Schatzi

6

"So you're going to just pretend yesterday didn't happen?" Peter asked, staring straight ahead. "We aren't going to talk about this?"

"It's not important, Peter. I don't want to talk about it," Eli sighed, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he looked at Peter, just wanting him to look at him. "I'm sorry."

Peter let out a dry little laugh, shaking his head. "You're sorry? Seriously, Eli? You're 'sorry'?" He scoffed. "You can't just do something like that then expect it to be okay just because you said you were sorry. I was so scared! You weren't answering the door, and then I saw the blood..." he trailed off, shaking his head again. "You can't do that to yourself or to me, okay?"

"Okay," Eli whispered, looking up at him with wide eyes. He hadn't wanted to upset him, that was the opposite of what he wanted.

"Promise me, Eli!" Peter snapped, grabbing his hands and squeezing tightly. "Promise me you'll never do that again."

Eli bit his lip, pulling his hands away. He looked down at his lap, sighing.
"I promise."

"Look at me," Peter snapped, putting his hand under Eli's chin and forcing him to look up at him. "Promise me."

Eli tried to push Peter away, but he just grabbed his arms and stopped him, glaring at him like he never had done before. Normally when Peter looked at him, he felt comforted, loved. Now he just felt scared.

"Promise."

Peter sighed and let go of Eli's arms, hunching over, his light hair casting his face in shadow.

"I'm sorry I shouted. I'm just worried about you. Please understand that, Schatzi. I love you, you know that right?"

Eli nodded slowly, watching Peter carefully.

"I want you to be happy," Peter continued, shaking his head. "I can't watch you do this to yourself, it's killing me. I thought you were getting better, so did your mum. But this isn't getting better, this is the worst I've seen you since last year. I can't watch that happen again, Eli. I need you to try get better again, okay?" He asked, looking up. "For you, and for me."

Eli nodded quickly, glad Peter was at least looking at him again. He looked sad, but he wasn't angry. He shuffled closer on the bed to him, touching his cheek lightly.

Peter closed his eyes, leaning into Eli's hand, sighing deeply.
"I love you, Schatzi," he whispered, pulling Eli onto his lap, resting his forehead against his. "I love you so much it hurts."

"I love you too," Eli mumbled, his hand resting on Peter's chest, right over his heart. Peter's hands were cold as he slowly untucked Eli's shirt from his trousers and snuck his hands underneath, resting them on Eli's waist, his fingers tracing small, delicate patterns on his skin. They just sat like that for almost an hour, the only sound their breathing and the ticking of the clock. Eli finally moved when he felt Peter's hot breath tickling his ear, making him squirm.

"What?" Peter chuckled, raising an eyebrow when he noticed Eli wriggling.

"You're tickling my ear," Eli smiled, flicking his hair out of his eyes. He half climbed off Peter's lap before he leapt on top of him like a cat, grinning.

"Oh, am I now?" He laughed, nipping Eli's ear playfully before reaching under his shirt again, tickling him mercilessly.

"Peter!" Eli screamed with laughter, trying to kick him off. "Peter! I swear to god!"

"What's the magic word?" Peter grinned, glancing down at Eli's torso, his shirt rucked up to half way up his chest.

"Please?" Eli tried, accidentally kicking Peter hard in the shin. "Sorry!"

"Ow! And, no, the magic word was 'banana'" he said as he got of Eli, pulling back up into a seated position.

Eli rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Peter like a 5 year old. He looked down, going to fix his shirt, but Peter's hands stopped him before he could.

"Leave it. Let me sort it," he said quietly. He crawled closer, slowly unbuttoning Eli's shirt.

"Peter-" Eli started, but Peter pressed his lips to his, silencing him. Eli stiffened at first but melted into the kiss, letting Peter take control, his hands in his hair, on his stomach, before he moved back to taking Eli's shirt off fully, finally pulling away.

"I think it looks better like that," Peter smirked, dropping Eli's shirt onto his bedroom floor.

"Peter-" Eli started again, and Peter moved to cut him off, but Eli put his finger to his lips, stopping him from interrupting. "I was just going to say don't get it crumpled. My mum'll kill me," he smirked.

Peter was on top of him in an instant, effectively pinning him to the bed as he kissed him with a sort of hunger, a passion that hadn't been there before. They were always so focused on keeping their relationship a secret, moments like this were rare. They weren't alone much, but now they were, and definitely wanted to make the most of it.

There was something about the way Peter's fingers entwined into his hair, holding him so close, his other hand on his jaw, the way Peter was kissing him, like he never wanted to let him go, like he was memorising his body, his lips, biting his lip slightly when he finally pulled away, breathless and grinning.

He began kissing lower, leaving a small trail down Eli's neck, his breath hot against his skin. Eli tilted his head back, not wanting Peter to stop touching him, wanted his lips to never leave his skin again.

He didn't know how many minutes passed, but it wasn't long enough before the sound of the door opening downstairs could be heard. Peter sat up like an electric current had run through him, his eyes wide.

"Oh fuck," he whispered. "My mum's home!"

Eli stood up, grabbing his shirt off the floor and buttoning it up quickly. He heard Peter's mum in the kitchen, sorting out what sounded like shopping before she called for him.

"Peter, it's okay," Eli assured him. His shirt was on like normal, and it covered the hickey on his neck. "We're just hanging out, it's fine."

Peter didn't seem to think it was fine. He still looked terrified, and paled when he heard his mum coming up the stairs.
"Get in the closet," he snapped, rushing over and opening the door.

"What? Peter, it's fine. She just thinks we're friends."

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"Peter-"

"Get in," he hissed, grabbing his arm and basically pushing him into the closet, shutting the doors quickly just as his mum walked in.

Eli watched through the tiny crack in door, trying to process everything that had just happened. He didn't understand. Why didn't Peter want his mum to see him? She wouldn't have known what was going on. They were allowed to be friends, right?