#petekeysecretsanta

Pete was new. Not really new as in just born, but new as in new to this preschool. He didn't really know anyone, well, except Patrick, but they'd known each other since before they were born so he didn't count. Plus, Patrick didn't even go here, so he couldn't count anyway.

So he marched through the safety gate, head held high and armed with a fluffy neon yellow blanket as his mum trailed wearily after him, a deep frown on her face and massive bags under her eyes. As soon as Pete spotted the wooden fort playground, he was off, the yellow monstrosity waving around like a ghastly flag as he ran.

Easily locating the wooden ladder, he climbed up stumbling a bit as his blanket got caught on the underside of a rung. He leaned forward, putting his upper body onto the platform and using the frame to pull himself up. When he managed to stand up, he noticed there was a boy sitting in a tunnel to the left of the ladder he was hunched over and clutching a teddy bear to his chest tightly.

He looked sad, so Pete walked over carefully, worried about falling off and getting eaten by the bark sharks. Pete crawled into the tunnel, and sat beside the boy who stared at the teddy as if he was trying to set it on fire.

“I'm Pete!” Pete said kind of loudly, but he didn't care as the boy looked at him with watery hazel eyes. He seemed to give up then, sobs falling from his throat like a dam had been broken. Pete wrapped his arms around the boy tightly, but it was difficult because they were sitting beside each other in a tunnel.

Eventually Pete had manoeuvred his arms into an uncomfortable position and the boy was crying into his chest. When the boy's tears had started drying up, Pete asked the boy his name.

“My-my n-name's Mikey.” Mikey stuttered out between loud hiccup-y breaths.

“Well,” Pete declared, “You should be my boyfriend.”

Mikey stared at him, his face questioning. “What's a boyfriend?”

Pete eagerly explained what his sister had told him a few days previous.

“Um, okay, I'll be your boyfriend,” Mikey said, a small smile on his lips.

“We have to tell my mum,” Pete said, returning the smile with one of his own. “Let's go!”

He crawled out of the tunnel quickly and stood up, holding the hand that wasn't holding the yellow blanket out for Mikey as he got to the end of the tunnel. Mikey took it, his cheeks going slightly pink.

They slid down the yellow slide, which seemed to be the only plastic thing on the playground, Pete going down first. As he slid down he noticed a dandelion growing at the side of the playground and he ran to pick it.

Quickly returning to Mikey, who was standing at the end of the slide with his teddy in one hand and his thumb in his mouth. Pete internally ‘aww’ed because his mum used to have the habit of doing it when he was little. Now she just smacked herself in the face and sighed.

“I like your pirate clothes,” Pete said awkwardly, wondering if this was what you were supposed to say to your new boyfriend. His sister hadn’t told him anything about what you should say.

“Uh, I like your ballerina dress,” Mikey said, removing his thumb from his mouth to reply. Pete quickly thrust the flower into Mikey’s hand and looked at the ground.

“I got you a flower,” He peered up at Mikey through his fringe, who had a wide smile on his face.

Mikey leaned over and kissed Pete on the cheek, which made them both blush horrendously.

“Um, we should go find my mum,” Pete whispered, avoiding the urge to kiss Mikey back because that blush was ‘adorable’ as his mum would’ve said.

“Wait, can you put the flower in my hair please?” Mikey held out the flower, which Pete took and stuck behind the left leg of Mikey’s glasses. He then took Mikey’s hand and they walked inside the building, stumbling up the wooden steps together. Pete’s mum was talking to a lady with a badge on her chest reading: ‘Alexandria Gaskarth’.

“Mum, this is my boyfriend, Mikey!” Pete was basically thrumming with excitement.

His mum looked at Mikey, who was looking up at her with wide hazel eyes and a dandelion poking out of his hair. His teddy was in the hand Pete wasn’t holding and Mikey was basically the meaning of cute.

“That’s great honey,” She tried to act disinterested, but the expression on her face made it obvious she just wanted to collapse to the floor and squeeze Mikey so tight he couldn’t breathe.

Pete’s mum went home soon after and Pete and Mikey spent the whole day together, building a castle with the blocks, playing tag on the playground, sharing their sandwiches at lunch, comparing juice flavours, just being adorable in general, until it was home time.

They’d been dreading hometime for the last few hours, but now that it was here, they both realised they’d be able to see each other tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.

When it was three, their mums arrived. Jackie Barakat pointed over to where the boys were playing House, his teddy currently being rocked to sleep by Mikey while Pete was fumbling with the switches on the plastic stove.

“How would you like your - MUM!” Pete almost screamed, jumping into his mum’s arms. “Mikey is that your mum?” Pete asked, and Mikey’s mum exchanged a look of amusement with Pete’s mum, unnoticed by either of the boys as Pete slid out of his mum’s arms and they scrambled around, Pete had lost his ballet slipper (it was actually his sisters when she went through a ballet phase, but no one had to know that) and Mikey’s glasses were missing, and they were kind of expensive. They eventually found Pete’s ballet slipper under the bed and Mikey’s glasses in the oven.

When they went back over to their mums, hands held tightly and Pete’s blanket in Mikey’s hand and Mikey’s teddy in Pete’s hand. Once again their mums exchanged a glance, this time one full of questions, and the boys hugged each other tightly, and Mikey’s arms were skinny but warm and Pete decided he liked them wrapped around him and he whispered softly into Mikey’s ear that he’d take care of his teddy, and Mikey replied he’d take care of his blanket. They kissed goodbye and Mikey blushed, looking down at the patterned carpet with sudden shyness.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Pete said quietly, hand once again gripping Mikey’s. Mikey looked up, cheeks as red as Pete’s and tears in his eyes. Pete felt bad and pulled Mikey into another hug, ignoring their worried mums. “I’ll miss you,” Pete sighed, resting his face on Mikey’s shoulder.

“I’ll miss you too, Pete,” Mikey said, voice shaky. They pulled apart again and grabbed their mum’s hand and Mikey’s mum looked down at her son the same way Pete’s did.

They were both uneasy about the large emotional attachment both of the kids seemed to have for each other, but, because they thought it was cute, they decided to leave it for the moment.