It's pitch dark and cold in Pete's apartment. He used the last of the money he had saved to put gas in his car and to put food in his refrigerator. But everything in his apartment ran on electricity --aside from the plumbing-- and without the funds to pay for it, he no longer had functioning lights, heat, or appliances. So the food he bought to fill his growling stomach will have gone bad by morning. It was a waste of money to buy perishables, the only edible thing left would be the snack cakes and poptarts. He can't live off of that forever though.
Pete was flat broke.
And if that isn't bad enough, his rent is also over a month late. He begged his landlord to give him a little more time, just until he got a job and he promised to give the sweet old lady his entire first paycheck. But as kind as she was, she could only extend his time by three days.
How the hell was he going to land a job and pay his rent in three days? The only way that'd be possible is if he stood on a corner and offered sexual favors in exchange for cash. He didn't want it to come to that, but the longer he sat in the darkness of his room, bundled up in his thickest blanket, the more likely it seemed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
If he could, he'd ask his folks for a little assistance, but they kicked him out years ago and he hasn't spoken to them since. They hated him, practically spat the words into his face when he was seventeen years old. So asking them for help wasn't even an option, not that he could ask anyway, he didn't know where they were or how to contact them.
His phone sat on his nightstand, dead and without service, he couldn't call his friends and they couldn't call him to check to see if he was okay. It made him feel so alone, just like when his family had disowned him, but at least then he had Joe to turn to for comfort. He didn't have Joe this time, or anyone else for that matter, he was completely alone and miserable.
He couldn't sleep.
It was sometime past two a.m. as far as Pete knew, his alarm clock no longer worked so it could be five in the morning and he wouldn't be able to tell. He sniffled in the everlasting silence, seeming so out of place and much too loud. But he didn't care, he was the only one in the apartment anyway. Tears began to sting at his eyes and his bottom lip began to quiver as the weight of everything finally crushed him. He couldn't provide for himself anymore and he had no way to confide in his friends. And to make it worse, he'd be homeless if he didn't come up with the rent money in three days.
Everything had just plummeted so fast down the steepest hill possible, and as he kept thinking about how difficult everything had suddenly became, tears slipped down his cheeks and weak sobs escaped his throat. He had finally broken down, curling up in a ball and wrapping himself tighter in his blanket, burying his face in his cold pillow.
He's going to lose everything if he doesn't get some sort of income as soon as humanely possible. He wished everyone was there with him right now, or at least one person, preferably Patrick or Joe. Patrick gave great hugs and sweet kisses and Joe made Pete smile whenever he was in a shitty mood. Tyler, Hayley, and Brendon were amazing too, they all made him feel better in one way or another but Pete was a mess when he was all by himself.
He felt so helpless.
***
Pete was awoken by the loud harsh banging at his front door, he didn't even realize he had fallen asleep last night. His eyes and cheeks were a little crusty from the dried tears and attempted to get rid of it, then jumped up as another barrage of heavy fists knocked on his door. There was definitely more than one hand knocking at once. Then he heard a shout of, "We know you're home, Pete, open up!"
It sounded like Brendon.
Pete rolled out of bed and tried to rub the blurriness out of his eyes as he made his way out and toward the front door. He knows that he wanted his friends here for comfort last night but right now he didn't want to speak to anyone. He wasn't in the mood and he didn't want everyone to see how bad everything got, he'd only draw pity from them and then they'd feel obligated to help him. He didn't want that. He didn't need their help unless it involved a shoulder to cry on, he could take care of himself and he'll fix everything on his own.
