Teach Me Mr. Wentz | >> Peterick AU <<

Silence In The Courthouse

A/N - Holy buckets, I haven't updated since July! I'm sorry that it's been that long, I have no clue how it got to be that long. Anyways, I'm back now, and I will be posting the final chapters of this story in the coming weeks/days. Alrighty, thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy the chapter. - Abbey ^-^

[Pete's POV]

I saw Patrick's face flush of all it's color and looked at the pure horror swimming in his eyes. She killed him.. she was the shooter in the store. I looked at her, then at Patrick. His face slowly went from sadness and fear to anger.

Many of the questions he had wondered for years since his father's terrible traumatic passing were answered, leaving many still unknown, but lingering in his mind. All the pent up rage he had stored away had began to seep out at this moment.

He began breathing heavily, then looked at me. I saw the look of fear in his eyes that he showed when he stared at me, close to what you would see in a lost, trembling, and confused puppy's eyes that had been kicked around in a crowd of people for a while.

He stood and ran out of the court room. I looked at the judge, then Patrick, and followed my boyfriend out to the hall. When I walked out into the hallway, I found him collapsed on a bench, sniffing and holding back tears.

I approached him gently and sat next to him. I exhaled and looked at the scuffed white tile floor, then looked at him. Strands of hair had fallen in front of his face as small tears were slipping down his cheeks slowly. He looked at me and rested his head on my shoulders. I began to say something, but stopped myself.

The silence was good. He needed that, I needed that. We needed that. He hadn't had silence in so long. It was break from the screaming voices that flooded his head on a daily basis. The silence was a sanctuary, oasis even, for his mind and sanity.

I closed my eyes and listened as Patrick's breathing became steady once more. I wrapped an arm around him and kissed his forehead. "It's okay." I whispered. I said this even if I knew it wasn't true. this wasn't just 'okay' for Patrick. This was a terrible nightmare..

He was going through fucking Hell, and no amount of condolences could fix the soul retching pain he was experiencing at this moment in time. He wasn't going to recover in an instant from the hurt he was feeling.

Just a mere look at him could make anyone understand that he was not okay. He was suffering.

I felt Patrick shake his head. "No, it's not. It's not okay, Pete. I don't know what to do. I'm so lost.." He looked at me. I frowned when I saw that the happy and energetic look I had always seen when looking at him, had vanished. His sparkling blue eyes were replaced with a dim and cloudy stare. Completely unrecognizable to anyone who knew him personally.

This wasn't the Patrick I had known and fallen in love with.

This version of him was a hopeless and defeated copy of the real Patrick. He had been drained of all his joy, with no sign of hope at all in his sad and lifeless form.

"All this time," He whispered, seemingly to no one. "I never knew who killed him. I never knew who ripped away one of the most important people in my life straight out of my hands. I never.. I never knew it was her."

I honestly had no clue of what I should have said, so I just hugged him closer to my side. I would never experience what he was going through, so the best thing I could do was to be there for him.

The silence came once more after this quick exchange between us, but was soon interrupted by a sharp clicking noise making it's way down the hall. I looked up and saw a police officer and our lawyer sternly walking over to where we were sat.

"Mr. Wentz, Mr. Stump," The officer said in his booming voice. "We would like you to come rejoin the court session." Our lawyer nodded to his statement and glared at Patrick, who was still making eye contact with the floor.

Patrick shook his head. "No, I'm done. I'm not going back in." I glanced at the officer, who squatted to Patrick's level. "Listen here, son. We just need to finish our session, then you can head home. Please, come back into the court room before I have to make you."

I stared at Patrick as he shook his head once more. "No, I can't see her. Please officer, just let me go home?" His voice cracked as he said this. I could see the slight remorse in the officer's eyes as he stood up.

He sighed heavily and nodded. "Okay, we don't usually do this, but fine. You two can go home, but that would require Mr. Wentz to come to the court house on a later date to sign some documents. Are you alright with that?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I would be fine with that." The officer responded, "Okay, then I will let the judge and jury know about the situation. Good day to the both of you." And with that, they both walked off.

I peered over at Patrick as he stood and headed to the door. I rushed after him and we both walked out the huge glass doors that lead to a vacant parking lot.

We located my car, after a few minutes of searching, and headed home in complete awkward silence.