Peter’s pov:
Peter walked through the empty streets of the small town a jacket perched on his right arm, so close to him. Peter smiled to himself, Miguel had come over a while back and he had forgotten to take his jacket, he figured he should come by the bar he worked at and give him his jacket back since it was getting colder outside as the season was changing.
And maybe he wanted to see him again before he went to bed. The truth is Miguel had him head over heels in love, he felt silly thinking about it. Ever since MJ had passed away he had been feeling very little, he had been trying to busy himself with work to the point he had no time to think about his grief. But Miguel, he changed everything, his kisses and his pretty words had gotten to Peter’s heart, he had introduced him to his kids a couple of months into their relationship.
Could he even call it a relationship? Technically Miguel hadn’t asked to be his boyfriend, but he tried really hard to make a good impression on his kids, especially the twins. Milo had not been happy to see “some random ass man in their house” as he had put it but after weeks of Miguel’s recurrent presence in the house he had eventually accepted him. He felt happy about that, usually Milo wasn’t as welcoming but he was a good kid.
Soon enough the man got to the bar of their small town, he looked at the door to see that Martínez was on shift tonight. He smiled and when the brown haired guy looked at him, he could see his posture slightly tense, he thought it was a little weird but he paid it no mind, he smiled and waved at him. Martínez was a nice guy, Miguel had introduced the two of them and now they both had him as a mutual friend.
As he got closer he noted Martinez’s stiffness, he was slightly blocking the door, obstructing the view inside.
“Hello Peter, Miguel said you’d be busy tonight.” The voice of the man sounded annoyed but he could tell that said annoyance wasn’t really directed at him.
“Well Miguel left his jacket and I thought I would drop it off, before I started working. Is he inside?” He tried to look inside but his friend’s body shifted with him, denying him of the view inside the bar. He just raised an eyebrow at Martínez, unimpressed.
“He is inside, I can give him the jacket.” Martinez extended his hand to receive the jacket but Peter dismissed it.
“Oh don’t worry about it, It will just take him a second.” Now he tried to get pass his friend’s bulk.
“Peter—.”
“Jorge.” Now he was getting suspicious, what was happening? Why was he so adamant in not letting him in? They stared at each other’s eyes for a whole minute before Martínez just looked away and stepped aside, letting Peter go in.
Peter did so and stepped through the big wooden door, once he was inside he looked over the crowd looking for a tall man, in his handsome black suit that he liked to wear on nights like this. It didn’t take long to find him, he was a couple of feet away.
“Migue—.” But he stopped short, because Miguel wasn’t alone. He was with a woman, a beautiful woman at that, and he was awfully close to her neck.
Peter tried calming himself down, it had to be something else, Miguel wouldn’t. But then he saw as Miguel took her hand on his and he looked her in the eyes with that smile that he supposedly only dedicated to him.
And suddenly it was all too clear.
“Peter, I'm sorry.”
He turned around to look at Martínez, the look on his eyes spoke of pity. He had to look away because his eyes stung, he felt so little at that moment. He had been taken by a fool tonight, he needed to get out of here. He just extended the jacket to Jorge, who took it from his hands slowly.
“Give him his jacket, will you?”
There were not more words to say so he kept quiet as he made his leave, his steps took him out the door in and they were taking him back to his house
Shame burned in Peter’s heart, he felt so foolish for believing…believing Miguel could actually love him, he was a single father of three, and Miguel was well he had always been too adventurous for his own good.
He bit his lip roughly, he wouldn’t lose any more of his dignity to this man, he would not cry.
In the dark of the night he made his way back home to what he really needed right now, his kids.
Miguel’s Pov:
He was having a good time with a lady he had met at the bar that night. She was beautiful and seemed to look at him with interest so he approached her, one thing led to another and he had closed the gap between them, he had kissed her and he was enjoying the scent of her soft perfume when a cold breeze brushed against his neck, making shivers run down his back. He looked at the entrance, the door was open and Martínez was holding a familiar piece of clothing.
That…that looked just like his jacket. How odd, he could swear he had left it at Peter’s. He would know, he had left it behind on purpose just so he could have an excuse to go ba—. And then it clicked. He immediately let go of the woman, completely forgetting her as he hurried towards Martínez, Martínez wouldn’t have let Peter come in, would he?
“Jorge, what’s this?” He asked in a hushed tone, fearing the worst. Martinez’s face was not encouraging in the least. But he still dared to hope.
“I’m sorry Miguel…” He didn’t let him finish, he cursed and brought his hands to his face, and grabbed his hair none too gently, fuck, fuck, FUCK! He shifted on his feet nervously.
“Where did he go?”
Martínez just looked at him with disappointment. He reserved his anger for later, as soon as Martínez pointed towards a direction he was out of that bar. He was going as fast as he could with his low heel shoes, he noticed this was the general direction towards Peter’s house, he must be going back to his house. He started running not caring for the image he was portraying he had to explain himself to Peter.
He was not losing the one good thing he had going on in his life just because of a fling.
Peter’s pov:
He managed to get to his home before bursting into tears. He had startled his two boys who had been watching TV in the living room. They immediately came to him asking him what was wrong and what had happened. But he couldn’t speak through the tears and the hiccups. The two young adults could only look at each other at a loss for words, they had never seen Peter act this way.
Miles, being the one more grounded with his emotions, took the lead and guided his guardian towards the kitchen so they could have a seat and talk about what had happened. Milo looked at the entry door and locked it before following his brother inside the kitchen.
It seems they had a lot to talk about. Miles had boiled water in the kettle to make some tea for everyone, once they had all sat down with a mug in their hands and Peter had calmed down he started telling them what had happened when he went into town, as he told the story of events Milo could feel his hands tighten around his mug and his blood boil.
“Ya sabía yo que ese tipo no traía nada bueno. Cómo se pase por aquí…” (I knew that guy was up to something. If he dares come by…)
“Cálmate Milo, ya fue.” (Calm down Milo, it’s over.)
Said Miles as he rubbed circles on his dad’s back in a show of support. That idiot Miguel had been seeing a woman, he couldn’t say he was surprised by the fact after all it was well known in town that Miguel was that type of man that couldn’t be satisfied by just one person sharing his bed.
But the way he looked at Peter when they were together was very convincing, he had deceived them all.
Milo had kept quiet after that, he was anything BUT calm, his mind was racing a hundred miles an hour. That man, he had the nerve to cheat on Peter? Peter! He was the most loving person he knew besides his own brother. He had taken them when no one else stepped up, how dare that man do this to Peter?
They were all interrupted by a couple of knocks on the door, Peter’s eyes drifted from the door to his two kids and back to the door his expression was one of panic. There were no words needed, Milo got up and walked to the door, he had a pretty good idea as to who was at the door, his hands were twitching in pure anger. With his hands balled up into fists he stood in front of the wooden door and took a deep breath.
He opened the door.
Miguel’s pov:
He arrives at Parker's house completely out of breath, he goes to the door and finds himself surprised by the fact that it’s locked. He knocked with his fist and then stood back, just hoping that Peter would even open the door.
He brought his palm on his mouth and paced where he stood, shifting nervously. He hoped that Peter would forgive him, he prayed Peter would give him the opportunity to explain himself and they could go back to normal.
Please, please he swears that if Peter forgives him he will stop seeing other women. He would stop for Peter and their relationship.
He was startled by the sound of the door opening and the light from inside illuminating his figure. He experienced a brief spark of euphoria, he tried entering the house.
But he was pushed back by a strong force, confused and he looked up expecting to confront a very angry Peter. But it wasn’t Peter that stood tall between him and the cozy inside of the house, it was Milo.
Fuck.
“Milo—.”
“Miguel.”
He flinched, for some reason it sounded like an insult coming from the boy.
“Milo, please let me in. I have to talk to Peter.” He tried again to step up inside but he was pushed back once again, this time he stumbled back a couple steps.
“He has nothing to say to you, lárgate.” The boy sounded really angry, and his words were full of spite. He lamented the way things were going, he had worked for months just for Milo to accept him into the family. It was heartbreaking to see the boy he had been taking care of along with Peter, building back his walls.
Milo took the door handle and looked at him in the eyes as he said,
“Do not come back o juro que te cago a palos.” (I swear I’ll beat you dead). And then he slammed the door on his face. Miguel put his hand on the door in disbelief, he felt an uncomfortable feeling on his chest and a warm sensation behind his eyes.
He was left alone in the cold of the night, trying uselessly to get Milo to open the door by knocking again and again, but it was useless. They were gone.
True desperation gripped at his heart as reality set in, he was not getting this family back. Tears streamed down his face, he didn’t have the energy to hold them back.
He bit his lip and turned on his heels, making his way slowly towards town. Miguel kept turning back to make sure that Peter wasn’t looking in his direction, waiting for him to come back, but no that door stayed firmly closed.
He had really messed up. Was he supposed to go back to the life he had before he met Peter? Just sing at the bar, surround himself with people he did not care about and drink until he fell asleep?
He dried up his face with the sleeve of his jacket and he laughed bitterly.
He should have thought about that before cheating on the love of his life, huh.
He continued walking until his figure was lost in the darkness of the night. Leaving behind the dreams of a family and the love of his life