The Flier (Patrick Stump)

10 - Secret

/Chapter 10\

As promised the day before, Lizzie joined Patrick and I in the backseat of Joe's truck after the band packed all of their stuff up. I was the smallest of us three, so I ended up in the middle of the backseat with Patrick on my left and Lizzie on my right. Although Quinn made a valiant effort to switch places with Joe, he still ended up in the passenger seat, and Joe still was the driver.

"Joe, who all is going to be at your party? I want to see if there's anyone I should try to avoid," Lizzie spoke up as Joe turned on the truck.

"There's gonna be a few people there," he began as his foot pushed down on the gas pedal. "All of us, along with Andy and Nathan and Genevieve and a few others in band... I think you'll be fine with everyone I invited."

"Okay, good," Lizzie breathed out as she leaned back in her seat. To tell the truth, it wasn't comfortable being stuck between Patrick and her. She moved around a lot, which pushed me into Patrick, which made me more nervous that I already felt around him. However, the nerves calmed when he carefully reached over and slid his hand into mine again. My skin felt tingly, and I thought I was on the verge of true light-headedness.

"Hey Patrick, remind me later that I have to tell you something," Joe said, looking up at Patrick through the mirror. What? I looked up at Patrick, who seemed to be just as confused as I.

"Can you tell me now?"

"It's about... that thing. That we were talking about the other day. At my house." This sparked recognition in him, and for a moment, I thought I saw anger flash through his eyes. Maybe I just saw a light reflect off of them, but it seemed like something more.

"Oh yeah," Quinn agreed, dragging out the 'yeah'. "That thing."

"Will somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Lizzie suddenly asked, and when I looked over at her, she looked a little annoyed.

"I would so slap you for that right now. But I'll tell you later," Quinn answered nonchalantly. My eyebrows furrowed. So there was something that everyone else could know about, but I couldn't? What kid of secret was it? What were they trying to hide from me?

"What's going on?" I questioned, looking between Joe and Quinn.

"You don't need to worry about it," Patrick assured me, and when I looked over at him again, he was smiling at me. It was terribly fake, though. I decided not to keep questioning him, because if we ended up alone then I could ask him again.

"Okay..." I unsurely replied. The next ten minutes to Joe's house were spent in silence. When we got there, I couldn't believe how big it was. It was huge. Long white steps led to the large front door, and thin columns held up the part that extended out from the roof over the door. Almost all of the windows were already lit up, with silhouettes moving around in front of a couple of them, which meant a few people were already here. "Holy shit."

"I know, right?" Joe agreed, smirking. He pulled up in the grass next to the driveway and stopped the truck. "Who's ready to fucking party?!" Patrick, Quinn, and Lizzie let out a few whoops and yells as we exited the truck. I stiffened and tried to keep a blush from spreading across my cheeks when Patrick helped me out by gently grabbing my waist and lifting me out. He probably felt my tenseness, because he started to chuckle whenever I was out. However, he didn't make a sound as we walked together behind Joe and the siblings, with our fingers laced together. I looked up at him, and for the first time, I realized how beautiful of a boy he really was. His green eyes sparkled from the lights, and his hair was swept messily across his forehead. He was warm, too. Really warm. I got as close as I could to him, and he seemed to kind of get the message as he let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Butterflies in the stomach may be a very cliché description of the feeling, but it is also very accurate.