Fireflies // Peterick

14.

Pete showered Patrick in compliments. Not teasing ones, but genuine ones- little statements about how pretty his eyes are or how nice he is to cuddle. Patrick blushed most of the time, but he started returning them, too.

Patrick returning compliments made Pete's chest swell every time.

He had it bad, a point that Tyler and Gerard brought up in class as often as they could. Patrick must've had it just as bad, because he melted every time Pete smiled at him.

"So, does this mean we're boyfriends now?" Patrick had asked quietly Monday night. They were laying in bed, Pete's head on Patrick's chest. Patrick was playing with his hair.

"Do you want to be boyfriends? We don't have to label anything if you're not comfortable with it," Pete had said in response.

Patrick rolled onto his side and pulled Pete flush to his chest. "Yeah. I want to be boyfriends."

"Then I want to be boyfriends too," Pete said, giving Patrick a quick kiss. Patrick smiled against his lips.

Tuesday, their residential group was planning to go walk around the surrounding streets. Pete was excited because: A. that meant he could go shopping and shopping is fun, and B. he could consider it a date with Patrick. He was practically buzzing the entire day during class.

Finally evening came, and Pete gave Patrick the widest grin he could. "Ready to paint the town red?" he asked while they grabbed their wallets from their room.

Patrick snorted and readjusted his hat. "You know it."

They exited their room and stood with the rest of their group. Pete stood close enough to Patrick that their shoulders were brushing, returning every smile Patrick sent his way.

"Alright, we've got everyone. Let's head out!" their counselor yelled. He had told them earlier that it took ten minutes to get to the street they were going to, and then they'd have an hour and a half to hang out. They walked in comfortable silence, stopping only to pet the dogs walking by with their owners.

"You can go wherever, but stay with a buddy!" their counselor yelled. "We meet back here," he gestured to the ice cream shop he was standing in front of, "in an hour!" With that, everyone dispersed.

Pete scoffed. "Like we'll have any problem with that," he murmured to Patrick.

Patrick laughed. "Where to first?"

Pete watched their group break up, all traveling up the street. He nodded towards the crosswalk. "Let's go to the other side of the street." Patrick nodded and they began walking.

The first shop they went into was definitely an occult store, but Pete saw shiny rocks and wanted to see how much they were. He bought a light blue stone that supposedly calms anxiety for himself, and he smiled when he saw Patrick looking at a deck of tarot cards.

"Can you read cards?" Pete asked.

Patrick shook his head, putting down the pack he was holding. "No. But I think it's interesting. Are you done already?"

The woman at the cash register didn't question them while ringing Pete up. She gave them both kind smiles, and wished them a nice evening on their way out.

"So what did you get?" Patrick asked. Pete unwrapped the paper surrounding the stone and showed it to him. Patrick raised his eyebrows. "A rock?"

"Yep. It's going to make me calm the fuck down for once." He tucked it into his pocket. "Let's keep walking."

They went to a small book store next. It wasn't very big, so there wasn't much to look at, but there was a small rack of used CDs in the corner that they flipped through. After that, they still had half an hour before they needed to go back to the ice cream place.

"Want to go in here?" Patrick asked, stopping in front of a clothes shop.

Pete peered in the window. "Why not?"

They split up as soon as they walked in, Pete going look at the sweatshirts and Patrick heading to the back to look at the t-shirts. Pete made his way up and down the racks a few times before deciding to go to another section of the shop.

Pete spotted a hat rack at the end of one of the shelves and stopped. He turned the rack a bit, then paused. On one of the branches sat an olive green beanie. Pete picked it up, feeling the softness of the material against his fingertips. He smiled to himself and made his way to the back of the store.

"Find anything you like?" Patrick asked, still flipping through t-shirts. Two shirts were laying over his arm already. Pete grabbed the bill of his hat and pulled it off his head. "Hey!" Patrick shouted, turning to scowl at him.

"Calm down, give me a second." Pete adjusted his grip on the beanie, then put it on Patrick.

"Really, Pete?" Patrick said. Pete shifted the beanie a bit, then brushed Patrick's hair out of his eyes. He grinned, grabbing Patrick's shoulders and turning him towards the mirror.

"Yes, really." He let go of Patrick's shoulders. He looked down at Patrick's trucker hat in his hands and put it on backwards. "You look cute," he said.

Patrick smiled. He took a small step backward so Pete's chest was brushing his back. "We make quiet the pair, don't we?" he whispered.

Pete looked over their reflection in the mirror. "We do." Pete glanced at Patrick. "Hey, how do you feel about PDA?" he asked.

Patrick thought, then shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, um. Can I kiss your cheek?" Patrick nodded, smiling shyly. Pete gave him a quick peck. "Come on, let's check out. It's probably time to head back."

"Sounds good," Patrick said. Pete plucked the hat back off his head. "What are you doing now?" Patrick said fondly.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm buying it for you." With that, Pete turned and walked to the register. As soon as he bought it, he placed the beanie right back on Patrick's head. He waited for Patrick to check out, then lead the way outside. Patrick grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together as they walked back.

"I think I like PDA," he said softly.

Pete lifted their hands and kissed Patrick's knuckles.