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Patrick was playing piano when his golden retriever Allie came running into the room, her tail wagging excitedly. Her read leash was hanging from her mouth and Patrick knew she was desperate - she would never voluntarily get the leash.
„Alright, I’m coming.“, he said, quickly scribbling the last few notes on the piece of paper in front of him, before getting up. He really wasn’t in the mood for cleaning up dog pee today.
As soon as they left the apartment building he lived in, Patrick shivered. It was October, but somehow it had gotten colder than he had expected. A sudden blast of wind hit him in the face, disheveling his light brown hair. Huffing, he pulled the sleeves of his cardigan over his hands and gripped the leash tighter. No matter how much Allie pretended to behave, she would always try to get away from it. She was four years old now and Patrick had still trouble controlling her sometimes.
The park was just a few minutes away, but they needed longer to get there because Allie stopped at every corner to pee, looking up at Patrick with her big dog eyes that said „You know, we’d be in the park already but I don’t want to go with the leash so I’ll drag it out to annoy you as much as possible!“ and he just rolled his eyes in return. He’d fallen for this trick more than once already. If he would let her go somewhere outside the dog park it could take hours to find her. One time she’d been gone for two days and he’d been worried sick, until she’d shown up in front of the apartment building, all dirty and smelly but happier than he’d ever seen her.
„You’re an asshole.“, he told Allie when she came to a halt once again, about five steps away from one of the entrances to the park. „I don’t even know why I still have you. I’m probably the only person who’d keep a dog like you. You’re smelly and you run away whenever you get an opportunity and-“
He stopped himself when an old couple passed him, throwing him weird glances. Nice. Now they probably thought he was crazy.
Patrick wasn’t easy to piss off, but he started to feel a twinge of annoyance.
„Come on.“ He tugged at the leash, gritting his teeth. „You can run around in the dog park but can we please hurry up?“
He wasn’t wearing a scarf or a hat and the last bit of sun had disappeared behind thick, grey clouds. He could feel his face getting wet with tiny raindrops that were messily falling from the sky, changing direction with the wind. Patrick didn’t even have an umbrella, for god’s sake! Normally he didn’t mind taking walks, but today he just felt like going back home as soon as possible to curl up on the couch and read a book.
They were about halfway through the park when it happened. Another gust of wind hit Patrick, making him shiver violently. He tried to flatten his hair and just as he raised his hand to his head, the man in front of him lost his umbrella.
Patrick was sure he didn’t do it by accident - the wind was powerful and this wasn’t the first time it had ripped an umbrella from someone’s hands. It was certainly the first time that it blew it four feet in the air though, before sending it off flying in Patrick’s direction.
Patrick couldn’t help but squeak, automatically letting go off the leash to shield his face with his hands.
It hit him sideways, the tips digging into his ribs for half a second, before it was gone again, landing on the grass that was surrounding the asphalted way Patrick was walking on.
It hadn’t really hurt and Patrick was relieved that it had missed his face, but the only thing he could concentrate on was the fact that he wasn’t holding the damn leash anymore.
Even though he felt fear settle in the pit of his stomach, he dropped his hands and looked up. As expected, Allie was gone. He could just see her dashing away from him in the distance, then she disappeared behind a bunch of trees and was gone.
„Hey man, you okay?“ Patrick hadn’t even seen the man approaching, but now he was standing in front of him, looking at Patrick with unmistakable worry in his eyes.
„No.“, Patrick snapped, burying his head in his hands. „Damn. Sorry.“
„Don’t be sorry, that was my fault.“, the stranger said. „The wind, oh man, I didn’t see it coming and then the umbrella just…“
Patrick let him ramble. He really needed to get his shit together or he would start crying out of frustration in front of a person he didn’t know and that was about the last thing he wanted.
Eventually, he managed to calm himself down a little, so he could look up without feeling tears well up in his eyes.
„It’s okay.“, he choked out. „It was the wind, not you. I just…man now I need to go find my dog.“
He knew he probably looked like a kicked puppy, but he couldn’t help it - it was really starting to rain now.
„I’ll help you.“, the man said firmly. He was holding his umbrella again, but it was closed this time as the wind would only cause it to fly away again. „He can’t be that far away.“
„She.“, Patrick corrected with a sigh. „Her name’s Allie.“
„She.“, the man said, nodding. „God, I’m so sorry, we’ll find her, okay? I’m Pete by the way.“
Pete. Patrick looked up, really seeing the other man for the first time since they’d met. For some reason knowing his name changed something, like he was no longer a nameless face but a real person. He looked good too, with his slightly tanned skin and dark hair and twinkling eyes that were filled with way to much hope to get this over with quickly. Or maybe it was something else he couldn’t identify.
„Patrick.“, he introduced himself. For some reason he felt the need to give Pete a chance to back off - this wasn’t going to be fun at all. „You don’t have to help me. Trust me, it might take hours to find her and I’m sure you’d rather be home than to search for a dog.“
„Look, this is technically my fault.“, he said almost immediately. „And I’m helping you, okay Patrick?“
Something about the way he said his name made Patrick smile a little, so he nodded. He felt like he somehow had accepted more than just Pete’s help, but right now he couldn’t think about this. Finding Allie was more important at the moment.
It turned out to be not so bad. Patrick was wet and cold and miserable and so was Pete, but the other man actually managed to engage him in conversation. It was weird, but they clicked.
Pete even managed to make Patrick laugh once or twice and that was an especially hard task, considering they both felt awful.
In the end, they found Allie rolling around in mud as she was trying to get the leash off.
Patrick’s good mood was gone in a matter of seconds. He would have to drag her home like this, all his clothes would get not just wetter but also dirtier and god, she hated taking baths.
He somehow managed to grab hold of the leash again, biting his lip so he wouldn’t lose his temper just yet.
„Uh, thanks Pete.“, he said, turning around to face the other man again. The wind had calmed down and they had walked the last bit underneath the umbrella, but they were still soaked. It made Patrick feel bad. „Sorry I put you through this, you should have just went home.“
Pete looked uncertain of what to do, so Patrick added: „I have to bring her home and bathe her and-“
His lip quivered and he stopped himself, before he’d start sobbing or something.
„Hey, I can help you.“, Pete said, reaching out to place one hand on Patrick’s shoulder. „Well, if you don’t have a problem with letting me in your house, that is.“
That was when Patrick couldn’t hold it back any longer. He lowered his head, feeling the tears stream down his face as he desperately raised one arm to wipe them away. He wasn’t even sad, just incredibly frustrated - the cold wind, the rain, his damn dog who apparently just wanted to get away from him and now Pete even saw him crying over all of this. He wished he would have met him on another day, without Allie behaving like a brat, because Pete was just perfect in every way. Patrick was pretty sure he had just developed the biggest fucking crush and now he didn’t even know how to stay in contact with Pete, because he was just some stupid dog owner who couldn’t even handle said dog.
He could feel Pete pulling him into some sort of awkward half-hug and Patrick didn’t even try to resist. This time though, he gripped the leash extra tight. He maybe didn’t have any dignity left, but he wouldn’t let Allie get away again.
Patrick didn’t know how long they were standing there, him crying silently into Pete’s shoulder who couldn’t even hug him properly because the umbrella was in the way. It was when he was calming down a bit that he noticed how Pete was saying things like „It’s okay, it’s not your fault, I know, I know.“ and how Pete’s hand was on his back, rubbing it gently.
He didn’t want to end it, but hell, it was his fault that Pete was even here - he’d been enough of a burden already. He was dimly aware that he was hyperventilating when he pulled back, feeling slightly dizzy already. It wasn’t something that was new to him - he tended to get panicky when he cried really hard and even though he knew it had happened before, he started to get anxious all over, because what if he fainted, what if-
Pete had embraced him again before he could even form another thought. The umbrella fell to the ground, but Pete didn’t seem to care - instead he hugged Patrick for real this time, starting to rub his back again until Patrick’s breathing slowed down a little and he actually felt better.
He was still a little shaky, but he knew it would get better in a few minutes.
„I’m sorry I cried on you.“, Patrick mumbled, stepping back.
Pete laughed. „I’m wet already, silly. Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind you crying all over me.“
Patrick didn’t know what to say to that, because many things Pete said sounded so suggestive, so he just cracked a smile.
For a few seconds, neither of them said a word, then Pete cleared his throat and added: „It’s…I want to help you, okay?“
Pete sounded so serious that Patrick didn’t even try to interrupt him.
„I just feel like we can talk really well and I don’t think we should just…stop, you know?“ Patrick knew. „Is it weird that I want to get to know you?“
Patrick took a deep breath before answering.
„It’s not weird, Pete. I do want to get to know you too.“
„So you’ll actually let me come with you to your apartment?“
And Patrick knew Pete was almost a total stranger but he also felt like he could trust him more than most of the people he knew - he still felt like he would fall in love with Pete for real if they continued talking, but something about the way Pete smiled at him made him feel like maybe, maybe he did have a chance. So he said: „Yeah. But you better don’t be an axe murderer, I have a feral dog!“
And if Pete laughed a little too much at this and pulled him into a hug again that was just a few seconds too long, neither of them mentioned it.