The Elements (Peterick)

TWENTY-FIVE

Pete can't sleep. It's not a surprise to him, but what is a surprise is that Andy and Joe can't sleep either. Especially Andy, since he and Patrick aren't on the best of terms at the moment. Even though they've been in this situation before, it still affects them just as bad as it does Pete.  That somehow doesn't lessen the intensity of things.

The three of them start off in different beds, but Joe and Andy come into Pete's room not twenty minutes after TJ leads them to the guest rooms. "Hey, man." Andy says, and Pete looks up to find his best friends standing there, looking sort of uncomfortable because they're so close to each other.

Plus, they're both half naked. Andy's wearing a pair of shorts, showing off the multiple leg tattoos Pete didn't know he had. Joe's wearing joggers, hanging low on his hips, like he knows Andy can't take his eyes off of him.

They get in the bed with Pete, one on each side. At first, they keep their distance and don't speak, which is what Pete expected. Then, to Pete's surprise, Joe lies his head on Pete's chest.

Pete plays with his hair, because that's all he knows to do. Joe's arms wrap around Pete's shirtless middle, but not before one of his hands reaches out to thread in Andy's and pull him into Pete's other side. Andy complies, keeping his hand in Joe's and cuddling into Pete's side, cheek pressed to Pete's forehead.

"I love you guys." Pete says after a few seconds, and Joe turns to look up at him, a smile on his face.

"I love you, too, Pete." Joe says, snuggling further into his friend.

"Me too. With the love and shit." Andy mumbles, and that brings a smile to Pete's face. He wraps an arm around Joe and presses in closer to Andy, feeling himself letting go. The only things he feels besides the crushing weight  of Patrick not being in bed with them is his friends pressed into his sides, hands linked together on top of Pete's chest, directly over his heart.

—

The next morning, Andy and Joe are no longer pressed into Pete's sides. Instead, neither of them are anywhere to be seen.

Pete sighs and pushes himself out of the bed, scratching the back of his neck as he opens the door to the hallway of TJ's apartment. He walks down the hall, pictures littering the walls. Pictures of TJ and BJ and Kaleb and Konnor. Pictures of who Pete recognises — or, rather, doesn't recognise — as Kaleigh, BJ's wife.

His deceased wife.

Pete breaks down, his back sliding down the wall. He can't help but think how stupid it all is. He never knew Kaleigh. He doesn't know Kaleb or Konner or even BJ. He doesn't even really know TJ, besides in class and through Ace.

Yet here he is, sobbing over Kaleigh and how BJ and the boys must have felt after her death. How he'll feel if Patrick doesn't make it.

TJ finds him first.

He looks confused but doesn't say anything, instead reaching up to take one of the photos from BJ and Kaleigh's wedding off of the wall. He sits across from Pete, legs crossed.

"She was perfect." He says, taking a shaky breath. "She loved my brother and the boys more than anything. She was Britton's everything." Pete can only offer a strangled noise. TJ isn't helping very much. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The guy was looking for an easy target and thought Kay would be that. He was wrong."

"What.. what do you mean?" Pete chokes out. He never asked how Kaleigh had passed or when, so this is all so new to him.

"The boys were four. One of them was sick — I'm not sure if it was Kaleb or Konnor, and we try not to think about what would've happened if BJ wasn't sick as well and went instead of her — and she went to the store to get some kind of cold relief medicine. This guy attacked her on the way out, conveniently avoiding the camera angles." TJ furthers his explanation, and Pete gasps, his eyes widening. "She scratched his face up, and that's why he killed her. She wasn't-she wasn't one to go down without a fight."

"I-I'm sorry, TJ." Pete says, jaw clenching when he finishes speaking.

"That fucking man took her life because she wouldn't just lie down and take it. He took her away from her husband, her children, her parents. He took my best friend away, Pete." TJ's hands grip the picture frame until his knuckles turn white.

"Did they catch him?" Pete asks, because he can't think of anything else to say. TJ pauses for a second and nods.

"The DNA under her fingernails made sure the police got him. But even forensic fucking science couldn't make sure he stayed in prison." TJ says, shaking his head as he thinks about the man. "He got released two years ago. He's dead now."

"He's dead?" Pete asks, mouth hanging open in shock. He wasn't expecting that. TJ looks up at him, finally meeting his eyes, and Pete can tell that, yeah, the man's dead. The man's dead because TJ fucking murdered him. "How did you do it?" He finds himself asking, and TJ doesn't like the least bit surprised that Pete picked it up.

"I fucking burnt him alive, Pete." TJ answers, his eyes darkening as he thinks about it. "I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't function for months. BJ is the only reason I didn't turn myself in." TJ offers no further explanation, and Pete is sort of glad for that.

He lets his head fall back against the wall, wiping at his eyes. He feels like a ton of bricks have just been dropped on him. He has no words, so he does the only rational thing he can think to do:

Pete hugs TJ.

They sob together, and that's how Andy and Joe find them. The ex boyfriends don't question a thing, just sliding in behind the two crying boys.

Joe wraps his arms around TJ from behind, head pressed to the man's back. Andy does the same with Pete, and they all cry together.

They all cry together.

"He's going to be fine, Pete. It'll all be fine. Your story isn't over yet." TJ reassures the younger boy after a few moments of crying.

"I hope you're right." Pete mumbles, and they all come together again, this time in silence.

Pete can't help but wonder how Gavin is taking things, if Pete himself is about to make himself sick from crying so much. He can't imagine the shit Gav's been through. He doesn't want to.

wee-hoo update

i felt as if tj's character should be a bit darker, considering he is all sunshine and rainbows usually. he's got to have some sort of darkness to be in an unofficial relationship with someone as complicated as ace

character development FTW