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Ray had a little smile on his face as he listened to Sand and his mother bickering in the kitchen and he shook his head, tucking his hands into his pockets as he tried to loosen up a little bit. He and Sand had been invited over to Sand’s mother’s place – she invited them over for dinner. Family dinners usually weren’t Ray’s thing, but this time was different. This was Sand’s mother, so he was actually touched and happy that she invited him as well.
Ray liked Sand’s mother, ever since he first met her. She was a very interesting person and Sand’s and her relationship was adorable. That was why he just laughed when he heard Sand complaining about the ingredients he found in her fridge – apparently, she should be eating healthier food.
That was Sand – always so caring about other people. Ray pressed his lips together, exhaling softly as his eyes were scanning around the living room, where he was waiting for Sand. The two of them were supposed to be waiting together as the woman was just finishing with the dinner, but Sand decided to help her out, so Ray was waiting alone. He didn’t mind it too much, crossing his legs and he closed his eyes as he listened to the bickering for some more.
“ Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? We’ve talked about this. These are not healthy snacks, hm? ”
“ Oh, please stop it! Again, who’s the mother? You or me? ”
“ Let me see- ”
“ What are you doing to my fridge, boy? ”
“ Just clearing out some things. ”
“ Sand, put that back! ”
Ray snickered as he listened to those two and he slowly stood up, curiously wandering around the living room. He didn't mean to snoop around, but he was getting bored so decided to keep himself entertained.
The living room was small, but it felt nice and cosy. There was a large glass door that led out to a small balcony and Ray slowly walked over to it, admiring the view for a little while before something else caught his attention.
On the opposite side of the room, there were two smaller bookcases standing next to each other. Both of them were identical, but it wasn’t the books that caught Ray’s attention. Rather, he was more interested in the framed photos that were displayed on top of those two bookcases as decoration and he slowly walked closer to it, smiling softly when he saw that those were family photos.
Ray’s eyes were dancing across the framed pictures and he chuckled when he saw Sand when he was much younger, standing next to his mother, who wore a big smile on her face. Sand looked embarrassed and Ray bit back a little chuckle coming from his lips, leaning closer and he shook his head.
“Adorable,” commented Ray, taking the photo into his hand, so that he could take a closer look at it.
After he was done with looking at that photo, he placed it back down and glanced at the next one. In that photo, it was only Sand – he looked around seven? From the looks of it, it was easy to tell that it was the first day of school and just right to it was a photo that was probably taken on Sand’s high school graduation day. Ray smiled, pursing his lips a little bit as he carried on with the tour.
In one photo, Sand was standing next to people, who Ray didn’t recognise. Ray sighed happily and he didn’t really think too much when he glanced at the very last framed photo that was standing on the last bookcase, his eyes doubling in size when he saw a picture of himself? Ray’s heart skipped a beat and he blinked, trying to see if he really was seeing correctly.
No, he wasn’t only imagining things.
That really was him – more specifically, it was a photo of him taken during his and Sand’s trip to Japan. It was taken when the two of them attended The Fuji Rock Festival and Ray looked over his shoulder, just to check if he was still alone in the room. It wouldn’t be really nice if Sand’s mother caught him snooping around her living room.
Still, he couldn’t help it. He picked up the photo, his fingers shaking a little bit. He was alone in the photo, Sand wasn’t standing next to him. It would make sense if it was a couple photo of the two of them for the woman to have, but why was there only a photo of him? Ray didn’t know why , but he felt a little bit choked up.
The rest of the photos so far were of family, so if a photo of him was placed next to those…
Ray didn’t really have the time to think because just at the very next moment, he heard Sand’s mother stepping into the living room and he quickly turned around, hiding the framed photo of himself around his back and he put on a little smile, trying not to seem too suspicious, but he was still holding that photo.
Damn it.
Just… Don’t act suspicious!
“Ah, I can’t stand it anymore! You handle the cooking then!” whined the woman, stepping into the living room because she had enough of Sand butting in. She didn’t really hold it against him as she knew that her son was coming from a good place. Besides, that was going to give her a chance to chat a little bit with Ray, one on one!
Ray smiled when he heard her and he shook his head, sighing along, still hiding the photo behind his back and he smiled.
“I was just thrown out of my own kitchen! Imagine that!” she said and Ray only smiled, bowing his head as he smiled.
“I’ve heard. He’s giving you a hard time, huh?” joked Ray and she only waved it off, sighing along as she slowly walked over to him.
“It’s fine, it means I can spend some time with my son in law,” she said instead.
Ray halted a little bit at the comment and he opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped himself. Son in law, that was how she liked calling him and it always made Ray feel happy. It made Ray feel welcomed , which was something that he didn’t get to experience any times before he got to meet Sand. A sense of belonging.
Ray laughed and smiled.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said politely, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, still squeezing the framed photo and he tried to think of a way how to put it back onto the bookcase without making it seem too obvious.
The woman perked up when she saw that Ray was standing next to the family photos and she chuckled, stepping closer to him. There was a fond smile upon her lips as she glanced at the photos and she quickly noticed that one of them was missing. She narrowed her eyes, laughing softly when she realised that that was probably the thing that Ray was hiding behind his back. Well, he was trying to hide it.
“Sand was an adorable kid, wasn’t he?” she asked and Ray nodded.
“Yes,” said Ray softly.
“He still hasn't changed, he’s always been like this, you know?” she asked and Ray tipped his head to the side. “Taking care of me,” she said softly and Ray turned over his shoulder as he listened to Sand hurrying around the kitchen and he smiled.
“I can imagine,” said Ray and the woman smiled when she saw how bright the twinkle in Ray’s eyes was when he talked about Sand.
The woman leaned closer and took the framed photo from Ray’s hands. The latter was about to say something, but then he stopped himself when he saw the smile on her face when she looked at the photo of him and he looked away, biting into his lower lip. She carefully placed the photo back onto the spot that it was before and Ray just had to ask. It…
“There, back where you belong,” she said with a little smile and Ray took a deep breath in.
“Why do you have a photo of me as well?” asked Ray. The question came seemingly out of the blue as she turned to him and glanced at him, crossing her arms over her chest. At first she thought he was only teasing, but the question was genuine, so she decided to…
Ray glanced at the photos again and made a little pause before he spoke again.
“I mean, there’s your family photos and-”
“Because – you belong here, ” she said as if it was the most obvious thing ever and Ray took a sharp breath in when he heard that. “With the rest of Sand’s family, no?” she asked and gently rubbed Ray’s back, who just stood there and listened to her.
“I-” stammered Ray.
Sand’s mother watched Ray’s reaction – he looked almost out of breath when she called him a part of their family. She didn’t know everything about Ray, but she knew bits and pieces, enough to know that this probably touched Ray. He looked speechless as he didn’t know what to say, so she decided to lighten up the mood a little bit.
“When my friends come over, I want to show off my handsome and rich son in law,” she said with a smile and Ray laughed softly when she said that, swallowing thickly.
“Ah, so that’s how it is,” said Ray and tried to ignore how full his chest felt. But, the more that he tried to ignore it, the tighter his chest became. In a good way, Ray felt happy because to finally feel like he truly belonged somewhere was overwhelming. To see that people actually cared about him, it was still all very new to him.
“Sand picked this photo for me,” she stated proudly.
“Oh?” asked Ray and glanced up, ignoring the prickling heat in his eyes.
“Yes,” she said. “He picked this photo because he says you look so happy here – without any worries on your mind and that’s what makes you even more beautiful,” she said with a wink. Ray chuckled and nodded, his eyes travelling to the photo and he tried to pretend that his lower lip wasn’t shaking.
Seriously, what the hell was the matter with him?
Perhaps this was all he always wanted to hear. It was such a small thing, but it meant so much to Ray… to the point his heart was about to burst with feeling too much at the same freaking time.
Still - he shouldn't be getting this emotional over a photo. It was just a photo – it was a happy moment, anyway! So, why was he tearing up like this?! Ray gritted his teeth, but he smiled when he saw the woman looking at him.
“I mean it though, mn?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
“I know you've been through a lot and I just want you to know that you can consider this place as your home, too,” she said and Ray glanced down. “If you ever need anything, don’t even hesitate. I want you to think of me as someone who will be there for you as well,” she said and Ray’s eyes welled up again.
“Mmmn,” said Ray.
“You're special to my son, so you're special to me as well,” she said and Ray straightened himself up, slowly nodding. “Don't forget that, okay?” she said and gently pinched Ray’s cheeks.
Now those were the words that he always longed to hear. He'd always thought that he was nothing but a burden to others but things have changed. Ray, he finally…
“Understood?”
“Hm?” asked Ray, his vision getting blurry. “I mean, yes,” said Ray and she smiled, gently tapping his cheek before she glanced to the side and heard Sand’s complaining coming from the kitchen, turning around just in the right moment as a tear rolled down Ray’s cheek. He made sure to quickly wipe it away and he smiled instead.
“Ugh,” she said and smiled sweetly at Ray. “I better go see what he’s up to now or he’ll completely ransack my kitchen,” she said and Ray glanced down, but still nodded and turned to the side as she excused herself and hurried back to the kitchen.
Ray’s eyes travelled over to the family photos again and he needed to take a deep breath, but it wasn’t enough. It was just too much, too overwhelming. It was too stuffy in the room, he needed to get some fresh air to be able to calm down, so he decided to step out onto the balcony.
“Out of my way, boy,” said Sand’s mother and the other one only narrowed his eyes.
“I’m helping,” he complained and she only shook her head.
“I’ll finish cooking. You go wait with your boyfriend,” she said and Sand pressed his lips together. He just wanted to help! Sand was about to say something, but his mother’s hands against his back slowly started pushing him towards the door.
“Mom-”
“I’ll handle it. You go spend some time with my handsome son in law,” she said and winked. That did its toll on Sand, who quickly stopped complaining and an almost shy smile spread across his face when she called Ray…
“Fine,” huffed Sand and shook his head.
“Mn, hurry, hurry,” she said and Sand left the kitchen with a smile on his face, only to find the living room empty. He narrowed his eyes, frowning, but then he managed to find Ray fairly quickly. He was standing out on the balcony, smoking, his back turned to Sand.
Sand’s face brightened when he saw Ray and he didn’t waste any time, joining him out on the balcony as well.
“Can I have one as well?” asked Sand, Ray slowly handed his own cigarette over to Sand, who took a big drag and blew out the smoke, leaning closer to Ray, the frown between his eyebrows again when he saw that Ray wasn’t making eye-contact with him. “Ray?” asked Sand gently and leaned against him, extending his neck out and he took a closer look at Ray’s face, who turned away from him before.
Sand’s eyes widened when he saw the tears.
“Ray?”
“Finally stopped terrorising your mom’s kitchen?” asked Ray, smiling and he sniffled.
Sand quickly leaned to the side, pressing the cigarette into the ashtray that was on the small table that his mom had outside on the balcony and he went back to Ray, gently holding his hand and he turned him around.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sand, his heart dropping immediately as his hands went up and gently cupped Ray’s face, his thumbs gently caressing Ray’s wet cheeks and Ray smiled, nuzzling into the soft touch.
Sand was confused as hell, but he hated this. His mind was racing as he tried to come up with something that would’ve upset Ray, but he couldn’t find anything. Ray was watching Sand in silence as the other one was wiping the tears away and he smiled, sniffling again.
“You really are the best thing that happened to me,” whispered Ray and Sand gulped, his eyes dancing around Ray’s face as he still tried to figure out what happened. Sand didn’t understand - were those happy or sad tears? “You make me so freaking happy, Sand,” said Ray and Sand’s facial expression softened up a little bit.
“You make me happy, too, but I don’t understand. Why are you-”
“Ah,” said Ray and pulled away, drying up the rest of the tears, shaking his head. “Nothing,” he said. “Nothing bad, at least. I promise,” said Ray, but Sand still looked alarmed. “Just trust me on this one, okay? Mn? Please?”
Again with those pretty little pleads.
Sand closed his eyes as Ray managed to coax a little smile upon his face.
“I believe you,” said Sand as he took the hint as well – perhaps Ray didn’t want to talk about it, which was fine. As long as those were happy tears, then Sand wasn’t going to be too alarmed. He wrapped his arms around Ray’s waist and he pulled him closer.
“And your mom is freaking awesome,” said Ray, Sand laughing softly. Ray’s smile slowly disappeared and he leaned closer to Sand. “Sand?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you, yeah? For everything?” asked Ray and Sand again wondered what happened. Did his mother say something? “I finally feel like I belong somewhere,” he said and before Sand could say something, Ray wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled himself close to Sand.
Ray’s hug was almost crushing, swaying Sand on his feet, his hand coming up to cup the back of Ray’s neck and he allowed Ray to squeeze himself even closer, Sand’s other hand drawing soothing patterns against Ray’s back.
"Right back at you. Thank you for walking into my life," whispered Sand and buried his face into Ray's neck. Ray smiled and took a deep breath.
They stood like that for a little while, until there was a little knock against the glass door and Sand looked to the side and he slowly smiled at his mother, who sent him a little wink. Ray slowly pulled away and took a deep breath.
Dinner was ready!
“All okay now?” asked Sand and Ray grinned, kissing his cheek when he saw that Sand’s mother was there as well. Sand smiled and huffed, tugging onto Ray’s hand as he pulled him inside of his mother’s place, Ray happily following him along, his eyes stopping onto the photos again and his heart warmed up.
Being a part of Sand’s family was the best feeling ever.