trees

2.

Mikey genuinely enjoyed Pete's company; he was better than any other friend that he'd had. They met every day at the park after Mikey's school day ended; sometimes, Pete would be sitting on a bench, grinning, with two half-melted ice cream cones in his hands from a vendor that passed through fifteen minutes ago.

Sometimes, they'd invade the children's park and Mikey would watch Pete run through the sprinklers; he could never do it himself, seeing as the water would probably ruin his binder, and he probably wouldn't be able to get a new one for a while, especially since his parents definitely wouldn't buy him one if he asked and since he was broke as hell (it wasn't like it was his fault the comic store had a massive sale).

"Mikey!" Pete yelled, bringing the taller boy back to the real world as his soaking wet body collided with Mikey's in a hug.

"Hey!" Mikey whined, pulling away. "You got my shirt wet! Thanks, Pete."

Pete grinned, pushing wet strands of his black hair out of his eyes. "You're welcome, my sweet little dude."

"Sweet little dude? Uh, no offense, but if anyone's little here, it's you," Mikey retorted, reaching up to wipe away Pete's smudged eyeliner. "And by the way, you look like a dying mime."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Pete winked and that made Mikey's heart flutter and his world slow down as they looked into each other's eyes and Mikey leaned closer-
And then Pete splashed him with water.

"Pete!" Mikey shrieked, causing the shorter boy to reel back in laughter. "Oh, my God, you - you goddamn idiot-"

"Better than dying mime. Come on, Mikes, I want ice cream."

So Pete slipped his hand into Mikey's and they skipped over to the ice cream shop, where they shared a single chocolate milkshake (with two straws, mind you), which he had no objection against, and brushed ankles under the table, making the taller boy blush the entire time.
It was then that Mikey realized that he was undeniably and very much so attracted to his friend; there was just something so beautiful in the way Pete smiled and the way he laughed and the way he blinked and even the way he breathed - God, Mikey was just wrapping himself around Pete's finger, in love with the way he moved even though the two boys had only known each other for barely two weeks, and he wanted to scream "I'm totally gay for Pete Wentz" from his rooftop in the early hours of morning when no one was awake but Gerard.

"Earth to Mikeyway?" Pete snapped his fingers in front of Mikey's face; he flinched, startled, and then refocused his vision on Pete.

"Right. Sorry, I just zoned out." Mikey shook his head, pushing his white-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, I do that a lot, too. It's completely okay." Pete grinned one of his million dollar grins, nearly giving Mikey a twenty dollar nosebleed. "I tend to hang onto irrelevant thoughts."

"Yeah," Mikey echoed, "irrelevant thoughts." He looked at the space behind Pete's head, frowning and drifting off to the zone of existentialism-

Woah. He really wasn't himself today.

"Mikes, you're doing it again." Pete laughed and squeezed Mikey's hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so, anyway."

"You want the rest of the milkshake?"

Their ankles brushed again underneath the table; black Converse high-tops against stupid private school uniform girl shoes, and it was like some stupid love story or cliche fanfiction that someone was writing or something.

Pete kissed Mikey on the cheek when they parted ways later that evening.

Mikey actually screamed and Gerard almost called the cops.

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lol i'm not dead!1!1!!!