Chapter 4

AN: Poor Kolya, things are only getting worse for him, huh? Let me know what you think.

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Chapter 4:

The part of the garden that was under construction was a mess. Torn up grass, broken pavers, plants broken at the stems; the entire day’s work was ruined. It made Kolya’s heart sink all the way into the pit of his stomach.

When Kale told him that the site had been vandalised, Kolya was expecting maybe a few broken pavers, upturned plants, that sort of thing done by a group of punks looking for kicks and giggles. But he wasn’t expecting carnage. It was like someone had purposely set out to destroy the work that Kolya and his team had done.

Kids looking for a way to cure their boredom didn’t do this. Now, this was savage.

And Kolya couldn’t help but feel that he was being targeted. He wasn’t expecting to be welcomed back to Maui with open arms, maybe a bit of resentment, but he most certainly wasn’t expecting that.

“Don’t touch anything,” Kale warned him as Kolya knelt down to inspect more of the damage.

“Just a minor inconvenience, yeah?” Kolya managed to put on a brave face. “Shouldn’t take long for me and the guys to fix.”

Kale didn’t look all that convinced, but he didn’t say anything as he cast a glance around the garden through narrow and contemplating eyes. He seemed to be mulling something over in his head. He had that kind of look that Kolya had seen before, many times, six years ago.

That hadn’t changed about him, Kolya was oddly relieved to realise.

A police officer joined them, and Kolya guessed that he was the lead officer in charge. He spoke a few brief words with Kale while Kolya rose to his feet, looking around at the destruction with a sense of awkward vulnerability. Kale must have sensed this, no, he did sense it. He was always able to tell when something was bothering him.

Kale called him over and introduced him to the officer, explaining that he was the supervisor of the new garden project. The feel of Kale’s hand on the small of his back was comforting.

“It looks like a targeted attack,” the officer known as Charles explained quickly, tilting his head slightly in a motion for them to follow him, which they did, Kale still lightly touching Kolya discreetly. “A truck in the parking lot had also sustained damage.”

…A truck in the parking lot?

Kolya felt the colour drain from his face and his stomach churn. He had already sent his crew away for the night, so only his truck should have been left in the parking lot. So, the chances were that…

Shit, shit, shit! He was causing trouble for Kale once again!

A small voice in the back of his head reasoned that maybe it wouldn’t be his truck; maybe it belonged to someone else. And he held onto that small bit of hope. But the moment he saw the damaged truck, surrounded by police tape and uniform policemen, that hope was immediately destroyed.

Yeah, it was his truck that was vandalised.

The windows were smashed, the windscreen shattered and the tires punctured. But what really made Kolya feel sick to the stomach was the fact that the words ‘faggot’ and ‘leave’ was scratched into the side of the car.

Now he knew that he was indeed the target.

“Do you know who owns this truck?” Charles asked him, no doubt noticing the gardening equipment in the back.

“Yeah,” Kolya said softly, not looking at the officer or Kale in the eye. “That’s my truck.”

“I see,” Charles tone was terse with authoritative concern. “Looks like you might have been the initial target.”

Kolya didn’t need a police officer to tell him that. “…Yeah.”

“Just to be safe, we should place you under police guard,” Charles suddenly said, pulling out his phone, seemingly ready to make the necessarily phone calls.

But Kolya snapped his head up, looking at Charles with a sense of disbelief. “What? Mate, listen-!”

He wasn’t worth the trouble. He just wasn’t worth it!

“There’s no need,” Kale suddenly interjected, his tone firm and absolute. “He’ll stay here at the hotel.”

“Huh? What?” Kolya uttered as he abruptly turned his attention to Kale next to him, looking up at him in complete surprise, as well as anxiety while Kale continued to look at Charles, his jawline set tight, his eyes narrowed in determination.

He couldn’t be serious, could he? Wouldn’t it be better if he wasn’t around?

“No, you can’t-!” Kolya started to protest, the night’s event taking a toll on his stress levels, but Kale silenced him with a sharp glance, those blue eyes as piercing as ever.

“I am.”

Kolya shook his head and tried to reason with him. “But that would be too much trouble.”

“It won’t be,” Kale said dismissively before he turned to Charles, granting him a brisk ‘I’ll talk to you later’ look. He then grabbed Kolya by the wrist and proceeded to escort him from the parking lot.

And Kolya stumbled behind him, over his feet and over his words. “But Kale-!”

“I said its fine,” Kale once again cut him off abruptly. “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have offered. Look, I’ll escort you to your new room where you can stay.”

Kolya wanted to protest some more, but he didn’t have the energy to do so. And, besides, Kale could be so stubborn when he wanted something done his way. Or determined, as Kale preferred to call it. Stubborn sounded too childish; he used to complain when Kolya joked about his stubborn streak.

A weary and sad smile made its way upon Kolya’s lips as he allowed Kale to lead him back to the hotel.

…No, he didn’t want this. He was causing Kale trouble again. Dammit. Was there anything he could do without screwing up?

They travelled the rest of the way in silence, Kolya brooding to himself in his head, berating himself for even allowing things to get this far. Oh sure, he didn’t know who was targeting him, or why exactly, but they were targeting him, so hence, it was his fault.

It wasn’t until Kale suddenly stopped pulling on his arm did Kolya realise that he must have reached his new room.

“I’ll have the maids deliver your belongings later,” Kale said as he turned to face him, still keeping a grip on his arm, which tingled under his heated touch. Kolya looked up at him for a split second before quickly lowering his gaze to the floor.

“I’m sorry for the trouble,” Kolya said with remorse. “The crew and I will fix everything up in the morning.”

“It’s fine,” Kale said dismissively, yet sounding somewhat awkward at the same time. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is,” Kolya muttered bitterly under his breath. “It’s always is.”

Kale suddenly grabbed Kolya by the chin with his hand in a strong, yet not entirely rough, grip, forcing Kolya to tilt his head back in order to look up into Kale’s face. Kale didn’t say anything and all rational thoughts had fled from Kolya’s mind. Although, one thought remained, which wondered if Kale was going to kiss him again?

And, well, he wasn’t going to be disappointed if he did. But he quickly scolded himself for being selfish again.

“Kale?”

Kale simply stared into his eyes for a few uncomfortable moments before he closed his eyes and sighed deeply with a sense of exasperation. “You still lack any self-worth, don’t you?” he asked rhetorically as he removed his hand from Kolya’s chin.

Kolya gave him a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

Self-worth? You’re only allowed self-worth when you were actually worth something.

“Tomorrow, I’ll increase security for the hotel,” Kale suddenly stated as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He however, quickly lowered his hand and straightened his posture, giving Kolya a once over with his eyes. “If they turn up again, we’ll catch them. So…don’t worry about it, alright?”

It was a bit hard not to worry about it. “I’m not worried about me, it’s…”

…It was just he didn’t want to be a bother all the time. But it seemed to be the only thing he was actually good at.

“What?” Kale’s voice, tinged with confusion pulled Kolya out of his thoughts and he realised that he nearly said what was really bothering him out loud.

“Nothing!” Kolya said as his cheerful facade of defence kicked in and he scratched the back of his neck in a casual manner. “Just mumbling to myself.”

He then managed to pull his arm from Kale’s warm grip, biting the inside of his cheek at the loss before quickly retreating into his new room. “Well, night, I guess,” he said as he closed the door in the sudden need to get away from the awkward, but familiar feeling he was experiencing by simply being close to Kale again.

He waited by the door for a few moments, listening with his forehead pressed against the wood. He could still hear Kale on the other side of the door, could hear him breath, hear his clothes ruffle as he moved. Then, he heard his footsteps move away from the door and slowly fade away, until true silence was left.

When he was certain that Kale was gone, Kolya lifted his head back, only to bash his forehead against the wooden door a couple of times, literally beating himself up.

He finally pushed away from the door, his hand instinctively plunging into his pocket to pull out his phone. He had to let Malcon know about what happened. He needed new supplies so he and his crew can work on what the vandals’ destroyed.

After the second ring, Malcon finally picked up. After the usual greetings, and Kolya apologizing for ringing relatively late, he got straight to the point.

“The garden was vandalised,” Kolya explained quickly as he sat down on the edge of the bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he lowered his head in a tired manner. “We’ll need extra supplies.”

“Of course, I’ll organise it right away,” Malcon immediately stated and the shuffling of paper was heard. “What do you need?”

Kolya felt a tear roll down his cheek, slipping along his jawline before falling to the floor silently. What did he need? What did he truly want?

“Everything.”

But what did he deserve?

“Nothing.”

There was a moment of startled silence on the phone before Malcon’s concern filled voice drifted through. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“…Yeah,” Kolya answered back as he fell back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “I’ll talk to you later.” And he hung up before Malcon could say anything in return.

Kolya flung an arm over his eyes, willing the tears of frustration and weakness to cease. Tomorrow, he’ll work extra hard to ensure that the garden is complete at the scheduled time. He had caused Kale and his family enough grief already, so it was the right thing to do. Then, he’ll leave Maui for good, leave Kale to live his life to his full potential.

And Kolya will be nothing more than a distant and annoying memory.

No matter how much it would hurt…