Metronome (FOB FanFic ft. Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 2

"Sit down," Patrick demanded as he closed the door behind him, pointing to the piano bench he was sitting on before. I walked over and pulled out the bench. He began pacing back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back, "So...you want me to teach you how to play piano, huh?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?" I snapped back. I wasn't going to let him step all over me like he obviously wanted to and thought he could.

The corner of his lips curled up into a sarcastic smile, "You know, this will go a lot easier if only one us talks back, okay?"

"You know, this will go a lot easier if you stop being a dick," I retorted, folding my arms over my chest. He cocked his eyebrow. "Look, I understand that your band broke up and all, but that doesn't give you the right to be a jerk."

He scoffed, "I'm not a jerk."

"Uh, yeah you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes."

"No!"

"You're not going to win this battle, Patrick."

He heaved a sigh and set his hands down on the piano, "Fine. I don't strive to win stupid battles anyways." I rolled my eyes. "You said you were told to come here by a friend of yours. Which friend would that be?"

"Joe."

His bitter face lit up, "Joe?" I nodded my head. "How's he doing? Do you know how any of them are doing?"

"Look, it's too late to be all 'buddy buddy' with me. So can just teach me how to play? That's all I really came here for. Not to befriend you and tell you the latest gossip about your ex-band members and how they're doing."

"Okay then," He said, holding out the syllables, backing away from the piano, "You want me to just teach you how to play? Then let's start. Play the G major scale for me."

I glanced down at the eighty-eight keys that made up the keyboard and took a wild guess, pressing my fingers down on a few of the white keys. A not-so-beautiful sound resonated from within the piano, earning me a disgusted look from Patrick. My cheeks grew warm as I chuckled nervously, "Yeah...um...I don't really know what a G major scale is...?"

"You don't know what a G major scale is?"

"I've never played piano before. How do you expect me to know what a G major scale is, let alone know how to play it?"

The former singer smacked his forehead, "Oh my god, I'm trying to teach a moron."

My eyebrows furrowed together, "I'm not a moron."

"Oh really? Just like I'm not a jerk?"

I heaved a sigh, realizing he wasn't going to change his ways any time soon. Not that I was going to stand for it, but if I wanted to do what I wanted to do, I was just going to have to deal with it. "I'm sorry," I forced the apology out of me, trying to sound like I actually meant it, "I didn't mean what I said earlier."

"Apology accepted," He replied impassively, walking around the piano and standing behind me. He reached his arms around my sides and placed his fingers on certain keys. "This is a G major scale." He played the sixteen note sequence and then retracted his hands, "Now you do it."

I placed my hands where his were and pressed down on the first note, glancing up at him for approval. He nodded his head and I went to the second note, followed by the third note and so on, until I played the first note for the second time.

"Alright, that wasn't too bad," Patrick critiqued, pacing back and forth with one of his arms crossed over his chest, the other perpendicular to that arm and his hand playing with the brim of his fedora that was tilted down. "But I want you to play it again."

"What?"

"Are you deaf?" He retorted, glaring at me out of the corner of his eye, "Or are you just stupid? I said play it again."

My eyes narrowed as I played the scale again, this time pounding on the keys of the piano, which only upset him more than he already was.

"Again," He commanded of me.

I groaned, "But I already played it. How many times are you going to make me play it?"

"It's called practice, so I'm going to make you play it until you perfect it. Or until you break my piano and have to buy me a new one, which I don't think you can afford, so I recommend you try and perfect it," He answered snarkily. "Now, play it again." He waved his finger in the air.

I sighed and did the scale for the third of many more times.