XO (FOB FanFic ft. Brendon Urie)

[Chapter 8] Pinky Promise

I may or may not have neglected the speed limit as I drove back to Claire's house. It was just that, the longer the drive took, the more worried I became. XO's words played over and over again in my head. Better come back quick. How quick was quick?

I parked Claire's car in it's original parking spot and grabbed my suitcase, rushing back up to the apartment. I went for the doorknob when I heard sobbing. I raised my eyebrow in confusion before retracting my hand. I stood there for a minute before walking in. Claire was sitting on the couch, her hands covering her face as her body shook. When I walked in, she looked back at me with bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks, her makeup running down her face.

"Is everything okay?" I inquired, closing the door behind me and setting my suitcase down on the floor.

She nodded her head and wiped under her eyes, "Why wouldn't everything be okay?"

"Because you're crying." I retorted, walking over and sitting down beside her. "Can we promise each other something, Claire?"

"I don't know. You don't seem to keep promises."

I glared at her before continuing, ignoring her comment, "Can we promise to tell each other the truth?"

She chuckled, "I don't know, Pattycakes. That promise is a big one. I mean, you couldn't even keep that promise with your wife. How are you going to keep it with a stranger?"

I rolled my eyes, "Can we please? For the next thirty days, at least? After that, I don't care. But keeping something from one another could be bad now and I want to find my friends and return home as soon as possible."

Claire sighed, "I guess." I held out my pinky and she gave me a weird look. "What?"

"Pinky promise," I smiled innocently.

She laughed, "What? Are we in kindergarten?" I wiggled my pinky and winked at her. She rolled her eyes and hooked her pinky with mine. We lowered our hands and brought them back up, unhooking our fingers.

"So, are you going to tell me what you were crying about?"

Claire hung her head and remained silent for a little while before sighing and looking back up at me, "He called."

"He?" I rested my elbow on the back of the couch and rested my head in the palm of my hand.

"My husband," She answered with such a tone that made me feel like she thought I should know.

"And your husband is...?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's not important."

"Kind of is if we're telling each other the truth," I told her.

Claire glared at me once again, "We promised to tell each other the truth, not everything about our personal lives."

"Come on, what's so secret about this husband that I-"

"Claire?"

Claire looked behind me and her eyes widened. I pivoted my torso so I was looking back and my eyes widened too. In her doorway stood Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco. I looked back at Claire and watched as she stood up and approached him.

"What are you doing here, Brendon?" She asked him under her breath.

"What is Patrick doing here?" He retorted.

She glanced back at me and laughed nervously, "We're just going to go out in the hallway for a few minutes, alright?" She told me before grabbing Brendon's hand and leading him out into the hallway of the apartment building, closing the door behind her in the process.

I was confused beyond belief. Was Brendon him? Was Brendon her husband?

First off, I thought Brendon was married to Sarah. Secondly, she said they had been together for more than seven years. Married for how long, I don't know. But how did I not know about her until a couple of days ago? Brendon was my friend, and he's been my friend for a long time. He should've mentioned her at least once in all the years I've known him. Lastly, their conversation was muffled but I could make out what they were saying.

"Come on, Claire," Brendon begged her softly, "I messed up once and this is how you get back at me? By sleeping with one of my friends?"

She gasped, as if revolted by the idea, "What? No! I'm not sleeping with him!"

"Then what is he doing here?"

The next part I didn't catch. She probably whispered it to him.

"Wait...they're missing!?!" Brendon's worried voice sounded. Claire "shh"ed him, whispering something else to him.

Soon enough, the two of them reentered the apartment. Brendon was giving me a suspicious look whereas Claire had a smile on her face. She wrapped her hand around Brendon's upper arm and informed me, "Um, we can continue our conversation later, Patrick, alright? Brendon and I are just going to go out for a little...work some things out, okay?" I nodded my head in understanding. She flashed me a smile before turning around and the two of them leaving the apartment.

I sat there for a little, not knowing what to do with myself, before Claire returned and added, "Get yourself something to eat while you're here too. You can get a ton of stuff delivered." She walked in and over to the kitchen counter, where she got out a notepad and pen and scribbled down something. "The address you can tell them to deliver it to is Apartment 4D at Winter Quay Apartments, alright?" She handed me the sheet of paper. "You can sign my name if you want or-"

"Come on, Claire! It's already starting to get dark out!" Brendon's voice sounded from down the hallway.

"I'll see you later tonight, Patrick," She gave me a half smile before spinning around and walking to the door. Before she left she looked back at me and said, "There's a spare bedroom across from my room. You can get yourself settled in there while I'm gone." I nodded my head. She gave me one more smile before leaving this time for good.

I sat there for a while before getting up and doing as she suggested. I picked up my suitcase and walked into the bedroom hallway. I pushed open a door to find what appeared to be Claire's room. It was illuminated with a small desk lamp that sat on her dresser whose drawers were opened. The room was almost as messy as the hotel room the two of us had woken up in.

I closed that door and looked across the hall, the room she told me was the spare bedroom. I opened the door to reveal a completely dark room. I felt the wall near the door for a light switch. When I found it, I flipped it. The room lit up.

I dropped my bag.

On the farthest wall was a message, which seemed to be written in blood:

The Brendon you know isn't the Brendon Claire knows. I pinky promise. -XO

I slammed the door and leaned against it, my heart beating against my chest as I couldn't rid my mind of the sight of the message. The Brendon I know isn't the Brendon Claire knows.