𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, ph.

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝐱𝐯. p'chit.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐱𝐯. —— p'chit.

─ i ─

Pete raised his head from his phone when a familiar voice got to him, making him scan his surroundings. He was going to Kao's place after his lectures to get his sick boyfriend the notes and he just wanted to stop by a convenience store, because Kao texted he ran out of snacks. Before Pete could walk in, his eyes settled on a short student that was walking at a fast pace, holding onto the stripes of his backpack and keeping his head low as three other guys followed behind, talking loudly and laughing. One of them caught the backpack and made the student halt as he stumbled, turning around.

"You know, P'Tul, you really should stop acting like you're trying to shake kids for their lunch money when you're already in your twenties, it's fucking ridiculous," the short one said, and it earned him a fist to the face, but Pete thought it was a funny thing to say. He still hid his phone in his pocket and quickly ran up to them, catching the bigger guy's wrist before he could use his hand again, because Pick would probably kill Pete if he knew that he let anyone hit his boyfriend right in front of him.

"Hold it there, Rocky. Three on one doesn't look like a fair fight to me," Pete said, voice low in a warning. "And there are security cameras in front of the store, so scram," he added, nodding his head behind and with satisfaction watching the arrogant look slip off of their faces. He knew the type, guys like this could talk the talk, but would never walk the walk, and it took them only a couple of seconds to turn back where they came from. Pete watched them for a moment, then slowly turned his gaze back to the shorter student by his side. "Hm, no self-preservation skills whatsoever, huh? So that's what Pick likes in a guy."

Rome tugged his white dress shirt down to smooth it after the guy named Tul roughed it up, and then he wiped at the corner of his mouth, grimacing a bit when he glanced at the blood left on his skin.

"I don't have a death wish, if that's what you're implying," Rome answered slowly. His jaw must have hurt pretty badly because his golden eyes seemed to water a bit as he tried to get his words out. "But thank you for the help, P'Pete. Can you... maybe not tell P'Pick about it?" he asked sheepishly and Pete was starting to slowly understand why his best friend was always so happy to just do the things that Rome asks of him. The kid knew what he was doing.

"It's probably gonna bruise," Pete noticed, pointing towards Rome's cheek. There was the telltale of a bruise forming next to his lips and though it wasn't big, Pick probably knew Rome well enough by now to not be bought with I walked into the door kind of excuse. "Come on, let's get you some ice for this, you disaster," he sighed, catching the stripe of Rome's backpack to almost drag him into the store. It was like picking up a stray cat off the street and Pete was not a babysitter, but he couldn't just leave the guy like that.

Besides, he actually did like Rome, he wasn't just saying that to piss Pick off. Anyone who could make Pick fall head over heels like that must have been a charmer and a keeper, not to mention that Rome was able to put up with that tall freak—that, right there, was commitment. So if Rome was going to date Pete's best friend, Pete came to the only logical conclusion and that was to simply make Rome his another best friend, because what else was there? And so he texted Kao that he might be a little late because he just so happened to adopt a child on his way; he also attached a picture of Rome trying to get something from a high shelf because it was funny and Pete was a bit of an asshole.

"So the thing with those guys..." Pete tried to broach the topic when they got out and sat down with their backs pressed to the front of the store. He handed Rome the smaller bag of crushed ice because it was the only useful thing he could find and the boy was gently pressing it to the corner of his mouth. "It seemed like you knew them well. Does this happen often?" he asked carefully, because he was aware of the fact that they weren't quite there yet, and he knew from Pick that Rome didn't like to talk about those things.