The Do Over (Peterick)

eleven.

When break rolls around, Pete, Ray, Elisa, and Joe occupy their usual table, Ashlee nowhere to be seen. Patrick sits down in between Elisa and Pete, and he guesses they can sense his confusion by the look on his face.

"Ashlee's being a bitch. I told her to either get her shit together or sit somewhere else. I guess she chose the latter." Pete answers before Patrick can ask. That brings a smirk to Patrick's face, and Pete just rolls his eyes playfully in response.

"I don't know what her problem is." Patrick says, but he really does. He'd probably be upset if his boyfriend just suddenly took interest in another person, one of the same gender at that.

"Sure you don't." Pete is flirting, and Joe and Ray watch the two of them with their eyes wide, as if they want to point it out but don't want Elisa to notice.

"You guys make me sick." Elisa laughs, and Patrick can tell Joe and Ray are completely bewildered now.

"She knows. It's fake," is all he says, vowing to explain it all later when there aren't so many lurking eyes and gossip hogs.

Ray and Joe seem to relax at that, like they weren't comfortable around Elisa at first. "So what are we doing tonight?" Ray asks, elbows on the table as he leans forward.

"We could hang out." Pete suggests. Patrick looks impressed that Pete is comfortable enough around his friends to invite them out like that. "After Patrick's tryouts, of course. We could celebrate. A guys' night, and that includes Elisa."

"Wow, my favourite thing ever is to be referred to as one of the guys." Elisa deadpans, rolling her eyes playfully at Pete.

"It's a compliment, sweetie." Patrick says, leaning over to press a kiss to her temple. That seems to satisfy her.

"Why weren't you on the bus this morning?" Joe asks suddenly, and Patrick smirks, reaching into one of his front pockets to fish out his keys.

"I can drive now." Patrick says, smiling at his friends. They gape at him.

"You drove this morning and didn't pick us up? Dude, that's so not cool." Ray says, crossing his arms. Patrick just laughs.

"Had to impress Elisa's dad today. We'll all ride together next week." Patrick promises, a smile on his face.

"We better." Ray says seriously, a smirk on his face now. The bell rings seconds later, signalling Patrick and Elisa's English period and everyone else's art period.

"I'll see you guys later." Patrick waves bye to his friends and winks at Pete, who blushes in return, as he links hands with Elisa.

—

The day goes by fast, and soon, Patrick finds himself lacing his all white cleats up before he knows it. He's got his latest travel team uniform on to try out in, all white, because he knows he looks badass.

He warms up with another freshman, one that was on the team with him in middle school. Andy Hurley, a junior, walks up, a clipboard in his hands. "As most of you probably already know, our starting pitcher and catcher graduated last year. With that being said, if I call your name, I want you front and center. Now." Everyone stops throwing to listen for their names. "Beckett, Biersack, Bryar, Mccoy, Stump, and G. Way."

Patrick links eyes with all of the other guys and nods his head, walking over to Andy. Andy looks them over, taking in the various travel team uniforms. Looks like everyone wanted to impress the Andy Hurley, starting first baseman since his freshman year.

"Alright, Mccoy, on the mound. Stump, behind the plate." Andy says, and as soon as Patrick hears his name, he's basically sprinting to the dugout to put his catching gear on.

He does so quickly, maybe the fastest he has in his life ever. Patrick zones in, until the only person he's acknowledging is Mccoy, a very tall, dark skinned guy with a man bun.

Patrick gets into his stance, catching ever pitch Mccoy throws and framing for a second before throwing it back. Patrick blocks the few wild pitches with his chest protector, dropping to his knees to make sure it doesn't get passed him. He's got to impress if he wants a spot on this team.

"Nice job, Mccoy, Stump." Andy says when they've thrown and caught fifty pitches, respectively. "Next up, Beckett and Bryar."

Patrick jogs over to meet up with Mccoy on the sidelines, bro-hugging the taller guy. "Nice arm." Patrick comments, a smile on his face.

"Nice glove. I don't think you missed one ball." Mccoy says, seriously impressed. "I'm Travis, but my friends call me Travie."

"I'm Patrick, but my friends call me Patrick." Patrick says, and his lame joke makes Travie laugh, which is what he was hoping for.

Before he knows it, Bryar and Beckett are done, and he realises that the two extremely skinny guys standing in the group with he and Travie have to be pitchers. So that means he and Bryar are the only two catchers in the freshman class.

Bryar isn't as good as Patrick. That's easy to tell from the way three or four balls get passed him in the next bullpen he has to catch for Biersack.

"Alright, Stump. Impress me. Ross, you're up." Andy says once Bryar finishes his back-to-back bullpens, and he doesn't look too happy about his new recruits. Patrick's going to make sure he's impressed, though.

Ross is a short and skinny guy, and he looks super frail. Like if a ball gets hit back at him, he might break in half. But he's got a shit ton of movement on his pitches. It brings a smile to Andy's face as he watches Patrick and Ross work together.

"Alright, boys, hit the showers. I've got some stuff to think about. The rest of you, get in your positions, now. I'll be getting another one of the juniors to hit some ground and fly balls at you." As Andy finishes talking, he walks over to the dugout, where Patrick is sitting on the bench removing his gear.

Right as Patrick places his hat back over his sweaty mess of hair, he looks up at Andy, who is smiling at him. "Hey." He says nonchalantly, standing up to shove his gear in his bag.

"Can I talk to you elsewhere?" Andy asks, head tilting towards the baseball locker room. Patrick nods and picks his bag up, putting it on his back and falling into step with Andy. "So. You're really only a freshman?"

"Yeah." Patrick answers casually because he doesn't know what else to say. He doesn't remember Andy treating him differently than anyone else at the first tryouts.

"Do you know Joe Trohman?" Andy asks, and now Patrick knows where this is going.

"Yeah." Patrick decides not to say anything about Joe being one of his best friends because he doesn't want Andy to use him just for Joe.

"Is he into guys?" Andy asks, and now Patrick is starting to get pissed. Patrick is not about to play on this team just because he got Andy a date with Joe.

"Don't know." Patrick drops his bag and takes his hat and shirt off, turning away from Andy.

"Dude." Andy says, placing a hand on Patrick's bare shoulder and turning the younger boy to face him. "You made the team. Don't think you just made the team because your friend is hot."

"Isn't that the only reason I made the team, though?" Patrick asks, and Andy rolls his eyes.

"No, you idiot. You made the team because you're a hell of a catcher, and we need you to win. Now get out of your feelings and tell me about your hot friend." Andy says seriously, and a smile arises on Patrick's face.

"He's into guys." Patrick says, and Andy smiles back at him.

yee haw trohley