A/N: Sorry for the long wait, here’s a longer chapter to make up for it 🙂
Warning: Homophobic slurs
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Axel’s POV
“I’m so nervous, Jack” I say, grabbing onto Jack’s arm.
“This is such an important day, what if I mess it up?” I exclaim, looking at myself in the mirror. I’m wearing a white dress shirt with a black blazer and black dress pants, accompanied with a black bow tie. My hair is straightened from it’s usual wavy mess and slightly gelled.
“Why the hell are you so nervous? It’s not like it’s you who’s getting married, you’re not even engaged yet” Jack responds, and I look over at him.
“Exactly, it’s not my marriage! If I embarrass myself, it’s even worse since it’s Pete’s wedding! I can survive the embarrassment of messing up at my own wedding. But when it’s someone else’s, it becomes guilt and not just embarrassment” I whine, and Jack rolls his eyes. Jack is wearing the same thing I am, since all of the groomsmen wear the same thing.
“You’re just worried since you have the title of ‘best man’, aren’t you?” Jack asks.
I sigh, “You should’ve been the best man, you’re so much calmer than me and would do a much better job than my freaked out ass”
Jack shrugs, “You were the one who won rock, paper, scissors”
I sigh again, “And I never win. It’s not like I don’t want to be Pete’s best man, the title is just too heavy for me to carry”
Jack chuckles, “You’ll be fine”
“Honestly, I’m shocked that you and Jay weren’t the first ones to get married” Jack says, changing the subject. I shrug, not too surprised since Jay and I have been busy with our respective careers.
“We’ve both been busy” I answer vaguely.
“Yeah, I get that, but I honestly never expected that you would be the last one to be engaged. I was so sure Jay was going to propose right after we graduated from uni, before you guys got busy with your careers” Jack continues, and I glance at his ring.
Tyler popped the question a few months back, so they’ve been engaged for a while but haven’t thought about when they’re getting married.
It was stupid to use the excuse of being busy as to why Jay and I haven’t gotten engaged yet, since Tyler and Jack are probably busier than us. We at least had off-season to relax, but Tyler and Jack were busy all year-round. Jack was managing his own business with the help of Tyler, so it was pretty stressful for them at the beginning when things weren’t going as planned. But their business is really successful now, so it was worth the stress.
I shrug, about to respond when someone knocks on the door. Pete’s head pops in, looking at us with a nervous smile.
He walks into the room, shutting the door behind him and walking over to us.
I look at the worried expression on his face and give him a soft smile, “Hey Pete, how you feeling?”
He laughs nervously, “I’m excited, but nervous. What if I trip while walking down the aisle? What if Franco has second thoughts? What if-”
Jack grabs his shoulders, making Pete look up at him and stop his rambling.
“Pete, relax. You’re not going to trip and Franco would never have second thoughts. He’s just as whipped for you as Jay is for Axe” Jack says, pausing a bit to look up at me.
“Okay, almost as whipped. Honestly, no one could be more whipped than Jay” Jack says, and that causes Pete to chuckle.
“It’s really a mystery as to how he hasn’t asked Axe to marry him yet” Pete adds, looking over at me.
Another knock on the door interrupted me from responding, as we turn to look at the person.
Pete’s POV
A knock on the door interrupts our conversation, as we turn to look at the person at the door. Jay’s head pops in, a smile appearing on his face when his eyes land on Axe. His eyes sweep around the room before they land on me.
“Oh Pete, there you are. I’ve been looking for you, we’re all ready” Jay says with a nod, walking over and giving Axe a kiss on the forehead.
Axe smiles, looking over at me along with Jack. I let out a shaky breath, nodding. I was nervous and excited. Today was the day of my marriage with Franco, and I couldn’t be happier. I was getting married to the love of my life. After so many obstacles thrown our way, we made it. I guess that’s why I’m nervous, worried that something will pop up again on our special day.
We never had it easy, it was a rollercoaster of emotions since we met.
13 years ago…
“Watch out!”
The boy turns his head at the sound and his eyes widen. He holds out his arms and sticks a foot out, stopping my skateboard and catching me in his arms. My face lands in his chest as his arms wrap around my torso, securing me.
I look up and he grins, helping me step off of the skateboard.
“I take it you’re not a professional skater” he says teasingly, as I laugh awkwardly.
“Yeah, it was my first time. My friends were supposed to teach me how to ride” I say, glancing over at my two friends who had their hand over their mouth, their shoulders shaking from holding back their laughter.
“But they just told me to step on and pushed me down the hill” I finish with a huff as the boy in front of me chuckles.
“Sounds like fun. I won’t bother you anymore, you head back over to your friends. Just don’t go crashing into any other guy’s chest or I might get jealous” he teases, throwing a wink my way as he walks away.
I blush, watching the boy’s back as he walks away. I pout, I wish I could’ve gotten his number or something. I should treat him to something for saving me from crashing into a tree. He also seemed nice, we could’ve been friends.
“Pete, you alright?” Calvin calls out as he and Martin run over to me.
“Who was that?” Martin asks, looking at the direction that boy went in.
I shrug, “He saved me from possibly running into an elderly or a kid” I say, smacking the two on the head.
“I am never trusting you guys again, I swear” I say with a glare, as they both laugh.
“At least you didn’t get hurt” Calvin says, and I smack him on the shoulder.
“Yeah, it was because that boy caught me before I could!” I exclaim as they laugh. I yelled at them a bit more so they decided to treat me to some ice cream as an apology, and I gladly accepted.
The next day at school, I was standing with Calvin outside of the classroom. We were chatting as we waited for either of our teachers to come in. As we hear her footsteps approaching, Calvin goes back over to his classroom and I go into mine and sit down at my desk. Ms Martine enters the room with a familiar blonde behind her.
My eyes widen, it’s him!
“Class, we have a new student joining us today. Would you like to introduce yourself?” Ms Martine asks, looking over at the boy.
He shrugs, “Name’s Franco” he says curtly, and I hear a few girls whisper around me, saying how he’s cute and all. I look at him, understanding what they mean. Franco is good-looking, his dirty blonde hair styled messily but still somehow looked good. He’s wearing a grey hoodie with black leggings, his hand stuffed into his hoodie pocket.
His eyes scan the room with a bored look, before his eyes land on me at the back of the class. His face lights up with a smile, “Skater boy!” he calls, earning confused looks from our classmates and teacher.
Franco points to me, and Ms Martine nods in realization. “Oh, you know Pete? That’s great! He can help you settle in then, why don’t you take the seat beside him, Franco?” Ms Martine says kindly as Franco nods, walking over to me with a goofy grin on his face.
He sits down beside me, “So we meet again, Skater Boy. Or should I say, Pete? Crashed into anyone else after we parted ways?” Franco teases, and I roll my eyes as heat rose to my cheeks.
“Shut up, class is starting” I mutter which causes Franco to chuckle as he turns his attention to the teacher standing at the front of the class.
After class, I get up to go to lunch but a hand on my wrist stops me.
Franco calls, “Wait, um”
“Pete” I remind.
“Pete. You’re the only one I know, can I stay with you?” he asks with puppy eyes, causing me to smile and nod.
We leave the room, Franco walking beside me as we walk to find my friends.
“So” he starts, and I glance over at him.
“Not much of a talker?” he asks, and I shrug.
“I talk, just not to you” I say and he places a hand on his chest.
“You wound me” he says jokingly and I chuckle.
He gasps, “You laughed!”
I roll my eyes, “I’m not some emotionless robot”
He shrugs, “Could’ve fooled me”
I turn my head to look at him, “You’ve barely known me for a day”
He smirks, “Well I look forward to getting to know you”
I turn my head away from him, hiding my blush. I see Martin and Calvin sitting under a tree, so I go over with Franco.
“Hey guys” I greet and they look up, eyebrows furrowing when their eyes land on Franco.
“Hey Pete, and um?” Martin says, looking at Franco.
“Franco” he introduces with a grin.
“Nice to meet you, Franco. You look familiar…” Calvin says, looking around as if trying to remember.
Franco chuckles, “I was the one who caught Pete last time”
“When you guys decided it was a good idea to push a first time skater down a hill” I elaborate, as their eyes widen in realization.
“Oh” Martin says stupidly, and I roll my eyes.
We talk for a bit before the bell goes, so we walk our separate ways to class.
“Your friends are cool” Franco comments and I nod.
“I wouldn’t hang out with them if they weren’t” I answer.
“Oh? You’re hanging out with me, does that mean I’m cool?” Franco teases.
“No” I say, and walk a little faster.
Franco catches up to me easily, jutting his lip out in a pout. “That’s not very nice”
We walk into the classroom, sitting in our respective seats as class starts.
Franco and I hung out quite a bit throughout the month, him sitting with us at lunch from time to time. He joined the soccer team so he usually sits with them, but he comes to sit with us at least once a week.
We went out a few times after school and on weekends, just us. It was always so much fun hanging out with Franco, whether we were eating or just taking a walk.
Franco would always make time for me, no matter what. He’d even cancel plans with his soccer friends just to hang out with me, which I’d feel bad about but he’d always assure me that he’d rather be with me. I guess that’s why I started to develop a crush on Franco. He’s always kind to me and seems to always want to spend time with me. It’s flattering, feeling like you’re important to someone.
I’ve always known I was attracted to guys, I just wouldn’t label myself as gay because I sometimes find girls attractive too. Bisexual maybe, I never put much thought into labels.
Franco and I would text a bunch when we don’t hang out. It’s almost like Franco and I are dating, since he spends most of his time texting me even when he’s out with friends. I know not to get my hopes on though, since I don’t know if Franco even swings that way.
I refuse to let my feelings ruin our friendship.
***
That’s why elephants are the greatest animals to ever exist.
I chuckle at Franco’s text, quickly typing out a reply.
Bullshit, giraffes are way better.
Three dots appear on the screen, a text appearing a few seconds after.
What?? You’re crazy, elephants are so much cooler! Have you seen what their trunks can do? Insane! I wish I had a trunk.
Would it be on your face? Then you’d just look like a deformed Pinocchio.
What’s wrong with Pinocchio? I’ll have you know he is my favourite disney character.
I snort at how dorky he is.
Sure.
You know what? I’m going to take you to the zoo and show you elephants are better. Then we’re coming to my house and watching Pinocchio 😤
I smile at the text and blush, thinking of how it’ll be like a date. I move my fingers across my screen, typing out a reply.
“Fucking faggots, disgusting I swear”
I freeze, looking up from my phone and seeing my dad look out the window with a disgusted face.
I follow his line of vision, seeing two men outside. They were hugging, smiling at each other and sharing some kisses from time to time.
“Can’t believe they can still smile like that while they commit such a sin” my mom adds, shaking her head.
My dad looks at Pat and I, “If you two decide to go against God and commit such a sin, don’t ever come back and call yourselves my kid, you hear?”
My mom nods in agreement as they wait for Pat and I’s response.
“Of course” Pat replies, and our parent’s attention shift over to me.
“Pete, dear?” my mom calls softly, waiting for my answer.
“Yes, father” I reply, looking down at my plate. I put my phone back in my pocket, forgetting about Franco’s text.
My parents don’t seem to notice my discomfort, but Pat glances at me before looking back down at her plate and continuing to eat. From the look on her face, I can’t help but think that she knows.
***
“Hey Pete!”
My heart skips a beat at the voice, and I turn around with a smile on my face. Franco walks over, a grin on his face as he clasps a hand on my shoulder.
“You didn’t text me back last night, I was worried” Franco says, looking at me with concern.
I give him a weak smile, remembering the events from last night. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Sorry, my parents called me down for some help and I completely forgot to respond” I lie, but Franco doesn’t seem to catch on as he nods.
“It’s all good” Franco replies with a smile.
He opens his mouth to say something else, but someone calls his name so he turns around. His soccer friends were calling him over, so he nods at them.
He turns back to me with a small frown, “I got to go. I’ll see you in class, Pete” he says and ruffles my hair, walking away.
I watch him go, frowning slightly at our conversation being interrupted.
Franco arrives at the group, one of his friends throwing an arm around his shoulder. They talk for a bit and one of them says something funny as they all burst out into laughter, including Franco. I smile, seeing him laughing so happily and freely.
“So that’s the boy you like”
I jump, my eyes widening as I see Pat standing beside me, looking in the direction of Franco and his group.
“W-What?” I stammer, hearing my heart beat pick up.
“That boy, Franco. He’s the one you like, right?” Pat says, turning to look me with a blank look.
I feel my stomach churn, the words my father spoke last night echoing through my head.
“Pat! Please don’t tell Mom and Dad!” I beg, as my sister’s face remains blank.
“I won’t” she says, turning back to look at Franco and smirking.
“There’s something else I will do though” she says, turning around and leaving. I watch her retreating figure, my eyebrows furrowing.
Something else she’ll do?
“Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend!”
I was helping Mom prepare dinner, and upon hearing the voice of my sister, I slowly turn around to see her standing at the door with a boy.
My eyes widen as I see who exactly was standing beside Pat, feeling my heart drop to my stomach.
Franco stood there, a blank look on his face as his eyes swept around the room.
His eyes land on me, and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.
“Oh, it’s nice to meet you! You can call me Vivian, and you are?” my mom greets, walking over to Franco and Pat.
“My name’s Franco” Franco responds curtly, shocking me since he’s normally really friendly and polite around adults.
His lack of mannerisms seem to shock my mom as well, but she doesn’t comment on it but puts on a smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Franco. Terrence is out running some errands, but he’ll be back soon” she informs, and seems to finally remember I was there too.
She turns to me, “Oh, Pete, don’t be so rude! Come over and greet your sister and her boyfriend”
My eyes were trained on Franco the whole time, not looking away once. But at the sound of my mother’s voice calling name, my eyes left Franco’s to look at her.
I nod reluctantly, walking over to them. “Um, hey Pat, Franco” I greet awkwardly.
Pat hugs Franco’s arm and Franco stiffens but doesn’t make any move to pull away. “Hey bro, you’ve met Franco before, right?” she asks innocently, and I nod.
“Um, yeah. We’re in the same class” I inform, and Pat smiles.
“That’s great! You guys get along then, right Franky?” Pat says, looking up at Franco. Franco’s eyes were on me, but I don’t make eye contact.
“Yeah, we get along really well” Franco answers, and I feel my chest tighten.
“Are you staying for dinner?” Mom asks, and I look up as Pat nudges Franco. Franco sighs, and nods.
“Alright, I’ll go finish getting dinner ready” Mom says, going back to the kitchen and leaving the three of us alone.
I look up at Pat who has an indifferent look on her face, as if she didn’t just make my crush her boyfriend. It would’ve been fine if she didn’t know I liked him, but the fact that she literally asked me earlier today if I liked Franco then made him her boyfriend just… hurts. It’s not like I can say anything though, not if I want to remain an Evan.
“Pete-“
“I’m going to help Mom finish dinner” I say, cutting off Franco and running off to the kitchen.
My mom looks at me strangely when I run into the kitchen, but she doesn’t comment as she goes back to chopping up some cucumbers. I go to help her, taking over for her as she sends me a grateful smile and goes to do something else.
The dinner wasn’t as awkward as I thought it’d be. Dad and Mom just asked Franco questions about school and his life so I didn’t really have to speak to him. After dinner, I immediately went up to my room before anyone could speak to me and lock the door. I sigh, laying on the bed and thinking that maybe this was for the better.
The next day at school, I avoided Franco like the plague, which was hard since he was my seat mate. He couldn’t do anything in class, and I would leave the room before he got to say anything during the breaks.
I was doing so well in my mission to avoid Franco, but he managed to catch me at my locker at the end of school. He dragged me into an empty classroom, standing in front of the door so that I had no hope in escaping.
“Pete, stop avoiding me” Franco starts, and I look at everything but his eyes.
“I’m not avoiding you” I refute weakly, knowing how stupid it sounded right when the words left my mouth.
Franco rolls his eyes, “Yeah, right”
There was a tense atmosphere, neither of us knowing what to say to the other.
“Pete…” Franco calls softly, and I finally look at his face. He looks exhausted, mentally and physically.
“Please stop avoiding me” he begs, his eyes desperate and full of hurt and sadness. I realize how inconsiderate I was being. I let my feelings for Franco affect our friendship, being all butt hurt and ignoring him when he started dating my sister. It wasn’t his fault.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I won’t” I reply with a smile, in which he returns.
“So we’re good?” he asks and I nod.
“Yeah” I never wanted my feelings to affect my friendship with Franco, but that’s exactly what happened. I won’t make the same mistake again and allow my useless feelings to hurt the one I cherish the most.
Franco came around often to hang out with Pat, but he would always invite me along. One would think that I was insanely stupid to join my sister and my crush when they hung out since I was basically signing up for heartbreak by being a third wheel.
But no, Franco never let me feel like a third wheel when I hung out with them. If anything, Pat was the third wheel. Franco paid more attention to me whenever we went out than his girlfriend, and obviously that sit well with Pat. It wouldn’t sit well with anyone, really.
Pat would always try to leave me behind or prevent Franco from inviting me, but Franco would refuse to go with her anywhere unless I would go. Today, Franco invited me to go with him and Pat to the mall.
“Hey, you hungry?” he asks and I nod.
“No. Let’s go shopping for a bit first before we eat” Pat interrupts, walking in between Franco and I.
“Pete’s hungry, let’s go to the food court” Franco disagrees, and they stop walking to glare at each other. I sometimes wonder why they’re dating, they argue more than anything.
“No, I want to go shopping” Pat states.
She looks over at me, “You go eat, Franco and I will go shop” she demands and pushes me in the direction of the food court. I look back at them before turning around and starting to walk to the food court alone. A hand grabs mine, stopping me from moving.
“You’re seriously leaving me, your girlfriend, alone to shop just to accompany my brother?” she exclaims, and Franco rolls his eyes.
“Of course” Franco wraps an arm around my shoulder, “I can’t leave this cutie alone” he says and winks at me, causing me to blush. My sister stomps her feet, walking over to us.
“Fine! We’ll go eat before we shop” she says, stomping past us and towards the food court.
We follow behind her, Franco sticking by my side as his girlfriend angrily stomps ahead of us
We get to the food court and I look around at the choices.
“What do you want? My treat” he says.
“I want a salad. I need to watch my weight” Pat speaks up, and Franco looks over at her.
“Okay, I’m pretty sure there are salads at every place here so take your pick and go get it” Franco says.
“What about you?” he asks and I point at the New York Fries.
“I want a hot dog combo” I say and he chuckles, nodding.
“Alright, let’s go” he says, pulling me along.
“Wait, where are you going?” Pat calls, and Franco stops.
“Going to get Pete his combo” Franco answers blandly.
“I want a salad from there” Pat says, pointing at a different direction.
“Okay, then go get it” Franco says.
“You’re supposed to pay for me, you said it was your treat” Pat retorts, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I was talking to Pete” Franco states, and my sister’s jaw drops.
“I’m your girlfriend. I’m the one you should be paying for. Not him” Pat says, causing Franco to roll his eyes.
“Tough luck” he says, walking away and dragging me along with him. My sister calls out behind us, getting weird looks from other shoppers.
The rest of the day goes basically like that, Franco paying for my everything. Whether it was clothes, food or drinks he would pay for me and leave my sister fuming and paying for her own things.
Franco drops us off at home, leaning over and giving me a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye, which angered Pat even more.
We get off Franco’s car and go in the house, Pat turning to me with a glare on her face.
“You’ll regret what you did today” she fumes and stomps up to her room, slamming the door.
What I did today?
***
I hit my head on my locker, hissing in pain. I turn around and look at the group of guys standing behind me, snickering as they walk away.
Weird.
I grab my books, heading to class. On the way, I receive a lot of stares but I ignore them. There are groups of people who are trying to be subtle but are obviously whispering about me.
I sit down in my seat, Franco not having arrived yet. He usually comes later than me so I didn’t think much of it, until the teacher came in and Franco is still not here. I pull out my phone to text him.
Hey, where are you?
I put my phone under my leg, hiding it from the teacher. It was around halfway through the period when Franco responded.
Sorry, family emergency. I won’t be back til Friday 🙁
I frown, texting him back and putting my phone back in my pocket. I rest my head on my hand, noticing the indiscreet glances my classmates were sending me. After class, a group of girls came up to me.
The one in front crosses her arms over her chest, “You know, I thought you were a quiet and shy but nice kid. I didn’t think you could do something like this” she says, and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
“Um, what do you mean?” I ask, genuinely confused.
The girls’ eyes all narrow into glares, “How shameless!” the same girl exclaims, stomping away with her posse.
I watch them leave, my mouth ajar. I don’t exactly know what to say.
At lunch, I went over to my usual table. And of course, everyone is whispering and looking at me.
“Hey Calv, Mart” I greet, sitting down and taking out my lunch.
They don’t greet me back, so I look up in confusion to see them packing up their lunch.
“Where are you guys going?” I ask as Calvin ignores me and Martin glares.
“We aint going to be caught sitting with a bastard like you” Martin says, standing up with Calvin.
They walk away, leaving me alone and confused.
What’s going on?
I see Pat walk in, so I walk over to her.
“Hey, Pat. Everyone’s being weird today, do you know what’s going on?”
She looks around, a small smirk appearing on her face, disappearing as quick as it appeared.
Her face turns into a frightened look, “Pete, what do you want from me? You try to steal my boyfriend and now you’re doing this?” she yells in horror, as my eyebrows furrow even deeper.
What?
One of the football players come up to us, shoving me.
“What the fuck, dude? You try to steal your sister’s boyfriend and now you’re giving her shit for it? I thought you were an okay dude, guess I thought wrong. You stay away, or I can’t promise you’ll make it out unscathed” the guy says, glaring at me as his friends stand up to back him up as they surround my sister.
I don’t even know who this guy is.
Pat has a smirk on her face, but it quickly becomes a pitiful look as the football players round up to protect her from me.
What did I do? Since when was she out to get me?
I run out of the room, not wanting to get into it with the whole football team protecting her. I decide to deal with her at home, as I go about the rest of the day with everyone’s hateful glares.
We get home, and Pat is quick to go upstairs but I stop her.
“Pat! Why’d you tell everyone I’m trying to steal Franco from you?” I ask as my sister stops.
“Aren’t you?” she retorts, turning to look at me with a blank stare.
“I’m not! I-” I pause, thinking back to how Franco’s treated me compared to how he’s treated her. I understand why she would think that but-
“I liked him first, you stole him from me” I speak out unwisely, my sister’s eyes widening maniacally.
“IT’S NOT LIKE YOU CAN BE TOGETHER, YOU WANT ME TO TELL MOM AND DAD ABOUT YOUR PRECIOUS FORBIDDEN LOVE? WE’LL SEE HOW WELL THAT GOES” Pat yells, her eyes wide.
“Wait, no! Don’t tell Mom and Dad! I-I-I” I stammer, not knowing what to say.
“If you want to stay here, stay away from my boyfriend” my sister sneers, walking up to her room.
I stay where I am, not knowing what to do. Why is she doing this to me?
The rest of the week goes by like that, everyone glaring at me and the few jocks who decide it’s funny to shove me into lockers.
I walk into the classroom Friday morning, seeing Franco already sitting at his seat.
My heart flutters in excitement, but then I remember what’s happening so I quietly sit down beside him.
“Hey, Pete!” Franco greets happily, but I ignore him.
I can feel everyone’s stares as I take out my textbooks, waiting for class to start.
Thankfully, class started before Franco could say anything else.
I run out of the room when the bell rings, but Franco catches me before I could flee to hide somewhere.
“Hey, why are you avoiding me again?” Franco asks, his voice sad.
I open my mouth to respond, but a high pitched voice interrupts us.
“FRANKY”
My sister jumps onto Franco’s back as he stumbles forward and catches himself.
“Oh, hey Pat” he says grimly, looking at me.
“I missed you!” she says happily with a smile, but her smile falters when she sees me.
The jock who protected her on Monday walks by us and shoves me, standing in front of Franco and Pat.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Franco shouts, trying to shake his way out of Pat’s surprisingly strong grip.
“What did I tell you about staying away?” the jock threatens, cracking his knuckles.
I gulp, “I’m going, I’m going” I say, giving Franco one last look before walking away.
I text my mom that I’m heading home since I’m not feeling well, and start my trek back home. I rather not attend classes and see Franco, not knowing what will happen to me.
I get home, going to the kitchen and grabbing a bunch of drinks and snacks. Since we weren’t allowed to bring food or drinks -other than water- into our rooms, I had to make do and have my depressed binge eating session downstairs in the living room.
I put them down on the living room table, turning on the TV and putting on the first movie I see. I open the first bag of chips, munching on it as I watch the movie, feeling tears prickling my eyes but refuse to let them slip. I open bag after bag, bottle after bottle. I wasn’t able to hold back my tears any longer as I let them flow, crying myself to sleep.
“Oh my god, Pete! Clean up this mess, now! Franky’s coming over soon. He hasn’t been over for a week, I don’t want him to come over and the first thing he sees is this!” a shrill voice yells, and I wince at the volume.
“Pat, keep your voice down. I’m literally a meter away from you, there’s no need to yell” I say to my sister who looks around the living room in disgust.
I look around the living room as well, grimacing as I understand her concern.The room was littered with bottles of pop, most of them empty but some of them still had a bit left so they were spilling onto the wood floor. Bags of chips and candy wrappers were scattered around the couch I’m sitting on, leaving crumbs everywhere.
“Clean this up. NOW” she yells, flipping her hair over her shoulder and stomping out of the room.
I sigh, getting up and cleaning up the mess I created. I grab one of the empty chip bags, crumpling the wrappers into a small ball and throwing them into the bag. I do the some with the other chip bags, going into the kitchen to throw away the garbage when I finished collecting them. I grab the empty bottles, using my arm to press the bottles against my torso to be able to grab as many as possible so that I don’t have to take too many trips back.
After I cleared the room of garbage, I grab a wet rag from the kitchen to clean the puddle of coke that was spilled. I throw the rag into the sink, grabbing a vacuum to clean the couch and its surroundings of crumbs.
When I finished, I wipe the sweat off my forehead with my sleeve, grinning as I look around at my hard work. It took my mind off Franco too, so it wasn’t a total waste of time.
There was a knock on the door, signifying that our lovely guest has arrived. That elicited a groan from me and an excited squeal from my sister as she ran to the door. I quickly put away the vacuum, quietly walking towards the stairs that were near the front door. I was hoping Franco was distracted by my sister so that he wouldn’t see me sneaking by, but I unfortunately had no such luck.
As I finally made it to the staircase, Franco seemed to sense my presence since his head immediately shot up. A huge smile spread on his face when his eyes landed on me, “Pete!” he called happily.
I give him a small smile, waving at him and ignoring my heart that skipped a beat upon Franco calling my name.
My smile drops as I look at the devastating glare my sister is sending my way, immediately scurrying up the stairs and away from the couple. I could hear Franco calling after me, but the image of my sister’s glare keeps me from turning back.
I enter my room, closing the door behind me and walking over to my bed, collapsing onto it with a sigh. I look up at the ceiling, closing my eyes and wishing I could go down to see Franco but knowing I shouldn’t.
I lay there for who knows how long, until a knock on my door causes my eyes to slowly flutter open. I lift my head as someone enters my room quietly, shutting the door without a sand.
I look at him confused, “Franco?”
He places a finger over his lips as he walks over to me, smiling as he lays on top of me, crushing me with his weight.
“Wha- Franco, get off! You’re heavy” I complain, putting my hands on his shoulders and attempting to push him away but he doesn’t budge.
Franco kisses my neck and I freeze, causing Franco to lift his head to look at me with a mischievous smile on his face. He stands up, pulling me along with him. He rests his head on my shoulder as his hands stay on my hips as he rubs circles on the skin under my shirt, causing me to shudder with pleasure.
“Franco, you should go back to my sister. She’ll get pissed, she hates waiting” I say quietly, though I don’t make any move to push him away.
“I’d rather stay here with you” Franco mumbles, lifting his head from my shoulder to look me in the eyes.
“I heard everything from my team, I’m sorry for what’s happening to you” he apologizes, and I shake my head.
“It’s not your fault” it kinda is, but I won’t tell him that.
“I tried telling everyone that you weren’t doing anything but they don’t believe me” he says and I smile.
“I appreciate the effort” I say.
We stare at each other for what seems like hours, and Franco slowly moves his face closer to mine. His eyes look from my lips to my eyes, searching for any sign of discomfort. I know I should’ve at least pretended I was uncomfortable so that he would back away and not kiss me, since he’s my sister’s boyfriend. But at this moment, with Franco so close to me, I couldn’t find myself to care.
Franco’s and my nose were touching, that’s how close we are. He looks at my eyes once more, and I close them. He takes that as a sign of approval so he slowly moves closer and connects our lips. It was pure bliss, finally being able to kiss the man I’ve longed for so long. I never want this moment to end.
“What. The. FUCK” a piercing scream caused my eyes to widen as I immediately pull away from Franco, who has an annoyed look on his face. Pat was standing at the doorframe, the doorknob in her hand as a look of disgust crosses her features.
Pat stomps over to us, slapping me across the face and yelling all sorts of colourful profanities. Franco’s eyes widen when he sees that Pat hit me, his eyes narrowing into a glare.
I shudder, remembering the fear I felt at that moment. A hand squeezes mine, causing me to come back to reality and away from the painful memory.
I look up and lock eyes with Franco, who smiles at me but holds concern in his eyes. I realized that while reminiscing about the past, I walked down the aisle and am now standing at the alter with Franco.
The priest is speaking, but we aren’t listening. Franco’s looking at me with worried eyes, so I smile to reassure him that I was okay.
“Franco West, do you take Pete Evans as your lawfully wedded husband?”
Franco looks at me, a huge smile on his face. “I do”
The priest turns to me, “Pete Evans, do you take Franco West as your lawfully wedded husband?”
I look over at Franco, his beautiful emerald green eyes staring at me. His blonde hair was gelled into a quiff, and although I preferred his usual messy-but-somehow-looked-perfect hair, I couldn’t deny that he looks hot. He definitely matured a lot since we first met.
I internally grimace at the memory. Amidst all the roadblocks along our journey, we finally made it to our destination. I’m finally happy, with the man who brought the happiness into my life. There was nowhere I’d rather be, than with him.
I smile, “I do”
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A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter! A lot of you commented about how you want to see more of Pete and Franco, so here you go! I’m honestly surprised at how many of you love Pete and Jack and want more of them.
Please vote for this chapter and have a nice week!
Stay healthy!
Also, thank you so much @AnnahHart for taking the time and making a fan cover of Pancakes!
I attached her work to this chapter, so please check it out!
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