(Pete)

Nope. I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't in the mood to cry. Patrick wasn't going to make me ruin my whole weekend with tears. Friday was the flooding of tears. Saturdays was the painful getting over it. And now today I needed to be happy. I was going to be happy.

Oh, who the hell was I kidding? I was going to fucking cry.

He said he loved me. Like actually said it. And I brushed it off. I was such an idiot. I was such an idiot! I should have said it back. But I was so angry at him that I wanted to hurt him. I needed him to think I didn't care when all I did was care. So instead of putting my ridiculous pride to the side, I'd fucked up everything even worse than it already was.

I could call him back over but I didn't want to risk him saying no. Instead I decided to pace the enterance hall of the house. Going over the different scenarios in my head. Wishing I would have done something different. Something romantic. Like in a movie, or a book.

I'm not sure how long I spent running lines in my mothers carpet, but it must have been a long time. Because the front door was clicking open. Church was over and I was going to get my ass handed to me by my mom and dad for saving Brendon from those maniacs.

I had two options right now. I could run. Head for the back door before they even saw me and get someone to pick me up or even run to Joe's house. Or I could stand here and face what I did proudly. Like a man. So of course I chose to run. But the door swung open faster than I expected. I paused my foot midway through the air. I could feel my mother glaring daggers into my back.

Instead of standing there in the uncomfortable silence, I spun around to face them.

"Patrick?"

He looked messy. Liked he'd been yanking at his hair and pulling on his clothes. I watched in confused fascination as he kicked the front door closed with his foot.

"When someone tells you they love you for the first time," He was approaching me slowly. "You don't say some smart ass comment and run off." He paused directly in front of me. I was taller so I glanced down at him. "You say it back."

"I-I-"

"Do you know how long it took me to accept that? I spent my entire Saturday in a dark house reading everything you've ever written for school. I was forced to swallow every ounce of dignity I had left to say those words to you. And you just spit on them."

"I-"

"So if the next words out of that pretty little mouth aren't, I'm sorry Patrick. I love you too, I'm going to lose my shit."

"I'm sorry, Patrick." I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. "I love you too."

He exhaled loudly. His entire body relaxing in front of me. I felt his right hand slide up to rest in my hair. Pulling my head down so that my forehead was resting on his.

"I know you do, baby." He cooed. And I laughed nervously.

I'd never done the exchanging of I love you with anyone before. Well, except with that Hayley girl from kindergarten. But I only told her that because I wanted to use the gameboy she brought to school for show and tell. This time wasn't like that though. Because I meant it this time. That thought scared me. All of this scared me. I wasn't sure if I was ready.

"Patrick-"

"Love is supposed to be scary." He read my mind. My eyes closed so I wouldn't have to stare so close to his face. "Look, I know you're not even an adult yet. I'm not expecting you to get on one knee and tell me you want to be with me forever. I'm not even expecting years. I'm not expecting anything. But I am hoping." I opened my eyes again. His warm blue eyes burned into mine. "And I'm hoping you'll get addicted to this and want to stay forever."

"You talk so much." Was the only thing I said. He burst out laughing. The seriousness leaving the situation.

"Fuck you, Pete."

"Please do."

I tilted his head up to kiss him. His hands instantly grabbing onto my waist. Pulling himself closer to my chest. It was cute, it made me feel like I was in the lead. My hands came up to grab his face. Holding his cheeks and angling his head the way I wanted to.

I backed Patrick up against the wall. My hands pushing our body apart to help me grab the hem of his shirt. But before I could lift it up, his hand grabbed mine to stop me. I pulled away from his mouth to look at his face. He didn't meet my gaze.

"No." He muttered. "J-Just no."

"No what?" I didn't mean to sound as frustrated as I felt. What if he was saying no to sex?

"I-I'm not a fan of my body."

I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. "That's okay." I shrugged. "Because I'm a fan of mine."

I snatched my shirt open. The buttons ripping from it and clattering to the floor around us. I slid it off of my shoulders. Letting the dark fabric pool around my feet.

"I'm a fan of it too." He leaned forward to press his lips to my bare shoulder.

I went in for another kiss but the sound of the doorknob froze me in my tracks. I didn't have time to grab for my shirt or tell Patrick to hide. So instead I just pushed away from him.

The door swung open, revealing a very messy Brendon. He looked between Patrick and I for a few seconds. Not saying anything at all. So I decided to speak up first.

"How did you get here?"

"I-I ran." He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. "Pete what? I mean, why? Um. You- Mr. Stump?"

"Can we just pretend this didn't happen?"

"But-"

"And instead you can focus on telling me why you ran all the way from your boyfriend's house."

I made sure to add emphasis on the word boyfriend. It wasn't me blackmailing him. It was just me evening the playing field. I wasn't too confident in Brendon's ability to keep this a secret just because I asked him too. But maybe he'd keep it a secret if I kept his secret too.

"How did you know?"

"We saw you kissing in his car.."

"It wasn't what it looked like-"

"Brendon, it's okay." I smiled. "Love is love." I glanced at Patrick briefly. "No matter what, right?"

"R-Right."

"And sometimes you love people you're not supposed to. But brothers keep each other's secrets. Right?"

He frowned at Patrick before looking back at me. "Right."

I exhaled in relief. "Now that that's over with, what happened to you?"

"Ryan punched me."

"What?!"

"He punched me." He said again.

His hand subconsciously began rubbing against his cheek. Bringing attention to the light bruise forming there. A protective anger sparked in me. Similar to the one I felt when they were attacking Brendon at the church with their words. But this time was different. This time someone attacked him physically.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. "Let's go talk to Ryan about that."