The World's Not Waiting (For Two Tired Lovers In A Crummy-Ass Apartment Block)(8/?)
Title: The World's Not Waiting (For Two Tired Lovers In A Crummy-Ass Apartment Block)
Rating: T+ (Swearing & mention of sexual practice)
Summary: A tired Pete Wentz, a scheming girlfriend, and the ultimate complex relationship. Throw in a new neighbor in the form of Patrick and an attraction that everyone sees except the two men in question (and Travis but what does he notice?). Stir in my mind for months and then spill all over livejournal. What do you get? Probably the yummiest fic i've ever written! ^____^
Beta:
vampyre_hunter
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original character.
Previous Chapters:
1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7
Patrick turned around and matched the voice to a more familiar pair of amber eyes looking down at him.
“Mikey?” Patrick asked unsurely. Mikey smiled and nodded.
“Got it in one,” he said and sat next to Patrick. “So, where’s Wentz?”
Patrick looked down at his shoes and mumbled,
“Long story.”
“That doesn’t sound too good,” Mikey said, sounding very concerned. “What did he do this time?”
“It was more me, believe it or not,” Patrick half laughed, slightly amused at how pathetic he felt, and looked up at Mikey with a shrug and half smile. Mikey sat for a little while and then stood up with his hands in his pockets.
“Long story, huh?” he asked and then looked down at Patrick. “I took a walk just now ‘cause I was bored and I don’t intend to stop walking now, so let’s go.”
Patrick was silent for a while, contemplating what to do next.
'Am I really gonna spill my guts to an almost total stranger?' he asked himself. Before he’d even finished the question he was on his feet and walking beside Mikey.
'Huh, I guess I am.'
X
“…So you guys staged a fight?” Mikey laughed. “Is this girlfriend of his really that bad?”
“Nope,” Patrick shrugged. “Worse.”
“But she’s just a minor problem. Me and Pete have been awesome from day one and yeah, I didn’t think anything could fuck up how close we are,” Patrick continued.
“Today was awesome. He took me all over where he used to live and I met his old friends, who made it clearer as to why Pete is so fucked up. If you drank your own piss and allowed yourself to be shot by paintballs on your bare ass you’d be a bit of a degenerate too. I met his parents and his dog Hemmingway and we were awesome until we went up to his room. So he just basically comes out to me and is like, “Patrick, I’m bi” so I’m obviously I’m like, “What the Fuck?!”
Then he goes and tells me it’s something I said, so I’m thinking I’m subconsciously trying to sabotage him or something…”
Mikey looked at Patrick dubiously.
“It makes sense if you’re me, okay!” Patrick said firmly and continued the story.
“So, he’s pestering me, asking me what’s up and I keep saying that I can’t tell him but he goes on and on. Then he says, “How bad can it be?” or something so, I kinda, showed him.”
“How?” Mikey asked.
“I err, kissed him,” Patrick admitted. “But he didn’t kiss back so I kinda cried and ran off, got lost, you found me and here we are!”
Mikey’s expression was somewhere between sympathetic and overwhelmed and Patrick shrugged with a half smile.
“Complexities are like, well, Pete,” he said. “They get everywhere you don’t want them to be.”
Mikey laughed and almost walked into a pole.
“Well, you and Pete really do deserve each other,” he said with a smile. “You’re both blind-ass dumbfucks I swear to God.”
“You’re the one that almost walked into a pole…” Patrick said sarcastically. “Watch out for the paving stone.”
“What paving stone?” Mikey asked. His foot crashing into said stone which was sticking up off the sidewalk gave him the answer.
“Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!!!”
“Pretty words,” Patrick laughed and walked ahead while Mikey nursed his foot.
“You only saw that ‘cause you keep looking at your feet,” Mikey stated and limped quickly to catch up with Patrick.
“I do not!” Patrick objected and looked at his feet, then cursed and looked forwards.
“What is it with you and no eye-contact?” Mikey asked. “From what Pete tells me you have gorgeous eyes.” Then he gasped and shut his mouth tight. Patrick’s eyes narrowed suspiciously
“Why would Pete tell you that?” he asked and Mikey shrugged.
“Pete tells me lots of things,” he said flippantly and Patrick looked at him for a little, like he sensed something, but just continued walking. Mikey breathed a sigh of relief in his mind. He wanted badly to show Patrick the e-mail Pete had sent him but, he remembered Pete’s warning.
“No one sees that Mikey. In-fact, delete it and tell no one. Especially not Patrick. I’m not loosing the best thing I’ve ever had.”
It was a stupid warning to be honest but he wanted to respect Pete’s wishes. But the two were so made for each other it was getting harder and harder by the second.
'I’m gonna crack eventually Pete,' he thought. 'This is getting harder and harder…'
He put his hand in his pocket and squeezed his Sidekick tight.
“What’s in your pocket?” Patrick asked.
“Uh, my Sidekick,” Mikey answered and Patrick’s eyes widened.
“Shit, Peter told me Frank Iero was short but…” he exclaimed.
Mikey went bright red and said through gritted teeth,
“Frankie is not my sidekick, and I meant my phone.”
“I know. Pete dared me to say it,” Patrick grinned. “He now owes me $10.”
“He will die,” Mikey decided. “Via Gerard.”
X
“Have you ever once considered that Pete might, I dunno, like you back?”
Patrick shook his head.
“Sometimes I think maybe, but that’s just false hope,” he said sadly.
“Or common sense maybe?” Mikey suggested.
“Pete doesn’t seem the type of person to not be up front about liking someone,” Patrick said, trying to expel the false hope from his brain.
“Ah,” Mikey said knowledgably. “If he doesn’t know them well.”
Now it was Patrick’s turn to look dubious.
“Listen, when Pete gets friends, he hates losing them,” Mikey started to explain. “Take me for example. He still, to this day, can’t admit out loud that he had a crush on me, ‘cause apart from the fact that he was clinging onto his straightness for dear life, he was stuck in the mindset that he’d lose me.
He met this Kirsten girl at a party, and she was dressed like Sally. You know about Pete’s Nightmare before Christmas obsession. It was definitely a lust thing so he had no problem about going up to her. He’s not gonna be all up-front with you in case he gets rejected and loses a good friend. Makes sense right?”
In fact, it made more sense than Patrick wanted it to.
Could Mikey be right? Was he really too blind to see that his feelings for Pete were mutual?
“How do you know so much?” Patrick asked Mikey suspiciously. Mikey looked like he changed what he was about to say in his head before he said,
“I’ve known Pete a long time.”
Patrick was silent for a bit then. Silently suspicious though. He could tell Mikey was hiding something and he wanted to know what it was, but he changed the subject for now.
“What was Pete like in high school?” Patrick asked Mikey after a short silence, and Mikey grinned.
“He was bleach blonde for a while,” he said reminiscently and Patrick’s jaw dropped.
“I don’t even wanna picture that,” he said with a pained look on his face.
“He was pretty cool though,” Mikey continued. “Sarcastic little bitch but he looked out for me.
I remember he thought he was Morrissey for a week and came into school every day with a bouquet of Sunflowers and swung them round while he was walking down the hallway. I nicknamed him the boy that’s a thorn in my side…
He’s a fucking eccentric but there is method in his madness. Whenever I did get to see the lyrics he wrote I was blown away.”
“Yeah he’s shown me a lot of stuff he’s written and stuff he wrote when he was younger too,” Patrick agreed. “I dunno. He makes words say things you never though could possibly be voiced.”
“He shows you his lyrics?” Mikey asked.
“Yeah,” Patrick replied. “Why?”
Mikey looked amazed at this, but Patrick couldn’t see what the fuss was about. Pete always showed him new stuff he wrote, and sometimes Patrick would think of a tune and actually put them to music. Pete liked to watch him, and when Patrick asked why, Pete would say:
“’Cause you just look like you’re in your element, and you seem really determined to make something great.”
“Pete must really trust you,” Mikey said, with the surprise still prominent in his voice. “A lot.”
Patrick shrugged.
“I guess,” he said.
"You guess?" Mikey echoed. "He's showed me lyrics twice in the entire time I’ve known him and the other times I’ve seen his stuff, I’ve had to sneak peaks over his shoulder when he gave up and started writing in Math lessons. What do you think your relationship with Pete is then?"
Patrick shrugged.
"We're like brothers or something I guess." he guessed and Mikey laughed quietly.
"Like me and Pete were "brothers" huh?" he asked and Patrick glared at Mikey sideways.
"How come you've come to this conclusion and no one else has?" Patrick asked.
"Didn't Kirsten?" Mikey asked back.
"No one likes a wise ass," Patrick mumbled and Mikey laughed.
“Pete did,” he said with a cheeky grin and Patrick held the bridge of his nose.
“OK, Way,” Patrick began.
“That rhymes!” Mikey exclaimed. He could feel Patrick cottoning on and tried to annoy Patrick into forgetting.
“You’re acting like Pete and it’s making me suspicious,” Patrick told Mikey and Mikey sighed,
“Maybe you’re not as blind as I thought…”
“What’s going on here? Are you hiding something?” Patrick asked. Mikey looked at Patrick intently, and then pulled his sidekick out of his pocket. He pressed a few buttons and then handed it to Patrick.
“I hope Pete forgives me for this,” he said. “But here, read.”
Patrick looked down at the screen. It was an e-mail from Pete.
~
Hey Mikey!
Haven’t spoken to you in a while, (like a week), so yeah, I’m not dead.
Wow, that makes us sound like lovers. But I wouldn’t do that to Frank ;].
Anyway, I’ve been busy getting to know the best friend I’ve probably ever had, no offence. His name is Patrick and I swear to you, I’ve found my long lost brother. Despite the whole not being related thing but you get the idea.
He’s like, beautiful, Mike. He never lets me see him without a hat but the hair I do get to see is a really shade of strawberry blonde that brings out his eyes and oh my God his eyes! The change colour from bright blue to green and to hazel and it’s like they were fashioned from only the brightest stars in the sky, hand picked by angels… fuck it, he is an angel.
Now, you know me. I have no faith in real stars. They cloud or eyes with tales of wishes, hopes, dreams, fairytales and that happily ever after and show us just how amazing the universe is, but they’re really just balls of burning gas that fizzle out and leave back holes of pure destruction in the sky and in our hearts, but fuck. His eyes are the stars fairytales are made of. The stars you see twinkling in the night sky when the air is clear. Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning and you’ll end up right there in his gaze
He’s too insecure, all the time. He doesn‘t say it outright but I can tell he thinks he’s pale, fat and short.
Well, he’s the same height as me so I kinda take that into offence first of all. Secondly, his skin reminds me of Christmas morning in Chicago when the snow is laid on thick and everything looks so pure and that slight blush that pops up all the time is just so warm like a fireplace after you’ve just been pelted with snowballs by your little brother and he just feels so much like home.
But he’s not all winter all over. He looks his best in the sun. ‘Cause the light hits his face and his eyes light up, his hair turns gold and his skin gets this glow like, excuse all the cliché’s and cheese but it’s like he’s an angel.
Whenever we’re together I’m always draped over him and squeezing him ‘cause he’s soft, kinda like Hemmy, except he reacts when I poke him.
I’m kinda not allowed to poke him anymore.
I’ve made a silent vow to get him in skinny jeans. I’ll buy him red ones, black ones and green ones. He doesn’t know but I’ll make him show that ass off.
Plus he’s a genius too. Get this:
Pianist, drummer, guitarist and an amazing singer all rolled into one 5’3” Glenview package! Fuck yeah! ^________^
I love how shy and unaware of his genius he is. He’s kind and fucking patient! But he’s a bitch, seriously. He could cut you to ribbons with that tongue and leave you in pieces.
But he’d pick up the pieces and put you back together again.
I admire how pure he is (or seems to be…Dun, dun DUN!) compared to me, the dude whoring himself to his girlfriend and ex-nicotine addict (do you Jersey boys still smoke? You guys need to kick that shit) plus the whole blackened soul thing going on and ‘Trick is like…
Bright, beautiful, kinda mysterious, silent but breathtaking and everyone else pales in comparison.
He’s a star dude.
An absolute star.
My absolute star.
I’ll introduce you guys one day. Maybe via your T-mobile Frankie (;]). I think you’ll like each other. You can talk girl talk about what a pig I am.
Holla back,
Wentzizzle Sizzle.
(I’m G now coz I stole one of Travie’s caps. I’m like, a pimp. Patrick is my first hoe but slap on a bit of lipstick and a mini-skirt and you’ll be next in line >:D)
~
Patrick was in tears. Partly from laughter and partly because he was overwhelmed. He had no idea Pete thought of him like that. Comparing him to Neverland, fuck…
“That was full of cheese,” he choked out. “But, wow.” Mikey took his Sidekick back and put his arm around Patrick.
“See what I mean?” he smiled. “He fucking worships you.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Patrick asked, wiping his tears on his sleeve.
“Didn’t want to lose you.” Mikey said.
Patrick laughed.
“I feel like such a…” he started.
“Blind-ass dumbfuck?” Mikey offered.
“Don’t push it, Way,” Patrick warned.
X
“Gerard? Bob?” Mikey called as he opened the door to Bob’s house. “I’ve got a surprise visitor!”
He stopped in the doorway suddenly and Patrick nearly fell backwards.
“What the hell Mikey?” Patrick exclaimed and pushed his way forward. He was met with Bob and a man he assumed to be Gerard sitting on a sofa, with an eyeliner-less and puffy-eyed Pete in the armchair opposite. He sniffed and wiped his face with blackened hands.
“’Trick,” Pete said quietly. “Can we talk?”
Patrick stomach did back flips as he squeaked,
“Okay.”
X
Pete took Patrick into Bob's spare bedroom. Patrick sat on the bed and Pete closed the door.
"They'll be outside the door in a few seconds, so that was kinda pointless," he smiled weakly and Patrick half-laughed and they fell into awkward silence. Pete hated the sound of blood rushing through his ears and his heart going at a million miles an hour so he had to talk.
"Look, about before, I-"
"Pete," Patrick cut him off, "Mikey showed me the e-mail on his sidekick."
Pete's eyes widened and he cursed loudly.
"I will kill you Mikey!" he shouted at the door then turned back to Patrick and his expression softened.
"So, you get it now?" he asked quietly and Patrick shrugged.
"Kinda," he said just as quietly. "But, why didn't you tell me?"
Pete shrugged and walked over to sit next to Patrick.
"I wasn't very happy with you after you wrote that you know," he said and rested his head on Patrick's shoulder.
"Why? What did I do?" he asked, resting his head on Pete's head, knowing full well he'd have a neck full of gel when they sat up.
"That was by far the single cheesiest thing I’ve ever written. I felt like the hopeless romantic in me had been ripped out and paraded all over the screen." Pete said and Patrick laughed. Pete moved his head and looked up so he was looking straight at Patrick. His gaze locked with Patrick's and those green eyes nearly made him forget what he was about to say, but he gathered himself together.
"I meant every single word of that e-mail. But I was shit scared to tell you because, well, I was scared you wouldn't feel the same way and our whole friendship would fuck up. But at the same time, if you did feel the same way I wouldn't be able to be with you because if I leave Kirsten I lose Decaydance and it would all be one big unfair mess and I'd lose you."
Pete could feel his voice crack and the tears start to well up.
"I can't lose you Patrick Martin Stumph. I won't loose you. I'll self-destruct without you and I'm already a disaster as it is. I mean, look at me. I haven't done my make-up this well in weeks and I’ve cried it all away."
Patrick laughed at that.
"Don't worry Tink." he said. "The puffy look suits you."
"God, I'm such a baby," Pete sighed and wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.
Patrick looked at him silently for a while, and then asked,
"What did I say to make you realise?"
"Oh," Pete blushed. "You remember that day I was on my coffee high?"
Patrick nodded grimly and added, "All too well."
"You were singing 'The Academy Is...' in the shower and I had to rush off, remember?"
Patrick nodded slowly and Pete blushed deeper.
"I kinda, realised then."
"Oh... Oh!!" Patrick realised. "I did that?!"
Pete nodded and Patrick grinned.
"I feel all powerful now." he said proudly and Pete laughed.
"You're my strength and weakness all in one," he said then growled and hit himself over the head. "That was such cheese!"
He rested his head in Patrick's lap and smiled up at him,
"You bring out the best and the worst in me."
"It's all the best, all of it." Patrick blurted out before he had time to think, which shocked Pete.
"You're always too nice to me," he said, trying to brush off the compliment.
"I-I mean it," Patrick started to gush. "I love every single inch of you. Even the most annoying coffee-addict parts and I never want you to change. Ever.
Pete sat up and locked eyes with Patrick again. He felt a surge of courage push into his chest and without warning he kissed Patrick full on the mouth and pulled him close. His head almost exploded. The feeling of Patrick's tongue pushing his lips apart made Pete almost smirk into the kiss, but instead he opened his mouth willingly and fuck, if his head was about to explode before, his whole body was quaking with potential to burst.
He rested his left hand on Patrick's side and gently stroked his jaw line with the right hand. Patrick let out a low moan and Pete could help but grin and say proudly,
"I got a moan out of you 'Trick."
"Why are you still in kindergarten?" Patrick laughed and Pete just smiled at Patrick because he was silently trying to comprehend the feeling in his chest right at that moment. He'd heard of it before. Something like bliss, but that sounded all sappy and gross. Like whenever someone says it there should be sighing in the background.
Bliss (ahhh...)
Ugh.
"I think I need to make up a word for this feeling in here," Pete said, pointing to his chest. "'Cause I like it."
"Maybe you do," Patrick shrugged. But can you think about it later?" and he kissed Pete more forcefully. Pete felt himself lying Patrick backwards and rested his hands on Patrick's hips. His cold fingers made Patrick gasp and he bit Pete's lower lip.
Pete really liked that.
Pete smiled down at Patrick.
"I haven't said this to anyone other than Hemmy and my mom," he whispered in Patrick's ear. "But here goes nothing. I love you, 'Trick."
"Love you too 'Tink," Patrick whispered back and kissed Pete for the third time.
"You have really nice lips," Pete said, with his eyes still closed.
"I've been told," Patrick chuckled. "Apparently they're... useful,"
"For kissing? Fuck yeah,"
"Plus other things..."
"Like wh-- oh..."
"Your lips go anywhere other than his face on my bed and I’ll cut them the fuck off, Stumph."
Pete rolled off Patrick and they both sat up. Gerard, Bob and Mikey were stood in the door. Bob armed with a phone.
"Hear that, Frank? Porn!" Bob commentated with a grin on his face.
"You're recording them on your phone Bob?" Mikey asked.
"Nope," Bob grinned. "Yours, and… sent to Frank!"
Mikey jumped Bob and attempted to wrestle his phone off of the bigger man.
"I feel violated..." Patrick said worriedly to Pete. Pete laughed and wrapped his arms around Patrick.
"Nah, that's my job." he grinned.
"Okay, ew," Gerard interjected. "I'm warning you two. I have to sleep in that thing."
"Well that's all our plans out of the window," Patrick sighed. "I was just gonna ask if any of you guys have a spare pair of handcuffs."
"I object if it's anything less than pink and fluffy." Pete added.
"You can object all you like," Patrick smirked and tapped Pete's nose. "But I'm a pretty demanding boyfriend, Tink."
"So it's official then?" Pete grinned. Patrick blushed, just realising what he had said, and nodded.
"Yeah, it's official." he said timidly and Pete leapt on him.
"Screw the handcuffs," he said and kissed Patrick's neck. "You, me, here, right now."
"Okay, off my bed before I get the hose," Gerard decided and pulled Pete off of Patrick. "I knew you'd piss me off one too many times, Wentz."
X
The next day, Patrick was having a hard time convincing Andy he was happy.
"I'm telling you Andy! It's all perfect, I swear! No... we haven't talked about her yet... it's technically cheating, yes, but... no I’m fine with... I’m not second best! Hold on a sec... don't call him that! I... he's at work but... you don't know where it is! You can't go find him... Hold on a sec, what do you mean "sources"?! Andy..."
All Patrick heard then was a click and a dial tone. Andy had hung up.
Patrick had no idea what Andy meant when he said he had sources, until it clicked in his mind.
"Shit!" he exclaimed. "He knows Joe!"
Patrick threw on a hat, grabbed his car keys and attempted to get to work before Andy.
X
"Hey, Pete?" Travis said to Pete from the door to the studio.
"Yeah Travie?" Pete called back.
"Some dude out here with Joe says he wants to talk to you."
Pete got up and wondered who it was.
He walked Past Travis and out of the door, and stood there was a man, slightly taller than him with glasses and brown hair tied in a ponytail.
"Hey," he said. "Are you Pete Wentz?"
"Uh, yeah," Pete replied.
"Awesome," the man smirked and before Pete had the chance to process the word "awesome", he punched Pete squarely in the nose.
9
Rating: T+ (Swearing & mention of sexual practice)
Summary: A tired Pete Wentz, a scheming girlfriend, and the ultimate complex relationship. Throw in a new neighbor in the form of Patrick and an attraction that everyone sees except the two men in question (and Travis but what does he notice?). Stir in my mind for months and then spill all over livejournal. What do you get? Probably the yummiest fic i've ever written! ^____^
Beta:
vampyre_hunter
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original character.
Previous Chapters:
1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7
Patrick turned around and matched the voice to a more familiar pair of amber eyes looking down at him.
“Mikey?” Patrick asked unsurely. Mikey smiled and nodded.
“Got it in one,” he said and sat next to Patrick. “So, where’s Wentz?”
Patrick looked down at his shoes and mumbled,
“Long story.”
“That doesn’t sound too good,” Mikey said, sounding very concerned. “What did he do this time?”
“It was more me, believe it or not,” Patrick half laughed, slightly amused at how pathetic he felt, and looked up at Mikey with a shrug and half smile. Mikey sat for a little while and then stood up with his hands in his pockets.
“Long story, huh?” he asked and then looked down at Patrick. “I took a walk just now ‘cause I was bored and I don’t intend to stop walking now, so let’s go.”
Patrick was silent for a while, contemplating what to do next.
'Am I really gonna spill my guts to an almost total stranger?' he asked himself. Before he’d even finished the question he was on his feet and walking beside Mikey.
'Huh, I guess I am.'
X
“…So you guys staged a fight?” Mikey laughed. “Is this girlfriend of his really that bad?”
“Nope,” Patrick shrugged. “Worse.”
“But she’s just a minor problem. Me and Pete have been awesome from day one and yeah, I didn’t think anything could fuck up how close we are,” Patrick continued.
“Today was awesome. He took me all over where he used to live and I met his old friends, who made it clearer as to why Pete is so fucked up. If you drank your own piss and allowed yourself to be shot by paintballs on your bare ass you’d be a bit of a degenerate too. I met his parents and his dog Hemmingway and we were awesome until we went up to his room. So he just basically comes out to me and is like, “Patrick, I’m bi” so I’m obviously I’m like, “What the Fuck?!”
Then he goes and tells me it’s something I said, so I’m thinking I’m subconsciously trying to sabotage him or something…”
Mikey looked at Patrick dubiously.
“It makes sense if you’re me, okay!” Patrick said firmly and continued the story.
“So, he’s pestering me, asking me what’s up and I keep saying that I can’t tell him but he goes on and on. Then he says, “How bad can it be?” or something so, I kinda, showed him.”
“How?” Mikey asked.
“I err, kissed him,” Patrick admitted. “But he didn’t kiss back so I kinda cried and ran off, got lost, you found me and here we are!”
Mikey’s expression was somewhere between sympathetic and overwhelmed and Patrick shrugged with a half smile.
“Complexities are like, well, Pete,” he said. “They get everywhere you don’t want them to be.”
Mikey laughed and almost walked into a pole.
“Well, you and Pete really do deserve each other,” he said with a smile. “You’re both blind-ass dumbfucks I swear to God.”
“You’re the one that almost walked into a pole…” Patrick said sarcastically. “Watch out for the paving stone.”
“What paving stone?” Mikey asked. His foot crashing into said stone which was sticking up off the sidewalk gave him the answer.
“Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!!!”
“Pretty words,” Patrick laughed and walked ahead while Mikey nursed his foot.
“You only saw that ‘cause you keep looking at your feet,” Mikey stated and limped quickly to catch up with Patrick.
“I do not!” Patrick objected and looked at his feet, then cursed and looked forwards.
“What is it with you and no eye-contact?” Mikey asked. “From what Pete tells me you have gorgeous eyes.” Then he gasped and shut his mouth tight. Patrick’s eyes narrowed suspiciously
“Why would Pete tell you that?” he asked and Mikey shrugged.
“Pete tells me lots of things,” he said flippantly and Patrick looked at him for a little, like he sensed something, but just continued walking. Mikey breathed a sigh of relief in his mind. He wanted badly to show Patrick the e-mail Pete had sent him but, he remembered Pete’s warning.
“No one sees that Mikey. In-fact, delete it and tell no one. Especially not Patrick. I’m not loosing the best thing I’ve ever had.”
It was a stupid warning to be honest but he wanted to respect Pete’s wishes. But the two were so made for each other it was getting harder and harder by the second.
'I’m gonna crack eventually Pete,' he thought. 'This is getting harder and harder…'
He put his hand in his pocket and squeezed his Sidekick tight.
“What’s in your pocket?” Patrick asked.
“Uh, my Sidekick,” Mikey answered and Patrick’s eyes widened.
“Shit, Peter told me Frank Iero was short but…” he exclaimed.
Mikey went bright red and said through gritted teeth,
“Frankie is not my sidekick, and I meant my phone.”
“I know. Pete dared me to say it,” Patrick grinned. “He now owes me $10.”
“He will die,” Mikey decided. “Via Gerard.”
X
“Have you ever once considered that Pete might, I dunno, like you back?”
Patrick shook his head.
“Sometimes I think maybe, but that’s just false hope,” he said sadly.
“Or common sense maybe?” Mikey suggested.
“Pete doesn’t seem the type of person to not be up front about liking someone,” Patrick said, trying to expel the false hope from his brain.
“Ah,” Mikey said knowledgably. “If he doesn’t know them well.”
Now it was Patrick’s turn to look dubious.
“Listen, when Pete gets friends, he hates losing them,” Mikey started to explain. “Take me for example. He still, to this day, can’t admit out loud that he had a crush on me, ‘cause apart from the fact that he was clinging onto his straightness for dear life, he was stuck in the mindset that he’d lose me.
He met this Kirsten girl at a party, and she was dressed like Sally. You know about Pete’s Nightmare before Christmas obsession. It was definitely a lust thing so he had no problem about going up to her. He’s not gonna be all up-front with you in case he gets rejected and loses a good friend. Makes sense right?”
In fact, it made more sense than Patrick wanted it to.
Could Mikey be right? Was he really too blind to see that his feelings for Pete were mutual?
“How do you know so much?” Patrick asked Mikey suspiciously. Mikey looked like he changed what he was about to say in his head before he said,
“I’ve known Pete a long time.”
Patrick was silent for a bit then. Silently suspicious though. He could tell Mikey was hiding something and he wanted to know what it was, but he changed the subject for now.
“What was Pete like in high school?” Patrick asked Mikey after a short silence, and Mikey grinned.
“He was bleach blonde for a while,” he said reminiscently and Patrick’s jaw dropped.
“I don’t even wanna picture that,” he said with a pained look on his face.
“He was pretty cool though,” Mikey continued. “Sarcastic little bitch but he looked out for me.
I remember he thought he was Morrissey for a week and came into school every day with a bouquet of Sunflowers and swung them round while he was walking down the hallway. I nicknamed him the boy that’s a thorn in my side…
He’s a fucking eccentric but there is method in his madness. Whenever I did get to see the lyrics he wrote I was blown away.”
“Yeah he’s shown me a lot of stuff he’s written and stuff he wrote when he was younger too,” Patrick agreed. “I dunno. He makes words say things you never though could possibly be voiced.”
“He shows you his lyrics?” Mikey asked.
“Yeah,” Patrick replied. “Why?”
Mikey looked amazed at this, but Patrick couldn’t see what the fuss was about. Pete always showed him new stuff he wrote, and sometimes Patrick would think of a tune and actually put them to music. Pete liked to watch him, and when Patrick asked why, Pete would say:
“’Cause you just look like you’re in your element, and you seem really determined to make something great.”
“Pete must really trust you,” Mikey said, with the surprise still prominent in his voice. “A lot.”
Patrick shrugged.
“I guess,” he said.
"You guess?" Mikey echoed. "He's showed me lyrics twice in the entire time I’ve known him and the other times I’ve seen his stuff, I’ve had to sneak peaks over his shoulder when he gave up and started writing in Math lessons. What do you think your relationship with Pete is then?"
Patrick shrugged.
"We're like brothers or something I guess." he guessed and Mikey laughed quietly.
"Like me and Pete were "brothers" huh?" he asked and Patrick glared at Mikey sideways.
"How come you've come to this conclusion and no one else has?" Patrick asked.
"Didn't Kirsten?" Mikey asked back.
"No one likes a wise ass," Patrick mumbled and Mikey laughed.
“Pete did,” he said with a cheeky grin and Patrick held the bridge of his nose.
“OK, Way,” Patrick began.
“That rhymes!” Mikey exclaimed. He could feel Patrick cottoning on and tried to annoy Patrick into forgetting.
“You’re acting like Pete and it’s making me suspicious,” Patrick told Mikey and Mikey sighed,
“Maybe you’re not as blind as I thought…”
“What’s going on here? Are you hiding something?” Patrick asked. Mikey looked at Patrick intently, and then pulled his sidekick out of his pocket. He pressed a few buttons and then handed it to Patrick.
“I hope Pete forgives me for this,” he said. “But here, read.”
Patrick looked down at the screen. It was an e-mail from Pete.
~
Hey Mikey!
Haven’t spoken to you in a while, (like a week), so yeah, I’m not dead.
Wow, that makes us sound like lovers. But I wouldn’t do that to Frank ;].
Anyway, I’ve been busy getting to know the best friend I’ve probably ever had, no offence. His name is Patrick and I swear to you, I’ve found my long lost brother. Despite the whole not being related thing but you get the idea.
He’s like, beautiful, Mike. He never lets me see him without a hat but the hair I do get to see is a really shade of strawberry blonde that brings out his eyes and oh my God his eyes! The change colour from bright blue to green and to hazel and it’s like they were fashioned from only the brightest stars in the sky, hand picked by angels… fuck it, he is an angel.
Now, you know me. I have no faith in real stars. They cloud or eyes with tales of wishes, hopes, dreams, fairytales and that happily ever after and show us just how amazing the universe is, but they’re really just balls of burning gas that fizzle out and leave back holes of pure destruction in the sky and in our hearts, but fuck. His eyes are the stars fairytales are made of. The stars you see twinkling in the night sky when the air is clear. Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning and you’ll end up right there in his gaze
He’s too insecure, all the time. He doesn‘t say it outright but I can tell he thinks he’s pale, fat and short.
Well, he’s the same height as me so I kinda take that into offence first of all. Secondly, his skin reminds me of Christmas morning in Chicago when the snow is laid on thick and everything looks so pure and that slight blush that pops up all the time is just so warm like a fireplace after you’ve just been pelted with snowballs by your little brother and he just feels so much like home.
But he’s not all winter all over. He looks his best in the sun. ‘Cause the light hits his face and his eyes light up, his hair turns gold and his skin gets this glow like, excuse all the cliché’s and cheese but it’s like he’s an angel.
Whenever we’re together I’m always draped over him and squeezing him ‘cause he’s soft, kinda like Hemmy, except he reacts when I poke him.
I’m kinda not allowed to poke him anymore.
I’ve made a silent vow to get him in skinny jeans. I’ll buy him red ones, black ones and green ones. He doesn’t know but I’ll make him show that ass off.
Plus he’s a genius too. Get this:
Pianist, drummer, guitarist and an amazing singer all rolled into one 5’3” Glenview package! Fuck yeah! ^________^
I love how shy and unaware of his genius he is. He’s kind and fucking patient! But he’s a bitch, seriously. He could cut you to ribbons with that tongue and leave you in pieces.
But he’d pick up the pieces and put you back together again.
I admire how pure he is (or seems to be…Dun, dun DUN!) compared to me, the dude whoring himself to his girlfriend and ex-nicotine addict (do you Jersey boys still smoke? You guys need to kick that shit) plus the whole blackened soul thing going on and ‘Trick is like…
Bright, beautiful, kinda mysterious, silent but breathtaking and everyone else pales in comparison.
He’s a star dude.
An absolute star.
My absolute star.
I’ll introduce you guys one day. Maybe via your T-mobile Frankie (;]). I think you’ll like each other. You can talk girl talk about what a pig I am.
Holla back,
Wentzizzle Sizzle.
(I’m G now coz I stole one of Travie’s caps. I’m like, a pimp. Patrick is my first hoe but slap on a bit of lipstick and a mini-skirt and you’ll be next in line >:D)
~
Patrick was in tears. Partly from laughter and partly because he was overwhelmed. He had no idea Pete thought of him like that. Comparing him to Neverland, fuck…
“That was full of cheese,” he choked out. “But, wow.” Mikey took his Sidekick back and put his arm around Patrick.
“See what I mean?” he smiled. “He fucking worships you.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Patrick asked, wiping his tears on his sleeve.
“Didn’t want to lose you.” Mikey said.
Patrick laughed.
“I feel like such a…” he started.
“Blind-ass dumbfuck?” Mikey offered.
“Don’t push it, Way,” Patrick warned.
X
“Gerard? Bob?” Mikey called as he opened the door to Bob’s house. “I’ve got a surprise visitor!”
He stopped in the doorway suddenly and Patrick nearly fell backwards.
“What the hell Mikey?” Patrick exclaimed and pushed his way forward. He was met with Bob and a man he assumed to be Gerard sitting on a sofa, with an eyeliner-less and puffy-eyed Pete in the armchair opposite. He sniffed and wiped his face with blackened hands.
“’Trick,” Pete said quietly. “Can we talk?”
Patrick stomach did back flips as he squeaked,
“Okay.”
X
Pete took Patrick into Bob's spare bedroom. Patrick sat on the bed and Pete closed the door.
"They'll be outside the door in a few seconds, so that was kinda pointless," he smiled weakly and Patrick half-laughed and they fell into awkward silence. Pete hated the sound of blood rushing through his ears and his heart going at a million miles an hour so he had to talk.
"Look, about before, I-"
"Pete," Patrick cut him off, "Mikey showed me the e-mail on his sidekick."
Pete's eyes widened and he cursed loudly.
"I will kill you Mikey!" he shouted at the door then turned back to Patrick and his expression softened.
"So, you get it now?" he asked quietly and Patrick shrugged.
"Kinda," he said just as quietly. "But, why didn't you tell me?"
Pete shrugged and walked over to sit next to Patrick.
"I wasn't very happy with you after you wrote that you know," he said and rested his head on Patrick's shoulder.
"Why? What did I do?" he asked, resting his head on Pete's head, knowing full well he'd have a neck full of gel when they sat up.
"That was by far the single cheesiest thing I’ve ever written. I felt like the hopeless romantic in me had been ripped out and paraded all over the screen." Pete said and Patrick laughed. Pete moved his head and looked up so he was looking straight at Patrick. His gaze locked with Patrick's and those green eyes nearly made him forget what he was about to say, but he gathered himself together.
"I meant every single word of that e-mail. But I was shit scared to tell you because, well, I was scared you wouldn't feel the same way and our whole friendship would fuck up. But at the same time, if you did feel the same way I wouldn't be able to be with you because if I leave Kirsten I lose Decaydance and it would all be one big unfair mess and I'd lose you."
Pete could feel his voice crack and the tears start to well up.
"I can't lose you Patrick Martin Stumph. I won't loose you. I'll self-destruct without you and I'm already a disaster as it is. I mean, look at me. I haven't done my make-up this well in weeks and I’ve cried it all away."
Patrick laughed at that.
"Don't worry Tink." he said. "The puffy look suits you."
"God, I'm such a baby," Pete sighed and wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.
Patrick looked at him silently for a while, and then asked,
"What did I say to make you realise?"
"Oh," Pete blushed. "You remember that day I was on my coffee high?"
Patrick nodded grimly and added, "All too well."
"You were singing 'The Academy Is...' in the shower and I had to rush off, remember?"
Patrick nodded slowly and Pete blushed deeper.
"I kinda, realised then."
"Oh... Oh!!" Patrick realised. "I did that?!"
Pete nodded and Patrick grinned.
"I feel all powerful now." he said proudly and Pete laughed.
"You're my strength and weakness all in one," he said then growled and hit himself over the head. "That was such cheese!"
He rested his head in Patrick's lap and smiled up at him,
"You bring out the best and the worst in me."
"It's all the best, all of it." Patrick blurted out before he had time to think, which shocked Pete.
"You're always too nice to me," he said, trying to brush off the compliment.
"I-I mean it," Patrick started to gush. "I love every single inch of you. Even the most annoying coffee-addict parts and I never want you to change. Ever.
Pete sat up and locked eyes with Patrick again. He felt a surge of courage push into his chest and without warning he kissed Patrick full on the mouth and pulled him close. His head almost exploded. The feeling of Patrick's tongue pushing his lips apart made Pete almost smirk into the kiss, but instead he opened his mouth willingly and fuck, if his head was about to explode before, his whole body was quaking with potential to burst.
He rested his left hand on Patrick's side and gently stroked his jaw line with the right hand. Patrick let out a low moan and Pete could help but grin and say proudly,
"I got a moan out of you 'Trick."
"Why are you still in kindergarten?" Patrick laughed and Pete just smiled at Patrick because he was silently trying to comprehend the feeling in his chest right at that moment. He'd heard of it before. Something like bliss, but that sounded all sappy and gross. Like whenever someone says it there should be sighing in the background.
Bliss (ahhh...)
Ugh.
"I think I need to make up a word for this feeling in here," Pete said, pointing to his chest. "'Cause I like it."
"Maybe you do," Patrick shrugged. But can you think about it later?" and he kissed Pete more forcefully. Pete felt himself lying Patrick backwards and rested his hands on Patrick's hips. His cold fingers made Patrick gasp and he bit Pete's lower lip.
Pete really liked that.
Pete smiled down at Patrick.
"I haven't said this to anyone other than Hemmy and my mom," he whispered in Patrick's ear. "But here goes nothing. I love you, 'Trick."
"Love you too 'Tink," Patrick whispered back and kissed Pete for the third time.
"You have really nice lips," Pete said, with his eyes still closed.
"I've been told," Patrick chuckled. "Apparently they're... useful,"
"For kissing? Fuck yeah,"
"Plus other things..."
"Like wh-- oh..."
"Your lips go anywhere other than his face on my bed and I’ll cut them the fuck off, Stumph."
Pete rolled off Patrick and they both sat up. Gerard, Bob and Mikey were stood in the door. Bob armed with a phone.
"Hear that, Frank? Porn!" Bob commentated with a grin on his face.
"You're recording them on your phone Bob?" Mikey asked.
"Nope," Bob grinned. "Yours, and… sent to Frank!"
Mikey jumped Bob and attempted to wrestle his phone off of the bigger man.
"I feel violated..." Patrick said worriedly to Pete. Pete laughed and wrapped his arms around Patrick.
"Nah, that's my job." he grinned.
"Okay, ew," Gerard interjected. "I'm warning you two. I have to sleep in that thing."
"Well that's all our plans out of the window," Patrick sighed. "I was just gonna ask if any of you guys have a spare pair of handcuffs."
"I object if it's anything less than pink and fluffy." Pete added.
"You can object all you like," Patrick smirked and tapped Pete's nose. "But I'm a pretty demanding boyfriend, Tink."
"So it's official then?" Pete grinned. Patrick blushed, just realising what he had said, and nodded.
"Yeah, it's official." he said timidly and Pete leapt on him.
"Screw the handcuffs," he said and kissed Patrick's neck. "You, me, here, right now."
"Okay, off my bed before I get the hose," Gerard decided and pulled Pete off of Patrick. "I knew you'd piss me off one too many times, Wentz."
X
The next day, Patrick was having a hard time convincing Andy he was happy.
"I'm telling you Andy! It's all perfect, I swear! No... we haven't talked about her yet... it's technically cheating, yes, but... no I’m fine with... I’m not second best! Hold on a sec... don't call him that! I... he's at work but... you don't know where it is! You can't go find him... Hold on a sec, what do you mean "sources"?! Andy..."
All Patrick heard then was a click and a dial tone. Andy had hung up.
Patrick had no idea what Andy meant when he said he had sources, until it clicked in his mind.
"Shit!" he exclaimed. "He knows Joe!"
Patrick threw on a hat, grabbed his car keys and attempted to get to work before Andy.
X
"Hey, Pete?" Travis said to Pete from the door to the studio.
"Yeah Travie?" Pete called back.
"Some dude out here with Joe says he wants to talk to you."
Pete got up and wondered who it was.
He walked Past Travis and out of the door, and stood there was a man, slightly taller than him with glasses and brown hair tied in a ponytail.
"Hey," he said. "Are you Pete Wentz?"
"Uh, yeah," Pete replied.
"Awesome," the man smirked and before Pete had the chance to process the word "awesome", he punched Pete squarely in the nose.
9