Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Chan is worried that things are strained between him and Evan, but he isn't sure what he can do to change that. He feels torn between wanting to be there for his lover and also for his siblings. It's tearing him apart. See what's going on in this week's chapter of Super Trooper. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them! Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
Chan had meant to carry the children to their own
beds, once they fell asleep. He didn’t think there’d be any harm in their
sleeping with him until then. It had all started when he heard Madhu crying. He
was just about to go to bed when he heard the whimpers coming from the room she
shared with Laksha. Alarmed, he’d hurried to the door and gently opened it.
Laksha was pushing back her blankets, about to get
out of bed to tend to her sister.
“I’ve got her,” Chan whispered, scooping Madhu up
from her bed. She wound her arms around his neck and burrowed her face into his
chest. He could still hear her soft moans. “Go back to sleep, please.” For a
moment, he thought Laksha might argue with him. Instead, she lay back down and
rolled over, obviously too sleepy for anything else.
Taking his younger sister to his room, Chan had
rocked Madhu until he felt her quiet in his arms. He laid her in his bed, then
lay beside her and watched her sleep. His heart ached for her, longed to take
away her pain. But he just didn’t know how to do that. Not more than a few
minutes later, Kamal padded into the room and climbed up into Chan’s bed
without so much as a by your leave.
I’ll
move them before Evan comes home.
Not until Chan’s alarm went off and he opened his
eyes to the new day did he realize that his siblings were still there. Alarm
bells began to go off in his head, until he smelled something cooking. He took
an appreciative sniff. Bacon. Evan must be making breakfast.
Which meant he must have slept in the guest room.
A pang of guilt raced through Chan. He hoped Evan
wasn’t angry with him. On the other hand, how mad could he be if he was willing
to cook for them?
Carefully, he extricated himself from the sleeping
children. He’d wake them when breakfast
was ready. Truth be told, he wanted at least a few minutes alone with
Evan. He slipped into his robe and
cinched it as he made his way down the hall to the kitchen. Pausing in the
doorway, he admired the sight before him. Evan, in a pair of sleep shorts and
T-shirt, was quite a delectable sight. Just looking at him filled Chan’s heart
to bursting with love for this wonderful man.
He softly crept up behind Evan and wrapped his arms
around his waist, laying his head against his warm back. “Good morning, love,”
he murmured.
“Morning,” Evan murmured in return. They stood
together without speaking for a long moment before Evan placed the skillet he
was cooking in on a back burner and turned off the heat.
Chan peeked from behind him to see what else he’d
done, and was greeted by the sight of a second skillet, heaped with fried
potatoes. Everything looked and smelled amazing.
“I missed you last night,” Chan confessed as Evan
turned to face him. “I’m sorry you had to sleep in the guest room.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you all,” he replied. “You
looked so comfortable.”
“But that’s not the point. That’s your bed, and I
meant to take them back to theirs. I must have fallen asleep.” Chan felt very
guilty, even though he knew he’d had good intentions.
“No worries.” Evan kissed him softly. “How was
dinner? Everything go all right?”
“Everything was fine.” Chan nodded. “How was work?”
“It was fine.”
Chan thought he detected something in Evan’s voice,
but maybe he was reading into things too much. His mother had always said he
had a tendency to worry when there was no need to do so. He thought for a
moment before saying, “You aren’t upset with us, are you?”
Evan started to say something then closed his mouth
abruptly as a timer went off. He reached for the oven door. Chan backed out of
the way so he could open it, as he pulled out a sheet of biscuits. He set them
on the stove and closed the door before turning back toward Chan. A slight
frown marred his forehead.
“Maybe a little, I won’t lie,” he finally said.
“About what?” Chan asked, distraught, a knot forming
in his stomach. He told himself to calm down and let the man speak. He’d rather
hear the truth than some pretty lie.
“It just felt to me as if you were rewarding Kamal’s
behavior… and… well, what he said. I know you didn’t mean it that way. I
shouldn’t have said anything.” He reached into a nearby cabinet and pulled out
a plate, covered it with paper towels, and then scooped out the bacon onto the
plate so the grease could drain.
“No, I always want to know what you think,” Chan
said. “He shouldn’t have said that, and I’m sure he didn’t really mean it.
Please, don’t be upset.” He laid his hand on Evan’s arm, his breath catching at
the idea that he hurt the man he loved. Sometimes he felt as though he was
talking a tightrope between Evan on one side and his brother and sisters on the
other. He was afraid something might actually break, and he prayed it wasn’t
their relationship. He didn’t know what he’d do without Evan.
Evan enveloped him into a warm hug, holding him
tightly while Chan struggled not to cry. “I love you, Chan,” he said softly. “Please
don’t push me away.”
Chan tried to protest that he never would but their
moment was interrupted by Kamal’s cries of “Bacon! Mmmm, I’m starved.”
Evan released him and he turned reluctantly away to
set the breakfast table.
to be continued
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