The World's Not Waiting For You (FOB FanFic ft. Brendon Urie)

Chapter 5

It was around three o'clock in the afternoon. Pete was still out at band practice, which didn't surprise me - sometimes band practice lasted all day for us when I was part of the band. Saint was in his crib taking his nap and Bronx was playing a game on the X-Box. As for me, I was just sitting on the couch with Bronx, watching him play this game I've never heard before. I wasn't paying attention though.

Four years.

Four years that went by in the blink of an eye.

Four years of my life spent in that godforsaken place.

Four years of my life spent behind bars, spent being picked on for being small and weak, spent being manipulated and used because I was small and weak.

Four years where the world kept turning, kept moving forward, kept going on. Without me.

Four fucking years.

I snapped out of the daze I went in when someone shook me. I looked up and saw Pete. He had a smile plastered on his face.

"How were the boys?" He inquired, walking around the couch and sitting down in between Bronx and me. His son was leaning forward with his eyes glued to the television, his elbows on his knees, and his hands tightly grasping the game controller out in front of him.

"They were fine," I answered, rubbing behind my neck.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Good. Because if not, I was going to have to take someone's video games away," He glared over at Bronx who didn't even acknowledge him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So how was band practice?" I made an effort to start a conversation with him.

Pete shrugged his shoulders and looked back over at me, "Nothing special. We just planned out things for our upcoming tour. You know, which cities we're going to hit, which venues we're going to play at..." The more he said, the more he averted his gaze away from me, as if he was ashamed that that was what he was doing.

"You're going on tour?" I croaked, still kind of upset that the band went on without me. But Pete was right. I wouldn't have been able to deal with the band just ceasing to an end, disappearing out of existence, dying out.

"Yeah. Depending on how long you plan on staying here, I might need you to watch the boys again."

"How long do you think I'll be staying here?" A small smiled appeared on my face.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. As long as you need to. I don't mind."

"Of course. You don't mind me staying here because now you can leave the house when you want and not have to worry about who's going to watch your kids while your gone," I joked, my smile growing wider.

He chuckled, "Not entirely." The two of us laughed. The laughter died down quickly, though, and he sighed, "But would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Watch my kids while I'm on tour with the guys, that is if you stay here that long."

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

"Thanks, man." There was a long pause of silence, filled only with the sounds of Bronx's video game, before Pete blurted out, "You know, it seems like I'm the only one who remembers you for who you were before everything." I glanced over at him and noticed him playing with the drawstring of his sweatshirt's hood. "Everyone else seems to only see who you are now. A murd-"

"Hey," I cut him off, nodding towards Bronx, not thinking it'd be appropriate to talk about that when Bronx was around. He looked down at the ten year old and nodded his head in realization, looking back over at me. My cheeks burned up in embarrassment and shame.

"And the worst part of it all is that I seem to be the only one who believes you didn't do it," He tacked on, crossing his arms, "I mean, you're not that kind of guy."

"I know."

"You wouldn't do something like that."

"I know."

"But all that evidence..."

"It was all planted on me," I told him, "I swear. They got me drunk, got my fingerprints everywhere, got a bunch of witnesses to-"

"No need to plead your case to me, Pat," Pete cut me off, "I was the one witness to defend your case, remember?" I nodded my head. He exhaled audibly and put his hands behind his head, sliding down the couch but not far enough to the point where he would fall to the floor. "I'm just...I want you to know that letting Brendon take your place wasn't my idea. It was...his." He looked over at me. I stared at him blankly. He sat back up and said, "He came to us after a year of you being locked up. He told us what happened with his band, how Spencer went to rehab, eventually quit, and Dallon had some family issues to deal with that prevented him from being in the band. He tried going solo, but his fans didn't take too well to it."

But our fans took well to him becoming the lead singer? I thought but refrained from saying out loud.

"So he came to us and proposed the idea of us...combining forces. We were in need of a lead singer and he was in need of a band. So...you put two and two together and..." He made a mini-explosion with his hands. "New Fall Out Boy. Except, you know, we're still known as Fall Out Boy."

How can you still call yourselves Fall Out Boy if the voice behind the music is different?

"But it's not the same without you," He added softly, pulling something out of his pocket and running his thumb over it, "Nothing's been the same since you've been gone." He put whatever he had pulled out back into his pocket and stood up, grunting in the process, "Well I better go upstairs and check on Saint, see if he needs a diaper change or anything." And with that he walked away, leaving me alone with Bronx who was still engrossed in his video game. I heaved a sigh.