Saturday // Peterick Oneshots

2.5 (I love you.): Part 2

Sequel requested by CrickeyGamer. A little angst, a little fluff. AB/AP era, because you can't stop me.

They hadn't done it in so long. It had almost faded from Patrick's memory, save for the occasional reminders in the form of wet dreams.

So Patrick was incredibly caught off guard when Pete cornered him for the first time in eight years.

For one thing, it wasn't backstage right after a performance. For another, it wasn't because anxious trembles were eating Pete alive.

It was in their hotel room after a show. Patrick had been plugging in his phone and putting down his things when Pete was pressed against his back. He was going to brush it off as one of Pete's antics, but then there were hands on his hips, squeezing gently, and he was thrown back to 2007.

"Can I help you?" Patrick asked, praying he wasn't reading the situation wrong.

Pete reared his chin on his shoulder. "I want to talk to you."

"Oh yeah?" Patrick asked calmly. "What about?"

"Well, I've been thinking about our relationship a lot."

Patrick turned around. He was nose-to-nose with Pete, who looked a lot more fearful than he sounded. Patrick waited for him to continue.

"So." Pete seemed to be looking for the right words. "The Kids Aren't Alright. I kind of wrote it about us."

"No shit," Patrick interjected.

"And while I was writing it, I was reminded of how we were before the hiatus."

Patrick swallowed. He remembered: an aching hole in his chest for three simple words that never came. He wouldn't lie and say it was completely behind him, but he'd done at least some healing since then. "Go on," he said quietly.

"There was a lot of stuff I never said that I probably should have, and a lot of things I never did." Pete closed his eyes and leaned in until his forehead touched Patrick's.

"Really?" Patrick let out a sharp breath, shocked at the sudden closeness.

Pete hummed. He closed the gap between them, kissing Patrick for the first time in years. Patrick noticed a difference here, too: he remembered Pete's kissing as desperate and all-consuming, but this was gentle and give-and-take. Patrick cupped Pete's face in his hands and kissed back eagerly.

"I used to kiss you because you made me feel safe. Like everything that happened outside our little bubble didn't matter. It was just you and me," Pete said, barely separating from Patrick.

"I gathered that much," Patrick said with a laugh.

Pete pulled back, holding Patrick away and looking at him with a straight face. "But I used you. And it was really shitty of me, and I'm sorry."

Patrick softened. "It's okay, Pete- I forgive you. The past is the past."

Pete smiled.

"But I'm guessing there was something else you wanted to say?" Patrick asked hopefully.

"Oh, yeah." Pete cleared his throat. "There was a reason I came to you, you know?" His grip on Patrick's waist tightened. "I knew that you would be there for me no matter what, and I," he swallowed, "and I loved you, and I still do."

Patrick grinned. "I love you too, idiot."

"Oh thank god." Pete pulled him in for a hug, burying his face in Patrick's neck. "After everything that's happened between us, I didn't know..."

"Just because you're the dumbest person on the planet doesn't mean I don't care about you," Patrick assured him, making fists in Pete's shirt. "Yeah, it hurt a lot back then when you would kiss me and run away, but I know you didn't mean any harm, and I still love you, okay?" He turned his head and placed a soft kiss on Pete's jaw.

Pete sighed. "Okay. But if I ever make you feel like that again, you're legally obligated to slap me."

Patrick laughed.