“So, you are not going home with me today?” The smile has been plastered on his face fades away replaced by a spark of disappointment that is drew clearly on Pete’s porcelain face, he clenches his phone.

“Yeah. Look, I am sorry, Pete. Nat called me just now and she needs my help,” a tall, tanned man slowly answers.

Who? Did he hear him right? That Nat again?

“She called you... just now?” Pete’s voice goes a little shaky due to the annoyance and jealousy that are knocking his heart.

Earn and him have been dating for 3 years. They are on their second year of university now. They unfortunately went to different universities, choosing different majors according their own interests. Pete is cool with it. He knows Earn well and he believes him as much as he loves him. Their relationship went well and smooth all this time, no meaningful fight occured. Going to the different universities doesn’t make their intimacy reducing. They still going home together most of the days, Earn will pick him up at the gate by his car, they still going on a date when their schedules are free, having a lunch or dinner together, Earn still coming over to his apartement occasionally, bringing him his favorite vanilla ice cream, watching their favorite movies while bringing Pete’s head to lean on his chest and his hair. It is so good, warm and comfortable that sometimes he unconsciously falls asleep in Earn’s embrace.

But things don’t go well between them these days. Earn and him started being busy with their college life. Assignments and group projects start to consume their time and attention. They can’t spend time together as frequenr as usual, but Pete was 100 percent cool with that. Despite of all the rush they have, they still manage to meet and keep in contact with each other.

It has been the hundredth time- okay maybe not that much, but really, this is the umpteenth time Earn leaves him for the girl named Nat. He doesn’t know her well. She is Earn’s classmate and apparently his ‘close’ girlfriend too now. Pete just met her once. Earn introduced her to him when they ran into her at the bookstore. Beautiful and cute girl if Pete may add. She has a slender body, small face, long hair, she really is an ideal type of any guys. Her dimples are showed everytime she smiles, makes her even cuter. So, it has been 6 months since this Nat entered their lives- Earn’s life to be exact- and makes things between him and Earn changed. Earn doesn’t call him anymore, he barely replies Pete’s messages. No vanilla ice cream delivery anymore now. Insecurity hits him hard, but Pete shakes the negative thoughts away from his head. He doesn’t want to suspect Earn. His boyfriend will never cheat on him, but with the amount of broken promises he made and a little amount of attention he gives to Pete nowadays makes Pete’s thoughts go wild. Pete does not really want to be a demanding boyfriend to Earn. He completely understands that Earn is busy as hell now after he starting to take some part time job, but it is really getting on his nerves. Meeting each other is such an expensive thing now. Pete is even willing to pay to just meet and see Earn’s face. He misses him so much.

That’s why when Earn finally agreed to pick him up after class this afternoon he felt like the happiest child got a big gift on Christmas. He was so happy that he wanted to cry. Finally... I am coming Earn! He was smiling to everyone, his mood was at its best state. Time was so slow as if it’s crawling to Pete. He sprinted to the downstairs as soon as the class ended. He didn’t even bother waiting for the elevator. Wide smile plastered on his face, he said hello to everyone he ran into on his way to the gate.

But apparently he has to wait another chance to meet his boyfriend, because now Earn is calling him, saying a series of sorry that he can’t pick him up because Nat called him and she needs help. Who is the one being Earn’s lover here, by the way?

“Yeah, she called me. She asked if I could come and bring her some medicine. She caught a cold. You know that she lives alone at the apartement by herself, don’t you? Poor girl... I need to...I have to help her, right, Pete?”

Earn’s warm voice wakes him up. He clears his throat, rubbing his now teary eyes.

“Yeah...uh is that so? You have to come then. Say my greeting to her, I hope she gets well soon,” Pete tries to push away the jealousy, so she can stop asking help to my boyfriend.

“Great! I know you have always been an angle! Proud of you, hehehe,” Earn sounds relieved and blessed to got an understanding boyfriend. Pete is always the best, his angle.

“Yeah, great..,” Pete answers him softly.

“Okay then, I have to go now, baby. I will come over to your place tonight. See you!” He could smell a cold tone in Pete’s voice just now, but he decided to brush it off.

“Okay, see you, Earn... take ca-,” bip “...re,” Pete can’t finish his sentence because Earn has ended the call.

Pete is crying for real now. Earn didn’t even bother saying I love you anymore like usually he does everytime he’s going to end the call. His eyes are b in tears as he walks to the bus stop. He just wants to go home and cry in his bed now. He is so pissed of Earn and the girl named Nat now. Never in their relationship Earn cuts the conversation and ends the call first. They had always been debating on who has to end the call first because Pete doesn’t want to do it first either, and now because of the girl named Nat is sick, he did it. Forgot to say i love you to him, and didn’t even let him finish his sentence just because of the girl.

His bus fortunately comes in no time once he arrived. The bus itself is not too crowdy. There is still plenty of empty seats. He soon picks a seat near a window in the second row. The traffic jam is really no joking. The bus can barely go through. Pete has stopped his sob and rubbed off his tears now, his eyes are still puffy and red though. He chooses to spend the time by looking at the outside through the window. Looking at the people in the crowdy road. It still doesn’t help his mood to be better. He is still upset, pissed, angry, and... jealous.

One and a half hour later he has laid on his bed, listening to some musics on his phone through his black headphones while scrolling his Instagram feeds. It can really improve Pete’s mood. Following some funny accounts helps so much. He is now laughing at someone’s instavid, music is still playing. He goes to another funny account, but the loading is so slow. He can barely see a picture. He swipes it to the following activity tab and he wrinkles his eyebrows upon seeing Earn’s account on the activity list.

Earnanana left a comment on Natgeo’s photo: wow! So beautiful!           1m

Earnanana liked Natgeo’s photo                                                                 2m

“Who is the one he called beautiful?!?” Pete’s jealousy and anger appear again, “Whose account is that, NATgeo as in Nat?!?”

Pete opens the picture Earn liked and commented right away.

“Damn it, why is the connection being ty at this time. Ugh,” the loading is still slow, the only one Pete can see is the big blank circle.

“Oh, come on...,” Pete really can’t wait to see the picture Earn called beautiful. He can only see the captions.

Natgeo Photographed by @nickoo. A y, hot whale baby.

How dare him calling other girl beautiful. He feels like flipping something now. Earn is cheating on him. Earn betrays him. He bites his lower lip, trying to hold the anger and tears at the same time  as he types a comment in the picture. He doesn’t even bother waiting for the picture to be fully loaded.

Ping!

Earn casually checks his notification bar.

Pete31 mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana what the hell?                                   

“Pete?” Earn raises his eyebrows as he types a reply to Pete.

Ping!

Earnanana mentioned you in a comment: @pete31 what are you doing here?

Pete opens the notification bar. His anger is boiling even more. Oh great! Now he is even asking my presence?

Ping!

Pete31 mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana do you know her?!?

Her? Earn is confused now.

Ping!

Earnanana mentioned you in a comment: @pete31 who? The WHALE?

Yes! That y hot, baby, girl, whale, or whatever. Pete decides to just confront his boyfriend.

Ping!

Pete31 mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana I see what you are doing

A new reply from Pete comes in again. Earn opens it as soon as he got the notification. What am I even doing? He just liked a mere picture of baby whale. What is the problem?

Ping!

Earnanana mentioned you in a comment: @pete31 I liked a pic? so what?

Pete is sitting on his bed now. The picture is failed to load due to the bad connection Pete has, so he doesn’t see the picture yet, but Pete doesn’t even care. He reads Earn’s new reply and snorts. Playing innocent, Earn?

Ping!

Pete31 mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana I know you’re cheating, but I didn’t think you would go this low. How old is she?!? You’re disgusting. Don’t bother coming over tonight. JERK!

Earn is choked. What the hell is wrong with Pete? He? Cheating?

Ping!

Earnanana mentioned you in a comment: @pete31 do you seriously think I am cheating on you with a WHALE? That’s insane. U are nuts.

Pete is chewing his cheeks. His heart is broken into pieces now. So the girl’s nickname is Whale? He throws a giant penguin doll that Earn gave as a reward on the day he finally had a courage to went to the dentist. Pete’s nickname is penguin. He loves the nickname Earn gave, he smiles while his eyes are teary in tears. But Earn has a new whale now. Penguin is such a loser in front of whale, right?

Ping!

Pete31 mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana U R the crazy one! I just threw all your clothes and stuff in the ocean. Hope u two are happy together

“Hey, everything alright?” Nat comes with a cup of tea and snacks right after Earn sending a new reply to Pete.

Earn turns his head to her direction and gives her a small smile.

“Yeah... uh... hopefully?”

The truth is, Earn’s heart beats faster in anxiousity. Does it mean Pete and him are breaking up? Because of a whale picture? Seriously?

Ping!

Earnanana mentioned you in a comment: @pete31 babe what are you talkin’ about? This is a whale. I am not cheating on you with a whale. I am a human right? Just calm down and let me come over and talk this out- plz don’t throw out my clothes.

Pete has not seen the picture yet when a new long reply from Earn comes, so long till he has no mood anymore in reading it. Tired. He doesn’t want to hear Earn’s reasons. He is so done, so he just sends a new reply before throwing his phone away.

Ping!

Pete31 mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana how could you! Sleeping around my back . I am done with your LIES.

That’s it. Earn has to do something now since the misunderstanding is getting worse. He has no idea why the hell is Pete being ridiculous like this. He sounds fine when he called him this afternoon. Pete is always understanding. He is not the type of person acting without thinking. He quickly taps his phone and types a reply to his boyfriend.

Ping!

Earnanana mentioned you in a comment: @pete31 pete please, come on ur being crazy. I am not sleeping with a fish! I am on my way to your apartement now- let me go to ur place and let’s talk bae.

Pete is on his bed now, crying and sobbing. He ignores the notification he got. He takes the giant penguin doll he threw minutes ago from the floor and hugs it tightly.

“... Earn” He mutters while keep hugging the giant doll. He is absorbed by its warmth. It reminds him of his –ex- boyfriend’s body warmth, Earn’s embrace. Maybe it’s a good idea of having a giant doll like this when you are single.

Earn said sorry to Nat that he can’t stay any longer. Nat is his bestfriend. Really. She has helped Earn going through his tough times so much. She listens everything Earn tells her. About his study, his works, even about his love life, about how Earn wants to meet Pete so bad all this time, about how guilty he feels to Pete for ignoring him because of him keep being busy with his works. Earn does miss Pete so bad. He wants to call him every night after work because that is the only time he is free, but he keeps postponing it because he is afraid of waking Pete up from his sleep. He doesn’t want to make his boyfriend lacks of sleep and getting sick. Pete’s body has been so thin, he doesn’t want to take his rest time because of having a call with him and listening to all of his problems. Pete has his own college life now, new friends, new school.

Earn feels like flying to Pete’s place now if he could. The traffic is very frustating. He is frustated even more by the fact that there is no reply from Pete. Suddenly his phone vibrates. New notification from Instagram. Earn quickly takes his phone from the dashboard, hoping it is a message from Pete saying everything between them is okay. He curses when he sees the message that just came. A troll mention from a random person.

Ping!

Babywhaleee mentioned you in a comment: @earnanana Who you calling FISH? I AM A MAMMAL and I deserve better. You can kiss my sweet fluke goodbye. I am moving to Alaska for the summer.

“wtf!”

(30 minutes later)

Earn has arrived at Pete’s place. He is now standing hopelessly in front of Pete’s door. He has been knocking the door and asking Pete to open it and let him in for God knows how long.

“Pete, baby? Open the door, honey. It’s me... Please, it’s all a misunderstanding. I am not cheating on you,” Earn is knocking the door, trying again. He is getting tired of standing and everything happened today, so he decides to sit on the floor and keep talking to Pete through the closed door.

“I miss you..,” Earn says.

There is no reply from Pete, but Earn knows he is listening.

“I miss you a lot...,” Earn keeps talking. He touches the wooden door with his fingers as if he touched Pete’s face.

Earn is true, Pete is listening to all of Earn’s words behind the closed door. He is now sitting on the floor too, hugging the giant penguin doll. His eyes and nose are red and puffy from the crying and sobbing he did for the past hours.

“I miss you too...,” Pete answers with a very faint voice. His eyes are starting to wet again.

“I am sorry for ignoring you... open the door and let’s have a talk, baby...” Earn keeps talking. The exhaustion makes his voice sounds weak. He wants to go sleep in Pete’s lap so much, listening to Pete’s honey voice singing a lullaby for him. Pete has always been a great medicine to Earn. He simply just needs his Pete now.

Pete on the other side is bitting his lower lip, his anger has gone replaced by a worry. He is wondering why does Earn’s voice seems getting weaker. Is he okay? He presses his ear to the wooden door, trying to listen to Earn more, but he can’t hear anything.

Cklek-

Earn can barely open his eyes when the door is finally opened by Pete. There he is. His boyfriend. Seeing Pete’s face gives him a new energy to stand up.

“Baby, I am so-“

His words are cut by Pete that immediately throws himself to Earn’s embrace. Earn is shocked. He didn’t expect this kind of reaction from Pete after their Instagram fight. Earn can feel his shirt is getting slightly wet by Pete’s tears. Great, now he is crying and Earn hates to see someone he loves in tears. He wraps his arms around Pete’s slender body and tightens the hug.

“Shhh...Pete, please stop crying. I know I am wrong. I am sorry, okay?”

Pete lifts his head from Earn’s chest. He is looking at Earn’s black eyes.

“No, I am sorry, Earn. Please don’t leave me? I- may not be a whale, b...but penguin can be hot and y too sometimes,” Pete stammers.

There is a 3 second silence after Pete saying his words. Earn is staring at his boyfriend, his mouth is slightly agape.

“Pffft.....puhahahaha,” Earn is bursting of loud laugh now, his eyes are teary because of the laugh.

Pete looks annoyed. He just made an embarrassing pleading and Earn just laughs it out loud? Can’t he be more appreciative on what he is trying to do?

“Hahaha...ha...haha..Okay..uh Sorry,” Earn is trying to stop his laugh. He clears his throat. Okay, let’s make things right, “Listen, I am not cheating on you, Pete. I will never cheat on you.”

Pete is looking at his boyfriend’s eyes, looking for a spark of lie, but he doesn’t find it, “Never? Even with a boy, girl, and whale?”

“Never. Even with a boy, girl, and the National Geographic’s baby whale.”

“Wait, uh... So NatGeo is not Nat’s instagram account? Natgeo as in National Geographic?”

“Uh huh,” Earn nods his head as he is trying to hold his smile. He doesn’t want to ruin the mood.

“Oh my God, Earn... Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!?” Pete is totally embarrassed now. His face goes all red to his ears. Pete covers his face with his palms now. He feels like digging the floor and burrying himself. He has no face to see Earn now. He just embarrassed himself in front of his boyfriend and thousand people of National Geographic’s followers. It will be read by people across countries now. He regrets for not waiting for the picture to be fully loaded first and seeing it properly before losing his control and giving some ridiculous comments. He should have known that it must be animals. Ngern is an animal lover. That’s why he gave Pete an animal nickname. Pete should have known that Earn will not call other people beautiful except animals and him.

Earn can help but Pete’s fluffy hair. So adorable, Earn thinks. Pete can be very cute and adorable sometimes.

“Well, you didn’t listen to me, it’s okay now. Come here,”

Pete puts his palms down and brings himself to Earn’s chest. Suddenly, the embarrassement that he got is now lose by the relieve he feels in his heart.

“ I am glad you are not cheating on me with a whale,” Pete speaks softly.

“ I will just cheat on you if God creates you more than one,” Earn smiles, “By the way, who says penguin can’t be hot and y? Let’s prove it now, shall we?” Pete is blushing now. Earn grins when he feels a light punch on his chest.

Note: 

Anddd.... that's it! How is it? XD I was going to make it more serious, but my mood was changed in the middle, so I end up making it like this. As I said, this is my first time writing a story and English is not my first language, so there must be a lot of grammatical errors, please do correct me :) and I keep mistypying Earn as Ngern, and Pete as August lol and I was frustated by it because I had to go back, delete, and re-type it...well I guess my mind is too full with #NgernAugust :p also, I am not sure with my writing skill. I finished it yesterday actually, but I took some time to gather my confidence to post this here, because you know, I am a first timer, the story could be boring, lame plot, errors everywhere, I am sorry for making you guys read this newbie crappy work >,<

Any comments, critics, and opinions are very welcomed <3