Can We Walk Together? (Peterick au)

Chapter 14

*Patrick's POV*

Patrick's holding Pete's hand as they stroll along the beach shore at night. Both wearing swim shorts. He's also wearing Pete's shirt because he was slightly shivering. They just had a bonfire in front of their beach house. Well, their friends are still having one, but Patrick noticed that Pete's been having an off day today and decided they could use some privacy. Joe noticed it too and nodded when Patrick announced they'd be taking a walk. They walk in a comfortable silence until they're hidden from their friends by some dunes. Patrick turns to Pete, holding his other hand now as well as he looks up into those almond brown eyes. That old lady in the store so many weeks ago was so right, he really does fall in love all over again every time he looks into his eyes. He smiles up through his whimpers. "How are you?" He asks softly. Pete looks away for a few seconds. "I- I don't know. Still tired from the drive, I guess." He replies, looking back at Patrick, who nods understanding. It's their second night here and no one has had a lot of sleep yet. Especially Pete, Joe and Andy, who didn't sleep in the van either, are running on their last shreds of energy. "Are you enjoying this?" Patrick then asks, meaning the entire trip and what they've done so far. "I do, I really do." Pete replies truthfully. Patrick smiles. "M-most of the time." Pete silently adds, looking down again. "What's wrong?" Patrick whispers, trying to let Pete open up. He's often afraid Pete will just shut him out. "I- I don't know." Pete looks over the ocean with a small frown. Patrick pulls him down in the sand, not saying another word as they watch the stars. Pete rests his arms over his knees and Patrick rests his head on his shoulder. He doesn't know what to say so he softly starts to sing. Not louder than a silent whisper. He keeps looking at the stars as they're basically the subject of the song he's singing. "You taught me the courage of stars before you left. How light carries on endlessly, even after death. With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite." He puts a little more force behind his voice then, singing the part he needs Pete to understand. "How rare and beautiful it is to even exist. I couldn't help but ask for you to say it all again. I tried to write it down, but I could never find a pen. I'd give anything to hear you say it one more time, that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes." He feels how Pete shifts, holding him closer, but neither of them look away from the stars, shining far away. Patrick keeps softly singing."I couldn't help but ask for you to say it all again. I tried to write it down, but I could never find a pen. I'd give anything to hear you say it one more time, that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes." He then looks up at Pete for the first time, but not into his eyes as Pete's still looking over him at the stars. He straddles his lap as he intertwines their hands again. He's singing the last line as if it's something he wants to tell Pete, not just sing. "With shortness of breath, I'll explain the infinite how rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist." He looks into Pete's eyes then and sees they're wet. Pete quickly looks away. "It's okay to cry, Petey." Patrick whispers, fumbling with their intertwined fingers. "W-why did you sing that? Do you want me to cry?" Pete softly chuckles, wiping a few tears away with the palm of his hand. "No, I just want you to know that..., I don't know what I want you to know." Patrick sighs, sitting back next to Pete instead of in his lap. "I guess I just wanted to tell you how wonderful life is. How extraordinary it is to even be alive and witness things like this, a starry night or" He looks back at Pete. "experience love." He whispers the last part and Pete pulls him into a passionate kiss. Tears still silently streaming down his cheeks.  When they pull back Patrick holds his gaze. "I love you." He speaks up. Pete looks down for only a split second. "Why?" He asks. Patrick quirks an eyebrow. "Why I love you?" He asks. Pete softly nods, biting his lip as he looks down again. "I just do." Patrick simply states, sitting more turned to Pete again. Pete looks up, frowning. "But why?" He asks again. "I just do, Petey." Patrick says again. Pete's clearly not satisfied with that answer and rolls his eyes. "I love your eyes." Patrick starts and Pete looks at him, listening closely to everything he's saying. "And your humor, you always make me laugh. I love your smile. You have the greatest smile of all, it always makes my heart flutter. And your voice whether it's your low sexy one or your higher one when you're excited, I love it. I love loving you and I love how strong you are." He concludes. A few more tears are rolling down Pete's cheek and Patrick wipes them away with his thumbs. "Thank you." Pete softly says. "B-but, I'm not strong." He sighs. "Yes you are." Patrick says it with a voice that doesn't leave room for argument. Pete speaks up anyway. "No, I really am not." He says stubbornly, looking over the water again. "Why do you think you're not strong?" Patrick asks frowning. Pete sighs, looking down at his lap. "Because, if I would be strong, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. We'd be sitting with our friends, laughing. Not here, crying." He replies. Patrick scoffs. "That's not true." He replies. Pete looks up at him confused, so he clarifies. "Being strong doesn't mean never having a weak moment. Being strong means handling all the shit life throws at you. If you never feel the need to cry or breakdown, then it's easy to fake being strong. Because you never have to actually be strong." Patrick shrugs as if it's the most common knowledge in the world. "But I'm not handling it." Pete whispers. "Of course you are. You wouldn't be here talking to me otherwise." Patrick replies. They're silent for a moment. "How are you so smart?"Pete then asks. Patrick shrugs, he speaks as if he knows what he's doing, but honestly he's in the dark of what would help and what would make it worse. He just hopes he's doing and saying the right things. "I need you and you need me. That's how we work." He smiles and for the first time since they left the bonfire, Pete smiles as well. "I love you too." He then says, making Patrick's heart swell. They lay down to look at the stars in peace then. Pete's holding one hand under his head and the other in Patrick's hair. Patrick's head is resting on his belly and they lay diagonally. He loves the way Pete plays with his hair. "Look it's the great bear." Patrick points and Pete follows his finger. "Where?" He asks. "There, the one that looks like a frying pan." He explains still pointing up. "Oh, yeah. I can see it!" Pete excitedly says. Patrick smiles, happy to hear him excited for something again. He turns his head to look at Pete. He crawls closer, laying more on top of Pete as he stares down in his eyes. "I love you." He says again. Pete smiles up at him. "I love you too, baby." He replies. Patrick smashes his lips on Pete's. Pete melts in the kiss and what started as a soft and caring kiss, quickly heats up in a more rough and hungry one. Pete pushes Patrick over so he's on top now. Patrick blushes fiercely as he looks at Pete hovering over him, bare chested.  Yes, he still blushes every time they do something. He can't help it he has the hottest boyfriend in the world. Pete smashes his lips on Patrick's again and softly tugs at his shirt. Patrick pulls back and lifts his shirt over his head. Pete smiles down at him with dark eyes and they kiss again. Patrick loves the skin on skin contact and pulls Pete even closer, grinding their hips together. Patrick lets out a small moan at the sudden touch and Pete pulls back, softly laughing. "We probably shouldn't do this here with our friends just around the corner." He speaks up, nodding at the place they come from. Patrick whines and pulls Pete closer again. "I'll be more quiet." He whispers, looking at Pete who bites his lips now, debating it. "N-no. No, we really can't do that." He says sadly as he gives Patrick another kiss. "You're probably right." Patrick sighs sitting up. "The sand's annoying as well either way." He adds. "This sand?" Pete asks. Patrick looks at him with raised eyebrows. "Of course this sand. What other sand?" He huffs. "Maybe the sand over there." Pete points and Patrick follows his finger in confusion. He opens his mouth to say something, but gets a load of sand dumped on his head. He stiffens and looks back at Pete in slow-motion, sand still on his head and in his neck. Pete laughs at him and Patrick jumps at him, rubbing sand in his hair as well. They roll over a few times, laughing like idiots as they try to rub as much sand in the other's hair as they can. Eventually they stop, still laughing. "We should probably head back." Patrick giggles. "Yeah." Pete stands up chuckling as well. Patrick crawls upright and Pete holds his hand out for Patrick who takes it. As soon as he stands he tries to shake as much of the sand out of his hair as possible. "We'll be finding sand for days now. If not weeks." Patrick complains. "Aww, poor baby." Pete cooes. Patrick glares at him, but burst out in laughter. "Let's just go." He says as he grabs Pete's hand and they walk back to their friends. "Just in time! Brendon's about to eat all the marshmallows." Joe says and Ryan snatches the bag of marshmallows from a complaining Brendon who's mouth is full of the white, mushy candy. "Want one?" He holds the bag open for them. They both take one and put them on the sticks they used before they went on the walk. Joe starts playing on his guitar, just some chords he's making up on the spot. "Hey, can we?" Ryan asks pointing at the guitar. "Sure." He gives Ryan the guitar. He looks at Brendon who swallows the marshmallows. "Karma police?" He asks and Ryan nods, smiling because they know each other so well. "Alright, hit it." Brendon smiles and Ryan starts playing. Patrick looks closely as his friend starts singing. He's heard Brendon sing a lot of times before, but he likes it every time. He rests his head on Pete's shoulder and stuffs his, now ready, marshmallow in his mouth. "Karma police, arrest this man, he talks in maths. He buzzes like a fridge, he's like a detuned radio. Karma police, arrest this girl, her Hitler hairdo, is making me feel ill. And we have crashed her party." They all sway along to the familiar chorus. "This is what you get, this is what you get. This is what you get, when you mess with us." Brendon isn't nervous one bit, smiling at everyone as he sings. Completely enjoying it. "Karma police, I've given all I can, it's not enough, but I've given all I can, but were still on the payroll. This is what you get, this is what you get. This is what you get, everybody! When you FUCK with us."  Patrick chuckles at the changed lyrics and Brendon winks at him as he keeps singing. Ryan shakes his head laughing as well, but he keeps playing. "For a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself. And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself." To everybody's surprise Brendon stops singing and Ryan takes over. No one has ever heard him sing before, let alone knew he could sing, but damn he has a great voice. Goosebumps start forming on Patrick's arms and Pete pulls him closer, thinking he's cold even though he's wearing his shirt again. Patrick's fairly sure that the part Ryan sings isn't really in the song from Radiohead."Well, I'm afraid that I. Well, I'm afraid that I." He sings. Brendon takes over again for the last sentence. Ryan focuses on solely playing the guitar again."Well I'm afraid that I, I lost myself, I lost myself." They stop as the song ends and look into each other's eyes with the biggest smiles. Ryan gives Brendon a quick peck on the lips before turning back to the others. He hands Joe his guitar back. "DUDE." Tyler looks at them with a wide open mouth. "That was sick!" He adds and Patrick can't help but to agree. Ryan chuckles. "Thanks, man." He grins happily. Patrick looks at Brendon. "You tell me literally everything, even the details I so don't want to know, but you never told me your boyfriend is a damn singing talent?" He asks his best friend. Ryan burst out in laughter and Brendon shrugs. "I'm not that great, honestly." Ryan tries to stop their staring. It's not working. "They're right Ry-ry. You are talented. In more ways than one." Brendon winks, earning a shove from his boyfriend over the suggestive tone of his last sentence. "Hey, something else." Josh interrupts. "I know Radiohead pretty well and I've heard this song a million times before, so forgive for asking, but where did Ryan's lines come from?" He asks. Patrick looks at Brendon, he wondered the same but forgot about that. "Oh, Ryan wrote those for a song of his." Brendon casually says. "You write too?" Jenna asks with big eyes. "It's nothing great though." Ryan says modest. "I want to hear more!" She says excited. "Oh, I don't know." Ryan laughs, trying to wave the compliments away. "Yeah, man come on." Joe hands him his guitar again and Ryan takes it with a sigh. "Alright then, but Brendon's going to sing as well." He gives in and Brendon eagerly nods. "Let's do northern downpour!" He suggest enthusiastically. Ryan thinks for a while. "Alright, like we do it at home?" He questions his boyfriend. Brendon nods. They're not officially living together yet, but Brendon's more at Ryan's place than somewhere else so they already call it their home. Ryan starts playing some chords and Brendon begins to sing. "If all our life is but a dream. Fantastic posing greed. Then we should feed our jewelry to the sea. For diamonds do appear to be just like broken glass to me. And then she said she can't believe genius only comes along in storms of fabled foreign tongues. Tripping eyes, and flooded lungs. Northern downpour sends its love. Hey moon, please forget to fall down." He sings with a beautiful singing voice. Patrick listens closely to the lyrics. Ryan sing the next line together with Brendon. "Hey moon, don't you go down." They sing in sync. Then it's just Ryan and Patrick's left again with awe for this newfound talent. "Sugarcane in the easy mornin'. Weather-vanes my one and lonely." He sings before leaving it to Brendon again as he focuses on the guitar. He doesn't look up, probably more shy now that it's one of his own songs. "The ink is running toward the page. It's chasin' off the days. Look back at both feet and that winding knee. I missed your skin when you were east. You clicked your heels and wished for me. Through playful lips made of yarn, that fragile Capricorn unraveled words like moths upon old scarves. I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home." Brendon sings and Ryan  tunes in again together with his boyfriend for the next line. "Hey moon, please forget to fall down. Hey moon, don't you go down" Brendon stops and smiles as he listens to his boyfriend sing alone then. "Sugarcane in the easy mornin'. Weather-vanes my one and lonely. Sugarcane in the easy mornin'. Weather-vanes my one and lonely." Ryan smiles up at Brendon as well. They sing together again. "Sugarcane in the easy mornin'. Weather-vanes my one and lonely." Then it's just Ryan again while Brendon does the 'hey moon's. "Sugarcane (hey moon) in (hey moon) the easy mornin'. Weather-vanes (hey moon) my (hey moon) one and lonely. Sugarcane (hey moon) in (hey moon) the easy mornin'. Weather-vanes (hey moon) my (hey moon) one and lonely." Patrick's eyes widens as Ryan keeps singing the same lines over and over again while Brendon sings the rest over it. They must've practiced this a lot, because it was perfectly in harmony. He knows how quickly a stunt like this can become too chaotic. "Hey moon, please forget to fall down. Hey moon, don't you go down. You are at the top of my lungs drawn to the ones who never yawn. Hey moon, please forget to fall down. Hey moon, don't you to down." Ryan stops singing then and Brendon sings the last sentence alone. "You are at the top of my lungs drawn to the ones who never yawn." They finish the song. Everyone starts applauding and Ryan gives Joe his guitar back for the second time. He waves the compliments away once more with a light blush. Brendon isn't blushing. For once Ryan is more flustered than Brendon and it's a funny sight because they're both not really the flustered types. For the rest of the night they all eat a few more marshmallows while talking around the bonfire and occasionally singing a few songs, both self-written and known songs. Patrick loves it how all his friends have something to do with music, either by practicing it or by loving it. They laugh and talk until they inevitably all go back inside after killing the fire. Tomorrow promises to be a busy day and they want to make the best out of it. Everyone says good night to one another before hiding in their own room. "Why did we do a sand fight?" Patrick complains as they walk hand in hand to their room. He opens the closet and finds himself a fresh pair of underwear and a shirt to sleep in. Pete just grabs a pair of boxers. It's too hot out to sleep in pajama's anyway. "We... could take a shower first?" Pete suggest, smirking at Patrick. Patrick hesitates, a shower with Pete always sounds appealing, but he's not keen on anyone walking in on them, because they need to use the toilet or brush their teeth or whatever. "I don't know.." He starts. "Everybody is already asleep and we can lock the door." Pete quickly adds, knowing where Patrick's thoughts are at. "And we don't have to make it sexual. Just washing each other's back." He suggests. Patrick lets out a laugh. "Yeah right. You forget that I know you too well, Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III." He points accusing. Pete laughs as well. "Don't you use my full name Stump." He comes closer and grabs Patrick by his hips. Patrick looks up into his eyes. "Or what?" He dares. Pete stares in his eyes and Patrick can see the hunger in them. "Or this." Pete leans down and kisses him. Patrick melts in the kiss but pulls back after a few seconds. "I'm taking a shower to get rid of all this sand." He announces as he walks out the door. He turns around in the doorway. "With or without you is up to you." He winks before he leaves.

//

"C'mere." Patrick stretches his arm with grabby hands. Pete picks up his fresh boxers he forgot when they went showering and throws them next to Patrick's head on the bed, before crawling back on it as well. Pete gives Patrick a loving kiss before he pulls on his boxers as well. He yawns, only now feeling how tired he really is. "Tired?" Pete smiles and Patrick softly nods. Pete pulls the blanket on top of them. "Go to sleep, baby. You'll need all your energy for the day that's planned tomorrow." Pete softly speaks and Patrick nods again, snuggling closer. Pete holds out his arm, laying on his back. Patrick lays sideways, head on Pete's chest. Pete now drapes his arm around Patrick and pulls him even closer. His eyes are already fluttering shut. "Goodnight, sleeping beauty." Patrick smiles. "G'night, Petey" He says in a slur, already halfway in dreamland.

He dreams about living in the future and going back in time where he meets Pete, Joe and Andy for the first time. He can't remember who he is or how he got there, but Pete, Joe and Andy try to help him remember. He lives with Pete and Joe again, though it's in a completely different apartment. He also falls in love with Pete all over again and he eventually starts remembering bits and pieces of why he's here. He has to find Brendon that disappeared from his time a long time ago. Pete and him eventually find Brendon, but not in the way they expected. It turns out that Brendon went back in time to erase an entire generation of people. Patrick tries to stop him, talk him out of it, but Brendon doesn't listen. He unleashes a Pterosaur, one of those flying dinosaurs, on them. They fight off the animal, but Pete's leg got severely hurt in the process of that. Brendon looks at Patrick who's now laying on the floor a gun aimed at his head. Patrick begs Brendon, but his friend got all psycho on him. Pete stabs him in the back with a broken pipe. Brendon falls down and dies in Patrick's arms. Patrick is mad at Pete, though he knows Pete did nothing wrong. When it's all over and done, Patrick remembers everything again, including how to go back to his own time. He says goodbye to everyone and lastly at Pete, who begs him to stay, but Patrick knows he can't do that because his family will be worried sick, just like he and Brendon's family were for him. They say goodbye and Patrick's crying. He goes back to his own time and sees on the news that the famous bassist Peter Wentz has died at the age of ninety seven. He breaks down and people look weird at him, because who even cares about an old celebrity everyone has already forgotten about? Patrick finds out Joe is still alive in a nursery and goes to visit him. Joe smiles and gives him a letter Pete wrote him after he left. 

"Shht, baby, don't cry. It's all a dream." A voice whispers in his ear. Patrick wakes up, the dream still present in his head. He notices he's been crying in real life as well. "'m sorry." He murmurs as he wipes away the tears from Pete's chest. "It's okay, baby. Bad dream?" He asks. Patrick softly nods and Pete plants a kiss on his head, wrapping his arm closer around him. "Don't worry, baby. I'll protect you." He assures him. Patrick sniffles. "You can't protect me from a broken heart." He says cryptic, thinking about the dream where he lost both his best friend and the love of his life. "Do you want to talk about it?" Pete softly asks and Patrick shakes his head. "Not really, I'm just glad you're here. Don't ever leave me." He wraps his arms around Pete's waist and holds him as close as possible to convince himself that it was all a stupid, yet very vivid dream. "I won't, baby. I'm right here." Pete shushes and Patrick nods. He falls back asleep then, this time without dreaming. 

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Sligthly shorter chapter this time, but I didn't want to stretch it to much and make it boring to read :)