And if we can't be friends what can we be? PART TWO
Title: And if we can’t be friends what can we be? (we’re doing it way too well)
Pairing: Gabe/William, side Pete/Patrick, Ryland/Victoria; mentions of past Pete/Gabe Rating: NC - 17
Word count: 10,199
Summary: After finishing high school, William goes off to College to Chicago. He moves in with his sister, Vicky, and his brother, Pete. His group of friends is always around, and William finds himself spending more and more time with Gabe.
“I like Gabe,” he stated, “Not just like, I like him like him. I have for a while now.”
“I know that,” Pete confirmed calmly, and it annoyed Bill.
“And he likes me back.”
“That is where my opinions differ from yours,” Pete said, “I’m sorry Bill, but I think you are getting your hopes high about something that is not really going to happen.”
“Oh, really?” William asked, raising his voice, “What about the fact that I spent the whole afternoon making out with him today?”
Warnings: Pete Wentz, brotherly fights. Alcohol, sex, I don’t know what I should warn you about, if you are here, your mind is probably as fucked up as mine.
Disclaimer: This is as real as Santa. No wait, that sounds mean and sad. This is all fake, Santa isn’t.
Author’s Notes: College AU; though College does not really play any part in my story. I enjoyed so much writing this, that I’m almost sad to finally let it go. It’s the longest story I’ve ever written (in English) so, it’s quite an accomplishment for me.
back to part one
PART TWO
*
The next week, William started to spend more and more time with Gabe. It was frustrating, because a big part of him wanted the older man to like him, but at the same time, he knew that his age was a problem and that Gabe preferred older, experienced man. Because of this, every time he was with Gabe, he tried to impress him, but when he was alone, he hated the man for not liking him back.
Also, things with Tom were still complicated. They hadn’t exactly broken up, but his friend Michael had told William that Tom was already seeing other people. It really hurt William to hear that, because even if he had that huge crush on Gabe, Tom was still very important to him.
He had tried and talked to the other, but Tom refused to take his calls and never replied his texts. William had given up after a few days of nonstop calling and almost harassing him, and he decided to let it go.
Two days after he had decided to forget about Tom, the other boy called.
For the first ten minutes, everyone in the block could hear William shouting through the phone, then, everything was quiet.
They talked for hours, not wanting to completely let go. Bill sobbed involuntarily from time to time and Tom’s voice was shaky by the end of the phone call. They didn’t exactly say goodbye before hanging up, but it was clear for both of them that they’d probably never see each other again.
“I’m sorry,” Pete said to him when he finally decided to leave his room.
“Yeah,” he said, eyes fixed on the floor, “I’m sorry too.”
“Are you okay?” asked Gabe, who as usual was there.
“I will be, eventually.”
“We need damage control,” Pete and Gabe said at the same time.
Bill wanted to tell them to stay out of it, but he didn’t dare. He saw both men leaving the apartment and dreaded in advance what they were going to do. He could picture them coming back with twenty friends and a stripper, and he didn’t really feel like being around much people.
Both men came back about an hour later with a few crammed bags and identical grins. They asked -ordered -Vicky to leave because they were having a ‘boy’s night in’, and she had no choice but to go to Ryland’s. Like she cared.
Pete set a bottle of vodka, three shot glasses, and a gigantic bar of marshmallow chocolate on the coffee table.
“So, this is what we do when one of our boys is going to a rough patch. We did it with little Siska when he had his sexuality crisis, and with Petey here, when little Ryro broke his heart…”
“He didn’t break my…”
“…and now we do it with you; or is it for you? Well, fuck it. I’m gonna drink anyway,” Gabe explained.
“We got you some chocolate too, because some girls would rather eat their feelings than drink them. But you can do both if you’d like,” Pete added, and waited for William to respond.
He nodded, because he wasn’t sure what the other two wanted him to say. The truth was he still felt a little uncomfortable around them, though they didn’t seem to notice.
Gabe poured the liquor on the glasses and drank the first shot, then waited expectantly for the others to join him.
“Shouldn’t we play like a game or something?” Pete asked, “Otherwise I feel like I’m being a bad brother, getting him drunk just because.”
“It is not just because,” Gabe said, “The kid just got his heart stepped over, he needs this.”
William frowned at the word kid, but didn’t say anything. He nodded again, trying to express that way that he was in favor of playing a game.
“Still, it doesn’t feel right.”
“Okay. Let’s play Kings then, if you pussies can’t drink just because.”
“Excuse us for not being alcoholics like you,” William said with a ghostly smile.
“He’s right,” Pete laughed, “And I hate Kings, lets play ‘I’ve never’.”
“I already know everything about you,” Gabe complained, “It’s no fun like that.”
“But we don’t really know anything about Bill, other than his recent break up with Mr. or Mrs. Asshole.”
“Alright. Let’s do this, then, but not with the fingers, it sucks like that.” Gabe refilled his glass, “I’ve never had sex.”
Gabe emptied his glass, and Pete shot him an angry look.
“You know it’s cheating if you say something you’ve done. Come on Gabe, we ALL know you’ve had sex.”
“Okay, but we don’t know about Billy boy over here, so let’s take it as valid.”
Pete laughed and emptied his own glass, and they both turned to look at Bill, who blushed intensely before drinking the vodka. The alcohol burnt the way down his throat, and he remembered why it was he never drank pure alcohol.
“Whoa, William, I didn’t know,” Pete admitted, “I’m proud of you little bro.”
“Ass. Shut up,” William showed him the finger, “I’ve never paid for sex.”
Pete burst out laughing and Gabe scowled before drinking, causing William to raise an eyebrow.
“It was a bet,” he explained, reluctantly, “courtesy of your lovely brother.”
“And the worst part,” Pete chuckled, “he didn’t even enjoy it.”
“I’ve never had a girlfriend,” Gabe continued, and Pete drank obediently.
“Really?” William asked, first to Gabe and then to Pete.
“Gabe likes sleeping around,” Pete explained, “with men, mostly.”
“And Pete had a little fun with girls before discovering he likes cock.”
Pete smacked Gabe’s arm, before adding, “Dude, he’s my little brother, a little discretion.”
“You lost the right of discretion when you bought him a bottle of vodka.”
“Fine. I’ve never cheated on a partner.”
Both Gabe and William drank, and then stared at each other, questioningly.
“I was bored,” Gabe said, “and kind of an asshole.”
All eyes turned to William, who was forced to explain too.
“He cheated first.”
It was clear to William that Pete was surprised to hear the word he, but if he had something to say, he swallowed it. So William continued.
“I’ve never slept with any of my friends.”
Pete and Gabe looked at each other, laughed and then drank. William stared at them, quite surprised. They laughed at his shocked face, and then Pete told him about the day they met, how they god really drunk and ended up sleeping together on a pool table.
“The worst part,” Gabe said, still laughing, “is that we had a bed right next to us, and we didn’t even notice it.”
“I wonder why.”
The words left William’s mouth before he could stop them, but he was thankful to the skies that it didn’t sound as bitter out loud as it did in his head. Gabe giggled at this statement, and then said, triumphal:
“I’ve never bottomed.”
William was more than glad to see his brother drink when he did, though that didn’t keep the blush from coloring his cheeks.
“I’ve never had sex in a bathroom,” Pete said randomly as he poured more vodka into the glasses, and William drank.
“You know, I never would have guessed,” Gabe admitted, “You are the weirdest Valedictorian I’ve ever met.”
“I’ve never smoked pot.”
Pete looked rather guilty when he drunk, opposite to Gabe, who seemed to be proud.
“I’m such a lame older brother,” Pete laughed, “I suck as a role model.”
“I’ve never been Valedictorian,” Gabe said with a smirk.
“I’ve never failed a class,” Bill shot back after drinking.
The three of them stayed silent for a few minutes, thinking. Then, out of the blue, Gabe spoke.
“I’ve never made a sex tape.”
His eyes were fixed on Pete, and he almost missed the moment William raised his shot and downed it.
“You know, William, you are starting to worry me. Are you sure you’re not nymphomaniac or anything?” He asked jokingly
“You’re just jealous I know how to have a good time,” Bill countered with a smirk, “I’ve never had drunken sex.”
Pete shot him an annoyed look and Gabe snickered as he drank. He reached for the bottle to refill and realized it was almost empty.
“Okay Bill, do the honor. The last shot is on yours.”
“You are not even gonna try and guess something I’ve done?”
“After this shot baby,” Gabe said, “you are totally gonna tell us everything.”
The shot was handed to Bill, and he had no other options but to drink it. He got up, afterwards and walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Only then he realized how drunk he was, as he stumbled against the counter.
“Hey Bill, bring the tequila now.”
He obeyed, just because he was already drunk, so he figured it couldn’t help to drink a little more.
When he sat back, he recognized Gabe was quieter than usual, and Pete had a goofy grin on his face, which led him to think they were as drunk as he was.
“Okay, now. Spill, we want details.”
“What do you want to know?” William asked, a little taken aback.
“What happened with Mr. Asshole? Who was he?” Pete asked.
“Remember Tom Conrad?”
Pete, who was trying to pour tequila on his shot glass, lost control of the bottle and it almost crashed against the floor, “What? No way.”
“Yeah, we kind of got together last year on the winter trip to Colorado, and well, we started dating after we got back.”
“So that’s like, a lot of time,” Gabe said, failing to count with his fingers.
“Yes, we were together for almost seventeen months, and then he suddenly stopped talking to me.”
“But Tom is like, three years older than you.”
“I know; that’s why we kept it a secret at first. He didn’t want his friends to know he was dating a sixteen-year-old.”
“What an ass.”
William shrugged. He had always known Tom wasn’t exactly the ideal boyfriend, but he was too young and too naïve at first, and then it was too late.
“Was he the first guy you…?”
“No, not really. There was this guy called Matt in my photography class and we used to fool around before I met Tom. He was kind of my first boyfriend, though we weren’t really serious or anything.”
Gabe seemed to be really quiet. He had shut up when William started talking about Tom, and he hadn’t spoken again. When Pete started asking about the relationship, he seemed to phase out, not participating anymore. It wasn’t until after William finished telling his whole love story with Tom that the man finally spoke again.
“That’s why I don’t do relationships,” he just said before getting up of the couch, “too much drama.”
“It’s worthy sometimes, you know?” William replied a bit bitterly.
Somehow, there was something to Gabe’s words that had hurt his ego.
“Whatever. Uncommitted sex is much, much better.”
Gabe took off his shirt as he said so, exposing his well defined abs and bony hips. When he removed his pants as well, William found the room to be much hotter than he had thought and his own pants to be much tighter.
“Why is it that whenever you get drunk you end up being naked?” Pete asked, and Gabe shrugged.
“In his defense,” William said, letting out all the air he hadn’t notice he was holding, “I’ve been here for two weeks and Gabe’s been drunk most of the time, but still it’s the first time I see him like this.”
And that’s too bad.
“That, Billy boy,” Gabe said with a wicked smile as he moved nearer to William, “is because you never stay long enough to watch.”
“Stop hitting on my brother, you ass,” Pete interrupted, hitting Gabe, “He’s too good for you, not to mention young.”
“Hey, he’s not that young,” Gabe whined, and it came out a little slurred.
Feeling his cheeks warm up a bit too much, William stood up from the sofa, feeling Gabe’s hand fall from his leg -funny how he hadn’t noticed it was there. He shouted ‘goodbye’ before closing the door of his room and throwing himself on the bed.
He woke up about an hour later, as something pinched his side. He spotted a pair of bright eyes staring at him through the darkness, and immediately knew who it was.
“I’m bored,” an almost naked Gabe said to him, “Come talk to me?”
“What are you, twelve?” William asked, but still sat on the bed and signaled Gabe to sit as well.
“Maybe. I just find it really hard to sleep sometimes.”
“That’s because you always pass out,” Bill laughed, and Gabe copied him right away, making him blush.
“What does it feel, being away from home?” Gabe suddenly asked.
William was caught off guard, and found himself not knowing what to say.
“I guess it’s… easier. Calmer, mostly,” he finally answered, “Here I can be whoever I want to be. Back home things were a bit hectic.”
“What do you mean?”
“I used to be this total nerd you know? Those guys you only talk to when you need help with your homework. I was the skinny freak who no-one really liked.”
William smiled at the memory. It wasn’t like he resented it, but those hadn’t been his happier times either.
“Then, I met this guy called Jon Walker, and he really seemed to like me. He was new at school and everyone was talking about him and wanted to be friends with him, but somehow, he chose to spend time with me rather than them.
“We became best friends almost automatically, and that made me popular. Suddenly, everyone knew my name and was inviting me to parties and stuff. I was really popular, like in those movies when people dress and talk and act like the main character, you know?”
Gabe nodded, hinting William to continue.
“I met Matt then, and we started getting together. I wasn’t really up for PDA, and kept us as secretly as I could, but still somehow, someone found out.
“They sent pictures to my parents and invented all this weird rumors about me at school. I was booed whenever I went somewhere because everyone knew. Jon stood by me, though, and people eventually found someone else to talk about.
“My parents never really got over it. Even after I was completely out and dating Tom, people came to my house with this horrid stories about me. Those were all lies, and my parents tried their best to believe that, but things never went exactly back to normal.”
“That sucks, you know? It’s not fair that shit happened to you.”
“Yeah, I’ve moved on, though. Just as I moved on from my relationship with Tom.”
“Mr. Asshole? Are you already over him?”
“It feels like it’s the right thing, you know?” Bill said almost in a whisper, “I know I will always care for him, but I feel better now. Like there was something on my chest and it kept me from breathing, but now it’s no longer there, and it’s good to breathe again.”
“I guess I know the feeling,” Gabe said with a warm smile, “Can I tell you a secret?”
William nodded, feeling his heart bounce at the fact that Gabe was about to trust him with something.
“When I first met your brother, almost five years ago, I had this huge ass crush on him.”
Just as it had been bouncing seconds before, Bill felt his heart sink now, and then freeze and crash and break in a million pieces.
“I had always gotten everything I wanted, so I was completely sure I’d get what I wanted. Then Patrick came along, and it seemed as though Pete only had eyes for him. I didn’t understand how this chubby, partially bold guy got more attention from my crush than I did, but it happened indeed.”
“What did you do?”
“The only thing I could do, really. When Patrick went out on vacation, I almost gave myself away to Pete. We slept together, and the next day, when I woke up, he had left to find Patrick.
“It felt right, though, once they were back and officially a couple. I finally understood that I had let my feelings confuse me, and things were much better for us as just friends.”
“I thought you had been drunk when you slept with Pete,” Bill said, frowning.
“Yeah, that was the second time,” Gabe said and let out a laugh, “When Pete and Patrick broke up, about two years ago, Mike, Pete and I spent this whole week completely wasted. That’s when it happened again, and trust me when I say, I don’t remember a thing.”
“Did it bring back old feelings?” Bill asked, and then wished he hadn’t.
“Not really, no. I got over Pete long ago, and that’s how we became friends. Plus, it was just a crush.”
Just a crush. Those words entered through William’s ears and it felt as though they went straight to his heart, stabbing it over and over.
“So you’ve never had real feelings for anyone?” He asked, not really knowing what he wanted to hear.
A part of him wanted Gabe to admit that no, he wasn’t a shallow dick that was only interested in sex, but at the same time, Bill was afraid that Gabe would admit liking, or maybe even more, someone. Someone who wasn’t him.
“I have met people who I’ve cared for as friends, just as I do know, and I have, in the past, ended up becoming more than friends with some of them.”
Gabe sighed, before adding: “I’ve never been in love, though.”
William smiled, feeling somewhat relieved, and felt his eyelids shut close. He wanted to say something back, but couldn’t. Tiredness had taken over him and he was at that sleepy stage when you are still aware of everything, but at the same time not.
He felt a pair of lips press chastely against his own, which curved involuntarily into a smile. Gabe smiled too, and then pulled away.
“Goodnight, Bill.”
*
PART THREE