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mayqueen517Written for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
no_tags 2011! (Also posted here)
Title: The Fastest Way Back Home
Pairing/Prompt: #73 - Pete/Mikey, airports and various holidays and home
Rating: PG-13 for Language
Word Count: 2,925
Warnings: None.
Notes: A huge thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
airgiodslv for doing this amazingly awesome exchange again! ♥ ♥ Thank you to my hector_rashbaum for the awesome job on this, as always!
(Title from the song, 'The Fastest Way Back Home' by Frank Turner)
The first time Pete sits in an airport with Mikey, it's right before they head home from Warped. They're all tired from the night before, from so many nights before and wanting their own beds and to not see their bands for at least a week. But Pete sort of likes the day they go home, getting to see the first day of Warped in reverse, almost.
"Good tour," Pete says uselessly, wanting to throw his hands up and scream and yell and do something ridiculous. He wonders if anyone's up for TPing the bathroom stalls or something. Anything to break up the languor that comes at the end of tour, knowing it's over, knowing that he's going to go home to nothing but his dog. Which, to be fair, his dog is kind of more awesome than most people.
"Yeah," Mikey says, head down, mumbling tiredly as Pete bumps his leg against Mikey's lightly. Mikey meets his eyes and Pete can see the circles under his eyes that match everyone's and sometimes Pete thinks that Mikey looks exactly how he feels.
Pete leans, feeling the arm of the airport chair biting into his side as he rests his head in the crook of Mikey's neck. He's uncomfortable, but unwilling to move as Mikey leans his cheek against Pete's head. He shifts, trying to get the arm out of his side if he can. Gerard's looking over at them, eyes still heavy as they wait for their various flights to be called.
"I'm totally gonna miss you, Mikey Way," Pete says after a minute, too-loud in the early morning hours. Mikey laughs a little, rubbing his head against Pete's hair, knocking his knee into Pete's lightly.
"Call me when you can't sleep."
"Always do, dude."
Flights get called and Pete hugs everyone who passes him, some of them twice and when he squeezes Mikey, Mikey lets out a soft laugh as he eyes Pete.
"I'll see you," he says softly as Pete smacks an obnoxious kiss to his forehead, like he's a kid and can't stop the laugh as Mikey shoves at him. He watches them leave before he flops down beside Patrick, resting against his arm with a smile. He's tired, looking forward to his dog and his bed, but for now, he's pretty content to be in an airport with his guys, waiting to hear Chicago under the plane's wheels.
The next time he sits beside Mikey in an airport is a simple chance. He texts Mikey out of boredom, waiting for the runway to clear and to be able to board the plane when it gets delayed. He groans and follows his last text quickly with, plane delayed - shoot 2 kill mway.
Mikey doesn't text for a moment, but his reply makes Pete grin, makes him feel ridiculous and like he's a teenager all over again. aim for head? and we're delayed too.
not a zombie mikeyway. where at?
same as always
same. coming to find you dude
He gets up, telling Joe where he's going and tells Andy for good measure as he wanders off. Pete knows Mikey and knows his habits and knowing that, he heads straight for the nearest Starbucks, grinning hard as he sees Mikey settled in the corner, looking the same as always. His phone lays open on the table, waiting and Pete digs his own phone out, tapping out a quick text, cheer up emo kid, to watch Mikey check his messages and look up.
Mikey pulls his coat tighter around him and Pete grins, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walks up.
"How long is your delay?" Pete asks, leaning against the wall with Mikey. Mikey looks good, Pete thinks, watching him shrug and sigh in the way that tells Pete just how annoyed Mikey is.
"Too fucking long, yours?"
"Two hours. Not so bad, I guess. How've you been?"
"Good, I guess. You?"
"Fucking horrible, but that's cool," Pete says, watching Mikey snort and Pete bumps their shoulders together, grinning. Pete isn't joking, really, but it's hard to hate everything about life when he's with one of his top five favorite people
"You okay?" Mikey asks carefully, watching him as Pete shrugs. He sometimes wonders how many of his friends expect him to fall apart, and how many of them are surprised when he stays together. Mikey holds out his coffee cup, easy and comfortable as he fiddles with his phone.
It reminds Pete of waking up on tour, sharing coffee, curling up together, lazy kisses and more.
"Kind of. I haven't slept in like four days? But I'm totally gonna crash when I get home. How're you?"
"I dunno," Mikey says and Pete recognizes that feeling, recognizes the look that Mikey doesn't share with him as Pete hands the coffee back to him. Instead of saying anything he shifts over, fitting his head into the crook of Mikey's neck, uncomfortable, but unwilling to move.
They stay like that for a few minutes, quiet and comfortable and Pete thinks that he could maybe fall asleep like that when Mikey's phone buzzes with a text. Pete watches Mikey check it, sees the text (from Ray; think we're close to leaving. finally!) before he chances a light kiss to Mikey's cheek.
Mikey blinks at him, smiling a little as Pete pulls his head back up, watching Mikey text. His fingers are in the fingerless gloves that Pete used to have a million pairs of at home. He wonders if Mikey would like some in different colors but dismisses it quickly.
"I'm gonna head back," Mikey says, as Pete nods, unsurprised but willing to wrap his arms around Mikey. He hugs Mikey until Mikey sighs, relaxing into it and hugging him back.
"See you around, Mikey Way," Pete says to himself, watching Mikey walk off before he heads in the other direction to his own guys.
The next time he talks to Mikey isn't in an airport. It's in Jersey and Pete is stuffing his face like there's no tomorrow while Mikey picks at his food. Pete doesn't say anything, too busy chewing and watching Mikey before he takes a swig of his water, sitting back in his chair.
"Dude, what's up?" Pete asks Mikey, like he doesn't know, like he hasn't fielded more than a few freaked out calls from Gerard and the guys. Mikey looks at him, eyes heavy and Pete wonders if this is what it was like for his guys.
"You know what's up," Mikey says softly, looking around, not meeting his eyes and Pete kicks at Mikey's feet under the table.
"Wanna come chill in Chi-town with me for a few days?" Pete asks, instead of bugging him, instead of telling him that he looks half-dead and that Pete's kind of worried for once instead of the other way around. Mikey shrugs, hunching in on himself and Pete sighs softly, looking over at him and waiting until Mikey makes eye contact.
Mikey looks at him finally as Pete finishes off his water and motions for the check before he speaks.
"Mine or yours?" Pete asks, seeing Mikey nod slowly and Pete wonders if he understands Mikey better than he had first thought, because Mikey looks relieved at the choice.
"My place," Mikey says.
"Sounds good, Mikey Way," Pete says, paying quickly before he walks out with Mikey. They ride back to his house in silence, the radio muted and for once, their phones not buzzing with texts or calls.
"You can talk, if you need to."
"I wanna sleep," Mikey says after an almost too-long silence. Pete looks over at him and he thinks about the last time he'd seen Mikey, smiling in surprise in an airport.
"Cool, I could use a nap," Pete says as Mikey looks at him, eyes tired and Pete thinks to himself, I know that look before he tosses his arm around Mikey's waist easily. They walk to the car like that, Mikey hunched in on himself and Pete's arm around his waist.
"I don't sleep a lot," Mikey says after a long moment of silence in the car. Pete shrugs and looks over at him.
"Dude, I probably sleep less than you do," Pete says. Mikey shrugs and makes a face, starting the car as they head to his place.
"Mikey?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go back to your place and watch shitty horror movies and nap," Pete says, watching Mikey's hands tighten on the steering wheel for a second before his shoulders relax.
"Thanks," he says softly as Pete reaches over and squeezes his wrist, unable to stop the way his thumb brushes over the heel of his hand once, twice, and a last time before Pete digs his phone out. He fires off a couple of texts to Patrick, mindless song lyrics as they pop into his head, and one text to Gerard, letting him know how Mikey is.
"You're. I'm. This is stupid," Mikey says a few minutes later as they pull up to Mikey's place.
"I like stupid," Pete offers, seeing Mikey close his eyes, but there's the hint of a smile tugging at his lips so Pete figures he can count it as a success.
Mikey lets Pete rifle through his movies before they head upstairs. Pete doesn't ask Mikey if he's okay, doesn't ask him if he needs anything. Instead, he kicks his shoes off and tugs his hoodie off before flopping down on the bed. Mikey watches him settle down on the bed before he puts one of the movies in, crawling up on the bed with him.
"Cuddles," Pete says, tugging Mikey close. Pete waits Mikey out, waits until Mikey relaxes and drapes his arms over Pete before Pete hugs him. It's nice, Pete thinks, being able to take care of someone rather than be taken care off. He rubs Mikey's back idly, watching the movie and feeling Mikey's breath wafting over his neck lightly.
He doesn't know when they fall asleep, but he likes that they fall asleep, wrapped around each other like being on tour.
Mikey takes him to the airport, sits in the car with him as Pete watches him. He thinks about Thanksgiving with his family, about inviting Mikey to spend it with him, about letting his Mom ply Mikey with food and that special guilt-trip look that she saves up. Pete meets Mikey's eyes when Mikey turns, looking at him.
"Call me, Mikey."
"Whenever I can't sleep?" he asks softly, making Pete smile despite himself. Pete can see the edges of Mikey's lips curving and it comforts something in his chest for a moment. Chancing it, Pete squeezes his knee.
"Especially then, dude," Pete says as he climbs out of the car. Mikey watches him as he grabs his stuff and starts walking. He grabs his phone and texts Mikey, i mean it mway, without pausing. He turns and sees Mikey looking at him, a light smile resting on his lips and it makes Pete return it.
His phone buzzes with a text and he looks down at it and something catches in his throat as he reads it.
The text, you always do pete, leaves Pete feeling pleased and warm as he walks into the airport, letting the bustle wrap it's arms around him comfortably.
He picks Mikey up from the airport two days after Christmas. He picks him up because Mikey had called him, voice soft but calm, easier than the last time they'd talked (after Halloween, before Thanksgiving. Pete's almost amused at the only way he can keep track of his time is by counting holidays).
"Mikey Way," he says when Mikey walks over, bag slung on his shoulder. His eyes don't look quite as tired and when Pete hugs him, he hugs back, holding on. Pete grins against a mouthful of fabric before pulling back.
"C'mon, let's go eat all the Christmas candy in the world at my place," he says as Mikey snorts, following him. Pete chatters on, because if there's one thing Pete knows he can do, it's talk. He's awesome at it, even more than ever, and Mikey keeps smiling at him and how could Pete not talk like crazy at that?
"You look good," Mikey says when Pete takes a break from talking. Pete shrugs and taps his fingers on the steering wheel as he grins.
"I don't really feel great, but that's awesome. I am totally about image these days, dude."
"Pete."
"It's nothing, man. Haven't been sleeping again," Pete says finally, turning onto the road before his house. He looks over at Mikey and sees him nodding slowly, and Pete feels a comfort in that Mikey knows exactly what he means. Pete remembers being on tour, being unable to sleep, so jittery it felt like he was coming out of his skin just to see what it was like. He remembers Mikey staying by his side unless they were playing, remembers Mikey's fingers combing through his hair as he tried to doze off.
He remembers waking up beside Mikey and feeling comforted by skinny limbs and a wheezy snore.
"What's the longest you ever went without sleep?" Mikey asks after a minute, watching Pete park like it's the most interesting thing in the world. Pete shrugs, thinking back.
"Five and a half days, I think. I started fucking hallucinating, dude."
"Bad?"
"Nah. I was pretty convinced that there was a monkey living in Patrick's hat and that little dude fucking hated me. The octopodes were pretty awesome though," Pete says, grinning as Mikey blinks at him. Pete isn't sure he should be pleased by hallucinating fucking monkeys and creatures from the sea, but he likes remembering the hazy feeling of comfort at watching an octopus crawl over his arms. (Patrick's told him that it happened right before he slept for two days straight, so Pete can't say it was all bad, really.)
"Octopodes," Mikey says, staring at him.
"Yep. They were friendly," he says, grinning. Mikey shakes his head, like he can't believe what Pete's saying, but he still believes that Pete's telling the truth. They climb out of the car, walking up to the door and Pete spends a few minutes greeting Hemmy, grinning at his snorts of excitement. Pete straightens up, looking over at Mikey before nudging him.
"You look better than the last time I saw you."
"I feel better," Mikey says as Pete flops down on the couch, watching Hemmy jump up with him, panting happily. Mikey shrugs and sits on Pete's feet, and it's like tour again, only better.
"What are you doing for New Year's?" Pete asks idly, thinking about the various invites sitting on his phone, people asking him to come party or do whatever. Mikey shrugs, kicking his shoes off to prop his feet up on Pete's table like he's always been here, like this is his place too and Pete wants to kiss Mikey senseless.
Which, hey, isn't a bad idea, actually.
"I thought that we could watch shitty horror movies and go to sleep way before the ball drops, like old people," Mikey says, fiddling with a button on his coat, cutting his eyes over to Pete, smiling. Pete grins, putting Hemmy down carefully (he grunts at Pete, displeased) before he shifts over and into Mikey's lap.
"Yeah? I was thinking shitty horror movies and staying up all night like stupid idiots on tour," Pete says, grinning as Mikey rolls his eyes. Pete kisses him without preamble, without worrying that it's going to go wrong, because Mikey's in his house and Mikey's smiling into the kiss and nothing has changed.
Pete kisses him and remembers kissing him for the first time, the hot metal of a tour bus against his back, tasting something bitter on Mikey's tongue. He kisses him harder, curling his hands in Mikey's hair gently before he pulls back, grinning.
"Let's make out and take a nap," Pete says, laughing when Mikey snorts, tugging him back down. They trade kisses back and forth like that before Pete starts unbuttoning Mikey's jacket, shoving his cold hands under his shirt to hear Mikey curse. Pete laughs, doing it again, grinning as Mikey shoves at him, laughing.
"I fucking hate you, Wentz," Mikey says, shaking his head as Pete kisses him, rough and happy. Mikey kisses him back though, humming softly as they settle on the couch, Mikey stretched out beside Pete, coat rucked up and Mikey's hand resting inside of Pete's shirt. Pete can feel Mikey's hand resting on his chest, warm and comfortable as Pete yawns.
He's warm, almost too-warm, when Mikey yawns in response, laughing softly. Pete kisses him before shifting and settling down.
"Nap," Mikey says after a minute, sliding his hand up to trace circles on Pete's collarbone. Pete's shirt is pushed up, but he doesn't mind as he leans into Mikey, feeling Hemmy hop up and lay at their feet. It's nice, Pete thinks, sleepily pushing his feet against Hemmy's stomach.
"Glad you're here," Pete says after Mikey's hand stops tracing circles, but still stays curled over his collarbone. Mikey brushes their lips together briefly, and it reminds Pete of saying goodbye, of going home, and he kisses Mikey back, glad that this time, it's with Mikey in his house.
Mikey's quiet for a long time, long enough that Pete's almost asleep when Mikey replies.
"Me too, Pete."
no_tags 2011! (Also posted here)Title: The Fastest Way Back Home
Pairing/Prompt: #73 - Pete/Mikey, airports and various holidays and home
Rating: PG-13 for Language
Word Count: 2,925
Warnings: None.
Notes: A huge thanks to
airgiodslv for doing this amazingly awesome exchange again! ♥ ♥ Thank you to my hector_rashbaum for the awesome job on this, as always!(Title from the song, 'The Fastest Way Back Home' by Frank Turner)
The first time Pete sits in an airport with Mikey, it's right before they head home from Warped. They're all tired from the night before, from so many nights before and wanting their own beds and to not see their bands for at least a week. But Pete sort of likes the day they go home, getting to see the first day of Warped in reverse, almost.
"Good tour," Pete says uselessly, wanting to throw his hands up and scream and yell and do something ridiculous. He wonders if anyone's up for TPing the bathroom stalls or something. Anything to break up the languor that comes at the end of tour, knowing it's over, knowing that he's going to go home to nothing but his dog. Which, to be fair, his dog is kind of more awesome than most people.
"Yeah," Mikey says, head down, mumbling tiredly as Pete bumps his leg against Mikey's lightly. Mikey meets his eyes and Pete can see the circles under his eyes that match everyone's and sometimes Pete thinks that Mikey looks exactly how he feels.
Pete leans, feeling the arm of the airport chair biting into his side as he rests his head in the crook of Mikey's neck. He's uncomfortable, but unwilling to move as Mikey leans his cheek against Pete's head. He shifts, trying to get the arm out of his side if he can. Gerard's looking over at them, eyes still heavy as they wait for their various flights to be called.
"I'm totally gonna miss you, Mikey Way," Pete says after a minute, too-loud in the early morning hours. Mikey laughs a little, rubbing his head against Pete's hair, knocking his knee into Pete's lightly.
"Call me when you can't sleep."
"Always do, dude."
Flights get called and Pete hugs everyone who passes him, some of them twice and when he squeezes Mikey, Mikey lets out a soft laugh as he eyes Pete.
"I'll see you," he says softly as Pete smacks an obnoxious kiss to his forehead, like he's a kid and can't stop the laugh as Mikey shoves at him. He watches them leave before he flops down beside Patrick, resting against his arm with a smile. He's tired, looking forward to his dog and his bed, but for now, he's pretty content to be in an airport with his guys, waiting to hear Chicago under the plane's wheels.
The next time he sits beside Mikey in an airport is a simple chance. He texts Mikey out of boredom, waiting for the runway to clear and to be able to board the plane when it gets delayed. He groans and follows his last text quickly with, plane delayed - shoot 2 kill mway.
Mikey doesn't text for a moment, but his reply makes Pete grin, makes him feel ridiculous and like he's a teenager all over again. aim for head? and we're delayed too.
not a zombie mikeyway. where at?
same as always
same. coming to find you dude
He gets up, telling Joe where he's going and tells Andy for good measure as he wanders off. Pete knows Mikey and knows his habits and knowing that, he heads straight for the nearest Starbucks, grinning hard as he sees Mikey settled in the corner, looking the same as always. His phone lays open on the table, waiting and Pete digs his own phone out, tapping out a quick text, cheer up emo kid, to watch Mikey check his messages and look up.
Mikey pulls his coat tighter around him and Pete grins, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walks up.
"How long is your delay?" Pete asks, leaning against the wall with Mikey. Mikey looks good, Pete thinks, watching him shrug and sigh in the way that tells Pete just how annoyed Mikey is.
"Too fucking long, yours?"
"Two hours. Not so bad, I guess. How've you been?"
"Good, I guess. You?"
"Fucking horrible, but that's cool," Pete says, watching Mikey snort and Pete bumps their shoulders together, grinning. Pete isn't joking, really, but it's hard to hate everything about life when he's with one of his top five favorite people
"You okay?" Mikey asks carefully, watching him as Pete shrugs. He sometimes wonders how many of his friends expect him to fall apart, and how many of them are surprised when he stays together. Mikey holds out his coffee cup, easy and comfortable as he fiddles with his phone.
It reminds Pete of waking up on tour, sharing coffee, curling up together, lazy kisses and more.
"Kind of. I haven't slept in like four days? But I'm totally gonna crash when I get home. How're you?"
"I dunno," Mikey says and Pete recognizes that feeling, recognizes the look that Mikey doesn't share with him as Pete hands the coffee back to him. Instead of saying anything he shifts over, fitting his head into the crook of Mikey's neck, uncomfortable, but unwilling to move.
They stay like that for a few minutes, quiet and comfortable and Pete thinks that he could maybe fall asleep like that when Mikey's phone buzzes with a text. Pete watches Mikey check it, sees the text (from Ray; think we're close to leaving. finally!) before he chances a light kiss to Mikey's cheek.
Mikey blinks at him, smiling a little as Pete pulls his head back up, watching Mikey text. His fingers are in the fingerless gloves that Pete used to have a million pairs of at home. He wonders if Mikey would like some in different colors but dismisses it quickly.
"I'm gonna head back," Mikey says, as Pete nods, unsurprised but willing to wrap his arms around Mikey. He hugs Mikey until Mikey sighs, relaxing into it and hugging him back.
"See you around, Mikey Way," Pete says to himself, watching Mikey walk off before he heads in the other direction to his own guys.
The next time he talks to Mikey isn't in an airport. It's in Jersey and Pete is stuffing his face like there's no tomorrow while Mikey picks at his food. Pete doesn't say anything, too busy chewing and watching Mikey before he takes a swig of his water, sitting back in his chair.
"Dude, what's up?" Pete asks Mikey, like he doesn't know, like he hasn't fielded more than a few freaked out calls from Gerard and the guys. Mikey looks at him, eyes heavy and Pete wonders if this is what it was like for his guys.
"You know what's up," Mikey says softly, looking around, not meeting his eyes and Pete kicks at Mikey's feet under the table.
"Wanna come chill in Chi-town with me for a few days?" Pete asks, instead of bugging him, instead of telling him that he looks half-dead and that Pete's kind of worried for once instead of the other way around. Mikey shrugs, hunching in on himself and Pete sighs softly, looking over at him and waiting until Mikey makes eye contact.
Mikey looks at him finally as Pete finishes off his water and motions for the check before he speaks.
"Mine or yours?" Pete asks, seeing Mikey nod slowly and Pete wonders if he understands Mikey better than he had first thought, because Mikey looks relieved at the choice.
"My place," Mikey says.
"Sounds good, Mikey Way," Pete says, paying quickly before he walks out with Mikey. They ride back to his house in silence, the radio muted and for once, their phones not buzzing with texts or calls.
"You can talk, if you need to."
"I wanna sleep," Mikey says after an almost too-long silence. Pete looks over at him and he thinks about the last time he'd seen Mikey, smiling in surprise in an airport.
"Cool, I could use a nap," Pete says as Mikey looks at him, eyes tired and Pete thinks to himself, I know that look before he tosses his arm around Mikey's waist easily. They walk to the car like that, Mikey hunched in on himself and Pete's arm around his waist.
"I don't sleep a lot," Mikey says after a long moment of silence in the car. Pete shrugs and looks over at him.
"Dude, I probably sleep less than you do," Pete says. Mikey shrugs and makes a face, starting the car as they head to his place.
"Mikey?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go back to your place and watch shitty horror movies and nap," Pete says, watching Mikey's hands tighten on the steering wheel for a second before his shoulders relax.
"Thanks," he says softly as Pete reaches over and squeezes his wrist, unable to stop the way his thumb brushes over the heel of his hand once, twice, and a last time before Pete digs his phone out. He fires off a couple of texts to Patrick, mindless song lyrics as they pop into his head, and one text to Gerard, letting him know how Mikey is.
"You're. I'm. This is stupid," Mikey says a few minutes later as they pull up to Mikey's place.
"I like stupid," Pete offers, seeing Mikey close his eyes, but there's the hint of a smile tugging at his lips so Pete figures he can count it as a success.
Mikey lets Pete rifle through his movies before they head upstairs. Pete doesn't ask Mikey if he's okay, doesn't ask him if he needs anything. Instead, he kicks his shoes off and tugs his hoodie off before flopping down on the bed. Mikey watches him settle down on the bed before he puts one of the movies in, crawling up on the bed with him.
"Cuddles," Pete says, tugging Mikey close. Pete waits Mikey out, waits until Mikey relaxes and drapes his arms over Pete before Pete hugs him. It's nice, Pete thinks, being able to take care of someone rather than be taken care off. He rubs Mikey's back idly, watching the movie and feeling Mikey's breath wafting over his neck lightly.
He doesn't know when they fall asleep, but he likes that they fall asleep, wrapped around each other like being on tour.
Mikey takes him to the airport, sits in the car with him as Pete watches him. He thinks about Thanksgiving with his family, about inviting Mikey to spend it with him, about letting his Mom ply Mikey with food and that special guilt-trip look that she saves up. Pete meets Mikey's eyes when Mikey turns, looking at him.
"Call me, Mikey."
"Whenever I can't sleep?" he asks softly, making Pete smile despite himself. Pete can see the edges of Mikey's lips curving and it comforts something in his chest for a moment. Chancing it, Pete squeezes his knee.
"Especially then, dude," Pete says as he climbs out of the car. Mikey watches him as he grabs his stuff and starts walking. He grabs his phone and texts Mikey, i mean it mway, without pausing. He turns and sees Mikey looking at him, a light smile resting on his lips and it makes Pete return it.
His phone buzzes with a text and he looks down at it and something catches in his throat as he reads it.
The text, you always do pete, leaves Pete feeling pleased and warm as he walks into the airport, letting the bustle wrap it's arms around him comfortably.
He picks Mikey up from the airport two days after Christmas. He picks him up because Mikey had called him, voice soft but calm, easier than the last time they'd talked (after Halloween, before Thanksgiving. Pete's almost amused at the only way he can keep track of his time is by counting holidays).
"Mikey Way," he says when Mikey walks over, bag slung on his shoulder. His eyes don't look quite as tired and when Pete hugs him, he hugs back, holding on. Pete grins against a mouthful of fabric before pulling back.
"C'mon, let's go eat all the Christmas candy in the world at my place," he says as Mikey snorts, following him. Pete chatters on, because if there's one thing Pete knows he can do, it's talk. He's awesome at it, even more than ever, and Mikey keeps smiling at him and how could Pete not talk like crazy at that?
"You look good," Mikey says when Pete takes a break from talking. Pete shrugs and taps his fingers on the steering wheel as he grins.
"I don't really feel great, but that's awesome. I am totally about image these days, dude."
"Pete."
"It's nothing, man. Haven't been sleeping again," Pete says finally, turning onto the road before his house. He looks over at Mikey and sees him nodding slowly, and Pete feels a comfort in that Mikey knows exactly what he means. Pete remembers being on tour, being unable to sleep, so jittery it felt like he was coming out of his skin just to see what it was like. He remembers Mikey staying by his side unless they were playing, remembers Mikey's fingers combing through his hair as he tried to doze off.
He remembers waking up beside Mikey and feeling comforted by skinny limbs and a wheezy snore.
"What's the longest you ever went without sleep?" Mikey asks after a minute, watching Pete park like it's the most interesting thing in the world. Pete shrugs, thinking back.
"Five and a half days, I think. I started fucking hallucinating, dude."
"Bad?"
"Nah. I was pretty convinced that there was a monkey living in Patrick's hat and that little dude fucking hated me. The octopodes were pretty awesome though," Pete says, grinning as Mikey blinks at him. Pete isn't sure he should be pleased by hallucinating fucking monkeys and creatures from the sea, but he likes remembering the hazy feeling of comfort at watching an octopus crawl over his arms. (Patrick's told him that it happened right before he slept for two days straight, so Pete can't say it was all bad, really.)
"Octopodes," Mikey says, staring at him.
"Yep. They were friendly," he says, grinning. Mikey shakes his head, like he can't believe what Pete's saying, but he still believes that Pete's telling the truth. They climb out of the car, walking up to the door and Pete spends a few minutes greeting Hemmy, grinning at his snorts of excitement. Pete straightens up, looking over at Mikey before nudging him.
"You look better than the last time I saw you."
"I feel better," Mikey says as Pete flops down on the couch, watching Hemmy jump up with him, panting happily. Mikey shrugs and sits on Pete's feet, and it's like tour again, only better.
"What are you doing for New Year's?" Pete asks idly, thinking about the various invites sitting on his phone, people asking him to come party or do whatever. Mikey shrugs, kicking his shoes off to prop his feet up on Pete's table like he's always been here, like this is his place too and Pete wants to kiss Mikey senseless.
Which, hey, isn't a bad idea, actually.
"I thought that we could watch shitty horror movies and go to sleep way before the ball drops, like old people," Mikey says, fiddling with a button on his coat, cutting his eyes over to Pete, smiling. Pete grins, putting Hemmy down carefully (he grunts at Pete, displeased) before he shifts over and into Mikey's lap.
"Yeah? I was thinking shitty horror movies and staying up all night like stupid idiots on tour," Pete says, grinning as Mikey rolls his eyes. Pete kisses him without preamble, without worrying that it's going to go wrong, because Mikey's in his house and Mikey's smiling into the kiss and nothing has changed.
Pete kisses him and remembers kissing him for the first time, the hot metal of a tour bus against his back, tasting something bitter on Mikey's tongue. He kisses him harder, curling his hands in Mikey's hair gently before he pulls back, grinning.
"Let's make out and take a nap," Pete says, laughing when Mikey snorts, tugging him back down. They trade kisses back and forth like that before Pete starts unbuttoning Mikey's jacket, shoving his cold hands under his shirt to hear Mikey curse. Pete laughs, doing it again, grinning as Mikey shoves at him, laughing.
"I fucking hate you, Wentz," Mikey says, shaking his head as Pete kisses him, rough and happy. Mikey kisses him back though, humming softly as they settle on the couch, Mikey stretched out beside Pete, coat rucked up and Mikey's hand resting inside of Pete's shirt. Pete can feel Mikey's hand resting on his chest, warm and comfortable as Pete yawns.
He's warm, almost too-warm, when Mikey yawns in response, laughing softly. Pete kisses him before shifting and settling down.
"Nap," Mikey says after a minute, sliding his hand up to trace circles on Pete's collarbone. Pete's shirt is pushed up, but he doesn't mind as he leans into Mikey, feeling Hemmy hop up and lay at their feet. It's nice, Pete thinks, sleepily pushing his feet against Hemmy's stomach.
"Glad you're here," Pete says after Mikey's hand stops tracing circles, but still stays curled over his collarbone. Mikey brushes their lips together briefly, and it reminds Pete of saying goodbye, of going home, and he kisses Mikey back, glad that this time, it's with Mikey in his house.
Mikey's quiet for a long time, long enough that Pete's almost asleep when Mikey replies.
"Me too, Pete."
