Pietro's #1 Crush – Chapter 10
(See Chapter 1 for full
disclaimer and legend)
Pietro crouched among the trees that dotted the property line of the brotherhood house. He was tired of running. For the first time in his life he just wanted to go home, to his family. Even though he wasn't sure if his family would accept him for who he was, he was so tired he just wanted to return to something familiar. He watched the house as Lance looked out at the trees near where he was hiding. He held his breath and backed further into the undergrowth. He knew that there would be no way that Lance could see him, but his apprehension over talking to his friend tonight was making him overly cautious. Moments later he saw Lance turn from the window and retreat further into his room. Pietro took that as his sign that the coast was clear and zipped over to the back door of the house.
The door creaked open revealing the darkened laundry room, no doubt strewn with cleaning supplies and baskets of clothes long overdue for a wash. Pietro took several tentative steps into the room, hoping he didn't trip over anything as the light switch was just out of his reach across the room. After what felt like forever, for someone who lived their life on the fast track, Pietro finally managed to reach the door to the rest of the house. He listened at the door, hoping that everyone had gone to bed for the night. Silence greeted his ears and he slowly opened the door to the hallway, peaking his head out a fraction. He was alone. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door with more ease, stepping quietly along the hall and being sure to avoid the creaking floorboards. He climbed the stairs and turned the corner to the hallway when he heard Lance's door open and quickly ducked into the bathroom as the dark haired mutant rushed past him. He waited as he listened to Lance walk down the hall to Todd's room and knock on the door. He leaned closer to the doorway, straining to listen as Lance told Todd that he was going out to look for Pietro.
The downy haired mutant wondered why Lance would bother to go out this late to look for him when he'd disappeared like this before and nobody had cared. He stepped out into the hallway as Lance hurried down the stairs to grab his keys. He would talk to Lance now; his courage suddenly very strong and his prior apprehension fading away.
x-+-x
Lance grabbed his keys, a look of worry etched across his normally cool features. What if something bad had happened to Pietro? He had been willing to just go to sleep and wait until morning to look for his friend. What if it was too late by then?
As soon as he'd gone to sleep his dreams had been the same as before; with Pietro chained by some beasts, and him being unable to do anything to save him. This time, however, Pietro had managed to fight back, but the demons had transformed into a black smog and enveloped him causing him to scream out in terror. Lance learned quickly that they were fear incarnate when they hit him too, knocking the wind out of him and sending him reeling with anxiety and apprehension. It all flashed past his eyes so quickly that he barely had a chance to understand what was going on. Images of himself being beaten up by the bullies in his old school. He was much younger and they were shouting things that he hadn't understood then, but knew all too well now.
'Fag!' 'Ya fucking freak!' 'Why don't you go home and cry to mommy, fag!' Their insults didn't hurt as much as their fists did and he had been too small to do anything except curl into a ball and hope for them to stop.
"Pietro!" he had cried, breaking free of the creatures grip and sitting upright in bed; drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. "Fuck, what was a I thinking!" he yelled at himself as he jumped out of bed. He had dressed quickly, his resolve set to go out and look for Pietro, even if it took all night.
Now he was rushing across the lawn towards his Jeep, completely unsure of where he was going and praying to whatever god that listened that it had only been a bad dream. He was reaching to put the keys in the ignition when he heard the door to the house close. He looked up and saw Pietro walking over to him. "Pietro!" he called, unbelievably relieved that his friend was there. He hopped out of the Jeep and rushed over to him. "Are you okay, man?" he asked, reaching out to hug his friend; not caring if it seemed weird to the other boy or not.
x-+-x
Pietro stiffened as Lance's strong arms closed around him. He had no idea why the other mutant was so high strung, or why he'd been out this late or even why he was now hugging him. He thought better of taking it as a sign to make a move on his friend and calmly waited for the other boy to end the embrace. It felt like forever before Lance released him and looked into his eyes. 'God, this is going to be more difficult than I thought,' Pietro suddenly realized, losing his nerve.
"Sorry, Pietro," Lance started. "I, uh, I was worried about you, man. I wanted to talk to you about something, but hadn't seen you all day. I, uh," he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I think I know what's been bugging you. I kinda ran into Duncan today and, well, don't fucking listen to him, man. He says shit, but he doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't know what he said to you, but if it was anything like what he said to me… just forget it man."
Pietro looked up at his friend, confused for a moment before he remembered. Duncan had driven by him; his comments hadn't been kind and had only made him even more miserable about his situation with Lance. "Ah, well," he began, deciding to get it over with. "Don't worry about it. That's not really why I'm upset anyways. Y'see, it's like this," he took a deep breath, unable to look in his friends eyes, instead looking intently at the ground between them. "I'm gay. I know you don't like that kind of thing, and you don't have to worry about me making a pass at you or anything but I thought you should know before you hear it from anyone else," he said the words as quickly as possible and kept his eyes locked on his shoes. He tensed his muscles, subconsciously preparing for any backlash he might get from Lance. He'd always known he was gay, but had never really come out and told anybody. Evan had known, but it was more like he'd always known since they'd been friends for years.
Pietro waited for Lance to react. To say something. Hit him even! Anything to break the silence between them because it was driving the younger boy insane. He stood there for long minutes that felt longer and waited, his shoes becoming increasingly captivating. He could feel that the other boy was standing in front of him; staring, and he felt his face burn as he began to wish he hadn't said anything. He was about to dismiss the conversation when he felt it. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Lance leaned in and grabbed Pietro's chin in his hand, tilting his face up to look into his chocolate brown eyes. "Now where would you get the idea that I'd be mad at you if I knew you were gay?" he asked, his tone deadly serious as he spoke.
Pietro could see a fire burning in his eyes and he wondered exactly what was going on. "Does it really matter? Do you or don't you care that I'm gay?" he asked, his usual cocky nature returning. The other boy looked at him, the anger disappearing from his eyes and replaced with a sort of thoughtful look. 'I could get lost in those… no, I really should stop, I-!' Pietro's thoughts were cut off as Lance closed the distance between them and gently kissed him. It was chaste and over before Pietro realized what it was.
"I may not like you when you're being a cocky bastard," Lance said, holding his face to look at him. "And I may hate you when you're a prick, but don't you think for a minute that I'd hate you for anything else, Pietro. If that's why you've been all depressed lately, then stop it because your source is wrong." He squeezed Pietro's jaw slightly before releasing it and walking past him to the house, leaving the silver haired youth with a stunned expression.
End Chapter 10
