Summer of 'Like'
Title : Summer of 'Like'
Author: x_stoked_x
Pairing: Past Mikey/Pete (whoa, yes, you read that right.) Mikey/??
Rating: PG
Summary: My take on the FOB song, 'Bang The Doldrums'.
Disclaimer and A/N: This is not true. Okay, maybe it is, except for the end. I hate using ?? as a pairing, but it really is supposed to be a surprise. If you know me at all, or are reading this from a particular community, it might not be. This is a story I wrote years ago but am just getting around to posting.
Dedications: A huge thanks to Adriana, tonguemastaofjc, for spending hours on the road with me discussing the finer details of Pete/Mikey canon. This was written for her but she gave me permission to post it for all of you to enjoy. Also, to cassandramalfoy for looking over this, offering advice, and encouraging me always.
There was something about summer romances that always struck Mikey as a waste of emotions and energy. There was no way to stop the days from slipping by and everyone knew that summer eventually faded into fall, leaving behind only memories of better days.
When he was younger, summer meant no school. It meant sleeping in til noon during the week, watching cartoons on TV with Gerard every morning, and staying up past midnight watching the Star Wars trilogy for the billionth time.
Now it meant iced coffee's in the morning in whatever city they happened to be in. It meant sticky sunscreen burning his eyes when it dripped down with sweat and aloe vera on skin that somehow, still managed to get burned. There were water rides when the heat became too unbearable, along with cookouts with good friends and cold drinks.
It was such an easy thing to lose himself in. The nights were hot and humid, the atmosphere filled with a sense of freedom and possibility. They were never in the same city for more than a few days and there wasn't really any thoughts about the consequences of their actions, which never boded well for the those who run full speed into the temptations the season had to offer.
Summer was simply summer and Mikey still dreaded the end of it.
The tombstones are waiting, they were half engraved. They knew it was over, just didn’t know the date...
Warped Tour, 2005.
It was different from any other one before it because Mikey succumbed to his emotions that particular year. Against his better judgement and despite all the internal warning bells that went off in his head, the allure of a romance was too much for him resist. It wasn't really something he saw coming, but then again, he'd never expected it in a million years.
Looking back, he realized that maybe it was never really love. Fascination at best, mixed with a curiousness of how things could be. Then there was the sexual tension that soon turned into desire and lust; things that always made reasonable thinking that much more difficult.
In reality, Pete Wentz was everything Mikey wasn't. He was the center of his band, the leader in so many ways. He was the loud and outspoken one who commanded attention from everyone around him. Mikey was none of the things. He was along for the ride, doing his best to not stick out while enjoying the fact that all his dreams were coming true.
Nobody you see, could understand why Mikey and Pete became such good friends; then again, weirder things had happened on Warped Tour. It didn't end there, even though their friendship was strange enough. There was nothing to stop them as day after day became a blur of each other and the flirting and casual touching slowly grew more frequent as the boundaries they had slowly melted away like ice on a hot July afternoon.
They were sitting on a dilapitated overpass, watching the sunset together when it happened. It was the point when everything changed between the two young men. Pete kissed Mikey there as a truck rolled by beneath them, the last rays of sunlight slowly fading from the sky as the ground below them shook.
This city says; Come Hell or high water, when I’m feeling hot and wet...
Then Mikey kissed him back, inhibitions forgotten because summer was the time to leave them behind. Well THAT summer, to be precise. Pete wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but Mikey's eager response was enough to let him know that any feelings he had were recipricated by the other bass player.
When they walked back to the buses, hand in hand, it wasn't just their band mates that had to pick their jaws up off the floor. There were cryptic online posts and away messages that fueled the fire of the rumour mills. There were pictures taken during the tour, stand in bassists for both bands that seemed to add even more speculation about what was going on between the two of them.
Autumn was approaching quickly though, like they both knew it would.
In the end, Mikey realized he wasn't ready to let it go. There was something in him that had come alive, something he didn't want to dissappear when tour ended. Instead, he wanted to build whatever it was they had, and see where it could take them. The hard part would be getting Pete to see things his way.
I can’t commit to a thing, be it heart or hospital...
There was always a part of Mikey that longed for a stable and serious relationship, something that everyone had told him Pete could never provide. Everyone had said that the Fall Out Boy bassist lacked the maturity to make that kind of commitment, calling Pete the kid that would never grow up. Peter Pan, though for the summer he had his Michael Darling.
In the end, Mikey had maybe fooled himself into thinking that he could be the one to change the other man. The person to bring Pete out of Neverland and into the real world.
The last day of the tour they'd taken a walk, out away from the chaos of the after-show barbecue.
It was that night Mikey got his heart broken as the summer came to an end.
You're all wrong. Are we all wrong? You're all wrong. Are we all wrong?
The conversation had been a disaster from the start, with Mikey trying to explain to the other man that they could make it work but he never had a chance.
"It's not that Mikes. Just, tour's over and that's what this was about. You didn't think this was forever, did you?" Pete had tried to laugh off the situation, but Mikey knew better. It wasn't just the fact that things could get more serious than they'd both anticipated. It was the fact that Pete had never really been honest with himself and his feelings for Mikey. The worst part though, was that Mikey had known it from the very beginning.
In the end, he'd led Mikey on, knowing full well that a serious relationship was something he could never have with another man. Pete just couldn't accept what they had for what it was, so now he was trying to convince himself that there had never been anything to accept in the first place.
When Pete had grabbed his hand, any hope he'd managed to hold onto was ripped away with the next few words spoken.
"We both knew this wasn't going to last." There wasn't much to say after that and Mikey had spent the last night of the tour alone in his bunk, determined not to cry and wondering how things had turned out like this.
The next morning he finds Gerard sitting at the kitchen table, an envelope in front of him with Mikey's name written across the top along with a folded jacket that Mikey recognizes as the Clandestine hoodie he'd borrowed from Pete over the summer. Reluctantly Gerard hands it over, sympathy and concern evident on the older Way's face, along with a slight bit of anger that's aimed at the Fall Out Boy bassist. Sitting down, Mikey slides out the letter, reading the short note silently.
Mikey,
Last night wasn't how I wanted the summer to end. Don't be mad. You're still the best friend I've made all summer and that doesn't have to change. I figured you should keep the hoodie since you wore it more than I did this summer. Take care of yourself and I'll see you around.
Pete
After everything that had been said, the note was like taking the knife that had been stuck through his chest and twisting it slowly. This was Pete driving home the point that in his head, what had happened was never going to lead to anything more than a casual friendship. One that the Pete had taken advantage of over the summer. Without really thinking, Mikey carries the jacket and letter to his bunk, stuffing them in the bottom of his suitcase where he won't have to think about them for a while.
All that was left was for Mikey to move on because he didn't really have any other choice.
I wrote a goodbye note in lipstick on your arm when you passed out, I couldn’t bring myself to call, except to call it quits...
A phone call broke the silence between the two men, a late night conversation about Fall Out Boy playing a 'secret' show in NYC that winter. There was an unspoken question in the air between them, whether or not Mikey would be going. Pete wanted him to be there, there were so many things he needed to say, but he couldn't bring himself to ask pver the phone. Meanwhile, Mikey had his own confessions to share.
With nothing else to do, Mikey let the other bassist know that he would attend, hoping this was the closure they both desperately needed.
The venue was packed, the secret part of the show having been erased by internet gossip. Mikey stood on the side of the stage, watching the familiar sight of Patrick singing, Andy drumming, Joe playing guitar, and Pete simply being Pete. The songs were still the same and if he closed his eyes, he could maybe pretend that things were the way they'd once been all those months ago. When he stepped onto the stage though, taking the bass from Pete, he knows that it can never be the same again.
In his long winter coat, a beanie pulled over his hair, he knew in his heart that the summer was gone. The truth was that it wasn't just the change of the weather, it was the fact that the emotion was no longer there.
After the show, Mikey stood in against Pete as a camera flashed, smiles on both their faces for a brief second that were captured forever on film. Then the moment ended and it left them back where they'd started the night, a strained silence and unanswered questions.
*********************************************************
Best friends, ex-friends to the end, better of as lovers and not the other way around. Racing through the city, windows down, in the back of yellow-checkered cars...
Now, the interior of the cab is silent, Mikey staring out the rain covered window to watch the New York skyline pass him by as he thinks back on the summer. Pete isn't talking anymore, which is as much of a shock to Mikey as anything because he'd been rattling on about the past few months his band had been on tour. Mikey knows it's just nervous rambling and it's obvious there's something Pete wants to say that he's not quite ready to get out yet.
Eventually the car comes to a stop at the address that Mikey had provided to the driver, the lights from the apartment building illuminating the dark night sky. Reaching for the handle, Mikey pushes open the door, stepping out onto the sidewalk. Pete gets out behind him, asking the driver to wait for a few minutes.
"Mikey...I'm sorry. I didn't know what I wanted then and I was such an idiot because I couldn't accept what we had. I didn't realize it then, but I do now." Pete says, the two men standing a few feet apart. Pete takes a step forward, his hand reaching up as if to touch the side of Mikey's face like he'd done many times that summer, but this time Mikey puts his hand up to stop him.
"It's too late Peter Pan. I've already grown up. Though, maybe I'm destined for 'clandestine' relationships." Mikey speaks somewhat cryptically, his eyes darting to the front of the building where a person has emerged from the lobby. Glancing over, Pete does a double take when he recognizes who's standing there, the familiar figure watching the two of them with a guarded expression.
Maybe it's not as much of a surprise as it should be, which is a little strange to Pete when he thinks about.
"Good-bye Petey. Take care of yourself." Mikey tells him, hands in his pockets as he turns to walk toward the entrance of the building, never bothering to look back.
Stepping forward when Mikey approaches, Gerard ashes out the cigarette he'd been smoking, dropping it into the small bin. Slipping his arm around his brother's waist in a protective manner, he turns to give Pete one last look before guiding Mikey inside. Pete can only watch, a stunned expression on his face as the scene unfolds before him. Gerard is pressing a kiss to the top of Mikey's head, whispering something softly to his younger brother that cause the last bit of tension to ease slowly out of Mikey's body as he leans in against Gerard.
There isn't anything left for Pete to do as he shivers slightly because the icy chill in the air confirms the fact that winter had come and summer had been over for quite some time.
And I cast a spell over the West to make you think of me, the same way I think of you. This is a love song in my own way, happily ever after, below the waist...
*____________________________________*
A/N: Okay, so who knew it was Gerard? At least say I surprised a few of you.
Comments and criticisms welcome. Even if it's just to say, "OMGz, a story that has something other than Waycest!!" Maybe I can step out into other MCR pairings.
Author: x_stoked_x
Pairing: Past Mikey/Pete (whoa, yes, you read that right.) Mikey/??
Rating: PG
Summary: My take on the FOB song, 'Bang The Doldrums'.
Disclaimer and A/N: This is not true. Okay, maybe it is, except for the end. I hate using ?? as a pairing, but it really is supposed to be a surprise. If you know me at all, or are reading this from a particular community, it might not be. This is a story I wrote years ago but am just getting around to posting.
Dedications: A huge thanks to Adriana, tonguemastaofjc, for spending hours on the road with me discussing the finer details of Pete/Mikey canon. This was written for her but she gave me permission to post it for all of you to enjoy. Also, to cassandramalfoy for looking over this, offering advice, and encouraging me always.
There was something about summer romances that always struck Mikey as a waste of emotions and energy. There was no way to stop the days from slipping by and everyone knew that summer eventually faded into fall, leaving behind only memories of better days.
When he was younger, summer meant no school. It meant sleeping in til noon during the week, watching cartoons on TV with Gerard every morning, and staying up past midnight watching the Star Wars trilogy for the billionth time.
Now it meant iced coffee's in the morning in whatever city they happened to be in. It meant sticky sunscreen burning his eyes when it dripped down with sweat and aloe vera on skin that somehow, still managed to get burned. There were water rides when the heat became too unbearable, along with cookouts with good friends and cold drinks.
It was such an easy thing to lose himself in. The nights were hot and humid, the atmosphere filled with a sense of freedom and possibility. They were never in the same city for more than a few days and there wasn't really any thoughts about the consequences of their actions, which never boded well for the those who run full speed into the temptations the season had to offer.
Summer was simply summer and Mikey still dreaded the end of it.
The tombstones are waiting, they were half engraved. They knew it was over, just didn’t know the date...
Warped Tour, 2005.
It was different from any other one before it because Mikey succumbed to his emotions that particular year. Against his better judgement and despite all the internal warning bells that went off in his head, the allure of a romance was too much for him resist. It wasn't really something he saw coming, but then again, he'd never expected it in a million years.
Looking back, he realized that maybe it was never really love. Fascination at best, mixed with a curiousness of how things could be. Then there was the sexual tension that soon turned into desire and lust; things that always made reasonable thinking that much more difficult.
In reality, Pete Wentz was everything Mikey wasn't. He was the center of his band, the leader in so many ways. He was the loud and outspoken one who commanded attention from everyone around him. Mikey was none of the things. He was along for the ride, doing his best to not stick out while enjoying the fact that all his dreams were coming true.
Nobody you see, could understand why Mikey and Pete became such good friends; then again, weirder things had happened on Warped Tour. It didn't end there, even though their friendship was strange enough. There was nothing to stop them as day after day became a blur of each other and the flirting and casual touching slowly grew more frequent as the boundaries they had slowly melted away like ice on a hot July afternoon.
They were sitting on a dilapitated overpass, watching the sunset together when it happened. It was the point when everything changed between the two young men. Pete kissed Mikey there as a truck rolled by beneath them, the last rays of sunlight slowly fading from the sky as the ground below them shook.
This city says; Come Hell or high water, when I’m feeling hot and wet...
Then Mikey kissed him back, inhibitions forgotten because summer was the time to leave them behind. Well THAT summer, to be precise. Pete wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but Mikey's eager response was enough to let him know that any feelings he had were recipricated by the other bass player.
When they walked back to the buses, hand in hand, it wasn't just their band mates that had to pick their jaws up off the floor. There were cryptic online posts and away messages that fueled the fire of the rumour mills. There were pictures taken during the tour, stand in bassists for both bands that seemed to add even more speculation about what was going on between the two of them.
Autumn was approaching quickly though, like they both knew it would.
In the end, Mikey realized he wasn't ready to let it go. There was something in him that had come alive, something he didn't want to dissappear when tour ended. Instead, he wanted to build whatever it was they had, and see where it could take them. The hard part would be getting Pete to see things his way.
I can’t commit to a thing, be it heart or hospital...
There was always a part of Mikey that longed for a stable and serious relationship, something that everyone had told him Pete could never provide. Everyone had said that the Fall Out Boy bassist lacked the maturity to make that kind of commitment, calling Pete the kid that would never grow up. Peter Pan, though for the summer he had his Michael Darling.
In the end, Mikey had maybe fooled himself into thinking that he could be the one to change the other man. The person to bring Pete out of Neverland and into the real world.
The last day of the tour they'd taken a walk, out away from the chaos of the after-show barbecue.
It was that night Mikey got his heart broken as the summer came to an end.
You're all wrong. Are we all wrong? You're all wrong. Are we all wrong?
The conversation had been a disaster from the start, with Mikey trying to explain to the other man that they could make it work but he never had a chance.
"It's not that Mikes. Just, tour's over and that's what this was about. You didn't think this was forever, did you?" Pete had tried to laugh off the situation, but Mikey knew better. It wasn't just the fact that things could get more serious than they'd both anticipated. It was the fact that Pete had never really been honest with himself and his feelings for Mikey. The worst part though, was that Mikey had known it from the very beginning.
In the end, he'd led Mikey on, knowing full well that a serious relationship was something he could never have with another man. Pete just couldn't accept what they had for what it was, so now he was trying to convince himself that there had never been anything to accept in the first place.
When Pete had grabbed his hand, any hope he'd managed to hold onto was ripped away with the next few words spoken.
"We both knew this wasn't going to last." There wasn't much to say after that and Mikey had spent the last night of the tour alone in his bunk, determined not to cry and wondering how things had turned out like this.
The next morning he finds Gerard sitting at the kitchen table, an envelope in front of him with Mikey's name written across the top along with a folded jacket that Mikey recognizes as the Clandestine hoodie he'd borrowed from Pete over the summer. Reluctantly Gerard hands it over, sympathy and concern evident on the older Way's face, along with a slight bit of anger that's aimed at the Fall Out Boy bassist. Sitting down, Mikey slides out the letter, reading the short note silently.
Mikey,
Last night wasn't how I wanted the summer to end. Don't be mad. You're still the best friend I've made all summer and that doesn't have to change. I figured you should keep the hoodie since you wore it more than I did this summer. Take care of yourself and I'll see you around.
Pete
After everything that had been said, the note was like taking the knife that had been stuck through his chest and twisting it slowly. This was Pete driving home the point that in his head, what had happened was never going to lead to anything more than a casual friendship. One that the Pete had taken advantage of over the summer. Without really thinking, Mikey carries the jacket and letter to his bunk, stuffing them in the bottom of his suitcase where he won't have to think about them for a while.
All that was left was for Mikey to move on because he didn't really have any other choice.
I wrote a goodbye note in lipstick on your arm when you passed out, I couldn’t bring myself to call, except to call it quits...
A phone call broke the silence between the two men, a late night conversation about Fall Out Boy playing a 'secret' show in NYC that winter. There was an unspoken question in the air between them, whether or not Mikey would be going. Pete wanted him to be there, there were so many things he needed to say, but he couldn't bring himself to ask pver the phone. Meanwhile, Mikey had his own confessions to share.
With nothing else to do, Mikey let the other bassist know that he would attend, hoping this was the closure they both desperately needed.
The venue was packed, the secret part of the show having been erased by internet gossip. Mikey stood on the side of the stage, watching the familiar sight of Patrick singing, Andy drumming, Joe playing guitar, and Pete simply being Pete. The songs were still the same and if he closed his eyes, he could maybe pretend that things were the way they'd once been all those months ago. When he stepped onto the stage though, taking the bass from Pete, he knows that it can never be the same again.
In his long winter coat, a beanie pulled over his hair, he knew in his heart that the summer was gone. The truth was that it wasn't just the change of the weather, it was the fact that the emotion was no longer there.
After the show, Mikey stood in against Pete as a camera flashed, smiles on both their faces for a brief second that were captured forever on film. Then the moment ended and it left them back where they'd started the night, a strained silence and unanswered questions.
*********************************************************
Best friends, ex-friends to the end, better of as lovers and not the other way around. Racing through the city, windows down, in the back of yellow-checkered cars...
Now, the interior of the cab is silent, Mikey staring out the rain covered window to watch the New York skyline pass him by as he thinks back on the summer. Pete isn't talking anymore, which is as much of a shock to Mikey as anything because he'd been rattling on about the past few months his band had been on tour. Mikey knows it's just nervous rambling and it's obvious there's something Pete wants to say that he's not quite ready to get out yet.
Eventually the car comes to a stop at the address that Mikey had provided to the driver, the lights from the apartment building illuminating the dark night sky. Reaching for the handle, Mikey pushes open the door, stepping out onto the sidewalk. Pete gets out behind him, asking the driver to wait for a few minutes.
"Mikey...I'm sorry. I didn't know what I wanted then and I was such an idiot because I couldn't accept what we had. I didn't realize it then, but I do now." Pete says, the two men standing a few feet apart. Pete takes a step forward, his hand reaching up as if to touch the side of Mikey's face like he'd done many times that summer, but this time Mikey puts his hand up to stop him.
"It's too late Peter Pan. I've already grown up. Though, maybe I'm destined for 'clandestine' relationships." Mikey speaks somewhat cryptically, his eyes darting to the front of the building where a person has emerged from the lobby. Glancing over, Pete does a double take when he recognizes who's standing there, the familiar figure watching the two of them with a guarded expression.
Maybe it's not as much of a surprise as it should be, which is a little strange to Pete when he thinks about.
"Good-bye Petey. Take care of yourself." Mikey tells him, hands in his pockets as he turns to walk toward the entrance of the building, never bothering to look back.
Stepping forward when Mikey approaches, Gerard ashes out the cigarette he'd been smoking, dropping it into the small bin. Slipping his arm around his brother's waist in a protective manner, he turns to give Pete one last look before guiding Mikey inside. Pete can only watch, a stunned expression on his face as the scene unfolds before him. Gerard is pressing a kiss to the top of Mikey's head, whispering something softly to his younger brother that cause the last bit of tension to ease slowly out of Mikey's body as he leans in against Gerard.
There isn't anything left for Pete to do as he shivers slightly because the icy chill in the air confirms the fact that winter had come and summer had been over for quite some time.
And I cast a spell over the West to make you think of me, the same way I think of you. This is a love song in my own way, happily ever after, below the waist...
*____________________________________*
A/N: Okay, so who knew it was Gerard? At least say I surprised a few of you.
Comments and criticisms welcome. Even if it's just to say, "OMGz, a story that has something other than Waycest!!" Maybe I can step out into other MCR pairings.