dear heart

the final step

"I think Vegas is so into you." Arm said as his brows wriggled suggestively.

It was the last night of camp and Pete couldn't be more excited to head home. Ever since he and Vegas spent more time together, Pete got more confused. His logical brain couldn't explain why he'd felt butterflies in his stomach when he saw Vegas, or how his heart would beat extremely fast when their skins touched, or how Vegas was on his mind pretty much 24/7.

"And I think you are so into him too." Pol chimed in as he directed his gaze to Pete.

"I-I don't know." Pete admitted.

"I mean, it's pretty obvious you know." Pol explained, with his right brow raised. "Arm and I have never ever once seen you turn flustered for anyone. Not until Vegas came along."

Arm agreed with a hum.

"But I don't know if he likes me back. What if he doesn't?" Pete asked worriedly.

"Well, if you don't ask, you never know." Pol responded. "And like Arm said, I think you've got a good chance that Vegas likes you too so that's why Achara's acting all mad again."

Arm laughed at Pol's ending remark about Achara going crazy. He recalled Achara lashing out on Vegas because her team had lost and most importantly, she wasn't able to get her revenge on Pete - her arch nemesis.

"And...the school's starting to really like you two." Pol added on. "I mean, have you seen the school's forum? They are literally shipping you two everywhere. It's berserk."

Pete remembered swiping the school's community page a few days ago, just to see what everybody is up to. He never really was a social media guy but ever since he had come under the school's spotlight for the wrong reasons, he paid a little more attention to what was going on around him. Fortunately, things weren't as bad as he had expected. The student body generally appeared to be pretty receptive about how things were with him and Vegas, and some even started shipping them together (which was weird but Pete found it oddly cute).

"I just think you should ask." Arm said affirmingly. "You've only got what 2 weeks before the semester ends so you might not see him again. If not now, then when?"

And Pete for once, thinks Arm's advice might actually be useful.

—

Honestly, Pete has been thinking long hard about this - the confession, I mean. Since that day they almost kissed by the burrow, Pete goes all mushy inside just thinking about it. The problem is, none of them ever spoke of it. Pete was half expecting for Vegas to tell him something - anything at all but nothing came and Pete didn't feel like it was his place to probe further.

But, he couldn't help suppress the thought that Vegas might actually like him too so with all the courage he has, he was going to confess tonight. And if...the result was bad by any chance, he'll lose his job as his tutor at most and things will hopefully go back to the way it was.

Pete had been eyeing Vegas for a long time. His tent mate was acting as usual; teasing Pete whenever chance he could get, and making the poor boy blush over a stupid joke (which Pete now wished he wasn't joking).

Oh and did he mention- it was coincidentally Pete's birthday today. Pol and Arm were going to celebrate his birthday tomorrow once they were out of camp at Pete's favorite steakhouse but that aside, the birthday boy had bigger things to worry about like getting potentially rejected by his crush on his birthday.

But hey, Vegas didn't know it was Pete's birthday so even if his tent mate did reject him - Vegas wasn't to blame though Pete would probably hate celebrating his birthdays from there on. Trauma, he supposes.

The farewell bonfire by the beach was exciting. It was the last night of camp after all, and everyone was just trying to have their fun before school starts again. Yet, Pete never was a fan of crowds so he snuck out when no one was looking, far away from the hustle and bustle into a quiet spot as the chatter faded slowly into the background replaced by sounds of waves crashing onto the shore.

Pete has his bare feet buried in the white sand as the cold sea breeze blows gently on his face. The stars were exceptionally bright tonight in the clear sky, illuminated by the moon which shone radiantly above the sea.

Pete was so engrossed in the sight that he hadn't felt a presence next to him until he'd heard the sand shift and a pair of legs had come into view.

"How did you know that I'd be here?" Pete asked the familiar stranger.

"It's not hard to guess." Vegas replied nonchalantly. "It's easy to spot you."

Pete scoffed. "No, it isn't. 19 years of my life and no one has ever noticed I'd existed."

"I do."

"What-"

"I do." Vegas asserted. "Even if I didn't before, I do now."

Pete didn't know what to say except that he was truly flabbergasted that someone like Vegas would ever realize his existence. Pete has always liked being in the shadows, trying his best to avoid the attention, and blending in whenever he can. Vegas, on the other hand, thrived in the attention. He was in everyone's eyes.

"By the way-" Vegas pulled out a small box from his pocket. "Happy birthday."

"H-huh?" Pete stared at him confused, then a quick glance at the box in Vegas' hand.

"Gift." Vegas said as he handed the red velvet colored box over to Pete.

"How do you know it's my birthday?" Pete asked, stumped. He hadn't recalled telling Vegas anything.

"Arm and Pol."

"They told you?"

"No. I overheard them talking about bringing you to the steakhouse tomorrow a week ago."

"Oh."

Pete didn't even notice Vegas was there when they had this conversation so it surprised him that Vegas had overheard and caught on so quickly. It was even more surprising that the latter had gotten him something.

"Can I open it?" Pete asked and when Vegas nodded, Pete opened the box carefully like it was the most fragile thing he had ever held and one that he cherished forever.

What lay inside the box was a bracelet. But it wasn't an ordinary bracelet - it was the star bracelet that Pete had come across a month ago when he was shopping with Vegas for Ken's birthday gift.

"This-" Pete was dumbfounded. He was not expecting a gift from Vegas, and most certainly, he wasn't expecting Vegas to remember the bracelet he had seen weeks ago.

"I saw you eyeing it for a while. Figured you must have liked it." Vegas explained seeing the puzzled look on Pete's face. "I-it's not much but I hope you like it."

"Of course I do." Pete looked up at him with a bright smile on his face. "Thank you."

Vegas let out a sigh of relief as he watched his tent mate eyes lit up at the sight of the bracelet. He went back to the shop that very day after he had sent Pete home. He didn't know why he did it - except that he knew Pete liked it very very much and he hoped to give it to him someday.

Maybe it was the bracelet that gave him the encouragement he had needed, or the fact that the semester was ending, but suddenly he felt a newfound sense of courage within - to confess, and be brave. He was done feeling insecure and hiding under a shell.

So with a trembling heart and hopeful spirit, Pete confessed with every ounce of determination he had and as soon as those words left his lips, he knew that there was no turning back and a new chapter awaits.

"I like you." 

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a/n: aaa pete finally confessed - what do you think vegas will respond? 🫣
anywho thank you for leaving me with comments and please do keep them flowing because i do read each and everyone of them 🥰 until the next update~