The Beginning of the End (Peterick)

Chapter 11

-Pete-

The tears began to freeze on my face as the sun set and the air got colder. If that was possible. Bronx huddled into my chest and I enveloped him in the most protective way I could. He was shivering into me, telling me I wasn't keeping him warm. I am such a shit father. I let myself trust this man, I let him convince me to leave home with Bronx for a "better place" and literally all we got was a frozen over hell. All I achieved in this was getting us killed.

The wind began to pick up, blowing ash and snow into my face as the freezing wind slapped me face, causing my face to burn. I looked around trying to find any sign of life, a sign of hope that could get us out of this situation, only to see the empty, gray fields of the surrounding area.

"Come on Bronx. We're going inside." I say as I pick him up and carry him into the abandoned house that we were just abducted from only the night before. I set him down on the cold ground in front of the fire place, and got to work on rekindling the long gone fire. Taking wood from furniture and anything else flammable, I threw it in the fire place. I searched the kitchen for somethings to start the fire with, and only found an old lighter.  It will have to work. Starting on all the easiest, most flammable objects, I work my way to the more difficult items, eventually gaining a decent fire. I pushed Bronx as close to the fire as the heat allowed, and as looked around for somethings to cover ourselves in, I saw headlights approach the house.

"Bronx! Hide!" I command him. He scurries into the kitchen and hides in the shadows beyond sight. I grab an arm of a broken wooden rocking chair and position myself by the door, ready for whatever that fucked off group of teenagers want. Hearing the car door open and close causes me to tense up and ready myself. My breathing gets heavier with every step I hear approaching the house. As soon as I see the silhouette enter the room, I kick the back of their knee causing them to fall, and hit them in the stomach with my wooden stick chair arm thing.

"Ow! Fuck that hurt!! Shit!" I hear a familiar voice scream in pain. I stare at him speechless. "Why did you do that Pete?"

" One, I didn't know it was you. Two, even if I did know, I still would have done it." I said angrily.

"I know you must be mad, bu-" he tried to say as he got to his feet.

"No buts Patrick! We all have one! What you did is fucked up. What in God's name were you thinking?! Oh! Wait! Yourself!"

"Pete I ca-" Patrick tried to say

"Did Bronx and I even cross your mind when you made your great escape? Did you even stop to think 'Gee, I bet Pete and Bronx would be really happy if I waited up for them' Did you? Of course not!"

"PETE!" Patrick yelled.

"WHAT." I yelled in return.

"I came back for you. The guilt was eating me alive, so I came back."

"That's fucking great! You came back! I'm so glad you felt bad enough to come back." I said sarcastically.

"At least I did come back." Patrick said with venom in his voice. "I didn't come back to get attacked physically and verbally. If I knew this was waiting for me, I would have kept going, and not have turned around." He defended.

"You might as well have. You didn't feel guilty enough to not leave in the first place, so you coming back means nothing to me."

"You would be dead with if I didn't come back."

"Exactly! My point right there, Patrick! We could have fucking died! And where would you have been? Not here to save us. God, how stupid could I be to actually trust you?"

"Not as stupid as I am for coming back."

"Fuck you Patrick. I would have rather died than see you again." I spit through clenched teeth and getting a look mixed with anger and sadness from Patrick.

Who the fuck does he think he is? To come back and act like everything is okay. Like I couldn't have died. Like Bronx couldn't have died. Like he didn't break my heart.

"I'm sorry..." Patrick said.

"Save it for someone who believes it." I said turning around to see Bronx by the fire looking at us.

"Daddy... Stop yelling at Patrick... Please." He said with a tear running down his cheek. "I know we could have died, but we didn't, and now he's here to make sure we don't and he's going to bring us with him and we will all be okay again. Just please stop yelling." Bronx explained and begged.

I stood there for a moment, and it took me a couple of minutes to process the fact that a six year old just told me to calm down and gave me a valid point as to why I should be grateful to the guy who left us here.

I walked up to him and got on my knees to hug him. "Your right little man. Thanks for being the level headed one between the two of us. I need you more than you know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. But people who love each other shouldn't yell at each other like that." He said quietly enough just for me to hear. I smile at this and turn around and approach Patrick. I get close to him and he tried to back up, but I grab his wrist and pull him into a hug, taking in the faint warmth of his body while I can.

"Thank you for coming back Pattycakes." I whisper into his ear. "I was just... Really hurt when I saw that you left. I felt like I didn't matter, and I thought we were going to die."

"It's okay Panda... I feel terrible for it. You mean so much to me, and so does Bronx. I honestly thought you were dead though... I heard gunshots... And I just ran... And I was just scared... I never meant to hurt you. Once I started thinking about it, I started crying before I turned around and I just feel so bad that I just..." I heard sniffles come from him and I pulled away from our hug and I saw tears fall on his cheek.

"Don't cry. Your here now and so am I. It's okay." I told him softly as I wiped the tears from his cheek gently.

"Can we go now? I want to get out of here and leave this behind. Emotionally and literally." Patrick said.

"Of course." I said before I placed a quick, small kiss on his cheek.
"Let's go."

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Why do I always make Patrick the asshole?
-Matthew