Falling Again (For You)

Chapter 13

"Yeah, the tour's going great. Nothing's broken, yet.", Patrick says in a low voice into his phone.

No one was listening to him, but it was so early in the morning that he just felt that he'd be interrupting something if we were to talk loudly.  He's leaning against the back wall of the venue they were playing at tonight. The Academy had decided to stop at the mall they had passed by on the way here. They invited the rest of them, but Patrick politely declined, knowing that all of them were too exhausted from the events of last night. The others probably wouldn't be back for another few hours, and then Patrick knew that Andy, Joe, and Pete weren't going to wake up for another couple, which means that Patrick would be alone for a little while.

"Pete's good, I'll tell him you said hi when he wakes up.

Well, some things are a bit hectic. We found out that Joe had stopped taking his medication. When we go on break we're going to fly back home and take him to see his psychiatrist. I'm really worried about him, but-he's strong, he's always been. But anyways, we'll be back, this weekend and after the tour. There's still another two month before we finish off in Chicago, I'll swing by with some tickets."

He mutters a couple more farewells before he hangs up, sliding the phone back into his pocket. He was delighted to have gotten a call, but it definitely wasn't who he wanted it to be, or more accurately, who he wished it to be.

"Patrick?"

His head snaps up, not expecting to have the calming silence be interrupted for a long time. He looks too see that it's Pete, with his hair tousled and bags under his eyes, he looks as if he's been sleeping for the last few centuries.

"Who were you talking to?", he asks.

His voice is raspy, and with the way his shirt is wrinkled at the top of his jeans, showing off just a hint of skin, Patrick can't help but be slightly turned on. He's always admired the way the boy looked right after waking up, before all the makeup and hair spray is applied. It's comforting to him, to know that this side of Pete is something only he really gets to see.

He walks over and laces his arms around Pete's hips, kissing him lightly on the lips. Maybe the other guys get to see Pete like this too, they've been living in the same apartment for a year, but he's the only one who actually gets to touch it.

"Frank called."

"Dr. Iero? Is there something wrong?", Pete asks, but there seems to be not a trace of worry in his words.

"I told you, you can call him Frank. He's not my doctor anymore. And no, nothing's wrong, he just wanted to check up on the tour, ask me how things are going. He told me to tell you he said hi."

Pete shakes his head, "I don't think I can ever see him as a friend, not after that conversation about how he'll do 'unspeakable things to me if I ever break your heart'."

Patrick giggles, "It's nice to hear someone's got my back."

Pete's face softens. He doesn't think that he and Patrick will ever break up, just the thought of it brings him to his knees, but it is good to know that Patrick will have someone if Pete is ever not there.

"Why are you up so early anyways, I'm only awake 'cause I heard you talking."

Patrick shrugs, bringing his hands away, "I wasn't tired."

Pete reaches out, grabbing the edge of Patrick's sleeve.

"You okay?"

He sighs, "Yeah."

"I'd think that there would be nothing left for us to hide, considering everything that's happened.", Pete says. There's no intention of attacking Patrick, but he was right, there was nothing left to hide between them, even the little truths.

Patrick cups the side of Pete's face, running his thumb over the soft skin, "I'm ok, and if I weren't I'd tell you, you know that."

Pete looks away, biting his lips in the manner that he does when he's trying not to say something.

"Why would I lie to you?", Patrick asks softly, again not trying to attack the other boy.

"I know you wouldn't intentionally keep things from me, but you know that thing you just do when...when you're having trouble coping, and then you don't say anything to anybody for days, sometimes weeks. It scares the living shit out of me. You're all I have Patrick." His grip tightens on the fabric of Patrick's sleeves, making sure that he wouldn't disappear from him.

Patrick begins to open his mouth, but Pete quickly cuts him off, "And sometimes you don't say anything because you think what you have to say doesn't matter. Or you think that you're a bother to us, but you're not. You're the most important thing in my life, in all of our lives. You can talk to me, even when you think that what you're feeling is inadequate."

Patrick doesn't know how to respond, but it's true. Life's changed quite a bit for him, but he's still the quiet, shy boy from high school who didn't have any friends until Pete came along to knock him off his feet, literally and figuratively. He's still getting use to the fact that there were people who actually cared about what he had to say, not surprisingly either because what else would he think when he's been bullied all his life and then to be thrown out by his own family. But he still feels that whatever he has to say or feel right now can wait, because Joe is the one who needs all the support and love in the world.

"Patrick?"

"I'm ok, I promise."