Knowing Love

by pairatime

Summary:

Pete and Todd talk about Griff

Notes:

for round 18 of smallfandomfest: Defying Gravity (movie) Pete & Todd: When did you know you loved him?

“Griff’s having a great time.,” Todd commented while taking a seat next to Pete under one of the trees that dotted the campus, pointing toward where their social chair was talking with the social chairs of about half the other fraternities and sororities where meeting.

Pete looked up from his book and notes, smiling as his gaze tracked his boyfriend. Watching how animated John and the others were as they bickered, planned and horsed around. “Yeah, it’s good to see him acting like himself again. The last couple of weeks have been…weird,” he said.

“It’s been more then a couple of weeks. And it’s also weird not having him at the House. But not as much as when you moved out. He still drops by practically everyday unlike some other guy I could name,” Todd said, giving Pete a sideways look.

“I…being at the House was hard,” Pete said simply dropping his head, “having to hide who I was. At my new place both my roommates knew. You have no idea how good that felt,” he added looking up again.

Todd was quite for a long beat then reached over and pulled Pete into a side hug, “I’m sorry you couldn’t…I’m sorry.”

Pete’s face half shifted into a smile as the hug ended, “its okay Todd. It was all on me. I didn’t trust you guys. I was too scared to. For all the crap I gave John about being out and open I wasn’t any better. Not really,” he added.

“What do you mean? You wanted him, both of you, to come out to the House?” Todd asked; his eyes wide with surprise.

“No, not to the House but just get dinner, go to the movies. Date. But the House? No I planned on keeping that secret till the grave. Waking up and finding out that the whole House knew about me, about John, us. I…I was freaked. Really freaked,” Pete confessed, shaking his head.

“Griff hadn’t exactly planned on letting anyone else know but it happened and he seemed cool with it. Once you were awake anyways. Before that he was just…numb,” Todd said in return as he looked back John among the other social chairs.

“I can imagine. If anything happened to John and I could only sit by to watch…,” Pete shook his head, “numb would be the least of it. I’d be so…” he shrugged, not sure how to say what he’d feel.

“Lost,” Todd offered, “Like a part of your heart was just gone. Not cut out, not broken. Just…gone,” he suggested.

Pete nodded, “yeah…how?” he asked.

“Watching Griff. And then…Heather,” Todd explained, “It’s how I think I’d feel if anything happened to her. I love her and if she were gone…” Todd paused a moment and look toward Pete, “You love him don’t you?”

Returning Todd’s look with a smile, Pete’s answer was obvious before he spoke to confirm it, “Yeah. Yeah I’m pretty sure I do,” he said, smiling as he leaned back, resting his head on the tree behind him. “Yes. I love John.”

“How…when did you know?” Todd asked looking over at his brother as he too resting against the tree.

“That it was love and not lust or something?” Pete questioned, going on when Todd nodded. “It was…end of Sophomore year. There was, another, Greek Dance. I was stag but Todd when with some random Kapa that had thrown herself at him,” Pete started his story.

“He did always seem to have a date to those mixers or dances,” Todd commented with a grin.

“He didn’t want anyone to guess. As long as he had a different girl every weekend no one would suspect. Or that was his plan. He kept going out with new ones because he rarely slept with them and he didn’t want…anyways. Anyways, I left after a couple hours and went back to the House but he stayed. But at the end of that night he didn’t take her home. He came back to the House,” Pete stopped for a long moment, looking up at the sky then back down toward Griff, “an almost empty House.”

“I can image all kinds of fun you two could have had with that,” Todd grinned, giving Pete a playful slug in the shoulder and a wink.

Pete chucked and shook his head. “We didn’t do that kind of dancing. He came into the living room, flipped on the stereo pulled me off the sofa and away from my paper and started doing the foxtrot. Right then and there…” he smiled as he looked at Todd. “And John, John knows how to dance even if he was half drunk.”

“Really? He almost never dances,” Todd asked his brow raised, “If fact…I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him do more then just stand around on the dance floor. Sway a little of the beat.”

“If we ever did a ballroom dance you’d get to see it but I don’t think we’ve ever had one,” Pete answered with a shrug. “That night he was in the mood to dance. He was so happy and laughing as he lead me around the sofa, tables, into the kitchen and hall...” Pete stopped for a moment, smiling, “He held me in his arms and just had fun…for the first time I knew we weren’t only about sex. That it was more.”

“And you fell in love,” Todd nodded, smirking, “Cool.”

“Yeah, very cool,” Pete echoed, his eyes seeking out John among the cluster of social chairs that were parting ways.

Griff was still laughing and throwing a joke at one of the others as he jogged up to join his two brothers. “So, were you two talking about me?” he asked with a grin as he dropped to the ground next to Pete.

“No,” both men said at the same time, glancing at one another after they did so.

Lifting his head Griff frowned, looking between the two men, “Right, I believe you,” he stated deadpan.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 18 of Post-Gravity