Lopsided Smiles // Petekey // TW TW TW

4. Sweetheart

a/n- I am SO sorry omg this is so sad im- 

n e way yeah um the saporta thing had to be done im sorry, also this only took two days to write! the end is TW!!!!!!! but uh its important so i'll just summarize in the next chapter :) 

"Mikes, I've gotta get you outta there," Pete let out, breaking the silence they had shared for a long while now. Mikey had stopped speaking out of guilt for the dead and out of fear for himself, and Pete just hadn't known what to say.

The younger, hating the use of the nickname, didn't reply; he stared up at the black sky crying, somewhat jealous that it could open its floodgates when need be, and he had to keep his shut always.

"Who's your boyfriend?"

"Chris Saporta," Mikey answered, barely above a whisper, trying to conceal his words as he spoke them. The rain helped cover it up too, but Pete still heard, because over time, they'd gotten closer and closer to each other.

"I'm sorry, Saporta?!"

The taller one flinched and shifted slightly to hide it. "Yeah...?"

"My ex-boyfriend's brother is your boyfriend?!"

Mikey's eyes were as wide as the moon. "Ricky? I thought-"

"No, Gabe!" Pete threw his arms in the air dramatically before they fell back down to the wet grass.

"Chris said Gabe is a douche."

"Yeah, that's why he's my ex. Did you never, like, meet the family? How long have you been together?"

The questions and hype were racking Mikey's nerves, but he did manage to remain calm. "Three years. It's been... rough." He instantly regretted what he said, of course- he regretted most everything he said or did.

Pete's face fell. He knew the family well enough to form some assumptions. He figured Mikey was manipulated and treated badly- he didn't even know the worst of it.

"You can leave him, you know. I was manipulated, too. He threatened me when I wanted to leave and I didn't know then that it was all empty. They're weak, they won't hurt you."

This would've been a fantastic thing to say if it had been true.

But it wasn't true, and Mikey's solitary confinement cell was about to flood. The drizzle of rain around the two wasn't helping any. He was wet, cold, and distressed.

"He will."

"Mikes-"

"He does."

At that moment, Mikey knew he had said too much. Far too much. And there was no going back, no covering it up. He bit back his bottom lip as he watched Pete's face fall lower than ever before.

Pete didn't know how to help, but he knew that he would. Chris had to have been the one that locked Mikey up in the lonely cell he had. He was going to get Mikey out and far away from Chris. But first, Mikey needed comforting, because he looked like he was about to explode.

"You can cry if you want. Nobody will see but me and the ghosts, and they've seen plenty of tears. Go on, blend in with the rain."

The words were so heartfelt that Mikey's heart had to speak, too. "I don't know what I did wrong..." He could never admit it before. Something in him always told him he deserved it. But he didn't know why.

Rather than saying anything, Pete just scooted over to Mikey and pulled him into a hug that could only be described as warm. Warm like the fireplace after coming inside on a freezing winter day, and the hot chocolate you drink, and the blanket you pull over yourself and your loved ones. A wonderful warm that melted the cold of the rain and the cold of the aching truths that lay around the pair.