The next day came quickly, and Pete had spent the remainder of the previous night thinking about what he could possibly do with Mikey, and after a good few hours of contemplation, Pete had ended up with a truly great idea: nothing. Pete hadn't thought of anything. It was almost as if every possible thought had just disappeared, and his mind was entirely blank, and God, he really fucking hoped that Mikey had came up of something himself.
He wasn't getting his hopes up, though, because he figured that Mikey would think that Pete would come up with something for him. Although, Mikey was intelligent, and most likely thought a lot, and probably had something up his sleeve.
For someone who spent so long thinking about every slight detail in all possible situations, it was pretty odd that he hadn't came up with anything, and he felt pretty shit about that - almost like he'd failed himself. He couldn't quite process that in the one situation where overthinking would actually be helpful, his mind backed out.
It made it a lot worse that he was normally a very creative person.
Feeling bad over the smallest of things, like this incident, was Pete's main talent. He was the best at it, no doubt, and getting worked up at tiny goads was something he did on a regular basis, making it his specialty. At least, in his opinion, anyway.
He reckoned that everyone in the school most likely hated him (partly because of this, partly because of his behaviour in general), and he didn't like that at all. He just did what he wanted to do (even if that involved stereotypically bad things), and that confused him, because surely that was admirable?
Pete thought it was hypocritical. Being told to 'take risks' and 'do what you wish', but then having strict guidelines and rules enforced. Okay, fair enough, some were necessary, he would admit that, but to him, some were absolutely pointless.
And it sucked that nobody would listen to him when he would try to express his opinion. Except for Mikey - he was different, and he listened, and Pete was grateful for that.
-
"So... do you have any requests as to what you want to rebel against today?" Pete asked, and honestly, he couldn't have made it any more obvious that he had no ideas.
"We could stay out past curfew?" He suggested, and thank fuck for Mikey Way.
Pete grinned, and he said "Good idea."
-
It was around 6pm, and Mikey had never felt more content with life in that moment, because watching the sunset was extremely relaxing, and he was with Pete, which was a bonus, and he felt like crying of happiness, because everything seemed to be working out.
The sunset was pretty, sure. The array of colours that sat in the sky were of wide variety - pinks, oranges, yellows, reds. All faded perfectly into one another. Only problem being the clouds that blocked it slightly, but besides that, it could be considered as a perfect view. If Mikey was any good at photography, he would probably have taken a decent photo of it by now, but alas, he wasn't, and a shitty quality iPhone camera photo would have to do for now.
Mikey could be cheesy and go into the whole "oh the sunset may be pretty but Pete is prettier" shit, but that was a little too hackneyed, even for him, and that was saying something, because although it didn't seem like it, Mikey could be the cheesiest motherfucker when he wanted to be. He wondered if Pete knew that, because he had told him so much, and the lines had blurred and he wasn't quite sure what he had and hadn't said anymore.
The two sat in silence, and Mikey kind of loved that. Sometimes, in rare cases for him, silence was almost violent, and he didn't like it, because it felt lonely, and being left alone with your thoughts was never fun. There were other times, though, where silence was peaceful, and calm, and it allowed you to clear your head, and to share that experience with someone you appreciate is a sublime feeling.
Actually, it wasn't fully silent, that was a slight over exaggeration. There were the sounds of the breeze blowing into the trees, and the occasional bird squawking, but besides that, there were no conversations being exchanged, making it practically silent.
Moving back to the point, all was silent. That is, until Pete spoke up.
"See those birds over there?" Pete said, pointing up over to a group of birds that were perched on a tree nearby. Mikey nodded. "They're like us, kinda."
Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate," he requested.
"We're all birds, Mikey. Some birds will fly higher than others, therefore experiencing more, and to get the best out of life, you need to learn how to fly."
"Deep," was all Mikey could think to respond with, because his brain was still trying to process how Pete had came up with that good of a metaphor within such a short amount of time.
"Yeah," Pete agreed, kind of sighing whilst he said it.
Why did this moment feel so intimate? Mikey wasn't sure. Maybe it was the deep words. Maybe it was the silence. Maybe it was the way they looked at each other (you know, that look where you have so much admiration in your eyes? The one that not even Mikey could see himself or Pete doing). Maybe it was the trust.
It was weird how much Mikey had opened up to Pete over the course of what? A week?
Mikey was usually one to keep to himself. That seemed to have taken a u-turn, though, because now there were things that not even Gerard knew about him that Pete now knew. There was just something trustworthy about Pete that Mikey noticed.
"What time even is your curfew?" Pete asked after another few minutes of silence.
"8," Mikey whispered, embarrassed at how early it was, even though he couldn't particularly help it - it was just his parents being overprotective, as per usual.
"Wow."
"I know."
-
Jump forward an hour, and Pete was sat with Mikey on a patch of dry grass, the sun now fully set, and Pete's torch being the only source of decent light.
"Shit," Mikey swore under his breath, coming to a realisation.
"Huh?"
"This was supposed to be a deal. You've done way more for me than I have for you. I feel bad."
"It's fine, Mikes, honestly," Pete started, but paused to briefly laugh at the slight glare Mikey was giving him because of his use of the nickname. "We have plenty of time before any tests. If it'll make you feel better you can tutor me tomorrow, or something. That okay?"
"Okay."
-
spot the car radio and tfios references
wow i finally used the quote from the description ain't that great
anyway i'm kinda proud of this chapter so i hope u enjoyed it !! tbh i love writing this fic
see you soon,
ry.
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learning to fly ➵ petekey
Fanfiction"We're all birds, Mikey. Some birds will fly higher than others, therefore experiencing more, and to get the best out of life, you need to learn how to fly." A story of two boys who have a connection they don't anticipate but have always needed to e...
