Pete x Way
Fluff+Angst

~ Everything Is About To Change~

PART - III

"Wh-Where am I?"

Way slowly opened his eyes, a sudden surge of acute pain shooting up his head, causing him to immediately squeeze his eyes shut and hiss in pain. When he opened his eyes once again, everything appeared blurred to him. The only thing he could see in front of his eyes was the white ceiling. The subtle eerie environment and the sickening stench of chemicals and pharmaceuticals made him realize that he was in a hospital.

Again?

Way slowly turned his head towards his left, the pain still stinging him from the inside. At first, his blurred vision didn't allow him to see things properly. But once he felt much stable and his sight was clear, he unexpectedly saw the most beautiful and adorable sight ever. Needless to say, his heart was throbbing too fast within.

Pete, his daughter's teacher, was sitting on a chair beside the hospital bed, his eyes closed and head leaned a little backwards. He was dozing off and definitely looked very tired. In his arms, tightly secured, was little Lily, who was fast asleep as well, her head rested against her teacher's chest, soft little hands clutching his shirt for support. Way melted at this sweet sight and he couldn't help but blush, a stir of a new feeling rumbling deep within him.

Way tried to get up but another sharp pang shot through his neck and head, causing him to yelp in pain. Even though it wasn't very loud, it was loud enough to wake Pete up. The man quickly looked in front of him, slightly rubbing his eyes and seeing Way awake made him feel much at ease. Without even thinking twice, he grabbed his hand and looked up at him.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, lest the little girl wakes up, "Are you in pain?"

"I-I'm f-fine...I-I am fine..." whispered Way in reply, the gurgling feeling within him rising up like the tides at the contact of his skin with the man's, his ears growing warm.

Pete held the sleeping child in his arms and slowly stood up, and then softly placed her on the chair. He then turned around and faced Way.

"I'll be back in a minute," he whispered and walked out of the ward. Way couldn't shake the weird yet exciting feeling within himself, making him feel so giddy within. He was still fidgeting with his fingers, unconsciously smiling, when suddenly his daughter woke up.

"M-Ma-...Mam-mmaaa..." She cried, as she leapt down from the chair and jumped on the bed. Way didn't waste a moment in pulling the child in his arms, showering her head and face with kisses, as the girl buried her sobbing face within his chest, feeling so warm and pleasant in the touch.

When Pete entered the room along with the doctor, he was glad to see them together. The doctor examined Way and declared that he had been suffering from excessive lack of proper nutrition. He had been stressing and working too much, not paying any attention to his health, thus resulting in him fainting. He prescribed him all the necessary medicines and a regular diet and instructed him to take care of himself. Way just smiled, listened and nodded to all what he was saying. He knew well...he would never be able to afford any of them.

After the doctor left, he was given his afternoon meal from the hospital and soon he fell asleep. In the evening when he woke up from his nap, the first thing he noticed was...his daughter wasn't around. Way started panicking really bad, and before he could end up doing something dangerous to himself in rush, luckily, Pete entered the room right at that moment and quickly ran to his bed.

"Calm down, Way, Lily's with one of the nurses," he assured, as he sat beside Way and began explaining how the naughty little girl had escaped out of the room while her 'Mama' was asleep and had been roaming around in the empty corridors when one of the nurses caught her and as they talked, they became good friends and now Lily was reluctant to leave her.

"Seems like little Lily's got a new friend," chuckled Pete, "Now it will be difficult for us to bring her back to her Mama."

Way smiled, but something about Pete calling him Mama made him feel weird in his stomach.

Is this called...butterflies?

"Uh Sir-"

"Please Way, please call me Pete," the man urged, looking directly at Way. Something about his gaze, sharp yet soft, made Way feel nervous all of a sudden, so nervous that he could hardly look into the man's stare.

"Uh P-Pete," he stuttered a little, his eyes fixed at his intertwined fingers, "I-I'm so thankful f-for all you've done. I-"

"Way," said Pete, "Don't thank me. I just did what I could. There's nothing to be thankful about that. Oh and one thing...you'll have to stay here for the next two days as per the doctor's advice. They would like to examine you further."

"Oh," Way smiled, even though he was horribly nervous, "B-By the way...did they say anything about the bill-"

"I've already cleared it."

"You- WHAT?"

"Uh yeah," answered Pete, giving him an awkward smile.

"B-But why?" faltered a really astonished Way, his eyes as big as sausages in surprise, hands trembling.

Why-Why did he do that?

"Uh I-I actually didn't want to burden you with all this stuff while you're so weak, you know," replied Pete, trying his best to convince him, "Don't worry. It's all ok-"

"But Pete," Way interrupted, "Y-You didn't allow me to pay the fees...now the hospital bills...w-why-"

"Y-You'll repay me later, okay?" Pete said hastily, "Now calm down and rest. The doctors will whip my ass of they see me putting their patient in distress."

As Pete walked out of the room, Way's mind flooded with worries and questions. He still couldn't believe an unknown man, well an acquaintance, had cleared his hospital bills which would definitely sum up to a good amount. Way couldn't understand why Pete was doing all this, being so generous, kind and liberal.

Who is he? What does he want?

Two days later, Way was sent home. Everything was back to normal once again...

...but not for long.

* * *

Way was so happy, as he saw his little angel perform on the stage of her school. As the program came to a conclusion, the parents were asked to collect their children from the backstage. Way quickly went and as soon as he spotted his daughter, he ran to her and picked her up in his arms.

"You were soooo beautiful, my angel," he cooed, as he gave a thousand kisses on the child's face,the little one giggling and kissing him back.

Way and Lily were walking towards the exit of the school gate when suddenly, something exciting caught the child's eyes and she cried out, really loud.

"Mamaaaaa look!"

All the parents around stopped to stare at them, giving them odd looks. Way suddenly felt nervous and disgusted upon himself. Some of the parents started laughing, other trying their best to muffle their guffaw, some commenting rude stuff. Tears stung the young lad's eyes, humiliation filling up his veins. Before his tears could actually slip down his eyes and create further embarrassment, he dragged his child roughly by her little arm and walked outside the gate.

After walking a few distance, Way stopped. The road was dark and anything was hardly visible further. The tears that were threatening to fall now rolled down his cheeks and he couldn't help but let out a sniffle, covering his mouth with his hand and sobbing uncontrollably.

I should have died along with my parents that day!

"Mama," Lily whispered innocently, as she looked up at him crying. All of a sudden...her voice, her call, that loving word stirred up Way's anger. He couldn't control himself anymore, as he fell on the ground on his knees and without even thinking twice, slapped the girl as hard as he could.

"Wh-What did I tell, huh?" he cried, as he gripped the frightened child by her feeble arms and shook her violently, "What did I say? Not to call...Not to call me that anywhere outside! D-Don't you ever listen to anything, huh? 'Mama this' 'Mama that'! Stop this! JUST STOP THIS!"

He screamed in anger, pain and agony, as the child started crying, irking him up even more, "Stop crying. I SAID STOP CRYING!" He slapped her again, "You know what...I...I am the one w-who's at fault...I-I should have died! I should have died that day...DIED THAT DAY SO THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE TO SUFFER WITH YOU-"

"WAY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Suddenly, Lily was snatched away from his grip. Way looked up with his tear stained eyes and was astonished to see Pete standing in front of him. He quickly got up and lowered his head in embarrassment, clenching his fists, eyes still filled with tears.

"What were you doing, Way?" questioned Pete, as he wrapped the crying child with his hands, frightened Lily desperately clutching his trouser, "What's wrong with you? Why were you scolding- You were beating her up? Can't you see how scared she looks? I'm sorry but this not how you behave with a child, Way. You're a single parent doesn't mean you have the privilege to do anything you want! Lily has only you...and if you treat her like this, who will she turn to, huh? It's not like she has a mother or something-"

That was enough.

"Stop it Mr. Pete," Way cried, as he forcefully pulled Lily off his grasp, "She's my daughter and you don't have to intervene-"

"I'm her teacher-"

"I AM HER PARENT," Way replied with authority, "And I can do whatever I want. Now please back off and leave us alone."

"But-"

"Leave us alone, Mr. Pete."

Pete felt helpless. Even though he knew Way loved his daughter more than anything, he realised something was off. As Way forcefully picked up the crying child in his arms and stormed away, mingling into the darkness of the street, Pete couldn't help but think.

Something is going on with him...

--------------

What's wrong with Mama Way? What do y'all think?

And what's his past?

Is little Lily his own daughter? Was she birthed by her?

Or there's some different story?

Interested to know? Let's find out in the next part!

Till then...byeee!

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡LOVE♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌

[P.S: Idk wht to do rn now that my golden book has been removed...please please comment as much as y'all can in each chapter! I would love to read your thoughts!!!]

sᴏғᴛ~~