Author's Note: I update as I have time so I thank all of my readers for their patience. I hope you enjoy this latest installment in my Per-Win fanfic. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think and follow the story. If you are not a member here, you can also leave a comment on my facebook page or at my wordpress site. Thanks for reading!  ~Jae

“We’re out front. Stop your ing primping and get your down here.” Knott’s impatient voice yells at me through my phone before he hangs up, not waiting for an answer.

“.” I mumble as I put the phone back in the inner pocket of my black leather jacket. Taking one more look in the mirror, I sigh as I run a hand over my hair. It’s not like I’m going to suddenly turn as hot as P’Phun, no matter how much time I spend fussing with my hair. “This is as good as it gets.”

Grabbing my wallet and keys off the nightstand, I shove them in my jeans’ pocket and close the bedroom door behind me as I leave. On the way down the stairs, I give a shout to my mom. “I’m leaving.”

“Okay. Be careful and call if you’re going to be late.” Her voice floats out of the living room where I find her staring intently at the screen on her laptop. She types one last thing before turning towards me with a smile. “You look nice. Are you going out with Mawin?”

“Knott’s going, too.” Raising my hands together, I wai and head out the door. “Bye!”

“Bye!” I hear her answer back as I pull on my shoes. At the fence, Knott is leaning lazily against the gate chatting with Win. Win is on the smaller side so most of him is hidden by Knott’s larger frame.

Just as I’m about to yell out a greeting, Knott shifts to the side and Win’s smiling face comes into sight. I pause, feeling a slight hitch in my pulse at the sight of him. He’s just too freaking cute and it’s not like he’s wearing anything fancy, just jeans, a white tee, and a jean jacket. It’s a mystery to me why he’s not dating someone already.

“Per!” Win’s eyes meet mine and his smile widens.

“Took you long enough, Princess.” Knott turns around with a smirk.

“ off!” I pretend to straighten my jacket’s collar. “It takes time to look this good.”

“Good? Please.” Knott points a thumb over his shoulder. “Win looks ten times better than a goof like you without even trying.”

“I don’t think…” Win shifts uncomfortably at the indirect praise, his eyes downcast.

Coming through the gate, I wrap an arm around Win’s shoulders and ruffle his hair. “Oh, sure. Compare me with a guy who has a face so cute that angels blush in envy. Of course, I’d look like a troll.”

“I’m nowhere near an angel and you are definitely not a troll, Per.” Win elbows me in the side and looks back at his house. “Can we just get going?”

“Yeah. Yeah.”  I’m not sure how Win got permission to go out tonight and I’m not going to ask either. It’s just best if we get the hell out of here before somebody changes their mind and comes storming out to grab him. Pulling Win along with me, I give Knott a shove to get him moving. “Let’s go find some fun.”

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When I said Win is cute earlier, apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so. We’ve been at this open air restaurant and bar for almost two hours and I think every girl in the place has eyed him. Several of the more forward girls have given little waves, giggling and whispering behind their hands.

Win doesn’t even have to do anything to get their attention. He just sits there on the stool smiling and the girls all go ga-ga, which works since he’s been too shy to say anything anyway. Mostly, he stays glued to my side, giving me uncertain looks every once in a while, as we hang out around one of the high tables tucked away in one corner near the dance floor and a low wall. Knott is on my other side, leaning casually on a stool and nodding his head to the music.

“I know you said we were gonna help Win with girls.” Knott, finding this whole situation hilarious, whispers in an aside to me. “You meant as bodyguards, right? So far, I think the two of us might be invisible. Hell, I’ve even seen a couple guys doing a double take at him.”

“Who knew he’d be this ing popular?” I grumble back as I watch two girls I vaguely know from the convent school close in on us. Both are well known flirts, really pretty, and very forward. Both are eyeing Win like he’s the last bit of tasty candy in the candy jar.

“Hi, P’Per.” The one with long brown hair tied up in a high ponytail greets me, her eyes glued to Win’s face as she her lips. “Can you introduce us to your friend?”

I see her move forward to grasp onto Win’s arm in expectation of the introduction. Before she reaches her destination, I step in front of Win and grab her hands with one of my own. The barest hint of disappointment turns down the corners of her rosy pink lips, but is quickly gone, replaced with a blinding smile directed at me. New target acquired, primary target on hold… I can’t help but think in amusement and realize that I may be spending way too much time playing video games with the guys. “Hi, Cherry.” I also wave my free hand at the girl standing beside her. “Hello, Ann. You both are looking beautiful tonight.”

“Aren’t we always?” The shorter of the two, Ann, speaks up, her voice a high pitch squeak. She fluffs her dark wavy hair and tosses it over a shoulder. “P’Per, who’s your friend?”

“This is my buddy, Knott.” Purposely misunderstanding, I pull Knott over by his arm and throw him to the young lionesses, adding another block in front of Win. There’s no way Win can handle these two. I give Knott a look and he gives me a small nod in understanding. “Hey, Knott. This is Nong Cherry and Nong Ann.”

“Um, Hi, P’Knott.” Cherry and Ann say in unison. They size him up quickly and thoroughly with their eyes before bestowing him with their flirtatious smiles. Thank the that Knott is a decent looking guy, enough to catch their attention.

“Hello.” Brushing the bangs out of his eyes, Knott holds out a hand as JYJ’s song, Back Seat, starts to play over the speakers. “Would either you like to dance?”   

( https://youtu.be/3TyKyeS3P-Q )

Nong Ann happily takes the bait and is led away by my extremely awesome friend. One down; one to go. It would be unrealistic of me to think Knott could distract both girls, as much as I wish he could. Nong Cherry slips out of my hand and slides closer to Win. “P’Per, you still haven’t introduced this friend, yet.”

“This is P’Win.” I answer with a sigh, knowing it can’t be avoided. “Win, this is Nong Cherry. She goes to the convent near our school.”

They greet each other, Win much more hesitantly than the girl who immediately latches herself onto his forearm enthusiastically. The look of panic he gives me would be hysterical if it was anyone else caught in Cherry’s clutches, but this isn’t someone else. This is Winnie. He has enough bad going on in his life and doesn’t need to be freaking out over this. Just as I am about to sacrifice myself, I am saved by the bell… or, more precisely, the meowing coming from Cherry’s purse which turns out to be her phone. What the freak kind of ring tone is that?? After a heated conversation with the person on the other end of the line, she dashes to the dance floor and drags a protesting Ann out of the restaurant without another word. Apparently, someone forgot to discuss with her parents about this evening’s plans.

Win and I look at each other and bust up laughing, half in amusement and half in relief. My relief is short lived though as more girls that I know, or sort of know, approach our table as the evening wears on. Thankfully, they are mostly nice, friendly girls. Soon, there is practically a party going on in our corner of the restaurant, spreading out from where Win is seated.

Standing near his side, I find myself being needed less and less as Win relaxes. With his friendly and sweet nature coming out, these girls naturally gravitate around him and practically forget I’m even in the room. I take a step further back and lean against the wall, watching Win charm everyone and, somehow, I feel agitated. Every hand flutter and giggle from the girls irritates me further.

“Bro, what’s wrong? You’re gonna scare off every chick in the place with that scowling mug.” Grinning, Knott smacks me lightly upside the head.

“Nothing.” Shrugging off his question, I straighten up and look around the room. “I’m gonna make a circuit, check out the other scenery.”

“You leaving your boy in this mess of honeys by himself?” Knott almost sounds shocked by the suggestion.

“He’s handling it just fine.” I look over at Win, who isn’t even aware that I left his side. The girls’ conversation is keeping him too busy to notice me. “No need for me. Besides, you’re still here.” Patting Knott on the shoulder, I wink at him and then wind my way around the various chairs and people.

At the edge of the crowd around our table, a bouncy girl with her hair in braids by the name of Pinky waves at me. She barely says hello before her eyes wonder over to our table in curiosity. It’s more than enough and I’m done.

“Good luck finding a seat.” There’s a barely suppressed growl in my voice and the girl looks startled, as if I cursed at her. Feeling rotten, I give her a half wave in apology and walk away. It’s best if I don’t try and say anything else. The worst part is that I’m not even sure what I’m angry about. Whatever. I just need to chill for a while and I’ll be fine.

On the other side of the dance floor, I come across a pretty girl standing by herself wearing a tight, shimmering pink dress. Her hair is tied to the side, showing off a creamy expanse of neck and big brown eyes. Figuring there is no harm is trying, I approach her with my friendliest smile in place.

“Excuse me. Do you mind if I join you?” She stares at me in silence, obviously confused by my presence. “A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be alone. There’s no telling what kind of trouble some of these guys are planning to use on you. Want me to hang out with you for a bit? I’m Per, by the way.”

“Trouble?” The girl looks around warily and does spot a few guys watching her. When they try to wave, she quickly turns back to me. After looking me over and taking another glance over her shoulder, she gives me a tentative smile. I guess I count as the lesser of two evils, but I’ll take it. “Nice to meet you. My name is Rose.”

“That’s a beautiful name. It suits you.” Pulling out a stool from the opposite side of the table, I motion to it with my hand. “Mind if I sit.” She nods her head so I take a seat and start up some small talk with her. It turns out we are the same age and she is a student at the international school. Our conversation gets more lively as we exchange stories about our schools and we laugh easily. Some of the rumors that go around are really entertaining, not that we name any names, so we turn it into a game to see who can come up with the juiciest rumor. We scoot our seats closer together so we can hear each other better.

“Are you serious?” This latest tidbit she tells me is insane.

“That’s what they are saying. There’s supposedly a bunch of videos of this popular convent girl with different guys from my school. I feel kinda sad for the poor guy that dates her, whoever she is. That’s a whole lot people that are intimately familiar with his girlfriend, between the ones she’s been with and the ones that have seen the vids.” Shaking her head, Rose takes a sip from the glass in front of her. “So, can you top that one?”

“Maybe. How about a love triangle at my school?” Grinning, I give her the hottest rumor I can think of. So what if it started in my own club. There’s still something different going on with those guys.

“Didn’t you say you go to Friday, the all-boys school?”

“Yep.” Her eyes go wide as she soaks in that information and then I add another twist. “If you include the girlfriends, then I guess you need to call it a love pentagon.”

“Wow. I think you may have won with this one.”

A large hand smacks down on the table between us, startling us out of our seats. My eyes follow the hand up an incredibly well muscled arm and up even higher to a roughly chiseled face located several inches higher than my own. That same hand pushes me further away from Rose, almost knocking me to the ground.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing with my girlfriend?” His voice is a deep baritone, matching his larger than life frame.

“We were just talking.” Grabbing the guy’s arm, Rose tries to urge him away. “He was keeping me company while I waited for you and you’re late, by the way.”

“He was hitting on you.” The angry gorilla yells, ignoring her attempt to pull him away. “Now, I’m gonna hit him.”

“Dude, chill. I swear we were just talking.” Putting up both hands, I try to look as innocent as possible but it doesn’t seem like this guy is buying it.

“ you. I know what I saw.” He easily pulls out of Rose’s grasp and takes a step towards me. Lowering my hands to my sides, I take a step further away, ready to run if necessary. Rose is a nice girl and fun to talk to, but I prefer to remain living in this world. The gorilla takes another step, following me as I back up.

“Per…” Win’s quiet voice interrupts us and he puts his warm hand into mine. “Can we go home? I’m getting a little tired.”

This stops the ball of muscle in his tracks as his eyes go from me to Win down to our hands and back to Win again. I can practically see the wheels and gears turning in his puny brain as he adds two and two together and finds an answer of eight. It took me a minute to realize what Win was up to and Win, for his part, acts as if he’s just noticed the big guy and his girlfriend standing close to us.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in the middle of something.”

“Don’t worry about it, Winnie. We can go home now, if you want.” If we’re going to do this, might as well go for broke… and hope to hell no one I know is listening or watching. I lace the fingers of our connected hands and look up at the awkwardly smiling in front of us. “Do you mind if I leave? I need to get him home.”

“No. No. Go right ahead. Sorry about the whole misunderstanding. I didn’t realize you already had… someone with you.” Win smiles up at him and I see the guy catch his breath. The power of a cute face, doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl. I manage not to laugh at this turn of events. Rose’s boyfriend scratches his head in confusion and steps away quickly, averting his eyes from staring at Win. “Thanks for keeping my girl company since I was running late.”

“Whatever.” Really not wanting to deal with this guy anymore, I pull Win past him and stop by Rose. “It was fun talking with you. Hopefully, I’ll see you around again sometime. Have a good night.”

“I had fun, too. ‘Night, Per.” Giggling, Rose also waves goodbye to Win. I don’t know if she knows we are faking it or if she is a BL fan and I don’t care. I just want out of here so I continue to drag Win past a blur of people and out of the restaurant. Once outside, I find Knott has followed us out and is laughing his off. He saw everything and I am never going to hear the end of it in this life.

“That guy was freaking huge. Good thing your ‘boyfriend’ came to save your , Romeo, or there’d be nothing left of you.” Grinning widely as I flip him off, he hails down a taxi and climbs in, leaving Win and I standing alone on the street. Knott yells out the window as the cab pulls away. “See you in school. Be careful taking the wife home.”

“Should we get a ride, too?” Win asks but I’m too agitated as I watch the lights of Knott’s cab disappear.

“Let’s walk for a bit.”

Win follows along without protest and without a word, just quietly matching my steps. The farther we walk, the more my thoughts churn in my head. It’s feels as if I will explode if I don’t get something out, anything, so I say the first semi-coherent thing that pops into my brain.

“You’ve ing ruined my reputation.” The grumbling words leave my lips and I’m amazed at my own stupidity. What reputation? The one I ing made up that is more of a fairytale than Snow White? Not to mention, Win just saved my back there. I would have been pulverized if he hadn’t shown up. It’s too late to take the words back. They’ve already been spoken.

“Sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let him hurt you.” Win’s eyes darken and he shudders, the vibration running through our connected hands, which is when I realize we still have our fingers laced together. I release his hand only to drag him closer and wrap him in my arms, ruffling his hair with one of my hands.

“No, Winnie. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Patting the back of his head, I feel him calm down. “Thanks for saving me.”

“What are friends for?” He pulls away slightly and gives me a watery smile.

Friends. I seriously don’t know what I would do without Win in my life and I don’t want to find out. He’s not just my friend. He’s my best friend, my confidant, a large chunk of my world.