Sugar & Spice, Part 2
Part 1
When Patrick imagined charity events before he’d ever gone to one, he had imagined tons of rich people with their heads up their asses who looked down at him as less important because of his bank account content. As he had discovered, that’s pretty much what it was like, only rather than only look down at him, the thinly veiled insults were much less thinly veiled than he would’ve ever expected prior to learning what the asshole wealthy people could really be like.
Pete was used to it, but he never seemed to get used to them directing their insults at Patrick. Patrick both hated and was, in a twisted sense, amused by charity events because of how bad they annoyed Pete. He hated having to see Pete upset, but at the same time, having Pete defend him to the rich and beautiful was always a bit pleasing for his ego.
As they made it into the banquet hall for the event, checked their coats, and started through the hall, stopping to schmooze to all the appropriate people, Patrick spotted one of the ladies they were coming up to, the wife of some business executive, eating one of the pastries his shop had catered to the event. Pete finished speaking to the guy he was talking to and slid his hand into Patrick’s, nodding over to the group Patrick had just been looking at. “State senate members, gotta go suck up some since his daughter is working on an album with my label,” he said, and Patrick nodded, smiling when Pete kissed his hand as a sort of preemptive apology.
“Ah! Peter,” the man said, smiling and clapping a hand on his shoulder as they walked over. “Guys, this is the genius who’s helping my little girl be a star,” he said, and Patrick and Pete both laughed appropriately, though Patrick knew Pete thought his ‘little girl’ was shit.
“Senator Carlson, it’s always a pleasure,” Pete said, shaking his hand.
The man chuckled, waving a hand. “Oh, call me Steve,” he said, and Pete nodded. “So, I hear your father’s working on a new case against the state,” he prompted, and Pete smiled.
“Eh, something like that. I try and keep my nose out of all the politics. That’s my parents place, you know? I think it’s something about workplace discrimination against the state’s government employees,” he said, and Patrick bit back a smirk, knowing Pete loved messing with them. The case was one they had heard about because it had to do with a lesbian couple suing for discrimination. Patrick remembered how conservative the present group of men was and loved how they all had to be nice to Pete, even if he was pushing their buttons. “I’m not sure but my dad’s pretty much got a handle on it, I think,” he said, shrugging innocently.
“Ah,” Senator Carlson said. “Well, we’ll be sure to keep an eye on that one, huh?” he said, and Patrick bit back a laugh, covering it with a small cough. Pete gave him a concerned glance, but Patrick saw the way his eyes smiled.
“Tell me,” the man’s wife started. “The catering card has your name on it. Does your sister own a catering company, Mr. Wentz?” she asked, and Patrick fought not to groan. He just knew the looks of disdain were coming.
Pete smiled. “No, actually, Patrick owns a bakery,” he said, squeezing Patrick’s hand visibly. “One of the very best in the city, I’d say,” he said proudly and Patrick gave him a smile.
“Oh!” The woman said, looking down her nose at him. “How… charming,” she said, and Patrick fought to keep the smile on his face. “How many branches are their of your chain?” she asked, and Patrick cringed internally.
“Oh, no. Just one shop,” Patrick said, politely. “I helped out in my grandmother’s shop as a kid and Pete bought me a bakery as sort of an engagement gift,” he said, not wanting to sound ungrateful just because he hated these people knowing exactly how ‘below them’ he was.
Pete was grinning, hoping it passed as proud husband, as he saw the uncomfortable looks on every person’s face in the group. “Well, we must be moving on. We’ve got plenty of people we have to speak with,” Pete said, and Patrick let out a breath, smiling with relief as they said their goodbyes and walked on.
“Pete-“
Pete sighed. “I know, Patrick, but what was I supposed to do?! She asked!” he said. “I promise, they care too much about my dad’s lawsuit to risk gossiping about us,” he said, and Patrick gave him a disbelieving look. “Patrick,” he said, giving his hand a brief squeeze. “Don’t worry,” he said, and Patrick sighed but nodded.
“Alright, but this time, if they call me common and beneath them and shit, you cannot get pissy and threaten to sue them and all the other dramatic things you do when you get pissy,” he said, and Pete gave him a small pout.
“But you’re my Patrick and I don’t like it when they’re mean,” he said, and Patrick rolled his eyes affectionately.
“Pete,” he warned, and Pete grumbled.
“Fine, whatever,” he said softly and then hummed. “Can I at least post angry blogs on the Studio’s website?” he asked, and Patrick shook his head, amused.
“Fine, but that’s it,” he said, sliding his hand into Pete’s again, tugging him along. The faster they got through schmoozing, the faster the insults ended.
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When they got home, Patrick wasn’t in the best mood, but Pete was clearly sulking. As they started to head upstairs, Patrick sighed. “Pete? Pete, come on, what’s wrong?” he asked, and Pete just grumbled, trying to get away without talking. He walked into the office and shut the door. Patrick rolled his eyes and went to change out of his clothes, but quickly came back.
He walked into the office and sighed, rolling his eyes when he saw Pete sitting in his boxers and unbuttoned shirt on his couch, knees pulled up. Classic ‘Pete is sulking’ stance. Patrick walked over. “Pete,” he said, and Pete sighed.
“Patrick, I’m really not-“ Patrick cut him off by sitting down beside him and laying his head on Pete’s shoulder. Pete sighed, letting his head fall back. “Patrick-“
Patrick turned and wormed an arm between Pete’s knees and chest and hugged him close, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “I love you,” he said, knowing exactly how to get Pete to stop moping. “What’s wrong?” he asked, stroking his stomach.
Pete sighed, unraveling. “Sheila McArthur asked me why the hell I married a leprechaun instead of her,” he said. Patrick sighed.
“I could poison her if you want,” he offered with a smile and Pete chuckled.
“I know, I’m sorry,” he said, turning to press a kiss to the top of Patrick’s head. “I shouldn’t be the one pissed, though. Why are you never pissed?” he asked, looking at him.
Patrick shrugged. “I do get pissed but to their stupid little brains it makes sense. I know you love me and that, for some insane reason, you think I’m not ugly,” he said, and Pete glared.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, pulling him closer as he pressed their noses together. “They can suck my dick,” he said with finality.
Patrick snickered. “There better not be anybody else sucking your dick,” he teased, kissing Pete sweetly. “Pete, I’ve told you to stop getting pissy about people looking down on me. You married me knowing this would happen.”
Pete sighed. “That’s the thing, I didn’t think so,” he said, looking at Patrick. “I mean, it makes sense now that I was just blinded, but I thought people would be so stunned at how amazing my husband was and then I’m still getting used to people saying bad things about you,” he admitted with a pout.
Patrick smiled. “Pete,” he said softly. He stroked Pete’s cheek and brushed their lips together. “Look,” he said, pushing Pete back against the seat as he shifted to straddle him, one knee on either side as he sat on his lap. “As much as it annoys me, it doesn’t matter what people say about me,” he said, looking into Pete’s eyes as he slid his fingers through Pete’s hair, playing with his bangs. “I have had nine hundred billion chances to doubt you,” he said, then shook his head. “But I only need one reason to trust you and I trust that you love me, you honestly think I’m hot-“
“Beautiful,” Pete argued, and Patrick chuckled.
“You honestly think I’m beautiful, and you won’t ever purposefully hurt me,” he finished. “Now, how about you stop pouting,” he teased, leaning in to suck Pete’s exaggeratedly poked out bottom lip between his teeth. “And let me take your mind off it,” he said softly, kissing him slowly.
Pete hummed. “You realize if this is what pouting gets me, you’re not at all discouraging me,” he said, and Patrick laughed, shaking his head.
“You’re insane, Pete,” he said, and then grinned. “Fine, if that’s how it is,” he stood up and turned to walk out. “I’ll just be going to bed-“
“No, forget what I said, I’ll stop pouting!” Pete cried, jumping up to rush after Patrick. He caught him around the waist and tugged him into a kiss. “No more pouting. Pouting is bad,” he said, nodding dramatically.
Patrick smiled, shaking his head. “Nuh-uh, you won’t learn your lesson like that,” he teased, heading upstairs alone. Pete just followed him, whining.
“But, but… you’re perfect and beautiful!” he said, slipping on the stairs. “Oof!” Patrick froze, waiting to be sure he was okay, and rolled his eyes when he heard Pete cursing the carpet.
Patrick just laughed, shaking his head as he thought about how this was his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey Pete,” Patrick called, looking up from his laptop, where he was checking over orders and supply deliveries. “Who’s Frank and why am I down for his birthday orders?” he asked, and Pete looked up.
“Oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that.” Pete spun his chair to face him from his desk. “Frank Iero’s one of the guys that was there the other day. He’s one of Mikey’s friends and he’s working for the record company now,” he said. “He’s turning thirty on Halloween and I knew your guys would have a ball with that cake and all the cupcakes and cookies and shit. Plus it’ll make him feel more welcome and stuff,” he said.
Patrick smiled. “You are Gerard’s hero now. He’s had more fun with this cake design than I’ve ever seen him. Even more fun than the X-Men birthday cake for that rich kid we did two weeks ago,” he pointed out. “And Gerard’s a geek so that was like… his happiest design ever before now.”
Pete smiled. “So he’s working out well? Mikey said he was talented but I figured you would tell me if he wasn’t and I could find you someone else.”
Patrick scoffed. “I’ve never seen someone able to think up the things that guy can. He’s amazing! Seriously, I don’t know where you found the people for my shop but you seriously did well,” he said.
Pete shrugged. “Mostly I asked around. Mikey got me his brother, and your cookie dude was my sister’s nanny for a while-“
Patrick burst out laughing. “Wait, wait… Ray Toro was a manny?!?” he asked, and Pete nodded.
“Why?”
Patrick shook his head. “He’s a thirty-something year old, six foot, two-forty, massive dude with a giant afro. I mean… I would’ve thought ‘biker’ or something. Not nanny,” he said.
Pete hummed. “Maybe that’s why,” he said, and Patrick raised an eyebrow. “She had to let him go because every time he took the kids to the park, someone called the cops about a strange man sitting around watching the kids play.”
Patrick snickered. “Aww, poor Ray. He’s a sweet guy.” Pete smiled. “So, where did you get everybody else?” he asked curiously.
Pete hummed. “Well, the big blonde guy used to work at a bakery that closed, but I know him because he’s a part time session guy for me sometimes. I don’t remember his name, but he looks like a Jarnok or something equally as ‘I am a Viking’,” he said, and Patrick snorted. “And then those two culinary school students, I heard bickering in a Starbucks. Something about being late to their pastry class and then I asked them if they wanted a job and they said they could have their professors give me their transcripts and they did,” he said.
Patrick eyed him. “You hired random people?”
Pete shrugged innocently. “They’re good though, right?”
“Yeah, they are,” Patrick admitted. “Well… Brendon’s a hyperactive sugar addicted child in a teenager’s body,” he said, and Pete smiled.
“He’s hot though, right?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
Patrick gave him a flat look. “Pete, he’s nineteen years old. And you’re married!” he added pointedly.
Pete shrugged innocently. “Come on, like you don’t look,” he said, and Patrick grumbled.
“Fine, his ass is pretty nice,” he admitted, and Pete nodded. “Whatever, Spencer’s a good one though. He’s really professional and doesn’t mope when I tell him to stop eating the powdered sugar,” he said.
Pete hummed. “Is that the one with the sexy hips and scary expression?” he asked, and Patrick glared. “What?!?”
“First off, he wears an apron, I rarely notice his hips, and second, do you spend all your time oogling barely legal teenagers?!” he asked in annoyance.
Pete gave him wide eyes. “None of them are as sexy and beautiful as you,” he tried, and Patrick glared. “I love you and it’s just looking?” he tried, and Patrick shook his head.
“Whatever,” he said, standing up as he closed his laptop. “I can’t say much, it’s not like I don’t notice how big and strong Bob’s arm’s are or how pretty his blue eyes are,” he said, hearing Pete’s spluttering as he walked out. Patrick just smirked to himself as he headed upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Patrick got in, he was surprised to see Ray up front, talking to Spencer and Brendon. “Hey!” Brendon said as soon as Patrick walked in. “How come Gerard got a call from your husband demanding he talk to Bob and then Bob turned all red and is hiding in the back and won’t talk to Gerard anymore?” Brendon asked innocently.
Patrick blinked, but then snickered. “Nothing. Let’s just say I was having some fun with Pete and said something about Bob having pretty eyes and big arms,” he said, grinning. “It’s a long story,” he said.
Ray hummed. “That would explain the threatening tone Gerard mentioned,” he said, and Patrick rolled his eyes.
“Pete’s… sensitive,” he said with a laugh. “He was asking for it, he admitted he only noticed Brendon and Spencer in order to overhear their conversation about culinary school because he thought Brendon’s ass was hot and Spencer’s hips were sexy,” he said, grinning.
Brendon turned bright pink and went wide eyes, whereas Spencer just glared. “That pervert,” he muttered and Patrick snickered.
“Pete does like them young,” he said, shrugging. “Gerard’s brother’s the only person he ever dated that was anywhere near his age,” he said and Spencer eyed him.
“And it doesn’t bother you that your husband pervs on teenagers?” he asked, and Patrick laughed.
“He just looks, and besides, how was he supposed to know you’re a teenager?” he asked, shrugging. “Hey, I have eyeballs too. Admittedly, I didn’t notice your hips, but I’ve totally noticed Brendon’s butt,” he said, and Brendon gaped, putting his hands over his backside.
“All you people stop looking at my bottom!” he cried, looking offended.
Patrick grinned and shrugged. “Ray’s is just as nice,” he said, and Ray squeaked, turning red, then awkwardly backed his way back into the kitchen, leaving Patrick and Spencer laughing at his and Brendon’s reactions.
“Okay, I’ll go with you there,” Spencer said, shaking his head. “Alright, what’s going on today?” he asked.
Patrick smiled. “Well, let me go check the orders, but otherwise just get the basics all on the stands,” he said, heading back to his office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gerard eyed Patrick when he walked in. “Did my husband hit on you too?” Patrick joked, and Gerard snickered.
“No, but apparently he wants me to make sure you don’t hit on Bob,” he said, and Patrick snickered. “So, while he was on the phone with me, after scaring Bob, we talked about the designs for this Halloween birthday party and you’re supposed to bring home some scans of the sketches. I described them and he said it sounded great, but he wants to see them,” he said.
Patrick nodded. “I’ll take them home tonight. Did he say anything else?” he asked, and Gerard shrugged.
“Not really, just to tell you-“ He ducked his head. Gerard coughed. “To tell you your ass is still more sexy than anybody else’s,” he said in a rush, cheeks pink. He cringed. “He made me swear and I don’t like to lie,” he said with a groan.
Patrick snorted. “That’s Pete alright,” he said, shaking his head.
Gerard snorted. “I’d never be able to put up with your husband, dude. I mean, I guess that’s why he’s yours, not mine,” he said, shrugging.
Patrick smiled. “Eh, I never expected anything that’s happened in the last few years, but it’s all worked out.”
“Yeah,” Gerard started. “But… don’t you guys ever fight?” he asked curiously.
Patrick nodded, opening his planner. “Oh yeah, all the time,” he said with a shrug. “I punched him once when we were dating, but I swore I’d never do that again,” he said with a chuckle. “Seriously, it was in my vows,” he joked. Gerard just stared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spencer was forming chocolate molds when Brendon popped up. “Guess what!” he said, and Spencer jumped, yelping.
Gerard, who was watching Ray decorate a cake to make sure he did it right, looked up. “You’ve perfected how to give people heart attacks?” he tried, and Brendon rolled his eyes.
“No! I’ve got a date!” he said brightly, and then paused dramatically. “With a boy!”
Spencer eyed him. “As opposed to what? A girl?” he asked.
Brendon huffed. “I have a date with a boy, Spencer Smith! I’ve never been on a date with a boy!”
“Have you been on a date with a girl?” Gerard asked, and Brendon blushed.
“No,” he grumbled. He whined. “Spencer, you’re supposed to be my buddy… sorta,” he said, making a face.
Spencer snorted. “We’re classmates, don’t get it confused.”
Ray frowned. “Well that’s mean,” he said, then eyed Brendon. “Hey, I’m happy for you,” he said, and Brendon smiled widely. “So, what’s this boy like?”
Brendon shrugged. “He’s twenty-two, his name’s Jeff, we’re going to a party this weekend, and I’m pretty sure his entire plan is to get me drunk and have sex with me, but I’m surprisingly okay with that,” he said brightly. “Well… I’ll probably pretend the drunk part, cause I don’t have a good history with drinking, but still, it’s all the same,” he said.
Spencer eyed him. “Wow, you’re such a slut,” he said, and Brendon eyed him.
“Oh yeah? Your best friend has slept with half my building!” Brendon argued.
Spencer snorted. “He has not. Besides, at least if he did he wasn’t willing to let some older guy get him drunk just to have sex with him,” he said. “That’s called a sleazebag,” he said.
Brendon snorted. “I’m a nineteen year old virgin!” he cried, and the entire kitchen seemed to go quiet. “That’s called pathetic!”
Gerard cleared his throat. “Not to be petty, but nineteen isn’t that pathetic-“
“Nope,” Ray agreed.
Gerard chuckled. “And that sounds like a great guy to give you syphilis,” he said, and Brendon snorted.
“It’s the only way I’m gonna get laid before I’m thirty! Nobody likes me-likes me, may as well get some from whoever’s willing.”
Spencer sighed. “If I set you up on a date will you not have sex with a stranger?” he asked. “I’m sure I can find a guy and you guys can date and see where it goes. And maybe not have sex on the first date,” he tried pointedly. “Your idea just doesn’t sound very smart to me.”
Gerard hummed. “Good idea. Besides, Mr. Date-Rape might end up being a psycho killer who wants to eat a pretty boy’s liver,” he said, and Brendon paled.
“I kinda like being whole,” he admitted and Spencer snorted.
“How did I end up with ‘escaped from Utah’ boy as a classmate and coworker?” he grumbled, and Brendon huffed.
“That hurts, Spencer Smith.” He pouted. “I’m totally not from Utah… much.”
Ray leaned closer to Gerard. “I’m confused,” he whispered loudly, and Gerard nodded.
“Me too.”
Spencer chuckled. “Brendon’s a like… ex-Mormon. You know, Utah, Mormons?” he tried, waving a hand.
Gerard hummed. “Are those the ones on bicycles or the ones with twelve wives?” he asked, and Brendon huffed.
“Not necessarily either. My family is a one-wife kinda family and none of us were missionaries, so there were no bikes,” he said. “And I’m not Mormon. My family is, but I’m not,” he argued.
Gerard hummed. “And I thought being Catholic was tough growing up,” he said, and Brendon scoffed.
“Dude, Catholics were higher on the ‘go straight to hell’ list then I am!” Brendon snickered. “Their priests molest children,” he said. “That’s a ‘do not pass go, do not collect two-hundred dollars’ kinda going to hell,” he said with a serious nod.
Gerard hummed. “You know, I bet all religions have their downsides,” he said, and Spencer snorted.
“Ryan got kicked out of private catholic school for having sex with the geology teacher’s son and getting caught. Best part is, now he isn’t even gay.” He smirked. “So much for religion, huh?” he said, and Brendon snorted.
“I left the church on my own, but being gay wasn’t the only thing that got me kicked out by my parents,” he said, then eyed him. “I took my sister to a friend’s house and there was a music video on the TV when we walked through the living room that had a sex scene. And then we watched a movie with cursing in it and drank energy drinks and stayed up late,” he said. “That was all against my sister’s religion or seen as ‘bad behavior’ and was what lead to the fight that made me tell them I’m gay,” he pointed out.
Ray hummed. “When I told my mom I liked boys and girls, she just started trying to fix me up with guys as well,” he said, and Gerard grinned.
“Mine just asked Mikey to take me out with him to places where there would be available guys since the girls don’t like me either,” he said.
Spencer snorted. “Mine walked in on me and Shaun Bower making out in the basement on the pool table and just started leaving condoms all over the house, embarrassingly enough,” he said, shuddering.
Brendon snorted. “At least boys wanted to make out with you,” he said. “I was even uglier in high school than I am now,” he said, and Spencer eyed him in disbelief. “Oh come on! Stop being mean,” he said, crossing his arms.
Spencer shrugged “Eh, You’re not ugly… dorky and lame, sure! But you’ve got nice eyes and a good smile. You’re nice and thin, but you’ve got a great ass… lucky bitch,” he said, looking forlornly down at his own body. “It’s just the general air of ‘I’m a lame ass’ you can’t shake,” he said, shaking his head.
Brendon rolled his eyes. “Well you-“ He looked him over and pouted. “You, you… you’re fat and you look like a girl!” he cried, blushing and pouting as he turned and walked out front.
Ray eyed Spencer with a disappointed look. “Why are teenagers so bitchy?” he asked. He eyed Gerard. “Were you bitchy as a teenage girl?” he asked and Gerard glared.
Spencer snorted. “I’m not a teenage girl!” He shrugged. “Brendon’s just annoying. I can’t stand him.”
Gerard snorted. “Fuck that, I love that kid! He makes me feel old and pathetic, but eh, he’s funny and kinda like a giant puppy,” he said.
Ray nodded. “He loves cookies too!” he said brightly, then cringed. “Ew… I’m becoming my mother,” he said, looking horrified. Gerard just cackled evilly as he fixed some of the icing Ray had gotten out of line.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick stared at the laptop screen in horror as everybody crowded behind his desk. Even Bob, who never seemed to leave his back portion of the kitchens, was huddled in the corner, watching as Patrick turned even brighter shades of red and covered his eyes in shame.
On the screen, the video playing on a local news website was one with the greatest new gossip: “Local Millionaire Punches Reporter”. Pete had apparently been having lunch with his PR friend with the upcoming birthday and two clients when a local reporter stopped in to ask him a few questions. Pete’s questions and answers weren’t in the report on the video, but apparently somewhere along the line, the person at the next table over had pulled out their phone to video the shouts and caught a snarled ‘shut the fuck up!’ from Pete, who then punched the reporter so hard his chair toppled over backwards.
“Witnesses suggest the altercation was caused by questions in regards to Mr. Wentz’s surprising marriage earlier this year,” the woman was speaking, and Patrick let out a groan of agony.
“Kill me now. Some one. All of you. Just take turns bashing me with things until I die!” he begged dramatically.
Spencer smirked. “Gotta go bail your bitchy teenage girl out of the big house?” he asked, and Patrick glared at his sarcasm.
“Oh, I’m sure his lawyer has already bailed him out,” Patrick said, sighing. “Fuck.”
Ray put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Patrick. Your husband is an idiot,” he comforted, and Patrick chuckled.
Bob just nodded at him solemnly. “Wentz is a douche, but to be fair, he loves you and was just defending you,” he said, and Patrick laughed, earning a smile from the shy baker. Everybody else stared in shock at a real human reaction from the burly blond.
Brendon went wide eyed. “You have the prettiest eyes ever, Bob Bryar,” he said, then flung himself at the giant man, squishing into his side firmly. Bob looked alarm and tried wiggling him off, only to give desperate looks around when it failed to dislodge the teen.
Gerard distracted everybody else from the spectacle that was Brendon clinging to Bob like a demented sucker fish by suddenly shocking them all. “Wait, so that hot dude is ‘yay, thirty!’ Frank?” he asked, and everybody looked between the paused shot of a tiny, tattooed, pierced, gang-banger looking man who appeared to be about fifteen and Gerard with horrified looks.
Patrick just snorted. “What’s wrong with you Way’s? Your idiot brother once had a fling with my husband, who I’m ashamed to admit knowing half the time, and you find the probable ex-con ‘hot’,” he said, shaking his head. He paused and hummed. “Short and tattooed… your taste in men must be genetic,” he said, and everybody laughed.
After everybody but Gerard had left (Spencer was the only one finally able to pry Brendon off of Bob), Patrick finally let his head slam into the desk. Gerard snorted. “Considering divorce?” he tried, and Patrick sighed.
“Sadly, no.” Patrick shook his head. “I want to be so pissed but the dumbass manages to save his own ass, like he always does, by making every bad thing he does into a big defense of my honor. Ninety percent of the time he gets in a fight with someone, physical or verbal, it’s because he loves me and won’t put up with anybody saying shit about me and come on,” he sighed, shaking his head. “No matter what, you can’t muster all that anger you want to when your rage is being faced down with butterflies.”
Gerard rolled his eyes. “You’re sickening. You would probably slap him and then kiss him all in one go,” he said, and Patrick shrugged.
“Eh, probably,” he admitted with a bashful smiled. He sighed. “Fuck, what the hell am I gonna do with that man?” he asked in exasperation as he watched Pete punch the reporter one more time. “He is infuriating but no matter what, he makes up for it just when I’m at my breaking point.”
Gerard hummed. “Probably the big, brown puppy eyes,” he said, nodding. Patrick just laughed.
“Yeah, probably.”
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When Patrick got home, he heard talking in the office and headed towards the door. “Dude,” he heard someone else’s voice speak. “When your husband hears about this shit, you’re screwed.”
Pete’s voice came in. “Oh man, I’m so fucked.”
Mikey’s voice chimed in. “Maybe he won’t have heard yet?”
“I really hope not-“
Patrick walked in, smiling overly calmly. “Hey Panda,” he said cheerily, walking over to where Pete was sitting at his desk. Pete smiled, looking relieved. Patrick spoke again as he got to a spot standing behind his chair. “Hey guys,” he said, waving, before leaning around Pete’s chair to drape his arms over Pete’s shoulders. “So Panda, I heard some interesting news today,” he started, smirking when Pete froze.
“Um… what’s that, Lunchbox?” he asked awkwardly, and Patrick snorted.
“My husband’s a fucking douche, that’s what,” he said nastily, and Pete cringed.
“So… I guess you heard-“ Pete started but Patrick cut him off, walking around the other side of the chair to cross his arms, glaring down at Pete.
“Oh no, I didn’t hear shit, I saw a video of you punching someone in the face!” he said in a clearly pissed voice. “I’m sitting at work and I get an email with a link to a newscast and see where you punched a reporter. In the face!” he cried.
Pete cringed. “But- he was being mean-“
Patrick scoffed. “And when you’re being passed around for cigarettes in prison after being convicted of assault, you’ll really learn the meaning of ‘mean’!” he argued. “You know what they do to little guys like you in prison, Pete,” he said pointedly. Pete gulped visibly.
The small PR guy, Frank, spoke up. “You know… I could probably write a song about that.” Patrick just stared at him flatly. “Or not,” he said quickly, ducking his head.
Mikey looked up. “My brother’s ex was in prison once,” he mentioned in passing, like it was an everyday conversation. “You know, thinking about the topic at hand, I think he actually was a victim of prison rape as well,” he added, and they all turned to stare at him in shock. “What?” he asked, looking confused as to why they were all staring at him.
Patrick deflated. “I change my mind,” he said, turning to Pete. “I’m not married to the biggest idiot in the world,” he amended, and Pete giggled at the offended looks on Frank and Mikey’s faces. Patrick sighed and slid into Pete’s lap, draping his arms around his shoulders as he leaned down for a kiss. “You’re driving me insane, Peter,” he said, grabbing his hand for comfort.
Pete massaged Patrick’s hand, fingers, and wrist, earning a soft, happy sigh. “I know, I’m sorry, Patrick. I’ll try my best to not be insane anymore, okay?” He looked up and gave Patrick the biggest, most innocent, wide eyed look he possibly could and Patrick felt himself melting.
“You are the kryptonite to my bitchy side, Wentz,” he muttered, smiling with a sigh as he shook his head at himself.
Pete grinned, sliding his arms around Patrick’s middle. “You wouldn’t be you without your bitchy side,” he said, then smirked, leaning up to press a tiny kiss to his lips. “Wentz.” Patrick smiled at how happy Pete looked every time he brought up their marriage. He knew Pete got so angry at people because he felt like he was the luckiest person in the world and couldn’t stand other people not agreeing. Pete Wentz liked to be right and he knew his husband was the best and nobody else’s opinion counted.
“Aww… they’re so cute!” Patrick was torn from his thoughts at the sound of Frank’s voice. “Being divorced sucks,” he added in a harsh voice.
Patrick turned around. “Shit, you’re divorced?” he asked, and Frank nodded.
“Yeah, apparently, your wife doesn’t really like to stay your wife when she finds out you’re gay,” he said, shrugging innocently. “What can you do?”
Patrick laughed. “No, I’d imagine she’d have an issue with that.”
Pete hummed. “Patrick, you should know something,” he said in a serious tone, holding his waist as he looked up at him. “I’m gay,” he said in a heavy voice.
Patrick snorted. “Oh God, I’m so shocked,” he said in a playfully flat voice. “Our same-sex marriage has all been a sham-“ he pretended to look surprised. “Oh wait, that means I’m gay too,” he said, rolling his eyes.
Pete grinned, hugging him. “Great! We can be gay together then. Alas, our marriage is saved!” he said happily, and Patrick smiled reluctantly.
“Alright, I really am still pissed at you, you know?” he said, and Pete nodded solemnly. “Good, just because I love you doesn’t mean you’re forgiven for being a douche,” he said, pecking Pete’s lips as he stood up. “You two stop being a bad influence on my husband,” he joked, trailing his hand along Pete’s shoulder as he turned and walked out.
As he walked upstairs, he heard Pete’s voice from the room he had just left. “Man, I love my life, dude.” Patrick just smiled, shaking his head and thinking he agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick looked up when the door opened and Brendon came into the kitchen to start his shift. “Hey, Brendon,” he said, and Ray looked up.
“How was the date?” he asked, going back to frosting his cake.
Gerard’s head popped up from the other side, sugar mold in hand. “Oh yeah, Spencer set you up on a date last night, didn’t he?” he asked brightly.
Brendon just sighed. “Still a virgin,” he said, letting out an exaggerated harrumph as he sat down his bag in the corner.
Patrick blinked. “Um… thanks for letting me know?” he tried, confused as to what he should say to that.
Gerard snorted. “Brendon was gonna go to a party with a dude who was basically hoping to get Brendon drunk and have sex with him, but Spencer convinced him he didn’t want syphilis and set him up with a friend and apparently, that didn’t lead to sex either,” he said.
Brendon pouted. “The whole date sucked.” He sighed. “I’ve never been on a date and the first one I go on is a blind date that blows,” he said, shaking his head.
Ray frowned. “Awww, what went wrong?” he asked, and Brendon looked up, bright pink.
“Ten minutes into dinner, he left to go to the bathroom and never came back,” he said, looking forlorn.
Patrick raised an eyebrow as Ray and Gerard both cringed, looking at each other. “Um… why are we trying to get the barely legal teenager laid?” he asked, looking confused.
Gerard rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m not trying to get him laid, Spencer is, but the poor kid is nineteen and never went on a date before, dude. I was the worst kind of outcast and I still went to the skating rink with Susie Miller in the ninth grade. My mom drove us, which was really awkward, but still… I had at least one date younger than him and everybody thought I was gonna blow up the school,” he said pointedly.
Brendon groaned. “I was a band geek with braces and glasses, Gerard. At least you had the ‘I’m so bad ass I’m gonna kill us all’ appeal… besides, I thought everybody from New Jersey killed people?” he tried, and Ray just snorted, shaking his head.
Patrick snorted. “I never had braces, but I was a band geek with glasses who never grew past five-four with the last name Stump, and I did alright for myself,” he said, shrugging. “I mean, I wasn’t super popular for obvious reasons, but I had some friends and I was like… fifteen before I had my first kiss, but it wasn’t like I was a social leper.”
Brendon just gave them a depressed look. “My first kiss was about six months ago and only because I met Spencer at his and Ryan’s dorm, Ryan’s friend was high and just grabbed me and made out with me before I could get away,” he admitted, looking thoroughly dejected.
Patrick, Gerard, and Ray all cringed. “Dude… this is insane,” Patrick said, and Gerard nodded. “I say this without any sexual harassment lawsuit intended, but the kid’s hot, why is he in this situation?” he asked, and Ray rolled his eyes.
“Young people in the gay scene are viciously judgmental?” he tried, and Patrick chuckled.
“Well, I won’t say being fat and short got me much action in college as a bisexual guy, but it can’t be THAT bad!” he tried. “Brendon, have you tried asking dating advice from some of your friends?” he asked.
Brendon nodded, looking down sheepishly. “Well, I don’t really have friends, but I asked Spencer and Ryan.” He sighed dramatically. “Spencer said to give up and accept dying alone. Ryan told me to not say anything to someone until I’m naked,” he said, and Patrick rolled his eyes.
“Those two are bitches,” he commented, then smiled. “Look, as your boss I can’t legally and in good standing give you dating advice without risking lawsuit, but just be yourself and if guys don’t like that, they just won’t. But somebody someday will,” he said. “Hell, look at me! First time I ever met Pete, I shouted insults at him for ruining a recording session and for some reason, after a shitty first impression, he saw something he liked,” he said, shrugging.
Ray made a face. “Well… to be honest, you aren’t a good example,” he said, and Gerard nodded when Patrick looked confused.
“Yeah,” Gerard started. “Your husband is a nut bar,” he said, and Patrick snorted. “Look, Brendon, some people got it, some people don’t.” He shook his head sadly. “Look at me and Ray, we’re both going to die alone-“
Ray huffed. “Hey!”
Gerard continued, flapping a hand at Ray. “Maybe you’re destined to die alone too, but at least then you aren’t dying of an STD,” he said, and Brendon just stared wide eyed.
“Gee, thanks. I’m more depressed now… I think I’ll just go kill myself while I’m still young and beautiful,” he said, glaring as he went into the back to get the measuring cups for his first batch of pastries.
Patrick snickered and shook his head as Ray turned to Gerard. “You know… maybe we aren’t the best motivational speakers,” he said, and Gerard nodded, humming as he fixed a piece of the mold he was working on.
“Hey Patrick,” Gerard asked, and Patrick looked up. “Were you really unpopular?” he asked, and Patrick nodded. “Huh… you’re hot, I’d have thought popular,” he said, and Patrick rolled his eyes.
“I have actually lost weight since college and having access to expensive clothes helps,” he said, smiling jokingly. “I don’t know, I just get along with people or I don’t, you know?” he said. “I mean, I wasn’t that lucky, I ended up being a freshman in college before I finally got laid, but I did get a few dates in high school,” he said, shrugging as he walked out.
Gerard and Ray worked in silence for a bit before Ray turned to Gerard. “Were you getting action freshman year of college?” he asked curiously, and Gerard scoffed.
“Fuck no, I was like… fucking twenty-five, dude. It was pathetic. I didn’t get any until after I’d lost all the weight and started dating He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named,” he said, and Ray laughed.
“Good, I’m not alone,” he said, and then cringed. “Really, he was your first?” he asked, and Gerard nodded solemnly. “Ew.”
Gerard smirked. “What about you?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Ray snorted. “Well, I wasn’t twenty-five, I was twenty-one, but it was the first actual girlfriend I’d ever had. Remember the redhead?” he tried, and Gerard nodded.
“Yeah, I kinda do,” he said, cringing. “Memories aren’t so great for that time though.” They were quiet for a moment and Gerard shook his head. “But we were ugly, fat, usually wasted, and played with Pokémon cards, Brendon’s hot, thin, claims he barfs when he tries to drink, is mostly smart, and likes things that are actually semi-popular… what the fuck?” he asked, and Ray shrugged.
“I don’t get it either,” he said, and Gerard just shook his head. “Hell, you turned out hot at least, I’m still fat and ugly,” he muttered.
Gerard snorted and went to say something, only to grin when he saw Bryar stirring a bowl of batter suspiciously slow and still, clearly listening in on their conversation. “Hey Bob, who was your first?” he called with a grin, holding up a finger to Ray as they waited for an answer from the man who rarely said anything.
“Your mom.”
Ray burst out laughing at the shocked look on Gerard’s face at Bob’s reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick looked up as he heard the door open and the bell ring. “Hey, welcome to Sugar-“ He rolled his eyes when he saw Pete coming in, clearly off work as he was in jeans and a hoodie. “I thought you had some stuff today?” he asked, leaning over the counter for a kiss when Pete walked up.
“Eh, I said ‘to hell with it’ because I’m the boss and I’m allowed,” he said with a smile. “Also, cause Frank’s coming in to see the new designs I had your boy add to his birthday cake plan.
Patrick snorted. “I thought you were in charge of his cake?” he asked, and Pete smiled.
“Frank wanted to adjust so that the top tier with his name, where Gerard’s sketches had tombstones, is jack-o’-lanterns. Stuff like that. A boy only turns thirty once,” he joked, and Patrick laughed.
The door opened and Frank came in. Ryan and Spencer, who were both at the counter down some, turned to stare. “Whoa,” Ryan muttered, looking at the guy’s outfit.
Patrick laughed as Frank walked over, wearing tight jeans and a high-lighter pink tee-shirt proclaiming ‘I Bite Vampires’. “Interesting. I thought vampires bite you?” he joked, and Frank smiled brightly.
“Fuck that, I’m a biter and any vampire I meet is going to fuck me or I won’t let him eat me,” he said, and Patrick rolled his eyes as Pete let out one of his obnoxious laughs that everybody else hated.
“So, Lunchbox, where’s your cake maker dude? Frank here has some additions he wanted made,” he said, and Frank nodded, holding up a list.
Patrick chuckled. “You know, Pete, we do have to cover the cost of this, so keep in mind you’re paying for this monstrosity,” he said, and Pete shrugged.
“Why have money if I can’t use it to make people happy?” he asked, and Patrick heard Ryan and Spencer both gasp.
“Um, to buy tons of shoes?” Spencer tried, looking offended.
Ryan snorted. “To pay for Spencer’s shoe-habit so he doesn’t get put in shoe-shopping rehab,” he said, and Spencer glared with his patented ‘I will kill you, Ryan, I swear to God’ look.
Pete smiled, laughing. “Don’t worry, if he gets put in rehab, I’ll sponsor his stay,” he said solemnly, and Patrick snorted.
“Pete, I’m not saying don’t make Frank’s birthday great, but don’t start getting the idea to throw giant parties for every employee you have. We’ve got money but do remember we do have an expensive house, we have cars pick us up and take us everywhere, and we have ridiculous amounts of bills. Eventually, thousand dollar cakes adds up to millions of dollars, especially when you have hundreds of employees,” he said, and Pete grinned.
“Patrick, we’re fine. And if we ever do go broke, I’ll find us the best cardboard box down by the railroad,” he promised, and Patrick chuckled.
“Well, I’ll give you a discount on the cake and cupcakes and cookies for Frank’s birthday, but you’re paying for it in other ways,” he said, leaning over for another kiss.
Pete smirked. “I’ll gladly pay in those ‘ways’,” he said, and Ryan looked disturbed.
“Ew. Spencer make it stop!” he whined, shaking his head.
Patrick snorted. “Alright, come on, we’ll go talk to Gerard and stop scaring my employees,” he said, leading Pete and Frank into the back. They passed Ray, who was letting Brendon have the useless cookies of the batch he was decorating, and went into the office.
Gerard didn’t even look up as he started talking, tucking his hair behind his ear. “Patrick, can I please take a break? I know I usually don’t ask for one, but I need a smoke break so bad I’d probably kill someone for the nicotine on their fingertips and I’ll never last until my lunch break.”
“Gerard,” Patrick sighed, and Gerard erased something violently.
“I’m serious- I’d offer to blow you for a break if I thought you’d take me up on the offer-“
“GERARD!” Patrick squawked, going bright red and Pete glared at Gerard.
Gerard looked up and froze, spots of pink appearing on his pale cheeks. “Um, hi Patrick’s husband,” he said, cringing visibly.
“You,” Pete said, pointing at him. “Don’t you dare offer sexual favors to my Patrick,” he said, possessively pressing into Patrick’s side.
Gerard looked past Pete and saw the vibrant pink shirt on Frank. “Who the fuck burned all your other clothes to make you wear that?!” he asked, and Frank frowned, looking down at his shirt.
“I love this shirt,” he said, shrugging. “You could use some color yourself, you know?” he said, and Gerard shrugged, looking down at his black clothes.
“I’m wearing blue socks,” he said with a straight face. He blew his bangs out of his face. “What’s up, Patrick?” he asked.
Patrick snickered. “This is the guy, as you probably noticed, your favorite cake design is for, he has some specifics he wants to work out,” he said, and Gerard eyed Frank skeptically.
“Oh yeah, you don’t like my work?” he asked, and Frank smiled brightly.
“Are you kidding?!? It’s amazing! I just wanted to know if you could do few little things. Like… like just minor details, I love the design, it’s epic,” he said in a rush. “You’re the designer? Sorry about the color remark then,” he said, quickly, walking closer.
Patrick chuckled. “Deal with that then you can go smoke,” he said, and Gerard saluted him mockingly before turning to speak to Frank, who was gushing suddenly.
Pete snickered. “If we leave, Gerard, do you promise not to eat Frank for the nicotine on his fingers?” he teased, and Gerard eyed Frank, but shook his head.
“Nah, but fair warning, dude, if I like… start sniffing your hair, I’m not being as creepy as it seems, I’m just having a hardcore nic fit,” he said with a shy smile, and Frank nodded with a grin.
“I’ll make this quick then,” he said, showing Gerard his list of changes.
Patrick smiled as he and Pete walked back out. “Ray, stop providing sugar to the sugar addict,” he said, and Brendon gave him an apologetic smile while Ray simply shrugged.
“It’s the eyes, Patrick. I can’t help it!” Ray defended. “He has giant puppy eyes and I love puppies!” he said, and Pete smiled.
“Yeah Patrick, Brendon has giant puppy eyes,” he said, smirking at him.
Patrick glared. “Don’t you dare teach him to use his puppy eyes for evil like you use yours,” he threatened, poking Pete’s hip.
Brendon just smiled. “Oh hey, Patrick! Did Spencer complain to you yet that you need to fire me?” he asked, and Patrick eyed him curiously.
“No… why are you smiling about that?” he asked.
Brendon rolled his eyes. “Cause I want to gloat when you tell him no. He says he hates having to commute with me and since we have class together and work together, he can’t get away from me unless you fire me,” he said.
Pete snorted. “Bitchy teenagers?” he asked, and Patrick nodded. “You know, you talk good about this crew but so far they all seem insane,” he commented.
Patrick hummed, eying Pete. “Wonder where I ever got so comfortable with crazy people?” he asked, smiling affectionately at Pete, who just rolled his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrick felt his insides soar at the way Pete’s eyes lit up when he spotted him walking over. He stood up when Patrick got to the table outside the café where they were meeting for lunch. “Patrick!” he said brightly, like he wasn’t expecting him to be there. He caught him in a small kiss as soon as he was close enough to grab, then pulled out his chair for him as he sat down.
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Pete, you don’t have to be all gentlemanly just for lunch,” he teased and Pete shrugged, smiling.
“Well, we don’t have lunch together often,” he said, and Patrick gave him a disbelieving look. Pete sighed. “Alright, I have news that I love but you’re going to hate,” he said, and Patrick groaned preemptively.
“Peter-“
Pete smiled brightly. “We’ve got the launch date for Clandestine figured for mid-November and we’re throwing a super massive bash complete with a runway session for the first line!” he said excitedly.
Patrick beamed. “Pete, that’s great! Why would I hate that?” he asked, and Pete bit his lip.
“The launch party is going to be held in the upstairs of your building,” he said, and Patrick glared.
“What?!”
Pete nodded weakly. “And all the two weeks before, there will be workers going up and doing construction,” he added and Patrick groaned. “I’m sorry! Our house isn’t big enough for this bash and neither is the label building or the shop building!”
“You couldn’t just rent a location?!” Patrick asked, putting his hand over his eyes. “Pete, the sounds of decorators and workers traipsing all around upstairs is going to be killer in my shop, you know that, right? The ceilings and floors are like paper!”
Pete sighed. “I know, but we had that giant space available and it’s so much easier to just-“
‘Turn the second floor of my bakery into a fucking nightclub?!” Patrick asked, and Pete cringed, but then frowned, slowly morphing into his ‘I have an idea!’ face. Patrick just glared. “No.”
Pete smiled. “But think! We could keep to the theme and call it ‘Everything Nice’!” he said, and Patrick glared harder. Pete sighed. “Okay, no nightclubs above your bakery,” he agreed, and Patrick sighed, shaking his head in amusement at how dejected Pete looked.
“If the clothing line goes well, you can look into locations away from my bakery for your nightclub,” he allowed, and Pete smiled brightly.
“Yay! I couldn’t keep that name, it only works in conjunction with Sugar & Spice, but I really see potential here, Patrick,” he said, and Patrick smiled as he watched Pete daydream.
“You are the most surprising businessman, Pete Wentz, that’s for damn sure,” he said, shaking his head as he sighed.
Pete shrugged. “Nothing’s surprising when I have the perfect muse,” he said, and Patrick snorted. “No really,” Pete reached over and took Patrick’s hand in his across the tabletop. “Sure I had a successful label before I met you, but I didn’t have any dreams of expansion or new business ventures, or anything like that until I met you and saw how much fire and ambition you had… it changed something in me,” he said with a small smile.
Patrick sighed, lacing their fingers together. “You are the cause of bipolar disorder,” he said, and Pete frowned.
“Well… that made no sense,” he said, and Patrick laughed.
“Yes it does. You can piss me off so bad I’m ready to scream and then have me completely enamored at the exact same time,” he said, and Pete smirked.
“Eh, that’s just my charm,” he joked, and Patrick smiled, shaking his head as he leaned across the small table to kiss Pete quickly.
“You are insane, Pete Wentz.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Patrick returned from lunch with Pete, he couldn’t help but be confused. He saw Ryan and Spencer both glowering off into the corner from the spot behind the cash register. He walked over and followed their gaze, noticing Brendon standing with a girl at the cookie display for Halloween. “Why are we looking at Brendon?” he asked, and they both huffed in unison. “Okay, that was weird,” he noted, and Spencer grumbled.
Ryan sighed. “Brendon has to die,” he said, and Spencer nodded.
“That bitch must die- wait what?” he looked at Ryan in confusion. “Brendon? No, that bitch shoving her boobs at him needs to die,” he said.
Ryan scoffed. “What?! Not even. Brendon’s totally flirting with Kate. That whore. He won’t stop staring at her boobs-“
“She’s shoving them in his face!” Spencer argued. “Brendon’s just a confused kid and that witch is poisoning him with her giant boobs!”
Patrick hummed. “So, let me get this straight… you hate Brendon but hate a girl hitting on him even worse,” he said, and Spencer made an awkward squeak. “And you, Ryan, are jealous because he’s gayer than Disney On Ice and the hot chick is still hitting on him, not you?” he finished.
Ryan glared. “Yes.”
Spencer scoffed. “I am not attracted to Brendon,” he defended and Patrick smirked.
“Never said you were,” he said, winking as he turned to walk off, leaving a bright red Spencer Smith gaping in horror.
Patrick started into the back, raising an eyebrow at Ray’s flour covered face as he worked on ridiculously tiny flowery cookies with dramatically narrowed eyes, clearly concentrating hard.
This scene was only made funnier by Bob peeking around the cooling racks he was cleaning to stare at Ray’s ass as he bent over the table. Patrick snorted. He walked silently to his office and opened the door. “Seriously,” he began as he walked in. “Is everybody in this shop ridiculously mooning over everybody else?!” he said in annoyance, only to look up and spot a dreamy eyed Gerard gazing at the back of Frank Iero’s head as he flipped through Gerard’s sketchbook. “Apparently so,” he answered himself, rolling his eyes.
Gerard and Frank both looked up. “Oh, hey Patrick! Frank came to look at some of my older sketches and like… the finished results to see how they looked in real form,” he said brightly.
Frank nodded. “You’ve got a great crew here, dude. You and Ray make Gee’s designs come alive?” he asked, and Gerard blushed at the nickname.
Patrick smirked. “‘Gee’?” he teased, and Frank chuckled.
“Mikey calls him that all the time so I kinda picked up on it and sorta can’t stop,” he admitted.
Patrick nodded. “Yeah, me and Ray do the cakes together but it’s a group effort on some other stuff. Brendon always helps Ray with cupcakes, for example,” he said. He nodded at Gerard. “Gerard does the fancier stuff, like molded sugar people and stuff.”
Frank smiled back at Gerard. “Kick ass,” he said, and Gerard shrugged. “No really, dude, do you do normal art?” he asked, and Gerard nodded.
“Well…not normal,” he said with a sheepish shrug. “But like… cartoonish sorta? Like… monsters and zombies and shit and like… super heroes.” He shrugged, smiling. “Sometimes both.”
Patrick rolled his eyes at the gleam in Gerard’s eyes when Frank looked at him like he was the coolest thing around. “No sex in this office,” he demanded, and Gerard turned bright red, making inane spluttery squeaks.
Frank just looked confused. “What?” he asked. “Why would there be sex in the office?” he asked, not noticing how badly Gerard appeared to be willing the floor to open up and swallow him.
Patrick snickered. “Just remember that warning for later,” he said as he grabbed his clipboard and went to check on the Sanderson order with Brendon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gerard was working on a drawing in his non-work notebook, smiling as he made Frank’s cartoon vampire fangs pointy, when Patrick let out a loud curse.
“Son of a bitch!” Gerard looked up and saw Patrick slamming his hand down on his desk.
“Patrick?” he asked in concern. “You okay?”
Patrick snorted, shaking his head. “Oh yeah, fucking grand!” He turned the laptop around and Gerard leaned forward so he could read the headline, even if the smaller print was too small to read.
“Ew.” Gerard read the headline aloud. “‘Trouble in Paradise: Record Company Magnate Marriage on the Rocks?’…” Gerard looked up. “Um… is it?” he asked, and Patrick snorted.
“No!” he scoffed. “That’s the problem. This photo?” He enlarged the image for Gerard to see more clearly. “It was taken at lunch the other day when Pete told me about the party upstairs and all the workers coming in a few weeks.” Gerard examined Patrick clearly shouting and Pete looking annoyed. “Two minutes later we were fucking holding hands!” Patrick stood up, groaning as he paced. “People just- when the actual celebrities are all being good, they decide to pick on the easiest targets among the local rich people and it always is easy to pick on the eccentric gay guy because it clearly causes the most impact.” Patrick shook his head, cursing. “I’m sick of this shit.”
Gerard sighed. “Patrick, it’s wrong, and it sucks, I agree, but you know what you were getting into by marrying Pete-“
Patrick waved a hand. “No, no, I don’t give a shit what they say about me,” he said, and Gerard frowned.
“Then… why are you so pissed?” he asked softly.
Patrick growled. “Because it hurts Pete!” he cried angrily. “They upset my husband every fucking day. They do this shit because they know he gets thrown off. Pete gives them the reaction they want. They can see him suffering and see how bad it hurts him!” he cried. He shook his head. “It’s personal then, Gerard. It’s personal when they fucking hurt my husband,” he spat.
Gerard just smiled sadly. “And therein lays the problem. They hurt you by hurting him.” Patrick just sat down heavily, scrubbing his palms over his eyes. “Patrick, you know what you can do?” he said, and Patrick sighed heavily.
“What, Gerard? What can I possibly do to make this not suck so badly?” he asked. “You know Pete’s going to wonder if it’s not true, right? He’ll wonder if maybe something is up with our marriage just because they keep pointing it out.”
Gerard smiled. “Go home, wait for Pete, and prove them wrong,” he said simply.
Patrick eyed him curiously. “What?” he asked in confusion.
Gerard snorted. “Dude, I’m not exactly the love master here, but if ever there was somebody I met that loved somebody else, it’s you dude. That guy sorta owns your soul most days. Sure, the other ones you want to kick the shit out of him,” Patrick chuckled and Gerard smirked. “But you are about the only person I’ve ever seen love another human unconditionally that wasn’t a parent, you know? Pete will probably be upset like you said, so go home and wait for him and when he gets there, prove to him that they’re wrong and you guys are good to go.”
Patrick smiled widely. “You’re genius, dude,” he admitted, sighing. “Well fuck, if I’m going to try and beat Pete home, I better go,” he said, going to pack up his stuff. “He never works past four or so before he goes home.”
Gerard smiled. “Want to give the shop a once over before you head out?” he teased.
Patrick snorted. “Ray got in the shipment to start preparing everything for Frank’s cake if you want to go be all stalker and recheck to make sure everything’s in for your designs,” he said, and Gerard lit up. “Jesus Christ, you’re obsessed,” he said.
Gerard just shrugged and smiled. “He’s an interesting guy, don’t you think?” he said, and Patrick just snorted again, beginning to do a great impersonation of an agitated animal.
“Sure, Gee, sure,” he said as he grabbed his bag in order to go. “Look out for the shop for me?” he said, and Gerard nodded.
“Yeah, I got it, just go be a good husband,” he teased, and Patrick smiled, even if his cheeks were a little pink.
Part 3