Stars

Chapter 5

Pete sat, staring at his feet, hugging his knees to his chest. Mikey let his head fall onto the teary-eyed boy's shoulder. Pete whispered something,

'What?' Mikey asked, lifting his head to look down at Pete.

"Thank you," he mumbled, then took a deep breath, "Do you ever get that feeling where you want to say something really simple but you just can't get the words out and they just kind of boil up inside until they burst out and you get really anxious and it's like you don't whether you should have said it or not?"

"I don't think so..." Mikey said, wrapping his arms tighter around the shaking boy.

"Well, it happens a lot, even over simple things like 'I miss you' or 'thank you.' I hate it. I don't even know why I'm telling you this, I'm sorry." Pete said, looking up at Mikey.

"It's fine, really."
Mikey took a deep breath, "I-I’m not the best at this, but Gee used to do this if I was upset, so do you maybe, if you want to, go down to the Torico’s place downtown and maybe get some ice cream? Mikey asked, blushing furiously, even though Pete was just another one of his friends, right? The tattooed boy’s face broke into a watery smile,

“I’d like that, thanks.”

—

A few minutes later, after a quick explanation of ‘Taking Pete for ice cream,’ and an understanding nod, Mikey was walking down the warm, yet cloudy street, Pete by his side, their shoulders awkwardly bumping together every few steps.

"You're unfairly tall," Pete mumbled, laughing up at Mikey, whose unkempt hair kept falling in front of his eyes.

"You know what, just... There," he reached up, on tiptoes, to move Mikey's hair into a pointed style that tapered down to the middle of his nose. Mikey looked over into a window to check his new 'hairstyle.'

"I'm... I'm ok with it," he said, almost smiling, just with the side of his mouth. He looked down at the stupidly grinning Pete, and snorted with laughter, almost falling into the road and just avoiding being hit by an oncoming car. “Stop laughing, you ass, I nearly died,” Mikey said, raising an eyebrow and smiling. They walked in silence for a minute or two, the blare of car horns and the chatter of suburban mom gossip from coffee shops filling the air, until Mikey stopped walking, turning towards the Ice Cream parlour. It wasn’t until the third “PETE!” that the shorter boy stopped walking, and ran back to where Mikey was laughing.

“Come on, idiot,” he said, opening the door to a flood of rich, chocolatey and fruity smells. The ice cream parlor was decorated as if it was the 1950s, with a red, white, and pastel theme. Only 3 other people sat inside, too focused on their phones and laptops to hear the small bell that rang as Pete and Mikey walked in. A bored looking girl who seemed to be about 16 stood behind the counter, wearing a black shirt and red-and-white striped apron. She glanced up at the two boys,

“Hey, what can I get for you guys?” she said, false enthusiasm drowning her words. Mikey looked over the flavours, while Pete jumped ahead and ordered,

“Yeah hi, can I get a rainbow sherbet one scoop in a cone?” The girl nodded, and quickly made both Pete and Mikey’s ice creams.

“Have a great day,” she said in a monotone voice while taking the money handed over by Mikey.

The two boys walked outside with their ice creams, and sat down at a rusted black table, which seemed like it could fall apart at any second. They ate mostly in an awkward silence, Pete’s eyes wandering around the alien town, while Mikey’s stayed mostly glued to the table.

“Do you think plants have emotions?” Pete said suddenly, looking over at a run-down florist’s.

“What the fuck are you on?” Mikey snorted, following the gaze of tattoo-covered boy, who shrugged. The two looked back at each other in near synchronization, and spent only a few seconds looking into each other’s eyes before bursting out laughing.

—

10 minutes later, they were walking down the street, with Mikey pointing out all the annoying people from school, places to avoid, and places with the best coffee.

“You’ll like it here,” he said, looking over at a small, pretentious looking coffee shop, where workers in all black were setting out flower baskets.
“I never really got those things,” Pete mentioned, “they just kind of get in your face and block up the sidewalk. They should just put up like posters and shit instead, more interesting and less fucking annoying.” Mikey laughed, and nodded his head.

After only a few minutes of wandering in silence, Pete decided it would be a good idea to try and lean on Mikey’s shoulder as they walked.

The plan was fine, the execution not so much. He began to lean sideways, but didn’t take into account the fact that leaning onto someone’s shoulder while both moving is not the best idea. Mikey let out a small yell as a blur of tattoos and black t-shirt fell in front of him, and he somehow managed to accidentally grab Pete’s shoulder as he fell, leaving him in an almost tango-esque dip position.

“It looks like I really fell for you,” Pete said, wiggling his eyebrows and winking. Mikey snorted,

"Fuck you Wentz.”

“Maybe later, Way.”

“Fuck you to the power of ten, you ass.”

“You have to admit it is a fine ass,” more eyebrow wiggling and winking ensued, until Mikey dropped Pete onto the sidewalk and began to walk away laughing.

“I’m not moving until you pick me up," Pete complained, laying on the hard concrete with his head hanging over the curb, dangerously close to oncoming cars.

Swearing at the ‘motherfucking drama queen’ under his breath, Mikey walked over and lifted Pete from the ground, bridal style, and didn’t notice the latter had fallen asleep in his arms until they reached the car.

“Goddamn it Wentz, you’re too adorable for your own good,” he mumbled, looking down at the sleeping drama queen.

He carefully put Pete into the passenger seat of the car, shaking him gently awake before beginning the familiar drive back to Ray’s house.

—

“Hey,” Mikey said to an empty kitchen, dropping the car keys on top of Gerard’s crumpled jacket, and made his way down to where the TV was blaring out the Star Wars theme.

“Power’s back on then?”

Frank screamed, having not seen Mikey or Pete come in,

“Fuck you, and yes.”

Pete laughed, his smile noticeably dimmer now that they were back inside. He walked over to the breaking couch, where he sat in the corner and was quickly joined by Mikey, who turned bright red when Pete leant over and rested his head on the blushing boy’s shoulder.

“You’re alright, Mikey Way.”

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A/N
I'm sorry that it took me so bloody long to actually upload this, I was having difficulty writing anything that I actually felt good about, but hey, I got there in the end.
Next chapter could take a while, but i have it all planned from there... ;)
Bye- Planetary