I Think You're My Best Friend | Patrick Stump

♫♪♫ Chapter Twelve ♫♪♫

Guilt fills my body as I stare down at the message from Luke on my phone.

"Already looking forward to next weekend. Love you and miss you."

"Everything okay?" Patrick asks me.

I snap my head up to look at him and nod as I put my phone in my pocket, "Yeah, of course."

He nods, then smiles. "So, what all is there to do here? I wouldn't mind going out and exploring the city."

Poor Patrick has no idea how boring this place is. Small town of 30,000 people and the only attractions are bars, a bowling alley and a movie theater. The mall is run-down with only a few stores, the 'bustling' downtown area is filled with highly overpriced and boring small businesses, and the parks that I loved as a child are now overrun with trash and used needles.

I try not to laugh, "There's not much good here, unfortunately."

"Oh, come on, there's gotta be something good. Have you eaten yet? Should we go get breakfast? You can take me to your favorite place."

Excitement fills me as I think about Patrick and I going out on a breakfast date. I suppose the food here is the best part of our city. Local restaurants are cheap and delicious.

The thought of pancakes from my favorite diner down by the river come into mind, and I smile. "I would absolutely love to go out to breakfast with you. I know just the place."

His face lights up, "That sounds nice."

I nod, "Okay. Please, make yourself at home. I have to go put some makeup on before we go, since someone wrote a song about us and made me cry." I say as I stand up and make my way to the bathroom.

"Sorry about that," He chuckles as he leans back and gets his phone out of his pocket.

I just smile and flip the bathroom light on, then look at myself in the mirror.

Beautiful? Enchanting? I don't know what he's talking about. I just see boring. Ugly, even...but I'll take the compliment because it's from him.

Him. When I would read the word 'him' on those social media posts about your soulmate, I thought of my husband. Now, I think of Patrick.

I get my phone out my pocket and go into Luke and I's message thread, and then I quickly type him a message.

"Miss you, too."

I sigh and think about writing a "love you" as well, but shake my head. I don't want to continue saying that if I don't fully mean it. I go into my contacts, and take the heart emoji out of his name.

I'll cut things off with him eventually. I just don't want to worry about it right now. I want to enjoy the time Patrick and I have together.

♫♪♫♫♪♫

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as the wind blows gently in Patrick and I's direction. "I could stand here all day. This is where I come when I don't want to be stuck at home thinking. I don't know why, but I get so much inspiration here."

"Well, you were right about the excessive amounts of trash in the parks," Patrick steps closer to me, "but this view makes up for it. I think out of everything you've showed me, this is the city's best place. Right over the river during sunset."

I'm so glad they transformed this old train bridge into a pedestrian bridge. Patrick's right, this is the best view of the whole city. The lights of the buildings downtown are starting to turn on while the sun is setting behind the events center.