learning to fly ➵ petekey

epilogue ; changes

(tw: character death. i'm so sorry.)

Things changed all the time. Common knowledge - everyone knew that. It wasn't exactly hard to see it happen.

All around us, things were changing by the nanosecond, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

Personalities, appearances, environments, objects. You name it, it changed. How quickly it did so was a completely different story, though. And the amount it did, too.

Take nature, for example. As months passed by and as weather changed, the green leaved turned different shades of orange, red, yellow and brown. And then they fell to the ground for the cool, snowy Winter, but grew back in time for Spring.

Mikey reckoned that people were like nature - except their characters changed based on their circumstances rather than how bloody cold or hot it was outside.

All it took was a trigger, a reason why the change happened.

That was Pete.

Pete triggered Mikey's changing, in which he grew more as a person than he ever thought he could, and he didn't regret one bit of it (except maybe the detentions and lectures and embarrassing speeches from Gerard. He'd definitely wipe those from his memory if he had the choice).

It was weird to think that he was once this shy, nerdy, unnoticed wallflower who felt powerless underneath everyone else's expectations and desires from him. He used to live for other people, and not for himself, as Pete would often say.

But now he was actually confident in himself, and he constantly tried new things. Years on from graduating High School, he had settled on his own career choice, and not one his parents had carved out for him. Yeah, they were pretty pissed when he told them, but they eventually came to their senses.

Family. That was another change in his life.

Gerard was as annoyingly wonderful as ever - still teasing Mikey at every opportunity he possibly could, offering him exceptional advice when needed and always providing a shoulder to cry on (which Mikey had found he needed quite a lot, due to a certain incident). So nothing had changed there, but Mikey liked that, because at least there was some consistency in his life.

(Also, regarding Gerard, him and Frank never actually worked out, much to Mikey's displeasure. He was so rooting for them as a couple. It was a true shame - as much as it was weird for Gerard to be dating one of Mikey's friends, he had to admit, they were good together.)

He had told his parents about Pete the day they had their two month anniversary.

It didn't go well, to put it bluntly. It was horrible. Homophobic comments were screamed at him, and he felt so powerlessly angry in that moment, and he hated everything, except maybe his friends and brother.

Mikey had to live with Pete for a month until the drama died down between them. It was okay, though, because Pete was there, and Gerard often visited, and Mikey was so grateful despite their awful reaction.

That was an odd change and it took a while for Mikey to adjust to it. But he managed, anyway. Just about.

They came around after a while, anyway. Turns out Gerard can be pretty convincing in arguments, and eventually after all his pestering they had came to accept Mikey for his sexuality and welcomed Pete into the family with open arms.

Again, a weird change, because Mikey had grown used to being despised by his parents, but he was relieved and happy to finally gain their support.

Mikey moved in permanently with Pete, Ryan and Frank as soon as they all left High School. They had formed a close friendship group, and it was nice. Gerard often visited them (Frank was always conveniently out during those times because he had to escape the inevitable awkwardness of their failed relationship. This passed later, however, and they continued as friends, thankfully) and Mikey was just so, so happy.

But then it all went to shit.

Because change was an absolute fucking bitch.

It was hell, and Mikey would never forget the day it happened, as much as he wanted to.

A car crash; one involving Pete.

This was the biggest change in Mikey's life, because Pete, Mikey's fucking rock and inspiration, was killed. Gone forever.

And there was nothing he could do about it but cry.

He cried endlessly for months, and his friends stood there with him the whole time, offering him emotional support. Gerard officially moved in after that.

He was thankful he had people to talk to about the issue, but that didn't stop the empty feeling he had in his chest that was still there to this very day.

Because Mikey was so in love with Pete that he didn't know if he'd ever fully recover.

But Mikey knew that Pete wouldn't want him to go back to his old self after he died, no. That'd just be shit to do for Pete, because his words had meant so much to him, and to ditch them again would be awful. He couldn't do that.

So, in memory of Pete, he got a tattoo. It was a simple, small gesture that he wouldn't even get to see, but it meant something to Mikey, and he never wanted to forget that, no matter how painful the memory was.

It was a simple, one-worded tattoo that simply said fly.

It symbolised that moment watching the sunset with Pete where he had came out with that ridiculously deep and inspirational quote that Mikey somehow remembered after all those years ("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").

So whenever Mikey saw birds in the sky he was always reminded of Pete.

Because although he didn't have Pete in real life anymore, he would remain forever in Mikey's (and in all his close one's) heart, and that was enough.

Pete taught Mikey that maybe change was a good thing, because in terms of Pete's old metaphor, he used to be this shitty, hopeless, flightless bird that wasn't really going to get anywhere, to a soaring masterpiece.

And he knew that Pete would be proud of him.

Perhaps he wasn't quite ready to date again (you couldn't blame him, it had only been two years), but that was okay. He'd come around eventually.

Regardless, he had learnt to fly higher. He had stuck to Pete's deal all through the years, and that was something Mikey was satisfied with.

So yeah, change was weird, but Mikey had found himself, and that was all that mattered.

Mikey had learnt to fly.

-

so that was a wild journey, huh?

in all honesty, i had planned to kill pete off this entire time. to be fair, no, it wasn't really necessary, but yolo (nobody says that anymore, i know, but whatever).

love y'all,
riley.
xxx