Falling Again (For You)

Chapter 10

No one talks about the incident, but there's still a thick tension between the four of them. Patrick doesn't show any sign of obvious distress, but everyone can tell that something's bothering him. He plays the shows perfectly, he strums every note and doesn't miss a beat, but when he walks off stage, he doesn't smile, he doesn't talk, he doesn't show any sign of emotion whatsoever.

It's hurting Pete the most though, because he doesn't know how to comfort the boy. He wants the smiling, laughing Patrick that rolls his eyes at Pete's horrible jokes. He wants the Patrick that always hangs out after the concert to help clean up with everyone, and take pictures with fans. But he doesn't do any of that, and it destroys Pete knowing that something is hurting him, but there's nothing he can do to make him feel better, to make him laugh again.

He also starts to notice all the prominent features on Patrick's body that he hadn't been paying attention to. Like how the bags under Patrick's eyes were darkening, how he could feel Patrick's hip bone hard against his hands whenever he held him. It doesn't help that Patrick has barely eaten anything since that night, and Pete is really starting to freak out.

But they'll be in Las Vegas in five hours and Patrick will be able to see Brendon. He really hopes that this will get him to come out a little, after all, he hadn't seen Brendon in over a year. Pete's also excited himself though, because he'll be able to see Ryan. He won't be able to see him till a little before the show, but he's excited none the less, he's really counting on this to take his mind off of the growing problem between him and Patrick.

The air when they get to Las Vegas is dry and a little bit warmer than it was in California. Pete nudges Patrick's shoulder gently. He doesn't want to wake him up, he knows the other boy only got a few hours of sleep last night. He kept staring out the window while Pete drived, and it wasn't until Pete forced him to try and sleep that he finally closed his eyes.

Patrick blinks a couple times, it takes a him a few seconds to wake up. He yawns and stretches his arms, trying hard to stretch his legs too in the cramped van. Pete notices that there's a dark purple tint around Patrick's eyes. He feels stinging in the corner of his.

"Hey.", Pete says softly, giving Patrick a warm smile.

Patrick looks around, a little dazed but then his eyes settle on Pete's and his heart rate picks up a little.

"Hey. Did you drive the entire night? You could've woken me up."

Pete shrugs, "You didn't get much sleep...you haven't at all these past few days."

Patrick sighs, running his hands through his hair, trying to fix it a little.

"I'm sorry, I hate worrying you guys.", Patrick says.

He's biting his lip, almost breaking skin before Pete rests his hand on his wrist. Patrick's instinct is to pull away, he flinches a little, but he doesn't.

"Patrick, we're all here for you. Take all the time you want, you don't have to tell my anything if you don't want to, but I just need to know that you'll be ok."

Patrick wants to say yes, that he's fine, that this is all just an act. It's been a little over a year since everything happened, and everyone tells him that he can take all the time he needs to recover but he feels like such a burden, on himself and everyone else. It's not fair for everyone to spend their time taking care of him even when they don't have time to take care of themselves. It's not like the rest of them didn't have their own problems, their own battles they were fighting.

Pete still has bruises and scars from his dad, some of them are permanent, they'll be etched on his skin forever. He doesn't have the option to forget like Patrick. Every time he changes, takes a shower, he'll be reminded and Patrick wishes he could kiss them away, rub them away, he'll spend his life washing it away for him, but there's nothing he can do about it.

Joe watched as the fire fighters pulled the burned remains of his family out of the place that he use to call home. He still has nightmares about his faceless family, the burns were so bad there was no way of identifying them unless he looked at them.

Andy's parents were the same as Pete, except so, so much worse. Patrick wanted to cry when he told him about what had happened to him. But-

"Brendon said that he'd meet you at this restaurant so that's where we are right now, and then he'll drop you off a little into sound check and-"

Pete stops talking when he sees the giant smile on Patrick's smile, his eyes concentrated on something behind him. He turns around to see Brendon walking over, waving at Patrick, who is already out of the car. Pete notices the skinny boy trailing behind Brendon, being pulled along. He didn't know he was coming, and he suddenly feels ten times lighter.

Ryan use to be the only person that could make him smile. He was also the only one who knew about his dad before he met Patrick. He was so devastated when he found out that he'd have to move, he swore it was the last time he thought he'd ever talk to Ryan again.

Ryan's a fucking twig but Pete decides that, next to Patrick, his hug is the best. Patrick's also in his own world when he collides with Brendon. It really is a small world.

Andy and Joe climb out of the van, stretching awkwardly. It suddenly hits both Pete and Patrick that the four of them have never met before.

"This is Brendon, he's my best friend but moved here in freshman year. Brendon, this is Andy and Joe, also two of my best friends and band mates."

They shake hands and Pete proceeds to introduce Ryan. He really doesn't want to go but he's already stayed back longer than he should've to talk to him. Because Patrick wouldn't be around to help, it'll take them a little longer to setup. Pete rushes everyone back into the van, quickly giving Patrick a kiss on the cheek before he's pulling out of the parking lot.