Distance Between Us | Peterick AU

17

Butlers and maids jumped out of their way as Patrick hurried angrily down the hall to his bedroom and pushed open the closed door, slamming it behind him after he pulled Pete inside.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Patrick apologized, laying down sadly on the bed. Pete cautiously followed.

"It's alright," he comforted. "All I care about is if you're okay."

Pete wrapped Patrick up in his grasp and let the prince rest his head on the older man's chest. He felt his shirt dampen with tears as he ran his fingers through the head of strawberry blond hair under him.

Pete comforted Patrick as he cried softly and kept a tight grip on him until he finally drifted off into a light sleep. He didn't want to fall asleep also in fear of Patrick waking up and being upset again, but the heavy feeling took over his eyelids and soon he was slipping into slumber.

Surprisingly, no one bothered the two for the rest of the night. They had woken up in the morning curled even closer to each other than before. Pete was confused at the fact that they weren't jolted awake at an ungodly hour of the night to be kicked out of the castle.

Patrick stirred on top of the bed sheets, instinctively cuddling into Pete's figure while slowly awakening from his most needed sleep. He sighed happily after catching a whiff of Pete's scent and opened his eyes fully.

"It's so nice to sleep on a real bed again," he commented with a smile. Pete looked down at him adoringly and pressed a kiss to his temple.

"Probably the best sleep I've gotten in forever."

The sound of Patrick's stomach rumbling broke the silence that followed, causing him to chuckle lightly and place a hand over his abdomen. "I guess that bit of supper last night wasn't enough to keep me full."

Pete smiled again, then began to get up and pull a resistant Patrick with him. "C'mon," he laughed. "Let's go see if we can get something to eat for you."

The two traveled quietly down the stairs, Patrick hoping to find a familiar maid that he could ask for a meal off of. He wasn't too happy when they were stopped by his parents standing in the foyer, an exact image of the afternoon before.

"Patrick, Peter, we must speak."

Patrick rolled his eyes. "I really do not want to deal with all of this right now. I came down to get some food and-"

Pete grabbed Patrick's hand and squeezed it when he tried to walk in the direction of the kitchen. He pulled him back to stand next to him and face the adults in the room.

"Fine," Patrick agreed solemnly. Pete squeezed his hand again and glared at him for his tone of voice. Patrick rolled his eyes again but didn't let go as they followed the king and queen in the direction of the sitting room.

When everyone was sat down, Patrick was surprised by the fact that his parents had immediately jumped to the case. Normally they liked to waffle around it until someone else became frustrated enough to finally mention it themselves.

"We have reflected on all of our actions and decided we have been unethical with our decisions," his mother spoke. "Even though what you did was highly inappropriate, our reaction to that was inappropriate also."