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The sound of the crowd's standing ovation still echoes in Pete's brain, they've put on a great show as usual and he should be very happy about it.
However, he feels a bit melancholy? Dizzy? Angry? Okay, yes, he's slightly tipsy. He drank a bit before going on stage and now they're heading to a party organised by the staff while holding another beer in his hand.
But he's not drunk, really! He's one hundred percent in his right mind that he might even do a backflip if it didn't break his back and make his knees sore worse.
He's not sure if it's the taste of the alcoholic drink that's bitter in his mouth when he sees Patrick, sitting next to him joking around very happily with Joe and Joe plays along by ruffling Patrick's hair and making him burst out laughing every now and then.
Pete thinks about how long it might take him to find a new guitarist for the band.
If it's not obvious yet, Pete has a huge crush on Patrick, going back almost twenty years in fact.
As they get out of the van at the venue Pete lets out all the air he was holding in his lungs, the party hasn't even started and he already wants to leave. However, he feels an arm around him and immediately smiles when he sees Patrick at his side.
"Are you okay?" he asks sweetly. When he doesn't answer, Patrick adjusts his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Are you drunk?" he insists, but has an amused smirk on his face.
"N-no! Man, I'm not, just kind of tired I guess." Pete answers as calmly as possible, trying to ignore the thoughts that tell him to pounce on his bandmate and cover those beautiful cheeks with kisses.
"Well, I'll be around, I was told that at the party there are people who want to talk to me about sponsoring the band and doing some promotions." Patrick explains. "If you need anything, just let me know." he finishes and enters the venue.
Pete sighs, runs a hand over his face and finishes his beer. As he walks into the living room, he feels the floor move a little. It's probably age, he thinks.
Forty-somethings don't come alone, because you know, he's not drunk.
His friends have dispersed and he doesn't feel like socializing at the moment, he feels somewhat disappointed that Patrick has abandoned him so quickly.
But what could he expect? Patrick wasn't obliged to be like nail and dirt with him all the time, it's not like they are...something.
Pete goes to the kitchen and continues drinking standing by the bar, alone.
As the minutes pass he feels more dizzy, the lights are too bright and the hoodie is making him too hot.
A few feet away from him, near a large window, Patrick is chatting with a man and Pete squeezes the plastic cup containing his drink so hard that it breaks and the liquid falls on his fingers, getting between his rings and on his clean sneakers.
He reluctantly wipes it on the fabric of his jeans and although he tries to entertain himself with anything other than Patrick, his eyes always end up resting on his bandmate.
He snorts and rolls his eyes, Patrick must have some kind of defect! He couldn't be perfect all the damn time. Maybe...the way he stands, a little hunched over and with his hands in the pockets of his perfectly ironed pants. No...that makes him look adorable. Or maybe the way he talks, how he stumbles over words, how he speaks very quickly or often fails to formulate a coherent sentence. Although that...is endearing too.
Pete rolls his eyes again. Damn Patrick Stump, damn him for having those gorgeous blue eyes, that golden hair, that attractive growing beard, that blinding smile and being so handsome in general.
Pete hates him, hates him for ruining his life, hates him for turning him upside down, sure his intelligence manipulated him into falling in love with him but not having him. Patrick ruined his life by not being his.
And oh, that makes him so angry.
During his youth, Pete got everything he wanted and more, and even though he wasn't the most attractive guy, he was short and had a bit of questionable hygiene, his charisma was the aspect that always made him a winner.
But apparently he wasn't charismatic enough to make Patrick turn to look at him.
And it's not like he could just walk up to Patrick out of nowhere and tell him everything he feels because...damn have you seen Patrick's face?! In case you haven't noticed, the guy is fucking gorgeous.
And it's not like he could make him jealous either, he's a grown man now, a very grown man... it's not like he could ignore Patrick while he socializes with everyone or if he could flirt with someone in front of him.
At this point in the night he must seem possessed from rolling his eyes so much.
At that moment, the party's automatic music player hits him in the stomach as an intro that he knows very well plays.
'Gorgeous' by Taylor Swift, ladies and gentlemen, to boot.
"Hey, man, what are you doing here alone?" Joe and Andy walk up to him, Pete holds back the urge to roll his eyes, again.
"You look a little out of it, is something wrong?" Andy asks, friendly and calm as ever.
Pete looks at his friends, puts on the most serious face in the world, as if he's about to tell the most tragic story in the world, but instead he hears Taylor Swift saying over the speakers.
'If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her But if you're single that's honestly worse cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts' and simply says:
"D-do you know if Patrick is dating anyone? W-we don't usually talk about romance much, you know? Or at least not since he got divorced years ago..."
His friends are perplexed for the first few seconds, then Joe bursts out laughing (which is rare for him because he's not very expressive, he may be having an amazing time on stage but his expression will always be serious).
"Oh man, you're really drunk." Andy snorts.
"I-I'm not!" Pete swears. "I just drank a little, and we're not talking about me! We're talking about Patrick." He says irritated.
"Pete, for the love of God..."
"No, no, leave it, Andy." Joe interrupts the drummer. "Let our friend Pete handle it alone." He says mockingly and Pete wants to give him the middle finger but doesn't because for the first time that night, he notices Patrick looking at him from a distance.
Patrick looks at him, with those blue eyes, he's looking in his direction, at him, he's looking at him.
The man next to Patrick continues chatting but he doesn't seem to be listening, his body is turned towards Pete and his eyes get small when he smiles.
The voices in the room disperse and the music embeds itself in his mind.
'Ocean blue eyes looking in mine, I feel like I might sink and drown and die'.
"I need to go throw up." Pete announces and runs down the hall in search of a bathroom. He quickly ties up his long bleached hair and locks himself in a stall.
He tries to throw up but can't, his stomach hurts but the cold bathroom floor calms him down somewhat so he sits flat on the floor and leans his head against one of the walls.
He doesn't know how much time has passed when there's a knock on the stall door, Pete doesn't open it, he doesn't want whoever is outside to see him in this state.
Okay, he admits it, he is drunk. But he doesn't know what's wrong with him! He's usually a nice drunk, one that dances weird or gets a little horny, but he's never been the sad drunk type.
The door opens revealing a worried Patrick, Pete clumsily tries to comb his hair and fix his wrinkled shirt.
"Pete, what are you doing here? I saw you run out and Andy looked kind of worried." Patrick crouches down beside him and brushes a long strand of hair away from his face.
He gets lost in Patrick, in his red cheeks probably from the heat, the small gray hairs that mix in his beard and his pink and perfectly moisturized lips that he wants to kiss so much.
Patrick makes him happy, even if he can't have him the way he wanted, Patrick has been there for him in his worst moments and he couldn't be more grateful to have him in his life.
"P-pete... are you crying?" Patrick comments somewhat scared, Pete is not sure at what moment he had started to shed tears.
"I-it's just that... you make me so happy..." he says when Taylor Swift sings 'You make me so happy, it turns back to sad' and Patrick looks up at the ceiling, where two speakers rest that allow the music to resonate in the bathroom as well, he frowns, remembers that on the internet everyone says that Taylor has a song for everything and don't get him wrong, Patrick has interacted multiple times with Taylor, she is a phenomenal artist, but the coincidence throws him off.
"You're really drunk Pete, it's time to go home." Patrick says, like any good responsible adult.
"Yeah, sure, sure...I'm going home, all alone, to watch some random movie with my dog sleeping at my feet." Pete sighs dramatically, Patrick raises an eyebrow. "Unless you wanna come along."
Realization finally hits Patrick and he stifles a laugh. "God, I should have known from the moment you said 'man' to me, I'm never letting you drink again." he whispers.
"Pete, do you see this?" he says showing him his hand, pointing specifically to his ring finger, where a nice thick silver ring rests.
Pete's eyes fill with tears again as he examines the piece of jewelry. "Y-you got married? When? I don't remember...you didn't invite me?" he asks bitterly.
Patrick rolls his eyes and removes his cap to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Now look at the ring finger on your right hand, Pete." Patrick practically orders and Pete is not one to disobey.
Shock washes over him as he sees a thick silver ring on his finger.
It's the same ring Patrick wears.
"We're married, silly." Patrick says and finally allows himself to laugh at how shocked his husband looks. "What did you drink to make you forget that I'm your husband, darling?" Patrick smiles tenderly and stands up, then lifts Pete off the ground and puts Pete's arm around his shoulders.
Pete continues to process the information, he's married, he married Patrick, the most beautiful man ever, he's his husband!
Swaying a little, he stands in front of Patrick and without wasting time he cups his face and kisses him, he kisses him desperately and messily because he's been racking his brains all this time, angry that the man next to him wasn't his when he was all this time.
Patrick kisses him back, Pete can feel him smiling against his mouth and his knees are shaking and not exactly from old age.
"You're my husband." he says when the kiss ends, all flushed and dazed. Patrick nods happily.
"Let's go home, you'll drink at least three liters of water to take the alcohol down a notch." Patrick scolds fondly, Pete can't wait to get home, the house he shares with his husband and wake up next to him.
He'll probably wake up hungover but hey, plenty of people wake up hungover but with no one by their side.
Point for Pete Wentz who is charismatic enough to have won over his crush of almost two decades.
As Patrick drags him out of the bathroom, Pete looks up at the sky. "Thanks Taylor Swift." he whispers to the sky, Patrick lets out a laugh.
"Looks like she wrote that song for you." Patrick jokes, Pete steals a chaste kiss on his lips.
"In fact, one day I sat down to talk to her and then she wrote that song."