Chapter 6

AN: Just so you know, the next chapter does in fact have a love scene. I’m not too fond of it, to be honest, but I’ll post it and let you guys decide. Well, anyway, thanks to everyone who commented/voted/liked/added this story. I really, really appreciate it! Very much so. I hope you’ll like this chapter as well.

-

Chapter 6:

As the three men approached, Kolya knew that whatever they were planning to do to him, it was going to be painful. They probably weren’t going to kill him, but bruise him enough to scare him out of Maui. A small comfort, considering.

Kolya just wanted to be left alone. He was over all this, over the drama. He just wanted to leave, go home and be alone.

“What the hell do you want from me?!” Kolya demanded as he readied himself for a fight. “Why are you doing this?”

He didn’t recognise them and the way they had to look at a photo of him, they didn’t know him either. Which only made the whole thing the more baffling. And frightening. Could it mean that he had pissed someone off with his mere presence to hire someone to frighten him away?

The men didn’t answer his question, which wasn’t at all surprising, only continued to approach ominously. Should he struggle or would that make things worse? Or maybe he should just make a break for it?

“Hey, drop your weapons!”

Suddenly, Kolya felt someone grab the back of his shirt, wrenching him backwards. He nearly fell over his own feet, but managed to stay upright, watching in a daze, muted state as several armed security guards flooded the car park, screaming at the three armed intruders.

He should feel relief, even just a little bit of it, but it was all too much. The emotional torment, the hatred, Kale suspecting something, Kale pulling him along.

Stress, relief, stress, relief…

He couldn’t take it anymore. Kolya’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he promptly fainted.

--------------------

Kale whipped off his tie as he charged through the hallways, Mick hot on his heels. He had just heard from security that the suspected vandals had been apprehended in the car park – while confronting and threatening Kolya. He wasn’t harmed, thankfully, but he had been told that he fainted, most likely from stress. They wouldn’t tell him any more than that.

Kolya…Kale gritted his teeth in frustration and anger. At himself. It was because of him that Kolya ran away. He had confronted the frazzled and stressed man without regard for his state. He knew that Kolya wasn’t feeling one hundred precent. He knew how much pressure and stress he was under. And yet he still… He should have been more…

This is all such bullshit!

The vandals targeting Kolya, Catalonia practically telling Kolya to get the hell out of Maui, Kolya telling him that he left for his own good. Just what the fuck was going on here?

“Where is he?” Kale demanded to know. “Where’s Kolya?”

“He was taken back to his room,” Mick answered quickly and to the point. “The police wish to speak to him, but-”

“They can talk to him in the morning,” Kale interrupted harshly. Like hell he was going to let the police near Kolya after what happened. They investigation could wait. The idiots were caught and were going to pay for what they’ve done. But Kale needed to see Kolya now. He needed to see if he was all right, see if he was safe.

He also wanted to know what the hell was going on with him during the past six years. What the hell did he mean he did it for him? What the fuck could he have possibly done to make him leave, thinking it was for his benefit?

And Catalonia…He’d talk with her later.

Drawing closer to Kolya’s room, Kale spared a quick glance over his shoulder to Mick, who was still dutiful behind him. “I want you to oversee the hotel for tonight. I’ll be busy.”

Mick didn’t question him, he could see that Kale was in no mood for a discussion or a lecture on protocol, and simply nodded. He then stopped walking while Kale carried on, a look of determination on his face.

All this confusion, misunderstanding was going to end tonight, one way or another.

Kale didn’t bother to knock; he had the key to Kolya’s room. He didn’t want to give the frightened and tense man a chance to make an escape somehow. He just opened the door casually and stepped inside. What he saw wasn’t what he was expecting. He expected to find Kolya on the bed, tired and possibly sleeping. But Kolya was up and about…packing.

He was ready to make a run for it.

Momentarily pausing in his actions, Kolya looked at him, his eyes bloodshot, his face pale and drawn, which only made Kale clench his hands into tight fists by his sides. “I’m so sorry,” Kolya said.

Kale knew he would apologise. He always did, even when things were obviously not his fault. “Kolya…”

Kolya shook his head, looking like a skittish rabbit as he started packing his belongings again, despite the way his hands were trembling. “I have to go,” he said. “I always cause trouble, everywhere I go. I can’t…Not to you…I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Stop it!” Kale demanded as he threw his jacket to the side, uncaring where it landed and crossed the short distance between him and Kolya. He leaned down to grab Kolya by the shoulders; pulling him to his feet and making him face him. “Stop apologising! None of this is your fault! Just-!”

Kale had to stop himself, to swallow his own desperation and fear for Kolya had been suffering far more than he was. Kolya was looking up at him, his gaze unblinking, yet he could see the fear in his eyes.

“Why are you blaming yourself?” Kale asked, unable to stop the anxiety in his voice to know the truth, loosening his grip on his shoulders just a little.

Kolya was silent at first, his gaze not leaving his. But then, he abruptly looked away, appearing as though he was unworthy of being in his presence. “I’m not welcome here. I never belonged here. T-that’s why I have to go,” he said softly, trying to slip from Kale’s grip.

But Kale only tightened it, keeping Kolya still. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said firmly. He had lost him once, and almost a second time, there sure as hell wasn’t going to be a third time.

“Let go, Kale.” The plea was soft, heart-wrenchingly so, but Kale wasn’t going to grant it.

“No.”

Suddenly, an uncharacteristic expression of anger flared in Kolya’s eyes as he placed his hands on Kolya’s chest in effort to push him away. “Why can’t you see I’m doing you a favour!?”

There he went again. Saying it was for him, like he would be happy or some shit like that.

“A favour?” Kale repeated as he grabbed Kolya’s wrists in his hands, preventing him from fighting back. “Just like six years ago?”

Kolya stopped his struggling and looked somewhat ashamed. “…Yes.”

How could someone think so lowly on themselves? Kolya had always, always suffered from a low self-esteem, but did he not hold an inch of self-worth at all?

“You actually thought you were doing me a favour by leaving me?” Kale asked, blatant disbelief and confusion in his tone. He just couldn’t get his head around such…logic.

Again, Kolya abruptly glanced away. “I was. You could do so much better than me. Everyone thought that. I know they did.”

“Do better?” Kale was gobsmacked. Where the hell was this shit coming from?

“Let go of me, Kale,” Kolya demanded as he started his struggling again. “I can’t take it anymore.”

But Kale wasn’t going to let go, not now, not ever again. Who told him such…such…absolute bullshit?! Kolya was the best thing that had ever happened to him. His parents even stated as such when Kolya officially announced his engagement to Kolya. They were so proud, so happy. So…

“Who?” Kale demanded, keeping a firm grip on Kolya’s wrists. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. “Look at me!”

When Kolya refused to say anything, refused to even look at him, Kale lost control. He tightened his grip on Kolya’s wrists and all but flung him onto the bed. Kolya uttered a noise of surprise as he bounced on the bed from the force of the throw. He tried to scramble up, to get away, but Kale pushed him down onto the bed again, pinning his wrists with his hands on either side of the head, one leg slipping in-between his so he couldn’t escape.

Their positions, it kinda reminded Kale of the times where he had playful thrown Kolya onto the bed before ravishing him senseless. He wanted to do that now, wanted him to know that he wasn’t worthless, that he was someone special.

But first, he needed to know why he left. Or, rather, who made him leave.

They were going to pay.

“Kale!” Kolya spluttered, his features turning red from embarrassment, anger and fear. “What are you doing?”

“Who? Tell me who told you that shit?” Kale demanded to know, placing a bit of pressure on his wrists. “Tell me!”

Kolya squeezed his eyes shut as tears pooled along his lashes. First, he looked defiant, but he couldn’t hold it for long and finally broke. “It was Catalonia!”

Kale’s head reeled back as if he had suffered a physical blow. “Catsy?”

His…His little sister?

Tears now well and truly slipping from his eyes, Kolya managed to offer more of an explanation. “She said that you could do better than me. You deserved better than me. You could have anyone you wanted, so why would you settle for me? I can’t give you a family, Kale. I can’t give your parents the grandkids they deserve. You deserved to have a woman by your side, Kale. You could do so much better than me.”

Kale was stunned into silence. He was serious. Kolya wouldn’t lie or create a scapegoat. He wouldn’t place the blame on someone else for his benefit. He just would not and could not do that. So, that meant that Catalonia really said those things to him. She was the one who pushed him away. She was the one who told him such vile and harsh words.

“…She told you that?”

Removing his wrists from Kale’s loosened grip, Kolya laid limp on the bed, all the fight in him was gone. He looked tired, resigned, a shell of a man. It wasn’t right, it didn’t suit him. “Why are you doing this?” he asked softly, still not looking at him.

“You…” Kale started, his throat suddenly going dry. “Still love me, don’t you?”

Kolya squeezed his eyes shut and drew in a deep breath. “More than anything,” he admitted softly, but so clearly. “That’s why I had to leave you. You deserve-”

“I deserve to be with who I want!” Kale interrupted him, his own emotions becoming frayed and tired. “And I want you, Kolya. It’s always been you.”

There was a moment of silence before Kolya whispered; “Why? I’m no one special, no one important.”

“You have no idea how amazing you truly are,” Kale said as he choked back his emotions. He then lowered himself down abruptly on top of Kolya, wrapping his arms around his slender frame in a tight and desperate hug. “Kolya, you…You’ve always suffered from a low self-esteem. I’m sorry.”

Kolya gasped audibly from the hug, trembling slightly from the contact. “K-Kale?”

“I’m sorry,” Kale said against his neck. “I should have followed you. I should have pursued you. I should have. But Catsy told me…No, there’s no excuse. I’m a terrible person.”

“Stop it, please,” Kolya pleaded as he wiggled underneath him, appearing torn between pushing him away as it was the selfless thing to do, or keep him close and never letting go. “You have to let me go. I’m worthless. I’m always causing trouble for you. For everyone I meet. I can’t-”

Kale abruptly silenced him with a kiss. “I love you,” he said as he pulled back, looking Kolya straight in the eyes.

Kolya’s watery brown eyes widen in disbelief. “What?”

“I love you,” Kale repeated, the words rolling effortlessly off his tongue. “I never stopped thinking about you for all those years. It hurt, being separated from you. You are my soul-mate.”

Kolya wanted to believe him. He really did. “But I’m not perfect.”

“Good, because I don’t want perfection,” Kale said, gently cupping the side of Kolya’s face with his hand, tenderly brushing away his tears with his thumb. “I want someone natural. Someone real. Someone genuine. And you are all those things and more.”

“You…” Kolya choked. “You really mean that?”

“I am going to show you how beautiful you truly are, Kolya,” Kale said as he wrapped his arms around Kolya again and pulled them both into a sitting position, Kolya on his lap, with his legs on either side of him. He pressed his cheek against Kolya’s hair, drawing in his earthy scent. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered into his ear.

Kolya released a pent up sob as he nuzzled his face against his neck, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “I’ve missed you, too,” he replied.

And Kale was going to show, to prove to Kolya how much he really had missed him.