Pete gets to stay one night with Patrick before TJ takes him back to the apartment. Gavin promises Patrick will be back at school within the week, something Pete hopes is truthful.

When Pete and TJ come in the apartment at half noon the next day, Joe and Andy jump off of the couch and run to meet them at the door. "Pete, what the fuck?" Andy demands, hands on his hips. Joe looks just as pissed.

"I went to see Patrick." Pete says simply, and both of them freeze, eyes wide.

"How is he?" Joe asks quickly, and it seems he's no longer mad at Patrick, if the way concern is written all over his face is any indication.

"He's going to be fine. They managed to save some of his larynx, so as long as the cancer doesn't come back, he should be fine without a stoma. He's going to have some trouble speaking for a bit at first, though." TJ answers for Pete, who smiles gratefully at him.

"Thank god." Andy says, and Joe nods. They both pull Pete in for a hug.

"Don't ever leave and not tell us again. You had us worried sick." Joe tells him, and Pete nods slowly.

"Did you guys end up making up? Seems so if the state I left you both in is any indication." Pete says, a smirk on his face, and Pete hears TJ stop in his tracks on the way to the bathroom.

"Please don't tell me you fucked in my house." TJ says as he turns around to face them, a wide-eyed look of horror on his face. Andy and Joe suddenly find the floor very interesting, both of their eyes glued to it. "Oh my fucking god. Oh my actual god." TJ says, his mouth dropping open as he shakes his head.

"Uh. We cleaned the kitchen up afterwards?" Andy offers, TJ's eyes get even wider, if that's possible.

"You fucked in my kitchen?" TJ shouts, and that earns Andy an elbow to the ribs from Joe. "This is what I get for working with teenagers!" TJ adds as he walks off towards the bathroom. "Motherfucking teenagers!"

"Oops?" Pete says, and Joe and Andy both snort, shrugging in unison. "Tell me, are you two back together?"

"Good question, actually. Joseph?" Andy asks, turning to his ex-maybe-not boyfriend.

Joe says, "I thought we were taking this slow," sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Because having makeup sex in TJ's kitchen is 'taking it slow,' sure." Pete says, and Joe glares at him.

"That was an impulsive decision." Joe clarifies, and that makes Andy raise his eyebrows and cock his head.

"I'm sorry, what?" Andy asks, crossing his arms as he awaits an answer. When Joe doesn't immediately offer an explanation, he adds, "You seemed content yesterday."

"Andy, come on. You can't expect me to just jump back into this headfirst. You cheated on me and had no intention of telling me." Joe says, and Andy's whole demeanour changes, arms and head dropping, not daring to look up. "I don't want to hear that you were going to tell me. I don't believe it."

"You guys haven't talked about this? You were here for over twenty-four hours alone. What exactly did you do?" Pete says after awkwardly watching the exchange, regretting having brought it up.

When Joe and Andy both snap their heads up quickly and then make eye contact, TJ re-emerges from the bathroom and says, "Do not answer that. I don't want to hear it."

"Yeah, I actually think that's something I don't want to know. Never mind." Pete says, and both of them avoid eye contact with TJ as he passes by.

"Please tell me you disinfected the whole kitchen. I don't care if you only fucked on the floor, or whatever." TJ says, stopping to wait for a response before he even so much as steps foot in the kitchen.

"Actually, they fucked on the-" Before Pete can finish his sentence, Andy elbows him, hard, in the ribs. Pete stops abruptly to yelp.

"That's it. I'm moving out!" TJ throws his hands up and marches off towards his bedroom. He stops before he enters to turn around. "If you fucked in my bed, I'm calling the cops."

"Nope, we didn't fuck in your bed or your room in general." Joe says, and TJ sighs in relief before entering his room and slamming the door shut. Pete hears the lock click, probably for good measures, seconds later.

"Well, you didn't have to lie to him." Andy whispers after a few seconds, and Pete's eyes widen at that.

"We washed the sheets. That's all that matters." Joe replies, walking off from the group to collapse on the couch. Andy joins him seconds later, laying in between Joe's legs with his head on Joe's chest.

"Could you maybe point out a spot you didn't fuck so I can sit down somewhere?" Pete asks, and both of them snort.

Joe lifts his head and points to the recliner on the other side of the couch. "You're good there. We couldn't get comfortable enough."

Pete shakes his head in response but sits in the recliner anyways, grabbing the television remote and clicking to Netflix. They watch a few movies, something they never get to do, trying to ignore the elephant in the room: Patrick isn't there with them.

Thankfully, he will most likely be back at school this week, and they can all fall into their normal routines. That is, if Andy and Joe decide to get back together.

Well, really just Joe. If it was up to Andy, they'd have been together the whole time, Joe still oblivious to Andy's infidelity. In some ways, Pete's glad Patrick told Joe, not only so Joe wasn't in the dark anymore but also so Pete and Andy could resolve their issues. Now, as soon as Patrick gets back, Pete thinks he'd just like to fly under the radar for the rest of the school year, graduate, and move all four of them back to Chicago.

is this gonna be a regular thing again? like daily updates? i hope so