Hell's Reign (Patrick Stump/Fall Out Boy Fanfiction)

Chapter 32 - Letting People Down is My Thing, Baby

            She had a gun in her hands, and she was aiming it directly at Patrick's head. He held his arms up again, the hook glinting in the sunlight, and she took a few hesitant steps toward him. Her bottom lip was trembling, but her hands were firm as she pressed the barrel of the gun to Patrick's forehead, roughly making him sway slightly on his feet. Her eyes connected with his, and she let out a startled gasp.

Patrick swallowed hard, as if to swallow his nerves, his mind reeling. He thought back to almost four or five months ago, he wasn't sure how long, when he stood on a front porch in the middle of Glenview. Before he even knew what had happened to his own family, they had gone to Andy's house. Andy's mother had been missing; They had never found her body, not even a zombie, but they had assumed the worst. She must have escaped the house, probably in search of her son, and died somewhere else.

Except they had been wrong. She stood now before Patrick, a familiar, loving, and motherly face, now pressing a gun to Patrick's head as if she meant to shoot him. Yet her eyes gave her away. She was stunned to see Patrick, elated even, but she was cautious. Patrick passed his tongue over his lips, his arms trembling as he continued to hold them over his head. He decided that something needed to be said, anything to get her to lower the gun. "Mrs. Hurley," he breathed, his voice strained with fear as she pressed the gun harder into his head. "It's me," he tried, "It's Patrick."

"Patrick," she breathed, her face crumpling with anguish as she looked at him. From behind Patrick, the sound of a car door slamming filled their ears. Ann Hurley finally moved the gun away from Patrick, only to train it on the stranger now walking up the street towards them. Frightened, Patrick grabbed the barrel of the gun with his hook, forcing it down.

"She's safe," He assured Ann, though her eyes were focused on his hook. "She's with me. She's a friend."

"Your hand," she muttered, lowering the gun completely now and reaching as if to grab the hook, stopping just before he fingers touched the metal. Patrick stayed still, wondering how to explain to her what had happened. Before he could decide on what to say, however, Tori was close enough to them that Ann looked up at her. Patrick half turned to her, his eyes landing on the hand that pressed protectively over the swell in Tori's belly. He didn't have to look at Ann to know that she had seen the same thing. "Oh, Patrick," she sighed, looking from Tori to his hook again. "What's happened to you?"

"I'll tell you what's happened to him," a voice suddenly boomed from the doorway. It was a familiar voice, coming from a familiar face that Patrick feared he might never see again. Pete Wentz shoved himself unceremoniously past Ann, a gun in one hand, and the other reaching out to push roughly against Patrick's shoulder. Patrick stumbled backward, attempting to hold his hand and hook up in surrender, but Pete kept pushing him, kept advancing forward. "He's so fucking whipped that he abandoned his friends," Pete continued, ignoring Tori as he pushed Patrick past her. She stood back, watching cautiously as Patrick attempted to reason with Pete.

"Pete, wait," Patrick said, letting Pete push him as much as he wanted, no matter how much it hurt every time Pete's hand made contact with his shoulder.

"No," Pete snapped, "You left us! You left us so you could be with her, you selfish fucking prick! After everything I did to save your fucking life, you go and sneak out on us! With her!"

"She had nothing to do with it," Patrick whined, flinching as Pete suddenly held up the gun, aiming right at Patrick's chest.

"You're lucky I didn't shoot you when I saw you in the road," he breathed, low enough that only Patrick could hear him. "Because trust me, I wanted to."