Hot Chocolate ( 2021 )

♱   SUMMARY   …   In which Kentaro only feels at home around her 

♱   STARRING   …   Fujioka Kentaro  ‘ Kenta ’  +  Phatchara Sintavanarong  ‘ Ayla ’ 

♱   MENTIONED   …   Kentaro’s grandmother 

♱   WARNING(S)   …   allusions to a death and that’s about it ? if I’m missing anything please let me know !  

♱   WORD COUNT   …    2K

♱   AUTHOR’S NOTE(S)   …   this is a rewrite of the piece that was here with the previous version of CARAVAL lmao . many thanks to Uyai ( @maeumui ) for proofreading this <3 . feedback is greatly appreciated !

Kentaro loved making hot chocolate. 

It always made him feel warm and fuzzy when he made hot chocolate for others. Knowing that someone will also feel warm and fuzzy whenever they drink his hot chocolate. It made him feel better about himself. 

Most importantly, it reminded him of his grandmother and how sweet and warm her hot chocolate used to be.

She had been such a sweet lady, always wearing a smile on her face no matter how difficult Kentaro had been, always willing to put up with him no matter how angry and rebellious he would get. She did so much for him all throughout his life, raising him when his parents didn’t and loving him when even he didn’t love himself. 

He missed her terribly. 

“Kenta? What are you doing? It’s, like, two in the morning,” a voice whispered behind Kentaro, startling him and making him jump. He quickly turned to see who it was. 

“Jesus Christ, Ayla, you scared me,” he said, breathing out a small sigh of relief and pressing a hand against his chest to calm his racing heart. 

The woman smiled tiredly, yawning as she hopped onto the kitchen counter while he turned back to the hot chocolate. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Making hot chocolate, Lala,” Kentaro joked, turning to kiss her nose and smiling when she wrinkled her nose. “Do you want some?”

Ayla smiled wider and nodded. “Yes, please.”

Kentaro’s smile softened, turning back to the hot chocolate and, using a ladle, he poured hot chocolate into a light blue mug, which he knew was her favorite. 

“Thank you, Kenta,” Ayla said quietly, yawning again before taking a small sip. “Mmm, tastes good." 

"Thanks, Lala,” Kentaro said, smiling wider as Ayla wrinkled her nose again. 

“Stop calling me that,” she whined. “You know that’s embarrassing.”

“Well, I think it’s cute, and it suits you,” Kentaro replied, spooning hot chocolate into his own dark blue mug. He moved forward to stand in front of Ayla, but stopped, his eyebrow raising in a silent question. 

“Everyone’s asleep,” Ayla said quietly, then smiled. “It’s literally two in the morning.”

Kentaro smiled back, then continued to step closer to her until he stood in between her legs that were dangling from the counter, his hips next to her thighs and his face just below hers. He placed his mug down next to Ayla, then rested his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. 

Ayla’s smile dropped, but Kentaro could still see it in her eyes as he leaned in. 

As their lips met in a soft kiss, Kentaro felt his heart flutter as he felt Ayla’s slender hands wrap around his neck, pulling him closer. His grip on her hips tightened in return, pulling her closer until he picked her up and they somehow found themselves in the dorm’s living room, their lips never parting as Kentaro stumbled to the couch. He gently sat down on the couch, then laid Ayla down next to him, immediately crawling on top of her. Once they were settled, Kentaro gently laid his head on her shoulder, his arm moving to support her head from behind as a makeshift pillow. 

“Kentaro…” Ayla whispered, giggling softly as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Why were you up so late?" 

"Couldn’t sleep, is all,” Kentaro said, his free hand moving to crawl up under her shirt and rest on her stomach. “What about you, baby? Why are you up?" 

"Heard noises in the kitchen and wanted to see what they were,” Ayla hummed, her other hand moving to rest on Kentaro’s forearm and gently rubbing it. “Good to know it wasn’t a robber or anything like that." 

Kentaro chuckled quietly, turning his head and pressing a soft kiss on her head. "That’s fair.”

The two stared at each other in silence, cuddling on the sofa in the dimly lit living room. 

“Kenta?” Ayla whispered. 

“What’s up, baby?” Kentaro whispered back, his hand sliding from under her shirt to her cheek to turn her face towards him. He saw her biting her lip in worry, so he leaned in and kissed her gently, nibbling on her bottom lip and pulling on it gently, getting her to stop. “You know you can tell me anything." 

Ayla looked up at him and moved her hands to rest on his bare chest. "Were you up because you missed your grandmother?" 

Kentaro paused, then nodded, his eyes turning glassy. “Yeah… yeah, baby, I…” 

He trailed off, memories of his grandmother returning. He couldn’t take it anymore, and he burst into tears from the weight of them all. 

Ayla pulled him in for a tight hug, letting him hide his face in her shoulder as she turned her head to press soft kisses to his hairline and whisper sweet words in his ear. 

“I can’t help it,” Kentaro sobbed softly into her shoulder. “I-I miss her so much she was so good to me, and I just… I took her for granted…” 

“I know, baby,” Ayla whispered, closing her eyes as she kept kissing his temple. “I know. Let it all out, it’s okay.” 

Kentaro wanted to let it all out as she said, but something inside him froze when she said that. It was like he couldn’t let himself completely fall apart, like he wasn’t allowed to. 

He slowly pulled away from the hug, refusing to let any more tears fall as he looked at Ayla. “It’s late… we should head back to sleep now.” 

Ayla frowned at the obvious attempt to change the subject. “Kenta…” 

“Ayla,” Kenatro said firmly, immediately regretting it when she flinched slightly at his tone. “I-I’m sorry, I just…” 

“It’s okay, Kenta,” Ayla said softly, smiling weakly. She looked over behind as much as she could before looking back at Kentaro. “Our hot chocolates are about to get cold.” 

Kentaro quickly jumped up and almost ran to the kitchen, breathing out a small sigh of relief as he felt the mugs of hot chocolate and felt their heat. He grabbed his mug and lifted it to his lips, tasting it and breathing a deeper sigh of relief. 

Yeah, they were still good. 

He made his way back to the living room, both mugs in his hands as he rejoined Ayla. She was sitting up on the couch, in a crisscrossed position as she fiddled with her hands. She looked up as he sat next to her, handing her her mug. 

“Don’t do that again, that was so mean,” Kentaro lightly joked in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. It worked a little, since Ayla giggled softly as she took her mug from him. 

“Thanks,” she whispered, taking a small sip of her own hot chocolate and sighing happily. “Still good.” 

Kentaro smiled slightly at her words and used his now free arm to wrap around her waist and pull her into his lap. His smile widened at her surprised yelp as she quickly made sure her hot chocolate didn’t spill, and he leaned in for a sweet kiss. She hummed against his lips and smiled softly, pulling away to drink the rest of her beverage. 

Kentaro did the same, and they stayed that way: Ayla comfortably on his lap with her head on his chest and his arm around her waist as they both finished their drinks and stared out into the dark living room. 

It was quiet and peaceful despite it being in the early hours of the morning, and it helped them finish their hot chocolate. Ayla finished first, keeping her empty mug in her lap as she yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder, eyes closing as she breathed deeply. 

“Tired?” Kentaro asked quietly as he finished his own hot chocolate. He moved his hand from her waist to her thigh, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. 

“Mhm,” Ayla murmured tiredly, burying her face into his neck and leaving small, soft kisses there. He laughed softly at her cute behavior and put his mug on the table next to the couch, gently taking her mug, placing it next to his own. 

“Let’s go back to bed, then, baby,” he whispered, still rubbing Ayla’s thigh as he pressed a small peck on her nose, slowly standing up with her in his arms. "I’ll carry you to bed." 

"Nooooo,” Ayla mumbled, head rolling back to look up at him. “Wanna stay here.”

“No, baby, you gotta go to bed,” Kentaro whispered as he quietly chuckled at her cute and dramatic behavior, gently adjusting Karis in his arms.

Ayla said nothing but mumbled incoherently in response as he quietly walked to Ayla and Amane’s room. He opened the door, wincing when it creaked a little. Luckily, Amane didn’t wake up, allowing Kentaro to quietly cross the room to Ayla’s side and  tuck her in as he softly kissed her forehead. 

“Kenta…” Ayla mumbled sleepily, looking up at him with hazy, unfocused eyes. 

“Yeah?” he whispered, gently tucking a piece of stray hair from the woman’s forehead. 

“Stay with me?”

Kentaro smiled, but he shook his head no. “Sorry, Lala. We have practice tomorrow, and we both know you’ll refuse to go if I’m here with you.” 

The girl in bed pouted, too tired to even notice that he called her by her least favorite nickname. She whined in protest  and insisted he join her in bed. It made Amane stir, and Kentaro had to quickly get in Ayla’s bed in order to quiet her and avoid waking up her roommate. 

As soon as he was under the covers, Ayla wrapped her arms around his waist, leg throwing itself over his lap as she rested her head on his chest and scooted as close as she could to him. She almost expected him to try to escape, but he didn’t, and it surprised her a little. 

Every time she tried to hold him captive in her bed, Kentaro would always manage to throw her limbs off his body before becoming trapped and would free himself from her, tucking her in and tiptoeing out of her and Amane’s room to go back to his own. 

He must have really been thinking about his grandmother if he wasn’t fighting her now. 

She hadn’t forgotten about his quick and awkward subject change when she tried to comfort him further, either. 

“Kenta…” she started, trailing off as she debated on whether or not to press on the issue of his grandmother. It caught his attention, and while he didn’t turn his head to look at her, the subtle stiffening of his body let her know he was aware of what she wanted to ask him. 

He knew she was about to ask about his dodging his feelings from earlier, and he knew he wasn’t ready to talk about it. He couldn’t. It was too early, too painful, too raw for him to even try to unpack anything. 

He didn’t know if he wanted to talk about it at all. 

“You know you can let go with me, right?” 

As soon as he heard those words, Kentaro denied it. 

“I’m fine, Lala. I promise,” he whispered, reaching down to cover her hand with his own and gently squeezing. “Let’s just sleep, okay? We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, and I don’t want you being all tired.” 

Ayla knew he was covering it up. She knew he wasn’t okay. 

But who was she to argue? It wasn’t like she could relate to him — her own family was the picture of perfection. There was nothing she could say about her own personal life that could truly help Kentaro cope. 

It was better to just let the matter drop and focus on them. 

“M’kay, baby. Let’s just sleep now,” she hummed. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, placing soft kisses there. 

Kentaro smiled slightly at the feeling of her lips on his neck, and his arm moved to completely embrace her as he kissed her forehead. 

As much as he hated to shut her down, he’d really rather not talk about his feelings. He didn’t want to worry her. 

He was happy where he was: in her bed, with Ayla in his arms, content with simply being each other. 

He loved it this way, and he’d make sure to do anything so it stayed. 

This was where he belonged. This was where he was home.