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“I can’t believe we are stuck here again,” Vegas complained.
“It’s literally the first day of the school year and you're already whining?” Kinn chuckled a bit.
“How are you planning to survive the rest of the year, Vegas?” Tay asked.
“I doubt I will."
“Stop being such a drama queen,” Time laughed.
“Look… it’s not my fault that there is nothing that would make this hell hole bearable."
“How about us? Hanging out with friends?” Tay smiled.
“We could do that somewhere where it is fun.”
“Actually, you got a point. We could go…” Time began.
“No. No skipping school you two,” Tay looked at them.
“Well… Time’s got you here to make this place survivable. But what am I supposed to do?” Vegas said and rolled his eyes when Time pulled Tay to himself while Vegas was saying it.
“I don’t have anyone as well Vegas,” Kinn told him as if that was supposed to make Vegas feel any better.
“Holy fuck,” Vegas stopped cousin Kinn to bump into him.
“What?” Kinn asked, confused about why Vegas stopped so suddenly.
“Ho-ly fuck,” Vegas repeated while looking at a group of students.
Kinn and the others looked there as well and while Time and Tay didn’t see anything or anyone out of ordinary, Kinn did and cursed as well which made Vegas look at his cousin immediately.
“Forget Kinn, I’ve seen him first!” Vegas warned him.
“What are you five? Just because you’ve seen that pretty thing first doesn’t mean you get to…”
“Who are you talking about?” Tay asked while looking at the small group of four freshmen but wasn’t sure which one of them the two were talking about.
“The one with the books/The one with the candybar.” Vegas and Kinn said at the same time and then looked at each other.
“Books?” Kinn asked.
“Candybar?” Vegas raised an eyebrow.
“Well then… all’s good, right? You both spotted different cute freshmen,” Tay laughed a bit.
“Neither of them is as cute as you are,” Time pulled Tay in a hug and kissed him on the cheek which made Tay giggle.
“Yeah, I guess that we’re good then,” Vegas looked at his cousin.
“I guess so.”
“So let’s go say hi then,” Vegas smirked and Kinn nodded and followed him. Tay and Time when they noticed their friends were walking away followed them as well.
“I hate it here!” One of the freshmen was complaining while finishing his candybar.
“It’s our first day Porsche, come on,” another one scolded him while flipping through one of the textbooks.
“One is way too many,” Porsche rolled his eyes.
“Amen!” Vegas chuckled and drew the attention of all four students in the group. He had to smirk a bit at how almost scared they looked when a group of older students noticed them. The one with the books looked nervous the most, which, in Vegas’s humble opinion, made him look even cuter.
“Hello,” Tay smiled at them.
“Do you think they’re going to beat us up, Pol? Should I take off my glasses?” one of the freshmen quietly asked his friend.
“I don’t know, Arm, but you probably should, unless you want them to get broken,” Pol replied.
“No, that’s not what… we’re not going to beat you up,” Kinn told him to stop Arm who reached for his glasses to take them off.
“You bet you will not!” Porsche stood in front of his friends in a protective gesture, clearly not taking any chances.
“Relax. We just came to say hello,” Vegas chuckled and leaned to a side to look at the cutie with the books who was now hidden behind Porsche. “Hello,” he greeted the boy who blushed, at being greeted directly by Vegas and replied with an almost inaudible cute “Hi”.
“Just to say Hello?” Porsche raised an eyebrow, clearly having some doubts about that.
“Yeah. High School isn’t as bad as everyone says. Not everyone is acting like a savage that is about to beat you up,” Tay assured him with a friendly smile that seemed to make the freshmen relax a bit, enough for Porsche to step aside and not hide his friends behind him.
“You’ve got some balls don’t you? About to take four sophomores on your own,” Time laughed a bit with no malice in his tone while looking at Porsche who smirked confidently.
“Don’t praise him for that or he’s never going to learn to stay out of trouble,” the boy with the books said quietly.
“I’ve got no idea what you are talking about Pete,” Porsche shrugged and Time and his friends laughed a bit.
“Anyway… like Vegas said we came here to say hello and also introduced ourselves. I am Kinn,” Kinn said and the others followed and introduced themselves as well.
“How about we’ll give you a little tour?” Vegas offered the other group whose members looked at each other before they nodded a bit.
“Don’t you want some help with that, cutie?” Vegas appeared next to Pete while the group began to walk while Tay was telling the newbies where is what and how to get where. Tay was actually the only one who was trying to give the freshman some useful information. Kinn was too caught up with flirting with Porsche and Time did not care about the school enough to provide any useful information about it.
“W-what?” Pete asked and blushed when Vegas reached for the books and took them from him.
“It would be a shame to let someone like you carry all of that on his own,” Vegas smirked and Pete blushed even more.
Vegas glanced over at Kinn and Porsche. Kinn seemed to be doing quite well with Porsche. Porsche was laughing at something Kinn was telling him and Vegas hoped he’ll get to make Pete laugh like that as well soon.
“You can totally join us at the table during lunch by the way,” Time was telling the newbies when they were about to split to go to their classrooms.
“No can, have to. We insist. Right Kinn?” Vegas said.
“Exactly!” Kinn nodded immediately.
“Especially you, cutie,” Vegas looked at Pete who blushed and clearly had no idea what to say to that. Luckily he was saved by the bell so he could quickly disappear in the classroom. Arm and Pol followed him quickly as well.
“See ya at lunch then,” Porsche winked at Kinn before following his friends in the classroom.
Kinn smiled, clearly pleased with how much of a progress he made with Porsche already. When Vegas noticed it, he rolled his eyes. He was just a little bit annoyed at how little progress he made with Pete. Just when he and the others were about to go to their classroom Pete came back to them, with Arm next to him. Vegas was pretty sure Pete asked Arm to go with him.
“Ehm… you… you have my…” Pete gestured to his books that were still in Vegas’s hand. Vegas was really glad he decided to carry them for Pete since it made Pete go and talk to him again.
“I’ll give them back if you’ll promise I’ll see you at lunch at our table, Pete,” Vegas told him. He really couldn’t think of the last time he would really enjoy seeing someone blushing so much. He actually enjoyed it probably more than he should have to be honest, but he just could not help himself when Pete looked so cute with his cheeks turning pink.
“Khun Theerapanyakun is there any problem?” a teacher that was going to the classroom asked and made everyone look at him.
“No sir. We were just showing them the school… and where their classroom is,” Vegas shook his head.
“That’s admirable of you. I had no idea you or khun Ratanapakorn are fond of this place so much you decided to work here as guides now,” the teacher looked at Vegas and Time.
“What can I say… I couldn’t wait for the summer to be over so we can come back here,” Time smiled, but even the teacher could tell how far from the truth that statement was and chuckle a bit.
“But I believe that since you showed these young men how to get in here, you should be on your way. Or did you not hear the bell?” the teacher suggested.
“Nope, we totally heard the bell… so… we’ll get going, sir,” Kinn nodded and pulled Vegas in the direction of their classroom.
“Wait,” Pete said quietly but loud enough for them to stop. The teacher looked amused and curious about what Pete needed from them.
“Oh, right,” Vegas laughed a bit and went to Pete to give them the books. “I meant what I said earlier. Lunch, ok?” he whispered while giving Pete the books.
*
“Are you two seriously going to stare at the door the whole time?” Tay asked amused when during the lunch both Kinn and Vegas were ignoring their meals and kept checking the door so they wouldn't miss Porsche and the others.
“Yes,” Kinn and Vegas replied at the same time.
“Give them a break babe. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a boyfriend,” Time told Tay.
“Hey why are you being so mea…” Kinn started but got interrupted by Vegas who hit his arm while still looking at the door where their new favorite freshmen just appeared.
“They’re here,” Vegas said in case Kinn somehow missed it.
“I know I see them,” Kinn nodded and when the four boys noticed them he and his friends waved to show them they still want them to join them.
“Hey, so how are you surviving your first day here?” Time asked when they joined their table.
Kinn and Vegas made sure the chairs next to them were empty so they could each sit next to the boy they wanted. It worked, Porsche took the seat next to Kinn and since Arm and Pol took the chairs that were next to each other, Pete had no other choice but to go sit down next to Vegas.
“I hope you are not here only because of your books,” Vegas joked and Pete smiled a bit.
“Do you know that the teacher told us to stay away from you?” Arm told Vegas.
“What?” Vegas asked, shocked.
“Why would he do that? It’s a mystery, right?” Tay said teasingly.
“Would you believe that? We were being super helpful and he’s trying to make me look like I am some trouble maker or something,” Vegas said in disbelief and betrayal. “Don’t listen to anything anyone says, ok?” he looked at Pete who looked, luckily, amused so Vegas presumed Pete wasn’t scared off or that the teacher was most likely warning them only as a joke.
“I am surprised they didn’t get a warning about you too, hun,” Tay looked at Time.
“Babe,” Time said, hurt by Tay’s words and Tay could not help himself and had to laugh a bit.
“We did, actually. Apparently Tay is the only one who we should hang out with. According to the teacher,” Pol said and Tay smiled proudly at hearing that.
“What did I do?” Kinn asked confused about why he was put in the “do not interact with” category as well.
*
“What are you doing after school?” Kinn looked at the freshmen when the lunch was getting to an end.
“Getting as far from here as possible,” Porsche said.
“I really like this one,” Time snickered.
“If you don’t have anything, how about we go hang out then? We could go to the park. There’s a really nice and quiet spot over there,” Vegas suggested.
“I would go,” Porsche shrugged and looked at his friends to see how they felt about it.
“I promised mom and dad I’ll go home after school,” Pete shook his head which disappointed Vegas quite a lot. Why does Kinn have it so much easier than him?
“It’ll be only for a bit, come on,” Vegas tried to sway Pete to go with them.
“I really need to go home, I promised them I will. They wanted to know how the first day here went and all. But I’ll ask if I can go out again and if they’ll let me, I will join you there.”
“I am sure they’ll let you,” Pol said.
“They better or else Vegas will be sulking the whole time while we will be there,” Tay chuckled.
“What?” Pete asked cutely confused about why Vegas should mind Pete not being there.
“You are really adorable, you know that?” Tay smiled at Pete.
“He’s the cutest thing on this planet,” Porsche agreed with a teasing tone that made Pete frown at him, which didn’t make him look any less cute and everyone at the table laughed a bit. Luckily Pete could tell that they are not making fun of him.
*
“Yes! Finally. Bye, see ya never!” Porsche flipped off the school building when they were leaving.
“We are coming back tomorrow Porsche,” Pete reminded him.
“Shut up,” Porsche waved off Pete’s logical argument. “You will come to the park, right?” he asked Pete. Arm had to stop at home really quickly and Pol went with him so they said that they’ll meet the others at the park. Vegas and the others left the school already and were probably already waiting for them there.
“I’ll see what mom and dad will say.”
“Ok, anyway… what do you think about Vegas?” Porsche smirked.
“What? What would I be thinking about him?” Pete blushed a bit.
“Oh come on… do not even pretend you don’t see that he’s into you,” Porsche laughed.
“He’s not!”
“He took your books,” Porsche reminded him.
“B-because… ehm… it wasn’t like that, he was just… you know…” Pete was quite failing at making a proper sentence.
“No, I don’t know. But what I do know is that he is super into you,” Porsche cut him off and Pete blushed a bit more.
“Why would he be?” Pete muttered, genuinely confused.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean why? You were next to me the whole time so why would he be into me and not into you?”
“Pete come on,” Porsche rolled his eyes in amusement.
“Look… Kinn? I am sure he likes me, ok? But Vegas? He barely took his eyes off you the whole time so don’t think for one second he doesn’t like you,” Porsche said more seriously. “Just wait till you show up at the park. Vegas will not leave your side, I know it,” he added and Pete smiled a bit.
Pete was still having some doubts about why Vegas would like him when Porsche is there as well but he was willing to at least consider that now. He wasn’t jealous of Porsche, not really, he got pretty much used to that Porsche is the one who’s getting the most attention because he’s really good with talking to people and also people find him really attractive. Because he is, no one could deny that fact, and Pete was ok with that because Porsche was never being an ass about that and was always nothing but a great friend.
*
When Porsche got to the park he saw Kinn and Vegas sitting on the picnic table.
“Hey… where do you have the rest?” Kinn asked.
“What, am I not enough for you?” Porsche asked teasingly hopped on the table to sit next to Kinn who laughed at hearing that. “Arm needed to stop at home really quickly and Pol went with him but they’ll come here for sure.”
“And Pete?” Vegas asked.
“I am sure he will show up as well,” Porsche said. “Where are Tay and Time?”
“They texted us that something came up so they might be a bit late,” Kinn said.
“Let me translate that. They fuck,” Vegas rolled his eyes and Porsche laughed.
While they were waiting for the others they were talking about anything they just thought of. When Arm and Pol arrived they joined them. And a little bit of luck was clearly on Vegas’s side because eventually Pete showed up as well. Vegas pushed Kinn aside to make him move so Pete can sit next to him.
“What’s that?” Vegas asked when Pete took out a box from his backpack.
“My… my grandma baked these so I thought you might want to… have some?” Pete blushed a bit while opening the box and offering them some very good looking, clearly homemade cookies.
“Anything from grandma is always delicious,” Porsche reached for one of the cookies, just like Pol and Arm who were very familiar with how good Pete’s grandma is at baking.
“Do you want some as well?” Pete offered Kinn and Vegas who both nodded and reached for the cookies.
“That’s why it took you so long to come here?” Pol asked while reaching for another cookie.
“Well… kinda. She was just finishing them up so she told me to wait and take some with me here.”
“It’s really good,” Kinn smiled at Pete who smiled happily at hearing that.
“It’s delicious, not good,” Vegas said and took another cookie and Pete smiled even more, happy to see that everyone likes the cookies.
As they were talking while eating the cookies, Pete was thinking about what Porsche said earlier to him about Vegas. Vegas was sitting quite close to him but that didn’t have to mean anything yet. He seemed to be more interested in what Pete was saying compared to what the other three freshmen were saying, but that still meant nothing really so Pete still wasn’t sure.
Pete looked over at Kinn and Porsche. Kinn had his arm wrapped around Porsche’s shoulders and Porsche was comfortably leaning against Kinn. Pete had no idea how Porsche is doing that, not being shy at all to be this close to someone he met just a few hours ago. Then Pete looked at Vegas who happened to look at him at the same time which made Pete blush and quickly look away. He heard Vegas chuckled a bit at that which made Pete blush even more.
Why would Vegas like Pete? He’s nothing special. Vegas has to see that, right? He can’t even look at him without blushing so there is no way Vegas likes Pete. While Pete was thinking about this he felt Vegas’s hand on his back.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re really cute when you’re blushing?” Vegas leaned to Pete’s ear so the others didn't hear him.
Pete knew he should say something. What do people say to something like that?
“T-thank you, you too…” Pete looked at Vegas and immediately cringed and hid his face in his hands when he realized what he just said. This wasn’t what he meant to say. He didn’t know what he wanted to say to be honest, but it surely wasn’t that.
Vegas seemed to be surprised to hear this response but he couldn’t even laugh, not when he saw how embarrassed Pete seemed to be so he didn’t want to make him feel worse.
“Hey, what’s going on over there? Pete? Do you need us to save you?” Porsche finally looked away from Kinn long enough to notice Pete’s state.
“Why are you blushing so much?” Pol asked confused while Pete was shaking his head as a reply to Porsche’s question. Even with hiding his face in his hands it was very obvious that he was blushing and now that everyone noticed it it got only worse.
“Are you sick Pete?” Arm asked, concerned for his friend’s health.
“What did you say to him, Vegas?” Kinn chuckled.
“Nothing!” Pete snapped his head up to prevent Vegas say anything.
“Oh… it must have been a really bad nothing huh?” Porsche asked teasingly.
“Hey… come on,” Vegas rolled his eyes while running his hand up and down on Pete’s back to help him calm down. It was helping and not helping at the same time. It felt nice but also Pete couldn’t stop blushing because of that.
“I think I should go home,” Pete muttered.
“What? Why?” Vegas panicked a bit, not liking the idea of Pete leaving already.
“It’s almost dinner time,” Pete was glad he actually had a real excuse to go home.
“Really? Oh shit, you’re right I need to go as well,” Porsche said when he noticed the time and jumped down from the table. Arm and Pol stood up as well and joined their friends in their departure.
“I’ll text you later,” Kinn looked at Porsche.
“And I’ll maybe text you back,” Porsche winked at him which made Kinn chuckle.
“I’ll text… you,” Vegas wanted to tell Pete but the group was already too far away.
“Hey… come on. This wasn’t that bad,” Kinn tried to cheer him up.
“Easy for you to say. You and Porsche are pretty much dating already,” Vegas rolled his eyes and got off the table. Kinn did the same thing and they headed home.
“Porsche’s just more of an extrovert. Pete just needs a bit more time so… you know… don’t give up.”
“Give up? Who’s giving up?! Of course I am not going to give up!” Vegas said immediately.
*
“Kinn, I am giving up. It’s hopeless,” Vegas fell on the sofa when he entered the living room where Kinn was working on some homework.
“Still no luck?” Kinn asked amused.
“Fuck you,” Vegas said annoyed. Kinn and Porsche got together already. But Pete still doesn’t seem to see that Vegas likes him.
Vegas was really trying but Pete just seems to be oblivious to any of Vegas’s attempts. He just sees it all as Vegas being nice to him. And Vegas, of course, wants to be nice to Pete but he also wants to be nice to Pete while Pete will be his boyfriend, what’s so wrong about that? But so far Vegas had no luck whatsoever with that.
“It’s been only like two weeks, Vegas.”
“But by now I could have had the cutest boyfriend ever… but I don’t. And I hate that I don’t,” Vegas sat up and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Then go and tell this to Pete and not to me,” Kinn laughed a bit.
“He just doesn’t see what I am trying to do,” Vegas complained.
“Have you tried a really big gesture? Something he just can’t miss? You could… I don’t know, set the fire alarm at school and when everyone will gather outside you will announce that you want to date Pete,” Kinn suggested.
Vegas actually thought about it and wondered what would be the best way to do that. His planning was interrupted by Tankhun hitting his head with a book.
“Ouch… what the hell?” Vegas asked while rubbing his head to ease the pain.
“No fire alarms!” Tankhun said and made Vegas move aside so he can sit down next to him. “Just tell him that you like him.”
“It’s not that easy,” Vegas grumbled.
“Oh… have you tried that? To tell… tell… Pete, thank you Kinn, to tell Pete that you like him?” Tankhun asked.
“Kinda/No he had not,” Vegas and Kinn said at the same time.
“Well I never really had to do that before,” Vegas said. “Me flirting was a good enough clue for the guys so they just… you know, figured it out,” he shrugged.
“Well it clearly isn’t going to work on this Pete is it?” Tankhun said.
“Ok fine so I’ll just ask Pete on a date and hopefully it’ll work out.”
“Great,” Tankhun patted Vegas’s shoulder and stood up.
“Ouch, what was that for?!” Kinn asked when while passing by him, Tankhun hit him with the books as well.
“For the stupid idea with the fire alarm,” Tankhun said over his shoulder while leaving the room.
“How’s the homework going?” Vegas asked.
“I’m almost done,” Kinn nodded.
“Can I copy it?”
“What’s in it for me?” Kinn looked at his cousin.
“I'll let you copy the english one in exchange.”
*
The next day Vegas smiled to himself when he slipped the note he wrote his hopefully soon to be boyfriend in Pete’s locker. He was sure that this would work. With that thought he went to join Kinn and the others in their classroom.
“So? Did you finally ask him?” Kinn asked.
“I left him a note in his locker. Asking him on a date so… yeah technically I did ask him.”
“Why not ask him directly?” Tay asked.
“Because I wanted to be romantic. Obviously,” Vegas rolled his eyes.
“Oh… he’s romantic now,” Tay looked at Time. They managed to keep straight faces for a few seconds before they started to laugh.
“What makes you sure he will want to go on a date with you anyway?” Kinn asked Vegas. He was just like Tay and Time, very amused.
“What makes you think he will not?” Vegas replied. “Anyway I’m sure I’ll get lucky. If nothing else, lucky number 13 could help me out a bit, right?” he shrugged.
“13?” Kinn repeated.
“Pete’s locker number.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?” Vegas asked, confused.
“Porsche’s got 13. I am not sure if Pete has 12 or 14, but I know for sure that 13 belong to Porsche.”
Vegas could tell that his cousin wasn’t messing with him. He was being serious. “Are you sure?” Vegas asked anyway, still hoping that this is a joke.
“Yes,” Kinn confirmed.
“Fuck!” Vegas stood up and ran out of the classroom.
Tay and Time looked at each other and began to laugh again..
*
“Fuck,” Vegas cursed.
Porsche and Pete were at their lockers getting their stuff. Porsche had the note Vegas wrote for Pete in his hand while Pete was quickly walking away, looking upset.
“Pete wait this…” Porsche was calling after him when Vegas got to him and took the note from his hand.
“Wrong locker?” Porsche guessed correctly.
“Yeah. Where did Pete go?” Vegas asked, needing to go find Pete and explain this. “Oh I see him,” he added when he saw Pete disappearing in the boy restrooms and quickly went there as well.
“Hey. Vegas was too late?” Kinn showed up next to Porsche.
“Yeah. Pete looked really upset about it,” Porsche nodded, concerned about his best friend. “Vegas went after him. I don’t know if I should go after him as well. What do you think?” he looked at Kinn.
“I think Vegas should be able to fix this. It’s his mess after all, so let him make it right,” Kinn pulled Porsche to him to give his cousin a chance to speak with Pete in private.
“I guess you’re right. But I’ll wait here for him anyway,” Porsche said while looking at the door to the restroom. Kinn nodded and leaned on the lockers next to Porsche.
*
“How many times do I have to tell you that Pete. Vegas is super into you,” Porsche rolled his eyes when he and Pete were going to their lockers.
“You don’t know that for sure,” Pete shook his head, not sure about why Vegas would like him in that way. The way Pete does like Vegas. Because Pete does like him a lot. He just has no idea what to do about it.
Porsche makes it sound so easy. ‘Just ask him out’.
Pete would really wish to be as good at these things as Porsche is but he isn’t.
“Jeez Pete,” Porsche chuckled to himself while shaking his head and opening his locker. “Hm?” he asked when he saw the note there.
“Again?” Pete laughed a bit. It wasn’t the first time Porsche found a note in his locker from someone asking him on a date but unless the note was from Kinn, Porsche is just ignoring them.
“So who is it this time?” Pete asked curiously with a smile and went to Porsche to take a look at the note but froze when he saw the message there, his smile faded away from his face.
“Hey Cutie,
Wanna go on a date with me?
Vegas”
Pete recognized Vegas’s handwriting, so he knew that it was really from Vegas.
“Pete…” Porsche looked at him, not even sure what he should say but Pete shook his head and stepped back.
Porsche was sure that this was either a joke, even though he had no idea what would be funny about that, or a mistake. He was leaning towards the mistake option since Vegas showed no interest in him whatsoever and also he knows that he and Kinn are together now.
Pete felt tears in his eyes and he wasn’t even sure why. Of course Vegas likes Porsche. He knew that Porsche isn’t to blame here but Pete still didn’t want to be around him right now so he just turned around and headed towards the closest restroom, really needing to be as alone as the school would allow him to be.
He could vaguely hear Porsche calling something after him but he didn’t care, he was just focused on not letting his tears flow down his face, not yet.
Pete was glad the restroom was empty when he entered it and quickly headed to the nearest cubicle and locked the door. He sat down while wiping away the tears from his cheeks just for new ones to appear again. The notes Porsche was getting were funny up until now. They all laughed while reading some of them.
They were funny because they were not from Vegas. Pete knew now that he was right when he was having doubts about Vegas liking him. Vegas was just being friendly towards him, nothing more. He just enjoyed teasing him, nothing more.
When Vegas called Pete cutie and Pete blushed… he called cutie Porsche now as well, Pete realized and sobbed quietly. For whatever reason that part hurt a lot. To see that Pete wasn’t that special to Vegas. Vegas doesn’t have a special nickname just for him.
Pete jumped up a bit when he heard a knock on the door. “Occupied,” he muttered, while trying to not sound like he’s crying.
“Pete. Please could you open up?”
Pete began to panic when he heard Vegas’s voice. What was he supposed to do now? He shook his head without realizing that Vegas can't see that.
“Pete? Please?” Vegas tried it again when he got no reply.
“Go away,” Pete sobbed.
“Pete this is all just a big misunderstanding!” Vegas said and Pete would swear he’s panicking when hearing that he made Pete cry.
“No, I understand, don’t worry,” Pete wiped away more tears.
“Pete, open so we can talk normally.”
“I can hear you just fine,”
“I don’t want to talk to the toilet door, Pete. Please open, so I can explain.”
Pete bit his lower lip while thinking about it. He really wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Vegas right now but he also knew that someone could walk in and see this scene. He decided to stand up and unlock the door.
Vegas opened the door the second he heard the lock and slipped in the cubicle.
“Pete I am sorry, don’t cry please!” Vegas said gently and reached out his hand to wipe away the tears from Pete’s face but Pete slapped his hand away.
“This?” Vegas showed Pete the note he had in his other hand. “This was meant to be for you, Pete,” he said seriously.
“Sure,” Pete rolled his eyes and turned away from Vegas. He was really glad that their school actually had quite spacious cubicles.
“I thought that you had 13 as your locker number. Why would I be asking Porsche on a date? I just put the note in the wrong locker, I swear!”
Pete frowned a bit while thinking about what Vegas was saying.
“Come on, cutie,” Vegas encouraged Pete to realize that it was really just a misunderstanding and smiled a bit when Pete tried to not smile while being called that by Vegas.
“But why?” Pete looked at him.
“Why what?”
“I am… just me, so why would you want…” Pete gestured to the note in Vegas’s hand.
“You are not just you Pete. You’re amazing. Super smart and funny and really cute so you make it really hard for me to not think about you all the time. That’s why Pete,” Vegas said seriously and reached out his hand to gently stroke Pete’s cheek and this time Pete let him touch him.
Pete smiled while seeming to be unable to look away from Vegas.
“So… what do you say then?” Vegas asked and handed Pete the note.
Pete couldn’t help himself and had to smile even more while opening the note and reading it again, this time knowing that it’s meant for him. He looked at Vegas and nodded in agreement.
“Great!” Vegas smiled and pulled Pete in a hug and Pete hugged him back immediately. They hugged before while saying hi in the mornings and bye after school so this was nothing new to Pete.
When they pulled away, Vegas stroked Pete’s cheek again and wiped away the last traces of tears from his face while promising to himself that he will do literally anything to never make Pete cry again. Pete moved a bit closer to him.
“Pete… I would really like to do that but I am not going to kiss you,” Vegas managed to make himself say that and Pete frowned a bit at hearing that. “It’s just… this, you know?” Vegas gestured to their surroundings, hoping Pete will get what he means.
Luckily Pete did and laughed a bit while nodding in understanding and stepped back a bit. “I didn’t know you’re such a romantic,” Pete giggled.
“Why is everyone so shocked about it?” Vegas pretended to be insulted by hearing that.
“It’s a real mystery,” Pete giggled again.
“You better stop that or I’ll change my mind and we will have our first kiss in here,” Vegas warned him when Pete was too cute for his own good. That made Pete only more amused so Vegas decided they should rather leave or he will actually do something stupid.
*
“Pete? Are you ok?” Porsche, waiting at the door, made Pete jump when he and Vegas left the restroom.
“I am fine,” Pete nodded with a smile and hugged Porsche who immediately hugged him back, glad that everything seemed to be ok.
“We should go,” Kinn said when he noticed the time.
They said goodbye before heading to their classrooms.
“So?” Kinn asked Vegas.
“It’s a date,” Vegas confirmed.
“Finally,” Kinn rolled his eyes but patted his cousin’s shoulder, happy that it finally happened.
“Finally,” Tay and Time said when Vegas told them about the date.
*
“So?” Porsche asked Pete.
“Vegas asked me on a date!” Pete said with a smile.
“I know. I’ve seen the note,” Porsche chuckled. “I was asking about your reply.”
Pete giggled and nodded.
“Finally,” Porsche rolled his eyes.
“But I don’t know what to do,” Pete realized.
“Just be yourself and have fun.”
“Fun? You mean like… you know like… ehm… you know?” Pete blushed while struggling to say the word sex.
“I really doubt Vegas will go this far on your first date,” Porsche shook his head and wrapped his arm around Pete’s shoulders. “Or is this what you have in mind?” he asked teasingly and Pete blushed even more while shaking his head.
“I was just joking, don’t worry,” Porsche assured him.
“But… what if he will want to kiss me?” Pete whispered while entering the classroom and going to their desks.
“That, I am sure Vegas might want to do,” Porsche admitted.
“But I’ve never…”
“I know.”
“So what should I do?” Pete asked nervously.
“It will be ok. You’ll figure it out when it happens, don’t worry. I had it the same,” Porsche assured him.
“What?” Pol asked when Pete and Porsche were sitting down and he and Arm overheard the last part.
“Kissing,” Porsche said.
“Who’s going to kiss who?” Arm asked.
“Who do you think?” Porsche chuckled and looked at Pete who resigned, folded his arms on his desk and rested his head on them..
“What happened?” Arm and Pol asked Porsche when they could tell they missed out something. Porsche told them that Pete got a note from Vegas, asking him on a date. He decided to not tell them about the mistake Vegas made. It felt that it might have been too soon. If Pete will want to tell them that then he can do that when he will be ready and when it will be funny to him.
“Finally,” Arm and Pol said when Porsche confirmed that Pete agreed to go on a date with Vegas.
*
“Thanks, this is really good,” Pete smiled while eating the snack Vegas bought for him. Vegas wasn’t sure what exactly Pete might want to do so he suggested they could go to the mall and just see what they could come up with.
So far Pete seemed to be enjoying that. They were going through the shops while talking and finding out more things about each other in the process.
“When you finish it would you want to go check out the bookstore? There is a really good one here,” Vegas looked at Pete who nodded while chewing, which made him look really cute.
Pete reached out his hand with the snack towards Vegas, offering him to taste it as well and Vegas happily did so.
In the bookstore they spend some time just browsing and talking about the books they like. Vegas was showing Pete a book he was thinking about buying. Pete told him that he has this one at home so if Vegas wants he could borrow it. Vegas was happy to agree to that and thanked him before going to put the book back on the shelf and look for some other book that would look interesting to him.
They were leaving the bookstore each with a new book and went to sit down on one of the benches that were in the mall.
Vegas listening to Pete talking about the book he just bought and how he can’t wait to read it. He had to smile while watching how happy Pete was because of that and without thinking about it moved closer to Pete and wrapped one arm around his shoulders to be as close as possible.
Pete stopped talking and looked at him. Vegas didn’t want to wait and really wanted to kiss Pete so he leaned closer and did it. He could tell that Pete doesn’t have much experience in this, which made it all even better for Vegas. He will happily help Pete get as much experience in this as Pete will want.
Pete might have not been very experienced in it but he wasn’t at all bad at it.
“Wow…” Pete said when the kiss ended and Vegas pulled back. Vegas couldn’t help himself and had to laugh at that reaction and at how adorable Pete looked.
“This is way better than the restroom for a first kiss,” Pete grinned happily, showing his dimples while smiling. And Vegas smiled at hearing that before he leaned closer for another kiss.
“How am I?” Pete asked when that kiss ended.
“What do you mean?” Vegas asked while stroking Pete’s cheek.
“I’ve never…” Pete bit his lower lip, confirming what Vegas suspected. He was really happy he got to be the lucky one to be Pete’s first ever kiss.
“So, I just… do you like it? Am I doing it right?” Pete continued, equally shy to ask and eager to know.
“Hm… I am not sure,” Vegas muttered. “I am going to need a few more tries before I will be able to tell for sure,” he said seriously and leaned for another kiss. “No… still can’t tell for sure,” Vegas muttered and wanted to go for another kiss.
Pete, while trying to control his giggling managed to turn his head away so Vegas opted for kissing Pete’s neck which made Pete giggle more while complaining that it tickles which really didn’t encourage Vegas to stop. It made Pete laugh and he really grew fond of hearing that sound.
“Vegas… please!” Pete laughed while trying to make Vegas stop.
Vegas chuckled but did move away. “I do like it very, very much,” he said and leaned in for a quick kiss on Pete’s cheek.
“Really?” Pete asked happy to hear that.
“Of course, cutie,” Vegas confirmed with a smile.
*
“Do you want to come inside? I could borrow you the book since you are here anyway,” Pete offered when Vegas parked his car in front of Pete’s house. Vegas agreed and followed Pete inside.
“Pete?” A man’s voice called out when they entered.
“Hi dad!” Pete called back and a moment later Pete’s dad walked in the hallway.
“Dad this is Vegas my… ehm… friend,” Pete introduced Vegas to his dad and blushed a bit at the little pause he made while looking for the right word.
“Good day, khun,” Vegas greeted him and Pete’s dad greeted him back.
“And doesn't your… ehm… friend want to stay for… ehm… dinner?” Pete’s dad asked, clearly teasing his son, amused when he obviously could guess what kind of friend Vegas was to Pete. But he seemed to be happy that his son seemed to be happy. Vegas had to look away to hide his amusement at the man’s torture of his son.
“Vegas?” Pete’s dad asked.
“I would be happy to, khun,” Vegas nodded, biting his cheek to prevent the laughter when he heard Pete whine, almost inaudibly at the idea of the horror of what his dad will put him through during the dinner.
“Very well then. I will call you two when the dinner is ready,” Pete’s dad nodded and Pete nodded and gestured Vegas to follow him to his room.
“Leave your door open Pete! If I see them closed I am barging in,” Pete’s dad called after his son and then laughed at the “Dad!” desperate reply he got from Pete accompanied by Vegas’s laughter.
“Your dad’s funny,” Vegas chuckled while entering Pete’s room.
“I wish he wasn’t,” Pete shook his head while closing the door before he went to place his bag on a chair.
“No you don’t,” Vegas said while going to Pete’s bed to sit down.
“No I don’t,” Pete admitted and laughed a bit. He loves his dad and his jokes, no matter how embarrassed they make him feel.
“There you go, you don’t need to hurry with giving it back. I’ve read it so you can just…” Pete was saying while getting the book from the bookshelf but stopped when he turned around and saw Vegas holding his plushie bunny Pete had on his bed.
Snowflake was there since forever, so Pete completely forgot about her. He loves her, she was his first ever toy he got so she had been with him his whole life, but he wasn’t sure he wanted Vegas to see that he still has plushies. Snowflake wasn’t the only plushie in his room but luckily she was the only one he had on his bed.
Pete went to the bed and Vegas looked up at him. Vegas could see that Pete was nervous, as if expecting Vegas to make fun of him for that.
“He’s cute,” Vegas smiled.
“She,” Pete muttered.
“Well that makes me feel better. I can deal with you sharing a bed with a girl but if this little fella was a boy I don’t know how I would cope with that,” Vegas said and reached out one hand to take Pete’s to pull him on the bed.
Pete laughed a bit, glad that Vegas didn’t seem to think Pete is weird or childish for still having plushies.
“What’s her name?” Vegas looked at Pete.
“Snowflake,” Pete muttered and looked to a side.
“Oh… make sense,” Vegas said a bit confused while looking at the bunny’s black color. Literally the whole bunny was black.
Pete looked at him.
“Ok, you were clearly a weird child but it’s still a cute name,” Vegas laughed and Pete did a bit as well.
“Did you know that today I got to kiss Pete, Snowflake? And he’s not at all bad at it,” Vegas looked at the bunny.
Pete did not know whether to laugh or try to murder him. “Do not… give her to me!” Pete tossed the book on the bed and reached for his plushie but Vegas moved her out of his reach and Pete without thinking about it crawled on Vegas’ lap to get to her.
“The dinner will be in like 20 minutes, your mom called that she’s on her way…” Pete’s dad entered the room which made Pete quickly turn towards the door and somehow manage to end up on the floor. Vegas tried to catch him but it all happened too quickly.
“Perhaps we should get the open door rule up and running,” Pete’s dad laughed.
“We were not doing anything!” Pete said quickly while getting off the floor, with a little help from Vegas who wasn’t even trying not to laugh.
“Sure. If you were not 15 I would maybe believe that,” Pete’s dad said amused, joking.
“Dad!” Pete whined and sat down on the bed.
“Son!” Pete’s dad matched his son’s tone and Pete hid his face in his palms. “Anyway, like I said. The dinner will be in like 20 minutes,” he said more normally and was about to leave but then he stopped. “Oh, by the way, Vegas you are not vegetarian or anything like that, right?”
“No,khun,” Vegas shook his head and the man nodded before he left the room and closed the door behind him.
“I really like your dad,” Vegas looked at Pete who was still hiding his face in his palms but Vegas could see Pete’s shoulders were shaking a bit while he was trying to suppress the laughter.
“Come on, cutie… look at me,” Vegas smiled and moved Snowflake to Pete’s cheek, hoping the plushie will help him. It worked, Pete lowered his hands and looked at Vegas and then at Snowflake and reached for her. Vegas this time let him take her and Pete placed her in his lap as a comfort helper.
“By the way… when you were introducing me to your dad did you hesitate to call me your friend because you are not sure what we are right now?” Vegas asked while putting the image of Pete cuddling to Snowflake in his 10 top cutest Pete moments he witnessed.
“Well… yeah?” Pete nodded.
“I would be very happy if you would consider yourself to be my boyfriend then,” Vegas said and Pete smiled happily.
Vegas had to smile as well and leaned closer to kiss Pete’s cheek.
They spent the 20 or so minutes talking and just messing around before Pete’s mom arrived from work so they were called for dinner.
“So Pete… how long are you and Vegas… ehm… friends for?” Pete’s dad asked, clearly not willing to let Pete live this one down just yet.
“Honey, don't embarrass Pete like that,” Pete’s mom looked at her husband.
“Thank you mom.”
“What will his boyfriend think?” the mom added teasingly and looked at Vegas who really fell in love with both of Pete’s parents at that moment and had to laugh at the look of betrayal on Pete’s face when his mom joined his dad in teasing him.
“Mom!” Pete whined quietly.
“Well… it doesn't matter for how long. As long as you’re happy everything’s fine,” the mom smiled at his son while the dad nodded in agreement and Pete smiled back at them.
“Not for long… for like… a day?” Pete looked at Vegas who nodded in agreement.
“What a nice and polite son we have. He brings his boyfriend over for a family dinner the day they get together,” Pete’s dad looked at his wife while wiping away the fake tear which made her laugh a bit while Pete hid his face in his hands.
Vegas really had a great time. Pete’s family was really funny and he enjoyed the dynamic of it.
“What do your mom and dad do, Vegas? If you don’t mind me asking,” Pete’s mom asked.
“Of course I don’t mind. Mom’s a chief cook, in her own restaurant. And dad and uncle own a business with luxury cars and bikes. It’s a family business so they inherited it from my grandfather.”
“That’s nice,” Pete’s mom smiled. “So you must be close as a family then.”
“I mean… yeah. Dad and uncle need to be able to meet to discuss their business so we live really nearby so me and my brother are quite close to our cousins as well since we were spending a lot of time together while growing up.”
“That’s good. Family is important,” Pete’s dad nodded. “And you are going to go into the family business as well Vegas?”
“I wouldn’t mind. I do like cars and bikes a lot,” Vegas shrugged.
“Are all the kids there interested in it?” Pete’s mom wondered.
“Not really. My older cousin, Tankhun, is more into fashion and art so he studies fashion design. Me and Kinn quite like the idea of working with our dads and learning about that business as much as possible so we are quite interested in that. My younger cousin Kim, seems to be more into music than in the family business. And my brother Macau is still not sure, but he’s still quite young so he has time to find something that he would enjoy doing.”
“How old is Macau?”
“He’s 10.”
“Oh, then he really has plenty of time to decide what he wants to do,” Pete’s dad agreed with Vegas.
“Porsche’s little brother is about the same age, isn’t he Pete?” Pete’s mom looked at her son.
“Yeah… yeah Chay’s 10 as well,” Pete nodded.
“Yeah, little brothers are a curse and blessing at the same time,” Vegas noted and the parents laughed a bit.
“I am sure no matter how much he annoys you, you still love him very much,” Pete’s mom smiled.
“I do… which is his only luck otherwise I would kill him by now,” Vegas joked and made the family laugh.
After the dinner Vegas said he should probably go home so Pete went to see him off to his car to say goodbye.
“I’ll text you later ok?” Vegas said after he kissed Pete who nodded and quickly leaned in for another quick kiss which made Vegas laugh happily but then looked down when he felt something at his feet.
“Hello,” Pete smiled at the cat that was rubbing herself against their legs so he bent down and picked her up. “This is our cat,” he smiled at Vegas who reached out his hand to pet the cat that was cuddling to Pete.
“How did you name this one? Coal? Or perhaps Midnight?” Vegas asked teasingly while looking at the snow white cat.
Pete rolled his eyes but chuckled a bit. “No. We named her Suki.”
“Cute,” Vegas smiled and leaned to Pete for one last kiss before he headed home.
While driving away he saw Pete in the rearview mirror waving at him while still holding Suki which made him smile.
When Pete came back inside he placed Suki on the floor and went into the kitchen to help with the dishes.
“I hope I didn’t scare Vegas off,” his dad joked while washing up the plates.
“No dad,” Pete shook his head with a smile.
“He seems like a good kid to me. Vegas I mean,” the dad noted and Pete nodded to confirm that. “But who cares what I think of him. As long as he makes you happy, right?” the dad smiled.
“I do care about what you think of him, dad. You and mom both,” Pete said and put down the dish tower so he could give him a quick hug.
After they finished the dishes, Pete went to his room. He jumped on the bed and reached for his phone and saw a text from Porsche.
“Hey. So? How did it go? What did you do?”
“It went really well. We went to the mall.”
“Mall’s cool. What did you do there?”
“Just browsing. We stopped at the bookstore, I got a new book there.”
“And? Did you kiss?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“It was really good.”
“See? I told you that it will be ok.”
“Also Vegas stayed over for dinner.”
“Oh…family dinner already? That was quick.”
“Shut up! You sound like my dad.”
“Did he tease you?”
“You know my dad so what do you think?”
“That’s good. Someone has to when I am not around.”
“Or you could just not torture me. That’s an option as well, you know?”
“That would be boring. I gotta go. You tell us the details tomorrow, ok? Bye.”
“Sure. Bye.”
Pete laughed while tossing his phone aside. He still couldn’t believe it. He was still partly sure that he just fell asleep in the classroom and this was all just a really good dream.
He went to take a shower and get ready for the bed and when he got back he saw he got a text from Vegas.
“Hey, cutie. Would you want to come over to our house tomorrow? I feel that it’s only fair for you to see how my parents embarrass me in front of you in exchange.”
“He wants me to meet his parents!” Pete grinned at Snowflake before he texted Vegas that he would love to.
“Great. Would you wait for me after school then?”
They texted for a while before they wished each other a good night and went to sleep.
*
“What if Vegas’s parents will not like me?” Pete asked nervously while pacing back and forth in front of Porsche, Arm and Pol who were sitting on a bench outside of the school while waiting for the others.
“How could someone not like you Pete. Look at yourself,” Arm said and Pol nodded.
“Arm’s right Pete. You’re too cute for anyone to not like you,” Porsche confirmed.
“You three are no help whatsoever,” Pete turned to his friends and placed his hands on his hips.
“And you are stressing over nothing,” Porsche replied, stood up and went to hug Pete.
“Literally. Just relax and everything will be fine,” Pol agreed and Arm nodded in agreement.
Pete tried to make himself relax while still being hugged by Porsche.
“They’re coming,” Arm pointed to the school entrance where the four boys they were waiting for appeared.
“Hey! Hands off my boyfriend!” Vegas called when they were getting closer to them.
Porsche laughed while turning him and Pete so he could look at him while still hugging Pete. “I’d love to remind you, Vegas, that I've known Pete longer than you so I have every right to hug him all I want!” he said and hugged Pete tighter when he felt that Pete was trying to pull away while giggling.
“You did have every right to do so. But now the right was revoked by me. So step away from my boyfriend!” Vegas warned him, clearly in a joking matter.
“But he’s so cute and huggable,” Porsche cuddled closer to Pete who was still trying to break free while laughing.
“He does look very cute and huggable,” Tay confirmed and ruffled Pete’s hair while passing by him.
“Yep. Like a life size plushie,” Time added and gently pinched Pete’s cheek which only made Pete laugh more.
“Ok… all of you just stop hitting on my boyfriend right now,” Vegas put his hands on his hips.
“No,” Tay, Time and Porsche said at the same time.
“Kinn… do something,” Vegas turned to his cousin.
“You think I know how to control that devil?” Kinn laughed and glanced at Porsche who grinned, considering this as a compliment of course.
“Porsche let me go,” Pete laughed.
“Ok,” Porsche said and winked at Tay and Time who were standing next to them. The second Porsche let go of Pete and Pete wanted to make a step towards Vegas, Tay and Time pulled him for a hug he really had no chance of getting from since now he was hugged by two people instead of just one. He was still trying to break free while laughing which was making his attempts for freedom only more difficult.
“I… seriously hands off my boyfriend,” Vegas said again and went to them while Porsche was going to Kinn.
Vegas managed to get a hold of Pete’s hand and pulled him towards him which actually worked since Tay and Time decided they had their fun and let the younger boy go, so Vegas had his boyfriend in his arms, finally.
“Happy now?” Time teased Vegas.
“Of course,” Vegas nodded while hugging Pete who smiled happily while being hugged.
“Anyway… we should go,” Vegas added and looked at Pete to see if he’s ready.
Pete nodded and went to hug his friends goodbye.
“Just relax and don’t worry, ok?” Porsche whispered to Pete while hugging him.
*
When Vegas parked his car outside of their house Pete was trying not to stare but he knew he failed.
“Do you like it?” Vegas asked.
“It’s…huge,” Pete noted. He knew that their house wasn’t bad in any way, he loved their house but compared to Vegas’s, Pete’s house looked like a shack.
“Come on inside then,” Vegas placed his hand on Pete’s lower back and guided him inside.
“Mom? Dad?” Vegas called when they entered.
“In here!” a female voice called back and Vegas guided Pete in a big, modern kitchen where Vegas’ mom was cooking something that smelled really great.
“Mom, this is Pete,” Vegas introduced him and Pete greeted her, while trying not to sound as nervous as he was.
“Hello Pete. It’s nice to meet you,” she smiled at him which made Pete smile as well and helped him relax. “You are staying for dinner, right?” she asked.
“Yes. Thank you,” Pete nodded.
“Great. I am always happy when I can cook for more people. It’s more fun,” she said happily and Pete smiled.
“Do you need help with anything, mom?” Vegas asked.
“Are you trying to look like a good son in front of Pete?” the mom laughed teasingly and Pete giggled a bit while Vegas rolled his eyes and chuckled. “But no, thank you, Vegas. You just take care of your guest and let me take care of the cooking,” she smiled at her son.
Vegas nodded and gestured to Pete to follow him.
“Do you actually help with cooking?” Pete asked, curiously.
“I think cooking is fun so I do help mom when I can,” Vegas nodded and Pete smiled at hearing that.
Pete followed Vegas in the living room where Vegas's dad was, sitting on the sofa and looking at something on a tablet.
“Dad?” Vegas asked, not sure if he can bother him right now or if he’s busy.
Gun looked up from the tablet and placed it next to him on the sofa before he stood up and went to them.
“This is…” Vegas began to introduce Pete.
“Phil, I know you said you will bring him over so we can meet him.”
“Pete, dad,” Vegas corrected him.
“Oh right… sorry. Phil is coming next week, right? I am getting lost at it at this point,” Gun laughed.
“He’s joking,” Vegas looked at Pete who was sure of it since Vegas’s dad was trying to hide his amusement.
“Yes, Vegas’s right, I am joking, don’t worry,” Gun assured Pete who laughed a bit, glad that not only his dad is enjoying embarrassing his son, but that it’s the same in other families as well.
“Nice to meet you Pete,” Gun smiled at Pete who offered the man a polite wai.
“We’ll not bother you now, dad,” Vegas said and glanced at the tablet on the sofa.
“Thank you. It will not take long for me to finish that but it needs to be done. But I am sure we will have a chance to talk more during dinner,” Gun smiled and looked at Pete who nodded.
*
“I don’t know why I was nervous about meeting them, they are really cool,” Pete giggled while following Vegas to his room.
“You were nervous about this?” Vegas asked surprised and Pete nodded. “Oh honey… you should have said something,” Vegas laughed a bit and pulled Pete closer to him.
When they entered Vegas’s room Pete felt a bit embarrassed again. Vegas’s room looked not at all childish, unlike Pete’s, no plushies to be seen anywhere.
He had a big built-in bookshelf filled with all sorts of books, a king size bed, a writing desk with a pc in the corner and cool posters and pictures of cars and motorbikes on the walls.
Pete really liked Vegas’s room. It looked cool, which made sense since Vegas himself was also really cool.
“You’ve started with the book already?” Pete noticed his book on Vegas’ night stand.
“Last night, yeah,” Vegas nodded and went to a quite big cage Pete somehow did not notice yet.
“Oh… what do you have over there?” Pete asked curiously with a smile and went closer, eager to see what animal Vegas has.
“A hedgehog,” Vegas smiled and knelt down to fill up the empty bowl.
The animal, when he heard that, peaked out from the little wooden house and sniffed around for a moment before he came out of the house.
“Hello there. Come to show yourself off?” Vegas said quietly with a soft smile.
Pete hadn’t heard Vegas speak so softly and quietly yet and had to smile while seeing how much he cares about his pet, making sure not to scare him with being too loud. Pete carefully knelt down next to Vegas, not wanting to make any sudden moves that would scare the hedgehog who was just climbing onto Vegas’s open palm.
“What’s his name?” Pete whispered with a smile when Vegas picked the hedgehog up and took him out of the cage so Pete could take a better look at him.
“Archie,” Vegas smiled and told Pete to hold out his palms before he carefully let the hedgehog climb over to Pete’s hands.
“Hello Archie,” Pete said quietly while watching the cute animal in his hands, actually scared to move so he wouldn’t accidentally hurt him.
“I’ve never held a hedgehog,” Pete giggled and looked at Vegas.
“You’re natural then. You’re doing great,” Vegas smiled at him while looking at Archie curiously sniffing around and moving around in Pete’s hands.
“Will you be ok with keeping an eye on him for a moment? I will just go refill his water bowl,” Vegas asked Pete who panicked a bit at hearing that.
“I will be right back, don’t worry,” Vegas assured him and reached for the bowl with a little bit of water in it before he stood up and headed towards his bathroom.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got this Archie!” Pete whispered, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally hurt him while Vegas was gone. He was glad he could still hear Vegas in the bathroom so in case something was wrong he knew he could just call him.
Vegas was back in no time with the bowl with fresh water he placed back in the cage.
“You probably want to go back home huh?” Vegas smiled and let Archie crawl over to his hand so he could place him back in the cage.
“They are not really the cuddliest pets,” Vegas admitted.
“But they’re super cute,” Pete smiled while watching Archie eating whatever Vegas put in his bowl.
“They are,” Vegas nodded while watching his hedgehog, then he looked at Pete who looked back at him and giggled happily.
When Archie disappeared into his house, Pete and Vegas stood up and went to sit down on the bed.
“Vegas, do you want to play some game?” a little boy barged in the room while they were talking.
“Not now, Macau go…”
“Hello. I am Macau!” Macau waved at Pete.
“Hi, I am Pete,” Pete smiled at him.
“Will you play a game with me and Vegas?”
“What game?” Pete asked.
“None, we will not…” Vegas tried but was ignored once again.
“Wait!” Macau told Pete and ran away to find some game for them to play.
“Pete, you can not do that. We will not get rid of him now,” Vegas whined and looked at his boyfriend who laughed a bit.
“Come on… he looks nice,” Pete said with a smile.
“That’s only because he’s not your brother. Trust me he’s a pain in the ass,” Vegas shook his head.
“So it runs in the family then?” Pete asked teasingly and yelped in surprise when Vegas began to tickle him while demanding for Pete to take that back. Pete could not take that back even if he wanted to since he could not even talk properly because of the laughter.
Macau ran back in the room with a box in his hand and jumped on the bed next to them which made Vegas stop his attack on Pete.
“Macau I said we will not play anything right now,” Vegas said and got off the bed while pulling Macau with him.
“But Pete wants to, hia!” Macau protested while being pushed towards the door by Vegas.
“No he does not. Right, Pete? Pete?” Vegas shook his head and turned to look at his boyfriend.
“Look at this. That’s so cute!” Pete said when he opened the box that was left on the bed and saw a little figure of a panda.
“Pete, no,” Vegas shook his head, not liking where this was going.
“See? Pete wants to play!” Macau said and used Vegas not paying attention to him and ran back to the bed and jumped on it again.
“Have you ever played Takenoko, Pete?” Macau asked and Pete shook his head.
“It’s ok. It’s really easy, I’ll teach you,” Macau assured him while Vegas was accepting the fact that they were indeed going to play a game with Macau after all.
Macau began to explain the rules and Pete actually understood it very quickly.
“Come on, Vegas,” Pete looked at him and patted the bed to make Vegas join them so they could start the game.
“Why can I not have Kim for my little brother?” Vegas thought desperately. Kim was perfect. Sure he was nosy and liked to keep an eye on everything but he also did not like to really spend too much time with the others so he most likely wasn’t bothering Kinn and Porsche like that, Vegas was sure of it.
“Ok fine. But let’s take it on the floor. It’ll be easier to play,” Vegas gave up and went to sit down on the floor by the bed. Macau and Pete quickly followed him and started the game.
“You know you don’t have to move the panda in every turn just to feed him, right?” Vegas asked teasingly when Pete so far did not make any other move other than feeding the cute little panda.
“Shush, it’s part of my strategy,” Pete frowned playfully and Vegas laughed a bit.
Vegas did not want to admit that he was actually having fun. He would prefer to keep Pete just to himself, of course, but Pete seemed to really enjoy the game a lot so Vegas was happy to see his boyfriend having fun.
“You need to come here more often, Pete. Vegas almost never wants to play anything with me,” Macau said while they were playing.
“Pete isn’t going to come here to play games with you, Macau,” Vegas said quickly, not wanting to let Pete give him any promises.
“But he’s having fun!” Macau protested.
“It doesn't matter. He’s my friend and not your playmate,” Vegas shook his head.
“You’re so selfish, you never share anything with me,” Macau muttered as if Vegas was being really selfish by not wanting to let Macau play with Pete.
“Pete isn’t a toy for me to share,” Vegas rolled his eyes and looked at Pete who was trying not to laugh too much.
“Still I just…” Macau began but was interrupted by his mom who entered the room to tell them that the dinner is ready.
“Can we finish this mom, please. We are almost done I promise,” Macau asked her mom who allowed it.
“And could you please find something for Macau to do after dinner? Like literally anything,” Vegas asked his mom a bit desperately which made her laugh.
“We can play some other game after…” Macau began.
“No more games,” Vegas cut him off.
“You’ll leave Vegas and Pete alone after dinner, Macau, ok? We’ll come up with something to do,” the mom said with a smile and Vegas gave her a ‘thank you’ look for her help before she left the room.
“We can play something some other time, alright?” Pete told Macau who looked a bit sad that he can not play with them after dinner again.
“Promise?” Macau asked.
“Promise,” Pete nodded and Macau smiled at hearing that.
“You just made a deal with the devil, Pete,” Vegas told Pete so only he could hear it. Pete rolled his eyes at Vegas’s exaggeration.
*
“This is delicious,” Pete said when he tasted the meal.
“Thank you,” Vegas’s mom smiled happily.
“No matter what you cook, it’s always delicious,” Gun smiled and took her hand in his to kiss it gently which made her smile.
“Your restaurant must be packed with people every day,” Pete noted.
“I can't complain. People seem to enjoy our meals, which I am very happy about.”
“What do your parents do, Pete?” Gun asked.
“Dad works as a trainer in a gym and also teaches boxing there.”
“Is he teaching you that as well?”
“Sometimes. But I am sadly not into boxing as much as he is, so our training sessions are not as professional as the ones he has with the people who are training for real. But I do enjoy training with him. He’s really good at it and also I like spending time with him so this is an easy way for us to spend some time together.”
“That’s nice. It’s good that he doesn’t try to force you into it just because it’s something he really likes,” Vegas’s mom smiled. “And what does your mom do?”
“She’s a librarian. I am sometimes going there to help her if I can. I really like books so I am always happy when I can spend some time there.”
“Vegas likes to read as well,” the mom looked at her son who nodded.
“I know. He already stole one book from me,” Pete laughed a bit.
“Borrowed. And you yourself offered to borrow it to me,” Vegas corrected.
“So what will you be then, a boxer or a librarian?” Gun asked.
“I think if I had to pick between these two I would lean more towards the librarian,” Pete smiled.
“But of course you have more options than just these two,” Vegas’s mom laughed a bit.
“I know. Neither mom nor dad are trying to force me to follow their path,” Pete nodded, happy that he was able to say something like that.
*
“It’s alright Vegas, I can just…” Pete began when he said he should get going and Vegas said he’ll drive him home.
“Pete… come on. You should know better than that. You know how stubborn I am, don’t you?” Vegas chuckled while getting his car keys.
“Can I come with you, please?” Macau asked when Pete was saying bye to Vegas’ parents. Macau when he heard Pete’s leaving jumped to his feet and wanted to go with them.
Pete looked at Vegas, silently telling him to let Macau come with them so Vegas rolled his eyes and nodded a bit.
Macau ran out of the room running to wait for them in the car.
“I hope you will come over soon again, Pete,” Vegas’s mom smiled at him when Pete thanked them for their hospitality.
“You’re always welcome here,” Gun added and Pete thanked them again before he and Vegas went to the car.
*
“I am really going to kill him,” Vegas muttered when he saw that Macau was sitting in the front passenger seat.
“Come on, Vegas. I am ok with…”
“But I am not. I want you next to me. Also, Pete, you really can not Macau get away with everything,” Vegas said before he opened the car door. “If you will not be in the back seat in exactly 5 seconds I am going to sell all your toys.”
“Oh… does Pete want to sit here?” Macau asked.
“What do you think? Out, now,” Vegas replied and again gestured to his brother to leave the car and move in the back seat. Macau did it and Pete smiled at him and thanked him for that which made Macau smile in return.
“I am seriously going to make Kinn trade Kim for Macau,” Vegas thought while getting in the car and starting the engine.
Macau and Pete were talking the whole ride to Pete’s home. Vegas saw that his brother really likes Pete a lot and he didn’t blame him. Pete was really nice and super friendly so of course he liked him which made Vegas happy of course, but with Macau liking Pete so much he also seemed to want to spend more time with him than Vegas would like.
*
“You will not leave this car, you hear?” Vegas looked at Macau while getting out of the car to say bye to Pete.
“Why not?” Macau asked curiously and confused.
“Because I said so,” Vegas said before he closed the door and went to Pete who was smiling at him. They went towards Pete’s house and before they despaired behind some bushes that were growing around the house, Pete turned around to wave at Macau who waved back at him immediately.
“Sorry for Macau. He can be quite a handful and…” Vegas began.
“I think he’s great,” Pete smiled and shook his head which made Vegas happy to hear that.
Vegas walked Pete to his door and leaned closer to kiss him. Pete giggled happily and Vegas smiled at that.
“I’ll text you later, ok?” Vegas said while stroking Pete’s cheek.
“Maybe I’ll text you first,” Pete said.
“Please do,” Vegas encouraged that idea with and pulled Pete in a hug before he gave him one last kiss and went to his car.
Pete waited for them to drive by so he could wave at them. He smiled a bit when he saw that Vegas let Macau move to the front passenger seat on their way back home.
*
“How are the future parents-in-law?” Pete’s dad asked when Pete was passing by the door to the kitchen.
“Dad,” Pete laughed and entered the kitchen.
“What?” his dad laughed a bit as well so Pete just rolled his eyes in amusement.
“They’re very nice,” Pete nodded. “And Macau as well,” he added with a smile and his dad smiled at seeing how happy his son was.
“Oh, the boys are waiting for you in your room. They came to see how it went. You meeting Vegas’ family.”
“Really?” Pete smiled and quickly went to his room where he found Porsche, Arm and Pol.
“Finally!” Porsche rolled his eyes while laying on the bed. Arm and Pol were sitting on the floor. Pol was leaning against Pete’s bed while flipping through one of the comic books Pete had in his room and Arm seemed to be doing homework.
“I had no idea you’ll show up so don’t blame me for keeping you waiting,” Pete laughed a bit and went to his closet to change into more comfortable clothes for home.
“Of course we will show up. We care!” Pol said offended.
“Yeah!” Porsche nodded, matching Pol’s offended tone.
Pete rolled his eyes and shook his head while putting on a shirt.
“And also you’re both nosy as hell,” Arm noted while writing and Pete laughed and agreed with that.
“And you are not?” Pol looked at Arm.
“Not as much as you two. I would be ok with waiting for Pete to tell us about it tomorrow at school but you had to know it right away,” Arm said calmly.
“Well…since we’re here then… come on, tell us how it went,” Porsche patted the bed to make Pete come to sit down and tell them about the visit.
Pete settled down on the bed and Porsched repositioned himself so he could lay his head in Pete’s lap. Pete told them about how good Vegas’s mom cooking is, about the pet hedgehog Vegas has, about how nice Macau is and also about how huge and pretty Vegas’ house is.
“It’s really big. Everything there looks so fancy, you know,” Pete said, looking almost worried about something.
“You're saying it like it’s a bad thing, Pete,” Porsche noted.
“It’s not!”
“But?” Arm asked.
“It’s stupid,” Pete muttered and shook his head a bit.
“What is?” Pol asked.
“Just that… I don’t know, I felt almost…embarrassed?” Pete said quietly. “I mean compared to Vegas’ house, ours is…”
“Pete, come on,” Porsche rolled his eyes fondly. “I get it. Kinn’s house is huge as well. But you really have no reason to be embarrassed, ok?”
“Or did Vegas make you feel like you shou…” Arm started and Pete quickly shook his head.
“No, none of that. It was all me. Vegas didn’t do anything.”
“So just don’t worry about your house being a bit smaller than Vegas’,” Porsche took Pete’s hand in his. Pete had to laugh at the ‘a bit smaller’ part. Pete’s house was definitely way more than just a little bit smaller than Vegas’ but he realized that Porsche and the others were right, he has nothing to be ashamed of.
“Oh crap. I promised Vegas I’ll text him,” Pete remembered.
“So text him then,” Porsche moved off Pete’s lap to reach for Pete’s phone on the nightstand.
“What should I text him?” Pete looked at his friends.
“Pete, you are literally dating that guy, no need to be shy to text him now,” Porsche laughed and Pete rolled his eyes a bit.
“It’s just that usually Vegas texts me first,” Pete said.
“About time for you to man up then,” Pol suggested and the others agreed with him.
“Ok so… ehm…” Pete bit his lower lip while thinking about what he should text Vegas.
“Just ask him how’s he doing. Jesus Pete,” Porsche rolled his eyes when he saw how hopeless Pete was.
“Right, yeah. That’s a good idea,” Pete nodded and began to type on his phone.
“What would you do without me,” Porsche shook his head.
“Hey, you’re not here alone. Don’t take all the credits,” Pol told Porsche who ignored him.
“So? Did he reply, yet?” Arm asked Pete who shook his head.
“Maybe he found someone else already. Someone with a bigger house,” Pol suggested teasingly and dodged the pillow Pete threw at him.
“Oh, he’s texting back!” Pete perked up when he saw the three little dots on his display.
“He’s fine and… aww… he sent me a picture of Archie. Look!” Pete smiled and showed the others the photo of the hedgehog that Vegas had on his bed.
“You should send him some pic in exchange,” Porsche suggested.
“Picture of what?” Pete laughed a bit.
“Well… you also have a cute thing on your bed,” Porsche gestured to himself and winked at him and the others began to laugh.
“No, Pete you have to send him that, come on!” Pol encouraged that idea.
“Why would I be sending him pictures of someone else being on my bed?” Pete asked.
“Because it’ll be funny,” Arm said and Pol and Porsche nodded in agreement.
Pete gave in and moved a bit further from Porsche who laid on his side and of course made sure to strike a seductive pose that made Pete want to facepalm himself.
“Lucky you. I have this on my bed,” Pete wrote and sent the photo.
“I don’t know who should be more concerned, me or Kinn,” Pete chuckled as he read Vegas’ reply.
A few seconds later Porsche’s phone dinged and when he looked at it he laughed. “Vegas sent Kinn the photo and Kinn’s a bit jealous,” he told the others when they asked about what amused him.
“Is he angry?” Arm asked a bit worried.
“Nah, none of that, it’s just joking around,” Porsche assured them while texting Kinn back.
“Are you sure?” Pete asked.
“Totally. Kinn’s not crazy and can take a joke, don’t worry, guys.”
*
Pete returned from the bathroom and got in the bed, spending some time texting with Vegas before falling asleep.