Homewrecker With A Heart Of Gold (Patrick Stump FanFic ft. Zack Merrick)

Chapter 4

-Zack's POV-

The taxi cab pulled up to the house and I quickly shot Gwen a text before thanking the driver and handing him a handsome tip. The driver nodded his head in appreciation and I slipped out of the vehicle, grabbing my two bags out from the back and waving goodbye as the car pulled away.

I exhaled in relief as I turned to face my house. I didn't spend much time there since I was almost always either at the studio or away on your, but I enjoyed and cherished what time I did get to spend at home, with my family.

I made my way up the walkway - retrieving the three-day-accumulated mail along the way - and up the steps, knocking on the door. There wasn't an immediate, or even somewhat immediate response, which admittedly disheartened me a little bit. I knew things with Gwen and me hadn't been the same recently, but I thought she would at least have had the decency to have the door opened when I arrived.

I heaved a sigh and looked back, seeing that Gwen's car was parked in the driveway and instantly proving my theory that she could've been out of the house wrong. There was, however, another car parked in the driveway, a car I didn't recognize. An apprehensive feeling washed over me and I set down my bags and the mail, pulling out my phone and sending Gwen another text. Once it was delivered, I glanced up and noticed a face in what I knew was the living room window - Chase's face.

"Chase!" I exclaimed, hope igniting inside of me, "Hey! Can you open the door for me?"

The two-but-almost-three year old gave me a confused look.

I realized he couldn't hear me and motioned to the door, grabbing the doorknob and turning it left and right, shrugging my shoulders when it didn't open. Chase shook his head in understanding and disappeared, unlocking the door seconds later and pulling it in, nearly falling over as he did from almost tripping on his feet.

I knelt down and extended my arms out. My son just stared at me with a blank expression.

"Come on, don't tell me you're already too old for hugs," I teased. Chase broke into a smile and jumped at me, slinging his significantly shorter arms around my neck. I showered him with kisses, swooping him up and grunting a little bit. "Oh my goodness, someone's gotten bigger since the last time I saw him."

"Daddy, you saw me, like, a month ago." He giggled.

"Well a month is too long," I mumbled, walking into the house and straight into the kitchen. I sat Chase down on the counter and told him to stay there while I brought my bags and the mail in. He nodded his head and began kicking his feet back and forth while I walked back outside. I brought in my things, leaving my bags in the foyer, and returned to the kitchen, where I began to skim through the mail, giving Chase a few envelopes to open.

Just as I was about to read one of the letters Chase accidentally ripped, footsteps pattered down the stairs. I glanced back over my shoulder and saw Gwen at the bottom of the stairs.

"Gwen! Hey!" I exclaimed, a smile stretched across my face. The smile didn't last long, though, especially when I saw that Patrick was right behind her. "Oh." I gulped. "Hey, Patrick."

"Zack," The singer retorted, turning towards the kitchen and slipping his hands into his pants pockets, "Nice to see you again. How have you been?"

"Nice to see you too. And I've been good, thanks for asking," I replied almost mechanically, lifting Chase off of the counter and setting him down on the ground, whispering into his ear to go upstairs for a little bit.

"Okay," He whispered back, running away, right past Gwen and Patrick who watched him retreat to his bedroom.

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the island counter, attracting Gwen's attention when I continued, "I didn't know you invited him over."

"He just...um...wanted to play me one of the songs he's been working on," She gave as her excuse, "Yeah, it was kind of last minute." She glanced back at Patrick and asked, "Right?"

"R-Right," Patrick stammered acquiescently, nodding his head, "I wanted to get her opinion on it. It's called, um, 'The I in Lie'." His eyes widened the second those words escaped from his mouth.

"'The I in Lie', huh?" I repeated, the corner of my lip curling upward, "What an interesting name for a song. What's it about?"

He chuckled nervously. "Well, I...I'd love to tell you sometime, but I must be on my way. You see, uh, I've got...um...I'm supposed to be meeting up with someone and I'm running terribly late." He looked down at Gwen and placed his hand on the small of her back, sending a sensation through her entire body and causing a small moan to slip between her lips. "We'll talk later, alright?"

"Yeah," She agreed, blushing insanely, "We'll talk later."

"Bye, Gwen. Bye, Zack," Patrick bid his farewell before walking out of the house, closing the door behind him.

"Bye, Patrick," I muttered, turning my back to my wife.

Gwen bit her lip and made her way into the kitchen, taking a look at the mail for herself.

"You could've told me," I murmured, tilting my head down.

"Told you what?"

"That you were having him over."

She remained silent, distracting herself with the bills she held in her hands.

I exhaled slowly and placed my hands down on the counter for support, "Gwen, is there something you want to tell me? Because if there is, just tell me."

She chuckled nervously. "I-I don't know what you want me to tell you, Zack."

"Okay, then. Maybe I can help you. Why was he here? Why was he really here?"

"We already told you. He came over because he wanted to play me a song and get my opinion on it."

"At fucking seven in the morning?" I glanced over at her, my eyes ready to shed tears at any given moment. But I forced myself to keep them in.

"It was a last minute thing," Gwen mumbled, averting her gaze to the floor.

"Then what was he doing upstairs with you?" I continued my interrogation, my heart rate increasing and my throat swelling up, making it difficult to breathe.

She sighed. "He needed to use the bathroom."

I shook my head. "Gwen, I'll ask you this again, and this will be the last time, is there something you want to tell me?"

I was giving her the opportunity to be happy, to be with a man she really loved. I knew something was going on. I wasn't stupid, I saw right through her constant flow of lies. I never confronted her directly about it, though, because I didn't want to cause trouble. I didn't think she did either, and it was all because of Chase.

If there was something the two of us could agree on, and talk openly and comfortably about, it was that we wanted the best for Chase. He was our everything. I was pretty sure the only reason Gwen hadn't left yet was because she felt obligated to stay. So did I. We were best friends, we knew everything about one another, we shared a love like no other, but most importantly, we had a family together, one we needed to tend to, love, and care for. And if she were to leave, our family would break.

She exhaled softly before setting the letter down on the counter and turning towards me. "The only thing I want to tell you is that I missed you and I'm glad you're back home." She took a step closer to me and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek, muttering something about needing to pay the bills before walking away, calling up to Chase that he could come back down.

I groaned and put my head in my hands, resting my elbows on the counter.

When were the lies going to stop?