Candlelight ; Peterick/Geetrick

30; THE QUIET (Pete's POV)

'Now I'm left here in the dust with the taste of broken trust.'

He ignores me completely.

He's so out of it that he went to work disarrayed, if I hadn't stopped him from getting in his car. His eyes were in a daze, as if like he's hypnotized.

"Patrick?" I hold his hands and squeeze them. He takes his hands away.

"Y-yeah?" His eyes finally focus on me. The baby blues are so gloomy.

"You okay?" I reach up to caress his cheek but he steps back.

Patrick sheepishly nods, "I'm fine, Pete. Don't worry about me. I'll see you later."

He ruffles his hair, attempts to fix it and then goes inside his car. He didn't give me any second glance nor a goodbye, he just pulls out of the driveway and drives off.

I watch the car turn into the curve and completely gone from my line of sight. What is happening to him? I swear I didn't do anything wrong, like, at all.

He's so out of my reach and trying too hard to get him back. Back to me.

And I can't even do that.

He doesn't let me reach him.

I hang around the apartment for a little bit, playing some of Patrick's vinyls while looking again at the pictures we took.

The image of him unhappy with me makes me scared. The smile I always love is gone. The bright eyes that seem to change color is dull. The hands that matches mine is not right. The bubbly laugh I used to hear everyday is forced. The love that keeps me warm is cold.

I'm scared.

I'm scared I will lose him sooner than I think.

What Mikey told me gets me thinking. You two are far gone. How far? And since when? I don't remember doing anything that would make Patrick lose interest in me. I try my best to keep him happy and I don't understand why he's so shallow.

He used to tell me everything that's on his mind, whether it's a random idea or the weird potted plant that's on the entrance of Monet's Cafe. Now, he doesn't even talk to me that much. The only uttered words I hear from him lately are "Good night" and "I'll see you later."

But I still trust him, even though I'm hurting so bad.

Maybe it's not me, it's him.

... Or actually, it's the taxidermy of me and Patrick.

I overthink when it comes to relationships, that's why the people I was with before left me. I give too much, I love too much to the point that they give and love less than I did. They said they couldn't handle someone who's too serious.

I have everything I need. I can buy them. But what I want cannot be bought by dollar bills. I only want what I can't have, and that's love.

Is that too much to ask for?

I just wanted to be loved in the same way I'm loving them. That's what was between me and Patrick, until he got bored of it. Or maybe I thought I loved him, but it's just how he looked in the light.

Maybe I fell for a mask.

Who's Patrick Stump? Is there something I still haven't figured out? I was so sure I had him all learned up like an algebra equation.

I won't find out anything about him unless he speaks up. The silence is killing me. I'd rather have my leg cut off and one of my lungs taken away from me than deal with the quiet.

I just need Patrick to tell me what's wrong.

I want to know what I did wrong.