Saturday // Peterick Oneshots

87. Nightmare Fuel

Happy Halloween everyone! This is all fluff, but I am going to put a disclaimer here that the movies I'm gonna mention here (while very good) have some pretty disturbing content, so if you want to watch them for yourself please look up the content warnings and make sure you're prepared. Enough of my rambling. IOH era.

Patrick heard the front door open and smiles, not looking up from his guitar. "In here," he calls. He hears footsteps. When he looks up, Pete is standing in their bedroom doorway.

"I got the movies," Pete says with a smile, holding up the cases. "Gerard recommended these specifically. He said he and Frank watched them together and loved them."

"Yeah?" Patrick puts down his guitar and sits on the bed. "Are they scary?"

Pete sits down next to him and drops his bag on the floor. "Gerard said this one is scarier." He holds up Hereditary. "The ending fucks you up."

Patrick grins. "Cool. So we should watch that one second?"

Pete grins back. "That's what Gerard said." He bumps their shoulders together and his smile softens. "Pop some popcorn while I put on pajamas?"

Patrick leans in and kisses his cheek. "You got it."

When he comes back, popcorn in hand, Pete has turned off the light, shut the blinds, and made himself comfy in their bed. The menu screen for Midsommar is displayed on the TV. Patrick closes the door and climbs onto the bed next to Pete. "Ready?" he asks Pete.

"Hell yeah."

The movie goes from zero to a hundred fairly quickly, but it evens out again (minus a few brief gore-filled scenes), and Pete and Patrick polish off their popcorn in no time at all. The atmosphere is kept light by their joking, and even though the ending would be considered dark, they agree that the guy got what was coming to him.

Midsommar behind them, they put in the disk for Hereditary.

Patrick puts the popcorn bowl on the floor and settles against Pete. Pete wraps his arm around him and shifts just slightly so they slot together like puzzle pieces. "Hey, I recognize her," he says.

Patrick lifts his head. "Who?"

"The mom." Pete nods at the blonde woman on the screen. "She was in The Sixth Sense. And Little Miss Sunshine."

Patrick frowns at the screen. "Huh. I guess it is. I almost didn't recognize her."

Pete kisses his head, and they fall silent.

The beginning is slow, so when the movie takes a sharp turn, Patrick and Pete both gasp, clutching each other tighter. Patrick has to close his eyes for a minute, and he presses his face into Pete's shoulder.

"Fuck," Pete says with a nervous laugh. "I didn't like that."

Patrick shakes his head. "Me neither."

Again, the movie evens out for a little while. There's an intense dream sequence, and the whole mess has both of them on edge, but so far it's not much scarier than the first movie. Patrick comments as much, and Pete nods in agreement. He spoke too soon, however— the last half hour of the movie is a compete clusterfuck that makes Pete and Patrick flinch and yelp at every jump scare. Patrick finds himself burying his face in Pete's shoulder again, though when he hears the sound of sawing he has to peek. He regrets it instantly.

In summary: yeah. The ending is awful. Patrick is scarred for life. From the look of Pete's face, he is too.

"Well," Pete says when the credits start rolling and they're still sitting in horrified silence. "Gerard certainly didn't lie."

"Nope. He definitely didn't." Patrick burrows closer to Pete.

They're both silent for a moment.

"Want to watch cartoons?"

"Yes."

They watch cartoons for another hour and a half. They're both tired afterward, so they turn off the lights, but as soon as they do, their brains are on red alert again. Patrick glances at Pete and sees his eyes flick between the corners of the ceiling.

"Scared?" Patrick asks quietly.

"Big time," Pete whispers in response.

"Yeah, me too." Patrick shuffles closer to Pete and pulls the blankets over their heads.

Pete turns onto his side and closes the gap between them. He tangles their legs together and leans his forehead against Patrick's. He lays a hand on Patrick's cheek and takes his hand with the other. He kisses Patrick softly, and Patrick returns the kiss just as gently, wrapping his arms around Pete's shoulders. Pete wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him closer until they're pressed together from head to toe.

"I hope you're not looking to get lucky," Patrick says when they run out of breath. "Cause I don't think I can get it up with that still fresh on my mind."

"Me neither," Pete says, pressing another kiss to Patrick's lips. "I'd rather kiss you than think about it."

Patrick hums. "I'm okay with that."