learning to fly ➵ petekey

xv ; in which i delay the moment of getting together for an entire extra chapter

yo apologies for the lack of decent updates on this but ive been busy with oneshots and other new upcoming projects
this is gonna end soon (chapter 16 + an epilogue) anyway lol
hope u enjoy tho love yall

You know that feeling where your entire attitude towards the world just screams fuck it that you can't really explain but feels awesome anyway? Where you just feel like doing something utterly reckless and aren't even phased by the consequences? And you can't help but just wish to scream out to the entire world, because God dammit, you don't give a shit?

Mikey had that.

Really, it was convenient, because it provided the confidence he needed to get him through the whole 'tell Pete how he felt' jazz. Thank you, God, for actually throwing something nice at Mikey for once. He was getting tired of the constant shitty spiral.

And so, at last, after months of keeping it a secret to himself (well, and Gerard, but they were so similar they may as well have been one person, so it didn't count in Mikey's books), he was actually going to tell Pete how he felt.

His heart fluttered just at the thought of it all going as planned, and his mouth made a small smile. It was cheesy, yes, but true.

In honesty, though, Mikey felt like that a lot of the time around Pete, and it made him feel like a pathetic teenage girl from one of those old movies, but Pete was nice, and he liked spending time around him.

He couldn't quite get his head around what he was about to do.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialled the number he knew all too well, and waited. This was it. He couldn't back down. Breathe in, breathe out.

"Hello?" came Pete's voice.

"Pete? Yeah, I know this is random and I told you to stop skipping because of school, but I have something I wanna tell you, and I have to do it soon before I chicken out, so could you possibly meet me in the usual skipping spot behind the shed?" Mikey rambled, talking slightly faster than usual to get it out faster.

"Um, okay? I'll be there in a few minutes. What's up?" Pete said, confused and inquisitive.

"Thank you. You'll see," was all he could respond with, before he put the phone down, and made an inhuman noise.

-

Pete came a whole four minutes later (Mikey counted. He needed a distraction), and yeah, maybe Mikey was regretting this a lot now, because some of that confidence had just disappeared into thin air, and he was in a slight panic mode, because holy hell, he couldn't not do it now!

He chewed on his bottom lip nervously whilst Pete greeted him with a smile and a small "hello".

"So you're probably wondering why the hell I ordered you to come here, huh?" Mikey chuckled.

"Yeah, that'd be kinda nice," Pete replied.

"Cool," he said, before taking a deep breath. This was it. Don't fuck it up, he kept telling himself. You can do it. "So, if it wasn't obvious, I kind of really like you," he started, and his chest felt as though it was about to explode from the rapid beating of his heart. He swallowed, and continued, interrupting Pete, who looked as if he were about to but in. "I have done for a few months now. You've- you've taught me so much. You inspire me," he grabbed Pete's hand and started fiddling with it, "and I- uh, I'd like it if we could maybe-"

And he was cut off by Pete kissing him.

Mikey had three questions.

1. Why. Why and how was this happening? Oh my God? An answer would've been nice, but this was also nice, and Mikey was glad he had found out how good Pete was at kissing, but holy fuck, still, why? Why did he deserve this?

2. Didn't this kind of thing only happen in movies? Or books, maybe? Because Mikey was almost certain he wasn't in some kind of mystical TV Show universe, and this was reality, and Pete had actually just done that.

3. Did this moment really have to come to an end? Because Mikey was very much enjoying it, and he was perfectly content in staying there with Pete for the rest of his life. He was happy - full-on, irrefutable happiness raided him, and in that moment, he reckoned he had never felt that relieved.

"Holy fuck," he said, breathless and stunned.

"Yeah, I know," Pete chuckled. "So how do you feel about doing that again?"

"I'd like that very much."

But this time, it didn't go quite as smoothly as the last did, to say the least.

-

"You know, when I imagined that moment happening, I didn't quite expect to end up with a nosebleed," Pete said.

The two sat in the medical room, surrounded by their scattered thoughts and boring grey walls that were dull enough to make someone want to fall asleep. Pete held the blue cloth up to his nose, and guilt was written all over Mikey's face.

"Me neither. I'm sorry," he said, sinking further into his seat next to Pete.

"Don't be. Not your fault," Pete tried to convince him with little success.

"But it was my fault I slipped up and headbutted you!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Okay, yeah, fair enough."

Silence fell before Mikey changed the topic. "Gerard's gonna fuckin' cry of laughter when he hears this," he said, picturing the situation in his head, and internally cringing.

"Ditto with Ryan. I can't imagine a non-tedious school day happening after telling him this," he said, and paused for a moment to think. "Maybe we should just never speak of this again. Sound good?" Pete suggested, holding out the hand that wasn't already occupied by the cloth for Mikey to shake.

He shook his hand, smiling. "Yeah. Definitely. I'd rather not be relentlessly teased about it for all eternity," Mikey agreed.

"You know, the last deal we made was what started all this. You know, the one where you said you'd help me with school if I said I'd help you live for yourself?"

"Yeah. How weird. Feels like a whole eternity ago," Mikey commented, reflecting on that moment in the library all those weeks ago.

Pete hummed in agreement.

All in all, despite the bloody incident, thinks seemed to be working out. Both were grateful for that - grateful for each other. And that was all they could have ever wished for.