Boys Next Door (1/4)
Title: The Boys Next Door
Author: silver-etoile and ivesia19
Rating: R
Pairing: Brendon/Ryan & Spencer/Jon & Pete/Patrick (Pete/everyone, Gabe/William, Frank/Gerard)
POV: 3rd
Summary: Playboy Bunny AU! Or the one where we objectify Brendon’s ass like whoa.
Disclaimer: AU. Pete is not the gay Hugh Hefner. Most likely.
Author Notes: Remember when Brendon said that he wouldn’t mind taking his clothes off for money? Well….. An adventure in co-writing :]
Brendon frowned as he held the small, light pink shirt up in front of him. “I don’t know if I should bring it, Shane,” he said, biting his lower lip and tilting his head to the side. “Do you think it’s tacky if I wear a Playgirl Bunny shirt at the Playgirl mansion?”
Shane shook his head, chuckling as Brendon contemplated the shirt. “To be honest, Bren, I still can’t believe that you’re actually going to be a Bunny.” He grabbed the shirt out of Brendon’s hesitant hands and threw it into the open duffle bag. “And just pack it already, you know that half of those boys run around wearing them. Plus, Pete’ll love you for the free advertising.”
Huffing, Brendon reached for the now-wrinkled shirt. He started to refold it. “I guess you’re right,” he conceded, placing the shirt into the bag, moving around some of the clothes so that it would fit. “I don’t know why you’re so shocked that Pete invited me to live at the mansion. After all, you were the one who took those pictures. With your talent with a camera and my ass, it’s no wonder.” Brendon grinned at Shane and leaned over dramatically, sticking his ass out.
“You’re the one who sent in the pictures,” Shane reminded as Brendon started moving his hips. “God, you’re full of yourself, Urie,” he said, but he wasn’t even bothering to hide how his eyes watched Brendon’s ass as it swayed from side to side teasingly. He slapped the dancing ass in front of him. “Save it for Pete, will you?”
Brendon’s wide grin, that grin that he had been wearing ever since he had gotten that life-changing phone call from Pete, slipped just a little. “You know it’s not like that,” he said, frowning. “Just because I’m going to be living at the mansion doesn’t mean that I’m going to be sleeping with Pete. He doesn’t expect that from me.”
Shane looked less than convinced. “Sure he doesn’t.”
“He doesn’t!” Brendon insisted. “He’s not interested in me like that. And anyways, he already has four Boyfriends. And rumor has it that the Head Boyfriend is somewhat territorial, so I doubt that he would allow Pete another Boyfriend.” He threw another tight shirt into the bag haphazardly, one sleeve peeking up over the zipper.
“If you’re not going to be sleeping with Pete,” Shane asked, “then why would he want you living at the mansion?” He picked up a pair of jeans lying on the bed. “And these are way too tight,” he added, frowning. “You can’t bring these.”
“That’s kind of the point,” Brendon said, grabbing the jeans from Shane. “And Pete invited me to the mansion because all new Bunnies are invited. There’s apparently like some sort of newbie’s house or something.” He shrugged, doing his best to fit the tiny jeans in along with the rest of his clothing stuffed into the bag.
“So you’re just going to live there until the pictorial is done?” Shane asked, sighing in frustration as Brendon continued to fruitlessly try to zipper up his overfull duffle. “‘Boys of the Old West’ or ‘Gender Bending Lads’ - whatever the fuck they’re having you doing.” Brendon ignored him, continuing to struggle with the duffle until Shane couldn’t handle it anymore. “Hand me the bag,” he ordered.
Brendon pushed the duffle across the bed, watching as Shane overturned the contents before refolding, rolling the tiny shirts and jeans up to make more room. “If everything goes well then I won’t just have a pictorial,” Brendon mused. “And by the way, the theme is ‘College’. We’re doing all the stereotypes.” He grinned. “I’m the Boy-Next-Door, can you believe it? It’s just a pictorial, nothing big, but who knows, if it goes well…” Brendon broke off with a dreamy expression. “You know, Shane, it’s possible that your roommate could be a Playgirl Centerfold. What do you think about that?” he asked, with a saucy jut of his hip.
“I think that’d actually really suck, since it’d be awkward as fuck to see you naked, and then I’d miss my monthly fix of Playgirl,” he answered before shaking his head and snorting a little laugh. “Don’t you find it ironic that it’s called Playgirl and yet it’s read by and posed for by mostly gay men?”
“Girls subscribe too,” Brendon objected, the barest hint of a pout tugging at his mouth.
Shane gave him a look, pausing with one of Brendon’s obnoxiously loud tee-shirts in his hand. “It’s cute that you still have lingering traces of your once misguided heterosexuality, Bren.”
“Whatever,” Brendon replied, watching Shane roll the clothes up and put them away neatly, doing a far better job managing space than Brendon had. “And I don’t understand why you think it’d be weird to see me as a Centerfold. It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked a thousand times. Hell, you’ve photographed me naked enough times.”
“That’s different,” Shane said.
Brendon raised an eyebrow.
Running a hand through his hair, Shane let out a long sigh. “It’s just that it’s Playgirl, Bren. It’s so different.” He hesitated, as if he was thinking about maybe not saying his next thought, but he said it anyway. “Before you were doing something for art, but now it’s just for profit.”
“Hey!” Brendon objected, “Playgirl can be classy!”
Shane just rolled his eyes and continued packing up Brendon’s bag for him.
---
“Fresh meat.”
“Gabe, we’re all fresh meat,” Frank tisked from behind him but he didn’t stop himself from peering over Gabe’s tall shoulder out the window at the car sitting at the gate and talking into the intercom.
Gabe’s grin was wide as he watched the gates slide open and the car wound up towards the house.
“But that’s fresher,” he corrected easily, pushing Frank back as he went to the front door and waited for the car. New Bunnies usually made a stop to drop off their things before heading up to the mansion to see Pete.
Gabe and Frank watched interestedly when the car pulled up and the driver got out, but the back door was open already and a boy was struggling out, staring all around him, eyes wide. His eyes took in the sweeping lawn that fell from the back of the mansion all the way down to the little house near the edge.
The driver was getting the boy’s bags as he stared. The boy jumped a little as he caught sight of Frank and Gabe watching him closely.
“Oh, hi!” he said, feeling both excited and nervous at the same time. “I’m Brendon.”
Gabe’s eyes scanned Brendon interestedly but Frank just elbowed past with a grin to match Brendon’s. “Hi, I’m Frank and this is Gabe.”
Gabe nodded, now wandering around behind him and Brendon turned to keep him in view.
“Nice ass,” Gabe commented, his dark grin still in place.
“Um, thanks,” Brendon said awkwardly, but still smiling.
“What spread are you here for?” Frank asked eagerly and Brendon caught himself staring at Frank’s tattoos instead.
“Uh, the college one.”
“‘Boy-Next Door’,” came a murmur from behind Frank and Gerard. A tall boy with razor sharp hips and mid-length brown hair stood there, one hip cocked to the side and an appraising look on his face as he took in Brendon.
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Brendon asked cheerfully. The boy just shrugged and wandered back into the house. Brendon watched him go confusedly.
“That’s just William,” Frank supplied. “He won’t say which one he is. So.” Frank smiled and bounced up while Gabe was still taking in Brendon appreciatively.
“Gonna fuck Pete?”
“Gabe,” Frank reprimanded but Gabe ignored him.
Brendon faltered for words for a second. “Well, he already has, like, four Boyfriends, doesn’t he?”
“Always room for one more,” Gabe said with an obvious glance down Brendon’s body while his eyes sparkled darkly.
“Right,” Brendon agreed slowly. Frank elbowed Gabe again, but he hardly reached Gabe’s waist so it didn’t do much good.
“Ignore him, he’s a slut,” he provided promptly and only got a miffed look from Gabe. “He’d sleep with Pete for a Klondike Bar.”
“Shut up, those things are awesome,” Gabe defended.
Brendon just smiled and bounced up on his toes as the driver returned and cleared his throat.
“We should be getting up to the house, sir.”
Brendon’s grin at being called ‘sir’ was big but he nodded and waved good-bye to Frank and Gabe.
“See you later!” he called as he climbed in the car and the driver shut the door behind him.
“I will,” Gabe muttered as a promise and Frank rolled his eyes.
“Why don’t you work on getting the rest of the house to like you?”
“Who needs them with an ass like that?” Gabe only asked as the car took off up towards the house.
---
Patrick moved to mold his body against Pete’s, his skin sliding easily over the dark red, smooth silk sheets. “Morning,” he mumbled against the warm skin of Pete’s upper arm, his lips dragging, making Pete stir.
Pete looked blearily over at Patrick and grinned, smile bright and easy. “Good morning,” he echoed, leaning down to leave a brief kiss on Patrick’s forehead. He stretched out on the bed, one foot dangling out past the comforter. That was the problem with a round bed. Patrick shook his head in amusement, watching Pete falter a little, almost falling off the edge, through the mirrors above the bed before he pulled the other man closer to himself.
“Busy day,” Patrick stated, watching Pete’s face carefully. “The new Bunnies are showing up this morning, yeah?” Patrick knew that it was silly; he was a Boyfriend of Pete Wentz after all (Head Boyfriend, actually, thank you very much), but he still got a little twinge of jealousy each time a new batch of boys were delivered to the mansion.
Grinning, Pete said, “Yep, the new batch is moving in today. I think a couple of them could be something special, you know?”
Patrick tried (and mostly succeeded) to suppress a scowl. He knew what “something special” could mean. The last time Pete had said that about someone, Patrick had woken up to find Jon living in the room next door to him in the mansion. And it happened with Spencer before that, and Ryan before that. Patrick didn’t have anything personal against any of the other Boyfriends except for the fact that they were the Other Boyfriends.
In Patrick’s opinion, Pete was getting a little too old for these games.
“Do you think maybe you can pop over there and see if you could lend a hand to the new boys?” Pete asked. He didn’t even wiggle his eyebrows at the question, so Patrick knew that Pete wasn’t fully awake yet. “Help them move in, get acclimated, stuff like that.”
Patrick sighed. “Can’t you ask Ryan to do it?” He didn’t know if he could handle seeing all those new boys so early in the morning all perky and excited. They were all probably jittery with excitement, maybe wondering if they could use their small pictorial to launch their career, maybe wondering if Pete could help them out. Patrick wasn’t easily bothered, but that, that could certainly set him off.
“You know how Ryan gets around new Bunnies,” Pete reminded. He sighed, rolling over a little, launching himself out of bed. “He’s always so cold towards them.”
“He’s like that with everyone,” Patrick retorted.
Pete gave a slight glare, but Patrick wasn’t worried, Pete could never stay angry at him for long. “He’s not like that with me,” he said, and yeah, those words hit Patrick harder than any glare could.
Patrick stopped himself from saying something like, ‘Well, isn’t that just precious’ with venom dripping off of every word and gave Pete a plastic smile. “Then he’d probably love to help you out and make sure that the new Bunnies get settled.”
“I don’t want to upset him though,” Pete said. “He always gets so strange when there are new Bunnies. I just wish I knew why.”
The thing that Patrick loved about Pete was that even though he was the Editor-In-Chief of the most popular adult magazine in America and was wildly successful, he was terrible at seeing things that were right in front of him. Well, maybe Patrick didn’t love that quality all that much actually… Pete had the ability to dream great things, make his visions come to life, but he was so blind when it came to so many other things.
Patrick knew why Ryan was always so distant and resentful towards the new Bunnies. Everyone knew.
Ryan had been at the mansion for a long while. Almost four years, but he hadn’t ever been a Centerfold; something that Ryan had once told Patrick after a sinful amount of tequila was his dream. Patrick knew that every time Pete handed out a new Centerfold and some new boy was ecstatic, it was like a slap in the face to Ryan.
“I don’t know,” Patrick said. He was a firm believer in not getting in any one else’s life. If Ryan wanted to sulk around and not tell Pete why, it was his business.
“I guess I’ll just ask him then,” Pete said. “After all, I have to go through the layouts for tomorrow’s shoot. Jon’s supposed to help me with that, so he can’t go. And Spencer apparently has Pilates.” He turned and grinned over at Patrick, that smile that always made Patrick’s heart beat just a little bit faster. “And you’re pulling the diva card.”
“I am not,” Patrick insisted, crossing his arms defiantly until he realized that crossing one’s arms could be considered diva-like.
“You are,” Pete replied easily, leaning over to give Patrick a kiss. “But I love you anyway.” He threw on his robe. “I’ll go wake Ryan up and tell him to go deal with the Bunnies.”
---
Ryan was already wide awake when Pete’s unmistakable knock came on his door; two knocks and a rap-tap at the end.
“Ry-ro,” came his voice singing in through the keyhole as he pushed the door open and Ryan remained in his bed, covers pulled up to his chest.
Pete inched in, a smile on his face. “Rise and shine, my beautiful Boyfriend. Do you know what today is?”
Ryan’s mouth was in a frown as Pete dropped onto his bed and gave him a kiss on his cheek, stroking his finger down it carefully. Ryan’s eyes moved to him slowly and he knew what Pete wanted.
“Why can’t Patrick do it?” he asked before Pete even opened his mouth.
Pete just gave him his usual winning smile, his eyes begging as only Pete could. “Ryan, it’s part of your duty as one of my favorite Boyfriends to help me out. The new Bunnies don’t know anything about the house, and we want them to feel welcome.”
Ryan pushed his covers down and sat up with a sigh. “I hate playing tour guide. Why aren’t they smart enough to figure it out on their own?”
“They’re Bunnies,” Pete just said simply, placing a simple kiss on Ryan’s lips as he scowled more. “They get by on looks. But you, Ryan, I know you’re much smarter than them with your Tolstoy and Dickens. That’s why I trust this duty to you.”
Ryan knew it was all a ploy to stroke his ego, but he couldn’t deny that it made him feel slightly better.
“Fine,” he grumbled finally and Pete looked pleased. “But I’m not going to be nice to them.”
“Just make sure they know where the studio is and that shoot times are not suggestions.”
Ryan only glared as Pete pecked his temple and ruffled his hair as he rose from the bed.
“I know they’re in good hands.”
Ryan just scowled at his bed cover as Pete moved to the door. He waited until Pete winked at him and closed the door behind him before throwing off the sheets and padding to the door, listening as Pete knocked on Jon’s door and told him to meet him at the studio through the door before presumably heading down to the kitchen for breakfast.
Ryan opened his door and went next door to Spencer’s room, knocking once loudly before opening the door.
“Spence,” he said as he walked in, seeing Spencer sitting on his bed, his dark hair mussed and looking barely awake.
“What?” Spencer grumbled, rubbing his hair tiredly and yawning.
“Come with me to see the new Bunnies,” Ryan pleaded almost petulantly, flopping down on his bed and ignoring how Spencer frowned but didn’t push him off.
“Can’t,” he just said, stretching and only stiffening slightly when the toilet flushed in his adjoining bathroom.
Ryan arched an eyebrow. “You know that’s not allowed.”
“Well, neither is weaseling out of something Pete asked you specifically to do,” Spencer pointed out, tugging the covers up so that Ryan slipped and nearly fell off the bed. He just resurfaced with a glare, tossing Spencer a pointed look when Jon appeared in the doorway to Spencer’s bathroom.
“Hey, Ry,” Jon greeted him casually, as if appearing in Spencer’s bedroom wasn’t something Pete would be extremely upset to know.
“Jon,” Ryan responded coolly when Jon padded over, clothed in only a pair of green boxers.
“New Bunnies today, right?” Jon asked as he sat down on the other side of the bed next to Spencer. “Let us know what they look like, okay? You know how Spence gets.”
“Excuse me,” Spencer piped up with a glare and shove to Jon’s chest. “I don’t get any way.”
Jon chuckled, a hand snaking around Spencer’s waist that Ryan didn’t miss and his look shot to Spencer was met with another in return, silently instructing him to drop it and keep the secret.
“Fine, you don’t,” Jon agreed, but it was obvious from his grin that he thought otherwise. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. “I have to go meet Pete. I’ll see you guys later.” He slid off the bed with a kiss pressed to Spencer’s cheek and left through the pink door.
Spencer looked back to Ryan, who was waiting with an eyebrow raised.
“Don’t say anything,” Spencer warned. “It’s nothing anyway. Just fun.”
“I won’t say anything,” Ryan promised. “Just come with me to see the Bunnies.”
Spencer rolled his eyes. “’Fraid that’s a feat you’ll have to undertake on your own.”
“I hate you.”
“You too,” Spencer replied, giving Ryan a push. “Now stop delaying the inevitable.”
“If any of them call me old, I’m slapping them.”
“Be my guest.”
Ryan rose from the bed with a resigned sigh, heading for the door.
“Hey, Ryan?” Spencer asked and Ryan paused, a hand on the knob. “Let me know how they are, ‘kay?”
Ryan just nodded and left, the pink door swinging shut behind him.
---
Brendon didn’t exactly know how it happened, but somehow he ended up in the menagerie.
On both sides of him there were large cages full of bright, talkative birds. Some were chirping happily, some were making noises more like screeches, and when Brendon passed by a very ornately decorated cage, one even squawked out “Nice ass.”
He didn’t know if the bird said that to everyone passing by or if it was just what people said to him when he met them nowadays.
“Little Pete,” a voice rang out. It was a sweet tone, but there was an undercurrent of authority. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to someone. Especially if you don’t know them.”
Brendon jumped at the voice and turned around to see a girl about his age, holding a large burlap sack, with long, wavy strawberry blonde hair smiling at him. “Hey,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m Greta; you must be one of the new Bunnies.”
Instead of introducing himself like a normal, polite person, Brendon blurted out, “Why is the bird named Little Pete?”
Greta chuckled. “He’s loud and obnoxious but we love him anyway.” She tilted her head and grinned, squinting her eyes a little in the bright sunlight. “It sort of fits our Pete perfectly, you know?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Brendon responded honestly. “The only things I know about Pete Wentz is what I’ve seen on VH1 and E!”
“Well, those are remarkably credible sources,” Greta said teasingly.
Brendon shrugged good-naturedly. “It’s better than MTV.”
“True,” Greta allowed. She hoisted the burlap sack she was holding higher up, using her other hand to support the bottom. “So, you want to help me feed the birds, new Bunny?”
“Sure,” Brendon immediately responded. Feeding birds actually sounded awesome. And way less awkward than dodging the glances of some of the other Bunnies, who seemed either particularly jealous of or enamored with his ass. “And sorry, my name’s Brendon. It’s nice to meet you.”
Greta stopped and gave Brendon a calculating look, eyes almost scanning across his face before she smiled again. “You’re sweet,” she decided. “I hope that Pete keeps you. We could use a little bit of friendliness here.”
“Oh?” Brendon asked, reaching over and grabbing the sack from Greta. It looked heavy, and sure enough, when Brendon took it, he had to tense his arms to keep them from falling from the weight. “You don’t like working here?”
“No, I do,” Greta insisted. She let out a little giggle as Brendon shifted the bag up to his hip, using his curves to help relieve some of the weight. “You need help with that?” Brendon waved her off. In a very virile fashion, if he did say so himself. “Okay,” Greta said, smirking. “But anyway, the mansion is great. Pete treats all of us so well, but sometimes things get a little tense around here.”
Brendon frowned, mostly from the pressure of the bag, but he figured that Greta might just pass the look of discomfort on his face for genuine concern.
“Brendon, you can put it down, you know, there’s actually no reason for you to hold the bag.” She laughed again, and a little snort came out. Greta raised her hand to her mouth, embarrassed, and yeah, that pretty much made them even. He put down the bag, muscles immediately relaxing.
“So what do you mean tense?” Brendon asked.
Greta shrugged. “Basically Patrick is pretty much fed up with the whole ‘Pete having other Boyfriends thing’,” she confided. “And to be honest, I don’t think that the other Boyfriends would be too heartbroken if Pete decided to become exclusive, so that just makes Patrick angrier.”
Brendon didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t know these people. He had only heard about Pete’s Boyfriends a couple of times, and it was always in passing. Brendon didn’t really think of Pete Wentz as the type of guy to settle down. When he said as much, Greta just gave Brendon a knowing look.
“Sometimes people surprise you,” she said. She opened up the burlap sack, exposing a large heap of tiny birdseed. “Now do you want to feed Little Pete?” Brendon smiled and held out his hands, letting Greta scoop some of the seeds out.
Brendon approached the cage, where Little Pete was now sitting serenely, but as soon as he put his hand close enough, the bird jolted out and nipped at his finger tips.
“Oh yeah,” Greta remarked, a laugh audible in her voice, “I forgot to tell you that Little Pete likes to bite.” She grinned wide. “That’s just another reason why the name fit so well.”
---
By the time Brendon left the menagerie and Greta’s smiles, some of his initial nerves had left him. That was, until he found himself standing in a cavernous entrance way in the front of the mansion. Expensive works of art sat on pedestals around the hall and Brendon was reminded of his own childhood as his mother’s voice rang in his head.
“Brendon Boyd Urie, did you break that vase? It was an antique from your Grandma Urie!”
Wincing internally, Brendon stayed far away from anything that could be knocked over and broken. He was wondering exactly what he should do when there was a clattering on the stairs and he looked up to find a beautiful boy with pretty hazel eyes and messy brown hair.
It had to be one of the Boyfriends, Brendon decided as the boy came to a sudden stop upon seeing Brendon.
A moment of silence passed until the guy’s face changed from surprised to slightly cold and impassive.
“Lost?” he asked, his tone clipped and impatient already.
Brendon tried to speak, but for the first time in his life, words weren’t coming out. He felt overwhelmed and scared at the same time. He had to make a good impression on the Boyfriends as well as Pete if he had any hope of sticking around for a while.
The guy just rolled his eyes and took the last few steps gracefully, coming to a stop in front of Brendon. Looking him up and down, he frowned as he caught sight of Brendon’s ass and didn’t comment.
Brendon just waited, nervous under the man’s eyes and how he circled him, so similar to what Gabe had done earlier.
“I’m going down to the Bunny house,” he said finally. “I’ll take you back.”
“Um,” Brendon spoke and the man’s eyes were sharp to dart back to him, an eyebrow arched, and Brendon hesitated. “Wasn’t I supposed to meet Pete?”
“He’s busy,” came the sharp response. “I’m in charge.” He turned from Brendon and headed for the front doors.
Brendon followed after carefully, still in awe at everything around him but careful to avoid the pedestals on either side of the double oak doors.
“I’m Brendon,” he said finally as they started across the lawn at a quick pace.
The guy cast him another quick glance before answering shortly, “Ryan.”
Brendon thought for a moment, nodding to himself. “Ryan. So who are the other Boyfriends?” He watched Ryan interestedly as they went, noting how his mouth seemed to tighten every time he asked a question. He smiled hopefully when Ryan glanced at him, but it only made Ryan’s expression darken more.
“Spencer, Jon, and Patrick,” Ryan replied, quickening his pace as they passed the pool and the front door of the house came into view.
“Patrick’s the Head Boyfriend?”
“First Boyfriend,” Ryan corrected him. “It’s a Democracy.”
“Right,” Brendon agreed slowly. He had no idea how that made any difference. From what he heard, Patrick was the Head Boyfriend.
He didn’t have the chance to ask Ryan any more questions when they reached the Bunny house, and Ryan didn’t bother to knock before throwing open the doors.
Brendon hurried in after him as Ryan headed straight for the living room area, where dozens of couches with thousands of pillows were scattered throughout. Almost everything was a varying shade of blue and several boys were draped over them as well.
Clearing his throat loudly, Ryan stood in the doorway, his hands on his hips, and the boys scrambled up as soon as they saw him.
Brendon went to join the other Bunnies carefully, since Ryan didn’t seem inclined to talk to him anymore.
“Where are the rest?” he asked.
Frank popped up. “I’ll get them!” he volunteered, and Ryan just gave a short nod before he scurried off to another room.
Brendon stood with Gabe and William, feeling like Ryan was judging them as he waited for Frank to return. No one said a word while Frank was gone, and Brendon was relieved when he finally returned, three more boys in tow.
Ryan waited until they all stood before him, taking in each one carefully. Pausing as he walked down the line, he turned and went back to the doorway, placing his hands behind his back and lifting his chin.
“Give your name and your position in the spread,” Ryan commanded, eyeing them all.
“Gabe Saporta,” Gabe started. “Hot Latino Type.” He gave Ryan a wink. Ryan’s only response was the thinning of his mouth as he moved down the line.
“Frank Iero!” Frank introduced himself with a salute that didn’t make Ryan any happier. “The Bad Boy.”
The guy next to Frank looked slightly nervous when Ryan’s cold gaze transferred to him.
“Um, Gerard Way,” he muttered finally, pushing back his black hair that was falling in his face. “The Art Student.”
“Brendon Urie,” Brendon said when Ryan turned to him. “Boy-Next-Door.”
Ryan’s eyes lingered on him for a second, though it wasn’t exactly friendly, but Brendon just smiled back. Ryan moved on to the boy next to Brendon. He was tall with dirty-blond, brown hair and a nice smile.
“Alex Suarez,” he said promptly and smiled at Ryan’s frown. “The Jock.”
“What do you play?” Gabe snorted from down the row, and Alex just threw a smile back.
“Hot Latin Types if you’re lucky, Saporta.”
Gabe let out a loud laugh that was interrupted by Ryan’s stern look. “Moving on,” he warned, moving down the row to William, who swept his hair back and cocked his hips to the side. Ryan eyes flicked down to them and a small crease set his brow.
“William Beckett, the Quiet One,” he supplied, his glance sly as he met Ryan’s eyes and Ryan lifted his gaze with a scowl, moving to the last two boys in the line.
“Mikey, the Geek,” the boy next to William said, pushing his square glasses up on his nose.
“Ray, Drunk Frat Dude,” the next guy said and Gabe opened his mouth to undoubtedly call out another inappropriate joke but Ryan turned sharply and Gabe fell silent at his look.
“Welcome,” he said loudly, not meeting any of their eyes as he returned to the doorway and crossed his arms. “You’re Bunnies now and as such, you’re expected to live up to our reputation. This is a serious business and stupidity won’t be tolerated.”
Brendon could swear he heard Gabe mutter, “By you,” under his breath but Ryan either didn’t hear or chose to ignore the comment.
“The shoot schedule will be posted in the next few days,” he went on, sweeping the room and pausing here and there. Brendon felt excited when Ryan’s eyes fell on him before sliding on to William. “You’re free to wander the grounds, but if you want to come to the mansion, you must let one of the Boyfriends or Pete know. If you’re invited to the mansion, it’s a privilege. You’d do well to remember that.” He paused again, ruffling himself slightly. “And don’t expect special treatment,” he said finally. “Because you won’t be getting any.”
Ryan turned then and left the house while the boys stared after.
“What a bitch,” Gabe broke the silence finally and they all turned to him.
“You can’t talk about him like that,” Brendon said, scandalized. “He’s a Boyfriend.”
“He’s a bitch,” Gabe replied simply and Frank rolled his eyes.
“He’s territorial.”
“Thought that was the other one,” Alex offered thoughtfully and Frank shrugged.
William, Mikey, and Gerard remained silent throughout the argument, although Gerard and Mikey seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation and it took Brendon a minute to realize that they looked sort of alike.
“I’d give anything to live in the mansion,” Brendon said, sighing as he gazed out the window to the mansion at the top of the hill.
“You bet your sweet ass,” Gabe agreed, reaching over to slap Brendon’s, and Brendon jumped slightly.
“Well, I’d settle for Centerfold,” Brendon allowed after a minute, grinning at Frank and Alex, who nodded in agreement.
“Well,” Gabe said, slipping in between Frank and Brendon as they looked out the window to the mansion, an arm slung over both their shoulders. “Let the games begin.”
---
Spencer stroked the silky fur of his favorite cat, Gizmo (or Gizzy, as he sometimes affectionately referred to him as), smiling slightly to himself as he could hear the chatter of the new Bunnies outside his window. Ryan must think he’s in hell.
He scratched lightly under the cat’s neck, humming along as Gizmo started to purr. At first, Spencer hadn’t been too fond of the cat. After all, it wasn’t even his, it was Jon’s, but somewhere along the line, Gizmo had started sneaking into Spencer’s room every night. Come to think of it, it was around the time that Jon started doing the same.
A light knock on his door turned Spencer’s attention away from the cat, only to be brought back again seconds later when sharp claws batted out to remind him that Gizmo was still in the room, and yes, he still wanted attention.
“Come in,” Spencer called.
Only a second later, Jon slipped through opening, closing the door firmly shut behind him with a quiet click. An even quieter click followed: the turning of the door’s lock.
“Aren’t you supposed to be looking at photographs or something?” Spencer inquired, petting Gizmo again until the cat obviously decided that he was done and leapt down from his cat tower. “Where’s Pete?”
“Pete’s still gone,” Jon answered, slow smile blooming on his face. Not the lazy smile that he wore in the mornings, minutes before he snuck back to his room, or the silly, stress-relieving smiles that he gave to Spencer whenever Ryan was being a bitch. No, the smile on Jon’s face was a smile that always made a shiver run down Spencer’s spine. “I told him I had to come back early,” he said. “Said that I promised Ryan that I’d help out with the new Bunnies.”
Spencer crossed his arms across his chest, just to be a little difficult, leaning back as Jon drew closer. “And what are you going to do when Pete asks Ryan how things went?”
Jon shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that Ryan is okay with covering for us now and then.”
“Ryan doesn’t even know about this,” Spencer pointed out, and off of Jon’s skeptical eye raise, because yes, Ryan was there this morning, he added, “he thinks that it’s just about sex.”
“He thinks or you told him?” Jon prompted.
Spencer deflected. “What about the Bunnies? One of them will be sure to say something about never meeting you before.”
“Took care of that,” Jon said easily. “Stopped by quickly and introduced myself.” He grinned. “And don’t worry, the new Bunnies have nothing on you.”
It was just like Jon to say something like that, something so sweet, and even though Spencer loved hearing things like that, he could hear a tiny hesitation of something in Jon’s words. But right then it didn’t really matter.
All that mattered to Spencer at the moment was that Ryan was out of the mansion. Pete was gone too, and Patrick was god knows where, but not right there with them. No one was there in the room except for Spencer and Jon, who was steadily leaning closer.
Jon’s eyes never left Spencer’s as he drew closer and closer, and his warm, soft hands came up to cradle Spencer’s face. “I love you,” he said, his words full of something that felt so very much like sincerity that Spencer longed to believe him. After years of Pete’s flippant ‘I love yous’ and Spencer’s automatic replies, it was strange to hear the words spoken with such meaning. To be honest, it was a little terrifying.
Instead of echoing Jon’s words, because Spencer knew that he could, he knew that his mouth could shape the words, and he knew that he would even mean them, he closed the faint distance between their mouths and let his tongue glide across Jon’s lower lip, seeking entrance.
“How long until you think Pete’ll get back?” he asked, hands already slipping underneath Jon’s shirt, pulling him towards his bed.
“I’m not sure,” Jon answered, breath hot against Spencer’s neck as he kissed a line down, stopping to nip at Spencer’s collarbone.
“No marks!” Spencer reminded, lying back on the bed, pulling Jon overtop of him. His hands slipped out around Jon’s waist, creeping down to cup Jon’s ass, bringing them closer together, especially when Spencer spread his legs, allowing Jon room. Spencer squeezed his hands, bringing one leg up to wrap around Jon’s upper thigh. “Do we have time?”
“For what?” Jon asked, leaning back a little, gleam in his eyes. Spencer knew Jon liked to make him say it, spell it out, but now more than ever, Spencer felt that each question from Jon was really asking much more than it seemed.
Spencer huffed and arched up against Jon, his cock, half-hard already, rubbing against Jon’s leg. He wanted Jon to know exactly what he did to him. How he made him feel, yes, but Spencer wasn’t quite ready to answer any question about feelings except in the physical sense. “To fuck me,” Spencer responded, letting out a pleased hum when he felt Jon’s cock nudge against him. “Do we have time? You can fuck me hard and fast. I’d like it,” he growled. “Maybe you can fuck me against the wall? Or across my desk.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call it that,” Jon said, hips slowly rocking against Spencer. “Don’t say ‘fuck’ like it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well, what do you want me to say?” Spencer asked, voice just a little sharp. The conversation was getting too close to something that he didn’t want to talk about. Not now.
“I don’t know,” Jon admitted. He kissed Spencer with soft lips; he kissed him with a seeking, gentle tongue. “I don’t know.”
Jon’s eyes hinted at all the thoughts rushing around his head, all the words left unspoken, but Spencer just deepened the kiss. “Come on,” he hurried, “I want you inside me before Pete comes back.”
And Jon, no matter what he said, could never deny Spencer, so he simply went with the flow, got lost in the feel of Spencer’s skin against his own, the feel of their lips molding together, the sensation of their body heat intensifying. When he came, Spencer’s name choked on his lips, followed by a slurred “I love you,” he tried not to focus on the way that Spencer’s insistent tongue tried to bury the words.
---
Patrick stood in the living room, pressed against the wall and peeking out the curtain at the group of boys who trundled past, looking around in awe at the grounds. He caught sight of Ryan, their reluctant tour guide. It seemed he hadn’t been able to escape them earlier. Patrick had found him sulking in the kitchen after the initial introductions.
“That bad, huh?” Patrick asked, his tone only a little cold. Ryan had only grunted into his coffee. Patrick waited a second. “Pete’ll expect them to have been given the full tour.”
Ryan’s glare only transferred from the coffee to Patrick for a minute before he ruffled himself but still didn’t move.
“Well, then Pete can do it,” he muttered. “And he can pick out his next new Centerfold while he’s at it. There are plenty to choose from.”
Patrick frowned at Ryan’s tone, bitter and annoyed. That always meant something bad for Patrick. The last time Ryan had been this bitter about a new Bunny Jon had gotten the Centerfold and moved into the mansion the next day. Though Ryan had forgiven Jon in his mind, he still had a tendency to act coldly towards him.
Patrick decided to ignore Ryan’s tone in order to get him to finish his job.
“Pete won’t be happy if he finds out you didn’t do the whole job,” he said instead and Ryan merely grumbled under his breath, drinking his coffee.
“Why don’t you do it, then?” Ryan asked sharply although he knew perfectly well why. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Patrick wanted Pete to himself.
“Pete asked you to,” Patrick just replied and Ryan only rolled his eyes.
“Pulled the diva card, didn’t you?”
“No!” Patrick insisted, crossing his arms despite what it looked like. “But Pete won’t like it if-”
“I know, I know,” Ryan interrupted, huffing. Taking the last gulp of his coffee, he slid off the stool at the breakfast bar. “Fine, I’ll go teach the little birds how to fly.”
Patrick had only nodded and watched as Ryan continued to ruffle himself and head back to the Bunny house.
Now, Patrick peered out the side window, taking in the line of boys who filtered past as Ryan lectured about more rules. He frowned at the cute brown-haired boy with the ass that looked as if Michelangelo himself had crafted it.
“Spying?”
Patrick jumped nearly a foot in the air at the voice in his ear. “God, Pete,” he said as he turned around and found Pete grinning at him, his dark hair swept to the side. “And no, I was not.”
Pete just slipped up next to him, a hand sliding around his waist, and Patrick couldn’t help leaning into the touch. He knew Pete did it to everyone, but he liked to pretend that it was just him.
“Nice ass,” he murmured as the brown-haired boy wandered around and Patrick frowned.
“He’s okay,” he allowed finally. He didn’t like the way Pete watched the boy go. “Hey, how was the layout?” he asked instead, nuzzling Pete’s neck a little and smiling when Pete tore his gaze from the window and lifted Patrick’s chin to place a gentle kiss on his lips.
“Good. I think this might turn out to be one of our best issues yet.”
“That’s good,” Patrick agreed. “How was Jon?”
“Helpful.” Pete smiled. “Like always. He came back early to help Ryan, did you see him?”
“No,” Patrick answered slowly, eyes straying back to the window. He could only hear the vague murmur of Ryan’s voice from outside.
“He probably just got distracted. You know how Jon is with pretty things,” Pete said, grinning. “Can’t keep his eyes off me.”
Patrick wanted to scowl but Pete was watching him, so he forced a smile. “Yeah.”
“Well, I should go introduce myself properly to the Bunnies,” Pete said finally, pulling away from Patrick, and Patrick had no choice but to let him go. “Be good while I’m gone.” He winked and Patrick couldn’t help the smile he gave in return.
“I won’t do anything you wouldn’t.”
Pete smirked. “And that’s reassuring. Hey, get the boys together for dinner, will you? I think we should have some family time.”
Patrick’s stomach clenched at the word ‘family’, but he only nodded as Pete left the room. When he was gone, Patrick snuck back to the window, scowling as the last boy - one with hips to rival Spencer’s - came sashaying past and Ryan’s monotonous drone faded into the distance.
Next Part
Author: silver-etoile and ivesia19
Rating: R
Pairing: Brendon/Ryan & Spencer/Jon & Pete/Patrick (Pete/everyone, Gabe/William, Frank/Gerard)
POV: 3rd
Summary: Playboy Bunny AU! Or the one where we objectify Brendon’s ass like whoa.
Disclaimer: AU. Pete is not the gay Hugh Hefner. Most likely.
Author Notes: Remember when Brendon said that he wouldn’t mind taking his clothes off for money? Well….. An adventure in co-writing :]
Brendon frowned as he held the small, light pink shirt up in front of him. “I don’t know if I should bring it, Shane,” he said, biting his lower lip and tilting his head to the side. “Do you think it’s tacky if I wear a Playgirl Bunny shirt at the Playgirl mansion?”
Shane shook his head, chuckling as Brendon contemplated the shirt. “To be honest, Bren, I still can’t believe that you’re actually going to be a Bunny.” He grabbed the shirt out of Brendon’s hesitant hands and threw it into the open duffle bag. “And just pack it already, you know that half of those boys run around wearing them. Plus, Pete’ll love you for the free advertising.”
Huffing, Brendon reached for the now-wrinkled shirt. He started to refold it. “I guess you’re right,” he conceded, placing the shirt into the bag, moving around some of the clothes so that it would fit. “I don’t know why you’re so shocked that Pete invited me to live at the mansion. After all, you were the one who took those pictures. With your talent with a camera and my ass, it’s no wonder.” Brendon grinned at Shane and leaned over dramatically, sticking his ass out.
“You’re the one who sent in the pictures,” Shane reminded as Brendon started moving his hips. “God, you’re full of yourself, Urie,” he said, but he wasn’t even bothering to hide how his eyes watched Brendon’s ass as it swayed from side to side teasingly. He slapped the dancing ass in front of him. “Save it for Pete, will you?”
Brendon’s wide grin, that grin that he had been wearing ever since he had gotten that life-changing phone call from Pete, slipped just a little. “You know it’s not like that,” he said, frowning. “Just because I’m going to be living at the mansion doesn’t mean that I’m going to be sleeping with Pete. He doesn’t expect that from me.”
Shane looked less than convinced. “Sure he doesn’t.”
“He doesn’t!” Brendon insisted. “He’s not interested in me like that. And anyways, he already has four Boyfriends. And rumor has it that the Head Boyfriend is somewhat territorial, so I doubt that he would allow Pete another Boyfriend.” He threw another tight shirt into the bag haphazardly, one sleeve peeking up over the zipper.
“If you’re not going to be sleeping with Pete,” Shane asked, “then why would he want you living at the mansion?” He picked up a pair of jeans lying on the bed. “And these are way too tight,” he added, frowning. “You can’t bring these.”
“That’s kind of the point,” Brendon said, grabbing the jeans from Shane. “And Pete invited me to the mansion because all new Bunnies are invited. There’s apparently like some sort of newbie’s house or something.” He shrugged, doing his best to fit the tiny jeans in along with the rest of his clothing stuffed into the bag.
“So you’re just going to live there until the pictorial is done?” Shane asked, sighing in frustration as Brendon continued to fruitlessly try to zipper up his overfull duffle. “‘Boys of the Old West’ or ‘Gender Bending Lads’ - whatever the fuck they’re having you doing.” Brendon ignored him, continuing to struggle with the duffle until Shane couldn’t handle it anymore. “Hand me the bag,” he ordered.
Brendon pushed the duffle across the bed, watching as Shane overturned the contents before refolding, rolling the tiny shirts and jeans up to make more room. “If everything goes well then I won’t just have a pictorial,” Brendon mused. “And by the way, the theme is ‘College’. We’re doing all the stereotypes.” He grinned. “I’m the Boy-Next-Door, can you believe it? It’s just a pictorial, nothing big, but who knows, if it goes well…” Brendon broke off with a dreamy expression. “You know, Shane, it’s possible that your roommate could be a Playgirl Centerfold. What do you think about that?” he asked, with a saucy jut of his hip.
“I think that’d actually really suck, since it’d be awkward as fuck to see you naked, and then I’d miss my monthly fix of Playgirl,” he answered before shaking his head and snorting a little laugh. “Don’t you find it ironic that it’s called Playgirl and yet it’s read by and posed for by mostly gay men?”
“Girls subscribe too,” Brendon objected, the barest hint of a pout tugging at his mouth.
Shane gave him a look, pausing with one of Brendon’s obnoxiously loud tee-shirts in his hand. “It’s cute that you still have lingering traces of your once misguided heterosexuality, Bren.”
“Whatever,” Brendon replied, watching Shane roll the clothes up and put them away neatly, doing a far better job managing space than Brendon had. “And I don’t understand why you think it’d be weird to see me as a Centerfold. It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked a thousand times. Hell, you’ve photographed me naked enough times.”
“That’s different,” Shane said.
Brendon raised an eyebrow.
Running a hand through his hair, Shane let out a long sigh. “It’s just that it’s Playgirl, Bren. It’s so different.” He hesitated, as if he was thinking about maybe not saying his next thought, but he said it anyway. “Before you were doing something for art, but now it’s just for profit.”
“Hey!” Brendon objected, “Playgirl can be classy!”
Shane just rolled his eyes and continued packing up Brendon’s bag for him.
---
“Fresh meat.”
“Gabe, we’re all fresh meat,” Frank tisked from behind him but he didn’t stop himself from peering over Gabe’s tall shoulder out the window at the car sitting at the gate and talking into the intercom.
Gabe’s grin was wide as he watched the gates slide open and the car wound up towards the house.
“But that’s fresher,” he corrected easily, pushing Frank back as he went to the front door and waited for the car. New Bunnies usually made a stop to drop off their things before heading up to the mansion to see Pete.
Gabe and Frank watched interestedly when the car pulled up and the driver got out, but the back door was open already and a boy was struggling out, staring all around him, eyes wide. His eyes took in the sweeping lawn that fell from the back of the mansion all the way down to the little house near the edge.
The driver was getting the boy’s bags as he stared. The boy jumped a little as he caught sight of Frank and Gabe watching him closely.
“Oh, hi!” he said, feeling both excited and nervous at the same time. “I’m Brendon.”
Gabe’s eyes scanned Brendon interestedly but Frank just elbowed past with a grin to match Brendon’s. “Hi, I’m Frank and this is Gabe.”
Gabe nodded, now wandering around behind him and Brendon turned to keep him in view.
“Nice ass,” Gabe commented, his dark grin still in place.
“Um, thanks,” Brendon said awkwardly, but still smiling.
“What spread are you here for?” Frank asked eagerly and Brendon caught himself staring at Frank’s tattoos instead.
“Uh, the college one.”
“‘Boy-Next Door’,” came a murmur from behind Frank and Gerard. A tall boy with razor sharp hips and mid-length brown hair stood there, one hip cocked to the side and an appraising look on his face as he took in Brendon.
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Brendon asked cheerfully. The boy just shrugged and wandered back into the house. Brendon watched him go confusedly.
“That’s just William,” Frank supplied. “He won’t say which one he is. So.” Frank smiled and bounced up while Gabe was still taking in Brendon appreciatively.
“Gonna fuck Pete?”
“Gabe,” Frank reprimanded but Gabe ignored him.
Brendon faltered for words for a second. “Well, he already has, like, four Boyfriends, doesn’t he?”
“Always room for one more,” Gabe said with an obvious glance down Brendon’s body while his eyes sparkled darkly.
“Right,” Brendon agreed slowly. Frank elbowed Gabe again, but he hardly reached Gabe’s waist so it didn’t do much good.
“Ignore him, he’s a slut,” he provided promptly and only got a miffed look from Gabe. “He’d sleep with Pete for a Klondike Bar.”
“Shut up, those things are awesome,” Gabe defended.
Brendon just smiled and bounced up on his toes as the driver returned and cleared his throat.
“We should be getting up to the house, sir.”
Brendon’s grin at being called ‘sir’ was big but he nodded and waved good-bye to Frank and Gabe.
“See you later!” he called as he climbed in the car and the driver shut the door behind him.
“I will,” Gabe muttered as a promise and Frank rolled his eyes.
“Why don’t you work on getting the rest of the house to like you?”
“Who needs them with an ass like that?” Gabe only asked as the car took off up towards the house.
---
Patrick moved to mold his body against Pete’s, his skin sliding easily over the dark red, smooth silk sheets. “Morning,” he mumbled against the warm skin of Pete’s upper arm, his lips dragging, making Pete stir.
Pete looked blearily over at Patrick and grinned, smile bright and easy. “Good morning,” he echoed, leaning down to leave a brief kiss on Patrick’s forehead. He stretched out on the bed, one foot dangling out past the comforter. That was the problem with a round bed. Patrick shook his head in amusement, watching Pete falter a little, almost falling off the edge, through the mirrors above the bed before he pulled the other man closer to himself.
“Busy day,” Patrick stated, watching Pete’s face carefully. “The new Bunnies are showing up this morning, yeah?” Patrick knew that it was silly; he was a Boyfriend of Pete Wentz after all (Head Boyfriend, actually, thank you very much), but he still got a little twinge of jealousy each time a new batch of boys were delivered to the mansion.
Grinning, Pete said, “Yep, the new batch is moving in today. I think a couple of them could be something special, you know?”
Patrick tried (and mostly succeeded) to suppress a scowl. He knew what “something special” could mean. The last time Pete had said that about someone, Patrick had woken up to find Jon living in the room next door to him in the mansion. And it happened with Spencer before that, and Ryan before that. Patrick didn’t have anything personal against any of the other Boyfriends except for the fact that they were the Other Boyfriends.
In Patrick’s opinion, Pete was getting a little too old for these games.
“Do you think maybe you can pop over there and see if you could lend a hand to the new boys?” Pete asked. He didn’t even wiggle his eyebrows at the question, so Patrick knew that Pete wasn’t fully awake yet. “Help them move in, get acclimated, stuff like that.”
Patrick sighed. “Can’t you ask Ryan to do it?” He didn’t know if he could handle seeing all those new boys so early in the morning all perky and excited. They were all probably jittery with excitement, maybe wondering if they could use their small pictorial to launch their career, maybe wondering if Pete could help them out. Patrick wasn’t easily bothered, but that, that could certainly set him off.
“You know how Ryan gets around new Bunnies,” Pete reminded. He sighed, rolling over a little, launching himself out of bed. “He’s always so cold towards them.”
“He’s like that with everyone,” Patrick retorted.
Pete gave a slight glare, but Patrick wasn’t worried, Pete could never stay angry at him for long. “He’s not like that with me,” he said, and yeah, those words hit Patrick harder than any glare could.
Patrick stopped himself from saying something like, ‘Well, isn’t that just precious’ with venom dripping off of every word and gave Pete a plastic smile. “Then he’d probably love to help you out and make sure that the new Bunnies get settled.”
“I don’t want to upset him though,” Pete said. “He always gets so strange when there are new Bunnies. I just wish I knew why.”
The thing that Patrick loved about Pete was that even though he was the Editor-In-Chief of the most popular adult magazine in America and was wildly successful, he was terrible at seeing things that were right in front of him. Well, maybe Patrick didn’t love that quality all that much actually… Pete had the ability to dream great things, make his visions come to life, but he was so blind when it came to so many other things.
Patrick knew why Ryan was always so distant and resentful towards the new Bunnies. Everyone knew.
Ryan had been at the mansion for a long while. Almost four years, but he hadn’t ever been a Centerfold; something that Ryan had once told Patrick after a sinful amount of tequila was his dream. Patrick knew that every time Pete handed out a new Centerfold and some new boy was ecstatic, it was like a slap in the face to Ryan.
“I don’t know,” Patrick said. He was a firm believer in not getting in any one else’s life. If Ryan wanted to sulk around and not tell Pete why, it was his business.
“I guess I’ll just ask him then,” Pete said. “After all, I have to go through the layouts for tomorrow’s shoot. Jon’s supposed to help me with that, so he can’t go. And Spencer apparently has Pilates.” He turned and grinned over at Patrick, that smile that always made Patrick’s heart beat just a little bit faster. “And you’re pulling the diva card.”
“I am not,” Patrick insisted, crossing his arms defiantly until he realized that crossing one’s arms could be considered diva-like.
“You are,” Pete replied easily, leaning over to give Patrick a kiss. “But I love you anyway.” He threw on his robe. “I’ll go wake Ryan up and tell him to go deal with the Bunnies.”
---
Ryan was already wide awake when Pete’s unmistakable knock came on his door; two knocks and a rap-tap at the end.
“Ry-ro,” came his voice singing in through the keyhole as he pushed the door open and Ryan remained in his bed, covers pulled up to his chest.
Pete inched in, a smile on his face. “Rise and shine, my beautiful Boyfriend. Do you know what today is?”
Ryan’s mouth was in a frown as Pete dropped onto his bed and gave him a kiss on his cheek, stroking his finger down it carefully. Ryan’s eyes moved to him slowly and he knew what Pete wanted.
“Why can’t Patrick do it?” he asked before Pete even opened his mouth.
Pete just gave him his usual winning smile, his eyes begging as only Pete could. “Ryan, it’s part of your duty as one of my favorite Boyfriends to help me out. The new Bunnies don’t know anything about the house, and we want them to feel welcome.”
Ryan pushed his covers down and sat up with a sigh. “I hate playing tour guide. Why aren’t they smart enough to figure it out on their own?”
“They’re Bunnies,” Pete just said simply, placing a simple kiss on Ryan’s lips as he scowled more. “They get by on looks. But you, Ryan, I know you’re much smarter than them with your Tolstoy and Dickens. That’s why I trust this duty to you.”
Ryan knew it was all a ploy to stroke his ego, but he couldn’t deny that it made him feel slightly better.
“Fine,” he grumbled finally and Pete looked pleased. “But I’m not going to be nice to them.”
“Just make sure they know where the studio is and that shoot times are not suggestions.”
Ryan only glared as Pete pecked his temple and ruffled his hair as he rose from the bed.
“I know they’re in good hands.”
Ryan just scowled at his bed cover as Pete moved to the door. He waited until Pete winked at him and closed the door behind him before throwing off the sheets and padding to the door, listening as Pete knocked on Jon’s door and told him to meet him at the studio through the door before presumably heading down to the kitchen for breakfast.
Ryan opened his door and went next door to Spencer’s room, knocking once loudly before opening the door.
“Spence,” he said as he walked in, seeing Spencer sitting on his bed, his dark hair mussed and looking barely awake.
“What?” Spencer grumbled, rubbing his hair tiredly and yawning.
“Come with me to see the new Bunnies,” Ryan pleaded almost petulantly, flopping down on his bed and ignoring how Spencer frowned but didn’t push him off.
“Can’t,” he just said, stretching and only stiffening slightly when the toilet flushed in his adjoining bathroom.
Ryan arched an eyebrow. “You know that’s not allowed.”
“Well, neither is weaseling out of something Pete asked you specifically to do,” Spencer pointed out, tugging the covers up so that Ryan slipped and nearly fell off the bed. He just resurfaced with a glare, tossing Spencer a pointed look when Jon appeared in the doorway to Spencer’s bathroom.
“Hey, Ry,” Jon greeted him casually, as if appearing in Spencer’s bedroom wasn’t something Pete would be extremely upset to know.
“Jon,” Ryan responded coolly when Jon padded over, clothed in only a pair of green boxers.
“New Bunnies today, right?” Jon asked as he sat down on the other side of the bed next to Spencer. “Let us know what they look like, okay? You know how Spence gets.”
“Excuse me,” Spencer piped up with a glare and shove to Jon’s chest. “I don’t get any way.”
Jon chuckled, a hand snaking around Spencer’s waist that Ryan didn’t miss and his look shot to Spencer was met with another in return, silently instructing him to drop it and keep the secret.
“Fine, you don’t,” Jon agreed, but it was obvious from his grin that he thought otherwise. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. “I have to go meet Pete. I’ll see you guys later.” He slid off the bed with a kiss pressed to Spencer’s cheek and left through the pink door.
Spencer looked back to Ryan, who was waiting with an eyebrow raised.
“Don’t say anything,” Spencer warned. “It’s nothing anyway. Just fun.”
“I won’t say anything,” Ryan promised. “Just come with me to see the Bunnies.”
Spencer rolled his eyes. “’Fraid that’s a feat you’ll have to undertake on your own.”
“I hate you.”
“You too,” Spencer replied, giving Ryan a push. “Now stop delaying the inevitable.”
“If any of them call me old, I’m slapping them.”
“Be my guest.”
Ryan rose from the bed with a resigned sigh, heading for the door.
“Hey, Ryan?” Spencer asked and Ryan paused, a hand on the knob. “Let me know how they are, ‘kay?”
Ryan just nodded and left, the pink door swinging shut behind him.
---
Brendon didn’t exactly know how it happened, but somehow he ended up in the menagerie.
On both sides of him there were large cages full of bright, talkative birds. Some were chirping happily, some were making noises more like screeches, and when Brendon passed by a very ornately decorated cage, one even squawked out “Nice ass.”
He didn’t know if the bird said that to everyone passing by or if it was just what people said to him when he met them nowadays.
“Little Pete,” a voice rang out. It was a sweet tone, but there was an undercurrent of authority. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to someone. Especially if you don’t know them.”
Brendon jumped at the voice and turned around to see a girl about his age, holding a large burlap sack, with long, wavy strawberry blonde hair smiling at him. “Hey,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m Greta; you must be one of the new Bunnies.”
Instead of introducing himself like a normal, polite person, Brendon blurted out, “Why is the bird named Little Pete?”
Greta chuckled. “He’s loud and obnoxious but we love him anyway.” She tilted her head and grinned, squinting her eyes a little in the bright sunlight. “It sort of fits our Pete perfectly, you know?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Brendon responded honestly. “The only things I know about Pete Wentz is what I’ve seen on VH1 and E!”
“Well, those are remarkably credible sources,” Greta said teasingly.
Brendon shrugged good-naturedly. “It’s better than MTV.”
“True,” Greta allowed. She hoisted the burlap sack she was holding higher up, using her other hand to support the bottom. “So, you want to help me feed the birds, new Bunny?”
“Sure,” Brendon immediately responded. Feeding birds actually sounded awesome. And way less awkward than dodging the glances of some of the other Bunnies, who seemed either particularly jealous of or enamored with his ass. “And sorry, my name’s Brendon. It’s nice to meet you.”
Greta stopped and gave Brendon a calculating look, eyes almost scanning across his face before she smiled again. “You’re sweet,” she decided. “I hope that Pete keeps you. We could use a little bit of friendliness here.”
“Oh?” Brendon asked, reaching over and grabbing the sack from Greta. It looked heavy, and sure enough, when Brendon took it, he had to tense his arms to keep them from falling from the weight. “You don’t like working here?”
“No, I do,” Greta insisted. She let out a little giggle as Brendon shifted the bag up to his hip, using his curves to help relieve some of the weight. “You need help with that?” Brendon waved her off. In a very virile fashion, if he did say so himself. “Okay,” Greta said, smirking. “But anyway, the mansion is great. Pete treats all of us so well, but sometimes things get a little tense around here.”
Brendon frowned, mostly from the pressure of the bag, but he figured that Greta might just pass the look of discomfort on his face for genuine concern.
“Brendon, you can put it down, you know, there’s actually no reason for you to hold the bag.” She laughed again, and a little snort came out. Greta raised her hand to her mouth, embarrassed, and yeah, that pretty much made them even. He put down the bag, muscles immediately relaxing.
“So what do you mean tense?” Brendon asked.
Greta shrugged. “Basically Patrick is pretty much fed up with the whole ‘Pete having other Boyfriends thing’,” she confided. “And to be honest, I don’t think that the other Boyfriends would be too heartbroken if Pete decided to become exclusive, so that just makes Patrick angrier.”
Brendon didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t know these people. He had only heard about Pete’s Boyfriends a couple of times, and it was always in passing. Brendon didn’t really think of Pete Wentz as the type of guy to settle down. When he said as much, Greta just gave Brendon a knowing look.
“Sometimes people surprise you,” she said. She opened up the burlap sack, exposing a large heap of tiny birdseed. “Now do you want to feed Little Pete?” Brendon smiled and held out his hands, letting Greta scoop some of the seeds out.
Brendon approached the cage, where Little Pete was now sitting serenely, but as soon as he put his hand close enough, the bird jolted out and nipped at his finger tips.
“Oh yeah,” Greta remarked, a laugh audible in her voice, “I forgot to tell you that Little Pete likes to bite.” She grinned wide. “That’s just another reason why the name fit so well.”
---
By the time Brendon left the menagerie and Greta’s smiles, some of his initial nerves had left him. That was, until he found himself standing in a cavernous entrance way in the front of the mansion. Expensive works of art sat on pedestals around the hall and Brendon was reminded of his own childhood as his mother’s voice rang in his head.
“Brendon Boyd Urie, did you break that vase? It was an antique from your Grandma Urie!”
Wincing internally, Brendon stayed far away from anything that could be knocked over and broken. He was wondering exactly what he should do when there was a clattering on the stairs and he looked up to find a beautiful boy with pretty hazel eyes and messy brown hair.
It had to be one of the Boyfriends, Brendon decided as the boy came to a sudden stop upon seeing Brendon.
A moment of silence passed until the guy’s face changed from surprised to slightly cold and impassive.
“Lost?” he asked, his tone clipped and impatient already.
Brendon tried to speak, but for the first time in his life, words weren’t coming out. He felt overwhelmed and scared at the same time. He had to make a good impression on the Boyfriends as well as Pete if he had any hope of sticking around for a while.
The guy just rolled his eyes and took the last few steps gracefully, coming to a stop in front of Brendon. Looking him up and down, he frowned as he caught sight of Brendon’s ass and didn’t comment.
Brendon just waited, nervous under the man’s eyes and how he circled him, so similar to what Gabe had done earlier.
“I’m going down to the Bunny house,” he said finally. “I’ll take you back.”
“Um,” Brendon spoke and the man’s eyes were sharp to dart back to him, an eyebrow arched, and Brendon hesitated. “Wasn’t I supposed to meet Pete?”
“He’s busy,” came the sharp response. “I’m in charge.” He turned from Brendon and headed for the front doors.
Brendon followed after carefully, still in awe at everything around him but careful to avoid the pedestals on either side of the double oak doors.
“I’m Brendon,” he said finally as they started across the lawn at a quick pace.
The guy cast him another quick glance before answering shortly, “Ryan.”
Brendon thought for a moment, nodding to himself. “Ryan. So who are the other Boyfriends?” He watched Ryan interestedly as they went, noting how his mouth seemed to tighten every time he asked a question. He smiled hopefully when Ryan glanced at him, but it only made Ryan’s expression darken more.
“Spencer, Jon, and Patrick,” Ryan replied, quickening his pace as they passed the pool and the front door of the house came into view.
“Patrick’s the Head Boyfriend?”
“First Boyfriend,” Ryan corrected him. “It’s a Democracy.”
“Right,” Brendon agreed slowly. He had no idea how that made any difference. From what he heard, Patrick was the Head Boyfriend.
He didn’t have the chance to ask Ryan any more questions when they reached the Bunny house, and Ryan didn’t bother to knock before throwing open the doors.
Brendon hurried in after him as Ryan headed straight for the living room area, where dozens of couches with thousands of pillows were scattered throughout. Almost everything was a varying shade of blue and several boys were draped over them as well.
Clearing his throat loudly, Ryan stood in the doorway, his hands on his hips, and the boys scrambled up as soon as they saw him.
Brendon went to join the other Bunnies carefully, since Ryan didn’t seem inclined to talk to him anymore.
“Where are the rest?” he asked.
Frank popped up. “I’ll get them!” he volunteered, and Ryan just gave a short nod before he scurried off to another room.
Brendon stood with Gabe and William, feeling like Ryan was judging them as he waited for Frank to return. No one said a word while Frank was gone, and Brendon was relieved when he finally returned, three more boys in tow.
Ryan waited until they all stood before him, taking in each one carefully. Pausing as he walked down the line, he turned and went back to the doorway, placing his hands behind his back and lifting his chin.
“Give your name and your position in the spread,” Ryan commanded, eyeing them all.
“Gabe Saporta,” Gabe started. “Hot Latino Type.” He gave Ryan a wink. Ryan’s only response was the thinning of his mouth as he moved down the line.
“Frank Iero!” Frank introduced himself with a salute that didn’t make Ryan any happier. “The Bad Boy.”
The guy next to Frank looked slightly nervous when Ryan’s cold gaze transferred to him.
“Um, Gerard Way,” he muttered finally, pushing back his black hair that was falling in his face. “The Art Student.”
“Brendon Urie,” Brendon said when Ryan turned to him. “Boy-Next-Door.”
Ryan’s eyes lingered on him for a second, though it wasn’t exactly friendly, but Brendon just smiled back. Ryan moved on to the boy next to Brendon. He was tall with dirty-blond, brown hair and a nice smile.
“Alex Suarez,” he said promptly and smiled at Ryan’s frown. “The Jock.”
“What do you play?” Gabe snorted from down the row, and Alex just threw a smile back.
“Hot Latin Types if you’re lucky, Saporta.”
Gabe let out a loud laugh that was interrupted by Ryan’s stern look. “Moving on,” he warned, moving down the row to William, who swept his hair back and cocked his hips to the side. Ryan eyes flicked down to them and a small crease set his brow.
“William Beckett, the Quiet One,” he supplied, his glance sly as he met Ryan’s eyes and Ryan lifted his gaze with a scowl, moving to the last two boys in the line.
“Mikey, the Geek,” the boy next to William said, pushing his square glasses up on his nose.
“Ray, Drunk Frat Dude,” the next guy said and Gabe opened his mouth to undoubtedly call out another inappropriate joke but Ryan turned sharply and Gabe fell silent at his look.
“Welcome,” he said loudly, not meeting any of their eyes as he returned to the doorway and crossed his arms. “You’re Bunnies now and as such, you’re expected to live up to our reputation. This is a serious business and stupidity won’t be tolerated.”
Brendon could swear he heard Gabe mutter, “By you,” under his breath but Ryan either didn’t hear or chose to ignore the comment.
“The shoot schedule will be posted in the next few days,” he went on, sweeping the room and pausing here and there. Brendon felt excited when Ryan’s eyes fell on him before sliding on to William. “You’re free to wander the grounds, but if you want to come to the mansion, you must let one of the Boyfriends or Pete know. If you’re invited to the mansion, it’s a privilege. You’d do well to remember that.” He paused again, ruffling himself slightly. “And don’t expect special treatment,” he said finally. “Because you won’t be getting any.”
Ryan turned then and left the house while the boys stared after.
“What a bitch,” Gabe broke the silence finally and they all turned to him.
“You can’t talk about him like that,” Brendon said, scandalized. “He’s a Boyfriend.”
“He’s a bitch,” Gabe replied simply and Frank rolled his eyes.
“He’s territorial.”
“Thought that was the other one,” Alex offered thoughtfully and Frank shrugged.
William, Mikey, and Gerard remained silent throughout the argument, although Gerard and Mikey seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation and it took Brendon a minute to realize that they looked sort of alike.
“I’d give anything to live in the mansion,” Brendon said, sighing as he gazed out the window to the mansion at the top of the hill.
“You bet your sweet ass,” Gabe agreed, reaching over to slap Brendon’s, and Brendon jumped slightly.
“Well, I’d settle for Centerfold,” Brendon allowed after a minute, grinning at Frank and Alex, who nodded in agreement.
“Well,” Gabe said, slipping in between Frank and Brendon as they looked out the window to the mansion, an arm slung over both their shoulders. “Let the games begin.”
---
Spencer stroked the silky fur of his favorite cat, Gizmo (or Gizzy, as he sometimes affectionately referred to him as), smiling slightly to himself as he could hear the chatter of the new Bunnies outside his window. Ryan must think he’s in hell.
He scratched lightly under the cat’s neck, humming along as Gizmo started to purr. At first, Spencer hadn’t been too fond of the cat. After all, it wasn’t even his, it was Jon’s, but somewhere along the line, Gizmo had started sneaking into Spencer’s room every night. Come to think of it, it was around the time that Jon started doing the same.
A light knock on his door turned Spencer’s attention away from the cat, only to be brought back again seconds later when sharp claws batted out to remind him that Gizmo was still in the room, and yes, he still wanted attention.
“Come in,” Spencer called.
Only a second later, Jon slipped through opening, closing the door firmly shut behind him with a quiet click. An even quieter click followed: the turning of the door’s lock.
“Aren’t you supposed to be looking at photographs or something?” Spencer inquired, petting Gizmo again until the cat obviously decided that he was done and leapt down from his cat tower. “Where’s Pete?”
“Pete’s still gone,” Jon answered, slow smile blooming on his face. Not the lazy smile that he wore in the mornings, minutes before he snuck back to his room, or the silly, stress-relieving smiles that he gave to Spencer whenever Ryan was being a bitch. No, the smile on Jon’s face was a smile that always made a shiver run down Spencer’s spine. “I told him I had to come back early,” he said. “Said that I promised Ryan that I’d help out with the new Bunnies.”
Spencer crossed his arms across his chest, just to be a little difficult, leaning back as Jon drew closer. “And what are you going to do when Pete asks Ryan how things went?”
Jon shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that Ryan is okay with covering for us now and then.”
“Ryan doesn’t even know about this,” Spencer pointed out, and off of Jon’s skeptical eye raise, because yes, Ryan was there this morning, he added, “he thinks that it’s just about sex.”
“He thinks or you told him?” Jon prompted.
Spencer deflected. “What about the Bunnies? One of them will be sure to say something about never meeting you before.”
“Took care of that,” Jon said easily. “Stopped by quickly and introduced myself.” He grinned. “And don’t worry, the new Bunnies have nothing on you.”
It was just like Jon to say something like that, something so sweet, and even though Spencer loved hearing things like that, he could hear a tiny hesitation of something in Jon’s words. But right then it didn’t really matter.
All that mattered to Spencer at the moment was that Ryan was out of the mansion. Pete was gone too, and Patrick was god knows where, but not right there with them. No one was there in the room except for Spencer and Jon, who was steadily leaning closer.
Jon’s eyes never left Spencer’s as he drew closer and closer, and his warm, soft hands came up to cradle Spencer’s face. “I love you,” he said, his words full of something that felt so very much like sincerity that Spencer longed to believe him. After years of Pete’s flippant ‘I love yous’ and Spencer’s automatic replies, it was strange to hear the words spoken with such meaning. To be honest, it was a little terrifying.
Instead of echoing Jon’s words, because Spencer knew that he could, he knew that his mouth could shape the words, and he knew that he would even mean them, he closed the faint distance between their mouths and let his tongue glide across Jon’s lower lip, seeking entrance.
“How long until you think Pete’ll get back?” he asked, hands already slipping underneath Jon’s shirt, pulling him towards his bed.
“I’m not sure,” Jon answered, breath hot against Spencer’s neck as he kissed a line down, stopping to nip at Spencer’s collarbone.
“No marks!” Spencer reminded, lying back on the bed, pulling Jon overtop of him. His hands slipped out around Jon’s waist, creeping down to cup Jon’s ass, bringing them closer together, especially when Spencer spread his legs, allowing Jon room. Spencer squeezed his hands, bringing one leg up to wrap around Jon’s upper thigh. “Do we have time?”
“For what?” Jon asked, leaning back a little, gleam in his eyes. Spencer knew Jon liked to make him say it, spell it out, but now more than ever, Spencer felt that each question from Jon was really asking much more than it seemed.
Spencer huffed and arched up against Jon, his cock, half-hard already, rubbing against Jon’s leg. He wanted Jon to know exactly what he did to him. How he made him feel, yes, but Spencer wasn’t quite ready to answer any question about feelings except in the physical sense. “To fuck me,” Spencer responded, letting out a pleased hum when he felt Jon’s cock nudge against him. “Do we have time? You can fuck me hard and fast. I’d like it,” he growled. “Maybe you can fuck me against the wall? Or across my desk.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call it that,” Jon said, hips slowly rocking against Spencer. “Don’t say ‘fuck’ like it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well, what do you want me to say?” Spencer asked, voice just a little sharp. The conversation was getting too close to something that he didn’t want to talk about. Not now.
“I don’t know,” Jon admitted. He kissed Spencer with soft lips; he kissed him with a seeking, gentle tongue. “I don’t know.”
Jon’s eyes hinted at all the thoughts rushing around his head, all the words left unspoken, but Spencer just deepened the kiss. “Come on,” he hurried, “I want you inside me before Pete comes back.”
And Jon, no matter what he said, could never deny Spencer, so he simply went with the flow, got lost in the feel of Spencer’s skin against his own, the feel of their lips molding together, the sensation of their body heat intensifying. When he came, Spencer’s name choked on his lips, followed by a slurred “I love you,” he tried not to focus on the way that Spencer’s insistent tongue tried to bury the words.
---
Patrick stood in the living room, pressed against the wall and peeking out the curtain at the group of boys who trundled past, looking around in awe at the grounds. He caught sight of Ryan, their reluctant tour guide. It seemed he hadn’t been able to escape them earlier. Patrick had found him sulking in the kitchen after the initial introductions.
“That bad, huh?” Patrick asked, his tone only a little cold. Ryan had only grunted into his coffee. Patrick waited a second. “Pete’ll expect them to have been given the full tour.”
Ryan’s glare only transferred from the coffee to Patrick for a minute before he ruffled himself but still didn’t move.
“Well, then Pete can do it,” he muttered. “And he can pick out his next new Centerfold while he’s at it. There are plenty to choose from.”
Patrick frowned at Ryan’s tone, bitter and annoyed. That always meant something bad for Patrick. The last time Ryan had been this bitter about a new Bunny Jon had gotten the Centerfold and moved into the mansion the next day. Though Ryan had forgiven Jon in his mind, he still had a tendency to act coldly towards him.
Patrick decided to ignore Ryan’s tone in order to get him to finish his job.
“Pete won’t be happy if he finds out you didn’t do the whole job,” he said instead and Ryan merely grumbled under his breath, drinking his coffee.
“Why don’t you do it, then?” Ryan asked sharply although he knew perfectly well why. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Patrick wanted Pete to himself.
“Pete asked you to,” Patrick just replied and Ryan only rolled his eyes.
“Pulled the diva card, didn’t you?”
“No!” Patrick insisted, crossing his arms despite what it looked like. “But Pete won’t like it if-”
“I know, I know,” Ryan interrupted, huffing. Taking the last gulp of his coffee, he slid off the stool at the breakfast bar. “Fine, I’ll go teach the little birds how to fly.”
Patrick had only nodded and watched as Ryan continued to ruffle himself and head back to the Bunny house.
Now, Patrick peered out the side window, taking in the line of boys who filtered past as Ryan lectured about more rules. He frowned at the cute brown-haired boy with the ass that looked as if Michelangelo himself had crafted it.
“Spying?”
Patrick jumped nearly a foot in the air at the voice in his ear. “God, Pete,” he said as he turned around and found Pete grinning at him, his dark hair swept to the side. “And no, I was not.”
Pete just slipped up next to him, a hand sliding around his waist, and Patrick couldn’t help leaning into the touch. He knew Pete did it to everyone, but he liked to pretend that it was just him.
“Nice ass,” he murmured as the brown-haired boy wandered around and Patrick frowned.
“He’s okay,” he allowed finally. He didn’t like the way Pete watched the boy go. “Hey, how was the layout?” he asked instead, nuzzling Pete’s neck a little and smiling when Pete tore his gaze from the window and lifted Patrick’s chin to place a gentle kiss on his lips.
“Good. I think this might turn out to be one of our best issues yet.”
“That’s good,” Patrick agreed. “How was Jon?”
“Helpful.” Pete smiled. “Like always. He came back early to help Ryan, did you see him?”
“No,” Patrick answered slowly, eyes straying back to the window. He could only hear the vague murmur of Ryan’s voice from outside.
“He probably just got distracted. You know how Jon is with pretty things,” Pete said, grinning. “Can’t keep his eyes off me.”
Patrick wanted to scowl but Pete was watching him, so he forced a smile. “Yeah.”
“Well, I should go introduce myself properly to the Bunnies,” Pete said finally, pulling away from Patrick, and Patrick had no choice but to let him go. “Be good while I’m gone.” He winked and Patrick couldn’t help the smile he gave in return.
“I won’t do anything you wouldn’t.”
Pete smirked. “And that’s reassuring. Hey, get the boys together for dinner, will you? I think we should have some family time.”
Patrick’s stomach clenched at the word ‘family’, but he only nodded as Pete left the room. When he was gone, Patrick snuck back to the window, scowling as the last boy - one with hips to rival Spencer’s - came sashaying past and Ryan’s monotonous drone faded into the distance.
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