Chapter Twenty-Three – Secrets We Share

"BYE!" FOX BEAMED, kissing me on the cheek as I passed him into his mum's arms.

"Ooh, you look like you had fun," she beamed, pinching the boy's nose. He giggled and rested his head against her shoulder, shutting his eyes.

I spotted Parker standing in a small circle beside his mum and dad, talking to a few people. Our eyes met momentarily, and I quickly looked away when I saw his mum glance in my direction.

"Has Holden left you alone all night?" Holden's dad asked me.

"I think he had something to do. I'll go find him," I replied.

I'd only spoken to Holden once the entire night before he disappeared. Before I could go on my search, I needed a drink. The bar had glasses of soft drink lined up and I went to grab one.

"Guess who!" Came the trill of Elaine's voice as she clasped her hands over my eyes.

"Elaine, it doesn't really work when I hear your voice every day," I laughed. She let me go and spun me around.

"Damn, you look good! You weren't kidding when you said you had a dress already. How'd you manage to snatch this after the show? It's barely been a week since it was released," she grinned.

"Actually, I didn't get it."

"Ah, lover boy." Correcting her would have only made things more confusing than they already were.

"Have you seen Holden?"

"I think he went upstairs? There are some smaller function rooms and bedrooms scattered up there. Need help looking?"

Just as I was about to respond, someone called out Elaine's name. She looked at me, rolling her eyes. "I'm being summoned. Sorry."

"No, no, go," I said. She gave me an apologetic smile and headed off with the trail of her dress floating behind her.

Most of the people attending the gala were mingling in the main ballroom. I passed by a few people on their way to the bathroom on the first floor. Where was I meant to start? I sent Holden a text message but he didn't reply. I reached a branching point in the corridor. Continue straight, go left towards the elevators or right to the first set of rooms?

I decided to go straight, which seemed to be a mistake, because it seemed like there was no one even nearby. One of the rooms near the end of the hallway had a door slightly open. I could hear voices. My curiosity got the better of me and I hoped what I saw wouldn't scar me for life. It did. Just not in the way I'd been worried about.

"What do you mean I have a son?" The man asked. "Of course I do – I have two."

"Do you not remember the night sixteen years ago?" The woman replied, throwing her hands up, exasperated.

There were many problems with this conversation, but the fact that the two people were Logan's mum and Holden's dad was easily the biggest.

"Before either of us were married?"

"Maybe not you, but I was engaged," she replied.

"Didn't one of Quentin's parents have blue eyes?" Holden's dad responded.

"Patrick," she said, sitting down on the bed, rubbing her temples. "He looks like you. Even he thought so, because he ordered a DNA test."

Suddenly the pieces all fell into place. They were talking about Logan. Logan and Holden were...brothers?

"How would he have my DNA?"

"He probably didn't test it against yours then. He would've tested it against Holden's."

"Are you sure?" Patrick – Holden's dad – asked again.

"Pretty sure. Me and Quentin...we didn't...until marriage." I heard enough words to work out what she meant. "And there was no one else..." There was no way around it. There was no denying it. If everything she said was true, Logan and Holden were brothers.

"You guys didn't...?" Patrick was pacing up and down the room, one hand on his hip, the other against his forehead. "If you knew this whole time, then why didn't you tell me earlier?

"This was all a mistake. Quentin and I had a bad fight. It was bad. I was way too intoxicated and emotional to be making any decisions. I love Quentin. I love Logan. I love my family. They're my entire world. I just don't know what I'm going to do now. We were okay until he got suspicious. I just needed to tell you now, in case anything happened. Oh God, is my son ever going to forgive me?" She sobbed. I clasped my hand over my mouth in case I let out a gasp. I tried to slow down my breathing before peering around the corner again.

I'd heard enough. I walked away. I was tip-toeing away, making sure my footsteps wouldn't thump against the carpet. My own actions were enough for me to know that my eavesdropping was wrong.

"I will never understand Holden. If you like the girl, you date the girl. You don't pretend to date another girl and then try to win the girl back," Logan said, shaking his head slowly, appearing at the base of the staircase as I made my way down. I stared into the distance, the sparkle of the chandelier fading in and out. "Earth to Daisy," he said.

"Logan, I know why you needed the DNA," I spat out, breaking out of my trance.

"What happened? What did you hear? What happened?" He fired the questions at me one after the other, barely breathing in between. He looked up the staircase.

"Don't go up," I said, holding his arm back. I wouldn't be able to stop him, but he didn't resist.

Just as I took a breath to answer his questions, he stopped me. "Wait, I don't want to know. Wait," he corrected himself again. He took a deep breath, slamming his fist into the wooden pole at the base of the staircase. I jerked backwards. He sat down on the bottom step, hanging his head in his hands. "I need you to promise me something," he said.

"Okay," I responded cautiously.

"I don't want the answers to these questions now, but when I do, do you promise to tell me?"

I nodded.

"Don't you already know?" I asked, considering he had taken a sample of Holden's DNA obviously to test his suspicion.

"I didn't look at the results. I'm so angry, but it's not even pure anger. Betrayed? Is that even the right word? I'm fine. As long as I don't know what it is for sure, everything is as normal. For all we know, that envelope could say we're not related."

He was in denial. What I'd said to him about knowing about the reason behind the DNA test was enough for him to confirm what he'd suspected. I tried to reach out to him, to comfort him, but the adrenaline was still surging through my veins. My hands were shaking so violently I had to hide them behind my back.

"This is our secret right?" He said, looking up at me. I nodded. For the first time since I'd met him, I realised that in those crystal eyes was a tiredness, and a sadness that had been masked by his stupid remarks. What I'd thought was a mischievous glint was just him pretending he couldn't be hurt by this.

It definitely wasn't my place to tell anyone what I'd just witnessed. But did Holden know? Did Holden's mum know? All I could hear in my mind was Fox's laughter when Holden scooped him up and tickled him. Their mum and dad seemed to dote on them. What was going to happen them now? Could any of it be true?

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THE BIG REVEAL!! This is definitely going to be unpacked more in the upcoming chapters, but there is much more drama to come. 

One of the things I wanted to do in this story was to have no 100% 'good' or 'bad' characters. All humans are flawed in some way, so I wanted to explore this a bit further. Hopefully there'll be a bit more depth in the next few chapters.

I've actually finished the next chapter so there'll be a prompt update with that one - I can guarantee that it won't be as much of a downer as this one <3 

Thank you for reading as always and for your continued support! Please remember to vote on this chapter!!