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“I’m dead. I’m so dead,” Sky’s words came out muffled because he was face down, head against his folded arms as he spoke directly into the table. “I’m so stupid and my life is over.”
“I don’t understand,” Rain said, continuing to eat his mozzarella sticks with very little regard to the way Sky’s life was ending before his eyes. “Why did you even lie about something like that?”
“I don’t know,” Sky whined. “There was this guy at a conference who kept trying to flirt with me, like it was very obvious and annoying, and he wouldn’t take a hint so I just… blurted out that I was married. I don’t know, it was a work thing so I couldn’t be rude and tell him to fuck off and I figured I'd never see him again so it would be fine. Except my co-worker, Joy, overheard me and she’s such a fucking gossip, I think the whole company got a text alert update on me by the next morning. Suddenly everyone was asking me about my husband and I just… panicked?”
“You panic-made up an entire fake husband and kept the charade going for a full calendar year?” Rain clarified, licking the tomato sauce from his fingers and Sky just really needed him to take this a bit more seriously.
“I didn’t really think about that part. I guess I figured people would forget? Or I’d get another job? Or I could just tell them I got fake divorced or something?” Sky realized in retrospect how incredibly stupid it all was. He should have just told the guy to get lost. He should have clarified with Joy before she’d told the whole office.
He should have, he should have, he should have.
It didn’t matter now.
It was already done and he was in too deep to back out with any grace or shreds of remaining pride.
“Except now you have your award ceremony next week and everyone expects your husband to be there,” Rain summarized the crux of the issue. It wasn’t such a problem that everyone was convinced he was married. He’d been managing that aspect of the lie for a while now just fine. And by that he meant, his fake husband really didn’t come up in conversation very often so he rarely had to think about it. The problem was that this award ceremony was a big deal and everyone from the office was expecting to meet his husband, his husband who didn’t actually exist. And not bringing said fake husband would result in a lot of questions he didn’t think he should have to answer.
“Maybe he should get hit by a car. Very sudden. Very tragic.” People died all the time; maybe it was just his fake husband’s turn?
“Are you planning on faking an obituary too?” Rain asked dryly.
“Goddammit, I’m such an idiot,” Sky grumbled. Killing his fake husband came with a whole host of new problems. It would only draw more attention to him and his fake relationship, not less.
“So what’s the plan?” Rain asked.
“Die before next week?” Sky suggested rather unhelpfully.
“Any plan B?”
“Say my fake husband died instead?” He suggested again.
“How good are you at crying on the spot?”
“Not very.”
“If you can’t cry when your fake husband dies suddenly, people will think you’re lying or you’re a psychopath,” Rain told him, snagging a calamari ring off of Sky’s plate. Under normal circumstances Sky would swat him away, would whine and complain about Rain stealing his food. However, in the current situation he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He couldn’t stomach food right now anyway but Rain’s dedication to the appetizer menu while Sky was mid-breakdown was noted and filed away to hold against him later. This felt against the best friend code somehow.
“Which is worse?” Sky asked. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if people thought he was a psychopath. Maybe they’d leave him alone, let him eat his lunch in peace for once.
“Neither is ideal.”
“What do I do?” Sky asked, downing the last of his wine and waving at the waiter to bring him more. He deserved to be not sober actually. He’d earned it. Sure this was a problem of his own making but it was also ridiculous and stupid and he didn’t deserve to suffer like this. He was a good person, karma should be on his side here.
“Well you have a few options,” Rain replied. “You could kill him off. That would involve a lot of theatrics and you’re likely to get caught when people want to send you flowers or attend the funeral.” Rain held up a single finger as he spoke.
Sky wrinkled his nose. He’d probably get fired for fraud when they forced him to take bereavement leave for a husband that didn’t exist. “Option number two?”
“Tell the truth, say you made it up,” Rain said, holding up a second finger. “It would involve a level of humility you’ve never once shown and will definitely negatively impact your career because everyone will think you are insane and they will absolutely remember it forever.”
“Absolutely not. Option number three?”
“You bring a fake husband to the ceremony,” Rain held up a third finger.
“Is there no option number four?”
“Nope.”
“How am I going to find a fake husband by next week?”
“Grindr?”
“My life is over,” Sky said, dropping his forehead back down onto the table. “I’m going to get fired and blackballed from the whole industry simply for being dumb.” The thought of trolling through Grindr for someone who was willing to go to a black tie event with him, who was sane and normal and professionally polished enough to show off to his colleagues and good enough at acting to pass as his husband, someone who would somehow agree to that… it was impossible. Less than impossible. Winning the lottery while being struck by lightning during an earthquake kind of impossible.
Maybe Sky would get abducted by aliens before next week.
That seemed more likely than finding this unicorn of a person who could pull off a convincing version of fake husband on fucking Grindr.
Sky reached across the table, taking Rain’s hand, grasping it solemnly between his own, “Rain, will you be my fake husband?”
“Sky, with peace and love… absolutely not. Literally no one would believe we are married,” Rain rolled his eyes. The two of them did not give off married vibes, not even a little bit.
Sky whined, slumping against the table in defeat. “What about Sig?”
Rain snorted, “Do you want people to think you’re married to Sig? Would that somehow be less embarrassing than the truth?”
“Fair point. What about your cousin?”
“My female cousin? Who is currently pregnant? You think she should play your fake husband for the night?”
“Yeah? Okay, fine. What about your dad?” He was grasping at straws at this point and they both knew it.
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response," he said, reaching for another mozzarella stick. “But you know,” Rain said slowly, setting down his food as he sank deep into thought. “I might know someone who is fake husband material.”
“What?” Sky’s head snapped around so fast he was pretty sure he pulled something in his neck. If Rain was fucking with him, Sky would murder him. He wouldn’t have to go to his award ceremony if he was in prison after all so… two birds and all that.
“Phayu has a friend from racing, he’s hot and very suave and charming. I think he works in business or something so he cleans up nice. He’d be perfect. You aren’t going to like him though,” Rain was biting his bottom lip like he was thinking through every outcome in his head.
“I don’t need to like him, it is, by definition, a fake relationship," Sky reminded him, wanting to shake Rain a little bit. Who gave a shit if he liked the man? That was so far down on the priority list it might as well be in hell.
“You need to like him a little if you’re going to pull this off,” Rain was still frowning.
“Why won’t I like him?” Sky asked with a sigh. There was no answer that was going to change Sky’s stance but he could humor Rain long enough to ring the mystery man’s name out of his best friend.
“I just… he’s going to get under your skin.”
“So what? You get under my skin and we still get along great. Please, Rain? I’m desperate. I’ll pay. I’ll do anything he wants just— please?” He could handle annoying for a few hours, that was a small price to pay to retain his dignity at work.
“Okay but… I did warn you,” Rain replied, his look of trepidation did not fill Sky with confidence.
~~~
Sky had pinned all his hopes on Rain. A dangerous life decision, but it couldn’t be helped. He was out of options and this was all that was left. It had to work. It simply had to. Sky didn’t have any other choice but to make this work.
Apparently Phayu’s friend, Prapai, had been out of the country for work until the day before Sky’s event, so they had no chance to meet until the day of. Which was really not helping his stress levels. Somehow Rain had convinced this man to do it though. The ceremony started in two hours and he was supposed to meet his new husband in… negative four minutes. Sky was seated in a bar near the venue, already in his tux, already jittery with nerves as he read and reread his acceptance speech, stressed about all the ways this day could go wrong and checked his watch over and over again.
His fake husband was late.
He hadn’t even met the man and he was already a disappointment.
Fuck, what if he wasn’t coming? What if he got stood up by his fake husband the only time it mattered?
No, Sky couldn’t think like that.
Everything was fine. It was only a few minutes, he wasn’t going to assume he’d been stood up. Rain had promised him the man would show. He might not have any faith in this stranger, but he had to trust Rain. He had to trust that Rain had instilled fear in this man's heart if he tried to flake.
The problem was, there was nothing to distract him from the what ifs and the doomsday scenarios playing out in his head. Thinking about the upcoming award ceremony only made his stress worse, not better.
Sky hated being the center of attention. He was an architect. He was the man behind the plan. He was never meant to be the man in the spotlight. Except his plan had been good. Too good. And now he was getting an award for his most recent project being a beacon of sustainability in the industry. At least that’s what the headlines had said.
In theory, Sky loved being recognized for his work, it felt great, too good to be true actually. But also, couldn’t they just mail him the plaque or whatever? Why did it have to be a whole thing? Why did it have to be a production involving everyone in the industry coming together over drinks and cocktail shrimp to watch Sky stutter through a speech? It wasn’t fair.
Sky was jolted out of his anxiety spiral when he nearly choked on his water because the door opened, and a man in an impeccable tux and the plushest looking lips Sky had ever seen walked through, scanning the bar until his eyes landed on Sky.
Fuck, he was coming over.
This could not be the guy Rain had set him up with.
He just couldn’t be.
He was hot.
Too hot.
Rain had said he was hot but Sky hadn’t realized he meant hot.
Why would a hot guy agree to such a weird proposal?
Was he insane?
This wasn’t going to work.
No one would believe this was Sky’s husband, he looked like a GQ model who just stepped off the runway in his fancy tux. Sky was going to look like a bridge troll standing next to him and everyone was going to think he hired an escort for the night.
This was a disaster.
“Sky?” The man said, an easy smile pulling at his lips. “Rain’s friend?”
“Uhhhh,” Sky blinked at him for a painfully long moment. “Hi?”
He smiled, a cocky tinge at the corners. “Prapai, fake husband, at your service.”
Something about his smug, beautiful face and his flippant words seemed to shake Sky out of his funk. “First of all, keep your voice down,” Sky said, glancing around as if his coworkers were spying on him from the next table. He wouldn’t put it past Joy. “Second of all, you’re late. We have a lot of ground to cover and very little time to do so.”
Prapai took a seat across from him, his smile never slipping. “You’re wound tight,” He replied.
“It is a very stressful day,” Sky retorted.
“I’m told your wedding day usually is.” Prapai said.
Sky sighed, “Are you taking this seriously?”
“The blind date where I’m to pretend we’re married? Not even a little bit,” Prapai answered, humor dancing behind his disgustingly pretty eyes.
Sky could feel a migraine coming on. He was understanding now why Rain had said he and Prapai wouldn’t get along. Prapai was definitely getting under his skin and it had only been two minutes. His cocky little smile and his complete laissez-faire attitude was like a cheese grater to Sky’s brain. “Look, I know this entire situation is ridiculous, but I’m in too deep to tell the truth now. I just need you to attend this award ceremony with me and make it believable that we are a couple. That’s it. I’ll tell everyone later we got divorced or something, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is getting through tonight.” He sounded insane. He knew that. But what else was he supposed to do at this point?
“Alright, so how long have we been married?” Prapai asked, his face still advertised how not serious he was taking all of this and it made Sky want to scream into a pillow.
“Who cares?” Sky snapped even though it was a perfectly valid question.
“People will ask,” Prapai pointed out.
“Two years,” Sky said.
“How did we meet? When is our anniversary? Where did we go for our honeymoon? What’s the go-to breakfast in bed option? Boxers or briefs?” Prapai started rattling off his rapid fire questions, looking more amused by the second as Sky’s frown deepened.
“Jesus, fuck. I don’t care. Make something up,” Sky felt like he might cry actually. In all his mental scenarios, he hadn’t planned for his fake husband to be too hot and so annoying he wanted to scream. Which in hindsight, might actually be on him; Rain had tried to warn him. Not that he would ever admit that.
“What if I make up a story and you make up a story and the people we tell these stories to somehow compare notes and find out? Your whole elaborate lie would have been for nothing simply because you won’t brainstorm a meet cute with me or pick a favorite breakfast food?” His smile was smug and annoying. He was having way too much fun with this when Sky’s entire professional life hinged on tonight going well.
“Look, if you’re not going to take this seriously, I can find a new fake husband in the next twenty minutes. That waiter over there is cute, maybe he’ll do it. Or maybe I'll just tell everyone you cheated on me. I’ll make up a really awful story involving prostitutes or the best man from our fake wedding and an incurable case of crabs you contracted after I dumped you because karma works quickly like that. It will be tragic and really take away from my awards night but it at least would give me an excuse to leave early,” Sky snapped at him. His nerves were already frayed and the thought of dealing with this jackass all night was not helping matters.
Rather than be annoyed or even admonished, Prapai laughed, a bright sound that seemed to sink down into the dusty corners of Sky’s heart. “I like my fake husbands feisty. Okay fine, I’ll be serious because while you’re very cute when you’re contemplating my murder, you also look like you’re going to burst a blood vessel or something. Here’s the plan; we’ll stick together for this thing, it’ll be easier to keep stories straight that way. If anyone asks about history or how we met or any sort of detailed answer, I’ll do the talking as your oh so charming husband. Our anniversary is in November by the way. We honeymooned in Fiji, I like chocolate croissants and you at least have to buy me a drink before I’ll show you my underwear,” He added an over the top wink to his smug little grin and Sky contemplated punching him.
“Oh my god, you are the worst,” Sky said, dropping his forehead onto the table and begged the universe for death. He knew he shouldn’t have trusted Rain. He knew better. Rain meant well but he was not reliable in a crisis like this. He should have spun the wheel with Grindr, actually. He should have told everyone his fake husband was a pediatric surgeon or something so he always had a built-in excuse why his fake husband couldn’t attend events. But it was too late now. He was stuck with Prapai for the evening and this was all actually happening and Sky needed to pull it together. “Fine, you do the talking; after my speech I’ll come up with an excuse to leave early. We’ll be in and out in like two hours, max.”
“Perfect.” Prapai smiled, holding out his hand. Sky just looked at it, quirking an eyebrow. Prapai chuckled, seemingly amused by Sky’s behavior and just leaned over, grabbing Sky’s hand and threading their fingers together. “Ready to go, sweetheart?”
“Eww,” Sky wrinkled his nose. “Do not call me that.”
“No? What about Darling? Sugar Bear? Gum Drop? Stud Muffin? Honeybun? Toaster Strudel?”
“Why is everything food related? Just use my name,” Sky scoffed. It had been too long since he’d been in a relationship, the very thought of pet names made him feel icky.
“But we’re supposed to be married!” Prapai seemed scandalized at the very thought.
“Married people use names too. If you call me Stud Muffin in front of my boss I will pour a fondue pot down your pants. I don’t even know if there will be fondue tonight. But if there isn’t, I’ll leave, buy a fondue pot and a metric ton of cheese, come back and heat it up just so I can then pour it down your pants.”
“So that’s a hard no on Stud Muffin then? Let’s revisit Toaster Strudel, I think that one has some real potential,” Prapai said, seemingly unaffected by Sky’s mini rant.
“I’m going to be sick,” Sky whined, only then realizing that Prapai was still holding his hand as he gave him a little reassuring squeeze. He refused to acknowledge that it was helping ease his anxiety. Today was probably going to implode in his face but there was some layer of comfort that he wasn’t going to have to endure it alone. Prapai had no skin in this game, it was Sky’s life, Sky’s career, that was going up in smoke, but at least he had a witness.
“You’re going to be fine. You have a very hot husband, your coworkers are going to love it,” Prapai said, his confidence was astounding honestly.
“God, you’re full of yourself,” Sky grumbled even though Prapai was maybe a little bit correct. Most of his coworkers would be too dazzled by Prapai’s face and hair and general everything to notice much else. But it only added to the annoyance factor that Prapai knew just how hot he was. Self-aware hot people were gross.
“Well I have a very hot husband for the night too. We look good together,” Prapai said with a smile, a real smile, not the cocky little smirk thing from before. And goddammit, he was pretty when he smiled. Asshole.
Sky hmphed in response, refusing to admit the way those words felt in his chest.
“Ready? You, my little Stud Muffin, have an award to go receive,” Prapai said, pulling him from the booth and towards the door.
Sky ignored the obvious jab and allowed himself to be dragged to his doom.
~~~
The room was filling up already, everyone looking posh and professional in their tuxes and black tie style gowns. Sky recognized many of them, people from the office or connections he’d made within the industry over the years. It was wild and a little trippy to see so many people he recognized and to realize, they were all here for him. They were here to celebrate his achievement. Well, not just him. Sky was only one of many receiving an award that evening, but he was one of the headliners and it still felt some kinda way that his name was proudly listed in the brochure being handed to everyone. Everyone acknowledged him with a nod or congratulations as they made their way through the hall, the room filled with standing tables and waiters passing out hors d'oeuvres and flutes of champagne. It was overwhelming.
Since he was one of the awardees that evening, he was drawing far more attention than he normally would, a fact that made him want to curl up in a ball and hide in the bathroom until this was all over. Except he had Prapai standing beside him, still holding his hand like it was normal and natural, the man smiling and nodding at everyone like they were all old friends. The weight of eyes and expectations felt lessened somehow as he walked through the room as a unit rather than having to do it alone.
Sky’s boss, a severe looking woman who rarely smiled, materialized beside him. “Do you have your speech all prepared?” She asked, skipping over pleasantries as usual. She was an excellent architect and a decent boss, but she was not a people person.
“Oh— I, yes. All ready to go. Khun, this is my husband, Prapai,” The word husband feeling like it would choke him on the way out. “Prapai, this is my boss,” he shot Prapai a look, one that hopefully conveyed ‘if you fuck this up they will never find your body’ but to everyone else watching conveyed ‘this is my husband of two years whom I love’. Sky wasn’t confident he’d nailed the second part.
Prapai smiled, a mega-watt smile that rivaled the sun and said, “It’s so nice to meet you! Sky has said such wonderful things about working with you.”
His boss smiled, maybe for the first time in her life, “Oh that’s very kind.”
“Sky, what was that project you were telling me about? You said your boss's input was so helpful?” Prapai turned to him, all expectant smiles and encouragement.
Sky blinked at him, mild panic clawing up his throat. What the hell was he doing?
“Oh that must have been the shopping mall project,” His boss said, her smile growing to something a bit more genuine. “I had no idea my feedback was so impactful.”
“Oh, well of course,” Sky mumbled.
“Sky really values your input,” Prapai assured her, his smile doing the heavy lifting in that sentence. And Sky's boss honest-to-god blushed. The woman was ice cold in the office, she was all business all the time and suddenly she was blushing. After successfully buttering her up, Prapai asked a few polite questions and suddenly they were learning all about her pet rabbit Muffins and the variety of electrical cords Muffins had eaten through in the past week. Sky didn’t know the woman had any pets, or facial muscles to smile for that matter. He learned more about his boss in the past ten minutes than in the year he’d worked under her combined. Which was weird and disconcerting.
“How did you do that?” Sky asked as soon as his boss went to get another drink, leaving them alone.
“Do what?” Prapai replied, cocking his head to the side in a frankly, adorable little confused puppy pose.
“That woman has never smiled a day in her life.”
“Oh,” Prapai smirked. “Well flattery will get you everywhere.”
“That’s really your plan for tonight?” Sky gaped at him. “Flattery and bullshit?”
“Well— yes? Isn’t that kind of the whole point of tonight? Would you rather your perfect husband be a drunken buffoon instead? I mean, I can obviously do that but—”
“Of course not,” Sky glared at him.
“Then?” Prapai raised an eyebrow at him. His stupid smug face was so handsome it was actually disgusting. Obviously that had gone well, better than Sky had dreamed. It was just annoying that this man was able to just wing it, to pull a conversation completely out of his ass and have it go well.
Sky was not good at the networking side of his career. He was introverted and awkward and didn’t know how to have a conversation that didn’t revolve around statement windows and support beams. Events like this were a supremely painful experience of awkward silences and stilted small talk. However, with Prapai by his side, the whole thing felt easier, smoother. Prapai had an energy about him that seemed to draw people in, that made people open up. It didn’t matter who they were talking to, Prapai found a way to connect and get them talking about themselves. That seemed to be his trick, Prapai said surprisingly little about himself, always leading with a question or deflecting onto Sky, using the opportunity to talk Sky up like Prapai was his personal hype man. Most of what he said didn’t even make sense, he didn’t seem to know anything about the industry or what Sky did, but he just said something vague and flattering in Sky’s direction and combined with his big doe eyes and earnest smile, everyone still seemed to fall for it. It was… kind of sweet actually. They didn’t know each other at all and yet Prapai was playing his part of fake husband perfectly. He dialed up the charm to an eleven and made sure that every interaction made Sky come away looking good even as Sky mostly just stood awkwardly beside Prapai and smiled.
He supposed he had maybe been a bit too harsh with Prapai before.
“Sky!” His coworker Joy latched onto him. She looked lovely in a black and silver sequin dress, a deep plunging neckline demanding attention. She had a nose for gossip; talking with Joy would be the real test of their fake relationship for the evening. “And this must be your husband? Sky has told us so much about you! But he didn’t mention how handsome you are,” She laughed, loud and over the top, her hand on Prapai’s bicep as she did so.
Prapai smiled, looking charmed at her behavior. “Oh, I clean up okay, but Sky is the real stunner tonight and he’s just so talented, I’m thrilled to see his hard work being recognized.”
“Oh that’s so sweet,” Joy cooed.
Joy's voice seemed to carry and suddenly a few other people had migrated to join their little impromptu group.
“So how did you two meet?” Joy asked and Sky wanted to smack her a little for proving Prapai right. He was going to be smug as hell about that later, Sky could feel it in his bones.
Prapai however, just smiled like it was the greatest question he’d ever heard. “We were set up on a blind date by our friends actually! And I was taken with him immediately of course, I mean look at him!” Prapai did some crinkly thing with his eyes as he smiled that made the women in the group swoon collectively. “But he was very unimpressed with me. I had to work so hard to change his mind.” The jackass wasn’t even making up a story, he was just recounting the last hour since they’d met. Sky didn’t know if he should be impressed or annoyed about that.
“Oh?” Joy asked. “How did you manage that?”
“Well I helped him out of a bind which endeared him to me,” Prapai explained. “And then I wooed him with my charm. Sky may not seem like it, but he’s a romantic at heart. Flowers and wine and a midnight walk in the park was all it took for him to soften up. He even kissed me after that first date,” Prapai said, adding the last part as a conspiracy fake whisper. He snagged glasses of champagne from a passing waiter for them both, passing a flute to Sky with an obnoxious wink.
“You weren’t that charming, I was just a little drunk from all the wine,” Sky replied, helping the story come to a close with a sip of his champagne. Prapai just smiled, giving him a look that was achingly fond, as if the two of them bickered like this all the time. Prapai was definitely convincing all of Sky’s coworkers, Sky would give him that. For the first time all night, his anxiety started to slip away because he actually believed they might pull it off. Not just survive the night, but actually convince all of these people.
“You two are so cute!” Joy all but squealed.
Prapai smiled brightly, tugging Sky against him, arm around his shoulders as he chatted with Sky’s coworkers like they were all good friends. Sky didn’t know how he did it, but Prapai seemed to thrive in this environment, carrying the conversation easily, asking open ended questions that encouraged a deeper response and used his disarming smile to make other people feel comfortable. Sky found himself relaxing into Prapai’s hold despite himself. Sky just kept quiet, smiled politely and sipped his champagne, letting Prapai take the lead in conversations as they made the rounds through the busy ballroom.
“Oh lord,” Sky muttered under his breath as he saw exactly who he didn’t want to see making a beeline for him.
“What?” Prapai asked, glancing around the room.
“I’ll explain later just— ew,” Sky pointed with his chin before pasting a smile on his face. “Som, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Sky! Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” He smiled, a bit too big, brushing his hand rather pointedly against Sky’s arm. Prapai raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t seen you since that conference last year! I sent you a message, but I never heard back.”
“Oh, I must have missed it,” Sky said with a dismissive wave of his hand, then, with all the subtlety of a brick to the face added, “Som, this is my husband.” Sky leaned heavily against Prapai until he got the hint, wrapping an arm around Sky’s waist, pulling him in close. Sky smiled up at him, placing his hand over Prapai’s at his waist, the picture of a happy couple.
“Pleasure,” Prapai said simply, smiling a little too smug.
“Oh, right,” Som said, his eyes flitting between them as the air thickened with a palpable awkwardness. “Well congratulations. Perhaps we can catch up later?”
“Thank you,” Sky replied, ignoring the suggestion and already tugging Prapai into another direction, sighing in relief when Som gave up and walked away.
“Friend of yours?” Prapai chuckled, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Ugh,” Sky groaned. “That asshole is the reason I’m in this mess to begin with.”
“Oh?”
“Wouldn’t stop hitting on me at the conference,” Sky rolled his eyes. “It was a whole thing; had to bring you into it just to get him to lay off.” He should send Som his therapy bills when this was all over. He’d lost years of his life stressing about this ceremony and his fake husband and it was all Som’s fault actually.
“Ahh,” Prapai nodded. “Can't say I blame the guy for trying though. Want me to go all jealous husband on him later?”
A bubble of laughter burst through at the mental picture that conjured. Som was scrawny, all lanky limbs and sharp angles, he would look comical squared up against Prapai’s solid frame. “Please do not. You’re already making too much of an impression on people,” Sky answered, the amusement still written on his face.
“Wasn’t that the point?” Prapai replied, his eyebrows furrowing into an adorable little frown.
“No! They just had to believe you existed. But you’re all—” Sky waved his hand at Prapai like it meant something, as if a hand wave could encapsulate all the reasons Prapai was too much in the fake husband department. Too hot, too suave, too personable, too perfect. No, Sky would not be elaborating. “And now they’re going to invite you to barbecues and shit.”
“I’m sorry I’m too charming, I guess no one will believe your karmic carbs story now,” Prapai quipped, making Sky laugh once again, warmth blooming in his chest. Damn it, why did he have to be funny too?
As they circled the room once more, champagne in hand and a genuine smile on his lips, Sky realized that Prapai’s arm had found a home around his waist; he didn’t pull away.
~~~
The award ceremony was long and elaborate. Sky was one of many being recognized that evening but since his award was more prestigious, it was towards the end of the program, so there was no opportunity to sneak out early. He and Prapai were seated towards the front, forced to smile and look engaged as speeches were made and tears were shed. At some point, Prapai leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Wait, so this is about architecture?” into his ear and Sky had to convert his snort of laughter into a cough.
Prapai preened like getting Sky to laugh was the highlight of his night.
Sky felt… good. Weirdly good.
The mixer before the ceremony hadn’t been the torture he had been anticipating. Prapai’s very existence seemed to smooth out all of Sky’s rough bits. He was nice and charming and made the conversation flow without Sky feeling like an awkward outsider to it all. Sky had no idea how he did it and he kind of hated Prapai for it a little bit, he made it look so easy, but he was mostly just grateful. Now that he was here and his plan was working he was realizing just how incredibly stupid the plan had been to begin with. With anyone else by his side, this would have been a disaster. Sky wasn’t convincing anyone, Prapai was doing all of the work. If he’d tried to bring Rain or some rando from Grindr, he would have embarrassed himself on what was supposed to be an important night for his career.
“Thank you,” Sky said quietly. “For tonight. I know this whole thing was stupid but—”
Prapai glanced over at him, a softness to his features as if the mask of personable plus one he’d been wearing all night slipped. “It’s not stupid,” Prapai corrected him. “Sure, it’s the weirdest blind date I’ve ever been forced to go on, but it’s been kinda fun actually.”
Sky chuckled, “You’re really good at this.”
“At what? Being a husband?” Prapai’s eyes practically sparkled with delight.
Sky rolled his eyes but his smile gave away his true feelings. “I meant the schmoozing and the small talk. Everyone loves you.”
“Oh it’s nothing, I have to do stuff like this for work a lot. They don’t love me, they won’t even remember my name tomorrow. They just love how I made them feel about themselves,” Prapai shrugged it off with a good-natured smile.
“Prapai?”
“Hmm??”
“Just take the compliment,” Sky said, something gooey with fondness felt lodged in his chest. Prapai had spent all night showering people with compliments and flattery and yet he was incapable of accepting a compliment himself? Ridiculous man.
“I—” Prapai blinked all owlishly at him.
“You make people feel seen, don’t downplay that. Even if they don’t remember your name, they will remember how you made them feel and that isn’t nothing.”
“And what about you? How do I make you feel?” Prapai asked, his eyes earnest and devoid of the cocky edge from before.
“I feel... relieved. I suppose I am very fortunate to call you my husband,” Sky answered with a playful smile. When it didn’t feel like his career and future was about to crumble around him, this whole playing pretend thing was actually kind of fun. Their own little inside joke. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint when he’d flipped from Prapai being an unpleasant stranger to someone he trusted, someone who was making butterflies erupt in his chest, perhaps it was all the champagne, but he didn’t hate it. Not even a little bit.
When Prapai offered up his hand, Sky didn’t point out that they were in a dark auditorium, all eyes on the stage rather than them, instead he just threaded his fingers through Prapai’s, leaning in until their shoulders touched.
Sky wondered if this is what it felt like for people who brought a real partner to events. Did it feel warm and fuzzy to have someone holding your hand? Did it feel effervescent and fun to have someone to whisper in your ear and giggle together between speeches? Did it take the edge off of anxiety to always have someone in your corner, standing at your shoulder through it all?
Something a little too close to longing clawed up inside of him but the comforting weight of Prapai’s hand in his and Prapai’s warm breath against his ear as he made an inappropriate but hilarious joke about the MC's suspected crotch stuffing seemed to keep it at bay.
As his name was called, he realized he’d spent the whole ceremony giggling with Prapai rather than stressing about his speech and how badly he was going to stutter when he got on stage. He hadn’t thought at all about what was to come, he hadn’t thought about tripping on the stairs and hadn’t ran through his speech twenty seven times in his head. He’d just been enjoying himself.
Unheard of at a work event.
Sky stepped up onto the stage, the lights assaulting and the sea of expectant eyes looking at him and it was all too much until his gaze landed on Prapai, his stupid pretty face and his stupid pretty smile that made his eyes sparkle and the rising swell of anxiety seemed to ebb. He could do this. Perhaps he’d had a glass too many before the award ceremony or maybe it was the confidence of his fake husband watching from the front row, but his speech felt too natural, his usual stage fright and jitters hadn’t set in like it normally did, making him sound, and therefore feel, more confident on stage.
And suddenly he was done, a booming applause greeting him as waied one last time before exiting the stage, his award clutched to his chest, to find Prapai waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Prapai pulled him close without any hesitation, making it look intimate to onlookers while whispering into his ear, “You did great, be proud of yourself.”
And if you asked him later, Sky couldn’t really say what came over him in that moment. Maybe it really was one too many glasses of champagne or maybe it was the overwhelming experience of having an entire room of people standing in applause for him, or maybe it was the much needed kind word, the acknowledgement of his hard work coming to fruition that somehow felt more sincere than the award in his hand. He was pretty sure it was simply everything, the whole night and everything going well because of Prapai’s grounding presence beside him, letting him glean confidence he otherwise wouldn’t have felt. Whatever the reason, something in him just seemed to snap. Sky looked up at Prapai, a genuine smile on his lips like he truly proud of Sky’s accomplishments, and Sky rolled up onto his toes, award dangling front his finger tips as he wrapped his arms around Prapai’s neck, his free hand sinking into Prapai’s hair, cradling his head as Sky kissed him, right there in front of everyone.
Prapai had a moment of startled surprise before his hands were around Sky’s waist, pulling him in tight, deepening the kiss with a press of his tongue. He was warm and solid and held Sky like he was something precious. And maybe it was all the champagne getting to his head, but it was good.
Goddammnit, it was good.
The chuckles and a stray wolf whistle was what pulled Sky out of the moment, remembering that he was at a work function, his work function, and perhaps he was edging past propriety already. He pulled back to watch Prapai’s eyes flutter back open, god he had pretty lashes. Why did all the prettiest boys have to have long pretty lashes too? The universe was unfair. Rather than feeling annoyed about it however, he felt a little smug. The prettiest boy with the prettiest lashes had just kissed him after all.
“I think it’s time to go home, I have a husband to celebrate with,” Prapai said, loud enough to be overheard by those sitting near them. A fresh round of chuckles went through the group as Prapai pulled him towards the exit and Sky’s chest felt like it would explode he was so full of anticipation.
They came out into the bright lights of the lobby, the wait staff watching them with curiosity as they giggled their way to the front doors and out into the fresh night air. It was cool against his face, and served as a bucket of ice to wake him up out of the fantasy he was living in his head. What was he doing? What was he doing with Prapai?
Prapai, Rain’s boyfriend’s friend, who he didn’t actually know at all.
Prapai who he met two hours ago and considered throwing his drink on.
Sky stopped short, slipping his hand from Prapai’s.
Prapai turned, a questioning little cock to his head that made him look like a puppy, all eager and adorable. It was really not helping.
“I— thank you again, for tonight.” Sky said, feeling oddly formal all of a sudden. “It went better than I’d imagined but I— I guess we're done now so we don’t have to pretend anymore.”
Prapai studied him for a long moment, stepping closer to purposefully thread his fingers with Sky’s once again. “I don’t know about you,” Prapai said, his tone intentionally light. “But playing pretend tonight was the realest I've felt in ages. And if that’s how you kiss when it’s pretend, what do I need to do to experience the real thing?”
Sky blinked at him, his stomach doing these awful little flips and Prapai was pulling him closer, slow and intentional, giving Sky plenty of time to stop it if he wanted to. But he didn’t. He didn’t want to stop. So when Prapai’s lips pressed against his for the second time that night, it wasn’t fueled by adrenaline or hidden behind a fake relationship. It was just the two of them, standing under the stars in their rumpled tuxes, making a choice.
The tips of Prapai’s fingers skated along his cheek, a reverent touch and Sky sighed against him, leaning in to his touch. He felt positively giddy, like a teenager with his first crush. It couldn’t possibly be this easy? He’d never met another person he felt quite so right with and it should terrify him but instead it was exhilarating.
“Come on,” Prapai said softly, “There’s one more thing we have to do tonight.”
Sky didn’t know what he meant but he never wanted this night to end so he allowed himself to be pulled along, his hand safe in Prapai’s hold.
They ended up in a little city park alongside the river, just a few blocks from the venue. It was quiet this time of night, wind rustling through the trees and the gentle lapping of water along the shore as they walked hand in hand down the paved path. The path was lined with soft ferns and there was the subtle hint of jasmine in the air and it made Sky feel like they were the only two people on the planet.
“Why did we need to come here?” Sky asked, trying to bite back his smile that felt too big for his face. It wasn’t right, it was normal, to feel like this over someone he just met. It felt like a trick, like some combination of alcohol and stress had hindered his judgement and Prapai was a figment of his imagination. Except Prapai was very tangible and real and better than anything his imagination would have come up with.
“Well, I figured the story we told about how we met doesn’t actually have to be a lie? Everyone just conveniently thinks it happened in the past,” Prapai answered, his smile so light and carefree.
“What do you mean?” Sky asked.
“Well, we were set up by a mutual friend. You were unimpressed with me but won over by my charm in the end. We had wine. You kissed me. All of those things from our how we met story have already happened tonight. The only thing we didn’t do was a midnight walk at the park,” Prapai explained as they meandered the short walking path back out to the main road.
“You forgot flowers,” Sky reminded him rather than admit how deeply he felt those words. It didn’t make sense for Prapai to exist and be this damn perfect and for Sky to have found him under the most unlikely of circumstances. It was like a crazy dream and he hoped he never woke up from it.
Prapai chuckled, “I’ll find you some flowers. I just meant, not everything has to be a lie.”
Sky bit his lip, everything felt too good to be true once again. Sky’s life didn’t work out like this, he didn’t meet hot guys under the weirdest of circumstances that he clicked with and have it all work out. There was a catch, there had to be. He was hesitant to ask but knowing he couldn’t keep going without the answer. “Why did you agree to do this?”
“Well… Rain can be very persuasive,” Prapai answered. “He can also be very annoying when he doesn’t get his way. He seemed to think I was the answer to your problem and I could just tell, he was going to be obnoxious if he didn’t get his way about it. And if Rain didn’t get his way, I’d have to hear about it from Phayu until the day I died. One night of weirdness at an awards ceremony didn’t sound so bad compared to that. Besides, he also said you promised me anything I wanted in return,” Prapai flashed him a smile.
“That’s it? Rain is annoying so you agreed to be a fake husband for a day?” Sky clarified, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
Prapai smirked, “Well I initially said no because you sounded insane, seriously this whole plan was bonkers, but then he showed me your picture.”
“What?”
“You’re cute. Suddenly it didn’t sound so crazy,” Prapai shrugged as if that answer made any sense.
“But that’s so stupid.” There had to be more to it than that. Sky didn’t consider himself tragic or anything, but he wasn’t anything special. It just didn’t make any sense for someone who looked like Prapai to agree to such a crazy proposal for someone like Sky. That math didn’t math.
“Maybe,” Prapai answered, seemingly not caring that Sky didn’t believe him. His hand came up to cup Sky’s cheek, thumb flitting across Sky’s cheekbone and setting his skin on fire with the gentle touch “Or maybe you should look in a mirror.”
Sky cleared his throat, pulling away and trying to move past words that felt too sincere. “So what do you want in return?”
“Well I honestly hadn’t decided yet. I don’t need money or anything so I figured I could choose something silly that would annoy Rain. Maybe have you crash his and Phayu’s dates for like a month, or I don’t know, put hair dye in Phayu’s shampoo bottle. But now that I’ve met you, that seems like a waste of a wish,” Prapai explained.
“A wish? Am I a genie now?”
“You feel pretty magical to me,” Prapai replied with an obnoxious wink.
“Oh shut up,” Sky scoffed. What an absolute cheeseball of a line. He would not blush about it, he would not.
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“Why?”
“I want to take you out on a proper date.”
“Is that your official wish?”
“No. Unless you’re going to say no, then yes.”
“Rain said I wouldn’t like you, that you’d get under my skin,” Sky said instead of answering the question.
“And do I?”
“Get under my skin? Absolutely,” Sky said. Prapai was cocky and smug and annoying and seemed to delight in pushing all of Sky’s buttons.
“But you still like me,” Prapai replied, a confidence in his tone that reminded Sky why he found the man so infuriating. It was more infuriating because it was true. He did like Prapai. Even though he was cocky and smug and annoying, Sky still liked him. After the anxiety and stress of it all that evening had worn off, he’d had fun. He’d enjoyed spending time with Prapai and he wanted to keep doing it.
“I don’t even know you,” Sky reminded him rather than admit to anything. “But you made an adequate fake husband, I suppose.”
“Adequate? Your coworkers were eating out of my hand. Your boss is definitely going to give you a promotion. I deserve some credit here,” Prapai frowned at him.
“Decent,” Sky amended.
“I’m the best fake husband you’re ever going to have. The average-looking waiter could never…”
“That is only because you win by default of being the only one. Which also means technically, you’re also the worst fake husband I've ever had,” Sky pointed out, trying very hard not to laugh at the wounded puppy look it earned him in response.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re very obstinate?” Prapai asked, still trying to look put out and pathetic so Sky would be nicer to him.
“No. Most people tell me I’m a delight,” Sky lied.
“You know, I’m going to have to yell at Rain later,” Prapai said suddenly.
“Why is that?”
“Because he’s been keeping you a secret all this time.”
“He literally thought we would kill each other,” Sky laughed. Rain hadn’t been wrong to be worried, but he hadn’t quite predicted things correctly either.
“And? That’s no excuse not to introduce me to his hottest friend,” Prapai frowned like Rain’s past oversight was offensive to him.
“That’s… so stupid,” Sky replied, glad they were outside so his blush wasn’t noticeable.
“It’s really not.” Their walk meandered through a little street market along the river, everything closed up tight this time of night. It was quiet, the streets deserted this time of night, only scraps of litter and the stray cabbage leaf crumpled under countless shoes over the course of the day. Prapai stopped short, looking at one of the closed shops, a bucket sitting outside the door with a few flower clippings and broken stems, the throwaways from the day. He plucked out a sunflower, a little crumpled on one side but otherwise still healthy and vibrant looking.
Prapai smiled like he’d won a prize, holding out the flower to Sky.
Sky raised an eyebrow, “Dumpster flowers, really?”
“It is very late, you cannot be picky right now,” Prapai pouted all pitifully at him.
Sky accepted his dumpster flower, smiling despite himself, Prapai really managed to do everything from their fake first date story and make it true. “You still didn’t tell me what your wish was.”
Prapai threaded their fingers together, lifting up their joined hands to press a kiss to the back of Sky’s hand. “The only thing I want is to see you again.”
And that was ridiculous and cheesy and over the top and Sky wanted to hate it except it was exactly how he was feeling in the moment as well. “There’s one more thing you forgot to do,” Sky said, smiling at the confused little forehead wrinkle that materialized on Prapai’s face.
“No? Flowers, wine, park,” Prapai ticked them off of his fingers.
“You told all my coworkers we were going home to celebrate,” Sky reminded him, pulling him in close until their noses were touching, their lips a hairsbreadth apart as a smile playing at his lips. “So why don’t you take me home, husband? Be a shame to make a liar out of you now.”