Hangover

Chapter 8

Peter finally willed himself to get out of bed. The only way out of this situation is going into it head-first.

He slowly made his way down to the kitchen. This was probably the slowest he's ever gone in his life, but he was terrified of what his father had to say. He was also terrified to figure out what he told Erik, but he needed to know what he told him.

He walked into the kitchen, finding his father sitting at the counter reading a newspaper, not noticing that Peter had entered the room.

"Uh...hello," Peter said, announcing his presence. Erik turned around and smiled when he saw Peter. He actually smiled at him.

"Hey, Pete. Are you feeling better?" Erik asked kindly.

"I'm feeling a lot better,"

"That's good to hear." Erik had noticed that Peter stayed by the doorway and didn't make a move to get any closer to him. So, he patted the seat next to him as an invitation. Peter hesitantly made his way to the island and then sat next to his father. There was silence between them for a moment while both of them tried to think of what they wanted to say.

"Thanks for taking care of me while I...recovered from last night." Peter broke the tension.

"It's the least I could do, Peter."

"Hey, so uh... Charles told me that I told you that you were my father. He also told me that you brought me back to my room and stayed up there for a while. Did I happen to say anything else to you?"

Erik took a deep breath in and started, "You woke up a little after I took you to your room, and you started talking about how long you had been keeping this a secret and why you kept it a secret so long."

Erik paused, letting Peter take this in, and then continued. "You also told me how you always wanted to know your father."

Peter looked up at Erik and then looked back down at the table in front of him. He was so embarrassed.

"Peter, after you fell asleep, I had some time to take this all in. I am so sorry that I was never there for you, that I had missed out on so much of your life."

"It's fine. I survived." Peter mumbled.

"I had lost everyone closest to me, but when I found out that I still had a son...Peter, I am so proud of the man you are today." He looked up at Erik. Erik had tears falling from his eyes as he looked at his son with a sense of pride. He saw Peter's eyes beginning to well up, and he just couldn't stop himself. He pulled Peter towards him in a bone-crushing hug. Peter couldn't stop his tears as he silently cried into his father's chest.

"I love you so much," Erik said shakily.

"I love you too, dad." Peter choked out. He had been waiting twenty-one years for this moment, and it finally had come. He was finally going to start a new life with his father. He could finally do all those father-son things that he had missed out on.

'Best birthday ever' Peter thought.