After The Dance (FOB FanFic ft. Panic! At The Disco)

~PART TWO~ [Chapter 33] Sleepless In Chicago - Part Three (Third Person)

It was now nine in the morning. Pete was still at Andy's house and Andy had made Pete and himself some breakfast. It wasn't much though, just a bowl of Trix cereal with milk. He even got a bowl of water for Hemingway. Andy was tired and Pete was running on what little energy he had left. Pete hadn't slept in nights and it was only a matter of time before he crashed.

While the two of them were eating breakfast, Andy's apartment door opened and in came Joe. "'Morning, And-" He began to say when he noticed Pete, "Guys. What are you doing here, Pete?"

"He screwed things up with Patrick," Andy informed the guitarist who had made his way into the kitchen and was getting a bowl of cereal for himself.

"I thought things were already pretty bad between the two of them," Joe replied as if Pete wasn't even there.

"Yeah, but he managed to make things worse."

"What'd you do, Pete?" Joe inquired, joining the two men at the small, round dining table.

"Patrick's in New Jersey right now because I told him to leave and never come back," Pete answered, not looking up from his bowl of cereal. He was pushing the soggy, colorful spheres around in the white liquid, not eating it.

"You don't know that's why he's there, Pete," Andy proposed.

"Whoa, Patrick's in New Jersey?" Joe questioned.

"Yeah," Pete set his spoon down in the bowl and sat back in his chair, "His mom told me that he went there to see Lexy. But he wouldn't have just gone to see her out of the blue. He would've at least asked us to come along. We're her friends too."

"Maybe he did just go there to see her. You know he likes her," Andy tried to convince Pete, tried to make him feel like the reason Patrick left wasn't him.

"But he's with Elisa now," Joe remarked, digging into his bowl and shoving the cereal into his mouth. With his mouth full, he continued, "His feelings for Lexy are probably long gone."

"Not necessarily," Andy replied, pushing the bowl to the side and crossing his arms on the table, "You know that song Patrick played for us a few days ago? I think he wanted to call it 'The Gold Standard', or something like that. I'm not entirely sure. Do you know what I'm talking about Pete?" Pete just stared at him, along with Joe, the two of them waiting for Andy to go on. "Well, I remember this couplet of lyrics. I think they went something like 'I want to scream I love you from the top of my lungs/But I'm afraid that someone else will hear me'."

"Lexy's the one he wants to scream I love you to from the top of his lungs," Pete retorted, analyzing the lines, "And the person he's afraid will hear him is Elisa."

"Right."

"Maybe it could be the other way around, though," Joe tried to sell his idea that Patrick's feelings for Lexy no longer exist. "It's Elisa he wants to scream I love you from the top of his lungs to but he's afraid Lexy will hear him."

Andy rolled his eyes, turning towards Pete and saying, "I'm sure Patrick didn't leave because of you, Pete."

"Even if he didn't, he's not picking up my calls," Pete muttered, looking over his shoulder at Hemingway who was barking at the door. There were probably people outside.

"Have you tried calling him today?"

"No." He looked back at Andy, "Even if I did, Andy, he won't pick up. Trust me. I've been trying to call him every day since our fight."

"Well one more call wouldn't hurt, right?"

"I don't know, Andy..."

"Come on."

"What if he doesn't pick up?"

"Then he doesn't pick up! And you call him again. The two of you can't be fighting. We have an album to record and we aren't going to make any progress if the two leads aren't talking. If the two of you don't get your sh-" He cut himself short before restarting his sentence, "And if you two can't get your stuff together, then this band is going to break up. And I don't want that to happen. I don't think any of us want that to happen."

"Yeah!" Joe interjected, "What he said!"

"Fine, I'll call him. But I can assure you one hundred percent that he's not going to pick up."

And with that, Pete rose to his feet and walked into the living room, pulling out his phone and scrolling down to Patrick's contact. He pressed the call button and held the phone up to his ear. The more than familiar ringing sounded. He looked over his shoulder and saw Andy and Joe standing in the kitchen doorway, anticipating the outcome of this call. The last and final ring sounded before Patrick's voice sounded, only it wasn't him picking up, no, it was his voice mail message. Pete angrily hung up and showed Andy and Joe the ended call, "See? What'd I tell you! He didn't pick up."

"You didn't leave a message," Andy stated, disappointed in Pete's arrogance.

"Yeah, because I've already left, like, fifty of them. Leaving him another would do nothing."

"You never know."

"I do know, though!" Pete snapped, "He's ignoring me, Andy!"  Pete plopped down on the couch and put his head in his hands. "I should just give up..." Andy and Joe walked over and sat down beside him, one on each side.

"You shouldn't give up, Pete. Best friends don't give up on best friends," The drummer remarked, placing his hand on the bassist's shoulder.

"Best friends also don't tell each other to get the fuck out and never come back," Pete grumbled, rubbing his face and leaning back into the couch, "I'm so fucking stupid. I should've never said that to him." He heaved a sigh before confessing, "I want to make things up, guys, I really do, I just don't know how."

"You could always go to New Jersey," Joe suggested, "He'll have to talk to you then."

"That's stupid," Andy quickly scrapped Joe's idea. "What if he gets there and Patrick's not there? Patrick could already be headed back. Patrick's mom didn't mention when he'd be coming back, did she?" He asked Pete.

"No. She just said she'll tell him I stopped by when he comes back."

"What if he never comes back...?" Joe thought aloud.

"Joe!" Andy exclaimed.

"What?"

"Don't put thoughts like that into Pete's head!" Andy muttered under his breath, as if trying to make sure Pete didn't hear him, even though he was sitting right in between the two of them. "It'll just make him feel even worse!"

"You know I'm right here, right?" Pete interrupted, looking at his two friends.

"I say give him another call later today," Andy advised. Pete looked at him skeptically. "He's bound to pick up sometime."