Puzzle Pieces (Sonny/Graffiti Pete) In The Heights

Chapter 3: Blackout

"Yo, they doing battles in the street, people lootin' and shootin'," Pete warns Sonny urgently. "Sonny, they wanna see a robbery, we gotta keep moving!"

Sonny resists as Pete tries to pull him away from the bodega, even as a couple shots ring out and crashes are heard from other shops. Sonny shouldn't be focusing on how his name sounds like melted milk chocolate on Pete's tongue. Pete shouldn't be watching flickering lights play out from behind Sonny, casting on his wide eyes in the brightest of colors.

Sonny gathers his wits to reply, "Nah, man, I can't leave, we gotta guard the store!"

Pete is intriguing, but not enough to pull Sonny away from the only thing Usnavi has left. When the puzzle is demolished, you cling to the pieces still connected.

"They're gonna bombard the store until you ain't got a store no more." He finds Sonny's determined loyalty pretty admirable. He knows this blind loyalty; he felt the same way about his dad, and still feels that way whenever anyone mentions something less than flattering about him.

Sonny, though, is standing strong and true in the face of violence, unlike Pete. Pete, who ran and ran and didn't stop running until he couldn't feel his tears against the wind on his cheeks.

Sonny jumps up, remembering suddenly, "I got a baseball bat on the rack in the back."

He didn't mean to say it outloud, as if he expects Pete to stay with him and risk getting beat up, but Pete replies, "I got a couple of Roman candles, we can distract the vandals." because he's not about to leave Sonny to get his ass beat. He is not going to come back to Sonny's body, splayed on the pavement, mangled with cuts, stained with blood that seeps into the sidewalk like rich watercolor- no. That is not something he'll imagine as a painting. It's horrible and heartbreaking and stingingly familiar.

Sonny squints, catching sight of shadows getting nearer. Is that a knife? A gun? Shit. "Ay, I see some thugs coming, we gonna get jacked up!"

He wants to shove Pete away. Get out, leave, don't get hurt, but Pete only pulls Sonny into a strong, comforting hug. "Gimme a light, I'll be right back-" he breaks off as the guys get closer, "-back off, back off, back off!"

For the rest of the evening, Sonny can only think of the strong, protective guy beside him, grateful, powerful as he moves. Sonny does his share with considerably less grace, but he can't keep his mind from the rippling muscle he felt through Graffiti Pete's thin, sleeveless tee in that hug.

And Pete. Pete finds himself painting Sonny in his mind, from the golden determination in his eyes to the black-black of his curls, the fade of his shirt and the planes of his face under the flashing fireworks that explode colors into the sky, not unlike the sparkles lighting themselves in Pete's stomach as the thugs finally do back off and Sonny turns to Pete with a dazzling smile as though he'll never tire. A puzzle piece that catches the eye, even though it's not the one Pete wants to be looking for.

"Um." A magician with words, Sonny suddenly finds that Pete has wiped his mind blank. "Thanks. For that. Without your help... that would have really sucked."

"Glad to be useful." It's the most honest statement Pete can make besides I want to kiss you. "You're... uh... you're cool" Pete's words don't have the grace that his body does and Sonny finds himself blushing because Pete said he's cool. "I'll... well, I mean, I always see you around, but maybe we should chill sometime?" and he wants to chill with him. Pete is stuttering and it's pretty cute.

Sonny is trying to stop grinning, but he can't turn it off like a lightswitch. "Yeah. Yeah, you swing around and I'll slip you free slushies. I just made a new combo- it's like this orange- blue raspberry nerds thing and man, I swear it's better than it sounds..." Sonny knows he's rambling. He does this a lot.

Pete loves Sonny's rambling. It's really sweet. Sonny lights up. Gestures. Smiles. "I'll try it," he assures Sonny. "The colors though..."

"Yo, man, I forgot, you're an artist!" Sonny goes for a first bump and Pete's a little bit off rhythm because no one's ever called him an artist before. As if he's actually an artist. What a word on those beautiful lips. Everyone tells Pete that artist isn't the piece that fits, but Sonny's telling him it might.

"Yeah, artist."

"See you 'round the bodega?" Sonny watches the muscles ripple as Pete raises a half-wave.

"See you."

Bit of a longer chapter, but I'm mostly doing things in moments from the play and some moments are longer than others, such as Blackout. In any case, I've heard people like the longer chapters, so.

         -Yeah. Y'know.

                The Worst Writer on Wattpad