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Apparently the rumour had started on Tuesday, but Mikey didn't find out about it until Friday. And when he did, he could barely believe that anyone else would genuinely think that it was true. He and Pete Wentz? Dating? No, no, Pete was his best friend, nothing more.
He wanted to know who started this whole thing, and hopefully to put an end to it before it got out of hand. School was done for the week, though, and he didn't really know enough people to have much of a chance finding out that way, so he figured the next best thing to do was to see if Pete had heard about it. After all, it was as much about him as it was about Mikey.
Pete answered the phone right away.
"Hey, Mikey Way!"
"Hi, Pete."
"Oh, did you hear that rumour about us? I keep forgetting to tell you about it."
"What, how long have you known about that? I only just found out, like, a few minutes ago."
"Heard about it a few days ago."
"And you never told me?"
"Wasn't thinking about it."
"Really," Mikey said skeptically.
"Yeah!"
"But do you know where it came from? Like who started it?"
"Not a clue."
"If it turns out to be, like, Gerard trying to be funny I'm gonna-"
"Well, it is pretty funny though, don't you think?"
"What?"
"That people actually think we're dating, I mean."
"I guess so, but I still want to know who started it."
"You know what would be even funnier though?"
"What?"
"If we actually, like, fake-dated, to turn the tables."
"How would that be-"
"Trust me on this one, Mikey Way, it'd be great."
-
About an hour later, the two of them were hanging out at Pete's house, half-watching a movie and half-planning the whole fake-dating scheme. They were on the couch, Mikey laying flat with his head resting in Pete's lap (but, like, in a totally 100% heterosexual way).
"So if we're going to pretend to date, we have to be believable."
"I still don't get wh-"
"Just trust me, Mikey; I know what I'm doing."
"But-"
"Just go with it and you'll understand the joke later."
Mikey shrugged. "Okay."
"Great, okay, so to be believable we'll have to act all romantic and stuff."
"What, like, in public?"
"Yes, in public. Kissing in secret won't do much for our plan, would it?"
Mikey's face went red. "Uh, you're right, yeah."
"Okay."
"Hey, don't worry, we don't have to make out or anything- unless you want to, that is."
"Oh, um, no we don't need to do that."
"Yeah, but we should still, like, hold hands and stuff."
"Oh."
"It won't be that hard to pull off, dude, don't worry. We probably won't even have to lie and say we're actually dating, since people already think that now. So if we start acting even a little gayer I'm sure they'll all just make those assumptions on their own."
Pete began to absentmindedly play with Mikey's hair. "So, like, we don't even need to do much to pull this off; just maybe we should practice kissing or something, so we won't seem as awkward when we kiss around other people."
"We're really gonna do that?"
"Yeah, and we might as well practice now."
Mikey sighed and sat up, turning to face Pete. "I don't even know, like, what to do.."
"Have you ever kissed someone before?"
"Wh- of course I have! Just...never a guy."
"Okay, well, this is no different."
"I think it'd be a lot different, and I mean, it's kind of weird because you're my best friend."
"Then it's good that we're practicing now, so it doesn't seem as weird," Pete said as he draped his arm over Mikey's shoulder. "So I guess I do this.."
"And what am I supposed to do with my hands?"
"I guess just put them on my waist, here."
Pete took one of Mikey's hands and guided it to rest on Pete's hip, and Mikey followed his example, putting his other hand on his waist as well.
Mikey hesitantly leaned forward, still not entirely sure what he was doing. But he didn't have to think much, because Pete quickly leaned in and kissed him softly. Although it was little more than just their lips brushing, Mikey felt a tingling warmth spreading through him from the contact. He couldn't help but stare at Pete in shock.
"What?"
Mikey blinked out of his daze. "What do you mean, what?"
"Why're you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"You look really...surprised, or confused, I don't know."
He shook his head. "No, no, it's nothing."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah."
"Should we try that again, then?"
"Oh, yeah- I mean, I guess we should."
Pete grins at him. "Alright, great, we need to be as convincing as possible, so the more practice the better."
-
"So are you guys actually dating?" someone asked them as they walked to class. They'd been asked this plenty of times in the last few days since they'd begun this whole thing, but still Mikey found himself blushing madly at the question. Pete, on the other hand, just grinned widely; neither of them actually answered, though. This was how they'd been responding to any mention of their relationship so far.
And so far, not many people had seemed particularly surprised, nor did they seem to suspect anything about their relationship being fake; some even talked about how they allegedly 'knew about it all along.' Mikey hadn't been expecting that, honestly. He'd never thought that he and Pete seemed any different from any other pair of friends, but now he began to wonder if maybe he'd just been extremely oblivious this whole time. If even Gerard seemed unsurprised by their sudden increase in affection, maybe there was more between himself and Pete than he'd thought.
Apparently, there was never even a need to actually say anything about them 'dating,' either, because everyone seemed to think so already. And it wasn't like their reactions to people's inquiries did anything to contradict such assumptions, anyhow, so, in all, their plan was even easier to pull of than they'd expected.
Though Mikey still didn't get why they were doing this in the first place.
His thoughts were disrupted by Pete suddenly giving him a kiss on the cheek (causing his face to turn an embarrassingly bright shade of red, no doubt, as he'd never been one for PDA) as they reached his classroom.
"See ya later, Mikey!"
"Bye, Pete," he muttered, being far too flustered to respond with the same enthusiasm. The fact that he was still taken by surprise whenever Pete did something like that frustrated him. Well, really, what frustrated him was what he felt when Pete kissed him, and how he was unable to fathom exactly what those feelings were. All he could think was that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so straight after all.
-
At lunch, Pete sat next to Mikey (though maybe 'on' would be a more accurate word) and stole his food. Some part of Mikey knew he should be annoyed at him, but he wasn't. For whatever reason, to him, having Pete sitting practically on his lap and trying to eat his pizza just seemed oddly cute.
Mikey shook his head. Cute? Since when did he think Pete was cute? But really, he was kind of adorable, especially right now, as he looked up at Mikey with bright eyes and rambled on excitedly about some song he was writing-
"Mikey, Mikey, are you even listening to me?"
"What? Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."
"About me?" Pete asked with a smirk.
"Well, um, maybe...," Mikey stuttered, his face burning with embarrassment. Pete just giggled and pecked him on the lips, and frick, his giggle was really cute, and now Mikey was blushing even harder in front of all these people. On top of the fact that, well, Pete just kissed him in public- which was embarrassing enough in itself- Mikey was seriously starting to question whether he was really just putting up with this because Pete had said it'd be a good idea or if he actually genuinely liked Pete. Worse yet, he had no idea if Pete just was doing this because of the rumour or if, possibly, Pete actually liked him. He wasn't sure which option would be more terrifying, honestly. Was it worse to actually like Pete and have him think it was only for the plan, or to like him and have the feeling be mutual- meaning that he'd have to actually acknowledge said feelings? But maybe he didn't actually like Pete that way at all, and he was just getting carried away in guessing. Not wanting to face whatever this was right now, he just pushed the thoughts to the side until it was necessary to really consider them again.
"Seriously, Mikey, you seem really out of it today; are you okay?"
"Sorry, yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing; what were you talking about?"
-
"Dude, that's not fair, you can't blue-shell me!" Pete shouted in exaggerated annoyance as Mikey successfully stole his first place position in their round of Mario Kart. "I'm so gonna get you back for that, just you wait."
"Says the one who got, like, seventh place in the last three games," Mikey said, grinning.
"Shut up, that's because you cheated."
"What, and so did the computers?"
"No, you just messed me up!"
"And how exactly did I do that?"
"You distracted me."
"If if makes you feel better to blame your lack of skill on me, then you just keep telling yourself that."
"Hey! That's not fair!" Whether he was referring to what Mikey had said or to the fact that, in the game, Mikey pushed Pete's car off of the road, Mikey wasn't really sure.
"There are no rules in Mario Kart, Pete; everything's fair."
"Everything, huh?" Pete smirked and leaned over, planting a kiss on Mikey's jaw. Which, of course, distracted him enough to make him accidentally drive into a wall and thus end up all the way back in fourth.
"Wh- that's cheating!"
"You just said everything's fair in Mario Kart, my dear."
"Fair enough, but I think you're getting a little carried away with those terms of affection, man. No one else is around, so you don't need to use them, you know."
"Well, what if I want to? And it's good practice, anyway," Pete said, pressing himself closer to Mikey.
"There's literally this entire couch, and you're sitting right here."
"So? I'm allowed to, aren't I? It's more comfortable this way."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound announcing that Mikey crossed the finish line- in first place, despite Pete's attempt to distract him- while Pete was still just starting the lap.
"How are you done already?"
"I'm just better at this than you."
"I'm gonna win next time, I promise."
"Next time let's go to Rainbow Road."
"What? No, that place is, like, evil in its purest form!"
Mikey giggled. "If you're so determined to prove that you're better than me at this, don't back down from a challenge like that. And anyway, since I won I get to pick where we go next."
"Fine, but only for you, Mikey."
When Pete finally crossed the finish line (seventh place), Mikey selected the track.
"I'm gonna beat you this time, Way."
"I doubt that, Wentz."
For the next two or three minutes they sat in almost-silence, both of them concentrating solely on beating the other; the only sounds were the music and sound effects of the game and the occasional cry of frustration as one of them fell off the track yet again.
Suddenly, Pete shouted in triumph, and Mikey turned to stare at him in shock, almost dropping his controller.
"What...how..?"
"See, I told you I'd win!"
Well, he hadn't actually gotten first place, but he was ahead of Mikey, and that was close enough.
"But how did you get so good at it all of a sudden?"
"I told you, you were distracting me before, when we were talking."
"Oh, okay, I'll have to remember to keep talking to you whenever we play this, so I can win."
"You already do that, though."
"So anytime you're talking to someone while playing this you can't focus on the game and do badly?"
"No, that's just with you."
"What?"
"You're very distracting in general."
"I...what's that supposed to mean?"
"I like you a lot," Pete declared matter-of-factly, snuggling closer to Mikey's side. Once again, Mikey nearly dropped his controller (and onscreen, his character swerved and plummeted off of the road).
"N-no one else is here, we don't have to keep up the whole...thing, you know," he stammered, trying to hide how flustered he was.
Pete didn't respond right away, and when he did, he was so quiet that Mikey almost didn't hear him. "No, I- I mean it. I really, really like you. For real."
Mikey froze, beginning to panic inwardly as he frantically scoured his mind for the words he needed to utter some sort of response. After what felt like eternity, he still merely managed an "oh."
"I- I'm sorry Mikey; I shouldn't have said that...I just thought..."
"No, no, wait..." He turned to Pete, the game all but forgotten. "It's okay, you don't need to apologize...I- I think I like you too."
Pete's eyes widened. "You mean...really?"
"Yes."
"Uh, can...can I kiss you again? For practice, I mean," he added.
"I think we've had enough practice."
Pete paused, apparently unsure whether that was a yes or a no; any question of that was answered as Mikey leaned over and kissed him.
-
It was a few hours later, and they were on the couch, Mikey laying with his head in Pete's lap- just like they'd been sitting only a few days ago, when they first started forming their plan (except, this time, there was nothing heterosexual about it).
"Hey, Mikey?"
"Yeah?"
"Uh, I was...wondering, um, if maybe, uh, you want-"
"Yes."
"-to be my actual boyfr- wait, really?"
"Yes, Pete, I do want to," Mikey said, a grin spreading across his face.
"Yes!" Pete practically cheered, and Mikey thought it was adorable. He sat up, pulling Pete into another joyful kiss.
As they pulled away, Mikey realized something important.
"Wait, Pete, were- were you the one who started that rumour about us?"
Pete grinned, obviously trying to suppress his laughter. "Oh, Mikey, of course not, what ever gave you that idea?"