The Church Boys ➸ Peterick/Brentrick

14: Designer Jeans and Designer Ice Cream

Pete had to give Brendon a small nudge to get him to leave, but it set him into motion as walking away from them. Still, it was the lightbulb for Pete that just told him everything that he'd been wondering earlier. It was when he wrapped his arms around Patrick in the form of a hug and took him into one of the dressing rooms so he could quietly let out his emotions in as private a spot as they could get.

"Let's get some ice cream, yeah?" Pete offered once Patrick pulled away. "My dad always took me to get ice cream after I had a bad day when I was little."

It was the simplest gesture, but it meant the world to Patrick in the moment. He'd nodded, saying he was going to clean up.

When he met back up with Pete, the two were wandering around in search of the food court. Upon finding it, Pete ended up getting them ice cream and the two sat at a table away from the majority of the crowd. They were invisible, and it was nice. They enjoyed themselves for the time being, messing about before picking up again and moving along to find something for Patrick. 

It turned out to not be so hard- and Pete could work with the style. Neither of them dressed particularly gay, but while Pete definately had a more masculine edge to his sense of style, Patrick enjoyed softer and more comfortable clothes.  

"What are you gonna do over the break?" Pete questioned as they were exiting one of the stores. 

Patrick shrugged, adjusting the way he was carrying the bags. "I don't know, probably nothing. Joe's dragging me around with him for a couple baseball games, but other than that... You?"

"I'm staying in town for once. We usually fly back to Chicago, but m'dad's gonna be on a business trip, so it's just gonna be my mom and I." Pete shrugged. "Won't be too bad. If you're not doing anything, you should come over."

"I might take you up on that." He gave Pete a small smile.

"Oh! In here!" Pete gestured to Hot Topic. "Finally, my home. We are here. Welcome."

Patrick laughed, but nonetheless followed Pete inside. The two looked around, and admittedly Pete bought Patrick a couple shirts. It wasn't exactly what Patrick wanted, but he couldn't really protest while they were at the front counter. They'd ended up visiting a few more stores before leaving, to which Pete ended up driving them to wherever they were going next.

Honest to God, Patrick had no idea of where they were going. All he knew was that it was a pretty drive, and Pete was playing Troye Sivan. There wasn't much traffic, to which Pete made a comment about, but otherwise they were driving for what seemed like too long of a time to make much sense. 

"Pete, where are we going?" Patrick had asked as he switched the album once it finished to Weezer's Blue Album (otherwise known as self-titled). 

"It's not that much farther," he said with a small chuckle. 

"We've been driving for almost an hour, you know."

"Yeah, I know. We're almost there."

"I feel like I'm about to be taken over the border and sold into slavery," Patrick mumbled, shaking his head as he looked back out the window.

"Damn it, you're onto me," Pete teased, laughing as Patrick rolled his eyes at him.

They were quiet again until Pete got off the freeway, looking around before he pulled onto the streets. At this, Patrick suddenly knew where they were.

"Pete. Why the heck are we in Los Angeles."

He'd simply laughed, shaking his head. They'd parked somewhere Patrick hardly remembered it was so out of the way, but Pete led the way through the streets until they were back onto Hollywood Boulevard in the fading sunlight.