"Come on, Patrick, please," Joe begs him. "You can't honestly say that you didn't like it last time. That it didn't give you an adrenaline rush,"

"Joe, it doesn't matter what it gave me. I said no," Patrick tells him, making Joe huff.

"I didn't want to have to do this," Joe tells him. Patrick's eyes widen.

"Don't you dare," He says. Joe smiles mischievously.

"Pete!" Joe yells. Patrick immediately clamps a hand over Joe's mouth. "Pte!" Joe tries again.

Pete's head pokes over the balcony, a confused look on his face once he sees the cousins below him in the state they're in. "Umm, are you guys doing okay?"

"Ptrick wnt sng fr us," Joe gets out somehow. Pete's confused look is replaced by a shit-eating grin. He pads down the stairs, with only sweats and his American Eagle boxers poking out at the top. Surprise, surprise; they have pizzas on them.

"Patrick, Patrick, Patrick," Pete claps a hand on his back. "You're singing for us, my good friend,"

"Pete," Patrick whines. Pete just gives him a strange look. Joe watches them, Patrick's hand still over his mouth.

"Please," Patrick has never been able to resist puppy dog eyes very well, so when it comes to Pete doing them, he gives in automatically.

"Fine," Patrick grits out. Pete hugs him and then goes back up the stairs to Joe's room where he was previously playing the Xbox. Andy, who has been quietly listening and watching, laughs.

"You're such a sucker for him," Andy notes. Joe nods.

"True that," He says before running over and jumping on Andy.

Patrick flips them both off before following where Pete just went. He's been stuck on the fourth episode of The Walking Dead game since before Gerard left three months ago.

When he reaches Pete and opens the door, he finds Pete on top of the covers, the white controller in his hands. Pete looks mad.

"Fucking hell, Lee," He curses, hitting the start button to pause the game. Patrick laughs.

"You alright there, man?" He asks, earning a glare from Pete.

"I'm fine, dude. But I'm pretty sure I've fallen off of this fucking building twenty times," He says. Patrick sits down next to Pete and grabs the controller off of the bed.

"How hard can it be?" Patrick asks out loud. Pete snorts. Patrick's never been much of a gamer.

"Push the A button to get back to the game," Pete tells him. Patrick nods and does so. Lee takes a running start and jumps. Patrick makes him grab Molly's hand at the last second. "You fucking.." Is all Pete says. Patrick smirks at him.

"I'm not that bad of a gamer after all, am I?" Patrick asks smugly. Pete shakes his head in disbelief as Patrick pauses the game and hands the controller back to him.

"I fucking hate you sometimes. Is there anything you can't do?" Pete says. Patrick shrugs.

"I'm bad at math. Oh, and I'm not very flexible," Patrick notes. Pete's eyes go wide. When Patrick notices, he turns bright red. "Not like that, you dirty minded son of a bitch!" Patrick says. They both laugh it off.

"Good to know, though," Pete winks at Patrick. Patrick smacks his head. "Have you heard from Gee today?" Pete asks.

"Yeah. I asked him if he'd take me to Homecoming since school started a few weeks ago. He said he would," Patrick says. Pete's whole expression drops, his day ruined. He was hoping he'd get to ask Patrick to Homecoming. Of course he always waits too long. "Pete?" Patrick snaps his fingers in front of Pete's face.

"Sorry," Pete says, visibly shaking himself out of his thoughts. "What'd you say again?"

"I asked who you were going to take," Patrick repeats. Pete just shrugs.

"I'll probably just fifth wheel with you guys and Josh and Debby," Pete says honestly. Patrick shakes his head.

"Come on, Pete. You could ask anyone, and they'd drop their date for you," Patrick says, elbowing him softly.

No I can't! He wants to yell at Patrick. Not everyone. Not the one person he wants. Not Patrick.

"Don't worry about me, Patrick," Pete fakes a smile that he hopes Patrick doesn't notice.

"If you're sure," Patrick says, not really wanting to leave Pete alone on the special night.

--

THE DAY OF HOMECOMING

"Holy shit, Patrick," Pete says once he sees the blue-haired boy. Patrick smiles shyly. "You look fuckin' hot,"

"You really think so?" Patrick asks, turning a full circle. Who fucking knew purple was Patrick's colour? Pete has never been more jealous of Gerard Way at the moment.

"Hell yeah, I do," And then Josh comes walking up, hand-in-hand with Debby. Patrick smiles at them.

"You two are looking dashing," He says, making the two of them smile.

"Not too bad yourself, Mr. Cookie Monster," Debby says. Josh just smiles. Debby has called him that since a few days after they met, honestly. Because of the blue hair.

"I can't believe I'm crashing Homecoming," Debby says. Patrick, Josh, and Pete laugh at the girl that graduated just a few months ago. "Why aren't you dressed yet, Pete?"

"Eh, I don't think I'm gonna go. I might just hang out here," Pete says honestly.

"Oh no you're not," Patrick says. "Get the hell up, Wentz. You're coming with me," Patrick drags him out of the room. Tyler and Debby share a look.

They come back five minutes later, Pete in a dark grey suit and eyeliner that really makes his eyes pop. Josh's jaw drops. Patrick stands back to admire his work.

"Damn, Pete," Tyler wolf-whistles from behind them. He claps Pete on the back. "If I wasn't one hundred percent straight, I'd tap you," Pete coughs awkwardly, while the rest of them laugh.

"Uh, thanks?" Pete says, but it comes out as more of a question. Pete doesn't really know Patrick's friends that well. They're a little weird.

"Well, let's stop standing around and get to our last Homecoming dance," Patrick breaks everyone out of the silence. They all head outside to respectable cars. Josh and Debby in Josh's, Pete and Patrick in Pete's, and Tyler in his own.

"So when's Gerard supposed to be here?" Pete asks. Patrick looks at the clock on his phone.

"You know, it's weird. He was supposed to be here about an hour ago," Patrick says. Pete's eyes widen. Gerard can't blow him off. Not on Homecoming night.

"I'm sure he's just running late. Traffic must be a bitch," Pete tries to stay positive, no matter how hard he doesn't want Gerard to show up.

"Yeah, that's probably it," Patrick nods as they pull up to the school. "Let's go kick some ass on the dance floor,"

"Let's,"

Thirty minutes later, Gerard has still not shown up. Patrick is well passed pissed. "Man, what's wrong?" Pete asks him, sitting down beside the blue haired boy with the purple suit.

"He's still not here," Patrick says, huffing after checking the time on his phone yet again.

"Maybe you should call him," Pete suggests. That's the smartest thing he's ever said. So Patrick does.

"Gerard?" He says into the phone weakly. What he gets in response doesn't make any of this any better.

"Hey, Patrick. It's Frank," Frank says back. Patrick sighs. "Gee's asleep. Want me to wake him?"

"You know what? Don't worry about it," Patrick says. He hangs up without saying goodbye.

"How far is he?" Pete asks, sipping on his punch. He's sad that it's not spiked.

"He's not coming," Patrick says like he's done with everything. Pete pats his back.

"I'm sorry, man. Is there anything I can do?" He asks.

"You can take me home," Is all Patrick says. So Pete does.

He has never wanted to hurt Gerard Way more at the moment.