Pete opens his laptop as soon as he gets home. God, he's gone months without this thing. Texting instead of emailing felt wrong.
When he checks his email, Pete is surprised to find an email from Mikey. Mikey, as in the same Mikey who believed that any voluntary contact between each other after Warped would be wrong. Yet somehow there was an email from Mikey, not even a week after Warped had ended.
Pete clicks on the tab.
"Hey. I know i said no contact but I justwant to say that I miss u a lot. ok? I dont know if what i felt about you was mutual but I really did rely on u for a long time and now that you're gone it feels like withdraw. But i hope u make it. I hope u and the rest of FOB make it. ok?? promise me that you'll try to be ok. kiss a lot of cute people 4 me. And Pete? don't write about me. Please.
-Mikey xo"
Pete starts to type his reply.
He decides it's not good enough and deletes it.
It goes like that for almost an hour. Type. Finish. Delete.
Pete finally gives up and presses send.
"I promise. But mikeyway you know I only have eyes 4 u xoxoxo -petey"
Mikey never replies after that.
And then three years pass. And then another two. And then three more. All of a sudden, as if everything is going too fast, it's 2013, and Pete goes through his email, checking to see if Patrick had replied to his damn email.
When Pete first sees it, the email's sender doesn't register in his mind.
"It's mikey. U made it. Im proud. And u've obviously kissed cute people 4 me because u have a gf now. Congrats sld."
And there's nothing that Pete wants more to do than tell Mikey that it's all a cover up for the media, Meagan isn't really his girlfriend, that he's been waiting for Mikey since 2005- but he can't.
Or can he, he thinks as he types up a reply.
"Mikeyway- meagan is a cover up 4 th media. but thanks 4 the congrats."
Mikey messages back in mere minutes- "oh cool. So ur single"
"Mikeyway"
"what"
"Ive been waiting for u since warped"
"whats ur address"
"same one. still in studio city"
"Im coming over"
So Pete waits. He waits for an hour. Until he hears the doorbell ring. Pete springs up from his spot on the couch and rushes to the door. He unlocks it and opens it.
The only words spoken between the two before they embrace are muttered confessions.
He feels safe there, wrapped tightly in Mikey's arms. "Waited for you," Pete murmurs as he pulls away. "For eight damn years."
Eight years of loneliness dissolves into nothing as Mikey wraps one of his arms around Pete's waist. Pete feels his hair stand on end as Mikey uses his other hand to cup Pete's jaw. He closes his eyes, waiting for it, craving it. Yes, please, he's waited for this since 2005 and he hasn't properly been in love since.
He feels a fire ignite in his chest when Mikey's lips touch his.
And when they pull away, Mikey's bottom lip juts out, making him look almost godly. He looks Pete straight in the eyes, and the only words that linger in the heavy air are the ones spoken by the two simultaneously: "I love you."
