All Along, You

XXII - REVELATIONS

Pete woke up in a familiar room, laid on a soft bed and his chest went tight for a minute as he took in his surroundings. His body tensed up even more when he felt the back of a hand caressing his cheek. He cannot be mistaken. He knows exactly who it is.

"You're awake" Vegas said, stating the obvious. Pete did a self-assessment and realized he was not bound at all so he sat up and found himself a bit weak, so he just tried to make as much distance between the both of them as possible. He was probably still weak because of the chloroform from earlier. And besides, knowing Vegas' schemes, he probably made him ingest a sleeping pill just in case he woke up too soon. Pete's adrenaline and awareness were turned up to the max even as he tries to gather as much strength as possible just in case Vegas tries anything funny. He wonders if Vegas got Kinn too. Probably not but still, he wonders if Kinn was okay given the intensity of the earthquake. Panic engulfed Pete when thinking about Kinn in that old building. It did not collapse, did it? Pete swallowed at the thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Vegas asks him as though he isn't a prisoner here.

"Where is Kinn?" Pete bravely asks and Vegas made a face that made him look like he was kicked in the gut.

"He's fine. He's with Porsche." Vegas says, making sure Pete understands what he meant.

"What do you want, Vegas?" he asked calmly despite the uncertainty he was feeling.

"I just want to talk." Vegas said. Talk, and if Pete wants to go, will Vegas let him? Let him go and make Kinn suspicious of him for being gone and being with Vegas here, in the Minor family compound, in his bedroom, and on his bed? Pete would want nothing more than to burn Vegas into ashes now and he swears he would if he ever gets out of this place alive.

"Pete?" Vegas speaks as if he needed Pete's consent and full attention before he says what he wants, as if he had Pete's consent when he was dragged here.

"Speak and let's get this over with." He says and Vegas sighs.

"They made me believe you betrayed me." Classic, Pete thought. He doesn't even have to ask who Vegas meant by that.

"A month before I ran away with Porsche, I was ambushed, and I almost died." Pete was shocked to hear that. He reminded himself Vegas was a master manipulator.

Pete kept quiet and decided to let Vegas do all the talking.

"And a month before that, Pete...I found out that I wasn't my mother's son. I was Nampheung's" Vegas said, and Pete's eyes go wide. He does not understand where this is heading but if it were true then...

"Porsche and Chay are my siblings. Biological" Vegas said as he looked into Pete's wide eyes. The expression in his eyes made up for the lack of words. Pete was shocked and Vegas wondered if it was okay to talk to him like this.

"The root of the problem between us started when I found out. I was devastated, I did not know what to do. I had to make sure it was true before I told anyone. Before I tell you." Pete felt like his heart was being beaten up. When he thought about Vegas and Porsche, there could be a variation of reasons as to why they left but he never thought of this one.

"I want to leave." Pete declared as he got up.

"Listen to me first, Pete. Please." Pete hesitates but decides to listen some more.

"When I knew for certain that the DNA test results were genuine, I planned to tell you, believe me. I did." Pete doesn't really react. He didn't know how to. Vegas opens a drawer and pulls a box Pete did not really want to see anymore. The engagement ring with the letter P on the box. The one Pete saw when he decided he did not want to live anymore.