I Promise || Adopted by Peterick

_8_ICE CREAM BREAK

"So, what do we want?" Pete put an arm around me, pulling me close. He was kind of squishing my face, covering it in my hair and pressing it to his jacket. He really was the obnoxious brother I never knew I wanted.

"Well, some personal space would be nice." My voice was muffled from the smushing Pete was doing, but he seemed to understand me alright. He let out a laugh and pulled me closer, practically shoving my face into his armpit.

"What? Like this? Like this?" He laughed as I tried to push him off.

"Get off me, you idiot." He let me go and we grinned at each other. Behind us Patrick was catching up from locking the car.

"What's going on?" He looked at us suspiciously.

"Run," Pete whispered. I giggled and we took off towards the ice cream stand we were headed to. We ran down the path, side by side. We laughed, making it much harder to breathe. Then we rounded the outside of the small building. Leaning against the thing and tried to catch our breath. Though we couldn't stop laughing so it was kind of hard.

"What was that for?" I let out a breathy chuckle.

"I dunno. It was fun though." Pete smiled, though it suddenly turned into a devious expression. "Let's go," he said as he heaved me over his shoulder.

"Stop!" I shrieked as he held me by my legs.

"Don't worry, I got her. Totally crazy what she did back there. All her idea." I caught a m glimpse of a fedora and a smiling Patrick.

"Shut up. It was not." I playfully smacked at Pete's back until he finally lowered me next to Patrick.

"Sure." He smirked and dragged out his word. "Now, what're we having?" He rubbed his hands together and looked straight at me.

"Cookie dough." Pete nodded and looked at Patrick.

"And the usual for you, I'm assuming." Patrick nodded as well and Pete went off to get our ice cream.

"So, Lucy." Patrick led us over to one of the conveniently placed tables. "Art huh?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"You're pretty good. Is that what you want to do when you get older?" He placed his hands on the table and looked at me with genuine interest. It'd been a while since I had seen that.

"Maybe. I don't really know what I want to do."

"What about college. You're about that age to start thinking about it, right?"

I nodded. "Fifteen. Maybe, if I can afford it." He nodded back.

"I get it. I didn't even go to college. And I'm pretty sure Pete dropped out just before getting his degree."

I nodded. "Yeah, if I did go I don't know what I'd want to study anyways."

"Well, you know a lot of kids go in undecided." He shrugs.

"So," I say starting to change the subject. The thought of college kind of stressed me out. "Did you join the band right after school then?"

Patrick nodded. "Yeah, Joe and I started it, then afterwards Pete and Andy joined. It's funny, I probably wouldn't even be singing if it wasn't for Pete." He smiled and looked at his hands. You could tell he really loved him.

"What are we talking about?" Pete smiled at his husband and sat next to him, setting a tray with three cups of ice cream down.

"Music." Patrick said simply. Pete looked at me and I shrugged innocently.

"Whatever, kid. Here's your ice cream." He handed over one of the cups and gave another one to Patrick. "Since we're on the topic of music," Pete shoots me a look. I just smile and put a spoonful of my ice cream in my mouth. "What kind of music do you like?"

I swallow and shrug again. "I don't really listen to music."

Pete gives a dramatic gasp, holding a hand over his chest. "What?"

"I don't have any way to listen to music." I try to keep the defensive tone from my voice. Not all of us can be in a famous band with tons of money to just throw away on ice cream from random orphans.

"I didn't mean it like that," Pete gives me a sympathetic look. Oops. Did I say that out loud?

"And you're not just some random kid," Patrick offers. Looks like I did.

He gives me the same look and I want to smack both of them. I really don't need their pity. "Ok." I push my cup away. I don't want their hand outs either. "Look, it's just the way it is." I look down at the table.

"It doesn't always have to be like this," Pete offers.

"Whatever. I'm tired. Can you just take me home?" Patrick nods and Pete throws out trash away. We spend the rest of our time in silence. That is, except for when Pete walks me back to the door. (Much to my dismay.)

"You know, Patrick and I care about you, really." He puts his arm around me again. This time I lean into it.

"Ok." I still don't believe him. Why would they care about me?

Pete sighs as we reach the door. "Night kid."

"Night." I open the door and start to walk inside. I'm stopped after a second by a hand on my wrist.

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah?" I turn to see Pete's hopeful face.

"See you later?"

"Sure."

And with that my night of fun ends with a door closed between me and any fantasies about college or a happy life. I'm back to reality. This is my life, the sooner I accept this the sooner I'll stop being so upset about it.

Sorry this was all sad and shiz at the end. It's gonna get happy and stay that way for a while.

<3