Babysitting the Campus Jerk (On Semi-Hiatus)

BCJ 12 • dinner

***

He never saw Pete for the rest of the night, nor for the rest of the week.

They were supposed to go back that Sunday but apparently Pete went ahead of him. He just knew from Sandy that Pete said he was sick so he needed to go home, leaving him for the remaining two days.

He didn't really know what to feel upon knowing Pete's relationship with Kavine. All he knew was that he was hurt by his mother's marriage to another man but he couldn't comprehend why he was furious seeing him together with Kavine. 

Speaking of Kavine.

He flashed a smile as he saw him waiting beside his car. Kavine was thoughtful enough to offer him a ride back home. He wanted to reject his offer as he didn't wanna impose but Kavine was so persistent that he just gave up.

"Let me help you," Kavine said as he grabbed Kao's bags from him. The day he first came to the orphanage, he was carrying only his bags of clothes, but now that he was leaving, he carried with him gifts from the kids and the orphanage which just melted his heart. 

"You really don't have to do this, Kav. I can actually manage going home by myself."

"And what? And let you go home all by yourself? Do you really think that would put me at ease?" 

"Fine. Let's just go before the kids see me," he said as he hurried inside the car. 

He had a hard time saying goodbye to the kids earlier, especially that most of them were asking when he was gonna be back. The other volunteers asked the same thing. Well, unless the school director punishes him again, he didn't think he would be back too soon.

Kavine smiled at him, "Let's go?"

He just nodded and threw one last glance at the orphanage. He didn't even have time to say goodbye to Peter as the kid wouldn't even talk to him unless he brought Pete. Apparently, Pete didn't bother bidding Peter his farewell and just disappeared into thin air. He wasn't even able to fulfill his promise of a one-on-one match which angered the kid even more.

"You can sleep if you want."

"No, I can't just let you drive while I sleep."

"I seriously wouldn't mind."

"Why are you doing this?" he finally asked the question that he'd been wanting to drop since earlier.

Kavine didn't answer for a while. 

Kao just continued looking at Kavine, curious of his answer. 

"Because I want to."

"We haven't known each other that long. And I seriously don't know why you're so invested in wasting your time just for this."

"To be honest, I got curious why you were with Pete. I saw you going in and out of his unit and just wanna know what's in you. You see, Pete is aloof. You may see him as a type of person who wants to get every girl he sees, but deep inside, it's just his way of drowning the loneliness in him."

"You know him that much?"

"He sees me as an enemy, a person who broke his family. I've been trying to get close to him. We're stepbrothers already, but he just wouldn't accept me. His mom, I mean, our mom is worried about him, especially after knowing that he was punished by the school director, but she was afraid Pete would just shoo her away if she ever approached him."

Kao kept silent. He saw how hurt and mad Pete was when his mother remarried and he didn't wanna comment on his feelings.

He just decided to heed Kavine's advice and slept.

A slight nudge on his shoulder woke Kao up and he couldn't even move nor breathe as he found Kavine's face so close to his when he opened his eyes.

"I-I, I'm sorry," Kavine apologized as he moved away, his face bright red. "I, I was just trying to fix your position as you might hurt your neck."

Kao didn't say anything and just cleared his throat. "W-where are we?"

"I, uh, I thought you might be hungry so I brought you home. I was just waiting for you to wake up. I hope you don't mind."

Kavine's words startled him. He immediately looked around and saw a Greek revival-style home in front of them. 

"Let's go?" Kavine said and got out of the car even before he could say a word.

Kao hastily followed. "I don't think this is a good idea. I can just eat at home. I don't wanna be of any inconvenience."

"Inconvenience? I'm more than willing to let you stay in our house, Kao. I would have brought you to my unit but I figured it would be best if you meet my parents. Well, who knows what the future holds, right. Let's go. They're waiting."

Kao wasn't able to do anything as Kavine had already grabbed his hand. 

He knew there was nothing wrong with going with Kavine but deep inside him, he couldn't help but feel guilty because it seemed like he was betraying Pete.

"Mom, Dad, we're here!" 

A middle-aged woman then came rushing to them. "Oh, good thing you're here. I just got the chicken out of the oven!"

"Mom, this is Kao. The one I told you about."

"Good evening, Ma'am."

"Oh, you don't have to be so formal. Call me Aunt Gretchen. Come, your father's still on his way. He had to be in an urgent meeting with a client. He should be here any minute."

Though hesitant, Kao just let Kav hold his hand and lead him towards the kitchen. He took the liberty to observe the interior of the house, but what really caught his eyes were the several pictures of the three of them, pictures of a happy and complete family.

And for some reason, his heart felt heavy at the thought of Pete.

"Sooo, I heard a lot of great things about you, Kao. My son here was too excited about bringing you home."

He threw Kav a questioning look but the guy just scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Mom. You're embarrassing me."

"Why? Am I wrong? You've been talking about Kao since forever."

"Mooom, can you not go there?"

"So, how'd the two of you met? Kavine bringing home a friend is something he hasn't done in years. Or are you really just friends?"

"Mooom, I think we should let Kao eat. I bet he's starving."

"Oh, my bad! Here, Kao. Help yourself. If you want anything else just tell me. Anyway, which university are you going?"

"I, uh, it's the Un-"

"Honey, I'm home."

His answer was cut off by a man's voice whom he assumed to be Kav's dad. 

A well-built and tall man then entered the dining area. Kao wanted to greet the man out of courtesy but he didn't even lay an eye on their visitor as his gazed was fixed on his wife's face.

"By the way, someone wants to talk to you," Kav's dad announced with a serious tone before looking behind his back like he was signaling someone to join their conversation.

And all Kao could do was hold his breath as he saw a familiar figure entering the room.

"Hi... mom," Pete's voice sounded weak.  

"Pete... son. I, I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"I, I was thinking maybe we ca-"

But Pete's voice immediately faltered the moment his gaze landed on the guy sitting by the dinner table.

Pete's questioning look transformed into a piercing stare making Kao held onto the edge of the table. He didn't even know why, but he was too nervous to even make a squeak. 

"What the hell are you doing here, Kao?"

***