Chapter Text
Pete was standing in front of a shop window staring longingly at the mannequin dressed up in ripped jeans and a flowy white shirt with flowers printed on it.
“ You like the outfit?” Ae asked, he didn’t really care for fashion and in his opinion Pete looked good in anything, but he thought Pete would look very good in the outfit the mannequin was wearing. To his surprise Pete looked at Ae like he was scared and shook his head.
“ No, no… I - I…”
“ Calm down, baby. You can like it if you want, but if you don’t it’s fine too.”
Pete looked like he was contemplating Ae’s words very hard before he whispered
“ Um… I like the outfit. I- I was just wondering would it look okay on me. I mean ripped jeans… um… they are not very proper.”
“ I’d love to see your long legs in those, even if I might get a bit jealous, because you would draw everyone's eyes in those.”
“ I don’t want anyone's attention!” Pete exclaimed and looked absolutely terrified.
“ I know, baby, I know. I didn’t mean to…” Ae rushed to console Pete, but didn’t really know what to say. Ae often regretted he didn’t study psychology instead of engineering. If he’d known he would find Pete one day, he would’ve studied hard from the first day of school and made sure he was well educated enough to take better care of Pete.
“ I’m sorry, Ai Ae. I know you didn’t mean anything bad. It… It’s just that P’Trump…” Ae inhaled sharply at the mention of Pete’s ex-boyfriend, but didn’t say anything. “ He… he was very strict about my clothing. He wanted me to always dress properly. Not… not like… a slut.”
Ae knew that the relationship Pete had with Trump affected his boyfriend a lot, but it pained him greatly every time he came face to face with the proof of the emotional abuse his beloved Pete had gone through. Ae had noticed that Pete often seeked his approval for the things he did or said, but he didn’t know how to deal with it. He didn’t want to enforce the bad habits and unhealthy thinking, but he also cherished the way Pete trusted Ae to take care of him and leaned on him.
“ Pete, baby, you can wear anything you want. You don’t need my approval or anyone else’s.”
And that’s how Ae ended up sitting outside the changing rooms watching Pete run a fashion show with seemingly all the clothing he had ever dreamed of. Ae was pretty sure he had some important stuff to do, but Pete’s smile when he was enjoying himself made him forget everything else in his life.
“ Does Ae like this one?” Pete asked blushing cutely when he modeled yet another shirt.
“ Baby, I like all the same ones as you do.”
“ That’s not helping me to choose.” Pete pouted.
“ What can I say? I prefer you naked.” Ae answered and laughed out loud at the horrified yet pleased look on Pete’s blushing face.
Pete looked so tempting. His soft bangs were flopping over his eyes and his lips were already slightly swollen from kissing. He was blushing and tried to cover himself with a blanket, but Ae snached the blanket from Pete’s grasp.
“ Let me see you, baby. You look so beautiful like this.” Ae whispered coarsely. He had been admiring his boyfriend modeling for him all day and couldn’t wait to get his hands on Pete's naked skin.
“ Don’t tease me, Ae.” Pete whined. He was torn between an actual embarrassment and overwhelming arousal.
“ But I love the way it makes you blush.” Ae chuckled.
“ Well I know better ways to make me blush than teasing me.” Pete responded with a pout that couldn’t quite hide the mischievous little smile tugging his pretty lips. Ae treasured moments like this, when he could get a glimpse of the braver, more carefree Pete.
Ae kissed his way up Pete’s tall, lean body and silently thanked every deity he knew that Trump hadn’t been able to pressure Pete into having sex. He didn’t even want to think what kind of trauma that would’ve left in Pete.
“ I love it when you’re naughty.” He whispered hotly right into the delicate shell of Pete’s ear, making him moan softly. For a second Ae was sure Pete was going to protest but he just smiled softly.
“ I love you, Ae.” Pete sighed and relaxed under Ae’s wandering hands.
Following night Ae was harshly woken up by Pete's elbow. Ae sat up and saw the pinched look on his sleeping boyfriend’s face.
“ Tor! Tor!” Pete sobbed and trashed around their bed.
“ Wake up, baby.” Ae gently shook Pete and stroked his face which was wet with tears. Slowly Pete opened his eyes, but the tears kept rolling down his cheeks and his breathing was still ragged. “ You had a nightmare, but everything is alright now.” Ae hummed and hugged Pete close. That only made Pete cry harder.
“ I miss Bee.” He whispered almost to himself.
“ Who’s Bee?” Ae asked, the all too familiar jealousy immediately running through his body. To his surprise Pete got up from the bed, switched on the bedside lamp and fetched a small cardboard box from his closet. He sniffled lightly as he lifted the lid of the box and picked up a picture frame. It was bright orange and decorated with small wooden bumblebees. In the picture there were two smiling little boys dressed in yellow and black striped t-shirts and blue wings. Both of the boys looked exactly like Pete in his childhood photographs.
“ Bee was my brother. My twin. His name was Tutor, but mae often called us Bumble and Bee. I guess because I always mumbled and bumbled when I got shy and Tutor was stingy like a bee. And together we were perfect, like a bumblebee.” Pete smiled sadly at the smiling boys in the picture and tried to wipe the tears away from his cheeks, but they just kept coming.
“ I - I didn’t know you had a twin.”
“ I didn’t mean to hide it, really, Ae. It’s just that… it’s quite hard for me to talk about Tor. I miss him so much.” Pete hiccuped and looked at Ae apologetically.
“ What happened?” Ae asked carefully and stroked Pete's back, letting him know he was there and there was no hurry, Ae would wait and listen.
“ When our parents divorced, our father took Tutor with him to Germany. They had lived there only a few weeks when Tutor... “ Ae could see Pete was trying to swallow down his distress.
“ Shh, it’s alright, take your time baby.” He whispered and pulled Pete so close he was practically sitting in Ae’s lap.
“ He died in a car accident.” Pete finally whispered.
“ I’m so sorry to hear that.” Ae mumbled and wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend.
“ I miss him so much, Ae.” Pete sobbed and trembled while burying his face against Ae’s chest. “ We had a big fight the last time we saw each other. I think he was just angry and scared because he had to go with our father and I got to stay with mae. He said if I wasn’t such a wimp he wouldn’t have to be the one going away and saving me again. A- and he was right, if I had been stronger he wouldn’t have to have always stepped up for me and take care of me. The court could have assigned me to go with our father and Tutor would be safe. It… it’s my fault he’s dead.”
“ No, Pete, baby, that’s not true. It was not your fault. How could it possibly be your fault that he got involved in an accident.”
“ Oh, but it is. Mae could only keep one of us and she chose me, because I was so shy and fragile.”