Dick Pics (Peterick) **REWRITTEN**

38

CH. 38 -- PATRICK

Lying to everyone is easy. Avoiding Pete, however is not.

"Stump, get the door. I'm a little busy right now if you know what I mean." Dallon calls out to me, laughing breathily. I do know what he means since Spencer is here.

I roll my eyes, walking to the door. When I open it, Pete is standing in front of me. My mouth drops open. "Oh shit." I say, and he pushes past me.

"Oh shit is fucking right." He mumbles, pacing around when I shut the door. "What the fuck is actually wrong with you?"

"Nothing?" I try to play dumb, but Pete shuts me down immediately.

"You're trying to tell me that four months ago, you told me baseball was a part of you, but now you're quitting to pursue, in your own words, a hobby." Pete shoots back, and I sigh. This is harder than I thought it would be.

"Why do you care? We're not together. Shouldn't you be starting rumours about how shitty I was in bed?" I laugh bitterly, and Pete just shakes his head.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm not going to start shit about you, you know me better than that. I just want to know why you're lying to everyone and quitting the one thing you actually give a damn about in this world." Pete gets quieter on the last part of that sentence, dropping his head.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I demand, and he just shakes his head.

"You know what it means. Now tell me why you're lying to everyone."

"Fine, you want the truth?" I say, and Pete looks back up at me, nodding. "Someone is trying to start shit about my dad."

Pete's eyes widen in confusion. "What?"

"When my dad and my mom were dating, my dad got drunk and cheated on her. Apparently, he got the girl he cheated with pregnant. I have another brother, Pete." I admit, and his eyes, somehow, get bigger. It feels good to tell the truth.

"And? They're threatening to go public with it?" Pete asks, and I nod. "Is it really that big of a deal? Your dad made a mistake."

"My dad was a good fucking man, Pete. I'm not letting anyone smear his name for something he did wrong years and years ago." I fire back, and Pete holds his hands up.

"So, what? He told you you had to quit or he was going to tell people? Shitty brother you have." Pete says, and I nod, sitting down on the couch. "Do Kevin and Megan know?"

"No. And I don't want them to get involved. Kevin's worked for eight fucking years to be high up in his law firm. I'm not letting some asshole ruin that. And I don't want Megan to know anything about Dad cheating. She's always been the closest to him, and I don't want her opinions to change when he can't even explain himself." I tell Pete, who nods.

"So, we're going to find this asshole brother of yours and get him to keep his mouth shut." Pete says, and I raise my eyebrows in confusion.

"How do you suggest we do that?" I cross my arms when he smiles at me.

"Whose father cheated on his mother and would do anything to get back in good with his oldest son? That's right, mine."

--

"So, he lives in Detroit. I can get a lot out of my dad, but just to be on the safe side, we should probably buy our own tickets." Pete suggests, scrolling through the flight times on his phone. "I can tap into next month's allowance. How about you?"

"I think I can too. You're sure your dad will give us money?" I ask, feeling bad for putting Pete in this position. He smiles at me confidently and nods.

"Positive. Now stop looking like a kicked puppy and get ready. Our flight leaves in thirty." Pete moves to stand up, and I grab his arm to stop him. He sits back down and looks at me. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for doing this for me. I don't think I'd do it if I was in your position." I move a hand around to cup his jaw and place a chaste kiss on his lips before standing up. He sits frozen in place, eyes locked on where I was sitting. "You coming?" I ask, and he visibly shakes out of it, nodding.

Pete and I make it to the airport just in time to make the last boarding call for our flight. "You sure about this?" Pete asks me as the flight takes off. I nod, turning to face him.

"I have to do what's right, and what is right is making sure no one says shit about my dad." I say, and Pete smiles at me before turning to look out of the window.

"I'm glad you're back." Pete mumbles, and I turn towards him. His eyes are still focused on the sky outside of the window.

"Yeah?" I ask, and he nods, a small smile forming on his face.

"Yeah." He confirms. "You know, I, uh, did something. While you were gone, I mean. To show you how much you mean to me."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, and he moves his hair from behind his ear so I can see the skin there. My eyes widen when I see a new tattoo.

Always - PMVS

"Pete." I say, my mouth dropping open. I instantly touch it, running my fingertips over the indention in his skin. "Oh my god, you're such an idiot."

Pete's face falls at that, and I see him shift uncomfortably in his seat. "I thought you'd like it. I could always get it covered up."

"Pete." I say again, and he just looks at me hopefully.

"Please don't make me get it covered up." He mumbles, and I can't help but smile.

"You're my idiot, you fucking sap. Now let me kiss you."

all is - not quite - well in peterick land

any requests on who should play trick's brother?

thx 4 reading !!!!!