A Thousand Bad Times (So What's Another Time to Me?) ~ A VegasPete AU

Chapter 13

    Pete felt his phone buzz in his pocket and sighed as he pulled it out. He was expecting Porsche, but was met with a text from an unknown number. It stopped him in his tracks. He never gave out his number, not even for group projects at school. He checked to make sure it was really his phone and not the guard's, but it was his. The text was even addressed to him.

[Who is this?]

Pete waited, biting his thumbnail, until finally, his screen lit up again.

[We met at the party. In the library. With my candlestick ;)]

Pete rolled his eyes at the comment but felt his face heat up. Was it really him?

[How do I know it's you?]

The three blinking dots as Vegas typed almost drove Pete up the wall.

[You said we made a good team :)]

Pete steadied his breathing while he tried to think. It was him. Did Pete want it to be him? Did he want to meet him?

[I don't want to pressure you. I just can't stop thinking about you, and was hoping we could get to know each other more. If you want, we can text for a while before we meet.]

Pete really didn't need the distraction right now. He didn't. He really didn't. For sure.

[Okay. We can text and see how it goes.]

Pete saved the number in his phone with a book emoji as the name and sighed at himself. Before he could put his phone away, Vegas texted him a GIF of fireworks. Pete smirked and shook his head as he walked into his house.

"Pete!" Yaai screamed as soon as the door shut behind him.

"Coming, Yaai!" Pete called, kicking his shoes off. Chay passed him in the hallway.

"She's in the kitchen. She's been cooking for hours."

"Shit," Pete murmured. Yaai cooking was fine, but Yaai cooking for hours meant she was pissed at one of them.

"Good luck, Phi," Chay whispered, clapping Pete on the shoulder as if he would never see him again.

When Pete entered the kitchen Yaai spun around quickly with a butcher's knife in her hand. For a split second, Pete thought she might throw it at him. He knew he could duck before it could hit him, but Yaai didn't seem to want to risk scarring her grandson that particular evening.

Her shoulders slumped and Pete detested the look of disappointment on her face.

"Pete. We talked about this."

"No, Yaai," Pete interrupted, catching her off guard. Pete never interrupted. "You talked. You said I was grounded but didn't tell me why. Why have you pushed me all my life to target this one boy only to stop me without a valid reason?"

"If you had been there for the announcement like I asked, you would have known."

"No. Why should I have to hear in front of a room full of strangers? Why? It's not fair, Yaai. I deserve to know what's going on."

Yaai exhaled heavily and Pete thought she was about to start screaming, but she only lowered her gaze, sitting at the table as she gestured for Pete to join her.

"You're right, my dear boy. I suppose I was just worried about your reaction, so I thought it would be safer to tell you in a crowd. But that wasn't fair. The truth is, I was about to announce your engagement that night."

"My what?" Chills ran through his body.

"When your mother died a truce was made between myself and Korn Theerapanyakul. It's why they have left us alone all these years. You were betrothed to keep you safe. I should have told you before, but I didn't want you to call off the whole thing, thus putting yourself and the other boys in danger. You just had to make it to 21, and he did too. Then, we were going to announce the engagement. I know you will hate me, Pete, but I did this to keep you safe. To protect you while I trained you to the best of my ability. I had to give you a fighting chance to even see adulthood. I couldn't lose you, too."