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It was pouring rain outside, heavy, fat raindrops like bullets as they smacked into the house. It was the loud, stormy kind of raining that made you have to shout to be heard in your own house. And yet, behind it all, came the sound of frantic, desperate knocks on the front door.
Mae was the one to open the door and the moment it was open, Pran jumped up from his spot on the sofa to run over to his mother and the person on the other side of the door.
Standing there, sopping wet, swaying on his feet, was Napat Jindapat.
“Pat!” Pran yelped as Pat fell forward and Mae stepped back instinctively. Pran caught him and heaved him inside, half dragging him as his mother shut the door behind them, staring intently at the wet footprints now littering her floor.
“Pran, let go of him.” Mae said, “Why are you here?” She then asked, staring at Pat.
He straightened up, still hanging off of Pran, holding himself in a way that Pran could tell was painful. God, what had Ming done to him?
Pat swallowed thickly before facing Pran's mother. “I… I didn't know where else to go…” He whispered.
Just like the first time, Pat's face was bruised an bloody. But it looked worse. Everytime he adjusted himself against Pran, he winced and there was the worry that his ribs were bruised as well as his jaw and cheek. His eyes were red. Swollen and puffy from crying.
Mae frowned at him, then frowned deeper when Pat collapsed back into Pran's arms.
Pran, on any day other than today, would have pushed Pat away, would have pretended to uphold their fake hatred, this rivalry that their parents had set upon them. But today was different. Today, Pat was close to tears and Pran could do nothing but wrap his arms around Pat, to his mother's confusion and dismay. Pat turned his head into Pran's neck and hugged back.
“Pran?” Mae's voice was soft. Not gentle, but low in a way that sent shivers down Pran's spine. Was she mad that they were so obviously friends and not the enemies she had pushed for? Or was she confused? Or worried because of the state Pat was in?
“Mae… you have to help him…” Pran whispered, a hand traveling up Pat's back to bury in his hair. He felt Pat shaking against him and all he could do was hold him closer as he watched Mae's face morph from confusion to worry to anger and finally to acceptance. She turned to Pran's father and nodded to him, face set in stone. He jumped up and walked to the kitchen and came back with a first aid kit.
Pran pulled away from Pat, gently patting his hair as he did so. “We're going to fix you up, yeah? Let's go sit down.”
All four of them gathered around the little coffee table, Pran sat perhaps too close to Pat with his parents beside them both. Por was the one doing the first aid, disinfecting the raw, bloodied skin of his cheekbone and his split lip.
“Pat.” Mae said, catching the boy's attention as he winced, forcing himself to stay still as his wounds were disinfected. “What happened?”
Pat glanced at Pran, like asking if it was safe to truly talk about. Pran put a hand on Pat's arm and nodded, encouraging him to explain. Pat swallowed thickly before facing Pran's mother.
“My… Por got angry and he—” Pat paused, and he looked like he was struggling to breathe. When Pran's dad reached forward to place a sterile patch against his cheekbone, Pat flinched back like he'd forgotten he was there. Pran's hand traveled down his arm and interlocked with Pat's. They looked at each other, and Pat seemed to gain the confidence to finish explaining.
“He got angry and he hit me… Ma isn't—I didn’t know where else to go, and Pa is at her friend's house so I…” He looked down at his and Pran's intertwined fingers. “I was hoping you could help… help me.”
Pran could see the way Mae's expression went from confusion to anger to concern as she began to understand the situation. She glanced at Pran, then down at their joined hands and back at Pat.
“We will help you. If you need a place to stay, we have a guest bedroom and if your sister needs it we can surely russle up something as a bed for her too.” She said, determined.
All the tension—or at least most of it—bled out of Pat's frame. He breathed a sigh of relief, finally knowing he had a safe place for both him and his sister. Pat looked at Pran, a smile just barely twitching at the edge of his lips. He mouthed thank you, and Pran nodded, as if to say You don’t have to thank me. It's what friends do.
Luckily, Pat's father didn't come looking for him. Pa was still supposed to be at her friend's house for another couple days so he hoped by the time they had to go home, Por would have calmed down.
“You know, you don't have to go back anymore.” Pran told him, up in his room, where they had been the first time Pat ever came to his house to be patched up. It had been a secret back then. It wasn’t anymore. That in and of itself was a relief.
“Huh?”
“You can stay here. You don’t ever have to go back to him. Pa can stay too. Mae said she could.”
Right. Pat nodded. Right, of course. He was allowed to be safe now. He was allowed to stay. He was allowed to go through the front door.
“I never thought…” Pat began, voice trailing off as he spoke.
Pran looked at him, eyebrow raised. “Never thought what?”
“I never thought I'd ever come into this house through the front door.”
Pran's eyes softened, he sat down on the floor next to Pat, a hand gently placed on his arm. “I never even thought we'd be friends. A lot of improbable stuff can happen.” He said.
Pat found himself smiling.
They had never been friends until high school. Joining the band probably helped get them closer, and the fact Pat came over through the window every other week for whatever reason. They'd even written a song together and they were supposed to play it together at the christmas show for the school. That had been just another secret, something they had to hide from their parents. Now here they were, in the same room, not because Pat had snuck in but because Pran's parents had told them they were going to cook something for them and Pat should go settle in in the guest room down the hall from Pran's room.
Maybe, Pat thought, just maybe things could be ok.