Things Change // Frerard + Petekey [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 29

Pete finally found himself in front of the big wooden house after quite a while of contemplating whether or not it really was a good idea to try and talk to Mikey. He was just about to turn back and just go to his own house and sulk a bit more when the door opened, Mikey's father standing in the opening and staring right at poor little Pete.

"What do you want?" He asked, his voice rough in a way that made Pete cower away from him.

"Uh... Is Mikey home?" Pete practically squeaked, even though he tried his best to make himself sound strong and unafraid.

The man grunted and turned towards the inside of the house, calling out, "Michael, your English partner is here!" before turning to face Pete again. Pete was actually quite surprised that Mikey's dad even remembered him, but he realized he really shouldn't be, considering how much trouble he caused last time. "He'll be here in a minute," Mikey's dad said, turning around and closing the door behind him, leaving Pete alone outside. He considered running right now while no one was watching, but then he realized that that might only serve to make Mikey even angrier at him, and he should probably avoid that.

"What are you doing here?" Mikey said the moment he opened the door, his usual poker face on, his tone cold and uninterested.

"We need to talk," Pete replied, trying not to let the cold tone of voice Mikey was using affect him too much.

"I think you made it pretty clear that you're not interested in me anymore," Mikey said, finally closing the door behind him and standing with Pete on his front porch.

"Oh, really?" Mikey's statement started fueling Pete's anger all over again. "Because if I recall correctly, you were the one who said we should stop seeing each other!"

"It's not my fault!" Mikey finally raised his voice. "You think I want that?! All I want is to be near you, all the time, but I can't! I can't do that, my father would kill me if he ever found out! Besides, that doesn't mean you can just go and fuck some random guy in the school bathrooms!"

"Why should that even matter?! We're not even really dating, I can fuck whoever I want!" Pete shouted back. "This soulmates thing means nothing if we're not even together!"

"It doesn't matter if we're together or not!" Mikey screamed. "You have no idea what being soulmates even means, do you?! It's not just liking someone, Pete! It's dedicating your whole life to that person! Your whole being! We can't just not be soulmates, like you can stop being in a relationship, it's not something you can control, but I can't, I just can't be with you!"

"If being soulmates is so important to you, than why does your father matter more than me? He can't afford to kill you off, no one would carry his legacy," Pete said bitterly. "Why is it so hard for you to believe that he might be able to understand what this means to you? Have you even talked to him about these things?"

"He doesn't believe in soulmates, Pete," Mikey replied, just as bitterly, if not more. "And he despises humans. He could never understand."

"What about your mother, then?" Pete suggested. "Could you talk to her about this? Maybe try to get her to convince your father that it's fine?"

"He doesn't listen to her," Mikey said, turning his gaze away. "I don't think he even really loves her. I don't think he cares much for anything, really."

"Then why do you need to care about what he thinks?" Pete asked, his voice much softer now. "If he doesn't care about you, why should you care about him? It doesn't matter, anyway. He won't be Alpha for much longer - otherwise he wouldn't have cared so much about getting Gerard to marry."

"Doesn't that mean I should at least respect him and his wishes before he's gone?" Mikey replied, his voice just as soft as Pete's.

"Why gone?" Pete asked. "Just because he's not Alpha and can't control you doesn't mean he's dead."

"It kind of does, though," Mikey said, his voice shaking slightly. "An Alpha only stops being Alpha when they're too old or weak to continue. Most times they only stop when they're dead. Werewolves don't live as long as humans, Pete. We die at 55, on average. My father mated late - usually the next in line is already in their twenties by the time they need to replace their elder, but Gerard was only 18. My Father is already 58."

"Wow," Pete breathed. "I- I'm sorry. I was really insensitive."

"It's fine," Mikey muttered. "You didn't know."

"I- I'm really sorry about the thing with Dallon, I was being stupid, as always," Pete said. "I'm really sorry. If you still want to keep our distance, I'll respect that, really."

"You don't have to save yourself for me," Mikey said, even though his voice expressed how much that must have hurt him to say. "I was stupid too. We're not in a relationship, I shouldn't act like we are. You have other people you're attracted to, you should be allowed to act out on it."

"I don't want anyone but you," Pete replied. "I did that mostly to get a reaction out of you. I realize now that it was a dumb decision. I was too scared to face you afterwards, anyway."

"Yeah, it kind of was," Mikey chuckled. "But seriously, I don't want to stop you from doing things you want. If you really want to go off and fuck someone, don't let me stop you. Just tell me who it is beforehand, so I can know what's going on."

"And you should feel free to tell me if you want in on the action," Pete smirked suggestively. "So are we good?"

"I think so," Mikey said, a small smile gracing his lips. "We still shouldn't meet up too often, though. But we can talk on the phone?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Pete smiled back. "So I guess I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Mikey said, and quickly leaned in to kiss Pete's cheek, the way he had when they first met up there, and then pushed him, smiling, as if to get rid of him, and hurried back into the house.

Pete smiled at the closed door, completely love-struck, and turned around, almost drunkenly, to start on his way back home.

~~~

I just posted the last chapter yesterday, and I already finished this one. You'll get it in a week. I'll start writing the next one now. Update - it is now an hour later, and the next chapter is almost done. I really missed writing this story, it's been way too long and I'm so productive now that I finally have some inspiration.

Okay, so here you go. New chapter next week. Hopefully I'll continue updating every week for a while. Sorry I'm a day late, I've been busy with friends.

Well anyway, have a good day/night/week/whatever.

-Austin