Lets Not And Say We Did

Fifteen

Patrick and Pete were sitting in chairs that were two high up for them. They were both relatively small guys. And the chairs were ridiculously tall. Patrick had to literally hop into the chair. Pete, however, managed to get in his without hopping. Pete was too classy to hop.

Two very plastic individuals were sitting across from them. Smiling and making generic conversation. The man was slightly muscular and fake tanned. His hair had enough product in it to fill a pool. The woman was just as basic. Bleached blonde hair and a top low enough to expose her bra.

She was definitely there to sell sex and if Patrick were straight, he'd probably be buying. He wondered if that was the type of girl Pete was into. His ex girlfriend didn't seem like that type. She was model pretty but it looked natural.

A man came up and interrupted the boring conversation. Thank god.

"We're rolling in five... Four-" he continued counting down. Backing out of the camera's frame until he mouthed the word one.

The man, woman and Pete all turned to face what they were told was camera one. Patrick quickly copied.

"Hello and welcome to E! News. As you know, I'm Trisha."

"And I'm Shane. And we are here with the famous Pete Wentz and his new boyfriend Patrick." He motioned to them with one hand. "How are you guys today?"

"I'm great. It's such a nice day out." Pete was being fake too. Patrick could tell.

"And you, Patrick?"

"I'm okay."

"That's great!" Yeah right. "So Pete, not too long ago the grapevine was buzzing about the news of you being homophobic. How did that rumor start?" Trisha asked with a pout.

"Well my ex girlfriend, Meagan and I broke up a while ago. Way before the public knew." Pete lied. "I started seeing Patrick and she hated it. She called me .. A few choice, homophobic words and left. A few days later I find out she started these rumors."

"I noticed you said ex girlfriend instead of ex fiance." Shane pointed out.

"We were never engaged. That was another lie."

"That's just terrible. And Patrick, how did it make you feel? Seeing Pete being called these terrible things that were all lies."

"When I found out, I wasn't happy."

"Of course not." She tilted her head sadly. Quite the actress. "Did it make you very emotional?"

"No. It pissed me the fuck off."

Pete laughed at his choice of words. He put his fist over his mouth and tried to disguise it by coughing.

"I see." Shane nodded and looked down at his notes. "There are people out there who still believe you're a closeted homophobe. They say you're using Patrick to cover it up."

"I can tell you that that is one hundred percent not true. I was with Patrick long before these silly rumors and I'll be with him long after they have completely died down."

"We sure hope so. Because you two are a very attractive couple." She smirked at Pete.

Patrick frowned. So she was plastic and a whore.

"I think so too." He chimed in before Pete could respond. He grabbed Pete's hand out of his lap and held it in his. Bringing it above the table so that everyone could see. He brought their intertwined hands to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to it. Pete watched him. Clearly amused by the little act Patrick was putting on.

"Well, there's clearly a love connection there." The woman's voice was duller.

"Every morning, when I wake up naked next to this godlike man, I can't believe this is real. I ask myself, how the hell did I get so lucky? What did I do to deserve such perfection?"

Pete couldn't hold his laughter back anymore. He'd expected Patrick to come to the set and be relatively quiet. He wasn't a very shy man. But he definitely didn't seemed this open. Pete thought his was going to be just some boring interview like every other one. But Patrick was making it surprisingly entertaining.

"I ask the same thing." He said through his light chuckles. If Patrick wanted to play it up, he would too. He pulled their hands towards his lips this time. "I'm the lucky one." He kissed Patrick's hand.

They both sat there smiling like goofballs at each other. Patrick hadn't expected Pete to play along in the same cheesy way. But now that he knew he would, he was going to have some fun with this.

"That's so beautiful guys." Shane's smile seemed more genuine. "Pete, I don't think I've ever seen you even smile in an interview or picture. Much less, laugh."

"I guess this little guy just brings it out of me." Pete shocked himself by how true that statement was. And that was scary to him.

"Pete, we all know what you do. You own more than a few extremely successful businesses worldwide. But Patrick, what do you do?"

"I paint."

"You're an artist?"

"Very small time artist." He nodded.

"I've never heard of you." The girl pursed her lips and shrugged.

Pete caught wind of her bitchy attitude this time. He spoke up before Patrick could.

"He's a great painter. Better than great actually. One of the best I've seen. I even have a few of his pieces hanging around our house. You know, many of the greats didn't get discovered until after their death. And I hope Patrick doesn't have to wait that long."

"Wow. High recommendations from a man who definitely knows quality. You must be really good." Shane said.

"He is. One of my favorite pieces is one called, You're crashing, but you're no wave."

Patrick gaze snapped to Pete's. That was one of his actual paintings. How did Pete know that? Did he actually search some of his art work? And if so, did he actually mean all those compliments? No. Couldn't be. He probably hadn't even seen it. Ryan probably just fed him a few titles.

"And what kind of painter is he? Potraits? Landscapes? Abstract?"

"Yes." Pete said instead of just naming one. "Patrick does it all. The one I just named is a little bit of all three. It shows a beautiful beach scene. Bright sky. Sunny day. Perfection. Only its not. The waters are rough and dangerous, contrasting with the calm sky. And directly in the middle of the water is a drowning man. His face is perfectly painted with the right look of horror and acceptance. And the colors are so bold and out of place. Yet so perfectly in line. Like its telling you no matter how chaotic something is, it can also be beautiful."

Patrick was sitting there with his jaw lowered. Staring at Pete as if he'd grown a third eye. No one had ever shown so much interest in one of his paintings. Not even Andy. No one had ever understood so completely. Pete just smiled over at him. Patrick blinked and controlled his face. Masking it with a polite smile.

"I had no idea you liked that one so much." He breathed out.

"I do." He smiled. Then looked directly into the camera. "And you guys can get a chance to check it out too. At his public art show next week."

And in that moment maybe, just Maybe, Patrick liked him a little...