwise. The need to be alone and away from the world was getting stronger. He wanted to push everyone away and deal with everything on his own.Lian couldn't even understand why he was feeling this way. It was as if there were two versions of him fighting one another. If it weren't for his fear of losing his brother again, and even Callum and Keane, he would've run away a long time ago but he knew he would only turn for the worse if he did but somehow, somewhere in his mind, a voice keeps telling him to run away, be alone, he doesn't deserve the people around him.Everyone around Lian noticed this about him despite him thinking that he was hiding it well. When he would hesitate when approaching when he would spend hours staring out the door, and when he
Refuge (MxM) Chapter 30
Lian woke up to an empty space beside him. Luckily before he even had the chance to panic and overthink, Callum, Lyle, and Keane walked into the room holding with Callum was holding a stack of pancakes overflowing with syrup with a bunch of candles stuck at the top."Happy birthday to you~~~" the three sang.It was his birthday, something he lost the luxury of celebrating. He hated how he spent his past birthdays sulking because his parents couldn't be bothered to be even present on that day. He spent years thinking about how he should've been grateful that Lyle always made an effort to celebrate his birthday with him. When he lost it all, he wished to have it all back. To have Lyle annoy him into blowing the big candle stuck on a small cupcake at precisely twelve midnight. The song finished and Lian blew out the cupcakes as tears clouded his vision. He had forgotten when his birthday was with how long he had spent not celebrating it. Lyle wiped his tears away before giving him a gen
Refuge (MxM) Epilogue
The next few weeks were spent preparing for the opening of the tea shop. Keane and Lyle already handled the location and marketing and Callum helped Lian in developing recipes if helping meant dishwashing. Lian wouldn't let him near the ingredients or the oven after burning a batch of cookies because he followed the Fahrenheit temperature in the recipe instead of celsius. After that, he was banished from doing the dishes. Lian had also decided to continue his therapy and after a visit to a psychiatrist, he was prescribed some medication for anxiety and depression. Lian feared that the medication would do him more harm than good given his history with drugs but his psychiatrist assured him that his medication is not addictive and it proved true as Lian continued to take them.Lian was staring out the window as they drove to the location of the shop. Lian has no idea what the shop looks like seeing how Lyle and Keane designed everything. Callum placed his hand on Lian's thigh which wou
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