The Do Over (Peterick)

five.

"Hey, I've to run to the restroom. Just get me a water with no lemon, please." Patrick whispers in Joe's ear before narrowly avoiding Pete's gaze as he rushes to the men's room.

Luckily, he's the only one in there. He turns the water on and splashes some of it on his face before drying his hands and going to the biggest stall, locking the door behind him.

He quietly chants, "Spencer, Spencer, Spencer." The man appears, falling on the ground. His usually perfect black hair is messed up and his lips are swollen. His button-up green shirt is unbuttoned halfway.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. You have the worst timing ever." Spencer whines, stomping his foot like a child. "Dallon is going to kill me."

"Dallon?" Patrick asks, an eyebrow raised. Spencer waves it off.

"Boyfriend of a few years. He's, ironically, an angel. But very naughty when he wants to be, if you catch my drift." Spencer says, giving Patrick a look. Patrick just scrunches his nose up in disgust.

"That's like hearing about my parents having sex. Gross." Patrick says, shuddering as he thinks about it. "So the reason I called you here is because I think more things are different now."

"What do you mean?" Spencer says, leaning against the stall door. "Wait, did you dye your hair?"

"Yes, but that's not important at the moment. Anyways-" Before Patrick can finish his sentence, Spencer interrupts him.

"That is important, dipshit. That's probably what fucked something else up." Spencer says, and Patrick sighs. "Tell me the problem, though, and I'll see what I can do to fix it."

"For some fucking reason, Pete's parents are still together." Patrick says quickly. Spencer's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Dyeing your hair shouldn't have made that big of a difference." Spencer says, and Patrick's eyes widen.

"What if Pete that means won't like me? What if he's straight this go round?" Patrick asks, shooting off many different situations before Spencer snaps a finger in front of his face.

"He's not straight. That's not going to be your issue." Spencer says, and he looks off into the distance, almost as if he's seeing into the future. "However, he's so far in the closet, even he doesn't know it yet."

"Wait, what?" Patrick asks, and Spencer sighs, shaking his head.

"Does the name Ashlee Simpson ring a bell?" Spencer asks, and Patrick huffs out a breath. Of course it rings a bell. Ashlee is only going to end up as one of the biggest pop stars of the 2000's.

"Yeah. Junior. I think Pete said something about going straight for her when we were younger. I just never thought he actually would." Patrick says. "Guess I was wrong."

Patrick slides down the wall and sits down. Spencer has a horrified look on his face. "Do you know how much actual human shit you're sitting in?"

When Patrick only pulls his knees to his chest in response, Spencer sighs and sits in front of him. "It's going to be fine. Pete will make it back to you. He's your forever, Stump."

Patrick says, "But what if I'm not his forever?" and drops his head back down.

"Okay, I've had enough of this shit." Spencer says, standing up and brushing himself off. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, get up, and go get your man."

Patrick looks up at him, and Spencer offers his hand to the now boy. "I don't understand what I'm supposed to do. I've already fucked too many things up."

Spencer grabs Patrick's wrist and makes him stand. He quickly begins to brush Patrick off, fixing the boy's hair and unbuttoning his blazer. After removing his tie and placing it in the jacket pocket, Spencer unbuttons three buttons on his shirt.

"There. You look good. Now go rock Pete Wentz's world." Spencer says, a smile on his face. Patrick takes a deep breath and nods, unlocking the door. Immediately, he sees himself in the mirror and thinks that he doesn't look that bad.

As he turns around to tell Spencer that, though, he realises the man is already gone, having probably gone back to Dallon. Patrick ruffles his hair again and walks out of the bathroom, heading back to the table he left his parents and friends at.

Pete catches his eye as he walks by, and the boy waves. Patrick winks in response, running a hand through his hair. Pete bites his lip, on accident probably, before realising what he's doing and covering it up with a smile.

Maybe Spencer's right. Maybe Pete is his forever.

Patrick sits back at the table, receiving a weird look from Joe and Ray, the only two paying attention to him since the rest of the adults are too busy talking about golf and the weather. "Where's your tie?" Joe asks, and Ray leans in like he wants to know, too.

Patrick simply gestures to Pete at the table near them. "Had to dress to impress."

"Your nipple's showing, man." Ray hisses, and Patrick shrugs his shoulders. He doesn't look too bad if the way Joe is staring is any indication.

"You look good." Joe assures him, a sad look on his face because Patrick is only doing this to impress Pete.

Oh, Joe, Patrick thinks, you'll realise I'm not the one for you when you meet Andy.

"Thanks, dude." Patrick says in response, smiling at his friends. Their food comes quickly after that, and while they're eating, the Wentz family stands up and moves to leave the restaurant.

However, when Patrick looks back up from his salad, Pete is standing in front of him. Patrick immediately begins choking on the bite in his mouth, leading Ray to hit his back a few times. It catches the whole restaurant's attention, and Patrick's face turns bright red.

"Uh, hi? I didn't mean to give you a fright." Pete says, a sheepish smile on his face as he scratches the back of his neck.

"It's cool." Joe says for him. "You're the guy from earlier today, right? Pete?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's me!" Pete seems excited that Joe remembers who he is. It makes Patrick smile because Pete is so cute. "Sorry, I didn't catch any of your names." He says to all of them, but when Patrick looks up, Pete is just staring at him. Maybe the blonde hair and new cut are working.

"I'm Ray, and that's my stepbrother, Joe." Ray says quickly, and Pete nods.

"And you are?" He trails off, looking straight at Patrick.

"Stump. Patrick Stump." He holds his hand out, and Pete takes it, shaking it.

"Nice to meet you, Stump." Pete says, and Patrick nods.

"Indeed it is." Patrick smiles. "Indeed it is."

wooo ch. 5 is down & out