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Note: This was requested by a user on Tumblr.

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"I cannot believe you're actually going to do this," you scoffed in disbelief as you shook your head disapprovingly at your older brother.

"Hey, I made a promise," he replied, pointing at himself, "And I always keep my promises."

"When I was 7, you promised you'd take me to Disneyland. It's been 15 years; I'm still waiting."

"And I told you to be patient." You rolled your eyes in annoyance and slumped back in the uncomfortable chair next to Pete as the tattoo artist began preparing.

"Ya know, I know I don't tell you this very often, but I really admire you," you spoke, causing your brother to turn to you with raised eyebrows, your sudden affection catching him off guard.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're the only person I know that has a high enough level of stupidity to get a random person's face permanently etched onto their body."

Pete laughed sarcastically before tugging on your hair, making you yelp in pain. "Gabe's not a random person, just FYI."

"Right, sorry. He's lover number... 2? Or is it 1?" you pondered, putting a finger to your chin. "Wait, is he before or after Patrick? I always get confused."

"You better watch it," Pete warned, "or else you're never going to Disneyland."

You smirked and crossed your legs. "Couldn't you at least have chosen a better picture?" you asked, frowning as you stared at the yearbook picture of Gabe.

"The deal was that he chose the tattoo. And he chose that," Pete shrugged, before sighing and leaning back in the reclined chair.

"Idiot," you mumbled.

"Hey, don't talk about him like that."

"Oh, no, I was talking about you."

"Hey!"

"It's true," you held up your hands in defence. "You shouldn't make such stupid bets."

"Thank you. I know that now."

"Also," you continued, pulling your nose up as you looked around, "Remind me why I'm here, again."

"Because Gabe couldn't make it."

"Nice," you popped your lips and smacked your hands on your knees. "He's making you get his ugly face tattooed on your body and he's not even here to offer support. Sounds like a swell guy."

"Actually, I think the two of you would get along really well," Pete pointed out, cocking his head to the side. "By the way, he's not ugly. He's actually pretty hot."

You scrunched up your face as you waved the picture of Gabe in front of Pete's face. "Reaaaaalllyyyy?"

"That picture's, like, a hundred years old," Pete rolled his eyes before narrowing them at you. "How come you've never seen a picture of the two of us?"

"I tend to steer as clear as possible from your romantic escapades, big brother."

~

"(Y/N)?" Pete called as he entered your apartment, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it onto the table.

"In here," you responded from your bedroom, on the other side of the apartment.

You let out a strangled groan as you once again tried to hammer the nail into the wall. This proved problematic, since you weren't the tallest of people; you jumped up and down repeatedly, trying to hit the nail on its head each time. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work very well. Sighing in defeat, you turned to your brother with a pleading face. "Help."

"Don't worry, Gabe's on his way."

"What?!" you asked in shock. "You invited Gabe?"

Pete nodded.

"Why?" you pulled a 'why would you even do something like that' face. "I called you over to help me hang a painting."

"(Y/N), we're like the same height. Did you really think I would be able to reach if you couldn't?"

"So you invited your lover?"

"He's not my lover. But he could be yours," Pete mumbled the second sentence very lowly, so the words escaped your hearing range, and all you heard was a mumble.

"What did you say?"

"I said he's very tall," Pete said. "He can reach that no problem." Pete waved his hand dismissively.

You heard the sound of your doorbell ringing and Pete smiled broadly before raising his eyebrows at you and running to open the door.

You slowly shuffled behind him, arms folded over your chest and inwardly groaning. Pete opened the door and you heard him and Gabe exchange a lively greeting. You shook your head. You couldn't believe your brother; he'd just invited this guy over without consulting you first, just because he was too damn lazy to load a ladder into his car and help you himself. And the worst part is that you know he's expecting you to bond with Gabe, get to know him, become friends, blah blah blah. Well, he had another thing coming. You weren't fond of many people, and you were certain Gabe wouldn't be one of th-OH MY GOD PETE WASN'T JOKING HE'S REALLY HOT.

Gabe stepped over the threshold into the apartment, and a wave of heat flushed over you. Hm, you were going to have to check the settings on the thermostat.

"(Y/N), this is Gabe, the bane of my existence," Pete joked, causing Gabe to lightly push him in the arm, the two males laughing softly. Gabe had a nice laugh, and the sound brought a small smile to your lips. "And Gabe, this is my lovely baby sister, (Y/N)."

"Hi, (Y/N)," Gabe smiled, holding out his hand for you to shake, which you did. "It's great to finally meet you. I've been looking forward to this for a long time." Another wave of warmth spread over your body. Stupid malfunctioning thermostat.

"Y-yeah, likewise." Did you really just stutter? What the hell was wrong with you? You bit your lip as you took in his features; he truly was a beautiful human.

"So, your brother said something about a painting that needs hanging..."

"Yes!" you snapped out of your Gabe-induced trance and snapped your fingers, pointing in the direction of your bedroom. "This way."

~

You sat awkwardly on your bed and watched Gabe as he hammered the nails into the wall.

I wonder what else he can hammer like tha- NO, (Y/N). STOP IT.

"I hate you, Pete," you muttered under your breath, upset with your brother and his clear attempt to set you and Gabe up. You'd distinctly told him that you weren't at all interested in finding romance at the moment, so, naturally, he thought it was the perfect time to set you up. You should've seen the light-bulb go off in his head that day at the tattoo parlour, when he brought up the fact that you and Gabe had never met. But you didn't, and now you were stuck in a room with Gabe while Pete left to 'get lunch', which you knew was only an excuse to leave the two of you alone so that you could fall for him. And, curse him, it was actually working. "Sly motherfucker."

"Excuse me?" Gabe said, turning to you with a smile, thinking that you were talking to him.

"Oh, nothing. I was just, uh, talking to myself," you chuckled nervously, mentally facepalming yourself.

"Alright," he smiled again. "Um, could you..." he pointed to the painting lying on the bed next to you.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course," you gently picked up the artwork and walked forward, handing it to him.

"Thank you, cariño," he said, bringing a tinge to your cheeks. You looked down, trying to hide the blush on your face as he carefully took the painting from your hands.

He reached up to hang that painting on the nails, and his shirt rose up a little bit, exposing his abdomen. The temperature in the room seemingly tripled, and you shifted uncomfortably. This broken thermostatwas really starting to piss you off.

"Okay, all done."

"It looks wonderful," you said in awe, looking up at the artwork and clasping your hands under your chin.

"Beautiful," Gabe said, although unlike you, he wasn't looking at the painting.

You turned to smile at him, but he was already looking at you. You shyly pushed your hair behind your ears. "Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it."

"It was a pleasure," he bowed his head slightly. "But unfortunately, I have to go. It's my nephew's birthday party and I promised him I'd be there."

"Oh, okay. That's totally cool," you replied, admittedly a little bit disappointed. "Enjoy it. And thanks again."

"Anytime," he smiled, before bringing your hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on it. "Until next time?"

"Next time," you smiled, and he returned it before turning around and making his way out.

Oh yes, there would be a next time. The walls of your living room suddenly seemed very bare; maybe you should go out and buy a couple more paintings.

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