Chapter Text
Apparently, Pete’s boyfriend’s birthday was tomorrow and Pete was busy all day today with his parents actually being home for the weekend. He didn’t want to have them asking questions of where he was going because they did not know about his boyfriend. So he didn’t have time to go looking for it, so he asked Patrick to do it.
Patrick hasn’t even met Pete’s boyfriend yet. He doesn’t even know what his name is. He was starting to think Pete’s boyfriend was made up but that didn’t explain how Pete got hickeys from time to time.
Patrick is a good best friend, so he’ll spend his Friday afternoon searching for a comic book for Pete’s “imaginary” boyfriend
He had already searched three comic book stores and hadn’t found anything for this one of a kind Batman comic. So Patrick went to the last place he thought he would ever go.
When he walked into the bookstore in Belleville he immediately smelled the scent of new books and coffee. Yup, this was Barnes and Noble, Patrick thought. He could definitely become blind and know exactly where he was if he was brought to a Barnes and Noble.
He had worked at a Barnes and Noble before and it was probably the worst experience ever. His boss hated him for some reason, and he ended up quitting after some chick threw her coffee at him for giving her the wrong amount of change. Luckily, this was not the same Barnes and Noble he had worked at. Unluckily, this one was in the next town over.
He didn’t hate Belleville, he just didn’t like the school. It was some fancy prep school that most of the town went to. It had stuck up, bratty kids that were bullies. He hated those types of people.
He walked back to the comic section and started searching. He found a whole lot of X-men, Spiderman, and Superman comics, but not the Batman comic Pete was talking about. Did this comic even exist??
“It’s one of a kind, but I swear I saw it like the other day.” said the little voice of Pete inside of Patrick’s head.
Yeah, right. Why would it be in a Barnes and Noble if it was one of a kind? Patrick thought to himself.
Patrick sighed and stood up from where he was crouched, looking at the bottom shelf, he felt defeated and he would have to go back home and tell Pete that he did not find the comic for imaginary boyfriend.
“Hi, I’m Mikey, can I help you?” said a voice from behind him
Patrick turned around and saw a worker. Patrick looked at his name tag which read “Micheal” and “he/him” underneath. Micheal, or Mikey, was a tall, skinny guy with glasses and wore a beanie. It was a pretty cool beanie, Patrick thought.
“Patrick.” Patrick said, it wouldn’t hurt to ask him about the comic. “Uh, yeah, I’m looking for this particular Batman comic, but I can’t find it.” Patrick told him.
“Oh, what’s it called?” Mikey asked
Patrick told him the name and Mikey smiled and told him that they had it in the back.
“If you go talk with my sister Illi at the front counter she’ll grab it for you” Mikey said
“Thanks,” Patrick said with a smile. He walked up to the front and saw a very pretty girl working at the counter looking bored out of her mind, reading a book. She was the only one working at the counter at the moment so he figured that this was Illi.
Patrick started getting nervous as he walked up to her. He couldn’t even form words when he finally got to her. He just kinda stood there watching her, reading her name badge over and over again. He tried to think of something he could say to seem cool, and maybe by the end of the conversation get her number, but everything he came up with was lame as fuck.
Eventually Illi noticed him. She looked at him for a moment before she spoke, making Patrick’s heart beat in double time.
“Can I help you?” she said with the classic customer service smile on her face.
“Uhh… Mikey said that a pretty girl called Illi could get a Batman comic for me from the back.” He said nervously.
“Yeah, of course! I’ll be right back!” she said, giving him a big, genuine, smile on her face before she left to the back. When she returned she put the comic on the counter. “You like Batman?” she asked, scanning the comic and ringing it up.
“Yeah.” he said
All the sudden Illi started ranting to him about how much she liked Batman and all these little things she knows about him and how cool he is. Patrick didn’t mind her taking up his time. He’s pretty sure that he could listen to her talk forever.
After about two dozen “did you know’s” of Batman facts, Illi stopped herself seaming to realize that Patrick was a customer that was trying to buy a comic and her special interest was preventing him from leaving the store.
“Sorry” She said, cutting herself off, her cheeks turning a dark shade of red “I’ve been talking for way too long.” She avoided eye contact with him.
“No, it’s fine. You have a pretty voice” he said without much thought. The words just came out of his mouth like it was natural.
She looked up at him, her face turning more red. “Oh.” was all she said
They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before Patrick got out his wallet and handed her the money for the comic. “I should probably pay now,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah” Illi said awkwardly, taking the cash and putting it into the register and giving him his change and the comic. Their hands lingered together for a moment –both their faces heated up– before Patrick took the change and the comic.
“Thanks” Patrick said turning around to leave but then quickly turned back around “actually could I have your number?” he asked
Illi blinked at him like she didn’t understand what he was saying and Patrick thought she was going to say no. “yeah” she said and picked up a Sharpie and looked for a piece of paper. There were no papers around so she held out her hand.
“Give me your hand” she said and Patrick gave her his hand. She wrote down her number just below his wrist and drew a little batman symbol underneath it.
“My name’s Patrick by the way” He said because he forgot to tell her his name before asking for her number. How was he actually getting a pretty girl’s number right now?
“Illi, but you already knew that”
“Yeah, I like your name.” Patrick said stupidly. He mentally slapped himself in the face.
“Thanks I picked it myself” she said
“Cool,” Patrick said, not really paying attention to what that meant at the moment. He was still in shock from getting her number. “Well, I’ve gotta run. But I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah” Illi said “See you around”
Then Patrick left, got in his car and fucking celebrated. He has won today. He got the comic for Pete and got a pretty girl’s number? He felt like he was dreaming. He hoped he wasn’t.
***
When Patrick got home he set the comic on his desk so he wouldn’t forget where it was, and flopped on his bed, pulling out his phone to text Pete.
Trick: i got the comic for imaginary bf
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: thank youuuuu
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: and he’s not imaginary
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: he is real and u will meet him tomorrow
Trick: ? why
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: cuz u haven’t met him yet?? he said u could come to the little thing we’re having at his house.
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: if u wanted
Trick: sure
Trick: do i have to get a gift for him too?
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: nah
Trick: k
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III: would u mind coming over for the night tho?
Trick: i’ll b there
Patrick snapped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket. He grabbed an unused bag laying in his room, and threw in some pajamas and clothes for tomorrow. Then he left his room to tell his mom where he was going.
“Hey mom, I’m going to Pete’s for the night” Patrick called, going straight for the garage.
“Okay, be safe driving there” His mom said from where she was sat on the couch, watching something on the TV
“I will, I’ve been driving for a year mom!”
“Yes, I know, but still be careful” she called before Patrick walked out into the two car garage and started his five minute drive to Pete’s house.
He made it all the way to Pete’s house before he remembered that he forgot the comic sitting on his desk, so he turned around and went back to his own house. He ran into his room, grabbed the comic and then ran out waving to his mom and yelled out “Bye” before he left for Pete's for real this time.
Trick: i’m here
Pete Lewis Kingston Wentz III: the back door should b unlocked
Pete Lewis Kingston Wentz III: just b careful my parents r kinda arguing with each other in the kitchen again
Trick: k
Patrick parked his car a block away from the Wentz house –or mansion, whichever you wanted to call it– so Pete’s parents wouldn’t question why a banged up old, silver Toyota Prius was outside their house. He grabbed his bag and left the comic in the car before walking to the house. He went around to the back and quietly opened the back door which opened to the laundry room. He took off his shoes cause Pete’s parents were weird about that type of shit and made his way up stairs to Pete’s room. He did hear Pete’s parents yelling at each other from the kitchen but chose to ignore it as he climbed the stairs.
“Pete?” he called out into Pete’s room when he opened the door and didn’t see him. “Pete?” he called out again
“In here” came Pete’s voice from his bathroom, he sounded like he was crying.
Patrick walked into the bathroom and found Pete on the floor with his knees to his chest.
“Oh, Pete,” Patrick said softly before sitting down next to him.
“Just one normal family dinner, that’s all I ask for and I can’t even have that.” Pete said
Patrick offered a sad smile and hummed in agreeance
“We didn’t even get half way through dinner. They hate each other that much. They can’t even go ten minutes without finding something wrong about the other. I think they’re yelling about finally getting a divorce.”
“I’m sorry man,” Patrick said, putting Pete in a side hug.
Pete just leaned into Patrick, resting his head on his shoulder.
“I had to go to four different places today, looking for that comic” Patrick said to get Pete’s mind away from thinking about his parents “one of them being Barnes and Noble”
“Oh shit, was Victoria there?” Pete asked
“Nah, I went to the one in the next town over”
“Oh! That’s where my boyfriend works.” Pete said happily. Patrick congratulated himself for making Pete smile.
“Yeah, there was this girl working there and she was really cute, man. I don’t know how I did it, but I totally got her number.” Patrick said, pulling up his sleeve and showing him Illi’s number written on his wrist.
“Nice man. Now I can finally stop hearing you complain about being single” Pete said with the ghost of a smile
Patrick laughed for the both of them, “That just means I can come up with another way to annoy you”
“Aw man” Pete said with another genuine smile forming on his lips.
“Anyway this girl, she’s so pretty. She’s got hazel eyes, black box dyed hair, she’s taller than me but that’s fine, I like a tall girl, and she loves Batman.” Patrick said smiling as he remembered the way Illi looked
“I’m never gonna hear the end of this girl am I?” Pete asked
“Nope,” Patrick said, resting his head on Pete’s.
They moved onto Pete’s bed a couple minutes later because the bathroom floor was cold and uncomfortable. They started a movie and Pete fell asleep in the first half hour. Patrick stayed up until the end of the movie and turned off the TV, changed into pajamas and went to bed as well.
The next morning Patrick woke up early, and he was hungry so he got up and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. He figured it was early enough in the morning for Pete’s parents to not be up right now so getting to the kitchen should be fine.
He got into the kitchen without running into Pete’s parents and got himself a poptart from the pantry, grabbing a second one for Pete when he woke up. He then went to the fridge in search of milk but instead found a note on the fridge from Pete’s mom.
Peter,
Your father left last night, and I’ll be back soon.
You know what to do.
Love, Mom
Man, why does she just leave when anything gets tough in this house? Pete needs people to be living with him. He can’t just live on his own all the time, he’s still a kid, Patrick thought to himself. He took the note off the fridge and put it in his pocket. He got his milk and went back upstairs.
He crawled back into bed with Pete and he cuddled closer to him, because that’s just what they did. Patrick liked being what he called “platonically romantic” with his friends. He somewhat found it funny and the rest comforting.
“Hey Trick?” he heard Pete whisper
“Yeah?”
“Was there a note on the fridge?”
Patrick was silent for a moment before ultimately deciding to tell him the truth “Yeah”
“Are they both gone?”
“Yeah”
Pete took a deep breath, “Okay” he said after a minute.
“I’m sorry, Pete” Patrick said
“It’s okay. They’ll be back eventually.” Pete said
“Yeah”
***
A few hours later they were still lazily laying in bed before they eventually had to leave for Pete’s boyfriend's house. They got into Patrick’s car which was freezing in the September air so he turned on his car and turned on the heater.
“You got the comic right?” Pete asked
“Yup” Patrick said, reaching to the backseat and grabbed the comic, handing it to Pete as he put the car in drive. “There it is, in all its glory.”
“This is awesome, he’s gonna love it. It’s all he really talks about. Him and his sister are very into Batman stuff. It’s like their favorite thing ever.” Pete said
“Boyfriend has a sister?” Patrick asked, “Also, you never told me where I was going.”
“Oh, yeah. He lives next town over, turn here” Pete said
“Yeah I know how to get to Belleville, just tell me how to get there once we reach Belleville”
“Alright” Pete said, “Also, his sister is going to be there, and she’s trans, so she is out like that but not at home cuz their dad is extremely transphobic and homophobic so like he’ll deadname her and stuff cuz he doesn’t know about her. And me and- we have to pretend we’re just friends.” he said sadly
“Yeah, I won’t say anything about that. I wouldn’t out you guys like that” Patrick said
“I know you wouldn't, I just wanted to give you a heads up. He’s usually not home but if he is just ignore him”
“Sure”