Courage Is Grace Under Pressure
Title: Courage Is Grace Under Pressure [Prologue & Chapter 1]
Author:
oldflamesgrief, Me!
Chapter Rating: PG
Pairing: Patrick/Peter
Summary: Patrick and Pete fall in love with a twelve year age gap going against them. Aside from this, how will the boys cope when life throws awful and unexpected situations, time and time again straight in the face of their relationship. They're strong, but what exactly will be their downfall in the end?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the words. Don't sue.
Warnings: None as of yet.
A/N: Title from an Ernest Hemingway quote.
Prologue
Our relationship was doomed from the start. For the most part of our time together we were a broken record. A huge menacing scratch down the middle that cut the best tracks up into jagged, skipping beats. But the record still spun, the needle still traced around the vinyl perfectly. Only every three hundred and sixty degrees it would hit that scratch again. The blip in our relationship. It was awkward and each time we hit it, it made us weaker. The record became less and less playable. This scratch wasn’t made by Peter and I. It was made by the people around us. The prejudiced and unfair beliefs of the world. It started off small. Just a measly little thing that sent a crackling sound through track two and made us both roll our eyes in repressed frustration. But gradually, by a few accidents, a few unstoppable events and bad luck on our side it turned into that monstrous welt. Furthermore, it turned into what it is today. Nothing. The record is gone. It lies in two pieces at the bottom of a landfill somewhere. And I am alone again, right back where I started only with five years more experience and a thousand more memories to taunt me about what once was.
My name is Patrick Stumph and I am twenty years old. I fell in love at the ripe young age of fifteen. Hard to believe, I know. It was hard for me to believe at the time, too. I met Peter through a band I was playing with. I was only young of course and so technically I shouldn’t of been in the bar we had our fist gig at. He watched over me and made excuses for me. I fell head first into a teenage crush. I always thought it would stay a crush. A twelve year age gap wasn’t the most convenient of things and Pete could get pretty much anybody in the bar into bed if he wished to. But how wrong I was. He took an interest in me. Once we were together, the same question that was on everybody’s lips was on my mind. How was it supposed to work? He was twenty seven years old and I wasn’t even sixteen. I didn’t have the answer then and now I know why. Because it wasn’t going to work. So let me take you back in time. To a happier point in my life. Approximately four years and six months ago. The 16th of August. Place? The local skate park.
Chapter 1
“Don’t even try and tell me you jumped that higher than me!” Patrick almost shrieked, flipping his tatty skateboard into his hands and straightening his ever present hat on his head. Patrick always prided himself in being, not the best skater around, but better than Joe of all people. Joe just shrugged and dropped himself onto the rail next to them. He looked up at Patrick as he ripped the Velcro strips of his knee pads apart.
“I did,“ he stated simply, ripping at the other pad forcefully “Admit defeat.” he smirked cockily. Patrick frowned and flailed his free arm in the air.
“You so did not! I heard your deck scratch against it!” He scoffed rolling his eyes, pulling his skateboard under his arm and turning on his heal. His heavy skate shoes dragged across the rough concrete beneath him as he made his way over to the grassy bank a few feet away. Lying on his back, shirtless and with a pair of oversized sunglasses resting delicately in his tousled hair was Peter. An arm was draped across his forehead, shielding his closed eyes from the angry sun which was gradually creeping higher into the sky. Patrick threw himself onto the dead prickly grass with a loud over exaggerated - and almost childish - thud next to him.
“Something up?” Pete asked, not moving an inch to look at his boyfriend. He was simply too comfortable to do so.
“I just flipped a trick over the rail higher than Joe and he’s claiming that he did it higher.” Patrick scoffed, pulling his own knee and elbow pads off far too quickly and wincing a little when the Velcro scratched his skin. Pete’s eyebrows raised at that but he still didn’t open his eyes or move.
“Maybe he did. How can you be so sure?” Pete responded, flexing the muscles in his broad shoulders slightly to push away the bunching pain in his back caused by the uneven ground beneath him. Patrick’s head snapped to look at Pete, his eyes narrowing to give him a stern glare. Pete sensed the familiar look and let his eyelids flutter open, turning his head to look up at Patrick.
“If you had been watching me like I asked then you would of seen!” Patrick exclaimed, squinting irritated at him.
“You expect me to watch you non stop? As soon as I look towards you guys the sun screams in my face.” Pete explained, gesturing towards the glaring sun, flickering slightly from the cars speeding past.
“That’s what sunglasses are for, dumbass” Patrick laughed slightly, reaching forward and pulling the sunglasses off Pete’s head and onto his nose with one flick of his wrist. Pete rolled his eyes, though the glasses were too dark for Patrick to see. So he just laughed and leant forward to push their sun dried lips together sweetly. Patrick smiled and shuffled forward, resting a hand on Pete’s flat and slightly slick torso as they kissed.
They both felt so comfortable here. It was the only place they could come and be intimate in public. The skate park hit its peak of use in ‘99 when the skating craze exploded and the park was overrun by 15 year old boys in baggy pants and CD players blasting out Blink 182’s Enema Of The State as loud as possible. It gradually became less and less used as the skating generation grew up and found a new trend. Until now, where there was a group of about only 6 kids using it. Patrick, Joe and their friends Jon and Mark. As well as these two other kids who paid awfully little attention to any of them. It was run down and pretty much abandoned. But the best thing about it was how enclosed it was. With the raised highway on one side and the high grassy bank on the other it meant that Patrick and Pete had the perfect haven to be a real couple.
Their kiss had become somewhat heated and their legs had become entangled together as Patrick let his plump little lips kiss down Pete’s neck and chest. Pete took the moment to admire how adorable Patrick was. His chubby cheeks always had a soft tint of rose in them and on heated days like today they were brighter and made him look extra cute. His eyes were always slightly droopy, not in a tired way but in a gorgeous, almost seductive way. Pete sometimes just wanted to ravish him there and then no matter where they were. Though of course, despite his reputation, he did have control over himself.
“I think you should get my name tattooed right across… here.” Patrick smirked, trailing his fingers across Pete’s stomach right above the waistband of his jeans.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Or, my face. Upside down so that when you jerk off you can look down and see me and make your fantasies seem even more real.” he joked, his eyes wrinkling quaintly as he smiled. Pete snorted as he laughed at Patrick’s ridiculous suggestion.
“I don’t think of you when I jerk off!” he defends himself. Though he and Patrick both knew he was lying.
“Oh come on! Now I’m hurt.” Patrick pouted, letting his fingertips tickle Pete’s tanned skin. Pete giggled at the fluttering touch. He curled his body slowly as he rolled Patrick flat on his back and lay on top of him, letting his lips fall onto his neck, sucking and biting until he was confident he had left a mark. Patrick moaned and writhed ever so slightly beneath Pete.
“Pete...” he whined, frowning and touching his neck “My parents are going to see that.” he added, rubbing it to see how high on his neck Pete had bitten him. Pete sighed and buried his face in the crook of his neck, only this time he reserved his mouth for talking only.
“So what? I’m fed up of hiding everything anyway. Let them find out.” he mumbled, lost in the sweet scent of Patrick. The boy beneath him sighed and pushed him away.
“Pete, you know why I can’t tell my parents. They wouldn’t just be upset and angry. They would go absolutely ballistic.” Pete crossed his arms over his chest, his frustration evident.
“You can’t know that for sure. Maybe you’re just worrying too much. They’re your parents. They love you. They would never stay mad at you for too long.” Pete insisted.
“Oh Pete, this argument is old. Please don’t bring it up again! You don’t know my parents and I do. Drop it.”
And with that, the boys dropped the subject immediately. Pete knew it was a battle he had already lost many months ago. They relaxed happily against the grass once more, oblivious to the lone figure stood at the top of the bank, watching the couple intently.
Author:
oldflamesgrief, Me!Chapter Rating: PG
Pairing: Patrick/Peter
Summary: Patrick and Pete fall in love with a twelve year age gap going against them. Aside from this, how will the boys cope when life throws awful and unexpected situations, time and time again straight in the face of their relationship. They're strong, but what exactly will be their downfall in the end?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the words. Don't sue.
Warnings: None as of yet.
A/N: Title from an Ernest Hemingway quote.
Prologue
Our relationship was doomed from the start. For the most part of our time together we were a broken record. A huge menacing scratch down the middle that cut the best tracks up into jagged, skipping beats. But the record still spun, the needle still traced around the vinyl perfectly. Only every three hundred and sixty degrees it would hit that scratch again. The blip in our relationship. It was awkward and each time we hit it, it made us weaker. The record became less and less playable. This scratch wasn’t made by Peter and I. It was made by the people around us. The prejudiced and unfair beliefs of the world. It started off small. Just a measly little thing that sent a crackling sound through track two and made us both roll our eyes in repressed frustration. But gradually, by a few accidents, a few unstoppable events and bad luck on our side it turned into that monstrous welt. Furthermore, it turned into what it is today. Nothing. The record is gone. It lies in two pieces at the bottom of a landfill somewhere. And I am alone again, right back where I started only with five years more experience and a thousand more memories to taunt me about what once was.
My name is Patrick Stumph and I am twenty years old. I fell in love at the ripe young age of fifteen. Hard to believe, I know. It was hard for me to believe at the time, too. I met Peter through a band I was playing with. I was only young of course and so technically I shouldn’t of been in the bar we had our fist gig at. He watched over me and made excuses for me. I fell head first into a teenage crush. I always thought it would stay a crush. A twelve year age gap wasn’t the most convenient of things and Pete could get pretty much anybody in the bar into bed if he wished to. But how wrong I was. He took an interest in me. Once we were together, the same question that was on everybody’s lips was on my mind. How was it supposed to work? He was twenty seven years old and I wasn’t even sixteen. I didn’t have the answer then and now I know why. Because it wasn’t going to work. So let me take you back in time. To a happier point in my life. Approximately four years and six months ago. The 16th of August. Place? The local skate park.
Chapter 1
“Don’t even try and tell me you jumped that higher than me!” Patrick almost shrieked, flipping his tatty skateboard into his hands and straightening his ever present hat on his head. Patrick always prided himself in being, not the best skater around, but better than Joe of all people. Joe just shrugged and dropped himself onto the rail next to them. He looked up at Patrick as he ripped the Velcro strips of his knee pads apart.
“I did,“ he stated simply, ripping at the other pad forcefully “Admit defeat.” he smirked cockily. Patrick frowned and flailed his free arm in the air.
“You so did not! I heard your deck scratch against it!” He scoffed rolling his eyes, pulling his skateboard under his arm and turning on his heal. His heavy skate shoes dragged across the rough concrete beneath him as he made his way over to the grassy bank a few feet away. Lying on his back, shirtless and with a pair of oversized sunglasses resting delicately in his tousled hair was Peter. An arm was draped across his forehead, shielding his closed eyes from the angry sun which was gradually creeping higher into the sky. Patrick threw himself onto the dead prickly grass with a loud over exaggerated - and almost childish - thud next to him.
“Something up?” Pete asked, not moving an inch to look at his boyfriend. He was simply too comfortable to do so.
“I just flipped a trick over the rail higher than Joe and he’s claiming that he did it higher.” Patrick scoffed, pulling his own knee and elbow pads off far too quickly and wincing a little when the Velcro scratched his skin. Pete’s eyebrows raised at that but he still didn’t open his eyes or move.
“Maybe he did. How can you be so sure?” Pete responded, flexing the muscles in his broad shoulders slightly to push away the bunching pain in his back caused by the uneven ground beneath him. Patrick’s head snapped to look at Pete, his eyes narrowing to give him a stern glare. Pete sensed the familiar look and let his eyelids flutter open, turning his head to look up at Patrick.
“If you had been watching me like I asked then you would of seen!” Patrick exclaimed, squinting irritated at him.
“You expect me to watch you non stop? As soon as I look towards you guys the sun screams in my face.” Pete explained, gesturing towards the glaring sun, flickering slightly from the cars speeding past.
“That’s what sunglasses are for, dumbass” Patrick laughed slightly, reaching forward and pulling the sunglasses off Pete’s head and onto his nose with one flick of his wrist. Pete rolled his eyes, though the glasses were too dark for Patrick to see. So he just laughed and leant forward to push their sun dried lips together sweetly. Patrick smiled and shuffled forward, resting a hand on Pete’s flat and slightly slick torso as they kissed.
They both felt so comfortable here. It was the only place they could come and be intimate in public. The skate park hit its peak of use in ‘99 when the skating craze exploded and the park was overrun by 15 year old boys in baggy pants and CD players blasting out Blink 182’s Enema Of The State as loud as possible. It gradually became less and less used as the skating generation grew up and found a new trend. Until now, where there was a group of about only 6 kids using it. Patrick, Joe and their friends Jon and Mark. As well as these two other kids who paid awfully little attention to any of them. It was run down and pretty much abandoned. But the best thing about it was how enclosed it was. With the raised highway on one side and the high grassy bank on the other it meant that Patrick and Pete had the perfect haven to be a real couple.
Their kiss had become somewhat heated and their legs had become entangled together as Patrick let his plump little lips kiss down Pete’s neck and chest. Pete took the moment to admire how adorable Patrick was. His chubby cheeks always had a soft tint of rose in them and on heated days like today they were brighter and made him look extra cute. His eyes were always slightly droopy, not in a tired way but in a gorgeous, almost seductive way. Pete sometimes just wanted to ravish him there and then no matter where they were. Though of course, despite his reputation, he did have control over himself.
“I think you should get my name tattooed right across… here.” Patrick smirked, trailing his fingers across Pete’s stomach right above the waistband of his jeans.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Or, my face. Upside down so that when you jerk off you can look down and see me and make your fantasies seem even more real.” he joked, his eyes wrinkling quaintly as he smiled. Pete snorted as he laughed at Patrick’s ridiculous suggestion.
“I don’t think of you when I jerk off!” he defends himself. Though he and Patrick both knew he was lying.
“Oh come on! Now I’m hurt.” Patrick pouted, letting his fingertips tickle Pete’s tanned skin. Pete giggled at the fluttering touch. He curled his body slowly as he rolled Patrick flat on his back and lay on top of him, letting his lips fall onto his neck, sucking and biting until he was confident he had left a mark. Patrick moaned and writhed ever so slightly beneath Pete.
“Pete...” he whined, frowning and touching his neck “My parents are going to see that.” he added, rubbing it to see how high on his neck Pete had bitten him. Pete sighed and buried his face in the crook of his neck, only this time he reserved his mouth for talking only.
“So what? I’m fed up of hiding everything anyway. Let them find out.” he mumbled, lost in the sweet scent of Patrick. The boy beneath him sighed and pushed him away.
“Pete, you know why I can’t tell my parents. They wouldn’t just be upset and angry. They would go absolutely ballistic.” Pete crossed his arms over his chest, his frustration evident.
“You can’t know that for sure. Maybe you’re just worrying too much. They’re your parents. They love you. They would never stay mad at you for too long.” Pete insisted.
“Oh Pete, this argument is old. Please don’t bring it up again! You don’t know my parents and I do. Drop it.”
And with that, the boys dropped the subject immediately. Pete knew it was a battle he had already lost many months ago. They relaxed happily against the grass once more, oblivious to the lone figure stood at the top of the bank, watching the couple intently.