Senior Slump Or Comeback Of The Year

Sleeping Beauty

Patrick knew he should probably wake Pete up. He was supposed to be in a room full of his friends and dancing with his girlfriend right now. Instead he was snoring at the edge of the bed. Balled up in the fetal position.

He must be greatly missed. His phone hasn't stopped vibrating for the last thirty minutes. It was surprising that the consistent shaking didn't stir him from his slumber.

But a part of Patrick wanted Pete to miss the dance. He didn't want him having fun while he was laid up in bed cuddling pillows and randomly crying. Even though he hated him, he wanted to be in his presence right now. It's not like they had anything to talk about. In fact, they didn't speak a word to each other the entire time since Pete laid down. Pete scrolled through his phone and Patrick pretended to be asleep. It wasn't until he heard Pete snoring that he decided to get up.

Now he was sitting alone in the room with the father of his future child. The man who'd taken his virginity. The man who was a liar and a fake. And he didn't know how to proceed. The easiest thing for him to do would be to pretend Pete wasn't even there. So that's what he did.

Patrick walked across the room to retrieve the phone he'd previously thrown. There was no crack. Just as he thought. Unlike Pete he didn't have a bunch of notifications to check. There were two emails and a missed called from his only friend, Andy. And a text from Pete telling him that he was coming over. He wished he'd gotten that one earlier.

He tried calling Andy back but there was no answer. It was probably nothing. If it was important he would have texted.

Patrick opened the first email, expecting it to be from school. He rolled his eyes when he found it to be spam. Promoting some absurd weight lost pill. There were two pictures of a man. The standard before and after pictures. He couldn't help but notice how similar he was to the first picture. The after picture claimed to be taken just months later.

Yeah right! If only those things actually worked. He'd kill to look like the guy in the second picture. He walked over to the mirror hanging on his wall. Focusing only on his stomach. Cringing at the way his shirt squeezed against it.

"Maybe I do need to try it." He whispered to himself sadly.

"Oh my God. You're perfect." Pete's voice was raspy from sleep.

Patrick spun around. His blush running down his neck. "You're awake."

"You look so good from this angle." He buried the side of his face deeper into the comforter. Only his right eye was visible now. "It's ridiculous that you're a real person."

"Your phone has been ringing constantly. I didn't know whether to wake you or..." He trailed off with a shrug.

"No. I needed that nap. It's probably just about the dance anyway."

"Okay."

He tried to come off as non caring but Patrick could tell he was worried. He began scrolling through his phone. Tapping away at the screen. Probably lying to his friends about where he was. Telling them how he'd be on his way soon. The thought made Patrick bitter. He began scrolling through his own phone. Randomly opening and exiting out of apps. Wishing people cared enough about him to relentlessly message him.

"So did I miss dinner or what?"

"What?" Patrick's gaze snapped towards his.

"I wasn't out that long. Did you eat dinner while I was sleeping?"

"No. I didn't leave the room."

"Good." He stood up. Stretching noisily. "What are we having?"

"Shouldn't you be getting to the dance?"

"I'd much rather have dinner here."

"Why?"

"Because your mom is a great cook. That meatloaf was amazing-"

"Shouldn't you be getting to your girlfriend?"

"Why'd you say it like that?" He smirked.

"Because you're gay."

Good point.

"So you're not jealous?"

"No."

"Good. Because it's not like you wanted to be my boyfriend anyway." He muttered. "I tried that."

"You did not!"

"You had sex with me and disappeared. And then you wouldn't even give me your number at first. You tried to hide the biggest secret in the world from me. I'm pretty sure all those things point to you obviously not being into me."

"You are totally twisting the events up."

"You hit me and quit me, did you not?"

"No." Patrick laughed. Pete looked offended. "You have no right to be mad about that. Especially considering you sleeping with me on a dare!"

"A what?!"

"Meagan told me exactly what was going on."

"What in the actual hell are you even talking about? What did she tell you?"

"The morning I woke up in Andy's bed she told me how you were dared to sleep with me-"

"And you believed her?" Pete looked at him as if he were the most gullible person he'd ever met. "I have a bunch of homophobic, football friends. You think they would dare me to sleep with a guy?"

"I-"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life."

"Me too." He admitted quietly

The more he repeated it in his head, the dumber it became. He was just so emotional that morning. He would have believed anything bad about Pete just so he could pity himself more.

"What's even dumber is that you think I'd have to be dared to sleep with you. How many times do I have to tell you that you're the most interesting person I've ever met?"

"Maybe one more time."

"Patrick Stump, you are the most interesting person I've ever met. I knew you were special the moment you forgot your name when we met."
He tried to press his lips together in an attempt to hide his smile. "I use your pen every day."

"That's probably because you still haven't bought your own."

"That's true." Pete walked over to him. Bumping their shoulders. "So can I stay?"

That would be a bad idea. The more time he spent with Pete, the less he would hate him. The more he'd start to like him again. The more time he'd want to spend with him. The harder he'd get hurt when Pete inevitably disappointed him.

"I guess you can stay."

"Are we having meatloaf?"

"No."