"Pete, do you mind taking me to the garage? I would like to show them that I'm fine now" Way asked as he noticed that they were close to that area of the city. Pete quickly shook his head, saying that Alan and Jeff were headed there exactly for that purpose, so there was no reason to join them. Way wasn't in the mood to accept a no as an answer, to he placed his hand on his shoulder and repeated his request.
Strangely enough, Pete didn't seem to change his mind at all. He repeated his previous answer and added that Way needed to rest, so that he could get back to his beloved work much sooner. The racer gulped perplexed, it was the first time his powers didn't work on someone, and the worst part was that he couldn't find an explanation to that.
There was no reason to make another attempt, so Way just gave up and agreed to go back home directly. When Pete proposed to come back in the evening to visit him and bring some food for dinner, so that Way didn't have to cook, Way just nodded like he didn't really care about that at all. It was like some other thoughts were keeping Way's brain busy.
"I admit that I saw those pills, I found them on the floor and gave them to the doctor in the ambulance that came to take Way to the hospital... I didn't want to make anyone of you worry even more, but since you've mentioned them, it doesn't make sense to hide it anymore" Charlie intervened after Alan explained what the doctor told him at the hospital.
"Why didn't he tell me about that? We've been friends for so long..." Babe added, leaning forward with his hands on his head. Charlie patted his back, trying to calm him down, while Alan didn't really know what to say about that, he had been friends with Way for a long time too, he also felt guilty because for some reason Way was so ashamed that he didn't want to share his problems with his close friends.
While mostly everyone was in the same area of the garage where they were partying in the morning, Jeff was in the kitchen. Charlie noticed him through the opening in the wall, he wanted to ask him what was going on, but he preferred to wait until the evening, when everyone was already going back home.
"I'll wait for you at the usual café, ok?" Charlie asked and Jeff agreed to meet him that evening.
Pete reached Way's house. It was already dark outside, so he was confused, because when he parked his car and looked up at Way's apartment, he realized that there were no lights coming out of the windows. Thinking that he was probably sleeping, Pete decided to go upstairs anyway, just to make sure that Way had something to eat. He took the elevator, rang the doorbell and received no response. He knocked a few times and still nothing.
"Way? Are you here?" he asked, but as he did it, he instinctively pressed the door handle. It wasn't locked. Maybe he left it open, it wasn't that much of a bad idea, if he felt sick, anyone could enter without waiting for him to reach the door. As he entered and switched on the lights, he saw nobody around. Pete left the bag with food on the counter, the bathroom's door was open and the room was empty, the bedroom was also empty.
"Where is he?" Pete thought out loud. Then he found a letter on the table in front of the sofa, he took it and read it out loud.
"Hi Pete, I need to ask you a favor. You see, I've never had the courage to fully confess my love to Babe, but apparently it was much easier to manipulate him so that he couldn't get a stable relationship... because that's my power, I manipulate people. It didn't work on you, maybe it is a sign that I should stop doing this altogether. I need you to tell Babe that I'm sorry for what I've done, because I won't have the possibility to do that myself. Farewell"