Engulfed

Chapter 17

A/N: Alright guys... We didn't quite make it to 1K, but since I'm nice, I'll give it to you ;)
Without further ado - cause I know you're super excited for the ending... Here's the last chapter of Engulfed.

Pete and Brendon remained silent as Frank and I started walking in front of them along the pathway. I swallowed my sobs the best I could and shoved all emotions down my throat with it.

Pete brings his hand to my and pats me comfortingly. Frank's at my other side, close enough for our shoulders to touch. I feel so great, knowing that my best friends are with me in this terrible moment.

Nothing could be worse than what I'm seeing right now. I pull my glasses off and rub my eyelids. It can't be true. I have to be dreaming. It's a nightmare. I'll wake up soon.

But I don't wake up. Frank leads me up the never ending maze until we stop at grassy area off to the side.

A blurred stone reads "In memory of Allison "Allie" Sinclair". I didn't know anything about her, but I loved her. I loved Allison Sinclair like I never loved anyone before. And now? She's gone.

Frank bows his head, biting his lip. He wipes tears away as they start to show from under his sunglasses.

I started to feel my knees shake and my legs gave way. Pete caught me and lowered me to my knees.

I felt hot tears spill from my eyes and I didn't have the strength to wipe them away. I'd past the point of bottling everything up, masking my emotions. Every breath I took shook.

"She... died in the fire?" Brendon asked for me.

He nodded, putting his hands together and pushing his fingertips to his lips.

All hope I had left me like a spirit. I'm a mess. I sit down on the grass, slightly lifted from where they buried her. I caress the cool marble stone like I might've to her cheek.

I push a smile as I continue reading the epitaph. Just under her name, etched into the stone, reads "Thnks fr the Mmrs".

I hardly recognized Frank's voice when he started talking again, "She was a big fan of yours." It hurt him to talk about her, but he knows that he has to. "I told her, one day, I would get her to meet you... One day, I'd introduce her to Patrick Stump," he continued.

A sob snuck it's way from his lips and he didn't bother try to hide it, "And I did."

Brendon came around Frank's back and hugged him sweetly. "You did," Brendon said. Pete nodded and looked back down to me.

Frank broke away and took a few steps out, "No. I sent her to you... to Fall Out Boy."

He took a second for silence to nibble at us and then kept on, "I saw that you guys were gonna be in London and I sent her across the city with backstage passes. She lived in Manchester. It was so close that I couldn't resist the offer."

He tore off his sunglasses and wiped his eyes with his arm. I caught some colorful words from him.

Pete turned around and looked off into the distance. We both know what Frank's trying to say.

"She was late," Frank continued when he'd calmed down, "I told her it didn't matter. Dallon had told me where you guys liked to hang and I sent her over."

My head hung in shame. She was late, just late enough to catch us in the fire.

"She was my best friend... I just wanted what was best for her... and..." he shook his head and avoided our eyes, "I killed her..."

I sucked a quick breath in and spoke for the first time since the car ride, "You didn't kill her."

He chuckled a little, "I got her into that building."

"You didn't know it was going to burn," I felt my anger rising. Frank cannot take the credit for this.

"But I sent her, didn't I?" He persuaded.

I closed my eyes, my head turned back towards the ground. My head spun in circles. It was all too much to handle.

Pete took a step towards me, I heard that much, but something stopped him. When I turned around, Brendon was walking with Pete back to the car.

Frank sat down next to me, his legs crossed in a knot. He breathed out a sigh and put an arm around me, "I'm sorry."

I took another quick breath in, "I should be the one telling you I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "That's not how it works."

I ran a hand through my hair and started up crying again. Frank pulled me closer and my head fell to his shoulder.

"She was beautiful, Patrick, beautiful. I would never go out with her, she was too pretty and innocent for me. She would've been perfect for you," Frank explained.

I nodded. He was trying to help, but it really didn't much.

After another minute, he stood up, "Talk to her..."

I looked to the stone when Frank was our of reach. Chuckling, I sniffed, "And then there was one. Two, technically, me and you."

I ran scenarios in my head of what I might've said to her if she were alive and in front of me.

"I... I don't know what to say, but... Thank you, for saving me. You didn't have to do that," I bit my lip, "I'm sorry you had to die, Allie. I'm really sorry. I wanted to save you, but you saved me. I'm entirely grateful, but thinking about it now, I wish I was the one ten feet under."

Frank must've been listening, because he came right over, "Don't you say that. She died for you, Patrick Stump. Make her death worth it. Make sure she doesn't die for nothing."

I stood up and looked down at the tombstone. Everything was still blurry, but my lips found my fingers. I kissed them and laid them on the top of the stone.

As we walked back up the path, I thought about her. I never stopped.

"When you said that you were protected, I thought that meant you had a gun" I sang aloud. Frank listened in.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, because Allie was protected. Allie had Frank. I suppose everybody has somebody. I have Pete, my best friend. Perhaps I don't need anyone else but him in this world, perhaps I'll get the chance to meet another Allie.

Allie could've saved herself in that fire. She could've walked right out of that door and she could've fell head over heels for a guy much better than me. She didn't. She was an angel, and she saved me.

"'Cause Allie I was so good back then and I wonder what it'd be like if we met again?" I cried out, loud enough to wake everyone in this cemetery up.

Allie was a song name, I didn't put much into it, but Allison Sinclair is so much more than that.

I will meet my Allie again. It's just a matter of time. I'll be counting down the seconds. And when I see her...

Frank and I beat against the current, pushing towards a place where we could all be happy. The craziest thing was, I managed to keep a smile on my face through the whole time.

And it never left.

~ Becca