Growing Together

Chapter 6

Pete had ended up getting in his car and driving back home. There was so much going through his head that he felt like it was going to explode. He really had messed up, he knew he had.

He liked Kao—no, he loved Kao—he could admit to that but he had been unsure about how ready he had been about pursuing those feelings.

He had spent the whole drive trying to call Kao. He wanted to talk to him, and apologize for running away when he had. He was scared, that one night had changed it all for him...for Kao. He wanted to be with Kao, but that uncertainty of that kind of relationship scared him. Now a baby was added to the mix. It was a bigger commitment that involved more than just them now. Their parents would eventually need to know, and he didn't even have the slightest of clue on how he would even tell his dad.

"Pick up Kao!" Pete had hissed when the voicemail had started to announce the caller was unavailable, yet again. He had quickly hung up, getting ready to call again when Sandee's name popped up. He didn't want to talk to her right now. The one he wanted to talk to was Kao, so he had sent her to voicemail. "Sorry San..." He mumbled before dialing Kao's phone once more.

It didn't matter how many times he called Kao wasn't answering. He was really upset with him, wasn't he? Pete was starting to feel that surge of guilt starting to spill inside of him. He had never felt so frustrated to the point it was physically hurting him.

He was desperate, so incredibly so that he had ended up at Kao's house. If he wasn't going to pick up, then he was just going to see him in person.

"Oh, Pete," Kao's mom had said when she had opened the door.

Pete couldn't help but gulp nervously just seeing her standing at the door. What if she knew about the baby? What if she knew what he had done to Kao?

"Kao said his friend would come by," She said with a gentle smile before she was pulling the door open a little wider, "Come inside, I'm almost done." Kao's mother urged.

Pete was thoroughly confused to say the least. He was here trying to see Kao, but like an idiot he had followed Kao's mom into the kitchen. "Almost done with what mom?" Pete asked a little unsure, but when his eyes had landed on the dessert sitting on top of the table he understood what she had meant.

Was Kao craving this? What else was he craving? He couldn't help but wonder back to how Thada and June were at going out of their way to get Sandee what she wanted to eat and drink.

'Kao, I'm sorry...' Pete thought.

"Kao said he really wanted mango pudding to snack on while studying," She said with a soft smile as she started to carefully package the pudding into a container. His mother had said how she remembered how hard and long they would study for exams. How she had not really known who Kao would be sharing the snack with, so she'd made more than enough. "Tell Kao to visit, okay?"

Kao wasn't here at all, he had figured that much out. Where was he was the question he wanted to ask, but he felt embarrassed to ask now when she thought he was here to pick up the snack for Kao. He felt bad just standing here, deceiving her when she was always so kind and sweet to him. "Mom?"

"Hm?" She hummed as she looked up from what she was doing to give him her undivided attention.

"C-Can we talk? It's about Kao..." Pete asked feeling his heart race nervously.