Pete is currently sitting in his boss' office, otherwise known as Madam or --if you wanna sugarcoat it--, the lady of the house. But around here, everyone just called her Ms. Melanie. Pete was sitting in the chair that was directly across from her desk, waiting anxiously for her to come in and probably scold him.

See, Pete hasn't been making any money since he and Patrick started fucking around in the past few weeks and he's been denying clients left and right. He didn't want to touch, look at, or talk to any other human being that wasn't his uniformed lover and it resulted in a lack of funds. He was supposed to conduct business and give a portion of his earnings to Melanie for necessities such as food, repairs, laundry, etc.. Basically like paying rent. And if Pete wasn't bringing in any money to contribute then he would be out of a place to stay unless he came up with some money, quick.

There were a simple set of rules that everyone had to follow, one of them being 'you pay to stay'. Which wasn't really a rule, per se, more like a guidline, but in Melanie's eyes it counted as a rule and Pete just so happened to break that rule. He expected the dark end of her usually pleasant demeanor, awaited some kind of yelling and obvious anger and that's probably what made him so nervous. He's never been in trouble before and he wasn't sure what she was going to do or what she was capable of. His previous encounters with her were always quite nice, she'd smile and they'd joke but Pete was pretty sure neither of those would be happening today.   

He jumped when he heard the door open, followed by light footsteps that belonged to the one and only Madam. Her split-dyed hair was piled into a neat bun on top of her head with a bow to match the color of her lipstick, completed with a black, short sleeved, scoop neck dress with a white collar. She always seemed to keep her looks professional, despite being the Madam of a whorehouse. But she was technically a business woman, if you wanted to think of it that way, and believed she needed to look the part.

She took a seat behind her desk, resting her hands on top of it and clasping them together, an unreadable expression on her face. But Pete knew she was upset with him, absolutely pissed probably, she was just good at hiding it like Pete with his emotions. Well, like Pete used to be with his emotions until Patrick came along.

Melanie already knew about Pete and the young officer that comes in with the rest of the men in blue, everyone knew about them, really, it's not like it was any sort of secret. But their endeavors were only tolerated because Pete had promised that it wouldn't interfere with his work, no matter how cute she thought the two were together.

"You're probably wondering why I wanted to see you." She says, her gentle voice contradicting her emotionless gaze. And even though Pete knows exactly why he's sitting in her office, he doesn't dare to mention it and just keeps his mouth shut. "I have a business to run here, Peter. You know this, don't you?"

"Yes." Pete answers, clearing his throat when his voice cracks. Then he starts to bite at his nails, wishing she'd just yell at him or something, but she doesn't.

"Good." She nods, Pete assumes that's a good sign. "Rule number four, Peter. What is it?"

"Uh, we... we pay to stay."

"Yes, yes, exactly. And what is my number one rule?"

"Um... It's, uh-" He feels like he's sweating bullets by now and he's not even perspiring, but his heart is pounding and Melanie being this calm puts him on edge. "...Don't fuck with your mo-"

"Don't fuck with my money!" There's the shouting Pete was hoping for, but she only does it the one time before lowering her voice. It wasn't soft and quiet like it was previously, but stern, like a mother lecturing her child. "You're fucking with my money, Peter, you know how I feel about that. You can keep your boy toy, okay, you can fuck him all you like. But if you want to stay here then you need to work just like everyone else." 

She gets out of her seat at that moment, walking around to the opposite side of the desk and leaning against it, crossing her arms while she continued. "You think they don't have their eyes set on some heartthrob they met by chance? You think I don't? Everyone wants to be loved, darling, but a place like this isn't meant for that. I love you, I love all of my kiddies here, but no money equals no job. No job, no room. Do you understand me?"

Pete looks down at the floor, running a hand through his hair as he tried to think of other options. "Yeah, I understand." 

"Good. I'm sure your lover boy will understand as well. But listen, honey, " Pete looks back up at her as she gets off the desk, standing up straight and putting her hands on her hips. "Don't break that poor man's heart. I've seen how he looks at you, there's genuine adoration in those eyes of his and it's not something that should be wasted. Don't hurt him, but don't let him hurt you either. Okay?" She smiles.

This was the usual Melanie that Pete was used to, smiling and giving advice to those that need it. She could be your friend as long as her rules were abided by, but the second you break one she'll make you regret it. 

Melanie walks over to the door and pulls it open, telling Pete that he's free to go and gesturing toward the hall. Pete gets up and tells her that he wouldn't dream of hurting Patrick, not in a million years. She smiles at his words before he's walking out of her office and back to his room. 

He sits on his bed and tries to figure out what to do about his current situation. He didn't really want to keep putting up with clients who didn't make him feel what Patrick made him feel, but he had to make a living somehow. Getting a regular job wasn't really an option for him, the real world in general wasn't an option, but he didn't want to have to keep fucking strangers for money. Especially now that he had Patrick. It just felt wrong, made his skin crawl at the thought of even looking at someone else. But he had nowhere else to go, this brothel was all he had.

"What am I gonna do?" He groans to himself aloud, unaware that anyone was standing by his door.

"About what?" Patrick steps into the room and takes a seat beside Pete on the bed. He didn't have the heart to tell the uniformed man about any of this, didn't want to tell Patrick that he'd have to continue being a whore. Even if Patrick would have understood he just thought it'd be easier to do what he was trying to do before; push Patrick away.

"Nothing, I just... um," He looked into Patrick's wondering eyes, thinking back to what Melanie had told him not that long ago. He didn't want to hurt him and he knew that if he tried to push Patrick away again he'd be heartbroken. Pete couldn't do that to him. "I don't want to hurt you."

Patrick's expression turns to one of confusion. "Okay..?"

"You... you're interfering with my job." 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Pete sighs heavily as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I haven't been doing my job, not since we started fucking.... Because I like you and, you just... you make me feel like I matter or something. You make me feel like a person. But if I don't keep working I'll lose my place here, and I can't work with you around. I like you too much."

"Oh," Patrick looks away then, saddened that this might be the end of whatever it is that he and Pete had. He didn't want to lose that, but if Pete felt that he was better off without him then so be it. "I'm sorry..."

Pete shakes his head. "You didn't do anything, this is my fault. It was stupid of me to think that we could have something. And you... you should've never come back here."

"Pete-"

"No!" Pete gets to his feet, anger starting to build up inside of him. He was mostly just angry at himself for falling so hard for someone he knew he could never have. He looks at Patrick as he also stands, avoiding eye contact as he took a few small steps toward him. He doesn't say anything, just waits for Pete to push him away like before.

The officer looks up at him then, blue eyes riddled with hurt, just like Pete said he wouldn't do. He said he wouldn't hurt him, but the damage was already being done. "I'll leave you alone if that's what you want."

Pete couldn't stand to look at him, and the anger he'd felt before just turned into frustrated sadness. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to prevent any stray tears from slipping down his face before he said something else he didn't want to say. But he had to.

"Go home, Patrick." He says, trying to be as cold as possible, but the tear that slips from his eye proves that he hated doing this. He didn't want Patrick to leave but whatever they had between them couldn't continue. Maybe in a different time, a different place, it would have worked out. But not here, not now. "And don't come back this time."

Patrick nods in understanding, pursing his lips and combing his fingers through his hair. He takes a single step but has a last minute thought to kiss Pete one last time before he leaves, cupping his face in his hands and pressing their lips together. Pete immediately kisses back, throwing his arms around the other's neck and desperately holding onto him. He didn't want to let him go, but he had no other choice. And who knows, maybe they'll find each other again someday. Maybe.

"I'm so sorry, Patrick." Pete whispers once they break apart, eyes welling up with more involuntary tears. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"Don't be," Patrick pecks Pete's lips a final time. "It's not your fault." Then he's backing away, giving Pete a sad smile before walking past him and out of the room for good.

And just like that, Pete's right back where he started. A tired, lonely, sad whore trying to live a simple life, void of emotions and attachments. But he'll never forget Patrick and what he felt towards him, he couldn't even if he tried.