Safe Space

Hot Peach tea

Three years after the incident and living the new normal for the Panich,Perdpiriyawong and Uareksit ( **I will call it PPU ) household, it is now time for Max and Zee to enter the university life. Max was admitted to one of the prestigious schools in Thailand. While Zee, being the over achiever that he is, managed to get a slot in Stanford in the US. Since receiving his admission letter, Nunew, who is now 9, started avoiding him. He stopped going to Zee's room as well no matter how scary thunderstorms are or even after a nightmare. Zee can't stand it. Nunew is his precious Nong. His brother who has a very special place for him. But he cant do anything. He needs to go away. He promised to be the best. To protect them at all cost. And to do that, he needs to work hard somewhere far away. He knew Nunew would be upset. But he didnt realize he would be this upset.

"Max! I dont know what to do anymore! I tried to give him space to realize that this is really happening like you said. I tried to take him to see his favorite movie like james said. I even tried to bribe him with macaroos like what Nat said but nothing works!!!" Zee is about to pull hair out as he is now too frustrated with the situation. All of the boys except for Nunew are all in the kitchen with Beam as they wait for the snacks that she is preparing for all of them. It's the weekend so all of the boys are at home.

"At this rate i bet he wouldnt even come to your graduation Phi." James said to him as he ate a slice of an apple.

"P'zee he's been like this for a whole month now. Your graduation is in 2 weeks. This is not just a normal fight. He usually gives in to you after a few days. This is different" Nat told him.

"I KNOOOW! AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW!" Zee said as the bang his head on the table.
Beam giggled at the look of the oldest boy. Zee normally doesn't act like this anymore.

"Max help me. He is your brother!" Zee asked Max.

Max just shrugged his shoulders..
"Dude he is closer to you than to anybody else. If he doesnt listen to you, why do you think he will listen to us?!" Max shook his head.

"Have you ever tried to just apologize to Nunew?" Beam asked Zee

"But Auntie Beam i didnt do anything wrong! Why would i apologize when I didnt do anything wrong? Why is me fulfilling my dream wrong?" Zee argued back

"Son, it is not about you being in the wrong because you are chasing your dream. Nunew is hurt. Hurt because you didnt prepare him for what is coming. You just blurted out that you are going away for four years to study abroad. What do you expect him to feel when you blindsided him with all of these?" Beam explained to him

"Shit. I forgot to tell him" Zee deadpanned realized. Max gave him a loud slap at the back of his head.

"YOU FORGOT TO TELL HIM?! YOU HAVE BEEN GOING ON AND ON ABOUT IT TO ME FOR MONTHS AND YOU FORGOT TO TELL HIM?!" Max shouted at Zee. James who is as shocked as Max threw a piece of an orange to Zee

"You are dead meat Phi." Nat said to him. Zee shooked his head and burried his face in his palms. He cant believe he forgot to tell him. He didnt mean it. He was trying to find the right time.

"I was waiting for the right timing to bring it up to him! I cant bear to see his sad face! You all know how he is!" Zee said to everybody

"Yeah and we all know better than keep things from him" James rolled his eyes at him.

"Son, talk to Nunew. He is hurt and scared right now. He is hurt that you of all people didnt tell him that you are going away. He is scared as to what he will do without you near him. This is him trying to protect himself. He is like this so he will be used to be alone when you go. To be used to be without you. " Beam told Zee as she put her hands in his shoulder.
Zee sadly just stayed quiet. He understand why Nunew is like this. He felt betrayed. Betrayed by the person he trusts the most in the world.
Beam put a tray infront of zee. It has two cups of hot peach tea and two slices of strawberry cake.
"Go to him. Take these with you. He is in the garden. He said earlier that he wants to go to garden.to sketch. But we all know he's there as he is lonely" Beam told him as she ushered the boy out if the kitchen.

"But what if he doesnt want to see me anymore? What if he hates me too much and doesnt want me any longer?" Zee sadly asked the older woman. Zee never shows his insecured side. He never show other people that he can be vulnerable too. This side of him only comes out to his family.

"Your heart is connected to him as his to you. If you speak only the truth and show how sincere you are. His heart will listen to you." Beam offered a warm smile to the younger. Zee let out a shaky breath and looked at Beam once again who nodded to him to go to the garden.
With heavy steps, Zee walked towards where Nunew is. He saw him sitting in his favorite beanbag while holding his sketch pad and pen. Nunew has always been a good artist. At a young age, his sketches all look like it was done by a pro. He sketch almost all the time, when he is happy, or sad or when he just needs to escape reality. This time though, Nunew is just staring at the garden. His hand is holding his pen, his pad is right infront of him. But he is so lost in his thoughts.
Zee felt sad seeing his precious brother looking like this. It makes it even harder for him to know that he is the one who caused this. Zee gathered up all the courage that he has and walked towards Nunew.
Nunew was still lost in his thoughts and didnt realize that zee has already sat next to him. So when he turned to the side, he got surprise to see Zee staring at him with those eyes that he misses most.