Lost, But Found // Patrick Stump

chapter two

and patrick did stay by anna's side. through thick and thin, he was there, helping her every step of the way.

about two weeks after patrick's promise, anna stepped out of her room for the very first time. he was there when it happened.

-

"anna, do you want me to go get you some breakfast?" he asked.

she shrugged, for she was really unsure about what she wanted. what she truly wanted was to leave her bedroom, but she didn't know how to express that without the use of words.

so she threw off her blanket, white with floral print, and she sat there.

patrick stared at her in awe. he seemed amazed.

or he may have just been staring at her clothes, old and gray sweatpants and a plain black tank top. anna couldn't blame him, though; she did look pretty gross.

"what are you doing?" he asked. anna pointed towards the door, indicating that she wanted to go to the kitchen.

"breakfast?" he guessed. she nodded.

"well, if you're going to be leaving the room, i'm going with you. we wouldn't want your mom to have a heart attack."

-

patrick entered the kitchen first. anna's mother was standing by the stove, frying some eggs.

"good morning, mrs. miller," he said.

"good morning, patrick," she said, smiling.

"those smell really good, ma'am."

"thank you. how's she doing?" her mom asked.

"that's actually why i came down here. i want to talk about annabelle," patrick said.

anna's mom's face grew ghostly pale. she turned away from the frying eggs and stared at him with concern.

"what's wrong with her?" she asked. she sounded ready to burst into tears; she wasn't nearly as strong as patrick.

"actually, there's nothing wrong with her," he replied. "if anything, this is the best she's ever felt."

her eyebrows rose. "patrick, what are you saying?"

at that moment, anna entered the kitchen. she had changed into jeans and a blink-182 shirt. an outfit similar to what she usually wore before things had went silent.

her mother gasped. "annabelle?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

anna nodded. her mom threw her arms around her.

"oh, anna!" she exclaimed. "i thought you'd never leave, ever again."

anna smiled and used her hands to wipe tears from her mother's face. her mother laughed.

"i see you're still looking out for me, kid," she said, wiping more tears away. "i love you so much, anna. you know that, right?"

anna nodded.

"still won't talk, huh?" her mother smiled sadly.

anna pulled out her phone, which was an iphone 4s and had an all time low case on it, and quickly sent a text to patrick.

when his phone went off, he immediately opened the text. after reading it, he looked back at anna and her mother.

"anna wants you to know that when she's ready to talk, she'll let you know, but she's just not ready yet. she wants to take baby steps right now."

"and that's perfectly okay with me, honey," her mom said.

-

there was more crying, of course. anna's mom, she was quite the emotional train wreck. but then again, if any mother's daughter came out of isolation after weeks of staying in bed, they too would be a melting pot of tears and hugs and "i love you's."

after all of the hubbub died down, patrick, with her mother's permission, of course, decided to take anna out for breakfast. it wasn't that her mother's cooking was terrible; it was actually pretty good. this was a very special occasion, and patrick wanted to do something special for anna.

they went to a small diner, a few miles away from anna's house. they used to go there all the time when anna was a teenager, when patrick was out of the living nightmare called high school and would drive her around town, wherever she wanted to go. he was quite the gentleman; he still was.

he helped her out of his car, and then closed the car door behind her. as anna walked into the diner, patrick held the door open for her. she smiled at him, and he returned it.

when they had sat down, patrick said, "it's been a while since we've been here."

anna nodded.

"thank you for letting me take you out for breakfast," he added.

anna mouthed, "you're welcome."

a waitress was now at their tiny booth, which was in the corner of the restaurant and was barely visible. they somehow managed to sit there every time they were there.

"hey there, patrick and anna," she said. it was their regular waitress, nicole. she somehow managed to be their server every time they were there.

"hey, nicole," patrick said, smiling at her.

"what can i get you guys today?"

patrick looked at anna. "do you want your usual?" he asked her.

she nodded.

"i'll have my usual as well," he added.

"you two are so predictable," nicole said, chuckling as she walked away.

"are we really?" patrick asked anna when she was out of visibility.

anna laughed silently as she shrugged.

he chuckled. "how do you manage to do things without making any noise, annabelle?"

she shrugged again.

"you amaze me so much, you know that, anna?" patrick asked, staring at her. his eyes were twinkling in such a way. it made him look cuter than he already was.

she wasn't sure how to respond to that, for she knew that he was probably lying to boost her confidence. she wasn't extraordinary, not even in the slightest. what had she done that was extraordinary? she wasn't in a famous band, like mark hoppus or alex gaskarth or gerard way or even patrick. she couldn't write, couldn't sing, couldn't do anything. she wasn't going to be known for anything, or by anyone of importance besides her mom and patrick. and even then, patrick and her mother would probably remember her as a depressed, silent, psychotic young woman.

unable to take it anymore, anna darted off towards the bathroom.

"annabelle, where are you going? what's wrong?" patrick called out.

but anna ignored him, and ran into the girl's room.

-

so here's another chapter...i may be getting a little too obsessed with writing this.

i've been writing this to help relieve stress, and to solve the seemingly never ending problem of boredom. and i'm happy to say that it's working pretty well.

thank you for the reads and positive comments on the last chapter. i'm so happy to see that people are actually enjoying this story!