Patrick slumped on a park bench, still in his itchy suit and too tight tie. He undid his tie and threw it to the ground, resting his head in his hands. He hated funerals. But then again, who liked them?

‘U’cle Pat’ick?’ said a small voice coming from somewhere in front of him.

Patrick looked up at Bronx, also wearing his black suit, tie, and a sad pout.

‘Hey, Mowgli.’ Said Patrick, forcing a small smile.

The 4 year old climbed onto the bench and sat close to Patrick, watching his legs dangle from the seat.

‘Why did daddy go ‘way, u’cle Pat’ick?’ asked Bronx, still looked at his feet.

Oh geez.

Patrick rubbed the back of his neck, biting his lip.

‘Daddy… daddy had to leave, Bronx.’ He said, forcing the words past the lump in his throat.

Bronx looked up at Patrick, his large chocolate brown eyes glistening.

‘Will he ever come back?’ he asked, staring at Patrick.

There was a long silence.

‘Daddy… daddy can’t come back. He had to go away.’ Said Patrick, trying his hardest to only get the words out, and not any tears.

Bronx bottom lip trembled.

‘But… but if I’m wealy, wealy good, an I eat all my veggietables, an I pwomise to go to go to sleep at night…’ Bronx stopped, letting out a little gasp, the moisture in his eyes about to spill.

Patrick wanted nothing more at that moment to embrace the small boy and take him home and raise and take care of him. Just like his father would have.

But Patrick could only do one of those things.

Patrick pulled the silently crying boy onto his lap and wrapped his arms around him, closing his eyes and hugging him gently.

There was a moment of silence, while Bronx forced is eyes to stop.

‘… Did daddy go cause of me?’ Bronx whispered.

Patrick felt a drop of water roll down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.

‘Why would you think that?’ he whispered back, still holding onto the boy.

‘Cause maybe I wasn’t a good boy and daddy didn’t love me anymore.’ Bronx said, burying his face into Patrick’s hair.

Patrick stood the boy on the ground and looked him eye-to-eye.

‘Daddy loved you more than anything else in existence.’ Patrick said, looking the boy in the eye. ‘He just… didn’t love himself.’ He finished, wondering if this was a little too much for a child.

Bronx bit his lip and nodded, and held out his arms, flexing his fingers. Patrick obeyed the request and picked up the boy and hugged him close, resting his cheek on the mass of messy raven hair.

‘But I did love him, U’cle Pat’ick.’ Bronx half sobbed, burying his face into Patrick’s jacket.

‘I know.’ Said Patrick softly, rubbing the boys back.

‘I did, too.’

Apparently Pete wasn’t having as easier time then Patrick, as the days went by he sported various injuries, including a bloody nose and a black eye. Patrick didn’t usually get hurt this bad, but then again, he avoided bullies, as did Andy and Joe, but they for some reason weren’t bothered as much as Patrick or Pete. 

A few weeks into term, Pete noticed someone, and that someone was a girl. Her name was Lisa Ribald, and she was the Queen of the school. She wasn’t very smart, but had a lot of street smarts and common sense. She was quite I nice girl… When she wanted to be. She had long, red hair with large, emerald green eyes. She was slightly shorter than most girls her age, 17, curvy, with creamy skin and a dazzling smile. She was the most popular girl in school. Why wouldn’t Pete like her? Lucky for Pete, she had taken quite a shine to him as well, mainly after she saw him shirtless at the sports carnival in the beginning of the year. But the bad news was, she didn’t like Pete’s friends, especially Patrick…

Patrick, Pete, Joe and Andy sat at two two person tables one in front of the other, Pete and Patrick who were sitting in front, swivelled in their seats talking to Andy and Joe. This class was the only all four of them had together; art. Today was a theory lesson, and they had a substitute teacher, Ms. Fischer. In all honesty, Ms. Fischer didn’t give a damn about teaching kids, and when she was the teacher he kids didn’t give a damn about learning either. The lesson was almost half over, and the boys were in mid conversation, involving cactuses, croquet mallets, and Star Wars, when Lisa walked up to them, wearing her school shirt unbuttoned a little further then necessary, skirt slightly shorter than most girls, and her auburn hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. They boys stopped talking and stared at her. ‘Hey, guys.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘Hi.’ They replied in unison. As this, a girl sitting in the back of the class glanced up at them. She was sitting by herself, mainly because she had no friends to sit next to. Her name was Ella Harrison. He was tall and curvy, although you couldn’t tell from the fact her school uniforms were all noticeably too big for her. She was pale with large, sapphire blue eyes framed by thin, red glasses, with a sweet smile and rosy cheeks. She had blonde hair that hung just below her shoulders, with a fringe that covered her left eye. She was a quiet girl, and quite smart for the age of 16, hence why she was placed in year 12 instead of year 11. She had a crude sense of humour, and was quite cynical and quirky, but she was a very kind girl, but often passed off as a nerd, due to her appearance and class placement. She closed her book and watched the group if 5 tentatively. ‘Hey, Pete, I was wondering, would you like to have lunch with me and my friends today?’ Lisa asked with her potentially prize-winning smile. Pete looked slightly bewildered. ‘Uh, yeah, okay.’ He said, a little confused. Ella knew exactly what was going on. She had seen it all before. Her and Lisa used to be best friends… Once upon a time, before Lisa became too cool. Ella had never really talked to the group of boys, but she had seen them around the school, and they seemed like cool guys, and she didn’t want to watch another person get screwed over by Lisa. But she couldn’t do anything to stop her… Right? Just then the bell rang for lunch, and Lisa took Pete by the hand and walked him out into the cafeteria. Patrick frowned. ‘Well that was odd.’ Said Joe. ‘Yeah, why would she want to hang out with Pete now? They’ve been going to school together for 6 years.’ Andy added. Patrick was still staring at the corner where Pete and Lisa disappeared. ‘Patrick?’ Andy asked. ‘Are you okay, man?’ Said Joe, waving a hand in front of Patrick’s eyes. Patrick blinked. ‘Huh? Oh, sorry.’ Said Patrick, gathering up his things. Now Patrick, Andy, Joe and Ella were the only ones left in the classroom. Ella carefully walked up to them. The three boys turned to stare at her. ‘Uh… Is there a problem?’ Asked Joe, awkwardly. ‘No, no… I uh, just saw your friend go off with Lisa.’ She replied, clutching her books. ‘Yeah, so?’ said Andy. ‘Well he seems like a cool guy…’ ‘Where are you going with this?’ Patrick interjected. ‘Well it’s just that, Lisa and I used to be best friends, and, I’ve seen her screw over her fair share of guys, and I just thought I’d warn you.’ She said. ‘Well, thankyou, but Pete’s a big boy, I’m sure he can take care of himself.’ Joe said. ‘I’m not saying he can’t, but although she doesn’t look it, she’s a lot smarter than most people think, and she knows how to get what she wants.’ Ella said, matter-of-factly. ‘So what are you saying, she’s going to use Pete?’ asked Andy. Ella shrugged. ‘Who knows what goes on in that girls head.’ ‘You’re pretty weird, you know that, right?’ said Joe. ‘Yeah… I guess I’m a little odd.’ Said Ella casually. ‘I’ve never seen you talk to anyone, why are you talking to us?’ asked Patrick. ‘Well, I don’t know, you seem like cool guys.’ There was an awkward pause. ‘Uh, thankyou.’ Said Patrick. ‘So what were you guys talking about? Let’s walk and talk, I want to go get lunch. Can I sit with you guys?’ The three boys were a little taken aback. ‘Uh, I guess so.’ Said Joe, shrugging. ‘Great!’ she said brightly, and led the way to the cafeteria. ‘So what were you guys talking about?’ asked Ella. ‘The movie Rushmore.’ Said Joe. Ella stopped in her tracks. ‘Tell that stupid Mick he just made my list of things to do today…’ she said, dramatically. The boys laughed. ‘I don’t know anyone apart from us who has seen that movie.’ Said Andy. ‘Really?’ asked Ella, blatantly surprised. ‘It’s one of my favourite movies! Along with Rocky Horror, Gremlins and a bunch of John Hughes movies.’ She added. Andy, Patrick and Joe seemed very impressed. ‘What’s your favourite band?’ asked Joe. ‘The Smiths.’ She replied. ‘Hey, me too!’ said Joe. Ella grinned at him as they walked into the cafeteria and sparked up a conversation. ‘Well they hit it off, huh?’ Andy said. ‘Yeah, I know. I never knew she was like that, she’s pretty cool.’ Remarked Patrick. ‘But what about what she said about Lisa? Do you think Pete’s really going to get screwed over?’ questioned Andy. ‘I don’t know… But there’s just something about her I don’t like, but I cant put my finger on it.’ Said Patrick, his face lined in concentration watching Pete talk to a giggling Lisa. ‘The fact that Pete got to her first?’ Joe cut in, sitting at a table next to Ella. Patrick glared while Andy laughed as they sat opposite them. ‘No.’ Patrick retorted, and looked back and Pete and Lisa. He was jealous Lisa got to Pete first…

As the weeks went by, Ella got closer and closer to the group, now becoming their best friend, and Patrick grew more and more jealous of Pete, who was now dating Lisa. Ella giggled as Andy threw a piece of candy at her while they were arguing about Robert Smith. ‘You’ll never be half the man Robert Smith was!’ Ella jokingly yelled. Andy put on an expression of mock despair. ‘That hurts my soul, Ella!’ he said dramatically. ‘Aw, Andykins.’ Said Ella, pouting, and pulled him into a hug. ‘And you owe me a piece of candy, you bitch.’ Andy mumbled and the pair of them laughed. Joe was watching Ella, with what could only be described as a longing expression on his face. The four were sitting on the grass under a tree during last period, which was a free. ‘So, where’s Pete?’ asked Ella, sitting up. ‘he had to go see Lisa, apparently she wanted to talk to him about something.’ Said Patrick immediately. ‘Oh.’ Said Ella, the previous amusement on her face was now faltering. And right on cue, Pete ran past them and into the boys toilets. ‘Pete?!’ Andy called. But he didn’t stop. ‘I’ll go see what happened.’ Patrick said. He sat up and walked to the boys toilets. It was empty, except for the cubicle at the far end. Patrick walked quietly to the door, contemplating whether he should knock or not. He heard a muffled sobbing coming from the other side of the door. ‘P-Pete?’ Patrick called nervously. The sobbing stopped and the door slowly opened to reveal a tear-stained, red-eyed Pete. ‘What happened?’ asked Patrick. Pete sniffed. ‘She cheated on me.’ He said, casually, although there was nothing casual about the look on his face. ‘What?’ said Patrick, his voice quiet. ‘I went to go talk to her, and when I got to where he was sitting I saw her with her tongue down some guys throat.’ Pete said. There was a pause. ‘Pete- I- I’m really sorry.’ Pete crossed his arms and shook his head, staring at the ground. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He mumbled. Although Patrick felt awful for Pete, his insides couldn’t help but jump for joy at the prospect of Pete being single, but his happiness wore off, because although Pete was single is didn’t make a difference, Patrick knew he would be too scared to make a move anyway. Pete walked over to the basin and washed his face off. ‘Hey, are you going to be okay?’ asked Patrick. Pete nodded. ‘I’ll live.’ He said bitterly. ‘C’mon, let’s go.’ He added. Pete left the bathroom and Patrick followed. They both looked at Andy, Joe and Ella and were shocked to see Joe and Ella with their arms around each other kissing, and Andy shifting awkwardly on his spot under the tree. Patrick cleared his throat and Ella and jow broke apart, both looking embarrassed. ‘Having fun?’ asked Patrick with a raised eyebrow. Joe smiling sheepishly and Ella blushed. The silence was broken by Ella. ‘Pete, are you okay?’ she asked. Pete nodded stiffly and sat down without a word.

Just when Ella was about to open her mouth, the bell rang for home time. Andy stood up and announced he had to go to work and said his goodbyes, leaving four. ‘So, uh, do you maybe wanna come to my house and we could play video games, or something?’ Joe asked Ella, shyly. Ella’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. ‘I’d love too.’ She said. The two exited the school gates, hand in hand, fingers entwined. Then there were two.

Pete was avoiding Patrick’s eye, and Patrick was in mental agony, a war raging in his head. He couldn’t take it, he had to do it. ‘Pete?’ Patrick blurted out. Pete looked up to face him. ‘I-I think I’m in love with you.’ Patrick stuttered. Pete starred at him. The silence seemed to last forever. Pete shot towards Patrick and flung himself in his arms. Patrick was dumbstruck. ‘Patrick, I’ve had a crush on you since we were 7!’ Pete exclaimed. ‘Y-you did?!’ asked Patrick, completely shocked. ‘Mhm.’ Pete tilted his head upwards and thri lips connected and Patrick could have died there and then. It wouldn’t have mattered, because Patrick was already in heaven.* The two broke apart, much to Patrick’s dismay. Pete grinned and Patrick felt his knees weaken. ‘You know Patrick, my parents aren’t home, do you want to come and watch a movie? Not necessarily in that order?’ he added with a smirk. Patrick laughed. ‘Definitely.’ And the two left just as Ella and Joe had.

* Unbelievably cheesy, I know, but I had to write it.

‘So, what movie do you want to watch?’ asked Pete, Patrick sitting on the couch in front of the TV. ‘Hm, I don’t know, you pick.’ Replied Patrick, who could care less what movie they watched. Pete scanned through his DVD collection. ‘What about High Fidelity?’ ‘Sounds good.’ Patrick watched as Pete put in his favourite movie. ‘I love Rob so much.’ Smiled Pete, pressing play. Pete sat close to Patrick and slipped an arm around his waste. Patrick felt as though he had trouble breathing.

The movie was almost over and it was 5 pm. ‘Patrick?’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘How long have you liked me?’ ‘About 11 years.’ Pete grinned broadly and leaned over to kiss Patrick, who wrapped his arms around Pete’s thing waste. Pete deepened the kiss, now straddling Patrick’s lap, pinning him against the couch. Pete bit Patrick’s bottom lip softly, causing the boy to groan in the others mouth. Patrick pushed his hands up Pete’s shirt a few inches, and Pete tangled his finger’s through Patrick’s hair, when suddenly the front door slammed and footsteps walked towards the boy’s location. The pair froze, and Pete jumped off Patrick, and Patrick sat up as Tina, Pete’s mother walked into the room. ‘Hello, boys.’ She said brightly. ‘Hi.’ The boys chanted. She paused. ‘Are you two alright?’ Tina asked. Patrick gulped and Pete stuttered, ‘Y-yeah, fine, why?’ his mother frowned. ‘Oh, you two just look a little flustered, that’s all.’ ‘No, we’re fine.’ Pete said casually. ‘Okay.’ Said Tina, and left the room. Pete gave Patrick a ‘that-was-too-close’ look, and Patrick nodded looking at his watch. ‘Crap.’ He mumbled. ‘Pete, I have to go, I’m late.’ ‘Oh.’ Said Pete, sounding disappointed. Patrick grabbed his bag and gave Pete and quick kiss before leaving the house, and leaving Pete glowing.

Pete and Patrick knew when they were at school they had to keep their relationship on the wraps, or at least not flaunt the fact that they were, yes, boyfriend and boyfriend. But it seemed private enough when they, Ella, Joe and Andy were all sitting on the outskirts of the sports oval one practical art lesson with their sketch books out, they thought they’d risk it. After all, they were the only ones on the oval, and couldn’t be seen, or at least they thought…

In the lazy autumn afternoon Ella was lying across Joe’s lap, Andy chatting to him, and Patrick was letting Pete sketch him for his project. Little did the group know, 11 or so metres away behind a thick oak tree sat Millicent, who had snuck out of class for a cigarette, and was listening carefully to their conversation.

‘But Pete, I look ugly…’ Patrick whined. Pete looked almost offended. ‘No, you don’t! I think you look beautiful.’ He replied, continuing to draw. Patrick pouted, but couldn’t help but smile at Pete. Ella was watching them contently, a vague smile on her face. Pete caught her eye. ‘What are you smiling at, Ella Bella?’ he asked. ‘You guys… you just look so cute together.’ She said beaming. Pete grinned. ‘See, Patrick? You are cute!’ he said. Patrick laughed and sat next to Pete, looking at his drawing. ‘Wow, you actually made me look… Good.’ Patrick said, surprised. Millicent peered around the edge of the tree and watched. ‘I only draw what I see.’ Pete said, simply, and kissed Patrick. Millicent almost dropped his cigarette. This was too good. Stumpy and Wentz, dating? This was perfect. The bell rang for lunch and Millicent waited for the group to leave before getting up, going to share his news with his friends. ‘Hey, guys, I have to go hand this assignment in.’ said Patrick. After a few scattered nods and ‘okays’ Patrick started walking to the other end of the school. He got near the boys toilets when suddenly Lisa stepped in front of him. ‘Lisa?’ ‘Hey Stumpy.’ ‘What do you want?’ Lisa flipped her hair, a smile creeping onto her face. ‘Well, I was talking to Millicent and his friends…’ ‘And?’ ‘So how’s your boyfriend going?’ she asked. Patrick’s heart seemed to skip a beat. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ He said, shrugging. ‘You know, Wentz, the guy you stole from me.’ She said, her smile turning into a death stare. ‘Stole?! You cheated on him!’ ‘Ha, so you admit, you are dating him.’ Fuck. Patrick had been tricked. ‘Look, what do you want from me, what are you going to do?’ Patrick spat. Lisa stepped so close to him her face was barely and inch from his, and spoke in almost a whisper. ‘Before lunch, and ultimately recess, I need you to know - you're going to die.’ She said, before stepping back and walking away. Patrick now knew, that even if he and Pete kept their relationship a secret, and even if Joe, Andy and Ella all covered for them, he and Pete were in deep trouble. Patrick, now forgetting about his project ran back to his friends, looking scarred and on the verge of tears. ‘Patrick? What’s wrong?’ asked Pete, running up to Patrick. ‘They know about us.’ Patrick breathed. All the colour seemed to drain from Pete’s face. It appeared that Pete also knew that they were indeed in big trouble…

As the days went by the bullying became increasingly worse, until one day, a deshevilled Pete was called into the Principal’s office. Patrick, wanting to be there for him, waited outside, this was also a safer option than staying outside with the rest of the kids. About 15 minutes later a very pale Pete stepped out of the office. ‘Pete, what happened?’ asked Patrick. ‘I’m expelled.’ Pete said, bluntly. ‘What? Why?’ asked Patrick. ‘Apparently, parents don’t want their kids around people, well, people like us.’ Pete said. Patrick stood up. ‘That’s bullshit! They can’t do that!’ Patrick said, outraged. ‘Apparently they can. And, our parents know.’ Patrick’s heart seemed to fall into his stomach. ‘W-what?’ ‘They’ve know for days. And they’ve forbidden us to see eachother. At all.’ Tears welled up in Patricks eyes, and a once tough-skinned, high spirited rebel, Pete looked different. And Patrick knew why. There was something about him that wasn’t right, and that somethine was defeat.

A miserable Patrick walked out into the playground, making his way to the place that now only he, Joe, Andy and Ella sat. As he stepped out of the classroom, Patrick felt two pairs of burely arms grab him and someone covering his mouth, dragging him into the boys bathroom. Millicent and his croanies dropped Patrick on the ground and locked the door. ‘What are you doing?!’ Patrick yelled. ‘Lisa sent us.’ Said one of them. They started stepping closer to Patrick. Millicent then spoke up. ‘Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.’ Before they all summoned up all their strength, and after 10 minutes left a brutally beaten, unconcious Patrick lying on the bathroom floor…

Beep… beep… beep… beep. A blonde, 17 year old boy lay in a hospital bed on life support. Completely dead to the world. No one thought he’d ever wake up… Until something happened. Patrick felt something, a tingling sensation in his hand. His heart rate began to increase, and his eyes slowly opened, to reveal a teary-eyed Pete holding his hand. Patrick groaned quietly, making Pete’s head snap up to look at him. ‘Patrick!’ Pete hugged Patrick as tightly as he could, which wasn’t very tight seeing as Patrick was still badly injured. Pete pulled the mask covering Patrick’s nose and mouth down and kissed him softly, but more passionately then he ever had. ‘I thought you wouldn’t wake up.’ Said Pete, his voice breaking and tears welling up in his eyes. ‘W-what happened?’ asked Patrick weakly. ‘You were beaten up.’ Said Pete quietly. ‘Millicent and his friends were expelled.’ He added. Patrick nodded slowly. ‘How are you allowed to be here? I thought we weren’t allowed to see eachother?’ asked Patrick. Pete scoffed. ‘No one is going to stop be from seeing my boyfriend.’ A smile spread across Patrick’s face. Pete had never called him his boyfriend before… ‘Ella, Joe and Andy were here before, but you were still out of it.’ Said Pete. ‘Oh… How are Ella and Joe going?’ asked Patrick. ‘Well, when I drove them here I had to turn around to tell Joe to get his tongue out of that poor girls throat.’ Said Pete laughing. Patrick giggled with him. ‘What’s going to happen to us, Pete?’ asked Patrick quietly. Pete suddenly looked serious. ‘I don’t know, Trick, I don’t know… All I do know is that I’m here, and I love you.’ Patrick smilied. ‘I love you too.’ Pete got into the bed with Patrick and snuggled up to his side. ‘I mean, you’re no Rob Gordon, but you’ll do.’ Pete said with a smirk. Patrick laughed softly. It didn’t take long for Pete to fall asleep, his arms around Patrick, his chest reasting against his head. Patrick’s eyes felt heavy and he felt drousy, resting his head against the pillow and staring into Pete’s closed eyes. Patrick smiled to himself and closed his eyes, his arms wrapping around Pete’s waist, and placed a soft kiss on Pete’s lips and whispered, ‘I can be your John Cusack…’ Before he fell asleep in the safety of his lover’s arms.