Distance Between Us | Peterick AU

5

Patrick's throat went dry. He tried to speak but his words got stuck behind his tongue. There was nothing he could do but stare into the pool of chocolate eyes in front of him and shake his head slowly.

Pete stuttered. "C-can I. . ."

He began to lean forward and Patrick's eyes fluttered shut. The prince could feel the ghost of Pete's lips on his own and his heart rate began to speed up. He never thought anything like this would ever happen to him.

Patrick helplessly wrapped his arms around Pete's torso when the tiny space between them disappeared. He pressed himself up against the opposite body as much as he could and sighed into his first kiss.

When they broke apart, Patrick didn't know what to do but keep holding on. He felt Pete rest his chin on the top of his head. It was almost like he could feel Patrick beginning to panic.

"Pete I-"

"Shh, don't talk."

Patrick closed his mouth and sighed quietly again, pressing his cheek against the cloth resting on Pete's shoulder. They stood wrapped around each other until he stepped back to look at Pete.

"H-how, what-"

"Do you want to do this?" He simply whispered back. There was a light in his eyes that Patrick couldn't resist since the first day he saw the other man.

"Pete, it is dangerous. What if someone finds out?"

"We just can't let them."

Patrick didn't know what to say. He overcame his racing nerves and pushed up on his toes to kiss Pete carefully on the lips again, with absolutely no idea what he was actually doing.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Pete whispered again, this time a sweeter tone. The other man nodded.

"I am. I want this. I just. . .don't know how it goes."

Pete smirked when he saw how quickly Patrick was changing before him. First the speaking, then the agreement to do something risky. Something he would have never even thought of doing before.

"It's okay," Pete comforted with the smile. "I'll show you how it goes."

"Y-you are not new to this?" Patrick went red in the face. It looked like to him that he wasn't the first one to do something with Pete.

The older man smiled even wider. "Nope, but I'm willing to go as slow as you want."

"I- I do not even know what 'this' entails. So what do you mean by 'going slow?'"

Pete looked down at Patrick like he was some sort of small child. Sweet, cute, and totally oblivious to the real world.

" 'This' meaning, relationship, a boyfriend, if you will." he explained. "And we won't ever do anything you don't want to do."

Patrick's face twisted in confusion. ". . .Boyfriend? What is that?"

The loud, braying laugh that accidentally came out of Pete's mouth startled both of them. Patrick quickly slapped a hand over it and kept it there until he was sure that no one was awakened by it and was coming to investigate.

"Keep it down, idiot!" He muttered harshly. Pete just smirked again.

"I'm sorry," he half-apologized. "You're just too adorable." At the glare he received, he continued. "A boyfriend or girlfriend is basically someone you're with romantically to see if they're 'the one.' If things don't go well, then the two in the relationship break up and find other people. If it never goes wrong, then they probably get married."