I didn't mention this in the last chap about the peterick kiss. no, patrick is not cheating on gee. it was more like a kiss on the cheek/side of the mouth. pete took it way more seriously than it was. patrick would never cheat on gee. if anything, it would be the other way around.

we send gerard off to college in this chapter, along with frank iero..?? trouble could be coming up..

GRADUATION DAY

Today is graduation day for all of the seniors at West Chicago High. Patrick Stump might just cry.

Not only is he losing Joe and Andy, he's also losing his boyfriend. Gerard is going to University of Maine, which is a good seven hour drive from the Trohman house in Chicago.

"Hello, students and parents. I'd like to welcome you to a very special ceremony for all of our seniors of this year," The principal, Mr. Radke, says, smiling widely. "Today, we send young people out into the real world, which we have been preparing them for since the start of freshman year,"

"Get on with it, old guy!" A student in the crowd says. Pete and Patrick, who are sitting close to the front with Joe's parents and Andy's parents, snicker.

Radke just laughs, though, and continues like nothing has happened. Patrick zones out most of it until Pete elbows him. He turns to cuss him out but is interrupted by Pete's shocked gaze towards the stage.

"Well, uh, hi," It's Gerard, red hair shining with the lights on him, looking scared and nervous as fuck. "I'm your, umm, valedictorian, I guess," He laughs awkwardly. The whole crowd is silent. "I, umm, would like to thank all of our, uh, teachers for-" And then he drops his cards. Everyone bursts out into laughter (besides Pete and Patrick) as Gerard turns the same colour as his hair. "Dammit," He mumbles, bending down to pick them up.

When Patrick looks back at Pete to say something, he's faced with an empty chair. Patrick turns his attention back to the stage where Pete has taken Gerard's spot.

"I think what my lovely friend here was saying is that no matter how much shit they gave the teachers and the teachers gave them, they all helped shape each other's life a little bit. Each one of them had an impact on the other," He says for Gerard, smiling at his questioning look. "Some more than others. Gerard here is a very lucky guy, I'll tell you. He has a beautiful boyfriend, rocking friends, and an amazing class," Pete continues. "I know he's going to miss this school, no matter what anyone thinks. They all will. Ladies and gents, I present to you the class of 2015!" Pete says excitedly.

Okay, that was kind of Gerard's job, but who cares? They all throw their hats up, including Gerard, who's smiling at Pete the whole time. After Radke dismisses them, Gerard hugs Pete. Pete laughs and pats Gee's back.

Patrick is still blushing in his seat, however, from the previous comment about a 'beautiful boyfriend,' courtesy of Pete.

After finally recovering from the comment, he makes his way over to Pete and Gerard, who are now joined by Joe and Andy. "There's my favourite grads!" Patrick exclaims, hugging Joe, Andy, and then Gerard.

"I feel.. exactly the same," Andy says, making all of them laugh. They decided yesterday that they were going to skip the after party since no juniors were allowed, opting to spend the special day with special people.

As they all walk towards Joe, Pete, and Gerard's cars, Gerard stops all of them by clearing his throat. "I haven't been completely honest,"

"What are you talking about, Gee?" Patrick laughs, hitting Gerard's side. Gerard smiles sheepishly.

"Since I'm, you know, going seven hours away with Frank, we want to leave tomorrow to get settled in," He says quickly. All of their jaws drop down to the ground. The silence makes the tension visible from far away.

When someone finally breaks the terrible silence, it surprises them even more at who it is. "Why, umm, why so early?" Pete asks. Sure, they were all thinking it, but they expected Patrick to say something about it or for the topic to be dropped once they all had recovered from their original shock.

"Well, we don't really know anyone down there. So he came up with the idea that we leave a few months early and get to know our neighbours and stuff," Gerard explains. Patrick remains oddly calm and quiet throughout the whole Pete questioning Gerard thing. Once again, they are left in an uncomfortable silence.

Joe is the first to break it this time. "Wow, uh, maybe we should head to a liquor store and have a Game of Thrones slash The Walking Dead marathon," Joe suggests. Everyone seems to agree on that as Joe and Andy get in Joe's jeep, and Gerard gets in his charger.

Patrick sits down on the curb. "Hey, Gee, go ahead. I'll bring Patrick with me," Pete tells him. Gerard nods and follows Joe out of the school parking lot.

"They all leave," Is all Patrick says, a blank expression on his face.

"You know you don't have to be sad, right? You still have me, Joe, and Andy," Pete says. Patrick snorts.

"Joe and Andy are going to University of Wisconsin- Madison, Pete. That's a good two and a half hours a way, you know," Patrick says, dropping his head into his hands.

"Come on, 'Trick. I won't leave you," He says, nudging Patrick softly with his elbow. "How about we skip out on the drunk movie marathon and do what you want?" Pete asks him. Patrick lifts his head.

"Why would you do this for me?" Patrick asks, clearly confused. He has no idea why Pete would do all of this for someone he met four months ago.

"You're my friend, Patrick," and I love you. There's no way Pete can tell him that. Patrick will no longer want to be around him. "So what do you say?"

"I say, let's fucking do this," Patrick says, making Pete smile and stand up, holding his hand out for Patrick. Patrick takes it with a matching grin as they head to Pete's car.

This is going to be fun, Pete thinks as he drives out of the parking lot.

--

Pete bought them both one ticket each for Poltergeist. But after their movie was over, they didn't leave. They switched from movie theatre to movie theatre until ten o'clock.

Today, they send Gerard and Frank off to Maine. Patrick isn't going to cry, he knows it.

Gerard and Patrick are standing off to the side, watching Frank, Joe, Andy, and Pete interact, laughing along with each other. "So you're okay?" Gerard asks him.

"Yeah, I think I am," Patrick says. Gerard smiles, and then they're kissing, long and hot, that makes Pete turn away. How can Patrick act like they didn't spend the whole day together yesterday; like nothing happened.

But maybe that's just it. Nothing did happen. They watched a few movies, shared a few laughs. Nothing anywhere near as big as what Gerard has with Patrick.

"Hey, hey. Enough," Joe says, making Patrick pull away and rest his head on Gerard's chest. Pete just sighs. Joe leads Gerard to the passenger side of his own car. "In, in," He ushers him inside.

They drive away. Andy and Joe go inside, but Pete and Patrick stay outside.

"How are you holding up?" Pete asks Patrick. Patrick looks in the direction they just drove off in before looking at Pete and smiling.

"I think I'm going to be okay," He says honestly. Pete smiles at Patrick as they go inside, shoulders touching.