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‘Patrick… Patrick…’
‘Mmm…?’
‘Paaaatriiiiick…’

Patrick felt himself being shaken awake, somewhat fiercely. Half-opening his eyes he saw Pete lying next to him, a massive grin plastered onto his face.

‘Have you been here all night…?’ Patrick mumbled sleepily.
‘Nope. Just for ten minutes or so.’
‘What are you doing here so early?’
‘I want you to get up, Trick! Come on, we’ve got a whole day ahead of us!’
‘Mm, and for once I’m not doing anything in it, so let me sleep…’

He started to turn back over in an attempt to get back to sleep, but Pete started to shake him again.

‘You’re doing something now! This whole getting-shot thing has made me realise you shouldn’t sleep your life away. Now come on, up!’
‘Why?’
‘Cause I’m moving out tomorrow! So we should spend our last day living together doing fun stuff!’
‘Shouldn’t we be using it to pack your stuff up?’
‘No, that’s boring. And I’ve done most of it anyway. Come on Patrick, time to rise and shine… No, don’t fall asleep again!’

After another hour (and more prodding from Pete) Patrick was finally up, and they set off to the city in search of some breakfast, eventually deciding on bagels. They wandered through the parks aimlessly, just talking as they went, and occasionally signing the odd autograph or taking a photo with a fan who’d approached them. It was a cold, clear day, the leaves on the pavement frosted over, snow covering the city. The pair sat down for a while and watched the world go by, waving at passengers on a train as it chugged along – and someone caught Patrick’s eye.

‘Who’s that?’
‘Ah, it’s just… someone I know.’ Patrick smiled down into his coffee shyly.
‘Is it Izzy? It is, isn’t it? And you said you weren’t interested in finding anyone else, huh?’
Patrick kept his mouth shut, anticipating another of Pete’s crazy ideas. But it was too late. Pete had already jumped up off the bench and towards the station, dragging a feebly protesting Patrick with him.

The train pulled in slowly, and as the brakes squealed the doors slid open and people began filing out.
‘Come on, dude, help me look for her!’ Patrick sighed as Pete craned his neck to find Izzy, still dragging them through the throng of passengers. ‘I don’t know what she looks like properly… Hey, there she is!’
He dragged them both forward before Patrick could stop him.
‘Excuse me? I believe I owe you some thanks.’
Izzy turned as Pete tapped her shoulder, and smiled. ‘Hey, it’s you guys! I saw you in the park just now…’
Pete nudged Patrick in the silence that followed. ‘Uh, yeah, well… Pete insisted we followed you, so…’
The pair exchanged a shy smile, and were just about to strike up a conversation… before Pete jumped in again.
‘I just wanted to say, thanks for getting that ambulance for me, and getting Trick to the hospital. You know, if you were a fan I’d get you, like, a date with him or something,’ he chuckled.
‘Well… in your own special way, that was a good thank-you.’
She looked back to Patrick again, biting her lip.
‘So, Izzy–’
‘Well, we’d better get going. It’s our last day living together so we’re having a bit of fun. See you around! Nice to talk to you!’

Pete dragged Patrick away from Izzy, the two of them giving each other a short wave and rolling their eyes about Pete.
‘I can speak for myself, you know!’
‘Well all you had to do was start a conversation up! I can’t do all the talking for you, Patrick.’
Patrick was incredulous… but had no time to retaliate as Pete rushed over to a kids’ adventure playground with a little cry of joy.

********************************

The day rolled on in pretty much the same way. They found somewhere for lunch that did amazing toasted subs, and afterwards took a boat trip down the river. After they’d warmed up with some coffee the pair wandered round the shopping mall, trying the tasters in all the food shops and buying all sorts of junk, until eventually Patrick dragged the pair of them home.

Pete trailed in behind Patrick carrying bags full of ‘things’ he’d wanted to buy. Patrick watched as he unloaded the bags and put his new items, mostly shoes, into little piles.
‘Dude, don’t you have enough shoes? Honestly, you’re so girly sometimes.’
Pete stood, clicked his fingers and wobbled his head, diva-style. ‘Mmhmm, damn straight!’
‘You’d better pack those things up, man, start putting everything else away. You don’t wanna leave it all till last minute.’
‘I don’t wanna pack everything, Trick.’ Pete rootled in a bag until he came across something, and handed it to Patrick with a flourish. He opened it up to reveal a wooden box, printed all over with pictures of them and Patrick’s other friends and family. Some were from magazines, others they had taken themselves.
‘Dude, that’s so cool! How did you do that?’
‘You remember that arty shop we went to in town? They do them. I ordered it online and picked it up today when you were looking at stuff. I thought you could, y’know, put special stuff in it. It’s a little cheesy, I know, but…’
‘No, honestly, it’s great!’ Patrick gave Pete a quick hug. ‘I will use it. I’ll put photos and letters in it, and little presents, and all sorts.’
‘Yeah, well… I just thought it’d be a nice present. To say thanks for letting me stay.’
‘You didn’t need to do that, Pete. You know you’re always welcome.’

Some time later they ordered Chinese food and switched on the TV, Patrick flicking through the channels and occasionally stopping to slap Pete’s hand away from his food. Eventually they found a channel showing The Office UK, which they decided to watch and compare with their beloved American version.

They watched as Gareth found his stapler encased in jelly in his desk drawer.
‘I don’t get this,’ Patrick sighed. ‘What’s funny about this?’
‘Me neither.’
Patrick looked over at Pete and found him leaning against his shoulder, eyes closed.
‘It’s no wonder you don’t get it if you’re half asleep,’ he joked. Pete opened one eye and smiled, then turned over and wrapped his arms round Patrick, resting his head on his shoulder.
‘I’m gonna miss this, Trick,’ he sighed. ‘What if I want to tell you something, or get help from you? I can’t just ask you any more.’
‘You can still phone me, and text, and e-mail,’ Patrick chuckled as he cuddled back tightly. ‘You can still call round any time you want. It’s not like you’re leaving me forever, is it? And you’ll be ecstatic to get back to your family.’
‘True… but it’ll still be a wrench leaving. No more staying up till stupid hours chatting, no more hiding each other’s stuff, no more hearing you sing in the shower… no more of your cooking. I’m still gonna miss you.’
Patrick smiled and started to play with Pete’s hair.
‘I’ll miss you too, Petey.’
‘Will you be lonely without me?’
‘Sure I will. It’ll be weird with no one here except me.’
Pete poked Patrick lightly. ‘But hey, maybe I can come and stay over occasionally? Just for your sake, I mean, not that I want to see you…’
‘Sure. Whatever, Pete.’

They both grinned at each other, and carried on watching for a while longer, Pete eventually dropping off to sleep.

When he woke up Patrick was nowhere to be found. The TV was off, as were all the lights except for one small tabletop lamp, and the only sound was the tock-tock-tock of the kitchen clock. He sat up sleepily and stretched, before switching off the lamp and slouching up the stairs.

Patrick gazed at his reflection in the bathroom mirror as he brushed his teeth. He still didn’t get what girls saw in him. Alright, they said he was cute, but he just didn’t understand why. He rinsed out his mouth and sighed at his reflection, hating the way his hair fluffed out and the roundness of his face. He tried sucking his cheeks in, but that just contorted his lips and made him look like a goldfish.

Flicking the mirror in despair, he gave up and clambered into bed, removing his hat and placing it on the bedside table before turning off the lamp and making himself comfortable. A few moments passed, during which Patrick’s thoughts began to wander… until the door creaked open slightly. He looked over worriedly, ready to take down any intruders if needs be – but then realised from the dark hoodie and slouching frame that it was only Pete.

‘Pete, what are you doing?’ he asked as Pete climbed in next to him.
‘Sleepin’.’
‘Can’t you do that in your own bed?’
His question was answered by a pair of arms winding round his waist and a heavy head resting on his shoulder.
‘I can only get one more cuddle outta you before I move out. So I’m not passing it up. Like it or not, Patrick, no cuddles can beat yours.’
Patrick sighed, amused. ‘Pete, you’re married, with a kid, and you’re a dude. Yet you still want to sleep with another guy?’
‘Yes.’
‘…Alright. Fine. Go ahead and creep me out again.’

Pete smiled at Patrick’s irritation. He knew he wasn’t really that annoyed, so he could afford to push it. Slowly, gently, he started to stroke the side of Patrick’s face, chuckling at the anxious whimper it caused.

‘Stop it, Pete!’
‘No!’
‘Why?’
‘Cause it’s funny watching you get so stressed out over nothing.’
‘Honestly, I’m gonna kick you out of this bed if you creep me out any more!’
Like you could, thought Pete, but he let go regardless and shifted over to give Patrick more room with a sigh. ‘Alright, you win. Night, Patrick.’

He shuffled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Although it wasn’t as bad as before, he still had a bad case of insomnia. What would he do for the next couple of hours?

‘I didn’t say you had to let go altogether, Pete.’ He felt Patrick wrap his arms round him. ‘I was kidding.’
‘Well… good.’
They both grinned as Pete snuggled back in, and neither of them said any more.

********************************

The crunch of gravel outside made Bronx scramble up to the window. He’d been looking ever since nine o’clock that morning, and had just begun to tire around lunchtime. But now – there was something coming up the drive.

Is it him?

The huge black Land Rover pulling up outside confirmed Bronx’s suspicions. He ran to the door, before stopping and running to the stairs instead.
‘Mom!’ he yelled.
‘Yeah?’
‘Dad’s here! Can you open the door?’
Ashlee ran down the stairs, smiling. ‘Yes, if you stop shouting so loudly, Mr Noisy!’
Bronx giggled and charged out of the door as she opened it, him being too short to reach the handle.

‘Dad!’
‘Hey, watch out, little guy!’ Pete ran to pick him up as Patrick’s Honda came up the drive, carrying more of Pete’s things. ‘We don’t want you getting run over now, do we?’
He kissed his son on the nose, and held out an arm for Ashlee as she ran up to them.
‘Hi, you.’ They gave each other a quick kiss and smiled at each other, implying more later, before turning to help Patrick with the boxes.

Before too long it was all inside, and Patrick said his goodbyes.
‘Thanks again, buddy!’ Pete pulled him into a big hug, nuzzling his neck as always. ‘Nothing’s gonna change, right? We’re still gonna be awesome best friends.’
‘I know, Pete, I know.’

But as he started up the engine and made his way down the drive, waving at the happy family in the rear-view mirror, he had a horrible feeling of loneliness. The short drive back to the house wasn’t so bad, listening to jazz. But it just didn’t work when he got home. The rooms were too big to be filled with just music. Patrick soon realised that, as nice as personal space was, it was gonna take some time to adjust to living alone.

But soon his phone vibrated in his pocket, and he found a text from Pete.

coming over tomorrow. bringing joe and andy. get some takeout and your best games ready. im not leaving you just yet.