The Noble Desire (Peterick)

.•°Eighteen.•°

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I was sick most of the week, and then I binge-watched Stranger Things within three days. Happy Halloween btw. I'm probably just going to buy a bunch of vegan snacks and enjoy some movies on netflix tonight. I hope you guys have better, more exciting plans.

The aching in his skull ebbed and flowed like a cold tide; yet the pain was still there in the background. It was like a balloon was under his cranium, slowly being inflated, pressure mounting. Pete raised his heavy eyelids and swung his bare feet to the soft carpet. The headache troubled him more than the layer of dehydrated saliva coating his cracked lips, so he went in search of something to relieve him. He reached out for the wall to keep from losing his balance, but his hand slipped along the high sheen paint, and he sprawled onto the carpet with a crashing thump, rousing a bare-bodied Patrick who squinted at the light from the window and retreated under the duvet with an annoyed moan from his dry mouth.

The room swirled before becoming stationary again, and the prince used the bedstead to pull himself to standing. His throat was sandpaper as he swallowed a couple of painkillers, courtesy a bottle in the medicine cabinet. Whoever prepared the place for them must have known they would need it some time, which he was appreciative of because they had gotten carried away drinking. Pete peered from the restroom doorway at Patrick now sprawled across the entire mattress and tangled in the bedspread scarcely covering an inch of his skin, but he couldn't complain of the view when it was something he wished he'd see every morning. Unfortunately, the occasion was temporary. Rio was temporary.

Pete shook the thought out of his head and opened the faucet to splash his face with cool water. He slipped on the first outfit he could snag at the top of his luggage which turned out to be a neon yellow tank and dark athletic shorts. Gerard would have murdered him if he saw the clothes Pete had had a sudden inclination to purchase, but the prince had good reason to not have brought the attire from his own closet when its entirety was proper clothing Pete couldn't fathom wearing in Rio. He had supposed he could be trusted on his own to shop for himself, but being that he had never done so before he realized that he didn't exactly have a knack for fashion. Thus, his entire suitcase was to the brim with a selection of tropical shirts, various cargo shorts, and even a pair of UGG boots Pete had fancied at the moment. Nothing even remotely matched, but for a strange reason that he could barely grasp Pete enjoyed the chance he had received to indulge in his awful taste in couture because he was being him and not the man he had to pretend to be.

That was something special in itself even if no one else could understand it. He'd only opened the fridge door to obtain the orange juice carton from inside when he heard pattering feet descend the steps and saw Patrick in his briefs and nothing more. His blond hair was tousled over a flushed face from a wild night.

"Mornin', gorgeous," Pete said, lifting his eyes.
His fingers fiddled with the lip of the carton as he continued to stare at his lover in the morning glow.
"Hey," he yawned in return.
Pete gulped at how appealing he found those chubby cheeks during such an action, and he turned as to distract himself with another sight before he fell too deeply.

"I'm starved," Patrick said, sliding his hands around the prince's waist and propping his chin on his shoulder.

"How about I make us some pancakes then, yeah?"

He fake gasped and slivered around Pete so that he was in front of him now but still held onto his hips.

"You're telling me you know how to cook?"
Pete rolled his eyes and planted a kiss on the tip of the other's nose affectionately.
"The cooks were more of a parental guidance than the king and queen, so I picked up on some basic recipes. I'm not a complete airhead. Now as much as I would love to see you walk around like this all day you should get dressed because we're going to Sugarloaf Mountain in a few hours."