Happiness (Peterick)

ten

Patrick is a mess. That would be putting it lightly. Andy finds him in Travie's -- who, well, he could guess. Trav has a soft spot for Patrick, he has no roommate, and an extra spare key that became Patrick's almost the moment they met -- room, crying into one of Travie's pillows.

Andy rubs his back softly as Patrick sobs hard. He squats next to the bed and then falls to his knees, groaning when one of his knees pops.

"Hey, buddy, you'll be okay," He says soothingly. Andy's hand moves to the back of Patrick's neck, stroking the short hair there.

Patrick looks up, sniffs, and says, "He doesn't want me," before lying his head back down. Andy sighs as he continues to run his fingers through the crying boy's hair.

"Patrick, baby, it's okay. Come on. If he's too stupid to realise what he's missing out on, then he sure as fuck doesn't deserve you. Fuck him. You don't need him," Andy tries. Patrick lifts his head again.

"You really think so?" He asks and sniffles again. Andy nods and wipes Patrick's tears with the pads of his thumbs.

"I know so, babe," Andy says. He doesn't know what to do when Patrick leans in and kisses him. He freezes for a second before pushing him away.

"W-what? You.. you called me baby and babe. I thought you were here for me," Patrick says before his head hits the pillow, and he starts sobbing again.

"Patrick, man, I didn't mean it like that. Come on, you know I have Joe. You don't want me. You just need someone to be there for you, and I happen to be here," Andy says. Patrick lifts his head.

"Can you just? Let me kiss you once, please," Patrick asks. Andy's eyes widen, and he hopes Joe won't mind as he nods.

Patrick leans in, hands on Andy's cheeks, and presses a small kiss to his lips. Andy kisses him back for a split second before Patrick pulls away.

"I wasn't bad, right?" Patrick asks. "I'm not a bad kisser, yeah?" Patrick asks. Andy sighs and shakes his head.

"You're fine, Patrick. Pete doesn't not want you because you're a bad kisser. You're a good kisser, alright?" Andy says, and seriously, he'd love to say this was the weirdest conversation he'd ever had.

But he can't because there was this one with Joe about who tops and who bottoms, and it was really, really bad. They'd established that if he and Joe ever fucked, he'd top because Joe has this weird kink for bottoming. They were just friends then, and Andy pegged him as the fucked up type.

Anyways, Patrick blinks once hard before he hugs Andy. Andy is a little shocked, but he quickly hugs his troubled little friend back.

--

"You're a fucking idiot, Wentz! Patrick's probably crying to Andy right now about how much he's a fuck up because of you! Why would you do that?" Joe yells. Pete winces.

"I-I'm sorry, alright? I panicked!" He yells back. Joe shakes his head and begins to pace around Pete's dorm room.

"You fucking panicked. He fucking panicked," Joe repeats to himself, pulling at the little bit of hair he has left. "Well now you probably fucked up your chance of ever dating Patrick,"

"What?" Pete asks quietly. Joe shakes his head again, gritting his teeth.

"Stop being such a soith! What you don't get is that Patrick can have any girl or guy on this campus, and he motherfucking chose you, you ungrateful leathcheann!" Joe says, a few of his Gaelic words interrupting the sentence.

Pete knows what he said. They were required to take Gaelic the first year he moved here, and since Joe was originally from Ireland, he didn't have to take it. If Pete's right, Joe called him a bitch and an idiot.

"I'm not his bloody boyfriend! We fucked once. That doesn't mean I'm required to date him!" Pete screams back. Joe grinds his teeth together and hits a wall with his fist, which results in a cracking sound. Peachy! Now Joe's broken a hand.

"Leave. Leave now," Joe says quietly. Pete wants to point out that this is his dorm, but he really doesn't want to get punched.

So he leaves. He walks down the hall a bit, deciding to maybe go see Gabe. Gabe's always been a good friend to him, maybe he'll understand.

He knocks on the door, and Gabe opens it almost immediately. He narrows his eyes at Pete.

"What do you want, jagoff?" Gabe asks. Pete drops his head.

"Can I come in please?" He begs. Gabe frowns but nods and moves out of the way.

"Explain now, you moron," Gabe commands. Pete winces. Is everyone seriously pissed at him?

"Mikey texted me this morning and said he wanted to get back together. And now Patrick's asking me to be his boyfriend. I don't know what to do, Saporta, man, I don't," Pete explains. Gabe shakes his head.

"Explain that to Patrick! Or Joe! Fuck, I bet Troh went off, didn't he?" Gabe says. Pete nods.

"Understatement of the year, bro," Pete says, scratching the back of his head. "I think he broke his hand,"

"What?" Gabe asks, eyes widening. "You're fucking with me," Pete shakes his head.

"When I couldn't give him a valid excuse as to why I said no to Patrick, he started swearing at me in Gaelic, and shit got real. He punched a wall," Pete explains. Gabe shakes his head and slips on a pair of tennis shoes.

"Stay here. I need to go check on Joe and find Hurley," Gabe says. Pete sighs when the door slams, falling onto Gabe's bed. Or maybe it was William's. He can't be bothered at the moment.

His phones dings, and surprise, it's Mikey.

heard what happened. did you say no bc of me ?

Pete doesn't text back, but he knows his read receipts are on, and Mikey'll surely be pissed at him. He doesn't care.

He closes his eyes and forces himself to sleep.