Chapter Text
Patrick looked at himself in the mirror over the bathroom sink. His hands firmly grasped the white porcelain as he pushed down and leaned in closer to the mirror. He felt the wall-mounted sink shift slightly under his weight, so he cautiously leaned back and let go. The very last thing he needed was to have to explain to Ray that he’d accidentally broken it off the wall in the middle of the night. He folded his arms over his bare chest as he straightened his back and fixed his hazel eyes on his own reflection. His mind was a complete blank except for one theme racing by on a loop – David.
Something about David caught his attention at their first meeting when he rambled through his non-specific-yet-deeply-specific idea for the store. He tried very hard to control his facial expression and not look too amused or incredulous. He found himself still chuckling about it hours later while he was watching his beloved Blue Jays lose to the Orioles – the goddamned last-place-in-the-American-League Orioles. He was finishing off his third beer of the eighth inning when Pearce popped out to center field. The bases were loaded, this missed opportunity ended the third scoreless inning in a row, and the freaking Orioles were ahead by 3 runs. Patrick would normally be shaking his fist at the TV, burrowing his face in his faded Roberto Alomar t-shirt, kicking the coffee table, and shouting but he was barely paying attention to the game. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about David Rose. There was something very charming about David and he was completely different from pretty much everyone else Patrick had met since moving to Schitt’s Creek – well, who was he kidding, he had never encountered anyone even remotely like David.
Several months after they first met and Patrick made the decision to jump in with both feet and become an investor/co-owner of Rose Apothecary, he was trying to unpack his feelings regarding his business partner. He knew he liked David, he liked him immediately. He was funny (whether or not he intended to be), creative, eccentric, bratty and unapologetically himself. The source of Patrick’s distraction was not the simple matter of making a new friend in a new town. A nagging voice in the back of Patrick’s mind was repeating the embarrassingly juvenile question he’d heard his younger sisters ask each other when they were in middle school –
“Do you like him, or do you like him, like him?”
It was not a simple question to answer, nor did Patrick have anyone to talk to about what like liking David meant. He had his small circle of close friends from high school and a few friends from college but as tends to happen, they had all grown apart; moreso since he’d left his hometown. Aside from Facebook, it was a struggle to remember the last time he’d spoken to most of them. He couldn’t very well call up a friend he hadn’t spoken to in nine or ten months and say “Hey man, I know it’s been a long time but I’m having a sexuality crisis and I would really like your input.”
So he worked his way through it on his own. He sorted through the emotions and confusion and decided that he definitely had a hopeless crush on David Rose and what’s more, he was going to do something about it. By the time David initiated their first kiss in his car, Patrick was certain that following his gut instinct in pursuing David was the right thing to do. There were fireworks and bells ringing and butterflies in his stomach – all the cliché romcom stuff that he previously thought was created in Hollywood.
It was a relief when they became an official item and no one in town batted an eyelash at them when they held hands across the table at Café Tropical or any other time they showed casual affection towards each other in public. It restored Patrick’s faith in small town residents. Almost four months into this relationship, it was time to let at least one person he knew back home in on the recent development in his love life.
Still staring in the mirror, he swallowed the huge nervous lump that had formed in his throat. He checked the vintage Felix the Cat clock hanging on the wall behind him. Despite the tail no longer swishing from side to side like a pendulum, it still kept decent time. Ray was overly proud of that stupid clock and it was one of the first things he showed to Patrick when he inquired about the room for rent. He thought it was pretty odd, but for the completely reasonable weekly rate of rent Patrick was paying for the huge second floor bedroom, his own bathroom with his share of the utilities included, he could deal with off-putting plastic kitsch on the wall. Besides that, the bursting yelp of horror that left David’s throat virtually every time he saw it never failed to make Patrick laugh until he snorted.
Felix told him it was just about 5:30 am, which meant it was closing in on 8:30 am back home. Exhaling deeply, Patrick lightly splashed his face with some water and patted it dry on a hand towel. He went back to his room on tip toe; Ray slept very lightly and if he woke up now and engaged Patrick in conversation, he’d never get a word in edgewise before it was time to go open the store.
He eased the bedroom door shut and retrieved his phone from the charger on his desk. He fumbled with it in his hand so he could use the biometric scanner to open it with his fingertip. His heart nervously pounded a little faster as he sat down on his mattress and rested against the padded headboard. He sighed and dialed, double checking the time on his own alarm clock on his nightstand.
It rang twice, then a concerned-sounding voice spoke.
“What’s wrong?”
The side of Patrick’s mouth curled up into a slight grin, the familiar voice was comforting and made him feel not-so-far from home.
“Hey Casey.”
“Um, hi. Ricky, are you ok?”
Ricky. Only a few people were permitted to call him that. It made him cringe the same way being called ‘Pat’ did, but hearing it in this particular context filled Patrick with more warmth than he anticipated it would.
“I’m fine, yeah.”
Casey didn’t sound convinced. “Isn’t it 4 in the morning there?”
“It is 5:30, actually,” Patrick replied as he tucked his legs under his duvet.
“Ricky, what’s up?”
Patrick cleared his throat nervously. He didn’t know what to say. “Um…how’s Michaela?”
Casey snorted in frustration. “Michaela? She’s um, she’s fine I guess. You didn’t call me at this hour of the morning to ask me about my girlfriend, Ricky. What’s wrong? Are you in trouble or something?”
“I, um…” his voice trailed off. “Can’t I just call to say hello?” The nervous knots were making his stomach somersault.
“Yeah, of course you can but I can hear it in your voice – what’s up?”
“Well, Casey, um…I uh…” Patrick raked his fingers through his hair, massaging his fingertips into his scalp. “I’ve met someone. Someone pretty incredible.”
His older brother laughed, sounding relieved.
“Jesus Christ, Ricky! You scared the shit out of me! I thought you were calling to tell me you were in an accident or that you were dying or something!”
Patrick smiled again, then it slowly turned to a frown. He cleared his throat before speaking again.
“No, not dying. I’m possibly gay, but not dying. Not that I know of anyway.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Patrick’s stomach felt like it was capable of competing for the men’s Olympic gymnastics team. His pulse raced and he retreated in a panic.
“Nothing. Nothing, I’m probably still a little drunk, you know – from watching the Jays game last night. It looked like Grandyman was going to pull us through with that hit in the ninth, didn’t it?” he tried to backtrack. Baseball was always a safe topic with Casey.
“No, no I mean, I really didn’t hear you. I’m on my way to work and I just drove through cell hell; the line cut out. What did you say?”
“Case, um…”
“You’re scaring me again. Come on, out with it.” Casey turned on his take-charge Big Brother voice.
“I said, I’ve been dating someone.”
“Why are you jerking me around? I heard that part, what did you say after that?”
“I’m, uh…I think I might be…gay.”
The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. Patrick’s heart sank into his still flip-flopping stomach. A few seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly.
“Casey?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Patrick, you wanna run that one by me one more time? You said you’re dating a guy?” His brother’s voice was even and soft but Patrick couldn’t infer anything from either the tone or inflection.
“I did, yeah.”
“Well. Um. Sorry Patrick, I feel like anything I say next is going to be wrong. I wasn’t in any way prepared for this phone call this morning.”
Patrick’s heart was thunking hard in his chest as he listened to his brother breathe into the phone.
“Patrick?”
“Yep.”
“You know I don’t care, right? I mean I care… You’re my kid brother and I love you. I care. I want you to be happy. I mean – you know it doesn’t matter to me, right?”
A tidal wave of relief washed over Patrick and he sniffled. “Thanks Case.” He sniffled again.
“Patrick are you crying?”
“Maybe a little.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” What could Casey possibly be apologizing for?
“Sorry that I’m such a shitty brother that you think I would disown you or whatever.” The sarcastic tone in his response made Patrick chuckle. Deep down, he knew Casey wouldn’t care. They were raised in a liberal family in a fairly liberal-ish city so he wasn’t terribly concerned about family ostracism but that didn’t mean his own sexual orientation was an easy thing to grapple with.
“You’re not a shitty brother. At all.” There was a long pause. “So, you don’t think Mom and Dad –“
Casey interrupted him. “No, Patrick they won’t care either. Honestly. Are you really worried about that?”
“Well I…shit, I don’t know.” Patrick wiped his wet cheeks on the bedsheet and shifted his body further underneath the duvet.
“You know that Mom liked Rachel, she really liked Rachel, but I think even Mom knows that it’s completely over between you two this time – I mean you picked up and moved away. The message is pretty clear.”
“God, I wish Rachel knew it,” Patrick said, perhaps with more bitterness in his tone than he intended.
“I love you, bro. I want you to be happy. Honestly, the whole sexual orientation thing doesn’t matter to me. It makes no difference. Mom and Dad won’t care. Sarah and Nikki won’t care, I can promise you that much. So um…again, it doesn’t matter, but…why do you think you’re gay?”
Patrick quickly wiped his nose on the back of his hand. How was he supposed to tell his brother that he regularly makes out with his boyfriend in the back room of their store and hasn’t had a decent nights’ sleep without first fantasizing about having sex with his aforementioned boyfriend?
“Um…”
Casey broke in and rephrased his question. “You‘re dating a guy, ok, but like…you’ve been with girls before. Bisexuality is a thing, right?”
Patrick sighed. “Yeah it’s a thing but…I dunno. The things I feel for David – that’s his name, David. When he kisses me,” Patrick felt himself blush. “When we kiss…it feels…right.”
Casey sighed slightly and hummed a brief, vague response. “It was a stupid question anyway. I mean whatever; gay, straight, bi – whatever floats your boat. I’m sorry if I’m prying Patrick. This is uncharted territory, this doesn’t compare to Nikki getting pregnant in her junior year… I guess don’t know the right things to say.”
Patrick understood what he meant. Both of the Brewer boys had to be physically restrained when their sister Nikki’s burnout boyfriend had broken up with her when she told him about the baby on the way. The job of being a big brother wasn’t easy. Still, giving Tommy Parker a black eye when he saw him at the gas station later that week was an easily come to decision for Casey.
“Listen, of all of the girls I’ve dated, I thought I was in love with Rachel but we were on and off, I didn’t know why I couldn’t make it work with her. Now I know why. I didn’t tell you before but she and I were talking again - I was here about a month when she started texting me. I tried ignoring her but I was so fucking lonely, I was replying once in a while. I wasn’t trying to lead her on but since I met David and we started spending time together at the store…”
“Wait- it’s that David?!”
Patrick grinned. “Yep. The very same. David Rose.”
“Wow. Ok. Continue…”
“Yeah, so – since I invested in the store and started spending more and more time with David, I stopped texting her back and I honestly wasn’t even thinking about her until I was deleting a series of random texts she sent to me. I always felt kind of...relieved whenever Rachel and I broke up. This feels completely different. Everything does. And the way he looks at me...I can't explain it. His best friend and I have gotten kind of close and we were busting David’s balls about his inability to compromise the other night after the store closed and he called me his boyfriend and sat in my lap and I…yeah. I’m going to stop there. TMI and all that.”
Casey’s sardonic laugh made Patrick smile stupidly. He reached for the bottle of water he kept on his nightstand and took a sip. “Thanks for sparing me the TMI. Sounds like love to me, bro. You certainly sound a lot happier than you ever did with Rachel. So, uh, when do we get to meet him?”
Patrick sputtered and just about spit the water out all over his bed. He coughed and beat his chest with a closed fist.
“Ricky?”
“Yeah,” he coughed again. “Sorry, that took me off guard. You want to meet my boyfriend?” He grabbed his t-shirt from the floor to mop up the water on his chest.
“Obviously. It’s my job to vet all of my siblings’ boyfriends. If he makes it past me, he’ll be ready for Mom and Dad.”
Patrick chuckled. “I don’t remember being consulted when you were dating Meredith.”
He could practically hear Casey roll his eyes. “Because it’s a big brother’s privilege, dumbass.”
“Still,” Patrick teased. “I could have told you she was batshit crazy and you could have saved yourself the time you wasted with her.”
“Yeah, well. You’re the one who let Nikki date Tommy Parker. Kinda dropped the ball on that one. Fucking douchebag.”
“Does he come around the house at all?” Patrick clenched a fist. He loved his six year old niece Quinn to death but he’d love nothing more than to pound her worthless biological father into the ground.
“Nah. But the state is taking child support out of his paycheck so at least Nikki gets something.”
“Wait – he has a job?”
“Don’t get too excited, he’s a lunch lady at St. Margaret’s.”
Patrick shook his head. Tommy hadn’t even graduated and now he was serving lunch to students at the high school he dropped out of. Because, of course he was. Patrick needed to change the subject. They already wasted enough time talking about that loser.
“Sarah didn’t respond when I texted the girls on their birthday. Is she still mad that I moved?” Patrick raised his arm above his head and reclined against his pillows.
“Sarah is Sarah,” Casey responded. “I won’t say she wasn’t pissed when you first left but she’s working a lot of hours at the salon. I think she’s too busy to be mad at you anymore.”
“I miss all of you guys.”
“So…come home and visit us? Listen, I know you just opened a business so you’re probably short on cash. If you need me to buy you a ticket home, you and David, just say so. At least come home for Thanksgiving, ok? Please? Fuck it, I’ll just buy the tickets and you’ll have no choice.”
Patrick squirmed at the idea of accepting money from his brother but he had no idea if profits from the store were going to allow for the cost of holiday season airfare. He promised to think about it and talk it over with David. It would be his first holiday away from them but he didn’t think it would be good for business to be closed during the Christmas shopping season.
“Ok, well. I’m late for work,” Casey said suddenly.
Patrick glanced at his alarm clock – it was well after 9 o’clock back home.
“Shit, Sorry I made you late! I wasn’t paying attention.”
“No problem. I’m sitting in my truck in the parking lot. Nobody will notice. Probably.”
“You could have told me you had to go,” Patrick said sheepishly.
“My kid brother needed to tell me about his new boyfriend. You’re much more important and interesting than whatever e-mails I’d be sorting through right now.”
“Well, I appreciate it.” Patrick grinned. “I can always count on you, Casey. Thanks.”
“You’d better believe it, bro. Let me get inside though. I’ll text you later.”
“Okay. One last thing?”
“I’m not going to tell Mom and Dad for you. Sorry.”
“Damn. Yeah, I get it. Okay.”
“Hey, Ricky?”
“Mm?”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, man.”
Patrick swiped his finger across the screen and ended the call. He rested the phone on his stomach and sighed heavily.
That wasn’t so bad. He thought to himself. Could have gone worse.
He rested back into bed, wishing David was there next to him. He really did need to get his own apartment. Then David could stay over all the time. Or they could move into a place together. Their place. The thought made his chest swell up with excitement but since they hadn’t even had sex yet, Patrick figured them moving in together was a bit further off. Damn his need to go slow. His eyelids were getting heavy until his phone started vibrating on his chest with a text message.
Why can't my boyfriend come with me on this buying trip? Why do I have to bring my sister?
Patrick grinned and shook his head lightly. He yawned before typing his response.
Would you rather Alexis stayed behind and ran the store for the day so your boyfriend can come with you?
UGH. Why not just light the whole place on fire before we go? Point taken.
Relax. It'll be fun. You said she needed to get her mind off of Ted anyway.
God yes, she does. She's one step away from doodling his name surrounded by little hearts on the cover of her notebook - but why do I have to be the one to get her mind off him?
Because you’re her big brother.
I didn’t ask to be born first.
It makes you a nice person, David.
That’s mean. You know how to throw that word in my face.
Yes sir, I do.
Mm. Call me ‘sir’ again.
Patrick pursed his lips, trying not to let his mind wander to dirty places.
Maybe when you get back.
He paused and thought before adding:
I’ll miss you today.
There was a delay in David’s response that made Patrick chew nervously on the inside of his cheek.
I miss you already. I’m not going to get to kiss you this morning. I’m a creature of habit, no good morning kiss is likely going to through off my entire chi for the whole day. And if my chi is thrown off I won’t be zen enough to close the deal with the Mennonites or
The text message evidently had reached its word count limit, either that or perhaps David had hyperventilated and passed out before he finished typing. The three blinking dots that suddenly appeared told Patrick it was the former rather than the latter. He had to interject before David’s train of thought derailed and tumbled down a cliff.
Do you want me to come over and kiss you before you leave?
The blinking dots disappeared, indicating that David had stopped his mental spin out and erased what he had been typing. Patrick chuckled to himself when his phone rang. He grinned stupidly seeing the caller ID picture he snapped of David asleep and drooling at their shared desk in the office at the store. He’d initially taken it as a joke; something to taunt David with when he got overly haughty and needed to be taken down a couple of pegs but as their relationship changed, Patrick came to see the image in a whole new light. He sat up and answered, a giddy schoolboy smile on his face.
“I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to you this early.”
“Believe me, I’m not up at the crack of dawn by choice,” He sounded groggy.
“But you are in fact capable of getting up this early so maybe you could get up early enough to open the store on time…” Patrick teased.
“Ok, I am routinely casually on time,” David replied flippantly.
“Is that what you call it? Because I call it ‘habitually late.’ ”
David made a noise that could only be described as a squawk in reply.
“So tell me, did you want me to come by the motel before you leave? Because I’d like to see you,” Patrick chewed his lower lip. Ideally, he’d like to pin David against his mattress and shove his hand down his pants, but a kiss would do.
“Well, don’t like, go out of your way.”
David was so transparent. It was clear that’s what he wanted but Patrick needed him to say it.
“Hey so – why are you awake? You don’t get up this early to go to the gym do you?” David questioned.
“No, I’m usually up at 7, get to the gym by 7:20; gives me an hour to do my thing, shower and get to the store – which, it should be stated for the record, opens at 9.”
“Okay, your sarcastic tone is deeply pointed, and unappreciated.”
“I couldn’t sleep so I called my brother. I uh, I told my brother…about you. About us.”
The distinct sound of a phone clattering to the floor made Patrick flinch. The bickering voices he heard next were muffled.
“Ugh – David – what the hell? Can you just like…not? I’m trying to sleep.”
“Alexis – we are leaving in a half hour. Get up.”
“What? We?”
“You said you wanted to come with me today – I’m meeting with vendors for the store, selecting new products.”
“Yeah but…god it’s so early David.”
“Get up. Wash your hair – that off-brand baby powder you’ve substituted for dry shampoo smells like feet.”
“Ew, David. It does not!”
Patrick switched his phone to his left hand and tucked his right behind his head, this was entertaining even if it made him miss his own sisters. He almost felt disappointment when David obviously had retrieved his phone from the floor.
“What did your brother say?”
“My brother says way too much at this unholy hour of the morning!” He heard Alexis shout in the background.
“Go wash your fucking feet hair, Alexis!”
A second later, Patrick heard a door slam. He cleared his throat.
“Oh god – it was negative, wasn’t it? I know how much your brother’s opinion means to you – oh god, are we breaking up?” The pitch of David’s panic-stricken voice got slightly higher with every three words. Patrick flinched and pulled the phone away from his ear.
“Babe, I merely cleared my throat, will you calm down?”
“Sorry. Proceed.”
“Casey was completely cool with it. I don’t really know what else I expected I mean, I know he’s not a homophobe, you know?”
“Thank god,” David sighed.
“It’s just that well, your family is so accepting and supportive of you. I wanted at least one member of my family to tell me it was ok.”
David pursed his lips. “I’m glad to hear you got the validation you needed.”
Patrick exhaled deeply, chuckling slightly at the end. “He uh, he wants to meet you. He actually offered to pay for our airfare to go visit my family for Thanksgiving.” He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, unsure of what David’s reaction would be.
“Hmm. I don’t know about that, Patrick.”
Shit. Patrick thought. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Of course he isn’t ready for that. That was so stupid!
His disappointment momentarily lifted when he realized David was still talking and he’d missed some of what he’d been saying:
“I’d really like to go but…Thanksgiving though…no one will be at the store for Black Friday or Small Business Saturday. I don’t think my business partner would recommend closing down our store on the biggest Christmas shopping days of the year.”
“Wait – did you say you wanted to meet my family?” Patrick smiled, his spirits lifting.
David felt the beads of sweat forming at his hairline. “Do you not want them to meet me? Am I that embarrassing?”
Patrick rolled his eyes. “You’re not embarrassing, you’re perfect. You’re spectacular, you’re…”
You’re the love of my life. Patrick wanted to say, but didn’t. He wasn’t ready to tell David that he loved him.
“Far be it from me to not accept that kind of praise, though I probably don’t deserve it. You’ve met my family, for better or worse. I think I’d like to meet yours. It would be a relationship first for me.” David chewed on his lower lip.
The confession wasn’t a surprise to Patrick but it hurt his heart a little. His poor broken boyfriend was used to being treated like shit by people he was dating; nothing had ever lasted long enough to get to that stage.
“If you really want to go, I’ll make it happen David. I don’t want you to feel pressured at all; I know it’s not a small thing for you.” Patrick nervously started picking at the cuticle around his left thumb nail.
“Come kiss me good morning and I’ll think about spending Thanksgiving with the Brewers. Oh god, my mother will have a fit.”
They ended the call and Patrick raced around his room, grabbing his grey sweats off the back of his desk chair and he dug his hands into the hamper of clean laundry he hadn’t put away yet and tugged out a white t-shirt. He threw the clothing items on, slipped his feet into the rubber slides he wore in the shower at the gym, grabbed his wallet, phone, and keys and raced out the door. He didn’t make much of an effort to exit the house quietly so he fully expected Ray to pepper him with questions about his earlier than usual departure. He quickly backed out of the driveway and drove as fast as he dared to get to the motel. He realized he hadn’t brushed his teeth when it was a little too late to turn around. He dug into the center console compartment of his car and dug out a packet of gum. He stuffed two pieces into his mouth and chewed frantically.
The sun was rising while he drove and the sky was filled with oranges and pinks by the time he was parking near the front office. To his delight, David was sitting outside on an old wicker chair, his leg bouncing anxiously as he waited.
The 1000 watt smile that David flashed at him before he got out of the car made Patrick’s heart skip a beat. He stood up slowly and walked toward the car. Patrick couldn’t take his eyes off of him as he got out of the car and closed the door behind him.
“Hi.”
“Hey,” David took small steps toward him. He reached out and touched the hem of Patrick’s t-shirt before easily wrapping his arms around his waist.
“I can’t believe I get to kiss you every day,” David whispered a second before their lips met. It started innocently; Patrick ran his hands up David’s back, holding him in place. David took a step forward, pushing his thigh between Patrick’s legs and wrapped his arms around his neck. Patrick linked his fingers together at the small of David’s back, holding him tightly. He gently licked David’s lower lip, inviting him to open his mouth. He moaned quietly and allowed Patrick’s tongue to push past his teeth.
Kissing David made him dizzy. He was gentle but forceful and his (expertly exfoliated) lips were blissfully perfect. Patrick gently rubbed his groin against David’s leg. They were going slowly, per Patrick’s request, but surely they could go a little faster. The longer he had David’s body in his arms and his tongue in his mouth, Patrick had time to think about getting him naked in a bed.
He groaned and held David hard, nearly lifting him off his feet as he turned them both around and pressed his back up against his car.
“Is your sister inside?” Patrick said as he moved his mouth to David’s neck.
“She might be in the shower,” David answered; his voice breathy and soft.
“How do I get you in the shower?” Patrick slid his tongue up to David’s ear and rutted against his thigh.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean,” David moaned.
“Believe me, I mean it.”
David pulled away slightly and took Patrick’s cheek in his hand. They were both achingly hard and completely sexually frustrated.
“What about taking it slow?” David asked.
“I didn’t say sex in the shower but I’m sure we’d think of something…” Patrick licked his way across David’s jawline and nipped at his neck.
“God, David. Why did I have to rush getting ready while you get to mouth fuck your boyfriend instead of getting dressed?” Alexis was standing in the doorway of their shared room towel-drying her hair. When he didn’t answer right away, she rolled her eyes and slammed the door.
“Ugh, there is no way that didn’t wake my parents,” David whined.
“Ok, so I’m gonna go. Have a good trip, go easy on the cheese.” Patrick winked. He kissed David on the cheek and motioned to get back in the car.
“Wait,” David stopped him. He pulled something off his finger and held it in a closed fist.
He took Patrick’s hand in his and dropped one of his chunky rings into his palm.
“I do want to meet your family. I was thinking about it while you were driving here. But we can’t close for Thanksgiving. What if we go at the end of the summer for a couple of days? We can have a Labor Day sale and leave Monday night or Tuesday morning? According to your spreadsheet, Tuesday and Wednesday are our slowest selling days anyway.”
Patrick grinned ear to ear. “There is so much right about what you’ve just said. OK. I’ll call my brother.”
“DAVID!”
“OK, ONE FUCKING MINUTE, ALEXIS!” David turned back to Patrick, red faced from yelling and kissed him again.
“If I don’t make it back from this trip, wear my ring and remember me fondly. Wait, Patrick are you wearing rubber sandals?!”
Patrick laughed and went back to his car.