Chapter Text
Steph banged on the apartment door. She wouldn't walk away without at least SOME answer. She refused to accept it. Steph pulled out her phone, wanting to call Pete a third time, but was stopped by a sharp pain in her chest when she saw her lockscreen again.
How dorky and cute he had looked, with her pressing a kiss on his cheek. That felt like forever ago now, though it had not even been a month. Asshole.
As she pressed the call button and doorbell simultaneously, the door suddenly swung open. In it's frame stood a tall man, maybe in his 30s. Disheveled, in boxers and a ratty shirt, reeking of sweat and…something else. A well kept mustache, square in his face. The resemblance was, sadly, undeniable. This was Pete's older brother. The infamous sleezeball. The towns resident bastard. Ted Spankoffski.
He yawned at her, not concerned with putting a hand in front of his mouth: "You better have a damn good fuckin reason to wake me up on the one day I get to come in late."
"Where is Pete?", Steph shot back, mind back on the mission.
Ted's eyes went wide: "Oh shit! You're Stephanie Lauter, right?"
"Yes. Now where is your brother? I don't care if he doesn't want to see me he can at least tell me that shit to my fa-"
"Woah, woah, woah! You got the wrong idea little lady", he turned around, yelling into the small apartment, "Yo Petey! It's your girlfriend! And she's pissed!"
From inside she heard a voice. Steph's heart stopped for a second. Is wasn't much. Just a simple 'What?'. But it was him. It was Pete.
Ted gestured for her to come in: "It's best you come in so he can explain. Keep the shoes on."
Under different circumstances, Steph would have been grossed out by the small and dirty apartment that clearly housed two single guys. Well, one single guy depending on how things worked out. Greasy, half eaten takeout boxes riddled the kitchen, clothes were lying everywhere, there was a deflated blow up mattress next to a small bed and within that bed…
Pete almost fell to the floor, seemingly forgetting about his leg, which was now in a proper cast.
The words tumbled out of him: "Steph! I'm so sorry! My phone broke and I could turn it on but the screen stayed dark. Ted tried to fix it but the water damage was too bad and we couldn't afford a new one and I tried to at least answer your calls but nothing would work and-"
She hugged him.
All the anger, all the frustration, all the sadness of the past few days just melted away the moment she felt Pete's arms around her again. He was here. Right here. With her.
This was all she needed. It was funny, really. Before this summer, Steph was perfectly content with the thought of spending the rest of her life without a partner. Now she wanted nothing more than to stay like this.
"Did you break in by the way?", the voice of Pete's older brother asked, taking her out of the bliss, "Why didn't you ring downstairs? I could have buzzed you in!"
Steph peeled herself from her boyfriend, but refused to let go of his hand: "I did. No one answered."
"Ah shit. That explains why the delivery drivers are always so pissed."
"I think they might be pissed because you refuse to tip them", Pete mumbled.
"You shut up, Petey!", Ted shot back, "I'll try and see if I can call someone to fix the intercom while I'm at work. You patch things up with little miss mayor here."
Steph stared blankly: "Little Miss Mayor?"
"Don't call her that!", Pete demanded.
His big brother laughed: "Aww, so protective!"
"Shut up."
"Woah, what have you been teaching him?", Ted elbowed Steph.
"You can't tell me Pete was never rude before."
"Oh, he was. He just had nowhere to direct it to."
"I am still in the room you guys", Pete mumbled.
Of course he was. How could Steph ever forget? She squeezed his hand: "How did you manage to break your phone?"
"Well uhm…", Pete stammered, "I was- Well uh…I- I was working out-"
"He wacked off on the toilet and it fell in", Ted cut in while throwing on an olive button up that had been laying on the floor.
"Ted!", his brother gasped, face turning red as his hands tensed up.
"What? It's what happened, isn't it?", Ted laughed and walked into the bathroom.
Steph turned to Pete again, caressing the back of his hand with her thumb: "Why didn't you just come by and explain the situation?"
"You think we didn't try that?", Ted poked his head out again before Pete could say anything, "Your dad's stupid hot assistant wouldn't let us in or even leave you a message!"
"She threatened to call the cops", Pete added, "And we didn't want to push our luck. Because of Ted's uh…reputation."
"Bailey hates me because I don't fuck cops", Ted clarified as he walked over to them, now fully dressed for work.
Steph nodded: "Valid."
"Can you just leave?!", Pete whined. Yes please. She wanted to be alone with him so bad.
Ted laughed while ruffling through Pete's hair: "Honestly, I half thought Petey had lied about you. I mean come on - meeting the girl he had a massive crush on since forever at abstinence camp of all places and her liking him back?"
Steph pouted: "What's so unrealistic about that?"
"Nothing, nothing", Ted grinned as he shot her a wink, "My little bro is quite the catch. Plus, the old Spankoffski charm never fails!"
Pete continued ignoring his brother: "I figured we would see each other at school and…I don't know I hoped you wouldn't hate me."
"I could never hate you, Pete", Steph sighed.
I love you.
"Thanks, Steph." Pete smiled at her. That stupid, endearing, lobsided smile that made her heart melt.
"Well, I'll leave you lovebirds to it", Pete's big brother yawned, "If I leave now, I'll catch Paul and get him to buy me an iced chai tea. Just don't break the bed, okay? I can't afford to get Petey a new one."
"TED! LEAVE!"
Ted had another laugh at his little brother's embarrassment and just like that, was out the door.
"The toilet?"
"Can we not talk about it?"
"Fine, if you say so", she snickered.
"I'm sorry for…", he gestured around him, drawing attention to the state of the apartment, "All this."
Steph nuzzled her head into that perfect grove on his shoulder: "It's okay. I'm just happy everything is alright."
"Yeah…It's not the most romantic of places for our big reunion though."
"Hey, as long as you're here. And no more stupid surprises like breaking your phone!"
"Okay, okay! I promise…"
"We also need to get you a new phone."
"Let's think about that later", Pete mumbled while pulling Steph closer, "I want to savor this."
"Fiiiiine, if you insist", she giggled.
Oh how she loved this nerd.
"Thanks, Steph."
After a few minutes of cuddling, she tapped his arm: "You do really need to take a shower though."
"Oh, alright", Pete grumbled and tried getting up. Steph went for the crutch leaning at the side of the bed and handed them to him.
"I see you got your leg properly fixed up at least."
"Oh, yeah. Let's not…Uh…St. Damian costs us a lot of money."
"How much?"
"Let's just say it cost us an arm and a leg."
Pete laughed at his own joke. It was bad, but the way his face lit up as he elbowed her and kept laughing even as he tried to stop…It made Steph fall in love with him all over again.
"I didn't know you were funny."
"Neither did I."
"I like funny guys."
"And I like you, Steph."
As always, Pete was full of surprises. Not the least of which being that he actually still liked her. Steph had feared she had been too…clingy, possessive, annoying…Or any other of those things that always made the relationships her friends had fall apart. This was, after all, still quite new to her. Being here with him felt easy though.