such a beauty and a mess

That Night

With their stomachs filled and spirits up, Bright ushered the three siblings into a limo.

"But they're still in their uniforms," Win had said, glancing down at his own snappy attire.

"Since when did you care about what people wear?" Bright had replied playfully, earning a small smile from the raven, "They're fine."

Presently, they were on the road, having plenty of space in the back of the limo despite there being four bodies. Ming and Ice sat on either side of Win, Ming staring out of the window with a grin on her face while Ice nibbled on some crackers left from her meal.

Bright sat across from them, content on watching how they interacted. Win had calmed down, looking comforted with his arms spread out on the seat behind him, behind both of the girls.

"How late is this show?" Ming asked, turning from the window to look at the man across from them.

"Starts at six-thirty, runs about three hours," Bright answered. The young woman frowned deeply.

"Then we're staying the night," Ice stated without question.

"Ice"

"Nope!" She interrupted loudly, meeting her brother's eyes, "I told you I would question the hell out of you! There won't be enough time."

"What about mom and dad?" Win countered. He could just see it now. First he runs away from home, and then his two sisters follow. It wouldn't be pretty.

"Sleepover," Ice said.

"All we gotta do is call mom and tell her we're staying the night at a friend's house. She already thinks we're with that friend now!" Ming exclaimed proudly, as if it no other person could have thought of a better plan.

Win was reluctant. He wasn't sure what this questioning would consist of, but knowing his sisters, he knew it wasn't going to contain anything he'd want to answer. And how would he be able to get out of the most obvious questions of all? What have you been doing? Where have you been staying?

He couldn't possibly tell them the truth.

"That's fine," Bright spoke up, continuing even as Win's eyes shot to him in warning, "You can stay at the hotel for tonight. I'll bring you back home before I go to work tomorrow morning."

"Shi-"

"There! Done deal!" Ming exclaimed, smiling at her sister before looking up at Win, "I'm bi, you know."

Win nearly choked on his own spit.

Where had that come from and why was he hearing this stuff from his younger sister?

"... what does that have to do with anything?" Win asked cautiously.

"It means, I'm bi, and dad knows," Ming said, swinging her legs, "I haven't been kicked out or ostracized by mom or dad, so why don't you just come home?"

Win had to admit, the news surprised him. He cringed when he realized his parents must have talked to his sisters about him being gay in the first place.

However, it wasn't that simple in his case. He had abandoned his family to chase after something they disagreed with, and it came back to bite him in the ass.

"... you really think they'd just welcome me back with wide arms?" Win said, his lip pulled up to show he already knew the answer to that question.

"People make mistakes, stupid," Ming replied, sounding mature even with the added insult.

"Mother cried when you left," Ice added, leaning over to rest her body against Win's.

Win felt emotion that he kept shoved down deep for these past few years start bubbling back to the surface. That feeling of regret and longing when he'd left.