It had been a week since their night of catching-up and star gazing, but apart from two text messages and a faint "hey what's up" after shows Pete hadn't talked to Mikey, and it was driving him insane. After months of not seeing eachother he had hoped more than anything that the two of them could spend time and have fun with eachother just like when they got to know eachother. It threw him off that he had sent his friend atleast 6 text messages over the past few days, asking him to hang out, and only got two replies, a "nah sry" and "I'm tired" back.

They all had the day off and didn't have to be at their next location until the following morning but bus-call at midnight prevented them from going anywhere exciting.
Which was too bad because he didn't really feel like spending another 5 hours in his bunk overthinking everything and sometimes getting up to write a line or two in his notebook. Before that he had spend a few hours gaming with Andy who had quickly become bored after winning from Pete six times in a row because the bassist couldn't keep his mind in one place.
He flipped himself over and groaned into his pillow, boredom and confusion about a certain young man were eating him alive and he decided that there was an easy cure to solve both problems at once. He turned off his iPod and jumped out of his bunk and pulled on his sneakers, he walked into their living area where he only found Patrick sitting at their table reading a book.

The blonde smiled up to him when he noticed Pete walking in "I was just about to wake you up man" he said. Pete smiled back and sat down next to his friend on the uncomfortable vinyl clad seating "I wasn't sleeping, what did you need me up for?"
Patrick made a dog-ear of his current page and closed the book "you've been sulking for days now, so I was going to get you to come out with me to the bonfire".
He cocked his head "what bonfire?" "I don't know who came up with it, but loads of people are and since you've been a social recluse for the past couple of nights I figured a night fun would do you well" Patrick replied softly tapping his fingers on the book cover.
Maybe Mikey would want to hang out with him if it weren't just the two of them, and.- "Mikey's gonna be there too, in case you were wondering" his friend said, pulling him from his thoughts.
That certainly made things easier he thought as the two of them got up "I'll just fix my hair and then I'm ready to go" he stated.
Patrick just shrugged and walked towards the door "I took a quick shower while you were "not sleeping" so I'm just gonna wait outside" he said before walking down the small stairs.

Pete rushed to their small closet and pulled out his suitcase to grab his toilet bag. He went into the bathroom and quickly pulled a comb through his greasy hair in attempt to brush out the mess he made it by tossing and turning around in his small bunk. He looked closely in the mirror, he had more than enough sleep last night so his eyes looked nice and awake, but there was still something missing. He rummaged through his toilet bag and pulled out his eye-liner. After he lined his eyes with the kohl he stood back to look at his work.

Maybe he'd overdone it a little but he still had to change and Patrick was waiting for him. He smelled his armpits and immediately pulled off his shirt to throw it in Joe's bunk, who still needed a proper payback for putting his dirty socks in Pete's pillowcase.
He searched through his suitcase and pulled out a thight black V-neck and a red hoodie, his outfit, hair and make-up were a bit stereotype scene kid but he didn't really have the time to balance it all out. Mikey would probably understand his look, or he'd think that he was trying too hard. Pete sighed and checked his pockets to see if he forgot anything before he walked off the bus.

"Sorry it took so long" he said apologetically to his friend who got up from leaning against the bus. Patrick rolled his eyes "I had fun staring at this beautiful landscape of busses and garbage bags, you look absolutely gorgeous though" he said. Pete chuckled and playfully shoved his best friend "where are Joe and Andy?" he asked as they started walking towards the forrest across the road. Patrick's face lit up the same way it always did before he was about to tell something that amused him "they're at the bonfire but they left early so Joe could try to make a move on that blonde girl who works the merch table for The Offspring".
Pete laughed "he's gonna make such an ass out of himself". "I know, Andy and me already made bets" Patrick said with a smirk as the two men carried on their conversation about their friend's bad flirting.

-
The trees around them were lit up in shades of bronze and orange as the fire illuminated the dark forrest. The flames were dancing, spitting out small drops of fire that immediately died when they parted with the burning heat. It mesmerized Gerard who was sitting on the dry soil, sipping away at his 5th beer of the evening. People were scattered all around the place, either talking or making out with one and other like they were high school kids. It annoyed him to no end how people were so prone to shoving their public display of affection, or in this case drunken lust, in other people's faces.
He was still admiring the flames and ignoring the debauchery, of which he may or may not have been jealous of, when he felt something poke the side of his head. He looked over to a grinning Bob who was holding two long sticks with marshmellows on the end in one hand, and two beer bottles in the other.

Gerard smirked back at the pleasant surprise and gladly took over one of each treats his friend had brought him. Bob sat down next to him and began to roast his marshmallow by the fire "how fucking awesome was today's set?" he said with an excited smile that Gerard reciprocated. "I know right? It felt so fucking good to stage dive again, some kid held on to my boxers so at one point I had a major wedgie but it was totally worth it". Bob chuckled before he softly blew the slightly charred candy at the end of his stick, it reminded Gerard of his own and he looked at his stick to see that the marshmallow had completely melt down leaving the stick smoldering.
"God damn it" he snarled before throwing the stick in the flames, he had really wanted that marshmallow, he blamed the alcohol for his poor roasting skills and took a swig of his beer to dull the loss.
Bob was laughing at him with his mouth wide open, displaying the slimy residue the pink candy had left on his tongue. "Dude would you stop it, you're gross" Gerard pointed at him. Bob snickered as he whiped away the tears on his face that were caused by the sheer hilarity of his friend's childish pout after completely melting his marshmallow away "I can't help it man, you just really fucking suck".
Gerard smiled and play punched Bob in the shoulder, he was one of the few people who were allowed to laugh at his expanse.

Bob was quickly distracted into a technical conversation with somebody who Gerard was almost sure controlled the main stage's soundpanel who came sitting next to him. Things like that didn't interest him the slightest and he scanned around for familiar faces when he saw Ray and Frank chatting to some girls a few feet away from the bonfire. He couldn't help but notice how desperate the girls looked, especially the one that was leaning into Frank and trying way too hard, not that he cared or anything he told himself.

As he got up to pry his friends away from possible mistakes he was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the girl kissing Frank and the man himself swinging one arm around her waist, drawing circles with his hand right above her ass. He felt a certain type of anger boiling in his blood while he gulped down the remains of his beer and threw the bottle down. He stomped right past his friends, down the main path that led deeper into the woods, he stayed within the faintly illumaniting reach of the fire but was far enough to not be seen by the others.

Almost immdiately though he heard footsteps coming closer, betrayed by the crunching of leaves and twigs. "Who got your panties in a twist" Frank asked him with his lips stained by the harlot's lipstick. Gerard picked at the bark of a tree, not willing to let Frank see the hurt in his eyes of which he didn't even know the reason "nothing just leave me alone would ya". He felt a hand creep up his shoulder and a murmured "hey" behind him. Not that speech was necessarry, his body could feel the heat of the other man's physique burning through the layers of clothes he was wearing, as if their nerve endings were connected by a million tiny threads.
He snapped around and pushed Frank away with one arm "I said leave me alone". Frank's eyes were big with shock and anger "what the fuck is wrong with you?!" the younger man almost shouted taking a step forward. Gerard defiantly crossed his arms and huffed "wrong with me? Why don't you go back to make out with Malibu Barbie asshole". Something in Frank's seemed to spark and he got closer until Gerard was backed up against a tree.

The guitarist planted his hands next to his face and leaned in before he said "you are jealous aren't you" and he broke away with a grin on his face that left Gerard's mouth open in surprise.
"I-I-no, I'm not-" he was quickly shut off by a pair of lips crashing into his and a body pressing up against his own. He felt Frank's hand roam across the outlines of his thighs before his legs were hitched up and he was completely smashed against the tree, surprised by the smaller man's strength. Their tongues fought an intense battle of which Frank was the first to break away, pressing his forehead into Gerard's. "Tell me that you're jealous" he whispered against the other man's mouth.
Gerard was breathing heavily with his legs wrapped around Frank's waist and his arms clasped around his neck "no" he simply panted.
Frank moved his lips to Gerard's neck and as he bit down he thrusted his hips forward creating an electrifying amount of friction between their crotches "say it" he murmured right into his ear, sending chills all over his spine.
This time it was simply impossible not to give in to the younger man's demand and he surrendered "alright, I'm jealous, jealous of that skank and jealous of Pete".
At the mention of that second person Frank pulled back and looked him in the eye "Gee there's nothing going on between me and Wentz, what the hell".
Gerard felt like the biggest idiot in the world right now for assuming things way too quickly and if he wasn't already slightly flustered Frank would have seen the embarrassment painting his cheeks "I just thought since the two of you have those secret talks at night".
Frank sighed and burried his nose in the crook of his neck "well you thought wrong you fucking idiot"he said against the pale flesh of Gerard's shoulder.
Suddenly Gerard felt his legs come down and before they regained their balance he was tackled to the ground by Frank who was now straddling his hips and leaning into him.
"Wanna hear me make a confession" the guitarist said seductively, to which Gerard only nodded in reply.
Frank smirked before planting a kiss on his lips "it's always" another kiss, this time acompanied by a trust "been you".
The feeling of Frank grinding down on him set every inch of his skin on fire and when the other man murmured "I've wanted you for months now Gerard, I want you, everything about you, come for me baby" against his lips he simply lost it and blew a load in his pants, arching his back up and with that move, judging from his hitching breath, dragging Frank over the edge with him.

The smaller man fell down on him panting heavily, and Gerard wrapped his arms thightly around him, basking in the afterglow of their orgasm. They silently lay on the ground like that for a few minutes before Frank stated that they probably should get back before Ray and Bob would notice or Mikey would panic about his brother being gone. Both of them got up and inspected eachother clothes for twigs and crunched up remains of leaves before they walked back down the path without touching eachother but constantly smirking and stealing glances from eachother.
-

Mikey turned over again, normally the soft rocking of the moving bus would knock him out in minutes but his alcohol laced thoughts were keeping him up. He was just sitting by the fire after he'd lost track of Gerard, who luckily made a reappearance before Mikey had to worry, when he felt someone's shadow creep over him.
"Mind if I sit down next to you" Pete had asked him, not that he waited for a reply, he quietly sat down next to him. Fuck he had thought, he had spent days trying to avoid Pete while he was trying to overcome his devestation. Instead of engaging in a conversation he'd just stared into the flames for a few minutes, sometimes tilting his head to take a sip of the vodka in his flask, the silence was broken with a sigh from Pete.
"Look Mikey, I don't know why you're mad at me, or if you're even mad at me, but what I do know is that we're Sweet Little Dudes. And if I'm right, last year when we decided that we were too awesome and became Sweet Little Dudes I knew that your friendship was one of the most important ones I had and have. So whatever I've done or said, please tell me so I can make it up to you" his voice choked a little at the last few words and Mikey turned his head just in time to see his friend dab at his eyes quickly.
At that moment, and even now, he had felt like a complete asshole and a shitty friend so he had put on a smile and rubbed circles on Pete's back before he reassured him that he wasn't mad, just tired all the time from lack of sleep and performing. Pete had smiled at him and almost forced him to go back to the bus to catch some sleep but not before making him promise to hang out tomorrow to which he had agreed.

Mikey sighed, this evening had reminded him of what he felt for the other bassist and the need of making him happy by being his friend was stronger than his own pain, knowing that he'd never be anything more but a friend.