Lay Me Down to Sleep

Chapter 27

Kinn is jarred out of his sound sleep when he feels someone fall on top of him and smoosh his face. 

“Huh?” Kinn says, trying to open his eyes. Once he does and an unknown toddler comes into view? He rolls out from underneath him and clings to his sleeping big brother.

“Hm, what?” Khun says sleepily, barely opening his eyes to glance over his shoulder. 

"There's another one," Kinn whispers, his eyes wide with alarm until the toddler groans and starts jumping on the bed next to Kinn. 

"Kinn, it's me!" the toddler chirps happily, "Tawan!" 

Kinn lets out a piercing scream and climbs over his brother to get away from his evil, unkillable ex, causing Mama, Kim, and Arm to wake up on the other side. 

"How did you get here?" Khun asks sharply, "I sent guards to monitor where you were left! And why aren't you ghostly pale like you were the entire time I knew you? Get out of my bed!"

As Kinn peeks around Khun, he watches the toddler stare at them for three seconds before bursting into giggles and collapsing on the bed. 

"I was joking," Tawan says, then lifts his head to meet Kinn's eyes, "I'm not Tawan. I promise. It's me, Kinn. Porsche!" 

As Kinn studies him warily, he takes in his features. He has the same, mischievous glint in his beautiful eyes, the same dark golden skin tone, and the same bright smile, even though it's made up of baby teeth now. 

"Porsche?" Kinn whispers, climbing over Khun's lap to get a closer look. Porsche's gaze softens as he gets to his feet again, the hem of his black t-shirt brushing against his calves. 

"You know what this means?" he asks, as he takes Kinn's hands, "It means Tawan isn't coming back. He'll never come back because I'm your soulmate. Not him." 

As Kinn and Porsche squeal out their excitement and jump up and down together, Kinn feels a huge weight lifted. 

 
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Kim is happy for Kinn and Porsche. He never wants Tawan to come back, nor does he want his brother to be with anyone else. Porsche is the best Kinn can do. Any other guy would pale in comparison. 

But he's really, really sad too. 

"I'm still me, Kim," Porsche says as Kim cries into the pillow. "We can probably play even more now!" 

"It's n-not the same!" Kim wails, "You can't throw me in the pool or flip me anymore! You were the best at that!" 

And then Kim dissolves into his wordless, but loud tears once more, causing everyone to let out put-upon sighs, as if Kim is some burden. 

"...He needs time to process," Porsche eventually says, then pats Kim's back, "It will be okay, Kim. I promise. I'll convince Khun to do those things whenever you want-"

"Porsche, with you becoming a toddler too, I will have more pressing matters to attend to than throwing my brother in the pool," Khun says, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"And we will play so much," Porsche continues, ignoring Khun, "I've got a LOT of ideas." 

"O-Okay," Kim mumbles, then finally sits up. 

Mama clears her throat, "I'm sorry this happened to you, Porsche. It's unfortunate, and you don't deserve to be toddlerized like we are. That being said, I am very happy you are my son's soulmate. From what I was able to tune into, Tawan was up to no good. I even tried to tell Khun that through a Ouija Board session he held with Kinn, Kim, Vegas, Pete, and Tawan himself several years ago-"