(hoo boy this is a long one)
(will i ever stop hurting patrick stump)
(the answer is no)
pete and patrick are youtubers (i know, ugh, but bear with me), patrick does music and shit and pete recites his slam poetry and also does a bunch of commentary on art and politics and movies and shit because that's his niche. they're pretty big fans of each other and their fans have been pushing them to collab for awhile (they have kind of a large joint fanbase even before they start actually interacting), and even though circumstances beyond their control prevent either of them from travelling out-of-state (patrick's in chicago, pete's in la) they do interact a lot on twitter and social media, which eventually leads to them exchanging numbers and becoming close friends. they start collabing long-distance, eventually meeting up at conventions and hanging out whenever they're in town. patrick writes music for pete's words, pete constantly hypes up patrick's music and hooks him up with some of his contacts (cuz pete knows everyone, man, like, everyone).
it's clear pete likes patrick and patrick likes pete. both of them are pretty open about their sexuality, and the fans, of course, ship the ever-loving crap out of them. patrick's concerned about long-distance tho and pete's really uncertain about relationships because, well, he kinda sucks at them. but they remain good friends and see other ppl and try to pretend like they don't know the reason why none of their relationships seem to work out very well. everything's fine.
then patrick gets sick.
like, really sick.
(you see where i'm going with this)
he has cancer and the news shakes a lot of people, but particularly pete, whose immediate response is to text patrick please tell me that was a prank or smthng fuck dude im so sorry and of course patrick's like still in shock or whatever so he's like it's fine just need time to process.
doesn't stop pete from worrying, of course.
the next few months are patrick making vlogs about his treatment. they start out pretty optimistic but as he goes through chemo it's pretty obvious how his health has taken a turn for the worse, and while fans start speculating and worrying over him like mother hens he keeps a brave face for the public but starts venting to pete over the phone. at one point they skype and patrick breaks down and goes i can't do it i can't do it, fuck it hurts so much pete i can't do it it hurts.
and pete's heart cracks and he's trying to be reassuring but fuck, he doesn't know what to do.
things take a turn for the worse, patrick comes down with an infection in the hospital and he needs surgery of some kind; travie's posting updates on his condition from his twitter but they're pretty bleak and everyone's freaking out, social media gets flooded with support banners and prayers and fanmade get-well videos and throughout all of this pete is just so, so overwhelmed because he knows, more than the fans, how much patrick's suffering.
patrick's surgery is scheduled for sometime in december; he has to spend christmas and new year in the hospital and that's if he makes it.
this goes one of two ways:
i. pete flies out to chicago to visit patrick. there are delays and cancellations and problematic weather, but he makes it.
ii. pete can't fly out to chicago for whatever reason (bad weather, no flights available, too expensive), but he's not just gonna sit there while patrick's cooped up, so he packs his bags and (at their behest) brings joe and andy along with him and they drive to chicago, and it's bittersweet because pete's caught between having fun and worrying over patrick, and just all around being an anxious wreck about the whole thing. they run into traffic and trouble along the way but they make it just in time to spend christmas with patrick.
either way patrick drifts in and out of consciousness and when he wakes up and finally sees pete he's still very weak but he grips pete's hand with all his strength and pete fucking loses it.
so pete spends time with patrick and eventually patrick's well enough to go home and some days are better than others and he's worried about being a burden, and pete's worried about being too much, but they push through it.
patrick goes into remission.
they announce it via livestream and at the end, right when patrick's about to switch the camera off, pete proposes.
needless to say, the fans break the internet.
(all their friends tweet their congrats and #congratspeterick trends on twitter and it's great)
(somewhere my self-insert is in the middle of all this fucking sobbing her goddamn heart out)
