"He's gone." And that was all Frank needed to say as he made his way into the dining room; Pete sat upon the table itself with what seemed like a litre of water beside him and two advils, Gee stood just a few metres away from him, his face deadset with concern, both for Pete and Frank, because they were the ones whose lives Mikey was not going to stop until he was sure he'd ruined.

"He's gone." Gee repeated, his voice reeking of irritance and he looked just as if he was about to punch a wall, but the twenty five year old valued the functionality of his knuckles far too much to do something quite as stupid and irrational as that.

"He... he always does this... it's fine." Pete exhaled loudly between his words, almost as if he was struggling for breath - that or struggling to get the words out, struggling to lie to himself, but not only himself, struggling to lie to Gee and Frank too.

"It's not fucking fine." Gerard snapped out, surprising both Pete and Frank with his sudden outburst of anger.

"Gee?" Frank's eyes soon grew dark with concern, making his way over to his boyfriend, and leaving Pete to try not to pass out on the table by himself.

"I... I... just hate that he's related to me, and I hate how he acts, and just fucks thing up for everybody, because he was always just far too eager to blame everything on me at home, and Pete he treats you like fucking shit - he has the nerve to be all fucking worried and anxious because he likes you, and then only to treat you like this, and it's damn ridiculous. And then he gest the nerve to be personally offended that his best friend is gay, when he really isn’t the straightest fucking person ever."

"You don't hate him, though?" Frank asked, eyes dilating as he came to look at his boyfriend with a nervous disposition and a certain uncertainty. 

"I fucking should, but he's my brother, and fucking family always just fucks you up in the end-" And Frank watched with wide eyes as Gee broke down into tears, and even in the state he was in, Pete turned around in shock: the two highschoolers shared a look as Gee tried to barge past Frank and make his way out, only to be meet by nothing but certainty from the seventeen year old.

"Gee, come on, running away's not going to do anything." Gee only shook his head in response, reluctant to agree with the obvious truth Frank was presenting him with. "Mikey ran away from his problem - do you want to be like him, Gee?" Perhaps he was just stepping over the line there, but maybe Gee had a point, and maybe Mikey had fucked everyone else over just enough to deserve it just this once, or maybe even twice, quite possibly three times, maybe four-

"I think Mikey's just really self-conscious and is perhaps killing himself in his head over the whole gay thing, because he likes you, Pete, there's no question about that. The only concern is to what extent and then to what extent is he willing to show it." Frank exhaled, taking his boyfriend's hand as Pete got up from the table, still clutching his head just a little.

"I wish there was nothing between us, I just, it would... be easy, but I can't... because I just... I-" Pete shook his head, his lips battling his tongue as the words caught in his throat: three little words that he daren’t admit to anybody, not even himself, especially not Mikey's best, or perhaps ex best, friend.

"We don't get a choice in who we love - not really." Gee exclaimed, catching Frank's gaze for just a moment, as the seventeen year old wondered just what horrors he'd go back to school to face tomorrow, because this shit had most definitely doubled in its 'oh fuck this will ruin my life' factor.

"I just wish he'd make his mind up, because I am so sick of all of this, because there's his girlfriend innocent and naive to all of this, and there's no way in hell he ever deserved to date Alicia Simmons, and especially not now, especially not with what he's done." Pete shook his head, as he couldn't quite shake the feeling that Alicia was just better than him and he was always a second choice and Mikey's little secret and he just couldn't do that, and he didn't want to do that, because he didn't want to be this. "Alicia deserves to know."

"Mikey will plot your demise if you fuck up him and Alicia - that's the only thing he's wanted for far too long, and I'm sure he will make you regret it." Frank exhaled, taking a seat as he wondered just what had brought him into the position of defending Mikey Way, because maybe, no matter what he'd done, he was still Frank's best friend, and that was just such a hard thing to cut himself off from. "And right now, really the last thing he needs is for everyone to know that maybe he likes to look at guys' asses just a bit more than he should."

"Would you still be saying that when he goes about shouting about you and Gee?" Pete brought up the elephant in the room question - the one that made Frank queasy and sick to his stomach as he continued to dread even the thought of going to school tomorrow, because if he knew anything, it was that he just couldn't prolong these things forever. "Because it's Mikey, and he will."

"We'll deal with blackmail when it's necessary, Pete." Frank exhaled, shaking his head as he continued to ponder just what he'd face tomorrow at school. "Fuck, I can't do this. I'd rather fake my own death than go back and face everyone's expectations and assumptions."

"Frankie, I promise you, look, you too Pete, if Mikey does anything to either of you, he will hear about it from me, and trust me, I can very easily ruin his life with his parents - not that they aren't all too eager to hate just about everything and everyone, but... maybe I don't even want to do this, but Mikey's got some serious fucking problems."

It was then the door opened, and Lindsey stepped into the dining room, slightly confused and just a little concerned at the sight before her.

-

"Brendon, I'm kind of worried about Frank, you know..." Ryan spoke almost nervously to his boyfriend, the two of them sat outside near their home room, and just a little concerned regarding Frank's continued absence and the confession that had most likely caused it. "I mean, he hasn't been here for a while now, like no one's heard a thing, and I'm kind of just worried."

"It'll be fine, Ryan, promise." Brendon exhaled, his eyes meeting everything but Ryan's, because he couldn't be certain here and he really hated lying to his boyfriend. "I'm sure he'll be back soon - you never know he may even be back today."

"It's unlikely.." Ryan admitted to himself, Brendon only serving as witness to his words, and as it seemed silent witness, however, his verbal ineptitude was soon ignored as Patrick appeared out of what felt like nowhere and sat beside them, pulling his knees up to his chest and trying his best, but of course to no avail, to muffle his sobs.

"Patrick?" Ryan exclaimed, his eyes widening as he soon realised the ginger haired kid was simply not just going to talk to either of them about this; he glanced at Brendon, who only shrugged - clueless as how to deal with this, because this just really wasn't his forte. "Are you alright?"

"Of course he's not alright, Ryan." Brendon rolled his eyes, moving closer to Patrick and grabbing his hand and subsequently his attention. "Patrick, what's happened? Why are you crying?"

"Pete..." And it was only one word before Brendon was cursing the asshole and Ryan was sat wishing his boyfriend wasn't quite so confrontational. "He... he's just being stupid... it's personal... it doesn't really matter, but I, I just care about him, and I..."

"Don't ever care about people - it's a fucking stupid idea." Brendon commented all too casually, leaving Ryan face frozen mid mock pout as his eyes caught upon two figures approaching just ten metres away; Brendon soon followed his gaze, and sure enough, it was none other than Pete and Frank. "Woah, wait do you think those two are... are a thing? Like look at them."

"They're not." Patrick said with what was almost a little too much certainty, and was only met by looks of confusion from both Ryan and Brendon. "I know who both of their boyfriends are. Ask them." The last part was definitely addressing the 'why don't I know?' expression Brendon shot him moments later.

"Hey..." Frank exhaled, looking over the three of them, really ready for every bad reaction there was under the sun, but receiving nothing but silence, until he locked eyes with Patrick and noticed the tears. "Patrick, why-"

"How about you ask Pete?" Patrick snapped for probably the first time in his life, bringing everyone to silence as Pete and Frank shared a look of communal hatred for Mikey Way, and the shorter of the two could at least be grateful of the fact he hadn't been bombarded with questions yet, yet.

"Look, Patrick, I know Pete's been a bit of a shit friend recently, but you know, there's this guy and it's not easy-" Frank didn't get to finish his mediating bullshit sentence, and honestly you could say that was a good thing.

"You'd know a lot about guys, wouldn't you, Iero?" Brendon raised his eyebrows, smirking a little to himself and Frank couldn't help but blush as he spent his silence thanking God that in the very least, Mikey hadn't turned up to school yet. "Do tell us more about this sexuality of yours. Oh, and Patrick mentioned this boyfriend, care to tell us more? Or are you far too good for us for that?"

"It's not like it fucking matters anymore, huh." Frank exhaled, throwing his bag down to the floor and sitting down beside Ryan, leaving Pete to awkwardly sit near Patrick, only eliciting a negative response from the less emo of the two. "Mikey knows. He knows I'm gay, and he knows who my boyfriend is, and that's not good, that's so not good, because... I'm... I'm dating his brother."

And absolute silence, until Brendon actually broke out into a fit of laughter, and Frank seriously began to consider punching him. "That's working out well for you, isn't it, huh? How can Mikey even have a gay brother, or is that kid so far up his own ass in denial that even a dick as small as yours won't fit up there."

"I'd say he's very flamboyant, actually. Quite the obvious homosexual." Frank spoke casually, biting back a smirk as he knew exactly what to say next, and could only await Brendon's facial response with nothing but excitement.

"Oh really? Sucked a dick like what? Once?"

"Well, he likes wearing skirts, and he's a totally slutty bottom." Brendon's eyes widened at that, and Ryan couldn't help but blush just a little.

"He's related to Mikey? Are you fucking kidding me? No way." Brendon shook his head, absolutely denying to accept something like that.

"Yes way. He's a way. Gee Way, well Gerard, but you can't call someone wearing a skirt Gerard. It just sounds kind of ridiculous." Frank giggled just a little as he felt the blush his cheeks had taken upon the absolute pleasure of wielding.

"I want to meet this guy." Brendon exclaimed, and Patrick only shook his head, his eyes widening, leaving everyone in utter confusion, until that is Mikey sat down, right between Brendon and Frank.

"So then? What have you said, Pete? For every fucking thing you've said, I'll say one fucking thing about Frank." Mikey commanded, pushing his glasses back up his nose, and Frank couldn't help but freeze at the tears he refused to believe had been wiped from Mikey Way's eyes.

"He literally just told us." Brendon perked up; eyebrows raised high, as he looked Mikey up and down with a look of disgust. "Frank, I mean, we know. We know nothing about Pete, besides the fact that it's probably why Patrick's crying."

"Hey, Mikey, how about for every time you insult or attack anyone again, I'll tell Alicia you've been cheating on her, and then doing what, and then who with, and then I'll tell Brendon and Ryan, and then Ray, and then everyone else." Pete suggested, glaring at the boy he couldn't help but be in love with.

"I know what you think about me, Pete. You know how easily I could tell everyone that-"

"This is literally the most pathetic blackmail I had ever had the misfortune of witnessing." Jamia, of course, Jamia - finally, someone Frank actually wanted to talk to. "Pete, Mikey, you have a detention waiting for you at the main office, by the way - skipping school, not the best of ideas, and Frank, a word."

And from the look in her eyes, Frank knew one thing, and that was that this really could not be good.

-

"You know, technically this is slave labour by forcing us to stay after school and do work and shit like this is just racism, like I could probably be black, you know, like-"

"Pete, I really don't want to talk to you at all." Mikey, as usual, had no problem when it came to speaking his mind, pulling his gaze away from where the boy was sat on top of a table, and of course, just as luck would have it, they were the only two in the detention room, and there was just no sign of any teacher yet, which was of course making it sure that Mikey was in fact dangerously close to just downright slapping Pete across the face.

"Then, we'll communicate in sign language - we learned it in like first grade with this really creepy bald guy who probably had some predatory wishes." Pete rambled off causally, gesturing with his hands as Mikey made his way to the back of the classroom, ensuring that he was physically just as far away from Pete Wentz as he could possibly get.

"I'll leave if you don't shut up." Mikey raised his eyebrows as he grabbed his phone from his pocket, reading over his most recent text message. "Pete-" The tone of concern in his voice was never quite recognised as Pete interrupted him with a statement that he couldn't quite just bring himself to ignore.

"Which means that you don't really want to leave." Pete only smirked in recognition of his newfound 'discovery' joining Mikey at the back of the classroom; Mikey only sighed, pocketing his cell phone and accepting that he would have to sort things out with Pete eventually. "You can't ignore me forever - we have to talk-"

"We are talking." Mikey butted in, pulling his gaze away after a few seconds, and for once, actually wishing for the presence of a teacher.

"Not about what happened- Mikey, we're not talking about when you kissed me, and the obvious feelings you have on me and I know what you said to Gee so don't even try to deny this, just tell me what's going on with this... with us, and where Alicia stands in all of this." And Pete really could do nothing but pray that his bravery didn't go to waste.

"Alicia's my girlfriend and... you're just some guy that I happen to maybe just be a little bit in love with, but it's fucking ruining my life, Pete - I can't do this." And never once had a smile been both so quickly created and destroyed.

"You never really loved Alicia if you developed these feelings for me whilst you were with her." Pete argued, the both of them having pretty much accepted the absolute absence of any sort of supervision throughout this detention. "I'm biased, yeah, whatever - so are you."

"So you just want me to dump me girlfriend and bone you?"

"Basically, well, yeah." Pete admitted, blushing a little and chuckling just far too much at Mikey's response. "What's wrong, asshole? Got a dick up your ass- oh wait."

"I'm just not gay, though, it's... it's just you." Mikey shook his head, as he couldn't quite believe what he was saying. "I just... I don't get how any of this works, because it's just Alicia, and you, like I barely even find anybody else attractive - I just like, get obsessed with people, and then shit happens."

"There's a sexuality for that, actually-"

"I don't want some fucking fairy magic bullshit label just to make me feel special. I don't want to be some magical queer princess, I just want to understand what's going on in my head, what's going on in my heart..." Maybe that was just a little too deep, especially for Mikey Way - the only kind of deep he knew was the penetration kind.

"Well, you're never going to have any hope of understanding that unless you start investigating and shit, like you don't know if you like kissing boys or girls better or equally or whatever until you've tried everything. Experimentation is what you're supposed to do, not lock yourself up in a heteronormative box and ruin your life." 

"You just want me to kiss you again." Mikey admitted the elephant in the room, and the silence that followed could only be taken as shy agreement, and maybe Mikey was seriously stupid for even considering this. "As long as you don't react as you did last time."

And before Pete could even process just quite what was happening, Mikey's lips were on his for the second time, yet this time, everything seemed to work, and everything was so cliché and Mikey was practically sick at that, but the way his lips felt against Pete's seemed to distract him from that overall, because maybe kissing boys was good, and maybe kissing girls was good too, but kissing Pete, that was just phenomenal.

Everything just seemed to fade away at the connection of their lips, because all of a sudden Mikey just didn't seem to give a damn about how wrong this was: about his parents, about his heterosexuality, about his girlfriend, about his reputation, or about anything. Maybe that was loving someone, but at this point, still, Mikey reckoned he was just a little scared to really find out what loving someone properly felt like, but what he did know for certain, was that whatever he had with Pete - whatever they had here with his lips on Mikey's, that was perfect.

But they had to pull away eventually, eyes locking as both waited for the other to freak out or change their mind, but for once it seemed like God- or perhaps Satan, considering the homosexual nature of this situation, was on their side.

"Again-" Pete barely got to finish the one word he managed to push out through his lips, before Mikey, struggling for sanity, pushed Pete against the wall, and kissed him again, because even if this was just sex and hormones and teenagers being messed up, this was definitely the right kind of messed up, and he soon realised that maybe with Pete was all he wanted to be.

At least right now, at least until the butterflies and hormones wore off, at least until he faced reality again: reality was such a cockblock after all.

"I feel like maybe this is the sort of thing we'd need to continue somewhere private." Mikey guessed the hormones wouldn't wear off for quite a while now at least. 

-

"This kind of seems like a bad idea, but I think it's the best bad idea I've had in a long time." Mikey confessed as Pete pushed open his bedroom door: both of them overjoyed to find that the house was empty and that there wouldn't be any parents to awkwardly sweet talk and keep the noise down from, because Pete was kind of intent upon sucking Mikey Way's dick right now.

He knew that Mikey wasn't in any sort of right mind or at least his usual senses right now, and that it was totally wrong to take 'advantage' of him in a state such as this, but Pete couldn't quite stop himself, because at this point, if Mikey was going to let him blow him, then he most certainly was going to, and when inevitability struck, and somewhere down the line Mikey screamed at him and freaked out over this, he would simply do nothing but remind him of his willingness to partake in such an activity.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, honestly." Pete muttered in the response, locking the door behind them - just in case, and then turning around and kind of awkwardly locking his lips back on Mikey, who stumbled a little in response: unprepared and unexpectant of the impact, yet in no way objecting to it, at least not yet anyway, and that was all Pete had to hold onto right now, so he was going to.

Kissing soon became boring and monotonous and Pete dragged his lips down Mikey's neck, in aid of turning pale white skin a wonderful bruised shade: a purple and red like the kind of dawn skies you could only achieve in photoshop, and he reckoned there was probably something beautifully hipsteristic and even metaphorical about what he was doing to Mikey right now, but he was kind of thinking with dick instead of his head right now, and so in the moment it was nothing more than giving Mikey Way a hickey.

And it seemed Mikey was also locked far into the moment, because this was just being on the receiving end of a hickey from Pete Wentz and not cheating on his girlfriend and throwing his heterosexuality utterly in the trash, and adding another deadly secret to his long list of ones to always keep from his parents.

"Can I take your shirt off?" Pete stopped to ask, hands curling around Mikey's bony hips as they tugged at the bottom of the white cheap school shirt material. Mikey only nodded in response, shivering as Pete's fingers trailed against his skin in process of clumsily undoing buttons as fast as he could, yet still without breaking anything and leaving Mikey with a rather awkward situation to explain to his catholic parents and their no-sex-before-marriage beliefs.

Mikey's shirt was soon discarded on the floor, and even sooner drowning amongst a sea of Pete’s own clothing - messy of the floor, and neither party thought the task of receiving it would be at least easy, but they most certainly had other things on their minds right now, and that led to Mikey's hands on Pete's hips, and then to the bottom button, only for Pete to stop him as he cringed a red blush as he came to remember just to what lay on his arms under the long sleeve white shirt.

There was no lying - there was no way around them; the parallel red lines of self destruction in their dozens upon his forearms were more than self-explanatory and this was something he didn't ever want to discuss with Mikey, and especially not now.

"Don't be self-conscious, like, look at my scrawny little body - it's fine, Pete." Mikey promised, his lips giving way to a smile, painted rather convincingly in a genuine light, but little did Mikey know how off he was regarding the true issue at hand here.

"I just, it's not you, it's me - I'd rather not take it off for like personal reasons, please, it's mainly my arms, I just-"

"If you got some fucked up crazy birth mark, I really don't care." Mikey chuckled a little, speaking too fast as he pulled up Pete's sleeve and his gaze suddenly fell down and the true became far too apparent in raw red against skin. "Fuck... you did this to yourself, I... fuck, Pete, why?"

"Do you really want the truth, Mikey?" He snapped back, his tone turning nasty all at once. "Do you really?" Mikey nodded faster than he could think, as he simply bothered not to before responding. "You. You with all this mess, and I've liked you for so long, and surely this mess if better, but it's not, because nothing's ever easy with you, and yet these feelings still won't go away. Do you know how that feels?"

"I'm sorry." Mikey exhaled, his gaze dropping to the ground. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to ignore this, and I just want you to let me blow you, and I want us to go on forgetting about everything with any sense in it in favour of messy kisses and even messier blow-jobs." Pete spoke with confidence, and Mikey could only nod in response, biting down on his lip as the guilt began to sink in like water into a ship and oh boy, he was really sinking now.

"Okay." Mikey exhaled, considering just how much of a stupid decision this not only could but would be. "If you promise me you'll stop that shit." He gestured vaguely down at Pete’s wrists as he spoke.

"It's not that easy as just stopping-"

"Then fucking try, Pete." Mikey's voice was hoarse now, cracking and almost strained as he kept his tears inside, because his ship was sinking faster than he had anticipated and he was lost without an anchor. "For me, please."

"Okay."

And then they stopped talking again, Pete's shirt rendered neglected as he felt down to his knees and Mikey swallowed his guilt and feelings that connoted any common sense at all.

Because things just seemed to work better when you could swallow your pride along with your friend/enemy's come, because nothing created drama quite like it at all.

"That felt like a bad idea." Mikey spoke almost precariously, as if he was utterly in fear of Pete's reaction, as he sat turned away from him on his bed, eyes faced down and thumbs twiddled as he considered just running away right now - while he still could and the disastrous effects that would inevitably have, because maybe this time, he didn't want to break Pete, not completely, not again, especially not now he knew how he dealt with such a problem.

"But it felt good." Pete tried to speak for the both of them, but his confidence couldn't quite catch up with him. "It felt good, for me at the very least, because I like you, Mikey Way - I really do, and I know you hate that, maybe just because you like me too, but it's just not something that I can block out and ignore, especially not forever."

"I'm no good at talking - I'm no good at feelings." Mikey added the obvious as their eyes met once again, and Mikey couldn't help but blush, and blush even further when he came to realise it was in the presence of Pete Wentz. "I know I like kissing you though, and maybe I like things that are a little bit more than that, but-"

"Alicia." Pete brought forward the issue everyone had been ignored as he locked his eyes with the guy who wasn't quite his boyfriend, but he hoped one day that they would indeed get there. "She's still your girlfriend and you got your dick sucked by the emo faggot, so tell me, how does that feel, Mikey Way?"

"It feels like my sexuality makes the least sense of all, and it feels like I just don't know what to do about Alicia, because if I dump her, I'll look like an asshole and people will look for a reason and I don't want that-"

"You don't want people to know what a faggot you are, do you Mikey Way?" Pete already knew the answer, and stood up, let Mikey brood away in his silence, as he made his way over to the closet and pulled out a shoebox, giving it to Mikey with an absolute lack of explanation, and taking a seat beside him: his eyes however looking the opposite way.

Mikey, of course, opened the box, and gasped as he did so, because the contents was certainly just a little shocking: this was the box where Pete kept his blades and what had once been the start of a suicide note, but wasn't anymore, not right now at least. "You can't just keep these, Pete." Mikey shook his head as he spoke, grabbing the note, but soon realising he couldn't get past the first paragraph without tears flocking to his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, Mikey, I just... I want you to have the choice to take these away from me... if you want to- I... I-" Pete didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before the box was discarded on the floor and Mikey’s lips were on Pete's, and everything seemed to fade away in a mess of hormones and a text from Alicia ignored on Mikey's phone, as she sat at home, missing her boyfriend, and oblivious to the guy he was kissing right now.

"How about we throw them away?" Mikey asked, holding Pete's hand in an odd display of sentiment that was uncharacteristic to him and in turn special, causing Pete to go a little dizzy as he considered what would come of them and this, and how it could be nothing other than disaster.

"I'm scared." Pete admitted, exhaling as he threw himself back against the bed, his eyes fixed upon the ceiling above him, and his stomach doing backflips as Mikey joined him. "You don't have to care, Mikey, I'm fucking up your life, not just my own here, I-"

"Pete..." Mikey pleaded, shaking his head firmly as he continued in his protest that Pete was worthwhile, and Pete did his best to believe him, but Mikey wasn't a miracle worker by any means, and therefore, Pete still felt like slapping himself across the face and writing some melancholy mediocre poetry before overdosing on something, and perhaps ensuring that Mikey didn't find him this time.

Because even if he seemed determined to save Pete from himself, he still wasn't a saint, and perhaps not even a saint could save him now, because it was the kind of deep sea ocean sinking, but not quite drowning, because maybe this time he was the anchor, yet he just couldn't quite figure where he belonged until he hit the very ocean floor.

-

Hey guys:) I emotionally traumatised myself writing this because Pete is like my baby and I just ughh I don't want him to hurt but Mikey is such a dick, and Pete is my favourite oops, and also Patrick and I am well aware that I am doing this to myself but ugh:') Anyway I hope you enjoyed and possibly shared my pain and if you did, I'd appreciate it if you could leave a vote and/or a comment, and of course, remember that I love you all<3