XO (FOB FanFic ft. Brendon Urie)

[Chapter 15] Girl Things

17 DAYS LEFT...

It was the next day and Claire had calmed down since last night. She was sitting on the couch, watching the news on the off chance that there would be any more stories about the kidnapping of my friends. I walked up behind her and lowered a bowl of cereal in front of her face. She looked up at me and grinned before taking the bowl into her hands. I smiled and walked around the couch, sitting beside her.

"So...what are we going to do today? Go visit Brendon?" I asked her, digging the spoon into my bowl of cereal.

She glared at me for bringing up her husband before returning her attention to the TV and saying, "I actually forgot to tell you, I'm going out of town for the next few days." She looked over at me once again and added, "I hope you don't mind staying here by yourself for a while. I mean, you can leave if you want, go home to that wife of yours, but I think it'd be safer for you to stay here."

"Why don't I just come with you?" I offered.

"No," She immediately responded. I gave her a perplexed look. "I-I mean...you don't want to come with me. I'm going to go see some friends of mine. Kiera and Scarlett, to be specific," She used her pinky to point at the pictures on her mantle, "They live in Los Angeles. I actually grew up there, with them, and that's where I met Brendon, but then he and I moved here a while back. Plus, the three of us are going to be doing girl things and...I'm sure you don't want to be a fourth wheel to that."

"I don't mind," I retorted. "Elisa's dragged me along to do 'girl things' with her friends all the time."

"Patrick, you can't come with me," She snapped, heaving a sigh and returning her attention to the television, "You just can't."

"But you said it yourself, Claire, how else are you supposed to help me find Pete, Joe, and Andy?"

"Who?"

"My band."

"Oh, yeah, right." She leaned forward and set her empty bowl down on the coffee table before pulling her legs in so she was sitting criss-cross. "But still, I'd feel better if you stayed here."

"But I'd feel better if I went with you," I argued, leaning in and whispering, "I don't want XO kidnapping you too, Claire."

"What's XO going to be doing in California?" She retorted with a slight laugh. "XO's here. In Chicago. Obviously. I mean, how else would they have been leaving the notes everywhere? And destroying my computer?" I sighed. She did make a point. "Please. Stay here, would you?" She begged, standing up.

"I guess," I replied, swirling my spoon around in the milk that had soggy pieces of cereal in it, "I still would feel better if I came with you though..."

"I'm sure you and I will both be okay," She said, before standing up and disappearing into the bedroom hallway. I watched her walk away, shaking my head and starting to play with my breakfast, which I had lost my appetite for because the cereal was soggy and who likes soggy cereal?

I sat there for a little more before an idea came into my head and I looked up, blurting out, "But what if we're not, Claire?" I set my bowl down on the coffee table next to hers and rose to my feet, walking into the bedroom hallway just in time to see her come out of her bedroom with a duffel bag in her hands and a backpack strapped over her shoulder. I also noticed she had changed outfits. She was now in a black long-sleeve and a black pair of pants. I crossed my arms and met her gaze, "Huh? What if something happens to me while you're gone? Or even worse, something happens to you?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine, Patrick. Don't worry about me. Worry about you and your friends." She patted me on the cheek before brushing past me and over to the front door, where she set down her bag and opened the door to a coat closet and pulled out a jacket. She slipped into that and opened the door.

She picked up her bag and was just about to leave when I called out her name. She glanced over her shoulder at me. "Please be safe, Claire," I told her, "For me."

Claire winked, "Will do, Mr. Stump." She closed the door behind her and left me all alone in the apartment. I heaved a sigh and turned around, walking back into the living room and picking up our breakfast dishes. I walked them into the kitchen and set them in the sink.

For the next few hours, I just killed time, unsure of what the next step would be in finding my friends. I mean, I could go to St. Louis by myself, but 1) Claire asked me to stay here, 2) even if I did go, I wouldn't know which house Brendon was staying in (and I'm sure the residents of St. Louis Ave wouldn't appreciate me knocking on every door and asking if they'd seen these people, and that's when I would pull out the pictures of the guys from XO, only to have the neighbor either ask who they were or decline and slam the door in my face), and 3) I'm not sure I could deal with Brendon by myself. Especially if he was XO. I knew him to be a pretty cool guy but he must have turned psychotic or something in the past years if he was crazy enough to kidnap three of his own friends.

So in the meantime, I did random things. Like, take a shower. And might I say, I don't think I've ever seen so many different body wash scents or different types of shampoo and conditioner. I also went on Netflix and continued catching up on my shows from the night Claire was out with Brendon, but that got boring pretty quickly. I also got an idea of what I really should be doing instead of fucking around.

I rushed into the office, where the obliterated computer still sat on the desk. I walked up to the desk and unplugged the phone. I checked to see that the phone hadn't gotten messed up when XO smashed the computer to pieces and fried the tower. Luckily, the phone was still in tact and functioning properly. The video still there. I sighed in relief and pocketed the cell phone and cord. I turned around and walked out of the office, making my way out of the apartment to go to the one place I knew I could do what I needed to do - the library.

Only problem, I had no idea where the library was from here.