26 Photo Album

Patrick led Wade into his personal study and pointed to the small couch placed there.

After taking his seat opposite Patrick, Wade tried to organize his thoughts on what he would say to his uncle.

There was a serene environment surrounding them.

Suddenly Patrick let out a laugh and looked at Wade.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

'Why is he laughing so much, is there something on my face?' Touching his face, Wade was confused.

"There's nothing on your face. I just remembered something." Replied Patrick looking at his actions.

Wade just looked at him with a confused face.

"Remember the time you decided to play hide and go seek?" He asked and saw  Wade trying to recollect about which time that he was talking of.

"The time when you and Wayne decided to sneak up to the  third floor even though you knew that it was off limits." He continued and saw the change in Wade's expressions.

'Ah so he remembers it! Look at his face turning red.' Patrick giggled.

"We don't have to talk about it. I know what happened. But it's still not funny!" Wade glared at Patrick.

Patrick seriously nodded his head.

"Sure, sure.  We don't have to talk about it. But we can surely look at the pictures, right?" He grinned while pulling out a photo album from the shelf behind him.

"What pictures?" With his eyes wide open, he stared at Patrick turning the pages to find the picture.

"Ahh! This one right here!." He pointed at the picture.

In the picture was a young Patrick Yang with long hair and a funky beard holding onto a child crying on his shoulders, hugging his neck for dear life.

This picture was taken after Wade and Wayne had come to visit their newborn sister. 

Wind, Lina's elder brother soon got bored of all the attention that a sleeping baby was getting and dragged the twins out to have some fun outside.

After a lot of discussion and negotiations, the three boys decided to play hide and go seek.

Wayne and Wade were supposed to hide and Wind would go seek them after counting up to hundred.  

Wayne being the daredevil had asked the silent and lazy Wade to hide in the third floor study where Wind would never find him.

Not having to put much effort and being able to win the game convinced Wade and he decided to follow his brother's advice and enter the third floor that was off limits for the boys.

Two hours passed and no one came to find him. But he did not move thinking that he would lose, if he left the room.He sat waiting, until he ultimately fell asleep on the couch.

He was woken up by a gentle tap on his shoulder. 

The moment he woke up, he just stared at his Uncle Pat who knelt in front of him and asked him if he was ok.

Wade did not feel that he was sad or angry at being left alone, while he waited for his brothers to come find him. 

But the moment he saw Patrick, all his grievances poured out and he pounced into Patricks arms and started wailing.

"Un-cle P-pat..hic.. They forgot about.. me.. hic… again.." He cried while clinging onto Patrick who gently rubbed his back trying to calm him.

The two overenthusiastic brothers would often forget about the silent Wade who would not move unless it was necessary. But he still felt left out when they would not include him.

He cried until he fell asleep once again on his uncle's shoulders.

The two brothers who had forgotten about him and went out to play, were standing right outside the door with their Uncle Ace, hearing Wade's cries and they too teared up.

Wayne and Wind ran inside and hugged the sleeping Wade and promised never to leave him out, ever again.

Uncle Ace soon took out his camera that he always carried and took multiple pictures of the heartwarming scene.

The last picture was of a sleeping Wade with snot running down his nose and onto Patrick's clothes. Which Patrick had saved and kept it safely until now.

----

"That was the day I came to know that the silent Wade could cry so loud." Pat exaggerated.

Wade just sniffed his nose trying to shake off the tears and laughed.

"They still include me in everything, you know? Even if I don't want to. I don't know if I should be happy or angry." He smiled.

His Uncle Ace had told his father of what had happened and the twins were grounded for a week after that.

But the pact between the brothers was something which was not broken, even to this day.

"Thank you and Sorry." Wade said looking right into Patrick's eyes with a sincere smile.

"What for?" Patrick was genuinely confused.

"Thank you for letting me wipe my snot on your hippie looking clothes." He said pointing to the album in Pat's hands.

"That was fashion!" Replied Pat while shielding the picture from his eyes.

"And sorry for doubting you. I know I was rude and disrespectful. I thought that the news was real and that you had betrayed our trust. I'm sorry." He said seriously, with his head down.

"If Lina hadn't spoken to me about all this, I was already determined to never talk to you again." He continued and waited for Pat's response.

"I'm proud that the crybaby that I knew grew up with principles. Thank you for telling me the truth and I'm happy that we have you guys supporting us." He patted Wade's head.

"And what exactly did Lina tell you to convince you?" Pat was curious.

After Wade retold everything that Lina had said at the mall, Pat nodded his head.

"Can you tell me where you were on the night that Lucille claims to have slept with you?" Wade asked, trying to solve the big puzzle in his head.

"I'm sorry, son. No can do. That is something that I may not be willing to say right now. But someday, for sure." He promised.

'He must have his reasons.' Wade thought and moved onto the next question.

"Why were you being so nice to Mandy and Lucille today?" This had bothered him a lot.

"Why were you being nice to Mandy when you know that she was the reason this whole mess happened." Pat asked him the same question, skillfully diverting his attention.

"Because Lina thinks that she is innocent and being used for Lucille's dirty plans. So I thought I might be a little nice to her but that doesn't mean I will forgive her if she causes any harm to you guys." Wade spoke with his inner demon trying to come out.

"Good. I know I can count on you for Lina's safety."  He patted Wade's shoulders and told him how Mandy had tried to harm Lina by pulling her from the stairs.

"Though these may be minor issues, we never know when they might escalate." Pat explained.

"Ok. I'll keep an eye out on these two and monitor who they meet and what their plan might be." They later discussed what they would do for Lina's safety and her plans to start working at Obsidia.

"She has not yet decided what her final plan of action will be but I'll let you know once she has made a decision." Wade told Pat about their talk before dinner.

Talking about Obsidia, he remembered what had happened when Lina visited Talia's store.

"We need to let people know who Lina Yang is! That Talia Zheng thinks that she can control the social circles just because her family is influential? Just wait till my Lina enters high society!" Wade was pumped thinking of how Lina would deal with her.

"You know she's a lazy ass just like you and would most probably not do anything at all, right?" Patrick looked at Wade and they both shook their heads.

They then retired to their respective rooms after discussing a few more things.