XO (FOB FanFic ft. Brendon Urie)

[Chapter 5] The Real Liar

29 DAYS LEFT...

The person ended their call and looked over at me. The person was dressed in all black with a ski mask over their face. They pocketed the phone before slipping their fingers underneath the mask and pulling it off to reveal a pretty face with green-ish brown eyes and long, wavy red hair. The corner of her dark red lips curled up into a smirk as she started to approach me.

I woke up with a start, falling off of the couch I had forgot I was on. I groaned in pain and picked myself back up, scratching my head as I looked around and realized where I was.

"Hey, is everything okay in here?"

I spun around to see Claire standing in the hallway where I assumed the bathroom was. She had a towel wrapped around her body and her wet hair clung to her shoulders. A worried look was on her face.

"Yeah, I just...fell." I looked down at the floor before looking back at her.

She gave me a suspicious look before slowly retreating back into the hallway. I sat back down on the couch and put my head in my hands. Was Claire the liar? Lying to me this whole time? My eyes widened as I thought the worse. Maybe Claire kidnapped my friends and she was just keeping me here as a distraction.

"We have a lot to do today!" Claire exclaimed from the bathroom over the sound of a hair dryer starting up. "So find yourself something to eat, alright?"

"Alright!" I called back to her, sitting in my place for a little longer before getting up and walking into her kitchen, where I began to search through the cabinets. I came across a box of cereal and decided to just go with that. I couldn't be all that picky. I found myself a bowl and poured the cereal into it, then going to the fridge for milk.

But before I opened the fridge, I took a look at the things she had on it. Like a list of my band's concerts for the tour we were on. The concert two nights ago was circled heavily in red. There was also a paper clip stuck to the side of the sheet of paper. I snatched the paper off of the fridge, the magnet falling to the tiled floor. I flipped it over and saw that there was a picture pinned between the paper clip and the sheet of tour dates. I took the picture out and flipped it over. It was a picture of Elisa and me.

"Did you find-" Claire, now fully dressed and ready for the day, began to ask when she cut herself short, seeing what I was doing.

I wondered why I hadn't noticed these yesterday.

Claire rushed up to me and snatched the things out of my hands. "Why are you looking at these?"

"Why do you have them on your fridge!?!" I threw the question at her, getting upset.

"I don't even know what these are," She remarked, looking at the papers for herself.

"How do you not know what they are?" I snapped at her, pointing to the picture, "That's me and my wife and-" I pointed to the list, "-this is a list of my band's tour dates. The concert my band and I passed out at is heavily circled. I think you have some explaining to do, Claire."

She glanced up at me, "What? Do you think I did this?"

"Quite frankly, yes! I do!"

She gasped.

"Look, I had this dream last night," I began to explain to her as she set the paper and picture down on the counter. I placed my fingers under her chin and turned her head so she was looking at me, "I was sitting on the hotel bed and this person, the person who kidnapped me, just ended this call. The person turned towards me and lifted their mask to reveal that they were you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

She chuckled nervously, "Well, you're wrong. Because I would never do that."

"I'm not so sure about that, Claire," I said, backing away from her slowly.

Claire gave me a look of disbelief, "Are you serious right now? You think that I would do that to you and your band? I didn't even know who the fuck you were, Patrick! And may I remind you that that was a dream you had! It-"

"Wasn't real? Claire, it's not just a dream though. It's a flashback! I've been having these flashbacks ever since I woke up in that room with you!" I exclaimed in frustration, not sure what or who to believe anymore, "Flashbacks from that night. These people giving us these water bottles before we went on stage, us passing out on stage, me being shoved into an elevator..."

"Are you sure they're flashbacks? Or are they dreams like the one you had?"

"No, Claire, they're not dreams! They happened! And you're the liar here, not me!"

"I'm not lying to you, Pattycakes!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" I boomed, my face getting red and my palms getting sweaty. My heart rate had picked up and my breathing had become heavier. "I don't like this. I don't like this one bit. Things like this don't happen to guys like me. What did I do to deserve this? Huh? TELL ME!" I rushed up to her so I was in her face, "TELL ME, CLAIRE! TELL ME WHAT I DID TO-"

She slapped me across the face.

I stepped back and clutched my jaw which began to burn in pain.

"How am I supposed to know what the hell you did to deserve this?" She asked me angrily but quietly, "I don't know what clicked in you, Patrick, but I'm not behind this. I'm not 'XO'. Your friends are still out there. And you need to calm the fuck down or you'll never find them."

I remained silent, glaring at her for slapping me.

Her eyes shifted down to my bowl of cereal then back at me. She raised her hand and slammed the bowl off of the counter, sending the cereal pieces and the bowl to the floor. She brushed past me and back into the hallway she came from. "Get out of my apartment," I heard her say as she walked away, "I'm done helping you. Good luck finding your friends on your own."