Work Text:
After the fight at the MDG office with Richie, Patrick heads to Agustin & Eddie’s place - intent on drowning his sorrows. Agustin has other plans, however. The Stud is holding a fundraiser for the shelter and he drags Patrick along with him to meet Eddie.
“Hey, Patrick - just come out with me. Everything looks different after you’ve danced for hours with some cute leather bears.”
“As tempting as that sounds..”
“Not negotiable, Rose. Look - I’d love to stay in, order Thai food, watch a Golden Girls marathon and get you so high you can’t feel your teeth, but I need to do this for Eddie. And if I’m doing it, you are totally coming, girl. Fuck this moping. Let Richie get over it,”
“I don’t think he’s going to get over it. And I don’t know that I can either. I love him, I want to be with him...but, fucking TEXAS.”
“You did say you would go to Texas…”
“You know what? You are right - but it isn’t Texas, it’s him. It’s...it’s who he is in Texas, and who he seems to want me to be. I can’t.”
Agustin wheedles Patrick into changing clothes for the club. No abbreviated leather vest, but he cleans up in a tight, white t-shirt and some jeans that show off the results of SoulCycle. While Patrick changes, Agustin wonders if this really is the end. Love is really the least of anyone’s worries, negotiating everything else...well, that’s different all together. His mobile pings:
“Call me - Ceci”.
Agustin leaves Patrick to fuss over his hair in the bathroom and places a call. Ceci picks up on the first ring.
“Ayo, Agustin. What did they do now?”
“Ceci, chica I don't think this one is on mi amigo.”
“No! Digame. From all that mi primo isn't saying, creo que tienes la derecha.”
“I haven't heard everything either. Patrick just said Richie walked into his office, flew into a rage, and split. And it’s something about fucking Texas...He’s in the bathroom - and I'm taking him to the fundraiser at The Stud.....you want that I should leave your name plus one at the door? Because the longer these pendejos stew over this, the worse it will be.”
“Claro. I'll see what I can do...mi primo - well, he’s been drinking, but maybe he needs some fresh air.”
Scene: Outside The Stud
Ceci takes Richie driving in La Adelita - past the Stud, where Patrick is with Agustin. Richie's been drinking too much, smoking too much…Ceci wanted to get him some air. Tells him he best not get sick in her baby. Seeing the side of the Stud, Richie flashes back to Pato in that leather vest on the night Richie thinks of as their ‘second first date’. His face is etched with misery.
On the side of the bar is a patio area. There, Agustin sits next to Patrick, who is nursing a margarita. Patrick intended to get roaring drunk, but looking around the place that gave him and Richie a second chance, he finds it hard to commit to it. Instead, he smiles, nods to Dom who comes around behind him, gathering Patrick into a bear hug.
Dom says, “Shit, Paddy. how did this happen? I'm pretty sure you two are working the gay Romeo and Juliet angle for far too long and far too hard. Love each other, come home - why all the drama?”
“Guys, totally not about me tonight. Can we just...get another round of drinks?” Three best friends stand, heading into the bar.
From La Adelita, Richie sees Patrick leaning miserably on Agustin's shoulder, Dom’s arm around him on the opposite side, as he is practically carried into the club by his friends. Richie realizes this is really Pato’s family, this is what Patrick left to be with him in Texas. This is the love holding Patrick in SF - what he’s missing, the part of him that would never be able to come to Texas. There wasn't a lover in SF, there was a life, and it was one that Richie could share. Looking at the retreating forms of Patrick and the boys, Richie drops his pride - he just wants Patrick. Without a word, Richie jumps out of the car, over the fence and enters the bar- following Pato.
Scene: in the Stud on the dance floor, Beyoncé plays: Drunk in Love.
Patrick leans against bar rail, alone, drink in hand. A gorgeous man asks him to dance. Richie waits - unseen - and sees Patrick smile but say no. Richie crosses the room purposefully. When he comes into Patrick's line of sight, Patrick straightens - his jaw set- prepared for another scene.
Richie stands in front of Patrick, and says, “Pato.”
The pet name softens Patrick's stance, but he is still wary of Richie “It's a small city, but this doesn't feel like a coincidence.”
“I didn't know you would be here, but I think maybe Ceci and Agustin have talked. Pato, let me...”
“I really don't think I can do this here…”
“No, I've come to apologize. I'm….I was wrong about...well, about a lot. But….one thing is still true. I can't do this anymore.”
Patrick’s face shatters, tears overflow, thinking Richie is leaving him. Richie realizes his mistake, and catches up Patrick's hands, then wipes a tear from Pato's cheek. Holding Patrick's face in his hands, he whispers,“No, no, no,...Pato - I mean, I want to come home.”
“Where is home?”
“Wherever you are. You are home to me...so, back to San Francisco?"
"Are you sure? What changed?"
"You need to be here - for work, yeah...but for living the life you want to live, too. I see that. My time in Texas - I wanted to see if I could have a relationship and stay involved with my family."
"I don't want to make you choose. "
"It's my choice. & I don't want to have to pretend anymore. So - we will see them, but only if they can take really seeing me, with you.”
“Why? I mean, of course, I want that too,...but why now? What is different? And what about Texas? I thought it made you happy to be doing your own thing there?”
“Texas. Shit, I don't know. I thought the I needed to get away because of the mistakes I made here.”
“So?”
“So - I am not the same guy who left, yeah. But I've been changing in ways that were so much worse. Being closeted. You are right. I was. But I was never ashamed of you.”
“Are you ashamed of us, though?”
“No! Except,....I was tweaking on people thinking you were my sugar daddy or something. I am tweaking about it still, to be real with you.”
Patrick wraps his hand around Richie's neck, bringing their foreheads together, “I don't care about money, take it...I just want to be with you. But is that enough for you?”
“Are you asking me what I want?”, Richie cracks a tiny smile, which is answered by Patrick’s.
“I really want to know.”
“OK. This is what I want: (deep breath) ...I want to go to bed with you at night, every night - and wake up next to you every morning. Not because I'm jealous, though I ah...might have tendency towards that... but…. because you are my home, my….family. And….I want to be only with you and you with me. Y’know - Just us.”
“Richie, I've only been with you since the wedding. Why,...were you,...was Texas an open thing?”
“No, there's nobody in Texas, but we never really said what we expected, so….I'm saying it now.”, Richie breaks into that perfect grin that melts Patrick's heart.
“Hmm - so...Demanding.”, Patrick’s eye well up again. Richie reaches for him, slides his hands down Patrick's bare arms to hold his hands. He looks down at their intertwined hands.
"So….Should I just shut up and go away?" Richie looks into Patrick's eyes. "Pato?"
Patrick's face softens, he shakes his head no.
Richie looks back down at their hands, slides one hand back up, lacing his fingers into Patrick's hair, pulling him into a kiss that makes the room dissolve. Their bodies melt, as if to erase any distance, any separation between them.
Together, they dance, as closely as the first time. Agustin and Eddie - Dom and his new boyfriend, Chris float over, now that the tension seems past. After another song, Richie pulls Patrick from the dance floor, towards the exit, “Let's go home.”
“Wait, I'll call an uber.”
“Uh, we don't need one, you know?”
“What?”
Ceci pulls up in La Adelita, “Ay, primo...you didn't fuck it up, cabron!”
“Alright, alright prima, so will you give us a ride home? Oh shit, my bag!”
“S 'Alright, I put it in the trunk before we left. Ha!”
Richie jumps into the back seat, then pulls Patrick in with him. Patrick realizes for the first time that maybe they are both a little drunk. He sits back, force of habit has him waiting for Richie to make the first move, as it had been when they were out in Texas. Only tonight, Richie doesn't hesitate, he pulls Patrick into his arms, kissing his neck and holding him against his chest. They cruise home in Ceci's masterpiece, making out like teenagers in the back seat.